Hip Hop Was Born Here

LL Cool J looks back at a time without the internet, social media, music videos and endorsement deals when cassette tapes, boomboxes, and car services laid the foundation for the genre's explosion into the mainstream.

Today, brand collabs, sold out tours, TV and movie deals are commonplace. However, in the early days, Hip-Hop struggled to find a place in the mainstream. LL Cool J connects with icons that helped establish Hip Hop as a force in pop culture.

Hip Hop emerged in the mid 1970s in the Bronx, NYC. Abandoned buildings, crumbling infrastructure, and lack of local investment contributed to a sense of despair and disenfranchisement that fueled the raw energy of early Hip Hop culture.

Hip Hop's early years were an underground NYC art form dominated by men pushing to break through, while women faced even longer odds. Today the women of Hip Hop aren't looking to equal their male counterparts, they're here to run the whole show.

While many know the names and faces of legendary NYC Hip-Hop artists, few understand the influence NYC producers have had on the genre. Who were these artists behind the curtain that changed the artform? And how has Hip Hop production evolved?