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To mark the 30th anniversary of the founding of Def Jam – the world’s first Hip Hop record label - Ghanaian music journalist Afua Hirsch explores how music created on the streets of New York is making a huge impact in New Africa. She discovers how some of Africa's biggest stars are helping to inspire a new generation to use Hip Hop as a platform to express their life experiences and touch base with their cultural roots by incorporating their musical heritage.

Hip Hop evolved from poverty stricken communities as young rappers voiced their shared communal concerns in street rhymes delivered over musical riffs sampled from disco and RnB records. As the genre evolved, skilled producers and performers created their own musical beats, all based on variations of the African polyrhythms that provided the foundation for Folk, Blues, Jazz, Gospel and eventually RnB and Hip Hop.

Contributors including Def Jam founders Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin as well as Hip Hop legend Chuck D, and new stars Fuse ODG, m.anifest, Silvastone and producers Rab Bakari, DJ Edu, Lady P and Idris Elba, help Afua trace Hip Hop back to its roots highlighting its potency as an engine for social and political change.

(Photo: Waayaha Cusub, Somali hip hop collective perform at the opening concert in the Mogadishu Music Festival, Somalia. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)