'Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared.'

'Live a life so when I die, there's standing room only.'

- Tim McGraw (1967-present)

'Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet.'

-Author and poet Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929)

'Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.'

- Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)

'Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.'

- Maya Angelou

'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.'

-Poet Robert Frost (1874-1963)

'Life's short. Anything could happen, and it usually does, so there is no point in sitting around thinking about all the ifs, ands, and buts.'

After the death of jazz legend Charlie Parker, Beat Generation poet and artist Ted Joans adorned New York's walls with some of its earliest graffiti that read 'Bird lives!'

'If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time.'

- Activist Dorothy Height (1912-2010)

Andy Warhol's presence continues to persist in pop culture

Warhol produced iconic album art for The Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground. He also inspired rappers Jay-Z and Tyler, the Creator. Warhol’s immense influence on art and pop culture elevated him to celebrity status, and his identity and style continue to be referenced in sometimes unexpected corners of cultural consciousness.

A quote by Magic Johnson

"Celebrate the life you had, not the life you could've had."

Champagne has a rich history in hip-hop

The drink is both aspirational and a bragging right. Famous artists name-check brands like Cristal, and up-and-comers long for the day when sparkling wine will flow like water. The trend traces back to the early 1990s and Branson B., “hip-hop’s unofficial sommelier.” The Harlem-based artist would bring bottles of his favorite bubbly to parties, celebrations, and, crucially, recording studios, where friends like the Notorious B.I.G. were laying down some of rap’s foundational tracks.

'At every moment, we always have a choice, even if it feels as if we don’t. Sometimes that choice may simply be to think a more positive thought.'

- Singer Tina Turner (1993–2023)

'The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts.'

- Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

'I've come to the conclusion that life is for the taking and just too short to dwell on the negative.'

- Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan (1971-2018)

'All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate … I choose love.'

-Johnny Cash (1932-2003)

'You don't get to choose how you're going to die or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.'

- Musician and activist Joan Baez (1941-present)

'A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.'

- Jackie Robinson, the first Black MLB player (1919-1972)

'Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.'

- Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968)

'And I knew that it was better to live out one's absurdity than to die for that of others.'

-Ralph Ellison, from "Invisible Man" (1913-1994)

Kendrick Lamar won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, a milestone for hip-hop

The acclaimed rapper won for his 2017 album “DAMN.,” which includes sonic nods to the culture’s long history and lyrics that grapple with its complications. Critics noted that the award suggested hip-hop had been welcomed into the upper echelons of the art establishment.

Graffiti became an integral part of hip-hop culture

The visual art form began taking off in New York alongside the music of hip-hop. Both were postmodern forms of art that repurposed preexisting materials. For graffiti, that was by using the city as canvas. For rap, that was through sampling. This retrospective not only shows how the two forms intersected, but also how the public perception of both changed over time.

A dissenting take on Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer win

Not everyone thought Lamar's historic Pulitzer win was a good thing—even his own fans. Writer and hip-hop aficionado Ismail Muhammad lays out the case for why "DAMN." deserved the award, but the Pulitzers don't deserve praise for giving it. Was the decision more about the organization's image than the work itself? See if Muhammad's argument convinces you. (Paywall may apply.)

'We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.'

- President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024)

'I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning ... Every day I find something creative to do with my life.'

- Miles Davis (1926-1991)

Read the New York Times profile of TAKI 183

The 1971 article about the young graffiti artist and his many acolytes exposed the burgeoning subculture to a large audience and also detailed the effort to clean the work from the city's walls. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

'Heroes always have their scars. Some you can see, some you read about later on.'

- Boxer George Foreman (1949 - 2025)

Music was a profound inspiration for Basquiat

The prolific artist loved music, obsessing over David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, and numerous jazz figures. Many of his favorites appeared in his paintings, creating a body of work that also acts as a glossary of influences. Below is a 1984 portrait of Max Roach, the jazz drummer. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

'I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot ... The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.'

- Author Jack London (1876 - 1916)

TAKI 183 was a teenager whose graffiti drew widespread attention

Inspired by graffiti he saw throughout the city—including some tags he saw as early as 1964—the 16-year-old began tagging surfaces with "TAKI 183," a reference to a Greek nickname for Demetrius and his street (183rd) in Washington Heights. After a 1971 New York Times profile, his tag—and graffiti culture in New York—exploded.

Explore a list of hip-hop's all-time greatest diss tracks, including songs by 2Pac, Nas, Kendrick Lamar, and more.

'Voices ought not be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.'

- Iconic singer Sam Cooke (1931–1964)

'Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold.'

-Reggae pioneer Bob Marley (1945-1981)

'All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.'

- "The Lord of the Rings" author JRR Tolkien (1892-1973)

'One man can make a difference and every man should try.'

- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’ set the template for hip-hop composition

This 1982 single is one of the most recognizable beats in hip-hop history, thanks to some inspiration from popular disco and new wave records. The song’s bigger contribution, though, is that it pushed lyrics front and center, turning the rapper from a party-rocking master of ceremonies into a truth-telling MC.

‘Leaves of Grass’ remains relevant to American identity 170 years later

Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is over 170 years old, but many say its poems are as relevant as ever. This podcast unpacks how Whitman constructed a dynamic, original text that would transcend his time and inspire generations of poets.

'The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.'

- Boxing champion Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)

'It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.'

- Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali (1942–2016)

Chris Lighty represented some of New York's biggest rappers

Lighty founded Violator—a record label and management firm—in 1996 and went on to represent Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, 50 Cent and others. In 2012, he was found dead on the patio of his apartment. The death was ruled a suicide, though many close to Lighty believed otherwise.

New York named a street after Basquiat in 2025

The influential pop artist made his name (and developed his unique graffiti-inflected style) in the city's East Village. In 2025, the city added his name to one of the neighborhood's streets in his honor. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ introduced hip-hop to the masses

While it’s not technically the first hip-hop song set to record—that’s Fatback Band’s “King Tim III (Personality Jock)”—1979’s ”Rapper’s Delight” is the song that proved rap was worth putting on wax and introducing the music to a broader audience by reaching the US top 40.

Sylvia Robinson is considered ‘the Godmother of Hip-Hop’

While hip-hop was soundtracking countless parties in the early ‘70s, Robinson saw the music’s potential. She began writing, producing, and releasing some of the music’s earliest singles through her Sugar Hill Records label and helped build a place in the music industry for the young music. Robinson’s groundbreaking work led to a 2022 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

'Do something you really like, and hopefully it pays the rent. As far as I'm concerned, that's success.'

- Musician Tom Petty (1950–2017)

'Keep working on a plan. Make no little plans. Make the biggest one you can think of, and spend the rest of your life carrying it out.'

- President Harry Truman (1884-1972)

'I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.'

- "Superman" actor Christopher Reeve (1952 - 2004)

One graffiti artist turned a train tunnel into his gallery

Chris Pape, also known as Freedom, began exploring a tunnel under Manhattan's Riverside Park when he was a kid. As he grew more involved with graffiti, he turned its walls into a massive art project, one that reflected both the history of graffiti and the people who made the tunnel their home.

A quote by athlete Walter Payton

"When you're good at something, you'll tell everyone. When you're great at something, they'll tell you."

'In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it.'

- Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen (1953–2018)

Kendrick Lamar's breakthrough concept album was inspired by real events

The rapper's 2012 album "good kid, m.A.A.d city" follows a young, impressionable protagonist who unwittingly becomes associated with a series of crimes. As this episode of the "Disgraceland" podcast explains, Lamar's album may be nonlinear and impressionistic, but it's based on autobiographical elements.

'The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.'

- American musician BB King (1925-2015)