90's Rap/Hip-Hop

The decade began with a whimper, climaxed with two separate shootings and then concluded with a global cultural blitzkrieg. Following the riotous summer of 1989 -- when Public Enemy dropped an agitprop A-bomb in the form of "Fight the Power," which provided a fitting bookend for hip-hop's first "golden age" -- rap in 1990 focused largely on pop chart presence. The genres first two genuine pop superstars, MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, released their breakthrough albums that year. And while hip-hop had been pop since Run DMC opened their "Rock Box," the one-two punch of Hammer's "You Can't Touch This" and Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" caused a backlash, and the genre retreated inwards in an attempt to define itself before others did the job for it.

What emerged on both Coasts was a more violent malaise that reflected both the nation's dire socio-economic circumstances and the street's desire to essentially reclaim their genre. In the West, it began with Ice Cube. His seminal early '90s albums, from Amerikkka's Most Wanted to Predator, were the soundtracks to the turbulent years around the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, rappers became increasingly brazen about their political inclinations. Acts such as Brand Nubian, X Clan as well as Pete Rock and CL Smooth injected themes of black pride and, in some cases, racial separatism into their lyrics. Less radical acts such as the Jungle Brothers, Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul also confronted these issues in a more inclusive fashion.

This era came to a halt in approximately 1993 with the sudden explosion of a new era of New York hip-hop acts. Following the success of groundbreaking group EPMD, crews such as the Wu Tang Clan, Boot Camp Clik and DITC began to emerge, while hardened nihilistic lyricists such as Nas, Big Pun, AZ and Mobb Deep's Prodigy were chronicling the fallout from the crack epidemic. With producers such as Pete Rock, DJ Premier, RZA, Da Beatminerz and Large Professor, their medicine was chased with a teaspoon of grimy jazz.

While the East may have been undergoing a renaissance, the West was dominating the pop charts thanks to Dr. Dre. His groundbreaking 1992 album, The Chronic, and its spiritual cousin, Snoop's 1993 Doggystyle, wore their gang colors on their sleeves -- though they were also less restless than either their East Coast counterparts or their late-'80s antecedents. This would all change with the emergence of Tupac Shakur and Death Row CEO Suge Knight.

Perhaps the greatest irony in all of hip-hop history is the extent to which bitter rivals Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. will forever be linked together in the hearts and minds of fans. Both were immensely talented, both changed the face of hip-hop before their murders and both would prove as influential in death as they ever were while alive. Losing two of its biggest and most talented stars in 1996 and 1997 signaled the end of an era. For the East Coast, it was a first step down a dark and lonely road. For the West, it was the equivalent of stepping off the side of a cliff, and it would take over a decade for that region to stumble back to the high ground.

Out of this vacuum, Southern rap emerged. Outkast and Goodie Mob brought politically conscious funk. Jermaine Dupri and his Atlanta ilk focused on creating pop-hop. And New Orleans crews such as No Limit and Cash Money filled the void for grimy, gutter hip-hop. Most importantly though was the genre's return (with a vengeance) to the pop music arena. What began with P. Diddy's bling culminated with Eminem's angst. The white boy from Detroit was perhaps the most transformative music figure since Bob Dylan, and he carried an ailing hip-hop nation on his back. By the end of the decade, hip-hop had claimed the throne as the most popular music genre as well as the most prevalent youth culture in the world. It was an odd end to a strange and bloody decade