At first, there was no message. Rap was all bluff and bluster. Party stuff, straight up. Hip hop, you don't stop. Throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em like you just don't care. Somebody scream.

It seems almost impossible that hip-hop would trace its origin back more than three decades to an engineering student with a penchant for experimenting with vinyl. Yet before he was Grandmaster Flash, ...

It’s a long way from DJ Kool Herc’s back-to-school party for his sister at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx on August 11, 1973 to a balmy late summer Saturday evening in downtown L.A. Some 50 years ...

Inspired by a new book tracing four pivotal years in the city’s history, hear a playlist of songs from the dawn of hip-hop that were swirling at the time. By Jonathan Mahler Hear songs from Lucy Sante ...

*Today marks a moment in history when hip hop and its anti-establishment cousin, punk rock, came together on the same New York stage in disastrous fashion. In 1981, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious ...

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. This is FRESH AIR. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG ...

GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE: Ladies and gentlemen, it's now the time for the Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five MCs. (Rapping) We're coming. We're coming. We're coming. We're coming. We ...