Hip Hop Quiz
From Bronx block parties to Kendrick's Pulitzer: 15 questions on the artists and albums that built hip hop.
Hip hop is widely said to have been born at a 1973 party in which New York City borough?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The Bronx
DJ Kool Herc's back-to-school party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx on August 11, 1973, is celebrated as hip hop's birthplace, where he extended drum breaks for dancers.
Herc, born Clive Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica, called his technique the merry-go-round, switching between two copies of the same record.
Which group's 1979 single "Rapper's Delight" brought hip hop to radio audiences around the world?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The Sugarhill Gang
The Sugarhill Gang recorded "Rapper's Delight" over the groove of Chic's "Good Times" for Sylvia Robinson's Sugar Hill Records, and it became the first rap record to reach the US top 40.
The full version runs almost 15 minutes, and Chic's Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards received songwriting credits after threatening to sue.
Which 2002 film starred Eminem as a Detroit rapper known as B-Rabbit?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
8 Mile
8 Mile, directed by Curtis Hanson, loosely followed Eminem's own rise through Detroit's battle rap scene and earned him an Oscar for Best Original Song with "Lose Yourself".
Eminem skipped the Oscar ceremony and was asleep at home when "Lose Yourself" won, the first hip hop song to take the award.
Whose 2009 hit "Empire State of Mind", featuring Alicia Keys, became an anthem for New York City?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Jay-Z
"Empire State of Mind" from Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was his first chart-topping single as a lead artist.
Jay-Z grew up in the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn and co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records to release his 1996 debut Reasonable Doubt.
Which group released Straight Outta Compton in 1988, with Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E among its members?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
N.W.A
N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton defined gangsta rap, sold millions with almost no radio play and drew a warning letter from the FBI over the track "F*** tha Police".
The 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton starred Ice Cube's son O'Shea Jackson Jr. as his father.
In which city was Tupac Shakur fatally shot in September 1996?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Las Vegas
Tupac was shot in a drive-by on the Las Vegas Strip on September 7, 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand, and died six days later at the age of 25.
His album All Eyez on Me, released seven months earlier, was one of the first double albums in hip hop history.
Which group teamed up with Aerosmith for the 1986 rap-rock hit "Walk This Way"?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Run-DMC
Producer Rick Rubin paired Run-DMC with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry for a remake of Aerosmith's 1975 song, and the video of the two groups breaking through a wall became an MTV staple.
The collaboration revived Aerosmith's career and helped make Raising Hell the first hip hop album to go platinum.
What was the title of The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1994 debut album?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Ready to Die
Ready to Die, released on Bad Boy Records in September 1994, introduced Biggie's storytelling on "Juicy" and "Big Poppa" and is routinely ranked among the greatest rap albums ever made.
Life After Death, his double album sequel, was released in March 1997, just 16 days after he was killed in Los Angeles.
Which producer released The Chronic in 1992, introducing the world to Snoop Dogg?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre's first solo album The Chronic, released on Death Row Records, built the laid-back G-funk sound from Parliament-Funkadelic samples and featured a young Snoop Dogg on "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang".
Dre later launched Eminem, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar, and sold Beats Electronics to Apple for $3 billion in 2014.
Which Southern city do Outkast, the duo of André 3000 and Big Boi, come from?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Atlanta
Outkast formed in Atlanta's East Point in 1992 and put the city on the hip hop map with ATLiens and Aquemini before Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won Album of the Year at the Grammys.
Their 2003 single "Hey Ya!" spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Which 2004 album was Kanye West's debut, featuring "Jesus Walks" and "Through the Wire"?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The College Dropout
The College Dropout, released in February 2004, won the Grammy for Best Rap Album and established West, until then known as a producer for Jay-Z, as a star in his own right.
He recorded "Through the Wire" with his jaw wired shut after a near-fatal car crash in October 2002.
Which Public Enemy song did Spike Lee commission as the musical theme for Do the Right Thing (1989)?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Fight the Power
"Fight the Power" plays throughout Do the Right Thing, blasting from Radio Raheem's boombox, and Public Enemy wrote it specifically at Spike Lee's request for the film.
The song's attack on Elvis Presley and John Wayne was later ranked No. 2 on Rolling Stone's 2021 list of the greatest songs of all time.
Which rapper became the first musician outside classical and jazz to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, for DAMN. in 2018?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Kendrick Lamar
The Pulitzer board awarded Kendrick Lamar the 2018 prize for DAMN., describing it as a virtuosic song collection capturing the complexity of modern African American life.
In February 2025 he headlined the Super Bowl LIX halftime show, days after "Not Like Us" won five Grammys including Record and Song of the Year.
Which artist's 1998 debut solo album became the first hip hop album to win the Grammy for Album of the Year?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Lauryn Hill
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill won Album of the Year at the 1999 Grammys, part of a five-award night for the former Fugees member that set a record for a female artist at the time.
Hill never released a second studio album, and no other hip hop record won Album of the Year until Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2004.
Which act became the first hip hop group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 2007?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, whose 1982 single "The Message" brought social commentary to rap, were inducted by Jay-Z in 2007, ahead of Run-DMC in 2009.
Grandmaster Flash pioneered DJ techniques such as backspinning and punch phrasing, laying the foundation for turntablism.
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All Entertainment quizzes →About the Hip Hop Quiz
Hip hop began at a back-to-school party in the Bronx in 1973 and grew into the most streamed genre in the world. Along the way it gave us "Rapper's Delight", Run-DMC's sneakers, the East Coast versus West Coast feud and, in 2018, the first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded to a rapper.
These 15 questions span five decades: the Sugarhill Gang, N.W.A, Tupac and Biggie, Dr. Dre's Death Row years, Outkast's Atlanta, Kanye West's debut and the first hip hop album to win the Grammy for Album of the Year. Casual listeners should get the openers, while heads who know their Furious Five from their Soulsonic Force will enjoy the final stretch.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
Where did hip hop start?
Hip hop is widely traced to a party on August 11, 1973, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, where DJ Kool Herc extended the instrumental breaks of funk records.
Which rapper won a Pulitzer Prize?
Kendrick Lamar won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his album DAMN., the first winner from outside classical music and jazz.
Does this quiz cover old school and modern rap?
Yes. It runs from the 1970s pioneers through the golden age of the 1980s and 1990s to 2000s stars and recent award winners.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- Hip hop is widely said to have been born at a 1973 party in which New York City borough?
The Bronx DJ Kool Herc's back-to-school party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx on August 11, 1973, is celebrated as hip hop's birthplace, where he extended drum breaks for dancers. Herc, born Clive Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica, called his technique the merry-go-round, switching between two copies of the same record. - Which group's 1979 single "Rapper's Delight" brought hip hop to radio audiences around the world?
The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang recorded "Rapper's Delight" over the groove of Chic's "Good Times" for Sylvia Robinson's Sugar Hill Records, and it became the first rap record to reach the US top 40. The full version runs almost 15 minutes, and Chic's Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards received songwriting credits after threatening to sue. - Which 2002 film starred Eminem as a Detroit rapper known as B-Rabbit?
8 Mile 8 Mile, directed by Curtis Hanson, loosely followed Eminem's own rise through Detroit's battle rap scene and earned him an Oscar for Best Original Song with "Lose Yourself". Eminem skipped the Oscar ceremony and was asleep at home when "Lose Yourself" won, the first hip hop song to take the award. - Whose 2009 hit "Empire State of Mind", featuring Alicia Keys, became an anthem for New York City?
Jay-Z "Empire State of Mind" from Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was his first chart-topping single as a lead artist. Jay-Z grew up in the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn and co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records to release his 1996 debut Reasonable Doubt. - Which group released Straight Outta Compton in 1988, with Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E among its members?
N.W.A N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton defined gangsta rap, sold millions with almost no radio play and drew a warning letter from the FBI over the track "F*** tha Police". The 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton starred Ice Cube's son O'Shea Jackson Jr. as his father. - In which city was Tupac Shakur fatally shot in September 1996?
Las Vegas Tupac was shot in a drive-by on the Las Vegas Strip on September 7, 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand, and died six days later at the age of 25. His album All Eyez on Me, released seven months earlier, was one of the first double albums in hip hop history. - Which group teamed up with Aerosmith for the 1986 rap-rock hit "Walk This Way"?
Run-DMC Producer Rick Rubin paired Run-DMC with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry for a remake of Aerosmith's 1975 song, and the video of the two groups breaking through a wall became an MTV staple. The collaboration revived Aerosmith's career and helped make Raising Hell the first hip hop album to go platinum. - What was the title of The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1994 debut album?
Ready to Die Ready to Die, released on Bad Boy Records in September 1994, introduced Biggie's storytelling on "Juicy" and "Big Poppa" and is routinely ranked among the greatest rap albums ever made. Life After Death, his double album sequel, was released in March 1997, just 16 days after he was killed in Los Angeles. - Which producer released The Chronic in 1992, introducing the world to Snoop Dogg?
Dr. Dre Dr. Dre's first solo album The Chronic, released on Death Row Records, built the laid-back G-funk sound from Parliament-Funkadelic samples and featured a young Snoop Dogg on "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang". Dre later launched Eminem, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar, and sold Beats Electronics to Apple for $3 billion in 2014. - Which Southern city do Outkast, the duo of André 3000 and Big Boi, come from?
Atlanta Outkast formed in Atlanta's East Point in 1992 and put the city on the hip hop map with ATLiens and Aquemini before Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won Album of the Year at the Grammys. Their 2003 single "Hey Ya!" spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. - Which 2004 album was Kanye West's debut, featuring "Jesus Walks" and "Through the Wire"?
The College Dropout The College Dropout, released in February 2004, won the Grammy for Best Rap Album and established West, until then known as a producer for Jay-Z, as a star in his own right. He recorded "Through the Wire" with his jaw wired shut after a near-fatal car crash in October 2002. - Which Public Enemy song did Spike Lee commission as the musical theme for Do the Right Thing (1989)?
Fight the Power "Fight the Power" plays throughout Do the Right Thing, blasting from Radio Raheem's boombox, and Public Enemy wrote it specifically at Spike Lee's request for the film. The song's attack on Elvis Presley and John Wayne was later ranked No. 2 on Rolling Stone's 2021 list of the greatest songs of all time. - Which rapper became the first musician outside classical and jazz to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, for DAMN. in 2018?
Kendrick Lamar The Pulitzer board awarded Kendrick Lamar the 2018 prize for DAMN., describing it as a virtuosic song collection capturing the complexity of modern African American life. In February 2025 he headlined the Super Bowl LIX halftime show, days after "Not Like Us" won five Grammys including Record and Song of the Year. - Which artist's 1998 debut solo album became the first hip hop album to win the Grammy for Album of the Year?
Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill won Album of the Year at the 1999 Grammys, part of a five-award night for the former Fugees member that set a record for a female artist at the time. Hill never released a second studio album, and no other hip hop record won Album of the Year until Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2004. - Which act became the first hip hop group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 2007?
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, whose 1982 single "The Message" brought social commentary to rap, were inducted by Jay-Z in 2007, ahead of Run-DMC in 2009. Grandmaster Flash pioneered DJ techniques such as backspinning and punch phrasing, laying the foundation for turntablism.
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