Hip Hop History Final 215

Discuss horrorcore, the city this subgenre is most associated with as well as an associated artist.

- A genre of rap first popularized in the mid-90's. The horror in horrorcore derives from artists in the genre deriving much of their lyrical inspiration from horror movies, with common themes including murder, satanism, rape, and cannibalism. - Detroit is where horrorcore has really thrived in internet culture and sustains an annual super show called Wickedstock. - Eminem is an artist that is very well known in the horrorcore scene.

Discuss how Aftermath Entertainment came to dominate Hip Hop sales in the new Millenium.

- Aftermath entertainment was able to bring in three star rappers into the forefront of hip hop. Eminem became the biggest and best-selling rapper in the world, 50 cent had a 2 year run that cemented his status as the biggest rapper in the industry, and The Game became a house hold name by way of the success of his debut- The Documentary.

Discuss the style of Hip Hop known as Boom Bap, and name an artist associated with the style.

- Boom bap was started in the east and was meant to imitate the sound of percussion instruments (low drum on the down beat and higher drum on the off beats). - KRS-One wrote an album called Return of the Boom Bap in '93. It has songs like Sound of da Police and Brown Skin Women.

Discuss the origins of Christian Hip Hop, the artist associated with its founding and a couple of artists associated with the subgenre in the late 80/90's.

- Christian hip hop music emerged from urban communities in the United States in the 80's, when it existed almost exclusively in small underground scenes, with minimal industry promotion and little mainstream attention. - the first rapper to have success in the mainstream Christian music scene, was TobyMac, and Lacrae. - Christian rap has almost exclusively come out of protestant traditions in the united states, although there is a small catholic rap scene, and also a small Christian rap scenes.

Discuss the role Hip Hop played in the lead up to and the aftermath of the 1992 L.A. Riots, mentioning at least couple significant songs (and the artist(s) associated with them).

- There were a few songs that were released that can be seen as a lead up to the riots that happened, "batterram" by Toddy Tee and "**** Tha Police" by NWA. Dr. Dre's The Chronic was a big album that was related to the riots. It is one of the best examples of protest music in hip hop history, the singles "nuthin' but a G Thang", "Dre Day", and "Let Me Ride"

Give a chronology of the career of Eminem, discussing his most famous albums, mentioning songs associated with them and the role he played in Hip Hop circa the turn of the Millenium.

Marshall Mathers, BATTLErapper, Horrorcore, Slim Shady - 3 different personalities on his albums. The slim shady, LP - '99, started at number 2, went plat in 3 months, went 5x plat. The Marshall Mathers, LP - sold 35 million worldwide, "Stan" with Elton John. The Eminem Show - 2002 - he started his career in clubs, he quit school because all of his excused absences. he started to get into rapping after this. his first album was, infinite, it sold poorly. but he caught dr.Dres attention when placing second at rap olympics. he was then produces and mentored by dre.

challenges faced by female musicians in a male-dominated industry, and discuss the impact on Hip Hop of each of the following: MC Lyte

MC lyte - faced males that wanted to not pay her as much as she deserved, they wanted to hold her back as much as possible. she refused to let this happen and did what she had to to make it.

Discuss the role that KRS-One played in East Coast Hip hop of the Golden Age.

They helped lead the Stop The Violence Movement. They helped get a lot of other people involved. First song they released is Self-Destruction in '89

Discuss the impact on the development of Hip Hop made by Big Daddy Kane.

by being one of the biggest MS's of all time with complex lyrical schemes that had not been used on a mic before. "lyricist was formed" lyricist - one who writes their own words for their songs.

Discuss G-Funk, its origins, musical characteristics, artists associated with it and the specific album which firmly placed G-Funk at the forefront of the Hip Hop scene.

female vocals, slowed funk samples. (recreation at a slower tempo to avoid distortion, heavy bass line, use of synthesizers, sawtooth wave, lyrically connected to gangsta rap, largely centered in the LA/Compton area.

Give a general time frame for the so-called 'Golden Age', and discuss how East Coast and West Coast styles differed during this age.

golden age was from 86-97, gangsta rap is on the east but it is not as overly dominant like it was on the west coast, during the east coast there was a return of DJing, lots of lyrical diversity - poetry - a lot of Afrocentric perspectives - positivity, anti-ganster/reality rap perspective - sampling - created its own subgenre called jazzrap, noisy sounds.

Discuss the impact on the development of Hip Hop made by each of the following groups: The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest.

jungle brothers - the single was the first non-chicago hip house record. it changed the course of hip hop and dance music by expanding it. de la soul - 3 feet high and pissing, there hasn't been another hip hop release in 30 years that has emitted a sense of happiness. future artists built on these aesthetics. tribe called quest - changing the rap music landscape by shifting the focus from a primarily gangster rap culture dynamic to one focused on self expression and social awareness.

challenges faced by female musicians in a male-dominated industry, and discuss the impact on Hip Hop of each of the following: Latifah

queen latifah - she talked about the issues of the lives of a black women, like domestic violence, street harassment and the need for coalition building between females.

challenges faced by female musicians in a male-dominated industry, and discuss the impact on Hip Hop of each of the following: Salt-N-Pepa

salt-n-pepa - they were frank and outspoken about their desires and sexuality, they were preaching feminist values and speaking out against assault and discrimination. "lets talk about sex". men were not a fan of this and they often got looked down on for acting the way they did.

Discuss Mobb music, when/where it originated, what distinguishes it from other subgenres and a couple of artists associated with it.

subgenre of gangsta rap, lyrically very much like gangsta rap (talks about the same themes but has musical differences). Musical characteristics; heavy bass line (derived from funk), a lot of funk samplings (usually slowed down, more of a relaxed chilled vibe), recreation of funk sample, but with live instruments (creates a lower pitch), synthesizer sounds, female vocals

Discuss the impact on the development of Hip Hop made by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.

them boycotting the 31st grammy award ceremony, that led to another boycott campaign from other celebrities. - this was for/because they didn't put the grammy's on tv and they were fighting for it because people didn't think hip hop was worthy.

Give a chronology of the career of Andre Young, or Dr. Dre, from his career with the World Class Wreckin Cru through the dominance of Aftermath Entertainment in the 2000's.

- Dre grew up surrounded by music and he worked on turning his own home into his studio by the age of 13, when he was older, he started hanging out at LA nightclub Eve After Dark, where he eventually got his chance to play in the turntables. He joined the World Class Wreckin' Cru, which performed in nightclubs and developed his persona of Dr. Dre, the master of mixology. - In 1985 he teamed up with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Yella, MC Ren, the Arabian Prince, and the D.O.C. to form NWA. - Behind the scenes he was very instrumental in launching the careers of numerous hip hop and rap artists on Ruthless Records. He helped produce many albums with other artists. - Dre co-founded Death Row Records in 1991 with Suge Knight, he worked with snoop dogg and Tupac Shakur, and then wind up leaving in 1996 because there was too much trouble with the west/east coast rap feud. - In 1992 he went on his own with Death Row Records and released The Chronic, this album helped him introduce G-funk, which incorporated musical samples and melodies from funk with gangsta rap. - In 1996 Dr. Dre launched Aftermath Entertainment through Interscope records, it was founded as a "boutique label" that prides itself in "quality over quantity", focusing on small numbers of high-profile releases. They went through a lot of trial and errors with artists that they hoped would take off but then they would not be able to. They signed Eminem in 1998 and he was one of their first big artists that was successful, then came 50 cent and Kendrick Lamar.

Discuss the principal members of N.W.A., and their impact on the development of Hip Hop and the culture at large.

- Eric wright - the one who assembled the group, not musical but he saw the music scene and wanted to be a part of it so he made his own record label, ruthless records. -Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, MC Ren

Discuss Ice-T's influence on the evolution of Hip Hop.

- Ice-T was the first rapper to put out a gangsta rap piece (there was already a long precedent of this kind of music in the world, but this is the first one that the media started calling this genre)

Discuss Death Row Records, its founders, artists associated with the label, its role in Hip Hop in the 90's and its ultimate demise.

- It was founded in 1992 by Suge Knight and Dr. Dre. After a year of being in business The Chronic was released and then the next year Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle was released and Death Row Records was really starting to grow and be huge along with gangsta rap. Death Row started to fall when Tupac Shakur was murdered, it has faced many legal attacks, it stayed in business during this time mostly as a legacy label for Tupac.

Discuss the impact on the development of Hip Hop made by both MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice and why, for different reasons, each figure was controversial within Hip Hop despite achieving tremendous mainstream success.

- MC Hammer got dissed a lot for putting out what people said was a "simple version" of hip hop, they said his lyrics were shallow, mostly focused on the dancing, and that it was nothing spectacular. - vanilla ice from his fashion styles, and he also opened a pathway for future white rappers like Macklemore and eminem. "i definitely opened doors and made it acceptable to get into hip hop."

Discuss what distinguishes music of the Golden Age (including Gangster Rap) from the previous New School Era Hip Hop, being able to provide an approximate time frame for both eras.

- New school started in 83-84 - The golden age (east) and gangsta rap (west) was during '86-'97 o Diversity - topics, music, layered samplings o DJing returns - never really went away but it gains more prominence and MC'ing dies down o Quality - uniqueness to an artist, not as much uniformity as there was in old school o East/west division - hostility was often played up by the media o Slow emergence of the south- people are overshadowed by the east and west o Lyricism - east

Discuss the musical and historical significance of Outkast, discussing a few of their albums, how they progressed as artists and what role they played in a post-Golden/Gangsta rap world.

- Outkast was a duo formed by Andre Benjamin "Andre 3000" and Antwan Patton "Big Boi". They have helped define the way Atlanta hip hop sounds since 1991, they helped break ground way for southern rappers, and rappers in general. They did this by experimenting with diverse genres such as funk, psychedelia, jazz and techno. - they released their first album in 1994 called Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. Then they released 2 more, ATLiens in 1996 and Aquemini in 1998, both of these peaked at number 2 on billboard 200.

Discuss Public Enemy and their impact on the development of Hip Hop, being able to mention a couple members of the group and the role they played.

- Public Enemy consisted of the members; Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, and DJ Lord who replaced Terminator X in 1998 after he retired from the group. They were formed in Long Island, New York in 1985. Known for their politically charged music and criticism of the American media, with an active interest in the frustrations and concerns of the African American community. - Public enemy had a large impact on hip hop because they put out songs that were very political and they talked about things that most people would be scared to talk about. They did not care if they offended anyone, they just put out music that they felt needed to be put out. - Terminator X shattered his left leg in 1994 in a motorcycle accident which forced him to relocate to his 15-acre farm in North Carolina, in order to heal. In 1998 he was ready to retire and farm ostriches.

Discuss the impact on the development of Hip Hop made by both Eric B. and Rakim.

- Rakim had a large impact on hip hop because of how he delivered and wrote his lyrics - Eric B. had reinstated the art of live turntable mixing. His soul-filled sampling became influential in future hip hop productions.

Discuss the impact of the murder of Scott LaRock as well as an incident of violence at a Public Enemy/BPD concert in 1988 had on the East Coast Hip Hop scene in general and on Boogie Down Productions in particular.

- Scott La Rock was killed in 1987, he was shot from a nearby building while riding in a jeep on the Highbridge Gardens projects in the Bronx. After he died, BDP released their album By All Means Necessary, which featured the song "stop the violence". - In 1988 a fan was killed while attending the Dope Jam Tour in New York's Nassau Coliseum. The kid was killed over a gold chain, he was stabbed in the heart possibly. This happening was the reason KRS-One started the Stop the Violence Movement, they brought in a lot of popular artists at that time to bring anti-violence awareness to the community.

Give a chronology of the career of Tupac Shakur, discussing his albums, mentioning a few songs associated with them, and also addressing how his style changed over time.

- born in Harlem, moved to Oakland in '88, moved to LA in '93, 1st album 2pacalypse '91 (produced by Jive/TNT, "Brenda's got a Baby", Tupac wasn't afraid to speak about women's issues), 2nd album N.i.g.g.a.2 '93 (never ignorant getting goals accomplished, had a tattoo on his chest that said thug life and it meant the hate you give little infants ****s everyone, album went 2x plat., "keep ya head up" dedicated to black women and the issues they face in the US, specifically Latasha Harlins) - Started to get a bad rep, got into an argument with drunk cops that said he stopped his car too close to them, the cops had stolen guns and they pulled them out and started shooting at tupacs car, he took out his gun and shot both the cops. A women who was 'with his group' claimed that him and his group raped her, and he was convicted of sexual abuse- he adamantly denied it 1.5-3.5 years jail time while waiting on the verdict he was working on his third album. Me against the world - an album mostly based off of internal reflections and the things he had gotten himself into during that time. He was shot 5 times, in a possible assassination attempt, and was treated for 3 hours and then he checked himself out of the hospital and made it to his sentencing and then he was sent to jail. There are a lot of legend and misinformation about the rumors that were widely spread that he had been raped in prison. Shug knight came and offered him a deal with Death Row records and tupac signed the deal. - He then makes his 4th and final album of his lifetime - all eyes on me '96 recorded in '95 - there are a lot of mixed feeling if he prospered with death row or not, people couldn't tell if he was changing as a person because he signed to death row or if he was actually just becoming that person. He started to care more about his image in what he was wearing and was starting to act differently "2 of Americas most wanted" - Sept 7, 1996 - he was with Suge knight and they got in a shuffle with a crypt and Suge knight beat him up and then was shot when a car pulled up next to them and shot, he was in a coma and dies on sept 13, 1996. There are many different theories about this - a crypt did it, Suge knight did it himself, or someone else ordered a hit against him.

Discuss the music and career of Sean Combs, including why his music has sometimes proven controversial.

- career; founded his own record label after being fired from uptown records, bad boy productions. Had a debut album - no way out that went 7x plat. in 2009 he formed a music group, dirty money. won 3 grammys, 2 MTV music video awards. he also created the brand ciroc. - his music; mo money mo problems- upbeat, drums, electric guitar and cant nobody hold me down - slower beats, techno beats.

Discuss how the Golden/Gangsta Rap era came to end, and how Hip Hop stylistically changed in the late 90's/early 2000's.

- funk began to become huge in the west coast dominating the east coast and ending the golden age/gangsta rap. - once the golden age came to an end it became an unnamed time period during 1997-2007/8. The characteristics that the music had was; geographic diversity, influence from club music (EDM, House), fusion, fewer samples, more live music, newly composed beats (means rhythmic backdrop, often computer generated, highly connected with crunk), aftermath(entertainment)

Discuss crunk, its musical features, geographic origins and several associated groups/artists.

- southern rap music featuring repetitive chants and rapid dance rhythyms. - musical features; heavy bass, drum musical rhythms, shouting vocals - originated in Memphis, tn - associated artists; lil jon -produced Get Em Crunk, ying yang twins - produced salt shaker, three 6 mafia - produced its a fight

Discuss the aesthetics and philosophy behind the Native Tongues collective and the associated groups/artists.

- the aesthetics are Afrocentric themes as well as positive and sampling diverse music like jazz and rap. The artists associated include Mike G, Afrika Baby Bam and DJ Sammy B from the jungle brothers.

Discuss the break up of NWA and the internecine diss tracks between former members of the group

- the group split up in 91, Dr. Dre, The D.O.C. and Michel'le left ruthless records to join Death Row Records, this started allegations about eazy-e being coerced into signing away their contracts. Dr. Dre put out his first album with Death Row in 1992 with **** With Dre Day (and everybody's celebrating), he included a character that was named "sleazy-e" who just ran around desperately trying to get money. He also kept the insults going on The Chronic with "Bitches Ain't Shit". Eazy-e responded in 93 with an ep It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa on the tracks "Real Muthaphuckkin G's" and "It's On". Eazy-e accused Dre of being a homosexual, calling him a "she thang" and criticizing Dre's new image. He even dissed Dre in the music video of "real muthaphuckkin G's" by wearing makeup and a sequined jumpsuit that Dre would wear in his west coast electro hip hop days. Eazy-e kept dissing Dre and Death Row on most of his songs until he dies of AIDS in 1995.

Give a chronology of the career of the Christopher Wallace, discussing his albums, mentioning a few songs associated with them and the label/producer he was most associated with.

Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls or Notorious B.I.G., made a demo in '91 and took on the name biggie smalls, heard by a writer at the source and was featured in the unsigned hype column. Made a second demo in '92 and was heard by sean combs, he convinced biggie to go to uptown records and then he shortly left uptown to form Bad Boy Records and Biggie followed him. Someone was already going by biggie smalls so he changed it to notorious BIG. He released his debut album - ready to die in '94. Only album that was released during his life time, went 4x plat. Included the song "Big Poppa". March 9, 1997, he was driving in a car and they pulled up to a stop light, another car pulled up beside him and started to open fire, he was pronounced dead within 30 minutes of the shooting. 2nd album came out - life after death.