A global happy birthday to hip hop

As the sun sets on another Black History Month, an anniversary of global significance was quietly commemorated in the United States that deserves so much more international recognition. In 2023, hip hop, arguably the greatest US contribution toa> global contemporary culture, celebrates 50 years of making us put our hands in the air like we just don’t care.

The official celebration was fitting for the US: It was marked at the Grammy Awards ceremony with performances by some of the greatest MCs to have contributed to the genre. They appeared in a single performance curated by Questlove, a member of the hip hop collective The Roots.

For lovers of the genre, it was an electrifying full-circle moment, given that 34 years ago, Will Smith, aka the Fresh Prince, and DJ Jazzy Jeff won the first ever Grammy for rap but boycotted the awards ceremony after learning that their category would not be televised. At that time, music tastemakers still saw the genre as too provocative and incomprehensible.