When Danny Hastings talks about his life, his voice oscillates between the rhythm of hip-hop beats and the calm of tropical rain. Born in the United States but raised in Panama, Hastings embodies the complexities of the immigrant experience in America. When he arrived in New York at 16, he did not speak English, and he bused tables and washed dishes before he found his path behind a camera.

Hastings went on to become one of the most sought-after photographers of New York’s Golden Age of hip-hop. His lens captured now-iconic covers for Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Cypress Hill, Gang Starr, Big Pun, and many others. "At one point, I was probably one of the most in-demand photographers in New York," says Hastings. "But I was Latino, and a lot of doors were closed in front of me. People of color were n

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