YouTube’s cultural campaign ‘FIFTY DEEP’ marks half a century of hip-hop, with a whole host of content over the coming weeks.

Originating in the Bronx in 1973, this year marks fifty years since the birth of hip-hop. Today almost all of hip-hops biggest moments live on YouTube, along with a whole host of content to compliment the experience, such as interviews, podcasts, commentary, live peformances and much more.

Hip-hop is bigger than ever around the world. Last year nine of the top ten artists in the US were hip-hop artists, with them collectively earning over 16 billion views globally.

Celebrating hip-hops evolution over the years, YouTube launches FIFTY DEEP. Starting on August 11 and running through the fall, the program hopes to be an archival treasury that every generation can dig into.

A great place to start is the new ’50 Deep’ playlist on YouTube Music. The playlist highlights 50 of the most-important hip-hop songs over the years, from The Sugarhill Gang to Ice Spice. Here’s what else hip-hop fans can look forward to on YouTube:

  • FIFTY DEEP Library: FIFTY DEEP will spotlight two thousand Hip Hop videos that have changed the game. These videos will appear in YouTube Music playlists like Fifty Deep, Fashion Killas, Sunny Daze, Its The Remix, Street Code and more, giving fans of every generation a chance to reminisce and discover music videos and songs they love plus others they may not have seen or heard before. More details on this coming soon!
  • Type Beats Yoodle: On August 11, the YouTube homepage will feature a custom logo paying homage to the world of “Type Beats” where producers craft future hits and major artists seek inspiration. Just do a search for “Drake-Type Beats” or “Lil Baby-Type Beats” and see how many dope instrumentals you get. So many hit songs like Lil Nas X “Old Town Road”, J. Cole “Procrastination”, Pop Smoke “Welcome To The Party”, and Meek Mill’’s “I’m A Boss” all have origins from “type beats” found on YouTube. That same day, fans will be treated to a deep dive on YouTube’s Like & Describe Podcast with host MatPat, with both myself and Curtiss King as guests discussing the type beats phenomenon and its history.
  • Hip Hop 50 Live @ Yankee Stadium: On the evening of August 11, YouTube will exclusively stream Hip Hop 50 Live at Yankee Stadium on Mass Appeal’s official channel, presented by Google Pixel. The star studded concert will include performances from Run DMC, Lil Wayne, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Lil’ Kim, Cam’ron, Common, Fat Joe, Ghostface Killah, Lupe Fiasco, Remy Ma, Slick Rick, Wiz Khalifa, T.I., Trina and so many more iconic artists. Set your reminders now, you don’t want to miss it!
  • YouTube Avenues: Our grassroots education program with Wallo267 is back and a special section dedicated to the music discovery of FIFTY DEEP’s Library will be on hand. This year we are visiting Atlanta, New Orleans, Baltimore, Raleigh/Durham & Miami.
  • Google Arts & Culture Hip Hop Hub: Our FIFTY DEEP music collection will be part of Google Arts & Culture’s new hub, which will feature a wide range of cultural institutions’ collections and curated stories.

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