
It’s the question that pits borough against borough.
Nearly four decades after the first deejays mixed beats on turntables and created a revolutionary new sound, Brooklyn and Queens both lay claim to the title of Hip-Hop Capital.Not so fast, say Brooklynites on the other side of the good-natured dispute, who point to the dominance of rap impresario Jay-Z and the staying power of the Notorious B.I.G., still selling albums more than a decade after his death.
“Brooklyn brought you Biggie and Jay-Z. End of discussion,” said Bedford-Stuyvesant native Josh Carr, 35. “Sorry, Queens, you aren’t on our level.”
New York’s hip-hop rivalry stretches back to the early ‘80s, when MC Shan’s song “The Bridge” — about hip hop’s roots in Queensbridge — prompted rapper KRS-One to attack Shan in the song “South Bronx.”
While the Bronx is most often credited as the birthplace of rap, Queens spawned a slew of early pioneers, such as Run DMC, and continues turning out industry leaders, including Nas.