Hip Hop Was Born Here

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

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 and crumbling infrastructure contributed to a sense of despair that fueled the 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 are 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 that changed the artform?