New York Magazine - USA (2020-09-14)

Photograph by Hemu Ghia-Aggarwal

Grandmaster

Flash and the

Furious Five,

from ‘The

Message’ photo

shoot, 1981.

hip-hopstartedout

intheparksandtraveled

aroundtheglobe,

pickingupaccentsandflavors

in every timezone,rubbing

elbowswithothergenresand

cultures,andadaptingtonew

climatesandtemperaments.

But thesparkthatinspiredthe

early bombers,breakers,DJs,

and rapperstorevolutionize

art, dance, fashion, music, and

language endures in New York.

When kids in the Bronx needed

party music to distract from the

tumult of the ’70s, DJ Kool Herc

figured out how to extend the

climaxes of funk records, making

long and euphoric vamps out of

sweet seconds of ecstasy. Drum-

machine fanatics took after

auteurs like Prince and Miles

Davis, assembling clattering

THE

CITY

AND

THE

BEATS

100 songs

that tell the

story of

New York

rap, ranked.