The History of Hip-Hop

1969
Don Campbell had become a well-known street dancer in Los Angeles and invented a dance called "Campbellock".
1970-1973
Breakin' makes its first appearance in the clubs, Plaza Tunnel and the Puzzle. The earliest moves were the "Drop" and the "In-and-Out" (Top Rocking).
1973
Kool Herc played the 'break' or 'get down' sections - the part where the break beat or percussion part of the song was played in its rawest form. But because the breaks of the songs weren't very long, he expanded them by using two turntables with double copies of the record. The "break beats" he rocked layed the foundation for the B-Boys (Break-Boys - The dancers who rocked out on the dancefloor during these breaks.
1974
Influenced by the Caribbean style of "toast" and "boast", the pioneers began taking their turntables and speakers into parks and lightly rhyming over records. ("To tha beat y'all" or "And ya don’t stop.")
1975
"Emceeing" evolved from party shouts like "'Kool Herc is in the house and he'll turn it out without a doubt".
1976
Bam's first official DJ battle was against Disco King Mario at Junior High School 123 (a.k.a. the Funky 3).
1977
What "Uprock" was to New York B-Boys, "Locking" had become to the Electro-Boogie LA youth. It was started by Lockatron Jon and Shabba-Doo. Shabba was also responsible for introducing "Popping" to New York, which many claim to be the first, real hip-hop dance. (They even go as far as to say they were performing it in 1969.)
1978
In New York local dance crews added waves and smoother movements to the "Popping".
1979
Cold Crush brothers begin performing live shows - (Members: JDL, Charlie Chase, DJ Tony Tone, Grandmaster Caz, Almighty KayGee, and EZ AD.
1980
Afrika Bambaata and his crew the Zulu Nation release their first 12" on Paul Winley Records called "Zulu Nation Throwdown Pt. 1".
1981
Beastie Boys are formed: Adam Horovitz aka King Ad-Rock (b. October 31, 1966) ~ Adam Yauch aka MCA (b. August 5, 1964) ~ Michael Diamon aka Mike D (b. November 20, 1965).
1982
Wild Style, co-created by Fab 5 Freddy and directed by Charlie Ahearn, is released featuring the first full-length account of all four elements in hip hop culture: Graffiti, DJ-ing, MCing, and B-boying. The actors are played by the real members of New York's hip hop scene including graffiti legends Lee, Zephyr, Fab 5 Freddy, Lady Pink, Crash, Daze, Dondi and showcases performances from Grandmaster Flash, Grandwizard Theodore, DJ AJ, Grandmixer D.S.T and Rock Steady Crew members: Crazy Legs and Frosty Freeze. The soundtrack was produced by Fab 5 Freddy and Chris Stein with performances by Double Trouble, Cold Crush Brothers, Fantastic Freaks, Chief Rocker Busy Bee, Rammellzee and Shockdell.
1983
Ice T puts out his first singles, "Cold Winter Madness" and "Body Rock/Killers" which are considered some of the first West Coast gangster raps.
1984
Breakdancing (as the media calls it) goes global via Lionel Richie's performance at the Closing Ceremony of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
1985
Salt 'n' Pepa makes its first appearance on wax on Super Nature's "The Show Stopper".
1986
The Beastie Boys -- Adam ‘King Ad-Rock’ Horowitz (vocals/guitar), Michael ‘Mike-D’ Diamond (vocals/drums) and Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch (vocals/bass), release their debut album, LICENSED TO ILL (1986; Def Jam; Producer: Rick Rubin), moving from hardcore to rap.
1987
"The Wop", "California Prep", "FILA", "Smurf", "Troop", "Hammer" and "2-Hype" freestyle dances became part of the scene.
1988
Yo! MTV Raps first airs, bringing hip-hop to a wider main stream audience.
1989
ATCQ formed at school in Manhattan, NYC, where they started out as part of the Native Tongues Posse, with Queen Latifah and the Jungle Brothers, and were given their name by Afrika Baby Bambaataa of the Jungle Brothers.
1990
The Return of the B-Boy in the UK. B-Boys are back. There is massive interest in the dance form within British Hip-Hop culture. The revival here is led by crews such as Born To Rock, UK Rock Steady Crew and Second To None.
1991
Busta Rhymes appears on A Tribe Called Quest's classic "Scenario", his style and voice is so outrageous and wild, making a new eccentric delivery in lyricism.
1992
The Disposable Heroes of Hip-Hoprisy record "Language of Violence," the first anti-gay-bashing rap.
1993
HOT 97 switches from a dance format to become "Where Hip Hop Lives", heralding the coming of DJ Funkmaster Flex.
1994
Warren G aka Warren Griffen (half brother of Dr Dre) debut album "Regulate - G-Funk Era" sold over 4 million copies. "Regulate" appeared on the Above the Rim soundtrack and hit number 2 on the music charts.
1995
Suge Knight posts Tupac's $1.4 million bail, Tupac signs with Death Row Records.
1996
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony break the record for fastest rising single with their hit "Tha Crossroads", the spot was previously held by The Beatles for "Can't Buy Me Love".
1997
Missy “Misdeanor” Elliott won 2 Billboard Video Music Awards for Best Rap Clip and Best New Rap Artist Clip ("The Rain").
1998
Dr. Dre signs Eminem to his Aftermath label after hearing the rapper freestyling on a Los Angeles radio station. The Slim Shady LP is released on Feb. 23, 1999 and hits No. 2 on the Billboard charts within weeks.

1999
Lauryn Hill was the first woman to be nominated for 10 awards in Grammy history, and won 5 of them, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("Doo Wop"), Best New Artist, Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song (songwriter).
2000
April 26, 2000, Andre Young, aka Dr. Dre, has filed a lawsuit against online music firm Napster, alleging the company violated his copyrights by allowing users to trade digital copies of his songs. (Go Napster!)
2001
Hip-Hop legends KRS-One, Grand Master Flash and Afrika Bambaata, along with the Reverend Al Sharpton, recently gathered to announce the beginning of the fourth annual Hip-Hop Appreciation Week, scheduled to begin in May…