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How 'Yo! MTV Raps' helped mainstream hip-hop

Edo.G performs during the <em>YO! MTV Raps</em> 30th Anniversary Live Event in New York City in 2018.
Nicholas Hunt
/
Getty Images
Edo.G performs during the YO! MTV Raps 30th Anniversary Live Event in New York City in 2018.

The MTV show Yo! MTV Raps helped bring hip-hop into mainstream American culture in the 1980s and was made by a scrappy team in the face of a skeptical corporate network.

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Juana Summers is a political correspondent for NPR covering race, justice and politics. She has covered politics since 2010 for publications including Politico, CNN and The Associated Press. She got her start in public radio at KBIA in Columbia, Mo., and also previously covered Congress for NPR.
Noah Caldwell
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
Patrick Jarenwattananon
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
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