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From Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” breaking into the Hot 100 to chart milestones from Ms. Lauryn Hill, Eminem, Outkast, Drake and Kendrick Lamar, look back at the moments that helped hip-hop reshape music and culture.
Tetris Kelly:
From block parties in the Bronx to the top of the Billboard charts, hip-hop has spent decades breaking records, crossing boundaries, and changing the sound of popular music. In celebration of National Hip-Hop History Month, we’re looking back at the groundbreaking moments that shaped the genre’s rise, the artists who rewrote the record books, and the milestones that changed music forever. This is Billboard News, presented by Lexus. Let’s rewind to 1980, when the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” became the first hip-hop single to break into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 36. By 1986, Run-D.M.C. was breaking barriers with Aerosmith on “Walk This Way,” bringing hip-hop to an even wider audience. And in 1989, Billboard launched its first dedicated rap chart, giving the growing genre a new platform to measure its success. By the ’90s, hip-hop wasn’t just climbing the charts, it was taking over. In 1998, Lauryn Hill made history when The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, setting a new first-week sales record for a female artist at the time. Just a few years later, Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP delivered one of the biggest debut weeks in hip-hop history, while Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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