Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Toast Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary With Our Special Playlist Hub, Murals, Animated Shorts, and More

03/08/2023

Fifty years ago, hip-hop was born in the Bronx. And today, it continues to influence music and culture on a global scale. To celebrate this massive milestone over the next month, we're creating murals in some of hip-hop's biggest capitals, giving fans a personalized hip-hop listening experience with our DJ, and releasing a series of animated shorts. But to kick off the festivities, we're launching the Hip-Hop Turns 50 hub.

Highlighting the contributions of hip-hop's greats, this special destination will live on-platform over the next month and house more than 40 global playlists that reflect the various eras, regions, and trends that have shaped the genre over the last half-century. This includes many of our top data-driven and editorially curated playlists, as well as dedicated shelves for the 50 most-streamed rappers and hip-hop albums on Spotify.

We wanted to acknowledge the anniversary in more than one way. Three months ago, we kicked off conversations on social media with our Top 50 Hip-Hop lists and are now showcasing how hip-hop's and Spotify's history intersects, said Carl Chery, Creative Director, Head of Urban Music, Spotify. Throughout August, we're paying homage to some of the artists that paved the way in their own cities with murals and billboards, creating an animated shorts series narrated by artists, and built out a destination on platform that features a variety of playlists from around the world. Stay tuned for more-here's to the next 50

Fans can dive into the best hip-hop songs of each decade with special curations for the '80s, '90s, '00s, and '10s, as well as the '20s, where listeners can tune in to RapCaviar, our flagship hip-hop playlist, to find the best of hip-hop today. As part of the global hip-hop shelf-which features playlists like Spotify Italy's Plus Ultra, Spotify India's Rap 91, Spotify Korea's KrOWN, Spotify U.K.'s Who We Be, the Spotify Middle East's Arab Hip-Hop, and Spotify Philippines' Kayle Hip-Hop-we're showcasing the hottest, freshest, and most diverse hip-hop sounds being created around the world.

We're also revisiting some of our editors' top picks through our 50 years of hip-hop shelf, which features episodes from podcasts like the New York Times's Popcast and Fab 5 Freddy's 50 Years of Hip-Hop, as well as Spotify Originals like The RapCaviar Podcast, Dissect, The Ringer Music Show, and Nas and Miss Info's The Bridge.

You can check out more of For the Record's hip-hop content from over the years by visiting our special Hip-Hop Turns 50 hub.

Spotify celebrates in hip-hop's biggest meccas To honor some of hip-hop's biggest game changers, Spotify is collaborating with illustrator and image-maker Raj Dhunna to design large-scale murals and billboards. These pieces will put a spotlight on artists in their respective hometowns and depict the ways rap's most influential sounds spread from region to region.

In New York, Spotify will unveil a mural acknowledging the history of drill as it grew from its origins in Chicago with legends like Chief Keef, and expanded into London and Brooklyn with artists like 808 Melo and Pop Smoke. A second mural will spotlight the impact of women in hip-hop and feature icons like Lil' Kim and Cardi B.

In Atlanta, Raj will create a mural that celebrates the evolution of trap music, which was pioneered by Atlanta's own T.I. and cultivated into a global phenomenon by artists like New York's Arc ngel.

Raj's designs will also appear on billboards in Miami and Los Angeles. The L.A. billboard will feature Dr. Dre and Mustard, two of the city's musical titans, with a tagline that reads Long live the West Coast sound. Hip-hop is everywhere. The Miami billboard, meanwhile, will pay tribute to the provocative sounds of the region's most influential women rap acts.

Spotify will also commemorate hip-hop's growth in Mexico and pay homage to its current and foundational artists with a mural that features over 15 Mexican hip-hop artists, including Akwid, Cartel de Santa, Santa Fe Klan, and Gera Mx.

The party continues In addition to the on-platform destinations and custom murals, our AI-powered DJ will provide expert hip-hop commentary all month long on Spotify, supplying aficionados with cultural context about musical legends and retracing how hip-hop has grown through history.

To close out the month, Spotify will debut editorially curated animated shorts that underscore hip-hop's influence in over nine countries, featuring narrations from artists.

Our celebration of hip-hop's 50th anniversary will let fans discover and connect with artists of the past, present, and future. But this is only the start. Stay tuned for updates throughout the month as we commemorate one of the most beloved genres in the world.

Hit play on our flagship RapCaviar playlist and discover the artists who are making their mark in hip-hop's history books.
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-08-03/hip-hop-50th-anniversary-rapca...
See more stories from spotify

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Streaming Server Awarded Trusted Partner Network Gold Logo Certification

January 8, 2024 Colorfront (colorfront.com), a leader in high-performance, on-s...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Unleashes New Opportunities for Content Owners Plus Other Ground-Breaking Visual Experiences at Nab 2024

March 20, 2024 NAB 2024, Las Vegas - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-awa...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Delivers Innovations for HDR Cinema at Cinemacon 2025

April 1, 2025 CINEMACON, APRIL 1, 2025 - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming syste...

07/05/2026

Colorfront to Showcase Advanced HDR Cinema Mastering Solutions at CineEurope 2025

June 15, 2025 Colorfront (colorfront.com), an Academy and Emmy Award-winning de...

07/05/2026

Colorfront at ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Summit

June 15, 2025 Colorfront participated in the ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Summit on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Held at The Phenomena Experience, the event feat...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Does IBC 2024 Live From Stockholm!

July 1, 2025 Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Transkoder Delivers a Masterful Performance at Annapurna Studios

July 1, 2025 Passion and dedication will take you places. Come with us on a short trip to the heart of India, where Annapurna Studios is living-up to the inspi...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Opens a New Chapter in Color Tools For Cinema & Television

July 3, 2025 Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...

07/05/2026

Colorfront at IBC 2025: Advanced Tools Make Easy Work of Critical Mastering Tasks and More!

September 1, 2025 IBC 2025, Amsterdam - Colorfront (colorfront.com) - the Acade...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Introduces Colorfront Immersive Utility, a New Mac App for Creating Apple Immersive Video

April 17, 2026 LOS ANGELES - April 17, 2026 - Colorfront today announced Colorf...

07/05/2026

Colorfront Delivers Even More AI Automation Power and Extends Technology Partnerships with Dolby Apple

April 23, 2026 NAB 2026, Las Vegas - the Academy and Emmy Award-winning develop...

07/05/2026

CNN Founder Ted Turner Dies at 87

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

FCC Urges Appeals Court to Toss Challenges to Nexstar-Tegna Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

Carr Announces FCC Staff Promotions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects

Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects Graham Quince May 6, 2026 0 Comments The Time Tunnel from Doctor Who titles is one of th...

06/05/2026

Wisycom RF Solutions Support Gravity Medias Live Cycling and Marathon Broadcasts

Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...

06/05/2026

Sennheiser Spectera Module Now Available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons

A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...

06/05/2026

Ted Turner, Cable Television Pioneer, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer, Dead at 87

Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...

06/05/2026

FIFA World Cup 2026: Peacock Launches Visin de Campo (aka Pitchside Live), Will Stream All 104 Matches in Spanish

Peacock is going all-in on the beautiful game - streaming all 104 FIFA World Cup...

06/05/2026

NoiseWorks Audio launch VoiceAssist Basic, Standard & Advanced

New pricing tiers for vocal/dialogue restoration tool NoiseWorks Audio's AI-powered vocal and dialogue processing plug-in is now available in three diff...

06/05/2026

RME TotalMix FX 2 now available

Popular mixing & routing software overhauled Following a recent public beta test, RME have launched the final release version of the powerful mixing and rou...

06/05/2026

Focusrite: Designing The ISA C8X Audio Interface

New SOS Video Feature Focusrites ISA C8X is a milestone product that brings together the companys analogue heritage and their expertise in digital audio. Yo...

06/05/2026

L3Harris to Boost Polish Navy Combat Power with Advanced Ship System

Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...

06/05/2026

FCC's Anna Gomez Urges Rigorous Review of Paramount-WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Riedel Ups Marc Engroff to CFO, Shifts Frank Eischet to Group COO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Amagi Launches In-Content Ads' to Attract More CTV Advertisers

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Riedel Expands Leadership Structure Appoints Marc Engroff...

Riedel Communications today announced the expansion of its leadership structure as part of a strategic initiative to strengthen both its operational management ...

06/05/2026

Production Sound Mixer Dirk Sciarrotta Delivers Camera Re...

For nearly three decades, Veteran Production Sound Mixer and Five-time Emmy Award Winner Dirk Sciarrotta has helped define the sonic identity of the long-runnin...

06/05/2026

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing Brie Clayton May 6, 2026 0 Comments ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a nove...

06/05/2026

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Media

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Med...

06/05/2026

NAB Launches Weekly Podcast on Local Broadcast Policy

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Mavis Launches Mavis Studio iPad For Media Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Narrative Entertainment partners with Encompass to provid...

Narrative Entertainment has partnered with Encompass to deliver high-quality subtitling of its Great! network content using the Altitude Intelligence AI assiste...

06/05/2026

SipRadius extends its seamless creation and connectivity...

SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, is proud to launch a dramatic new approach to AI content creati...

06/05/2026

Big Blue Marble at ANGA COM - TV as a Service in the spot...

When the broadband and media industry gathers at ANGA COM in Cologne from May 19 to 21, Big Blue Marble will be at the forefront. The international broadcast an...

06/05/2026

Cinegy makes its MPTS debut with software-defined televis...

Cinegy GmbH, a leading developer of software-defined television technology, is proud to exhibit at MPTS for the first time. Visitors to the stand will discover ...

06/05/2026

Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award

Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award Jeanty, a composer, percussionist, and turntablist, is the fourth Berklee recipient of the prestigious award ...

06/05/2026

Zeiss Launches CinCraft LensCore

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Gomez Urges Rigorous FCC Review of Paramount-WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live...

When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin for RF failure in live broadcast. As Chi...

06/05/2026

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore - Cinema Lens Looks for Compositi...

Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026 ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...

06/05/2026

VEON's Kyivstar Authorized to Resell Starlink for Businesses & Enterprises in Ukraine

06 May 2026 VEON's Kyivstar Authorized to Resell Starlink for Businesses & ...

06/05/2026

UKTV Brings the Early Years of Neighbours to U in 420Episode Back Catalogue Deal

UKTV has secured the exclusive rights to the early back catalogue of iconic Australian drama series Neighbours, following a landmark content deal with Fremantle...

06/05/2026

Sky commissions feature documentary to mark 10th anniversary of Manchester Arena bomb

Wednesday 6 May 2026 Sky commissions feature documentary to mark 10th anniversa...

06/05/2026

Sky and Formula 1 agree long-term partnership across UK, Ireland and Italy

Wednesday 6 May 2026 Sky and Formula 1 agree long-term partnership across UK, Ireland and Italy Sky in the UK & Ireland to remain the home of Formula 1 until ...