History of American rap; 1990's Rapper MC Hammer became a huge success after his multi-platinum album, "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em" turned into the #1 record. The first single, "U Can't Touch This" was on the top 10 of the billboard Hot 100. MC Hammer became one of the most popular and successful rappers of the early 90's. His album, having sold over 18 million copies, made rap music rise to a whole new level of popularity. Another rapper, Dr. Dre, released his album, "The Chronic," in 1992 and helped establish West Coast gangsta rap as more commercially viable than East Coast hip hop.
First, he signed with Atlantic Records after 3 years with Warner Bros. Records ("Wiz Khalifa" April 06, 2013). Later in the year, Khalfa released his first single with Atlantic, Black and Yellow ("Black and Yellow" April 09, 2013). While the song went triple platinum, some think that this is when he began to sell out. He started making music to top charts and become radio station hits instead of his more uncensored style that fans had grown to love. In March of 2011, Wiz released his 3rd studio album Rolling Papers ("Rolling Papers (Wiz Khalifa album)" March 24, 2013).
<br> The earliest example of this mix of hip-hop and hard rock, came in 1985 with the release of Run DMC's "Rock Box". The song featured a beat which sounded more like an AC/DC instrumental than what your average hip-hop listener was used to. Nevertheless, Run DMC rapped to this song and it was their first crossover hit. The single even landed them onto heavy rotation on MTV, making Run DMC the first hip-hop group to ever have their video played with the station. <br> The song was only the first of a long string of hits for the group to feature hard rock beats, of course with pumped up bass and the scratching of a turntable.
The term “selling out” plays a big role in the dichotomy of underground and mainstream music across all genres and I will explain more about this term further on in the essay. Consumption and commerce interface with rebellion and expression in many ways according to Wahl (1999). Historically, hip hop didn’t gain much commercial success in the mainstream until the influential act ‘Run-DMC’ made their way onto the scene. Their album ‘Raising Hell’ in 1986 was the first hip hop product to go gold in the US. As Wahl (1999) points out, this was largely due to their hit single and cover of Aerosmith’s 1975 song, ‘Walk This Way’.
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. is probably one of the most influential rappers alive, and more than likely one of the most well-known across America. Dwayne, aka Lil Wayne, is the one guy I would sponsor to be my “National Living Treasure” out of any other American, no doubt. Lil Wayne landed in the rap scene when he was at the young age of eleven years old. Ever since the day he was signed by Cash Money Records in nineteen ninety-three, he has exploded and become one of the most successful artists Hip-hop/Rap has come across. With nine studio albums and twenty-five mixtapes, all eyes are on Lil Wayne to see what is bound to come next.
With a small following, Nirvana took the world by storm with their second album “Nevermind” at the end of 1989 with several hits (Erlewine). On January 11, 1992, the sensation “Smells like Teen Spirit” reached number six on the billboard 100 (Top 100 Hits of 1992). It also made the top ten songs in Britain (Erlewine). Not expecting this outcome, the publishing company sold out of the initial 50,000 copies of the album and had to quickly produce more to meet the demands (Erlewine). When all was said and done, the album had become triple platinum (Erlewine).
He started writing lyrics in his High School where he also performed at concerts, the concert led to him being signend with Atron Gregory who set him up as a roadie and backup dancer with the young rap group Digital Underground in 1990. Soon people saw his talent and Tupac started rapping on features but his first Solo Album 2Pacalypse did not went well at all. In 1993 him and his friends, including Big Syke formed the group "Thug Life". The group released their only album Thug Life: Volume 1 which went gold and Tupac became known as one of the best rappers in the game. Shakur was also part in the East Coast – West Coast hip hop rivalry in the early 90's where he got involved after the 1994 shooting.
Then, at age 16, he met Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff). The pair became friends and began to collaborate, Jeff as DJ, Will as rapper (having expanded his nickname to Fresh Prince). They became so successful that Will even turned down a scholarship in order to follow his dream. Despite his parents' wishes, he didn't want to go to college anyway – he now dedicated himself to music. Will Smith’s music was rapidly becoming very popular But by this time Will was already at the top of another profession, as he was casted to be in the new series of ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’.
01. Em's at the Guinness Book of World Records for being the fastest selling hip-hop artist. 02. One of the Requirements to be signed to Shady Records is you have to battle Eminem Personally, I just think rap music is the best thing out there, period. If you look at my deck in my car radio, you`re always going to find a hip-hop tape; that`s all I buy, that`s all I live, that`s all I listen to, that`s all I love.
Culture Youth Artist Powell, Kevin. “Hip-Hop Is the Most Important Youth Culture on the Planet.” TIME in partnership with CNN Friday, Sep. 22, 2000. Pages 1 to 4. Time magazine ask some daunting questions of hip-hop culture on the youth of this planet. Its place in the music business has derived from crossover of rap to hip-hop, over the past 25 years.