How 'Yo! MTV Raps' helped mainstream hip-hop

By Juana Summers,

Noah Caldwell, Patrick Jarenwattananon

Published August 9, 2023 at 4:30 PM EDT

Edo.G performs during the <em>YO! MTV Raps</em> 30th Anniversary Live Event in New York City in 2018. — Edo.G performs during the *YO! MTV Raps* 30th Anniversary Live Event in New York City in 2018.

The MTV show Yo! MTV Raps helped bring hip-hop into mainstream American culture in the 1980s and was made by a scrappy team in the face of a skeptical corporate network.

Juana Summers

Juana Summers is a co-host of NPR's All Things Considered, alongside Ailsa Chang, Ari Shapiro and Mary Louise Kelly. She joined All Things Considered in June 2022.

Noah Caldwell

Patrick Jarenwattananon

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