1.
Hip hop music
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It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements, MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, while often used to refer solely to rapping, hip hop more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. Hip hops early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and Jamaican toasting, rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat. The Sugarhill Gangs 1979 song Rappers Delight is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles, prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began to spread to scenes in dozens of countries. New school hip hop was the wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D. M. C. The Golden age hip hop period was a period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include the Juice Crew, Public Enemy, & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One, EPMD, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles, in the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. I. G. In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap, at the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, examples being Neo soul and nu metal. Hip hop became a pop music genre in the mid-1990s. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop, the United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane, during the mid-2000s, alternative hip hop secured a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West. Creation of the hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster Flash. However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was known as disco rap. Cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into a part of his stage performance, the first use of the term in print was in The Village Voice, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop
2.
New York metropolitan area
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The New York metropolitan area continues to be the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States, with the largest foreign-born population of any metropolitan region in the world. The MSA covers 6,720 sq mi, while the CSA area is 13,318 sq mi, encompassing an ethnically and geographically diverse region. In 2012, the New York metropolitan area was home to seven of the 25 wealthiest counties in the United States by median household income. According to Forbes, in 2014, the New York City metropolitan area was home to eight of the top ten ZIP codes in the United States by median housing price, with six in Manhattan alone. The U. S. Office of Management and Budget utilizes two definitions of the area, the Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Combined Statistical Area, the MSA is further subdivided into four metropolitan divisions. The 25-county metropolitan area includes 12 counties in New York State,12 counties in Northern and Central New Jersey, the largest urbanized area in the United States is at the heart of the metropolitan area, the New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT Urbanized Area. The New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area had an population of 23.7 million as of 2014. About one out of every fifteen Americans resides in this region, which includes seven counties in New York, New Jersey. This area, less the Pennsylvania portion, is referred to as the Tri-State Area. The New York City television designated market area includes Pike County, Pennsylvania, for instance, Long Island can be divided into its South and North Shores and the East End. The Hudson Valley and Connecticut are sometimes grouped together and referred to as the Northern Suburbs, the geographical, cultural, and economic center of the metropolitan area is New York City, which consists of five boroughs, each of which is also a county of New York State. The five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, with a Census-estimated population of 8,550,405 in 2015, distributed over a land area of just 305 square miles, New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States. Long Island is a located just off the northeast coast of the United States. Stretching east-northeast from New York Harbor into the Atlantic Ocean, the island comprises four counties, Kings and Queens to the west, then Nassau, North of the island is Long Island Sound, across which are the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Its population density is 5,571 inhabitants per square mile, Queens is the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world. Long Island is the most populated island in the United States, known especially for recreation, boating and miles of public beaches, including numerous town, county and state parks and Fire Island National Seashore. The East End of Long Island boasts open spaces for farmland, passenger rail access is provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Long Island Rail Road, one of the largest commuter railroads in the United States. Air travel needs are served by several airports – most notably Farmingdale-Republic Airport and Islip-MacArthur Airport, within Queens, it is home to John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, two of the three major airline hubs serving the New York City area
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Experimental hip hop
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Experimental hip hop, also known as abstract hip hop, is a genre of hip hop that employs structural elements typically considered unconventional in traditional hip hop music. Some notable experimental hip hop record labels include Definitive Jux, Anticon, Big Dada, while most experimental hip hop incorporates turntablism and is produced electronically, some artists have introduced acoustic elements to the music to facilitate it being performed live. As a relatively young musical style, hip hop during this period was about new ideas, fueled by themes of Afrocentricity and political militancy, coupled with experimental music and sampling techniques, led to great of number of stylistic innovations. Experimental hip-hop production is highly eclectic, drawing influences from a vast array musical genres, along with elements of electronic music and dub, artists drew from other styles including rock, soul, reggae, classical, and jazz. In general, experimental hip-hop production builds and expands on the sounds of early 1990s hip hop artists such as Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, one influential pioneer of experimental hip-hop production is J Dilla or Jay Dee. J Dillas approach included an innovative use of sampling as well as non-quantized drum rhythms, J Dilla also rejected the hip hop convention of Quantization—or the mathematical gridding of precise rhythms via electronic means. J Dilla was also a pioneer for eschewing quantization. and instead performed rhythms by hand on the pads of an Akai Music Production Center and this technique gives his music more of a non-mechanical natural groove or swing, as a human behind a real drum kit might play. Some producers influenced by J Dillas approach include Madlib, Flying Lotus, Karriem Riggins, while some experimental hip-hop follows the traditional use quantized rhythms, the vast majority of it does not. Other producers often cited as influences on experimental hip hop include DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, Hi-Tek, Pete Rock, Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, and RZA. Left-field hip hop is a union of rap and electronica in which the emphasis is placed more on the producer than the rapper or emcee, left-field hip hop typically employs complex computerized equipment as well as incorporating live vocals and samples. Notable left-field albums include Kid Cudis Man on the Moon, cloud rap is a subgenre of experimental hip hop distinguished by ethereal, dreamlike beats, and abstract, sometimes deliberately absurd lyrics. Cloud rap producers often use unconventional samples that draw from ambient, indie, psychedelic hip hop is characterized by complex sample-based beats, often obscure material, and witty, abstract lyrics filled with unconventional far-out references. Early examples of style are some of the more sample-heavy late 1980s hip hop releases such as De la Souls 3 Feet High And Rising. A Tribe Called Quest Ab-Soul Aesop Rock Atmosphere A$AP Rocky Beastie Boys Beautiful Eulogy Big L Blu & Exile Capital Steez Chance the Rapper Childish Gambino Clams Casino clipping
4.
Sampling (music)
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In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a sound recording in a different song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, by the late 1960s, the use of tape loop sampling influenced the development of minimalist music and the production of psychedelic rock and jazz fusion. Hip hop music was the first popular music based on the art of sampling – being born from 1970s DJs who experimented with manipulating vinyl on two turntables and an audio mixer. Historically, sampling was most often done with a sampler — a specialized piece of hardware — but today, however, vinyl emulation software may also be used, and turntablists continue to sample using traditional methods. Often samples consist of one part of a song, such as a rhythm break, for instance, hip hop music developed from DJs looping the breaks from songs to enable continuous dancing. Samples can also consist of words and phrases, including those in non-musical media such as movies, TV shows. Sampling does not necessarily mean using pre-existing recordings, a number of composers and musicians have constructed pieces or songs by sampling field recordings they made themselves, and others have sampled their own original recordings. The use of sampling is controversial legally and musically, in the 1970s, when hip hop was confined to local dance parties, it was unnecessary to obtain copyright clearance in order to sample recorded music at these parties. Aside from legal issues, sampling has been championed and criticized. Hip-hop DJs today take different approaches to sampling, with critical of its obvious use. Some critics, particularly those with a rockist outlook, have expressed the belief all sampling is lacking in creativity, while others say sampling has been innovative and revolutionary. Those whose own work has been sampled have also voiced a variety of opinions about the practice. Once recorded, samples can be edited, played back, or looped, types of samples include, The drums and percussion parts of many modern recordings are really a variety of short samples of beats strung together. Many libraries of such beats exist and are licensed so that the user incorporating the samples can distribute their recording without paying royalties, such libraries can be loaded into samplers. Though percussion is an application of looping, many kinds of samples can be looped. A piece of music may have an ostinato which is created by sampling a phrase played on any kind of instrument, there is software which specializes in creating loops. Whereas loops are usually a phrase played on a musical instrument, Music workstations and samplers use samples of musical instruments as the basis of their own sounds, and are capable of playing a sample back at any pitch. Many modern synthesizers and drum machines also use samples as the basis of their sounds, most such samples are created in professional recording studios using world-class instruments played by accomplished musicians
5.
LL Cool J
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James Todd Smith, known professionally as LL Cool J, is an American rapper, actor, author, and entrepreneur from Queens, New York. LL Cool J is also known as one of the forefathers of pop rap and he has released 13 studio albums and two greatest hits compilations. His twelfth album Exit 13, was his last for his deal with Def Jam Recordings. His latest album, Authentic, was released in April 2013, in 2010, VH1 considered him to be in their 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time list. LL Cool J has also appeared in films, including In Too Deep, Any Given Sunday. He currently stars in a role as NCIS Special Agent Sam Hanna, on the CBS crime drama television series NCIS. LL Cool J is also the host of Lip Sync Battle on Spike, LL Cool J was born James Todd Smith on January 14,1968, in Bay Shore, New York, the son of Ondrea Griffeth and James Louis Smith, Jr. In an episode of Finding Your Roots, LL learned his mother was adopted by Eugene Griffith, the series genetic genealogist CeCe Moore identified LLs biological grandparents as Ethel Mae Jolly and Nathaniel Christy Lewis through analysis of his DNA. LLs biological great-uncle was hall of fame boxer, John Henry Lewis and he began rapping at age 9 and was influenced by hip-hop group The Treacherous Three. His grandfather, a jazz saxophonist, bought him $2,000 worth of equipment, Smith later discussed his childhood background and rapping, stating that By the time I got that equipment, I was already a rapper. In this neighborhood, the kids grow up in rap and its like speaking Spanish if you grow up in an all-Spanish house. I got into it when I was about 9, and since then all I wanted was to make a record and hear it on the radio. In a VH1 documentary, LL Cool J, at 14 years of age, revealed that he wanted to call himself J-Ski. Under his new name, LL Cool J, Smith was signed by Def Jam, which led to the release of his first official record. The single was a hard-hitting, streetwise b-boy song with spare beats, Smith later discussed his search for a label, stating I sent my demo to many different companies, but it was Def Jam where I found my home. That same year, Smith made his debut concert performance at Manhattan Center High School. In a later interview, LL Cool J recalled the experience, stating They pushed the lunch room tables together and me and my DJ, Cut Creator, as soon as it was over there were girls screaming and asking for autographs. Right then and there I said This is what I want to do, LLs debut single sold over 100,000 copies and helped establish both Def Jam as a label and Smith as a rapper
6.
Run-DMC
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Run–D. M. C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York, founded in 1981 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. The group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture. Run-D. M. C. is one of the most famous acts of the 1980s who, along with LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys. They were the first group in the genre to have a gold album, Run-D. M. C. was the only hip hop act to perform at Live Aid in 1985. The group was among the first to highlight the importance of the MC, in 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them number 48 in their list of the greatest musical artists of all time. In 2007, Run-D. M. C. was named The Greatest Hip Hop Group of All Time by MTV. com, on April 4,2009, rapper Eminem inducted them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Became only the second hip hop group in history to be inducted, after Grandmaster Flash, as a teenager, Simmons was recruited into hip-hop by his older brother, Russell, who was then an up-and-coming hip-hop promoter. Simmons appeared onstage as a DJ for rapper Kurtis Blow, who was managed by Russell, known as DJ Run, Son of Kurtis Blow, Simmons soon began performing with Kurtis Blow. Previously, McDaniels had been focused on athletics than music. Simmons convinced McDaniels to start rapping, and though McDaniels would not perform in public, Mizell was known for his flashy wardrobe and b-boy attitude, which led to minor legal troubles as a teen. Thereafter, he decided to pursue music fame and began entertaining in the soon after. Eventually, Simmons and McDaniels rapped in front of Mizell at the park, following Russells success managing Kurtis Blow, he helped Run record his first single, a song called Street Kid. The song went unnoticed, but despite the failure, Runs enthusiasm for hip-hop was growing. Simmons soon wanted to record time with McDaniels, but Russell refused. After they completed school and started college in 1982, Simmons and McDaniels finally convinced Russell to let them record as a duo. A year later, in 1983, Russell agreed to help record a new single and land a record deal. A name which, incidentally, the group hated at first, DMC said later, We wanted to be the Dynamic Two, the Treacherous Two — when we heard that s**t we was like, Were gonna be ruined. After signing with Profile Records, Run-D. M. C, released their first single Its Like That/Sucker MCs, in late 1983
7.
Public Enemy (group)
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Public Enemy is an American hip hop group consisting of Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, Khari Wynn, DJ Lord, and the S1W group. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called them the most influential and radical band of their time, in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Public Enemy number 44 on its list of the Immortals,100 Greatest Artists of All Time, the highest ranking for a hip hop act. The group was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007, the band were announced as inductees for the 2013 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on December 11,2012, making them the fourth hip-hop act to be inducted. Carlton Ridenhour and William Drayton met at Long Islands Adelphi University in the early-1980s. M. C. Chuck D put out a tape to promote WBAU and to fend off a local MC who wanted to battle him. He called the tape Public Enemy #1 because he felt like he was being persecuted by people in the local scene and this was the first reference to the notion of a public enemy in any of Chuck Ds songs. The single was created by Chuck D with a contribution by Flavor Flav, around 1986, Bill Stephney, the former Program Director at WBAU, was approached by Ali Hafezi and offered a position with the label. Stephney accepted, and his first assignment was to help fledgling producer Rick Rubin sign Chuck D, according to the book The History of Rap Music by Cookie Lommel, Stephney thought it was time to mesh the hard-hitting style of Run DMC with politics that addressed black youth. With the addition of Flavor Flav and another local mobile DJ named Terminator X, according to Chuck, The S1W, which stands for Security of the First World, represents that the black man can be just as intelligent as he is strong. It stands for the fact that were not third-world people, were people, were the original people. Public Enemy started out as opening act for the Beastie Boys during the latters Licensed to Ill popularity, and in 1987 released their debut album Yo. Bum Rush the Show. Over the next few years, Public Enemy released It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet, and Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black. In addition to ushering in the age of hip hop, during this time, Public Enemy reached the height of their popularity, adulation. The group then separated from Def Jam and has since been producing, marketing. Their debut album, Yo. Bum Rush the Show, was released in 1987 to critical acclaim, the album was the groups first step toward stardom. In October 1987, music critic Simon Reynolds dubbed Public Enemy a superlative rock band, Nation of Millions. was the first hip hop album to be voted album of the year in The Village Voices influential Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 1989, the returned to the studio to record Fear of a Black Planet. The album was supposed to be released in late 1989, but was pushed back to April 1990 and it was the most successful of any of their albums and, in 2005, was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress. Fight the Power is regarded as one of the most popular and it was the theme song of Spike Lees Do the Right Thing
8.
Beastie Boys
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The Beastie Boys were an American hip hop group from New York City, formed in 1981. For the majority of their career, the group consisted of Michael Mike D Diamond, Adam MCA Yauch, Berry left shortly thereafter, and was replaced by Horovitz. They toured with Madonna in 1985 and a year released their debut album Licensed to Ill. With seven platinum or better albums from 1986 to 2004, the Beastie Boys were one of the hip hop acts worldwide. In 2009, they released digitally remastered editions of their albums Pauls Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication. Their eighth studio album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, was released in 2011, and received positive reviews. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2012, just the third rap group to enter the Hall, after Run–D. M. C. and Grandmaster Flash, the following month, MCA died of cancer of the parotid salivary gland. In June 2014, Mike D confirmed that he and Ad-Rock would not continue the Beastie Boys, prior to forming the Beastie Boys, Michael Diamond was part of a number of bands such as the Walden Jazz Band, BAN and The Young Aborigines. The band supported Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys, the Misfits and Reagan Youth at venues such as CBGB, A7, Trudy Hellers Place and Maxs Kansas City, playing at the latter venue on its closing night. In November 1982 the Beastie Boys recorded the 7 EP Polly Wog Stew at 171A studios, on November 13,1982, the Beastie Boys played Philip Puccis birthday for the purposes of his short concert film of the Beastie Boys, Beastie. Pucci held the concert in Bard Colleges Preston Drama Dance Department Theatre and this performance marked the Beastie Boys first on screen appearance in a published motion picture. The opening band for that performance was The Young and the Useless, skills to Pay the Bills later went on to earn the Recording Industry Association of Americas gold sales award for selling more than 500,000 copies. The band also recorded and then performed its first hip hop track, Cooky Puss, based on a prank call by the group to Carvel Ice Cream in 1983. It was a part of the new line-up’s first EP, also called Cooky Puss, which was the first piece of work that showed their incorporation of the rap phenomenon. It quickly became a hit in New York underground dance clubs, in 1983, the new line-up released the Cooky Puss EP, which offered the first evidence of them picking up on the underground rap phenomenon and the use of samples. ‘Beastie Revolution’ was later sampled for a British Airways commercial, earning them $40,000 in royalties, due to the success of Cooky Puss they began to incorporate rap into their sets. They decided to hire a DJ for their shows and ended up getting an NYU student named Rick Rubin. Soon thereafter, Rubin began producing records and he then formed Def Jam Recordings with fellow NY University student Russell Simmons and approached the band about producing them for his new label
9.
KRS-One
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Lawrence Parker, better known by his stage names KRS-One, and Teacha, is an American rapper and occasional producer from The Bronx, New York City, New York. KRS-One rose to prominence as part of the group Boogie Down Productions, following the release of the groups debut album, Criminal Minded, La Rock was shot dead, but KRS-One continued the group, effectively as a solo project. He began releasing records under his own name in 1993, KRS-One is politically active, having started the Stop the Violence Movement, after the death of Scott La Rock. Lawrence Parker was born in The Bronx, New York in 1965, by the time he met youth counselor Scott Sterling, he was also writing graffiti as KRS-One. DJ Scott La Rock, created Boogie Down Productions, releasing their album, Criminal Minded. KRS-One began his career as one third of the hip hop group Boogie Down Productions, or BDP. After being rejected by radio DJs Mr. Magic and Marley Marl, still, KRS-One dissed the song with the BDP record South Bronx. Next, a round of volleys would ensue with Shans Kill That Noise. KRS-One, demonstrating his nickname The Blastmaster, gave a performance against MC Shan. Many believe this live performance to be the first MC battle where rappers attack each other, Parker and Sterling decided to form a rap group together, initially calling themselves Scott La Rock and the Celebrity Three. That was short-lived, however, as the two peripheral members quit, leaving Parker and Sterling and they then decided to call themselves Boogie Down Productions. Success is the Word, a 12-inch single produced by David Kenneth Eng and Kenny Beck, was released on indie Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records, Boogie Down Productions released their debut album Criminal Minded in 1987. The album, whose cover pictured BDP draped in ammunition and brandishing guns, is credited with setting the template for the burgeoning genres of hardcore. Scott La Rock was killed in a shooting later that year, following the fatal shooting of Scott La Rock in 1987, KRS was determined to continue Boogie Down Productions through the tragedy, releasing the album By All Means Necessary in 1988. He was joined by beatboxer D-Nice, rapper Ramona Ms. Melodie Parker, KRS-One was the primary initiator behind the H. E. A. L. Compilation and the Stop the Violence Movement, for the latter he would attract many prominent emcees to appear on the 12-inch single Self Destruction, after five largely solo albums under the name Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One decided to set out on his own. On his first solo album, 1993s Return of the Boom Bap, Parker worked together with producers DJ Premier, Kid Capri and Showbiz and his second album, 1995s KRS-One, featured Channel Live on Free Mumia, a song in which they criticize Black Civil Rights Activist C. Other prominent guest stars on KRS-One included Mad Lion, Busta Rhymes, Das EFX, in 1991, KRS-One appeared on the alternative rock group R. E. M. s single Radio Song, which appeared on the bands album Out of Time, released the same year
10.
Eric B. & Rakim
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& Rakim are a hip hop duo from Long Island, New York, composed of Eric B. and MC Rakim. AllMusic wrote that during raps so-called golden age in the late 80s, & Rakim were almost universally recognized as the premier DJ/MC team in all of hip-hop. Eric Barrier was born and raised in the Elmhurst section of Queens and he played trumpet and drums throughout high school, and later switched to experimenting with turntables prior to graduation. The newly dubbed Eric B. soon began DJing for radio station WBLS in New York City, Barrier wound up meeting Alvin Toney, a promoter based in Queens. Griffin had begun writing rhymes as a teenager in Wyandanch and had taken the name Rakim as a result of his conversion to The Nation of Gods and Earths. Eric B. borrowed records from Rakims brother, Stevie Blass Griffin and began cutting them in the basement for Rakim, I took Fonda Raes Over Like A Fat Rat and said This is the bass line Im going to use for this record. Rakim spit the beer all over the wall and thought it was the funniest shit in the world, I told Rakim, just like you laughing now you going to be laughing all the way to the bank and be a millionaire one day because of this record. & Rakim decided to record together and came under the tutelage of Marley Marl, stories vary over who actually produced their first single, 1986s Eric B. Built on the Fonda Rea bass line sample, Eric B. later told AllHipHop, I took the records to Marley Marls house in Queensbridge, thats why hes not a producer, thats why he is not getting publishing. I just couldnt work the equipment because thats not what I did, the duo recorded its debut album, Paid in Full, at Power Play Studios in New York. In 1987, 4th & Bway Records issued the album, after the success of Eric B. is President, the album climbed into the Top Ten on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Eric B. would later admit that the album was rushed, the reason Paid In Full is so short is because we stood in the studio for damn-near a week. The whole album together in a week. Listen to the lyrics on it and listen to how short they are, thats because Rakim wrote it right there and wed been in the studio like for a whole forty-eight hours trying to get the album finished. Rakim agrees, used to write my rhymes in the studio and go right into the booth, when I hear my first album today I hear myself reading my rhymes - but Im my worst critic. Thats what I hear, though - because thats what it was, id go into the studio, put the beat down, write the song in like an hour, and go into the booth and read it from the paper. Marley Marl stated that his cousin MC Shan was an assistant engineer on tracks, including the single My Melody. MTV listed the album as the greatest in hip hop history, When Paid in Full was released in 1987, Eric B. the album was captivating, profound, innovative and instantly influential
11.
De La Soul
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De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The group is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, the members are Posdnuos, Dave and Maseo. The three formed the group in school and caught the attention of producer Prince Paul with a demo tape of the song Plug Tunin. With its playful wordplay, innovative sampling, and witty skits and it is the bands biggest commercial success to date, with their subsequent albums selling progressively less, despite receiving high praise from critics. They were influential in the stages of rapper/actor Mos Defs career. They are the second longest standing Native Tongues Posse group, after the Jungle Brothers, in 2006, the group won a Grammy for their collaboration with Gorillaz on the single Feel Good Inc. In early 2015, they announced plans to release a Kickstarter-funded upcoming 9th studio album And the Anonymous Nobody in September 2015, the album tracks are said to be the result of multiple improvised jam sessions. The album also features guest appearances from such as Damon Albarn, Little Dragon. De La Souls debut album,3 Feet High and Rising and they quickly became prominent members of the Native Tongues Posse along with A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Queen Latifah, the Jungle Brothers and others. The single Me Myself and I became a hit, further cementing the groups popularity. Lyrically, much of 3 Feet High and Rising focused on striving for peace,3 Feet High and Rising also introduced De La Souls concept of the D. A. I. S. Y. As a result, audiences were quick to peg the members of De La Soul as hippies and this stereotype greatly agitated the groups members, as they always envisioned their career as a constantly changing style, this frustration would influence their next recording sessions. In the press kit for 3 Feet High and Rising, the members explained their stage names, Trugoy when reversed spells yogurt, because he likes yogurt, and Posdnuos spelled backwards is sound sop. The album artwork was designed by radical British artist collective the Grey Organisation De La Souls second album, De La Soul Is Dead was a much more mature album. It featured a wealth of material that criticized the violent, careless direction that hip hop was heading in at the time, though it managed to maintain a light. The cover of the features a broken daisy flower pot. Age and the imagery that went along with it, the album also more prominently featured Vincent Mason as a rapper, providing verses of his own on Bitties in the BK Lounge, Afro Connections at a Hi-5, and Ring Ring Ring. Though it received mixed reviews and did not sell as well as 3 Feet High, the Source magazine listed the album as one of their top 100 hip hop albums of all time, stating that its true genius is rarely understood
12.
Big Daddy Kane
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Antonio Hardy, better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and actor who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap collective the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential, the name Big Daddy Kane came from a variation on Caine, David Carradines character from TV show Kung Fu and a character called Big Daddy Vincent Price played in the film Beach Party. In 1984, Kane became friends with Biz Markie, and he would some of Bizs best-known lyrics. Both eventually became important members of the Queens-based Juice Crew, a collective headed by renowned producer Marley Marl, Kane signed with Tyrone Williams’s and Len Fichtelberg’s Cold Chillin Records label in 1987 and debuted the same year with the 12 single Raw, which was an underground hit. Kane is known for his ability to syncopate over faster hip hop beats and his sense of style is renowned and set a number of late-1980s and early-1990s hip hop trends. The backronym King Asiatic Nobodys Equal is often applied to his moniker and he released his debut album on Cold Chillin Records in the early summer of 1988 called Long Live the Kane, which featured the hit Aint No Half Steppin. He also had a verse on the Marley Marl-produced track The Symphony released in late 1988, which included Juice Crew members Craig G, Masta Ace. Big Daddy Kane appeared on Patti Labelles 1991 effort, Burnin and he provided the rap chorus to the single Feels Like Another One. He also appeared on the video release Live in New York and he contributed the song Nuff Respect to the soundtrack of the film Juice, which starred Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur, further demonstrating his fast lyrical delivery. In 1991, Kane won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for his performance on the Quincy Jones collaborative track Back on the Block off Back on the Block. Widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers during the age of hip hop, Kanes experimentation with R&B beats. Later albums, such as Looks Like a Job For…, were acclaimed, as an actor, he debuted in Mario Van Peebles 1993 western, Posse, and appeared in Robert Townsends 1993 film The Meteor Man. Big Daddy Kane also posed for Playgirl and Madonnas Sex book during the 1990s, in 1996, he collaborated with 2Pac on his song Where Ever U R. During the early 1990s, Jay-Z toured with Kane, and Kane helped him early on in his career - Ice-T says, Kane brought Jay-Z over to my house. Kane himself says that Jay-Z wasn’t technically his hypeman in the sense of the term—he wasn’t a hypeman. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay-Z and Positive K, Jay-Z was also featured on Big Daddy Kane’s track ‘Show & Prove’ from Daddy’s Home, as well as in the video. In 1995, Kane recorded with MC Hammer and Tupac Shakur on the rap song Too Late Playa and he was also mentioned to signing with Death Row East in 1996. In 1997, Kane team up with Frankie Cutlass on his third single title The Cypher Part 3, in 1998, he released his final solo album Veteranz Day
13.
EPMD
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EPMD is an American hip hop group from Brentwood, New York. The groups name is a concatenation of the members names E and PMD or an acronym for Erick and Parrish Making Dollars, referencing its members, emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith. He also stated that they dropped the two Es because N. W. A. s Eric Wright was already using Eazy-E as his stage name, the group has been active for 31 years, and is one of the most prominent acts in east coast hip hop. Diamond J and DJ K La Boss were DJs for the group, every album also has a track with Jane in the title. Many critics cite this first album as the groups most influential, the groups brand of funk-fueled sample-heavy hip-hop proved to be a major force in the genre. Youre a Customer combined snippets of Steve Millers Fly Like an Eagle, Kool & the Gangs Jungle Boogie, the bass line from ZZ Tops Cheap Sunglasses and drum beat. Jane, about a romantic rendezvous gone bad, would be revisited on no less than five sequels, a first for hip-hop and you Gots to Chill used 1980s funk band Zapps More Bounce to the Ounce, which has become one of the most enduring sample sources for hip-hop. EPMD later appeared on the single Everybody by Zapp frontman Roger Troutman on his last solo album, Bridging The Gap, im Housin was covered some 12 years later by Rage Against the Machine. Managed early on by Russell Simmons RUSH Management, the group toured with such luminaries as Run-DMC, Public Enemy. Propelled by several singles, the album was eventually certified gold, selling over 500,000 copies, as did 1989s follow-up. Financial frustrations followed when Sleeping Bag went under in 1992, the two EPMD albums and Nice & Smooths debut album were acquired by Priority/EMI Records before the label was sold to Warlock Records. The duos Sleeping Bag contract was acquired by Def Jam, EPMD returned in 1990 with Business As Usual and Business Never Personal two years later. By 1992, the group presided over an extended family dubbed the Hit Squad, which included Redman, K-Solo, Das EFX, Hurricane G, and Knucklehedz. In 1992, EPMD had a hit with its song Crossover, ironically, the song became a hit itself peaking at No.42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in doing so becoming their biggest hit to date. EPMD called it quits in 1993, under controversial circumstances, according to interviews in The Source and Rap Pages, in late 1991, Smiths house was burglarized by armed intruders. According to Smith, in the police investigation, one of the apprehended culprits supposedly gave up Sermons name as having allegedly paid them to do it. Sermon was arrested and briefly detained for questioning, but no charges were filed, still, it led to lingering tensions, and by the time of the break-up, Sermon alleged financial impropriety on Smiths part. The duo found itself as solo artists by default, Sermon debuted in 1993 with No Pressure, followed by Double or Nothing, Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis, Music, Smith made his statements on 1994s Shade Business, followed by Business is Business in 1996
14.
A Tribe Called Quest
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A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip-hop group formed in 1985 and originally composed of MC and producer Q-Tip, MC Phife Dawg and DJ and producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, MC Jarobi White, left the group in 1991 after the release of their debut album and he continued to contribute to the band sporadically before rejoining for their 2006 reunion. Along with De La Soul, the group was a part of the Native Tongues. The group released six albums between 1990 and 2016, the band broke up in 1998 after releasing their fifth album. In 2006, the group reunited and toured the United States, in 2016, they released their sixth album, which was still incomplete when Phife Dawg died suddenly in March 2016, and was completed by the other members after his death. The group is regarded as a pioneer of alternative hip-hop music, the Source gave the groups debut album a rating of five mics, the first time the magazine gave out this rating. In 2005, A Tribe Called Quest received a Special Achievement Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta, in 2007, the group was formally honored at the 4th VH1 Hip-Hop Honors. Q-Tip and Phife Dawg were childhood friends who grew up together in Queens, initially, Q-Tip performed as a solo artist under the name MC Love Child, occasionally teaming up with Ali Shaheed Muhammad as a rapper and DJ duo. While the duo frequently made demos with Phife, then known as Crush Connection, the groups final name was coined in 1988 by the Jungle Brothers, who attended the same high school as Q-Tip and Muhammad. Q-Tip made two appearances on the Jungle Brothers debut album, Straight Out the Jungle, in the songs Black is Black. Geffen decided against offering the group a contract, and the group was granted permission to shop for a deal elsewhere. After receiving lucrative offers for multi-album deals from a variety of labels, Jive Records was then known as an independent rap label that partly owed its success to building the careers of artists Boogie Down Productions and Too Short. Less than a year after signing with Jive, the released their first single, Description of a Fool. Their debut album Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was marked by a lyrical approach. Peoples Instinctive Travels was initially met with mixed reviews, count Dracula of The Village Voice called the album upliftingly dope and so sweet and lyrical, so user-friendly. You could play it in the background when youre reading Proust, the Source gave it five mics, the magazines highest possible rating. However, Chuck Eddy of Rolling Stone wrote that the album is one of the least danceable rap albums ever, the album only gained momentum after the release of the singles Bonita Applebum and Can I Kick It. and went gold six years later. After its release, White left the group for personal reasons, a remastered 25th anniversary edition of Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is now available on Legacy Recordings and RCA Records
15.
Slick Rick
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Richard Martin Lloyd Walters is a British-born American rapper. He has released four albums, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, The Rulers Back, Behind Bars and The Art of Storytelling. His music has been sampled and interpolated over 600 times, in over 35 songs by artists including Beyoncé, The Beastie Boys, TLC, Nas, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Black Star, Snoop Dogg, MC Ren, and Color Me Badd. In the process, Walters has become the most-sampled hip-hop artist ever, many of the new songs became hit singles. Additionally, Rick has collaborated with such icons as Jay-Z, Missy Elliot and Aaliyah. He has acted and cameoed in 10 movies and videos, Walters was born and raised in the southwest London district of Mitcham, to an English-Jamaican family. He was blinded in the eye by broken glass as an infant. In 1976, he and his emigrated to the United States. At Fiorello H. Laguardia High School of Music & Art, the pair became close friends and formed The Kangol Crew, performing at school contests, parks and local hole-in-the-wall clubs. At a 1984 talent showcase he entered, Rick met Doug E. Fresh, impressed by Ricks talent, Doug made him a member of his Get Fresh Crew. His career began in late 1985, Walters first gained success in the rap industry after joining Doug E. Freshs Get Fresh Crew, using the stage name MC Ricky D. He was featured on the single The Show and its more popular B-side, La Di Da Di. Both tracks gained some attention, they appeared on Top of the Pops. In 1986, Slick Rick joined Russell Simmons Rush Artist Management and became the third artist signed to Def Jam Records, the leading rap/hip-hop label at the time. Collaborating with his friend, DJ Vance Wright, Walters produced his debut, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick. The album was successful, reaching the No.1 spot on Billboards R&B/Hip-Hop chart. It also featured three charting singles, Childrens Story, Hey Young World, and Teenage Love, the release is known for its storytelling and vocal characterizations. With the combination of Ricks Dick Van Dyke-on-dope accent and his narrative style
16.
Ultramagnetic MCs
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The Ultramagnetic MCs is an American hip hop group based in Bronx, New York. Founded by Kool Keith, the group is composed of Ced Gee, TR Love. Tim Dog became a member in 1989. In 1990, DJ Jaycee was added as Roadmanager and backup DJ, Big. D was put down with the crew by Kool Keith in 1989. In 2006 Kool Keith and Big. D formed the supergroup The Commissioner, a former member, Rooney Roon, was fired following an assault arrest. Beat-boxing legend Rahzel was also involved with the early in its career. The groups work was associated with sampling, polysyllabic rhymes. The Ultramagnetic MCs formed in 1984 and their first single was To Give You Love on the Diamond International label. The groups worldwide buzz started with Ego Trippin, its first 12-inch single on Next Plateau Records in 1986 and it was the first hip hop song to feature the Synthetic Substitution drum break sample, composed by Melvin Bliss and one of the most sampled songs of all time. The groups next single was Traveling At The Speed of Thought /M. C. s Ultra followed by Funky/Mentally Mad, funky was based on a Joe Cocker piano sample later used as the basis for Dr. Dre and Tupacs California Love. This led to the release of the groups first album, the Ultramagnetic MCs released a new school classic in 1988, Critical Beatdown, introducing many new sampling techniques. Many believe that without the primary producer, Ced Gee. Ced, while uncredited, also produced the majority of Boogie Down Productions seminal Criminal Minded and these albums are among the first to use chopped samples, rearranged and edited to change context. Both albums also feature many James Brown samples, which became prominent in Hip Hop in ensuing years. KRS-One has been quoted as saying that he was close to joining Ultramagnetic MCs early on. Paul C. was also a contributor to Critical Beatdown, producing Give The Drummer Some. Paul C. also produced the Hip-House mix of Traveling At The Speed Of Thought, which was used as the groups first music video, the singles b-side, A Chorus Line, became one of Ultramagnetics most popular songs and introduced new group affiliate Tim Dog. The group went on a hiatus for several years, breaking up temporarily in 1990 and they returned on Mercury Records in 1992, with the album Funk Your Head Up
17.
Jungle Brothers
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The Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop group, and founding members of the Native Tongues collective. The Jungle Brothers pioneered the fusion of jazz and hip-hop and also became the first hip-hop group to use a house-music producer, the group began performing in the mid-1980s and released its first album, Straight Out the Jungle, in July 1988. With Afrocentric lyrics and innovative beats, the Jungle Brothers were critically acclaimed, the original trio comprised Michael Small, Nathaniel Hall and Sammy Burwell. Sammy B left the group after the release of Raw Deluxe in May 1997 and their first album, Straight Out the Jungle, was released on an independent record label. In spite of the failure of Straight Out the Jungle, Warner Bros. Records soon signed the group. In 1990, the Jungle Brothers contributed the song I Get a Kick to the Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue produced by the Red Hot Organization, following a four-year break, the Jungle Brothers returned in 1993 with J Beez Wit the Remedy, another commercial disappointment. The Jungle Brothers involved themselves with an emerging Hip Hop organization called Ill Crew Universal which released worldwide compilation albums and supported independent Hip Hop artists. Their fifth album, V. I. P. was produced by Alex Gifford of Propellerheads and, during production, they added their vocal stylings to the Propellerheads tracks Take California and their latest album to contain new releases is 2002s All That We Do. In 2001, their song Whats the Five 0 was featured in the video game FreQuency. 1988, Straight out the Jungle 1989, Done by the Forces of Nature 1993, J Beez Wit the Remedy 1997, Raw Deluxe 2000,2002, All That We Do 2003, You in My Hut Now 2006, I Got You 2005, This Is
18.
Gangsta rap
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Gangsta rap or gangster rap is a subgenre of hip hop music with themes and lyrics that generally emphasize the gangsta lifestyle. After the national attention that Ice-T and N. W. A attracted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Many gangsta rap artists openly boast of their associations with various street gangs as part of their artistic image, with the Bloods. Gangsta rap is closely related to other indigenous gang and crime-oriented forms of music, the subject matter inherent in gangsta rap has caused a great deal of controversy. The White House administrations of both George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton criticized the genre, many gangsta rappers argue that in the world of their genre exists the emotions and perspectives of a people whose suffering is too often overlooked and belittled by society. Gangsta rap, some argue, was an effect of the various wrongdoings perpetrated against African-Americans in underprivileged neighborhoods. The various riots sparked by the Rodney King beating and the acquittal of the officers responsible for the beating sparked anger. Gangsta rap acted as an outlet so such people could express themselves angrily and they often used gangsta rap to tell the stories of their lives, which sometimes included strong violence, hypersexuality, and drug abuse. The 1973 album Hustlers Convention by Lightnin Rod and Jaren Clark featured lyrics that deal with life, including pimping. Many rappers, such as Ice-T and Mac Dre, have credited pimp, rudy Ray Moores stand-up comedy and films based on his Dolemite hustler-pimp alter ego also influenced gangsta rap and are still a popular source for samples. Finally, blaxploitation films of the 1970s, with their depictions of black underworld figures, were a major inspiration as well. Tracy Ice-T Morrow, was born in Newark, New Jersey, as a teenager, he moved to Los Angeles where he rose to prominence in the West Coast hip hop scene. In 1986, Ice-T released 6 in the Mornin, which is regarded as among the first gangsta rap songs. In an interview with PROPS magazine, Ice-T said, Heres the exact order of what really went down. Then the syncopation of that rap was used by me when I made 6 in the Mornin, the vocal delivery was the same. P. S. K. is makin that green. six in the morning, police at my door. When I heard that record I was like Oh @#. *%, and call it a bite or what you will but I dug that record. My record didnt sound like P. S. K, but I liked the way he was flowing with it. P. S. K. was talking about Park Side Killers and that was the only difference, when Schoolly did it, it was. one by one, Im knockin em out
19.
Ice-T
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Tracy Lauren Marrow, better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a rapper in the 1980s and was signed to Sire Records in 1987, the next year, he founded the record label Rhyme $yndicate Records and released another album, Power. He co-founded the heavy metal band Body Count, which he introduced in his 1991 album O. G, Body Count released its self-titled debut album in 1992. Ice-T encountered controversy over his track Cop Killer, which was perceived to glamorize killing police officers, Ice-T asked to be released from his contract with Warner Bros. Records, and his solo album, Home Invasion, was released later in February 1993 through Priority Records. Body Counts next album was released in 1994, and Ice-T released two albums in the late 1990s. Since 2000, he has portrayed NYPD Detective Odafin Tutuola on the NBC police drama Law & Order, on August 1,2006 the fourth Body Count album Murder 4 Hire was released, followed by Manslaughter on June 10,2014. Tracy Lauren Marrow, son of Solomon and Alice Marrow, was born in Newark, Solomon was an African American, and Alice was Creole. For decades, Solomon worked as a conveyor belt mechanic at the Rapistan Conveyor Company, when Marrow was a child, his family moved to upscale Summit, New Jersey. Relaying this incident to his mother, she told him, Honey, people are stupid, her advice and his mother died of a heart attack when he was in third grade. Solomon raised Marrow as a father for four years, with help from a housekeeper. Marrows first experience with an illegal activity occurred after a bicycle that Solomon bought him for Christmas was stolen, after Marrow told his father, Solomon shrugged, Well, then, you aint got no bike. Marrow stole parts from bicycles and assembled three or four weird-looking, brightly painted bikes from the parts, his father either did not notice or never acknowledged this, when Marrow was 12 years old, Solomon died of a heart attack. For many years, AllMusic. com has stated that his parents died in an accident, but Ice-T has stated that it was actually he who had been in a brutal auto accident. While his cousin Earl was preparing to leave for college, Marrow shared a room with him, Earl was a fan of rock music and listened to only the local rock stations, sharing a room with him spurred Marrows interest in heavy metal music. Marrow moved to the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles when he was in the 8th grade and he attended Palms Junior High, which was predominantly made up of white students, and included black students bussed in from South Central. He attended Crenshaw High School, which was almost entirely made up of black students, Marrow stood out from most of his friends because he did not drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, or use drugs. During high school, gangs began to intensify in the Los Angeles school system, students who belonged to the Bloods and Crips gangs attended Crenshaw, and fought in the schools halls
20.
N.W.A
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N. W. A was an American hip hop group from Compton, California. The group was banned from many mainstream American radio stations. In spite of this, the group has sold over 10 million units in the United States alone, the group was also known for their deep hatred of the police system, which sparked much controversy over the years. The original lineup formed in 1986 consisted of Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Dr. Dre would later become platinum-selling solo artists in the 1990s. Rolling Stone ranked N. W. A number 83 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, in 2016, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, following three previous nominations. The group was assembled by Compton-based Eazy-E, who co-founded Ruthless Records with Jerry Heller, Eazy-E sought an introduction to Steve Yano. Although initially rebuffed, Yano was impressed by Eazy-Es persistence and arranged a meeting with Dr. Dre, initially, N. W. A consisted of Eazy-E and Dr. Dre. Together with fellow producer Arabian Prince, Ice Cube was added to the roster after he had started out as a rapper for the group C. I. A, Dre would later bring DJ Yella on board as well. Dre and Yella were both members of the World Class Wreckin Cru as DJs and producers. Ruthless released the single Panic Zone in 1987 with Macola Records, which was included on the compilation album N. W. A. Mexican rapper Krazy-Dee co-wrote Panic Zone, which was originally called Hispanic Zone, also included was Eazy-Es solo track Boyz-n-the-Hood. N. W. A released their studio album, Straight Outta Compton. With its famous opening salvo of three tracks, the reflected the rising anger of the urban youth. The opening song Straight Outta Compton introduced the group, Fuck tha Police protested police brutality and racial profiling, while the group was later credited with pioneering the burgeoning subgenre of gangsta rap, N. W. A referred to their music as reality rap. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, as HighPowered Productions, composed the beats for each song, with Dre making occasional rapping appearances. Ice Cube, and MC Ren wrote most of the lyrics, including Fuck tha Police, perhaps the groups most notorious song. This letter can still be seen at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, policemen refused to provide security for the groups concerts, hurting their plans to tour. Nonetheless, the FBIs letter only served to more publicity to the group
21.
2 Live Crew
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The 2 Live Crew is an American hip-hop group from Miami, Florida. They caused considerable controversy with the themes in their work. The 2 Live Crew, although seen as a fixture in the Miami hip-hop scene, actually got their start in California & was created by DJ Mr. Mixx with fellow rappers Fresh Kid Ice. The group released its first single, Revelation, in 1985, Revelation was popular in Florida, so The 2 Live Crew relocated to Miami. Rapper Brother Marquis joined The 2 Live Crew for its next single What I Like, local rapper Luke Skyywalker gave The 2 Live Crew a record deal and worked as the groups manager and then lead vocalist. The 2 Live Crews debut album, The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are, was released in 1986. Alex Henderson of Allmusic commented that the album did take sexually explicit rap lyrics to a new level of nastiness, with such as We Want Some Pussy. With word-of-mouth attention, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, Bob Rosenberg of Will to Power remixed Beat Box and was billed King of Edits by Luke Skyywalker. In 1987, a Florida store clerk was acquitted of charges for selling the album to a 14-year-old girl. Move Somethin is the album by Miami hip hop group 2 Live Crew. The album was released in 1988 and it was also certified Gold and featured the singles Move Somethin and Do Wah Diddy Diddy. The album improved on the charts from the album, making in to #68 on the Billboard 200. Campbell decided to sell a separate clean version in addition to the version of the album, Move Somethin. A record store clerk in Alexander City, Alabama, was cited for selling a copy to a police officer in 1988. It was the first time in the United States that a store owner was held liable for obscenity over music. The charges were dropped after a jury found the record store not guilty, in 1989, the group released their album, As Nasty As They Wanna Be, which also became the groups most successful album. A large part of its success was due to the single Me So Horny, the American Family Association did not think the presence of a Parental Advisory sticker was enough to adequately warn listeners of what was inside the case. Jack Thompson, an affiliated with the AFA, met with Florida Governor Bob Martinez
22.
Too Short
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Todd Anthony Shaw, better known by the stage name Too Short, is an American rapper, producer, and actor. He is best known for his hit songs like The Ghetto, Too Short is one of the very few musicians to have been able to collaborate with both 2Pac and The Notorious B. I. G. during the height of their careers. Too Short is credited as being one of the rappers of West Coast hip hop. His rap lyrics are primarily about pimping, drug use, Shaw was born and grew up in South Central Los Angeles, California. In the early 1980s, Shaw and his moved to Oakland. He was a drummer in the band at Fremont High School in Oakland, in the mid 1980s, Shaw produced custom songs for people with his high school friend, Freddy B. In 1985, Too Short had his first release, Dont Stop Rappin which, along with the following three releases, featured raw, simple drum beats from a LinnDrum drum machine. This was also one of the first hip hop records to use the word bitch - a word which one of the rappers trademarks and was the focus of subsequent raps such as Aint nothing. In the early 1990s his beats came from mostly a TR-808 and from mid-to-late 2000s, in 1985, Too Short and Freddie B. formed the label Dangerous Music to regionally distribute his music and with others formed rap group The Dangerous Crew. Dangerous Music became Short Records, and then Up All Nite Records, with his 1989 release, Life Is. Too Short, he began using replayed established funk riffs with his beats. Subsequent work was collaborative, including work with Tupac Shakur. One of his notable collaborations during this period was on the track The World Is Filled. on the classic Notorious B. I. G, album Life After Death, he comes in on the third verse after Diddy and Biggie. Being featured on the album introduced him to an audience as well. He also appeared on TWDYs hit single Players Holiday from their 1999 debut album Derty Werk as well as the Priority Records compilation Nuthin, after these appearances, he began working on his eighth album, Cant Stay Away. The album included guest appearances by 8Ball & MJG, Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Sean Combs, E-40, Daz Dillinger, Lil Jon, Soopafly, Scarface and B-Legit. Too Short relocated to Atlanta in 1994, but he did not begin working with a diverse variety of Southern artists until 2000. However, he didnt totally give up on his trademark funk grooves or sexually explicit style, new albums released 2000-2003 were You Nasty, Chase the Cat, Whats My Favorite Word. and Married to the Game. These albums all charted well, as they all were in the top 71 of the Billboard 200
23.
Pop-rap
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Pop-rap is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip hop music with pop musics preference for melodious vocals and catchy tunes, which gained mainstream popularity during the 1990s. The lyrics are often lighthearted, with similar to those heard in pop music. The influences and roots of pop rap trace back to late 1980s hip hop artists, such as Run DMC, LL Cool J, many pop singers will often feature hip-hop artists now. In the 1980s, rap artists including Run DMC, Beastie Boys and LL Cool J set up the blueprints, LL Cool J has been described as the very first pop-rapper in history, when he rose to prominence on his 1985 debut album Radio. When he joined Russell Simmons Def Jam label and decided to try merging rap with pop and R&B influences, MTV has described LL Cool Js 1987 single I Need Love, as one of the first pop-rap crossover hits. Later, rap artists such as Tone Loc, Young MC, during the 1990s, pop rap began to expand even more as hip hop music also began to connect strongly with dance music and R&B. On 9 July 1990, Céline Dion released Unison as the single for her first English-language album of the same name. The track was produced by Andy Goldmark, for the single release, Unison was remixed by Kevin Unger. and make it funky. In the early 1990s, MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice broke into the mainstream with songs like U Cant Touch This, during the 1990s, smash-hit rappers such as MC Hammer caused pop-rap to be derided for its willingness to borrow from well-known hit singles. By the end of the 1990s as rappers fused gangsta rap themes with 1980s pop and soul elements, mariah Carey did a collaboration in 1995 with ODB with the remix version of Fantasy. During the early 2000s, pop-rap returned with a different style. It then went back into the mainstream with the success of The Black Eyed Peas who had smash singles such as Where Is the Love, which came off their Elephunk album.2 million in the United States alone. During the late 2000s, pop-rap had many such as Drake, Will. i. am, Nicki Minaj. For instance, Drakes Take Care album went at the top of the Top 40. Also, his So Far Gone EP peaked at six on the Billboard 200 chart with 73,000 units sold. It dropped in the second week down to nine, with sales of 36,000. Despite being an EP, it became the fifth-best-selling rap record of 2009, as of February 2012, the EP has sold 639,000 copies in the US. The EP was certified gold by the RIAA on July 4,2010 for sales exceeding 500,000, Drakes single Im Goin In charted and peaked at number 40 the week after the EP was sold
24.
Kid 'n Play
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Kid n Play is an American hip-hop act from New York City that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The duo was composed of Christopher Kid Reid and Christopher Play Martin working alongside their DJ, besides their successful musical careers, they are also notable for branching out into acting. The pair met while performing in high school groups The Turnout Brothers and The Super Lovers. In 1986 Shes a Skeezer and Rock Me were recorded, by 1987 they had changed their name to Kid n Play. Kid n Play recorded three albums together between 1988 and 1991,2 Hype, Kid n Plays Funhouse, and Face the Nation, hurby Luv Bug Azor, the producer for Salt-n-Pepa served as Kid n Plays manager and producer during the early portion of their career. All three albums focused upon positive lyrics backed by instrumental tracks. Among the groups most successful singles were 1989s Rollin with Kid n Play, 1990s Funhouse, the groups stage show highlighted their teen-friendly personalities, and dances such as their trademark, the Kick Step. Kids visual trademark was his hi-top fade haircut, which stood ten inches high at its peak, also affectionately known as the Funky Charleston, it was influenced by the 1920s era dance The Charleston. The Kid n Play Kickstep featured the new jack swing-aerobic dance moves typical of late 1980s urban street dancing, unlike the original Charleston, The Kid n Play Kickstep requires two participants instead of one. This dance also was quite popular in Kid n Plays feature film House Party, in which Kid and Play have a dance competition with Tisha Campbell. In addition to their music, Kid N Play have starred together in five films, all of them based around hip hop characters. The duo also appeared on the albums to these films. Four of the Kid n Play films were entries in the House Party series, the first two House Party films also featured the then-relatively unknown Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell, later stars of the TV sitcom Martin. House Party 3 featured hip-hop/R&B girl group TLC as the music group Sex as a Weapon, House Party was originally meant for DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Years later in an interview with Halftimeonline. net DJ Jazzy Jeff revealed, Class Act, for that film, Reid traded his trademark hi-top fade in for braids instead. The haircut is used as a device in the film. Kid n Play even had their own NBC Saturday morning cartoon, Kid n Play, on the show, Kid n Play were regressed to teenagers, but their recording careers remained intact, as did their comic personas. The real Kid n Play appeared in live-action wraparounds of the cartoons, the show stressed positive role models, teaching kids how to get along and stay out of trouble
25.
The Fat Boys
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The Fat Boys are an American hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York City, that emerged in the early 1980s. The group was known originally as the Disco 3. Prince Markie Dee Damon Wimbley a. k. a, the Human Beat Box Manager Charlie Stettler was a Swiss national who had embraced hip-hop culture. In 1983, putting the two together he contacted the nascent Swatch company and offered the talents of his group, Stettler, knowing the video channel was playing no hip-hop, readily agreed. Even with no fee he sensed the exposure would catapult his trio into youths mainstream, the company returned to The Fat Boys for a 1985 Christmas commercial, created by former MTV creative heads Alan Goodman and Fred Seibert. Big Buff Love, the Human Beatbox, was a pioneer in beatboxing and he and another contemporary, Doug E. Fresh, popularized beatboxing, inspiring other artists to innovate, including Biz Markie. For its 1987 album, Crushin, the Fat Boys made a version of The Surfaris hit Wipe Out with The Beach Boys singing back-up vocals. The single made it to #12 on the Billboard chart, the Fat Boys also recorded a version of The Twist with Chubby Checker, who performed it originally in 1960. Capitalizing on their personalities, the trio starred in the 1985 Run-D. M. C. The group was approached to record the theme song for A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, The Dream Master, called Are You Ready for Freddy. Attempting to capitalize on the name of the Fat Boys, another hip hop group dubbed itself the Skinny Boys. The popularity of groups was mild in comparison, however. The groups popularity declined by the 1990s, for example, in the 1992 feature film Boomerang, Chris Rocks character laments the breakup of the Fat Boys. He was later quoted by Jay-Z in his 2001 song the Heart of the City, prince Markie Dee left the group to pursue solo interests, which included producing many early tracks for Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige which included her debut single, Real Love. In 1991, the two members, Kool Rock Ski and Buff Love, carried on as a duo and released Mack Daddy, but shortly thereafter. On December 10,1995, Buff Love died of an attack in Rosedale, Queens. He was 28 years old and reportedly weighed 450 pounds, prince Markie Dee is a current radio host for WEDR99 Jamz in Miami, Florida working weekends. Kool Rock-ski resides in New York, the surviving members of the Fat Boys launched its first official homepage, OriginalFatBoys. com, on November 5,2008
26.
MC Hammer
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Stanley Kirk Burrell, better known by his stage name M. C. Hammer, is an American hip hop recording artist, dancer, record producer, entrepreneur and he had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s, until the late 1990s. Remembered for his rise to fame, Hammer is known for hit records, flashy dance movements, choreography. Hammer is considered a forefather/pioneer and innovator of pop rap, and is the first hip hop artist to achieve diamond status for an album, regardless, BET ranked Hammer as the #7 Best Dancer Of All Time. Vibes The Best Rapper Ever Tournament declared him the 17th favorite of all-time during the first round, Burrell became a preacher during the late 1990s with a Christian ministry program on TBN called M. C. Prior to becoming ordained, Hammer signed with Suge Knights Death Row Records by 1995, throughout his career, Hammer has managed his own recording business. As a result, he has created and produced his own acts including Oaktowns 3.5.7, Special Generation, Analise, DRS, B Angie B, stanley Kirk Burrell was born on March 30,1962 in Oakland, California. His father was a poker player and gambling casino manager. He grew up poor with his mother and eight siblings in an apartment in East Oakland. He recalled that six children were crammed into a housing project apartment. The Burrells would also frequent thoroughbred horse races, eventually becoming owners and winners of several graded stakes, in the Oakland Coliseum parking lot the young Burrell would sell stray baseballs and dance accompanied by a beatboxer. Oakland As team owner Charles O. Finley saw the 11-year-old doing splits and hired him as an assistant and batboy as a result of his energy. Burrell served as a batboy with the team from 1973 to 1980, the colorful Finley, who lived in Chicago, used the child as his eyes and ears. I nicknamed him Hammer, because he looked like Hank Aaron, team players, including Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Pedro Garcia, also dubbed Burrell Little Hammer due to his resemblance to Aaron. Ron Bergman, at the time an Oakland Tribune writer who covered the As, recalled that, He was an informant in the clubhouse, an informant for Charlie, according to Hammer, Charlie said, Im getting you a new hat. I dont want you to have a hat that says As on it, Im getting you a hat that says Ex VP, that says Executive Vice President. Youre running the joint around here, every time I come down to the clubhouse, you know, Rollie would yell out Oh, everybody be quiet. He acquired the nickname M. C. for being a Master of Ceremonies which he used when he began performing at clubs while on the road with the As
27.
Rolling Stone
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Rolling Stone is an American biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the publisher. It was first known for its coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors. In recent years, it has resumed its traditional mix of content, Rolling Stone magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and Ralph Gleason. To get it off the ground, Wenner borrowed $7,500 from his own family and from the parents of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim. The first issue carried a date of November 9,1967. Some authors have attributed the name solely to Dylans hit single, At Gleasons suggestion, Rolling Stone initially identified with and reported the hippie counterculture of the era. In the very first edition, Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone is not just about the music, in the 1970s, Rolling Stone began to make a mark with its political coverage, with the likes of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson writing for the magazines political section. Thompson first published his most famous work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas within the pages of Rolling Stone, where he remained a contributing editor until his death in 2005. In the 1970s, the magazine also helped launch the careers of prominent authors, including Cameron Crowe, Lester Bangs, Joe Klein, Joe Eszterhas, Patti Smith. It was at point that the magazine ran some of its most famous stories. One interviewer, speaking for a number of his peers, said that he bought his first copy of the magazine upon initial arrival on his college campus. In 1977, the magazine moved its headquarters from San Francisco to New York City, editor Jann Wenner said San Francisco had become a cultural backwater. During the 1980s, the magazine began to shift towards being an entertainment magazine. Music was still a dominant topic, but there was increasing coverage of celebrities in television, films, the magazine also initiated its annual Hot Issue during this time. Rolling Stone was initially known for its coverage and for Thompsons political reporting. In the 1990s, the changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors
28.
Spin (magazine)
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Spin is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. The magazine stopped running in print in 2012 and currently runs as a webzine, in its early years, the magazine was known for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college rock, grunge, indie rock, and the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard and it pointedly provided a national alternative to Rolling Stones more establishment-oriented style. Spin prominently placed newer artists such as R. E. M, Spins extensive coverage of hip-hop music and culture, especially that of contributing editor John Leland, was notable at the time. Editorial contributions by musical and cultural figures included Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins, David Lee Roth, the magazine also reported on cities such as Austin, Texas, or Glasgow, Scotland, as cultural incubators in the independent music scene. A1990 article on the country blues scene brought R. L. Burnside to national attention for the first time. During this time, it was published by Camouflage Associates, in 1997, Guccione sold Spin to Miller Publishing. In February 2006, Miller Publishing sold the magazine to a San Francisco-based company called the McEvoy Group LLC and that company formed Spin Media LLC as a holding company. The new owners replaced editor-in-chief Sia Michel with Andy Pemberton, an editor at Blender. The first issue to be published under his command was the July 2006 issue—sent to the printer in May 2006—which featured Beyoncé on the cover. Pemberton and Spin parted ways the next month, in June 2006, the following editor, Doug Brod, was executive editor during Michels tenure. For Spins 20th anniversary, it published a book chronicling the prior two decades in music. The book has essays on grunge, Britpop, and emo, among other genres of music, as well as pieces on musical acts including Marilyn Manson, Tupac Shakur, nirvana, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit, and the Smashing Pumpkins. In July 2012, Spin was sold to Buzzmedia, which renamed itself SpinMedia. The September/October 2012 issue of Spin was the magazines last print edition, in December 2016, Eldridge Industries acquired SpinMedia via the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group for an undisclosed amount. In 1995, Spin produced its first book, entitled Spin Alternative Record Guide, although the book was not a sales success, it inspired a disproportionate number of young readers to pursue music criticism. Notable contributors to Spin have included, SPIN began compiling year-end lists in 1990, note, The 2000 album of the year was awarded to your hard drive, acknowledging the impact that filesharing had on the music listening experience in 2000. Kid A was listed as number 2, the highest ranking given to an actual album,1994 roadside attack on Spin magazine journalists Anon
29.
MTV
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MTV is an American cable and satellite television channel owned by Viacom Media Networks and headquartered in New York City. Launched on August 1,1981, the originally aired music videos as guided by television personalities known as video jockeys. In its early years, MTVs main target demographic was young adults and it has received criticism towards this change of focus, both by certain segments of its audience and musicians. MTVs influence on its audience, including issues involving censorship and social activism, has also been a subject of debate for several years, in recent years, MTV had struggled with the secular decline of music-related cable media. In April 2016, MTV announced it would start to return to its original music roots with the reintroduction of the classic MTV series MTV Unplugged. It was also reported that the series MTV Cribs would be making a return on Snapchat, MTV has spawned numerous sister channels in the US and affiliated channels internationally, some of which have gone independent. As of July 2015, approximately 92,188,000 US households have received MTV, several earlier concepts for music video-based television programming had been around since the early 1960s. The Beatles had used music videos to promote their records starting in the mid-1960s, CBS rejected the idea, but Williams premiered his own musical composition Classical Gas on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he was head writer. The series featured clips from various popular artists, but was canceled by its distributor in 1971. The channel, which featured video disc jockeys, signed a deal with US Cable in 1978 to expand its audience from retail to cable television, the service was no longer active by the time MTV launched in 1981. The QUBE system offered many specialized channels, One of these specialized channels was Sight on Sound, a music channel that featured concert footage and music-oriented television programs. With the interactive QUBE service, viewers could vote for their favorite songs, the original programming format of MTV was created by media executive Robert W. Pittman, who later became president and chief executive officer of MTV Networks. Pittman had test-driven the music format by producing and hosting a 15-minute show, Album Tracks, the inspiration for PopClips came from a similar program on New Zealands TVNZ network named Radio with Pictures, which premiered in 1976. The concept itself had been in the works since 1966, when record companies began supplying the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation with promotional music clips to play on the air at no charge. Few artists made the trip to New Zealand to appear live. A shortened version of the shuttle launch ID ran at the top of hour in various forms. The first music video shown on MTV was The Buggles Video Killed the Radio Star and this was followed by the video for Pat Benatars You Better Run. Sporadically, the screen would go black when an employee at MTV inserted a tape into a VCR, MTVs lower third graphics that appeared near the beginning and end of music videos would eventually use the recognizable Kabel typeface for about 25 years
30.
Sway Calloway
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Sway Calloway, better known mononymously as Sway, is an American rapper and reporter and executive producer for MTV News. He is also the co-host of the syndicated radio show The Wake Up Show. He is one half of the duo Sway & King Tech, as a teenager growing up in Oakland, California, Sway became a locally known rapper and b-boy performing on San Franciscos Pier 39. He teamed up with DJ King Tech after high school and the duo performed at various San Francisco Bay Area clubs, a major label record deal with Giant Records followed. The resulting album, Concrete Jungle in 1990, got them the job of co-hosting their own show on radio station KMEL, the Wake Up Show featured music and interviews with well-known hip hop artists as well as up-and-coming ones. The show became popular and began simulcasting to Los Angeles on KKBT in 1993. Ras Kass, Chino XL and Eminem are among the rappers who made their debuts on the show. Soon, Sway was also hosting his own morning drive show on the station. The popularity of the show helped Sway and Tech get another record deal and their album, This or That, reached #30 on Billboards R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #1 on the Top Heatseekers chart in 1999. The album featured contributions from hip hop artists such as RZA, Eminem, Xzibit, Kool G Rap, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Tech N9ne, Pharoahe Monch, Sway also made an appearance on Jennifer Lopezs DVD, The Reel Me in late 2003. Because MTVs studios are based in New York City, King Tech, sways prominence on MTV made the radio show even more popular than it was before. This inevitably led to a TV version of the show on MTV running briefly in January 2004, Sway and Tech also have a popular series of mixtapes that feature freestyles performed on the show. Another album, Back 2 Basics was released in 2005 on Sway and Techs own record label, Bolo Entertainment and he appeared as a guest star on the MTV sketch comedy show Short Circuitz in 2007. Sway hosts a morning show on Eminem’s Shade 45 channel on SiriusXM. “Sway in the Morning” launched on Monday, July 18,2011 on Shade 45, the second week he was there Ludacris phoned in on the show and they talked about his music and movie career. In an interview with The Source in 2012, Sway talked about his experiences in both satellite and terrestrial radio, in September 2005, Sway decided not to renew his contract with MTV. However, in 2006, Sway signed a new contract included an ability to bring new projects to MTV. He will have the opportunity to produce programming with King Tech on MTV, media related to Sway Calloway at Wikimedia Commons
31.
Boogie Down Productions
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Boogie Down Productions was a hip hop group, originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27,1987, five months after the release of BDPs debut album, Criminal Minded. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the South Bronx section of The Bronx, the membership of BDP changed continuously throughout its existence, the only constant being KRS-One. From those beginnings, BDP members and collaborators included Lee Smith, Scott La Rock, D-Nice, Kenny Parker, Mad Lion, DJ Premier, Just-Ice, ICU Channel Live, McBoo, Ms. Melodie, Heather B. Scottie Morris, Tony Rahsan, Willie D. RoboCop, Harmony, DJ Red Alert, Jay Kramer, D-Square, Rebekah Foster, Scott Whitehill, Scott King, Chris Tait and Sidney Mills. BDP as a group essentially ended because KRS-One began recording and performing under his own rather than the group name. Original member Lee Smith, who has co-producer credit on the original 12” South Bronx single, was the last to be jettisoned by KRS-One. In the liner notes on BDPs 1992 album Sex and Violence, KRS-One writes, BDP in 1992 is KRS-One, Willie D, BDP is not D-Nice, Jamal-ski, Harmony, Ms. Melodie, and Scottie Morris. They are not down with BDP so stop frontin, steve Flash Juon of RapReviews. com claimed that this initiated the ultimate breakup of the group. The origins of hip-hop to many, including BDP, are believed to be from the Bronx, a rival hip-hop collective known as the Juice Crews lyrics were misunderstood to contain a claim in the song The Bridge that hip hop was directly a result of artists originating from Queensbridge. The Bridge Wars, however, were only short-lived, and after the death of Scott La Rock prior to the second album. While Criminal Minded contained vivid descriptions of South Bronx street life, producer Lee Smith was dropped and KRS-One adopted the Teacha moniker and made a deliberate attempt at creating politically and socially conscious Hip-Hop. BDP was hugely influential in provoking political and social consciousness in Hip-Hop however the group was overshadowed by the political hip hop group Public Enemy. Jamaican inspirations The Jamaican influence present in Criminal Minded is well illustrated by the use of the Mad Mad or Diseases riddim started in 1981 with reggae star Yellowmans song Zunguzung. BDP used this riff in the song Remix for P is Free, as an album regarded by many as the start of the gangsta rap movement, Criminal Minded played an important role in reaffirming the social acceptance of having Jamaican roots. BDP referenced reggae in a way that helped to solidify Jamaicas place in modern hip-hop culture, the influence of BDP in the creation and development of gangsta rap highlights the cultural significance and impact of the type of music BDP and other early hip-hop artists like it created. This subgenre of hip-hop is most closely associated with hard-core hip-hop and is misinterpreted as promoting violence. This misinterpretation or stigma is closely related to Boogie Down Productions, for instance, the cover art of Criminal Minded displays the two artists in this group brandishing drawn guns and displaying other firearms
32.
Afrocentrism
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Afrocentrism is a cultural ideology or worldview mostly limited to the United States that focuses on the history of black Africans. It is a response to global attitudes about African people and their historical contributions, Afrocentricity deals primarily with self-determination and African agency and is a Pan-African ideology in culture, philosophy, and history. S. Civil Rights Movement and in the development of African-American Studies programs in universities, in strict terms Afrocentrism, as a distinct academic ideology, reached its peak in the 1980s and 1990s. Today it is associated with Molefi Asante. Critics of Afrocentricity accuse it of being pseudohistory, reactive, the term Afrocentrism dates to 1962. The adjective Afrocentric appears in a proposal for an entry in Encyclopedia Africana. The abstract noun Afrocentricity dates to the 1970s, and was popularized by Molefi Asantes Afrocentricity and they increasingly took more active public roles despite severe racial discrimination and segregation. American and African intellectuals looked to the African past for a re-evaluation of what its civilizations had achieved, the combination of the European centuries gives us about four to five hundred years of solid European domination of intellectual concepts and philosophical ideas. Africa and Asia were subsumed under various headings of the European hierarchy, according to U. S. professor Victor Oguejiofor Okafor, concepts of Afrocentricity lie at the core of disciplines such as African American studies. A major theme of the work is the denial by Western academia of the African. Philosophy originated in Africa and the first philosophers in the world were Africans, Afrocentricity constitutes a new way of examining data, and a novel orientation to data, it carries with it assumptions about the current state of the African world. His aim is to lay out a plan for the recovery of African place, respectability, accountability. Afrocentricity can stand its ground among any ideology or religion, Marxism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and your Afrocentricity will emerge in the presence of these other ideologies because it is from you. Afrocentrism is the ideology that can liberate African people. A commitment to finding the subject-place of Africans in any social, political, economic, or religious phenomenon with implications for questions of sex, gender, a defence of African cultural elements as historically valid in the context of art, music, and literature. A celebration of centeredness and agency and a commitment to lexical refinement that eliminates pejoratives about Africans or other people, a powerful imperative from historical sources to revise the collective text of African people. Some also assert that the definition of Afrocentricity has never sat still long enough to be properly described, Afrocentric education is education designed to empower peoples of the African diaspora. A central premise behind it is that many Africans have been subjugated by limiting their awareness of themselves, to control a peoples culture is to control their tools of self-determination in relationship to others
33.
Gang Starr
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Gang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of MC Guru and the DJ/producer DJ Premier. In 1987 and 1988, Gang Starr released three 12 vinyl singles on Wild Pitch Records, in 1989, the group split and the only member willing to continue under the name was Guru. He soon got in touch with Houston, Texas native DJ Premier who sent him a beat tape and he invited DJ Premier to join Gang Starr and in that same year they released their first single Words I Manifest along with the album No More Mr. Nice Guy. In 1990, the group was signed to the Chrysalis record label by then A&R director Duff Marlowe, during their career Gang Starr helped pioneer the New York City hardcore hip hop sound. The entire Gang Starr catalog, especially Step in the Arena, Daily Operation, Hard to Earn and Moment of Truth are well respected among underground rap fans, Gang Starr provided a track, Battle, for the sound track of the 2002 movie 8 Mile. Their track Jazz Thing was featured on the soundtrack to Spike Lees film Mo Better Blues, after several albums and tours, in late 2002 DJ Premier left Europe back to the United States. Once again Guru was faced with continuing alone and became involved in a European tour in 2003-04 with an alternate DJ, in 2006, Guru indicated in several interviews that Gang Starr had reached its end. In February 2010, Guru suffered an attack, went into a coma. Solar, a collaborator of the artist, said Guru chose not to go public with the diagnosis of myeloma that was made in 2000. Guru appeared to have fallen out with DJ Premier seven years prior to his death and did not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name, likeness, events, tributes, etc. There is speculation that the letter was not written by Guru, the validity of the statement continues to be heavily questioned by Gurus family and many of his contemporaries within the Hip-Hop culture. Soon after DJ Premier stated that there was a posthumous Gang Starr CD/DVD project in the works, and most likely to have released in 2014. Premier confirmed in late 2015 that he was working on a Gang Starr biopic with the cooperation of Gurus sister, members of the foundation included Big Shug, Afu-Ra, Jeru the Damaja, Krumbsnatcha, Ed O. G. and Group Home. Each episode title of the first season of the Netflix series Luke Cage, based on the Marvel Comics character, was named after a Gang Starr song
34.
Main Source
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Main Source was a Canadian/American hip hop group based in New York City/Toronto, composed of Toronto DJs and producers, Sir Scratch and K-Cut, and Queens MC and producer Large Professor. Later, MC Mikey D replaced Large Professor, because of business differences, the group broke up before its second album, tentatively entitled The Science could be released. Singer Madonna sampled the bassline from What You Need on Fuck What You Think in the song Human Nature, Large Professor went on to be an instrumental producer for hip hop stars such as Eric B. & Rakim, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Nas, and he references his falling-out with Sir Scratch and K-Cut on A Tribe Called Quests third album Midnight Marauders. On the track Keep It Rollin he says, Im Uptown chillin, takin in this Grandmaster Vic blend/from the projects, K-Cut also produced for a wide range of hip hop artists including Big Pun, Maestro Fresh-Wes, Fu-Schnickens, Queen Latifah, and even NBA star Shaquille ONeal. He also mentored another Toronto-based producer named Watts,1 Main Source at MySpace Main Source discography, forum, and marketplace at Discogs
35.
Lord Finesse
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Lord Finesse is a hip-hop artist and producer, from The Bronx, New York, best known as the leader of the D. I. T. C. About. com ranked him number 29 on its list of the Top-50 Hip-Hop Producers. In 1989, Finesse and his former partner DJ Mike Smooth signed with Wild Pitch Records, home of popular hip hop artists such as Gang Starr, Main Source, Chill Rob G. In 1990, the duo released their debut album Funky Technician, the album featured production from future star beat-makers DJ Premier, Diamond D and Showbiz. Soon after, Finesse formed the popular New York underground crew D. I. T. C, an acronym for Diggin In The Crates, together with Showbiz & A. G. and Diamond D. Future members included Fat Joe, O. C, buckwild, and Big L. Finesse returned as a solo artist in early 1992 with his second effort, Return of the Funky Man. The album featured guest appearances from Percee P and AG, the albums title track peaked at number 13 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. Return of the Funky Man also included a couple of songs that were produced by Finesse himself, in 1994 Finesse made a production appearance on The Notorious B. I. G. s classic debut Ready to Die, on the track Suicidal Thoughts. In 1995, he produced a big portion of Big Ls debut album Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, including the single M. V. P. and made an appearance on one of the albums highlight songs Da Graveyard. He returned as an artist in 1996 with the now rare 12 single Check The Method and then the acclaimed album The Awakening. Finesse produced the album himself, and enlisted a large number of guests, including KRS-One, MC Lyte, Akinyele, Diamond D, Showbiz & A. G. O. C. The underground single Actual Facts featuring Sadat X, Large Professor, Finesse hasnt released a studio album since this effort, but has continued his production work. In 1997, he produced the track to O. C. s acclaimed effort Jewelz. Finesse released a mixtape called Diggin On Blue in 1999, later in the year, he produced the track The Message on Dr. Dres seminal 2001 album. Finesse is currently working on a Funky Technician remix project, as well as a new D. I. T. C, along with these projects, he and DJ Premier are working on a posthumous Big L album. In 1998, Finesse provided the vocal sample on the hook to The Rockafeller Skank, the song features Finesses repeated line Right about now, the funk soul brother. Check it out now, the funk soul brother, Lord Finesse returned to the mic on Handsome Boy Modeling Schools album White People in 2004. He was featured on the song entitled Rock N Roll pt,2, collaborating with famous old-school DJs Grand Wizard Theodore and Jazzy Jay
36.
Mantronix
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Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group from New York City. The band was formed by DJ Kurtis Mantronik and rapper MC Tee, the group is primarily remembered for its pioneering blend of old school hip hop, electronic, and club music. They underwent several genre and line-up changes during its existence between 1984–91, and released five albums beginning with their 1985 debut Mantronix, The Album. In 1984, while working as the in-store DJ for Downtown Records in Manhattan, Kurtis Mantronik met MC Tee, the duo soon made a demo, Fresh Is The Word, and eventually signed with William Socolovs Sleeping Bag Records. Mantronixs second album, Music Madness, was released in 1986, in Full Effect marked the last Mantronix album with rapper MC Tee, who left the group to enlist in the United States Air Force. Following the departure of MC Tee, rapper [[Bryce Wilson|Bryce Luvah Wilson This Should Move Ya, Mantronik met Wilson, a fellow Sleeping Bag Records label mate, while doing production for Wilsons aborted solo project. The album spawned two hits on the British singles chart, Got to Have Your Love at No. 4, and Take Your Time at No.10, in the United States, the album reached No.61 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In a 1991 interview, Kurtis Mantronik commented on the success of Got to Have Your Love, Mantronixs final release. D, was The Incredible Sound Machine in 1991, grammy-nominated neo soul singer/songwriter Angie Stone co-wrote seven of the eleven tracks that appeared on The Incredible Sound Machine. The Incredible Sound Machine, which tended to favor R&B, new jack swing, shortly after a European tour and promotion related to the release of The Incredible Sound Machine, the group disbanded, and Mantronik left the music industry altogether for seven years. Kurtis Mantronik resurfaced in Europe in the late 1990s, producing house- and techno-music artists, Mantronix at soulmovement. nl AllMusic. com Biography – Mantronix Discogs Profile – Mantronix Angie Stone 2016 Interview at Soulinterviews. com
37.
Adidas
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Adidas AG is a German multinational corporation, headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second biggest in the world, Adidas revenue for 2016 was listed at €19.29 billion. Adidas was registered on 18 August 1949 by Adolf Dassler, following a feud at the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik company between him and his older brother Rudolf. Rudolf had earlier established Puma, which became the business rival of Adidas. The companys clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars, and the motif is incorporated into Adidass current official logo. The brand name is uncapitalized and is stylized with a case a. Christoph Von Wilhelm Dassler was a worker in a shoe factory, after leaving school, their son, Rudolf Rudi Dassler, joined his father at the shoe factory. When he returned from fighting in World War I, Rudolf received a management position at a porcelain factory, Adolf Adi Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mothers wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach after his return from World War I. In July 1924, his brother Rudolf returned to Herzogenaurach to join his brothers business. Following Owens haul of four medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the worlds most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on the desks. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of every year before World War II. After Rudolf was later picked up by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, American occupying forces subsequently became major buyers of the Dassler brothers shoes. Although it is a urban myth that the name is an acronym for All Day I Dream About Sports. Puma and Adidas entered into a fierce and bitter rivalry after the split. Indeed, the town of Herzogenaurach was divided on the issue, even the towns two football clubs were divided, ASV Herzogenaurach club was supported by Adidas, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach endorsed Rudolfs footwear. When handymen were called to Rudolfs home, they would deliberately wear Adidas shoes, Rudolf would tell them to go to the basement and pick out a pair of free Pumas. The two brothers were never reconciled and although both are now buried in the cemetery, they are spaced as far apart as possible
38.
Rick Rubin
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Frederick Jay Rick Rubin is a Jewish-American record producer and former co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin is the co-founder of Def Jam Records, with the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and Run–D. M. C. Rubin helped popularize hip hop music, in 2007, MTV called him the most important producer of the last 20 years, and the same year Rubin appeared on Times 100 Most Influential People in the World. Frederick Jay Rubin was born in Long Beach, New York and grew up in Lido Beach and his father, Michael was a shoe wholesaler and his mother, Linda, a housewife. While a student at Long Beach High School he befriended the schools audiovisual department director Steve Freeman who gave him a few lessons in playing and songwriting. Their biggest claim to fame was being thrown off the stage at CBGB after two songs for brawling with the heckling audience and these hecklers were friends of the band instructed to instigate a confrontation so as to get the show shut down and create a buzz. Somewhat anecdotally, this story was confirmed in an interview with music journalist Zane Lowe. Although he had no authority in New York City, Rubins father traveled from Nassau County, New York, during his senior year, Rubin founded Def Jam Records using the schools four-track recorder. He moved on to form Hose, influenced by San Franciscos Flipper, in 1982, a Hose track became Def Jams first release, a 45 rpm 7 vinyl single in a brown paper bag, and no label. The band broke up in 1984 as Rubins passion moved towards the NYC hip hop scene, having befriended Zulu Nations DJ Jazzy Jay, Rubin began to learn about hip hop production. By 1983, the two men produced Its Yours for rapper T La Rock, and released it on their independent label, Producer Arthur Baker helped to distribute the record worldwide on Bakers Streetwise Records in 1984. Jazzy Jay introduced Rubin to concert promoter/artist manager Russell Simmons in a club, Simmons and Rubin edged out Jazzy Jay and the official Def Jam record label was founded while Rubin was attending New York University in 1984. Their first record released was LL Cool Js I Need a Beat, Rubin went on to find more hip-hop acts outside The Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem including rappers from Queens, Staten Island and Long Island, which eventually led to Def Jams signing of Public Enemy. Rubin was instrumental in pointing the members of the Beastie Boys away from their roots and into rap. 1985s Rock Hard/Partys Gettin Rough/Beastie Groove EP by the Beastie Boys came out on the success of Rubins production work with breakthrough act Run–D. M. C, which previous recordings were produced by Russell Simmons and Orange Krushs musician Larry Smith. His productions were characterized by occasionally fusing rap with heavy rock, Rubin tapped Adam Dubin and Ric Menello to co-direct the music videos for the Beastie Boys Fight for Your Right and No Sleep till Brooklyn, effectively launching the bands mainstream hip hop careers. It was the idea of Rick Rubins friend Sue Cummings, an editor at Spin magazine, to have Run–D. M. C. and this 1986 production is often credited with both introducing rap hard rock to mainstream ears and revitalizing Aerosmith. In 1986, he worked with Aerosmith again on demos for their forthcoming album, in the same year, Rubin began his long musical partnership with Slayer, producing Reign in Blood, considered a classic of the heavy metal genre
39.
Def Jam Recordings
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Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused predominantly on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group. In the UK, the takes on the name Def Jam UK and is operated through Virgin EMI, while in Japan. The label distributes various record labels, including Kanye Wests GOOD Music, Ludacris Disturbing Tha Peace, Def Jam was founded by Rick Rubin in his dormitory in Weinstein Hall at New York University and its first release was a single by his punk-rock group Hose. Russell Simmons joined Rubin shortly after they were introduced to other, according to one story. Another cites DJ Jazzy Jay as their connector, Rubin has said he met Simmons on the TV show, Graffiti Rock and recognized him then as the face of hip hop, He was five years older than me, and he was already established in the music business. And I had no experience whatsoever, the first single released with the Def Jam Recordings logo was T La Rock & Jazzy Jays Its Yours. The first releases with Def Jam Recordings catalog numbers were LL Cool Js I Need a Beat, the singles sold well, eventually leading to a distribution deal with CBS Records through Columbia Records the following year. A few years later, Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen started a label called Rush Associated Labels to handle Def Jam. RAL became the home to Nice & Smooth and EPMD after both acts were acquired due to the folding of their former label Sleeping Bag Records, other acts under the RAL umbrella included Redman, Onyx, Flatlinerz, Domino, Warren G and Jayo Felony. As the decade drew to a close, the label signed Public Enemy, Lyor Cohen became president of Def Jam/RAL in 1988, after winning a power struggle with Rubin, who would shortly thereafter leave the company to form Def American Recordings. Rubin would take Slayer with him to Def American in its initial stages, by 1992, despite recent multi-platinum selling releases from Public Enemy, and EPMD, Def Jam ran into severe financial troubles and was faced with folding. However, in 1994, PolyGram purchased Sonys 50% stake in Def Jam Recordings — subsequently bringing the label into its fold, following PolyGrams purchase, Def Jam distributed the Violator Records-signed artist Warren Gs Regulate. G Funk Era album, which went triple platinum and brought much-needed revenue to Def Jam through its distribution deal with Violator, PolyGram acquired an additional 10% in Def Jam Recordings in 1996, further strengthening its ownership of Def Jam. Shortly thereafter, Rush Associated Labels was renamed Def Jam Music Group, the label remained profitable as its veteran star LL Cool J released his successful album Mr. Smith in 1995. The label later signed Foxy Brown, whose debut album Ill Na Na became a seller in 1997. In 1998, PolyGram was purchased by Seagram and merged with the MCA family of labels and it then purchased the remaining interest of Def Jam Recordings from Russell Simmons for a reported $100 million. UMG merged 14+ record labels including, Def Jam, Island Records, despite the formation of IDJMG, the Def Jam, Mercury, and Island labels continued to operate as separate imprints underneath the bigger umbrella. Lyor Cohen was appointed co-president of IDJMG, and Kevin Liles succeeded him as president of Def Jam, Def Soul also issued recordings by Musiq, Montell Jordan, Case,112, Patti LaBelle, and Christina Milian
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Drum machine
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A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums, cymbals, other percussion instruments, and often basslines. Drum machines are most commonly associated with electronic music such as house music. They are usually used when session drummers are not available or if the production cannot afford the cost of a drummer. Also, many modern drum machines can also produce sounds, as well as allowing the user to compose unique drum beats. In the 2010s, most modern machines are sequencers with a sample playback or synthesizer component that specializes in the reproduction of drum timbres. The invention could produce sixteen different rhythms, each associated with a pitch, either individually or in any combination, including en masse. Received with considerable interest when it was introduced in 1932. The next generation of rhythm machines played only pre-programmed rhythms such as mambo, tango, Chamberlin Rhythmate In 1957 Californian Harry Chamberlin constructed a tape loop-based drum machine called the Chamberlin Rhythmate. It had 14 tape loops with a head that allowed playback of different tracks on each piece of tape. It contained a volume and a control and also had a separate amplifier with bass, treble, and volume controls. The tape loops were of real acoustic jazz drum kits playing different style beats, with additions to tracks such as bongos, clave, castanets. First commercial product – Wurlitzer Side Man In 1959 Wurlitzer released a drum machine called the Side Man. The Side Man was intended as an accompaniment for the Wurlitzer organ range. The Side Man offered a choice of 12 electronically generated, predefined rhythm patterns with variable tempos, the sound source was a series of vacuum tubes which created 10 preset electronic drum sounds. Combinations of these different sets of rhythms and drum sounds created popular rhythmic patterns of the day, e. g. waltzes and these combinations were selected by a rotary knob on the top of the Side Man box. The tempo of the patterns was controlled by a slider that increased the speed of rotation of the wiper arm, the Side Man had a panel of 10 buttons for manually triggering drum sounds, and a remote player to control the machine while playing from an organ keyboard. The Side Man was housed in a cabinet that contained the sound-generating circuitry. Raymond Scott In 1960, Raymond Scott constructed the Rhythm Synthesizer and, in 1963, scotts machines were used for recording his album Soothing Sounds for Baby series
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Sampler (musical instrument)
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The samples are loaded or recorded by the user or by a manufacturer. These sounds are played back by means of the sampler program itself. Because these samples are stored in digital memory, the information can be quickly accessed. A single sample may often be pitch-shifted to different pitches to produce musical scales, often samplers offer filters, effects units, modulation via low frequency oscillation and other synthesizer-like processes that allow the original sound to be modified in many different ways. Most samplers have polyphonic capabilities – they are able to more than one note at the same time. Many are also multitimbral – they can play back different sounds simultaneously, prior to computer memory-based samplers, musicians used tape replay keyboards, which store recordings on analog tape. When a key is pressed the tape head contacts the moving tape, to change sounds a new set of tapes had to be installed in the instrument. The emergence of the sampler made sampling far more practical. Bruce Haack built a digital sampler which he demonstrated on Mister Rogers Neighborhood in 1967, the home made synthesizer device included a built-in sampler which recorded, stored, played back and looped sounds controlled by switches, light sensors and human skin contact. EMS Musys system, developed by Peter Grogono, David Cockerell, the system ran on two mini-computers, Digital Equipment PDP-8s. These had 12,000 bytes of memory, backed up by a hard drive of 32k. EMS equipment was used to control the worlds first digital studio, the E-mu SP-1200 percussion sampler progressed Hip-Hop away from the drum machine sound upon its release in August 1987, ushering in the sample-based sound of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Akai pioneered many processing techniques, such as crossfade looping and time stretch to shorten or lengthen samples without affecting pitch, during the 1980s, hybrid synthesizers began to utilize short samples along with digital synthesis to create more realistic imitations of instruments than had previously been possible. Examples are the Korg M1, Roland U-110, Yamahas SY series, samplers, together with traditional Foley artists, are the mainstay of modern sound effects production. Using digital techniques various effects can be pitch-shifted and otherwise altered in ways that would have required many hours when done with tape, usually a sampler is controlled by an attached music keyboard or other external MIDI controller or source. Each note-message received by the sampler accesses a particular sample, often multiple samples are arranged across the keyboard, each assigned to a note or group of notes. Keyboard tracking allows samples to be shifted in pitch by an appropriate amount, each group of notes to which a single sample has been assigned is often called a keyzone, and the resultant set of zones is called a keymap. For example, in Fig 1, a keymap has been created four different samples
42.
Rakim
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William Michael Griffin, better known by his stage name Rakim, is an American rapper. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B, & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled MCs of all time. & Rakims classic album Paid in Full was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV in 2006, Steve Huey of Allmusic stated that Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the greatest MCs -- perhaps the greatest -- of all time within the hip-hop community. The editors of About. com ranked him #2 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time, Rakim began his career as the emcee of the rap duo Eric B. & Rakim, who in 2011 were nominated for induction into the Rock, in 2012, The Source ranked him #1 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. Rakim is the nephew of the late American R&B singer and actress Ruth Brown and he grew up in Wyandanch, New York, and became involved in the New York hip hop scene at 18. Eric B. brought him to Marley Marls house to record Eric B, Rakim, then known as Kid Wizard in 1985, made his first recordings live at Wyandanch High School. Rakim was initially introduced to the Nation of Islam in 1986, and later joined The Nation of Gods and Earths, first meeting in 1985, Eric B. & Rakim went on to release four albums before their separation in 1992. They were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, after Rakim responded to Eric B. s search for New Yorks top MC, Eric Bs friend and roommate Marley Marl allowed them to use his home studio. The first track they recorded—Eric B, is President—was released as a single on the independent Zakia Records in 1986. After Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons heard the single, the duo were signed to Island Records, on July 7,1987, the duo released their debut album, Paid in Full, on the Island-subsidiary label 4th & Bway Records. The album peaked at number fifty-eight on the Billboard 200 chart and produced five singles, is President, I Aint No Joke, I Know You Got Soul, Move the Crowd, and Paid in Full. While its singles attained success, the album performed better on music charts than Eric B. & Rakims debut album and reached number 22 on the U. S. Billboard Pop Albums chart and it has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies in the United States. American author William Jelani Cobb wrote of the significance, On the heels of Paid in Full. & Rakim delivered a full clip of album titled Follow the Leader in 1988, the release marked the high point in the collaboration between the two and prefaced the long slide they faced in the 1990s. Let the Rhythm Hit Em, released in 1990, was Eric B and this album saw the duos sound develop further, with Rakim adopting a deeper, more aggressive tone of voice, as well as more mature and serious subject matter
