The four elements
MC (rapping)
Rapping / MCing — boasting, storytelling, the dozens, internal rhyme (Rakim's invention), multisyllabic flow, melodic rap.
People 160
- 2 Live Crew
- 8Ball & MJG
- A Tribe Called Quest
- André 3000
- AZ
- Beanie Sigel
- Beastie Boys
- B.G.
- Big Boi
- Big Daddy Kane
- Big Freedia
- Big Gipp
- Big Hawk
- Big L
- Big Pun
- Big Tymers
- Birdman
- Biz Markie
- Boogie Down Productions
- Bun B
- Bushwick Bill
- Busta Rhymes
- C-Murder
- Cappadonna
- CeeLo Green
- Central Cee
- Chuck D
- Craig Mack
- Trugoy the Dove
- Dave
- De La Soul
- Dizzee Rascal
- DJ Hollywood
- DJ Paul
- DMX
- Doug E. Fresh
- Dr. Dre
- Drake
- Eazy-E
- Eminem
- EPMD
- Fat Boys
- Fat Pat
- Flavor Flav
- Freeway
- Fugees
- Geto Boys
- Ghostface Killah
- Goodie Mob
- Grandmaster Caz
- Gucci Mane
- GZA
- Havoc
- Hit-Boy
- Ice Cube
- Ice-T
- Inspectah Deck
- J. Cole
- J Dilla
- Jadakiss
- Jarobi White
- Jay-Z
- Juicy J
- Jungle Brothers
- Junior M.A.F.I.A.
- Juvenile
- Keef Cowboy
- Kendrick Lamar
- Khujo
- Kool G Rap
- Kool Moe Dee
- KRS-One
- Kurtis Blow
- Lauryn Hill
- Lil' Cease
- Lil' Kim
- Lil Wayne
- Little Simz
- LL Cool J
- Lovebug Starski
- Luther Campbell
- Madlib
- Mannie Fresh
- Mase
- Masta Killa
- Master P
- MC Lyte
- MC Ren
- MC Sha-Rock
- MC Solaar
- Melle Mel
- Memphis Bleek
- Method Man
- MF DOOM
- Mia X
- Mike Jones
- Mobb Deep
- Mystikal
- Nas
- The Notorious B.I.G.
- N.W.A
- Ol' Dirty Bastard
- Onyx
- OutKast
- Paul Wall
- Pete Rock
- Pharrell Williams
- Phife Dawg
- Pi'erre Bourne
- Pimp C
- Posdnuos
- Pras
- Prodigy
- Professor Griff
- Project Pat
- Public Enemy
- Pusha T
- Q-Tip
- Queen Latifah
- Raekwon
- Rakim
- Redman
- Rick Ross
- Roxanne Shanté
- Run-DMC
- DMC
- Run
- RZA
- Salt-N-Pepa
- Scarface
- Sean Combs
- Sheek Louch
- Silkk the Shocker
- Skepta
- Slick Rick
- Slim Thug
- Snoop Dogg
- Stormzy
- Styles P
- The Sugarhill Gang
- Sylvia Robinson
- T.I.
- T-Mo
- The Lox
- Three 6 Mafia
- Timbaland
- Too Short
- Trick Daddy
- Tupac Shakur
- Tyler, the Creator
- U-God
- UGK
- Whodini
- Wiley
- Will Smith
- Willie D
- Wu-Tang Clan
- Wyclef Jean
- Jeezy
- Z-Ro
Moments in the mc (rapping) tradition 39
- 1979Mar 1979Fatback Band releases 'King Tim III (Personality Jock)' — the first commercial rap recording
- 1979Sep 1979Sugar Hill Records releases 'Rapper's Delight'Marquee
- 1979Sep 16, 1979Sugarhill Gang releases 'Rapper's Delight' — first rap single to crack the Top 40
- 1980Dec 8, 1980Kurtis Blow's 'The Breaks' is certified gold — the first gold-selling rap single
- 1981Dec 1981Kool Moe Dee vs Busy Bee Starski battle at Harlem World
- 1983Dec 9, 1983Brian De Palma's 'Scarface' opens — defining iconography for late-80s and 90s hip-hop
- 1986Jul 1986Eric B. & Rakim release 'Eric B. Is President'
- 1986Jul 4, 1986Run-DMC and Aerosmith release 'Walk This Way' — rap's first crossover #1Marquee
- 1986Jul 19, 1986Run-DMC performs 'My Adidas' at Madison Square Garden — triggers the first hip-hop brand endorsement deal
- 1987Jul 7, 1987Eric B. & Rakim release 'Paid in Full'Marquee
- 1988Jun 28, 1988Public Enemy release 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'Marquee
- 1988Aug 6, 1988MTV launches 'Yo! MTV Raps'Marquee
- 1988Aug 8, 1988N.W.A. release 'Straight Outta Compton'Marquee
- 19891989The Native Tongues collective formsMarquee
- 1989Feb 22, 1989DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince win the first Grammy for Best Rap PerformanceMarquee
- 19901990Kid Frost releases 'La Raza' — chicano rap arrives nationally
- 1994Mar 30, 1994MC Solaar releases 'Prose Combat' — French hip-hop's commercial breakthrough
- 1995Aug 17, 1995'Yo! MTV Raps' airs its final episode
- 1996Feb 28, 1996First Grammy Award for Best Rap Album presented
- 1999Oct 1999ego trip publishes 'The Book of Rap Lists'
- 2000Feb 7, 2000Big Pun dies
- 2002Oct 30, 2002Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay is shot and killed in his Queens studioMarquee
- 2003Mar 23, 2003Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' wins the Academy Award for Best Original Song — first hip-hop Oscar
- 2005May 24, 2005Gucci Mane releases 'Trap House' — debut LP
- 2005Jul 22, 2005Craig Brewer's 'Hustle & Flow' premieres
- 2005Jul 26, 2005Young Jeezy releases 'Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'
- 2009Apr 4, 2009Run-DMC inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- 20102010Walker Chambliss coins 'cloud rap' to describe Lil B and Main Attrakionz — sub-genre gets a name
- 2012Apr 14, 2012Beastie Boys inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- 2012May 4, 2012Beastie Boys' Adam 'MCA' Yauch dies
- 2012Oct 22, 2012Kendrick Lamar releases 'good kid, m.A.A.d city'Marquee
- 2016Jun 10, 2016Lil Peep releases 'Crybaby' mixtape — emo rap coalesces
- 2017Sep 25, 2017Cardi B's 'Bodak Yellow' tops the Billboard Hot 100 — first solo female rap #1 since Lauryn Hill
- 2017Nov 15, 2017Lil Peep dies of accidental overdose
- 2018Jun 18, 2018XXXTentacion is shot and killed outside a Deerfield Beach motorsports dealershipMarquee
- 2019Feb 10, 2019Cardi B becomes the first solo woman to win Grammy Best Rap AlbumMarquee
- 2019Sep 19, 2019Dave wins the Mercury Prize for 'Psychodrama'
- 2022Sep 8, 2022Little Simz wins the Mercury Prize for 'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert'
- 2023Nov 3, 2023Missy Elliott inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — first woman rapper