Hip-hop as a genre has had many notable artists across its life span, each with their unique sound and style, allowing fans to always have an opportunity to find new favorite artists based on the quantity and quality of the many sub-genres and talented artists. Due to hip hop having 4 pillars, we wanted to focus on an artist from each pillar.

Nas(Rap/MCing): Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones also known as Nas, is often considered one of the greatest rappers of all time due to his exceptional lyricism, storytelling abilities, and consistent output of quality music over a long career. Nas’s journey into hip hop began in his Queensbridge, New York, upbringing, influenced by his neighbor, Willie “Ill Will” Graham, who introduced him to hip hop records. As a teenager, Nas dropped out of school, seeking creative expression and eventually developing his own unique rapping style.His debut album, Illmatic, is widely regarded as a masterpiece and a blueprint for future rappers. which he made while he was only 20 years old. Now fast forward 30 years later, Nas is still alive and kicking making music to this day, truly making his career one of the longest running careers the genre has ever seen.

Grandmaster Flash(DJing): Grandmaster Flash was actually drawn and inspired by his predecessors like DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaata, eventually refining their techniques. he also He also used his electronics knowledge gained at vocational high school to develop his own DJ gear. While the “greatest” is subjective, Grandmaster Flash is widely considered one of the pioneers and most influential DJs in hip hop history. He revolutionized DJing techniques like punch phrasing and backspinning, and co-founded Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Individually, Flash also transformed DJs from simple music selectors into creative performers and paved the way for modern DJing and hip-hop production

Crazy Legs(B-boying): Richard “Crazy Legs” Colón grew up in the Inwood section of Manhattan, New York City, where he was introduced to “breaking” by his older brother when he was nine. He was an original member of the Rock Steady Crew after its foundation in 1979. 16-year-old Crazy Legs, in 1984, now President of the Rock Steady Crew, took hip hop dance to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour, with recording artists Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmixer D.ST. Crazy legs significantly influenced the development and global recognition of B-boying and B-girling.

SEEN(Graffitti): Richard Mirando, better known as SEEN, and often referred to as the Godfather of Graffiti, is one of New York City’s best-known graffiti artists. SEEN began spray-painting New York subway trains as a young teenager in the early 1970s. widely recognized for his bright color lettering and cartoon characters. He was one of the first street artists who took street art into commercial galleries in the 1980s by exhibiting his artworks in group shows together with great contemporary art names such as Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Today he is still kicking and continues to create and exhibit his top-notch mixed media artworks, paintings and sculptures worldwide.