The people who move the culture.
Meet the artists, DJs, producers, dancers, visual artists, photographers, filmmakers, journalists, educators, entrepreneurs, and community builders shaping Los Angeles Hip-Hop.
Profiles
Nominations open
This directory is built by the community.
Every profile here is nominated by Angelenos and verified by editorial review. We would rather publish nothing than publish someone who didn’t earn the credit. Nominate a person whose work moved Los Angeles Hip-Hop forward, or submit your own.
Institutions
& movements
1980s
Uncle Jamm's Army
Citywide
The mobile DJ collective that took Los Angeles dance culture to arena scale and helped define the city's early electro-driven sound.
1983–1991
1580 KDAY
Los Angeles
One of the first radio stations in the country to build a format around Hip-Hop, giving West Coast artists a broadcast platform years ahead of the industry.
1994–present
Project Blowed
Leimert Park
The long-running Leimert Park open-mic workshop that built a generation of MCs on lyricism, live competition and community.
Ongoing
Leimert Park Village
Leimert Park
The cultural heart of Black Los Angeles: galleries, record shops, drum circles, theaters and the venues that hosted the city's creative life for decades.
1960s–present
Lowrider Car Clubs
East & South LA
Car clubs and Sunday cruises that tied Chicano and Black Los Angeles together and shaped how the city's music is built to be heard.
1989–1995
The Good Life Café
South Los Angeles
The health-food-store open mic with a no-cursing rule that forced a generation of Los Angeles MCs to sharpen their writing.
Know an institution, crew, venue or scene that belongs here? Send it over. The record should be as complete as the city is large.
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