Public Enemy rewrote the rules of hip-hop, becoming the most influential and controversial rap group of the late '80s and, for many, the definitive rap group of all time. Building from Run-D.M.C.'s street-oriented beats and Boogie Down Productions' proto-gangsta rhyming, Public Enemy pioneere

On the surface, the sample-reliant productions and monotone rapping styles of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith had little to recommend them, but the duo's recordings as EPMD were among the best in hip-hop's underground during

Whodini was among the very first hip-hop groups to cultivate a high-profile national following for hip-hop music and made significant inroads on Urban radio. As they were contemporaries of other hip-hop groups such as the Fat Boys, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five and Afrika Bambaataa, they

Old school Long Island rap group with connections to Public Enemy. This Long Island based group consisted of brothers Cracker Jay (Montez Johnson) and Double "Half Dead" D (Onzora Johnson). E.Z. Breeze (John Alford) from Hempstead, DJ Johnny Juice (John Rosado) from