Guardian Music — A (massive) new tome charts rap's evolution from underground artform to global pop movement'Hip-hop started out in the heart, now everybody's trying to chart," rapped Lauryn Hill in her 1997 song Superstar. A critique as pithy as it is damning, Hill'... more info

VH1 Blog — Some hip-hop heads like to talk about the “four pillars” of hip hop, as defined by Afrika Bambaataa: rapping, DJing, breakdancing, and graffiti painting, as an all-encompassing view of hip-hop as a culture (and sometimes, a nostalgic lament for w... more info

The Hip Hop Chronicle — A unique coffee table book will be released in the UK next month. Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey, a 420-page tribute looks at the pioneers, legends of Hip-Hop as well as the global impact of the culture. The publication includes an introduction from Afr... more info

Guardian Music — May 1982: Number 10 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of dance musicOn 27 January 1984, music show The Tube visited the Haçienda. As part of the evening, Madonna was filmed lip-syncing Holiday with a couple of dancers. The clip still... more info

Guardian Music — 1984: Number 8 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of R&B and hip-hop musicThe Def Jam label holds an almost mythical status within hip-hop. How come? After all, it was far from the first to put out rap music and, though it released num... more info

The Hip Hop Chronicle — New York label Funk La Planet release a track by DJ Fudge, which features Afrika Bambaataa. This is the DJ Premier Remix.   a2a_linkname="DJ Fudge – Jump Up (feat. Afrika Bambaataa) (DJ Premier Remix)"; a2a_linkurl="http://www.thehiphopchronicle.c... more info

Totally Fuzzy — After years of playing nothing but speed metal we had the idea to slow everything down and take out the words, that's how this ambient/post-rock project came to be. Not the most original idea but a crucial one nonetheless. The result is a space and ... more info

L.A. Times - Pop & Hiss — Decades before Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Eminem or Lil Wayne made names for themselves in mainstream hip-hop, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and Kool Herc introduced the movement to the first adopters, who spread the genre to the masses via not only..... more info

Topix — Pioneers: Grandmaster Flash, left, Afrika Bambaataa and Kool Herc are among the iconic figures profiled in Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey. more info

Guardian Music — Few artists are true architects of their genre – but DJ Kool Herc has that distinction. It's time for hip-hop to pay him backIt's hardly a surprise that Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell is struggling to pay medical bills after an undisclosed condition re... more info