We remember the guy known as "MCA." Adam Yauch, one of the founding Beastie boys from Brooklyn, died suddenly and unexpectedly late last week from cancer. The Beastie boys were the so-called white crossover hip hop act that sold more than 40 million albums and helped to make hip-hop mainstream.

Since its humble beginnings in the Bronx during the 1970s, hip hop has become a global musical phenomenon with attendant forms of style and protest. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of hip hop's recent impact is in the Arab world where formed the soundtrack to the revolution with rappers like Hamada Ben Amor from Tunisia, Cheikh Oumar Cyrille from Senegal, and Mohamed el Deeb from Egypt.

Misogynistic and homophobic lyrics are part and parcel of mainstream rap music's hyper-masculine culture. But over the last year, as part of a larger conversation about homophobia and bullying, more and more stars have spoken out against the community's anti-gay attitudes. 

It’s the story of a record label that defined hip-hop and impacted the music industry forever. In the 25 years since its founding, Def Jam Recordings has built up an incredible roster of recording artists, influencing all areas of culture, fashion, lifestyle, cinema and art, to become the sound of young America, akin to Motown in the sixties. The first single to be released with a Def Jam Recordings logo was T La Rock & Jazzy Jay's "It's Yours."

Common rose to fame as a rapper in the 1990s, and his childhood and teenage years clearly influenced his music. He's also found success as an actor, and now as a writer — his new memoir, "One Day It'll All Make Sense," which shares the title of his 1997 album, came out yesterday.

Coming up, Today sees the launch of a much anticipated collaboration between two musical giants. Jay Z and Kanye West have joined forces to produce ‘Watch the Throne’. What can we expect? That's next on the Takeaway.

Hip hop is filled with young artists who appear to live the Horatio Alger dream, ascending from impoverished urban neighborhoods to international fame and wealth.

But few of them have transformed themselves so often, and remained popular for so long, as Ice-T. An orphan turned family man and thief turned superstar, he famously went from singing about killing cops to playing a cop on the long-running and popular series “Law and Order SVU.”  He chronicles his rise from poverty to fame in “ICE: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption — From South Central to Hollywood.”

Chilean hip-hop artist Ana Tijoux sees herself as a musician first, and a rapper, second. The combination of clear homage to the kings and queens of soul, hip-hop and funk come through in her music, and sets a backdrop to her smooth style. Tijoux was born in France, after her parents fled Chile during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.