Hip hop music Southern hip hop, gained considerable popularity via Lil Jon and the Ying Yang Twins. Jay-Z represented the cultural triumph of hip hop. As his career progressed, he went from performing artist to entrepreneur, label president, head of a clothing line, club owner, and market consultant—along the way breaking Elvis Presley's record for most number one albums on the "Billboard" magazine charts by a solo artist. Alternative hip hop, which was introduced in the 1980s and then declined, resurged in the early 2000s with the rejuvenated interest in indie music by the general public. In the 2000s alternative hip hop reattained
Hip-hop theater must be "by, about and for" the hip-hop generation, participants in hip-hop culture, or both." Hip-hop theater productions appear in a wide range of platforms including single performances, week-long festivals, and traveling repertory companies. Marc Bamuthi Joseph is an award-winning spoken word poet and dancer who has been commissioned several times to create and direct single hip-hop theater works. British choreographer Jonzi D is the artistic director of the London-based Breakin' Convention, a week long hip-hop theater festival. Rennie Harris, Mourad Merzouki, and Victor Quijada are artistic directors who run hip-hop theater companies in the U.S., France, and Canada respectively.