Hip Hop Timeline

The Hip Hop Timeline is an interactive chronicle tracing the development of hip hop as a musical form, from its beginnings as a Bronx-based underground scene in the early 1970s to the worldwide phenomenon that it is today.

From East Coast pioneers like DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, to West Coast innovators like Ice-T and Dr. Dre, the people, places and events that constitute hip hop's history are vast and varied. Combining filmed oral histories, artifacts from the collection, and music by the artists themselves, this timeline highlights some of hip hop's many milestones.

Launch Timeline >> Navigation Notes: To display the items associated with a particular year

• On the timeline that runs along the bottom of the screen, click the year you want to view

To learn more about an artifact within a particular year

• Click on the artifact's thumbnail image

To move forward or backward in time

• Click on the timeline that runs along the bottom of the screen and hold down the mouse button.
• Drag your mouse to the left or right to reveal additional years. (The timeline currently runs from 1973 to 1992.)
• When the year you wish to view is visible on screen, release the mouse button.
• Click on the year you want to view to display its contents.