50 years of hip-hop: A genre born from a backyard party

By Juana Summers

Published August 5, 2023 at 6:02 PM EDT

DJ Kool Herc appears at The Source Awards held at the Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden on April 25, 1994 in New York City.

Fifty years ago this month, some teenagers threw a back-to-school party in the Bronx. Today that party is considered by many "the birth of hip-hop."

Juana Summers

Juana Summers is a political correspondent for NPR covering race, justice and politics. She has covered politics since 2010 for publications including Politico, CNN and The Associated Press. She got her start in public radio at KBIA in Columbia, Mo., and also previously covered Congress for NPR.

See stories by Juana Summers

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