Rap and Hip Hop are much more than a musical genre: they are cultural movements born in the Bronx in the mid-1970s, before becoming one of the major creative forces in contemporary music. Through block parties and the inventiveness of pioneers like DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa, a new way of conceiving rhythm, spoken word, and artistic expression emerged.
From the early classics of Run-D.M.C., Public Enemy, or Eric B. & Rakim to modern icons like Kendrick Lamar, Drake, or Travis Scott, rap has constantly reinvented itself. Each era has seen the birth of its own trends: old school, gangsta rap, trap, boom bap, conscious rap, or experimental.
Hip Hop is not limited to music: it also embodies dance, graffiti, fashion, and a mindset, marked by creativity and social protest. Today, it shines in all languages and on all continents, giving rise to local scenes as diverse as they are dynamic, from French rap with IAM or Booba to British grime from Stormzy, not to mention the energies coming from Africa or Latin America.
Each pressing is a piece of this vast puzzle: it tells the story of a movement that revolutionized codes, carried messages, and influenced several generations. Let's relive, through these records, the history and metamorphoses of a genre that has become universal.
