1987
- Following the release of Boogie Down Productions’ Criminal Minded LP, Scott LaRock is shot and killed in the South Bronx while attempting to settle a dispute.
- Public Enemy stuns the world with their introductory album, Yo! Bum Rush The Show, signaling the genesis of politically-charged hip-hop.
- The original members of the group include Chuck D (Carlton Ridenhour), Flavor Flav (William Drayton), Professor Griff (Richard Griffin), and DJ Terminator X (Norman Rogers).
- After years of being neglected by the mainstream media, hip-hop gets its own show on MTV, "Yo! MTV Raps."
- N.W.A pioneers the gangsta rap movement with their gold album, Straight Outta Compton.
- Def Jam founders Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin part ways; Simmons opts for distribution through CBS/Columbia Records, while Rubin goes on to found Def American.
- Landmark album releases: Ultramagnetic MC’s – Critical Breakdown, and Big Daddy Kane – Long Live The Kane.
- After a life-long battle with crack addiction, Cowboy, a member of Grandmaster Flash’s Furious 5 dies at the age of 28.
- A group of high school friends join the Native Tongues as promoters of the Afrocentricity Movement to make African-Americans aware of their heritage.
- These Manhattan-based friends would later form A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife Dawg, and Jarobi).
