History of Rap

Marvin Young, better known as Young MC was born in London, raised in New York and educated at the University of California. He became known as the maestro of "articulate" rap. "Busta Move" was a top ten smash and later his debut album "Brainstorm" earned him a grammy for best rap record. He later collaborated with LA based rapper Ton Loc on "Wild Thing". The video cost $500 which was a satire of Robert Palmers "Addicted to Love". It sold over 2 million.

Queen Latifah stands for delicate and sensitive in Arabic which contradicts her lyrical style. Opening doors for other female rappers and leading the way for them to respond to their sexist counterparts she broke through a male dominated rap scene to become known as "Raps First Lady". She won a Grammy for Best Solo Rap preformance in 1994. Tracks like "Dance for me" promote themes of unity rather than competition amongst black women.

1990

Ice Cube lauched his solo career and joined forces with Chuck D of Public Enemy. The result was the album "Amerikkka's Most Wanted" which went gold in ten days and sold over 1 million copies. Ice cubes outspoken attacks on white America upset many extreme right wing organisations who trageted him on an assassination list which was discovered by the police in 1993.

1991

Ice-T took his name from Iceberg Slim, a pimp who wrote novels and poetry. He would memorize lines and recite them for friends and classmates. He recorded several undistinguished 12-inch singles and appeared in low-budget hip-hop films Rappin', Breakin', and Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo while he was trying to establish a career. It wasn't until the release of "O.G. Orginial Gangsta" he achieved considerable commerical success. Viewed by many as the orginial gangsta rapper, Ice-T based his lyrics on real life experiences on the streets of LA. Rapping about prositutes, drugs and violence angered many offical organisations in America and as a result records were censored and Parental Advisory stickers were introduced.

Born and raised in South Central LA, Yo-Yo was the first female rapper to break through the west coast. A mutual friend introduced her to Ice Cube who was about to leave NWA to go solo and immediatly they developed a business relationship. Yo-Yo's lyric's were often promoting ideals of independency, confidence and self-respecting black women, "Making the way for the Motherload" sold 400,000 copies and had frequent injections from Ice Cube's Lench Mob Posse. She went on to set up "Intelligent Black Women's Coalition" a support group which organises meetings and benefit concerts.

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born and raised in the Bronx, New York before moving to California where he continued to write and record. His Debut Album "2Pacalypse Now" introduced him as a significant explosive new voice on the scene. The Album went gold and his single "Trapped" reached number 3 in the US charts. 2 years later he released his second album "Strictly 4 my N.I.G.G.A.Z" which took him to the top of the ranks of rap, selling over a million copies world wide.

1992

Dr Dre's debut album "The Chronic" set the agenda for today's west coast gangsta rap, like many of his predecessors Dre's music heavily sampled the 70's sounds of George Clinton and Funkadelic, but his lyrics bought a new subject to rap - marijuana. Encouraging the use of marijuana sparred off a whole new trend in hip-hop.

Cypress Hill, like Dr Dre advocated the use of marijuana as a cultural replacement for alcohol. They even went as far as campaigning for 'NORMAL' - The National Organisation For The Reform Of Marijuana Laws. Cypress Hill's music mixed gangsta lyrics about dope and guns with a blend of funky R&B samples and mixes. Comprising of DJ Muggs, B-Real (Mexican descent) and Sen Dogg (Cuban descent), Cypress Hill reflected the successful integration of Latin American artists into rap music. The west coast became a breeding ground of yet another variety of rap - Latino hip-hop. The integration of Spanish and English style of rapping gave rise to artists such as Mello Man Ace (brother of Sen Dogg) and Kid Frost.

Hardcore Irish American rappers House of Pain from LA scored a top 10 with "Jump Around" which soon became a club athem. In 1994, Group member Everlast, was arrest in an airport for the illegal possession of a hand gun. As a result he was put under house arrest for 3 months.

The Roots began their musical career jammin' in the streets of Philladelephia. They paid tribute to old school hip-hop culture by enlisting well known DJ's, rappers and graffiti artists to preform with them on stage while preforming cover versions of RUN D.M.C and Eric B and Rakim's hits. The Roots have a unique and innovative style by recording live with musicians and real musical instruments. They avoided sterotypical macho style of rapping describing their music as "the thinking man's rap music". Their influence is present among many current hip-hop artists.

An alternative to gangsta rap, 4 member LA Crew Pharacyde, released their debut album "Bizarre Ride II Pharacyde". One Nut Magazine said "They paved the way for an LA hip hop renaissance that helped hoist the city out of its bullets and bitches pigeon hole". Well known for their fast thinking and witty lyrics, they sampled Beastie Boys and featured Mike D in their video "Drop", a single from their second album "Labcabincalifornia" which took 2 years to produce.

1993

Rapping since the young age of 12, MC Lyte released "Ruffneck" as a response to fellow rapper Apache's "Gangsta Bitch" which was a chauvanistic attack on women. She accused male rappers of having out of control ego's and the single went gold within a few weeks.

In an industry that was dominated by gangsta rap came the Wu-Tang Clan. Wu Tang Clan is a Chinese martial art which means "sword family" - it is also a team of nine New York MC's. The group drew heavily on marital arts for their music and their image often sampling Kung-Fu movies. Their album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" was a reference to 36 points, 10 degree apart on the human body according to maritial arts theory are the most vunerable to attack. With their combat like style of rapping, their debut album sold over 4 million copies. RZA the groups mastermind and producer encouraged Wu-Tang members Methodman and Ghostface Killah to release solo projects. Meanwhile Wu-Tang Clan's Ol' Dirty Bastard worked with other artists such as Busta Rhymes and Mariah Carey.

Snoop began his rap career at a young age collaborating with Dr Dre. "Snoop Doggy Dogg" debuted in the top 20 on the UK and eventually reached gold status. Produced by Dr Dre, "DoggyStyle" reached number 1 in the US album charts and was the first rap album to top the charts within its first week of release. After presenting an award to En Vogue at the 1993 MTV music awards, Snoop voluntarily surrended himself to police custody on murder charges. He was later acquitted and his alleged involvement in a drive-by shooting help boost his popularity. Doggystyle sold over 4 million copies worldwide increasing gangsta raps appeal into the mainstream.

1994

Nas (aka Nassir Jones) reached gold sales with his first album "Illmatic" but it was "If I Ruled the World" with the voice of Lauryn Hill that pushed him into the world of mainstream hip-hop. Nas showed a skill for rapping about violence without glorifying it and literally crossed the divide between fueding east and west coast rivals by moving from New York to LA where Dr Dre helped produce his second album "It Was Written".

Warren Griffen half brother of Dr Dre prefected a calmer story telling style of rap that encouraged younger people to stay away from drugs and guns. He grew up in Long Beach listening to his parents' extensive collection of jazz, soul, and funk records. "Regulate" appeared on the Above the Rim soundtrack and was released as a single. It quickly became a massive hit, number 2 on the charts and pushing the album up to the same position. "Regulate - G-Funk Era" sold over 4 million copies world wide and established him as a major figure in the rap industry. Motivated by black on black violence Warren G used his status as a respected musician to negotiate a truce betwen rival groups in an LA neighbourhood.

1995

Notorious B.I.G first review was a brief mention in THE SOURCE, a column that highlights MC's, or group's that are yet to sign a record contract. "... this shit in The Source called Unsigned Hype. I said, Fuck it, send it in. And [former Source editor] Matty C loved it. He played it for Puffy". Like many rappers Christopher Wallace made a transition from a life of crime to writing rhymes. His debut album "Ready To Die" was inspired by his early childhood selling drugs to make a living hence the title of his second album "Life After Death". "One More Chance" went straight to number 1 in the US and the album went multi-platinum.

1996

Lil' Kim was discovered by Notorious B.I.G doing freestyles. At just 17 years of age she had a massive hit with "Crush on You". Her style was deliberately raunchy and lyrics provocative, so much so she was critised by conservative memebers of the hip-hop scene for being too dirty. She refused to be repressed by negative comments and feminists.
"I'm the Big Momma. I represent all the females and keep all the boys in check! We are all from the street and have all been through the struggle. I want all the ladies to relate to what I'm talking about" (hmmm).

The Fugees's comprises of University graduate Wyclef, his cousin, Pras and high school friend, Lauryn Hill. Their songs often deal with issues such as America's negative perception of Haitian immigrants and their own experience's growing up in New York, hence "fugee" which comes from the term refugee.
Being of mixed race, their lyrics promote positive non violent ideals fusing hip-hop with soul, raggae and jazz. They developed a clever style of word play, adding a rap which gave an anti-drugs message to Roberta Flack's old hit "Killing Me Softly" was the biggest hit single of the year selling over 9 million copies.
The score won a Grammy for Best Rap Album in 1997 and is the biggest selling rap album of all time.

Busta Rhymes earned his name from his individual and unique style rapping. He began his career in the group Leaders of the New School who were noted for their old school vibe. After the group spilt up he was approached by Chuck D of Public Enemy who produced his debut album "The Coming". Noted for his vertigo style clips "Woo-Hah!!" and "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" and his stratchy charcoal voice Busta Rhymes has become one of the heavy weights in hip-hop. Unlike other rappers who replicate the same lyrical flow, Busta Rhymes switches his rhyme style and mimics a transform scratch with his voice. "That's just growth, the nature of life. Life never stays at one level. There's no limit to things. I like to go where I haven't gone before. It's the best way to manifest my growth, to manifest it through music".

2pac and Notorious B.I.G became embroiled in a feuding war between east and west coast rappers. While the east was "keeping it real" and in the west "it's all good" both their lives ended tragically. 2pac was shot in a drive-by shooting only to die a week later. 6 months later, leaving the Soul Train Awards, Notorious B.I.G was shot in a similar drive-by incident. Ironically both artists records sales have since doubled overnight. The deaths are unrelated and remain unsolved.

1997

While violent feuds esculated between east and west coast rappers leading to the deaths of Tupac and Biggie, Wu-Tang Clan acrossed the divide when they played in LA.

Interscope Records, parent company of Death Row Records, after months of rumours confirms severing ties with Death Row. Dr Dre, founder, president and producer left months before the announcement. Suge Knight, producer, is in jail for nine years, which under Californian law prohibits him from day-to-day company operations.
It was the lawsuit of Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, accusing the company for cheating her son out of millions of dollars which opened the eyes of other Death Row members.
All artists are seeking release from their contacts and demanding unpaid royalties.

Daz Dillinger (Da Dogg Pound) is the only member who wants to stay. Danny Boy is rumoured to be back in Chicago, while Lady of Rage, frustrated because she couldn't get answers to her questions - or even an appointment to ask them - has been barred from Death Row headquarters. Kurupt has filled for bankruptcy and Nate Dogg, who has started his own label, the Dogg Foundation, is trying to get ownership of the album he recored for Death Row, which has been sitting on the shelf for three years. Snoop Doggy Dogg who is still under legal contract to release six albums, is renouncing his for-life allegiance to the label with uncharacteristic public tirades. "I'm going to a place where it's all business and no violence, where it's all about creativity instead of head games. To tell you the truth, I fear for my life on Death Row Records".

To Be Continued MotherFuckers....