Remy Martin Presents The 10 – Hip Hop’s Biggest Milestones

In its nearly 50 years of existence, hip-hop has had a rich history of breaking barriers and achieving excellence, many times against all odds. In celebration of Black History Month, XXL is collaborating with Rémy Martin to look back on 10 of the biggest hip-hop benchmarks in music.

Over the next month, XXL and Rémy Martin will raise a glass and toast these breakthrough moments as they are discussed by our team of hip-hop industry heavyweights including host DJ Suss One, and XXL Awards Board members Kendell “Sav” Freeman, Vice President/Co-Head of Urban Music at Arista Records; Sydney Margetson, Senior Vice President of Publicity at Atlantic Records; and Traci Adams, Executive Vice President of Promotion at Epic Records.

There are many important occasions to choose from throughout hip-hop history. A mix of precedent-setting achievements and culture-shifting moments were selected including DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince becoming the first rappers to win a Grammy in 1989, Da Brat’s Funkdafied album becoming the first album from a solo female rapper to go platinum in 1994, DMX releasing two No. 1 albums in the same year in 1998, Lauryn Hill winning five out of 10 nominations at the Grammy Awards in 1999, Queen Latifah becoming the first rapper to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious five becoming the first rappers to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, Dr. Dre selling Beats to Apple for $3 billion in 2014, Nicki Minaj surpassing Aretha Franklin’s record for the most Billboard Hot 100 hits by a female artist in 2017, Jay-Z becoming the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017, and Kendrick Lamar winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2018.

Important milestones in hip-hop like this deserve recognition for years to come. As part of Black History Month, Rémy Martin and XXL will be making a donation to Black Music Action Coalition, an advocacy organization that was formed to addresses systemic racism within the music industry and reaches racial justice throughout society at large. Rémy Martin and XXL will match every additional dollar donated to BMAC during Black History Month.*

Watch a preview of DJ Suss One, Kendell “Sav” Freeman, Sydney Margetson and Traci Adams discussing 10 of hip-hop’s biggest milestones in music history.

This editorial advertisement is presented by Rémy Martin.

*Rémy Martin to match donations up to $50K, XXL to match donations up to $10K.