New York was ground zero for hip-hop in the ‘80s, a genre embodying counterculture expression and style. B-boys in Adidas tracksuits breakdanced on flattened cardboard boxes, as KRS-One and LL Cool J rocked the mic with rugged raps. As the decade progressed, so did hip-hop, into an expansive artform that galvanized young Americans of all backgrounds. Jam-Master Jay’s turntable mastery, the Beastie Boys’ party anthems, and Public Enemy’s political mindset laid the groundwork on the East Coast, while the emergence of N.W.A.’s gangsta rap and Too $hort’s indulgences out West gave birth to one nation under hip-hop as we know it.