Every Rapper With a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame has always been about more than name recognition. Since the first stars were laid into Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in 1960, it has become one of the industry’s most visible ways of turning cultural presence into public permanence. For rappers, though, the path to a star has stayed relatively narrow. Out of all the names in hip-hop, only 16 people have been honored there so far.

The list does include some of the genre’s most recognizable figures. 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Ludacris and the late Tupac Shakur are among the rappers whose names now sit under that stretch of sidewalk in Los Angeles. It is a small but telling roster, especially in a space originally reserved for motion picture stars before the selection committee gradually widened its scope to singers, athletes and television performers. The Walk even makes room for non-human celebrities: Lassie has her own star.

Queen Latifah was the first rapper to receive the honor, getting her star in January 2006. That timing matters, because it framed hip-hop’s relationship with the Walk in a way that still feels significant. Latifah was being recognized not just for music, but for a career that had already crossed into television and cinema, with an Academy Award and an Emmy among the milestones attached to her name. In other words, the Walk was catching up to a performer whose influence had already spread well beyond rap.

Elsewhere, the larger point is hard to miss. More than 50 years after the Walk of Fame first took shape, hip-hop has forced its way into institutions that were never built with the genre in mind. The stars themselves may be few, but the names attached to them make the case plainly enough. Here’s a look at every person in hip-hop who has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.