HIP HOP 50
14 year-old ROXANNE SHANTE
dropped a 7-minute freestyle
on Marley Marl’s 1986 hit
‘Roxanne’s Revenge’, blazing
a trail for generations of
female MCs.
The track, featuring Shante
standing up against street
harrassment, started Hip Hop’s
first beef: The Roxanne Wars.
QUEEN OF ROX
1 of 1 handpainted track jacket
DJ KOOL HERC pioneered a technique
he called the ‘Merry Go-Round’ in
1973.
Herc isolated the drum breaks in soul
and funk records, alternating between
two turntables to play a continuous
loop and extend the break.
This new sound, the ‘breakbeat’,
became the foundation of Hip Hop.
THE BREAKBEAT
1 of 1 handpainted leather jacket
Legendary Jamaican producer
LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY had a
profound effect on popular
music with his experimental
and eccentric production
techniques.
Many of Perry’s influential
studio innovations helped
shape the sound of Hip Hop.
THE UPSETTER
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Fab Five Freddy told me
everybody's fly...
DEBBIE HARRY helped take
Hip Hop out of New York and
into the world.
Blondie’s 1980 hit ‘Rapture’
was the first #1 song to
feature a rap verse.
RAPTURE
1 of 1 handpainted leather jacket
THE FIRST FEMALE ACTION HERO,
martial arts star CHENG PEI PEI
broke barriers in 1960’s & 70’s
Hong Kong cinema.
With dynamic choreography and
a common narrative of folk hero
vs. oppressor, martial arts films
of the 70’s deeply influenced
Hip Hop.
QUEEN OF SWORDS
1 of 1 handpainted track jacket
OL’ DIRTY BASTARD witnessed
a car accident on the street
outside his studio in 1998.
He quickly gathered a group
of people together to help lift
the car and saved a 4-year old
girl who was trapped underneath.
WU TANG IS FOR THE CHILDREN.
