Nineteen Eighty-Six was the year mainstream America could no longer ignore Hip-Hop. It exploded nationally in the middle part of the year and then did something that took it even further: white kids from the suburbs became fascinated with it in a major way. This was also the era where Hip-Hop sub-genres, such as New Jack Swing and Hip-Hop Soul, were hitting the Pop charts regularly, along with female rappers and dance remixes further pushing it everywhere. #hiphop #rap #hiphipsoul #newjackswing #oldschool

WARNING: This program contains language and subject matter some may find objectionable. There are also no ballads in this program. Repeat, no ballads.

Welcome to what is considered by many to be the first two true full calendar years of The Golden Age of Hip-Hop.

Musically, the mainstream Pop singles and album charts will still filled by mega-stars like Prince and Madonna, but two new music movements that started their ascent in the late 1970's were slowly taking over in a way no one expected. The first was Heavy Metal, and the other was Hip-Hop.

Keith Sweat on the cover of Make It Last Forever, 1987. This was seminal album in the burgeoning New Jack Swing movement. Courtesy of Elektra/Warner Brothers.

What made things even more exciting: these two very distinctive music styles were merging at times to create whole new hybrids, which, believe it or not, were actually much more similar sonically and lyrically than appeared on the surface. Metal was the sound of white kids in the suburbs, where the music industry made most of its money. When Rap and Hip-Hop were introduced to heavy rock and metal through Run DMC's collaboration with the veteran act Aerosmith, whom, by the way, had not had commercial success in over eight years, the kids responded overwhelmingly, much to the dismay of their parents.

Ad-Rock, Mike D and MCA of the Beastie Boys in a promo for Licensed To Ill, 1986. Photograph: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images.

Instead of just one thing parents hated about their kid's music, now there were two. Additionally, young white girls also latched onto some of the new Hip-Hop artists as well, particularly the Beastie Boys, whose debut LP became the very first Hip-Hop #1 charting Billboard 200 LP in history.

Darrel "Run" Simmons and Steven Tyler in a video still from "Walk This Way, 1986. Directed by Jon Small, courtesy of Profile Records.

And of course, MTV, which, believe this or not children of the revolution, actually once stood for "Music Television" and played videos all day, gave the kids what they wanted; all of a sudden, images of strong, Black men and women were now front and center on the boob tube in John and Martha's living room, playing in Peoria.

12" single label for The Bridge by MC Shan. Though independent labels were still at the core of new Hip-Hop music coming out of New York City, several were distributed by majors and the big music companies were starting to scout their own talent.

Hip-Hop Soul was becoming more distinct from it's cousin, New Jack Swing, the latter a type of Hip-Hop dance music that benefitted greatly from the standby Roland TR-808 drum machine but now with completely affordable samplers, such as the E-MU SP-1200. (James Brown's long, varied and vast catalogue, as well as his importance to all Black music, made him the most sampled artist.) New Jack Swing also upped the tempo and created beats no human could actually create, including tambourine triplets at 120 BPM or faster that sounded like a slithering metal snake.

Salt-N-Pepa, 1987, New York City: (l-r) Sandra Denton, Spinderella and Cheryl james. Photo by Janette Beckman.