Hip hop in Washington, D.C.

Hip hop music in Washington, D.C., has been an important part of the culture of the area.

In the early 1980s, DC's DJ100 was the first station to play hip hop, including the likes of Whistle 2, Run-DMC, Kool Moe Dee, and The Beastie Boys. DJ100, 100.3fm aired from 1984 to 1990, before turning into a jazz station, then eventually an oldies station.

Other prominent D.C. stations include WPGC 95.5 and WKYS 93.9 which are both currently still on the air. The city's traditional style has been described as not quite the same as New York City hip hop nor Southern hip hop. Rather, it has been influenced by both regions to form its own unique style of music. The population of D.C. is not large enough to support as many distinct subgenres of rap as other metropolitan areas, and as a result, the sound and style of D.C. hip hop is very mixed.^[1]