The Roots of Rap

From the streets and city neighborhoods to an international phenomenon, hip-hop has developed into one of the world’s most dominant genres of music and culture. Through the iconic ‘90s hip-hop scene — from its artists, producers, record labels and more –– let’s look at the three music capitals around the United States that cultivated the industry. 

Los Angeles

Los Angeles marks the hub for all things West Coast rap, and it is one of the cities involved in the most significant disputes in music history — one that resulted in the death of two of the coast’s star figures, Tupac Shakur from the West and The Notorious B.I.G. from the East. While hip-hop originated in NYC, LA mimicked the party-rap style of the East, until the late ‘80s when gangster rap allowed the West Coast scene to discover its own sound within the genre. West Coast hip-hop is known for its dance and rhythmic beats, while also having slower, chiller vibes compared to its Eastern counterparts. 

LA artists in the ‘90s began to move up in the mainstream music charts, specifically with the release of the gangster rap group, N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton (1989) and the establishment of the LA-based label Death Row Records by Suge Knight, representing hip-hop legends such as Snoop Dogg, Coolio and Tupac (1992). 

After Tupac’s tragic death in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, the attention of the hip-hop scene slowly drifted back toward a NY and East Coast focus once again, as well as to the emerging subgenres of Atlanta rap in the south. Hip-hop legends like LA’s Snoop Dogg also called a peace summit after Tupac was murdered to end the feuds between the East and West.

New York

New York City, the other half of the infamous hip-hop rivalry, marks the origins of the genre –– the 1970s in the Bronx. When hip-hop was first popularized, rap everywhere was considered “East Coast rap” since the artists were from NYC. Hip-hop’s golden age, beginning in the late ‘80s and lasting throughout the ‘90s, launched mainstream work in the New York metropolitan area from The Notorious B.I.G. He was the most influential figure for East Coast rap, up until his death in March 1997 in a drive-by shooting fueled by the East and West Coast rivalry. Both his fame and most-acclaimed album Ready To Die called attention to the East for gangster rap at a time when the West’s popularity for the genre surged. 

When you think of New York hip-hop culture, you’re reminded of breakdancing, DJing, MCing and graffiti –– the main identifiers of the East’s scene. The East Coast and New York artists were set apart from others across the country by their complex lyrics with multisyllabic rhymes, wordplay and metaphors. The messages of the NYC songs of ‘90s rap entice people to listen, rather than just simply hit the elevated surfaces on the d-floor like LA hip-hop made you feel. 

Atlanta

While NYC and LA took the headlines for their raging East vs. West Coast rivalry marking its territory in the ‘90s, Atlanta's rap scene took the spotlight later in the decade. Hip-hop first emerged on the Georgia scene in the 1980s, but it didn’t gain immediate traction beyond local artists performing across the vibrant Atlanta nightlife. The first genres of hip-hop in Atlanta were labeled as part of the “Miami Bass” or “booty music” subgenre of hip-hop, characterized by heavy bass, sustained kick drums, dance tempos and sexually explicit lyrics. The earliest star, Atlanta-based rapper and producer MC Shy-D, brought his Bronx-style hip-hop roots to the South in the late ‘80s and continued throughout the ‘90s.  

In the early ‘90s, gangster rap defined the Atlanta hip-hop scene, serving as a platform for artists to express their adversity from living in the city’s ghettos. Hip-hop’s allure spread beyond the African American groups creating it, which resulted in its mainstream success. Hip-hop production collectives in the ‘90s, such as Dungeon Family and Organized Noize, were the keys to the claim to fame for groups like Outkast, Arrested Development and Goodie Mob. Groups under these collectives paved the way for the ‘90s “Dirty South” music –– the term given to the hip-hop scene of that classic crunk Atlanta rap popularized after the rise of gangster rap. 

By the middle of the decade, Atlanta’s most well-known record label of the time was producing hit albums for acts like Usher, Kriss Kross and TLC, earning the city the title of "The Motown of the South." Atlanta had discovered its own sound as the turn of the century approached with the emergence of trap music, a derivative of hip-hop that remains popular today. The significance of trap is critical to the city, specifically for those who lived in lower-class neighborhoods and grew up during the crack cocaine epidemic, as the lyrics of its songs express the resilience of their experiences. With its easy access, crack cocaine proliferated in these lower socioeconomic areas since it was a highly inexpensive drug that resulted in a quick high. The ‘90s defined the southern hip-hop scene like no other in Atlanta, bringing it forward amongst the two powerhouses in the East and West and establishing the city as a pivotal figure in the country’s growing rap domination.