This rather pointed use of the Destiny’s Child song reiterates Common’s point that Drizzy has thus far left Common’s name unmentioned, thus leaving the war on wax at a subliminal level

Then again, Jerry Heller’s name was never mentioned on “No Vaseline”, and everyone still managed to figure out that it was about a “white boy” whose name rhymed with “ready teller”

Star 1980’s and 90’s multi-sport athlete Bo Jackson was involved in one of Nike’s most successful ad campaigns of all time, the famed “Bo Knows” series of ads featuring tons of celebrities including, most memorably, rock and roll legend Bo Diddley. Nike’s age-old corporate slogan is, of course, “Just do it”. See the first and most famous “Bo Knows” ad below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjpSH8qJ7c4

“Spunt” definitely belongs in hip-hop’s pantheon of made-up words, right there with conversate

See this note for the story of Joseph “Grandmaster Flash” Saddler

See here for info about Clive “DJ Kool Herc” Campbell, the originator (as much as any one person can be said to be) of hip-hop

Afrika Bambaataa is a DJ and producer who was extremely influential in the early days of hip-hop. In addition to basically inventing electro with his early mind-bending music, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member created the Universal Zulu Nation out of the ashes of the dangerous Black Spades gang, thereby doing perhaps more than anybody alive to battle NYC’s then-rampant street gang problem

The Funky Four Plus One was a Bronx-based rap group that was the first group to get a record deal, and released their debut single in 1979. They were also perhaps the first group to have a female MC – the “plus one” was Sha-Rock, who bills herself, with reason, as “the first female MC”. They also were the first rap group to appear on late-night TV, as they got put on Saturday Night Live in 1981, thanks to the band Blondie, who recruited the group. See the performance here

The Jazzy Five had a smash hit with their 1981 song “Jazzy Sensation”, a rap re-working of Gwen McCrae’s then-hit song “Funky Sensation”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mkShRCTQR0

The Force MCs later became known as the Force MDs – short for “musical diversity”. They were one of the earliest groups to mix singing, rapping, and beatboxing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=260MTsBNfRQ