Sean “Puffy” Combs, photographed by Peter Spirer.

Salt-N-Pepa with Spinderella (center), in jackets designed by Dapper Dan, photographed by Janette Beckman in New York in 1988.

The Notorious B.I.G., photographed by Spirer.

At Rock ‘N’ Will’s, on 125th Street, in Harlem. In the early days of mixtape popularity in New York, this was one of the first places fans could go to find the hottest new tapes.

Dr. Dre, photographed by Jonathan Mannion in Los Angeles in 2004.

Nas, Jungle, and Wiz, photographed by Spirer.

*Top,* leaders of the New School, photographed by Beckman on Long Island in 1991; *above,* ladies listening to hip-hop, photographed by Adama Delphine Fawundu in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, in 1995.

Dapper Dan, photographed by Beckman in Harlem in 2021.

LL Cool J in a custom-made Dapper Dan jacket, photographed by Drew Carolan in New York in 1988.

*Top,* the Wu-Tang Clan, photographed by Spirer; *above,* LL Cool J, photographed by Danny Clinch in Harlem in 1991.

Mary J. Blige on the set of her “What’s the 411” music video, photographed by Michael Benabib in New York in 1993.

Busta Rhymes, photographed by Beckman in New York in 1991.

DoItAll and DJ Lord Jazz, photographed by Spirer.

*Top,* Goodie Mob (from left, Big Gipp, T-Mo, CeeLo Green, and Khujo Goodie) at the soul-food restaurant Chanerelle’s, in Atlanta, photographed by Diwang Valdez in 2009; *above,* Nas, photographed by Atsuko Tanaka in New York in 1996.

Hip-Hop and Happening

Three new coffee-table books celebrate hip-hop—which originated in New York’s South Bronx 50 years ago—as a musical genre and cultural movement

By Timmhotep Aku

When you discuss the history of hip-hop, you have to understand that hip-hop has many starts. Hip-hop had a start in gospel, had a start in jazz, had a start in blues and rock ’n’ roll, disco …
—KRS-One, from the documentary Rhyme & Reason (1997)

Contrary to popular belief, the stories of hip-hop’s “birth” are not neat or linear. The music and culture’s coming into existence is a nuanced tale of concurrences and intersections, divergences and detours. But clean, convenient narratives work better for celebration (and commodification).