Hip-hop has been a driving force behind the rise of Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurship.

There's no denying the enormous impact hip-hop culture has had on the world over the past 50 years. It all began with Run DMC and Adidas, which became a must-have apparel for b-boys and cool kids in the 1980s. Luxury brands such as Versace and CHANEL also benefitted from the flashy bravado of the 1990s.

Now, according to Yahoo Finance, hip-hop and the community it represents have harnessed the $16 billion economic impact of the culture, turning it into financial empowerment and a generational wealth accumulator. Fashion industry disruptors such as FUBU and Rocawear, in addition to major players in industries spanning TV, film, art, and spirits, have all shown the hustle is about more than just bragging rights on wax.

Hip-hop has grown to recognize its power; and with around 3 million black-owned businesses in America, it has become the catalyst through which the creatives who birthed it have stepped into their own. Detavio Samuels, CEO of REVOLT, said it best: "Hip-hop went from being a fad to commercialized and monetized in technology, fashion, sports and business. In the beginning, we weren’t owners, just brand ambassadors, not accumulating wealth from a genre and culture that we created. We’ve gone from making others rich to wealth accumulators."

Hip-hop artists like Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Sean "Diddy" Combs, and Andre "Dr. Dre" Young were once anomalies in the culture, breaking away from simply being the face of largely white brands to launch their own successful ventures. Now, it's become more of a shock to find artists whose only stream of income is music-related.

The culture's Midas touch has not only impacted those who hold the mic, but also those around them. People like Dapper Dan, Misa Hylton, Vashtie, Dream Hampton and Sharene Wood have all leveraged their connection to hip-hop to gain notoriety in their respective industries. As Sharene Wood, the president and CEO of 5001 FLAVORS and Harlem Haberdashery said, "Hip-hop allowed Black creatives and artists to create brands that wouldn’t have existed without hip-hop and allowed us to engage in collective economics, supporting other Black businesses. Hip-hop opened the door to a lot of Black brands."

In honor of hip-hop's 50th birthday, Lincoln Center has announced its own Hip Hop Week. This goes to show the impact this culture has had on the world, and the many ways it has empowered its own people.

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