音乐现在是、将来也永远是文化的重要元素，但很少有一种音乐流派能如此普遍地改变周围的文化。
In modern culture, hip-hop stands alone in this regard, and as it celebrates its 50th birthday this month, we can see just how beloved and influential it has become.
虽然几乎不可能确定嘻哈音乐的确切诞生时间，但大多数音乐史学家都认为，1973 年布朗克斯区的一次街区派对是将各种重要元素汇聚在一起的大型公共活动。在那次派对上，DJ 库尔-赫克（Kool Herc）首次推出了 "旋转木马"（merry-go-round），这是一种通过播放同一张唱片的两张拷贝，并在适当的时候进行切换，从而延长特定歌曲休息节拍的 DJ 风格。然而，这比 Sugarhill Gang（糖山帮）以其热门歌曲 "Rapper's Delight "的成功向广大听众介绍嘻哈音乐早了整整六年。Gracenote 全球音乐数据内容团队对全球消费量最高的艺术家进行了编目，其中包括 20 世纪 70 年代的七位艺术家。
如今，定义嘻哈文化的声音已经远远超越了布朗克斯区的根基。事实上，在全球收听率最高的艺术家中，有 96,000 多位是说唱和嘻哈艺术家，149 个国家至少有一位嘻哈艺术家。这些艺术家创造了 100 多种嘻哈音乐的次流派。
Interest in hip-hop music has become so global, in fact, that only one-third of today’s most-listened-to hip-hop artists are from the U.S. Hip-hop is also multilingual, as hip-hop spans English and 98 other languages, dialects, creoles and regional variations1.
Men continue to dominate rap and hip-hop, but the genre maintains a powerful base of women who hold their own on the hip-hop charts. In fact, hip-hop boasts a notable amount of gender diversity from women, mixed duos, groups and non-binary artists, especially in collaborations.
The connection to hip-hop among the Black community is undeniable, especially in the U.S., where Black audiences are 6x more likely than the general population to say it’s their favorite genre. From a listener perspective, that appeal is most evident on the radio, as hip-hop stations attract 14% of all radio listening among Black audiences. Among Black audiences 18-34, the urban contemporary/hip-hop genre accounts for 30.7% of all listening on broadcast radio and 20% of streaming audio3. And hip-hop fandom is highest in the south and among Millennials.
Hip-hop’s persistent audience engagement across media platforms represents a big opportunity for advertisers to connect with Black consumers in culturally relevant ways. And the combination of this dominant genre and trusted outlets is leading to more business with Black-owned media. According to Nielsen Ad Intel, ad spend with top Black-owned radio stations in top markets increased 92% in 2022 compared with the prior year. But the opportunity exists in video content as well.
电视上的嘻哈节目类型不仅在屏幕上最能代表黑人的才华（89%），而且也是观众最多样化的类型之一，每三个黑人观众中就有两个观看，另外近四分之一来自白人观众。
经过半个世纪的热播和文化转变，嘻哈音乐在未来 50 年里如何在媒体领域进行创新，将是一个有趣的话题。
资料来源
1 Gracenote Global Music Data
2 Nielsen Scarborough USA+, Release 2 2022
3 Nielsen Radio Database, fall 2022
4 Nielsen RADAR, fall 2022
