While New York was the indisputable home of hip hop until the 2000s, when hip hop artists from just about all over the south and Midwest took over, Los Angeles was nearly as essential as the Big Apple during the golden age. Here’s a lists of hip hop musicians from the West Coast.
NWA’s 1988 album “Straight Outta Compton” is recognized as the true beginning of gangsta rap, which continues to be one of hip hop’s most in-demand subgenres. The lyrics, which painted vivid pictures of life in Compton, one of L.A.’s toughest neighbourhoods, were so specific that the group’s albums were prohibited from stores and their songs were drawn from the radio. Every person in the group, including Ice Cube, MC Wren, DJ Yella and Eazy E, proceeded to produce popular solo albums as well.
But one NWA member holds above the rest. Dr. Dre, who assisted found the group, is possibly the most important figure in hip hop history. His work with NWA would’ve been enough to concrete his place in the genre’s hall of fame, but it was his 1992 solo album “The Chronic” that got the planet by storm. With hits like “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” and “Let Me Ride”, the album not just set the standard for the next 20 years of gangsta rap, it was also the first rap album by a black performer which was fully appreciated by young, white suburbanites. While Dre’s words were often violent and reflected the perils of street life, his bouncy, bassy production and frequent collaborations with then-unknown rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg were irresistible to music enthusiasts of all stripes.
Here’s a listing of some more well-known hip hop performers. Big Daddy Kane is another seminal performer whose popularity has not caught up with this talent. The Brooklyn artist is recognized as one of the forerunners of fast rap, and his skills have gone mostly unmatched to this day. Kane got his start as a member of the famed Juice Crew, but went on to launch a small number of classic solo albums. Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, known collectively as EPMD, are also still making music. Like a number of other golden age artists, the duo hails from Long Island. On albums like “Strictly Business”, the group made popular the funky, sample-heavy beats that compared with disco-based old school hip hop. EPMD fronts the rap clique Hit Squad, which includes rappers Redman and Das EFX, among others.
Hip hop artists like MC Hammer are a super star in the social networking site, Twitter, ranking in the low 30s with just shy of 1.3 million fans. He continues to produce songs and is living a relatively decent life more affordable rap jewelry, exotic cars and large entourages. In 2009, DMX said that he would pursue preaching much like MC Hammer. However, after talking to rap artist Mase, he decided to come back to rap. He’ll be thinking about launching his next two albums, Walk with Me Now and You’ll Fly with Me Later. This may spark a return of the Ruff Ryers and DMX to widespread popularity.
Hip hop music was initially perfected during the seventies. To become one of the renowned Hip Hop Artists one should perform well, possess the right attitude, and most importantly know how to dance. Becoming a one of the greatest Street Rap artist will not be a fairly easy career. It absolutely needs a lot of hard work, inspiration, and determination.
