50 Years of hip-hop - in pictures

  • The Sugarhill Gang, from left, Wonder Mike, Master Gee and Big Bank on stage in the late 1970s in New York. Getty Images
    The Sugarhill Gang, from left, Wonder Mike, Master Gee and Big Bank on stage in the late 1970s in New York. Getty Images
  • Grandmaster Flash circa 1980. Getty Images
    Grandmaster Flash circa 1980. Getty Images
  • NWA's Dr Dre, Laylaw from Above The Law, The DOC, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella during their Straight Outta Compton tour in 1989. Getty Images
    NWA's Dr Dre, Laylaw from Above The Law, The DOC, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella during their Straight Outta Compton tour in 1989. Getty Images
  • Flavor Flav, with rapper Tupac Shakur, at the 1989 American Music Awards. Getty Images
    Flavor Flav, with rapper Tupac Shakur, at the 1989 American Music Awards. Getty Images
  • Jarobi, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife Dawg and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest in New York, 1990. Getty Images
    Jarobi, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife Dawg and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest in New York, 1990. Getty Images
  • Lauryn Hill, circa 1990. Getty Images
    Lauryn Hill, circa 1990. Getty Images
  • Nas at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California, 1996. Getty Images
    Nas at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California, 1996. Getty Images
  • Missy Elliott is one of hip-hop's most innovative artists. Getty Images
    Missy Elliott is one of hip-hop's most innovative artists. Getty Images
  • Eminem brought a literal quality to hip-hop with his 2000 hit 'Stan'. Redferns
    Eminem brought a literal quality to hip-hop with his 2000 hit 'Stan'. Redferns
  • Kanye West at the 2003 Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Conference Award ceremony in Florida. AFP
    Kanye West at the 2003 Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Conference Award ceremony in Florida. AFP
  • Kid Cudi at the Highline Ballroom in New York City in 2008. Getty Images
    Kid Cudi at the Highline Ballroom in New York City in 2008. Getty Images
  • Rapper Kendrick Lamar at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in California. AFP
    Rapper Kendrick Lamar at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in California. AFP