Photos Of Your Favorite Hip-Hop Artists Before They Were Famous

Still dream of boomboxes and Walkmen? Wish your Saturday sweats were a bit more baller? The Museum of the City of New York has an awesome new exhibit for you — get ready to get retro. 

Hip Hop Revolution features over 80 vintage photos by photographers Janette Beckman, Joe Conzo, and Martha Cooper, all of whom played an integral role in documenting the birth of hip-hop music in the 1980s and '90s in New York City. "Put together, their work traces the movement from nascent youth subculture to mainstream phenomenon," curator Sean Corcoran writes of the exhibit, where hip-hop listening stations are set up alongside old-school images of Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Busta Rhymes and more, so visitors can rock out to the likes of Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys while soaking in a hefty dose of nostalgia. 

It's the ultimate homage to self-expression, and the perfect tribute to a music genre born on the streets of NYC. Next time you catch yourself singing ,"Ah, push it, p-push it real good!" mid-spin class, you'll know it's not just because of Geico. 

Hip Hop Revolution is on display through September 13 at The Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue (between East 103rd and 104th streets); 212-534-1672.