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Hip Hop Game Changers\r - Here, BET.com proudly presents 40 of hip hop's biggest game-changers, as pictured in the new book, Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey, in stores now.

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Run-DMC - Musically, Run-DMC is perhaps the most influential rap group ever — their hard-hitting, skeletal beats and aggressive, streetwise braggadocio yanked hip hop away from its early disco-influenced stylings. They essentally created "hardcore hip hop" and set off the genre's golden era. Commercially, their triple-platinum opus Raising Hell proved that rap was more than just a fad.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Ricky Powell)

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Rakim - Rapping can pretty easily be divided into two eras: "Before Rakim" and "After Rakim." His metaphysical subject matter, complex internal rhyme schemes and cold-as-ice delivery moved the art form forward by leaps and bounds.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)

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Beastie Boys - The Beastie Boys' significance isn't just a consequence of the 40 million records they've sold worldwide over the past 30 years. Culturally, as the first notable white rap group, they were also the first MCs to bring hip hop in force to the 'burbs. Sonically, their rap-rock fusion and inventive sampling predated the genre-bending ways of modern-day hip hop and pop.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Laura Levine)

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Salt-N-Pepa - As the breakthrough female crew in a male-dominated genre, Salt-N-Pepa made the way for the crossover successes of Nicki Minaj, Lil' Kim and Lauryn Hill, with monster hits like "Push It" and "Shoop."(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Neal Preston)

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Slick Rick - With his self-effacing humor, sexual bravado, and above all, his narrative genius, Slick Rick is widely acknowledged as hip hop's best storyteller. His classics "La Di Da Di," "Children's Story" and "Mona Lisa" have been sampled and interpolated by other MCs countless times over the years.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)

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Will Smith - This Philly rapper-actor made an instant impact with his crossover hit "Parents Just Don't Understand." The Grammy award–winning single — rap's first — set the stage for the charismatic wordsmith to make his transition to acting as the star of the popular long-running sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Hip hop culture was given a primetime slot on a national stage thanks to the sitcom. And in its wake, Smith has become one of the highest paid, most bankable leading men in Hollywood.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Camilla Morandi / Corbis)

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Public Enemy - Public Enemy was a revolution — and not just because of Chuck D's charged, take-no-prisoners lyrics, which politicized a generation. The Bomb Squad's dense, cacophonic sample collages also altered the sound of hip hop forever.(Photo, as featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Robin Holland)

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Nas - Undoubtedly one of hip hop's best lyricists ever, Nas was literally hailed as "The Second Coming" by critics and afficionados upon his 1994 debut opus, Illmatic. Esco's evocative street tales and inventive story-telling techniques are still blowing minds 20 years later.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)

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Hammer - Hammer was often clowned as a "sell-out," but as the first rapper with a diamond-certified album — that's 10 million sold, for his breakthrough album, Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em — he undeniably raised the bar for commercial success in hip hop to a new stratosphere.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Frank W. Ockenfels 3)

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KRS-One - KRS' influence on the game can't be overstated. He helped forge gangsta rap as a genre with Criminal Minded, an album that elevated battle-rapping to never-before-seen heights with songs like "The Bridge Is Over," and led rap's conscious evolution with the song "Stop The Violence." He is also widely considered one of the best live performers hip hop music has ever seen. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Trevor Traynor)

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Kool Keith - First, as the frontman of the hugely influential Ultramagnetic MCs, and then, in his quixotic solo career, Kool Keith, aka Rhythm X aka Dr. Octagon, has changed the game almost as much as he's changed his name. His off-beat, off-the-wall, off-his-meds rhymes expanded rap subject matter and styles like few others have. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Paul Natkin/ Caehe Agency)

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Jungle Brothers - As the founders of the Native Tongues movement, the J. Beez paved the way for Tribe and De La, both game-changers in their own right. The Brothers' Afrocentricity, obscure samples, left-field topics and pioneering blend of hip hop and house influenced countless other artists. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Clemens Rikken / Sunshine / Retna Ltd.)

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Ice-T - Arguably the first true gangsta rapper, Ice T's then-shocking tales of crime, sex and gangs were a watershed moment for hip hop in the early '80s. He's also one of the first rappers to transition to a credible acting career. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Steve Vaccartello/Contour by Getty Images)

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Ice Cube - Ice Cube was the illest rapper in one of the illest and most influential rap groups of all time, N.W.A, and he continued to steer the culture long-term with his poignant solo work and movie roles. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Joaquin Palting / Corbis Outline)

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The Four Elements - The Four Elements (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Mike Thompson)

Photo By Photo:  As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Mike Thompson

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Diddy - As the architect behind rap's "shiny suit" era, Diddy's late '90s run of hit singles and remixes helped legitimize blatantly commercial hip hop — for better and for worse. Meanwhile, his successes as a mogul and media figure have inspired countless music industry entrepreneurs. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)

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De La Soul - The eclectic sampling, abstract rhymes and self-effacing nerdiness of De La's early work expanded the boundaries of hip hop and paved the way for the genre's new "left field." (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

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Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill broke down doors as the first Latino hip hop superstars. However, DJ Muggs eerie sample collages were also hugely influential (ask RZA), and the group's outspoken blunt-smoking ways paved a new, stoned path for hip hop that several other rappers, from Redman to Currensy, have followed. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Estevan Oriol)

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Big Daddy Kane - Big Daddy Kane's dexterous rhyme patterns and smooth-operator persona influenced countless other rappers — particularly a young Jay-Z, one of BDK's protégés.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Michael Benabib / Retna)

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Wu-Tang Clan - Wu hit the game like a meteor shower with 1993's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), wresting hip hop's attention away from the West Coast's smooth G-Funk sound with their dusty, off-kilter, undeniably New York beats and aggressive, esoteric lyrics. Their impact lived on with their No. 1 sophomore album, Wu-Tang Forever, and through the solo careers of the collective's multiple superstars: Ghostface, Raekwon, Method Man, RZA, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)

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Jay-Z - You can't front on 11 number-one albums — that's more than Elvis. Jay's masterfully covered all the bases more than once: club records, street records, love records, backpack records, pop records, you name it. With three-to-four classic albums (think about it), smash hit records yearly from 1996 to now, full pop-culture saturation and his Cash King status (ask Forbes), it's hard to deny that Jay has surpassed his B.I.G. homie. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)

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Kanye West - As one of the premier artists — rap, pop or otherwise — of the new millenium, Kanye's self-effacing emo raps, Auto-Tune crooning and soulful, maximalist production have already birthed copycats, from Drake to Big Sean. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Gary Hershorn / Reuters / Corbis)

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The Neptunes - The Neptunes shook hip hop away from its analog, sampled foundation with their synth-heavy, club-dominating beats. Then, with their N.E.R.D. project, they've trailblazed a whole new, rocked-out direction.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)

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Russell Simmons - As manager of perhaps hip hop's most influential group (Run-DMC), founder of the indisputably most influential rap record label (Def Jam), and head of one of the first urban clothing lines (Phat Farm), Russell is the godfather of hip hop moguls.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Michael Long / Corbis Outline)

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Kurtis Blow - The man behind classics like "The Breaks," "Basketball," and "If I Ruled the World" (later covered by Nas), Harlem pioneer Kurtis Blow was the first rapper to sign a major label deal, and the first to release a gold-selling single. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Stephanie Chernikowski)

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50 Cent - 50 laid a new path to rap superstardom when he used the massive buzz built off a flurry of mixtapes, beefs with other rappers and a compelling backstory to eventually sign a record deal and top the charts. The multi-faceted business empire he's built in the wake of his success is a business model for any aspiring hip hop exec. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Christian Witkin)

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Missy Elliott - Over Timbaland's revolutionary funk, Missy's off-kilter lyrical and visual stylings spawned six platinum albums, expanding artistic and commercial boundaries for female MCs and hip hop as a whole.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Gary Hershorn / Reuters / Corbis)

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Lil Wayne - WithTha Carter III andTha Carter IV both selling around a million records their first week, Lil Wayne is certainly hip hop's dominant force on the charts currently. And musically, his unpredictable, off-the-cuff, downright weird rhymes and beat selection are driving the conversation and forcing rap traditionalists to play catch-up. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by 2008 Cash Money Records Inc. / Jonathan Mannion)

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will.i.am - As the fashion-forward frontman of the Black Eyed Peas, the producer-MC has unabashedly brought hip hop to pop and the dance floor like never before.(Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jerome Bonnet / Corbis Outline)

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OutKast - OutKast brought the trap to Mars and back, and somehow made it all work. At the frontline of the Dirty South takeover, Big Boi and Dre brought Southern hip hop to new places sonically and geographically, winning over the charts, Middle America and skeptical East Coast and West Coast heads, and setting a course for all Dixie rappers to follow. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)

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Lauryn Hill - Considered by many to be the best female MC of all time, Lauryn Hill led two hugely influential albums to massive success, The Fugees' The Score (over 10 million sold) and her Grammy-dominating solo debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (eight million sold). (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)

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Tupac - 15 years after his death, Tupac's musical influence worldwide is still astonishing. His confounding mixture of ladies' man, thug, revolutionary and poet has forever altered our perception of what a rapper should look like, sound like and act like. In 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Lil Wayne, newcomers like Freddie Gibbs and even his friend-turned-rival Biggie, it's easy to see that Pac is the most copied MC of all time. There are murals bearing his likeness in New York, Brazil, Sierra Leone, Bulgaria and countless other places; he even has statues in Atlanta and Germany. Quite simply, no other rapper has captured the world's attention the way Tupac did and still does. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Danny Clinch / Contour by Getty Images)

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A Tribe Called Quest - With their combination of breezy, transcendental rhymes, beats crafted from left-field jazz loops and funky, Afrocentric imagery, Tribe shook up rap's macho and, at times, conservative mindset, opening up lanes for future artists like Kanye, OutKast and the Neptunes to drive down. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Dana Lixenberg)

Photo By As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Dana Lixenberg

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Snoop Dogg - As the charismatic front man of the G-Funk movement that ruled the charts in the '90s, Snoop brought gangsta rap to the suburbs. His Doggystyle was the first debut album to enter the Billboard charts at number one, and he's been one of rap's most successful and prominent artists ever since. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Bob King / Corbis)

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Eminem - Em's record-breaking chart successes, intricate rhyme patterns and shock-and-awe bluntness on the mic have all set new standards for hip hop. His reach and, yes, his race, have helped hip hop culture fully saturate mainstream, suburban America. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jeremy Deputat)

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Dr. Dre - Dr. Dre's cocky, gangstafied rhymes and epic funk production ushered in gangster rap with N.W.A, and both installments of his multiplatinum Chronic albums helped define the decades that followed each of their releases. Whether behind the boards or as a label exec, from Ice Cube to Snoop Dogg to Eminem to 50 Cent, Dre's opened the door for some of rap's biggest icons for three-plus decades. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Neal Preston)

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The Notorious B.I.G. - Biggie's influence on the game is deeper than you think. More than just the G.O.A.T. on the mic, Big was the first to blatantly reach for the pop-chart ring without losing his curb appeal. He spit party and love raps over Diddy's pop loops and somehow made it sound rugged. Pretty much every commercial rap artist since — from Jay-Z to Rick Ross — is tracing his footsteps. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Shawn Mortensen / Corbis Outline)

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Timbaland - Timbaland's off-kilter, percussion-heavy, Eastern-influenced synthesizer symphonies were nothing short of revolutionary when they hit hip hop in the late '90s. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Erin Patrice O'Brien / Corbis Outline)

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Mary J. Blige - Mary J. Blige isn't a rapper, but her blending of hip hop and soul was still game-changing, altering the sound and direction of both genres forever. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Brooks Kraft / Corbis)

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T.I. - He calls himself the King of the South for a reason. Tip's brash, trap-focused braggadocio and stadium-sized hits have set the course for new-millenium rappers in the South and beyond. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Trevor Traynor)

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LL Cool J - One of hip hop's first commercially successful acts — and arguably its most consistent and long-lasting — LL pioneered "for-the-ladies" rap ballads with the song, "I Need Love." But the impact of his early work's hard-hitting street bravado on hip hop in its nascent days shouldn't be underestimated, either. (Photo: As featured in "Hip Hop - A Cultural Odyssey" by Jonathan Mannion)