HERE'S 10 CLASSIC MOMENTS IN HIP HOP HISTORY

Last July, the U.S Senate unanimously passed Resolution 331 designating November as "Hip Hip History Month." We celebrate Hip Hop all day, everyday, at Elle Jones Media online but we're grateful for the formal acknowledgement. For 50 years, the genre of Hip Hop has been entertaining fans and changing the world. We've made a list of some the most classic moments in Hip Hop.

The Lox Vs. Dipset verzuz

The August 3rd verzuz battle between The Lox and Dipset is one of the greatest recent Hip Hop moments. Happening in NYC, the two iconic rap groups went hit for hit in front of fans at Madison Square Garden for a sold out event. Timbaland and Swizz Beatz's Verzuz platform has provided hip-hop culture with memorable moments from each battle, and this edition was no different. From Dipset’s fresh outfits dripping all over the stage to Jadakiss stealing the show with his microphone banter, the essence of New York City hip-hop was on full display. With trash talking, freestyles and nostaligic records playing all night, there's no debate why this has become a classic moment in Hip Hop history.

Suge Knight at The Source Awards

1995 was a crazy year in Hip Hop. East Coast vs West Coast beef was at an all time high and showed its head in New York City at The Source awards that year. After it was announced that his label won the award for motion soundtrack of the year, Suge Knight took advantage of his moment on stage to diss Diddy without calling him out by name. “Any artist out there that want to be an artist and stay a star, and don’t have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the record, dancing… come to Death Row!” Suge mocked Diddy for inserting his ad-libs on Bad Boy artists’ songs and "dancing" throughout the their videos. It also didn’t help that Snoop Dogg called out the East Coast when Dr. Dre was accepting his award for Producer of the Year: “Y’all don’t love us? Then let it be known then!”

Lauryn Hill's wins at the 1998 Grammys

At the 1998 Grammy awards, Lauryn Hill earned her first five career GRAMMYs as a solo artist for 1998, including Album Of The Year for The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill and Best New Artist. With her five solo GRAMMY wins for 1998, she became the FIRST woman to win five or more awards in a single night. The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill is also credited as the first hip-hop album to earn Album Of The Year. When winning her Grammy for best album, Ms. Hill said, "This is crazy because this is hip-hop music,″ and she was right. The Grammy awards has always recieved backlash for not only being outdated with the rubric they use but also unfair. Lauryn Hill's solo debut album crossed musical lines and established her as a force in the recording industry. Although reaching major success as a solo artist, Lauryn Hill never released an album again.

Watch The Throne, Jay-Z and Kanye West joint album

What a time to be alive! The Watch the Throne release was a pivotal moment in Hip Hop upon its release in 2011. Jay Z and his protege Kanye West have always had great energy in the studio and it all came full circle with this album. What started as a five-track EP idea, turned into 12 tracks including the lead single "Otis," which samples Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness," "H.A.M." and "N****s In Paris." "H.A.M" (Hard As a Motherf***er) really set the standard for a joint album as Ye's double entendre for his bar "That s**t cray" went on to impact pop culture forever and Hov's classic clever flow makes for great music. After spending a month in rotation, the album reached platinum status with over 5 million units sold. Over the course of two years after its release, the album was nominated for several Grammys including Best Rap Album but ultimately, "N****s In Paris" collected trophies in 2013 for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song while "No Church In The Wild" won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

Joe Budden Vs. Migos incident

Joe Budden made his official transition from rapper to media personality with his job on Complex's Everyday Struggle show. His views were always far left and his demanor appeared dominant, rarely starting the conversation but always ending it. At the 2017 BET awards, Budden met his match as him and the Everyday Struggle cast interviewed the Atlanta Migos.It all started when DJ Akademiks brought up the fact that Takeoff does not have a verse on the group’s biggest hit “Bad and Boujee,” claiming it’s a “running joke.” Takeoff was less than amused, replying, “You said I’m left off ‘Bad and Boujee?’ Does it look like I’m left off ‘Bad and Boujee?’” Co-host Joe Budden then said they had to wrap things up, dropped his mic and walked away. Migos stood up and there was a brief altercation before security stepped in. Things got extra spicy when Quavo & Lil Yachty’s “Ice Tray” officially dropped on the Quality Control: Control the Streets Vol. 1 compilation on Friday, December 8 2017. Both Quavo and Lil Yachty, via his very own Everyday Struggle argument with Budden, have a bone to pick with the Harlem rapper. In one line, Quavo very obviously throws shade at Joe Budden – “Ice tray, a n***a flooded / If a n***a hatin’ call him Joe Budden (pussy!),” he raps in the song snippet. The beef has since been squashed but the internet had a lot of fun with the memes at that time.

Lil Mama crashes Empire State of Mind performance

The year is 2009 and Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys is one of the biggest songs out. That's why their iconic 2009 VMAs was so special.. until Harlem rookie rapper Lil Mama unexpectedly jumped on stage to join the performance. In an interview with MTV News from 2009 Lil Mama revealed she went on stage because she was emotionally moved.

Three6Mafia win an Oscar

Sixteen years ago, the Memphis-spawned hip-hop group won Best Original Song in 2006 for the theme track from the Terrence Howard-starring film “Hustle & Flow,” “It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp.” The film, written directed by Memphis native Craig Brewer and produced by the late John Singleton (“Boys N the Hood,” “Poetic Justice”), still represents the high-water mark for street-level hip-hop at the Oscars. Eminem’s “8 Mile” won Best Song three years earlier, as did Common in 2015 (for “Glory,” which has an Oscar-friendly social-justice theme), but “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” is a complete surprise in Academy Awards history.

Jay-Z and Nas beef

The highly-publicized feud between Jay-Z and Nas is unique for a few reasons. For one, the feud seemingly came out of nowhere. Secondly, one of the diss tracks that sprouted up from the rappers’ beef revitalized Nas’ career. And finally, the feud between Nas and Jay-Z has since ended. From Jay-z "The Takeover" record to Nas' "Ether" response, this high level rap beef got ugly, but made for great music. In 2005, the two rappers officially ended their feud by performing together at the Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey. Just one year later, Nas would sign with Def Jam Recordings. Jay-Z was president of the label at the time of Nas’ signing so not only was the beef squashed but it was profited from too.

50 Cent Vs. Kanye West album sales

This "beef" was really fun and arguably the greatest example of trolling. In 2007, Kanye West squared off against New York rap heavyweight 50 Cent for the title of hip-hop alpha dog with their all-important third albums. 50 was coming off two great releases in 2003’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ and 2005’s The Massacre, which both topped the Billboard 200 and hosted a few Hot 100 hits. Named as one of hip-hop’s premier gangsta rappers, 50’s street aura and pop hooks helped him topple the competition. As for Ye, he came on the scene as a production great-turned-hit making artist, becoming a chart topping voice for the internet era with his debut album, 2004’s The College Dropout, and his even better sophomore effort, 2005’s Late Registration. With Kanye and 50 having two completely different styles and the industry fueling the fire, the crown was officially up for grabs when West bumped his release date from Sept. 18 to Sept. 11.

Drake Vs. Meek Mill 2015 beef

In July 2015, Meek Mill was riding high off the release of second album Dreams Worth More Than Money, which entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1. Upon the release of the project, Meek took to Twitter after being upset that Drake didn't support it on social media. His tweet kicked off a brief, heated feud between the two. "Stop comparing Drake to me too," Meek posted. "He don't write his own raps! That's why he ain't tweet my album because we found out!" Things got even more spicy when some claimed they knew just who was allegedly writing Drake's raps. The name that kept popping up was Atlanta artist Quentin Miller. By the end of the month, Drake took the fight into the booth, releasing the tracks "Charged Up" and "Back to Back" as an answer to the accusations. In these tracks, Drake says things like "Is that a world tour or your girl's tour?" as Meek Mill was on tour with his then girlfriend, Nicki Minaj. Clever punch lines like this and more, intensivified the beef as fans began picking sides. Meek responded in kind with the track "Wanna Know" - but by the end of the month, he'd removed the song from SoundCloud, indicating it was time for all to move on. "We really only focusing on making it out that's the only war we fighting," Meek wrote in a deleted Instagram post. "I'm not entertaining no rap/real beef over drake s/o a rapper!" The feud finally came to an official end in 2018. Drake referenced Meek's legal troubles with words of support at a show in Australia, and by the year's end, both men had reunited onstage and in the studio with dope records like "Going Bad."