Her university’s vast collection of albums, scholarly essays and other ephemera helped establish rap as a course of serious study on a par with classical music. By Alex Williams When Marcyliena H.

The birth of the art form that became hip-hop is traced back, in music legend, to a party in the South Bronx, some 50 years ago. DJ Kool Herc spun his turntables on August 11, 1973, introducing a now ...