At the end of 2018, rap had become the dominant genre of popular music in the United States. For the first time ever, sales of rap music eclipsed those of rock music.1 Furthermore, rap is becoming institutionalized in ways that historically have been reserved for rock and popular music. Rappers have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five leading the way in 2007. Run-D.M.C. (2009), the Beastie Boys (2012), Public Enemy (2013), N.W.A. (2016), and Tupac Shakur (2017) followed.2 In 2017, LL Cool J was the first rapper to receive a Kennedy Center Honor. In early 2018, Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize in music for his album DAMN. The hit Broadway musical Hamilton—one of the first to draw heavily on hip hop—debuted in 2015, was nominated for a record-setting 16 Tony nominations (it won 11),...
University of California Press