Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview, and transformed American politics and culture. But that epic story has never been told with this kind of ...

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip-hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill. But it's hard to get your come up when you're labeled a hoodlum at school and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Brie pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral... for all the...

Learn about the history of rap music.

Here are some of the world's best DJs, those famous for solo scratching, competing in international DJ battles, playing for rap artists, or just rocking parties with the most insane records ever dug up. Check out dynamic performances and interviews with DJs Qbert, Z-Trip, Mix Master Mike (of the Beastie Boys), Rob Swift and the X-ecutioners, Cut Chemist & NuMark (of Jurassic 5), DJ Craze, DJ Shadow, The Bullet Proof Space Travelers, Babu (of Dilated...

Hip-Hop was created by urban youth of color more than 30 years ago amid racial oppression and economic marginalization. It has moved beyond that specific community and embraced by young people worldwide, elevating it to a global youth culture. The ambitious and hard-hitting documentary Blacking Up: Hip-Hops Remix of Race and Identity looks at the popularity of hip-hop among Americas white youth. It asks whether white identification is rooted in admiration...

Hip hop first became a part of the mainstream music industry in the early 1980s, but the true origins of one of the most powerful pop-cultural influences of the twentieth century are in the spontaneous and progressive musical culture that grew out of tough Bronx neighborhoods of the 1970s. Writer and curator Johan Kugelberg has pulled together the scattered remains of a movement that never had its eye on posterity. The book includes a foreword by...

A riveting examination of masculinity, sexism, and homophobia in hop-hop culture. Delivering a self-described "loving critique" of rap music, director Byron Hurt - a former star college quarterback, longtime hip-hop fan, and now gender violence prevention educator - pays tribute to the power and creativity of hip-hop while challenging the rap industry to take responsibility for glamorizing destructive, deeply conservative sterotypes of manhood. ...

It is the moving portrait of the Rainey family living in North Philadelphia. Beginning at the dawn of the Obama presidency, Christopher 'Quest' Rainey, and his wife, Christine'a 'Ma Quest' raise a family while nurturing a community of hip-hop artists in their home music studio. It's a safe space where all are welcome, but this creative sanctuary can't always shield them from the strife that grips their neighborhood.

"Information is the ultimate weapon," this program proclaims. Based in New York City, Guerrilla News Network (GNN) is an independent news organization with a mission to expose young people to important global news and information free from corporate filters, through programming on the Web and on TV. GNN's news videos are 5 to 10 minute documentaries combining high-impact images, commentary by media experts, scholars, and political leaders with music...