Celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop Detroit Style
Story by Biba Adams
The 50th anniversary of the creation of Hip-Hop is here. Events, retrospective articles, product releases, and more have marked the momentous occasion for months.
In Detroit, there was a celebration at The Fox Theatre on July 15 with performances by Rakim, Doug E. Fresh, KRS-One, Slick Rick, EPMD and Big Daddy Kane.
Detroit's own Nick Speed celebrated with the release of his own limited-edition turntable.
The Nix Electronix HH-50 is a portable record player limited to 50 one-of-a-kind, hand-numbered, and autographed units. Each will represent a different year of hip-hop between 1973 and 2023.
“We’re celebrating the day that hip-hop turned the turntable into an instrument,” Speed tells Metro Times.
On Monday, August 14, rappers Jeezy and Fat Joe will sit down for a podcast interview at The Aretha to discuss Jeezy's new book, Adversity for Sale.
The F.O.R.C.E. (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy) Live,
headlined by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, LL Coll J, will be at Little Caesars Arena on Friday, August 18.
Big Sean is bringing his DON Weekend back to the city Aug. 25-27, in honor of 50 years of hip-hop music. This year, Big Sean will host a weekend of activities geared toward local youth that discuss Detroit’s impact on hip-hop culture.
Detroit has a rich hip-hop history. The city, like many others, embraced the culture in the early 80s. Some of Detroit's first rap artists included A.W.O.L., Boss, Awesome Dre, and Smiley.
By the 90s, the culture had a grip on the community with Detroit hosting rap battles at the now infamous "Hip Hop Shop" on W. 7 Mile. The battle rap culture would become synonymous with the city after the release of the Academy Award-winning film, 8 Mile more than 20 years ago.
“There wasn’t another choice but to shoot 8 Mile in Detroit,” Shady Records CEO Paul Rosenberg recalls in an interview with Revolt. “Authenticity was our mission from day one, and shooting in another city would have made that mission a failure before the first shot was even up.”
Earlier this year, Complex Magazine--one of the premier hip-hop publications dubbed Detroit one of the Top Hip Hop Cities in the World.
They note the significance of hip-hop heavyweights such as Eminem and Big Sean, as well as Royce da 5'9" and Tee Grizzley. "There is an argument to be made that at the turn of the decade, Detroit has only become more prevalent in hip-hop," the mag notes, while tipping its cap to fresh faces such as Sada Baby, Babyface Ray, Icewear Vezzo, Peezy, 42 Dugg, BabyTron and Vezze.
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