How did benign neglect, planned shrinkage, white flight, racism, and public disinvestment shape the political and cultural roots of Hip Hop in the Bronx?

Popping, locking and breaking are often grouped together as “breakdancing,” but they are three different street dance traditions. Here’s where each style came from, how they differ, and why movies and television helped blur the lines.

808 Day is celebrated every August 8, or 8/08, in honor of the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer. Roland released the TR-808 in 1980 as a programmable drum machine that allowed musicians to create and sequence their own rhythms. Instead of playing recordings of real drums, the TR-808 generated its percussion sounds using analog synthesis. That distinction became incredibly important. The kick didn't quite sound like a real bass drum. ...

If you’re a songwriter, composer, or music publisher, understanding PROs isn’t optional—it’s essential. PROs are the backbone of the royalty collection system for music creators. They’re the organizations that make sure every time your music is played in public, someone is paying you for it. And when we say “played in public,” we don’t just mean a live concert or a radio interview. Public performance is any instance where your music reaches an audience beyond your personal li

For decades, we’ve been taught that Hip-Hop was born at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue — Kool Herc’s legendary party on August 11, 1973. That story gets told over and over, from documentaries to museum plaques.

On December 2, 1971, an event took place that would change The Bronx forever. The Ghetto Brothers mission of peace wasn’t getting through to

Is Hip Hop really a culture? Explore what makes Hip Hop more than music, how the elements fit into its history, and why understanding culture matters.