At a party on August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc played two copies of the same record, so he could loop the beats and play them off each other. And so hip-hop was born.

Fast-forward 50 years and hip-hop is one of the most popular music genres in the U.S. — quite a journey for words and sounds that many wanted outlawed in the early days.

Celebrate with some of the best hip-hop albums on vinyl from artists like Dr. Dre, Missy Elliot, Kendrick Lamar and many more.