All Photos © Alexander Richter. Above: 50 Cent

In his career Alexander Richter has photographed some of the biggest personalities in hip-hop—from 50-Cent to the Clipse to EL-P and KRS One—for magazines and record labels. Several of Richter’s portraits are included in a new book, Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey (ARIA, 2011), a history of the music and culture that has captivated young people from cities to the suburbs all over the globe. To coincide with the release of the book, The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles is currently hosting an exhibition of the same name, which runs through May 4, 2011.

See more of Richter’s work here.

F.T.

Method Man

The Clipse

Rocky

Jared Evan

Just Blaze

Nina B and Fokis