Arguably one of the most mainstream music styles today, rap was in fact born centuries ago in West Africa with historians or 'griots' who used to tell stories of the past over the beat of a drum. But it wasn't until the 1970s in New York that rapping as we know it was born and began to flourish. 50 Rappers Who Changed the World profiles some of the genre's biggest influencers, from the 1970s until the present day. 

Join us as we host author, Candace McDuffie for a conversation with Justin McCarthy, an educator and scholar interested in African-American Literature and Hip-Hop Studies, about her research, her writing process and where she foresees hip-hop will take us next.  

Candace McDuffie is a respected cultural critic and music journalist who focuses on the intersection of race, gender and entertainment. Her written work has been featured on a plethora of digital platforms such as: Rolling Stone, MTV, Forbes, Grammy.com, Paper Mag, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Vibe, Tidal, Marie Claire, The Christian Science Monitor and Boston Magazine. McDuffie has appeared as a commentator on BBC World Service: World Business Report and the Boston based Indie617 Radio Show. As a public speaker, she has given talks and moderated panels at an array of conferences, schools and cultural events including: Black Communities Conference, Boston Book Festival, Writer's Digest Annual Conference and The Muse and The Marketplace. She currently resides in Boston and works as a preschool teacher.