Hip Hop celebrates its 50th anniversary on August 11 and Pop Shop Guide pays homage to hip hop in Funko Pop! vinyl style.
Celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop in Funko Pop! vinyl style.
Tomorrow marks hip hop’s 50th anniversary and it’s been 50 years since DJ Kool Herc sparked a cultural movement behind the turntables at a house party in the Bronx.
A cultural movement called hip hop, which, in addition to hip hop music with DJs, MCs and dancers, gave birth to a complete lifestyle. The party on August 11, 1973, with the musical arts of DJ Kool Herc, will be remembered as the birth of hip hop.
By 1979, hip hop music had become a mainstream genre, the year in which the general public became familiar with Rapper’s Delight, a hip hop record by hip hop group the Sugarhill Gang. Rapper’s Delight is credited by many as the first official hip hop record and for introducing hip hop music to a wide audience, reaching the top 40 in the United States.
However, there is much controversy surrounding this recognition as there are several artists and claimants for the title of first mainstream hip hop record.
But after Rapper’s Delight, mainstream audiences are treated to years of hip hop music. The genre that originated in New York quickly spread across the rest of America, creating several subgenres of hip hop, each with its own unique sound.
Hip hop has gone through different eras over the past fifty years, such as old-school hip hop and new-school hip hop, with music from different subgenres such as East Coast, West Coast and Southern hip hop. And fifty years of hip hop have spawned countless artists, with hip hop icons or legends from every era and subgenre.
Hip hop has evolved over the past fifty years and its music and culture have become an integral part of the pop culture world.
The music genre that originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre in New York’s poor African-American neighborhoods has grown into a global cultural movement and is today a multi-billion dollar business.
Fifty years of hip hop can also be seen in the world of Funko, the pop culture collectibles company from Seattle, Washington.
Over the years, several hip hop artists have received a Funko Pop! makeover and have been released as Funko Pop! vinyl figures in the Funko Pop! Rocks series, the Funko Pop! series dedicated to music artists.
Hip hop artists such as Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DMX, Lil Wayne, Sir Mix-A-Lot and B-Real have all made appearances in the Funko Pop! Rocks series. Of course, the hip hop group Run DMC, with members Run, DMC and Jam Master Jay, should not be missing in the hip hop section of the Funko Pop! Rocks series.
Run DMC is an old acquaintance of the Funko Pop! Rocks series and the hip hop group was among the first artists to be released as Funko Pop! vinyl figures in the series.
In addition to releasing hip hop Funko Pop! vinyl figures in the Funko Pop! Rocks series, Funko has given classic hip hop albums a Funko Pop! makeover as part of the Funko Pop! Albums series.
The Funko Pop! Albums series is a combination of a Funko Pop! vinyl figure, pre-packaged in a hard premium protective case. The protective case is decorated with album cover artwork and the case features a Funko Pop! vinyl figure representing the likeness of the album cover.
The Funko Pop! Albums can be easily hung on the wall. The approximate dimensions of the protective case: 8.75”W x 8.75”H x 3.75”D (W 21.8 cm x H 22.8 cm x D 8.4 cm).
Pop Shop Guide has put together a complete overview, both a gallery and a checklist, of all released hip hop Funko Pop! Rocks and Albums figures. Funko has included many hip hop legends in the Funko Pop! Rocks series, despite the lack of many big hip hop names.
Click here for the complete collection and guide of Hip Hop Funko Pop! Rocks and Albums figures.
Click here for the complete collection and guide of Funko Pop! vinyl Albums figures.
Click here for the complete collection and guide of Funko Pop! vinyl Rocks figures.
