Hip-Hop originated in 1973 from a legendary block party in South Bronx and grew to become what is now a worldwide culture. Unsurprisingly, the biggest global audience for hip-hop music is found in the United States. The genre is so popular that in 2019, 52% of the top 100 most streamed songs were hip-hop. Virtually every country has some kind of local variation of hip-hop with its own characteristics built from the genre's American foundation in the early 1980s to the present. As we celebrate a half-century of hip-hop culture we must also celebrate its spread around the world and its’ effects to the various cultures it has influenced.

AFRICA…Hip-hop came to Africa as dance music with DJs in the 80s but became rap as we recognize it now in the early 90s with Nigerian artists Junior and Pretty who infused local languages into their music. Then once hip-hop started playing on tv and radios, young people all over the country started getting into it and it began popping up in essentially every city. It is now such an integral part of Nigerian culture, that when searching Nigerian hip-hop there are multiple websites made by and for Nigerian hip-hop fans. Hip-hop took root mostly in Lagos, the country's capital, when Nigeria was under oppressive military control. The genre then became used as an outlet for these experiences. Uganda and Ghana also have flourishing hip-hop cultures which is indicative of every African state which all have active hip-hip influences.

Europe…France is the second-largest market for hip-hop in the world behind only the United States, so it is no surprise that French hip-hop takes a form of its own. French rappers share similar pains of growing up in impoverished, urban areas with gang culture that face racism and other forms of oppression. The adaptation of hip-hop to speak to struggle has been carried out by and large by the minority group that faces the most oppression in France: Muslim people. This makes the content of French rap incredibly similar to its American counterpart, where African Americans have used hip-hop platforms to speak out politically about their societal positioning since the genre's inception. 

Politically conscious content is often produced by artists in the South of France, particularly from the city of Marseilles. In the north rappers often directly confront themes of drugs, gangs, and poverty. In addition to speaking out about oppression as well as struggles, the easy-going, boisterous, and flaunting themes of money, sex, and status are also featured in french hip-hop. Additionally, French hip-hop has a noticeable amount of African influence (emphasis on bass and drums with upbeat dance music) due to their large Sub-Saharan African immigrant population. Because of this, African French rappers will often discuss their struggles with invisibility within french society. Regardless of the heavy influence of American culture on French hip-hop, the lyrics are mainly in French. Often the only English in their songs are swear words or simply the song's title.

United Kingdom…Hip-hop in the United Kingdom is startlingly different from American hip-hop regardless of them both being performed entirely in English. A clear, immediate distinction between Americans and Britons is their difference in accent. UK hip-hop consistently features a heavy British accent, which contrasts heavily with mainstream expectations of British singing (that audibly isn't much different from American singing). This heavy accent is a key part of the genre, so much so that a sub-genre of UK hip-hop called grime is distinguishable purely by the thickness of this accent. In tandem with the thick accent, the bass in British hip-hop is central to the music and incredibly heavy. 

Using these few examples it is easy to extrapolate the effects of hip-hop culture thruout the rest of the world. 

What began as an American creation has touched every continent. And this article deals only with the influence of hip-hop music. Addressing the other components of hip-hop culture and their worldwide impact would require a whole separate article.

So as we begin hip-hops’ 50th celebration let us not forget the other cultures around the world that have embraced this uniquely American creation…The celebration should be and must be ‘WORLDWIDE’…PEACE