Icons of Hip Hop (Two Volumes) An Encyclopedia of The Movement, Music, and Culture

ICONS OF HIP HOP
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Kateri Drexler
ICONS OF HIP HOP

An Encyclopedia of the
Movement, Music, And Culture
VOLUME 1
Edited by Mickey Hess
Greenwood Icons
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut . London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Icons of hip hop : an encyclopedia of the movement, music, and culture / edited by
Mickey Hess
p. cm. (Greenwood icons)
Includes bibliographical references, discographies, and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33902-8 (set: alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33903-5 (vol 1: alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33904-2 (vol 2: alk. paper)
1. Rap musiciansBiography. 2. TurntablistsBiography.
3. Rap (Music)History and criticism. 4. Hip-hop. I. Hess, Mickey, 1975
ML394. I26 2007
782.421649'03dc22
2007008194
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright 2007 by Mickey Hess
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007008194
ISBN-10: 0-313-33902-3 (set)
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33902-8 (set)
0-313-33903-1 (vol. 1)
978-0-313-33903-5 (vol. 1)
0-313-33904-X (vol. 2)
978-0-313-33904-2 (vol. 2)
First published in 2007
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the

Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Photos
vii
Volume One
Foreword, Jeru the Damaja
ix
Preface
xiii
Introduction
xvii
A Timeline of Hip Hop History, Nicole Hodges Persley
xxi
Kool Herc, Wayne Marshall

Grandmaster Flash, H.C. Williams
Roxanne Shante, Thembisa S. Mshaka
Run-DMC, Jeb Aram Middlebrook
Beastie Boys, Mickey Hess
MC Lyte, Jennifer R. Young
Eric B. & Rakim, Shawn Bernardo
Public Enemy, George Ciccariello-Maher
Salt-N-Pepa, Athena Elafros
Queen Latifah, Faiza Hirji
The Geto Boys, Jason D. Haugen
The Native Tongues, Aine McGlynn
1
27
51
69
91
117
141
169
193
217
243
265
Volume Two
Preface
Ice Cube, David J. Leonard
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, David Diallo
ix
293
317
Contents
vi
Nas, Susan Weinstein

Wu-Tang Clan, Jessica Elliott and Mickey Hess
Tupac Shakur, Carlos D. Morrison and Celnisha L. Dangerfield
Notorious B.I.G., James Peterson
Lil Kim, Aine McGlynn
Outkast, T. Hasan Johnson
Eminem, Katherine V. Tsiopos-Wills
Missy Elliot, Joi Carr
Jay-Z, T. Hasan Johnson
Kanye West, Todd Dills
341
365
391
417
439
457
481
503
529
555
Interviews:
Let Em In: An Interview with DJ Premier, Shamika Ann Mitchell
Word Up: An Interview with DJ Scratch, Shamika Ann Mitchell
579
591
Afterword: The Twenty-Four Most Overlooked MCs in Hip Hop,

Masta Ace
603
Selected Bibliography
609
Notes on Contributors
613
Index
621
List of Photos
DJ Kool Herc (page 1) speaking at a news conference to launch Hip-Hop
Wont Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life, the first ever hip-hop
initiative at the Smithsonians National Museum of American History in
New York, 2006. AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams.
xvi
Preface
Each of our twenty-four profiles features in-depth coverage of the artists

life and work, highlighting the artists influence in making hip hop music and
culture what it is today. The profiles are supported by several sidebars that
place the icons within cultural and historical context. The sidebars highlight
such issues as hip hops homophobia, vegetarian rappers, hip hop and Islam,
the mafia, horror films, fashion trends, musical innovations such as turntable
scratching and digital sampling, legal issues, and hip hops culture of death.
There are certain consistent themes to the sidebars, such as regional scenes
(Houston, Memphis, and Canada), and hip hops intersections with other
musical forms (rock, jazz, blues, and metal). Each profile also includes a
discography and list of resources for further research. Broad in scope and
distinctive in detail, Icons of Hip Hop is an excellent resource for the student
or casual listener as well as the true hip hop head.
Mickey Hess
Introduction
Jeru the Damaja ends his foreword to this volume by reminding us that hip hop
keeps on evolving. This is an important consideration because many critics
long for a past era, complaining that hip hop has changed too much. A
common and unfortunate version of the story claims that hip hop began in the
1970s as an innocent form of self-expression, and became corrupted by
money, violence, and sexism as its artists left behind New York City street
corners for MTV videos. This ideal of a purer, unadulterated hip hop is complicated, though, because hip hop has never been any one thing. Several of hip
hops pioneers sought to make money from their music, and several MCs
heard on todays radio are dedicated to making quality songs. Because hip
hop began in South Bronx parks and on street corners instead of in a majorlabel recording studio, fans and artists are nostalgic for a purer moment in
time, when hip hop music wasnt heard in McDonalds commercials and the
Pillsbury Doughboy had never considered rapping to sell crescent rolls.
Corporate record labels have bought into hip hop, but they havent bought it
up; the individual, entrepreneurial spirit that drove hip hops early years is
alive and well in independent labels like Swishahouse, Stones Throw, and
Hieroglyphics, and rappers themselves have become CEOs of larger record
companies: Jay-Z heads Def Jam, Scarface heads Def Jam South, and Dr. Dre
has built his Aftermath label into a rap dynasty. In its thirty-plus-year history,
hip hop has gone worldwide. It has become big business. Yet the music remains alive today because hip hop has never meant any one thing. The music
has never stagnated because artists are constantly inventing new forms and
responding to cliches in their music, constantly seeking to one-up their peers. If
real hip hop were truly defined by the shape it took in the 1970s, then hip hop
would not be alive today.
Nas album Hip Hop is Dead (2006) blames hip hops commercialism
for killing off what was vital about the original culture, yet on this same
album Nas brags in his lyrics about seeing his face on the side of Sonys
promotional trucks. Full of such contradictions, the albums bold and
xviii
Introduction
provocative title sparked a lot of response, including an on-air debate between

old school rapper (and pioneering female MC) Monie Love and Southern
rapper Young Jeezy on Loves radio show on Philadelphias WPHI-FM on
December 7, 2006. Monie Love supported Nas in pining for hip hops good
old days while Young Jeezy asserted that hip hop is alive and well in the South
and that Nas disrespected the new breed of Southern hip hop artists by
declaring the music dead. Nas certainly wasnt the first person to declare hip
hop dead because it has moved too far away from where it began. Yet
although some critics claim that real hip hop was killed off by hyperconsumerist gangsta rap and its fascination with shiny jewelry, expensive cars, and
sexy dancers, a more accurate history reveals that hip hop has long embodied
these contradictions between culture and commerce. Political, consciousnessraising rap has existed, and continues to exist, alongside thug rap and party
rap. Niggaz Wit Attitude, Compton, Californias gangsta rap pioneers, shared
a bill with De La Soul, Amityville, New Yorks Afrocentric-conscious rap
pioneers. When these two groups were paired for a U.S. tour in 1988, hip hop
was young enough that their sharing the bill made sense: after all, they were
both rap groups. Almost twenty years later, hip hop music has expanded to
include several specialized subgenres, and a conscious rapper like Talib Kweli
would seem terribly out of place opening for a gangsta rapper like 50 Cent. It
would be like Bob Dylan opening for Black Sabbath in the 1970s.
The secret to the unlikely pairing of N.W.A. and De La Soul lies in the
themes of N.W.A.s Express Yourself and De La Souls Me Myself and I:
Each of these groups believed that hip hop is about being yourself, not fitting
into a current trend. What all hip hop subgenres share is a love of beats and
rhymes, and the value of the individual perspective. N.W.A. rhymed about
drug dealers, gangs, and guns because that was part of the reality they
witnessed in their South Central Los Angeles neighborhoods. De La Soul were
from a relatively affluent background, by comparison, so they rhymed about
going to high school, and about the fact that they didnt fit the mold of what
it meant to be a rapper. In their video for Me Myself and I, the three members of De La Soul are failing Professor Def Beats class in rapping because
they dont wear gold chains and they cant adopt an aggressive pose for the
camera. Instead, De La Soul wore their Day-Glo colors and black Africa
medallions, and showed listeners an alternative definition of what it meant to
be hip hop.
De La Soul were not the first rappers to reinvent the model of hip hop style.
Run-DMC did it before them by ditching the flashy, disco-style costumes of
Kurtis Blow and Whodini and putting on blue jeans, gold chains, and unlaced
Adidas sneakers. N.W.A. had done it with black dungarees, Lakers caps,
and dark sunglasses. In his book about country music, another American
music form where authenticity is hotly debated, Richard A. Peterson defined
authenticity as fitting the model while at the same time proving not to be a
copy of that model (95). In hip hop music, artists must constantly reinvent the
Introduction
model of real hip hop by responding to it from their own unique perspective.
The Fat Boys rhymed about food. The Geto Boys and Outkast opened up hip
hop to the South. MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, and Lil Kim responded to hip
hops aggressive sexuality from a female perspective. Kanye West, the son of
university professor Donda West, made it okay to be middle-class. Eminem
and the Beastie Boys adapted an African American form without mimicking it
or taking credit away from those who created it. These artists made hip hop
their own by imbuing it with their own reality and writing and delivering
lyrics in a style that reflects that reality by preserving regional dialect and
slang to tell the story of the place that they come from.
Yet even with these musical innovations and new perspectives, even as
hip hop has spread across the United States with vibrant scenes in Miami,
Houston, Atlanta, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Memphis, and
even as Hip Hops popularity grows in Germany, South Africa, Australia, and
Japan, certain aspects of its original model remain. Hip hop traces its roots
back to African griots and the bad-man legends of folklore figures like
Stackalee. Hip hop music grows out of Jamaican DJs boasting and toasting,
out of the dozens, snaps, ya mama jokes, and playground chants heard
from girls playing double Dutch. Hip hop music grows out of the blues, jazz,
funk, rock, rhythm and blues, and disco. Its heroes are Muhammad Ali,
Malcolm X, Madam C.J. Walker, and Angela Davis. Its closest predeccesors,
lyrically, are Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets. Rhythmically, it draws from
James Brown and Rick James. But just as its drumbeats and bass lines are
adapted from other music forms, hip hop has in turn influenced todays rock
music and dancehall reggae, and has left an indelible mark on pop music,
culture, fashion, and language. Because hip hop values individuality in the
way Snoop Dogg and E-40 speak, the way Lil Kim and Outkast dress, and
the way Kanye West and Dr. Dre make beats, it preserves individual style
even as it all becomes a part of hip hop.
In that respect, Icons of Hip Hop seeks to mirror the range of perspectives
that makes hip hop what it is. My perspective on hip hops history is only
that, my own. I grew up listening to hip hop in Eubank, Kentucky. My friends
and I lip-synched to U.T.F.O.s Roxanne, Roxanne at the sixth grade talent
show. Dubbed cassette tapes of Too $hort and the Geto Boys were passed
around my middle school like contraband. I used to scope out Pirates Cove,
the mall arcade, for someone over eighteen who looked cool enough to buy
me the uncensored version of Eazy-Es Eazy-Duz-It or N.W.A.s Straight
Outta Compton. Failing that, I settled for the Kmart censored versions, where
motherfuckin became crazy-lookin and Fuck tha Police was left off
entirely. I was a white kid in Eubank, Kentucky, listening to censored rap
cassettes my mom bought me at Kmart. I grew up listening to hip hop, and I
continue to listen to it, write about it, and teach it today. In editing this
collection, I strived to recruit contributors whose perspectives I value, even
when they do not match my own. I believe that Icons of Hip Hop, like hip
xix
Introduction
xx
hop itself, greatly benefits from this range of perspectives, and that the
collection represents both a wide range of artists and varied approaches to
thinking about them.
Mickey Hess
WORK CITED
Peterson, Richard A. Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.
A Timeline of Hip Hop

History
Nicole Hodges Persley
1973
Jamaican American DJ Kool Herc creates the breakbeat by

isolating the most exciting instrumental break in a record and
looping that section so that the break played continuously. The
breakbeat becomes the cornerstone of hip hop music. At his
legendary block parties, Herc powers his turntables from street
lamps, running extension cords from the outlets to his speakers
and turntables. Herc pioneers a revolution in DJ technique with
his mobile sound systems; rather than rely on a venues sound
system, Herc owned his own equipment, and could move from
spot to spot in the city.
1973
The Lockers dance group is started in Los Angeles by Don

Campbell, the inventor of the locking dance style, in which a
series of faster moves are linked together by points of freezing in
one position, or locking into place. Members of the Lockers
include Don Campbellock Campbell, Fred Barry (who went
on to play Rerun on the popular sitcom Whats Happening?),
and Adolfo Shabba Doo Quinones (who went on to play
Ozone in the films Breakin and Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Locking began in the 1960s as a dance form associated with
funk, but it became a hip hop dance style and heavily influenced
the creation of hip hop dance forms like popping and
breakdancing.
1975
The MC is born from the call and response routines between DJs
and the audience. Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa borrow
from the African and Caribbean traditions of boasting and
A Timeline of Hip Hop History
xxii
toasting to talk over breakbeats and move the crowd to action.

Hip hops most famous DJ calls such as And you dont stop
and Yes, yes yall begin. Busy Bee is one of the first MCs to
work with DJs to get the crowd moving. He becomes one of the
first MCs to freestyle rhymes, and one of the first to work with a
DJ to record his rap routines.
1977
The Rock Steady Crew is founded by Jojo and Jimmy D in the

Bronx, New York. The b-boys of Rock Steady use dance as a
way to combat problems with rival gangs in the Bronx. The term
b-boy (and b-girl) is used to describe these new dancers who
move to the breakbeat in a series of flowing poses. One of the
most famous members of the Rock Steady Crew is the b-boy
Crazy Legs, who started his own chapter in 1981 in Manhattan.
Other important members of Rock Steady Crew are Frosty
Freeze, Take One, Little Crazy Legs, and Ken Swift.
1979
Sugarhill Gang releases Rappers Delight, considered the first

rap record. Although the Fatback Bands King Tim III
(Personality Jock) was released just prior to Rappers
Delight, making it the first rap record ever released, its
commercial success and cultural impact did not match Sugarhill
Gangs Rappers Delight, which became a worldwide hit.
1980
Kurtis Blow becomes the first rap artist to release a full-length

album on a major label when Mercury releases Kurtis Blow on
the strength of the success of singles like Sugarhill Gangs
Rappers Delight and Kurtis own Christmas Rappin.
Kurtis second single, The Breaks broke into the top five on
the U.S. R&B Chart, making him the first solo MC to achieve
commercial success.
1981
Graffiti artist Fab 5 Freddy, who is later the host of MTVs Yo!
MTV Raps, is shouted out in Blondies song, Rapture, which is
a number one hit in the UK and United States. Blondies Debbie
Harry, who raps the shout-out to Freddy, is an icon of New Yorks
punk and underground art scene of the 1980s, and Rapture
bridges these two cultures similarly to Jean-Michel Basquiat, a
graffiti artist turned art star. Prior to his work on Yo! MTV Raps,
Fab 5 Freddy produced the music for and had a lead role in 1982s
Wildstyle, which is considered the first hip hop film.
1981
Turntable scratching is featured on Grandmaster Flashs The

Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, one of
the first rap records to capture the sounds of live DJ scratching.
1982
The famous battle between Kool Moe Dee and Busy Bee takes
place at Harlem World in New York City. Kool Moe Dee wins
the battle and becomes famous for his unique vocal style and his
ability to freestyle rhymes. Kool Moe Dee goes on to found the
rap group Treacherous Three with Special K and DJ Easy Lee,
and he later stages another famous battle with LL Cool J.
1982
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five release The Message,

which is arguably the first conscious rap song. The Message
includes the famous hook Dont push me cause Im close to
the edge. The song depicts conditions of poverty and
disenfranchisement and becomes an icon of hip hop music and
culture for many who hear it because it expresses the frustrations
of the urban communities where hip hop developed.
1982
Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force release Looking for
the Perfect Beat on Tommy Boy Records. The album, featuring
the cut Planet Rock, becomes the first rap record to use
synthesizers and an electronic drum machine. Bambaataa
samples electronic music from European group Kraftwerk in this
song and creates a hip hop classic as well as a new base for
electronic dance music. Digital music genres such as house and
electronica also consider this song a part of their histories.
1984
Run-DMCs self-titled debut album is released, and their music

video for Rock Box is the first rap video on MTV. Run-DMC
starts two important fashion trends in hip hop: hard-shell Adidas
shoes and gold rope chains.
1984
U.T.F.O. records the song Roxanne, Roxanne, which disses a

fictional woman who doesnt respond to the groups advances.
The song incites a string of response records, including the
Roxanne Shante (Lolita Shante Gooden) song Roxannes
Revenge, which sold over half a million copies. Adelaida
Martinez, calling herself The Real Roxanne, responded to
Gooden in the song Romeo, and several other MCs, male and
female, weighed in with their own responses. By some estimates,
the Roxanne Wars created nearly 100 response records to U.T.F.
Os original song.
1984
Fresh Fest is the first national hip hop tour in the United States
and the first tour to galvanize a diverse group of rappers together
under a single billing. It is one of the most successful tours of hip
hop music, appearing in over twenty-seven cities across the
United States. The roster includes acts such as Run-DMC,
Roxanne Shante, Kurtis Blow, Whodini, and the Fat Boys. The
tour grosses almost 4 million dollars. In 2005, the Fresh Fest
returns as an old-school summer concert series featuring many of
the headliners that opened in 1984.
xxiii
xvi
Preface

Mickey Hess
Introduction
Jeru the Damaja ends his foreword to this volume by reminding us that hip hop
keeps on evolving. This is an important consideration because many critics
long for a past era, complaining that hip hop has changed too much. A
common and unfortunate version of the story claims that hip hop began in the
1970s as an innocent form of self-expression, and became corrupted by
money, violence, and sexism as its artists left behind New York City street
corners for MTV videos. This ideal of a purer, unadulterated hip hop is complicated, though, because hip hop has never been any one thing. Several of hip
hops pioneers sought to make money from their music, and several MCs
heard on todays radio are dedicated to making quality songs. Because hip
hop began in South Bronx parks and on street corners instead of in a majorlabel recording studio, fans and artists are nostalgic for a purer moment in
time, when hip hop music wasnt heard in McDonalds commercials and the
Pillsbury Doughboy had never considered rapping to sell crescent rolls.
Corporate record labels have bought into hip hop, but they havent bought it
up; the individual, entrepreneurial spirit that drove hip hops early years is
alive and well in independent labels like Swishahouse, Stones Throw, and
Hieroglyphics, and rappers themselves have become CEOs of larger record
companies: Jay-Z heads Def Jam, Scarface heads Def Jam South, and Dr. Dre
has built his Aftermath label into a rap dynasty. In its thirty-plus-year history,
hip hop has gone worldwide. It has become big business. Yet the music remains alive today because hip hop has never meant any one thing. The music
has never stagnated because artists are constantly inventing new forms and
responding to cliches in their music, constantly seeking to one-up their peers. If
real hip hop were truly defined by the shape it took in the 1970s, then hip hop
would not be alive today.
Nas album Hip Hop is Dead (2006) blames hip hops commercialism
for killing off what was vital about the original culture, yet on this same
album Nas brags in his lyrics about seeing his face on the side of Sonys
promotional trucks. Full of such contradictions, the albums bold and
xviii
Introduction
provocative title sparked a lot of response, including an on-air debate between

old school rapper (and pioneering female MC) Monie Love and Southern
rapper Young Jeezy on Loves radio show on Philadelphias WPHI-FM on
December 7, 2006. Monie Love supported Nas in pining for hip hops good
old days while Young Jeezy asserted that hip hop is alive and well in the South
and that Nas disrespected the new breed of Southern hip hop artists by
declaring the music dead. Nas certainly wasnt the first person to declare hip
hop dead because it has moved too far away from where it began. Yet
although some critics claim that real hip hop was killed off by hyperconsumerist gangsta rap and its fascination with shiny jewelry, expensive cars, and
sexy dancers, a more accurate history reveals that hip hop has long embodied
these contradictions between culture and commerce. Political, consciousnessraising rap has existed, and continues to exist, alongside thug rap and party
rap. Niggaz Wit Attitude, Compton, Californias gangsta rap pioneers, shared
a bill with De La Soul, Amityville, New Yorks Afrocentric-conscious rap
pioneers. When these two groups were paired for a U.S. tour in 1988, hip hop
was young enough that their sharing the bill made sense: after all, they were
both rap groups. Almost twenty years later, hip hop music has expanded to
include several specialized subgenres, and a conscious rapper like Talib Kweli
would seem terribly out of place opening for a gangsta rapper like 50 Cent. It
would be like Bob Dylan opening for Black Sabbath in the 1970s.
The secret to the unlikely pairing of N.W.A. and De La Soul lies in the
themes of N.W.A.s Express Yourself and De La Souls Me Myself and I:
Each of these groups believed that hip hop is about being yourself, not fitting
into a current trend. What all hip hop subgenres share is a love of beats and
rhymes, and the value of the individual perspective. N.W.A. rhymed about
drug dealers, gangs, and guns because that was part of the reality they
witnessed in their South Central Los Angeles neighborhoods. De La Soul were
from a relatively affluent background, by comparison, so they rhymed about
going to high school, and about the fact that they didnt fit the mold of what
it meant to be a rapper. In their video for Me Myself and I, the three members of De La Soul are failing Professor Def Beats class in rapping because
they dont wear gold chains and they cant adopt an aggressive pose for the
camera. Instead, De La Soul wore their Day-Glo colors and black Africa
medallions, and showed listeners an alternative definition of what it meant to
be hip hop.
De La Soul were not the first rappers to reinvent the model of hip hop style.
Run-DMC did it before them by ditching the flashy, disco-style costumes of
Kurtis Blow and Whodini and putting on blue jeans, gold chains, and unlaced
Adidas sneakers. N.W.A. had done it with black dungarees, Lakers caps,
and dark sunglasses. In his book about country music, another American
music form where authenticity is hotly debated, Richard A. Peterson defined
authenticity as fitting the model while at the same time proving not to be a
copy of that model (95). In hip hop music, artists must constantly reinvent the
Introduction
model of real hip hop by responding to it from their own unique perspective.
The Fat Boys rhymed about food. The Geto Boys and Outkast opened up hip
hop to the South. MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, and Lil Kim responded to hip
hops aggressive sexuality from a female perspective. Kanye West, the son of
university professor Donda West, made it okay to be middle-class. Eminem
and the Beastie Boys adapted an African American form without mimicking it
or taking credit away from those who created it. These artists made hip hop
their own by imbuing it with their own reality and writing and delivering
lyrics in a style that reflects that reality by preserving regional dialect and
slang to tell the story of the place that they come from.
Yet even with these musical innovations and new perspectives, even as
hip hop has spread across the United States with vibrant scenes in Miami,
Houston, Atlanta, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Memphis, and
even as Hip Hops popularity grows in Germany, South Africa, Australia, and
Japan, certain aspects of its original model remain. Hip hop traces its roots
back to African griots and the bad-man legends of folklore figures like
Stackalee. Hip hop music grows out of Jamaican DJs boasting and toasting,
out of the dozens, snaps, ya mama jokes, and playground chants heard
from girls playing double Dutch. Hip hop music grows out of the blues, jazz,
funk, rock, rhythm and blues, and disco. Its heroes are Muhammad Ali,
Malcolm X, Madam C.J. Walker, and Angela Davis. Its closest predeccesors,
lyrically, are Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets. Rhythmically, it draws from
James Brown and Rick James. But just as its drumbeats and bass lines are
adapted from other music forms, hip hop has in turn influenced todays rock
music and dancehall reggae, and has left an indelible mark on pop music,
culture, fashion, and language. Because hip hop values individuality in the
way Snoop Dogg and E-40 speak, the way Lil Kim and Outkast dress, and
the way Kanye West and Dr. Dre make beats, it preserves individual style
even as it all becomes a part of hip hop.
In that respect, Icons of Hip Hop seeks to mirror the range of perspectives
that makes hip hop what it is. My perspective on hip hops history is only
that, my own. I grew up listening to hip hop in Eubank, Kentucky. My friends
and I lip-synched to U.T.F.O.s Roxanne, Roxanne at the sixth grade talent
show. Dubbed cassette tapes of Too $hort and the Geto Boys were passed
around my middle school like contraband. I used to scope out Pirates Cove,
the mall arcade, for someone over eighteen who looked cool enough to buy
me the uncensored version of Eazy-Es Eazy-Duz-It or N.W.A.s Straight
Outta Compton. Failing that, I settled for the Kmart censored versions, where
motherfuckin became crazy-lookin and Fuck tha Police was left off
entirely. I was a white kid in Eubank, Kentucky, listening to censored rap
cassettes my mom bought me at Kmart. I grew up listening to hip hop, and I
continue to listen to it, write about it, and teach it today. In editing this
collection, I strived to recruit contributors whose perspectives I value, even
when they do not match my own. I believe that Icons of Hip Hop, like hip
xix
Introduction
xx
hop itself, greatly benefits from this range of perspectives, and that the
collection represents both a wide range of artists and varied approaches to
thinking about them.
Mickey Hess
WORK CITED
Peterson, Richard A. Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity.
A Timeline of Hip Hop

History
1973
Jamaican American DJ Kool Herc creates the breakbeat by

isolating the most exciting instrumental break in a record and
looping that section so that the break played continuously. The
breakbeat becomes the cornerstone of hip hop music. At his
legendary block parties, Herc powers his turntables from street
lamps, running extension cords from the outlets to his speakers
and turntables. Herc pioneers a revolution in DJ technique with
his mobile sound systems; rather than rely on a venues sound
system, Herc owned his own equipment, and could move from
spot to spot in the city.
1973
The Lockers dance group is started in Los Angeles by Don

Campbell, the inventor of the locking dance style, in which a
series of faster moves are linked together by points of freezing in
one position, or locking into place. Members of the Lockers
include Don Campbellock Campbell, Fred Barry (who went
on to play Rerun on the popular sitcom Whats Happening?),
and Adolfo Shabba Doo Quinones (who went on to play
Ozone in the films Breakin and Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Locking began in the 1960s as a dance form associated with
funk, but it became a hip hop dance style and heavily influenced
the creation of hip hop dance forms like popping and
breakdancing.
1975
The MC is born from the call and response routines between DJs
and the audience. Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa borrow
from the African and Caribbean traditions of boasting and
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toasting to talk over breakbeats and move the crowd to action.

Hip hops most famous DJ calls such as And you dont stop
and Yes, yes yall begin. Busy Bee is one of the first MCs to
work with DJs to get the crowd moving. He becomes one of the
first MCs to freestyle rhymes, and one of the first to work with a
DJ to record his rap routines.
1977
The Rock Steady Crew is founded by Jojo and Jimmy D in the

Bronx, New York. The b-boys of Rock Steady use dance as a
way to combat problems with rival gangs in the Bronx. The term
b-boy (and b-girl) is used to describe these new dancers who
move to the breakbeat in a series of flowing poses. One of the
most famous members of the Rock Steady Crew is the b-boy
Crazy Legs, who started his own chapter in 1981 in Manhattan.
Other important members of Rock Steady Crew are Frosty
Freeze, Take One, Little Crazy Legs, and Ken Swift.
1979
Sugarhill Gang releases Rappers Delight, considered the first

rap record. Although the Fatback Bands King Tim III
(Personality Jock) was released just prior to Rappers
Delight, making it the first rap record ever released, its
commercial success and cultural impact did not match Sugarhill
Gangs Rappers Delight, which became a worldwide hit.
1980
Kurtis Blow becomes the first rap artist to release a full-length

album on a major label when Mercury releases Kurtis Blow on
the strength of the success of singles like Sugarhill Gangs
Rappers Delight and Kurtis own Christmas Rappin.
Kurtis second single, The Breaks broke into the top five on
the U.S. R&B Chart, making him the first solo MC to achieve
commercial success.
1981
Graffiti artist Fab 5 Freddy, who is later the host of MTVs Yo!
MTV Raps, is shouted out in Blondies song, Rapture, which is
a number one hit in the UK and United States. Blondies Debbie
Harry, who raps the shout-out to Freddy, is an icon of New Yorks
punk and underground art scene of the 1980s, and Rapture
bridges these two cultures similarly to Jean-Michel Basquiat, a
graffiti artist turned art star. Prior to his work on Yo! MTV Raps,
Fab 5 Freddy produced the music for and had a lead role in 1982s
Wildstyle, which is considered the first hip hop film.
1981
Turntable scratching is featured on Grandmaster Flashs The

Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, one of
the first rap records to capture the sounds of live DJ scratching.
1982
The famous battle between Kool Moe Dee and Busy Bee takes
place at Harlem World in New York City. Kool Moe Dee wins
the battle and becomes famous for his unique vocal style and his
ability to freestyle rhymes. Kool Moe Dee goes on to found the
rap group Treacherous Three with Special K and DJ Easy Lee,
and he later stages another famous battle with LL Cool J.
1982
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five release The Message,

which is arguably the first conscious rap song. The Message
includes the famous hook Dont push me cause Im close to
the edge. The song depicts conditions of poverty and
disenfranchisement and becomes an icon of hip hop music and
culture for many who hear it because it expresses the frustrations
of the urban communities where hip hop developed.
1982
Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force release Looking for
the Perfect Beat on Tommy Boy Records. The album, featuring
the cut Planet Rock, becomes the first rap record to use
synthesizers and an electronic drum machine. Bambaataa
samples electronic music from European group Kraftwerk in this
song and creates a hip hop classic as well as a new base for
electronic dance music. Digital music genres such as house and
electronica also consider this song a part of their histories.
1984
Run-DMCs self-titled debut album is released, and their music

video for Rock Box is the first rap video on MTV. Run-DMC
starts two important fashion trends in hip hop: hard-shell Adidas
shoes and gold rope chains.
1984
U.T.F.O. records the song Roxanne, Roxanne, which disses a

fictional woman who doesnt respond to the groups advances.
The song incites a string of response records, including the
Roxanne Shante (Lolita Shante Gooden) song Roxannes
Revenge, which sold over half a million copies. Adelaida
Martinez, calling herself The Real Roxanne, responded to
Gooden in the song Romeo, and several other MCs, male and
female, weighed in with their own responses. By some estimates,
the Roxanne Wars created nearly 100 response records to U.T.F.
Os original song.
1984
Fresh Fest is the first national hip hop tour in the United States
and the first tour to galvanize a diverse group of rappers together
under a single billing. It is one of the most successful tours of hip
hop music, appearing in over twenty-seven cities across the
United States. The roster includes acts such as Run-DMC,
Roxanne Shante, Kurtis Blow, Whodini, and the Fat Boys. The
tour grosses almost 4 million dollars. In 2005, the Fresh Fest
returns as an old-school summer concert series featuring many of
the headliners that opened in 1984.
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1984
Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons form Def Jam Records,

initially selling records out of Rubins dorm room at New York
University. Def Jams first two releases are LL Cool Js I Need a
Beat and the Beastie Boys Rock Hard. The 1985 film Krush
Groove is based loosely on Rubins and Simmons lives as hip
hop producers and label executives. Simmons hired Blair
Underwood to play himself while the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC,
and several other Def Jam artists appeared in the film as
themselves.
1985
Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew release The Show.
Doug E. Fresh, the original human beatbox, goes on to work
alone as a beatboxer, MC, and producer. The Get Fresh Crew
included Slick Rick (formerly known as MC Ricky D), Barry B,
and Chill Will.
1985
Tipper Gores group PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center)

demands a ratings advisory for explicit lyrics in rock and rap
music. The goal of the PMRC is to create a system that can alert
parents to the explicit content of rock n roll and rap records.
Gore appealed to traditional American family values. The PMRC
pushed for a rating system similar to the film rating system but
instead secured a requirement for record companies to mark their
products with the label Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics, also
known as the Tipper Sticker.
1986
Run-DMCs Raising Hell is the first platinum hip hop album. On

Walk This Way, a hit single from the album, Run-DMC
collaborates with rock legends Aerosmith to produce a rap cover
of their 1975 classic Walk This Way. The single both
rejuvenates Aerosmiths career and catapults Run-DMC to
platinum status. The song is considered one of the first crossover
hits in rap music, reaching the Top 5 on the Billboard music chart.
1986
Salt-N-Pepas Hot, Cool & Vicious album debuts, bringing new

attention to female MCs with platinum sales and a Grammy
nomination. The Show Stopper is a response to Doug E. Fresh
and the Get Fresh Crews The Show, Tramp addresses male
promiscuity, and their breakout hit, Push It, a B-Side to
Tramp single asserts female sexuality and desire.
1986
A battle over the true home of hip hop begins between KRSOne and Boogie Down Productions and Marley Marls Juice
Crew. MC Shans lyrics in The Bridge (1986) point to
Queensbridge. In Boogie Down Productions The Bridge Is
Over (1987), however, KRS-One argues that the Bronx is the
home of hip hop. The battle continues in over ten records
featuring exchange responses from the Juice Crew and Boogie

Down Productions.
1986
Ice-Ts Six in the Morning becomes a hallmark of West Coast

gangsta rap. Ices rhymes about Los Angeles gang life build
from the style of Philadelphias Schoolly D, who spoke about
gang life on Gangster Boogie and P.S.K. (What Does It
Mean?).
1986
Def Jam releases the Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill. Former skaters
and punk musicians, their mix of hip hop, rock, and punk create
a new sound for hip hop music. The Beastie Boys are the first
white rap group to have success in the genre, and their hits No
Sleep til Brooklyn and (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to
Party) propel their sales past the mark set by their mentors and
Def Jam labelmates Run-DMC.
1987
Eric B. & Rakim produce the hip hop classic Paid in Full. Rakim
presents a laid back and sophisticated new style of rapping that
mimics jazz riffs, while Eric B. creates his own innovations as a
DJ. Together, the team raises the stakes in the rap game because
they create more complex rhymes and sample schemes in their
work. Today, many MCs cite Eric B. & Rakim as one of the top
rap groups in history. Hip hop magazine The Source named
Rakim the best MC of all time.
1987
Public Enemys Yo! Bum Rush the Show is released. The album
gives a sample of Chuck D and Flavor Flavs black radical
commentary on social issues that will be more pronounced on It
Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Boogie Down
Productions releases Criminal Minded. BDPs DJ Scott La Rock
is killed this same year.
1988
Yo! MTV Raps is born. The show is so popular that it is soon

split into a weekday afternoon format, hosted by Ed Lover and
Dr. Dre, and a two-hour Saturday night format, hosted by Fab 5
Freddy. The show features rap videos, interviews with rap
artists, skits, commentary, and trivia about the artists from the
hosts. The show is one of MTVs most successful shows, running
for seven years. It serves as an outlet for rap stars to promote
their records to a large audience.
1988
Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff win the first Grammy presented for
rap music. The song Parents Just Dont Understand goes gold.
Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff go on to record several albums
together that receive numerous awards. They are known for their
fun-loving party raps and produced mostly dance hits, although
Jeff is considered a turntable pioneer (he invented the chirp scratch
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and was the first to record a transform scratch). Their albums Rock
the House and Hes the DJ, Im the Rapper also feature beatboxing
from Ready Rock C. Together, Jeff and the Fresh Prince go on
to star in a television sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Smith
later stars in films such as Independence Day and I, Robot.
1988
N.W.A.s Straight Outta Compton becomes a breakthrough

gangsta rap album. The album is released by Priority Records
but is not supported commercially. Independently, the album
sells over 2 million copies underground. MTV does not support
the album due to its controversial subject matter. Songs such as
Fuck tha Police and Straight Outta Compton are regarded
as threats to law enforcement. The groups gangsta status is
solidified with this album based on their subject matter of
violence, guns, and antigovernment rhetoric.
1989
Queen Latifahs All Hail the Queen debuts. Ladies First

becomes an anthem for womens rights, projecting a feminist
agenda and demanding respect. The song features guest vocals
from a British MC, Monie Love.
1989
De La Soul releases 3 Feet High and Rising. Their eclectic sound

samples from country, folk, and rock music and their vibe of
love, peace, and knowledge gets them labeled hippies and
offers an alternative to gangsta rap. They are part of the Native
Tongues collective with artists Afrika Bambaataa, Monie Love,
Queen Latifah, the Jungle Brothers, and A Tribe Called Quest, to
bring positive Afrocentric lyrics to the forefront of hip hop music
with hits such as Me Myself and I.
1990
The Miami group 2 Live Crew releases the album As Nasty as

They Wanna Be, which is the first album in America to be
declared legally obscene. Their song Me So Horny becomes a
hit. The groups albums receive parental warning labels for
sexually graphic content. Their use of the Roland-808 drum
machine lays the foundation for the Miami bass sound and much
of Southern rap music. 2 Live Crew member Luke Skyywalker
(Luther Campbell) is sued by director George Lucas for using the
name of a Star Wars character as his stage name. He is forced to
change his name to Luke for performances.
1990
Vanilla Ice becomes one of the most successful white rappers in a

genre of music dominated by African Americans. His song Ice
Ice Baby is the best-selling rap record of the year, selling over
15 million copies and pushing MC Hammer out of the top spot
on the charts. The song is nominated for a Grammy, but fans
turn on Vanilla Ice after journalist Ken Parish Perkins exposes
lies in his official SBK Records artist biography. Ice later appears
on reality television programs such as VH-1s The Surreal
Life.
1991
Death Row Records is founded by Suge Knight and Dr. Dre

in Los Angeles, California. The label houses some of hip
hops biggest stars, such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac,
MC Hammer, and many others. Suge Knight becomes famous
for his ruthless business savvy and is feared in the music industry
because of his alleged unethical business practices. Dr. Dre and
Suge work together until Dr. Dre leaves the label to pursue other
endeavors in 1996.
1991
A Tribe Called Quest releases its sophomore album, The LowEnd Theory, a fusion of rap, jazz, and R&B. Their positive style
is deemed an alternative to much of the violent and misogynist
lyrics in rap music at the time. The popular group joins artists
such as De La Soul, Digable Planets, and Arrested Development
in creating progressive, positive, and political rap music without
gratuitous sex, violence, or obscenities.
1993
Dr. Dres The Chronic goes platinum. Though Dr. Dre had
introduced his new protege Snoop Doggy Dogg on the song
Deep Cover from the Deep Cover soundtrack, The Chronic
catapults Snoop to fame and solidifies Dr. Dres post-N.W.A.
career as a producer and MC. The albums success sparks a beef
with Dres former N.W.A. bandmate Eazy-E, who disses Dre
and Snoop on his EP Its On (Dr. Dre 187um) Killa.
1993
Conservative activist C. Delores Tucker begins her boycott of

rap music. Tupac Shakur and Ice Cube fight back by attacking
her in their songs. Reverend Calvin Butts boycotts gangsta rap at
station WBLA in NYC.
1993
Wu-Tang Clan releases its debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36
Chambers). In signing with RCA, the nine-member Wu-Tang Clan
negotiates an unprecedented deal that allows each member to
record freely as a solo artist outside the groups obligation to RCA.
1993
Queen Latifahs album Black Reign produces the hit U.N.I.T.

Y., which wins a Grammy award for Best Solo Performance
and positions Latifah as one of the most successful female MCs
in hip hop history. She is a rapper, writer, producer, and model,
and one of the first rap artists to star in her own television
sitcom. Her show, Living Single, airs for five years. She also
wrote and produced the shows theme song and served as an
executive producer. The show opened up opportunities for
Latifah to become one of the most sought-after actresses in
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Hollywood. In 2004 she departs from rapping to record a jazz

album that also receives critical acclaim.
1994
Tupac Shakur is shot five times in the lobby of a recording studio

in New York. Tupac survives, and blames his shooting on
Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records. His shooting starts a
rivalry between Bad Boy Records and Tupacs label, Death Row.
The tensions continue to escalate between the two labels and
their artist, resulting in several battle songs between artists such
as Tupac, Biggie, and others.
1994
The Atlanta-based rap duo Outkast release their debut album

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. The group consists of Big Boi
(Antwan Patton) and Dre (Andre Benjamin). The two artists are
known for their eclectic style of dress, their creative use of samples,
and retro references to groups like Parliament Funkadelic, Prince,
and Sly and the Family Stone. Their original sound, which
incorporates Southern drawl, regional references to local color,
and fun pop culture samples, marks a break in bicoastal hip hop
sound and ushers in a new Southern sound for rap, which
influences groups such as Goodie Mob, Joi, and Bubba Sparxxx.
1995
Eazy-E dies of AIDS in Los Angeles, California. The rapper

enters the hospital complaining of chest pains and breathing
problems and is diagnosed with an advanced form of AIDS.
After suffering from AIDS-complicated pneumonia, he slips into
a coma and dies just days after he is admitted.
1996
Tupac Shakur is shot in Las Vegas, Nevada while riding in a car

with Death Row Records owner Suge Knight. Two men pull up
on the car and shoot at the passengers side where Tupac is
riding. Tupac is shot four times and Suge Knight receives minor
injuries. The two are rushed to a local hospital where Tupac dies
six days after the shooting. A number of conspiracy theories
surround the shooting, including Knights involvement in the
murder and Tupacs faking his own death.
1997
Notorious B.I.G. is killed in a drive-by shooting. Biggie was

leaving a party hosted by Vibe Magazine. Though many
conspiracy theories have linked his death to the East Coast
versus West Coast hip hop rivalries, no evidence has been
produced to support these claims. Smalls is considered today to
be one of the greatest MCs in the history of hip hop music. He is
survived by his wife, singer Faith Evans, who sang the chorus on
his hit One More Chance.
1999
Eminem releases The Slim Shady LP, produced by Dr. Dre. The
album goes multiplatinum and marks the beginning of a long
history of collaboration between Eminem and Dr. Dre, including

The Marshal Mathers LP in 2000 and The Eminem Show in
2002. Eminem goes on to produce work for several other artists
signed to Aftermath including 50 Cent, Missy Elliot, and D-12.
Eminem creates his own label, Shady Records, as a result of his
success, all under the umbrella of the Interscope records empire.
1999
Lauryn Hill is the first female hip hop artist to be nominated for
ten Grammy awards. Her album The Miseducation of Lauryn
Hill (1998) wins Album of the Year. She wins five of her ten
nominations. On February 9, 1999, she also is the first rapper to
grace the cover of the politics and news weekly Time magazine,
dedicated to The Hip-Hop Nation. Hill is later sued by groups
of songwriters and producers who worked on the album and
were not properly credited.
20002001 After years of hip hop beefs being solved with bloodshed,
Jay-Z and Nas take things back to the old school and fight with
MC skills. After one of Jay-Zs MCs, Memphis Bleek, puts
out a sound strikingly similar to Nass, a war of words ensues.
Nas, the senior of the two rappers, checks the new MC, takes
offense, and the battle is on. Jay-Z steps in for Bleek and the
fight turns to Nas and Jay-Z battling for the title King of
New York. Nas wins by popular vote at a local NYC radio
station.
2003
Eminem is the first hip hop artist to win an Oscar. His song
Lose Yourself from the movie 8 Mile wins in the Best Song
category. He does not attend the awards. Eminem plays the lead
role in the film based on his life growing up in Detroit. The film
is produced by Brian Grazer, who also produced the hip hop
spoof CB4 featuring Chris Rock.
2005
Hip hop producer-turned-rapper Kanye West graces the cover of

Time magazines August 21, 2005, issue. He chronicles his rise
to the top of the hip hop charts in 2004, his debut album College
Dropout, which sold more than 3 million copies, and his
relationship with Roc-a-fella Records. West is later nominated
for ten Grammy awards in 2005 and wins three. He steals the
show with a performance of his own death and resurrection
staged while singing his hit Jesus Walks. West produced for
artists such as Jay-Z and Camron.
2006
Three 6 Mafia wins a Best Song Oscar for Its Hard Out Here
for a Pimp, featured in the film Hustle and Flow. The Memphis
rap group is the only rap act in the category, the second rap
group ever to win for Best Song, and the first African American
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group ever to win in the category. (Eminem won for Lose

Yourself in 2003.)
2006
Lil Kim gets a five-mic rating from The Source magazine for her
album The Naked Truth. This is the highest rating for an MC.
Kim begins a prison term for lying to a federal grand jury about
a 2001 shooting.
AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams.
Kool Herc
Wayne Marshall
Few individuals can claim a life story that so closely parallels hip hops
narrative arc as Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc. Often considered the movements founding father and an innovator of the musical and
cultural practices that have since swept the world, Kool Herc embodies hip
hops roots and routes, its booms and busts, its struggles and triumphs. From
his childhood in Kingston, Jamaica, to his coming of age in the Bronx, from
his rise as a streetwise, peerless DJ to his decline in the wake of hip hops new
Icons of Hip Hop
20
HERCS DECLINE AND FALL, CLIMB AND RETURN

In something of a symbolic turn, Kool Herc appeared as himself, complete
with cowboy hat, tasseled jacket, and round, dark sunglasses, in the film Beat
Street (1984)the second attempt to market a movie about hip hop to mainstream America. Arriving in theaters shortly after Breakin (1984), Beat Street
was set in New York and clearly drew on the documentary-style realism of
Wild Style (1982) and Style Wars (1983) even as it indulged in Hollywood
cliches (see sidebar: Wild Style). Tellingly, Herc does not play an active DJ in
Wild Style
Shamika Ann Mitchell
Released in 1982, Wild Style is considered a cult classic, and is credited with
giving hip hop larger exposure and introducing it to a new audience. Although
the film centers on the lives of fictional characters, one particular draw to the
film is its cast. Part documentary, part screenplay, the films cast list reads as a
Whos Who of old-school hip hop, and showcases notable pioneer hip hop
figures who have achieved icon status. Legendary DJs Grandwizard Theodore
and Grandmaster Flash make appearances, as do the famed rappers Busy Bee
and Grandmaster Caz, the pioneering rap groups the Cold Crush Brothers,
Fantastic Freaks, Double Trouble, and the breakdancing b-boy troupe the Rock
Steady Crew. In addition to these key figures, the film stars as its protagonists
the legendary subway graffiti artist Lee George Quinones and Sandra Lady
Pink Fabara, the queen of the New York City graffiti scene (she was the only
known female graffiti artist at that time). Graffiti masters Dondi, Zephyr, and
Daze were also represented in the movie. An important highlight is rapper Fab
5 Freddy, who in conjunction with producer-writer-director Charlie Ahearn not
only helped to create Wild Style but also plays the hip hop impresario Phade.
The film has a documentary character in that the narrative follows these outlaw
graffiti artists through New York Citys train yards. To Ahearns credit, he was
able to film in the actual train yards after receiving permission from the New
York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA); this is a significant accomplishment, especially for an independent filmmaker.
Wild Style is the precursor of later hip hop films Krush Groove (1985) and
Breakin (1984). While both of these films achieved greater commercial success, the authenticity and integrity of the hip hop cultural depictions were
both questioned and criticized. As commercial films, Krush Groove (Warner
Bros.) and Breakin (MGM) introduced hip hop culture to an even broader
audience and were being shown in major movie theatres across the nation.
However, Wild Styles uniqueness comes from its grassroots status and the raw
talent and energy of the featured artists, who, with the exception of a few,
perform as themselves in the cast lineup. Wild Styles soundtrack is still
considered a classic as well.
the film so much as a broker of sorts, a manager of his own club, which is
given a reggae-tinged title, the Burning Spear, and dressed up tiki-room style
with graffiti-inspired placards interspersed among the South Pacific kitsch.
Herc stands as a towering figure in the film, and he invests the role with
proper authority. Upon being told that the aspiring DJ (and lead actor) deserves a shot at playing at the Burning Spear since hes the best DJ in the
Bronxan irony that would not have been lost on the man who previously
claimed that titleHerc replies, curtly and pointedly, Better be. Indeed, if
no longer the best DJ in the Bronx, Herc is portrayed in the film as a major
tastemaker, and his name carries enough weight that when dropped to the
manager of the Roxy, for whom the lead actor would also like to audition, its
enough to convince him to go see the young DJ play at the Burning Spear.
Even so, its clear that Hercs function in the film is to pass the torch to a new
generation, endorsing the young, up-and-coming DJ rather than reigning as
king of the scene. Perhaps his marginalization in the films portrayal, despite
Herc allegedly requestingand receivinga more prominent role, was appropriate: 1984 was the same year that the Stardust Ballroom played host to
what many considered Hercs last jam. Hip hop had set sail, and Kool Herc,
formerly the ships captain, had missed the boat(see sidebar: Hip hop goes
Hollywood).
Hip Hop Goes Hollywood

Waynre prominent role, was appropriate: 1984 was the same year that the Stardust Ballroom played host to
Hollywood).
Grandmaster Flash
carried away during a battle and it would turn into a brawl, but for the most
part, would-be gangsters expressed their masculinity and frustration through
hip hop performance. The block party was, in some sense, revolutionary in
taming a volatile youth culture while simultaneously providing free entertainment to people who could likely not afford to pay for it.
In 2004, hip hop comedian Dave Chappelle threw a block party in the
Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. He invited many hip hop musicians, including Lauryn Hill and the Fugees, Kanye West, the Roots, Erykah
Badu, Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and others. Chappelle recorded the
experience as a documentary, Dave Chappelles Block Party, which was released in theaters in March 2006. The film was a great success, but neither the
film nor the party itself can compare to the unofficial regularity and spontaneity of the seventies block parties. Chappelles party was meticulously
planned with a schedule of events, and the songs to be performed were chosen
well in advance. Block parties in the 1970s were loosely organized. Of course,
DJs often had a planned order of records they used in a set, but one day they
might play the first third of the set, and the last half on another. Otherwise, the
events were unpredictable and improvised, like the jazz that captured the
hearts of the previous generation, and the mellow nature of the scene was
one of the characteristics that made the block party popular.
Joseph Saddler was infatuated with Kool Hercs performances at these
block parties. He used to scrutinize Hercs methods, noticing aspects he
wanted to imitate as well as potential flaws that could be improved to make
the show even more effective at pleasing the crowd. After watching several of
Hercs parties, Joseph went scavenging to find parts to assemble to create his
own sound system. With his background in electronics, he was able to use
more affordable components and modify them to do things that some storebought equipment was not even designed to do at the time. In some ways, his
vocational training enabled him to put together a sound system that surpassed
the others. In terms of speaker power, though, no one had a system that could
match the chest-shaking power of Hercs, but with regard to versatility and
innovation, Saddler had them all beat. When he finally obtained and revamped the necessities, Saddler began practicing in his bedroom for hours
each day. He was developing his own style, theories, and technical innovations, which would all prove to be fundamental to the formation of todays
hip hop. He spent over three years perfecting techniques that opened the door
to drastically new approaches to DJing.
Before Flash could wow the crowd with his manipulation of records, he had
to have a mixer and a set of turntables. He started out with a Sony MX
6 microphone mixer. He went to Radio Shack and got the necessary parts
to adjust the mixer so it could handle the level of electricity coming into it
from the turntable. The turntables are as essential as the mixer (see sidebar:
Turntables). Flash spent several years working with various brands, trying to
find the perfect table. He tried Pioneer, Fisher, and Magnavox, but none got
31
Icons of Hip Hop
32
Turntables
In hip hop music, the turntables are often referred to as the wheels of steel or
tables and are considered an instrument to be played by cutting, mixing, and
scratching to create new sounds from existing recordings. In order to use turntables as an instrument, DJs must have two turntables, with direct-drive and pitch
control, and a mixer with a cross-fader that allows the DJ to mute one turntable
while allowing the other to play through the speakers. The use of a cross-fader
allows the DJ to play one copy of a record forward while he or she spins a second
copy of the same record backward to the beginning of the desired section; this
creates a seamless repetition, or loop, of a sound that may play only once on the
original record. The turntables must have a stylus and cartridge that set into the
grooves of the vinyl records in order to scratch, and the turntable must allow the
DJ to spin the record backward to isolate and repeat specific sections of a song.
This technique of mixing and cutting is enhanced by the addition of scratching, in
which the DJ moves the record back and forth across the needle to slow down,
speed up, and distort existing sounds on the record.
The method of scratching was invented by Grandwizard Theodore and has
been mastered by turntablists around the world. The scratching action performed by DJs allows breaks to be set in the music that are signaled by a
rough, raspy scratching sound produced when the stylus hits the vinyl. The DJ
then rubs his fingers back and forth in a scratching action while the record is
spinning. The scratch will not work unless the DJ replaces the rubber mats that
come standard under most turntables with what are called slip mats. These
mats are generally made of felt and allow the vinyl records to spin freely
instead of stopping on the rubber. One of the most popular models for hip
hop DJs is the Technics SL-1200, which was very popular in the late 1970s and
is still preferred by many DJs of the twenty-first century. Though today certain
hip hop DJs rely on CD technology and music software such as Pro-Tools,
many DJs still prefer to use turntables and mixers.
Further Resources
Denning, Jack. Two Turntables, a Cheap Sampler and a 4 Track. Tape Op, No. 5.
Schloss, Jeff. Making Beats: The Art of Sample Based Hip-Hop. Middletown:
Wesleyan UP, 2004.
Weheliye, Alexander. Phonographies: Grooves in Afro-Sonic Modernity. Durham:
Duke UP, 2006.
the job done to his satisfaction. In an interview with Davey D, he explained

that when he first began observing DJs, he noticed that they did not care
about beats per minute, which meant that sometimes when the DJ transitioned to a different record, that record would be too fast or too slow
Grandmaster Flash
compared to the previous one. Flash also noticed how well the break in the
song, the section usually past the halfway point that consists only of the bass
or drums, hyped up the crowd. Kool Herc was the first one to realize this, so
he often played a set thick with breaks from all kinds of songs. But what
bothered Flash was the fact that the break was usually only ten or fifteen
seconds long. In an interview for ThaFormula.com, he said, That pissed me
off! He wanted the part of the song that energized the audience to last
longer, so he started working on a way to make this possible.
The result was Saddlers quick mix theory, which involved backspinning
(rewinding the record without moving the needle or making a sound) and
what he called cutting. After years of practice, Saddler found the courage
to perform at his first block party. He gathered his equipment and took it
to 63 Park Avenue on 168th Street. In an interview with Sally Howard, he
described the audiences response to his technique: They just stood there . . .
and I went home and cried for a week. Though Herc had already been using
duplicate records to extend a break, Saddler was the first to make this the core
of his routine. The crowd did not understandwho would immediately boogie down to a song that was just a small part of the song repeated over and
over? Saddler felt he had worked all those years for nothing. Luckily, audiences would begin to catch on and he would soon rock each party til the
break of dawn. But this did not happen overnight.
Flash also invented the clock theory, which is a relatively simple concept
that made it possible to immediately set the needle down on the right track.
He would mark the record with tape or a crayon so he knew exactly what
part of the record he wanted to use. Many current DJs have adopted this
technique to streamline the mixing process, making it another breakthrough
method that still influences the art. At some point, though, Flash and others
needed a way to protect their wax from other DJs who wanted to buy the
same records. So DJs began dunking their records in bathtubs to remove the
labels. There are contradictory sources regarding which DJ was the first to do
this. In Jeff Changs Cant Stop Wont Stop, Herc is credited as the first DJ to
do this, taking advice from his father. However, in a Nelson George interview
in which Herc, Bambaataa, and Flash all participated, Flash claimed responsibility for inventing this delabeling, and although some sources cite Herc as
the first one, he did not deny Flashs response (George 2004, 48).
THE L BROTHERS: PREFURIOUS FIVE FLASH TEACHES AND

LEARNS
In the beginning of Flashs career, observers noticed how quickly Saddler
flipped his style and started calling himself Flash. The title Grandmaster came
from Saddlers love of seventies kung fu flicks. Bruce Lee, king of kung fu as
America knows it, was honored with the title Grand Master. It is not clear
33
34
Icons of Hip Hop
whether his peers gave Flash this title or he crowned himself, but either way,
the name stuck, and it came to signify a legend.
Before he worked with the Furious Five (the group he was with when he
started recording albums), Flash worked with the L BrothersMean Gene
Livingston, Claudio Livingston, and their little brother Theodore (later
known as Grandwizard Theodore). They practiced in Genes room where
Flash kept his equipment. Gene repeatedly told Flash not to let his little
brother touch the decks. According to an interview conducted by Davey D,
Flash believes Gene said this because he could not personally grasp what Flash
was trying to do with the records. It was, after all, uncharted theoretical and
technical territory; no one had done what Flash was doing, so it was hard for
most people to understand. But Flash noticed Theo watching everything he
did as he played, so when Gene left for work, Flash grabbed a milk crate for
the little guy to stand on so he could reach the tables. The young boy became
Flashs first apprentice, but Flash could only teach him when Gene was away.
Despite this setback, Theo picked up quickly and was one of the first people
who comprehended the ideas behind what Flash sometimes calls his formula.
In a future performance, Theo would finally get to unveil his talents in public,
and from there a fruitful career was born.
Once they had played a few small gigs and were comfortable in front of a
crowd, Flash pulled Mean Gene aside at a show. He tried to convince Gene to
let his brother play the turntables because that would be something unique
about them among the other fledgling groups and would bring them notoriety
in the Bronx scene. Flash had persisted on this for a while, and this time, Gene
reluctantly assented. Flash produced the same milk crate Theo had used to
learn the secrets of Flashs modus operandi. As soon as the crowd realized the
young Theo was about to do something with the turntables, they set down
their juice, stopped eating their burgers, and paid full attention. Would he just
fool around and look cute up there with the big boys equipment? Would he
break part of the system? Would he play the records like an inexperienced
child plays a drum set, by hitting parts randomly and making a racket?
As soon as Theo began tearing up the records like a veteran, the crowd
went crazy. Theos movements looked natural; he had fully embraced his
mentors philosophy and instruction. This did not please his older brother.
Theo outshined Gene that day, and Gene was unhappy in anyones shadow.
According to Flashs remarks in interviews, this is the scenario Gene had
feared and what drove him to keep his brother away from the turntables.
But Flash could not stand the idea of depriving anyone interested in turntablism from learning as much as he could teach them. Even today, Flash
seeks out inquiring minds, making it a major priority to educate people about
the DJs purpose and abilities, as well as providing an accurate history of hip
hop as someone who has been in the trenches from its inception. He explained
to Max Woodworth of the Taipei Times that the DJ is the root of the culture
even though rappers have all the attention, and attempts to pass on hip hops
Icons of Hip Hop
soundman, however, he tended to stay behind the boardsexcept on occasions when he would watch the door to make sure the money was flowing as
it should.) In addition to these multifaceted performers, the Herculords also
included a number of devoted dancers, among them some of the earliest and
most accomplished b-boys: Sau Sau, Tricksy, and the Nigger Twins (aka
Keith and Kevin, later known simply as the Twins).
By 1976, Kool Herc and the Herculords/Herculoids were the toast of the
Bronx. He had developed an iconic style to match his status, having graduated
from wearing roach killers to sporting dress shoes and sharp slacks, leather
jackets and fur coats, and, when he wasnt rocking a medium-sized Afro, a
signature cowboy hat and big, round, dark sunglasses. On Hercs hulking
frame, hip hops larger-than-life fashion sense seemed to find the perfect
model. Herc and his crew attracted audiences from across the borough and
beyond, including some curious, young upstarts (such as Afrika Bambaataa
and Grandmaster Flash) who would eventually challenge Hercs dominance.
They would only do so, though, by beating Herc at his own game, for, by this
point, he had set the template for what was beginning to be called hip hop.
HOW HERC BECAME A HIP HOP HERO: SOUND, SELECTION,

AND STYLE
The three main qualities that came to define Hercs styleand, later, that of
hip hop DJs more generallywere already present when he threw his first
party: (1) his sound, that is, the system through which he played his records;
(2) his selection, that is, the repertory of records he played; and (3) his style,
that is, the way he played the records.
Hercs sound system was simply incontestable. Of course, he had the good
fortune to have a father who decided to sponsor a local R&B group and so had
purchased a Shure PA system and a mighty Macintosh amplifier to power it.
When Herc figured out how to wire the system properly and really make it
pump, his father was so grateful that rather than punishing him for playing
with the prohibited equipment, he proposed a father-and-son business, allowing Herc to use the system for his parties while enlisting him to play between
breaks at the R&B groups shows. With incomparably heavy bass, sparkling
highs, and clear mids (i.e., middle-range frequencies), Herc would taunt any
fellow DJs who dared show up at his parties, sometimes emphasizing the
separate frequency bands while discussing his systems strengths. In terms of
sheer sonic presence, none of Hercs colleagues could compete. He famously
drowned out Afrika Bambaataa at an early battle, embarrassing and upstaging
the East Bronx challenger. And although Disco King Mario was known for
a similarly superb system, he traveled in different circles than Herc and his
presence was rarely felt in the hip hop scenewith the notable exception of the
time Mario loaned Bambaataa an amp for a battle with an easily vanquished
Kool Herc
DJ Breakout. Having such a system also meant that Herc was not a DJ for hire:
He was a soundman with his own system and he needed neither promoters nor
club owners to help him do his thing, throw his parties, run his business.
Like many of his enterprising peers, Herc also invested a good deal of his
early earnings back into his system, maintaining a state-of-the-art edge over
his competitors. Although hip hops myth of origins often emphasizes the
crushing poverty of the Bronx and the resourcefulness of young people
who, abandoned by the state and the system, made do with what was available, such a story also tends to downplay the degree to which hip hops
pioneers borrowed and hustled and saved in order to obtain what they needed
to make their art and their living. Often what they needed, such as turntables
and sound systems, was not easily available and did not come cheap. It was
largely through hard work, family assistance, and entrepreneurial acumen
that such trailblazers as Kool Herc built a system, a culture, and, if so fortunate, a stream of steady revenue.
If anything could rival Hercs sound system, it was his impeccable record
selection. Herc quickly earned a reputation as a DJ with singular taste. Rather
than the commercial confections that found favor on the radio and in the
clubs throughout the seventies, Herc played more obscure records: good,
hard, funky music that, for him and his neighbors, seemed to tap more directly into the zeitgeist. It was no coincidence that the music Herc and his
peers wanted to hear was the music of Black Power, of militant pride, and of
continued calls for social and economic justice in the post-Civil Rights era.
Notably, these were not the songs one typically heard at that time on the
radio, even on black radio, which increasingly devoted its programming to
disco and other styles associated with the upwardly mobile black middle
class. As black and proud artists and bandleaders such as James Brown
refined soul and R&B into a sparer, harder style that came to be called funk,
tightening up the rhythms and focusing on riffs and repetition, one common
feature of such songs that caught the imagination of the listening (and dancing) publicespecially the b-boys of the Bronxwas the use of bare-bones,
percussion-heavy, in-the-pocket drum breaks (i.e., solo passages during which
the drummer would accentuate and play with but not diverge too far from the
basic beat). Such breaks often took the place of the instrumental solo in rock
or pop or jazz, occurring after the second chorus or the bridge, though sometimes they constituted a much larger portion of a track. Rather than a
melody-based solo, as was conventional in previous pop genres, funk breaks
were rhythm-centric passages, performed on drum kits and hand drums
typically, the bongos and congas that had been absorbed into American music
via Latin Caribbean traditionsand occasionally featuring a bass line and/or
regular riffs or hits from other instruments in the ensemble. These breaks
soon to be known around the Bronx as breakbeatsemerged as a staple of
the genre, and b-boys would save their most impressive, acrobatic, and
competitive routines for these explosive moments.
10
Icons of Hip Hop
Always a keen observer of dance party dynamics, Herc noticed the excitement such breaks could generate. It was an insight that would lead to Hercs
major aesthetic innovation: the isolation and repetition of the breaks. He
began to seek out records simply for their breakbeats, regardless of whether
the rest of the song was something one would want to hear. Like his Jamaican
sound system predecessors, Herc attracted an audience that came specifically
to hear his special selection of records. Similarly, one might compare Hercs
battery of breakbeats to Coxsone Dodds catalog of riddims, the instrumental
tracks recorded at Dodds Studio One in the late sixties that have served as the
basis for an enormous number of reggae recordings. Hercs breaks records
not only came to constitute what is essentially a b-boy canon, they also
established the foundational repertory of the hip hop DJ. Because so many
subsequent DJs sought out the same records they heard played by Herc, a
great number of these tracksmany of them relatively obscure, though many
of them hitsnow stand as touchstones of early hip hop. Moreover, these
same breaks became favorites of sample-based hip hop producers in the eighties and nineties, further affirming their status and ingraining their familiar
rhythms and timbres in the hip hop imagination. Though it may take a hip
hop or funk aficionado to recognize many of the names on these records, they
have so deeply permeated the sound of modern hip hop, pop, and electronic
music that few would find their strains unfamiliar. Some of Hercs favorites
included the following: James Browns Give It Up or Turnit a Loose (and
other cuts from Sex Machine), Booker T and the MGs Melting Pot,
Michael Viners Incredible Bongo Bands Bongo Rock and Apache, Babe
Ruths The Mexican, Baby Hueys Listen to Me, Dennis Coffees
Scorpio, Mandrills Fencewalk, Jimmy Castors Its Just Begun, Bob
Jamess Take Me to the Mardi Gras, Aretha Franklins Rock Steady, and
Rare Earths Get Ready.
Although Herc was known for letting records play before and beyond their
breaks (sometimes, to the consternation of some observers, including the
wack or undesirable parts, or all the way to the end of a track), perhaps
his most lasting legacy is the practice of isolating and extending these breakbeats, transforming the fleeting, funky moments into loops that could last for
many minutes. Eventually, by employing two turntables and two copies of a
record, Herc developed what he called the merry-go-round technique. Dropping the needle back to the beginning of the break on one record just as the
other was about to end, and repeating the process ad infinitum, Herc could
keep a breakand a crowd of b-boysbreaking for as long as that particular
section would work. Though the hip hop story has enshrined Herc as the first
to isolate and repeat breakbeats in this way, it should be noted that Hercs
technical proficiency was never exactly heralded, and so his focus on and
liberation of the break should perhaps be understood more as an aesthetic
than a technical achievement. Later DJs, such as Grandmaster Flash, influenced by Hercs model but more virtuosic in their control over the turntables
Kool Herc
and mixer, would improve on the formula, moving beyond drop-the-needle

imprecision by backspinning, scratching, and cutting the records while cueing
them via monitoring headphones, thus allowing one to mix breaks more
seamlessly into one another and to isolate shorter and shorter sections for
repetition(see sidebar: The Mixtape).
As an element of style, Hercs less-than-seamless stop-and-start approach to
selection draws yet another connection to reggae performance practice.
The Mixtape
There is a distinction between a private mixtape audiocassette, which is
usually intended for a specific listener or private social event, and a public
mixtape, or party tape. While the former usually has sentimental value (they
are often given as expressions of affection), the latter consists of a live
recording of a club performance by a DJ. Originally, cassette tapes (reel-toreel, cartridge, and audiocassette) were dubbed by DJs to serve as a standby
or segue between songs, but hip hop DJs forever changed the meaning and
significance of the mixtape. In hip hops founding years, there was no major
media outlet for the music; radio stations or programs, magazines, television
programs, and even professional recordings with a hip hop format were
nonexistent. In response to this void, mixtapes became the platform to give
the music exposure. Also, because these artists did not have recording contracts, the mixtapes became a source of revenue for the DJs. In the 1970s,
pioneer hip hop DJs such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa,
and DJ Hollywood would often sell recordings of their club performances via
mixtapes. In addition to live performance recordings, some DJs would also
make customized mixtapes. These custom mixtapes were often pricey (as
high as $1 per minute in some cases) but highly collectible.
The mixtape begins its evolution in the late seventies and early eighties, and
DJs started featuring rappers or MCs, sometimes featuring more rapping than
DJ mixes of popular or original songs. Although in the 1980s hip hop was
often labeled a fad, it was slowly becoming established as a recording industry
with a legitimate fan base, which was to the advantage for hip hop DJs in
particular. Hip hopbased media outlets were still slow to come (except for
some major cities), which provided a market for mixtapes. It was not until the
1990s that making and selling mixtapes became a full-fledged business for the
hip hop DJ. DJs were able to use their mixtapes to establish a brand or
trademark of their music. While some DJs were a draw because of their mixing
abilities, others were popular for their exclusive access to unreleased songs by
artists. The first mixtape DJ to have a recording contract with a major label was
Kid Capri, who released his first album, The Tape, in 1991 on the Cold Chillin/
Warner Brothers label. Several other DJs have since followed suit, including
Funkmaster Flex, DJ Clue, DJ Kay Slay, and DJ S&S.
11
Whereas hip hop DJingpartly related to its roots in disco and the club
scenehas since developed in a manner that privileges smooth, beat-matched
transitions between tracks, reggae selecting has remained a style more defined
by stark cuts and mixes. This is often the case even when a selector is juggling,
Icons of Hip Hop
40
Wave Twisters
H. C. Williams
Wave Twisters is a forty-five-minute visual manifestation of DJ Q-berts groundbreaking 1998 album of the same title, and the first movie whose central focus
and inspiration is scratching itself. Released in 2001, Wave Twisters uses multiple forms of animation, set to match the sampling and scratching on the CD,
to produce a sensory supernova. Comparable to the Beatles 1968 animated
film The Yellow Submarine in its hallucinogenic simulation and George Lucass
Star Wars movies in its sci-fi/extraterrestrial milieu, Wave Twisters begins in
inner spaceinside the diamond of a turntable needle. The protagonist,
Inner Space Dental Commander, is accompanied by the old-school character
Grandpa, the streetwise Honey, and the R2D2-meets-Duracell Rubbish. The
evil Lord Ook and his sinister sidekick, Red Worm, conspire to suppress hip
hops four lost artsbreak dancing, graffiti, MCing and DJing. The Dental
Commander et al. are thus on a quest to save the old school, and their only
weapon is a Wave Twistera watchlike mini-turntable that emits deadly rays
when triggered by scratching.
But do not let this linear plot description fool you; there is no traditional
dialogue whatsoever and rarely do the characters even move in ways we
consider normal. The only dialogue comes from samples that conveniently
include words, though they are often only phrases (e.g., say ah, surrender
your . . . ). Yet somehow the plot approaches linearity and the careful
observer still understands the actiondespite the fragmentary, nonsensical
presentation that is expected in postmodern media.
The use of sampling, in both the animation and Q-berts original music, is
another postmodern characteristic of the film. The CD, like the movie, is a
collage of samples that allude to both old and new. From a fifties-era dental
hygiene commercial to pieces from new hip hop songs and electronic noises
(beeps, etc.), Q-bert does not discriminate. Allusions to pop culturealso a
postmodern qualityconstantly appear. Q-bert samples video games, anime,
movies, and more. The animators parallel his allusions with an homage to the
1980s video game Donkey Kong, a parodied version of the Norton Antivirus
software called Disc Doctor, and other references to American pop culture.
is also more concerned with playing the record, though the selector will play
with the needle, pull the record back to make a sound that resembles scratching, and do other small things to spice up the experience.
The turntablist, when working alone, will typically have one turntable
playing a beat or an instrumental track. On the other table, the turntablist
will have a record made up of samples or battle breaks (short sounds recorded
back-to-back specifically for the DJ). The most basic sample is a high-pitched
swooshing noise called a crash, and when the turntablist wants to show his
Grandmaster Flash
41
Invasion of the Pickle Scratcher: DJ Q-bert

H. C. Williams
In 1985, DJ Q-bert (Richard Quitevis) began manipulating records after meeting Mixmaster Mike, who later joined Q, D-Styles, Shortkut, and Yogafrog to
form the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, considered the most influential turntablist crew.
Q-bert approaches turntablism as if he always has more to learn, and this
mentality keeps him continually perfecting his craft. Q-bert transformed the
turntable into a versatile instrument, scratching recordings of violins, saxophones, and steel drums, and thereby applying a new technique to what had
been chiefly manipulation of vocals, drums, bass, and guitar. Q-bert explored
the uncharted territory of the turntable, taking turntablism to a different
galaxy. As Q-bert explains in the documentary Scratch, he views scratching
as a language he uses to communicate with more advanced life forms on
distant planets.
Although underground hip hoppers can be notoriously secretive about the
tricks of the trade, Q-bert has logged endless hours teaching turntablism to
anyone ready to learn. He created two how-to videos: Complete Do-It-Yourself
(Volume 1: Scratching, Volume 2: Skratch Sessions). He has also taught many
seminars in turntablism and was a main force behind Scratchcon, the first
conference for scratching, which consisted of performing and teaching young
musicians with itching fingers. In an art that had become selfish and secretive,
Q-berts desire to spread knowledge made many new DJs and showed the old
ones a valuable lesson too.
Further Resources
Campos, Samantha. King of Scratch: Turntable Master Innovator, DJ Q-bert.
Maui Time Weekly. 3 June 2004.
Desuasido, Riche-Van, Eric Ignacio, et al. Dirs. DJ Q-bert Live: Australia, Asia.
2005. DVD. Thud Rumble Pictures.
Mayo, James. Like a Record, Baby: Q-bert and the Invisibl Skratch Piklz Put a New
Spin on the DJ Craft. Westwood. 13 January 2000. https://den.secure.
newtimes.com/issues/2000-01-13/music2.html.
technical prowess, he often works with this sample because it is basic enough
for listeners to hear exactly what he is doing to the sound. Other samples vary
widely from grunting and animal noises to lines from kung fu flicks. The
majority of the samples on the record consist of: (a) phrases the DJ can play
to brag about his skills or diss his opponent during a battle; (b) single words in
the hip hop lexicon (e.g., fresh, word), and (c) most significantly, original
shout-outs and classic DJ staples, such as Make Em Clap to This, Good
Times, September, or just about anything James Brown sang. What is
important is the fact that these DJs, who are taking this element of hip hop
42
Icons of Hip Hop
to a new level, are not leaving behind the songs and phrases they heard
themselves as the culture grew.
As an important side note, in the movie Scratch, the DJs cite Grandmaster
DST as the originator. In 1984 he performed the song Rockit with
Herbie Hancock, and the show was televised. Because many of todays premier turntablists are concentrated on the West Coast, they were likely not
exposed to the (pre)scratching DJ until they saw DST on television. This is the
most logical reason why they would cite DST, rather than Theodore or Flash,
as the pioneer in cutting and scratching. But they do give props to their
predecessors, whether they refer to the first televised scratching DJ or to
the ones who really opened the doors. One of the fundamental old-school
keywords is respect. Hip hoppers should respect everyone, even crews they
battle, even people who bite their style, even the guy who stole their cab
yesterday. This is part of hip hops original philosophy. Flash and Bambaataa
may have shaken things up a lot from Hercs view, but all three have much
love and respect for each other. These new DJs respect their roots, where they
came fromwhen they design their own records and choose their own sounds
to sample, they still pick James Brown, Chic, Earth, Wind and Fire, and other
classics. They also record samples of old-school MC shout-outs and pieces of
dialogue that directly relate to the origins of hip hop, including references to
Islam/Black Power and Rastafarianism/Jamaica. They respect their roots,
which, according to some people, go back to the Jamaican selector and his
sound system.
If that is the case, then hip hop came full circle in Stephen Marleys compilation and release of Chant Down Babylon, an album that layers Bob
Marleys original vocals over hip hop beats and artists who contributed their
own messages to each track. The album features some of hip hops most
popular and pure (i.e., not pop hip hop) artists, such as Rakim, Guru from
Gangstar, Lauryn Hill (married to Bobs son, Ziggy), MC Lyte, Chuck D, and
others. The blend of reggae riddims and striking bass lines, the old soul rebels
and the new ones, and the philosophical stance of Bobs rude rock reggae
mixed with the philosophy of todays urban sounds, is truly a milestone in the
development of hip hop itself, as well as serving as another sign that todays
hip hoppers do not want to dismiss what they have learned and inherited; they
want to pass it all on to the next generation.
FLASH AND THE FURIOUS: PSEUDO-DJ, STEPPING LIGHTLY,

AND MISADVENTURES WITH SUGAR HILL
Grandmaster Flash was rocking the parties and dropping the science that
would later become the hip hop DJs central source of growth, but, as Steven
Stancell (116) mentions in Rap Whoz Who, everyone was so focused on what
he was doing to the records that no one was dancing. So he set out to find
Grandmaster Flash
someone to provide a vocal and contrasting aesthetic element to his performance. His first MC, Keith Cowboy Wiggins, had a deep, sexy voice that
kept the fly girls coming to the shows, and his classic shout-outs were so
engaging that Flash sought out more MCs to pump up the jam.
The next MCs to join the group were the Glover brothers: Melvin Melle
Mel and Nathaniel Kidd Creole. They called themselves Grandmaster
Flash and the 3 MCs. Soon after that Flash began working with a Vox drum
machine and they became Grandmaster Flash and the 3 MCs with the Beat
Box. The beatbox was originally a piece of electronic equipment, but the term
has come to signify using ones mouth to simulate the sounds created by that
machine. Shortly before Scorpio, aka Mr. Ness, joined the group to form
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Four, a cop-turned-promoter named
Ray Chandler approached Flash at St. Anns Park. He suggested that Flash
should find a venue at which he could perform regularly, thereby maintaining a
solid fan base. Flash was open to the idea, and when they came across the right
club they called it the Black Door because the entrance door was painted black.
After a few months of performing amid increasing problems from the stickup
kids, Chandler enlisted a posse of exBlack Spades to serve as security. They
were known as the Casanova Crew and were led by a guy named Tiny.
Scorpio joined the mix of performers in leather-studded jumpsuits, but a
short while after that the group split up to pursue various projects. In 1974,
Bobby Robinson of the independent Enjoy Records recruited Flash and requested that he make a record with his MCs. Just before they went into the
studio, Rahiem (formerly a member of the Funky Four) joined Flash after the
Five defeated his crew in a battle, and they finally became Grandmaster Flash
and the Furious Five. Armed with the sense of completion derived from
forming a six-member group, and their signature style of rhymingtossing
phrases back and forth to create sentences, and using more intricate and
lyrically complex dictionFlash and the Five marched into the soundproof
room and recorded Superappin for Enjoy.
The single was not as successful as both Robinson and the group had
hoped. By some accounts, it was Robinson who dropped them from the label
because of the albums poor reception; others claim that Flash and the Five
left Robinson because they were dissatisfied with the amount of radio play for
the record. Either way, Flash and his crew left Enjoy Records. Sylvia
Robinson (no relation), a no-nonsense talent agent and co-owner of Sugar
Hill Records (responsible for the first hip hop record, Rappers Delight)
approached Flash one Tuesday after his regular gig at Disco Fever. She told
him that she could get their music on the back of a popular record by a group
called Freedom, and their first single with Sugar Hill, also called Freedom,
saw more success than their work under Bobby Robinson. It looked like the
group would finally get a turn in the spotlight. But unfortunately, the beam of
light that brought them national recognition also left (most of) them in the
dark.
43
Kool Herc
The combination would prove a winning one, in the mass market and the
street alike, leaving behind originators such as Herc while moving hip hop
into unforeseen territory.
Hip hops second generation took the template that Herc had so solidly set
and ran with it. Afrika Bambaataa followed in Hercs footsteps by amassing
a record collection unparalleled in terms of eclectic, electric breakbeats,
while Grandmaster Flash elevated the art of DJing far beyond merry-go-round
needle dropping, building on the innovations of Grandwizard Theodore
generally credited with having discovered and refined the practice of scratchingin order to scratch, cut, and mix his selections with punch and precision,
sometimes while spinning around or using body parts other than his hands. As
other DJs and crews such as the L Brothers (featuring Grandwizard Theodore),
DJ Breakout, and Baron (of Funky 4 fame), and Kool DJ AJ made the field an
increasingly competitive one, showmanship and technical skill grew in importance as ways to distinguish ones act from the pack. MCs as well as DJs had to
sharpen their skills and refine their acts to make a name for themselves, especially as the men and women on the microphones, rather than the turntables,
became the new focal point for hip hop performance. As big name DJs such as
Flash literally placed their MCs in the foreground at parties and shows, moving them from behind the DJ table to the front of the stage, MCs began to
develop more elaborate routines. Relieved of any DJ duties, MCs developed
their storehouses of shout-outs and rhymes into longer verses (both composed
and improvised) and sometimes into full songs and group routines, enhanced
with choreography, matching uniforms, and props of various kinds.
MCs became the focus of attention and the primary draw for audiences,
outshining the DJs who, nonetheless, often retained the top name on marquees and fliers. Drawing on the smooth and steady rap style of disco DJs, the
proto-rap spiel of the Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron, various other American
and African American oral traditions (including, as mentioned above, radio
disc jockey practice), and refining and further stylizing the street style of the
Herculords, MCs such as Cowboy and Melle Mel, who worked with Flash
and later comprised half of the Furious Four, advanced the art of MCing in
their performances, riding the beat more explicitly and developing increasingly sophisticated rhyme schemes and group routines. These more intricate,
showy performances were often saved for later in the evening, with the early
hours of the party still focusing on the DJ and his selections and featuring
short, often improvised exhortations from the MCs.
Before long the number of MCs and crews of rappers exploded. Kid Creole
and Scorpio rounded out the Furious Four before being joined by Raheim
(who defected from the Funky 4 after losing a battle to Flashs crew) to
become the Furious Five. K.K. Rockwell, Keith Keith, Jazzy Jeff (a different
artist than Philadelphias DJ Jazzy Jeff, who worked with the Fresh Prince),
Rodney Cee, and Busy Bee made up the rotating cast known as the Funky 4
(or the Funky 4+1 when pioneering female MC Sha Rock joined them).
17
18
Icons of Hip Hop
Grandmaster Caz, formerly known as DJ Casanova Fly, commanded the

microphone and turntables alongside DJ Disco Wiz before forming a group
called Mighty Force with Whipper Whip and Dot-a-Rock (both of whom
would later help comprise the Cold Crush Brothers and then the Fantastic 5).
Caz developed a strong set of rhymes and routines during this period, a
number of which found their way into Sugarhill Gangs breakthrough single
(including the line Im the C-A-S-A-N the O-V-A and the rest is F-L-Y,
spelling Cazs former tag). As the story goes, Big Bank Hank, despite not
being an MC himself, was approached by Silvia Robinson of Sugar Hill
Records to record some of the rhymes she heard him reciting at a pizzeria
where he was working. Because Hank was serving as a manager and promoter
for Caz and Mighty Force, he already knew many of Cazs rhymesas did
many hip hop devotees at that timeand he had privileged access to Caz. Not
realizing the record would be an enormous hit, Caz allegedly gave Hank free
reign to pick through his rhyme book, and with their smash single the Sugarhill Gang soon outstripped all other MC crews in terms of notoriety. Some
twenty years later, Caz would record MCs Delight, an attempt to set the
historical record straight.
Cazs influence as an MC did not stop with Sugarhill Gangs appropriation
of his well-known rhymes, for his work with the Cold Crush Brothers served
to push the art of MCing to greater heights of wordplay and into flashy, wellrehearsed routines. Invited by DJ Charlie Chase to help with auditions for
Cold Crush, Caz was convinced to join the group himself. Alongside Charlie
Chase, DJ Tony Tone, Easy AD, Almighty Kay Gee, and Jerry Dee Lewis
(JDL), Caz helped forge a distinctive group style for Cold Crush, involving
intricate, back-and-forth interplay between the MCs and melodic, sing-along
passages that often found the members harmonizing together. The high
theater of the Cold Crush Brothers performances presented a formidable
challenge to rival crews such as the Fantastic 5, and their rapid-fire,
interlaced rhymes carried forward into the dynamic routines of such acts as
Run-DMCas well as more recent groups, such as Jurassic 5, who essentially
serve as a living tribute to Cold Crush style.
The late seventies also saw the rise of a number of strong female MCs.
Joining the eminent Sha Rock on the scene were Lisa Lee (who played with
Bambaataa and who, along with Debbie D and Sha Rock would later form the
trio Us Girls), Little Lee (who worked with DJ AJ), and Hercs mainstays
Pebblee-Poo, Sweet and Sour, and Smiley. A few women got into the DJ business as well, among them DJ Wanda D (an early member of Bambaataas Zulu
Nation) and Pambaataa (who was ushered into the scene by Grandmaster
Caz). Like many minority members of the early hip hop scene, such as Latinos
and West Indians, female performers were sometimes subject to harassment or
ridicule, but generally they were respected, protected, and promoted.
Even as Hercs prominence was waning with the ascension of new DJs and
MCs, new styles and forms, he continued to enjoy success as a dominant force
Kool Herc
on the scene. Thoughout the mid to late seventies, while new doors were
opening for hip hops next generation, Herc was still regularly rocking parties
with the Herculords and Herculoids. Indeed, even as some of hip hops first
recording stars were emerging, Herc was still earning more money by throwing parties than a gold-record-holding MC. There was little incentive, then,
for Herc to get into the record business. Moreover, before hip hop recordings
had proven successful as a commodity in themselves, it made little sense to
someone like Herc or Flash to take the aesthetic leap of making a record out
of other records. For originators such as Herc, hip hop was not something you
could put on a record; hip hop was a party in the park, a social event, a
practice rather than a product. Few thought the experience could translate to
recordings at all, never mind into a commercially lucrative form. Thus, not
only did upstarts such as Flash and Bambaataa present figurative and literal
battles for Hercwho won a number of such battles before finally being
outshinedbut the advent of rap recordings sounded a death knell for the
hip hop DJ more generally. Most early rap recordings did away with the DJ
entirely, employing insteadas was traditionally the case in studiosa house
band to replicate the breakbeat-derived accompaniments for MCs routines.
The recession of the very role of the DJ spelled serious trouble for Herc, and
as hip hop moved further into the club scene, with some DJs booking themselves at multiple venues in a single evening, the days of the self-sufficient hip
hop sound system seemed numbered.
The year 1977 stands as a watershed both for hip hop and for Herc. For
one, it was the year of the great summer blackout in New York. By many
accounts, the looting of stores specializing in electronics and audio equipment
resulted in yet another explosion of competing crews, each with their own
state-of-the-art systems. It was also the year that Herc was stabbed while
coming to the aid of a friend at one of his own parties at the Sparkle. Sustaining several wounds to his side and his palm, Herc was hospitalized for weeks
and admits to withdrawing from the scene for some time thereafter. He
returned still serious about his business and about maintaining the vibe he
had cultivated for so long, but by the early eighties things were changing in
the world of hip hop. With a few rap hits on the charts and a humming media
buzz around break dancing and graffiti, mainstream arrivalin both economic and cultural termsseemed like a real possibility for hip hop, and
the music and film industries displayed no little interest in exploiting the
scenes vibrancy for commercial gain. Although he continued to sharpen his
skills, collect the hottest breaks, and bring new talent into his crew, Herc
never got involved with commercial recording. It is unclear, at any rate,
whether he had the desire or the ability to do so: For Herc, hip hop was
always about making a party move, not about showboating or vocalizing
with a band of studio musicians. He was getting older, as was his audience,
and the movement that he had helped to shape and form was now growing at
a startling rate and going in unexpected directions.
19
Icons of Hip Hop
20
HERCS DECLINE AND FALL, CLIMB AND RETURN

In something of a symbolic turn, Kool Herc appeared as himself, complete
with cowboy hat, tasseled jacket, and round, dark sunglasses, in the film Beat
Street (1984)the second attempt to market a movie about hip hop to mainstream America. Arriving in theaters shortly after Breakin (1984), Beat Street
was set in New York and clearly drew on the documentary-style realism of
Wild Style (1982) and Style Wars (1983) even as it indulged in Hollywood
cliches (see sidebar: Wild Style). Tellingly, Herc does not play an active DJ in
Wild Style
Released in 1982, Wild Style is considered a cult classic, and is credited with
giving hip hop larger exposure and introducing it to a new audience. Although
the film centers on the lives of fictional characters, one particular draw to the
film is its cast. Part documentary, part screenplay, the films cast list reads as a
Whos Who of old-school hip hop, and showcases notable pioneer hip hop
figures who have achieved icon status. Legendary DJs Grandwizard Theodore
and Grandmaster Flash make appearances, as do the famed rappers Busy Bee
and Grandmaster Caz, the pioneering rap groups the Cold Crush Brothers,
Fantastic Freaks, Double Trouble, and the breakdancing b-boy troupe the Rock
Steady Crew. In addition to these key figures, the film stars as its protagonists
the legendary subway graffiti artist Lee George Quinones and Sandra Lady
Pink Fabara, the queen of the New York City graffiti scene (she was the only
known female graffiti artist at that time). Graffiti masters Dondi, Zephyr, and
Daze were also represented in the movie. An important highlight is rapper Fab
5 Freddy, who in conjunction with producer-writer-director Charlie Ahearn not
only helped to create Wild Style but also plays the hip hop impresario Phade.
The film has a documentary character in that the narrative follows these outlaw
graffiti artists through New York Citys train yards. To Ahearns credit, he was
able to film in the actual train yards after receiving permission from the New
York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA); this is a significant accomplishment, especially for an independent filmmaker.
Wild Style is the precursor of later hip hop films Krush Groove (1985) and
Breakin (1984). While both of these films achieved greater commercial success, the authenticity and integrity of the hip hop cultural depictions were
both questioned and criticized. As commercial films, Krush Groove (Warner
Bros.) and Breakin (MGM) introduced hip hop culture to an even broader
audience and were being shown in major movie theatres across the nation.
However, Wild Styles uniqueness comes from its grassroots status and the raw
talent and energy of the featured artists, who, with the exception of a few,
perform as themselves in the cast lineup. Wild Styles soundtrack is still
considered a classic as well.
the film so much as a broker of sorts, a manager of his own club, which is
given a reggae-tinged title, the Burning Spear, and dressed up tiki-room style
with graffiti-inspired placards interspersed among the South Pacific kitsch.
Herc stands as a towering figure in the film, and he invests the role with
proper authority. Upon being told that the aspiring DJ (and lead actor) deserves a shot at playing at the Burning Spear since hes the best DJ in the
Bronxan irony that would not have been lost on the man who previously
claimed that titleHerc replies, curtly and pointedly, Better be. Indeed, if
no longer the best DJ in the Bronx, Herc is portrayed in the film as a major
tastemaker, and his name carries enough weight that when dropped to the
manager of the Roxy, for whom the lead actor would also like to audition, its
enough to convince him to go see the young DJ play at the Burning Spear.
Even so, its clear that Hercs function in the film is to pass the torch to a new
generation, endorsing the young, up-and-coming DJ rather than reigning as
king of the scene. Perhaps his marginalization in the films portrayal, despite
Herc allegedly requestingand receivinga more prominent role, was appropriate: 1984 was the same year that the Stardust Ballroom played host to
Hollywood).
Hip Hop Goes Hollywood

Waynre prominent role, was appropriate: 1984 was the same year that the Stardust Ballroom played host to
Hollywood).
Grandmaster Flash
Fuchs, Cynthia. DVD review. http://www.popmatters.com/film/reviews/s/scratchdvd.shtml.

George, Nelson. Hip Hop America. New York: Penguin, 1998.
Pray, Doug, dir. Scratch. 2001. DVD. Palm Pictures.
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
Special thanks to Chuck Miller for his help in compiling this list.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Superrapin/Superrapin Theme (single). Enjoy, 1979.
The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel/The Birthday Party
(instrumental). Sugar Hill, 1981.
Gold/Back in the Old Days of Hip-Hop. Elektra, 1988.
Magic Carpet Ride/On the Strength. Elektra, 1988.
Grandmaster Flash
Girls Love the Way He Spins/Larrys Dance Theme. Elektra, 1981.
U Know What Time It Is. Elektra, 1987.
All Wrapped Up. Elektra, 1987.
The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash. Strut, 2002.
Spoiler Talks DVD Series: Grandmaster Flash. 2003. DVD. Subetage. [Note: This
release is limited to one copy, which can be borrowed free of charge from the
Spoiler library in Vienna.]
The Flash Mash. Sirius Radio, 2001 to present.
Closing of Commonwealth Games: Manchester, England, 2002.
Hosted MTV Video Music Awards: Miami, 2005.
49
David Corio.
Roxanne Shante
Thembisa S. Mshaka
Roxanne Shante was the sole female member of a hip hop collective known as
the Juice Crew, formed by hip hop godfather Marley Marl in the borough of
Queens in New York City. The Juice Crew was composed of Big Daddy Kane,
Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, MC Shan, Craig G, Intelligent Hoodlum, Marley
Marl, Roxanne Shante, and Biz Markie, who beatboxed for Roxanne on stage
(see sidebar: The Human Beatbox). Before each of these stars went on to
successful solo careers, the Juice Crew produced The Symphony, one of
Roxanne Shante
offered to cut Roxannes Revenge for Mr. Magic, Marley Marl, and Fly Ty,
who had promoted a U.T.F.O. concert that the group never showed up for.
Veteran on-air personality and hip hop cultural icon Kool DJ Red Alert was
the disc jockey who was the first to play Roxanne, Roxanne by U.T.F.O. on
the radio. His choice of this song was far from accidental. Red Alert was in the
mix at 98.7 KISS New York in 1985. The label serviced him with the U.T.F.O.
twelve-inch single Hangin Up. Red Alert thought its B side, Roxanne
Roxanne, sounded better: They wanted to promote Hangin Up, he recalls. I didnt care for the A side, so I flipped it over and played it. He even
took a little heat for it from Fred Maneo, the president of U.T.F.O.s label,
Select Records. Maneo thanked Red Alert for playing the record, but chided
him for playing the wrong side. During this time, if anything new and exciting
came on during my mix, it would circulate through all the schools because the
kids would tape my show and talk about it all week long. By the time a week
elapsed, the word was out all over the city about U.T.F.O.s new song. Red
Alert had his answer: he had broken a hit.
U.T.F.O. (Untouchable Force Organization) was made up of Mixmaster
Ice, the Educated Rapper, Doctor Ice, and Kangol Kid. The group exploded
with their track about Roxanne, the fictional girl who refused to give them
the time of day. They performed throughout the New York City area on the
heels of their smash hit. But when U.T.F.O. canceled on Mr. Magic, who was
the disc jockey for New Yorks WBLS, Roxanne took up the fight on vinyl.
However, according to Red Alert, by the time Marley Marl brought a tape of
Roxannes Revenge to Mr. Magic to play on the air on that fateful Sunday
night, he was on a different station, WHBI 105.9. The song caused a commotion that rippled through a then very small, tight-knit rap industry. Shortly
after the debut of Roxannes Revenge, Red Alert visited the offices of
Russell Simmons at Def Jam Records and RUSH Management. At the time,
Simmons managed reggae artist Jimmy Spicer, rapper Spyder D, and others.
Spyder was at the office the day Red Alert came by. Spyder came to play a
song for Russell recorded by his then-girlfriend, Sparky D. The song was
Sparkys Turn, an answer record tailor-made for Shante that was released
on Nia Records. A fourteen-year-old girl had ushered in a concept of lyrical
rivalry that was far from friendly. Red Alert watched the rivalry develop from
the stage as Sparky Ds DJ. Red Alert considers Shante to be a cornerstone of
MC battling. Shante was the one, no lie. Sparky was the underdog because
Shante sparked the whole thing. Before Shantes battle records, there was only
The Showdown, a record featuring the Furious Five versus the Sugarhill
Gang. But it was a friendly record between label mates, designed to promote
each group at one time.
The lyrical contest between Roxanne and Sparky was so popular that they
toured together and performed their respective battle rhymes on the same bill.
Red Alert hit the road backing Sparky, who even cut him the song Hes My
DJ. While hip hop beef has escalated to tragic outcomes in recent history,
61
Icons of Hip Hop
62
Red Alert notes that at that time artists kept their attacks on record, and it
rarely spiraled out of control because entourages were not so big that they
could rev things up between camps. Sparky D never released her own album,
but Roxanne was on a roll. Red Alert described Roxannes Revenge as an
explosion that made her presence felt. Queen of Rox got people to the
dance floor in clubs all over the city. By the time Bite This came out,
everybody was for Shante, recalls Red Alert. She was making a stamp
for herself.
QUEEN OF ROX
Shante cut five twelve-inch singles after Roxannes Revenge: Runaway,
Queen of Rox, Bite This, Def Fresh Crew (with Biz Markie), and Fly
Shante. Shante was a headliner in her own right, and she performed tirelessly,
even while pregnant with her first child at age fourteen. She rocked the stage
while visibly pregnant, sparking protests in some cities. Mothers would be
picketing me, saying I was promoting teen pregnancy, she recalls. Though by
all indications from her lyrics, Shante was bold, brazen, and in full control, the
reality of her life was the polar opposite. In her interview for this essay, she
explained that she had no choice but to perform under those conditions. She
had emancipated herself as a minor at age sixteen. Without parents to guide or
protect her, she looked to a man to fill the void. She got involved with an older
man who rendered her powerless with physical and psychological abuse. A
seemingly indestructible young woman was imprisoned by the abusive, exploitive relationship she was in. It certainly impacted her view of men as untrustworthy and dangerous. This sentiment was echoed time and again in her songs
like Brothers Aint Shit, which Shante says includes her favorite rhymes.
My boyfriend at the time was eighteen years my elder. He was the father
of my child. When our son was born, I needed to present my emancipation
documents to leave the hospital with my baby. My boyfriend withheld those
documents and dangled them before me whenever I threatened to leave him.
This went on for three years. The only way I could raise my child was by
staying with him. Shantes own father was an alcoholic. She would not
comment on her mothers absence, but it caused Roxanne to emancipate
herself so she could provide for herself on her own. Being a child whose
parents were not in her own life, she could not conceive of being an absentee
mother.
In addition to her problems at home, she was also being exploited creatively. In the studio, she freestyled her rhymes for her early recordings. The
lyrics to Roxannes Revenge, Bite This, Runaway, and Queen of
Rox, for example, were never written down, yet people in the studio with
her would sign their names to her work as the writers of those songs. She was
told to split her concert earnings with Fly Ty and Marley Marl equally, and
Roxanne Shante
did so, ignorant of the pay scale for DJs and producers when she was the topbilled artist. Shante trusted no one. She would bring her child to the venue
and keep her eyes on him throughout her set. I would hand my son to the
bodyguard, perform, leave the stage, then get my son back and go to the
hotel. It was really me against the world onstage. What audiences who
watched her perform were actually witnessing was a volcano erupting.
Shante toured the world on the strength of these hits with the Juice Crew.
She headlined the Fresh Fest Tour as the only female on the bill with LL
Cool J, Public Enemy, and Eric B. & Rakim. She signed with Columbia
Records and released her debut album, Roxanne, in 1988. It contained the
hits that made her a household name throughout ghettos of America. She
followed with her second and last album of new material in 1989, Bad Sister,
which she recorded with the Cold Chillin label. At this point in her career,
she performed songs written by Big Daddy Kane, Go on Girl and Have a
Nice Day, both of which were hits.
Roxanne Shante notes her collaboration with Rick James as the highlight of
her career and her proudest moment as an artist. She and James recorded
Looseys Rap when she went to his home in Buffalo, New York, to meet
and record with him. They recorded the song that became a number one R&B
smash and a Top 10 pop hit on the first night of her stay. But she was his
guest for another two weeks. James taught her about the ups and downs of
the business, mentoring her on its pitfalls. She was enthralled by all the
plaques, awards, and wealth he had amassed, an outcome vastly different
from her experience as a recording star. I was in awe of his house for another
two days. Their collaboration culminated in a shared bill in which Shante
and James performed at the Apollo together. Hip hop had become all the
rage, giving traditional funk and R&B a run for its proverbial money on the
black music scene. Roxanne recalls her first look at their names on the Apollo
marquee. In her view, it serves as a metaphor for the divisive tendencies of the
music industry in relation to generations of black musicians. I saw Roxanne
Shante and Rick James on the marquee. I was like, Wow, look at that! My
mother and manager told me to have the venue change it to put his [name] on
top, out of respect for an artist who had paved the way for me. Young artists
get caught up being the one with the hot record of the moment, and I wanted
to show Rick James respect.
Cold Chillin was a subsidiary of Warner Brothers Records. Because she
was a minor when she signed, it was written into her contract that her education would be financed by the label, with no limit on the amount of tuition
paid or term of subsidy. In an ocean of hopeless circumstances, this was
Shantes blessing in disguise. She feels that this clause was a way for her
handlers to assuage their guilt; she also asserts that they all underestimated
her and never thought she would pursue education on a long-term basis. No
one involved with Shantes career believed she would take early retirement at
eighteen, but that is exactly what she did. They thought I would get strung
63
out and end up having more babies, she laughs. But God had a bigger plan
for me, so I socked it to them.
Roxanne was eighteen years old with two children when she realized she
was exhausted from being used by the rap industry and abused by her boyfriend. She had come to associate rhyming with being abused and mistreated.
While she issues a disclaimer of not being a religious fanatic, what she
describes about her prayer after five years of growing up too fast and hurting
too much was for her a miracle. I woke up one morning and decided I didnt
want to rap anymore; I had a distaste in my mouth for it. I was in an abusive
relationship with this man and my label, the people I created with, they all let
me travel the world with him, get black eyes from him. We were all supposed
to get rich together, buy nice houses, and rise up out of poverty together. I
realized that if I was no longer a commodity, they would let me go. I asked
God to order my steps. I walked out of my house, and I ended up at the steps
of Marymount University.
Shante registered and took courses at Marymount. She also did undergraduate study at Cornell, but eventually returned to Marymount where she
earned a doctorate in psychology, becoming Dr. Roxanne Shante. Now
thirty-three years old, she heads up a thriving psychology practice in
Manhattan. Her upbringing and experience as an abused teenage mother
informs her practice. The majority of her clients are women in or recovering
from abusive relationships and mothers fighting to regain custody of their
children. She is in the process of obtaining certification as a Court Appointed
Special Advocate (CASA) for the State of New York. And she has not given
up on her dream of becoming an attorney.
She had a taste of the legal profession during her ordeal to secure her
master recordings. Her story is an example of the arduous journey to ownership of ones own intellectual property after years of being misled and shut
out with respect to the status of ones work.
THE LEGACY OF ROXANNE SHANTE

Shante is often regarded as a gifted performer but not necessarily the author
of her own material. Fellow Juice Crew MC Big Daddy Kane did in fact write
for her, but not until her second album; the hit songs that put her on the map
were of her own creation, arrangement, and design. They were made up in the
moment while recording, just like her round-robin cheers in the Queensbridge
74
Icons of Hip Hop
can be complicated for a young black artist (Coleman 35). Run-DMC represented street poetry revamped, plugged in, amplified, and marketed. Jay, Joe,
and Darryl were from Hollisa working-class community for upwardly mobile blacks. These aspiring entertainers, however, acted as if the neighborhoods south of the Grand Central Parkway, west of Francis Lewis Boulevard,
north of Hollis Avenue, and east of 184th Street were the South Bronx
dangerous, crime-ridden streets. The microphone, the amplifier, allowed them
to live out these fantasies at high volume. DJ Run, aka Son of Kurtis Blow,
lived the performers life as early as eighth grade. DMC, calling himself
Grandmaster Get High early in his exposure to music, smoked joints and
drank quarts of beer in the basement of his parents house while they were
at work or asleep. These were DMCs practice sessions on the turntables. The
street life of Hollis was filled with private houses rather than the apartment
buildings of the Bronx, and Joe and Darryl experienced supportive and financially secure family lives. The groups third member, Jam Master Jay, was
born in Brooklyn and moved to Hollis with his family when he was ten years
old.
Early on in Run-DMCs development, Russell Simmons (Runs brother)
took it upon himself to promote the group. His goal, however, was not to
make rap music with Run-DMC. He wanted to make black teenage music.
And more important, Russell wanted to make successful black heroes, which
he felt he did with Run-DMC and Kurtis Blow (Cepeda 49). Realness
trumped being positive for Russell, however, and what defined realness according to Rush Management meant playing on some notion of the street.
Run explained that their contemporary, Eazy-E of N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitude), couldnt rap because he was truly a gangster (Quinn 73). A strategic
embrace of the street, but with a calculated distance, was the signature for
Run-DMC: to represent hip hop as it existed in the street, but without living
the street life. The group idolized the Cold Crush Brothers, a street phenomenon in early eighties New York hip hop, but who faded into the background
without the major push received by groups and labels such as the Sugarhill
Gang (who received industry backing for their single Rappers Delight in
1979). In 1983 Cold Crush records were not garnering fan support, and the
doors were open for something new.
Our whole thing, DMC says, was to be like the Cold Crush Brothers.
(Coleman 31). Run-DMC, however, wanted to produce the best show, the
best rhymes, and the best DJ, and come with more beats than anybody. Cold
Crush were Run-DMCs idols, but Run-DMC also wanted to be better than
Cold Crush. In 1984 things were going well for Rush Management, the
biggest management company in hip hop. Russell Simmons had Kurtis Blow
and Whodini, as well as the Fearless Four. Russell also had a hip hop band
called Orange Krush that included Davey DMX, Larry Smith, drummer
Trevor Gale, and singer Alyson Williams, which helped form the early sound
that Russell would take into the studio to later develop Run-DMC.
Run-DMC
According to Simmons, Run-DMCs greatest asset was that they never

aspired to be bigger (Simmons 64). They aspired to keep it real, close to
the street, when that wasnt yet considered important in rap. And that attitude
allowed them to outdistance all other rappers in the eighties. Rappers at
the time would tell it differently. Rush Management had the handle on technology, and technologyincluding drum machines, amplifiers, radio, and
televisionis what would prove to be a boon for Run-DMC, and for hip
hop in general (see sidebar: The 808). Grandmaster Caz recalled that RunDMC was the cutoff point between the era of Grandmaster Flash and the
Furious Five, Cold Crush, Funky 4+1, the Fearless 4s, the Fantastic 5s, and
hip hop after that (Fricke and Ahearn 328). The pre-Run-DMC era had
advanced hip hop from its bare basics, according to Caz, from a baby movement, in the park with speakers and plugging into light poles. While the Sugar
Hill record label pinched penniesdenying artists drum machines and new
The 808
George Ciccariello-Maher
The Roland TR-808 drum machine is a legendary piece of hip hop production
equipment. Immediately rendered obsolete upon its release in 1980 by the
superior sound and sampling technology of the Linn Drum (the Linn LM-1),
the 808 was an unlikely candidate for fame. But the combination of a relatively
low price tag ($1,000 compared to $5,000 for the Linn) and a classic
(if notably artificial) sound made the 808 a must-have for such rap originators
as Run-DMC, Eric B. & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions, and Public Enemy.
Specifically, the 808 featured a deep bass kick that made it an essential
ingredient of the rap sound of the mid-1980s.
Despite the fact that the 808 appeared in the work of Japanese electropop
group Yellow Magic Orchestra as early as 1980, it would be through the
influence of rap artists more than five years later that a younger generation
would come to venerate the 808 sound. In fact, it was only after Roland had
ceased production of the 808 that its popularity peaked. The 808 would find a
place in the early gangsta rap of N.W.A. and its later G-Funk offshoot in the
work of Dr. Dre, Warren G, and Snoop Dogg. It would even find popularity in
the more mainstream hip hop of the Beastie Boys, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh
Prince, Sir Mix-a-Lot, and Vanilla Ice, as well as in several genres of electronic
music.
Seminal Bay Area rapper Too $hort also made use of the device on his
earliest songs, and Outkast made the 808 popular in the South, resulting in
the contemporary predominance of an 808-type sound in the related genres
of Southern crunk (e.g., Lil Jon) and Bay Area hyphy (e.g., E-40). Keliss 2006
hit Bossy, a track that not coincidentally includes an appearance by Too
$hort, explicitly hearkens back to the 808 era: Im back with an 808.
75
Grandmaster Flash
carried away during a battle and it would turn into a brawl, but for the most
part, would-be gangsters expressed their masculinity and frustration through
hip hop performance. The block party was, in some sense, revolutionary in
taming a volatile youth culture while simultaneously providing free entertainment to people who could likely not afford to pay for it.
In 2004, hip hop comedian Dave Chappelle threw a block party in the
Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. He invited many hip hop musicians, including Lauryn Hill and the Fugees, Kanye West, the Roots, Erykah
Badu, Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and others. Chappelle recorded the
experience as a documentary, Dave Chappelles Block Party, which was released in theaters in March 2006. The film was a great success, but neither the
film nor the party itself can compare to the unofficial regularity and spontaneity of the seventies block parties. Chappelles party was meticulously
planned with a schedule of events, and the songs to be performed were chosen
well in advance. Block parties in the 1970s were loosely organized. Of course,
DJs often had a planned order of records they used in a set, but one day they
might play the first third of the set, and the last half on another. Otherwise, the
events were unpredictable and improvised, like the jazz that captured the
hearts of the previous generation, and the mellow nature of the scene was
one of the characteristics that made the block party popular.
Joseph Saddler was infatuated with Kool Hercs performances at these
block parties. He used to scrutinize Hercs methods, noticing aspects he
wanted to imitate as well as potential flaws that could be improved to make
the show even more effective at pleasing the crowd. After watching several of
Hercs parties, Joseph went scavenging to find parts to assemble to create his
own sound system. With his background in electronics, he was able to use
more affordable components and modify them to do things that some storebought equipment was not even designed to do at the time. In some ways, his
vocational training enabled him to put together a sound system that surpassed
the others. In terms of speaker power, though, no one had a system that could
match the chest-shaking power of Hercs, but with regard to versatility and
innovation, Saddler had them all beat. When he finally obtained and revamped the necessities, Saddler began practicing in his bedroom for hours
each day. He was developing his own style, theories, and technical innovations, which would all prove to be fundamental to the formation of todays
hip hop. He spent over three years perfecting techniques that opened the door
to drastically new approaches to DJing.
Before Flash could wow the crowd with his manipulation of records, he had
to have a mixer and a set of turntables. He started out with a Sony MX
6 microphone mixer. He went to Radio Shack and got the necessary parts
to adjust the mixer so it could handle the level of electricity coming into it
from the turntable. The turntables are as essential as the mixer (see sidebar:
Turntables). Flash spent several years working with various brands, trying to
find the perfect table. He tried Pioneer, Fisher, and Magnavox, but none got
31
Icons of Hip Hop
32
Turntables
In hip hop music, the turntables are often referred to as the wheels of steel or
tables and are considered an instrument to be played by cutting, mixing, and
scratching to create new sounds from existing recordings. In order to use turntables as an instrument, DJs must have two turntables, with direct-drive and pitch
control, and a mixer with a cross-fader that allows the DJ to mute one turntable
while allowing the other to play through the speakers. The use of a cross-fader
allows the DJ to play one copy of a record forward while he or she spins a second
copy of the same record backward to the beginning of the desired section; this
creates a seamless repetition, or loop, of a sound that may play only once on the
original record. The turntables must have a stylus and cartridge that set into the
grooves of the vinyl records in order to scratch, and the turntable must allow the
DJ to spin the record backward to isolate and repeat specific sections of a song.
This technique of mixing and cutting is enhanced by the addition of scratching, in
which the DJ moves the record back and forth across the needle to slow down,
speed up, and distort existing sounds on the record.
The method of scratching was invented by Grandwizard Theodore and has
been mastered by turntablists around the world. The scratching action performed by DJs allows breaks to be set in the music that are signaled by a
rough, raspy scratching sound produced when the stylus hits the vinyl. The DJ
then rubs his fingers back and forth in a scratching action while the record is
spinning. The scratch will not work unless the DJ replaces the rubber mats that
come standard under most turntables with what are called slip mats. These
mats are generally made of felt and allow the vinyl records to spin freely
instead of stopping on the rubber. One of the most popular models for hip
hop DJs is the Technics SL-1200, which was very popular in the late 1970s and
is still preferred by many DJs of the twenty-first century. Though today certain
hip hop DJs rely on CD technology and music software such as Pro-Tools,
many DJs still prefer to use turntables and mixers.
Further Resources
Denning, Jack. Two Turntables, a Cheap Sampler and a 4 Track. Tape Op, No. 5.
Schloss, Jeff. Making Beats: The Art of Sample Based Hip-Hop. Middletown:
Wesleyan UP, 2004.
Weheliye, Alexander. Phonographies: Grooves in Afro-Sonic Modernity. Durham:
Duke UP, 2006.
the job done to his satisfaction. In an interview with Davey D, he explained

that when he first began observing DJs, he noticed that they did not care
about beats per minute, which meant that sometimes when the DJ transitioned to a different record, that record would be too fast or too slow
Grandmaster Flash
compared to the previous one. Flash also noticed how well the break in the
song, the section usually past the halfway point that consists only of the bass
or drums, hyped up the crowd. Kool Herc was the first one to realize this, so
he often played a set thick with breaks from all kinds of songs. But what
bothered Flash was the fact that the break was usually only ten or fifteen
seconds long. In an interview for ThaFormula.com, he said, That pissed me
off! He wanted the part of the song that energized the audience to last
longer, so he started working on a way to make this possible.
The result was Saddlers quick mix theory, which involved backspinning
(rewinding the record without moving the needle or making a sound) and
what he called cutting. After years of practice, Saddler found the courage
to perform at his first block party. He gathered his equipment and took it
to 63 Park Avenue on 168th Street. In an interview with Sally Howard, he
described the audiences response to his technique: They just stood there . . .
and I went home and cried for a week. Though Herc had already been using
duplicate records to extend a break, Saddler was the first to make this the core
of his routine. The crowd did not understandwho would immediately boogie down to a song that was just a small part of the song repeated over and
over? Saddler felt he had worked all those years for nothing. Luckily, audiences would begin to catch on and he would soon rock each party til the
break of dawn. But this did not happen overnight.
Flash also invented the clock theory, which is a relatively simple concept
that made it possible to immediately set the needle down on the right track.
He would mark the record with tape or a crayon so he knew exactly what
part of the record he wanted to use. Many current DJs have adopted this
technique to streamline the mixing process, making it another breakthrough
method that still influences the art. At some point, though, Flash and others
needed a way to protect their wax from other DJs who wanted to buy the
same records. So DJs began dunking their records in bathtubs to remove the
labels. There are contradictory sources regarding which DJ was the first to do
this. In Jeff Changs Cant Stop Wont Stop, Herc is credited as the first DJ to
do this, taking advice from his father. However, in a Nelson George interview
in which Herc, Bambaataa, and Flash all participated, Flash claimed responsibility for inventing this delabeling, and although some sources cite Herc as
the first one, he did not deny Flashs response (George 2004, 48).
THE L BROTHERS: PREFURIOUS FIVE FLASH TEACHES AND

LEARNS
In the beginning of Flashs career, observers noticed how quickly Saddler
flipped his style and started calling himself Flash. The title Grandmaster came
from Saddlers love of seventies kung fu flicks. Bruce Lee, king of kung fu as
America knows it, was honored with the title Grand Master. It is not clear
33
34
Icons of Hip Hop
whether his peers gave Flash this title or he crowned himself, but either way,
the name stuck, and it came to signify a legend.
Before he worked with the Furious Five (the group he was with when he
started recording albums), Flash worked with the L BrothersMean Gene
Livingston, Claudio Livingston, and their little brother Theodore (later
known as Grandwizard Theodore). They practiced in Genes room where
Flash kept his equipment. Gene repeatedly told Flash not to let his little
brother touch the decks. According to an interview conducted by Davey D,
Flash believes Gene said this because he could not personally grasp what Flash
was trying to do with the records. It was, after all, uncharted theoretical and
technical territory; no one had done what Flash was doing, so it was hard for
most people to understand. But Flash noticed Theo watching everything he
did as he played, so when Gene left for work, Flash grabbed a milk crate for
the little guy to stand on so he could reach the tables. The young boy became
Flashs first apprentice, but Flash could only teach him when Gene was away.
Despite this setback, Theo picked up quickly and was one of the first people
who comprehended the ideas behind what Flash sometimes calls his formula.
In a future performance, Theo would finally get to unveil his talents in public,
and from there a fruitful career was born.
Once they had played a few small gigs and were comfortable in front of a
crowd, Flash pulled Mean Gene aside at a show. He tried to convince Gene to
let his brother play the turntables because that would be something unique
about them among the other fledgling groups and would bring them notoriety
in the Bronx scene. Flash had persisted on this for a while, and this time, Gene
reluctantly assented. Flash produced the same milk crate Theo had used to
learn the secrets of Flashs modus operandi. As soon as the crowd realized the
young Theo was about to do something with the turntables, they set down
their juice, stopped eating their burgers, and paid full attention. Would he just
fool around and look cute up there with the big boys equipment? Would he
break part of the system? Would he play the records like an inexperienced
child plays a drum set, by hitting parts randomly and making a racket?
As soon as Theo began tearing up the records like a veteran, the crowd
went crazy. Theos movements looked natural; he had fully embraced his
mentors philosophy and instruction. This did not please his older brother.
Theo outshined Gene that day, and Gene was unhappy in anyones shadow.
According to Flashs remarks in interviews, this is the scenario Gene had
feared and what drove him to keep his brother away from the turntables.
But Flash could not stand the idea of depriving anyone interested in turntablism from learning as much as he could teach them. Even today, Flash
seeks out inquiring minds, making it a major priority to educate people about
the DJs purpose and abilities, as well as providing an accurate history of hip
hop as someone who has been in the trenches from its inception. He explained
to Max Woodworth of the Taipei Times that the DJ is the root of the culture
even though rappers have all the attention, and attempts to pass on hip hops
Grandmaster Flash
original valuesphysical nonviolence, open-mindedness, incorporating music

from all colors and creeds, and doing it for love instead of the big record
dealto the younger generation. Flash is so determined to stay connected
with youth that he has expressed his desire to open a school for kids who
want to become DJs. Theo was his first student and was incredibly sharp and
successful. His performance in the park, balancing on a chipped milk crate,
was a catalyst for both his and Flashs careers.
Before Theos surprising performance, though, the group mostly played at
modest house parties and small discos. It was during this period that Flash
met Pete DJ Jones, a veteran disco DJ who entertained the older crowd. Flash
studied Joness performance and realized that he somehow mixed one record
into another more seamlessly than Herc did. While Herc simply started a song
by dropping the needle on a groove in the record, Jones had a precuing system
that resulted in smoother transitions. Flash asked Jones several times if he
could play on his system, and when Jones finally agreed, Flash discovered
something amazing about Joness setup. He had rigged his system so he could
listen through a pair of headphones and hear the other turntable, the one not
playing at that moment, before the crowd did. Armed with this new technological opportunity, Flash went home and got to work.
FLASH GETS HIS RECORDS STRAIGHT: MIXERS,

BREAKS, AND MISTAKES
After discovering how Pete DJ Jones could change from one turntable to the
other without skipping a beat, Flash set out to build his own version of Joness
system. Flash created what he called the peek-a-boo system. Mixers were
equipped with a toggle switch. In the center position, it was off. When he
clicked the switch to the left, only the left turntable was audible. When he
clicked it two times to the right, he isolated the sound from the right turntable. His invention has been refined and is now called a cross-fader. The new
version of his system involves a slot on the mixer. The DJ uses his fingers to
slide the fader from side to side. In the standard DJ style, when the fader is on
the right, the right turntable is the only one producing sound, and vice versa
(the other option is hamster style, which is the oppositewhen the fader
slides to one side, that turntables sound cuts out). Being able to switch
between tables by sliding a knob instead of clicking a switch is one change
that made it possible for DJs to do more than basic mixing, namely scratching, with more complexity. For the turntablists who focus on scratching, the
cross-fader is indispensable and usually needs replacement once a year, depending on the quality of the part, because it is basically the piece of the mixer
that makes scratching possible. The more complex forms of scratching a DJ
performs, the sooner the cross-fader is exhausted, because the scratchs
complexity is proportional to the number of times the DJ moves the fader.
35
36
Icons of Hip Hop
Flashs manual installation of the peek-a-boo system is just one of many

mechanical modifications he made to the wheels of steel that expanded the
opportunities available to the DJ and paved the way for the DJs more recent
focus on manipulating records to create new sounds.
To be able to bring all his ideas together, Flash needed a turntable with the
right belt drive and amount of torque. He wanted a table that would accelerate from completely stopped to full speed in at least half or a quarter of a
revolution. This was crucial in tying together all his different methods to
produce a premium quality performance, which included the ability to extend
a ten-second break indefinitely. He finally came across a turntable that would
work. It was an ugly silver table made by the Technics company, the SL-20.
Ten years later Technics created the SL-1200, which became the standard
turntable for serious DJs. The brand is cited in several hip hop songs, such as
KRS-Ones Real Hip-Hop, and the model is even mentioned in tracks by
Defari, Kool Keith, and others. Armed with a pair of turntables that would
become the DJ standard, a mic mixer modified to work with his decks and
fitted with his peek-a-boo system, and the modest speaker system he had obtained, Flash had everything he needed to play for a crowd. Still frustrated by
the brevity of most breakbeats, Flash decided to use duplicate copies of the
same records on his decks. With his peek-a-boo modification, he could play the
smallest part of a song if he wished, then click over to the other table, which had
the record cued to start at the beginning of the same tiny part, and thus continue
that part of the song, repeating the process as long as the crowd was feeling it.
Flash was not the first turntablist to use duplicate records to lengthen the
breakbeat. Kool Herc, the true pioneer of the art, employed what he called his
merry-go-round technique. Herc would play the record on one table and then
place the needle on the spot where the break began on the other record as the
first break ended. The process of switching between the same two records to
keep part of a record playing, first accomplished by Herc and then refined by
Flash, is known as looping. Unfortunately for the real live DJ, digital technology now exists that makes it possible to loop part of a song, often called a
sample, by simply pushing a button or two. Though Herc was the first to loop
records, Flash added precision to the process, eventually blending separate
records together so smoothly most could not recognize when one ended and
the other began. He had seen Herc use his own technique in parks, but
according to Jeff Changs account it was not as clean as Flash wanted his
routine to sound. Sometimes Herc got off beat or dropped the needle a little
too far before or after the break, but no one in the audience cared, if they even
noticed. His music was so new and different that most people may not have
even realized these were mistakes.
Occasionally, early hip hop performers would pretend to make a mistake,
such as a breaking move that involved presenting the illusion that the dancer
had started a move and messed up or forgot, when it was really an intentional
stall or freeze for dramatic effect. Flashs first performance in the park, before
Grandmaster Flash
he became Flash, was a disaster, in part because people did not understand
what he was doing, and perhaps some of them thought the record was skipping. A few months later audiences realized that this was no mistakeit was
a technique. To audiences accustomed to the smooth transition between records played by radio disc jockeys and dance club DJs, Flashs scratches may
have initially sounded like a mistake. Before hip hop, the sound of a needle
scratching a record had been associated with clumsiness. Flashs new techniques, however, made scratching rhythmic and musical. He played the turntables as an instrument, and made the sound of a needle scratching vinyl a key
component of hip hop.
Even though Hercs method of looping was not always clean, he still got the
party kicking and the b-boys dancing. Herc often chose breaks that were
heavy in bass or drums, making his superior speakers pulsate. If it was funky,
he used it. Generally, breaks in traditional songs only involve the bass and
drums, the rhythm section of the tune. Hercs picks always pleased the crowd,
and as the preference moved from an early James Brown style to the tighter,
more rhythm-oriented funk tracks, the best breaks became increasingly heavy
on the bass line. The hip hop audiences loved it, and although their approval
is inescapably tied to how well the DJ flipped his wax, part of their pleasure
must relate to this more rhythm-driven music.
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? HI-FI SCIENCE: HIP HOP, DRUMS,
BASS, AND TURNTABLISM
The hip hop generation might be the first to connect more strongly with
rhythm and bass than rhythm and blues. Hip hop fans love nothing more
than a trunk-rattling bass line pumping from customized car stereos. Since
Hercs use of breakbeats drove the crowd mad, listeners have gradually developed an auditory palate that prefers hard drums to guitar strums. This thirst
for low frequencies may be the source of the techno DJ, whose work is
principally appreciated for the bass lines. This might seem unrelated to hip
hop, but techno DJs are close cousins, for several reasons. Of course, there is
the obvious fact that both DJs use a mixer and two turntables as their instruments. Second, there are several crossover DJs who play hip hop and various
offshoots of techno interchangeably (the most prominent of these is DJ Shadow). Also, there is the ragga DJ. Ragga is a form of techno that mixes the
complex, frenzied, urban-meets-African-bush style of jungle music with reggae. Just as hip hop owes some credit (acknowledged or not) to the Jamaican
selectors, the ragga DJ would not be here if not for those selectors. These DJs
work with standard jungle beats and weave in vocals that speak to reggae
roots. One example is the album Tribute to Haile Selassie by Congo Natty.
Along with jungle noises like screaming monkeys and allusions to urban life
(cf. Bob Marleys Concrete Jungle), Congo Natty adds in vocal snippets
37
Icons of Hip Hop
38
such as Exodus, JahRastafari, and a brief inclusion of the reggae

neoclassic, Ring Da Alarm.
The DJs set is composed of far more blues, funk, classic R&B, or soul than
blasting brass or hair-band vocals that sound harsh, hoarse, and manic compared to the mellow, hip, funky vocals on more popular records. A wellknown exception to this distaste for higher pitched instruments is a saxophone solo by Tom Scott, from the album Honeysuckle Breeze, which was
the main melody in the 1990s hip hop classic They Reminisce Over You
(T.R.O.Y.) by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth. Perhaps it is hip hops respect for
jazz that allowed a sax solo to become immensely popular among its fans.
That same saxophone solo reappeared in a recorded mix called Sex Machine
Today by J-Rocc, a member of the Beat Junkies, which is one of the most
active and talented crews of turntablists that exist today. This crew, which
includes J-Rocc, Babu, Melo-D, and Rhettmatic (along with other charter
members such as Tommy Gunn, D-Styles, Shortkut, DJ What?, and others)
has probably taken Flashs prescratching methods and Grandwizard Theodores additional exploration of the subgenre further than any single DJ in the
world. One turntablist who comes close to being that single DJ is Q-bert, a
member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, which include Q-bert, Shortkut, Yogafrog, and at one time, Mixmaster Mike, who now DJs for the Beastie Boys.
These DJs are often cited as the crew who initiated the turntablist culture. Qberts scratching style is so quick and clean that it boggles the mind how it is
humanly possible to move ones fingers that fast without turning the track
into mush. He is so venerated in the circle of veteran turtablists that he
received a lifetime achievement award at the 1998 DMC Championships
(see sidebar: DMC World Championships).
Q-bert looks for inspiration by trying to think about what kind of music
aliens are playing on more advanced planets, and he (along with Mixmaster
DMC World Championships
H. C. Williams
Some DJs practice the same routine for years, attempting to work their way up
from the regional DMC competition to the DMC World Championships. The
goal is understandable; the winner is declared the best DJ on the planet and can
brag and gloat until the following year, when he or she must defend that title.
In 1981, Tony Prince, a European radio DJ, began playing DJs mixtapes on his
showwhich, at some point, became the Disco Mix Club Show. He worked at
one of the only nationally broadcast stations, and his show attracted 50 million
listeners, according to the DMC Web site. He began receiving thousands of
tapes from DJs seeking national exposure. Prince decided he had tapped into a
fledgling musical movement and wanted to see it fly, so he left his job after
twenty years and coerced his wife, Christine, into joining in his new venture,
whose goal was to help DJs gain the success that was at their fingertips.
Grandmaster Flash
39
DMC did not begin their World Championships competition until two years
into their official work. Their original goal was to form a DJs-only record label,
and in February 1983 they became the first label licensed for this purpose.
They also put their savings into a magazine, Mixmag, that accompanied
monthly mixes (or megamixes, a phrase they coined) produced by and sent
to subscribers. The magazine was a strong influence on demand for DJs and
helped create a niche for them in the music industry. They soon published
MIXER, the American version of Mixmag, which rekindled the demand for U.S.
DJs.
In 1985, DMC launched the World Championships so DJs could showcase
their talents while hearing what the rest of the worlds DJs were up to.
According to their Web site, they gave birth to Turntablism through this
competitionwhich is definitely debatable. Either way, the competition did
move from electronic/techno/club DJing toward turntablism and scratching. It
became the ultimate DJ battle.
Further Resources
DMC Discography. http://www.discogs.com/label/DMC.
DMC World Championships Vol. 1 and 2. DVD. DMC World Pictures.
DMC World. Official Web site. http://www.dmcworld.com.
Interview with Tony Prince. Rapnews Online. http://www.rapnews.co.uk/?p=419.
Mike) believes that scratching is a form of communication with extraterrestrials (see sidebar: Wave Twisters). For an example of Mikes work, listen to the
Beastie Boys 1998 album Hello Nasty, which includes the Grammy Award
winning track Intergalactic, as well as Three MCs and One DJ, the song
that introduced Mike to Beastie Boys fans. This song echoes a remark made in
Scratch, as Bambaataa speaks of his wish to see the art go intergalactic,
which could be that next level or new frontier that DJs are searching for. The
idea that the sounds made when a turntablist scratches canand do
communicate with aliens is definitely not a typical Americans belief, but
Q-bert is recognized in the turntablists royal court as being the best, bar
none. It seems far-fetched, but maybe that kind of perspective is what it takes
to master such chiseled, controlled, and frenetic finger work(see sidebar: Invasion of the Pickle Scratcher).
Turntablist is another word for DJ. Babu of the Beat Junkies coined the
term, writing Babu the Turntablist on his mix CDs, and the concept took
over this niche in the DJ world. A turntablist is typically more concerned with
doing things to the records than simply mixing albums, which is why those
DJs who focus on scratching wish to be called turntablists instead of disc
jockeys (a term that refers to radio show hosts who play one whole song after
another) or even selectorsthe Jamaican term for DJsbecause the selector
Icons of Hip Hop
40
Wave Twisters
H. C. Williams
Wave Twisters is a forty-five-minute visual manifestation of DJ Q-berts groundbreaking 1998 album of the same title, and the first movie whose central focus
and inspiration is scratching itself. Released in 2001, Wave Twisters uses multiple forms of animation, set to match the sampling and scratching on the CD,
to produce a sensory supernova. Comparable to the Beatles 1968 animated
film The Yellow Submarine in its hallucinogenic simulation and George Lucass
Star Wars movies in its sci-fi/extraterrestrial milieu, Wave Twisters begins in
inner spaceinside the diamond of a turntable needle. The protagonist,
Inner Space Dental Commander, is accompanied by the old-school character
Grandpa, the streetwise Honey, and the R2D2-meets-Duracell Rubbish. The
evil Lord Ook and his sinister sidekick, Red Worm, conspire to suppress hip
hops four lost artsbreak dancing, graffiti, MCing and DJing. The Dental
Commander et al. are thus on a quest to save the old school, and their only
weapon is a Wave Twistera watchlike mini-turntable that emits deadly rays
when triggered by scratching.
But do not let this linear plot description fool you; there is no traditional
dialogue whatsoever and rarely do the characters even move in ways we
consider normal. The only dialogue comes from samples that conveniently
include words, though they are often only phrases (e.g., say ah, surrender
your . . . ). Yet somehow the plot approaches linearity and the careful
observer still understands the actiondespite the fragmentary, nonsensical
presentation that is expected in postmodern media.
The use of sampling, in both the animation and Q-berts original music, is
another postmodern characteristic of the film. The CD, like the movie, is a
collage of samples that allude to both old and new. From a fifties-era dental
hygiene commercial to pieces from new hip hop songs and electronic noises
(beeps, etc.), Q-bert does not discriminate. Allusions to pop culturealso a
postmodern qualityconstantly appear. Q-bert samples video games, anime,
movies, and more. The animators parallel his allusions with an homage to the
1980s video game Donkey Kong, a parodied version of the Norton Antivirus
software called Disc Doctor, and other references to American pop culture.
is also more concerned with playing the record, though the selector will play
with the needle, pull the record back to make a sound that resembles scratching, and do other small things to spice up the experience.
The turntablist, when working alone, will typically have one turntable
playing a beat or an instrumental track. On the other table, the turntablist
will have a record made up of samples or battle breaks (short sounds recorded
back-to-back specifically for the DJ). The most basic sample is a high-pitched
swooshing noise called a crash, and when the turntablist wants to show his
Grandmaster Flash
41
Invasion of the Pickle Scratcher: DJ Q-bert

H. C. Williams
In 1985, DJ Q-bert (Richard Quitevis) began manipulating records after meeting Mixmaster Mike, who later joined Q, D-Styles, Shortkut, and Yogafrog to
form the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, considered the most influential turntablist crew.
Q-bert approaches turntablism as if he always has more to learn, and this
mentality keeps him continually perfecting his craft. Q-bert transformed the
turntable into a versatile instrument, scratching recordings of violins, saxophones, and steel drums, and thereby applying a new technique to what had
been chiefly manipulation of vocals, drums, bass, and guitar. Q-bert explored
the uncharted territory of the turntable, taking turntablism to a different
galaxy. As Q-bert explains in the documentary Scratch, he views scratching
as a language he uses to communicate with more advanced life forms on
distant planets.
Although underground hip hoppers can be notoriously secretive about the
tricks of the trade, Q-bert has logged endless hours teaching turntablism to
anyone ready to learn. He created two how-to videos: Complete Do-It-Yourself
(Volume 1: Scratching, Volume 2: Skratch Sessions). He has also taught many
seminars in turntablism and was a main force behind Scratchcon, the first
conference for scratching, which consisted of performing and teaching young
musicians with itching fingers. In an art that had become selfish and secretive,
Q-berts desire to spread knowledge made many new DJs and showed the old
ones a valuable lesson too.
Further Resources
Campos, Samantha. King of Scratch: Turntable Master Innovator, DJ Q-bert.
Maui Time Weekly. 3 June 2004.
Desuasido, Riche-Van, Eric Ignacio, et al. Dirs. DJ Q-bert Live: Australia, Asia.
2005. DVD. Thud Rumble Pictures.
Mayo, James. Like a Record, Baby: Q-bert and the Invisibl Skratch Piklz Put a New
Spin on the DJ Craft. Westwood. 13 January 2000. https://den.secure.
newtimes.com/issues/2000-01-13/music2.html.
technical prowess, he often works with this sample because it is basic enough
for listeners to hear exactly what he is doing to the sound. Other samples vary
widely from grunting and animal noises to lines from kung fu flicks. The
majority of the samples on the record consist of: (a) phrases the DJ can play
to brag about his skills or diss his opponent during a battle; (b) single words in
the hip hop lexicon (e.g., fresh, word), and (c) most significantly, original
shout-outs and classic DJ staples, such as Make Em Clap to This, Good
Times, September, or just about anything James Brown sang. What is
important is the fact that these DJs, who are taking this element of hip hop
42
Icons of Hip Hop
to a new level, are not leaving behind the songs and phrases they heard
themselves as the culture grew.
As an important side note, in the movie Scratch, the DJs cite Grandmaster
DST as the originator. In 1984 he performed the song Rockit with
Herbie Hancock, and the show was televised. Because many of todays premier turntablists are concentrated on the West Coast, they were likely not
exposed to the (pre)scratching DJ until they saw DST on television. This is the
most logical reason why they would cite DST, rather than Theodore or Flash,
as the pioneer in cutting and scratching. But they do give props to their
predecessors, whether they refer to the first televised scratching DJ or to
the ones who really opened the doors. One of the fundamental old-school
keywords is respect. Hip hoppers should respect everyone, even crews they
battle, even people who bite their style, even the guy who stole their cab
yesterday. This is part of hip hops original philosophy. Flash and Bambaataa
may have shaken things up a lot from Hercs view, but all three have much
love and respect for each other. These new DJs respect their roots, where they
came fromwhen they design their own records and choose their own sounds
to sample, they still pick James Brown, Chic, Earth, Wind and Fire, and other
classics. They also record samples of old-school MC shout-outs and pieces of
dialogue that directly relate to the origins of hip hop, including references to
Islam/Black Power and Rastafarianism/Jamaica. They respect their roots,
which, according to some people, go back to the Jamaican selector and his
sound system.
If that is the case, then hip hop came full circle in Stephen Marleys compilation and release of Chant Down Babylon, an album that layers Bob
Marleys original vocals over hip hop beats and artists who contributed their
own messages to each track. The album features some of hip hops most
popular and pure (i.e., not pop hip hop) artists, such as Rakim, Guru from
Gangstar, Lauryn Hill (married to Bobs son, Ziggy), MC Lyte, Chuck D, and
others. The blend of reggae riddims and striking bass lines, the old soul rebels
and the new ones, and the philosophical stance of Bobs rude rock reggae
mixed with the philosophy of todays urban sounds, is truly a milestone in the
development of hip hop itself, as well as serving as another sign that todays
hip hoppers do not want to dismiss what they have learned and inherited; they
want to pass it all on to the next generation.
FLASH AND THE FURIOUS: PSEUDO-DJ, STEPPING LIGHTLY,

AND MISADVENTURES WITH SUGAR HILL
Grandmaster Flash was rocking the parties and dropping the science that
would later become the hip hop DJs central source of growth, but, as Steven
Stancell (116) mentions in Rap Whoz Who, everyone was so focused on what
he was doing to the records that no one was dancing. So he set out to find
Grandmaster Flash
someone to provide a vocal and contrasting aesthetic element to his performance. His first MC, Keith Cowboy Wiggins, had a deep, sexy voice that
kept the fly girls coming to the shows, and his classic shout-outs were so
engaging that Flash sought out more MCs to pump up the jam.
The next MCs to join the group were the Glover brothers: Melvin Melle
Mel and Nathaniel Kidd Creole. They called themselves Grandmaster
Flash and the 3 MCs. Soon after that Flash began working with a Vox drum
machine and they became Grandmaster Flash and the 3 MCs with the Beat
Box. The beatbox was originally a piece of electronic equipment, but the term
has come to signify using ones mouth to simulate the sounds created by that
machine. Shortly before Scorpio, aka Mr. Ness, joined the group to form
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Four, a cop-turned-promoter named
Ray Chandler approached Flash at St. Anns Park. He suggested that Flash
should find a venue at which he could perform regularly, thereby maintaining a
solid fan base. Flash was open to the idea, and when they came across the right
club they called it the Black Door because the entrance door was painted black.
After a few months of performing amid increasing problems from the stickup
kids, Chandler enlisted a posse of exBlack Spades to serve as security. They
were known as the Casanova Crew and were led by a guy named Tiny.
Scorpio joined the mix of performers in leather-studded jumpsuits, but a
short while after that the group split up to pursue various projects. In 1974,
Bobby Robinson of the independent Enjoy Records recruited Flash and requested that he make a record with his MCs. Just before they went into the
studio, Rahiem (formerly a member of the Funky Four) joined Flash after the
Five defeated his crew in a battle, and they finally became Grandmaster Flash
and the Furious Five. Armed with the sense of completion derived from
forming a six-member group, and their signature style of rhymingtossing
phrases back and forth to create sentences, and using more intricate and
lyrically complex dictionFlash and the Five marched into the soundproof
room and recorded Superappin for Enjoy.
The single was not as successful as both Robinson and the group had
hoped. By some accounts, it was Robinson who dropped them from the label
because of the albums poor reception; others claim that Flash and the Five
left Robinson because they were dissatisfied with the amount of radio play for
the record. Either way, Flash and his crew left Enjoy Records. Sylvia
Robinson (no relation), a no-nonsense talent agent and co-owner of Sugar
Hill Records (responsible for the first hip hop record, Rappers Delight)
approached Flash one Tuesday after his regular gig at Disco Fever. She told
him that she could get their music on the back of a popular record by a group
called Freedom, and their first single with Sugar Hill, also called Freedom,
saw more success than their work under Bobby Robinson. It looked like the
group would finally get a turn in the spotlight. But unfortunately, the beam of
light that brought them national recognition also left (most of) them in the
dark.
43
44
Icons of Hip Hop
There were signs of this upcoming blackout from the beginning. Flashs
mixing and unique treatment of the records were recorded for the album by
the studios house band. According to Chuck Miller, Flash complimented
their ability to reproduce sections of other songs and make it sound so much
like his own work, but in several interviews, including with Nelson George
and ThaFormula.com, he has stressed the role of the DJ as the originator and
backbone of hip hop and has emphasized the fact that the DJ rarely gets the
recognition he deserves.
Not only did Flash praise the house band for reproducing the music he
made, but he also said that the situation was actually a good thing. He was
able to stand in the control booth with a 600-pound sound engineer named
Jerome. His exposure to Jeromes work prepared him for future ventures in
production. Indeed, once he was again a solo artist, he put the bulk of his
energy into production, working with such hip hop legends as Russell
Simmons and Chris Rock. This speaks to Flashs ability to adapt to the flux
of demands in hip hops development. In Cant Stop Wont Stop, Jeff Chang
quotes Flash as recognizing hip hops own incessant reinvention: It was
either you survive and you go with the changes or you get left back (128).
Before hip hops tenth birthday, the DJ was already being marginalized,
despite the fact that his name continued to appear first in flyers and ads.
Because of the beatboxwhich Flash himself popularizedand additional
technology, the producer could imitate the DJ more easily than ever. Any
studio with the proper equipment could now produce the illusion of a DJ,
which is impossible for the MC, whose role became more significant as a
result. The fact that Flash was on the other side of the glass from his first days
at Sugar Hill should have (and might have) prepared him for the role Sylvia
Robinson assigned to hima passive, silent observer whom she kept around
because his name increased record sales, and whom she expected to stay silent
(this is not personal opinion; future legal battles would officially reveal her
sentiment).
Flash did, however, have the opportunity to cut a record that focused solely
on the DJ and what he was capable of when an MC was not rhyming over his
orchestration. The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel
(1981) was the first record of its kind, and it paved the way for other DJs like
Jazzy Jay and Grandmaster DST to record their own DJ-centered tracks (and
in fact, DSTs song was Rockit, the selection he performed on television
that ignited a new generations interest in the art of the DJ). In e-mail correspondence with me, Chuck Miller discussed the details of the actual songs
Flash used in the set, calling the record
a melange of pop sounds, funk music, British rock and fragments of rare beats
and tracks. The mix includes such Sugarhill tracks as Spoonie Gee and the
Sequences Monster Jam, the Sugarhill Gangs 8th Wonder, the instrumental track from Rappers Delight (actually a clone of Chics Good Times),
Grandmaster Flash
and Flash and the Fives The Birthday Party, along with Blondies Rapture,
Queens Another One Bites the Dust, the Incredible Bongo Bands Apache, a
spoken-word section from a concept album by the Hellers, and a radio clip from a
Flash Gordon episode. There had been medleys before, but usually it involved an
artist singing two songs together in a four-minute span (i.e., the Lettermens
Goin Out of My Head/Cant Take My Eyes Off of You), or they involved
knockoff medleys of 20 pop hits as sung by a single studio group (e.g., Stars on 45
or Gidea Park).
This was an invaluable chance for Flash to show listeners everywhere what
the DJ really sounds like and to prove something the whole world had been
told. As an added bonus, his eclectic choice of sounds inspired a new generation of DJs, who sampled an amazingly wide variety of songs, dialogue, and
other forms of noise.
There was, then, a catalyst for this day spent in the studio cutting and
scratching, and the resulting slices of vinyl that emerged from the wax press.
Fab 5 Freddy was all over hip hop culture. He began as a graffiti artist, then
played a pivotal role in uniting the uptown and downtown music scenes and
went on to fulfill other roles in the creation and expression of hip hop. During
the period in which he was showing New Yorkers what was going down on
the other side of town, he brought the platinum-topped Deborah Harry (lead
singer of Blondie) to one of Flashs shows. She listened intently and watched
him work for the entire show, and as Flash was breaking down his equipment,
Fab 5 Freddy approached him to tell him that Harry was so impressed by his
skills that she might pay him tribute on an upcoming album. A few months
later, Rapture leaped to the number one spot and took Flashs reputation
with it. Harrys unforgettable lyrics, Fab 5 Freddy told me everybodys fly
did more than simply give Flash a sound reason to create his Adventures
record. This part of Blondies song became a DJ favorite, and DJs everywhere
sampled pieces of it to demonstrate their loyalty to what came before them.
Although they had a loyal fan base, Flash and the Five were not taken
seriously because they still did not take their songs seriously, choosing shallow ideas over and over as subject matter. Sylvia Robinson decided to change
that, and the result was The Message, released in 1982. As the first hip hop
song to move beyond boasting about good times and including lighthearted
shout-outs, this was the song that made the critics and editors begin paying
attention to hip hop. And, as the title suggests, the song had a message. In a
1996 issue of Goldmine, Chuck Miller hinted at the poignancy of the song,
noting that its lyrics told of a New York that wasnt all parties, cars and
womena dark commentary reminiscent of the soliloquies of Gil ScottHeron and Bob Dylan (74). The track served as dynamite that razed a
mountain of chest-puffing to build a highway for hip hop as a vehicle for
sociopolitical commentary (e.g., Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Common). The
song also led to VH1s recent recognition of Flash and the Five for the
45
46
Icons of Hip Hop
direction in which they steered the movement. The song is still influential, as
is evidenced by Mos Defs 2004 single Close Edge, in which Mos incorporates part of Melle Mels ominous chorus, Dont push me cause Im close to
the edge, to ground his own grim portrait of city life.
Despite its success and influence, there is a blemish on this songs otherwise
perfect complexion. Though Flash and the Furious Five were credited on the
album cover, they were barely involved in making or recording the single.
Most of the rhymes came from Duke Bootie (aka Ed Fletcher, the studio
percussionist), and Melle Mel was the only member of the group who even
made it on the track. Flash had been around long enough to worry about this:
In his experiences, he had learned that once a group makes a record with only
one or two of the actual musicians on it, the breakup is soon to follow. So he
worked hard to get all his MCs on the track, but Sylvia Robinson complained
that he was using too much studio time. Then she stopped them completely
because she wanted the track to be Sugar Hills next single. Their next few
records had similar issues with credit. Melle Mel usually got credit when he
rhymed, but often the Fives names were listed whether or not they contributed to the song. Flash soon began his search for a new label, and Sylvia took
him to court over the right to the name Grandmaster Flash and the Furious
Five. The judge ruled that he could keep his original title and Sylvia could
continue to use the same name, minus the Flash.
Flash had already left Sugar Hill when they released White Lines (Dont Do
It), but with the song credited to Grandmaster and Melle Mel, there are people
who even today wrongly believe that Flash contributed to the song. After that,
the group split up, some staying with Sylvia and others moving on. Flash had
signed with Elektra, and when Sugar Hill folded he asked everyone to join him
on that label. The result was their reunion album, On the Strength, which was
technically impressive but did not sell well, so Elektra dropped the group. A few
months later, Flash learned that Cowboy, his first MC, was extremely sick, and
a couple days later, two weeks shy of his thirty-ninth birthday, Wiggins died
from complications of AIDS. The funeral was virtually the last place the group
was together. After continuing solo work, they came together for a tour and
appeared on Duran Durans cover of White Lines, but nothing was the same
without Cowboy. They never reunited to perform again.
MAD SCIENTIST: FLASH SPEAKS ON HIS LEGACY AND THE

RESULTS OF HIS EXPERIMENT
Flash may be more popular today than he was at the time of Rappers Delight
when he was the DJ all the record companies wanted to sign. His official Web
sitewww.grandmasterflash.comlists his most recent achievements and
honors. The list only goes back to 1998, so Flash may have even more on his
resume than the many accomplishments already listed (though it is hard to
Grandmaster Flash
imagine what else there is to accomplish). He was the DJ for Chris Rock on his
HBO show; he played at the Super Bowl; he played in front of the Queen of
England. He was given a key to Cincinnati; a street in New York bears his name,
and there is a plaque on a wall in the Bronx at 161st Street that recognizes his
induction into the Bronx Walk of Fame. He and the Furious Five were recently
nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (making them the
first rap group to achieve this status), but when Max Woodworth interviewed
him, Flash said the plaque was a greater accomplishment than the nomination.
Even after worldwide recognition, he still feels most honored when it comes
from his own neighborhood, and this perspective holds true for the majority of
artists who grew up in various versions of the ghetto. For them (at least the
nonpop hip hop artists), respect and support from the community, and the
satisfaction that comes from performing and feeling like it meant something to
someone, are chief sources of motivation and inspiration. This is the way of the
old school, which Flash fully supports. The new school, on the other hand,
while still positive in some ways, disappoints or frustrates Flash for several
reasons. When asked by Davey D, Sally Howard, and others about his views on
todays hip hop, Flash responded with virtually the same answer: He does not
like where hip hop has gone and is going, and he blames the record industry
and commercialization for pushing it in that direction. In the interview with
Davey D, which took place within days of Tupac Shakurs death, Flash explained his ideology the following way: He, Bambaataa, and Herc all planted
the seed of hip hop, and it grew into a huge tree with many branches and leaves,
or possible subject matter. For Flash, anything is hip hop if it has a beat with
someone rhyming over it, and where the artist is from or what the song is about
has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not it is hip hop. He thinks that
there is too much focus on one side of the tree (the violent, reactionary, poppin
gats side) and not enough diversity to do justice to the whole concept of hip hop
as a manifestation of diversity. Flash blames the music industry for this situation because, to him, companies do not seek out originality. They seek out a
different version of the chart-topping artist at the other company.
Flash also points a finger at the music industry for being responsible for the
violence that seems more prevalent, or more noticeable, in hip hop music. In
his conversation with Davey D, he explains that hip hop is aggressive by
nature. The goal is to get the crowd hyped up, and excitement can lead to
violence in any scenario. But according to Flash, the record companies encourage East versus West and other squabbles because their artists act like
guests on the Jerry Springer Show dissing each other. Flash explains that
artists simply need to step back and evaluate what it is they are doing and
why. In this interview, Flash is polite, but critical when he discusses the record
industry. In another interview, that restraint is absent. He is direct and concise: Corporate America has damn near forgotten the DJ (ThaFormula.
com). Because of new technology that makes it possible to reproduce
the DJs contributions, the live DJ has become obsolete in many contexts.
47
Icons of Hip Hop
48
This issue is probably a major influence on the development of new movements in turntablism, which make the DJs performance so complex that too
much would be happening if someone rapped over it.
Flash is not completely negative about what hip hop has become. He recognizes that there are still artists trying to push the limits and approach the
whole scene in a more productive way, and he is excited that it has grown into
an international phenomenon. He has said several times that he feels lucky to
be still alive so he can witness hip hops explosion. At times Flashs passion
can seem melodramatic, as with the interview with Max Woodworth when he
mentions his desire to instill [hip hops] history into the minds of the
younger generation. In the same interview, he makes an even more grandiose
declaration, expressing the belief that he is a prophet of hip hop. Flash was
one of hip hops progenitors and has seen the culture grow and transform; he
has seen the musical genre remain true to its roots and branch off into new
territory. Though Flash did not predict the multifaceted nature that hip hop
music would take on, he does know its truth and continues to spread its word
so that others might hear his message and find their way in the dark until the
power that they will create comes on.
See also: Kool Herc, Native Tongues, Beastie Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre
and Snoop Dogg
WORKS CITED
Chang, Jeff. Cant Stop Wont Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. New
York: St. Martins Press, 2005.
Flash, Grandmaster. Interview with Davey D. http://www.daveyd.com/
interviewgmflashchronicle.html.
Flash, Grandmaster. Interview. ThaFormula.com. http://www.thaformula.com/
grandmaster_flash_-_backbone_of_hip_hop_day_5.htm.
Flash, Grandmaster. Interview with Sally Howard. http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/
home_feat_int_grandmaster.asp.
George, Nelson. Hip-hops Founding Fathers Speak the Truth. In Murray Forman
and Mark Anthony Neal, Eds. Thats the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader.
New York: Routledge, 2004.
Miller, Chuck. Two Turntables and a Microphone: The Story of Grandmaster
Flash. Goldmine 432 (December 1996): 72-74, 88, 90.
Miller, Chuck. E-mail correspondence with the author. 24 August 2006.
Stancell, Steven. Rap Whoz Who: The World of Rap Music Performers, Producers,
Promoters. New York: Schirmer Books, 1996. 115-118.
Woodworth, Max. Commence the Philoso-jam. Taipei Times. 18 March 2005:
13. 1 August 2006. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/03/18/
2003246789.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Flash, Grandmaster. Interview. http://www.la-groove.com/archives/00169.php.
Flash, Grandmaster. Official Web site. http://www.grandmasterflash.com.
Grandmaster Flash
Fuchs, Cynthia. DVD review. http://www.popmatters.com/film/reviews/s/scratchdvd.shtml.

George, Nelson. Hip Hop America. New York: Penguin, 1998.
Pray, Doug, dir. Scratch. 2001. DVD. Palm Pictures.
Special thanks to Chuck Miller for his help in compiling this list.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Superrapin/Superrapin Theme (single). Enjoy, 1979.
The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel/The Birthday Party
(instrumental). Sugar Hill, 1981.
Gold/Back in the Old Days of Hip-Hop. Elektra, 1988.
Magic Carpet Ride/On the Strength. Elektra, 1988.
Grandmaster Flash
Girls Love the Way He Spins/Larrys Dance Theme. Elektra, 1981.
U Know What Time It Is. Elektra, 1987.
All Wrapped Up. Elektra, 1987.
The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash. Strut, 2002.
Spoiler Talks DVD Series: Grandmaster Flash. 2003. DVD. Subetage. [Note: This
release is limited to one copy, which can be borrowed free of charge from the
Spoiler library in Vienna.]
The Flash Mash. Sirius Radio, 2001 to present.
Closing of Commonwealth Games: Manchester, England, 2002.
Hosted MTV Video Music Awards: Miami, 2005.
49
David Corio.
Roxanne Shante
Thembisa S. Mshaka
Roxanne Shante was the sole female member of a hip hop collective known as
the Juice Crew, formed by hip hop godfather Marley Marl in the borough of
Queens in New York City. The Juice Crew was composed of Big Daddy Kane,
Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, MC Shan, Craig G, Intelligent Hoodlum, Marley
Marl, Roxanne Shante, and Biz Markie, who beatboxed for Roxanne on stage
(see sidebar: The Human Beatbox). Before each of these stars went on to
successful solo careers, the Juice Crew produced The Symphony, one of
Beastie Boys
considered collaborating with African American MCs Q-Tip (of A Tribe

Called Quest) and JuJu (of the Beatnuts) to form a side group called the
Nasal Poets. Ad-Rocks vocal style influenced high-pitched MCs such as Sir
Mix-a-Lot, B-Real of Cypress Hill, SonDoobie, and Insane Clown Posse,
who would go on to dis the Beastie Boys in their lyrics. With label mates
and mentors Run-DMC ahead of them, and producer Rick Rubin connecting
rap with rock on King of Rock, the Beasties took hip hop uptown. They
rhymed about renting blue tuxedos for the prom and breaking into classmates lockers. They set the stage for high schoolfocused singles to come,
like DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Princes Parents Just Dont Understand, De
La Souls Me Myself and I video, and Young MCs Principals Office,
not to mention teen and child rap groups Kriss Kross and Another Bad
Creation. A younger market was buying hip hop records, and their material
caught the eyes of the kids. The Beastie Boys rhymed about high school, the
prom, and dealing with parents, as well as becoming rap stars. They made
their music accessible to a new audience. Part of Licensed to Ills appeal
came from a mix of teen-focused subject matter and shock value. The B-Boys
rhymed about getting busted for smoking and being told to turn down their
loud music, but they also boasted about carrying weapons and smoking
angel dust.
The Beastie Boys were managed by hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, the
brother of Run from Run-DMC. Simmons would go on to expand his record
label to create Def Jam South and to develop HBOs Def Comedy Jam, Def
Poetry Jam. The Beasties associated closely with Run-DMC. Their track
Slow and Low was a Run-DMC song given to the Beasties. Run suggested
that they flip the drums backward on Paul Revere. Musically, Licensed to
Ill was built, like much of Run-DMCs music, largely from hard rock, Led
Zeppelin, and AC/DC. The album opens with a sampled drumbeat from Led
Zeppelins When the Levee Breaks, and features guitar work from Kerry
King of the heavy metal group Slayer, who appeared in the video for No
Sleep til Brooklyn. Lyrically, they referenced punk songs like the Sex Pistols
Friggin in the Riggin, rhymed about watching Columbo, eating Chef Boyardee, and having more rhymes than Phyllis Diller.
Lyrically, Licensed to Ill was a precursor to gangsta rap. There is a lot of
debate over where the gangsta subgenre originated, but certain Licensed to Ill
lyrics, if they dont constitute a gangsta rap album, certainly anticipated the
popularity of songs about gun play, drug use, and promiscuity. While N.W.A.
popularized the term gangsta as well as the musical style and lyrical content
that would characterize the West Coast gangsta sound, Ice-T lays claim to
inventing the form with his song Six in the Morning, but Philadelphias
Schoolly D claims he did it first on the East Coast. The Beastie Boys were fans
of Schoolly D and were influenced by his style. Mike D is seen wearing a
Schoolly D T-shirt in a Ricky Powell photograph, and the B-Boys played a
concert in Philadelphia with Schoolly D and Just-Ice. The older, wiser Beastie
101
102
Icons of Hip Hop
Boys may not want credit for their contributions to the development of gangsta
rap, but Licensed was one of the first albums to promote gun play, drug use,
and cartoonish violence to listeners in the mainstream. In fact, N.W.A.s EazyE frequently sampled Licensed to Ill on his albums. If the gangsta style is
characterized by its macho pose, its depictions of everyday acts of violence,
and using women, money, and guns as status symbols, then Licensed to Ill is a
gangsta rap record. Yet while Eazy-E and N.W.A. claimed to live the criminal
lifestyle they depicted in their lyrics, the Beastie Boys have long said that they
were writing fictional stories in their lyrics. MCA said in a 2006 interview, I
think most people know its a goof (Martens). In the rap era before Vanilla
Ice, who was discredited for having falsified his biography so he could claim to
be a criminal, many MCs wrote lyrics that lay closer to fantasy than fact. The
mix of violent and silly lyrics on Licensed to Ill makes listeners question how
literally to take the Beastie Boys. They talked about smoking angel dust,
sniffing glue, packing .22 automatics, and shooting people at parties, as well
as high school pranks like giving people swirlies and breaking into someones
locker to smash his glasses. Licensed to Ills blend of cartoonish and graphic
violence would influence the Beatnuts, Cypress Hill, Redman, and Ill Bill. But
it was before C. Delores Tucker, the PMRC, and the Parental Advisory
stickers. In the Beasties lyrics, these stories came off as fantasy, even as they
rhymed about shooting people and taking hard-core drugs.
Listeners must remember, though, that Licensed to Ill was toned down
before its release. The version of Licensed to Ill that made it to record stores
had been changed significantly: The title was originally Dont Be a Faggot,
and in an era when hip hop was overwhelmingly antidrug, the Beasties
original lyrics had celebrated crack cocaine. Before the album hit shelves,
the Beasties removed the line I smoke my crack from Rhymin and Stealin. They removed the track Scenario, which also included a reference to
smoking crack and was later heard in the film Pump Up the Volume. The
Web site Beastiemania.com reports that after the Beastie Boys parted ways
with Def Jam, the label recruited Public Enemys Chuck D to produce a
Beastie Boys album called The White House, working from tracks like Scenario and Desperado that the Boys had recorded but not released.
Although the existence of a Chuck D-produced album has never been proven,
several of these tracks, in their original forms, have been bootlegged on
releases such as Original Ill, or uploaded on music-sharing Web sites.
Even with these omissions, Licensed to Ill depicted an adolescent male
fantasy world, somewhere between punk rocks energy and fraternity films
like Animal House, somewhere between arena rocks excess and punks playfulness. Their home video and tour booklet from Licensed to Ill celebrates the
rock star lifestyle: hotel pranks, trashing rooms, groupies. The video shows
them dumping water on sleeping reporters, pouring honey on groupies, and
signing breasts with a magic marker. They were known for showcasing a
giant inflatable penis onstage. Ad-Rock was arrested in England after a fan
Beastie Boys
accused him of using a baseball bat to hit a beer bottle into the audience.
Making an even greater impression on England, the Beastie Boys refused to
sign autographs one afternoon, leading the Daily Mirror to run the headline
Pop Idols Sneer at Dying Kids. Their antics are documented in the Licensed
to Ill Tour Video and the Official Licensed to Ill Tourbook. This was a
lifestyle the Beasties would work hard to live down in their later music. As
gangsta rap became hip hops biggest-selling subgenre, the artists became
concerned with being real, which is to say actually living the lifestyle
promoted in lyrics. Yet the Beasties have talked openly about their construction of personas on Licensed to Ill. As MCA says in the Sounds of Science
liner notes, though, with their success they slowly became the characters they
played: drunken, prank-playing frat boys. While they would change their
personas on Pauls Boutique, they would retain some of the elements of
Licensed to Ill. Ultimately, though, they began a pattern of change and evolution, both in terms of music and persona.
PAULS BOUTIQUE
The Beastie Boys split with Def Jam in 1988. Having broken away from
their producer Rick Rubin and manager Russell Simmons, as well as the
thriving Def Jam label itself, the Beasties found themselves looking for new
musical direction. In the three years between the 1986 release of Licensed to
Ill and their 1989 follow-up, Pauls Boutique, the three Beastie Boys explored other artistic outlets. Adam Horovitz moved from New York to Los
Angeles and landed a role in the film Lost Angels (1989). In this film, as
well as 1992s Roadside Prophets, in which Horovitz costarred with punk
icon John Doe, he played a troubled teen. His bandmates, meanwhile, were
playing music with side projects while taking a break from the Beastie Boys
after the grueling schedule of the Licensed to Ill world tour. MCA recorded
music in a side project with Bad Brains Darryl Jennifer, a friend from the
Beasties punk days. Mike D performed with a group called Flophouse
Society.
After Diamond and Yauch joined Horovitz in Los Angeles in 1988, the
Beastie Boys signed with Capitol Records and began working on their next
album. They sought out LA producers the Dust Brothers, who would produce
crossover radio hits for Tone Loc and Young MC. The Dust Brothers created
a denser, more sample-laden sound for the Beasties, although it did not
translate to crossover hits. The Beastie Boys began rhyming over tracks that
the Dust Brothers had intended to stand alone as instrumentals, tracks that
were built from a collage of samples rather than the simpler beats and loops
employed by Rubin on Licensed to Ill. The Beasties were already known for
the eclectic mix of pop culture references in their lyrics, and the Dust Brothers
brought this same philosophy to their music. Pauls Boutiques mix of sounds
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ranges from Dolly Partons 9 to 5 to Johnny Cashs Folsom Prison Blues,

the Ramones, the Beatles, Bob Marley, and the theme from Pyscho. This was
a different kind of sampling than Rick Rubin had used on Licensed to Ill,
which was mostly bass lines, drums, and guitar looped to create beats. Pauls
Boutique brought in more pieces of vocals and wove them into the Beasties
lyrical pastiche of references to 1970s professional basketball, skate culture,
punk, Japanese culture, and so on. With its range of samples, Pauls Boutique
created a cultural mix that the Beastie Boys furthered in their lyrics.
Pauls Boutique is an album that would be very difficult to make now that
digital music sampling regulations are more clearly defined. In fact, the release of Pauls Boutique was held up because of a lawsuit over a sample on
Licensed to Ills Hold It Now Hit It. That song sampled the words Yo,
Leroy, and a piece of a drumbeat from Jimmy Castors 1977 song The
Return of Leroy (Part One). The Beasties had also been on the other side
of a sampling lawsuit, having sued British Airways over the use of their song
Beastie Revolution from 1983s Cookie Puss. This legal battle with Castor,
though, would set the stage for future copyright litigation against the Beastie
Boys from composer James Newton. In 1991, Singer-songwriter Gilbert
OSullivan would sue Beastie Boys collaborator Biz Markie for the use of
his song Alone Again (Naturally) (see sidebar: Sampling Lawsuits).
Sampling Lawsuits
Mickey Hess
In the late eighties and early nineties, the music business faced a series of
lawsuits between artists, labels, and publishing companies, all centering on
hip hops invention of digital sampling. Sampling is the process by which hip
hop producers extract pieces of existing records and then reassemble them
into a new hip hop song. Clearing samples is complicated because the rights
to the sheet music and the recording often are held by different entities.
Generally speaking, musicians retain the rights to their composition, while
record labels assume the rights to the recording. At that time, before there
existed a defined legal system of clearing samples, artists such as De La Soul,
Biz Markie, and the Beastie Boys were sued by the musicians they sampled.
In 1989, the pop group the Turtles sued De La Soul for sampling sounds
from their song You Showed Me in De Las Transmitting Live from Mars.
In 1991, artist Biz Markie lost a lawsuit to singer-songwriter Gilbert OSullivan
after Biz sampled Sullivans Alone Again (Naturally) in his song Alone
Again. Such lawsuits would change the way hip hop artists constructed their
music in the studio, and would lead to a new system of sampling clearinghouses, which worked to negotiate song royalties between record companies
and to ensure that the original musicians were compensated. Unfortunately,
sampling clearinghouses remain fairly inaccessible to hip hop artists who do
not record for major record labels.
Beastie Boys
105
The Beastie Boys, who sued British Airways in the early 1980s for using
sounds from their album Cookie Puss in a commercial, have faced sampling
lawsuits from Jimmy Castor and, more recently, composer James Newton,
who in 2002 sued the B-Boys for not clearing the rights to a sequence of three
notes (CD-flatC) Newton composed for his song Chorus. The group had
cleared all rights to the recorded music with Newtons record label, ECM, but
had not cleared their use of the musical composition, for which Newton still
owned the rights. The Beastie Boys argued that their sampling of only three
successive notes, originally composed by Newton, on their song Pass the
Mic, did not breach copyright because a sequence so brief (six seconds) does
not constitute a musical composition. In a letter posted to their Web site the
group argues, If one could copyright the basic building blocks of music or
grammar then there would be no room for making new compositions or
books (www.beastieboys.com). The Beastie Boys extend their print analogy
to argue that in digitally manipulating Newtons recorded flute performance
to change its tone and duration, they effectively changed the notes Newton
composed. Although the Beastie Boys won the lawsuit, they lost their countersuit to recover their legal costs, which they estimated at $100,000.
Further Resources
Hess, Mickey. Was Foucault a Plagiarist? Hip-Hop Sampling and Academic
Citation. Computers and Composition: An International Journal for Teachers
of Writing 23 (2006): 280295.
Porcello, Thomas. The Ethics of Digital Audio Sampling: Engineers Discourse.
Popular Music 10:1 (1991): 6984.
Schloss, Joseph G. Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop. Middletown,
CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2004.
Schumaker, Thomas. This Is a Sampling Sport: Digital Sampling, Rap Music, and
the Law in Cultural Production. Media, Culture, and Society 17:2 (1995):
25373.
Visually, the cover and liner notes for Pauls Boutique are something in
themselves. The twelve-inch record folded out to five feet of insert panels
including all lyrics from the album. This artistic direction was taken further
in the impressionistic music video for the song Shadrach. Artists worked
from film of a Beastie Boys performance and created frame-by-frame oil
paintings, which were then animated for the music video. The video for
Lookin Down the Barrel of a Gun was filmed with a fish-eye lens and an
infrared camera, both of which the B-Boys would use in future videos.
With their second hip hop album, the Beasties were already looking forward and backward. They revised lyrics from their punk song Egg Raid on
Mojo for Egg Man, a track built around the Psycho theme. They used live
drums and bass on the record. The album ended with B-Boy Bouillabaisse,
Icons of Hip Hop
106
a collection of several short tracks that featured the Beastie Boys range of
styles. While the Dust Brothers production was groundbreaking, so were the
Beastie Boys rhymes. Pauls Boutique is truly Mike Ds album. He smoothed
out the vocal style he had invented on Licensed to Ill and delivered mack
rhymes like Im so rope they call me Mister Roper.
Today, Pauls Boutique is considered a hip hop classic, but its initial sales
were disappointing. The album took hip hop music places it hadnt gone
before. The release of Pauls Boutique the same year as De La Souls 3 Feet
High and Rising made 1989 a turning point for hip hop. The Beastie Boys
have said that De La Soul beat them to the punch by releasing their innovative
album in the months before Pauls Boutique, but the competition between
these groups has been friendly. The B-Boys would later invite De La Soul to
perform at their 1996 and 1997 Tibetan Freedom Concerts, and Mike D and
Ad-Rock would guest star on De La Souls Squat on their 2003 album
AOI: Bionix.
CHECK YOUR HEAD

Check Your Head was the first major-label album in which the Beastie Boys
took control of their own musical production. Working on their own without
Rick Rubin, who engineered Licensed to Ill, or the Dust Brothers, who produced Pauls Boutique, the B-Boys recorded Check Your Head in their own GSon Studios, and took hip hop in yet another direction as they returned to the
live instrumentation of their punk rock origins. Ad-Rocks guitar, MCAs bass
(including the stand-up bass), and Mike Ds drums feature prominently on
Check Your Head. The album even concludes with an instrumental track,
In 3s, which combines live instruments with digital sampling. The B-Boys
did not turn their backs on traditional hip hop production, but instead merged
it with punk, funk, and rock to create a unique new Beastie Boys sound. Certain
tracks, including their third single, Gratitude, didnt sound like hip hop at all.
Fuzzed out guitars and distorted vocals (MCA claims that they were just using
cheap microphones) brought the Beastie Boys sound into the alternative rock
era. Around this same time, Philadelphia hip hop group the Roots were getting
attention for playing instruments. The liner notes made the Beastie Boys musicianship clear with a photo of the band playing instruments in the studio.
Yet the old-school rhymes of Pass the Mic, their first single from the
album, which maintained the vocal interplay of Licensed to Ill, and the hip
hop samples (they sampled dialogue from Wild Style, one of the first hip hop
films) made clear that the Beastie Boys were not leaving hip hop behind. They
enhanced their lineup with keyboardist Money Mark Nishita, whom they had
originally hired to build cabinets for their recording studio. Marks work is
best heard on Gratitude. He would remain with the group through their
next album, Ill Communication, release a solo album on the Beastie Boys
Grand Royal label, and open for the B-Boys during some dates on their Hello
Nasty tour in 1998.
Check Your Head was the first Beastie Boys release to bear the label Grand
Royal (though it shared the bill with Capitol Records). The name Grand
Royal is borrowed from Erick Sermon of EPMD, who called himself the
MC grand royal on the song Hostile. The label is one Mike D, Ad-Rock,
and MCA started to take control of their own music, as well as release albums
from bands that they liked. They started Grand Royal Magazine, a tribute to
pop culture and a forum for promoting new music acts.
Check Your Head could be called the Beastie Boys comeback album. While
Pauls Boutique is considered a hip hop classic, sales had been disappointing,
and it had been three years since a Beastie Boys single had hit the radio. In this
three years, a lot had changed in hip hop. The biggest difference was Vanilla
Ice. The B-Boys had always been readily accepted because they got into the
rap game so early, but as hip hop was crossing over to mainstream radio, and
with Vanilla Ice outselling black artists like the Beasties did before him, there
was a new mistrust of the white artist. The Beastie Boys had been out of the
public eye for three years and needed to come back strong. Their first single
was Pass the Mic, but they broke through to alternative music fans with
their second single, So Whatcha Want?
With the 1992 release of Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana had given
birth to the alternative rock era, bringing a new, punk-influenced style of
rock to MTV and the radio. The Beastie Boys were primed to tap into this
new market as well. Glen Friedman, famous for his skateboard photography,
shot the cover for Check Your Head, and the B-Boys further emphasized their
connections with skateboard and snowboard culture in lyrics. Adam Yauch
became an avid snowboarder, and a snowboarding trip to Asia would ultimately lead him to his interest in Buddhism and the plight of Tibet.
Even with these new interests, the Beastie Boys maintained their connection
to old-school hip hop. Check Your Heads first single, Pass the Mic contained old-school lyrics like Rock rock yall, hip-hop yall, that recalled the
origins of MCs as crowd motivators who helped drive people to the dance
floor while the DJ played records. The album featured a song, The Biz vs. the
Nuge, with old-school icon Biz Markie, who began his career beatboxing for
Roxanne Shante and performing with the Juice Crew. Further asserting their
connections with hip hop, the B-Boys collaborated with Cypress Hills B-Real
on a remix of So Whatcha Want?, and Ad-Rock and Mike D collaborated
with Milk (formerly of Audio Two) on Spam, a song from his 1994 album
Never Dated, released by Rick Rubins American Recordings.
With the live instrumentation on Check Your Head, the Beastie Boys were
returning to their roots, but not yet including punk tracks like they would on
Ild
, released by Rick Rubins American Recordings.
Ild
Ild
Beastie Boys
connections to Native Tongues, with Ad-Rock and Mike D appearing on

De La Souls Squat. And they looked to new producers. The Body Movin remix by Fatboy Slim was the one they released as a single, rather than
the album version. Mike D appeared on Handsome Boy Modeling School, a
collaboration between producers Prince Paul and Dan the Automator. The
B-Boys devoted new songs to correcting their earlier treatment of women in
lyrics, a trend that began with Sure Shot on Ill Communication. In concert,
they went back to playing Licensed to Ill songs, but often changing lyrics. On
Paul Revere they changed a suggestive line about a whiffle ball bat to
Siamese cat. After Hello Nasty, they released Sounds of Science: The
Beastie Boys Anthology, which featured a picture of the Beastie Boys dressed
as old men. They wrote extensive liner notes themselves, telling the history of
the songs and offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse at their lives in the studio
and on the road. Hello Nasty marked the final Tibetan Freedom Concert (in
2001) and the end of the Grand Royal era. The Grand Royal label folded and
the magazine stopped production.
TO THE 5 BOROUGHS
The Beastie Boys 2005 album To the 5 Boroughs marked a return to their
roots as their first allhip hop album since Pauls Boutique. There were no
punk songs, no dub, and no guest stars: just the three Beastie Boys and Mixmaster Mike. They continued the New York focus of Hello Nasty, with AdRock, Mike D, and MCA each living back in the city. The album is dedicated
to that city, and they offer a tribute to New York on An Open Letter to
NYC, which samples the Dead Boys punk rock classic Sonic Reducer. To
the 5 Boroughs is the Beastie Boys most political recording, with An Open
Letter to NYC addressing the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and
other songs containing anti-Bush and antiwar sentiment: We got a president
we didnt elect, MCA rhymes on Time to Build. Such antiwar material
was not new to the Beastie Boys. In the years between Licensed to Ill and
Pauls Boutique, they released a song called I Want You for Desert Storm,
which commented on the first Gulf War. And in conjunction with the 1999
release of Sounds of Science: The Beastie Boys Anthology, they released a new
single, Alive, in which Ad-Rock complained about the fact that his tax
dollars were being used to build bombs.
With all the political commentary of To the 5 Boroughs, the Beastie Boys
chose the upbeat Ch-check It Out as their first single. This song, through
heavy MTV rotation, announced that the Beastie Boys were still here and still
relevant. MCA maintains, No, I didnt retire. The music video featured the
Beastie Boys dressed in various costumes: as tourists, as Sir Stewart Wallace,
and driving a fanboat through the Everglades. Up-and-coming producer Just
Blaze created a remix of the track, for which the B-Boys recorded an alternate
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video. In keeping with their focus on asserting their continuing relevance and
importance to hip hop, Mike D complains that new MCs at Def Jam dont
recognize him. He borrows a line from Digital Undergrounds Shock G to
state, Im Mike D, the one that put the satin in your panties. In 2005, hip
hop was the biggest-selling music in the United States, and the most prominent music videos played on MTV and MTV2. Underground hip hop was
making its way into video rotation, introducing viewers to a new breed of
MCs and DJs that claimed to stay truer to the roots of old-school hip hop and
contrasted with the late 1990s images of champagne parties and diamond
necklaces that were so prominent in videos by Bad Boy artists such as P Diddy
and Mase. Reaffirming their long-standing commitment to old-school and
underground hip hop, the Beastie Boys invited underground MC and Native
Tongues affiliate Talib Kweli to join their To the 5 Boroughs tour.
Onstage, the Beastie Boys abandoned the orange jumpsuits from their Hello
Nasty tour and wore clothing similar to their Licensed to Ill days: cocked
baseball caps, Adidas jumpsuits, and sneakers. Their Triple Trouble video,
set in Times Square, featured this attire, as did their performance at The VH1
Hip-Hop Honors, where they performed Right Right Now Now and covered Sucker M.C.s in a tribute to Run-DMC. This performance occurred
less than one year after Run-DMCs DJ Jam Master Jay was shot to death in a
New York studio. At the end of the song, Ad-Rock said simply, We love
you, Jay, and pointed his microphone at the two remaining members of the
group that had worked so closely with the Beastie Boys at the beginning of
their career.
THE LEGACY OF THE BEASTIE BOYS

The Beastie Boys have secured their place in hip hop by constantly reinventing
the music while at the same time never neglecting the forms on which hip hop
music was founded: rhymes, turntables, and beats. They began recording
early enough to maintain a connection to old-school hip hop, and their early
connections with the Def Jam label and the artists Run-DMC, Public Enemy,
and Biz Markie, as well as their later connections with Native Tongues groups
A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, lend another level to their importance.
When MTV awarded the Beastie Boys the coveted Video Vanguard Award,
which honors an artists lifetime contribution to music video innovation, they
had Public Enemys Chuck D present the honor. In hip hop, where artists
acknowledge their predecessors and influences in lyrics, the Beastie Boys
name is kept alive. Licensed to Ill has remained a commercial dynamo since
its 1986 release, but in the late 1990s a rash of hip hop samples solidified the
albums place as a classic. Several of these samples came from one song, The
New Style, from Licensed to Ill. In 1995 the Pharcyde released the song
Drop, which took its title from the Ad-Rock vocal sample from The New
Roxanne Shante
offered to cut Roxannes Revenge for Mr. Magic, Marley Marl, and Fly Ty,
who had promoted a U.T.F.O. concert that the group never showed up for.
Veteran on-air personality and hip hop cultural icon Kool DJ Red Alert was
the disc jockey who was the first to play Roxanne, Roxanne by U.T.F.O. on
the radio. His choice of this song was far from accidental. Red Alert was in the
mix at 98.7 KISS New York in 1985. The label serviced him with the U.T.F.O.
twelve-inch single Hangin Up. Red Alert thought its B side, Roxanne
Roxanne, sounded better: They wanted to promote Hangin Up, he recalls. I didnt care for the A side, so I flipped it over and played it. He even
took a little heat for it from Fred Maneo, the president of U.T.F.O.s label,
Select Records. Maneo thanked Red Alert for playing the record, but chided
him for playing the wrong side. During this time, if anything new and exciting
came on during my mix, it would circulate through all the schools because the
kids would tape my show and talk about it all week long. By the time a week
elapsed, the word was out all over the city about U.T.F.O.s new song. Red
Alert had his answer: he had broken a hit.
U.T.F.O. (Untouchable Force Organization) was made up of Mixmaster
Ice, the Educated Rapper, Doctor Ice, and Kangol Kid. The group exploded
with their track about Roxanne, the fictional girl who refused to give them
the time of day. They performed throughout the New York City area on the
heels of their smash hit. But when U.T.F.O. canceled on Mr. Magic, who was
the disc jockey for New Yorks WBLS, Roxanne took up the fight on vinyl.
However, according to Red Alert, by the time Marley Marl brought a tape of
Roxannes Revenge to Mr. Magic to play on the air on that fateful Sunday
night, he was on a different station, WHBI 105.9. The song caused a commotion that rippled through a then very small, tight-knit rap industry. Shortly
after the debut of Roxannes Revenge, Red Alert visited the offices of
Russell Simmons at Def Jam Records and RUSH Management. At the time,
Simmons managed reggae artist Jimmy Spicer, rapper Spyder D, and others.
Spyder was at the office the day Red Alert came by. Spyder came to play a
song for Russell recorded by his then-girlfriend, Sparky D. The song was
Sparkys Turn, an answer record tailor-made for Shante that was released
on Nia Records. A fourteen-year-old girl had ushered in a concept of lyrical
rivalry that was far from friendly. Red Alert watched the rivalry develop from
the stage as Sparky Ds DJ. Red Alert considers Shante to be a cornerstone of
MC battling. Shante was the one, no lie. Sparky was the underdog because
Shante sparked the whole thing. Before Shantes battle records, there was only
The Showdown, a record featuring the Furious Five versus the Sugarhill
Gang. But it was a friendly record between label mates, designed to promote
each group at one time.
The lyrical contest between Roxanne and Sparky was so popular that they
toured together and performed their respective battle rhymes on the same bill.
Red Alert hit the road backing Sparky, who even cut him the song Hes My
DJ. While hip hop beef has escalated to tragic outcomes in recent history,
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Red Alert notes that at that time artists kept their attacks on record, and it
rarely spiraled out of control because entourages were not so big that they
could rev things up between camps. Sparky D never released her own album,
but Roxanne was on a roll. Red Alert described Roxannes Revenge as an
explosion that made her presence felt. Queen of Rox got people to the
dance floor in clubs all over the city. By the time Bite This came out,
everybody was for Shante, recalls Red Alert. She was making a stamp
for herself.
QUEEN OF ROX
Shante cut five twelve-inch singles after Roxannes Revenge: Runaway,
Queen of Rox, Bite This, Def Fresh Crew (with Biz Markie), and Fly
Shante. Shante was a headliner in her own right, and she performed tirelessly,
even while pregnant with her first child at age fourteen. She rocked the stage
while visibly pregnant, sparking protests in some cities. Mothers would be
picketing me, saying I was promoting teen pregnancy, she recalls. Though by
all indications from her lyrics, Shante was bold, brazen, and in full control, the
reality of her life was the polar opposite. In her interview for this essay, she
explained that she had no choice but to perform under those conditions. She
had emancipated herself as a minor at age sixteen. Without parents to guide or
protect her, she looked to a man to fill the void. She got involved with an older
man who rendered her powerless with physical and psychological abuse. A
seemingly indestructible young woman was imprisoned by the abusive, exploitive relationship she was in. It certainly impacted her view of men as untrustworthy and dangerous. This sentiment was echoed time and again in her songs
like Brothers Aint Shit, which Shante says includes her favorite rhymes.
My boyfriend at the time was eighteen years my elder. He was the father
of my child. When our son was born, I needed to present my emancipation
documents to leave the hospital with my baby. My boyfriend withheld those
documents and dangled them before me whenever I threatened to leave him.
This went on for three years. The only way I could raise my child was by
staying with him. Shantes own father was an alcoholic. She would not
comment on her mothers absence, but it caused Roxanne to emancipate
herself so she could provide for herself on her own. Being a child whose
parents were not in her own life, she could not conceive of being an absentee
mother.
In addition to her problems at home, she was also being exploited creatively. In the studio, she freestyled her rhymes for her early recordings. The
lyrics to Roxannes Revenge, Bite This, Runaway, and Queen of
Rox, for example, were never written down, yet people in the studio with
her would sign their names to her work as the writers of those songs. She was
told to split her concert earnings with Fly Ty and Marley Marl equally, and
Roxanne Shante
did so, ignorant of the pay scale for DJs and producers when she was the topbilled artist. Shante trusted no one. She would bring her child to the venue
and keep her eyes on him throughout her set. I would hand my son to the
bodyguard, perform, leave the stage, then get my son back and go to the
hotel. It was really me against the world onstage. What audiences who
watched her perform were actually witnessing was a volcano erupting.
Shante toured the world on the strength of these hits with the Juice Crew.
She headlined the Fresh Fest Tour as the only female on the bill with LL
Cool J, Public Enemy, and Eric B. & Rakim. She signed with Columbia
Records and released her debut album, Roxanne, in 1988. It contained the
hits that made her a household name throughout ghettos of America. She
followed with her second and last album of new material in 1989, Bad Sister,
which she recorded with the Cold Chillin label. At this point in her career,
she performed songs written by Big Daddy Kane, Go on Girl and Have a
Nice Day, both of which were hits.
Roxanne Shante notes her collaboration with Rick James as the highlight of
her career and her proudest moment as an artist. She and James recorded
Looseys Rap when she went to his home in Buffalo, New York, to meet
and record with him. They recorded the song that became a number one R&B
smash and a Top 10 pop hit on the first night of her stay. But she was his
guest for another two weeks. James taught her about the ups and downs of
the business, mentoring her on its pitfalls. She was enthralled by all the
plaques, awards, and wealth he had amassed, an outcome vastly different
from her experience as a recording star. I was in awe of his house for another
two days. Their collaboration culminated in a shared bill in which Shante
and James performed at the Apollo together. Hip hop had become all the
rage, giving traditional funk and R&B a run for its proverbial money on the
black music scene. Roxanne recalls her first look at their names on the Apollo
marquee. In her view, it serves as a metaphor for the divisive tendencies of the
music industry in relation to generations of black musicians. I saw Roxanne
Shante and Rick James on the marquee. I was like, Wow, look at that! My
mother and manager told me to have the venue change it to put his [name] on
top, out of respect for an artist who had paved the way for me. Young artists
get caught up being the one with the hot record of the moment, and I wanted
to show Rick James respect.
Cold Chillin was a subsidiary of Warner Brothers Records. Because she
was a minor when she signed, it was written into her contract that her education would be financed by the label, with no limit on the amount of tuition
paid or term of subsidy. In an ocean of hopeless circumstances, this was
Shantes blessing in disguise. She feels that this clause was a way for her
handlers to assuage their guilt; she also asserts that they all underestimated
her and never thought she would pursue education on a long-term basis. No
one involved with Shantes career believed she would take early retirement at
eighteen, but that is exactly what she did. They thought I would get strung
63
out and end up having more babies, she laughs. But God had a bigger plan
for me, so I socked it to them.
Roxanne was eighteen years old with two children when she realized she
was exhausted from being used by the rap industry and abused by her boyfriend. She had come to associate rhyming with being abused and mistreated.
While she issues a disclaimer of not being a religious fanatic, what she
describes about her prayer after five years of growing up too fast and hurting
too much was for her a miracle. I woke up one morning and decided I didnt
want to rap anymore; I had a distaste in my mouth for it. I was in an abusive
relationship with this man and my label, the people I created with, they all let
me travel the world with him, get black eyes from him. We were all supposed
to get rich together, buy nice houses, and rise up out of poverty together. I
realized that if I was no longer a commodity, they would let me go. I asked
God to order my steps. I walked out of my house, and I ended up at the steps
of Marymount University.
Shante registered and took courses at Marymount. She also did undergraduate study at Cornell, but eventually returned to Marymount where she
earned a doctorate in psychology, becoming Dr. Roxanne Shante. Now
thirty-three years old, she heads up a thriving psychology practice in
Manhattan. Her upbringing and experience as an abused teenage mother
informs her practice. The majority of her clients are women in or recovering
from abusive relationships and mothers fighting to regain custody of their
children. She is in the process of obtaining certification as a Court Appointed
Special Advocate (CASA) for the State of New York. And she has not given
up on her dream of becoming an attorney.
She had a taste of the legal profession during her ordeal to secure her
master recordings. Her story is an example of the arduous journey to ownership of ones own intellectual property after years of being misled and shut
out with respect to the status of ones work.
THE LEGACY OF ROXANNE SHANTE

Shante is often regarded as a gifted performer but not necessarily the author
of her own material. Fellow Juice Crew MC Big Daddy Kane did in fact write
for her, but not until her second album; the hit songs that put her on the map
were of her own creation, arrangement, and design. They were made up in the
moment while recording, just like her round-robin cheers in the Queensbridge
MC Lyte
McDaniels and Lionel Martin of Video Music Box definitely had the attention of young aspirants like Lyte, who practiced their MC skills daily.
Being exposed to videos by Salt-N-Pepa, Sequence, Sha Rock, Roxanne
Shante, and the Real Roxanne, Lyte was ready to put her own rhymes on
tape. Excited and interested in presenting her lyrics in a way that few others
had done, she befriended Tony, a fellow Brooklyn dweller who had dreams of
contributing to the music from the production end. Thanks to the equipment
in his basementmicrophone, turntables, and albumshe and Lyte put together her first single, I Cram to Understand U (Sam). Soon Lyte would find
her own music videos on Video Music Box, starting with Paper Thin
(Gonzales, Kickin 44).
At some point during her high school years, Lyte began using her pseudonym, MC Lyte. While she seemed to have a growing network of friends who
could help her lay down tracks, it was ultimately her extended family that
assisted in transferring her rhymes from ink on paper to audio on vinyl. She
began working with her stepbrother Milk and his brother Gizmo, who performed together as Audio Two. Milk described the advantages of his sisters
unique delivery: Her voice reminded me of MC Shan. She was tough, which
was good, because there were no other girls rapping like that (Gonzales,
Kickin 45). Yet it was not just the timbre of Lytes voice that grabbed
peoples attention. From this first song Cram, a saga that reveals a lovetorn protagonist whose boyfriend chooses the crack pipe over her love, Lytes
interest in addressing drugs and other serious matters was quite evident.
Milk and Gizmo, known for their trademark song Top Billin, helped Lyte
pick beats for her rhymes. Audio Twos Top Billin was a rap classic long
before the singles official release in 1990 (Lyte would record a live version of
Top Billin with Gizmo years later on the album Seven & Seven). With the
early assistance of her brothers, Lyte also had the financial support of Milk and
Gizmos father, Nat Robinson. An entrepreneur in his own right, Robinson
started the First Priority music label to invest in their careers. Becoming a father
figure for Lyte, Robinson arranged road trips for the young performers. The
artists toured with Heavy D, Kool Moe Dee, Queen Latifah, and Ice-T. Lyte
gained professional experience being on the road, behind the microphone, and
on the stage in places like the Latin Quarter where she had ventured as a
concertgoer with school friends. She found herself part of a growing First
Priority family, which included Audio Two and Alliance (headed by King of
Chill), people she had spent time creating music with anyway.
No matter the music genre, record labels are known for signing artists of
kith and kin. First Priority is no different. Before Lyte recorded her first
album, she gained performing experience from being in the public domain
with other members of her label family. Similar to jazz musicians allowing
guests to sit in on jam sessions, the First Priority artists moved as a unit.
Robinson proved his business acumen when he accomplished a feat that no
other independent music label of its kind had achieved until then. In 1986 he
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120
signed a deal with Atlantic Records, due in part to the foresight of Sylvia
Rhone (now CEO of Elektra). Afterward, distribution became less of a challenge and Lyte had a broader stage from which to be heard. With the support
of her music label and parent company, Lyte went on to complete four
albums, a thirteen-year commitment that turned out to be only one chapter
in the rappers long career.
Labels like First Priority, Tommy Boy, Def Jam, Bad Boy, So So Def, Death
Row, and Roc-A-Fella have undergone significant changes, being resold, redistributed, or just plain recycled. Still, one need only listen to the early music
of these labels to understand the allegiance between artist and label family.
Artists acknowledge their producers, DJs, fellow rap crews, and other collaborators as a way of legitimizing the aesthetic and their roles in it. While some
may consider this form of self-aggrandizement to be simply a marketing
strategy, these shout-outs are also affirmations, nods to the professional contributors who keep the culture and the music moving.
Regarding her experiences with the First Priority family, Lyte recently said,
I had a great beginning with [them]. It was all about the talent. It was all
about what I wanted to put forth in the music. It was all about me staying true
to who I really was, and I guess because I had that foundation I was able to set
the standard for what was acceptable for me (Bostick). The labels 2005
release Basement Flavor features eleven tracks from its original music family,
including Audio Two, MC Lyte, Positive K, L.A. Luv, DJ Soul Shock, SeeQue, Alliance, King of Chill, and the Canadian artist Michie Mee (see sidebar:
Hip Hop in Canada).
Hip Hop in Canada

Robin Chamberlain
Although hip hop developed much more slowly in Canada than in the United
States, it has produced, and continues to produce, some of the most exciting
and innovative music in the scene. The first Canadian rap single to break into
the Top 40 was Maestros Let Your Backbone Slide in 1989, which is still the
best-selling Canadian hip hop single of all time. Along with Maestro, icons of
the early era included Devon, Dream Warriors, and Kish. Another icon, Michie
Mee, became the first Canadian hip hop artist to sign a deal with an American
record label, First Priority. Additionally, Michie Mee was the only hip hop artist
to appear on the Canadian pop charts between 1991 and 1998and then
largely because of her collaboration with the hard rock band Reggadeath.
It was not until 1996, however, that Canadian hip hop garnered the
momentum it continues to enjoy today. This was the result of several key
events, beginning with the creation of the UMAC (Urban Music Association of
Canada) to promote Canadian hip hop both domestically and internationally.
In 1997, Dubmatique of Montreal became the first hip hop band to make it
onto the francophone pop charts. Finally, in 1998, Rascalz, a Vancouver band,
MC Lyte
recorded Northern Touch, arguably the most important song in the history
of Canadian hip hop. Their album Cash Crop won a Juno for the best rap
recording that year, but the band refused it because it was presented in the
nontelevised portion of the ceremony. In 1999, the award was moved to the
main ceremony, in which Rascalz accepted it and performed Northern
Touch live. This corresponded with unprecendented attention being paid
to other Canadian hip hop and trip-hop artists, including Esthero and Choclair. Finally, in 2001, CFXJ (Flow 93.5) became Canadas first urban music
station. Many similar stations followed, creating radio venues for Canadian hip
hop artists. Artists like K-OS, Swollen Members, and Nelly Furtado emerged as
major players in this vibrant new hip hop scene.
These innovations ushered in a new era for Canadian hip hop, marked not
only by mainstream successes but also by exciting innovations by independent and experimental artists, including Buck 65 and Sixtoo, both of whom
hail from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Both Buck 65 and Sixtoo were a part of the
Anticon collective. Although based in Oakland, California, Anticon played an
important role in the Canadian hip hop underground by supporting innovative artists like Buck 65. What makes artists like these interesting is their
willingness to look outside of the traditional content for hip hop songs, while
still maintaining a strong allegiance to the icons they name as influences. Buck
65s more recent albums, for example, increasingly show the influence of jazz,
blues, and electronica on his particular brand of hip hop. Sixtoo, meanwhile,
showcases a range of talents: While best known for his stellar production skills,
he is also an accomplished MC, turntablist, and graffiti artist. While mainstream Canadian hip hop has produced a welter of talented artists, the future
of hip hop in Canada lies in its dynamic underground scene.
TEXTUAL STRATEGIES
Storytelling and signifying are the two lyrical strategies that distinguish MC
Lyte as a hip hop icon (see sidebar: The Art of Storytelling). First, the particular ways in which Lyte delivers stories are significant. While some of her
songs are more lighthearted than others, Lyte generally uses her music as a
tool for self-aggrandizement, to warn people to step back. In this she does not
differ from many of her peers. However, her use of storytelling makes her
music distinctive. Note the basic creative writing formula:
Author Narrator/Protagonist Conflict Crisis Resolution
As her album credits repeatedly indicate, MC Lyte writes the majority of her
rhymes. Her songs that follow story structures all have narrators; some of
these narrators even double as protagonists. MC Lyte does this by employing the first person (I) point of view. Most rappers follow the same
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122
The Art of Storytelling

Jennifer R. Young
Several of MC Lytes songs present narrative scenarios with conflicts, crises,
and resolutions. Her first three albums have numerous cuts that not only tell
stories but provide moral endings as well: I Cram to Understand U (Sam),
Cappuccino, Eyes Are the Soul, Poor Georgie, and Lola from the
Copa. Since early MCs generally used freestyle rhymes rather than structured
stories when performing at parties, only a handful of rap artists consistently
rhymed in story style before Lytes debut.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Fives The Message (1982) set high
standards. A song with multiple narratives, The Message covers intense
situations from poverty and unemployment to violence and drug abuse. The
songs convincing list of unlucky circumstances had universal appeal. RunDMCs songs also illuminated shared experiences with narrative vignettes like
You Be Illin and The Way It Is; both songs have characters whose silly
actions make them seem unintelligent, lessons meant to forewarn the audience. Biz Markie adopted this pattern for himself in The Vapors and Just a
Friend, songs that changed his reputation, making him what journalist
Michael A. Gonzales called a clever Hip-Hop harlequin (Juice, 106).
Female MCs also experimented with narrative rap. Nikki Ds Daddys Little
Girl is a cautionary tale about a teenage girl caught in a scenario of unplanned pregnancy. U.T.F.O.s Roxanne, Roxanne takes a different turn,
although it does involve the relationships between young men and women.
Roxanne, Roxanne shows the members of U.T.F.O. touting themselves as
plausible catches. Roxanne, the object of their affection, comes off as foolish
for not choosing any of them.
Yet Slick Rick serves as the most prominent example of an MC Lyte predecessor who rhymed in story style. He was on the scene years before the
production of his first album in 1988. His performance with Doug E. Fresh in
The Show (1985) only helped his reputation for spitting witty rhymes with
his British accent. The Great Adventures of Slick Rick appeared the same year
that Lyte as a Rock was released. Childrens Story and Hey Young World
feature bull-headed adolescents with premature demises. Slick Ricks voice
serves as the wise narrator, a veritable Dr. Seuss who makes his audience feel
smart by not preaching morals to them.
MC Lyte contributed to this new style of rap music, one that had been
underutilized. Her aesthetic belongs to a subgenre of rap in which social
criticism is the goal and fictitious stories are the methodology. Lyte does what
Vernon Reid described as [translating] experiences we call emotion by expressing inexpressible things (Goldman 139). Reid, a guitarist with the group
Living Colour, a producer, and cofounder of Black Coalition (a group of rock
artists who do not confine their songs to those that are funky or soulful),
encourages artists to present their music in different mediums, void of
MC Lyte
marketing tastes. On finding a new context for creativity, Reid explains, How
theyre expressed is a function of the context of whats really going on
conflicts, forces in opposition, [and] the amount of resources that are available
at a particular time to particular people (139). Though her songs include an
array of characters in desperate situations, MC Lyte uses incidents of desperation to suggest alternative, more successful ways of living ones life.
writing principle. They liberally mix their lived experiences with those of
others. However, Lyte is distinctive in that her songs tell stories, turning the
point of view into that of a main character, one that has full-bodied emotions, pitfalls, and hard decisions. While many artists use the story structure,
Lyte is one of the few to use imagery, allusion, metaphor, and subtext in
ways that draw greater attention to the verses of the songs rather than the
hooks.
Lytes high-content songs, therefore, are more about the characters and
their lessons than they are about the lyrical prowess of the rapper. Take three
of her early songs for example: I Cram to Understand U (Sam), Cappuccino, and Poor Georgie. In Cram, the narrator struggles for Sams
attention and affection, yet this desire is never realized. Sams personal cravings conflict with those of the narrator. So even though the song is about the
narrators interactions with Sam, it is also about Sams tragic flaw. Listeners
do not get lost in the angst of the teenage girl; instead, they find out the truth
about Sam, a man strung out on crack and unable to put the narrator first.
Thus, this song created by a teenage rapper allows listeners to access it on
many levelsfrom the perspective of young love, of drug abuse, and of living
in a world where both fight to exist.
Lyte laments her luck in Cappuccino. The narrator hears about a cafe
that sells the best cappuccino. She goes there to try it, only to discover her bad
timing as the police raid the cafe for its illegal drug trafficking. By a twist of
fate, the narrator is shot and enters a dream state. There she reunites with
people who have died from drug abuse, car accidents, gun violence, and other
foul circumstances. When she regains consciousness, she decides that the
drink is not for her. The coffee may serve as a lyrical metaphor: an addiction,
even to coffee, can be dangerous.
Poor Georgie serves as another example of Lytes subtle messages. The
narrator explains that when she met George he was instantly smitten and
wanted to date her. She is drawn to him despite his player status. Soon, the
audience gets the conflict. George is in trouble. He is diagnosed with lung
and colon cancer. After a series of events, George has a fatal car accident.
By the narrators tone, one cannot be sure whether Georges crash was
intentional or not. After this crisis, the narrator contemplates the story.
In the resolution, Lyte provides the moral: Cherish people every day and
make sure they know that you do. Her tales are not vignettes designed to
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Icons of Hip Hop
entertain; they are thought-provoking rhymes that arouse audiences to action, not apathy.
Lyte has a way of signifying that gives her a trademark as well. Most, if not
all, rappers signify, but few do it as eloquently as Lyte. She roasts both her
male and female opponents and triumphs through the ordeal as the survivor.
Lyte dedicates at least three songs on each album to proving her credentials.
While the song I Am Woman is on her debut album (Lyte as a Rock, 1988),
she does not play the Im a girl so love me card. She appeals to different
audiences by integrating universal themes into the music. Most people can
relate to the desire to be the best and achieve great success. Songs like Playgirls Play, My Time, Ride Wit Me, Beyond the Hype, and I Am the
Lyte convey her competitive nature.
Cha, Cha, Cha is an early example of her competing not as a female
MC, but as an MC. In this song, she includes the audience as part of her
battle strategy. Unlike some of her other songs in which she attacks a rapper
or a crew of rappers, this song is a general warning to her competition.
Considered an ultimate dis song, Lyte references hip hop and lyricism as if
it is a science, a complex skill that few have mastered. The song does not have
violent images, yet delivers punishment. The defeat for competitors is in the
realization that they are not smart enough to outwit her.
On her early albums, songs like I Am the Lyte show her skills and those
of DJ K-Rock, her noted DJ on her first few albums. On the live version of
Top Billin that she records with Milk D, Lyte positions herself as the
ultimate lyricist in tandem with the First Priority family, especially her DJ
and Audio Two. She may boast about her abilities, but she does not showboat
to stand apart from those who contribute to her success. Lytes participation
in the Roxanne Wars also shows her signifying skills. The first Roxanne battle
began in 1984 when the Untouchable Force Organization (U.T.F.O.)
recorded Roxanne, Roxanne. This boy-chases-girl song is about Roxanne,
the new, most attractive girl in the neighborhood. The three members of U.T.
F.O. share verses in the song while the fictitious Roxanne remains silent.
Fortunately, a young teenage lyricist named Lolita Shante Gooden, aka
Roxanne Shante, responded to U.T.F.O. by recording Roxannes Revenge
later that year.
Using the same music track as U.T.F.O.s Roxanne, Roxanne, Shantes
single had original lyrics. It is estimated that this young MC from Queensbridge, New York, sold over a quarter of a million copies in the tristate area
alone before U.T.F.O. brought a lawsuit against her for copyright infringement (Dennis). If Shantes song frustrated U.T.F.O., it agitated female MCs
even more. After Roxannes Revenge, female MCs began creating answer
records to take their own shots at U.T.F.O. and to upstage female MC rivals,
especially Shante. In an interview with Sacha Jenkins years later, Shante
reflected on how her song opened the door to mass ridicule: Every female
rapper who came out felt like they had this Shante thing to prove. If someone
didnt know what to make a record about, they would make it about
Roxanne Shante (26). Sparky Ds and the Real Roxannes songs were only
a few in the dozens of recorded Roxanne records. What writers Sacha Jenkins
and Reginald Dennis have called the longest-running series of answer
records in the annals of hip-hop is hard to corroborate, considering that
many of the songs are no longer extant. However, both Jenkins (23) and
Dennis say that approximately 100 songs were released from different female
MCs, all wanting to be the true Roxanne.
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Dennis say that approximately 100 songs were released from different fem
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Dennis say that approximately 100 songs were released from different fe
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Dennis say that approximately 100 songs were released from different
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Dennis say that approximately 100 songs were released from differe
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Icons of Hip Hop
walking down the street as moving props, Lyte is in control of her situation
and body image, thereby altering audience reception.
Lyte as a Rock is a highly intellectual music video. It starts with words in
white letters scrolling up a black screen, like the prologue to Star Wars (1977).
The videos words read, in part: Lyte is HereNo One / Can Stop Me!!!
The video then begins. A young girl holding a little black baby doll entertains
herself by observing several skits that it seems she is imagining. The first skit
shows Lyte dressed like a cave woman. Perhaps the suggestion is that the
rappers influence spans centuries, not just decades. The second skit shows
Lyte dressed as an Egyptian queen. There are pyramids, fire pits, servants to
fan her as she raps, male escorts to carry her away, and females to adore (or
hate) her. The video then transitions to the third skit where Lyte is likened to a
powerful Mafia-like boss, suit, hat, and sneering thugs to match. As she raps,
she intimidates the opposing mob leader, who is also a woman.
The last two skits are educational. In the fourth, the camera cuts to a poster
of Malcolm X holding a gun and looking out a window. The words By Any
Means Necessary are written in bold black letters. Viewers see Lyte and her
crew wearing fatigues. She is in a red T-shirt and wears a leather medallion that
has an imprint of the African continent. At first it appears as though Lyte is in
prison behind bars, yet as her rhyme continues, viewers realize that she is
locking up the competition. Once again, she remains in control and in the lead.
The last skit shows a group of young people in a mock classroom setting. The
chalkboard has two words: Metaphor and Simile. Two men are explaining how Lytes name qualifies as examples of both terms on the chalkboard.
Then everyone gets up and grooves. The camera pans away until the little girl
in the beginning of the video returns. She waves goodbye to all of her imaginary friends. One may infer that Lyte understands the critical positioning of
hip hop culture and rap music in particular. The young girl may signify the
promise of things to come. The historical images suggest the legacy upon which
hip hop stands. Lyte positions herself as the current torch bearer, conscious of
her political role as lyricist.
Robin Roberts references Queen Latifah and Monie Loves video Ladies
First as the most politically charged video, especially for women. Ladies
First has pictures of Madame C. J. Walker (millionaire cosmetic manufacturer); Sojourner Truth (famous public speaker for abolition and womens
rights, self-educated despite being enslaved); Angela Davis (writer, educator,
and activist, especially against the oppression of women); Winnie Mandela
(politician and key proponent of the African National Congress during
Nelson Mandelas imprisonment); Harriet Tubman (escaped slave who
helped hundreds of others escape through a dozen return trips on the Underground Railroad); and Cicely Tyson (seasoned actress who once played Tubman in A Woman Called Moses). Roberts applauds Queen Latifah for
working with her producers and colleagues to create positive images that
legitimize her as an agent.
MC Lyte
Lyte falls into this same category of positive interpretation. Like Queen
Latifah, Lyte subverts traditional methods of presentation and makes herself
look successful, smart, and sophisticated, void of gyrations and dimwitted
expressions. Her references to Malcolm X suggest knowledge of both activism
and pacifism. Malcolm Xs orations repeatedly focused on autonomy and
community independence. Lyte repeats this theme in several of her songs.
Strong men and women contribute to a stronger society. Her songs and videos
reflect such a notion.
COMMUNITY HEALTH
Just as Lyte is conscious of the ways in which she portrays herself, her music
reflects an intense interest in community survival. MC Lytes songs praise
urban communities, especially the New York borough in which she spent
most of her adolescence. On her first single, Cram, she mentions a roller
disco near Empire Boulevardthe place where her protagonist meets the
fictitious Sam. It isnt that Brooklyn defines her, but it seems to have a strong
influence in informing her worldview. Kickin 4 Brooklyn and Brooklyn
are entire songs dedicated to the borough. Lyte sends shout-outs, accompanied by K-Rocks scratches and clap beats.
She shows her familial connections not just to her kin and her record label,
but also to her community. Others like Big Daddy Kane, Busta Rhymes, and
Biggie Smalls claim Brooklyn as their native turf. This practice of allegiance
holds true for national and international rappersIce Cube (Los Angeles),
KRS-One (South Bronx), Master P (New Orleans), Three 6 Mafia (Memphis),
Common (Chicago), Lauryn Hill (South Orange), TI (Atlanta), IAM
(Marseille, France), and Prophets of Da City (Cape Town, South Africa), to
name a few. Lyte participates in the tradition of naming and claiming her
space. Since Kickin 4 Brooklyn on her debut album, Lyte has included
references to Brooklyn in at least one song on each of her albums that
followed.
One might mislabel Lyte as a standard rapper who repeatedly announces
her hometown affiliation. However, Lyte does more than name drop; she uses
Brooklyn as the setting for many of her lyrical stories. This tradition is reminiscent of previous black literary writers who used national and international locations to explain the plight of black and Latino protagonists,
situations that seemed to have pan-African relevance, a common shared experience despite world boundaries. Just as Harlem, Senegal, Guinea, Spain,
Italy, Russia, and other areas inspired writer Langston Hughes, or France
gave James Baldwin new perspective, or Eatonville, Florida, revealed anthropological secrets to Zora Neale Hurston, and Chicago, Illinois, served as the
muse for Gwendolyn Brooks, MC Lyte remains true to the rousing world of
Brooklyn.
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Icons of Hip Hop
can be complicated for a young black artist (Coleman 35). Run-DMC represented street poetry revamped, plugged in, amplified, and marketed. Jay, Joe,
and Darryl were from Hollisa working-class community for upwardly mobile blacks. These aspiring entertainers, however, acted as if the neighborhoods south of the Grand Central Parkway, west of Francis Lewis Boulevard,
north of Hollis Avenue, and east of 184th Street were the South Bronx
dangerous, crime-ridden streets. The microphone, the amplifier, allowed them
to live out these fantasies at high volume. DJ Run, aka Son of Kurtis Blow,
lived the performers life as early as eighth grade. DMC, calling himself
Grandmaster Get High early in his exposure to music, smoked joints and
drank quarts of beer in the basement of his parents house while they were
at work or asleep. These were DMCs practice sessions on the turntables. The
street life of Hollis was filled with private houses rather than the apartment
buildings of the Bronx, and Joe and Darryl experienced supportive and financially secure family lives. The groups third member, Jam Master Jay, was
born in Brooklyn and moved to Hollis with his family when he was ten years
old.
Early on in Run-DMCs development, Russell Simmons (Runs brother)
took it upon himself to promote the group. His goal, however, was not to
make rap music with Run-DMC. He wanted to make black teenage music.
And more important, Russell wanted to make successful black heroes, which
he felt he did with Run-DMC and Kurtis Blow (Cepeda 49). Realness
trumped being positive for Russell, however, and what defined realness according to Rush Management meant playing on some notion of the street.
Run explained that their contemporary, Eazy-E of N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitude), couldnt rap because he was truly a gangster (Quinn 73). A strategic
embrace of the street, but with a calculated distance, was the signature for
Run-DMC: to represent hip hop as it existed in the street, but without living
the street life. The group idolized the Cold Crush Brothers, a street phenomenon in early eighties New York hip hop, but who faded into the background
without the major push received by groups and labels such as the Sugarhill
Gang (who received industry backing for their single Rappers Delight in
1979). In 1983 Cold Crush records were not garnering fan support, and the
doors were open for something new.
Our whole thing, DMC says, was to be like the Cold Crush Brothers.
(Coleman 31). Run-DMC, however, wanted to produce the best show, the
best rhymes, and the best DJ, and come with more beats than anybody. Cold
Crush were Run-DMCs idols, but Run-DMC also wanted to be better than
Cold Crush. In 1984 things were going well for Rush Management, the
biggest management company in hip hop. Russell Simmons had Kurtis Blow
and Whodini, as well as the Fearless Four. Russell also had a hip hop band
called Orange Krush that included Davey DMX, Larry Smith, drummer
Trevor Gale, and singer Alyson Williams, which helped form the early sound
that Russell would take into the studio to later develop Run-DMC.
Run-DMC
According to Simmons, Run-DMCs greatest asset was that they never

aspired to be bigger (Simmons 64). They aspired to keep it real, close to
the street, when that wasnt yet considered important in rap. And that attitude
allowed them to outdistance all other rappers in the eighties. Rappers at
the time would tell it differently. Rush Management had the handle on technology, and technologyincluding drum machines, amplifiers, radio, and
televisionis what would prove to be a boon for Run-DMC, and for hip
hop in general (see sidebar: The 808). Grandmaster Caz recalled that RunDMC was the cutoff point between the era of Grandmaster Flash and the
Furious Five, Cold Crush, Funky 4+1, the Fearless 4s, the Fantastic 5s, and
hip hop after that (Fricke and Ahearn 328). The pre-Run-DMC era had
advanced hip hop from its bare basics, according to Caz, from a baby movement, in the park with speakers and plugging into light poles. While the Sugar
Hill record label pinched penniesdenying artists drum machines and new
The 808
The Roland TR-808 drum machine is a legendary piece of hip hop production
equipment. Immediately rendered obsolete upon its release in 1980 by the
superior sound and sampling technology of the Linn Drum (the Linn LM-1),
the 808 was an unlikely candidate for fame. But the combination of a relatively
low price tag ($1,000 compared to $5,000 for the Linn) and a classic
(if notably artificial) sound made the 808 a must-have for such rap originators
as Run-DMC, Eric B. & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions, and Public Enemy.
Specifically, the 808 featured a deep bass kick that made it an essential
ingredient of the rap sound of the mid-1980s.
Despite the fact that the 808 appeared in the work of Japanese electropop
group Yellow Magic Orchestra as early as 1980, it would be through the
influence of rap artists more than five years later that a younger generation
would come to venerate the 808 sound. In fact, it was only after Roland had
ceased production of the 808 that its popularity peaked. The 808 would find a
place in the early gangsta rap of N.W.A. and its later G-Funk offshoot in the
work of Dr. Dre, Warren G, and Snoop Dogg. It would even find popularity in
the more mainstream hip hop of the Beastie Boys, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh
Prince, Sir Mix-a-Lot, and Vanilla Ice, as well as in several genres of electronic
music.
Seminal Bay Area rapper Too $hort also made use of the device on his
earliest songs, and Outkast made the 808 popular in the South, resulting in
the contemporary predominance of an 808-type sound in the related genres
of Southern crunk (e.g., Lil Jon) and Bay Area hyphy (e.g., E-40). Keliss 2006
hit Bossy, a track that not coincidentally includes an appearance by Too
$hort, explicitly hearkens back to the 808 era: Im back with an 808.
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Icons of Hip Hop
76
turntables when askedDef Jam invested in equipment. This is what made

Def Jam different, and one reason they ultimately survived and excelled in the
trickiness of the industry.
Run-DMC arrived on the cusp of a significant moment in hip hop history.
In the scramble for new rap acts to get signed to major recording contracts,
many acts attempted to follow in the footsteps of James Brown and other
funk acts of the 1970sbig costumes, elaborate stage shows, big crews. The
trend toward co-optation of rap by the mainstream was often perpetuated by
rap acts themselves. In an effort to be commercially viable, many acts switched
their styles from house party and corner raps to radio-friendly jingles in
hopes of appealing to a mainstream demographic. Out of this environment
came Run-DMC, who invigorated and reinvented the whole rap genre. From
their early countercurrent putdown, Sucker-M.C.s, it was obvious that
Run-DMC was lean, mean, and ready to do business. Following up
Sucker-M.C.s with a second breakthrough single, Rock Box, RunDMC asserted that they were not one-hit wonders, and they would not attempt to follow the music industry cookie cutter mold. Ira Robbins of Rolling
Stone called what Run-DMC was doing by merging rap and rock forging a
new musical alliance that shattered racial barriers (53). To many, they were
Run and D from the Hollis hood; for many more they were hip hops ambassadors to the world.
SON OF BYFORD
The track Son of Byford on Raising Hell was an homage to origins. Byford
was the first name of Darryl DMC McDaniels father (though, as
chronicled in the 2006 VH-1 documentary My Adoption Journey, DMC
later discovered he was adopted). Run DJed at a young age for his brother
Russells first rap act on Rush Management, and the first solo rap act to
appear on televisionKurtis Blow. Run began his study of music in his
familys attic. There he played with a drum set his father bought him when
he was ten. A neighbor, Spuddy, gave him lessons. Run and Russell benefited
from a supportive family, as well as a supportive community. Hollis was
populated with black working-class neighbors and bustling main street with
stores and movie theaters. It had a small-town feel, with everyone inevitably
running into everyone else, according to Run-DMC. It was a small, remote
enclave for the black working class and the children these hard-working
parents hoped would have easier lives. The families of Run, Russell, and D
did their best to afford their boys the best opportunities and support as they
grew up. Ds brother Al, for example, one day led D into the basement. Al had
purchased a second turntable (to add to a record player the brothers already
had) and a $50 mixer, and had set up DJ equipment on a table. Runs drum
equipment and Ds turntables represented, in part, the privileged life that was
Run-DMC
afforded these two members of Run-DMC. The equipment (both drums and
turntables) became a major part of Run and Ds daily routines and afforded
them early opportunities to hone and perfect their musical skills.
Run first got into music at around the age of ten after hearing radio
station WBLS. It introduced him to a world beyond Hollis, Queensin terms
of both music and life. From that point on, Run tried to express himself
through music, dubbing himself DJ Joe. He taped songs from the radio,
attended block parties where residents played guitars and drums, and banged
away on the drum set his father, Daniel, had bought and installed in the attic.
Daniel supported Joes dream. An attendance supervisor for New York Citys
Public School District 29 and professor of black history at Pace University by
night, his father had spent the second half of the 1960s as part of the civil
rights movement. Now in the late 1970s, Joe saw his father reading aloud
from Hamlet, espousing the value of a college degree and traditional nine-tofive jobs, and reciting his own politically charged poetry. Joes mother, Evelyn, also supported his hobby of playing drums and writing song lyrics. An
artist with degrees in sociology and psychology from Howard University
(where she had met Joes father), Evelyn worked as a recreation director
for the citys Parks Department.
Russell (born October 4, 1957) shared a bedroom with Joe on the second
floor of their home in Queens. Their father tried to get Russell a job working
at a hog dog store in Manhattans West Village. Russell quit this job, dreaming of the dangerous and extravagant life of drug dealers he witnessed on
his block. He chopped up coca-leaf incense, claiming it was foil-wrapped
cocaine, and attempted to sell it when he could. Russell needed money to
support his expensive clothing habit. He wore lizard-skin shoes, sharkskin
pants, and Stetson hats, and afforded them by selling (and using) drugs. He
kept twenty 5-ounce bags of drugs in the bushes in front of the house, and he
spent his nights in fancy nightclubs downtown, ignoring his parents rules and
guidance. By his senior year in high school, spring 1975, Russell was involved
with drugs. He started attending City College of New York in Harlem in the
fall of 1975. He was supposed to be studying to become a sociology teacher,
but drugs took over. Angel dust was his drug of choice and he spent his days
in the City College student lounge and going to Harlems hottest clubs each
night (Ronin 14). Russells reckless abandon and partying in Harlem of the
1970s mirrored the musical culture of the Harlem of the 1950swhen bebop
was all the rage and Harlem was the site of late nights of music, drugs, and
creative passion. To some, Russell was a lost youth, a problem child. To
others, he was in training for the biggest job of his life.
In autumn 1977, Russell found a passion beyond drugs and partying. He
came home talking about a party he had attended in the Harlem nightclub
Charles Gallery. Hed seen a DJ mix two copies of P-Funks single Flashlight, and a young man named Eddie Cheeba, holding a microphone, tell a
crowd of blacks and Puerto Ricans, Somebody, anybody, everybody
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Icons of Hip Hop
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scream! He told his parents he thought he could make money promoting

shows like the one at Charles Gallery. He stopped selling weed and recruited
schoolmates Rudy Toppin and Curtis Walker (who then rapped as Kool DJ
Kurt Walker) to help him throw parties. With Russell as the mastermind and
leader, the three friends printed thousands of flyers and stickers, rented halls
and charged admission, and changed Curts stage name to Kurtis Blow. Soon
Russells flyers claimed the Harlem-bred Kurtis Blow was really Queenss #1
rapper. Creating the image required to market hip hop actseven if it bordered on twisting the truthwould become Russells trademark and would
prove to be invaluable in his later marketing of Run-DMC. This business
model would be key to making Run-DMC into a hip hop icon and would echo
in hip hop history afterward as record labels sought to play up (or invent) street
aspects of a hip hop acts credentials. But no business model survives without
adequate financial backing. Russell came home one night in his promotional
career complaining that no one had come to one of his events and he had lost
all his money. His dad urged him to treat this as a lesson and focus on school
again, but his mom handed Russell $2,000 in $100 bills she kept in her personal savings and encouraged Russell to continue. This was just another example
how for Run, Russell, and Darryl support from their families and communities
was crucial to their development and success as artists and entrepreneurs and
proved that not only are icons made, they are also nurtured and cultivated.
DEF JAM
One day Russell heard Its Yours, a record by T. La Rock & Jazzy Jay, and
loved it. In a story he recalled for hip hop journalist Nelson George, Russell
noticed that while Its Yours was distributed by Street Wise Records, it had
a little logo on it that read Def Jam (Simmons 77). One night at a club DJ
Jazzy Jay came over and asked Russell if he wanted to meet the man whod
made Its Yours. Jazzy Jay walked Russell over to this stocky, long-haired
Long Island white kid. This was the man behind Def Jam, and in terms of
entrepreneurial spirit and love for music, Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons
had a lot in common. Ricks inspiration to make rap records was Russells
audio production on Rock Boxa strict, layered drum track that proved to
be the hit from the Run-DMC debut album Run-DMC (1984). Producing the
street attitude was crucial to Russell. The raw energy of rock and the rebellion
of rap proved to be a perfect combination on Rock Box and became the
musical bridge that connected Russell and Rick and encouraged their coproduction on Run-DMCs third album, Raising Hell (1986).
Raising Hell followed several rigorous months of Run-DMC touring, many
nights of which were spent writing and then performing the songs that would
make the album. The intensity of a live tour performance was thus translated
onto record. Doubled with Russell and Ricks loud, sometimes chaotic sound,
Run-DMC
the albums begged to jump out of the speakers when played. Our main goal
with Raising Hell was to have the best tape of anyone elses being sold, D of
Run-DMC recalls (Coleman 33). The mixtape circuit was big at the time. Prior
to Run-DMC, people bought a lot of Cold Crush tapes. DMCs goal was to
have the fullest sounding tape available to hip hop fans. With significant financial backing from successful touring, Def Jam invested in vinyl with RunDMC and albums, not tapes, were produced. Combining the technological
edge with the sonic edge captivated the eyes and ears of the public. This project
of pushing the creative envelope while remaining true to a bands image was a
trademark of Def Jam during its first golden era, from approximately 1986 to
1990. Using this formula, Def Jam developed several of the most important acts
in hip hop history that each cultivated their own individual sound, rather than
attempting to copy pop acts. During this period, Def Jam handled acts including LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, and the Beastie Boys. At the same
time, Rush Management was involved in breaking Run-DMC for Profile Records, and Whodini and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince for Jive Records.
MY ADIDAS
Run-DMC was a marker of post-Bronx hip hoptaking it from the local to
the global. This was most visible in how Run-DMC adopted and exploited
the idea of the hip hop brand. The first single from Raising Hell was My
Adidas, with Peter Piper on the B side (see sidebar: My Adidas: Hip Hop
and Brand Loyalty). The group claimed they took the beat from the street and
put it on television. And thats what happened. Many artists at the time of
Run-DMCs rise played it safe, according to Run-DMC. When Kool Moe
Dee, Treacherous Three, and Grandmaster Flash went into the studio they
held back, tightened up their rhymes, and cleaned up the track with splicing
and add-ins of lyrics. Just as Run-DMC wore street fashion onstage in the
form of white Adidas and black leather suits with fedoras, they attempted to
match their rhymes and attitude with the passion and energy of MCs on the
street corner or at the house party. This wasnt pioneering. Run-DMC just did
on vinyl what rappers before them were doing on mixtapes.
Today, in 2006, the trajectory of hip hop recording has reversed. Mixtapes
are again hugely popular (making one wonder if they ever really went out of
fashion), in large part because of the proven success of guerrilla marketing of
street CDs, as modeled by 50 Cent and G-Unit. 50 Cent testified to being
mentored early on by Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC (50 Cents debut single,
Wanksta, was produced by Jay). 50 said that Jay saw him as a kid who was
trying to get out of the game, and Jay respected that. As a result, 50 said,
Jay put him on, or recorded him on CD (50 Cent 163). It was the strategic
use of technology in 50 Cents time, as in Run-DMCs time, which helped
lead both acts to being on the cusp of hip hop production and, more
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80
My Adidas: Hip Hop and Brand Loyalty

Jeb Aram Middlebrook
Branding was and is a crucial component of getting any rap project into the
hands of the buying customer. Making the customer believe in the product,
as one would a myth, is the key to brand loyalty. The Run-DMC song My
Adidas is sometimes characterized as crass commercialism. Run-DMC did not
set out to brand Adidas, however. The group said that they wore Adidas and
then everyone else started wearing them; but they didnt want people to
dress like them. They just wanted people to like their beats and rhymes. An
Adidas sponsorship deal did come, in 1985, but after Run-DMC had toured
extensively with the song My Adidas. The story goes that the group had
everyone hold their Adidas up at a tour date at Madison Square Garden.
Someone at Adidas had heard about the group and sent a rep out to the
show. A sponsorship deal ensued. Adidas followed the street trend of wearing
Adidas. They exploited Run-DMCs popularity to sell more shoes. In this case,
the building of an iconic brand worked for the benefit of both Run-DMC and
Adidas; both brands fed off each other. What was different and iconic about
Run-DMC, however, was that their brand influence developed on their terms.
The Run-DMC brand forced large companies, including Adidas, to adapt their
advertising and marketing in the direction Run-DMC dictateda direction
that was black and urban, which was new to large companies and marketing
firms at the time. Run-DMC was iconic because they lived and branded a
street lifestyle true to their native Queens but marketable enough for Wall
Street. In this way, they set the stage for product placement and brand loyalty
in hip hop long after their time.
important, distribution. In this regard, the Internet has proven recently to be

an important site of marketing and distribution for up-and-coming mixtape
DJs and rappers in 2006, who mix and remix the words and music of popular
rap artists to make a name for themselves.
Hip hop branding on a mass scale was largely an invention of Run-DMC.
Other artists on Def Jam in the 1980s felt the power of Run-DMCs cultural
branding. It was clear that when it came to white Adidas, Run-DMC was not
loyal to the brand, but rather the brand was loyal to Run-DMC. Shifting the
terrain of cultural appropriation, Run-DMC did what they did and America
followed. Significantly, Adidas capitalized on what became a trend of rocking
shell-toe Adidas and promptly signed Run-DMC to a promotional deal. It
was nothing new to use a black image to sell products. Images of black people
abounded in advertising at the turn of the century and into the 1950s, particularly in racist ads that tied blacks to food preparation and cleaning products. From soap to laundry detergent to pancake mix, images of blacks have
been used to show how products might serve the American public. In the case
Run-DMC
of Run-DMC, however, the group would show America another meaning for
the word serve. In hip hop slang, to serve means to get the best of an
opponent in a face-to-face battle of wits or moves. One could say that
Run-DMC served the American marketing industry in more ways than one
by developing a marketable and lucrative brand, on their terms.
What was different and iconic about Run-DMC was that their brand influence was self-directed and extremely widespread. The Run-DMC brand forced
large companies, including Adidas, to adapt their advertising and marketing in
the direction that Run-DMC dictated. Other companies at the time, like St. Ides
malt liquor, similarly understood the symbolic importance of being attached to
a hip hop brand. For a long time, brewing companies like St. Ides had targeted
black, urban, working-class communities. Until the mid-1980s, malt liquor was
popularly associated with an older black population. Hip hop, particularly the
rap groups Run-DMC and N.W.A., changed that. These groups started to
brandish and name-check malt liquor in publicity material and on record, particularly Olde English 800. These did not begin as endorsement deals but rather
as what one critic called de facto product placement, or name dropping based
on preference, not payment. The de facto product placement by rappers in 2006
of Cristala high-end champagneis a case in point. Cristal executives openly
admit to not courting (and in some cases not wanting) the business of the hip
hop elite; however, the popularity of Cristal among the top rappers, and those
fans that aspire to live the rappers lifestyle, made a big enough financial impact
that Cristal has been forced to adapt to the urban market. Run-DMC was the
forerunner of this type of relationship with big business. The group was unique
because they lived and sold a lifestyle. They retooled the notion of rags to riches
to fit their demographicblack, young, urban. Their lifestyle was street to
riche; and the concept of the high life took on new meaning.
Run-DMCs contemporaries noticed their impact. Reggie Reg of the Crash
Crew said they wanted to do what Run-DMC was doing at the time. He
remembered Run-DMC opening for the Crash Crew at a show in Broadway
International. He described the new, streetwise persona conveyed by RunDMC: We was not allowed to do stuff like that on Sugarhill. . . . We couldnt
curse on Sugarhill (Fricke and Ahearn 328). With the arrival and increasing
ascendancy of hip hop with Run-DMC, a consumer-driven market developed.
Companies like Adidas and St. Ides, and later Nike, McDonalds, Cristal, and
so on embraced hip hop culture. What Run-DMC dictated in the rap business
was a careful balance between street culture and entrepreneurialism. They
took the corner hustle to the hip hop industry board room and beyond.
WALK THIS WAY

Run-DMC broke further into the mainstream on both sides of the Atlantic in
1986 when, at Rick Rubins suggestion, they released the heavy metalrap
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Icons of Hip Hop
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collision Walk This Way. Its distinctive video caught the imagination of
audiences worldwide, and the single rocketed into the U.S. Billboard Top 10
(see sidebar: Hip Hop Video: The Importance of Run-DMCs Visuals
to 1980s MTV Viewers). The success of this single had been predicted by
the earlier singles Rock Box and King of Rock, both of which fused rap
with rock. By 1987, Raising Hell had sold 3 million copies in the United
States, becoming the first rap album to hit the R&B number one mark, the
first to enter the U.S. Top 10, and the first to go platinum. Run-DMC also
became the first rap act to have a video aired by MTV, the first to be featured
on the cover of Rolling Stone, and the first nonathletes to endorse Adidas
products.
Hip Hop Video: The Importance of Run-DMCs Visuals to

1980s MTV Viewers
Jeb Aram Middlebrook
The iconic status of Run-DMC depended as much on their image as their
sound. Run-DMC was responsible for the first rap video on MTVRock Box
from their debut album Run-DMC in 1984. If video killed the radio star, it
made the rap radio star; and Run-DMC was the group to capitalize on the use
of image to sell the group. The album Run-DMC went gold (500,000 copies
sold), a testament to the rotation it received on MTV as well as on radio. RunDMCs style and sound achieved national reach through television in way that
was unprecedented for rap music. The groups second album, King of Rock
(1985), was also promoted through a video for its lead single. The video King
of Rock featured Run and DMC vandalizing the rock hall of fame, a visual
statement that rap would be the new rock for the 1980s and Run-DMC would
be its forerunners. Run-DMC broke down more walls with their video for the
hugely successful Walk This Way. This 1986 video collaboration with thenstruggling rock band Aerosmith helped promote the single from their third
album, Raising Hell. The album would also become the first rap record ever to
go platinum and eventually triple platinum, in part from the immense reach
that the video had nationally and globally. The video began with Aerosmith
vying for sonic supremacy in adjacent studiosAerosmith with rock guitars,
Run-DMC with heavy bass drums and Jam Master Jays record scratch. Aerosmith eventually breaks through the wall, struggling for recognition in the
song. Ultimately, Run-DMC takes over the rock stage and rock audience
Aerosmith commands in the video, offering yet another visual statement that
Run-DMC would replace the rock icons of the past. The power of the video
was cosigned by MTV. Walk This Way was nominated for two MTV Video
Music Awards for Best Stage Performance Video and Best Overall Performance
in 1987 and was consistently recognized by MTV through 2006 as being
among the top videos and top songs of all time.
Run-DMC
There were numerous hits on Raising Hell. But none hit harder than their
first worldwide smash, Walk This Way, a cover of the Aerosmith rock
classic featuring group members Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. Rick Rubins rock
approach combined with Russell Simmons street aesthetic for Run-DMC was a
big reason why the album ended up selling 6 million copies in the United States
and approximately 10 to 11 million copies worldwide. Walk This Way was
the albums second single but the first video, and arguably a main reason the
single rose to the top of the charts so quickly. Television as a vehicle for music
advertising and marketing came into its own with MTV (the music television of
the 1980s). A station based on the promotional videos supplied by record
companies, MTV obtained virtually free programming with which they could
garner revenue from advertisers. MTV was successful because they made treasure out of relative trash content, effectively reusing and recycling promotional
throwaway videos as stock footage for their prime-time rotations. This was
before videos became a major budget item for an artists career and could
expect to go for upward of $300,000 or more. Before Run-DMC, MTV had
focused exclusively on rock videos. Rock Box, the hit single from RunDMCs debut album, Run-DMC, claimed the spot as the first rap video on
MTV. Its rock flavor and simplistic bass-and-kick-drum eased its way into the
MTV rotation. Walk This Way is sometimes erroneously credited with this
achievement because of its incredible crossover with rock fans globally.
Walk This Way was something special, however. The beat from the
Aerosmith song was one that Run-DMC had always rapped over in their
Hollis neighborhood, but they didnt know the groups name at the time.
Run and D had their own rhymes over the beat but once in the studio, they
were told to do Aerosmiths lyrics as a cover song. How far rock and roll
would take them from their rap roots was a question the group negotiated
even during the recording of the track. Jam Master Jaythe recognizable
visionary of the groupclaimed early on that Walk This Way had the
potential to be a hit. Despite having their own lyrics on the track and not
wanting to follow their contemporaries in writing pop tunes for radio, Run
and D went into the studio and recorded Aerosmiths words. The lyrics, as
they were recorded, did not match the Aerosmith vocals. Whether or not
Walk This Way sounded like Aerosmith, it sounded like a hit to everyone.
The record Walk This Way was a rebirth and a birth, according to D
(Coleman 36). The song made room for acts like the Beastie Boys, Kid Rock,
Limp Bizkit, Korn, and P.O.D., and forever changed the sound of rock, period.
Most rock bands today, for example, emphasize the second and fourth beats in
a four-beat measure. Boom-boom, clap. Boom-boom, clap. This is the echo of
Run-DMC and more specifically Rock Box, their first rock-rap record.
Rock for Run-DMC was street. The group recalled that they had rapped over
rock beats in the streets of Hollis. Rock signified being hard, or tough, and that
was the image the group intended to portray. D mentioned that other rap
groups didnt use rock as much because they didnt know how. The balance
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of street and mainstream, rap and rock, black and white was mastered by RunDMC. They matched wailing guitar lines with sparse but forceful drum machine beats and turntable scratches. Rap-rock, Def Jam, and Run-DMC
sounded like rebellion to music listeners everywhere in the mid-1980s.
The Def Jam logoone of the most memorable logos in the rap game
according to Russell Simmonswas Rick Rubins work. Ironically, Rick
thought when rappers said death (which in the eighties was a slang term
of affirmation), they were really saying def (Simmons 80). Russell said that
white rock and roll or alternative people or suburban people coming into hip
hop culturetheir version of the black ghettos is always more dramatic. This
would become clear also as Def Jam label mates the Beastie Boys, burst onto
the scene as an all-white rap group with beats and mannerisms that were loud
and raucous, a` la Run-DMC. Being from middle-class Hollis, Queens, Russell
considered himself outside black ghetto culture. This outsider position perhaps
allowed him to have a critical distance to hip hop culture and maybe an overly
dramatic view of the ghetto as he saw in other ghetto outsiders. Ironically,
Jason Mizell, whose life was eventually claimed by the street, was the only
member of Run-DMC who was actually from the street. Rick, Russell, Run,
and D, on the other hand were like many of their fans, a hip hop journalist once
wrote; they were outside of street culture. But as Russell observed, they
brought something special to hip hop because of that. They heard hip hop.
They loved hip hop. But their point of entry into hip hop was different, and
they manifested it differently. Rick Rubin, for example, emphasized the volume of the guitar riffs and big bass drums, making the records louder. Russell
made the ultimate ghetto beat record and breakthrough for Run-DMC, Sucker M.C.s, with no bass line and sparse drums. Admittedly, Russell approached Sucker M.C.s differently than someone from Harlem or the
Bronx would have at that time. For Russell and Rick, Run-DMC could be
both rock and roll and rap at the same time, largely because both were parts of
youth culture. It wasnt about race at that level, Russell said, but an energy and
attitude that rock and rap shared. Run-DMC did this without being calculated,
but by being honest about what they liked and wanted to achieve musically.
According to Russell, The band and I werent concerned with reaching blacks
or whites, but with making new sounds for people who wanted to hear them
(Simmons 80). These sounds, these expressions, of a mediated ghetto voice
echoed around the world. Technology, television, media were the masters
tools, and as of 1984 the tools were in the hands of three black youths from
Hollis, Queens, with a passion for big beats and street poetry.
IS IT LIVE
The album Raising Hell was the culmination of worldwide tours spanning
1984 and 1985 and a film debut in Krush Groove. Run-DMC wrote the
Run-DMC
whole album on the road. Thats why it was so dope, DMC says. We
would write a song every night after a great performance, so we had a lot of
energy and momentum going (Coleman 32). They translated the aliveness
and movement of touring onto record in 1985, over the course of three
months in Manhattan-based Chung King studios. Rick Rubin was brought
in to work formally with Run-DMC on the project. He took the group to his
dorm room at NYU and showed them around. It seemed like Rick had every
rock record in the world, DMC said. Russell promoted Run-DMC with black
hats and leather to give them an iconic imagea` la Michael Jacksons glove
or Cyndi Laupers hair, according to Russell. The black hat and leather look
reportedly came from a day when Russell, Run, and D went to pick up Jay in
his neighborhood. Jay came out of the house with a full leather suit and black
hat on. Russell told Run and D from then on, they would wear what Jay
wore. Russell hoped the rock sound and ghetto style would reach both the
street and the substantial white audience, both of which identified with rocks
raw, rebellious attitude (Cepeda 47).
The impact of this new look for Run-DMC can be seen in a photo shoot of
Run-DMCs appearance on the television pilot of Graffiti Rock, a dance show
that was supposed to be a hip hop version of American Bandstand (1952) or
Soul Train (1971). The show was not picked up for a TV run, but the pilot
aired on WPIX Channel 11 in New York City. In one famous picture by
photographer Martha Cooper, rap contemporaries the Treacherous Three
are poised for a freestyle battle with Run-DMC, with a crowd looking on.
Run-DMC virtually leaps off the page with their stylized poses and shiny
leather jackets. They were cool, they were hip, and they were conscious of
always being on camera. Run-DMC gave the feel of already being celebrities,
the if you dont know . . . now you know look. Its no coincidence that
Run-DMCs influence and global reach would cause young people interviewed in Germany six years later to name Run-DMC as the only rap act
to achieve wider recognition in the years between 1984 and 1989. This is one
major reason Run-DMC can be considered the icons icon in hip hop. They
are the preeminent example of a rap group that became so successful as a
commercial brand that they effectively erased from international public memory rap groups that came before, after, or during their time. When you win a
battle as a hip hop icon, you not only beat your competition, you record over
them.
RAISING HELL
Run-DMC responded to the frenzy over their music on record. The title track,
Raising Hell, carried the influence of the Beastie Boys, white boy hip hop
contemporaries and label mates to Run-DMC. Rick Rubin produced the
Beastie Boys classic Licensed to Ill and thus production tracks jumped from
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Icons of Hip Hop
Run-DMC projects to Beastie Boys projects. We learned that punk rock is

just as hip hop as Afrika Bambaataa is. And you can be silly and still be
dope, D said (Coleman 37). The Beastie Boys opened for Run-DMC on tour,
warming up all-black audiences for the pivotal rallying cry, Whose house?
Runs house! The house was actually brought down at one tragic event at a
Run-DMC show in Long Beach, California, in 1986. The group wasnt even
onstage when several gangs decided to fight inside the concert arena. The Los
Angeles Times covered it as a fight between Latino and black street gangs,
which injured thirty peoplesome people were reportedly struck with metal
chairs, wooden sticks, and, in one instance, a fire extinguisher. The fact that
the LA Times put the word rap inside quotation marks in the coverage was
a telltale sign of how the media thought about the music and culturerap
was questionable. According to Russell, gang shootings were happening all
over LA at the time, but because this particular incident happened at a concert
venue, it went from being gang violence to being rap violence.
When concert violence in the late eighties became an issue to the media,
politicians, and parents, Run-DMC was rapping about how kids should go to
school or church. Even back then, with black hats and leather pants on, Russell
said, they were talking about being good and God-fearing. The push by Rush
Management for Run-DMC to rhyme about positive things did little to soothe
the rising insecurities that were fed to the American public by the same television, radio, and press outlets that Run-DMC relied on for their popularity. The
perception of rap violence affected the concert business because it made parents keep their kids from coming out. It also made kids afraid to come out. The
insurance companies and the buildings raised their fees so high that it became
impossible to take tours on the road. This was the angst and artist censorship
from which early gangsta rapper Schoolly D rose in Philadelphia in 1986,
followed by N.W.A. in 1988, and the Death Row camp led by Dr. Dre and
Snoop Dogg in the 1990s. Today in 2006, the popularity of trap rap or rap
glorifying the world of crack cocaine dealing (often occurring in traps, or crack
houses) is banking ironically on the notion of rap violence as a selling point.
Run-DMC showed rappers and fans that there was a way to be hard without
glorifying violence. They dealt, however, with the American media, which
pegged them as dangerous black thugs, especially after the Long Beach event.
Run-DMC witnessed how tenuous and media-dependent iconic status could
be. Oftentimes their media coverage spoke louder than the group. At the height
of the Raising Hell tour, Run-DMCs publicist found the need to distance the
group from the streetfrom the gangs that supported the music since the
groups beginning and who clearly had bought enough tickets for the Long
Beach concert to cause a full-scale riot inside the venue. This careful balance
between catering to the mainstream and to the street, assuaging the police and
the street gangs simultaneously, was and is an art, an art that challenges the
best MCs and managersespecially those who (like Russell Simmons) sought
to produce not rap, but black teenage music led by positive black role models.
PROUD TO BE BLACK
In 1985, while Run-DMC was recording Raising Hell and promising to
overturn American music and celebrity culture, President Ronald Reagan
promised to overturn over 100 years of civil rights achievements. Deindustrialization, crack cocaine, and slashes in funding for public education and
afterschool programs dropped on the block as Reganomics, and Run-DMC
under the tutelage and support of future label mates Public Enemy dropped
the final track on Raising Hell, Proud to Be Black. On this track, RunDMC took seriously their duties as role models, as set out by Russell. DMC
said, We knew that there was power in this music. We could teach,
we could innovate, we could inspire and motivate. We made it cool to
put messages in lyrics (Coleman 34). Notably, few rappers before RunDMC, and certainly none selling at the same level, bragged about going to
college. The group recognized that they could make education cool. In this
way they could make a difference in their Queens neighborhood and around
the world.
Run-DMC said that the song Proud to Be Black was influenced by Public
Enemy, whom they often hung around with. Public Enemy didnt have any
records out, but Run, Jay, and D would still go to their radio station, WBAU
in Long Island, to connect. Chuck D was like a father, mentoring and educating the up-and-coming members of Run-DMC. The group admittedly wanted
to make an album that Chuck would like with Proud to Be Black. The
members of Run-DMC all went to college and Proud to Be Black, they said,
was more about education than about being black. The year 1986 marked a
transition for Run-DMC and for hip hop in general. From the perspective of
Run-DMC at the time, the options in their Hollis neighborhood were either to
be a basketball player or a drug dealer. The question of opportunities for
black males has echoed and re-echoed since Run-DMCs reign. Rappers in
2006 still pose the question to their listeners: Which will it bethe basketball or the crack rock? Even though Run and D werent immersed in street
life, their image as Run-DMCas celebrities who remained connected to the
streets where they grew upgave them a degree of respect in Hollis that was
not afforded other groups.
Many of their friends were convicts, murderers, and drug dealers, but
they remained connected to these people even after the industry success of
the group. Run and D would stand on the corner and smoke weed and
Eric B. & Rakim
efforts but opted to be represented only as a special guest on all branding and
promotional hype (hence the Eric B. featuring Rakim designation printed
on the groups first twelve-inch singles), thereby giving him an opportunity to
bounce out of the venture at will. Purportedly this arrangement caused some
misperceptions as some first-time listeners believed Eric B. to be the MC and
Rakim the DJ. Even more confusingly, the twosome was nearly known as
Eric. B & Freddie Foxxx. When Eric B. was taking applications for MCs,
Foxxx, aka Bumpy Knuckles, was hired for the position but failed to show up
for work on his first day of recording at Marley Marls studio. As designated
rapper, Rakim stepped up to the mic and recorded My Melody and Eric
B. Is President, the first-ever Eric B. & Rakim singles released in the spring of
1986 on Robert Hills Harlem-based indie label, Zakia Records.
Much dispute exists about who in fact was the mastermind behind these
tracks and correspondingly the whole of Eric B. & Rakims production catalogue. Discrepancies abound throughout the engineering credits; the atomic
beatsmith Large Professor, breakologist DJ Mark the 45 King, and the late
and unsung Paul C have laid their claims, and even Rakim himself has lately
claimed to have self-produced the bulk of his repertoire. Although this hip
hop whodunit is of course beyond the scope of this biography, an investigation should doubtless begin with Eric B.s unsuccessful debut as one of the
first MC-producers to come solo on his own 95th Street Recordings label
(Eric B., 1995).
All sources agree that Marley Marl can be credited with arranging and
layering My Melody. He was assisted by his cousin and Queensbridge
champion, MC Shan, who was in the studio when the tracks were recorded
pro bono. Both attempted to hype Rakim in the booth, not recognizing that a
new uber-sedate style of rapping was being birthed right before their ears. The
R may have paid them no mind because his eyes were fixed upon the pages of
his notebook, wherefrom he recited lyrics into the mic that he had conceived
ad libitum only hours before. Musically speaking, both My Melody and
Eric B. Is President were entirely orchestrated by Marley Marl at his workstation; witness the identical drum kit that he used contemporaneously on
MC Shans The Bridge. And while both singles were in no way mixed
down, the roughness of their fluttering vocal distortions and dub-generated
feedback elicited a gritty cacophony of sound that the hip hop street embraced.
PAID IN FULL
The Awesome Two (Special K & Teddy Ted) were the first to broadcast Eric
B. & Rakims inaugural single, Eric B. Is President, on 105.9 WHBI-FM,
and though it barely peaked commercially on Billboards Top R&B Singles
charts, it was celebrated by partygoers as the most danceable track of
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the year. Rakim first heard his song live on the radio from the cracked
window of a parked car. He later recalled that it was at this moment that
he knew the hand of Allah was fixed squarely upon Eric B. & Rakim. He
made the decision then and there to enter the rap game as a professional
player. What had begun as a part-time hobby would flourish into a full-time
career spanning seventeen singles and four albums, three of which would be
certified gold by the RIAA: Paid in Full, Follow the Leader, and Let the
Rhythm Hit Em.
Eric B. & Rakims career played out on fast forward. With the local success
of the first singles, the group was snapped up by 4th & Broadway in the
spring of 1987 to create their seminal flagship LP, Paid in Full. While the
album itself promptly earned a spot on Billboards Top Black Albums chart
and the group a standing on their annual Top Black Artists list, each new Eric
B. & Rakim single was a pret-a`-ecouter classic, and Paid in Full, I Aint
No Joke, and I Know You Got Soul would all be listed on Billboards Top
Hip-Hop Singles charts. Paid in Full was a club hit at home and a discothe`que sensation abroad compliments of a remix by Coldcut titled Seven
Minutes of Madness, the first commercially successful one of its kind. To
Eric B.s extreme dissatisfactionhe referred to the remix as girly disco
the experimental DJ team triaged Paid in Full and merged it with the
strident microtones of Israeli mezzo soprano Ofra Hazas Im Nin Alu.
The remixed cut was soon featured on the soundtrack of the LA gangbangland flick, Colors. The enigmatic electronic group M/A/R/R/S would also
utilize Hazas vocals and a Rakim quotable in their house-adapted acoustical
collage, Pump Up the Volume, a one-off single that was heralded as the
first sample-based number one smash in the UK.
The release of I Know You Got Soul would prove more controversial as
Eric B. & Rakims sampling of James Brown sideman Bobby Byrds I Know
You Got Soul resulted in swift legal action against the group for pirating
material without permission or due compensation. The protracted lawsuit
was one of the first highly profiled copyright infringement cases of a musician
seeking statutory damages from another musician for reappropriating a prior
recording into a new (and admittedly more soulful) composition. Despite all
repercussions, Eric B. & Rakim would continue to raid the legacy cache of
James Brown and Co. In doing so they started the godfather rap vogue;
groups like the Jungle Brothers, Ultramagnetic MCs, and Kool G Rap &
DJ Polo began sampling the rhythm section of the J.B.s. On Talkin All That
Jazz, the original sampling advocate Daddy-O of Stetsasonic would point
out that doing so was mutually beneficial to both the sampler and samplee, as
it revived the careers (and bank accounts) of outmoded and pensioned-off
musicians, predominantly the Godfather of Soul. Brown would later respond
to these rappers on a sample-based song of his own called Im Real, where
he alludes to Eric B. & Rakims I Know You Got Soul and personally calls
out the God, reminding him that James Brown invented soul.
Eric B. & Rakim
Keeping pace with the ensuing successes of Paid in Full, Eric B. & Rakim
were sprinting with Marley Marl and his illustrious Juice Crew, booking gigs
through their manager Tyrone Fly Ty Williams and performing their resouled rap arias in some of New Yorks most respected hip hop venues such as
Latin Quarter, Union Square, and the Roxy, where ecstatic fans tossed rolledup dollar bills on stage to pay their entertainers to the fullest. Positive reaction
to the group was such that stewardship of their business portfolio was swiftly
turned over to Rush Management and up-and-coming rap moguls Lyor
Cohen and Russell Simmons. The latter was introduced to the group by
Rakims brother Ronnie, who played the keyboard for Raps first mainstream
artist, Kurtis Blow, a Rush client. Over 750,000 units moved and Eric B. &
Rakim would consolidate their marketability by shopping their sophomore
album to MCA for a 1 million-dollar long-term recording contract, a firsttime anomaly in the rap industry and a half million more than Island would
offer the group to stay with their 4th & Broadway imprint. This meteoric rise
to fame and fortune struck Eric B. & Rakim completely unprepared. Though
Eric B. seemed at ease mobbing a ghostly Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow with
Gucci interior and Rakim a white-on-white Mercedes-Benz with a landau top
by Louis Vuitton, a $15,000 sound system, and a custom Euro-plate on his
front bumper that read BENZINO, the R also found himself standing in line
for a century-old brownstone mansion. Paid to the fullest, Eric B. & Rakim
geared up to lead their listeners into the age of modern rap with Follow the
Leader, their second album.
FOLLOW THE LEADER

As the New York Times reported that rap music and hip hop culture were
hijacking mainstream America in the late 1980s, fans telephoned their favorite radio stations and hit the request line for the next single from Eric B. &
Rakim. The R heard the call and blessed his followers with Microphone
Fiend, a verse to end all verses. His delivery is a ticking clock of intensity as
he confronts a serial addiction to dopeness and spits his autobiography over
sixty-nine consecutive bars of pure, unadulterated heat. This cut cinched
Rakims status as the greatest of all time among his contemporaries. Other
singles followed suit: The R, a lecture on rapping, and Follow the Leader, an event horizon that defined the stock in trade of the rap soloist. The
latter single was nominated one of Melody Makers singles of the year for
1988 and would gain a peak position on the Billboards Top Hip-Hop Singles
chart.
A dozen or so singles off the previous and subsequent Eric B. & Rakim
albums were translated into videos. And Follow the Leader, the first rap
video epic and period piece of the new televised world of hip hop, would
premiere on the pilot episode of Yo! MTV Raps in 1988. Throughout Eric B.
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& Rakims video productions, the R took on myriad personas: imam, dictator, politician, racketeer, businessman, soldier, celebrity, playboy, baller, fugitive, and rap star. Eric B. was contented playing the background and
standing sentinel as DJ and hip hop strongman. Aside from two-toned FILA
tracksuits, throwback hoodies, and an endless wardrobe of leather and suede
gear, Eric B. & Rakim were most often filmed rocking their aureate trunk
jewelry, custom designed by Jacob the Jeweler (diamond setter to the rap
stars), and those ghetto-fabulous, faux-Gucci leather getups that were tailor-made by twenty-four-hour-a-day Harlem couturier Dapper Dans, who
was incidentally the go-to spot for the groups designer upholstery. As they
matured as artists and men, later videos and photo shoots presented the two
modeling Italian sport coats, Coogie sweaters, and Nehru-collared shirts.
Eric B. & Rakim could also reinvent themselves on the pop/R&B catwalk.
Their hip-pop crossover duet with label mate Jody Watley, Friends, initially
slated for Will Smith, catapulted Eric B. & Rakim into Top 10 rankings for
the first and last time on both Billboard Pop and R&B singles charts during an
era when rap music received less than modest radio play. With a respectful
Kangol tip to Chaka Khan and Melle Mel and their Grammy winner I Feel
for You, the success of the Eric B. & Rakim and Jody Watley team-up, as
well as Rakims duet with English vocalist Mica Paris on her Contribution LP
in 1990, would make permanent the now-formulaic pop/R&B singer X featuring rapper X prerequisite for a Billboard chart-topper. Eric B. & Rakim
would never again touch the mainstream. Nonetheless they would come close
with their amatory Whats on Your Mind track for the House Party 2
soundtrack.
The group also recorded two jingles for the malt liquor St. Ides, Real
Mens Drink and Get Some, that were aired with some frequency on
major R&B stations until the 8.2% alcohol by volume malt liquor became
embroiled in controversy and their advertising banned from the radio.
Even more contentious was Rakims open endorsement of the Crooked
I. As a devout Muslim, he was obliged to abstain from all things alcoholic and his community responded reproachfully to his willful and dubious associations with Pabst Brewing Company. His response to the
criticism was dismissive and unapologetic, and Rakim Allah would later
elevate himself from the cooler to the top shelf as the new hip hop face of
Hennessy.
Eric B. and Rakim took a surprising two-year breather at the top of their
game, precisely when they had gained a wider audience and appeal on both
sides of the railway. Rakim stepped away from the studio to mourn the deaths
of his father and good friend Paul C. McKasty, the white whiz kid music
engineer who was in the process of teaching him how to freak the SP-1200 for
Eric B. & Rakims upcoming Let the Rhythm Hit Em LP. Paul C. was
murdered in his sleep by unknown assailants for unknown reasons and Rakim
honored his memory by placing his senior snapshot next to a photo of
Icons of Hip Hop
92
and organized a series of concerts in support of Tibet. With Licensed to Ill,

they built a new sound from Run-DMCs merger of rap and hard rock that
would become a blueprint for future rap-rock acts such as Limp Bizkit, Korn,
and Linkin Park (see sidebar: Hip hop and Rock), but they abandoned this
sound to consistently experiment with new forms of music. They were the
Hip Hop and Rock

Mickey Hess
Rap and rock music first merged with Rick Rubins production on Def Jam
albums. Def Jam promoted Run-DMCs rock-based sound in singles like King
of Rock and Rock Box. Before Run-DMC, hip hop tracks had been constructed primarily using R&B, soul, jazz, and funk records. The blending of rap
and rock propelled Run-DMC to MTV airplay for audiences that consisted of
rock listeners, and prompted a new wave of crossover hits from groups like the
Beastie Boys, who picked up on Run-DMCs formula. Another Def Jam group,
Public Enemy, was included in Spin Magazines list of the top 100 punk groups
of all time.
In 1984, Run-DMC took their use of rock music further in their collaboration
with Aerosmith on Walk This Way. The song is essentially a cover of Aerosmiths 1975 original with the addition of Jam Master Jays scratching and with
the verses rapped instead of sung. Aerosmiths Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
contributed vocals and guitar to the song, and appeared in the video, in which
Run-DMC and Aerosmith practice in two separate rooms with only a thin wall
between them. The groups play louder and louder until Tyler ultimately breaks
through the wall, signaling the end of a split between the worlds of rap and
rock.
In the early 1990s, DJ Muggs picked up where Rick Rubin left off, incorporating sounds and styles from alternative rock into his production for the
groups Cypress Hill, House of Pain, and Funkdoobiest. Butch Vig, who produced Nirvanas seminal record Nevermind and founded the band Garbage,
remixed House of Pains Shamrocks and Shenanigans. This new blend of
alternative rock and hip hop was showcased on the soundtrack of the 1993
film Judgment Night, which was an experiment in collaborations between rap
and alternative rock groups. The soundtrack mostly paired alternative rock
groups with rap groups. It featured Cypress Hill backed by Sonic Youth and
Pearl Jam, Sir Mix-A-Lot backed by Mudhoney, Del the Funky Homosapien
backed by Dinosaur Jr., and De La Soul backed by Teenage Fanclub.
Such collaborations paved the way for a new sound called rap-rock. In the
late 1990s, rap-rock came to describe groups like Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and
Bloodhound Gang, rock bands who employed the hip hop elements of turntables and rap vocals in their music. Limp Bizkits Fred Durst and Bloodhound
Gangs Jimmy Pop Ali alternatively sing and rap on albums, while Linkin Park
uses two vocalists: one singer and one MC. All three bands use DJs, who bring
Beastie Boys
in hip hop scratching with the bands traditional bass, drums, keyboard, and
guitar. Rock bands Sublime and Korn also employ DJs. While early records
from Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys acknowledged rocks influence on hip
hop sounds, these newer bands brought hip hops influence into rock. Often,
the lines blurred between rock and rap acts. Kid Rock released hip hop albums
and toured with Too Short before he hit it big with a signature rap-rock sound
that brought hip hop into play with Southern rock and even country music.
Limp Bizkit featured DJ Lethal, formerly of the white rap group House of Pain.
Everlast, former MC from House of Pain, released a rock album called Whitey
Ford Sings the Blues.
first white breakthrough act, and maintained credibility after Vanilla Ices
discrediting and throughout Eminems success.
When Eminem released The Slim Shady LP in 1999, he had to contend with
the discredited image of Vanilla Ice, the white rapper who had lied about his
background in the official bio he released to the press. Attempting to match
the biographies of his black contemporaries in hip hop, Vanilla Ice claimed he
had grown up in the streets rather than the suburbs (see sidebar: Vanilla Ice).
The scandal over Ices fake bio reduced the hip hop credibility of white MCs.
Eminem describes in his lyrics his struggle for acceptance as a white hip hop
artist, even as he admits that his identity gains him a wider audience among
white listeners. While he makes clear that he is not another Vanilla Ice, he
claims to have been mistaken for a Beastie Boy by a fan. Five years before
Vanilla Ice released his debut album, To the Extreme, a white hip hop group,
the Beastie Boys, shared a stage with Run-DMC and Public Enemy. The
Beastie Boys career spans over twenty years. They survived the Vanilla Ice
scandal, influenced Eminem, and remain one of hip hops best-loved groups.
They are recognized as hip hop icons, not as white rappers who made it.
The Beastie Boys are Mike D (Michael Diamond, born November
20, 1965), MCA (Adam Yauch, born August 5, 1964), and Adrock (Adam
Horovitz, born October 31, 1966). The Beastie Boys music career began in
1979, when fourteen-year-old singer Michael Diamond formed a hard-core
punk group called the Young Aborigines with guitarist John Berry and drummer Kate Schnellenbach. In 1981, bassist Adam Yauch joined the group,
which was then renamed B.E.A.S.T.I.E. Boys (the name is an acronym for
Boys Entering Anarchistic States Through Internal Excellence). The Beastie
Boys played their first show on Yauchs seventeenth birthday. This original
lineup released one album, 1982s Pollywog Stew, on the independent New
York punk label Ratcage. The Beastie Boys also were featured on the Ratcage
compilation New York Thrash. While Diamond and Yauch founded the
group, the third member of the lineup for which the Beastie Boys are best
known is Adam Horovitz, who first played in another punk band called
the Young and the Useless, who would open shows for the Beastie Boys.
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Icons of Hip Hop
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Vanilla Ice
Mickey Hess
Although Vanilla Ice was not the first white artist to achieve crossover success
with hip hop (the Beastie Boys preceded him in 1986 and 3rd Bass in 1989),
his performance marked the first time a rap artist had used being white as a
gimmick. Vanilla Ice was marketed as a white artist who maintained credibility
in the black community. The name Vanilla Ice and the title of his first single,
Play That Funky Music (White Boy), played on the fact that Vanilla Ice was
white, while his official artist biography from SBK Records claimed that Ice had
a criminal background and gang affiliation. The bio even claimed that he had
been stabbed in a gang fight. Ices biography seemed to fit with the stories of
many black gangsta rap artists who were his contemporaries, but his true
background was revealed by Ken Parish Perkins of the Dallas Morning News,
who on November 18, 1990, published a story that disproved much of what
SBK had claimed about Ice. According to Perkins, SBK press materials portray
a colorful teen-age background full of gangs, motorcycles and rough-andtumble street life in lower-class Miami neighborhoods, culminating with his
success in a genre dominated by young black males (1A). In reality, Rob Van
Winkle, who performed as Vanilla Ice, spent his teen years primarily in the
Dallas suburbs and was not as involved with crime as his bio had claimed.
After the media scandal surrounding his fake bio, as well as related scandals
over his sampling of the Queen and David Bowie song Under Pressure for
his hit single Ice Ice Baby, and his borrowing the chorus chant from an
African American fraternity, Vanilla Ice has never produced another album to
break the Top 40. On 1998s Hard to Swallow, he switched his style to the raprock sounds of groups like Limp Bizkit and Korn, who were selling well at the
time. Even with this change, he has never been able to live down his Vanilla Ice
persona. He recorded a rap-rock cover of his hit Ice Ice Baby, and he most
recently resurfaced as a reality television star, appearing on the WBs The
Surreal Life, a show that groups former celebrities as roommates, and on
NBCs Hit Me Baby One More Time, on which one-hit wonders compete in
performing their old songs. On an episode of The Surreal Life, Vanilla Ice
complained about hip hop fans not being able to forget his debut album
and subsequent discrediting. He spray-painted over artwork depicting his
image from 1990, saying, Die.
Further Resources
Hess, Mickey. Hip-Hop Realness and the White Performer. Critical Studies in
Media Communication 22.5 (2005): 372389.
Perkins, Ken Parish. Under Raps: Hot Pop Vocalist Vanilla Ice Shrugs Off
Conflicting Versions of His Background. Dallas Morning News 18 November
1990. 1A.
Beastie Boys
These bands were heavily influenced by the energy of punk bands Bad Brains,
Black Flag, and Reagan Youth. These punk roots would serve the Beastie
Boys well in bringing a distinct energy to hip hop, a fusion of punk chaos,
rock excess, and hip hop lyricism. Later in their career, the group would use
their punk roots to gain credibility in the alternative rock era of the early
1990s, when groups like Sonic Youth and Nirvana brought punk and its
influence back into the mainstream. The Beastie Boys would rerelease their
punk albums as a compilation titled Some Old Bullshit, record new punk
tracks for their albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication, and release
an EP of all-new punk tracks, Aglio E Olio.
After Horovitz joined the group in 1983, the Beastie Boys released an EP,
Cookie Puss, which moved away from the punk styles of their first record and
toward the emerging genre of rap. Cookie Puss also indicated the humor the
Beasties would bring to hip hop. The title track set a prank phone call to a
Carvell ice cream shop to a beat. The EP also featured a reggae track, Beastie
Revolution, which British Airways borrowed for use in a television commercial, prompting the Beastie Boys to sue. The group won $40,000 in this copyright lawsuit, but in the years to come, they would become the defendants in
sampling lawsuits from artists like Jimmy Castor and James Newton.
As teenagers in the music scene in New York City in the early 1980s, the
Beastie Boys were exposed to the tail end of punks heyday, as well as the new
sounds of Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, and Kool Herc. They played
at the legendary punk club Maxs Kansas City on its last night in business, and
Public Enemy played some of its first shows opening for the Beastie Boys.
Their position on the border of these two music movements allowed the
Beastie Boys to create a distinctive sound, borrowing and adapting the sounds
and styles they liked from both punk and hip hop. The Beastie Boys met Rick
Rubin, a white producer who was making hip hop records in his dorm room
at New York University. Rubin, along with Russell Rush Simmons,
founded Def Jam Records, the label that signed Simmonss brothers group
Run-DMC, as well as T La Rock, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, and other burgeoning stars. The Def Jam sound was distinctive because of Rubins use of
hard rock drums, bass, and guitar, as opposed to the funk, R&B, and soul bass
lines from which other hip hop records were mostly built. The Sugarhill Gang,
for instance, had hit it big with Rappers Delight, with a bass line sampled
from Chics Good Times. Rather than sampling from Kool and the Gang,
James Brown, and Parliament Funkadelic, Rubin constructed hip hop tracks
using AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and live guitar from Def Jams resident metal
band, Slayer. Rubin worked initially as part of the Beastie Boys stage show, as
DJ Double R, but he soon left behind the turntables to work primarily in the
production booth. Onstage he was replaced by a DJ named Dr. Dre, who
would go on to cohost Yo! MTV Raps, a pivotal TV series in widening
hip hops fan base (Dr. Dre should not be confused with the Dr. Dre who
founded N.W.A. and pioneered the West Coast gangsta rap sound). In the
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Icons of Hip Hop
96
studio, Rubins production proved key to defining the Beastie Boys sound,
and influential to the future of hip hop (see sidebar: Def Jam Records Today).
In 1984, Def Jam released the Beasties Rock Hard EP. This record featured
the first Beastie Boys songs that could be classified as true hip hop. Their vocal
Def Jam Records Today

Mickey Hess
Def Jam, one of the first hip hop labels to produce a steady stream of crossover
hits, was founded by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons. Originally, the label was
run out of Rubins NYU dorm room, but with the success of groups like RunDMC, the Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J, Def Jam soon became an industry
powerhouse. However, this sudden rise to success took its toll on Def Jam. The
Beastie Boys left the label after only one album, citing contract disputes and
their mistrust of Simmons and Rubin. Later that same year, Rubin left Def Jam
as well to form his own label, Def American.
Def American shifted its interests, releasing fewer hip hop albums than rock
and heavy metal. On August 27, 1993, Rubin celebrated the Death of Def by
conducting a funeral for the hip hop slang term def, which was over ten years
old and which had become so popular that it was included in the tenth edition
of Websters New Collegiate Dictionary. Rubin retitled his label American Recordings and went on to release a 1994 comeback album, also titled American
Recordings, by country music legend Johnny Cash, introducing the Man in
Black to a new generation of listeners via the music video for Deliahs Gone.
Before Cashs death in 2003, Rubin worked with him on two more albums,
1996s Unchained and 2003s American IV: The Man Comes Around. Working
with Rubin, Cash covered Nine Inch Nails Hurt, Soundgardens Rusty
Cage, and Becks Rowboat, among others. Rubin also released two notable
hip hop albums on American Recordings: Kwest tha Madd Ladds This Is My First
Album (1996), and Milks Never Dated (1994), which featured a guest appearance from Ad-Rock on Spam. In 2004, Rubin reemerged from the studio to
appear in the video for Jay-Zs 99 Problems, a song Rubin produced.
Russell Simmons, in the meantime, continued to run Def Jam Records and
became an entertainment mogul, expanding from music to produce HBOs
Def Comedy Jam and Def Poetry Jam, franchising def while Rubin retired it.
Simmons launched a clothing line called Phat Pharm and worked with his
wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, to produce a womens line, Baby Phat.
Today, Def Jam continues to be a viable label and brand. They have released
important albums by Method Man, Redman, Ghostface Killah, and Lil Kim.
Sony Playstation produced two video games, Def Jam Battle and Def Jam:
Fight for New York, which feature current Def Jam artists as boxers. Currently,
Jay-Z is Def Jams CEO, and its sister label, Def Jam South, is headed by
Scarface of the Geto Boys.
Beastie Boys
styles had developed in the direction of their mentors Run-DMC, but Ad-Rock,
Mike D, and MCA, as Horovitz, Diamond, and Yauch now called themselves,
added their own touches. They adopted Run-DMCs manner of rapping hard,
shouting or spitting each line so that each word sounded crisp and distinct,
rather than delivering the smoother, almost singsong vocals of earlier MCs
from Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, and the Furious Five. Like Run-DMC, the
Beasties often joined together to belt out the last word of a line, giving their rap
extra emphasis. Listening to Run-DMCs song Is It Live? and the Beastie
Boys Rhymin and Stealin highlights this technique. Another vocal influence can be heard in Run-DMCs My Adidas, where DMC whines
Nowwww between lines. Ad-Rock would adapt this whine on the song
Paul Revere, which begins, Nowwww, heres a little story that I gots to
tell. This nasal glide is something the Beastie Boys would make their own on
Licensed to Ill. Their voices weave in and out of each other, each of them
contributing to a line, rather than delivering separate verses. On The New
Style, they incorporated a barbershop quartet feel to the final verse, with two
members mock-harmonizing as the other MC delivered his verse. This was a
flow they would abandon on Check Your Head, where they tended to alternate
verses, and return to on To the Five Boroughs, intermingling their vocals again.
Onstage during their 1998 Ill Communication tour, the Beastie Boys often
recited the chorus from the Nice & Smooth song Harmonize, chanting
This is the way we harmonize between their own verses.
Along with their records, energetic live concerts have always been a part of
the Beastie Boys appeal. At the beginning of their hip hop career, the Beastie
Boys toured with Run-DMC as well as Madonna during her Like a Virgin
tour. Madonna, who kicked the Boys off her tour because they became too
rowdy for the young girls who made up a large part of her fan base, claims she
remembers making out with Adam Yauch in a dressing room. The Beastie
Boys showcased their live performance style in an appearance in Krush
Groove, a 1985 film dedicated to showcasing Def Jams stable of talent:
Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, Fat Boys, and LL Cool J. The film depicted the rise
of Def Jam amid the seedy nightclubs and shady business dealings of raps
early days as a commercial form. The Beastie Boys also appeared in the RunDMC film Tougher Than Leather (1988), which is noteworthy for Beastie
Boys fans because they perform Desperado, a song not released anywhere
else. This song features an early version of the dramatic pause the Beasties
would incorporate into songs like The New Style, Intergalactic, and Chcheck It Out. On Desperado, the music stops in mid-song, and Mike D
begins his verse a capella: M-I-K-E-D-E-E-E.
The Beastie Boys built from the rhyme styles of Run-DMC, and credit Run,
DMC, and Jam Master Jay for their contributions to the Licensed to Ill
album. In 1986, though, the Beastie Boys emerged from Run-DMCs shadow.
Run-DMC had proven hip hops potential for continued crossover success
with their albums King of Rock (1985) and Raising Hell (1986), and now the
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Beastie Boys emerged with their breakthrough album Licensed to Ill. The
Beastie Boys were significant in extending Run-DMCs fusion of rap and
rock, and also as the first white hip hop group to achieve commercial success.
The Beastie Boys have acknowledged their debt to Run-DMC in several interviews and in the liner notes to their CD anthology The Sounds of Science,
where MCA describes watching Run-DMC record vocals in the studio and
being amazed (6). Slow and Low, a track on Licensed to Ill, was a Run
DMC song that the group had chosen to leave off their King of Rock album.
Yauch asked if the Beastie Boys could record it for Licensed to Ill, and admits
that they only changed two lines of the lyrics. Run-DMC is also credited with
coming up with the idea to reverse the drum track on Paul Revere, giving
the song a distinctive backward sound. In 2005, at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors, the Beastie Boys paid tribute to the influence of their mentors and Def
Jam label mates, Run-DMC.
The Beasties made their mark with Def Jam Records, recording Licensed to
Ill under the supervision of Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons, and Run-DMC.
Beyond helping to shape their sound, Def Jam was influential in developing
the Beastie Boys image, as they adopted frat-boy personas that fit with the
hard rock music Rubin brought to their records. This image is most prominent on Licensed to Ills first and biggest-selling single, the seminal (You
Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party), and it is an image the Boys have
worked hard to live down. The Beasties became involved with hip hop just as
it was becoming a viable business and producing consistent crossover songs.
Their affiliation with Run-DMC, Russell Simmons, and Def Jam gave them
credibility, and their pranks and personas made them fun and accessible, and
just edgy enough to piss off your parents.
While it is tempting to see raps first white superstars as ready-made for
crossover success, there are different accounts of the role race played in the
Beasties reception. Nelson George credits Licensed to Ill with creating a
racial chauvinism . . . making the Beasties the first whites (but hardly the
last) to be accused of treading on 100 percent black turf (66). At the same
time, George contends that rap culture never was exclusively black culture,
that it was never solely African-American created, owned, controlled, and
consumed (57). In one incident in the 1980s, the Boys themselves seemed
almost ignorant of their minority status. Former Beastie DJ Dr. Dre told Spin
magazine about a Beastie Boys performance at New Yorks Apollo Theater,
during which Ad-Rock yelled to the crowd, All you niggers wave your hands
in the air! (Light 153). Although this type of crowd incitement is common
for hip hop artists, Dr. Dre claims he could feel an immediate cooling in the
audiences reception of the Beasties, who were so much a part of hip hop
culture that in the excitement of performing they forgot they were still outsiders. Dre says that the Beasties used the term not maliciously, but out of
warmth for their audience (Light 153). Dre claims the incident is recorded
on videotape, but the Beasties maintain that Dre made up the story.Whether
Beastie Boys
true or not, the incident became a footnote to the Beastie Boys long history of
acceptance in hip hop.
The Beastie Boys interaction with black artists has been key to their career.
DMC and Q-Tip agree that the Beastie Boys have maintained fans acceptance
because they dont try to be black (McDaniels and Kunz 84). They focus on
who they are. Yet even as they dont focus on their white identities by making it
a gimmick, as Vanilla Ice did with his name and his first single, Play That
Funky Music (White Boy), the Beastie Boys do address racism. On Pauls
Boutique, for example, they challenged racism on two songs, Lookin Down
the Barrel of a Gun and B-Boy Bouillabaisse. For the majority of their
career, the Beastie Boys have performed onstage with a black DJ: first with
Dr. Dre, and then with DJ Hurricane, a bodyguard for Run-DMC who joined
the Beastie Boys for their Licensed to Ill tour and remained with the group
through 1994s Ill Communication, after which he left to record a solo album,
Tha Hurra, showing his skills as a rap vocalist as well as a DJ. Hurricane had
previously recorded in side projects with Davy D (aka Davy DMX) and the
Afros. His departure from the Beastie Boys was amicable; the three Beastie
Boys guest starred on Hurricanes debut album on the song Four Fly Guys.
After Hurricane left the group, Adam Yauch recruited Mixmaster Mike of
the California DJ crew the Invisibl Skratch Piklz for the 1998 album Hello
Nasty. Mixmaster Mike rounded out the group with two Adams and two
Mikes, and was best introduced to Beastie Boys fans on the track Three MCs
and One DJ. Hello Nasty marked the return of the Beastie Boys to New
York, after living in Los Angeles for nearly a decade and recording three
albums there. This move is significant for hip hop, where regional and coastal
boundaries are carefully drawn (see Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. for
more background on the East Coast versus West Coast beef of the 1990s).
The Beastie Boys are among a select few groups (such as Too $hort and Tha
Alkaholiks) to move across the United States and maintain their fan base, and
one of the only groups to move back to their roots in midcareer.
Even with their long stint in California, New York is at the heart of the
Beastie Boys. It is often erroneously reported that the Beastie Boys grew up in
white suburbia. While they may have opened up white suburban listeners to
hip hop, taking the torch from Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys show their New
York City roots in their lyrics. Ad-Rock reminds the listener, Im from
Manhattan on Hold It Now, Hit It. Adam Yauch traces his lineage back
to Ellis Island on the song Do It, and on B-Boy Bouillabaisse Mike D
rhymes, I live in the Village. Growing up in New York City gave the Beastie
Boys an eclectic view of culture, musical and otherwise. Their access to the
developing hip hop scene allowed the Beastie Boys to create a style of music
all their own, blending the styles of Run-DMC, T La Rock, Busy Bee, and
other hip hop forerunners with the New York City punk scene that was on
the wane as hip hop was on the rise. The Beastie Boys are icons because they
have taken hip hop in so many directions while at the same time keeping
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their music true to the foundations of hip hop culture. Their role in the early
days of commercial hip hop was balanced by their musical credibility and
their work with artists such as Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Biz Markie, A Tribe
Called Quest, and De La Soul.
LICENSED TO ILL
Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA grew up in New York City, but Licensed to Ill
brought rap to the suburbs. Their first MTV video was Shes on It, a song
that appeared on their Rock Hard EP and on the Krush Groove soundtrack in
1985, but it was their second video, 1986s (You Gotta) Fight for Your
Right (To Party) that would make the Beastie Boys famous. With its electric
guitar riff and joking message of middle-class teenage empowerment, Fight
for Your Right was poised to extend the connections between rap and rock
culture that were begun by Run-DMC. With lyrics about not wanting to go to
school, being caught smoking, and having porno magazines confiscated by
parents, the Beastie Boys tapped into a widening hip hop audience whose
experiences were far removed from the crime-ridden New York City streets
depicted in songs like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Fives The Message. The Fight for Your Right video borrowed a jocks-versus-nerds
theme from 1980s teen movies, with the Beastie Boys playing the jocks. It
opened with parents leaving and urging their two nerdy sons to behave
themselves during their absence. The boys plan to invite friends over for soda
and pie, hoping no bad people show up. But there are the Beasties, initiating a
pie fight, smashing the television with a sledge hammer, pouring Spanish fly
in the punch, and setting a copy of Popular Mechanics on fire, while someone
is reading it. The Beasties brought punks energy and rocks excess to rap
music. Concerts on the Licensed to Ill tour featured female dancers in cages, a
giant gyrating penis, and a flood of Budweiser that recalled the stage shows of
hard rock groups like Motley Crue. Yet the B-Boys also featured stage diving
from the world of punk. The Hold It Now Hit It music video shows live
footage of MCA performing his signature stage dive, the Fosberry Flop.
Licensed to Ill became raps biggest-selling album, outselling Beastie mentors Run-DMC. With Run-DMC, rap music had entered heavy rotation on
MTV, and the Beastie Boys were primed for this same success. Wearing a
Volkswagen hood ornament around his neck, Mike D created his own version
of Run-DMCs hip hop fashion. Run-DMC built an image from their trademark leather jackets, fedoras, and untied Adidas sneakers; Mike D sparked an
international crime spree, causing fans across the globe to steal hood ornaments from Volkswagens. Volkswagen even issued a statement urging kids
not to steal their logo and offering to mail them a free ornament upon request.
Vocally, the B-Boys were distinctive as well. Ad-Rocks nasal delivery has
been called a distinctively white vocal style, but in the early 1990s he
Beastie Boys
considered collaborating with African American MCs Q-Tip (of A Tribe

Called Quest) and JuJu (of the Beatnuts) to form a side group called the
Nasal Poets. Ad-Rocks vocal style influenced high-pitched MCs such as Sir
Mix-a-Lot, B-Real of Cypress Hill, SonDoobie, and Insane Clown Posse,
who would go on to dis the Beastie Boys in their lyrics. With label mates
and mentors Run-DMC ahead of them, and producer Rick Rubin connecting
rap with rock on King of Rock, the Beasties took hip hop uptown. They
rhymed about renting blue tuxedos for the prom and breaking into classmates lockers. They set the stage for high schoolfocused singles to come,
like DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Princes Parents Just Dont Understand, De
La Souls Me Myself and I video, and Young MCs Principals Office,
not to mention teen and child rap groups Kriss Kross and Another Bad
Creation. A younger market was buying hip hop records, and their material
caught the eyes of the kids. The Beastie Boys rhymed about high school, the
prom, and dealing with parents, as well as becoming rap stars. They made
their music accessible to a new audience. Part of Licensed to Ills appeal
came from a mix of teen-focused subject matter and shock value. The B-Boys
rhymed about getting busted for smoking and being told to turn down their
loud music, but they also boasted about carrying weapons and smoking
angel dust.
The Beastie Boys were managed by hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, the
brother of Run from Run-DMC. Simmons would go on to expand his record
label to create Def Jam South and to develop HBOs Def Comedy Jam, Def
Poetry Jam. The Beasties associated closely with Run-DMC. Their track
Slow and Low was a Run-DMC song given to the Beasties. Run suggested
that they flip the drums backward on Paul Revere. Musically, Licensed to
Ill was built, like much of Run-DMCs music, largely from hard rock, Led
Zeppelin, and AC/DC. The album opens with a sampled drumbeat from Led
Zeppelins When the Levee Breaks, and features guitar work from Kerry
King of the heavy metal group Slayer, who appeared in the video for No
Sleep til Brooklyn. Lyrically, they referenced punk songs like the Sex Pistols
Friggin in the Riggin, rhymed about watching Columbo, eating Chef Boyardee, and having more rhymes than Phyllis Diller.
Lyrically, Licensed to Ill was a precursor to gangsta rap. There is a lot of
debate over where the gangsta subgenre originated, but certain Licensed to Ill
lyrics, if they dont constitute a gangsta rap album, certainly anticipated the
popularity of songs about gun play, drug use, and promiscuity. While N.W.A.
popularized the term gangsta as well as the musical style and lyrical content
that would characterize the West Coast gangsta sound, Ice-T lays claim to
inventing the form with his song Six in the Morning, but Philadelphias
Schoolly D claims he did it first on the East Coast. The Beastie Boys were fans
of Schoolly D and were influenced by his style. Mike D is seen wearing a
Schoolly D T-shirt in a Ricky Powell photograph, and the B-Boys played a
concert in Philadelphia with Schoolly D and Just-Ice. The older, wiser Beastie
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Boys may not want credit for their contributions to the development of gangsta
rap, but Licensed was one of the first albums to promote gun play, drug use,
and cartoonish violence to listeners in the mainstream. In fact, N.W.A.s EazyE frequently sampled Licensed to Ill on his albums. If the gangsta style is
characterized by its macho pose, its depictions of everyday acts of violence,
and using women, money, and guns as status symbols, then Licensed to Ill is a
gangsta rap record. Yet while Eazy-E and N.W.A. claimed to live the criminal
lifestyle they depicted in their lyrics, the Beastie Boys have long said that they
were writing fictional stories in their lyrics. MCA said in a 2006 interview, I
think most people know its a goof (Martens). In the rap era before Vanilla
Ice, who was discredited for having falsified his biography so he could claim to
be a criminal, many MCs wrote lyrics that lay closer to fantasy than fact. The
mix of violent and silly lyrics on Licensed to Ill makes listeners question how
literally to take the Beastie Boys. They talked about smoking angel dust,
sniffing glue, packing .22 automatics, and shooting people at parties, as well
as high school pranks like giving people swirlies and breaking into someones
locker to smash his glasses. Licensed to Ills blend of cartoonish and graphic
violence would influence the Beatnuts, Cypress Hill, Redman, and Ill Bill. But
it was before C. Delores Tucker, the PMRC, and the Parental Advisory
stickers. In the Beasties lyrics, these stories came off as fantasy, even as they
rhymed about shooting people and taking hard-core drugs.
Listeners must remember, though, that Licensed to Ill was toned down
before its release. The version of Licensed to Ill that made it to record stores
had been changed significantly: The title was originally Dont Be a Faggot,
and in an era when hip hop was overwhelmingly antidrug, the Beasties
original lyrics had celebrated crack cocaine. Before the album hit shelves,
the Beasties removed the line I smoke my crack from Rhymin and Stealin. They removed the track Scenario, which also included a reference to
smoking crack and was later heard in the film Pump Up the Volume. The
Web site Beastiemania.com reports that after the Beastie Boys parted ways
with Def Jam, the label recruited Public Enemys Chuck D to produce a
Beastie Boys album called The White House, working from tracks like Scenario and Desperado that the Boys had recorded but not released.
Although the existence of a Chuck D-produced album has never been proven,
several of these tracks, in their original forms, have been bootlegged on
releases such as Original Ill, or uploaded on music-sharing Web sites.
Even with these omissions, Licensed to Ill depicted an adolescent male
fantasy world, somewhere between punk rocks energy and fraternity films
like Animal House, somewhere between arena rocks excess and punks playfulness. Their home video and tour booklet from Licensed to Ill celebrates the
rock star lifestyle: hotel pranks, trashing rooms, groupies. The video shows
them dumping water on sleeping reporters, pouring honey on groupies, and
signing breasts with a magic marker. They were known for showcasing a
giant inflatable penis onstage. Ad-Rock was arrested in England after a fan
Beastie Boys
accused him of using a baseball bat to hit a beer bottle into the audience.
Making an even greater impression on England, the Beastie Boys refused to
sign autographs one afternoon, leading the Daily Mirror to run the headline
Pop Idols Sneer at Dying Kids. Their antics are documented in the Licensed
to Ill Tour Video and the Official Licensed to Ill Tourbook. This was a
lifestyle the Beasties would work hard to live down in their later music. As
gangsta rap became hip hops biggest-selling subgenre, the artists became
concerned with being real, which is to say actually living the lifestyle
promoted in lyrics. Yet the Beasties have talked openly about their construction of personas on Licensed to Ill. As MCA says in the Sounds of Science
liner notes, though, with their success they slowly became the characters they
played: drunken, prank-playing frat boys. While they would change their
personas on Pauls Boutique, they would retain some of the elements of
Licensed to Ill. Ultimately, though, they began a pattern of change and evolution, both in terms of music and persona.
PAULS BOUTIQUE
The Beastie Boys split with Def Jam in 1988. Having broken away from
their producer Rick Rubin and manager Russell Simmons, as well as the
thriving Def Jam label itself, the Beasties found themselves looking for new
musical direction. In the three years between the 1986 release of Licensed to
Ill and their 1989 follow-up, Pauls Boutique, the three Beastie Boys explored other artistic outlets. Adam Horovitz moved from New York to Los
Angeles and landed a role in the film Lost Angels (1989). In this film, as
well as 1992s Roadside Prophets, in which Horovitz costarred with punk
icon John Doe, he played a troubled teen. His bandmates, meanwhile, were
playing music with side projects while taking a break from the Beastie Boys
after the grueling schedule of the Licensed to Ill world tour. MCA recorded
music in a side project with Bad Brains Darryl Jennifer, a friend from the
Beasties punk days. Mike D performed with a group called Flophouse
Society.
After Diamond and Yauch joined Horovitz in Los Angeles in 1988, the
Beastie Boys signed with Capitol Records and began working on their next
album. They sought out LA producers the Dust Brothers, who would produce
crossover radio hits for Tone Loc and Young MC. The Dust Brothers created
a denser, more sample-laden sound for the Beasties, although it did not
translate to crossover hits. The Beastie Boys began rhyming over tracks that
the Dust Brothers had intended to stand alone as instrumentals, tracks that
were built from a collage of samples rather than the simpler beats and loops
employed by Rubin on Licensed to Ill. The Beasties were already known for
the eclectic mix of pop culture references in their lyrics, and the Dust Brothers
brought this same philosophy to their music. Pauls Boutiques mix of sounds
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ranges from Dolly Partons 9 to 5 to Johnny Cashs Folsom Prison Blues,

the Ramones, the Beatles, Bob Marley, and the theme from Pyscho. This was
a different kind of sampling than Rick Rubin had used on Licensed to Ill,
which was mostly bass lines, drums, and guitar looped to create beats. Pauls
Boutique brought in more pieces of vocals and wove them into the Beasties
lyrical pastiche of references to 1970s professional basketball, skate culture,
punk, Japanese culture, and so on. With its range of samples, Pauls Boutique
created a cultural mix that the Beastie Boys furthered in their lyrics.
Pauls Boutique is an album that would be very difficult to make now that
digital music sampling regulations are more clearly defined. In fact, the release of Pauls Boutique was held up because of a lawsuit over a sample on
Licensed to Ills Hold It Now Hit It. That song sampled the words Yo,
Leroy, and a piece of a drumbeat from Jimmy Castors 1977 song The
Return of Leroy (Part One). The Beasties had also been on the other side
of a sampling lawsuit, having sued British Airways over the use of their song
Beastie Revolution from 1983s Cookie Puss. This legal battle with Castor,
though, would set the stage for future copyright litigation against the Beastie
Boys from composer James Newton. In 1991, Singer-songwriter Gilbert
OSullivan would sue Beastie Boys collaborator Biz Markie for the use of
his song Alone Again (Naturally) (see sidebar: Sampling Lawsuits).
Sampling Lawsuits
Mickey Hess
In the late eighties and early nineties, the music business faced a series of
lawsuits between artists, labels, and publishing companies, all centering on
hip hops invention of digital sampling. Sampling is the process by which hip
hop producers extract pieces of existing records and then reassemble them
into a new hip hop song. Clearing samples is complicated because the rights
to the sheet music and the recording often are held by different entities.
Generally speaking, musicians retain the rights to their composition, while
record labels assume the rights to the recording. At that time, before there
existed a defined legal system of clearing samples, artists such as De La Soul,
Biz Markie, and the Beastie Boys were sued by the musicians they sampled.
In 1989, the pop group the Turtles sued De La Soul for sampling sounds
from their song You Showed Me in De Las Transmitting Live from Mars.
In 1991, artist Biz Markie lost a lawsuit to singer-songwriter Gilbert OSullivan
after Biz sampled Sullivans Alone Again (Naturally) in his song Alone
Again. Such lawsuits would change the way hip hop artists constructed their
music in the studio, and would lead to a new system of sampling clearinghouses, which worked to negotiate song royalties between record companies
and to ensure that the original musicians were compensated. Unfortunately,
sampling clearinghouses remain fairly inaccessible to hip hop artists who do
not record for major record labels.
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The Beastie Boys, who sued British Airways in the early 1980s for using
sounds from their album Cookie Puss in a commercial, have faced sampling
lawsuits from Jimmy Castor and, more recently, composer James Newton,
who in 2002 sued the B-Boys for not clearing the rights to a sequence of three
notes (CD-flatC) Newton composed for his song Chorus. The group had
cleared all rights to the recorded music with Newtons record label, ECM, but
had not cleared their use of the musical composition, for which Newton still
owned the rights. The Beastie Boys argued that their sampling of only three
successive notes, originally composed by Newton, on their song Pass the
Mic, did not breach copyright because a sequence so brief (six seconds) does
not constitute a musical composition. In a letter posted to their Web site the
group argues, If one could copyright the basic building blocks of music or
grammar then there would be no room for making new compositions or
books (www.beastieboys.com). The Beastie Boys extend their print analogy
to argue that in digitally manipulating Newtons recorded flute performance
to change its tone and duration, they effectively changed the notes Newton
composed. Although the Beastie Boys won the lawsuit, they lost their countersuit to recover their legal costs, which they estimated at $100,000.
Further Resources
Hess, Mickey. Was Foucault a Plagiarist? Hip-Hop Sampling and Academic
Citation. Computers and Composition: An International Journal for Teachers
of Writing 23 (2006): 280295.
Porcello, Thomas. The Ethics of Digital Audio Sampling: Engineers Discourse.
Popular Music 10:1 (1991): 6984.
Schumaker, Thomas. This Is a Sampling Sport: Digital Sampling, Rap Music, and
the Law in Cultural Production. Media, Culture, and Society 17:2 (1995):
25373.
Visually, the cover and liner notes for Pauls Boutique are something in
themselves. The twelve-inch record folded out to five feet of insert panels
including all lyrics from the album. This artistic direction was taken further
in the impressionistic music video for the song Shadrach. Artists worked
from film of a Beastie Boys performance and created frame-by-frame oil
paintings, which were then animated for the music video. The video for
Lookin Down the Barrel of a Gun was filmed with a fish-eye lens and an
infrared camera, both of which the B-Boys would use in future videos.
With their second hip hop album, the Beasties were already looking forward and backward. They revised lyrics from their punk song Egg Raid on
Mojo for Egg Man, a track built around the Psycho theme. They used live
drums and bass on the record. The album ended with B-Boy Bouillabaisse,
Icons of Hip Hop
106
a collection of several short tracks that featured the Beastie Boys range of
styles. While the Dust Brothers production was groundbreaking, so were the
Beastie Boys rhymes. Pauls Boutique is truly Mike Ds album. He smoothed
out the vocal style he had invented on Licensed to Ill and delivered mack
rhymes like Im so rope they call me Mister Roper.
Today, Pauls Boutique is considered a hip hop classic, but its initial sales
were disappointing. The album took hip hop music places it hadnt gone
before. The release of Pauls Boutique the same year as De La Souls 3 Feet
High and Rising made 1989 a turning point for hip hop. The Beastie Boys
have said that De La Soul beat them to the punch by releasing their innovative
album in the months before Pauls Boutique, but the competition between
these groups has been friendly. The B-Boys would later invite De La Soul to
perform at their 1996 and 1997 Tibetan Freedom Concerts, and Mike D and
Ad-Rock would guest star on De La Souls Squat on their 2003 album
AOI: Bionix.
CHECK YOUR HEAD

Check Your Head was the first major-label album in which the Beastie Boys
took control of their own musical production. Working on their own without
Rick Rubin, who engineered Licensed to Ill, or the Dust Brothers, who produced Pauls Boutique, the B-Boys recorded Check Your Head in their own GSon Studios, and took hip hop in yet another direction as they returned to the
live instrumentation of their punk rock origins. Ad-Rocks guitar, MCAs bass
(including the stand-up bass), and Mike Ds drums feature prominently on
Check Your Head. The album even concludes with an instrumental track,
In 3s, which combines live instruments with digital sampling. The B-Boys
did not turn their backs on traditional hip hop production, but instead merged
it with punk, funk, and rock to create a unique new Beastie Boys sound. Certain
tracks, including their third single, Gratitude, didnt sound like hip hop at all.
Fuzzed out guitars and distorted vocals (MCA claims that they were just using
cheap microphones) brought the Beastie Boys sound into the alternative rock
era. Around this same time, Philadelphia hip hop group the Roots were getting
attention for playing instruments. The liner notes made the Beastie Boys musicianship clear with a photo of the band playing instruments in the studio.
Yet the old-school rhymes of Pass the Mic, their first single from the
album, which maintained the vocal interplay of Licensed to Ill, and the hip
hop samples (they sampled dialogue from Wild Style, one of the first hip hop
films) made clear that the Beastie Boys were not leaving hip hop behind. They
enhanced their lineup with keyboardist Money Mark Nishita, whom they had
originally hired to build cabinets for their recording studio. Marks work is
best heard on Gratitude. He would remain with the group through their
next album, Ill Communication, release a solo album on the Beastie Boys
Grand Royal label, and open for the B-Boys during some dates on their Hello
Nasty tour in 1998.
Check Your Head was the first Beastie Boys release to bear the label Grand
Royal (though it shared the bill with Capitol Records). The name Grand
Royal is borrowed from Erick Sermon of EPMD, who called himself the
MC grand royal on the song Hostile. The label is one Mike D, Ad-Rock,
and MCA started to take control of their own music, as well as release albums
from bands that they liked. They started Grand Royal Magazine, a tribute to
pop culture and a forum for promoting new music acts.
Check Your Head could be called the Beastie Boys comeback album. While
Pauls Boutique is considered a hip hop classic, sales had been disappointing,
and it had been three years since a Beastie Boys single had hit the radio. In this
three years, a lot had changed in hip hop. The biggest difference was Vanilla
Ice. The B-Boys had always been readily accepted because they got into the
rap game so early, but as hip hop was crossing over to mainstream radio, and
with Vanilla Ice outselling black artists like the Beasties did before him, there
was a new mistrust of the white artist. The Beastie Boys had been out of the
public eye for three years and needed to come back strong. Their first single
was Pass the Mic, but they broke through to alternative music fans with
their second single, So Whatcha Want?
With the 1992 release of Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana had given
birth to the alternative rock era, bringing a new, punk-influenced style of
rock to MTV and the radio. The Beastie Boys were primed to tap into this
new market as well. Glen Friedman, famous for his skateboard photography,
shot the cover for Check Your Head, and the B-Boys further emphasized their
connections with skateboard and snowboard culture in lyrics. Adam Yauch
became an avid snowboarder, and a snowboarding trip to Asia would ultimately lead him to his interest in Buddhism and the plight of Tibet.
Even with these new interests, the Beastie Boys maintained their connection
to old-school hip hop. Check Your Heads first single, Pass the Mic contained old-school lyrics like Rock rock yall, hip-hop yall, that recalled the
origins of MCs as crowd motivators who helped drive people to the dance
floor while the DJ played records. The album featured a song, The Biz vs. the
Nuge, with old-school icon Biz Markie, who began his career beatboxing for
Roxanne Shante and performing with the Juice Crew. Further asserting their
connections with hip hop, the B-Boys collaborated with Cypress Hills B-Real
on a remix of So Whatcha Want?, and Ad-Rock and Mike D collaborated
with Milk (formerly of Audio Two) on Spam, a song from his 1994 album
Never Dated, released by Rick Rubins American Recordings.
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two: Many in the black community have long maintained a clear sympathy
with the Arab cause (as a result of both ethnic and religious ties) and have
moreover challenged the singularity of the Jewish Holocaust by drawing
attention to earlier experiences of colonialism and the black holocaust of
American slavery. In 1994, a report by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
made note of the double standard to which rappers are held, especially on
questions of anti-Semitism, pointing out that during the Public Enemy controversy, similarly offensive comments by the lead singer of Guns N Roses
were largely ignored.
Even the conscious rapper Mos Def courted controversy by referring to a
tall Israeli whos runnin this rap shit on his 2004 track The Rape Over.
Mos Def insists that the line was a direct reference to current Warner Brothers
CEO and former CEO of Island/Def Jam Lyor Cohen, whose parents were
Israeli immigrants, and that hence the statement was not anti-Semitic. Regardless, the line was eventually removed from the albums second pressing
under pressure from executives, ostensibly due to difficulties clearing samples.
More recently, at the 2005 Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, rap mogul
Russell Simmons reacted angrily to demands by the Anti-Defamation League
that rappers publicly renounce the Nation of Islam, citing the organizations
long history of defending the black community.
THE INFAMOUS GRIFF

At a meeting in 1988, up-and-coming film director Spike Lee asked Chuck D
to write an anthem for his next project, Do the Right Thing. Through Lee,
moreover, Chuck came into contact with the head of Motown, which had
recently been acquired by MCA, and he, Hank Shocklee, and Bill Stephney
were offered their own subsidiary record label under MCA. Chuck promised
to deliver the track for Lee upon returning from the Run-DMC tour, and it
was on a series of flights criss-crossing Europe and Japan that he would return
to an old Isley Brothers favorite and pen the lyrics for P.E.s most influential
track of all time: Fight the Power. Chuck recalls being surprised at the
prominence that Fight the Power was given in Do the Right Thing, at
the fact that the song and the film essentially merged into one, and this
prominence certainly contributed to P.E.s newfound stardom.
Chuck found inspiration for the track by reflecting on the disparity between
the heroes of black and white culture, and this spurred him to write the
infamous third verse of the song, which denounces Elvis Presley and John
Wayne as racists, before summing the issue up with the observation that, most
of my heroes dont appear on no stamps. The song opens with one of the few
of these heroes to actually make it onto a stamp, Martin Luther King, and
production on the track epitomized the classic Bomb Squad sound: begin
[ning] with a pow, crashing like a fist against the senses as alarms sound
Public Enemy
and basses thump as a groovy yet caustic guitar riff moves over staccato
rhythms. . . . You dont know whether to dance or stand at attention (Warrell).
Do the Right Thing opened at the end of June 1989 and catapulted Public
Enemy into the spotlight. But they were headed to the spotlight regardless,
due to a now-infamous interview that Public Enemys Minister of Information Professor Griff had given only a month earlier. Griff had made some
mention on BET of a connection between Jews and jewelry, and
Washington Times reporter David Mills wanted to discuss the comments with
the rest of the group. Chuck was busy with other interviews, and so made the
decisionunfortunate in retrospectto have Griff deal with Mills himself.
The interview didnt go well, as Griff told Chuck afterward. Griff repeated
the claims about jewelry, and cited the fact that the head of the De Beers
mining dynasty is Jewish. Mills was even more bothered and scheduled a
follow-up meeting. Chuck wasnt feeling conciliatory and again decided to
skip out on the meeting to handle other business.
In this second interview, Mills spoke at length with other S1Ws and members of the P.E. entourage. Neglecting the fact that it was the very premise
rather than historical detail that reproduced the circular logic of antiSemitism, they attempted to provide historical substantiation for Griffs
claims by citing among other things the heavily discredited (and NOI-published) book The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews. As the story
goes, this meeting was going reasonably well until Griff himself appeared,
demanding the tape from his original interview to ensure that he wouldnt be
misquoted. This provoked an altercation with Mills, who became angry and
left, publishing his story as is in the Times. The original story was then
commented upon in late June by the Village Voice, and the two articles would
produce an unprecedented backlash against the group. It is worth mentioning
that Chuck D recalls that Mills later regretted having published the article
immediately without doing more research into the matter first, and that he
subsequently offered an apology to Griff himself.
Chuck takes most of the responsibility for the controversy, identifying a series
of moments in which he could have intervened but chose not to: He could have
intervened in either of the Griff interviews, and above all he could have intervened in the brewing controversy rather than waiting for it to disappear. Instead, the fight was brought to him, not from critics, but from the industry and
even from some friends: They couldnt fuck with us directly, so what they did
was to go after everybody around us. . . . They were fucking with Russell at Def
Jam, messing with the MCA [label] negotiations, and fucking with Spike Lee
(Chuck D 228). The issue festered into a mushroom cloud by the end of June,
the same time that Do the Right Thing appeared, and Chuck realized that
something needed to be done. But his final mistake was the press conference
he organized, in which he read a prepared statement that had been approved by
Stephney and Def Jam publicist Bill Adler without consulting Griff or the other
S1Ws, which declared that Griff was no longer with the group.
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THE BOMB SQUAD, DEFUSED

Chucks reflections on the uproar would be committed to vinyl later that year
when the group recorded the controversial Welcome to the Terrordome in
October 1989, the second track (after Fight the Power) for their third
album, Fear of a Black Planet, which would appear the following spring.
This track, Hank Shocklee recalls, came out of a track released in the same
year by Brooklyn-based Full Force titled Aint My Type of Hype, and this
explains why the track was produced prior to the remainder of Fear of a
Black Planet. Hank recalls hearing the Full Force track for the first time while
driving, and becoming so excited that he needed to stop: It was like, Yo this
is crazy! But they didnt finish it! . . . I turned around, went back to our
studio: Im gon put this shit together. I took what they did, added some
extra stuff, changed it around: Terrordome (Lapeyre 135).
The Bomb Squad would then spend a couple of months producing albums
for other actsincluding Bell Biv DeVoes Poison, which sold more than 4
million copies, as well as Ice Cubes epic solo debut AmeriKKKas Most
Wanted, which topped rap charts and remains among the most influential
rap albums of all timebefore returning to the studio for Public Enemys
equally epic third album. As Chuck D recalls, the team had effectively produced three number-one albums in a span of only fourteen weeks, between
January and March 1990. But this was no longer the same Bomb Squad that it
had been only a year earlier.
By the time P.E. got into the studio to put together Fear of a Black Planet,
irreparable rifts had emerged within the organization, mostly as a result of the
Griff controversy and Chuck Ds reaction to it. Sadler recalls that the split
was between Hank Shocklee and Bill Stephney on the one hand, and Chuck D
and Keith Shocklee on the other, and that the latter pair began to work on
Fear of a Black Planet while the others were still putting together Bell Biv
DeVoe. Upon hearing some of what Keith and Chuck had come up with,
Sadler remembers becoming depressed and deciding to help out on the album.
In the end, even with Sadlers intervention, the absence of the mastermind, the
brain, proved too difficult to overcome. Fear of a Black Planet remains a
classic and the most commercially successful of Public Enemys albums, but
its status would be driven largely by the unforgettable impact of Fight the
Power, as well as the albums lead single, Welcome to the Terrordome,
both of which can be seen as leftovers from Public Enemys prior era, in which
Hank Shocklee fully controlled the reins of production and masterminded the
intricate combination of elements that had constituted the Bomb Squad
sound. In the end, the album lacked all the pieces.
And the recent Griff controversy didnt help the situation. In the year that had
passed, the outcry had died down a bit, but we can be sure that Public Enemys
critics were prepared to resume the attack if necessary. The release of the
Public Enemy
Terrordome single, in the words of one reviewer, catapulted Public Enemy

into the unenviable position of being the most scrutinized group in pop music,
and critics would go over Fears lyrics with a fine-toothed comb (Watrous). But
the groups detractors only needed to look as far as the lead single, and Welcome to the Terrordome, which was written as a response to the Griff controversy, soon generated a controversy of its own. In a discussion of the attacks
leveled against the group for anti-Semitism, Chuck D concludes with the line,
Still they got me like Jesus. To speak of crucifixion at the hands of the press is
of course commonplaceand according to Chuck, this is all that was meant
but when the attacks are coming from Jewish organizations, doing so inevitably runs the risk of echoing the historical claim of Jewish complicity in the
crucifixion.
There is little doubt that the rift introduced by the Griff controversy was a
determining factor in the effective dissolution of the Bomb Squad and the
consequent decline of Public Enemy as a significant force in rap. Hank
Shocklee, putting a positive spin on the situation, nevertheless insists that
the group had accomplished its purpose and reached its limits as a creative
project. This belief was additionally influenced by the impending deal by
which the remaining members of the Bomb Squad would be offered a deal
by MCA to found SOUL Records. The original production team was to have
consisted of Hank and Keith Shocklee, Bill Stephney, Chuck D, and Eric
Sadler, but with tangible disappointment, Eric recalls the moment at which
Hank essentially dismissed him and Keith, moving forward with Stephney
and Chuck.
Hanks justification for this gesture lies in the claim that Public Enemy had
gotten too big too quickly and that it would self-destruct if he didnt intervene
to preemptively dissolve the group. Regardless of whether or not this was the
case, Keith and Eric decided to leave the picture for their own reasons, and
after Chuck backed out to take the heat off the SOUL deal in the aftermath
and reignition of the Griff controversy, the Bomb Squad era had been definitively ended. While Public Enemy has continued to make music since then,
and indeed up to the present day, it had already lost one of its central ingredients by 1990. After that point, the group would require a total renovation, a task all the more difficult in the face of a hostile media keen on
highlighting the slightest political impropriety or artistic shortcoming.
PUBLIC ENEMY STRIKES BLACK?

This renovation would go on display in late 1991, with the release of Apocalypse 91 . . . The Enemy Strikes Black. The response from critics was positive but muted, with many sensing in the music the growing dissension within
the group as well as a certain repetitiveness of political themes. As a result of
the breakdown of the Bomb Squad, the latter was elevated on Apocalypse to
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executive production status, whereas in practice the beats were made by

Bomb Squad disciples Gary G-Wiz and the Imperial Grand Ministers of Funk.
What made a bigger difference, according to Hank Shocklee, was Chuck Ds
occupation of the position of sonic mastermind: Chuck, according to Hank, is
not a musical genius, and his control over the process since Apocalypse has
led to a lower quality sound on the more recent records.
Politically, however, some consider Apocalypse to be more on point than
ever, having moved beyond the integrationist sentimentalizing of Fear of a
Black Planet (Henderson 328). While the sound had changed, tracks like
Cant Truss It and Shut Em Down still bring the message, and both are
backed up by black-and-white videos that compare capitalism to slavery, celebrate past resistance, and exhort future rebellion. The album also contains the
classic By the Time I Get to Arizona, an attack on Evan Mecham, the former
governor of that state, who had created a political furor by refusing to observe
Martin Luther King Day in Arizona. The P.E. video depicts armed S1Ws
storming the governors offices and closes with Mechams car exploding.
Despite this, from the perspective of public reception Apocalypse marked
the beginning of a slow decline. It is always a risky endeavor to privilege one
moment of an artists work over another, but it is equally undeniable that
Public Enemys status as icons of hip hop derives almost exclusively from their
first four albums. After the disintegration of the Bomb Squad, the group
would release a series of albums whose critical reception went from lukewarm
to downright awful, but not always justifiably so. The 1992 album Greatest
Misses got the new production team to rework and remix old classics, with
mixed results, as well as to lay down a few tracks in the new, more laid-back
mold, but was almost universally snubbed by critics and the public.
The group mounted a comeback on the 1994 Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age,
a savage attack on the nascent gangsta era that, despite some excellent tracks,
was uniformly dismissed by music critics, notoriously receiving two stars in
Rolling Stone. Many have sought to explain the albums reception more
through the context that received it than its inherent qualities: The gangsta
era was in full swing, having yet to be turned toward more positive ends and
fused with political projects. Two years later, we would see Chuck Ds solo
effort, Autobiography of Mistachuck, an album that moved as far as one
might think possible away from the classic Bomb Squad sound. More soulful
and funk-orientedmusician Eric Sadler returned to the production team,
this time without the overbearing gaze of Hank Shocklee, and Isaac Hayes
was invited to do a guest spotthe album was conceived as a direct answer to
those critics who dismissed his relevance in the new era of rap. Most ignored
the album, and even sympathetic reviews observed a certain repetitiveness in
Chucks subject matter.
In the late nineties, Spike Lee once again enlisted Public Enemy to back up a
film, this time the basketball drama whose name the album would share: He
Got Game. Released in 1998, the album would be greeted by a significantly
Beastie Boys
connections to Native Tongues, with Ad-Rock and Mike D appearing on

De La Souls Squat. And they looked to new producers. The Body Movin remix by Fatboy Slim was the one they released as a single, rather than
the album version. Mike D appeared on Handsome Boy Modeling School, a
collaboration between producers Prince Paul and Dan the Automator. The
B-Boys devoted new songs to correcting their earlier treatment of women in
lyrics, a trend that began with Sure Shot on Ill Communication. In concert,
they went back to playing Licensed to Ill songs, but often changing lyrics. On
Paul Revere they changed a suggestive line about a whiffle ball bat to
Siamese cat. After Hello Nasty, they released Sounds of Science: The
Beastie Boys Anthology, which featured a picture of the Beastie Boys dressed
as old men. They wrote extensive liner notes themselves, telling the history of
the songs and offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse at their lives in the studio
and on the road. Hello Nasty marked the final Tibetan Freedom Concert (in
2001) and the end of the Grand Royal era. The Grand Royal label folded and
the magazine stopped production.
TO THE 5 BOROUGHS
The Beastie Boys 2005 album To the 5 Boroughs marked a return to their
roots as their first allhip hop album since Pauls Boutique. There were no
punk songs, no dub, and no guest stars: just the three Beastie Boys and Mixmaster Mike. They continued the New York focus of Hello Nasty, with AdRock, Mike D, and MCA each living back in the city. The album is dedicated
to that city, and they offer a tribute to New York on An Open Letter to
NYC, which samples the Dead Boys punk rock classic Sonic Reducer. To
the 5 Boroughs is the Beastie Boys most political recording, with An Open
Letter to NYC addressing the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and
other songs containing anti-Bush and antiwar sentiment: We got a president
we didnt elect, MCA rhymes on Time to Build. Such antiwar material
was not new to the Beastie Boys. In the years between Licensed to Ill and
Pauls Boutique, they released a song called I Want You for Desert Storm,
which commented on the first Gulf War. And in conjunction with the 1999
release of Sounds of Science: The Beastie Boys Anthology, they released a new
single, Alive, in which Ad-Rock complained about the fact that his tax
dollars were being used to build bombs.
With all the political commentary of To the 5 Boroughs, the Beastie Boys
chose the upbeat Ch-check It Out as their first single. This song, through
heavy MTV rotation, announced that the Beastie Boys were still here and still
relevant. MCA maintains, No, I didnt retire. The music video featured the
Beastie Boys dressed in various costumes: as tourists, as Sir Stewart Wallace,
and driving a fanboat through the Everglades. Up-and-coming producer Just
Blaze created a remix of the track, for which the B-Boys recorded an alternate
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video. In keeping with their focus on asserting their continuing relevance and
importance to hip hop, Mike D complains that new MCs at Def Jam dont
recognize him. He borrows a line from Digital Undergrounds Shock G to
state, Im Mike D, the one that put the satin in your panties. In 2005, hip
hop was the biggest-selling music in the United States, and the most prominent music videos played on MTV and MTV2. Underground hip hop was
making its way into video rotation, introducing viewers to a new breed of
MCs and DJs that claimed to stay truer to the roots of old-school hip hop and
contrasted with the late 1990s images of champagne parties and diamond
necklaces that were so prominent in videos by Bad Boy artists such as P Diddy
and Mase. Reaffirming their long-standing commitment to old-school and
underground hip hop, the Beastie Boys invited underground MC and Native
Tongues affiliate Talib Kweli to join their To the 5 Boroughs tour.
Onstage, the Beastie Boys abandoned the orange jumpsuits from their Hello
Nasty tour and wore clothing similar to their Licensed to Ill days: cocked
baseball caps, Adidas jumpsuits, and sneakers. Their Triple Trouble video,
set in Times Square, featured this attire, as did their performance at The VH1
Hip-Hop Honors, where they performed Right Right Now Now and covered Sucker M.C.s in a tribute to Run-DMC. This performance occurred
less than one year after Run-DMCs DJ Jam Master Jay was shot to death in a
New York studio. At the end of the song, Ad-Rock said simply, We love
you, Jay, and pointed his microphone at the two remaining members of the
group that had worked so closely with the Beastie Boys at the beginning of
their career.
THE LEGACY OF THE BEASTIE BOYS

The Beastie Boys have secured their place in hip hop by constantly reinventing
the music while at the same time never neglecting the forms on which hip hop
music was founded: rhymes, turntables, and beats. They began recording
early enough to maintain a connection to old-school hip hop, and their early
connections with the Def Jam label and the artists Run-DMC, Public Enemy,
and Biz Markie, as well as their later connections with Native Tongues groups
A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, lend another level to their importance.
When MTV awarded the Beastie Boys the coveted Video Vanguard Award,
which honors an artists lifetime contribution to music video innovation, they
had Public Enemys Chuck D present the honor. In hip hop, where artists
acknowledge their predecessors and influences in lyrics, the Beastie Boys
name is kept alive. Licensed to Ill has remained a commercial dynamo since
its 1986 release, but in the late 1990s a rash of hip hop samples solidified the
albums place as a classic. Several of these samples came from one song, The
New Style, from Licensed to Ill. In 1995 the Pharcyde released the song
Drop, which took its title from the Ad-Rock vocal sample from The New
Beastie Boys
Style that the Pharcyde turned into their songs hook. The Drop video was
filmed in reverse motion, and two Beastie Boys appeared in the video, with
Mike D riding a bicycle backward down the street and Ad-Rock posing for
the camera. Dilated Peoples also sampled Ad-Rocks Mmm . . . Drop and
referenced the Beastie Boys in Another Sound Mission from their album
20/20. Tha Alkaholiks use this same sample from The New Style on Firewater (2006), and Redman recorded a cover of The New Style (renaming it
Beet Drop) for his 1998 album Docs Da Name. Redmans cover stripped
the original to its final verse (the same verse sampled by Dilated Peoples, Tha
Alkaholiks, and the Pharcyde), which Ad-Rock begins by screaming, Let me
clear my throat. DJ Kool borrowed this line for his 1997 single Let Me
Clear My Throat. Ad-Rocks New Style verse, via its popularity in samples, has become one of the Beastie Boys most famous. They even sampled it
themselves on Intergalactic. The popularity of this line and Ad-Rocks
recognizable voice solidified the Beastie Boys position in hip hop circles.
There are further Beastie Boys allusions in many other contemporary hip
hop songs, such as Lil Kims Hold It Now, which incorporates music and
lyrics from the Beastie Boys Paul Revere and Hold It Now Hit It, and
samples MCAs vocals. Lyrical references to the Beastie Boys extend to Eminem, who mentioned Mike D in lyrics and spoke openly about his admiration
for the Beastie Boys. Kid Rock, whose career was given a boost by a spread in
the B-Boys Grand Royal Magazine, also spoke openly about their influence
and importance to his work. Within the new wave of 1990s white rap and
rap-rock acts acknowledging their debts to the Beastie Boys, Insane Clown
Posse owed them the greatest debt, as ICPs vocal styles were developed in
imitation of Ad-Rocks nasal delivery. Although white groups like Young
Black Teenagers and Lordz of Brooklyn had certainly borrowed B-Boy vocal
styles before, ICP not only did not acknowledge the influence, but dissed the
Beastie Boys in their lyrics: Fuck the Beastie Boys and fuck the Dalai Lama.
Even with their detractors, the Beastie Boys will always have a place in hip
hop history. Their unique and eclectic blend of hip hop and other forms of
music, their humor, and their energetic live performances have earned them
the respect of hip hop luminaries and fans alike. In 2006, Yauch, under the
name of Nathanial Hornblower, produced a film called Awesome: I . . . Shot
That! He handed out fifty Hi-8 and digital video cameras to fans at a 2004
Beastie Boys concert at Madison Square Garden, and compiled the footage
into a feature-length film in order to capture the concert experience from the
fans; perspective. MCA, Ad-Rock, and Mike D performed in old-school green
track suits and baseball caps with their rap names lettered across the front.
They performed songs from each of their albums, from Licensed to Ill
through To the 5 Boroughs, and Mixmaster Mike switched LPs and changed
the beat at least once per song, prompting the B-Boys to rhyme over a mixture
of old-school breakbeats like Apache and 900 Number (aka Ed Lovers
Theme) and contemporary singles such as Jay-Zs Dirt Off Your
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Shoulders and Fabolouss Breathe. Darryl DMC McDaniels was in the

crowd, and Doug E. Fresh joined the Beastie Boys onstage to perform Time
to Get Ill. Even while emphasizing their old-school connections, the Beastie
Boys are always looking toward the future.
See Also: Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Eminem, Roxanne Shante, Native
Tongues, Grandmaster Flash
WORKS CITED
Beastie Boys. Sounds of Science: The Beastie Boys Anthology. Liner Notes. Grand
Royal, 2003.
George, Nelson. Hip-Hop America. New York: Penguin, 1999.
Light, Alan. The Story of Yo! Spin Magazine. September 1998.
Martens, Todd. Beastie Boys: Dolly Was Robbed at Oscars. ABC News.com. http://
abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1735883.
McDaniels, Darryl DMC, and Anita Kunz. Beastie Boys. Rolling Stone 972, 21
April 2005: 84.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Awesome, I . . . Shot That: An Authorized Bootleg. Dir. Nathaniel Hornblower. Perf.
Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch, Michael Diamond. New York: Velocity/
Thinkfilm, 2006.
Beastie Boys. James Newton vs. Beastie Boys. September 17, 2002. Available http://
www.beastieboys.com.
Beastie Mania. www.beastiemania.com.
Beastie Boys DVD Video Anthology. Dir. Evan Bernard and Adam Bernstein. Perf.
Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch, Michael Diamond. Criterion, 2000.
Grand Royal Magazine
Leroy, Dan. The Beastie Boys Pauls Boutique. New York: Continuum, 2006.
Light, Alan. The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys. New York:
Three Rivers, 2006.
Tibetan Freedom Concert. www.tibetanfreedomconcert.com.
Pollywog Stew (EP). Ratcage, 1982.
Cooky Puss (EP). Ratcage, 1983.
Rock Hard (EP). Def Jam, 1984.
Licensed to Ill. Def Jam, 1986.
Pauls Boutique. Capitol, 1989.
Check Your Head. Grand Royal, 1992.
Ill Communication. Grand Royal, 1994.
Hello Nasty. Grand Royal, 1998.
To the 5 Boroughs. Capitol, 2004
Solid Gold Hits. Capitol, 2005.
Courtesy of Photofest.
MC Lyte
Jennifer R. Young
On March 1, 2006, the development of a hip hop exhibit at the National
Museum of American History in Washington, DC, was announced in the
New York Times. This exhibit would be the third nationally recognized effort
in preserving hip hop at an institution; the Experience Music Project in Seattle
and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland each had exhibits dedicated
to hip hop. As is customary, many pioneers, trailblazers, and overall leaders
of hip hop were asked to participate in these exhibits. One might expect
Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Crazy Legs, and Russell Simmons
to make the curators lists. After all, they come from a select pool of innovators. When it comes to recognizing women leaders of the hip hop world, a
small group is included almost every time. MC Lyte, a female rapper whose
professional career has spanned almost two decades, is one of them.
Lytes career in hip hop includes roles as a folk scholar, artist, and keeper of
the culture. Her writing (and performance) qualifies her as a scholar. Through
storytelling and signifying, Lyte conveys messages that do more than rock a
party. Her lyrics challenge listeners to think critically. Like other hip hop
Icons of Hip Hop
118
icons, this rapper uses humor as a storytelling strategy to make broader

commentaries on sociological issues that affect urban communities. Her courage as an artist is revealed in the ways she addresses gender, race, health, and
spirituality. For instance, Lyte is one of the first rappers to integrate issues
regarding HIV and abortion into her lyrical narratives. Other pioneer efforts
include her mixed-genre collaborations, philanthropic endeavors, and media
appearances, all of which helped to debunk stigmas attached to hip hop
culture and rap music in particular.
IN THE BEGINNING
Before becoming MC Lyte, before having enough material for ten albums and
additional greatest hits compilations, before being recognized as a trailblazer
for male and female MCs, there was a girl maturing into a woman known to
the world as Lana Moorer. Born in Queens on October 11, 1971, Lyte spent
her youth in Brooklyn, attending Weusi Shule African elementary school in
East Flatbush, a junior high school in the same neighborhood, and George W.
Wingate high school. In an interview with Michael A. Gonzales, she identified
junior high as her initial training ground for writing and performing rhymes.
Thanks to family influences, Lyte immersed herself in music from the R&B
sounds of Gladys Knight, Al Green, and James Brown and hip hop songs by
Funky 4+1 More, the Treacherous Three, and Grandmaster Flash and the
Furious Five. Older cousins introduced Lyte to the ways of the culture; between junior high and high school, Lyte become another self-taught MC,
ready to work on her signature storytelling style (Gonzales, Kickin 43).
In interviews, Lyte has admitted that she was not always an obedient
daughter and diligent student (Gonzales Kickin). However, she witnessed
her mothers hard workbartending at night, taking classes during the day
and that seemed to affect her work ethic to some degree. By high school she
had multiple part-time jobs in addition to being a full-time student. Though
she and her friends attended clubs and concerts at Latin Quarter and Union
Square, Lyte seemed to realize by her teenage years that she would need to
work hard to make money.
Lyte did not let her side jobs or schooling distract her from the music. She
listened to Mr. Magics and Red Alerts show, which came on the New York
radio station KISS FM. Music videos had just started appearing, and the daily
show Video Music Box, conveniently scheduled for the 3:30 after-school slot,
was another outlet for working MCs and DJs. While the format may have
resembled previous shows like American Bandstand or Soul Train, Video
Music Box had its own raw appeal with studio interviews, videotaped
segments from parties, and the release of rap videos. Some might consider
Video Music Box a predecessor of the glossier contemporary shows like Total
Request Live and 106 & Park. Brooklyn producers (and creators) Ralph
MC Lyte
McDaniels and Lionel Martin of Video Music Box definitely had the attention of young aspirants like Lyte, who practiced their MC skills daily.
Being exposed to videos by Salt-N-Pepa, Sequence, Sha Rock, Roxanne
Shante, and the Real Roxanne, Lyte was ready to put her own rhymes on
tape. Excited and interested in presenting her lyrics in a way that few others
had done, she befriended Tony, a fellow Brooklyn dweller who had dreams of
contributing to the music from the production end. Thanks to the equipment
in his basementmicrophone, turntables, and albumshe and Lyte put together her first single, I Cram to Understand U (Sam). Soon Lyte would find
her own music videos on Video Music Box, starting with Paper Thin
(Gonzales, Kickin 44).
At some point during her high school years, Lyte began using her pseudonym, MC Lyte. While she seemed to have a growing network of friends who
could help her lay down tracks, it was ultimately her extended family that
assisted in transferring her rhymes from ink on paper to audio on vinyl. She
began working with her stepbrother Milk and his brother Gizmo, who performed together as Audio Two. Milk described the advantages of his sisters
unique delivery: Her voice reminded me of MC Shan. She was tough, which
was good, because there were no other girls rapping like that (Gonzales,
Kickin 45). Yet it was not just the timbre of Lytes voice that grabbed
peoples attention. From this first song Cram, a saga that reveals a lovetorn protagonist whose boyfriend chooses the crack pipe over her love, Lytes
interest in addressing drugs and other serious matters was quite evident.
Milk and Gizmo, known for their trademark song Top Billin, helped Lyte
pick beats for her rhymes. Audio Twos Top Billin was a rap classic long
before the singles official release in 1990 (Lyte would record a live version of
Top Billin with Gizmo years later on the album Seven & Seven). With the
early assistance of her brothers, Lyte also had the financial support of Milk and
Gizmos father, Nat Robinson. An entrepreneur in his own right, Robinson
started the First Priority music label to invest in their careers. Becoming a father
figure for Lyte, Robinson arranged road trips for the young performers. The
artists toured with Heavy D, Kool Moe Dee, Queen Latifah, and Ice-T. Lyte
gained professional experience being on the road, behind the microphone, and
on the stage in places like the Latin Quarter where she had ventured as a
concertgoer with school friends. She found herself part of a growing First
Priority family, which included Audio Two and Alliance (headed by King of
Chill), people she had spent time creating music with anyway.
No matter the music genre, record labels are known for signing artists of
kith and kin. First Priority is no different. Before Lyte recorded her first
album, she gained performing experience from being in the public domain
with other members of her label family. Similar to jazz musicians allowing
guests to sit in on jam sessions, the First Priority artists moved as a unit.
Robinson proved his business acumen when he accomplished a feat that no
other independent music label of its kind had achieved until then. In 1986 he
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signed a deal with Atlantic Records, due in part to the foresight of Sylvia
Rhone (now CEO of Elektra). Afterward, distribution became less of a challenge and Lyte had a broader stage from which to be heard. With the support
of her music label and parent company, Lyte went on to complete four
albums, a thirteen-year commitment that turned out to be only one chapter
in the rappers long career.
Labels like First Priority, Tommy Boy, Def Jam, Bad Boy, So So Def, Death
Row, and Roc-A-Fella have undergone significant changes, being resold, redistributed, or just plain recycled. Still, one need only listen to the early music
of these labels to understand the allegiance between artist and label family.
Artists acknowledge their producers, DJs, fellow rap crews, and other collaborators as a way of legitimizing the aesthetic and their roles in it. While some
may consider this form of self-aggrandizement to be simply a marketing
strategy, these shout-outs are also affirmations, nods to the professional contributors who keep the culture and the music moving.
Regarding her experiences with the First Priority family, Lyte recently said,
I had a great beginning with [them]. It was all about the talent. It was all
about what I wanted to put forth in the music. It was all about me staying true
to who I really was, and I guess because I had that foundation I was able to set
the standard for what was acceptable for me (Bostick). The labels 2005
release Basement Flavor features eleven tracks from its original music family,
including Audio Two, MC Lyte, Positive K, L.A. Luv, DJ Soul Shock, SeeQue, Alliance, King of Chill, and the Canadian artist Michie Mee (see sidebar:
Hip Hop in Canada).
Hip Hop in Canada

Robin Chamberlain
Although hip hop developed much more slowly in Canada than in the United
States, it has produced, and continues to produce, some of the most exciting
and innovative music in the scene. The first Canadian rap single to break into
the Top 40 was Maestros Let Your Backbone Slide in 1989, which is still the
best-selling Canadian hip hop single of all time. Along with Maestro, icons of
the early era included Devon, Dream Warriors, and Kish. Another icon, Michie
Mee, became the first Canadian hip hop artist to sign a deal with an American
record label, First Priority. Additionally, Michie Mee was the only hip hop artist
to appear on the Canadian pop charts between 1991 and 1998and then
largely because of her collaboration with the hard rock band Reggadeath.
It was not until 1996, however, that Canadian hip hop garnered the
momentum it continues to enjoy today. This was the result of several key
events, beginning with the creation of the UMAC (Urban Music Association of
Canada) to promote Canadian hip hop both domestically and internationally.
In 1997, Dubmatique of Montreal became the first hip hop band to make it
onto the francophone pop charts. Finally, in 1998, Rascalz, a Vancouver band,
MC Lyte
recorded Northern Touch, arguably the most important song in the history
of Canadian hip hop. Their album Cash Crop won a Juno for the best rap
recording that year, but the band refused it because it was presented in the
nontelevised portion of the ceremony. In 1999, the award was moved to the
main ceremony, in which Rascalz accepted it and performed Northern
Touch live. This corresponded with unprecendented attention being paid
to other Canadian hip hop and trip-hop artists, including Esthero and Choclair. Finally, in 2001, CFXJ (Flow 93.5) became Canadas first urban music
station. Many similar stations followed, creating radio venues for Canadian hip
hop artists. Artists like K-OS, Swollen Members, and Nelly Furtado emerged as
major players in this vibrant new hip hop scene.
These innovations ushered in a new era for Canadian hip hop, marked not
only by mainstream successes but also by exciting innovations by independent and experimental artists, including Buck 65 and Sixtoo, both of whom
hail from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Both Buck 65 and Sixtoo were a part of the
Anticon collective. Although based in Oakland, California, Anticon played an
important role in the Canadian hip hop underground by supporting innovative artists like Buck 65. What makes artists like these interesting is their
willingness to look outside of the traditional content for hip hop songs, while
still maintaining a strong allegiance to the icons they name as influences. Buck
65s more recent albums, for example, increasingly show the influence of jazz,
blues, and electronica on his particular brand of hip hop. Sixtoo, meanwhile,
showcases a range of talents: While best known for his stellar production skills,
he is also an accomplished MC, turntablist, and graffiti artist. While mainstream Canadian hip hop has produced a welter of talented artists, the future
of hip hop in Canada lies in its dynamic underground scene.
TEXTUAL STRATEGIES
Storytelling and signifying are the two lyrical strategies that distinguish MC
Lyte as a hip hop icon (see sidebar: The Art of Storytelling). First, the particular ways in which Lyte delivers stories are significant. While some of her
songs are more lighthearted than others, Lyte generally uses her music as a
tool for self-aggrandizement, to warn people to step back. In this she does not
differ from many of her peers. However, her use of storytelling makes her
music distinctive. Note the basic creative writing formula:
Author Narrator/Protagonist Conflict Crisis Resolution
As her album credits repeatedly indicate, MC Lyte writes the majority of her
rhymes. Her songs that follow story structures all have narrators; some of
these narrators even double as protagonists. MC Lyte does this by employing the first person (I) point of view. Most rappers follow the same
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122
The Art of Storytelling

Jennifer R. Young
Several of MC Lytes songs present narrative scenarios with conflicts, crises,
and resolutions. Her first three albums have numerous cuts that not only tell
stories but provide moral endings as well: I Cram to Understand U (Sam),
Cappuccino, Eyes Are the Soul, Poor Georgie, and Lola from the
Copa. Since early MCs generally used freestyle rhymes rather than structured
stories when performing at parties, only a handful of rap artists consistently
rhymed in story style before Lytes debut.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Fives The Message (1982) set high
standards. A song with multiple narratives, The Message covers intense
situations from poverty and unemployment to violence and drug abuse. The
songs convincing list of unlucky circumstances had universal appeal. RunDMCs songs also illuminated shared experiences with narrative vignettes like
You Be Illin and The Way It Is; both songs have characters whose silly
actions make them seem unintelligent, lessons meant to forewarn the audience. Biz Markie adopted this pattern for himself in The Vapors and Just a
Friend, songs that changed his reputation, making him what journalist
Michael A. Gonzales called a clever Hip-Hop harlequin (Juice, 106).
Female MCs also experimented with narrative rap. Nikki Ds Daddys Little
Girl is a cautionary tale about a teenage girl caught in a scenario of unplanned pregnancy. U.T.F.O.s Roxanne, Roxanne takes a different turn,
although it does involve the relationships between young men and women.
Roxanne, Roxanne shows the members of U.T.F.O. touting themselves as
plausible catches. Roxanne, the object of their affection, comes off as foolish
for not choosing any of them.
Yet Slick Rick serves as the most prominent example of an MC Lyte predecessor who rhymed in story style. He was on the scene years before the
production of his first album in 1988. His performance with Doug E. Fresh in
The Show (1985) only helped his reputation for spitting witty rhymes with
his British accent. The Great Adventures of Slick Rick appeared the same year
that Lyte as a Rock was released. Childrens Story and Hey Young World
feature bull-headed adolescents with premature demises. Slick Ricks voice
serves as the wise narrator, a veritable Dr. Seuss who makes his audience feel
smart by not preaching morals to them.
MC Lyte contributed to this new style of rap music, one that had been
underutilized. Her aesthetic belongs to a subgenre of rap in which social
criticism is the goal and fictitious stories are the methodology. Lyte does what
Vernon Reid described as [translating] experiences we call emotion by expressing inexpressible things (Goldman 139). Reid, a guitarist with the group
Living Colour, a producer, and cofounder of Black Coalition (a group of rock
artists who do not confine their songs to those that are funky or soulful),
encourages artists to present their music in different mediums, void of
MC Lyte
marketing tastes. On finding a new context for creativity, Reid explains, How
theyre expressed is a function of the context of whats really going on
conflicts, forces in opposition, [and] the amount of resources that are available
at a particular time to particular people (139). Though her songs include an
array of characters in desperate situations, MC Lyte uses incidents of desperation to suggest alternative, more successful ways of living ones life.
writing principle. They liberally mix their lived experiences with those of
others. However, Lyte is distinctive in that her songs tell stories, turning the
point of view into that of a main character, one that has full-bodied emotions, pitfalls, and hard decisions. While many artists use the story structure,
Lyte is one of the few to use imagery, allusion, metaphor, and subtext in
ways that draw greater attention to the verses of the songs rather than the
hooks.
Lytes high-content songs, therefore, are more about the characters and
their lessons than they are about the lyrical prowess of the rapper. Take three
of her early songs for example: I Cram to Understand U (Sam), Cappuccino, and Poor Georgie. In Cram, the narrator struggles for Sams
attention and affection, yet this desire is never realized. Sams personal cravings conflict with those of the narrator. So even though the song is about the
narrators interactions with Sam, it is also about Sams tragic flaw. Listeners
do not get lost in the angst of the teenage girl; instead, they find out the truth
about Sam, a man strung out on crack and unable to put the narrator first.
Thus, this song created by a teenage rapper allows listeners to access it on
many levelsfrom the perspective of young love, of drug abuse, and of living
in a world where both fight to exist.
Lyte laments her luck in Cappuccino. The narrator hears about a cafe
that sells the best cappuccino. She goes there to try it, only to discover her bad
timing as the police raid the cafe for its illegal drug trafficking. By a twist of
fate, the narrator is shot and enters a dream state. There she reunites with
people who have died from drug abuse, car accidents, gun violence, and other
foul circumstances. When she regains consciousness, she decides that the
drink is not for her. The coffee may serve as a lyrical metaphor: an addiction,
even to coffee, can be dangerous.
Poor Georgie serves as another example of Lytes subtle messages. The
narrator explains that when she met George he was instantly smitten and
wanted to date her. She is drawn to him despite his player status. Soon, the
audience gets the conflict. George is in trouble. He is diagnosed with lung
and colon cancer. After a series of events, George has a fatal car accident.
By the narrators tone, one cannot be sure whether Georges crash was
intentional or not. After this crisis, the narrator contemplates the story.
In the resolution, Lyte provides the moral: Cherish people every day and
make sure they know that you do. Her tales are not vignettes designed to
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entertain; they are thought-provoking rhymes that arouse audiences to action, not apathy.
Lyte has a way of signifying that gives her a trademark as well. Most, if not
all, rappers signify, but few do it as eloquently as Lyte. She roasts both her
male and female opponents and triumphs through the ordeal as the survivor.
Lyte dedicates at least three songs on each album to proving her credentials.
While the song I Am Woman is on her debut album (Lyte as a Rock, 1988),
she does not play the Im a girl so love me card. She appeals to different
audiences by integrating universal themes into the music. Most people can
relate to the desire to be the best and achieve great success. Songs like Playgirls Play, My Time, Ride Wit Me, Beyond the Hype, and I Am the
Lyte convey her competitive nature.
Cha, Cha, Cha is an early example of her competing not as a female
MC, but as an MC. In this song, she includes the audience as part of her
battle strategy. Unlike some of her other songs in which she attacks a rapper
or a crew of rappers, this song is a general warning to her competition.
Considered an ultimate dis song, Lyte references hip hop and lyricism as if
it is a science, a complex skill that few have mastered. The song does not have
violent images, yet delivers punishment. The defeat for competitors is in the
realization that they are not smart enough to outwit her.
On her early albums, songs like I Am the Lyte show her skills and those
of DJ K-Rock, her noted DJ on her first few albums. On the live version of
Top Billin that she records with Milk D, Lyte positions herself as the
ultimate lyricist in tandem with the First Priority family, especially her DJ
and Audio Two. She may boast about her abilities, but she does not showboat
to stand apart from those who contribute to her success. Lytes participation
in the Roxanne Wars also shows her signifying skills. The first Roxanne battle
began in 1984 when the Untouchable Force Organization (U.T.F.O.)
recorded Roxanne, Roxanne. This boy-chases-girl song is about Roxanne,
the new, most attractive girl in the neighborhood. The three members of U.T.
F.O. share verses in the song while the fictitious Roxanne remains silent.
Fortunately, a young teenage lyricist named Lolita Shante Gooden, aka
Roxanne Shante, responded to U.T.F.O. by recording Roxannes Revenge
later that year.
Using the same music track as U.T.F.O.s Roxanne, Roxanne, Shantes
single had original lyrics. It is estimated that this young MC from Queensbridge, New York, sold over a quarter of a million copies in the tristate area
alone before U.T.F.O. brought a lawsuit against her for copyright infringement (Dennis). If Shantes song frustrated U.T.F.O., it agitated female MCs
even more. After Roxannes Revenge, female MCs began creating answer
records to take their own shots at U.T.F.O. and to upstage female MC rivals,
especially Shante. In an interview with Sacha Jenkins years later, Shante
reflected on how her song opened the door to mass ridicule: Every female
rapper who came out felt like they had this Shante thing to prove. If someone
didnt know what to make a record about, they would make it about
Roxanne Shante (26). Sparky Ds and the Real Roxannes songs were only
a few in the dozens of recorded Roxanne records. What writers Sacha Jenkins
and Reginald Dennis have called the longest-running series of answer
records in the annals of hip-hop is hard to corroborate, considering that
many of the songs are no longer extant. However, both Jenkins (23) and
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Dennis say that approximately 100 songs were released from different fem
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Dennis say that approximately 100 songs were released from different fe
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Dennis say that approximately 100 songs were released from different
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Dennis say that approximately 100 songs were released from differe
Salt-N-Pepa
number four on the U.S. charts. The writing credits for the rest of the songs
were heavily contested. It was also this album that won Salt-N-Pepa a
Grammy for Best Rap Performance in 1995 for None of Your Business,
one of the tracks produced by Ernst.
However, although this album had more input from the trio than any of the
past albums, the themes did not stray much from their previous releases.
Shoop, which was coproduced by Mark Sparks, Cheryl, and Sandi was definitely written from a womans point of view. The trio once again flips the
script on their male counterparts, since the video and the lyrics turn men into
sex objects. Instead of showcasing scantily clad women in their music video,
the trio has a group of scantily clad men. Thus the sexual desires of women
are at the forefront, and the song centers on the trios weaknessmen.
Female sexuality is at center stage. The male gaze is captured and replaced by
the female gaze. The song celebrates womens sexuality and at the same time
places the needs of women first. This was a refreshing change in a time period
where blunts, bitches, and booze had become the norm in rap music. Indeed,
with the ascendance of gangsta rap and the start of the G-funk era in 1992, after
the release of Dr. Dres The Chronic (Death Row/Interscope) and Snoop Doggy
Doggs 1993 debut album, Doggystyle (Death Row), songs by women, about
women, from a pro-woman perspective were very important. These albums
were more significant than earlier misogynist releases by N.W.A., 2 Live Crew,
and the Geto Boys because their songs and videos were reaching a much wider
audience, due to the heavy rotation of their music videos on MTV in the United
States and Much Music in Canada. Though the themes in the raps of Dr. Dre
and Snoop Dogg were not significantly different from those of their precursors,
or in the case of Dr. Dre one of the rap groups he had founded, what had
changed was the scope and breadth of their fan base due to technological
advances and an increased likelihood of actually receiving airplay.
Also, the ascendance and immense influence of gangsta rap, which may be
traced back to Philadelphias Schoolly D, the West Coast influences of South
Central LAs Ice-T and Comptons N.W.A., influenced not only the themes
but the reception of rap music. More specifically, the themes of authenticity in
rap music were inextricably linked to ones connection with the streets, economic hardship, and black masculinity. Keeping it real, a sense of staying
close to ones roots and being true to oneself, now became synonymous with
keeping it gangsta. The immense success of Salt-N-Pepa and their crossover
into the popular music charts resulted in some critics viewing their music as
inauthentic (see sidebar: Are Female Rappers Authentic?).
Although the trio did not change their sound to reflect the growing influence of gangsta rap, their image, as presented on the album cover of Very
Necessary, was significantly different. While A Salt with a Deadly Pepa
(1988) showed the group wearing tight-fitting black and red leather outfits
and Blacks Magic (1990) had them drawn as cartoon figures reading a bedtime story in their nightgowns, Very Necessary (1993) had them on the cover
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Icons of Hip Hop
208
Are Female Rappers Authentic?

Athena Elafros
Since the formative years of the hip hop movement, female rappers have had
a difficult time claiming authenticity in their music. At first, this may have been
a result of sexist assumptions about womens roles being in the home and not
on the streets rapping, which may have resulted in fewer women being
involved in the seminal years of the hip hop movement.
For example, Roxanne Shante, a member of the Juice Crew, which consisted of Marley Marl, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Kool G. Rap, MC Shan,
Craig G., T.J. Swan, and Masta Ace, was reminded of her proper place in the
rap scene during one of the most famous beefs, or lyrical feuds, in rap history.
The beef all began when MC Shan of the Juice Crew released The Bridge,
wherein he proclaimed that Queensbridge was the real home of hip hop.
When it was released on vinyl in 1986, KRS-One of Boogie Down Productions
released The South Bronx (B-boy, 1986) and The Bridge Is Over (B-boy,
1987) (Jenkins 23-27). It was on The Bridge Is Over that KRS-One claimed
that Roxanne Shante was only good for one thingproviding sexual pleasure
for men. In a single lyric, her career as a hip hop artist and her authenticity as a
rapper were reduced to nothing more than a sexual appendage to male
rappers.
This does not mean that women were not involved in the movement, but
over the years there has been an active erasure and marginalization of the
roles of women rappers in its formative years. For example, groups such as the
Mercedes Ladies, the first all-female MC and DJ crew who formed in 1977,
and West Philadelphias Lady B, who signed a record deal with T.E.C. Records
and released To the Beat Yall in 1980, and South Carolinas Sequence, a
female singing and rapping trio, laid some of the groundwork necessary for
more women to enter the rap music industry, although many of these artists
do not receive the credit they deserve.
This combination of sexism and the diminishment of the roles of women
rappers have resulted in hip hop authenticity becoming synonymous with
black masculinity. Women rappers were further disenfranchised with the
emergence of misogynist strains of gangsta rap in the late 1980s, which
resulted in authenticity also becoming equated with sexism. These forms of
sexism, erasure, and redefinition of authenticity have made it very difficult for
women rappers to break into a very male-dominated music genre.
Yet debates over authenticity in rap music have been occurring since the
inception of the genre, and women have actively tried to redefine authenticity
in more pro-woman ways. Whether it is through challenging misogyny or
rewriting the herstory of the genre, women always have and always will
provide feminine correctives to male-centered conceptions of what it means
to be an authentic rapper.
in jeans and plaid jackets. It would appear that with their increased creative
control, the group may have wanted an album cover that portrayed them in
their everyday clothing instead of being represented as sex objects. Perhaps
they wanted to symbolize powerful womanhood by reclaiming a male uniform, as they had reclaimed sexist male terminology in the past, as a decisive
critique of the rap industry. Or perhaps they wanted to show that women
were sexy in jeans and jackets. Or maybe the plaid jackets were merely a
result of the aforementioned influences of gangsta rap, as well as the grunge
and alternative rock movements, on the fashion trends of the time. The resurgence of the plaid shirt, at first seen as a symbol of gang affiliation, then as
a symbol for dispossessed Generation X teenagers, was eventually incorporated as a unisex fashion for men and women.
Overall, this release marked some very necessary changes in the group. The
trio changed record labels and management, as well as their look, and they
kept making money. Yet there were more changes to come. Only two years
after signing with London Records, they signed a new contract in 1995 with
MCA Music Entertainment. Unfortunately, their back catalogue remained
with London Records, but the new contract did serve to establish Salt-NPepas record label, Jireh Records, which allowed the group to sign four acts
to their label each year for four years.
Following in the footsteps of Salt-N-Pepa, many female rappers have since
established their own record labels in an effort to have greater control over
their careers. Some of the most popular and successful of these female-run
record labels include Lil Kims Queen Bee Records and Missy Elliots Gold
Mind Label. Missy Elliot not only has her own label, she also writes and
produces most of her songs.
It was in order to gain this sort of independence that the group left London
Records. Salt-N-Pepa wanted a long-term commitment from an established
Icons of Hip Hop
220
True to Their Roots: Afrocentric Fashion

Faiza Hirji
Queen Latifah has left behind many of the Afrocentric themes found in her
earlier music as well as the clothing that characterized those years. Fashion has
often been an important part of rap, supporting verbal messages through
appearance. As a member of Native Tongues, the collective endorsing peaceful activism, equality, and pride in their African roots, Latifah adopted many of
the same fashions and interests of fellow members such as A Tribe Called
Quest, X Clan, De La Soul, and Jungle Brothers.
Leaving aside her sincere interest in the African diaspora and African history,
Latifah also had a more practical reason for cultivating an Afrocentric look
when she first arrived on the scene: It was cheap. This was important for a
fledgling rapper, and for one who agreed with her Native Tongues brethren
that it was necessary to move away from the materialism and conspicuous
consumption that characterized many hip hop artists. Latifah and her partners
rejected the flashy gold jewelry and supposedly ghetto-appropriate attire that
was becoming popular, choosing instead to wear clothes similar to those
favored by the Black Power movement. Kente cloth and dashikis were popular, as well as the black, green, gold, and red that evoked a number of African
flags, and some rappers added dreadlocks or Afros rather than cultivating a
straight-haired, quasi-European look.
The Afrocentric look was particularly pronounced in X Clan, known for
militant activism. They could frequently be seen in dashikis and kofi hats.
Although Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest were less overt in their
Afrocentric fashion than X Clan, they did utilize African colors and motifs on
their early albums, a trend that eventually faded away.
Latifah, generally casual and relaxed in her attire, nonetheless became a
type of fashion icon in her own way during her Afrocentric period, even
making an appearance at a 1991 Todd Oldham show wearing a very regal
kufi, described by Wilbekin as an African crown that looks like a tube of fabric
on your head (280). This look became her trademark in her early videos and
appearances, projecting not only her connections to Africa but the royal
lineage of African women. This image defined the cover of her early albums,
disappearing only with the release of 1998s Order in the Court.
De La Soul also carved out a niche for themselves with a style that seemed
to be both Afrocentric and hippie at the same time, including items such as
brightly colored shirts, tie-dye, baggy pants, and medallions. Eventually De La
Soul, however, like Latifah, moved away from that image, crafting a new style
of music and a less African-inspired mode of dress.
While stars such as Latifah have changed styles, and Native Tongues has
dissolved, Afrocentrism is hardly a thing of the past. Stars such as Erykah Badu,
for instance, carry on the tradition proudly, sporting an appearance different
from that made famous by Queen Latifah but still with some African
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walking down the street as moving props, Lyte is in control of her situation
and body image, thereby altering audience reception.
Lyte as a Rock is a highly intellectual music video. It starts with words in
white letters scrolling up a black screen, like the prologue to Star Wars (1977).
The videos words read, in part: Lyte is HereNo One / Can Stop Me!!!
The video then begins. A young girl holding a little black baby doll entertains
herself by observing several skits that it seems she is imagining. The first skit
shows Lyte dressed like a cave woman. Perhaps the suggestion is that the
rappers influence spans centuries, not just decades. The second skit shows
Lyte dressed as an Egyptian queen. There are pyramids, fire pits, servants to
fan her as she raps, male escorts to carry her away, and females to adore (or
hate) her. The video then transitions to the third skit where Lyte is likened to a
powerful Mafia-like boss, suit, hat, and sneering thugs to match. As she raps,
she intimidates the opposing mob leader, who is also a woman.
The last two skits are educational. In the fourth, the camera cuts to a poster
of Malcolm X holding a gun and looking out a window. The words By Any
Means Necessary are written in bold black letters. Viewers see Lyte and her
crew wearing fatigues. She is in a red T-shirt and wears a leather medallion that
has an imprint of the African continent. At first it appears as though Lyte is in
prison behind bars, yet as her rhyme continues, viewers realize that she is
locking up the competition. Once again, she remains in control and in the lead.
The last skit shows a group of young people in a mock classroom setting. The
chalkboard has two words: Metaphor and Simile. Two men are explaining how Lytes name qualifies as examples of both terms on the chalkboard.
Then everyone gets up and grooves. The camera pans away until the little girl
in the beginning of the video returns. She waves goodbye to all of her imaginary friends. One may infer that Lyte understands the critical positioning of
hip hop culture and rap music in particular. The young girl may signify the
promise of things to come. The historical images suggest the legacy upon which
hip hop stands. Lyte positions herself as the current torch bearer, conscious of
her political role as lyricist.
Robin Roberts references Queen Latifah and Monie Loves video Ladies
First as the most politically charged video, especially for women. Ladies
First has pictures of Madame C. J. Walker (millionaire cosmetic manufacturer); Sojourner Truth (famous public speaker for abolition and womens
rights, self-educated despite being enslaved); Angela Davis (writer, educator,
and activist, especially against the oppression of women); Winnie Mandela
(politician and key proponent of the African National Congress during
Nelson Mandelas imprisonment); Harriet Tubman (escaped slave who
helped hundreds of others escape through a dozen return trips on the Underground Railroad); and Cicely Tyson (seasoned actress who once played Tubman in A Woman Called Moses). Roberts applauds Queen Latifah for
working with her producers and colleagues to create positive images that
legitimize her as an agent.
MC Lyte
Lyte falls into this same category of positive interpretation. Like Queen
Latifah, Lyte subverts traditional methods of presentation and makes herself
look successful, smart, and sophisticated, void of gyrations and dimwitted
expressions. Her references to Malcolm X suggest knowledge of both activism
and pacifism. Malcolm Xs orations repeatedly focused on autonomy and
community independence. Lyte repeats this theme in several of her songs.
Strong men and women contribute to a stronger society. Her songs and videos
reflect such a notion.
COMMUNITY HEALTH
Just as Lyte is conscious of the ways in which she portrays herself, her music
reflects an intense interest in community survival. MC Lytes songs praise
urban communities, especially the New York borough in which she spent
most of her adolescence. On her first single, Cram, she mentions a roller
disco near Empire Boulevardthe place where her protagonist meets the
fictitious Sam. It isnt that Brooklyn defines her, but it seems to have a strong
influence in informing her worldview. Kickin 4 Brooklyn and Brooklyn
are entire songs dedicated to the borough. Lyte sends shout-outs, accompanied by K-Rocks scratches and clap beats.
She shows her familial connections not just to her kin and her record label,
but also to her community. Others like Big Daddy Kane, Busta Rhymes, and
Biggie Smalls claim Brooklyn as their native turf. This practice of allegiance
holds true for national and international rappersIce Cube (Los Angeles),
KRS-One (South Bronx), Master P (New Orleans), Three 6 Mafia (Memphis),
Common (Chicago), Lauryn Hill (South Orange), TI (Atlanta), IAM
(Marseille, France), and Prophets of Da City (Cape Town, South Africa), to
name a few. Lyte participates in the tradition of naming and claiming her
space. Since Kickin 4 Brooklyn on her debut album, Lyte has included
references to Brooklyn in at least one song on each of her albums that
followed.
One might mislabel Lyte as a standard rapper who repeatedly announces
her hometown affiliation. However, Lyte does more than name drop; she uses
Brooklyn as the setting for many of her lyrical stories. This tradition is reminiscent of previous black literary writers who used national and international locations to explain the plight of black and Latino protagonists,
situations that seemed to have pan-African relevance, a common shared experience despite world boundaries. Just as Harlem, Senegal, Guinea, Spain,
Italy, Russia, and other areas inspired writer Langston Hughes, or France
gave James Baldwin new perspective, or Eatonville, Florida, revealed anthropological secrets to Zora Neale Hurston, and Chicago, Illinois, served as the
muse for Gwendolyn Brooks, MC Lyte remains true to the rousing world of
Brooklyn.
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Lyte recognizes that people enliven spaces. Urban neighborhoods are her
backdrops, canvases filled with colorful settings in which her characters
roam. How different is Lytes artwork from the murals done by Romare
Bearden or the films directed by Spike Lee? Lyricists like Lyte strive to make
stories as riveting and visual as other art forms. People, with all of their
triumphs and tragedies, become her artwork. Songs like Lola from the
Copa, in which a young woman contracts HIV after a one-night stand, show
the characters frustration, isolation, and ill-fated situations. Drug Lord
Superstar, Two Seater, and King of Rock are other songs with similar
antidrugs, antidisease, and antiviolence themes. Lyte uses narrators and characters to disagree with the drug lifestyle. To be cool is to ride with her, and to
ride with Lytes alter egos is not to do drugs.
Eyes Are the Soul, from her Act Like You Know album, has similar
caveats about personal health issues. All three verses provide different montages. The first verse describes a man infected by HIV from sharing drug
needles and having unprotected sex. A controversial and almost unspeakable
subject for 1991, this song predates the Grammy Award-winning song
Waterfalls by TLC (1995), which promotes a similar message. Verse two
of Eyes highlights a nineteen-year-old who goes from crack to outer space,
thinking he can do things that he cannot do. From accidentally killing his
mother to robbing grocery stores, he does not know fantasy from reality.
Verse three describes a young girl who must choose between having a baby
or an abortion. Eyes is arranged with jazz instrumentals. The trumpets and
percussion add the contrast of chaotic coolness; a smoky layer masks the
tragedies.
The communities in some of Lytes songs are in grave danger; the causes
and effects, she suggests, threaten youth. While some may think Lyte focuses
on the crime-ridden, drug-infested, and health-deprived areas of urban life,
she is actually doing the opposite. Her music suggests that people do both
positive and negative things. There is no monolithic group in the urban environment, or any other place for that matter. Furthermore, one may infer
Lytes insistence that no young person is beyond guidance and support. Aside
from the bad influences, Lyte shows her affection for her community, ever
careful to note that some are not representatives of all.
Lytes songs are not morbid nor are the themes focused on guns, violence,
and desperation. On the contrary, her music is legendary because it shows the
flip side, the side where people, contrary to popular belief, do not want to live
in hectic, unsafe, and unclean environments. Lytes commitment to community is evident through her verses. Characters like Sam from Cram or
George from Poor Georgie or those in Eyes Are the Soul may be called
sour apples, yet Lyte is not one to discard those who have made major missteps. Her narrators suggest partial blame should go to the toxic environments from which the characters come. She brings light to the forgotten,
the abused, the isolated, and the marginalized. It is as if she is saying, I love
MC Lyte
my peopleall of my peoplenot just the sane, healthy, and safe ones. Her
narrators show compassion for everyone, especially the ones in the most
troubled situations. Her groundbreaking songs arm listeners with new tools
for moral discernment.
In addition to helping community through her songs, Lyte has been involved in campaigns like Rock the Vote and antiviolence initiatives since
the start of her career. When it was clear that violent incidents were beginning to plague neighborhood hip hop parties, concerts, and clubs, Lyte
joined forces with KRS-One and others in the Stop the Violence Movement.
KRS-Ones 1989 Self-Destruction single and music video had themes that
coincided with Lytes lyrical messages. Artists donated their time to participate in the event, and proceeds from the single were donated to the
National Urban League. Often referred to as a compilation of rap all-stars,
the track included Public Enemy, Red Alert, Daddy O, Heavy D, KRS-One,
Miss Melodie, LL Cool J, Lyte, and others (allhiphop.com). This assembly
of artists resembled the We Are the World song and video event of 1985.
We Are the World, an effort to raise funds for medical research in
Africa, involved music artists from many genres, especially the cowriters
of the song, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and the producer Quincy
Jones.
However, hip hop artists were not a part of that event. Still, KRS-One and
other hip hop leaders made their own public statement. By assembling as
positive-minded artists attacking violence in urban communities across the
nation, they made their own landmark moment. Lytes involvement with
Self-Destruction showed her early philanthropic inclinations, something
she continues to fulfill.
People should consider Lyte a hip hop icon for the ways in which she
mentors the next generation. Several projects help her achieve this end. She
is cofounder of the Let Your Light Shine Youth Foundation, along with
Yolanda Whitaker (YoYo). As stated on their official Web site, the LYLSYF
focuses on education, academic acceleration, and extracurricular activities.
Their mission statement also includes the objective to raise charity and scholarship funds for Los Angeles youth.
Lyte recently self-published Just My Take. In her 2005 interview with
Octavia Bostick of www.allhiphop.com, Lyte described the book as words
of inspiration for younger audiences and discussed the challenges of selfpublishing. Lyte joins other female MCs who turned to writing books,
namely Queen Latifah (Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman) and
Sister Souljah (Coldest Winter Ever and No Disrespect). Lyte also continues
to be an active contributor in the Take Back the Music initiative, a call to
action that addresses the visual and lyrical depiction of black women in Hiphop videos and culture (Johnson). She took part in the campaigns first town
hall meeting in February 2005, cohosted by Spelman College and Essence
Magazine. Months later, she served as one of the Berklee College of Music
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contest submission reviewers (along with other recording artists, DJs, and
faculty members). Lyte discussed her responsibility as a woman in the music
industry. In Said: MC Lyte, an interview with Joan Morgan, Lyte challenged people to be responsible for each other: You have to teach a younger
generation of women about self-respect and self-esteem. They can separate
themselves from what they see and hear on television and radio. And they
have to see enough variety in the types of portrayals of women to know they
have a choice.
From Lytes first album onward, several of her songs have dealt with difficult issues. Her contribution to Self-Destruction affirmed the work she was
already doing through her music for others. She used the power of the pen to
fight battles against not only MCs but also grave issues like poverty, disease,
drugs, violence, unemployment, and injustice that plague urban communities.
Lyte plays a significant role in hip hop since her work mainly adheres to
critical issues rather than superficial or divisive topics that threaten unity
and communal responsibility.
SPIRITUALITY
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negative images that made it onto the news. It also offered an image of
African American women in hip hop that was far different from the scantily
clad young women who are criticized even now for their willingness to expose
themselves to denigration in rap videos. Covered up and taking care of business, Queen Latifah and Monie Love made it clear they would by no means be
relegated to the background as supporting actors.
Another defining feature was her refusal to engage in the infighting that had
drivenand to some extent still drivesthe careers of other female rap stars,
such as Roxanne Shante, the Real Roxanne, and MC Lyte in earlier days, and
Lil Kim and Foxy Brown in more recent ones. The so-called dis records,
stinging personal criticisms aimed both at male critics and at other women,
which helped Shante and the Real Roxanne establish themselves professionally, gained a great deal of fame for both, but also meant that female rap stars
suffered from a profound sense of alienation. Engaged in insulting one another on vinyl, Shante, the Real Roxanne, and MC Lyte were only three of the
best-known early rappers who were unable to build a sense of community or
unity, instead feeding their own fears and insecurities.
This was not, of course, the only barrier such rappers faced. They were not
only female, a drawback in the world of hip hop all by itself, but they were
young and often vulnerable. Many came from broken homes or poor backgrounds; for some, it became increasingly difficult to pursue an education;
most lacked positive role models. It was common for these rappers to be
exploited by managers and promoters once they did land recording contracts,
and in the desire to succeed and live up to the expectations of their record
companies, it is perhaps not surprising that these young women attempted to
attract attention any way they could. Given the many obstacles these women
faced, the surprise is not that many of them had short careers; the real surprise
is how long some of them lasted. Although Latifah would go on to have a
longer and more stable career, she owed those pioneers a debt for breaking
down some of the first barriers.
As inspiring as the female rap pioneers might have been for Latifah in some
sense, the pattern of hurling insults at her contemporaries was not one she
intended to follow. From the beginning, in keeping with her association with
an Afrocentric movement grounded in principles of pride and positivity,
Latifah decided that she was going to carve a different niche for herself.
Her message of empowerment was intended for all black women, competitors
or not, and was relatively easy to embrace at a mainstream level because of
her avoidance of profanity or perceived negativity. It was this message that set
Queen Latifah apart, making her one of the few women to attain iconic status
in the masculine world of hip hop. Her cultural significance far outstripped
her commercial success.
Commercially and culturally, Latifah helped begin a tradition that continues today in the rap world. Whereas the earliest rap successes came out
of New York City, a place that influenced Latifah and others, New Jersey was
Queen Latifah
barely on the map in musical terms in the late 1980s. Latifah would hardly be
the last major artist with New Jersey roots to explode onto the scene, but she
was certainly one of the first. Although some of her albums were subject to a
spottier reception than All Hail the Queen, she had already begun the process
of making her nameand that name belonged to a young woman whose
roots were unapologetically Jersey. Even when the demands of her acting
career compelled her to begin splitting time between California and New
Jersey, Latifah has proudly proclaimed that her true home remains the one
of her childhood.
All Hail the Queen sold a million copies globally and achieved Top 10
placement on R&B lists, carried not only by the strength of Ladies First
but by other notable songs such as the fun-loving Come into My House,
which invites listeners into her queendom and nation, and Mama Gave Birth
to the Soul Children, a duet with De La Soul that makes oblique reference to
the Zulu Nation and the family ties it contained. The rasta-infused Wrath of
My Madnesswhich spoke of Latifahs talent, confidence, and friends, but
also of her belief in black unityand the self-affirming Princess of the
Posse, those first songs that captured Tommy Boys attention, were also
on the album. Songs such as The Evil That Men Do, with KRS-One making
references to apartheid and political neglect, further demonstrated her interest
in social and political issues affecting the African American community. The
Evil That Men Do addressed the numerous challenges faced by black women
on welfare, from the indifference of those who could make a difference to the
threat of drugs and the lack of housing. The hard-hitting nature of the lyrics
on songs such as Ladies First and The Evil That Men Do inspired other
community-minded rappers, including the far more controversial Sister
Souljah (Keyes 268). Nature of a Sista, her 1991 follow-up, was considered
by some to be less substantial, and Tommy Boys response was to decline the
opportunity to renew Latifahs contract when it expired, despite the fact that
singles such as Latifahs Had It up 2 Here performed well. The defiant tone
of that song, in which Latifah addressed criticism and rumor by asserting her
command of any situation, seemed an appropriate prelude to her break with
the record label that launched her career. Some have suggested that Tommy
Boy grew wary of dealing with Latifah because of her preference for running
the show her way and including an unexpected level of variety in the songs on
her albums. Regardless of the reason, the outcome seemed to be positive for
Latifah, who went on to create a hit album for Motown.
Queen Latifah was not the first female rapper to have widespread popularity. Others such as Salt-N-Pepa were also making waves, but again,
Latifahs ability to carve out a niche for herself saved her from unfair comparisons. While Salt-N-Pepa attracted occasional fire for being, in the eyes of
some, too mainstream and too popular, Latifahs early work carried extra
credibility for its associations with, among others, Afrika Bambaataa, the
trailblazing rapper whose Zulu Nation collective included, in addition to
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Latifah, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers. These
members, in addition to Monie Love, were also members of the Native Tongues Posse, which came to be regarded by some as a family with Afrika
Bambaataa and Queen Latifah at its head. An American whose mother came
from Barbados, Afrika Bambaataa was always conscious of the need to
spread a message not only within North America but across the diaspora, a
message that resisted racism and encouraged investment in the future. Musically, these rappers all created fresh and innovative work at some point, but
their other common ground lay in a shared belief that rap was not simply an
entertainment vehicleit was, as Latifah had hoped from the first, a way of
raising consciousness without falling into the trap of promoting violence,
consumerism, and misogyny.
Native Tongues was a strong and creative force while it lasted, and for
some time many of its members experienced considerable success. A Tribe
Called Quest and Queen Latifah did very well commercially, but they were
perhaps not the members with the most intense investment in Afrocentricism.
Afrika Bambaataa worked hard to maintain everyones commitment, but as
time went on, the members drifted apart. There was no major rift or pivotal
incident, merely a sense that each person or group was growing into an
individual career, separate from the collective. Eventually the Jungle Brothers
would go on to release an album in 1993following some reported interference from Bambaataa, who tried to influence the records soundthat
clearly showed how far they had moved from strictly Afrocentric themes,
while De La Soul released an album the same year that made oblique and
negative references to the dissolution of the Native Tongues. They retracted
those on a subsequent album, but by that time, Native Tongues was no longer
the force it had been, and even if it was, Latifah had moved on to her own
projects and to different themes. Unlike some female rappers who could not
sustain their careers without the support of a male crew, Latifah benefited
from her association with Native Tongues but maintained her momentum
after the groups meltdown.
Latifah was also different from her female colleagues in one other, significant respect. Unlike young stars such as Shante or Salt-N-Pepa, Latifah maintained creative and financial control as early and as often as possible.
Realizing early on that she needed someone to collect from promoters,
Latifah assigned a reliable friend and kept close track of what was happening.
Younger stars who arrived earlier on the scene, such as Shante, often
struggled to collect what they were owed. Youth was not the only factor
some of those rappers lacked a sufficient base of supportive advisors who
would manage their funds honestly and fairly, while personal stresses and the
distraction of being on the road, pushed from venue to venue, also sapped
some of the energy needed to inquire closely about their affairs. A number of
female rappers, such as Salt of Salt-N-Pepa, also fell into the trap of surrendering their management to lovers, only to realize later what complications
Queen Latifah
could ensue. Blazing a trail for equally strong and smart successors such as
Missy Elliottwho refers to Latifah as a friend and role modelLatifah
managed her own business affairs or delegated them to trusted members of
her family, such as her mother, or to longtime friend Shakim Compere, who
had been a former student of Ritas and eventually became one of Latifahs
closest companions. Always quick to recognize financial implications, she was
careful to trademark the Queen Latifah name as well.
Demonstrating her fearlessness in the face of opposition, she moved over to
Motown when Tommy Boy lost interest after Nature of a Sista. The jump to
Motown meant leaving behind some of her longtime allies, including the 45
King, whose skills were not considered essential by Motown, but it didnt
mean that Latifah gave up all of her creative control or her interest in working
with friends. In the 1990s, Latifah established her own record label and
management company, Flavor Unit, which referred to a posse of New York
and New Jersey rappers such as Chill Rob G, Storm P, and Apache. Among
the acts she discovered and managed for Flavor Unit was Naughty by Nature,
whose hugely successful debut album featured Latifah as executive producer,
rapping on the song Wickedest Man Alive. Naughty by Nature returned
some of Latifahs favors, acknowledging her in their songs and acting as
producers on Nature of a Sista. Although Naughty by Nature made its name
with the lighthearted O.P.P., many of their other songs were powerful
anthems for black pride and progress in the face of indignity and injustice.
Much of their work resonated with the same themes as those favored by
Native Tongues, and several of their records included some mention of Native
Tongues and Zulu Nation, including their Grammy-winning 1995 album,
Povertys Paradise. Flavor Units roster would eventually include artists such
as Outkast, Next, and LL Cool J, and some of the artists loaned their talents
on one anothers albums. Once again, Latifahs mother, always a powerful
force in her life, assumed an important role at Flavor Unit, serving as its vice
president, while Shakim Compere served as Latifahs business partner in
Flavor Unit and other ventures.
While Queen Latifah has refused to describe herself as a feminist, she does
espouse clearly feminist ideals, promoting female strength wherever possible.
When describing the motivation behind songs such as Ladies First, Latifah
has noted the level of distress and puzzlement she experienced when she
realized that the sexism in hip hop was becoming more acceptable to female
rappers as well as male ones. Female rappers began embracing negative labels
for themselves and other women, a development that Latifah observed critically. Rather than attacking the men of hip hop, Latifahs response was to
nurture the self-esteem of her female compatriots. If she could build up their
consciousness, she felt, then empowerment and respect would follow. Given
her investment in a sense of sisterhood, it was no surprise that she was a
participant in a 1991 concert called Sisters in the Name of Rap, a nationally
televised hip hop event featuring thirteen female rappers, including
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Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Nefertiti, Yo Yo, and Shante. Despite the fact that the
Queens image has changed substantially over the years, from tough-talking
Afrocentric rapper to glamorous jazz-singing actress, Latifahs dedication to
social activism seems consistent. Her pride in her culture and her gender made
her a natural, articulate spokeswoman at events organized to support charitable efforts or social activism.
Although Ladies First remains, perhaps, the defining song of the Queens
career, a close second would have to be U.N.I.T.Y., the Grammy-winning
call to arms that condemned the misogyny for which hip hop is so often
criticized. Preaching love for black men and black women alike, the song
also let both know in no uncertain terms that disrespect and name calling
are unacceptable. Offering tough solutions for men who treat women as
sexual objects or who take out their frustrations on them, U.N.I.T.Y. reminded black women to keep their pride and self-respect in the most difficult
of situations. Moreover, it returned to some of the themes that were so important in Ladies First, emphasizing again the unity needed within the
African American community and the power such unity provides. Aside from
the Grammy for Rap Solo Performance, U.N.I.T.Y. also garnered an
NAACP Image Award and a Soul Train Music Award in 1994. U.N.I.T.Y.
was the standout single on Latifahs 1993 Black Reign album, a darker and
more diverse collection of songs than that found on All Hail the Queen, which
highlighted social problems but also preached optimism and positivity. Black
Reign, written during a difficult period in Latifahs life, reflects some of her
moodiness, although the strength of U.N.I.T.Y. clearly indicates that her
tough, enduring spirit has prevailed through everything.
Order in the Court, her 1998 follow-up album, featured an attentiongrabbing cover, with spikes of fire erupting from Latifahs head, but this
implied anger is not in major evidence on the record itself. Order in the Court
did not feature any songs that made the same strong social waves as Ladies
First or U.N.I.T.Y., instead offering a lighter R&B sound and duets with
artists such as Faith Evans. Sales for Order in the Court were moderately
good, buoyed by popular singles such as Bananas, an increasingly rare rap
track in which the Queen once again served notice that she wanted respect
and reminded competitors that she was in a class of her own, and Paper,
featuring Pras Michel and Jaz-A-Belle and sampling I Heard It Through the
Grapevine. A song that garnered less attention was Black on Black Love,
where Latifah demonstrates that she still has something to say about the
social ills affecting her people, and about the lack of unity among them.
Paper, which raps, in part, about the difficulties of the music business
and criticizes MCs who might be trying to interfere in her friendships and
imitate her success, is yet another venue where Queen Latifah is frank about
the sacrifices needed to succeed. Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that Order
in the Court represents what could be her last complete album of original rap
songs. Released at a time when her television and film career was heating up,
Icons of Hip Hop
140
Lyte as a Rock. First Priority Records, 1988.
Eyes on This. First Priority Records, 1989.
Act Like You Know. First Priority Records, 1991.
Aint No Other. First Priority Records, 1993.
Bad as I Wanna B. East West Records, 1996.
Seven & Seven. East West Records, 1998.
Jammin. Import CD, Tuff Gong (England), 2000.
The Very Best of MC Lyte. Elektra Entertainment and Rhino Entertainment, 2001.
Da Undaground Heat, Vol. 1. iMusic, 2003.
The Shit I Never Dropped. Unda Ground Kings, 2003.
Back to the Future. Company unknown, 2006.
Waring Abbott/Alamy.
Eric B. & Rakim

Shawn Bernardo
Eric B. & Rakim are the J. D. Salingers of hip hop. Like Salinger, the author
of The Catcher in the Rye who famously retreated from the public eye and
stopped releasing books at the height of his career, Rakim Allah has long
maintained a self-imposed exile from the calcium light of the media, routinely
shading himself from being misquoted and misrepresented by the press. And
while Eric B. may have acted as de facto ambassador for the act, his gruffness
and aphoristic style of communication has frequently left reviewers, critics,
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and biographers feeling a bit shortchanged. After the group broke up in 1992,
Eric B. & Rakim retreated to the company of good friends and family, and
their relative anonymity, reclusive propensities, and reticent natures cloaked
their work in an alluring cloud of mystique that only served to bolster their
cult stardom and iconic standing.
From the beginning, Rakims style was that of a collagist rather than a
storyteller. To Rakim, an MC was defined by his innate ability to collocate
words from every facet of human lifefrom the real mean streets of New
York to the metaphysical highways of the mindinto a lexical mosaic of
verbs, nouns, and adjectives. He eschewed hip hops conventional narrative
structures for a mixed bag of topics and themes refracted through a prism of
metaphors and similes. There is rarely a story, a tale, or a fable to be heard on
Eric B. & Rakims earlier works. My Melody could just as accurately have
been titled My Medley, what with Rakims casual but steady assortment of
abstract boastings and Sucker MC disses. The R is an abstractionist. He
rhymes for the sake of rhyming. Eric B.s sonically abstruse productions lend
themselves naturally to Rakims conceptual rhymes.
In the mid to late 1980s, there was nothing in the sonicscape of rap more
abstract than the grimy boom-bap of an Eric B. production. To produce their
hit Follow the Leader, Eric B. mixed a volatile cocktail of breakneck drums
from Baby Hueys Listen to Me, horns from Coke Escovedos I Wouldnt
Change a Thing, and an earth-rumbling bass line. Bob Jamess oft-sampled
Nautilus finishes off the mix with its jazz-funk sound. With an instrumental beat of this caliber on tape rotation, Rakim would literally stare at his
speakers for hours, attempting to give lyrical form to this abstractness. He
was a blind artist painting rhymes on an invisible canvas, as he was wont to
say. And the beats themselves could evoke a montage of visuals for the R: the
darker and more frenetic a beat, the fiercer and more furious the concepts he
would spin. With all of this in mind, Follow the Leader has Rakim stepping
into the gale with malice to deliver what rightfully earned him his MC crown:
skills defined. Roughly one minute into the cut, the listener is skyrocketed
upward and outward, millions of miles into the cosmos, where stargazing is
experienced at the speed of light. Sooner than the retina can adjust to the sun,
the planets, and the interstellar medium rapidly receding from view and to the
eclipse that follows, the R suddenly appears in the void like a star exploding
forth from a vacuum. And thats only the first verse.
Eric B. kept the music fully equalized at the conceptual level with Let
the Rhythm Hit Em. He renders Rufus Thomass Do the Funky Penguin,
the Commodores Assembly Line, and Bob Jamess Nautilus/Night
on Bald Mountain, all but rhythmically and melodically unrecognizable as
Rakim takes his characteristic rap-as-weaponry metaphor and stretches it
seamlessly over the track spanning an entire verse. The human mouth has
been metaphorically compared to weapons since biblical times (Rev. 1:16,
19:15). But no poet has explored the metaphor more assiduously than Rakim.
Eric B. & Rakim
Like an age-old prophet, he wages war against the enemies of Rah with his
words. Rakims mouthpiece is a gun, his tongue the trigger mechanism, his
lyrics the ammunition. Though Rakim never personally calls out potential
challengers to his throne by their actual names, one can be sure that each
lyrical bullet has the ever-generic Sucker MC moniker inscribed upon its shell.
And like a lyrical marksman with MCs locked in the crosshairs, he hits each
one squarely with the rhythm. With bulletproof rhymes like these, Rakim is
the original Teflon MC.
Rakim could shift his metaphorical focus from weapons of the hand to
the apperceptive powers of the mind, his metaphors becoming increasingly
intricate while remaining altogether long-playing. In the Ghetto takes the
listener on a socio-religious journey of Dostoyevskian proportions, traveling
through the visual cortex via Rakims all-seeing, panoptic third eye. Here
is a potential thesis on the Five-Percenter mythos and the locomotion
of thought (see sidebar: Five-Percenter Terminology and Hip Hop Slang).
Five-Percenter Terminology and Hip Hop Slang

Shawn Bernardo
Many phrases from hip hop slang are derived from the Nation of Islam, and
specifically from the NOIs Five Percenters (aka the Nation of Gods and
Earths), a splinter group founded by Clarence 13X in 1963. Wu-Tang Clan,
Eric B. & Rakim, Busta Rhymes, and many other groups employ Five Percenter
terminology in their rhymes, as well as its numerology. The Five Percent
Nation was founded on numerology. Its followers believe that there has
always been a great divide between the inhabitants of planet Earth: eightyfive percent suffer from an ignorance of self and the world in which they live;
ten percent benefit from a partial knowledge of truth and use it to exploit and
control the eighty-five percent, and five percent possess the full wisdom of
self-divinity and seek to liberate the eighty-five percent. Five Percenters memorize and recite the Infinity Lessons, which further explain these concepts of
ignorance versus knowledge of self and which present black men as gods and
black women as earths.
Rakim is one rapper who used the microphone to call the hip hop faithful to
Islam. Rakim infused his raps with references to the Five Percent Nation. His
language was freshly dipped in the terminology of the Five Percenters
Supreme Mathematics and Supreme Alphabet. As a servant and messenger
of the Supreme Being, Rakim regarded Islam as the foundation stone of life
and set out to teach the world who was the sole controller of the universe:
Ruler, Allah, Kingdom, Islam, Master. Before acknowledging the nation of
MCs that he influenced, it is worth lifting the stylus from the record to note his
Pythagorean penchant for numerology. Rakim has always entertained an
ongoing fascination with numeral 7 and its Five Percent associations with
the mathematical perfection of his Lord and Creator. The seventh letter of the
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alphabet is G, which in Five Percenter thinking is understood to signify God

and, by extension, the black man.
Rakim has a tattoo of the number 7 encircled by the words RAKIM ALLAH
on his left bicep. The R was the first god of rap. He also identified himself as
hip hop agent 007: William Michael Griffin, the god-MC born with three
seven-letter words in his name. Rakim would make countless references to
sevens throughout his rap career, from Paid in Full to The 18th Letter. Both
albums were released in the seventh year of a decade, 1987 and 1997
respectively, and Rakims seventh studio project and forthcoming LP The
Seventh Seal is set for release in 2007. Ever since Rakim Allah put Islam in
the mix, well over seventy underground and mainstream acts have raised their
mics eastward. A notable seven are Lakim Shabazz, Digable Planets, Poor
Righteous Teachers, Brand Nubian, Kam, and Brother Ali.
Further Resources
Miyakawa, Felicia M. Five Percenter Rap: God Hops Music, Message, and Black
Muslim Mission. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
Alas, the musical parchment upon which Rakims verse is laid is a reel
of heavy-gauge sandpaper that hisses, crackles, and pops because of a
worn-out drum break from Bill Witherss Kissin My Love. Eric B. is
nonetheless able to redeem the cut through a prodigious use of 24-Carat
Blacks Ghetto: Misfortunes Wealth to create a drifting, quietly dreamy
ambience for Rakims most introspective opus to date. He transports the
listener backward in time to the physiological instant of his inception, the
ignition of life itself and his coming to being in mental existence as a
thought. Rewinding the clockwork of his mind further still, Rakim rides
his ancestral thoughtways through millennia in space and theological time
to the primordial world of the original man and a race divided. This journey
comes full circle with a vision-stirring trip to the sacred cities of Mecca and
Medina in present-day Hijaz and ends in South Africa, where his train of
thought reaches its final destination with a visit with his blood kindred in
the throes of apartheid. These heady abstractions can only come from the
mind of a consummate rap poet.
Rakim did not wholly limit himself to abstract poetics. On later Eric B.
& Rakim albums, abstractions solidify into extended metaphors and afterward trompe loeil representations and appraisals of inner-city life. Periodically the R would descend from his transcendental perch to survey the prosaic
world below. He whistled the familiar melodies of everyday life, its simpler
pleasures and pains. A solitary verse from Paid in Full allows a glimpse into
the realistic, street-based raps that would later come from Rakim. Eric B
created a backdrop for Rakims words, composing a track that samples
Dennis Edwardss Dont Look Any Further and B-Side and Fab 5 Freddys
Eric B. & Rakim
Change le Beat. Along with sampling sounds from these well-known songs,
Eric B stitches in a drumbeat and tops off the track with a then-obscure flute
riff that he sampled from the Soul Searchers Ashleys Roachclip. This
musical montage sets the stage for Rakim to tell his autobiographical story
of a hoodlum made good. He waxes nostalgic about forsaking a life of criminality and criminal-mindednessthe cut is replete with a veristic description
of a robbery in progress with Kid Wizard quick on the drawfor the promise
of getting paid as a bona fide rap artist. Rakims portrayal of real-life situations and their environs is accomplished with an almost Proustian attention to
narrative detail as he takes the time to highlight the startled, apprehensive
smile of a man being robbed for what he has and the lint-lined pocket of a
man who has not.
The eye of Rah is at its most perceptive when focused on his preeminence
in concert. Performing live onstage is the metier of any MC and it is peculiar
that the Mic Controller was not known for his stage-scorching pyrotechnics.
He was first and foremost an author of rhyme flows. The R would pen raps in
the dark on spotlighted pieces of paper. During recording sessions like the
early, formative ones with Marley Marl, he would also write spontaneous
verse, hastily scribing cheat sheets that would be brought into the mic booth
for recitation. He would recount the process of bringing a verse to life in
Move the Crowd. Listening to an instrumental track of tediously programmed drums and synthy interpolations from James Browns Dont Tell
It and the J.B.s Hot Pants Road and contemplating how to properly set his
audience in motion, Rakim is drawn closer and closer to a lone stereo speaker
until he is hit with a lyrical epiphany: Words symphonize into rhymes by the
aural gravity of the very track to which he is rapping. Thus inspired, Rakims
raps write themselves, in a manner of speaking. In scores of Eric B. & Rakim
joints, references would continue to be made to the ingenuity of songwriting
and to the musical scaffolding that both supported and inspired Rakims verse.
While Rakim is often described by eyewitnesses as a tad stage-shy, a
simple keyword search of Eric B. & Rakims complete lyrical anthology reveals that three words were invoked more than any other single piece of
language: microphone, rhymes, and crowd. Rakim would take a novelistic
approach to the contextualization of these words in a panoply of onstage
anthems: Move the Crowd, I Know You Got Soul, Put Your Hands
Together, and so on. Listening to these cuts in tandem, one is provided with
a broadly detailed impression of what it is genuinely like for MCs to put their
skill set to the test on the ultimate proving groundthe stage. Rakim welcomes the listener into the gray corners of his mind, from which rhymes are
formulated, then to the white-hot spotlight of center stage, where Eric B. &
Rakim prepare to perform before a sold-out crowd. Rakim expands on this
theme in I Know You Got Soul and telescopes in on the action. A marvel of
lyrical stagecraft, no rapper makes an entrance like the R. The stage is a void.
A microphone stands idle. Rakim resists a vaudevillian rush to the footlights.
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He consciously allows the less skillful rhyme sayers to have first crack at
treading the boards, whereupon they act as a prefatory foil to Rakims
much-anticipated appearance on the mic. In good time, Eric B. lets the record
go and in heavy syncopation drum kicks from Funkadelics Youll Like It
Too slam like anvils from the rafters over a slap-happy guitar riff from Bobby
Byrds I Know You Got Soul. Without warning, Rakim descends to deliver
his soulful refrain. His stagemanship whips the crowd into a frenzy. Some fans
nearly break their wrists from clapping so hard while others dislocate their
jaws from lip-synching. Rakim even goes so far as to proclaim that he is the
unmoving mover of crowds in Put Your Hands Together.
RAKIM
No rapper has influenced hip hop more profoundly than Rakim. This rap
architect and master builder of rhymes was born William Michael Griffin, Jr.,
on January 28, 1968, in suburban Wyandanch, Long Island (known as Crime
Dance, Strong Island, to the initiated). His mom, Cynthia Griffin, was a civil
servant for the State of New York and his father, William Sr., a hard-working
family man, an auto mechanic, and an airplane maintenance supervisor with
American Airlines. Rakims parents met in Newark, New Jersey, at the Highway Inn, a nightclub where jazz great Sarah Vaughan was headlining. Music
was a rich, participatory custom of the household; a mix of classical, jazz,
rock, soul, and disco lilted through every room. Mother Griffin was an aficionada of opera divas and jazz vocalists. She once sang the blue notes on a
Brooklyn-based radio station, but her career as a singer was abruptly cut
short by her marriage and the birth of her children.
Rakim was a pet nephew of 1950s R&B legend Ruth Brown, whose sultry
chart-burners helped establish Atlantic Records as an industry powerhouse.
The Queen Mother of the Blues acted as a kind of surrogate parent, minding
the boy now and again and sometimes taking him to see her perform her bythen retrospective concerts. It was Brown who first exposed Rakim to the
music business. She continually expressed an appreciation for Rakims lyrical
aptitude and rhythmic faculties, and he would later rely on her to keep him
grounded and focused as he grew musically. As a boy, Rakim aspired to
become a professional saxophonist. He picked up the tenor sax in the fourth
grade, but preferring a deeper sound, he soon switched to the baritone sax
and participated in statewide music competitions. Later years found him
playing the drums, an avocation he retained throughout his life and career.
But the turntable, the newest and most innovatively adaptive musical apparatus, was Rakims true love. Cutting and scratching became his principle
forte under the name Kid Wizard. The turntablist DJ Maniac, a friend of
Rakims older brother, occasionally brought DJ equipment over to the house
and let the Kid practice his wizardry as the DJs apprentice. Scratching with
DJ Maniac and listening to the mixtapes that his brother Stevie played in his
Eric B. & Rakim
boombox first set Rakim on the expressway to rap. As hip hop gained popularity in New York City, Rakim was swept up in the movement and became an
avid devotee of the four elements of the urban vernacular arts: DJing, MCing,
break dancing, and graffiti. He was reportedly the one and only graffiti artist
in all of Crime Dance, throwing up his ineffaceable tag on Suffolk county walls
and even bombing his own quarters with a spray-painted depiction of Sir Nose
DVoidoffunk from the cosmonautical funk group Parliament. Rakim also
trained himself in b-boying, from pop-locking to backspinning to street styling. And he also experimented with the vocal-percussive techniques of beatboxing, often called the fifth element of hip hop. But the real ether of interest
for Rah was becoming an MC. He scribbled rhymes on notebook paper while
his classmates were adding and subtracting fractions and decimals.
Rakim cultivated his penchant for rhyming and developed a distinctive style
of vocal delivery under the tutelage and mentorship of DJ Maniac. He spent
hours deconstructing the songs of his favorite rap groups: Fantastic Five,
Furious Five, Cold Crush Brothers, Treacherous Three, and Force MCs.
And when it came to his own style of rapping, Rakim was most concerned
that his listeners perceive him as a boy of letters, an educated MC who was
capable of lacing his own lyrics with a proficient utilization of the English
language, particularly in regard to diction, syntax, and creative expression.
His linguistic bent and inspiration came from a confluence of old-school
wordsmiths and raconteurs: Grandmaster Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz,
and Kool Moe Dee. Refusing to bite any one particular style, the R set out
to be a trendsetter with originality, versatility, and innovation.
Rakim was too young to be recruited by any of the neighborhood MC crews,
and he was therefore unable to make anything of his newfound rap alias, Love
Kid Wiz. But as he matured in years, Rakim stepped from behind the turntables
to be in front of the microphone, rapping for DJ Maniac and other resident DJs
like Teddy Tuff and Cool Breeze. He was introduced to the Love Brothers
crew, with whom he would perform at outdoor and indoor jam parties both
above and below ground, battling older MCs for respect and defending his
own fledgling title in parks, backyards, gymnasiums, and basements. Once
knighted by his peers as a true MC, he participated in his first major hip hop
venue: an MC contest and rap convention hosted by the Original Human
Beatbox, Doug E. Fresh, and produced by Mike and Dave Records of Crash
Crew fame. That night at Harriet Tubman School in New York City, Biz
Markie, the Clown Prince of Rap, made the music with his mouth while Rakim
rhymed a cappella and moved his first crowd. MCing became commonplace
for the R and kids soon forgot his previous adventures on the wheels of steel.
ERIC B.
It is Eric B. who will be long remembered as a DJ and shortly forgotten as an
MC (see sidebar: Crooked Fingers). Born in 1965 in the heart of East
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Icons of Hip Hop
148
Crooked Fingers
Shawn Bernardo
Eric B. scratched his way into the history books as a produttore universale, a DJ
skilled in all aspects of beat production. From the crate to the needle, he
defined the modern producer. Both Eric B. and Rakim dug deep into their
family music plots, dirtying their fingertips looking for the perfect beat and the
Holy Grail of vinyl. What set Eric B. apart from previous producers was his
sudden and decisive step away from routinely sampling popular R&B hits
to searching for that lost and forgotten James Brown & Co. groove in rows
upon stacks of proto-funk vinyl. He approached each LP with the ear of a
minimalistone that worked in a reductive tradition like Ad Reinhardt and
Barnett Newman, Run-DMC and LL Cool Jand like a chandler he was adept at
melting waxen platters down to their essential loop-friendly ostinatos and
recasting them anew in those flickery, stripped-down melodies and atonal
rhythms that comprise an Eric B. production like I Aint No Joke or I Know
You Got Soul. He put it down hard on the SP-1200 sampler and the Roland TR808 drum machine, the meat and potatoes of hip hop musical production past,
and demonstrated to subsequent producers that they could utilize the same
equipment to bang out fresher beats by tapping into atypical sample sources
from different genres of music and manipulating them in new and innovative
ways. But the real innovation that Eric B. brought to the tables was his Illadelphrooted technique of cross-fader transforming and his early contribution to the
art of turntablism: Chinese Arithmetic. As a matter of course, this themebased remix of a retranslated melodie orientale has been derided by fans and
critics as substandard fillerlike all of his scratch-and-cut old-school DJ showcase blends: Eric B Is on the Cut, Eric B. Never Scared, Eric B. Made My
Dayan adhesive digression from the verbal mathematics being steadily
formulated by the R on flanking tracks. Yet the composition itself is literally
built by Eric B. from scratch as he handles the turntable like an instrument
throughout the track, manipulating aphonetical sounds and sound effects with
nary a Rakim vocal snippet, perchance the only MC the DJ ever effectively put
in the mix. While this nonfigurative style of DJing was later popularized by newschool turntablist virtuosi like the wave-twisting DJ Q-Bert and the Invisbl
Skratch Piklz, the thematics would be expanded upon by audiographers like
D-Styles, DJ Shadow, and RJD2. There was a time when DJs stood in front and
to the side of their MC counterparts, and it is a facile thing to play past Eric B.
and his skillfulness as a producer when he forever stands behind Rakim, one of
the greatest MCs to ever nominate his DJ for president.
Elmhurst, Queens, to a Department of Water Resources workman and an

eighth grade middle school teacher, Louis Eric Barrier was every bit as musically inclined as his counterpart. As a boy he played trumpet and guitar but
Eric B. & Rakim
traded them in for the turntable while a student at W.C. Bryant High School
in Long Island City. As a teenager he performed at local clubs and roller rinks
and by 1985 his quick-mix virtuosity was such that he was able to secure a
job as a mobile roadshow DJ for New York Citys 107.5 WBLS-FM. The
station was home to Mr. Magic and his famed Rap Attack radio show featuring the Magellan of sampling, Marley Marl, as in-house DJ. Eric B. and
Marley Marl were all-purpose roommates in Queensbridge, 12th Street
Apartment 2E, where the superproducer operated a makeshift studio and
ran his newly founded Cold Chillin label out of the livingroom of his sisters
apartment.
During that time, the R had made a trip to DJ Maniacs studio to immortalize himself on cassette, a ninety-minute megablast of Rakims latest hits,
that he originally intended to floss with on his future college campus. Included in this songbook of old rhymes and recycled verses was a raw and
uncut version of My Melody, which was first conceived on a miniature
Casio keyboard. Eric B. met Rakim in the context of this very recording
through the auspices of Alvin Toney, a mutual acquaintance and future record executive. With one play-through a partnership was formed: Eric B. &
Rakim, established 1985. Initially Rakim had reservations about entering into
any contractual commitment as he still considered himself college bound. He
had also recently discovered the Five Percent Nation and devoted much time
to the understanding of his divine Asiatic pedigree and studying the supreme
mathematical sciences of the secularized Islamic sect. But after adapting the
name Rakim Allah, he felt somehow destined to be the first deity of rap
capable of subliminally spreading degrees of knowledge across the world as
The God (see sidebar: Islam and Hip Hop).
Islam and Hip Hop
Aine McGlynn
There are two proto-Islamic heritages that feed contemporary rap (Allen
165). The first is the Nation of Islam, whose secular leader Louis Farrakhan
speaks on behalf of the late prophet Elijah Muhammad. NOI philosophy
is rooted in Elijah Muhammads apocalyptic vision of the world, wherein
black people will eventually defeat their devilish white masters in a great
celestial battle. Before the battle takes place, though, NOI maintained that
as many black people as possible need to be converted and therefore saved.
The second derivation of Islam that hip hop draws on is the Five Percent
Nation. Five Percent referred to the percentage of the population that was
actually enlightened. The other ninety-five percent were either blindly ignorant or actively engaged in keeping the black population down. This splinter
group of the NOI was formed by Clarence 13X, a disgruntled member of the
NOI who left that group in 1963 and sought to form a more loosely bound
collective of young members of the Harlem community. Clarence 13X
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elucidated the Supreme Alphabet as well as the Supreme Mathematics. In

the Alphabet, each letter stands for a word: A for Allah, B for Be or Born, G for
God, and so on. In the Mathematics, 1 equals knowledge, 2 equals wisdom, 3
equals understanding, and so forth.
The Nation of Islam and its Five Percent offshoot both gained a great deal of
currency in the hip hop community. It created order out of a chaotic society
governed by racist and hegemonic authorities that excluded them entirely,
they believed, because of their race. A philosophy that proclaimed that all
black men were kings was empowering in the face of American nationalism
that continually relegated its black population to the margins. That both
conscious and gangster rap groups took on the core tenets of the Nation of
Islam demonstrated the contradictory ways each style of rap imagined the
improvement of the black community. For the former, the individual subsumed himself in the collective struggle, while for the latter, an aggressive
individualism would ensure the black mans rise to power (Allen 172). The Zulu
Nation and the Nation of Islam share some similarities. The Infinity Lessons that
formed the core of Zulu Nation philosophy were formatted in the same
question-and-answer style, while their content drew on the Black Muslims
evocation of a glorious, original African past (Chang 106). Both nations also
share a belief in life beyond this planet. They both cite the American governments denial of UFOs as a prime example of the type of obfuscation that
governments enact upon their populations in order to control them.
The Nation of Islam, largely because of the charisma and unwavering
Afrocentrism of its leader, Louis Farrakhan, was a persuasive doctrine for
young black men to grasp hold of in the late eighties and early nineties.
References to NOI, the Five Percenters, and Farrakhan pop up throughout
the Native Tongues recording careers. Beats, Rhyme and Life in particular,
recorded after Q-Tips conversion to Islam, demonstrates the clean living
principles that come along with adopting Islamic or proto-Islamic beliefs.
Wu-Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes, Brand Nubian, and Rakim are all artists
who maintain NOI political stances in their rap.
Works Cited
Allen Jr., Ernest. Message Rap. Droppin Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music
and Hip-Hop culture. Ed. William Eric Perkins. Philadelphia: Temple
University Press, 1996. 163-185.
Chang, Jeff. Cant Stop Wont Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation.
New York: St. Martins Press, 2005. 7-85.
Both Eric. B. and Rakims parents thought rap to be a silly and impractical
fad that would never pay the rent. Eric B. was nevertheless able to sufficiently
persuade their parents to let the two hit the studio to get paid in full. Through
an unwritten agreement, Rakim would be compensated monetarily for his
Eric B. & Rakim
efforts but opted to be represented only as a special guest on all branding and
promotional hype (hence the Eric B. featuring Rakim designation printed
on the groups first twelve-inch singles), thereby giving him an opportunity to
bounce out of the venture at will. Purportedly this arrangement caused some
misperceptions as some first-time listeners believed Eric B. to be the MC and
Rakim the DJ. Even more confusingly, the twosome was nearly known as
Eric. B & Freddie Foxxx. When Eric B. was taking applications for MCs,
Foxxx, aka Bumpy Knuckles, was hired for the position but failed to show up
for work on his first day of recording at Marley Marls studio. As designated
rapper, Rakim stepped up to the mic and recorded My Melody and Eric
B. Is President, the first-ever Eric B. & Rakim singles released in the spring of
1986 on Robert Hills Harlem-based indie label, Zakia Records.
Much dispute exists about who in fact was the mastermind behind these
tracks and correspondingly the whole of Eric B. & Rakims production catalogue. Discrepancies abound throughout the engineering credits; the atomic
beatsmith Large Professor, breakologist DJ Mark the 45 King, and the late
and unsung Paul C have laid their claims, and even Rakim himself has lately
claimed to have self-produced the bulk of his repertoire. Although this hip
hop whodunit is of course beyond the scope of this biography, an investigation should doubtless begin with Eric B.s unsuccessful debut as one of the
first MC-producers to come solo on his own 95th Street Recordings label
(Eric B., 1995).
All sources agree that Marley Marl can be credited with arranging and
layering My Melody. He was assisted by his cousin and Queensbridge
champion, MC Shan, who was in the studio when the tracks were recorded
pro bono. Both attempted to hype Rakim in the booth, not recognizing that a
new uber-sedate style of rapping was being birthed right before their ears. The
R may have paid them no mind because his eyes were fixed upon the pages of
his notebook, wherefrom he recited lyrics into the mic that he had conceived
ad libitum only hours before. Musically speaking, both My Melody and
Eric B. Is President were entirely orchestrated by Marley Marl at his workstation; witness the identical drum kit that he used contemporaneously on
MC Shans The Bridge. And while both singles were in no way mixed
down, the roughness of their fluttering vocal distortions and dub-generated
feedback elicited a gritty cacophony of sound that the hip hop street embraced.
PAID IN FULL
The Awesome Two (Special K & Teddy Ted) were the first to broadcast Eric
B. & Rakims inaugural single, Eric B. Is President, on 105.9 WHBI-FM,
and though it barely peaked commercially on Billboards Top R&B Singles
charts, it was celebrated by partygoers as the most danceable track of
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the year. Rakim first heard his song live on the radio from the cracked
window of a parked car. He later recalled that it was at this moment that
he knew the hand of Allah was fixed squarely upon Eric B. & Rakim. He
made the decision then and there to enter the rap game as a professional
player. What had begun as a part-time hobby would flourish into a full-time
career spanning seventeen singles and four albums, three of which would be
certified gold by the RIAA: Paid in Full, Follow the Leader, and Let the
Rhythm Hit Em.
Eric B. & Rakims career played out on fast forward. With the local success
of the first singles, the group was snapped up by 4th & Broadway in the
spring of 1987 to create their seminal flagship LP, Paid in Full. While the
album itself promptly earned a spot on Billboards Top Black Albums chart
and the group a standing on their annual Top Black Artists list, each new Eric
B. & Rakim single was a pret-a`-ecouter classic, and Paid in Full, I Aint
No Joke, and I Know You Got Soul would all be listed on Billboards Top
Hip-Hop Singles charts. Paid in Full was a club hit at home and a discothe`que sensation abroad compliments of a remix by Coldcut titled Seven
Minutes of Madness, the first commercially successful one of its kind. To
Eric B.s extreme dissatisfactionhe referred to the remix as girly disco
the experimental DJ team triaged Paid in Full and merged it with the
strident microtones of Israeli mezzo soprano Ofra Hazas Im Nin Alu.
The remixed cut was soon featured on the soundtrack of the LA gangbangland flick, Colors. The enigmatic electronic group M/A/R/R/S would also
utilize Hazas vocals and a Rakim quotable in their house-adapted acoustical
collage, Pump Up the Volume, a one-off single that was heralded as the
first sample-based number one smash in the UK.
The release of I Know You Got Soul would prove more controversial as
Eric B. & Rakims sampling of James Brown sideman Bobby Byrds I Know
You Got Soul resulted in swift legal action against the group for pirating
material without permission or due compensation. The protracted lawsuit
was one of the first highly profiled copyright infringement cases of a musician
seeking statutory damages from another musician for reappropriating a prior
recording into a new (and admittedly more soulful) composition. Despite all
repercussions, Eric B. & Rakim would continue to raid the legacy cache of
James Brown and Co. In doing so they started the godfather rap vogue;
groups like the Jungle Brothers, Ultramagnetic MCs, and Kool G Rap &
DJ Polo began sampling the rhythm section of the J.B.s. On Talkin All That
Jazz, the original sampling advocate Daddy-O of Stetsasonic would point
out that doing so was mutually beneficial to both the sampler and samplee, as
it revived the careers (and bank accounts) of outmoded and pensioned-off
musicians, predominantly the Godfather of Soul. Brown would later respond
to these rappers on a sample-based song of his own called Im Real, where
he alludes to Eric B. & Rakims I Know You Got Soul and personally calls
out the God, reminding him that James Brown invented soul.
Eric B. & Rakim
Keeping pace with the ensuing successes of Paid in Full, Eric B. & Rakim
were sprinting with Marley Marl and his illustrious Juice Crew, booking gigs
through their manager Tyrone Fly Ty Williams and performing their resouled rap arias in some of New Yorks most respected hip hop venues such as
Latin Quarter, Union Square, and the Roxy, where ecstatic fans tossed rolledup dollar bills on stage to pay their entertainers to the fullest. Positive reaction
to the group was such that stewardship of their business portfolio was swiftly
turned over to Rush Management and up-and-coming rap moguls Lyor
Cohen and Russell Simmons. The latter was introduced to the group by
Rakims brother Ronnie, who played the keyboard for Raps first mainstream
artist, Kurtis Blow, a Rush client. Over 750,000 units moved and Eric B. &
Rakim would consolidate their marketability by shopping their sophomore
album to MCA for a 1 million-dollar long-term recording contract, a firsttime anomaly in the rap industry and a half million more than Island would
offer the group to stay with their 4th & Broadway imprint. This meteoric rise
to fame and fortune struck Eric B. & Rakim completely unprepared. Though
Eric B. seemed at ease mobbing a ghostly Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow with
Gucci interior and Rakim a white-on-white Mercedes-Benz with a landau top
by Louis Vuitton, a $15,000 sound system, and a custom Euro-plate on his
front bumper that read BENZINO, the R also found himself standing in line
for a century-old brownstone mansion. Paid to the fullest, Eric B. & Rakim
geared up to lead their listeners into the age of modern rap with Follow the
Leader, their second album.
FOLLOW THE LEADER

As the New York Times reported that rap music and hip hop culture were
hijacking mainstream America in the late 1980s, fans telephoned their favorite radio stations and hit the request line for the next single from Eric B. &
Rakim. The R heard the call and blessed his followers with Microphone
Fiend, a verse to end all verses. His delivery is a ticking clock of intensity as
he confronts a serial addiction to dopeness and spits his autobiography over
sixty-nine consecutive bars of pure, unadulterated heat. This cut cinched
Rakims status as the greatest of all time among his contemporaries. Other
singles followed suit: The R, a lecture on rapping, and Follow the Leader, an event horizon that defined the stock in trade of the rap soloist. The
latter single was nominated one of Melody Makers singles of the year for
1988 and would gain a peak position on the Billboards Top Hip-Hop Singles
chart.
A dozen or so singles off the previous and subsequent Eric B. & Rakim
albums were translated into videos. And Follow the Leader, the first rap
video epic and period piece of the new televised world of hip hop, would
premiere on the pilot episode of Yo! MTV Raps in 1988. Throughout Eric B.
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& Rakims video productions, the R took on myriad personas: imam, dictator, politician, racketeer, businessman, soldier, celebrity, playboy, baller, fugitive, and rap star. Eric B. was contented playing the background and
standing sentinel as DJ and hip hop strongman. Aside from two-toned FILA
tracksuits, throwback hoodies, and an endless wardrobe of leather and suede
gear, Eric B. & Rakim were most often filmed rocking their aureate trunk
jewelry, custom designed by Jacob the Jeweler (diamond setter to the rap
stars), and those ghetto-fabulous, faux-Gucci leather getups that were tailor-made by twenty-four-hour-a-day Harlem couturier Dapper Dans, who
was incidentally the go-to spot for the groups designer upholstery. As they
matured as artists and men, later videos and photo shoots presented the two
modeling Italian sport coats, Coogie sweaters, and Nehru-collared shirts.
Eric B. & Rakim could also reinvent themselves on the pop/R&B catwalk.
Their hip-pop crossover duet with label mate Jody Watley, Friends, initially
slated for Will Smith, catapulted Eric B. & Rakim into Top 10 rankings for
the first and last time on both Billboard Pop and R&B singles charts during an
era when rap music received less than modest radio play. With a respectful
Kangol tip to Chaka Khan and Melle Mel and their Grammy winner I Feel
for You, the success of the Eric B. & Rakim and Jody Watley team-up, as
well as Rakims duet with English vocalist Mica Paris on her Contribution LP
in 1990, would make permanent the now-formulaic pop/R&B singer X featuring rapper X prerequisite for a Billboard chart-topper. Eric B. & Rakim
would never again touch the mainstream. Nonetheless they would come close
with their amatory Whats on Your Mind track for the House Party 2
soundtrack.
The group also recorded two jingles for the malt liquor St. Ides, Real
Mens Drink and Get Some, that were aired with some frequency on
major R&B stations until the 8.2% alcohol by volume malt liquor became
embroiled in controversy and their advertising banned from the radio.
Even more contentious was Rakims open endorsement of the Crooked
I. As a devout Muslim, he was obliged to abstain from all things alcoholic and his community responded reproachfully to his willful and dubious associations with Pabst Brewing Company. His response to the
criticism was dismissive and unapologetic, and Rakim Allah would later
elevate himself from the cooler to the top shelf as the new hip hop face of
Hennessy.
Eric B. and Rakim took a surprising two-year breather at the top of their
game, precisely when they had gained a wider audience and appeal on both
sides of the railway. Rakim stepped away from the studio to mourn the deaths
of his father and good friend Paul C. McKasty, the white whiz kid music
engineer who was in the process of teaching him how to freak the SP-1200 for
Eric B. & Rakims upcoming Let the Rhythm Hit Em LP. Paul C. was
murdered in his sleep by unknown assailants for unknown reasons and Rakim
honored his memory by placing his senior snapshot next to a photo of
Eric B. & Rakim
Rakims father on the back of the album cover. Meanwhile, Eric B. founded
Lynn Starr Productions and Mega Starr Management, working with artists
like Freddie Foxxx on Freddie Foxxx Is Here and Kool G. Rap on Wanted:
Dead or Alive.
With the Rs sudden and prolonged disappearing act, would-be haters
alleged that he was doing time in Rikers Island for slanging crack cocaine,
a rumor as tabloid worthy as the unfateful rivalry between Rakim and Big
Daddy Kane. The R had opened fire on the smooth but raw-edged MC in a
demo for Let the Rhythm Hit Em, the eventual leadoff single for Eric B. &
Rakims third album, but mics were holstered when Kane heard the track via
Eric B.s brother and called Rakim to wave the white rag. Both rappers agreed
not to battle and the lyrics in question were withdrawn. Notwithstanding, an
unreleased Eric B. & Rakim demo titled Hypnotic does appear to contain a
snipe at Kane and, if accurate, it is the only extant example of Rakim personally calling out another rapper for battle on tape. Rakim would later
allege that a kind of ultimate rapping pay-per-view was in the works where
the two MCs would face off before a televised audience for upwards of
$50,000, but the proposal got scrapped at some point during the planning
stages.
LET THE RHYTHM HIT EM

Eric B. & Rakims hiatus proved far too long an absence from the rap game.
Stylistically, Eric B. had revved up his production tempo, and Rakim responded by accelerating his rapping speed and downshifting to new lyrical
themes. Critics, fans, and even the groups manager, Amanda Scheer-Demme,
grumbled that Eric B.s beats stalled out behind Rakims flow on Let the
Rhythm Hit Em. Still, the album was one of Spin magazines top picks for
1990 and earned the group a handsome five mics from The Source, that
magazines highest rating.
Eric B. & Rakim released several singles (Let the Rhythm Hit Em,
Mahogany, and In the Ghetto) before they finally brought the sun down
on their empire with Dont Sweat the Technique and the most knocking of
swan songs, Juice (Know the Ledge). Released in May 1990, Let the
Rhythm Hit Em was the groups final album. At this juncture in their career,
both artists wanted to release solo albums as their last recordings under their
MCA contract and planned to later reunite as a collective on another label.
The final straw for the group was Eric B.s refusal to sign a release for Rakim,
an incident that would land the rapper in court battling his ex-partner and exlabel for half a decade. With animosity in the air, Eric B. & Rakim broke up
in 1992. They were last seen together in the Big Willie-styled Dont Sweat
the Technique video and as cameo characters along with Big Daddy Kane,
Kid Frost, Doctor Dre, and Ed Lover in Mario Van Peebless black spaghetti
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western, Gunmen. Despite these final appearances together, Eric B. & Rakim
had left the building.
Naturally, the R had plans to take off on his first solo mission. Over the
next few years he would team up with a motley squadron of emerging rap
producers, opening his laboratory door to Buckwild, Salaam Remi, and Pete
Rock, among others. MCA would eventually release Rakims first twelve-inch
solo, Heat It Up, a rough-hewn jazz binge that appeared on the 1994
soundtrack for Gunmen. This was immediately followed by Murderer (Jeep
Version), remixed by Sly Dunbar, a peppy R&B-tinged revise of Barrington
Levys dance hall reggae triumph. Both songs went largely unnoticed by the
hip hop establishment, as did the later Shades of Black, a somber piece of
social militancy that was specifically composed for Pump Ya Fist (Hip Hop
Inspired by the Black Panthers), a soundtrack to Mario van Peebless 1995
movie, Panther.
Meanwhile, Eric B. received an even worse reaction to his premier single,
I Cant Let You, a love ballad. Image-wise, Eric B. was the absolute
antithesis of LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James), who established a market
for hip hop love songs with I Need Love in 1984; the ladies apparently
did not love cool B. enough to establish his reputation as a soloist on the
charts. The last the world would hear from Eric Barrier would be an unfounded Internet report of his being shot and killed on August 28, 2005, in
a barbershop in Camden, New Jersey. While he went on to pursue an
executive position with Street Life/All American Records, Eric B. faded into
rap legend, hip hop lore, and obscurity. Rakim was at least able to keep the
R brand current and on the periphery of the multimillion-dollar urban
entertainment market with his singles and a memorable guest appearance
on the 1995 final episode of Yo! MTV Raps; DJ Scribble juggled an instrumental of EPMDs Its My Thing as a pole-positioned Rakim gave shots
to his new record label, the Last Platoon, and freestyled alongside KRSOne, Erick Sermon, Chubb Rock, and MC Serch. These sporadic recordings
and appearances, however, did not return Rakim to his former status as
rap god.
RAKIMS RETURN
Rakims relative absence and unpopularity in the rap game was but a small
thing to a giant as he returned to reclaim his throne in 1997 under new
management from his longtime associate and hypeman, Bill Blass. To hip
hop aficionados, no revival album has been as hotly anticipated as The
18th Letter, a full clip of fourteen songs and three remixes released by Universal Records. The label also released a double CD set containing The Book
of Life, which included a compendium of Rakims greatest hits during a time
when Eric B. & Rakim were riding the Soul Train with Don Cornelius;
I Know You Got Soul was taped in 1987 and Whats on Your Mind and
Dont Sweat the Technique in 1992.
For old-school rap fans, the R was the self-prophesied holy redeemer of hip
hop, a messianic figure predestined to usher in a renaissance of rap music and
a rebirth of the skillworthy MC. Standing atop Mount Sinai in a windswept
robe like Black Moses, the R premiered himself to the world in a phantasmagoric Clash of the Titans meets Fellinis Satyricon video exclusive: Guess
Whos Back. The album reached Number One on the U.S. rap charts, yet
while critics and fans-369 fans, the R was the self-prophesied holy redeemer of hip
op, a messianic figure predestined to usher in a renaissance of rap music and
rebirth of the skillworthy MC. Standing atop Mount Sinai in a windswept
obe like Black Moses, the R premiered himself to the world in a phantasmaoric Clash of the Titans meets Fellinis Satyricon video exclusive: Guess
hile critics and fans-369 fans, the R was the self-prophesied holy redeemer of hip
, a messianic figure predestined to usher in a renaissance of rap music and
birth of the skillworthy MC. Standing atop Mount Sinai in a windswept
e like Black Moses, the R premiered himself to the world in a phantasmac Clash of the Titans meets Fellinis Satyricon video exclusive: Guess
The Geto Boys
chose to record in their songs. Although the songs and albums that they have
recorded over the years include a good deal of topical diversity, there are
several thematic threads that hold together the Geto Boys oeuvre.
At the heart of the Geto Boys songs are primarily tales of urban street life,
and particularly of urban gangsta life. In some sense, the Geto Boys portray
themselves as modern urban outlaws. As with most gangsta rap as a genre, the
Geto Boys narratives emphasize drug dealing and other gangstafied
images, and all of these tales require a certain level of authenticity to be taken
seriously by the audience. One thing that is not in doubt is that these Geto
Boys had the street credibility that is so necessary for performers within this
particular genre. Before joining the group, Scarface is said to have dealt drugs
in his youth, and Willie D had served prison time for an armed robbery. Midnineties Geto Boy Big Mike (Mike Barnett) later served a prison term after his
gig with the group, and both Scarface and Bushwick Bill have sustained
serious injuries during various scuffles outside the studio (and, no doubt,
outside the law).
While participating in a genre that takes the gangsta lifestyle as its fundamental backdrop, the Geto Boys are especially noted for the extremity and
explicitness of the violence and sex in their narratives. They have also often
been regarded as particularly misogynistic in a genre already derided as intrinsically misogynistic.
Beyond the usual gangsta cliches, however, the narratives of the Geto Boys
have often centered on the telling of horror stories, which were usually
detailed fictional narratives involving rape, torture, and murder, but placed in
the context of the rough inner-city environments with which the rappers
themselves had been associated. Although the Geto Boys are not typically
considered as overtly political as some other groups like Public Enemy or
N.W.A., they certainly do deliver commentary on various political issues. It
could be argued that any discussion of the inner-city reality portrayed in
gangsta rap is inherently political, but some of the Geto Boys songs address
even more macro-social issues.
Beyond taking gangsta rap to the next level, perhaps the most notable
aspect of the thematic ground covered by the Geto Boys was overtly psychological in nature, the introspective lyrics of many of their songs covering
everything from psychotic breakdown (Mind Playing Tricks on Me) to
suicidal tendencies (e.g., I Just Wanna Die, Mind Playing Tricks on
Me). The suicidal impulse permeates a fair number of Geto Boys songs,
which is remarkable considering that the Geto Boys were some of the foremost proponents of a genre that places so much emphasis on individual
strength, and braggadocio, and swagger. All empirical evidence suggests that
this was not just a gimmick. One example is Scarfaces suicide attempt as a
teenager. However, the most (in)famous eruption of the suicide urge occurred
in real life for Bushwick Bill, in a scene immortalized in the cover art for the
album We Cant Be Stopped. While it is not exactly clear what transpired that
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night, most versions of the story involve a heavily intoxicated Bushwick

coaxing his girlfriend to shoot him, possibly while threatening her infant
son. The bullet wound in his face led to the loss of Bushwicks right eye,
and a photograph of Scarface and Willie D escorting him through the hospital
appears on the album cover. This singular image also vaults the Geto Boys
into a pantheon of artists that are associated with unforgettable images, one
which transcends the narrow genre of hip hop or rap music, fitting into
American pop iconography much more generally.
Since all of the themes mentioned above emerge from the rendition of lyrics
in particular narrative contexts, it is helpful to consider in more detail some of
the most notable specific songs that the Geto Boys produced that address each
of these themes.
The Gangsta Lifestyle
One of the Geto Boys first songs to become known nationally was the
1989 single Do It Like a G.O., which brought the gangsta ethos directly
into the studio and almost instantiated what might have been the first labelon-label rivalries in rap music. Among other things, this song called out the
heads of East Coast and West Coast music labels for ignoring black-owned
independent labels like Rap-A-Lot. In this song, the Geto Boys called on other
rap musicians to not sell out to the white-owned, corporate music industry,
which they saw as being in the habit of ignoring raw, streetwise groups such
as themselves. The song closes with a skit featuring a phone call supposedly
from an executive representing a white corporate label dismissing smaller,
independent and black-owned labels, saying that black businessmen would
never be able to get themselves together in any significant way. Lil J asserts
otherwise, and he assures the caller that he is willing to go to war if that is
what is required.
Other songs give narrative recountings of what life is like in the ghetto and
highlight what the Geto Boys (and many others like them) think they have to
do in order to survive in such a hostile environment. In one particularly
descriptive song, Straight Gangstaism, Big Mike details observing older
gangstas from his neighborhood from when he was a small child. He talks
about how he used to study and emulate their styles, and how he admired
everything from their cars to their nicknames to the way they stood and wore
their hats. He reports that he himself is maintaining the same lifestyle that he
had marveled at as a boy, and that with the respect and admiration he has
gained from others from maintaining this lifestyle he sees no reason to leave it
behind. Thus he promises to always be straight g. In the next verse, the
local cachet of the gangsta image is brought home even more strongly, when
the narrator talks about how he used to emulate his own grandfather and how
he himself is now only doing shit like grandpa in every way. Although it is
acknowledged that this lifestyle might lead to prison, this is the environment
The Geto Boys
and lifestyle that is familiar, and it will not be abandoned. (That prison is
framed as a possibility but not an inevitability is different from the even more
pessimistic vision of fellow Houston rapper E.S.G., who, in one chorus,
exhorts to his friends in the grave and in the pen, Ill see you when I
get in).
Like other gangsta rap artists before and after (e.g., N.W.A. and Ice-T), the
Geto Boys also address the issue of perceived persecution by white law enforcement, particularly in the wake of the notorious video of the beating of
Rodney King. Crooked Officer is a very direct indictment of law enforcement, particularly of brainwashed black police officers. In one verse, Bushwick states that hes not going out like Rodney King but would instead
grab his gun and come out blasting. They state in no uncertain terms that they
and others like them have been persecuted for too long, and they express the
desire to put the crooked officers into their coffins. According to their lyrics,
the fear of the police permeates all age levels, as does the desire for reprisal. In
Straight Gangstaism, Big Mike talks about playing Cops and Robbers
when he was a child, when nobody wanted to play the part of the cops
because doing so was guaranteed to get yo ass kicked.
One particularly poignant portrait of life in the ghetto is delivered in the
song Six Feet Deep, which discusses the aftereffects of gang violence. Here
the Geto Boys highlight the grief expressed by mothers who lose their sons
and friends who lose their homeboys. They reflect on the senselessness of the
death of their friends, how life is going to be without them, and also upon
their own mortality and, specifically, their own vulnerability to inner-city
violence, which subsequently leads to a need for them to carry their own
weapons for self-defense. This tale of ghetto life and loss followed Ice Cubes
Dead Homiez but foreshadows such later songs as The Crossroads, Bone
Thugs-N-Harmonys eulogy for the late Eazy-E, and Puff Daddys Ill Be
Missing You, in memory of the Notorious B.I.G.
Tales of Horror
While many songs by the Geto Boys can be considered violent, the violence
is usually portrayed in the context of stories of hard inner-city lives that are
themselves often punctuated by sudden violence. Some of the groups songs,
however, forego the lessons learnable from those contexts and head straight
for what may be regarded as pure horror stories, in the tradition of the classic
slasher films well known from the cinematic genre.
A prototypical example is Chuckie, from the album We Cant Be
Stopped, which makes an obvious allusion to a film of this very nature
the first in a series of movies released under the name Childs Play. In these
films, a psychopathic (human) killer is able to transfer his soul into a redheaded talking doll named Chuckie. From his new soul-shell he begins a
rampage, attempting especially to murder the child that had tried to befriend
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the Chuckie doll. In the Geto Boys song, Bushwick Bill raps from the perspective of a psychotic child killer. He describes the murder and dismemberment of several victims, and he exhorts the audience, when they find the
victims, to just tell the authorities that Chuckie did it. Bushwick brags that
he would win any murder competition, and that for him murder comes very
easilyit is nothing but childs play. The song opens, closes, and is otherwise infused with audio samples of Chuckie from the movie (e.g., Hi, Im
Chuckie. Wanna play?), and other horror movies are alluded to throught the
narrative (e.g., Friday the 13th and Night of the Living Dead).
Bushwicks invocation of Chuckie as a figure of horror to emulate in this
particular song is notable for several reasons. First, the premise of the soul of
a mass murderer haunting, much less controlling and going on a murder spree
in the guise of, a childs doll is so unbelievable that the character can almost
only be interpreted as a figure of irony. Second, though, is the fact that
Bushwick Bill, himself a dwarf, adopts the Chuckie persona as part of his
own. He claims that half [his] body is Chuckie, the other is Bushwick, but
what he clearly means is that he, Bushwick, in the context of the song, has
Chuckies murderous nature within himself. The message is that dangerous
people can come in all shapes and sizes, and that Bushwick should not be
dismissed as innocuous just because of his small stature. Finally, with
Chuckies murder and cannibalism of children juxtaposed with verbal
images of Iraqi children being killed by U.S. bombs, it is implied that large
institutional forms of violence (as engaged in by the U.S. military) just might
be psychotic as well.
In some cases, the Geto Boys horror story narratives are overtly framed as
simple instances of the exercise of free speech, made in order to point out that
regardless of the extremity of the violence portrayed in these songs, equally
(if not even more) violent things really do occur within our society, and not
necessarily just in the inner-city ghetto. An example of such a framing device
is used in another song that aims at telling a story of pure horror, from the
album Till Death Do Us Part. Murder Avenue is claimed to have been
inspired by Jeffrey Dahmer. In this song, Bushwick Bill raps about the rape
and murder of a law student who had been casing him, and the subsequent
terrorizing of a newlywed couple. Although purportedly a song inspired by a
real-life murderer, some of the crucial details of the real-world events are
erased in the narrative that Bushwick performsspecifically, that Jeffrey
Dahmer was a torturer, rapist, and murderer of other men. Heterosexuality
is so normative within gangsta rap that it is almost inconceivable that any
artist would attempt to lyricize possibly homosexual inclinations, even in a
fictional story about committing atrocities against their fellow men. The rape
in this song is directed toward the female law student (Rosie) and newlywed bride (Bridgett), whereas the newlywed husband (Ted) is merely
tortured and murdered. In a later song (The Bushwicken) from his solo
album Phantom of the Rapra, Bushwick gives a further nod to the reality that
The Geto Boys
inspires some of the lyrics in his music, claiming that in comparison to himself, Dahmer was a minor case.
Psychological Breakdown
Some of the more extreme violence portrayed in the lyrics of the Geto Boys
is intended to be taken much more seriously, however. In these cases, the
presumed psychosis of the narrator is taken to be a natural outgrowth of the
violence and chaos of the urban street life in which the narrator is (or has
been) embedded. That is, the narrator is portrayed as reacting violently to a
violent world over which he has no control.
A prototypical example of a song detailing the psychological breakdown of
a narrator is Mind of a Lunatic, which probes the psyche of men driven
insane by the ghetto. This song, with its grisly details, is probably the most
often cited example of the extreme lyrics of the Geto Boys. In it, Bushwick Bill
raps about his rape and murder of a woman he had observed through an open
window, and the paranoia he experienced after the deed when he remains
with her bloody body. Scarface details getting into gunfights with drug dealers
and the police, with his own insanity being exacerbated by the smoking of
fry, a marijuana joint laced with PCP. In a standoff with the police, Scarface begins to shoot innocent bystanders, but then he wakes up in a mental
ward with slit wrists. Willie D warns the audience not to mess with him,
because he is exceedingly dangerous and does not tolerate bullshit; hell
stab you, blow up your house, and other nefarious doings.
Songs like Mind of a Lunatic are particularly effective because of the
street cred of their performers; although we presume that these stories are
intentionally designed to have dramatic effect, they are delivered in such a
way that the audience might well believe that the real-world rappers have the
capability to do some of the things they rap about. As an example, Willie D
overtly blurs the line between fantasy and reality, stating that what he is
saying is fact, not fiction. Fantasy also intrudes upon reality when the
narrators, in the course of committing their crimes, invoke violent figures
from popular culture (such as Jason, the hockey maskwearing killer from
the Friday the 13th movies, and Freddy Kruger, the killer who murders teens
in their dreams in the Nightmare on Elm Street films). It is left to the audience
to discern what is real and what is not, since we cannot trust the narrators
themselves, they claim to have gone insane.
The narrators also claim that society should be blamed for the ills perpetrated by the characters in Mind of a Lunatic, not only for causing their
psychoses but also for allowing them to roam the streets. Bushwick raps that
he ought to be bound by a straitjacket, and Willie D says that he should have
been killed as a child before he had the opportunity to wreak havoc on society.
Paranoia, homicidal thoughts, and other forms of psychosis are also dealt
with in one of the Geto Boys biggest hits, Mind Playing Tricks on Me.
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Although these same issues are addressed in Mind of a Lunatic, the former
song is much less explicit than the latter. As a result, Mind Playing Tricks
was actually able to be played on commercial radio, and it was, frequently,
when it was released. Scarface describes paranoia and suicidal fantasies but
relates that he cannot kill himself and leave his child an orphan. Willie D
expresses the feeling of being well-known in the hood and feeling constant
fear of being stalked by the people that he himself had victimized in the past.
Bushwick delivers a particularly memorable tale of getting into a fight with
the father of a child whose Halloween candy he and his friends had stolen,
and then coming to the realization that not only is it not Halloween, but his
friends are not with him, and he has not been beating a man but bashing his
fists onto the concrete sidewalk.
World Politics
In some cases, the Geto Boys address geopolitical issues. The song Fuck a
War features a very explicitly negative reaction to the dispatch of troops to
repel Saddam Husseins army from Kuwait in the First Gulf War, with Bushwick arguing that it would be better to simply nuke Iraq than send in niggaz
on the front line. Similarly, the politics of the ghetto are extended to the
national level in Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta, in which the first
George Bush, the president of the United States at the time, is portrayed as
just another gang-banging hustler who only happens to be white and in
possession of much more clout than the ghetto-bound gangstas featured in
most gangsta rap music lyrics. The World Is a Ghetto discusses the similarities of U.S. inner-city urban environments like Houstons Fifth Ward to
well-known hostile locales like Rwanda and discusses how poor (and especially black) people are neglected all across the world.
The Geto Boys engaged in larger political discourses outside the studio as
well, with Bushwick Bill stirring up controversy for his use of the terms bitch
and ho at a meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists in 1993.
Scarface was among a variety of Rap-A-Lot rappers who recorded a song to
benefit Texas death row inmate (and ultimately, executee) Gary Graham in
1993. Willie Ds lyrics were almost always political, and in his later incarnation as a syndicated talk show host he addressed many issues relevant to
urban and black America.
Sexual Politics
Like many rap groups that have been called gangsta, the Geto Boys, especially early in their career, produced songs about sexual relations, utilizing the
well-known categories assigned to women in this genre (i.e., bitches, hos,
etc.). Released in 1990, in the wake of N.W.A.s song A Bitch Is a Bitch
(1989), the Geto Boys Let a Ho Be a Ho did not break any new lyrical
The Geto Boys
ground. Even so, the issue of sexual politics from the gangsta perspective is
addressed in such songs as Gangsta of Love, Bald-Headed Hos, Let a
Ho Be a Ho, and This Dick Is for You.
Other Themes
Of course, not all of the songs recorded by the Geto Boys can be topically
compartmentalized, and many of their works crosscut the categories that have
been proposed here. Among other notable topics covered by the Geto Boys
lyrics, Cereal Killer (from Till Death Do Us Part) is a satiric comedy,
wherein Scarface raps about a crime spree involving various characters from
the world of childrens sugary breakfast cereals. His partner in crime is Captain Crunch; he murders a victim named Fruity Pebbles, is chased down
by a police officer named Franken Berry, and so on. The Unseen, from
Uncut Dope, is an antiabortion song. Bring It On (from Till Death Do Us
Part) is a tour de force melange of the Geto Boys and various guest rappers
(including the 5th Ward Boys) engaging in an old-school rap-off, testing their
skills on the mic as they talk about their skills outside the studio.
THE LATER YEARS AND THE SOLO CAREERS

Perhaps not surprising for a group cobbled together as a business venture by
an enterprising young rap mogul, the Geto Boys were never the best of friends
outside the studio. In later years, they would always express respect for each
other as individuals, while maintaining that their relationship as a group was
for business only. Perhaps it is also not surprising that this perspective was
conducive to a certain fluidity of group membership. Several lineup changes
occurred over the years and, since this has been the case even from the very
beginning, it might be said that fluidity is in fact the norm for the group, even
though what has been called the classic lineup is still the prototypical arrangement of Geto Boys.
DJ Ready Red left after The Geto Boys was released in 1990, and Willie D
would leave after the group released We Cant Be Stopped in 1991. For the
recording of Till Death Do Us Part in 1993, Big Mike was added to the
lineup, but he was gone when Willie D returned for a reunion with Scarface
and Bushwick Bill on 1996s The Resurrection. For their next album, Da
Good Da Bad & Da Ugly in 1998, Bushwick Bill was gone, replaced by
the rapper DMG. In 1998, Bushwick Bill sued Rap-A-Lot Records for $20
million, for an alleged assault that occurred outside a comedy club, which he
claimed had involved Rap-A-Lot employees attacking him for trying to break
out of a recording contract. However, by 2005 all seemed to be forgiven, as
Bushwick returned for yet another reunion with Scarface and Willie D, The
Foundation, in 2005, and for War and Peace in 2006.
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The later Geto Boys albums have met with relatively positive reviews and
decent album sales, although their later work is generally regarded as only
maintaining the legendary status that the group had already acquired. To
date, two greatest hits compilations have been released. Uncut Dope was
released in 1992, containing tracks from the first four albums (and mostly
from The Geto Boys and We Cant Be Stopped), along with some otherwise
unreleased material like The Unseen and Damn It Feels Good to Be a
Gangsta. A later package, Greatest Hits, released in 2002, includes tracks
from those four albums plus songs from the later 1990s albums: Till Death
Do Us Part, The Resurrection, and Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly. The later
package includes a bonus DVD featuring Geto Boys videos and live performances from the entire period covered by the collection.
Throughout the grand run of the Geto Boys, each of the members has
worked on various side projects, and each has released various solo albums
over the years. However, only Scarface has sustained a level of success as a
solo artist that rivals (and possibly even exceeds) that of the Geto Boys as a
collective entity.
Scarface
On October 26, 1991, the leading magazine observing the business side of
the entertainment industry, Billboard, initiated a new category to track the
success (measured in terms of album sales) of new musical artists. Unlike the
other categories monitored by Billboard, the Heatseekers chart was designed
to be open only to artists who had never broken into the top half of album
sales for any given week (i.e., artists who have not appeared in the Top 100
on the Billboard Top 200 list). The number one album on that inaugural list
was Scarfaces first solo album, Mr. Scarface Is Back. While it might at first
seem odd for a debut album to include the notion of returning, Scarface was
already somewhat known from his work with the Geto Boys; in fact, on the
album cover he is billed as Scarface of the Geto Boys. This album graduated from the Heatseekers list (and into the Billboard Top 100) by the next
week, having received critical accolades to go along with its commercial
success. It would ultimately rise to number fifty-one on the Billboard Top
200 and number thirteen on the R&B/Hip-Hop list.
Lyrically, Mr. Scarface Is Back continued with the themes previously covered by the Geto Boys on their albums The Geto Boys and We Cant Be
Stopped, but Scarfaces performances were so well done that this solo effort
quickly began to establish him as the standout performer of the group. This
initial impression would be borne out by the later success of his solo albums,
as compared to the solo output of Bushwick Bill and Willie D. Among the
narrative-driven songs on Mr. Scarface Is Back were ones that dealt with the
life of a drug dealer (Mr. Scarface); life in the urban jungle (Money and
the Power); sexual politics (The Pimp); and mental psychosis brought on
The Geto Boys
by the urban jungle (Murder by Reason of Insanity and Mind of a

Lunatic).
In 1993 Scarface released his second solo album, The World Is Yours
(1993), which has been interpreted as a slight change of direction for him.
On the song Now I Feel Ya, Scarface expanded his thematic ground to
cover the personal maturation that he had to undergo once he was able to see
his own child growing up, and in trying to provide a better lifestyle for himself
and his child Scarface draws a parallel between himself and the mother and
grandmother who had raised him. It is only at this life stage that Scarface
acknowledges understanding where they had been coming from when he was
a troubled youth; as he states in the songs refrain, addressing his mother and
grandmother, Now I feel ya. Additionally, unlike his previous album (and
much other music in hip hop up to that time), new legal issues prevented the
indiscriminate sampling that had been such a focus of this genre in the past.
Commercially The World Is Yours did better than Mr. Scarface Is Back and
all previous Geto Boys efforts, rising to number one on the Billboard Top
R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. (That same year, Till Death Do Us Part would
be the first Geto Boys record to reach that same level.)
Scarfaces commercial success would only improve, as The Diary (1994)
would reach number two on both the R&B/Hip-Hop and Top 200 lists. This
album featured songs about murder (The White Sheet), death (I Seen a
Man Die), vigilante justice (No Tears), gangstas defending their territory
from rivals (Gs), braggadocio over sexual prowess (Goin Down), and a
solo reworking of a Geto Boys classic (Mind Playin Tricks 94), among
others.
In 1997, Scarfaces next album, The Untouchable, went all the way to
number one on both Billboard lists. Although several Geto Boys and Scarface
solo records would eventually be at the top of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
chart, to date The Untouchable is the only Geto Boysrelated album to also
reach the number one spot on the Top 200, which covers all musical genres.
In 1998, Scarface released the double-length album My Homies, and in 2000
he released Last of a Dying Breed. Both of these albums would reach the Top
10 of both Billboard lists, giving Scarface a much better run of album sales
than the other Geto Boys have been able to attain (either as a group or
individually). To add to this commercial success, one of Scarfaces biggest
critical achievements was winning Lyricist of the Year honors from The
Source magazine at the 2001 Source Awards for his work on Last of a Dying
Breed.
Although at this point it is impossible to tell what may be in store for
Scarfaces future, one important milepost in any artists career is the release
of a worthy compendium chronicling their output up to that date. Scarfaces
collection Greatest Hits appeared in 2002, the same year that also saw the
release of the Geto Boys Greatest Hits. Scarfaces collection included memorable tracks from all of his solo albums up to that time. However, this
257
Eric B. & Rakim
I Know You Got Soul (12-inch). includes a cappella. 4th & Broadway, 1987.
The Mixpak Elpee (EP). 4th & Broadway, 1987.
Follow the Leader. Universal Records, 1988.
Follow the Leader including a cappella. (12-inch). Universal Records, 1988.
Microphone Fiend (12-inch). Universal Records, 1988.
Let the Rhythm Hit Em. MCA Records, 1990.
In the Ghetto (12-inch). MCA Records, 1990.
Juice (Know the Ledge) (12-inch). MCA Records, 1992.
Paid in FullThe Platinum Edition. Island Records, 1998.
20th Century MastersThe Millennium Collection: The Best of Eric B. & Rakim.
Hip-O Records, 2001.
Rakim
The Book of Life. Universal Records, 1997.
Its Been a Long Time (12-inch). Universal Records, 1997.
New York (Ya Out There?) (12-inch). Universal Records, 1997.
The Saga Begins (12-inch). Includes a cappella. Universal Records, 1997.
When I B on the Mic (12-inch). Universal Records, 1999.
167
Public Enemy
In hip hop history, no group is more emblematic of the purely political than
Public Enemy. The group serves as a lens through which to survey the history
of rap, past and present, sketch its broad strokes, chart its highs and lows, and
above all map its relation to the political mainstream of the United States.
What may come as a surprise given the legendary status the group enjoys is the
relatively apolitical nature of Public Enemys early work, the result of having
to work without a blueprint to craft a new genre of explicitly political rap.
Icons of Hip Hop
170
Their rise from the relative obscurity of Long Island to massive popularity and
political controversy in the early 1990s, and their return to a degree of obscurity thereafter, tells us much about the history of hip hop and particularly
about the fate of the specific political project that Public Enemy would come
to promote through their music.
EARLY YEARS: FROM THE VELT TO SPECTRUM CITY

Chuck D was born Carlton Douglas Ridenour on August 1, 1960, in Flushing,
Queens, to a radical family. He moved as a young child to Queensbridge, later
home to such artists as Marley Marls Juice Crew, Nas, and Mobb Deep,
before settling at the age of eleven in Roosevelt, Long Island (later to be
affectionately called the Velt, Strong Island). Relocating to Roosevelt
would prove crucial to Chuck Ds development, as he recalls the surprisingly
large black population and a well-organized community, as well as the
proximity to such institutions of higher learning as Hofstra and Adelphi
Universities, which offered radical summer courses for young blacks taught
by Black Panthers and members of the Nation of Islam, among others.
Although they had yet to meet, two other future members of the broader
Public Enemy circleProfessor Griff and Hank Shockleealso attended the
same summer programs, and it was Chuck Ds inspiring experience there that
would influence him, after graduating in 1979 from Roosevelt High, to enroll
at Adelphi.
Shortly after beginning his studies at Adelphi, Chuck D waited in line at a
party for a chance to rap on the mic, and was approached afterward by
Harlem-born Hank Shocklee. Born James Henry Boxley III, Shocklee was a
founder of the well-known DJ outfit Spectrum City, which despite its popularity conspicuously lacked MCs to hype the crowd. Shocklee invited Chuck
to join the crew, which would later evolve into the legendary production crew
the Bomb Squad, consisting of Hanks brother Keith Shocklee, Bill Stephney,
Carl Ryder (Chuck Ds producer alias), and Eric Vietnam Sadler, who
would collectively provide the notorious sonic backing for Public Enemy.
Hank and Keith Shocklee were born to a family whose savvy united the
musical and the electronic: a crucial combination during the early years of hip
hop, and especially prophetic for future Bomb Squad members. Hanks musical influences were drawn from across the spectrum, and he recalls that
during his formative years, rock would win out over the funk and jazz to
which he had been exposed as a child. His attachment to the raw energy,
drive, and overt delivery of 1970s rock would foreshadow the music Hank
would mastermind in later years. But funk would make a comeback. After
hearing a neighbor plug turntables into a local bands PA system, Hank
remembers how amplification gave funk an entirely new energy. Shocklee
would go on to produce an intricate fusion of these two elementselectrified
Public Enemy
rock and amplified funkthe two most fundamental ingredients of what

would become the Bomb Squad sound.
It was from this very same amplification technique that the Spectrum Sound
System was born. Originally billed as a radio station, Hank and Keith would
basically drag their speakers and mismatched turntables around to play
impromptu shows by plugging the tables into the microphone jacks on the
speakers. During the next few years, Spectrum would engage in a variety of
DJing activitiesspinning records as diverse as disco, rock, and Kraftwerk at
venues as diverse as parties and wedding receptionsas well as recording and
selling mixtapes and hyping new hip hop. Chuck D describes Hanks genius
during these early years as simultaneously technological and acoustica
reflection of his early influencesand Hank elaborates on this by noting that
despite the power of his sound system during those early Spectrum years,
balance was the key, setting him apart from legends like Kool Herc: I would
make sure that my crossover frequenciesI would make sure that my bass,
everything, was working in tune with each other, and I made sure that I
covered the entire frequency spectrum (Lapeyre 123). Spectrum was a fitting
name for the operation.
It was during the course of his work with Spectrum that Chuck D would
become acquainted with Hanks brother Keith Shocklee, and after seeking out
contacts at Adelphis radio station WBAU, he would also connect with Bill
Stephney, whose Monday night show eventually came to be closely associated
with Spectrum and immensely popular among Strong Islanders. The Spectrum
Show on WBAU appeared around the same time that their work at parties
was on the decline as lack of profitability had resulted in the closure of several
key venues, and the Spectrum crew turned the production talents of the
embryonic Bomb Squad toward the direct recording of new and previously
unheard artists for exclusive play on WBAU. It was during the course of one
such recording session that Chuck D would be introduced to another central
member of P.E.: Flavor Flav, born William Jonathan Drayton Jr. on March
16, 1959, in Roosevelt. Flav was trained as a classical pianist and had attended a different high school than Chuck D before also enrolling at Adelphi.
Shortly after meeting Chuck, then program director Stephney gave Flav his
own show right before Spectrum, under the moniker MC DJ Flavor.
During these years, Chuck D considered himself more of an MC than a
rapper, but the temptation to make records was ever present, and he soon
came to recognize the need to record, especially if he wanted to break into the
rap scene from the relative obscurity of Long Island. And Hank Shocklees
encouragement didnt hurt, either: Hank would listen to the entire line of
amateur rappers who lined up for the mic at Spectrum parties, before realizing that Chucks brief interventions as an MCin a booming baritone borrowed from sports announcer Marv Albertwere more compelling than any
of the rappers. It would take nearly a year for Hank to convince the introverted Chuck Da description bearing little relation to his later front man
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Icons of Hip Hop
172
personato start rapping. After Chuck had released a couple of records with
the dual aim of demonstrating his skills and hyping the Spectrum Show
including the underground 1984 hit Check Out the Radio, released as a B
side to LiesFlav told Chuck that another local rapper wanted to battle
him. Since the two were working together for Chucks father at the time, they
rehearsed a response together, and in the end Chuck invited Flavor Flav to
join him on what would be their first joint recording. The track would bear a
prophetic name, originally meant to express Chucks surprise at being targeted for a battle: Public Enemy No. 1.
THE BOMB SQUADS SONIC BOOM

It was during the course of these early recording experiments that the classic
Bomb Squad sound would emerge in embryonic form. At one point, Hank
approached Larry Smith and Russell Simmons to produce beats for Spectrum,
hoping to recreate what he perceived to be the best aspects of the Run-DMC
and Kurtis Blow sound. What it was that Hank appreciated about Smith and
Simmonss production sheds some light on where the early Spectrum sound
was coming from: They were musicians, but unlike most musicians they kept
it minimal. This frustration with musicians that drove Hanks vision of rap
production would become central to the Public Enemy sound, but only
through a certain degree of productive tension with the Bomb Squads own
musician: Eric Vietnam Sadler.
Sadler entered the picture because Smith and Simmons declined to produce
Spectrum. Hank had moved his equipment into the same Hempstead studio
shared by Sadler, and since Sadler was the most approachable musician around
from a hip hop perspective, Hank asked him to fill out the sought-after Kurtis
Blow sound. Vietnam declined at first, but after a year of meager income as a
musician, he agreed to work with the Spectrum crew, and his first contribution
came on the 1984 Check Out the Radio single. This was only the beginning,
and it was in the context of what some perceived as a lukewarm response to
that single that Hank and Eric would begin to reformulate their sound.
Vietnam was the only one who knew how to use the drum machines and
samplers, so this reformulation consisted of Hank and Chuck describing the
sounds they wanted and Sadler attempting to recreate them electronically.
And Sadler also had to be disabused of some bad habits, specifically, a too
affectionate relation to Prince and the eighties sound more generally. The
vaccine was the 808. The Roland TR-808 drum machine, released in late
1980 and immediately considered by many to be an inferior machine, had
an infamously artificial sound, but its biggest selling points were a relatively
low price and a classic kick drum sound. It was largely as a result of this kick
drum, and the artists like Public Enemy who venerated it, that the popularity of the 808 would skyrocket later in the 1980s, well after Roland had
ceased production of the early device. Hank told Eric Sadler, This is your
Public Enemy
fuckin God. This is in every fuckin record. If you dont do anything in life,
you put this shit in there, and its a fuckin smash (Lapeyre 128). Through
Eric with his 808 and Hank with an increasingly massive collection of samples, the Bomb Squad sound began a slow and often painful process of development and refinement, a process that spanned three years and two albums.
In 1985, the Spectrum Show on WBAU came to an end, as its participants
felt that it had reached a limit, and specifically that it wasnt paying off
financially. Chuck was also being actively courted by Rick Rubin at the
upstart label Def Jam, which had already signed Original Concept, the Beastie
Boys, and LL Cool J. Spectrum continued to do live gigs, and it was around
this time that Chuck was reintroduced to another crucial member of what
would become Public Enemy: Professor Griff, born Richard Griffin on the
same day as Chuck D. The two had known one another in Roosevelt during
their younger years, but after joining the army and learning martial arts Griff
returned to Roosevelt to found the local black security organization Unity
Force, which had provided security for the Velts hip hop scene, often working at Spectrum shows.
Chuck and Hank finally consented to a deal with Def Jam in June 1986
what they would later deem the great surrenderinspired largely by the
commercial success of Run-DMC and the feeling that the mainstream rap
game needed some conscious players in (Chuck D 82-83). Even then, however, Chuck only envisioned himself as operating behind the scenes as a
manager, but after some pressure from Rubin, he agreed to be front man
for the newly renamed Public Enemy. Despite label pressure to remain a solo
rapper, Chuck D immediately began to assemble a crew in the mold of Grandmaster Flashs Furious Five. He first approached Flavor (with significant
resistance from Rubin) and then Spectrum DJ Mellow D, whom Chuck D
immediately granted the less-than-mellow title Terminator X. Griff was
next, whose Unity Force was immediately recast as Security of the First World
(S1W), which according to Chuck Ds vision represented a rejection of the
alleged third world status of blacks.
While the lineup had been formalized, and while the moniker Public Enemy
had finally been selected (at the suggestion of Hank Shocklee), it is worth
bearing in mind that the name still referred to Chuck Ds original resistance to
battle rapping. Moreover, while Terminator X and S1W had been incorporated into the group, this was still initially for aesthetic reasons, backed up by
a hazy political agenda. Indeed, Chuck D recalls that the political significance
of the name Public Enemy came only after it had been chosen, but this isnt to
say that they were apolitical. Bill Stephney suggests that part of the reason the
group adopted the name Public Enemy was their growing realizationin the
aftermath of the 1986 Howard Beach incident, the 1983 killing of graffiti
artist Michael Stewart by New York transit cops, and Bernhard Goetzs 1984
shooting of four unarmed black teens on the subwaythat the Black male is
definitely the public enemy, a recognition which formed the basis of the
groups later radicalization (Chang 247).
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Icons of Hip Hop
174
BUM RUSHING THE SHOW, A YEAR LATE

Chuck D locates the official emergence of Public Enemy between two microeras within the history of rap. First came the old-school period epitomized by
Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, and Afrika Bambaataa, which was followed
by a second periodbetween 1984 and 1986dominated by LL Cool J, RunDMC, and others. But in 1987 the rap game changed again, ushering in a
third era, as Rakim and KRS-One broke the preexisting lyrical mold. This
vocal innovation, epitomized by Rakims intricate and jazz-inspired rhyming,
broke with the regular and simplistic meter, flow, and emphasis of earlier rap,
which remained rooted in the Jamaican tradition of toasting. Chuck recalls
that Yo! Bum Rush the Show was made in the outmoded 1986 style, and this
simplistic meter and flow would remain visible on tracks like Timebomb.
The reason for the outmoded character of the album was the slow production schedule of Def Jam, then distributed by major label Columbia, as Chuck
D recalls that major record companies move big-time, but they move like
dinosaurs (Chuck D 86). By the time the single Public Enemy No. 1 was
released in February 1987, its original incarnation was nearly two years old,
and the rerecorded version had existed for more than six months. The album
was made in the 1986 style because it was made in 1986, but not released
until 1987. Learning their lesson from this, Public Enemys next hit single was
not reserved for their follow-up album. Instead, going over the head of Russell
Simmons, they released Rebel Without a Pause as the B side for Bum
Rushs Youre Gonna Get Yours. Rebel was recorded in a week and
released less than two weeks later, which meant that the first track from
Public Enemys second album was released less than two months after their
first record finally saw the light of day. This did the trick: Rebel Without a
Pause blew up, and this was the break that Public Enemy needed.
What characterized this early sound that had become so outdated by 1987
can be gauged by taking a closer look at the stylistic differences that characterized Yo! Bum Rush the Show and the 1988 release It Takes a Nation of
Millions to Hold Us Back, for which P.E. is best remembered, and for which
the Rebel Without a Pause B side served as a prelude. The earlier album
showed a less than fully matured Bomb Squad, which combined with the
influence of Rick Rubin to give a much more minimalist sound, more evocative of LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys than the heavily layered Bomb Squad
sound that would emerge a year later. The early Bum Rush sound emerged
from the chaotic process by which Eric Sadler sought to translate Hank
Shocklee and Chuck Ds demands into music, and this process of translation
was not limited to the internal dynamics of the Bomb Squad, as Sadler would
often find it necessary to translate these unsystematic demands for oblivious
sound engineers, some of whom flatly refused to participate in the Bomb
Squads unorthodox production techniques.
Public Enemy
Neither process was painless, but it was precisely this discomfort that
would make the Public Enemy sound so profoundly inimitable, as this external tension reflected an aesthetic conflict inside the Bomb Squad. This
tension often revolved around the opposition between Hanks desire for offness and Erics tendency to seek musical resolution: While Hank was
raising and lowering levels to create imperfection and prevent sterility, adding
frequencies that push and pull against each other, Eric would be doing the
opposite in an effort to smooth out the track. Hank even recalls looping at
two and a quarter bars in order to disrupt the tracks closure by creating an
infinite-sounding loop, a technique most conspicuous on tracks like the
Mind Terrorist interlude. The clash between the two was not balanced,
however, since Hank was still the boss, the brain, and the rugged rebelness
that goes in when something sounds like I dont give a fuck won out over
the closed circle of resolution (Lapeyre 128). Musics worst nightmare, as
Hank so often described it, defeated the musician.
At the time that Bum Rush was constructed, this production process had
yet to fully develop, and one clear difference that distinguishes the album is
the prevalence of recorded music, which Chuck D recalls as having constituted more than half of the album. Eric would even play live drums before
overlaying them with a complicated and never-repeating drum pattern. After
the basic elements of the track were laid down, Chuck would then formulate
his contribution, before the Bomb Squad tweaked the sound and added samples and scratching. Since Terminator X was still more of a party DJ, Johnny
Juice Rosado was enlisted to add the complicated cutting and scratching,
and it is often argued that Rosado never got enough credit for his contribution. Moreover, few recognize that much of the scratching was done by
Chuck himself after the other DJs had gone home for the night. The DJs were
also enlisted in Hanks quest for offness, as he recalls that Rightstarter, his
favorite track on the album, sounded too good, too clean in its original
incarnation, so he took out the kick drum and had Rosado scratch it back
in. But this was all the final step: The Bomb Squad would map it out, Chuck
would add his vocals, and then Flavor and Terminator X would come in and
perform their largely preconceived parts.
Like the Bomb Squad sound, Chuck Ds rhyming was also in transition,
booming loudly but not erasing entirely an earlier party MC mentality. While
political themes such as references to South African apartheid and the Black
Panthers gain mention on Timebomb, these were backgrounded to the sort
of battle rapping and playful boasting that played more prominent roles on
tracks such as Public Enemy No. 1 and Youre Gonna Get Yours. Flavor
Flavs contribution, moreover, differs considerably from his later-developed
persona. While the interplay of the treble (Flav) and the bass (Chuck)
was beginning to develop, we also see a serious side to Flav on Too Much
Posse, and the heavy filtering of the albums vocals further diminishes the
contrast between the vocalists (see sidebar: Hype Men).
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Icons of Hip Hop
176
Hype Men
While the role of the hype man is clearly visible in such early figures as Cowboy
and Creole of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Kool Moe Dee specifically credits the latter), Flavor Flavs most significant impact on hip hop was
undoubtedly his popularization of this role. A hype man is a figure who plays a
central but supporting role within a group, making his or her own interventions, generally aimed at hyping up the crowd while also drawing attention to
the words of the MC.
Although Chuck D recalls modeling Public Enemy explicitly after Run-DMC,
the differentiation of roles would be much more pronounced in P.E., as Chuck
and Flav perfected the interaction of the serious preacher-rapper with a
comical hype man. Other notable hype men include Proof of D12 (who
played Eminems onstage hype man for many of his world tours), Freaky
Tah of the Lost Boyz, and Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys. Since the late
1990s, some producers, including notables like Puff Daddy, Lil Jon, and
Jermaine Dupri, have transitioned from a hype man role to become rappers
and stars in their own right.
Public Enemy was invited, in the aftermath of the release of Bum Rush, to
join the Beastie Boys on tour, the beginning of which coincided with the
release of Rebel Without a Pause in April 1987. The group was then invited
to join headliners LL Cool J and Eric B. & Rakim on an infamous European
tour toward the end of 1987, during which LL was booed off stage and Eric
B. & Rakim got sick of the food and tour conditions and left. Public Enemy,
however, was extremely well received, and much of their international popularity can be attributed to this early breakout opportunity.
IT TAKES A MILLION SAMPLES

Public Enemy dropped the epic It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
in April 1988 to much critical acclaim, before joining Run-DMC on yet
another European tour at the end of the same year. Given the swift and
radical transformation that the group had undergone since the production
of Bum Rush the Show, it is perhaps of little surprise that the success of
Nation of Millions (considered one of the most influential albums of all time
by VH1, Spin, and Rolling Stone) has condemned P.E.s first release to an
undeserved oblivion. It would be the combined maturity of Bomb Squad
production and Chucks political vision that would make Nation of Millions
literally the centerpiece, and indeed the turning point, in the history of Public
Enemy.
Public Enemy
Rebel Without a Pause ushered in this era of Public Enemys perfection,

or to put it more accurately, their imperfection. Rebel was recorded with
an early Mirage sampler, which could only capture three-second samples,
resulting in a split-second delay between sample and track. This sort of imperfection was music to Hank Shocklees ears. Moreover, it was on Rebel
that Terminator Xs potential began to appear. After hearing the initial track,
Hank was disappointed by the muddy sound of the scratching, so he asked the
engineer to pull off the bottom of the track. This did the trick: the whole
shit popped out like crazy, and it was my favorite piece. . . . I thought that was
probably the most brilliant piece of scratchwork on a record, ever (Lapeyre
134). While Chuck was still adding some ol fucked-up shit . . . at three in the
morning and DJ Juice contributed some fast cutting, Terminator Xs role
was now more befitting of his image.
Rebel was released well before the rest of Nation of Millions was even
recorded, but before heading back to the studio, the Bomb Squad would make
a slightly unexpected detour. Hank realized in 1987 that Slick Rickalready
a legend from such hits as 1985s La-Di-Da-Di and The Showwas still
on the back burner at Def Jam and had not yet recorded an album. It was the
Bomb Squad running the machines that produced the 1988 The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, and once we recall Eric Sadlers role in the Bomb
Squadoften muted but central nonethelesswe can begin to feel Hank
behind the scenes, letting Erics musical side flourish in the extended bass
solo on Teenage Love.
Back in the studio later that year to back up Rebel with a full follow-up
album, the Bomb Squad had reached its peak. As Eric Sadler recalls, Nation
was the only album that the so-called Bomb Squad worked on as a whole
together (Lapeyre 135). The process was intensive, all the more so since the
album was completed in less than a month. The process was the following:
The Bomb Squad would come up with a basic idea, a basic beat in the
preproduction stage. Once in the studio, the first step was to see what Chuck
had come up with lyrically, to lay the lyrics down, and then to take a new
perspectiveinvoking a sort of hip hop cubismon what the finished project
should look like. As Vietnam Sadler explains, the next step was the crucial
ingredient to the new formula: Then Hank and Keith would come in. Its
like, aight, now were gonna fuck this up . . . basically, theyd take it apart
and then we would slap it back together and I would just put stuff in place
(Lapeyre 134). The final ingredients, as with the first album, would be the
scratching by Juice and Terminator and Flavor Flavs vocal contributions, but
it was in the all-too-crucial fucking it up stage that the Bomb Squad would
develop a trademark sampling style.
A crucial ingredient in what Hank Shocklee describes as musics worst
nightmare was the heavy layering of equally heavy samples. In Nation
of Millions, the predominant source would be James Brownwhose importance Hank Shocklee attributes to a jungle grit, an ability to tap into deep
177
178
Icons of Hip Hop
African rhythms and create a frenzyand who found himself featured

on exactly half of the tracks on the album. These samples were drawn
from five classic tracks (Allen 72). Indeed, the break from Browns Funky
Drummerone of the most heavily sampled songs of all timewas included
on three tracks (and would later find its way onto Fight the Power). Later,
some would attribute the decline of the Bomb Squad in part to new legal
requirements for clearing samples, which rendered the use of material from
legends like James Brown too costly an endeavor, a problem the group anticipated on Caught, Can We Get a Witness?
This prevalence of sampling was in itself a significant departure from Bum
Rush, on which the sparse musical samples were generally looped and pushed
into the background (as with the Neville Brothers sample on Timebomb or
the JBs on Public Enemy No. 1). This was a result of the second shift
engendered by KRS-One and Eric B. & Rakims 1987 interventions. Chuck
D recalls that it was the latters I Know You Got Soul that flipped it for
good, a track which is often considered unique for the isolation of a James
Brown sample, and which some claim single-handedly kicked off the era of
godfather rap (Chuck D 86). Moreover, Chuck also cites KRS-Ones
South Bronx as another transitional track, and it was on the latter
that Public Enemys own transition would be explicitly modeled: We started
[Rebel Without a Pause] the same way that KRSs South Bronx started off
with the Get Up Off of That Thing by James Brown (Chuck D 91). James
Brown was a crucial ingredient to the new Bomb Squad soundJames
Brown is the main course. Other samples are the flavoringand in this
Public Enemy was in many ways a product of the times (Allen 72).
But the uniqueness of the Bomb Squads new sound consisted of more than
an increased sample density: The character of the flavoring was vital. These
samples were to make up part of a complex tapestry of sounds, alongside the
random sounds, sirens, and rock guitars featured on Bum Rush. In a recent
interview, Bomb Squad guru Hank Shocklee recalls, I just wanted to take the
sampling and OD [overdose] on it. You know, I wanted to use it so much that
you didnt know what anything was and where things was coming from
(Welte). Soul samples were deeply enmeshed with heavy metal samples
Slayers Angel of Death appears on She Watch Channel Zero?!as well
as a myriad of other unidentifiable sounds. The Bomb Squad would even
record themselves simultaneously playing a chaotic array of sounds in the
studio, before listening to the playback and lifting out a sample that had
struck just the right combination of frequencies. Such techniques created a
collage effect that has been described as a wall of noise or sonic wall
within which Chuck Ds fuller and by now less filtered baritone pounds the
listener into submission like the voice of God in a storm, in the words of
Hank Shocklee (Warrell).
The contrast between Bum Rush and Nation of Millions goes beyond the
merely aesthetic, as the latter would mark the emergence of Public Enemys
Public Enemy
trademark brand of political critique: As production was revolutionized, so

too was P.E.s politics. It was this element more than even the albums innovative production that made it a landmark for a generation of fans and which
marked the emergence of the first wave of truly political rap. The album turns
to more political sampling: Jesse Jackson is summoned to begin Rebel Without a Pause, and the ostensible interlude Show Em Whatcha Got references
an entire lineage of black radicals, from Marcus Garvey to Steve Biko, Rosa
Parks to Martin Luther King, and of course Nelson Mandela.
These samples provide the background for a new Chuck D, one rarely
glimpsed on Bum Rush, who lays out the groups dual political heritage, from
the Black Panthers to the Nation of Islam (especially on Party for Your Right
to Fight), as well as the spirit of revolt embodied by Nat Turner. Further,
Chuck D repeatedly claims federal complicity in the deaths of Malcolm X and
Martin Luther King, dismisses mainstream television as brainwashing, and
issues stinging critiques of Oliver North, J. Edgar Hoover, and Margaret
Thatcher, as well as the prison-military complex, for which he coins the memorable term anti-nigger machine. These various strands of political critique
come together in the video for Night of the Living Baseheads, which rap
critic and historian Tricia Rose sees as a visual, symbolic, and conceptual tour
de force, embodying the essence of Public Enemy and the tension between
postmodern ruptures and the continuities of oppression (115). Public Enemy
had finally earned the self-imposed title of prophets of rage.
Moreover, Chuck goes out of his way on Nation of Millions to defend NOI
leader Louis Farrakhan and then presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, both of
whom had recently come under attack for anti-Semitism (see sidebar: AntiSemitism in Rap). This defense of Farrakhan and Jackson would prove prophetic of the rage of others as well, and Public Enemy would soon find
themselves embroiled in their own controversy over anti-Semitism, one that
would irrevocably transform both the internal dynamics of the group and its
public reception.
Anti-Semitism in Rap
Currents within hip hop often mirror broader trends within the black community, and the sometimes-justified accusation of anti-Semitism often leveled
against rap is no exception. This is often due to the fact that incidents of
alleged anti-Semitism often have the same sources in both. For example, the
controversy that engulfed and in many ways destroyed Public Enemy cannot
be understood without reference to the similar controversies surrounding Jesse
Jackson and Louis Farrakhan, and without grasping certain tenets of black
thought, most specifically those of black Muslims.
Often, accusations of anti-Semitism involve broader disagreements about
history, the present situation in the Middle East, and the relation between the
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two: Many in the black community have long maintained a clear sympathy
with the Arab cause (as a result of both ethnic and religious ties) and have
moreover challenged the singularity of the Jewish Holocaust by drawing
attention to earlier experiences of colonialism and the black holocaust of
American slavery. In 1994, a report by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
made note of the double standard to which rappers are held, especially on
questions of anti-Semitism, pointing out that during the Public Enemy controversy, similarly offensive comments by the lead singer of Guns N Roses
were largely ignored.
Even the conscious rapper Mos Def courted controversy by referring to a
tall Israeli whos runnin this rap shit on his 2004 track The Rape Over.
Mos Def insists that the line was a direct reference to current Warner Brothers
CEO and former CEO of Island/Def Jam Lyor Cohen, whose parents were
Israeli immigrants, and that hence the statement was not anti-Semitic. Regardless, the line was eventually removed from the albums second pressing
under pressure from executives, ostensibly due to difficulties clearing samples.
More recently, at the 2005 Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, rap mogul
Russell Simmons reacted angrily to demands by the Anti-Defamation League
that rappers publicly renounce the Nation of Islam, citing the organizations
long history of defending the black community.
THE INFAMOUS GRIFF

At a meeting in 1988, up-and-coming film director Spike Lee asked Chuck D
to write an anthem for his next project, Do the Right Thing. Through Lee,
moreover, Chuck came into contact with the head of Motown, which had
recently been acquired by MCA, and he, Hank Shocklee, and Bill Stephney
were offered their own subsidiary record label under MCA. Chuck promised
to deliver the track for Lee upon returning from the Run-DMC tour, and it
was on a series of flights criss-crossing Europe and Japan that he would return
to an old Isley Brothers favorite and pen the lyrics for P.E.s most influential
track of all time: Fight the Power. Chuck recalls being surprised at the
prominence that Fight the Power was given in Do the Right Thing, at
the fact that the song and the film essentially merged into one, and this
prominence certainly contributed to P.E.s newfound stardom.
Chuck found inspiration for the track by reflecting on the disparity between
the heroes of black and white culture, and this spurred him to write the
infamous third verse of the song, which denounces Elvis Presley and John
Wayne as racists, before summing the issue up with the observation that, most
of my heroes dont appear on no stamps. The song opens with one of the few
of these heroes to actually make it onto a stamp, Martin Luther King, and
production on the track epitomized the classic Bomb Squad sound: begin
[ning] with a pow, crashing like a fist against the senses as alarms sound
Public Enemy
and basses thump as a groovy yet caustic guitar riff moves over staccato
rhythms. . . . You dont know whether to dance or stand at attention (Warrell).
Do the Right Thing opened at the end of June 1989 and catapulted Public
Enemy into the spotlight. But they were headed to the spotlight regardless,
due to a now-infamous interview that Public Enemys Minister of Information Professor Griff had given only a month earlier. Griff had made some
mention on BET of a connection between Jews and jewelry, and
Washington Times reporter David Mills wanted to discuss the comments with
the rest of the group. Chuck was busy with other interviews, and so made the
decisionunfortunate in retrospectto have Griff deal with Mills himself.
The interview didnt go well, as Griff told Chuck afterward. Griff repeated
the claims about jewelry, and cited the fact that the head of the De Beers
mining dynasty is Jewish. Mills was even more bothered and scheduled a
follow-up meeting. Chuck wasnt feeling conciliatory and again decided to
skip out on the meeting to handle other business.
In this second interview, Mills spoke at length with other S1Ws and members of the P.E. entourage. Neglecting the fact that it was the very premise
rather than historical detail that reproduced the circular logic of antiSemitism, they attempted to provide historical substantiation for Griffs
claims by citing among other things the heavily discredited (and NOI-published) book The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews. As the story
goes, this meeting was going reasonably well until Griff himself appeared,
demanding the tape from his original interview to ensure that he wouldnt be
misquoted. This provoked an altercation with Mills, who became angry and
left, publishing his story as is in the Times. The original story was then
commented upon in late June by the Village Voice, and the two articles would
produce an unprecedented backlash against the group. It is worth mentioning
that Chuck D recalls that Mills later regretted having published the article
immediately without doing more research into the matter first, and that he
subsequently offered an apology to Griff himself.
Chuck takes most of the responsibility for the controversy, identifying a series
of moments in which he could have intervened but chose not to: He could have
intervened in either of the Griff interviews, and above all he could have intervened in the brewing controversy rather than waiting for it to disappear. Instead, the fight was brought to him, not from critics, but from the industry and
even from some friends: They couldnt fuck with us directly, so what they did
was to go after everybody around us. . . . They were fucking with Russell at Def
Jam, messing with the MCA [label] negotiations, and fucking with Spike Lee
(Chuck D 228). The issue festered into a mushroom cloud by the end of June,
the same time that Do the Right Thing appeared, and Chuck realized that
something needed to be done. But his final mistake was the press conference
he organized, in which he read a prepared statement that had been approved by
Stephney and Def Jam publicist Bill Adler without consulting Griff or the other
S1Ws, which declared that Griff was no longer with the group.
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THE BOMB SQUAD, DEFUSED

Chucks reflections on the uproar would be committed to vinyl later that year
when the group recorded the controversial Welcome to the Terrordome in
October 1989, the second track (after Fight the Power) for their third
album, Fear of a Black Planet, which would appear the following spring.
This track, Hank Shocklee recalls, came out of a track released in the same
year by Brooklyn-based Full Force titled Aint My Type of Hype, and this
explains why the track was produced prior to the remainder of Fear of a
Black Planet. Hank recalls hearing the Full Force track for the first time while
driving, and becoming so excited that he needed to stop: It was like, Yo this
is crazy! But they didnt finish it! . . . I turned around, went back to our
studio: Im gon put this shit together. I took what they did, added some
extra stuff, changed it around: Terrordome (Lapeyre 135).
The Bomb Squad would then spend a couple of months producing albums
for other actsincluding Bell Biv DeVoes Poison, which sold more than 4
million copies, as well as Ice Cubes epic solo debut AmeriKKKas Most
Wanted, which topped rap charts and remains among the most influential
rap albums of all timebefore returning to the studio for Public Enemys
equally epic third album. As Chuck D recalls, the team had effectively produced three number-one albums in a span of only fourteen weeks, between
January and March 1990. But this was no longer the same Bomb Squad that it
had been only a year earlier.
By the time P.E. got into the studio to put together Fear of a Black Planet,
irreparable rifts had emerged within the organization, mostly as a result of the
Griff controversy and Chuck Ds reaction to it. Sadler recalls that the split
was between Hank Shocklee and Bill Stephney on the one hand, and Chuck D
and Keith Shocklee on the other, and that the latter pair began to work on
Fear of a Black Planet while the others were still putting together Bell Biv
DeVoe. Upon hearing some of what Keith and Chuck had come up with,
Sadler remembers becoming depressed and deciding to help out on the album.
In the end, even with Sadlers intervention, the absence of the mastermind, the
brain, proved too difficult to overcome. Fear of a Black Planet remains a
classic and the most commercially successful of Public Enemys albums, but
its status would be driven largely by the unforgettable impact of Fight the
Power, as well as the albums lead single, Welcome to the Terrordome,
both of which can be seen as leftovers from Public Enemys prior era, in which
Hank Shocklee fully controlled the reins of production and masterminded the
intricate combination of elements that had constituted the Bomb Squad
sound. In the end, the album lacked all the pieces.
And the recent Griff controversy didnt help the situation. In the year that had
passed, the outcry had died down a bit, but we can be sure that Public Enemys
critics were prepared to resume the attack if necessary. The release of the
Public Enemy
Terrordome single, in the words of one reviewer, catapulted Public Enemy

into the unenviable position of being the most scrutinized group in pop music,
and critics would go over Fears lyrics with a fine-toothed comb (Watrous). But
the groups detractors only needed to look as far as the lead single, and Welcome to the Terrordome, which was written as a response to the Griff controversy, soon generated a controversy of its own. In a discussion of the attacks
leveled against the group for anti-Semitism, Chuck D concludes with the line,
Still they got me like Jesus. To speak of crucifixion at the hands of the press is
of course commonplaceand according to Chuck, this is all that was meant
but when the attacks are coming from Jewish organizations, doing so inevitably runs the risk of echoing the historical claim of Jewish complicity in the
crucifixion.
There is little doubt that the rift introduced by the Griff controversy was a
determining factor in the effective dissolution of the Bomb Squad and the
consequent decline of Public Enemy as a significant force in rap. Hank
Shocklee, putting a positive spin on the situation, nevertheless insists that
the group had accomplished its purpose and reached its limits as a creative
project. This belief was additionally influenced by the impending deal by
which the remaining members of the Bomb Squad would be offered a deal
by MCA to found SOUL Records. The original production team was to have
consisted of Hank and Keith Shocklee, Bill Stephney, Chuck D, and Eric
Sadler, but with tangible disappointment, Eric recalls the moment at which
Hank essentially dismissed him and Keith, moving forward with Stephney
and Chuck.
Hanks justification for this gesture lies in the claim that Public Enemy had
gotten too big too quickly and that it would self-destruct if he didnt intervene
to preemptively dissolve the group. Regardless of whether or not this was the
case, Keith and Eric decided to leave the picture for their own reasons, and
after Chuck backed out to take the heat off the SOUL deal in the aftermath
and reignition of the Griff controversy, the Bomb Squad era had been definitively ended. While Public Enemy has continued to make music since then,
and indeed up to the present day, it had already lost one of its central ingredients by 1990. After that point, the group would require a total renovation, a task all the more difficult in the face of a hostile media keen on
highlighting the slightest political impropriety or artistic shortcoming.
PUBLIC ENEMY STRIKES BLACK?

This renovation would go on display in late 1991, with the release of Apocalypse 91 . . . The Enemy Strikes Black. The response from critics was positive but muted, with many sensing in the music the growing dissension within
the group as well as a certain repetitiveness of political themes. As a result of
the breakdown of the Bomb Squad, the latter was elevated on Apocalypse to
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executive production status, whereas in practice the beats were made by

Bomb Squad disciples Gary G-Wiz and the Imperial Grand Ministers of Funk.
What made a bigger difference, according to Hank Shocklee, was Chuck Ds
occupation of the position of sonic mastermind: Chuck, according to Hank, is
not a musical genius, and his control over the process since Apocalypse has
led to a lower quality sound on the more recent records.
Politically, however, some consider Apocalypse to be more on point than
ever, having moved beyond the integrationist sentimentalizing of Fear of a
Black Planet (Henderson 328). While the sound had changed, tracks like
Cant Truss It and Shut Em Down still bring the message, and both are
backed up by black-and-white videos that compare capitalism to slavery, celebrate past resistance, and exhort future rebellion. The album also contains the
classic By the Time I Get to Arizona, an attack on Evan Mecham, the former
governor of that state, who had created a political furor by refusing to observe
Martin Luther King Day in Arizona. The P.E. video depicts armed S1Ws
storming the governors offices and closes with Mechams car exploding.
Despite this, from the perspective of public reception Apocalypse marked
the beginning of a slow decline. It is always a risky endeavor to privilege one
moment of an artists work over another, but it is equally undeniable that
Public Enemys status as icons of hip hop derives almost exclusively from their
first four albums. After the disintegration of the Bomb Squad, the group
would release a series of albums whose critical reception went from lukewarm
to downright awful, but not always justifiably so. The 1992 album Greatest
Misses got the new production team to rework and remix old classics, with
mixed results, as well as to lay down a few tracks in the new, more laid-back
mold, but was almost universally snubbed by critics and the public.
The group mounted a comeback on the 1994 Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age,
a savage attack on the nascent gangsta era that, despite some excellent tracks,
was uniformly dismissed by music critics, notoriously receiving two stars in
Rolling Stone. Many have sought to explain the albums reception more
through the context that received it than its inherent qualities: The gangsta
era was in full swing, having yet to be turned toward more positive ends and
fused with political projects. Two years later, we would see Chuck Ds solo
effort, Autobiography of Mistachuck, an album that moved as far as one
might think possible away from the classic Bomb Squad sound. More soulful
and funk-orientedmusician Eric Sadler returned to the production team,
this time without the overbearing gaze of Hank Shocklee, and Isaac Hayes
was invited to do a guest spotthe album was conceived as a direct answer to
those critics who dismissed his relevance in the new era of rap. Most ignored
the album, and even sympathetic reviews observed a certain repetitiveness in
Chucks subject matter.
In the late nineties, Spike Lee once again enlisted Public Enemy to back up a
film, this time the basketball drama whose name the album would share: He
Got Game. Released in 1998, the album would be greeted by a significantly
Public Enemy
more hospitable atmosphere than had been the case just a few years earlier.
The album also constituted something of a reunion, seeing the return of Griff
(after solo work), Terminator X (after a serious motorcycle accident), Flav
(after a number of run-ins with the law), and the original Bomb Squad lineup,
although given the laid-back melodies and clean beats, one ultimately wonders who was playing the perennially crucial role of production mastermind.
Critical reviews showed a marked recovery (Rolling Stones assessment recovered to a still-modest three and a half stars), and the group scored a minor
hit with the Buffalo Springfield-inspired title cut.
He Got Game would be the groups last album on Def Jam. After posting
the industrial remix album Bring the Noise 2000 on the groups Web site for
free downloading in support of MP3 technology, Chuck D was forced by
distributor Polygram to remove it. On December 9, 1998, he posted the
following on his Terrordome column on the Public Enemy Web site:
The execs, lawyers and accountants who lately have made most of the
money in the music biz, are now running scared from the technology that
evens out the creative field and makes artists harder to pimp. His final word
was less than conciliatory, expressing a deep-seated grudge against the entire
industry: Let em all die. . . . Im glad to be a contributor to the bomb. The
group also posted an MP3 version of Swindlers Lust, an antiexploitation
and antiindustry rant whose title some have interpreted as anti-Semitic. Not
surprisingly, Public Enemy would be released from their Def Jam contract
shortly thereafter.
From then on, Chuck would be a spokesperson for file-sharing technology,
and their next album, Theres a Poison Goin On, would be released entirely
as MP3s. Public Enemy was out of the industry, but whether this was a
blessing or a curse is hard to say. After a couple of remix and compilation
albums, Public Enemy put out two more full albums. In 2005 we saw the
release of New Whirl Odor, with DJ Lord replacing Terminator X, and while
the sound was strong, few were able to look past Flavor Flavs appearances on
a series of reality shows, from The Surreal Life to Strange Love and finally
Flavor of Love. Unfortunately, Chuck Ds own forays into the public arena as
a television and radio host on Air America have been all but entirely eclipsed
by his partners exploits (see sidebar: Grills).
In 2005, Chuck D ran into a self-described disciple of his, revolutionary
Bay Area rapper Paris (most famous for his 1992 Bush Killa), who offered
to collaborate on the next P.E. album. To Pariss surprise, Chuck asked him
to write and produce the entire album, and to release it on his own Guerrilla
Funk Records. The album, released under the title Rebirth of a Nation in
early 2006, is an attempt to escape the rut that Public Enemy had fallen into,
and it does so by simultaneously looking forward and backward. Explicitly
framed as a throwback album, Rebirth contains a multitude of references and
samples that draw the listener back to the classic Public Enemy of Nation of
Millions. But the album also propels the group forward into the post-gangsta
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Grills
Flavor Flav popularized wearing gold, silver, platinum, or diamond-studded
teeth, now called grills, as part of his hip hop attire. Flav once remarked that
he would never wear platinum teeth, but this didnt prevent his sporting of
gold teeth from catching on. Since the late 1990s, grills have exploded in
popularity, largely driven by their prominence among Dirty South, Crunk, and
Houstons Chopped and Screwed rappers, and are known variously as fronts,
plates, golds, and pullouts. As a result of their popularity and expense, grills
have become one of raps premiere status symbols.
Specifically, grill artists-turned-rappers such as Houstons Paul Wall have
consistently made grills a central reference point in their lyrics. Appearing on
Kanye Wests 2006 single Drive Slow, Wall raps: I open up my mouth and
sunlight illuminates the dark. Moreover, in 2005 Wall collaborated with
Nelly, Jermaine Dupri, Ali, and Gipp (who claims he orignated the style) on
Let Me See Your Grill, a track dedicated entirely to flashy mouthwear. In
music videos, these artists flashed their grills for the camera. Paul Walls Web
site devoted to his Houston-based grill-fitting business features a number of
grills that can be ordered, ranging in price from $65 to $1,800 per row.
The mainstream popularity of grills is evident from the fact that artists as
diverse as Kelis, Hulk Hogans daughter Brooke, Korn, and Marilyn Manson
have appeared in public with the flashy mouthwear. Recently, there has been
a certain degree of backlash against the popularity of grills, as they were
singled out to be banned by some Texas school districts in 2006, giving rise to
claims that such a specific targeting of grills was a racist gesture.
erano doubt largely due to Pariss influencethrough collaborations

with former NWA member MC Ren as well as post-gangsta revolutionaries
dead prez, Kam, and Immortal Technique. After a few aborted Public
Enemy comeback attempts, Pariss influence may help kickstart a proper
rebirth.
REVOLUTIONARY, NOT GANGSTA

The decline of Public Enemy, while sparked largely by the implosion of the
Bomb Squad, reflects a broader shift that had been taking place in rap ever
since the rise of gangsta rap in the early 1990s. Public Enemy essentially
created political hip hop and pioneered a revolutionary vision, and as that
vision was increasingly interrogated by later artists, Chuck D would turn his
attention to attacking those he saw as responsible for undermining Public
Enemys political project and harming the black community in the process.
Public Enemy
We will conclude by discussing the broader legacy of Public Enemys politicized rap and some critiques leveled against it.
In the early 1990s, Public Enemys nascent genre of political hip hop came
to be steadily undermined by a new wave of rap: By 1991 the rules and
rulers of hip-hop were changing, with biting black nationalist commentary
and an Afrocentric worldview giving way to sexual hedonism and the glamorization of violence. Public Enemy failed to react (Dyson 167). But they did
react, especially on the 1994 Muse Sick, where Chuck D devotes significant
lyrical venom to attacking the rise of gangsta, especially on tracks like Give
It Up and So Whatcha Gone Do Now? Dyson rightly worries that such
interventions reflect a Public Enemy that refused to change and come to terms
with its own abandonment by hip hop fans (see sidebar: Stop the Violence).
More worrying still are the strange bedfellows that accompany a critique of
the gangsta genre, including reactionary elements of the black bourgeoisie
and white conservatives (Dyson 170). While Chuck D explicitly denies any
common cause with the white conservatives who demonized rap music during
the 1990s, the charge of sympathy with conservative blacks may be harder to
shake. This is because Chuck D goes on the offensive against those who
would criticize Reverend Calvin Butts or C. Delores Tucker, who he argues
were only targeting the companies distributing rap, not the artists themselves.
But in their quest, Butts and Tucker teamed up with precisely those white
archconservativeslike William Bennett and Bob Dolethat Chuck D would
Stop the Violence

Mickey Hess
Gangsta rap was born out of the street gang culture of the 1980s. Artists like
Schoolly D, the Geto Boys, N.W.A., and Ice-T brought gang imagery into their
music through stories of gunplay, drug dealing, and avoiding the police. The
1989 Stop the Violence movement and the 1990 single Were All in the
Same Gang were efforts to use hip hop music to promote an antigang
message. The Stop the Violence All Stars consisted of rap artists KRS-One,
Just-Ice, Doug E. Fresh, Kool Moe Dee, MC Lyte, Public Enemy, Heavy D, and
Stetsasonic, who collaborated to produce a track, Self Destruction, that
urged young black men to stop turning their guns on each other. Similarly,
King Tee, J.J. Fad, Michelle, Body and Soul, Above the Law, N.W.A., Tone Loc,
Digital Underground, Young MC, Oaktowns 3-5-7, and MC Hammer collaborated to form the West Coast Rap All-Stars and to record the song, Were
All in the Same Gang, which promoted a message of unity in the face of
recent gang standoffs, particularly between LA factions of the Bloods and
Crips. These songs raised awareness of gang issues but of course did not end
gang violence. N.W.A., in fact, continued to tell stories of gang violence in
their songs, even after recording this antigang message.
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attack, and their method was nothing less than a Senate subcommittee, a
reactionary arm of the U.S. government. In the end, Chuck even went so
far as to blame the victim by claiming that it is gangsta rappers themselves
who are responsible for the censoring and limiting of rap.
What Public Enemy, and Chuck D more specifically, seemed to neglect was
the crucial reality reflected in the rise of gangsta, a reality that exceeded the
financial incentives recognized by Chuck. Rather, one could interpret the rise
of gangsta rap as in part a critique of the shortcomings of the early political
rap epitomized by Public Enemy. L.A. gangsta rappers are frequent critics of
black nationalists, Robin D. G. Kelley argues, and the same could be said of
ghettocentric culture more generally, a culture wary of all abstract political
statements that run the risk of obscur[ing] the daily battles poor black folk
have to wage in contemporary America (212). Gangsta rap seeks to make up
for this deficiency by providing a series of perspectival first-person narratives
that illustrate the reality of life as a young black male in a country where they
can only be viewedas Public Enemys name reflectsas a threat.
Perhaps more damningly, Errol Henderson questions even Public Enemys
revolutionary credentials. He highlights the potential, especially in early P.E.,
to foster little more than a myth of action or politics as theater that
promotes proclamation over demonstration, and which was revealed when
Chuck caved to public and industry pressure during the course of the Griff
controversy (328-329). Moreover, Henderson argues that it was more organizationally rooted cultural nationalists like X-Clan that pushed Public Enemy to move beyond the lukewarm politics of Fear of a Black Planet and on
to a more radical nationalism on Apocalypse.
P.E.S IMPACT AND LEGACY IN THE POST-GANGSTA ERA

Michael Eric Dyson argues that Public Enemy is, hands down, the most influential and important group in the history of hip-hop (165). However, given
the fact that Public Enemy pioneered early political rap and given the groups
close ties to the genre, we might not be so content with a sanguine account of the
groups massive influence. This is because the decline of Public Enemy, their
earlier influence notwithstanding, tells us a great deal about the potential and
limitations of political rap more generally, or at least those forms of political
rap that fit the aesthetic and didactic molds crafted by this seminal group.
In terms of influence on a younger generation of rapperspolitical or
otherwiseit would be difficult to overstate the importance of Public Enemy,
and this legacy spans the political, aesthetic, and technological realms. By
pioneering and essentially inventing a style of straightforwardly political
hip hop, P.E. were a direct influence and a necessary precondition for much
of what followed: Few political rappers who followed could deny that their
work had been influenced by Public Enemy. Beyond the purely political,
Public Enemy
moreover, Public Enemys explicit disciples span from the early gangsta rap of
N.W.A. to the more mainstream Busta Rhymes, the underground stylings of
El-P and the Def Jux label, and even slam poet Saul Williams.
Aesthetically, the list is at least as long, if not longer. The erratic layering
and sampling of the Bomb Squad would be deemed postmodern by critics and
would inspire a generation of rappers. Moreover, Public Enemys very sonic
compositions would make their sound more available and accessible to artists
outside the genre, and this would appear explicitly in the 1991 collaboration
with thrash metal band Anthrax on a remix of Bring the Noise (see sidebar:
Hip Hop and Metal). This collaboration would almost single-handedly spawn
the rap metal genre, with which Chuck D would later reconnect on a 1996
Hip Hop and Metal

Robin Chamberlain
The relationship between metal and hip hop has always been tenuous, as
evidenced by the multiplicity of names that have been used to describe music
that includes elements of both genres. These labels include rapcore, rap-rock,
rap-metal, and nu metal (a term that includes, but is not limited to, metal with
hip hop elements). Rather than being defined by a distinctive sound, the
many intersections of hip hop and metal are best characterized by their
openness to fusion and a willingness to address contentious political issues.
In both sound and content, rap-metal tends to be aggressive and confrontational. This is only one of the reasons that rap-metal is a genre viewed with
suspicion by many fans and artists of both metal and hip hop. Another key
reason for the uneasy relationship between rap-metal and hip hop is that rapmetal has been, and continues to be, largely the domain of white musicians.
Despite these tensions, rapcores continued success since its genesis in the
mid-1980s anchors it within the history and development of hip hop.
The forefathers of rapcore include such popular groups as Beastie Boys,
Run-DMC, and Public Enemy, all of whom used elements of rock and metal in
their music. The Beastie Boys featured Slayer guitarist Kerry King on No Sleep
til Brooklyn and Public Enemy collaborated with the thrash group Anthrax to
record a metal version of their hit Bring the Noise. The first group that can
clearly be defined as rapcore, though, is Urban Dance Squad, a little-known
Dutch group whose contributions to musical history include inspiring the
hugely popular band Rage Against the Machine. The metal band Body Count,
fronted by rapper Ice-T, managed to bring together fans of both rap and rock,
and are remembered for the controversy they created with their song Cop
Killer. Despite, or perhaps because of, the conflicted relationship between
metal and hip hop, not to mention between hip hop and rapcore or metal
and rapcore, these genres continue to be mutually influential, both intentionally and through attempts to both define and transcend generic categories.
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collaboration with Rage Against the Machineyet another group claiming to

have been influenced by P.E.which covered Black Steel in the Hour of
Chaos.
Technologically, Public Enemy was always at the forefront of developments, even to the detriment of their careers. From sampling technology to
a fidelity to MP3 technology that ended their distribution deal, their radicalism was as much technological as it was political. Currently, Public Enemy
composes their work electronically and transmits it back and forth by e-mail,
and Hank Shocklee is engaged in projects that aim to push the limits of
electronic music.
However, to fully grasp the importance of Public Enemy, we must situate
their influence within the broader history of hip hop. While all attempts to
periodize are necessarily problematic, it is useful to consider the development
of political rap in terms of three historical stages, as suggested earlier. The
first wave is represented by rappers like Public Enemy and KRS-One, who
from the late 1980s explicitly endorsed radical political transformation
through programmatic statements in the form of music, thereby contributing
massively to the political development of the postcivil rights generation.
However, this early political rap would come under severe critique as early
as 1990, with the expanding popularity of gangsta rap, a first-person narrative of the effects of Reaganomics, the crack cocaine epidemic, and the resulting militarization of black communities. Gangsta was critical of the preachy
nature of early political rap as well as its tendency to emphasize foreign
politics at the expense of conditions in domestic ghettos. Such neglect would
often emerge from the black middle classes and often contained idealist arguments such as the so-called culture of poverty, which ignore structural economic conditions and racism, focusing instead on criticizing and criminalizing
the behavior of lower-class blacks.
Post-gangsta political hip hop (see sidebar: Post-Gangsta Political Hip Hop)
is a dialectical synthesis of the radical political impetus of early rap and the
more materialistic and ghettocentric focus of gangsta, allowing for a more
Post-Gangsta Political Hip Hop
While one can find traces of the synthesis in earlier artists (and even on Boogie
Down Productions Criminal Minded, prior to KRS-Ones turn to more explicitly
political rap), the third stage in the political development of hip hop emerged
fully with the increasing popularity of rappers like Black Stars Mos Def and
Talib Kweli, Nas, the Roots, Paris, and Common in the late 1990s. However,
the highest development of post-gangsta political rap can be found in groups
like the Coup and dead prez and is most explicitly enunciated by the latter.
Dead prez expresses the character of post-gangsta political rap best when,
on the track Im a African from their first album, Lets Get Free (2000), they
Public Enemy
claim that their music creates a space between the street-gang-themed gangsta rap of N.W.A. and the black militant politics of of Public Enemy. This song
continues with an explicit endorsement of the gangsta critique of preachy rap,
in which they transform Stetsasonics classic Afrocentric anthem Free South
Africa, which in its original version falls into a culture of poverty argument by
claiming that Africans and African-Americans both need help: them with
their government, us with mentality. To correct this error, dead prez replaces
the original list of African nations with diasporic communities: Puerto Rico,
Haiti, and J.A., New York and Cali, F.L.A.
This post-gangsta mentality is deepened throughout the course of the two
mixtapes released in 2002 and 2003 under the moniker dpz, which prepared the ground for the album whose title can be interpreted as best
summing up the post-gangsta synthesis: Revolutionary but Gangsta (2004).
On these mixtapes, revolutionary black nationalism is fused with gangsta
culture: The acronym RBG is derived from the colors of the Garveyite flag
and O.G. (original gangsta) becomes original Garvey. Moreover, gangstas
are equated with freedom fighters, complementing a redefinition of gangs
themselves: dedicated, ready to bleed for what they believe. This postgangsta fusion appears most clearly on a collaboration with the Coup titled
Get Up, in which warring street gangs such as the Crips and Bloods are
urged to unite against the true enemy, the government: its one team: get up
and lets ride. This is the political program of the post-gangsta era.
sophisticated approach to black politics that avoids the twin dangers of the
preachy culture of poverty argument and the inward-oriented nihilism of
an uncritically gangsta approach. It is from this recognition that we can
understand the historical importance of Public Enemy, as well as those who
have charted a political course beyond the parameters of the early political
rap that Public Enemy invented. Even for their radical critics in the black
community, Public Enemy still represents the fundamental starting point and
reference point for any attempt to construct a revolutionary hip hop. That is
to say, even in the negative gesture of critique Public Enemy exerts a positive
influence on the further development of rap.
There is a certain degree to which the critiques of Public Enemy voiced
earlier come together: The nationalist critique of a merely mythical action
and the gangsta critique of the mythologization of some nationalisms are but
the flip side of the same coin. Rappers of the post-gangsta era are forced to
tread the political line that runs between the two by recognizing the crucial
observations provided by gangsta rap while tethering these observations to a
resolutely political project. If we have reason for optimism about the future
of Public Enemythe continuing impact of their icon statusit lies with
their recent collaborations with some central members of the post-gangsta
generation of political rappers. Public Enemy forges into the post-gangsta era
191
Icons of Hip Hop
192
on Rebirth of a Nation, maintaining their politics but also building the necessary ties to a younger generation of artists to whom the recasting of the
post-gangsta political genre will fall.
See also: Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Ice Cube
WORKS CITED
Allen, Joe. Academic Archive, Volume XII: The Soul of Hank Shocklee. Wax
Poetics 17 (JuneJuly 2006): 70-72.
York: St. Martins Press, 2005. 223-297.
Chuck D, with Yusuf Jah. Fight the Power: Rap, Race, and Reality. New York:
Delacorte Press, 1997.
Dyson, Michael Eric. Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black
Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 157-186.
Henderson, Errol A. Black Nationalism and Rap Music. Journal of Black Studies
26.3 (1996): 308-339.
Kelley, Robin D. G. Kickin Reality, Kickin Ballistics: Gangsta Rap and
Postindustrial Los Angeles. In Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black
Working Class. New York: Free Press, 1996. 183-228.
Lapeyre, Jason. Louder than a Bomb: An Oral History of the Bomb Squad, Public
Enemys Production Machine. Wax Poetics 17 (JuneJuly 2006): 118-136.
Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America.
Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press, 1994. 99-145.
Warrell, Laura K. Fight the Power. Salon.com. 3 June 2002.
Watrous, Peter. Public Enemy Makes Wavesand Compelling Music. New York
Times. 20 April 1990.
Welte, Jim. Hank Shocklee: Louder Than a Bomb. Mp3.com. 20 April 2006. http://
www.mp3.com/news/stories/4195.html.
FURTHER RESOURCES
McLeod, Kembrew. How Copyright Law Changed Hip Hop: An Interview
with Public Enemys Chuck D and Hank Shocklee. Stay Free! Magazine
20 (November 2002). http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/20/public_
enemy.html.
Public Enemy. It Takes a Nation: The First London Invasion Tour, 1987. [DVD]
Music Video Distributors, 2005.
Public Enemy Web site. http://www.publicenemy.com.
Serwer, Jesse. Bomb the Suburbs: Adelphi University Radio Station WBAU Put
Strong Island on the Map. Wax Poetics 17 (JuneJuly 2006). 61-66.
Salt-N-Pepa
Athena Elafros
In a business in which music careers are made and broken overnight, the
fourteen-year career of the group Salt-N-Pepa is worth analyzing and celebrating. From their humble beginnings as telephone representatives for Sears,
through surviving two different DJs, several record companies, a difficult
separation from their longtime manager, and five albums, the trio of Cheryl
Salt Renee James, Sandra Pepa Denton, and Deidre DJ Spinderella
Roper have proven that they are indeed strong and independent women.
Icons of Hip Hop
194
And their careers as members of Salt-N-Pepa are ones that many female artists
and fans can relate to, as the group faced many challenges being one of the
first all-female rap crews (see sidebar: Women and DJ Culture).
The success and longevity of Salt-N-Pepa proved that rap music was not
solely for men, since these women, along with many other women before and
after them, were responsible for carving out a space for female MCs and DJs
in the rap business. In fact, they achieved their success by making rap music
Women and DJ Culture
Athena Elafros
DJing is an artistic form that played a central role in the formation of the hip
hop movement, a youth movement in the South Bronx that began around the
mid-1970s and consisted of four key elements: break dancers, MCs (who
would eventually become what we know as rappers), DJs, and graffiti artists.
Rappers and rap music are the most successful of the art forms to emerge from
hip hop culture. Although there are very few female DJs with record contracts
in rap music, there is a very strong tradition of female DJing in the hip hop
movement. Long before Deidre Spinderella Roper was bringing us such
classics as Spinderellas Not a Fella (But a Girl DJ), there were pioneers in the
movement by the names of DJ Jazzy Joyce and DJ Wanda Dee.
Originally from the Bronx, DJ Jazzy Joyce began deejaying in 1981 when she
was only eleven years old. By 1986 she was the DJ on Sweet Tees seminal rap,
Its My Beat. Currently, Joyce and DJ Cocoa Chanelle broadcast a radio show
called Ladies Night on New York Citys HOT 97 FM.
DJ Wanda Dee began to DJ as a member of Afrika Bambaataas Zulu Nation.
She was the first female DJ to be featured in the 1984 Harry Belafonte movie
Beat Street, which resulted in a European tour and a record deal. Eventually
Wanda Dee became a recording and songwriting artist, and she has cowritten
numerous multiplatinum hits. She was also one of the first solo female rap
artists to release two consecutive platinum singlesThe Goddess and To
the Bone in 1989. Her career continued to flourish as she became, and still is,
the lead vocalist of the multiplatinum British techno group called the KLF.
Despite this long tradition, female DJs are still outnumbered by male DJs.
This may be because female DJs are paid much less than male DJs, they are
more severely critiqued in their musical choices, and they do not become
producers as easily as some of their male counterparts. Yet the numbers of
female DJs seem to be increasing, since the aforementioned trailblazers have
been followed by a slew of successful female DJs such as DJ Belinda Becker (of
Buddha Bar fame), Brooklyn veteran Cocoa Chanelle, Japanese-born DJ Kaori
Ueta (whose manager is Funkmaster Flex), and Manhattan-based DJ Beverly
Bond, among others. As the number of female DJs continues to rise, these DJs
can continue to challenge and change the male-dominated arena of DJing
and production from the inside.
from a womans point of viewa point of view with appeal to a population

that had been craving such an outlet. By focusing on messages of female self-
Preface
Choosing the twenty-four most important hip hop artists of all time is no easy
task. From Kool Herc to Kanye West, Icons of Hip Hop spans four decades of
MCs and DJs, old-school pioneers and new-school innovators, to profile the
figures who have made hip hop music what it is today. Hip hop music, once
considered a passing fad, continues to thrive and evolve more than thirty
years into its history. Icons of Hip Hop presents the stories of twenty-four
important figures who have contributed to the musics development and
success.
Our profiles begin with Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, two DJs who
established hip hops musical foundation with their invention of breakbeats
and turntable scratching. These hip hop pioneers collected funk and soul
records and transformed their record players into instruments that created
new sounds through backspinning and scratching. These turntable techniques, along with digital samplers and drum machines, form the backbone of
hip hop music. The sounds that DJs like Herc, Flash, Afrika Bambaataa,
Pete DJ Jones, and Grandwizard Theodore invented have been built upon by
three decades of DJs and producers, from Rick Rubin and Jam Master Jay to
Eric B and the Bomb Squad to DJ Premier, DJ Scratch, Dr. Dre, and Kanye
West.
At Kool Hercs block parties in the 1970s, the DJ was the focal point of the
performance, and the MC, or rapper, served chiefly to call the crowds
attention to the DJ and to entice people onto the dance floor. As early MCs like
Coke La Rock and Busy Bee began to develop more complex rhyming routines,
the MC came into his own. Famous MC battles, such as the 1982 competition
between Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee, took rhyming to a new level as these
MCs sought to win over the crowd with their rhyme structure, wordplay, and
wit. Whether hyping up the DJ or boasting about his or her own skills on the
mic, the MC was always a crowd pleaser. With the 1979 release of Sugarhill
Gangs Rappers Delight, the first hip hop record to reach mainstream radio
worldwide, the rapper became the face of commercial rap music.
Preface
Rappers Delight also introduced mainstream listeners to the terms rap

and hip hop. The song begins with the words, I said a hip hop. . . . From
that early moment in hip hop history, when rap and hip hop were used in the
title and first lines of the same song, the meanings of these two terms have
been debated. When many fans and artists talk about hip hop, they explain
that it is a culture that expands beyond music to include four central elements:
graffiti art (aka tagging or writing), b-boying (aka break dancing, popping,
and locking), DJing (aka turntablism, or mixing, cutting, and scratching
records), and MCing (aka rapping or rhyming). On his song 9 Elements,
KRS-One expanded this definition to include five more elements: beatboxing,
fashion, language, street knowledge, and entrepreneurialism. In his lyrics to
9 Elements, KRS makes the distinction that to rap is merely an action that
anyone can take, but Hip hop is something you live. Both terms, hip hop
and rap, however, are used to describe music. To distinguish between the two
forms, the term hip hop music is often used to designate a song that holds true
to hip hops orginal aesthetic rather than appealing to a pop audience, and the
term MC, as opposed to rapper, is often used to designate a hip hop vocalist
who holds true to this same aesthetic. In an exclusive interview for Icons of
Hip Hop, Roxanne Shante explained the difference between MCs and rappers:
Rappers need videos, MCs dont.
Although Shante eventually did make a video, she first made her name going
head-to-head with other MCs in the street. Her record Roxannes Revenge,
hailed as one of hip hops first answer records, took rhyme battles into the
recording studio as she responded to a single, Roxanne, Roxanne, by the
group UTFO. Roxanne initiated a series of answer records from several
different MCs, and extended hip hops competitive element to recordings and
radio airplay. Video airplay would become even more important to RunDMC, whose visual imagery of black fedoras, gold chains, and unlaced Adidas
sneakers would introduce hip hop fashion to MTV audiences. As hip hop
culture moved into mainstream outlets like MTV, listeners sought to preserve
the original culture by making distinctions about which songs counted as real
hip hop and which were created for crossover success on the pop charts. In
the mid-1990s, MC Hammer dropped the MC from his name, claiming he
was in the business of entertainment rather than hip hop, in response
to criticisms that his pop hits like U Cant Touch This were selling out
hip hop culture. Debates about what characteristics consitute rap or hip hop
rage on today as artists like Defari claim to make real hip hop rather than
pop rap.
Ideological distinctions aside, however, rap music is an inextricable part of
hip hop culture. Artists and listeners will continue to argue about which MCs
are making music to make money and which ones do it out of a pure love for
hip hop, but even as these debates continue, we should remember that the
shiny suits and diamond grills we see on MTV and BET in the twenty-first
century are as much a part of hip hop as the Kangol hats and Fila jumpsuits
Preface
worn by hip hoppers in New York City parks in the 1980s. Rather than
debating which figures belong to rap and which to hip hop, Icons of Hip Hop
showcases the inventions and innovations of twenty-four musical icons from
1973 to 2007. Even at two volumes, however, our icon profiles are not
comprehensive. As with any collection, there are omissions. Throughout the
book, however, we make connections to other MCs, DJs, and producers
whose stories intersect with the twenty-four figures we have chosen. Each
profile discusses and cross-references other artists connected with the icon at
hand. A foreword from Jeru the Damaja, a rapper included in Kool Moe
Dees list of the top fifty MCs of all time, credits the artists who influenced
his rhyme style. Nicole Hodges Persleys timeline of hip hop history highlights
the innovations of artists like Kurtis Blow and Schoolly D, icons who are
not included in our twenty-four in-depth profiles. An afterword by veteran
rap artist Masta Ace lists the twenty-four most overlooked hip hop icons, who
are worthy of further study. Exclusive interviews with Masta Ace, Roxanne
Shante, Mystic, and Kool DJ Red Alert, included in the Roxanne Shante
profile, provide a firsthand account of the development of the first female
MC to spark a national trend. And finally, Shamika Ann Mitchells exclusive
interviews with DJ Premier and DJ Scratch give further attention to producers, the people behind the music, as icons.
The scope of Icons of Hip Hop is intentionally broad in that we seek to
profile old-school orginators as well as new-school innovators, devote attention to the different regions that have contributed to what hip hop culture
has become in the United States, and recover the stories of lesser-known
artists. As the editor, I sought to pay homage to those artists, like Ice Cube
and Eminem, who typically come to mind when hip hop is mentioned, but
also to call attention to groups like the Native Tongues and Eric B. & Rakim,
that havent matched Ice Cubes sales but that rank high on many fans lists of
the best rappers of all time. In short, the twenty-four artists profiled in these
two volumes were chosen based on their unique contributions to the development of hip hop music, style, and culture: Grandmaster Flash made the
turntables an instrument, Eric B. & Rakim created more complex rhyme
flows, MC Lyte proved that women could rap with aggression, Outkast
shifted attention to Southern hip hop, and the Native Tongues provided a
much-needed critique of hip hop culture itself. Each essay ends with a section
on the legacy of the artists, which emphasizes their influence on hip-hop
today and their importance to hip hop in the future. We include producers
and DJs as well as MCs, fan favorites as well as platinum-selling artists,
women as well as men, and Atlanta and Houston as well as New York and
Los Angeles. With this approach to selecting its subjects, Icons of Hip Hop
presents a historical and cultural framework for hip hop that extends to
current or emerging artists, unearths the histories of important artists from
outside hip hops mainstream, and examines the varied and ever-changing
forms of the music.
xi
xii
Preface

Mickey Hess
Ice Cube
David J. Leonard
As a member of N.W.A., and then as a solo artist, Ice Cube sat at the forefront of gangsta rap. His lyrical brilliance and affected gangsta identity built
the popularity of gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop. Speaking to and for
disempowered and disenfranchised youth, Cube used the platform provided
by hip hop to blow up, all the while giving voice to what was going on in the
hood, from drug dealing and gang banging to police brutality and impoverished, jobless families. Equally important, Cube helped facilitate hip hops
emergence as a news bureau of sorts, often describing his work as that of
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Icons of Hip Hop
a street reporter. Cubes career also mirrors hip hops history in that Cube has
faced significant opposition and condemnation from mainstream America. In
fact, Cube, both as a member of N.W.A. and as a solo artist, has been at the
center of a significant level of controversy because of his lyrical treatment of
police brutality, black-Korean relations, women, and gays and lesbians. Yet
even with his career characterized by controversy, Cube has emerged as possibly the most successful artist to cross over to the mainstream, not only as a
rapper but as an actor, filmmaker, writer, and television executive. In fact,
Cube symbolizes the life span of hip hop, having grown up to a point where
he can make family films and television shows for the FX network, even as he
continues to produce hip hop albums.
Although one view of Ice Cubes career sees him leaving behind hip hop for
the allure of mainstream acceptance, another perspective sees Cubes career as
a rags-to-riches story in which he uses music to rise out of the same social
conditions he describes in his lyrics. The life and times of Cube is a story of
hip hop, a complex narrative of inclusion and exclusion, progressive and
reactionary agendas, crossover appeal and mainstream demonization, performed identities and keeping it real, and of course the continuity of poverty,
despair, and cultural resistance. Hip hop is Ice Cube and Ice Cube is hip hop
not just in abstract terms, but in its stories and development as a fundamental
American cultural institution.
Born in 1969, Oshea Jackson came into the world in the aftermath of the
Watts Riots and amid struggles over community control within South Central
Los Angeles and other black communities throughout the nation. Insulated
from the streets by his parents, Jacksons childhood was relatively uneventful. His parents, Hosea (a machinist and groundskeeper at the University of
California, Los Angeles) and Doris (a hospital clerk) were loving and dedicated
parents, who went to every length to both protect and empower young Oshea,
giving him just enough freedom to develop as an independent thinker without
sacrificing discipline and safety. His parents were not alone; his older brother,
Clyde, who would eventually rename Oshea Ice Cube because of his coolness
around girls, served as a protective force in his life: He was there. He kept me
on the right track. You dont realize that till you see other people who grew up
without fathers and how their lives turn out (McIver 12). Often excluding his
mother from such praise while handing most of it to his father and brother,
Cube has celebrated the discipline and guidance provided by these men, especially as South Central Los Angeles became more and more violent. The combination of shrinking social services, declining job opportunities, and an
increasingly powerful police state during the 1970s resulted in a less than
idyllic neighborhood. Gangs and drugs slowly infiltrated South Central, causing an even greater loss of jobs, social services, and police presence. In such an
environment, Osheas parents did everything to protect him, while still allowing him to be a kid who played football and basketball, and roamed the
neighborhood. In fact, his childhood mirrored a typical narrative for American
Ice Cube
children, as he explored the spectrum of offerings available to him in South

Central Los Angeles, even as increasing levels of violence and shrinking investment in childrens programs limited his play spaces. Yet his parents did not
respond to the changes in his community with fear and overprotection. Instead
they allowed Cube to explore the streets, contributing to his sense of self and
community, something that would motivate him for years to come. Ice Cubes
childhood established an important foundation for his music career, instilling
in him an immense amount of confidence and respect for family and school
(although he would often eschew these values in his lyrics).
Ice Cubes career took him from novice high school rapper to controversial
cultural figure, to hip hop icon, to major Hollywood player. No matter the
project before him, Cube manages to express his social consciousness in his art;
family, friends, the hood, racism, misogyny, police brutality, and education
all, at different times and with varying degrees of potency, take center stage in
Ice Cubes productions. After Cube completed grammar school, the Jackson
family faced the difficult decision of where he would attend middle school.
Violence and shrinking funds in Los Angeles public schools created uncertainty in the family. After learning that Randy, Cubes best friend, would be
attending Hawthorne Christian School, which was located in the Valley some
twenty miles east of downtown Los Angeles, the Jacksons decided to reunite
the boys at Hawthorne. While crucial in Cubes own persona and artistic
development, the experience was certainly not a positive one. Besides the
lengthy commute that many black children experienced with busing, Cubes
educational experience thrust him into an environment of gang rivalries. It
exposed him to increased violence and stress, as his classmates included Bloods
and Crips from rival gangs, brought to the same schools through busing.The
experience taught Cube a lot about American race relations and how busing
sought to bring together black and white students but did so without regard for
the safety, educational development, and personal well-being of the students,
particularly the black students. It also dramatically impacted Cube in terms of
his interest in school, given the lack of respect afforded to students within this
chaotic environment. The violence, the lessons about race, and his experience
crossing borders and seeing other parts of Los Angeles all had a profound
effect on Cubes outlook and philosophies, some of which can be seen in his
lyrics. The experience turned Cube off school, and his parents removed him
from Hawthorne, choosing to enroll him at William Howard Taft High
School, located in Woodland Hills, a place where he would discover his passion for music alongside a revitalized focus on school and education.
ICE CUBE AND THE EMERGENCE OF WEST COAST GANGSTA RAP

As he entered Taft, Ice Cube was listening to everything from Rappers
Delight to Grandmaster Flashs The Message, the music of Afrika
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Icons of Hip Hop
Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, DJ Kool Herc, and so many other East
Coast rappers. Rap was emerging as a voice for the underclass. Serving as
vehicle of empowerment and communal bonding, hip hop became a form of
cultural resistance and empowerment for black youth throughout the United
States. Inspired by the music and his burgeoning friendships with several
classmates at Taft, Cube would find his voice in hip hop. In 1983, Cube
penned his first rhyme during a typing class. Discussing the newest cuts from
Run-DMC, his classmate Kiddo challenged Cube to an impromptu battle of
their own. As they each sat down to write their own lyrics, to settle once and
for all who could pen the dopest rhymes, Cube transformed himself from a
listener of hip hop, someone who found voice and empowerment in the
artistry of others, to a practitioner, an artist who used rap to illuminate,
educate, pontificate, and of course give voice to his and his friends anger,
dreams, and frustrations.
Although he hadnt yet developed the rhyme skills for which he would
become known, Cube remained focused on developing his game. After hearing the outcome of Cubes battle with Kiddo, Tony Wheatcob, a Taft classmate who, as Sir Jinx, would become a successful rap producer, proposed a
collaboration. Cube and Jinx put a tape together in Jinxs garage, and
throughout high school they would continue to write and perform their music, all the while devloping their hip hop skills (Chang 299).
By 1986, a hip hop scene had emerged on the West Coast, and once again
Jinx would play an instrumental role in Cubes development. He introduced
Cube to his cousin, a young man from South Central named Andre Young,
who was performer and producer with World Class Wreckin Cru, an up-andcoming hip hop group in the LA scene. Upon their introduction, Cube and
Andre, aka Dr. Dre, began hanging together (Chang 300). After Dre heard
one of Cubes raps, he invited him on a shopping trip. He also introduced
Cube to his party scene, inviting him to the numerous parties he gave at a
local roller rink. One night Dre alerted Cube that he and Jinx should prepare
to perform at the next roller rink party. This was just the break they needed:
Cube and Jinx found the right mix of comedy, serious lyrical content, and
cussing to reach the audience, building on this singular party to a blossoming
place in Los Angeless hip hop scene.
In addition to hanging with Dre and performing at his parties, Cube formed
his own group at Taftthe Stereo Crew. Selling over fifty tapes and known
throughout the community, Stereo Crew put Cube on the local hip hop map.
Their songs Getting Sweated and Shes a Skag, were both relatively
popular among high school kids in the area. However, Stereo Crew would
not last. After their breakup, Cube would join forces with Sir Jinx and Kid
Disaster to form CIACru in Action. Although still in high school, CIA
possessed quite a following, even releasing a Dre-produced single on vinyl,
which contained several notable songs: My Posse, Just 4 the cash $, and
Ill-legal.
Ice Cube
Simultaneous to Cubes rise within the local hip hop scene, a young drug
dealer and entrepreneur who went by the name of Eazy-E emerged on the
scene in Compton, California. In 1986, their paths would cross, after Dre
asked Eazy-E, whom he had met previously, for a $900 loan to post bail (he
had been arrested because of a series of unpaid traffic violations). Eazy agreed
to give Dre the money if he agreed to produce for a label he was developing,
one he would call Ruthless Records. Even though their working relationship
grew out of necessity, it quickly blossomed, with Eazy-E providing Dre with
unlimited support and near autonomy. Dre would soon discover HBO (Home
Boys Only), a New Yorkbased rap group whose skill impressed Eazy and
Dre enough to offer them a record deal. Unfortunately, neither HBO nor Dre
and Eazy-E had writing skills, making the production of a single difficult. Dre
suggested that Ice Cubes lyrics could deliver a hit for HBO, and authored
Boyz N the Hood, a song about violence and gang life in American ghettos.
The members of HBO did not see its merits, but Cube, Dre, and Eazy all loved
it. When HBO refused to record the song, they severed ties with Ruthless
Records and left Eazy-E in a difficult position: a song, but no artist; studio
time paid for but no one to record. Desperate, given the potentially damaging
financial effects of not using the studio time, Dre offered another solution:
Eazy, despite being a rap novice, should record the song himself, being the
truest embodiment of a boy from the hood. After much persuading from both
Cube and Dre, Eazy relented, agreeing to record Boyz. Cube, Eazy, and Dre
initially sold the single out of the trunks of their cars until Macola Records,
who released the single, agreed to distribute it as well. The popularity of the
song convinced Eazy-E to request additional songs from Ice Cube, who delivered 8-Ball, a track on Old English 800 malt liquor, and Dopeman,
a tale about a neighborhood crack dealer.
N.W.A. IS BORN
Although Cube, Dre, and Eazy were each committed to their own groups, the
success of Boyz, coupled with some difficulties each were facing (both Dre
and Cube felt somewhat exploited by Lonzo Williams, the producer for both
World Class Wreckin Cru and CIA), made them think about forming a new
group. As they came together to record these new songs, they were now
joined by MC Ren, DJ Yella, Arabian Prince, and the D.O.C., all friends of
Cube and Dre, resulting in the formation of N.W.A.Niggaz with Attitude.
This lineup lasted until 1988, when Arabian Prince and The D.O.C. went
solo, leaving the group with its now-classic five-man lineup of Dre, Ice Cube,
MC Ren, Eazy-E, and DJ Yella. Cube would later recount the unceremonious
founding of N.W.A. and the process of naming the group in the following
way: Traveling to the studio, Eazy and Dre informed Cube that the time had
come to officially form their own group, leaving behind their various other
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Salt-N-Pepa
recently ended their tumultuous relationship, and she was starting to remove
herself from the control and abuse that relationship entailed.
THE END OF BLACKS MAGIC (19931997)

After the release of Blacks Magic, the process of separating from Ernst,
finding another label, and making another record took roughly three years,
but they eventually entered into a new distribution deal with London Records
U.S. In the deal, their former label, Next Plateau Records, gave London
Records Salt-N-Pepas entire catalogue through a licensing agreement. It
was also during this time that the trio renegotiated their contract with Ernst.
Ernst originally owned 100 percent of the royalties received in Salt-N-Pepas
name, but his ownership was reduced to 50 percent. However, he was still
entitled to one third of all the income that they made, including any royalties
from new albums, regardless of whether he played a role in their creation.
Unfortunately, conflicts over creative control between male managers and
their female clients occur fairly regularly in the rap music industry (see sidebar: Female Rappers with Male Producers).
Despite the conflicts over creative control, Very Necessary (1993) proved to
be the most successful of all their releases. The album was divided between
Ernst on the one hand and Salt-N-Pepa on the other, with both sides ultimately creating hit tracks. In addition, the ladies of Salt-N-Pepa were responsible for the concept of the video for the hit song Shoop. Instead of the
usual scantily clad women, Salt-N-Pepa provided some eye candy for their
female fans by shooting the video almost entirely with men.
Notwithstanding the immense success of Very Necessary, their final album,
Brand New (1997), took several years to release due to the fact that
Female Rappers with Male Producers

Athena Elafros
From Roxanne Shante and Marlon Marley Marl Williams to Salt-N-Pepa and
Ernst Hurby Luv Bug Azor, to Yo Yo and Ice Cube, to Queen Latifah and
Mark the 45 King, many female rappers have entered the rap game through
ties to male producers who were already part of the scene.
Due to the overwhelming majority of male producers in the business, this
gendered dynamic of entry should not be surprising, as it is mirrored in other
musical forms as well. Although some women rappers are operating and
founding their own record companies, many still believe that is easier for
women to make it if they are connected to a male producer. As Lil Kim notes
in a 1999 article by Elena Oumano, in Billboard magazine, "Its happening less,
but the ones who come in on their own have it harder as opposed to me
coming in with Biggie [Smalls, aka the Notorious B.I.G.].
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Icons of Hip Hop
206
However, although female artists have entered the rap game through ties
with male rappers, many of them, such as Salt-N-Pepa, Yo Yo, and Missy Elliot,
eventually gained creative control of their musical product. As more women
gain creative control, it should become easier for women rappers to enter the
scene through ties with female producers, such as Missy Elliot, thereby challenging the notion that women rappers need male producers in order to
succeed.
Work Cited
Oumano, Elena. Girlz Power. Billboard 111.23 (1999): pars 38. 12 March 2006.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=42043944&sid=1&Fmt=4&clientId=
14119&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
conceptually and musically it was very different from their past albums.
Eventually, however, the group secured a deal with three recording companies, Red Ant Entertainment, Island Black Music, and London Records. Due
to personal changes among the members of the group, as well as lackluster
sales, this was to be the final album released by the trio.
VERY NECESSARY
In the three years between the release of Blacks Magic and their fourth
album, Cheryl and Deidre gave birth to children. Sandi had been the first
to have a child, her son Tyran, in 1989. He was followed in 1991 by Cheryls
daughter, Corin, and eventually by Deidres daughter, Christenese, in 1992.
Some other important changes also occurred during this time, such as certain
members of the group, primarily Cheryl, becoming more religious in their
outlook. It was these sorts of lifestyle changes that would eventually lead the
group to disband in a few years time.
However, 1993 was a very successful year for the group, and after a
three-year hiatus to spend time with their familiesand after the successful
separation from their former label and the partial separation from their
managerSalt-N-Pepa came back to the business stronger than ever and released the most successful album of their careers. Very Necessary would eventually go five times platinum. Also, due to its immense success and record sales,
the group had once again crossed over into the pop charts. Ernst was still the
executive producer on most of the songs, although Cheryl, Sandi, and Deidre
were involved in every stage of the album from songwriting to production.
Unlike past albums where Ernst held the majority of creative control, this
album was divided between Ernst and Salt-N-Pepa. Ernst created the hit song
Whatta Man featuring En Vogue, which reached number three on the U.S.
charts, and the hit song created by Salt-N-Pepa was Shoop, which reached
Salt-N-Pepa
number four on the U.S. charts. The writing credits for the rest of the songs
were heavily contested. It was also this album that won Salt-N-Pepa a
Grammy for Best Rap Performance in 1995 for None of Your Business,
one of the tracks produced by Ernst.
However, although this album had more input from the trio than any of the
past albums, the themes did not stray much from their previous releases.
Shoop, which was coproduced by Mark Sparks, Cheryl, and Sandi was definitely written from a womans point of view. The trio once again flips the
script on their male counterparts, since the video and the lyrics turn men into
sex objects. Instead of showcasing scantily clad women in their music video,
the trio has a group of scantily clad men. Thus the sexual desires of women
are at the forefront, and the song centers on the trios weaknessmen.
Female sexuality is at center stage. The male gaze is captured and replaced by
the female gaze. The song celebrates womens sexuality and at the same time
places the needs of women first. This was a refreshing change in a time period
where blunts, bitches, and booze had become the norm in rap music. Indeed,
with the ascendance of gangsta rap and the start of the G-funk era in 1992, after
the release of Dr. Dres The Chronic (Death Row/Interscope) and Snoop Doggy
Doggs 1993 debut album, Doggystyle (Death Row), songs by women, about
women, from a pro-woman perspective were very important. These albums
were more significant than earlier misogynist releases by N.W.A., 2 Live Crew,
and the Geto Boys because their songs and videos were reaching a much wider
audience, due to the heavy rotation of their music videos on MTV in the United
States and Much Music in Canada. Though the themes in the raps of Dr. Dre
and Snoop Dogg were not significantly different from those of their precursors,
or in the case of Dr. Dre one of the rap groups he had founded, what had
changed was the scope and breadth of their fan base due to technological
advances and an increased likelihood of actually receiving airplay.
Also, the ascendance and immense influence of gangsta rap, which may be
traced back to Philadelphias Schoolly D, the West Coast influences of South
Central LAs Ice-T and Comptons N.W.A., influenced not only the themes
but the reception of rap music. More specifically, the themes of authenticity in
rap music were inextricably linked to ones connection with the streets, economic hardship, and black masculinity. Keeping it real, a sense of staying
close to ones roots and being true to oneself, now became synonymous with
keeping it gangsta. The immense success of Salt-N-Pepa and their crossover
into the popular music charts resulted in some critics viewing their music as
inauthentic (see sidebar: Are Female Rappers Authentic?).
Although the trio did not change their sound to reflect the growing influence of gangsta rap, their image, as presented on the album cover of Very
Necessary, was significantly different. While A Salt with a Deadly Pepa
(1988) showed the group wearing tight-fitting black and red leather outfits
and Blacks Magic (1990) had them drawn as cartoon figures reading a bedtime story in their nightgowns, Very Necessary (1993) had them on the cover
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208
Are Female Rappers Authentic?

Athena Elafros
Since the formative years of the hip hop movement, female rappers have had
a difficult time claiming authenticity in their music. At first, this may have been
a result of sexist assumptions about womens roles being in the home and not
on the streets rapping, which may have resulted in fewer women being
involved in the seminal years of the hip hop movement.
For example, Roxanne Shante, a member of the Juice Crew, which consisted of Marley Marl, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Kool G. Rap, MC Shan,
Craig G., T.J. Swan, and Masta Ace, was reminded of her proper place in the
rap scene during one of the most famous beefs, or lyrical feuds, in rap history.
The beef all began when MC Shan of the Juice Crew released The Bridge,
wherein he proclaimed that Queensbridge was the real home of hip hop.
When it was released on vinyl in 1986, KRS-One of Boogie Down Productions
released The South Bronx (B-boy, 1986) and The Bridge Is Over (B-boy,
1987) (Jenkins 23-27). It was on The Bridge Is Over that KRS-One claimed
that Roxanne Shante was only good for one thingproviding sexual pleasure
for men. In a single lyric, her career as a hip hop artist and her authenticity as a
rapper were reduced to nothing more than a sexual appendage to male
rappers.
This does not mean that women were not involved in the movement, but
over the years there has been an active erasure and marginalization of the
roles of women rappers in its formative years. For example, groups such as the
Mercedes Ladies, the first all-female MC and DJ crew who formed in 1977,
and West Philadelphias Lady B, who signed a record deal with T.E.C. Records
and released To the Beat Yall in 1980, and South Carolinas Sequence, a
female singing and rapping trio, laid some of the groundwork necessary for
more women to enter the rap music industry, although many of these artists
do not receive the credit they deserve.
This combination of sexism and the diminishment of the roles of women
rappers have resulted in hip hop authenticity becoming synonymous with
black masculinity. Women rappers were further disenfranchised with the
emergence of misogynist strains of gangsta rap in the late 1980s, which
resulted in authenticity also becoming equated with sexism. These forms of
sexism, erasure, and redefinition of authenticity have made it very difficult for
women rappers to break into a very male-dominated music genre.
Yet debates over authenticity in rap music have been occurring since the
inception of the genre, and women have actively tried to redefine authenticity
in more pro-woman ways. Whether it is through challenging misogyny or
rewriting the herstory of the genre, women always have and always will
provide feminine correctives to male-centered conceptions of what it means
to be an authentic rapper.
in jeans and plaid jackets. It would appear that with their increased creative
control, the group may have wanted an album cover that portrayed them in
their everyday clothing instead of being represented as sex objects. Perhaps
they wanted to symbolize powerful womanhood by reclaiming a male uniform, as they had reclaimed sexist male terminology in the past, as a decisive
critique of the rap industry. Or perhaps they wanted to show that women
were sexy in jeans and jackets. Or maybe the plaid jackets were merely a
result of the aforementioned influences of gangsta rap, as well as the grunge
and alternative rock movements, on the fashion trends of the time. The resurgence of the plaid shirt, at first seen as a symbol of gang affiliation, then as
a symbol for dispossessed Generation X teenagers, was eventually incorporated as a unisex fashion for men and women.
Overall, this release marked some very necessary changes in the group. The
trio changed record labels and management, as well as their look, and they
kept making money. Yet there were more changes to come. Only two years
after signing with London Records, they signed a new contract in 1995 with
MCA Music Entertainment. Unfortunately, their back catalogue remained
with London Records, but the new contract did serve to establish Salt-NPepas record label, Jireh Records, which allowed the group to sign four acts
to their label each year for four years.
Following in the footsteps of Salt-N-Pepa, many female rappers have since
established their own record labels in an effort to have greater control over
their careers. Some of the most popular and successful of these female-run
record labels include Lil Kims Queen Bee Records and Missy Elliots Gold
Mind Label. Missy Elliot not only has her own label, she also writes and
produces most of her songs.
It was in order to gain this sort of independence that the group left London
Records. Salt-N-Pepa wanted a long-term commitment from an established
Icons of Hip Hop
308
serving as the ultimate piece of evidence that he hasnt sold out. Here he raps
about white women and black men, more specifically how marrying blonde
white women had become a status symbol for black male celebrities. Cube
sought to demonstrate this outside the mainstream in hip hop, while illustrating the varied reactions of critics to his description of white women and black
women as bitches. Critics who had made little of his description of black
women as bitches denounced him in this case. However, Cave Bitch would
be Cubes last blatantly misogynistic song.
The album was not a total reversal of styles, as Cube remained true to his
more mainstream sound as well. With Bop Gun, an eleven-minute epic
with a contribution from George Clinton, Cube replicates the funky sound
of previous albums. Cube also uses this album to focus on love, dispelling the
criticism that he and hip hop were nothing but anger. To him, the album
represents a lethal injection of truth (the mirror into society and self) and love
(McIver 136). Reconciling street cred with marketability, Lethal Injection is
yet another example of how Cube in particular, and conscious artists in
general, attempt to work the system to both get their message out and avoid
falling by the mainstreams wayside. Lackluster reception by critics is only
one characteristic of an artists competency; an artists intentions are equally
important, as Cubes career in Hollywood can attest.
A NEW BEGINNING
The 1993 release of Lethal Injection would mark the beginning of Ice Cubes
five-year hiatus from making solo albums. During this period, he would
produce and supply the lyrics for several albums, including Kams Never
Again and Da Lench Mobs Guerillas in the Mist. He additionally collaborated on several projects, joining Mack 10 and WC to form the Westside
Connection, which recorded the immensely popular single Bow Down.
He also contributed to the soundtracks from Dangerous Minds (The World
Is Mine) and I Got the Hook Up (Ghetto Vet) and joined with Snoop
Dogg and Mack 10 to produce Only in California. He also released Bootlegs and B-Sides (1994), a compilation of innovative remixes of some of his
most popular songs, and Featuring . . . Ice Cube, a collection of his collaborative projects, and participated in the 1998 Family Values Tour with Korn and
Limp Bizkit. Yet for all intents and purposes, his solo rap career had come to
a standstill. The early and mid-1990s saw Ice Cubes focus turning away from
hip hop music to an emerging ghettocentric imagination within Hollywood.
Whereas rap music proved to be one of the strongest genres of expression for
the black underclass during the 1970s and 1980s (as well as one of the few
opportunities to make it big in the entertainment industry), Hollywood,
which sought to capitalize on the popularity of N.W.A., Public Enemy, and
Run-DMC, emerged as a powerful space for hip hop during the 1990s. Cube,
Ice Cube
perhaps more than any others, would use these opportunities to propel his
own career
Ice Cube would release two more albumsWar and Peace Vol. 1 (The War
Disc) (1998) and War and Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) (2000), both sophisticated examinations of war, peace, violence, calm, death, and life.
Because Cube had lost his fan base to a certain degree and was seen now,
both albums were unable to match the success of the early 1990s. Moreover,
the world of hip hop had changed, with bling, sex, parties, and excess being
predominant themes of hip hop at the turn of the centurya change Cube
was unwilling to accept. Cube claimed that the changes in hip hop reflected
an obsession with fame and money making and an absence of consciousness
raising and communal empowerment. His focus on movies resulted from hip
hop losing its way within the mainstream; to him, there was no place in hip
hop for a voice of politics and opposition. Although Cubes own growth as an
artist and hip hops changes certainly pushed him into virtual retirement, it
was his success in Hollywood that facilitated his transformation from rapper
to actor.
WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD
Ice Cubes acting career began as a natural extension of his place in hip hop,
as Hollywood merely sought to capitalize on the popularity and authenticity
of hip hop artists to sell its projects. In 1988, John Singleton, then a junior
majoring in film writing at the University of Southern California, approached
Cube, telling him that he was developing a script that documented the experience of black youth in South Central Los Angeles; he hoped Cube would
act in the film. Cube did not hear from Singleton again until 1990, when he
asked Cube if he wanted to read for the part of Doughboy, the character
Singleton had written with him in mind. Despite Singletons immense confidence and determination to cast him in Boyz N the Hood, Cubes transition
to acting was neither easy nor natural. His first reading was a disaster, leading
Singleton to inquire if Cube had read the entire script. Learning that he had
only read his part, Singleton sent him home, asking him to return several days
later and only after he had read the entire script, at which time he was offered
a role in the film.
Cube plays Doughboy, partly a stereotype of young black malesangry,
violent, hypersexual, criminally minded, lazyand otherwise a complex, innovative character. Cubes performance gives Doughboy depth, complexity,
and humanity. He masterfully plays a foil to Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and
Ricky (Morris Chestnut), both of whom seek to transcend the limitations of
inner-city life. Likewise, Doughboy contributes to Singletons overarching
argument about black fathers and parents in general, as they relate to black
pathology. Without a father in his life, as opposed to Tre, who benefits from
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Icons of Hip Hop
the wisdom of his father (played by Lawrence Fishburne), Doughboy falls into
a life of criminality and degradation that ultimately leads to his own death.
Besides mirroring his ideology as it relates to the importance of black fathers
as protectors and educators, Cubes contribution to Boyz transcended his
bringing Doughboy to life: He wrote and recorded the films soundtrack;
he gave legitimacy to the films message and tone given his South Central
roots; and his popularity and connection to hip hop contributed to the media
buzz and the films immense box office success. Still, Boyz and Singletons
faith in Cube did a lot for his career, further elevating him into the mainstream. Up to this point, his popularity had been very much connected to his
place in N.W.A., his celebrity within black youth culture, and his voice and
lyrical genius, yet following the release of Boyz N the Hood his face and
artistry entered the national consciousness. While enhancing his rap career,
the success and critical acclaim that came with Boyz N the Hood provided
additional opportunities for Ice Cube within Hollywood, next with the production of Trespass.
Released on Christmas Day 1992, Trespass sought to capitalize on the
success of Boyz N the Hood, New Jack City, and Menace to Society, as well
as the popularity of hip hop, casting Ice Cube alongside Ice-T. While the film
received mixed reviews, some of which criticized its deployment of racial
stereotypes (white heroes versus black villains/criminals), Cubes performance
was universally praised. Just as with Boyz, reviewers praised his ability to
bring complexity and depth to an otherwise stock and racially flat character.
Moreover, the reviewers tended to offer praise for Cubes growth as an actor,
marking his entry into Hollywood not so much as the story of a rapper who
acts, but as an artist who possesses multiple talents, which include making
music and movies.
Despite the box office and critical success Cube experienced in his first two
films, he faced a relatively bumpy future in the years immediately after the
release of Boyz N the Hood. His next two filmsThe Glass Shield and Higher
Learningwhile certainly more reflective of his politics, were universally
panned, failing to meet box office expectations as well. Both films were
criticized for their over-the-top depictions of race and their focus on whiteon-black racism. Although Cubes supporting performances illustrate his
growth as actorin The Glass Shield, in which he plays an innocent man
arrested and charged with a crime by the racist Los Angeles Sheriffs Department, and in Higher Learning, where he plays Fudge, a campus radical who
counsels Malik (Omar Epps) and other black students on the realities of race
and resistance on a postcivil rights college campushe could not escape the
criticism of these films (although several reviews did describe him as exceptional). Still, his work in these films further solidified his place in Hollywood,
opening up opportunities for greater artistic control.
At the same time Cube was achieving greater control of his film work, he
made peace with N.W.A, the group he had left because he wasnt given equal
Ice Cube
compensation for his lyrics and vocals. (see sidebar: N.W.A. Reunion). He
met with Eazy-E shortly before Eazys death from AIDS in March, 1995. The
former bandmates put their grudge to rest, and Ice Cube put this part of his
musical past behind him just as his debut as a screenwriter was about to make
him a bigger movie star. Friday, which was written by Ice Cube and DJ Pooh,
was released on April 26, 1995. Marketed with slogans like A lot can go
down between Thursday and Saturday, Friday was a surprising comedic
success. In fact, critics and moviegoers alike seemed shocked by Cubes successful turn to comedy, given his place in the American consciousness as
angry, militant, and always serious and scowling. Perhaps to highlight this
shift from the typical Ice Cube image, his character Craig wears the same
clothes in Fridays opening scene as Doughboy wore in his final scene in Boyz
N the Hood. Craig is a relatively conservative Los Angelino, whose unjust
firing from his underpaying job leads him to spend his Friday chillin with
Smokey (Chris Tucker). Cube uses Friday to build on the narrative offered in
It Was a Good Day, chronicling the goodness in chillin with ones homies
even on those days marked by the most heartache and injustice. More than
N.W.A. Reunion
David J. Leonard
Ice Cube left N.W.A. in 1989 over contract disputes, and he and the group
recorded several songs dissing each other until Dr. Dre became unhappy with
the N.W.A. contract terms as well, and left the group to form Death Row
Records in 1991. Dres departure marked the end of N.W.A, and he and Eazy-E
continued the war of words in their subsequent releases. With such public
animosity between group members, an N.W.A. reunion seemed unlikely, but
in 1994, Dre reunited with Ice Cube to record Natural Born Killaz, and in
1995, Ice Cube and Eazy-E put their beef to rest during a meeting at Tunnel, a
popular New York City nightclub. Less than three months later, Eazy-E died
from AIDS, yet the truce that he and Cube had struck during this meeting
would have lasting effects on Cube, N.W.A., and hip hop as a whole. In 1998,
Ice Cube and Dre invited their former bandmate MC Ren to record two new
N.W.A. tracks: Hello was included on Ice Cubes War & Peace: Volume Two,
and Chin Check was featured on the soundtrack to Ice Cubes film Next
Friday. Neither song featured N.W.As fifth member, DJ Yella, and Snoop Dogg
replaced Eazy-E on Chin Check. Although a planned full-length reunion
album never happened, Ice Cube, Dre, Yella, and Ren, joined by Snoop, Nate
Dogg, and other N.W.A. associates, came together for an N.W.A. reunion
concert on March 11, 2000. While these collaborations never amounted to a
full-fledged N.W.A. reunion., the fanfare generated once again reminded the
hip hop world of the power of unity and the legendary status of the original
gangstas of hip hop.
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the movie itself, which received many positive reviews, Ice Cube stole the
show as both a writer and a comedic actor. Review after review heaped praise
on Cube for his humor, his talents as a writer, and his growth as an actor. He
would receive similar critical praise, although not at the same level, following
the release of The Players Club in 1998, which he wrote, directed, and produced (he also has a small part in the film). The Players Club tells the story of
Dina Armstrong (Lisa Raye), who turns to stripping following an argument
with her father, that results in her leaving home with her son. Hoping to make
a film that touched upon the southern black strip club industry and the
complexities and difficulties facing young black women, and explored the
sacrifices people make to better themselves in the long term, Cube wasnt
satisfied with a role as writer and producer, deciding to go behind the camera
as the director, despite having no training. Having a vision and clear understanding of where the picture needed to go required him to take on the
responsibility of directing.
He was able to hold to his vision, delivering a film that spoke to those issues
while also being commercially viable (despite a small budget and limited
release, it amassed $20 million at the box office). However, the film wasnt
so well received by critics, who once again questioned Cubes gender politics.
To many, the film seemed to glorify stripping, ostensibly celebrating the
sexualization of black womens bodies. Though these reviews lacked depth,
it seemed that Cube had not outrun the criticism that had defined his early
years in hip hop. While opportunities increased with his heightened creative
power, Cube remained outside the Hollywood mainstream. All that would
change with the release of Three Kings.
Debuting in September 1999, Three Kings was an immediate hit with
audiences and reviewers alike, something new given the responses to the Gulf
War in the early 1990s. The movie starred George Clooney (Archie Gates)
and Mark Wahlberg (Troy Barlow) along with Ice Cube (Chief Elgin). For
Cube, beyond being part of a successful and politically progressive (in his
mind at least) film, Three Kings provided him the opportunity to grow as an
actor, revealing his talents beyond gangstas and black-theme films. Whether
in his ability to deliver a character that was both tough and vulnerable, or the
ease with which he meshed with Clooney and Wahlberg, reviewers and others
in Hollywood paid notice to his performance specifically. What seemed to
shock reviewers the most and probably opened the most doors was the fact
that Cube, the one-time face of gangsta rap in Hollywood, with ease played a
soldier, one who was deeply religious and spiritual no less. Delivering a
wonderful performance in a film described as a masterpiece by Roger Ebert
and a classic by several others, Three Kings further elevated Cubes acting
career, resulting in increased opportunities in mainstream films, including
Ghosts of Mars (2001) and XXX: State of the Union (2005).
Even with Cubes success as a prominent supporting actor among Hollywoods elite and the opportunities to participate in blockbuster films, he
Ice Cube
remained an active member of a black Hollywood contingent. In 2000, he

wrote, produced, and starred in Next Friday; then in 2002, he also wrote,
produced, and starred in both All About the Benjamins and Friday After
Next. That same year, he starred in the immensely popular Barbershop, with
Cedric the Entertainer and Eve. Cube once again defied expectations and
stereotypes, playing Calvin, a relatively conservative barbershop owner,
who spends most of his day wondering how he can live the American Dream
with his wife and trying to control his hip hop clientele and employees.
Despite playing a character that was a mere shadow of his hip hop beginnings, it was clear that he couldnt outrun his past. As they would again with
the release of Are We There Yet? (2005), fans and critics alike questioned if
Cube had sold out, if the allure of Hollywood had forced Cube to abandon his
hardness, his politics, and his willingness to keep it real. Interestingly, Cube
and others have continually argued that his importance in Barbershop and his
contributions to the film have often been devalued because of widespread
contempt for hip hop and fears over continued distaste for him by audiences.
For example, Cube has long noted how Oprah and others invited Cedric the
Entertainer and Eve and not him to promote the film, which demonstrates
that neither he nor hip hop had been fully accepted in the mainstream. Despite this and similar rejections, the contributions of Ice Cube to the American
cinematic landscape demand recognition, as Cube continues to add controversy with a conscience to the realm of popular culture.
ICE CUBES IMPACT AND LEGACY

In True to the Game, Ice Cube laments the practice of black artists and
other celebrities selling out upon crossing over, leaving behind the artistry
and community that allowed them to blow up. Ironically, his career path
and choices have been subjected to similar criticism. His virtual disappearance
from the rap game, his performance in films such as Barbershop and Are
We There Yet?, have raised questions of his commitment to hip hop and its
gangsta/political roots. For example, many have criticized him for his performance in Barbershop, not so much because he trades in his khakis and AK-47
for business attire and a set of clippers, but for playing a character, Calvin, who
buddies up with the police and shows a propensity to celebrate bootstrap
individualism. Likewise, others have wondered how Cube can claim to be a
voice of the underclass, doing movies about the black middle class.
Jeff Chang and other hip hop critics have thoroughly discounted such
accusations as both simplistic and reactionary. Rather, he and others see
Cubes career as an allegory for hip hop, elucidating the powerful ways in
which hip hop and the American cultural landscape have matured over the
last twenty years. Likewise, Cube is quick to challenge these criticisms, noting
that just because his worldview has changed doesnt mean he is selling out the
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Icons of Hip Hop
314
community. In his estimation, he has merely matured and grown as a person

and artist. Moreover, he and others (Ludacris, 50 Cent) are quick to point out
that denunciations of him for selling out are ridiculous given the continued
demonization and criticism faced by hip hop. Just because he makes movies
with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, just because his albums have gone
triple platinum or he is able to produce or direct various projects, doesnt
mean that he or other black hip hop artists have made it. Racism and the
widespread demonization of black youth preclude full acceptance of Ice Cube
or hip hop in general from the mainstream. From Bill OReilly and Lynne
Cheney to C. Delores Tucker and Oprah Winfrey, whom Cube has described
as disrespectful, distant, or hostile to hip hop artists, many continue to see hip
hop not only as outside the mainstream of America but as a dangerous pollutant to its cultural fabric. If still not mainstream, it is certainly difficult to
accuse Cube of selling out.
In 2006, Ice Cube coproduced and helped created the controversial FX
show, Black. White., which brought a black and white family together to
experience an alternative racial reality through the use of makeup. For Cube,
this show created an environment of forced engagement and dialogue for both
the shows participants and its viewers. Although some saw it as further
evidence of Cubes fall/ascension into the American mainstream, the show
itself and its intent follow in the footsteps of the vast majority of his works: It
sought to provoke conversation, offer commentary on contemporary racial
issues, and made no attempt to avoid controversy; it was classic Ice Cube.
Whether with Fuck Tha Police, We Had to Tear This Motherfucker Up,
Cave Bitch, Boyz N the Hood, The Players Club, Three Kings, or Barbershop, Ice Cubes career has been a story of controversy, of public outrage and
redemption, of his using art and popular culture to foster self-reflection and
conversation, and his performing different identities in different instances, not
only showing his own growth but illustrating the shifting cultural landscape
that sought different identities within him at different moments in American
history.
See also: Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy
WORKS CITED
New York: Picador, 2005.
Cheney, Charise. Brothers Gonna Work It Out: Sexual Politics in the Golden Age of
Rap Nationalism. New York: New York University Press, 2005.
McIver, Joel. Ice Cube: Attitude. London: Sanctuary, 2003.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Boyd, Todd. Am I Black Enough for You: Popular Culture from the Hood and
Beyond. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1997.
Ice Cube
Boyd, Todd. The New H.N.I.C.: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of
Hip-Hop. New York: New York University Press, 2002.
Neal, Mark Anthony, and Murray Foreman. Thats the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies
Reader. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Orr, Tamra. Ice Cube. New York: Mitchell Lane, 2006.
N.W.A.
N.W.A. and the Posse. Priority, 1987.
Straight Outta Compton. Priority, 1989.
Ice Cube
AmeriKKKas Most Wanted. Priority, 1990.
Kill at Will. Priority, 1990.
Death Certificate. Priority, 1991.
The Predator. Priority, 1992.
Lethal Injection. Priority, 1993.
War and Peace Vol. 1 (The War Disc). Priority, 1998.
War and Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc). Priority, 2000.
Laugh Now, Cry Later. Lench Mob Records, 2006.
315
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg

David Diallo
In his 2005 album The Documentary, Compton rapper the Game establishes
his gangsta stance by affiliating himself with West Coast producer Dr. Dre
and rapper Snoop Dogg (together they are mentioned thirty-five times). Such
name dropping in rap songs is meant to legitimize an artists position through
his or her connections with iconic artists, in this case Snoop Dogg and Dr.
Dre, undisputed icons of West Coast gangsta rap. Jay-Z uses a similar technique in his song Change Clothes, where he defines his high-ranking status
Icons of Hip Hop
220
True to Their Roots: Afrocentric Fashion

Faiza Hirji
Queen Latifah has left behind many of the Afrocentric themes found in her
earlier music as well as the clothing that characterized those years. Fashion has
often been an important part of rap, supporting verbal messages through
appearance. As a member of Native Tongues, the collective endorsing peaceful activism, equality, and pride in their African roots, Latifah adopted many of
the same fashions and interests of fellow members such as A Tribe Called
Quest, X Clan, De La Soul, and Jungle Brothers.
Leaving aside her sincere interest in the African diaspora and African history,
Latifah also had a more practical reason for cultivating an Afrocentric look
when she first arrived on the scene: It was cheap. This was important for a
fledgling rapper, and for one who agreed with her Native Tongues brethren
that it was necessary to move away from the materialism and conspicuous
consumption that characterized many hip hop artists. Latifah and her partners
rejected the flashy gold jewelry and supposedly ghetto-appropriate attire that
was becoming popular, choosing instead to wear clothes similar to those
favored by the Black Power movement. Kente cloth and dashikis were popular, as well as the black, green, gold, and red that evoked a number of African
flags, and some rappers added dreadlocks or Afros rather than cultivating a
straight-haired, quasi-European look.
The Afrocentric look was particularly pronounced in X Clan, known for
militant activism. They could frequently be seen in dashikis and kofi hats.
Although Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest were less overt in their
Afrocentric fashion than X Clan, they did utilize African colors and motifs on
their early albums, a trend that eventually faded away.
Latifah, generally casual and relaxed in her attire, nonetheless became a
type of fashion icon in her own way during her Afrocentric period, even
making an appearance at a 1991 Todd Oldham show wearing a very regal
kufi, described by Wilbekin as an African crown that looks like a tube of fabric
on your head (280). This look became her trademark in her early videos and
appearances, projecting not only her connections to Africa but the royal
lineage of African women. This image defined the cover of her early albums,
disappearing only with the release of 1998s Order in the Court.
De La Soul also carved out a niche for themselves with a style that seemed
to be both Afrocentric and hippie at the same time, including items such as
brightly colored shirts, tie-dye, baggy pants, and medallions. Eventually De La
Soul, however, like Latifah, moved away from that image, crafting a new style
of music and a less African-inspired mode of dress.
While stars such as Latifah have changed styles, and Native Tongues has
dissolved, Afrocentrism is hardly a thing of the past. Stars such as Erykah Badu,
for instance, carry on the tradition proudly, sporting an appearance different
from that made famous by Queen Latifah but still with some African
Queen Latifah
221
distinctiveness, including head coverings and loose dresses. The look has
changed but the principle lives on.
Work Cited
Wilbekin, Emil. Great Aspirations: Hip Hop and Fashion Dress for Excess and
Success. The Vibe History of Hip Hop. Ed. Alan Light. London: Plexus, 1999.
277-283.
vocal style, trading in the track suits and runners for haute coutureLatifah
continues to retain her independence, her control, and her desire to blaze
trails in unexplored territory. Perhaps one of her most pioneering qualities
is her business sense, a rare trait in an industry where starstruck teenagers are
so excited to receive recording contracts that they often surrender control of
their music. It is even rarer for a woman in a business where men dominate;
many successful female singers have therefore achieved status by linking
themselves to a male partner, platonic or otherwise. Surrounded by men that
she loved, and turning over her business affairs to one particularly reliable
male friend, Latifah never lost sight of who she was in any relationship.
Latifah presented herself with professionalism, even in the midst of tragedy, and maintained control over her image and her rights. Unlike some of
her contemporaries, she did not allow herself to be sucked into the vortex of
the music industry, even when Tommy Boy passed on the opportunity to
renew her initial contract and she had to move over to Motown. Along with
her insistence on investing her money wisely, Latifah has resisted the temptations of excessive consumerism. While she is perhaps one of the most successful hip hop artists of all time, she has not displayed her wealth with the same
enthusiasm as many of her contemporaries, who flaunt diamonds and gold in
their videos as a symbol of having made it to the top. She has had her run-ins
with the law, but these are minor in comparison to the legal battles, not to
mention physical battles, that dog some of her fellow rappers.
Strong, independent, and personable, Latifah dealt with hip hops short
shelf life by moving outside of its boundaries. The firsts that she piled up in
her musicthe feminist power of Ladies First, the gold status of Black
Reign, the formation of her own company, Flavor Unitwere merely a prelude to the barriers she broke down in a career as an actress and all-around
performer. She has built a rich body of film work, distinguished by stellar
appearances in Set It Off, the award-winning Chicago, and Bringing Down
the House, allowing her to move beyond the cliche of the singer who wants to
be a movie star. Having demonstrated her range, Queen Latifah can now
settle comfortably into a role as someone who is famous for a variety of
accomplishments. Singer, actress, soul sister, celebrity spokesmodel
Latifahs range and determination combine to make her an indisputable hip
hop icon. Even though her most recent work does not always demonstrate her
Icons of Hip Hop
222
rapping roots, the story of Latifahs life is that of a woman whose queenly
stature owes a great dealif not everythingto hip hop and to her own
overflowing confidence. She may be better known now as a movie star,
among other things, but the fact is that there could not have been a Queen
without hip hop, and without the Queen, hip hop would have been denied
one of its rare female pioneers. Queen Latifah has distanced herself from the
rap world, becoming part of hip hops storied past more than its present or
future, although she continues to make music in a softer, gentler vein. However, her legacy lives on in the inspiration she provides at a number of levels:
as an entrepreneur who has enjoyed a long and diverse career, as a woman
who is unafraid to stake her claim to success, and as a rapper who spoke out
about inequality and injustice when those words most needed to be said. Her
moves into the mainstream have had the rather paradoxical effect of promoting some of the same notions she once eschewed, as contemporary female
rappers embark with enthusiasm on acting careers, sometimes with little
regard to the quality of the roles or the depth of their own talent, in order
to make money and to maximize the benefits of a career that might not last.
Despite the efforts Latifah made early in her career to instill pride and respect
in hip hop gender relations, there are still negative references to women in rap
songs and videos, and a new breed of female rappers who seem to embrace
the oversexualized images that Latifah spoke against. Many women in hip
hop, however, continue to cite Latifah as a role model, one who has carried
on the legacy of the early female rappers and added to it.
ALL HAIL THE QUEENTHE EARLY YEARS

The woman who would be queen of hip hop was born Dana Elaine Owens in
Newark, New Jersey, on March 18, 1970. Queen Latifah helped place New
Jersey on the hip hop map. A neglected outpost at a time when most of the
success stories seemed to be coming out of New York City, New Jersey has
always been home to Latifah, and her music was one of the biggest hip hop
stories ever to emerge from there, even though New Jersey can also lay claim to
bringing up stars such as Ice-T, Lauryn Hill, Redman, and Naughty by Nature.
While she was slow in arrivingso slow that labor had to be induced after
ten monthsthat was the last time Dana would be caught dawdling. Unlike
many other female rap pioneers, she enjoyed the stability and support of a
close-knit and loving family, investing her with the confidence to pursue
whatever she desired. Her mother, Rita, a high school teacher, was a particularly strong influence and source of encouragement, instilling ambition in
the two young children she raised essentially alone after separating from her
husband, Lancelot.
Rita and Lancelot Owens separated in 1978, leaving Dana and her brother
Lancelot Jr., better known as Winki, in the custody of Rita, who moved the
Queen Latifah
family to less affluent surroundings as she worked to support her children.

Lancelot, a Vietnam veteran and former police officer who was battling an
addiction to drugs, was unable to help consistently and became a less central
figure in Danas life, but nonetheless she has noted the many ways in which
her father remained a positive force. Like Rita, Lancelot was raised among
strong women and saw no reason why Dana should be less empowered than
her brother. He attempted to provide both children with equally sharp instincts for survival and encouraged Danas eagerness to accompany her brother in his athletic pursuits. Thus, despite teasing from neighborhood children
who referred to her as a tomboy, Dana developed a diverse set of interests,
from karate, basketball, and baseball to dance and music lessons. She also
learned how to tolerate teasing and to combat it with cool self-possession,
informing her young critics that she was entitled to her athleticism.
By the age of eight, Dana had already decided that she would benefit from a
name change, spurred by the fact that many of her friends and relatives were
adopting Muslim names. With the help of her cousin, Dana chose Latifah. She
felt that its meaningbeautiful and sensitivewas entirely apt. Although she
was so evidently strong and athletic, and had developed a tough exterior to
handle any challenges that came her way, her inner, gentle self was best
described by the name Latifah. Latifah, then, was not only a rap persona
but a name that arose originally out of a desire to create a clear and selfdefined identity.
Ever versatile, Latifah demonstrated her Renaissance qualities early, playing basketball for her high schools state championship-winning team, starring as Dorothy in the school production of The Wiz, and in her spare time,
rappingindependently and within a group called Ladies Fresh. She was
immersed in the music scene in other ways, visiting New York City clubs
to see the famous and the up-and-coming. Surreptitious visits to the Latin
Quarter with her friends provided her with an impeccable background in hip
hop, as she took in shows featuring performers ranging from Grandmaster
Flash to the Beastie Boys to MC Lyte. However, as interested as she was in
music, it was not initially her ambition to forge a career in that field. Instead,
bearing in mind her mothers emphasis on education, Latifah stayed in school,
considering the possibility of becoming a journalist or a lawyer.
Ironically, it was actually Rita Owens who provided Latifah with the introduction that would further stoke her interest in rap music. As the person
responsible for social activities at Irvington High School, Rita met Mark the
45 King when she needed a DJ for a school party. The subsequent introduction to the 45 King marked a turning point in Latifahs life, as she began
spending much of her spare time with him and his friends, experimenting with
music and testing out her own rapping skills. While her early attempts were,
by her own admission, less than stellar, her interest was sparked, and when
some of her friends formed a group Latifah was part of it, labeling herself
Princess of the Posse.
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Icons of Hip Hop
224
It was the inspiration provided by a couple other princesses, however, that

really gave Latifah the impetus for a rapping career. On her visits to the Latin
Quarter and to clubs and house parties in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Harlem,
she rarely saw female rappers, and the ones she did see were sometimes
difficult to identify with for a young woman who felt most at ease in athletic
clothing. Two women would change that for her in a single night. A performance by Sweet T and Jazzy Joyce resonated with Latifah, who saw them as
female rappers who were talented and successful, and who had maintained
their own casual look. With this in mind, she began to consider the possibility
that rap, rather than detracting from her career goals, could enhance them,
offering her another means of communicating with an audience.
At that point, however, Latifah needed to have an audience before
she could consider the best mode of communication. As would be the
case throughout most of her career, her friends, like her family members,
believed in and supported her efforts. A longtime friend insisted that she
accept a loanwhich he himself could ill affordin order to cut a demo.
Buoyed by his support, Latifah followed instructions, collaborating with
Mark the 45 King on a record for Princess of the Posse and Wrath of
My Madness, in which she made reference both to the 45 King and Ramsey
while injecting a reggae sound that few others were using at the time in their
rapping. Princess of the Posse went on to become her first single to garner
radio play, appearing in the summer of 1987. That same demo put her on the
path to a recording career, as the 45 King passed it on to Fab 5 Freddy of Yo!
MTV Raps, who then passed it on to Monica Lynch at Tommy Boy Records.
Lynch was interested enough to offer Latifah a contract, and after that there
was no looking back.
It was around this time that Latifah adopted the Queen moniker, a natural
step in the midst of a wave of Afrocentric consciousness that acknowledged
African history, the dignity of a people oppressed by slavery, and the nationalism and pride of leaders such as Malcolm X. On Princess of the Posse and
Wrath of My Madness, the only name she provided was Latifah. It was
only later, when Tommy Boy offered her a contract and her lawyer wanted to
know what name she would employ professionally that Latifah decided to use
something more elaborate. Out of respect for those African queens, such as
Nefertiti and Numidia, who occupied a strong, nurturing role as the foremothers of an ancient civilization, she chose the name Queen Latifah.
QUEEN ON THE SCENETHE LATIFAH BREAKTHROUGH

In 1989, Queen Latifah, still a teenager, captured the rap worlds attention
with her debut album, All Hail the Queen, released by Tommy Boy and
produced by Mark the 45 King. As she had foreseen, the kind of communication she learned at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, where she
Queen Latifah
studied for a year and a half, did not have quite the impact of her rhyming
skills. All Hail the Queen included a number of landmark songs, but the one
that engraved Latifahs image in the public consciousness as a female rapper
who was serious about her message was the single Ladies First, a duet with
the young British rapper Monie Love.
Born Simone Wilson in the same year as Dana Owens, Monie Love did not
reach the same heights of popularity as Latifah. Nonetheless, Love was one of
a very small number of British rappers who achieved some kind of name
recognition in the United States, and her contribution to Ladies First, using
a very different rapping and personal style than Latifah, was both significant
and memorable. Her own work, best exemplified by catchy singles such as
Monie in the Middle and Its a Shame (My Sister), featured the same
kind of strength and warmth directed toward women that made Ladies
First a standout. Ladies First would be one of the signature songs of
Loves career, which she has kept on the musical path by establishing herself
as a radio deejay. As for Latifah, the choice of Love as a partner on Ladies
First was especially significant in that her heritage as a British woman of
Afro-Caribbean ancestry demonstrated the songs universality and reach.
With Latifah presenting a powerful image in the accompanying video,
dressed in different types of African clothing that alternately depicted her
as earth mother and military general, Loves honeyed lyrics and Latifahs
tough talk offered a powerful and uplifting tribute to black history and black
women. The two teenagers rapped together, supported by other female vocalists, while the background featured one significant black woman after another, going back in time and all over the African diaspora. From Angela
Davis to Sojourner Truth, from the United States to South Africa, powerful
images of black solidarity and struggle lit up the screen. Ladies First made
it clear that the young Latifah expected to be taken seriously, and that she
would be different from other youthful female rappers who burst onto the
scene with more provocative or less substantial songs. The Afrocentrism of
that song and video was one defining feature of the Queens early work, and
of the work of her closest compatriots.
Latifahs early work carried extra credibility because of her association
with highly respected artists, most of whom had a commitment to promoting
pride in their African roots and culture. Afrika Bambaataa, in particular, was
a major influence and companion. Viewed by many as the father of hip hop
following his transition from street gang member to singer, Bambaataa drew
youth of different races and identities into his Zulu Nation, urging them to
find positive energy in dance and song. The Zulu Nation was only one of
many groups and coalitions that could be found in the world of hip hop, but it
was one whose message never lost its relevance to Latifah.
Emerging at a time when negative images of African Americans, especially
women, could be found everywhere, Ladies First reminded listeners and
viewers that there was a lot more to members of the African diaspora than the
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negative images that made it onto the news. It also offered an image of
African American women in hip hop that was far different from the scantily
clad young women who are criticized even now for their willingness to expose
themselves to denigration in rap videos. Covered up and taking care of business, Queen Latifah and Monie Love made it clear they would by no means be
relegated to the background as supporting actors.
Another defining feature was her refusal to engage in the infighting that had
drivenand to some extent still drivesthe careers of other female rap stars,
such as Roxanne Shante, the Real Roxanne, and MC Lyte in earlier days, and
Lil Kim and Foxy Brown in more recent ones. The so-called dis records,
stinging personal criticisms aimed both at male critics and at other women,
which helped Shante and the Real Roxanne establish themselves professionally, gained a great deal of fame for both, but also meant that female rap stars
suffered from a profound sense of alienation. Engaged in insulting one another on vinyl, Shante, the Real Roxanne, and MC Lyte were only three of the
best-known early rappers who were unable to build a sense of community or
unity, instead feeding their own fears and insecurities.
This was not, of course, the only barrier such rappers faced. They were not
only female, a drawback in the world of hip hop all by itself, but they were
young and often vulnerable. Many came from broken homes or poor backgrounds; for some, it became increasingly difficult to pursue an education;
most lacked positive role models. It was common for these rappers to be
exploited by managers and promoters once they did land recording contracts,
and in the desire to succeed and live up to the expectations of their record
companies, it is perhaps not surprising that these young women attempted to
attract attention any way they could. Given the many obstacles these women
faced, the surprise is not that many of them had short careers; the real surprise
is how long some of them lasted. Although Latifah would go on to have a
longer and more stable career, she owed those pioneers a debt for breaking
down some of the first barriers.
As inspiring as the female rap pioneers might have been for Latifah in some
sense, the pattern of hurling insults at her contemporaries was not one she
intended to follow. From the beginning, in keeping with her association with
an Afrocentric movement grounded in principles of pride and positivity,
Latifah decided that she was going to carve a different niche for herself.
Her message of empowerment was intended for all black women, competitors
or not, and was relatively easy to embrace at a mainstream level because of
her avoidance of profanity or perceived negativity. It was this message that set
Queen Latifah apart, making her one of the few women to attain iconic status
in the masculine world of hip hop. Her cultural significance far outstripped
her commercial success.
Commercially and culturally, Latifah helped begin a tradition that continues today in the rap world. Whereas the earliest rap successes came out
of New York City, a place that influenced Latifah and others, New Jersey was
Queen Latifah
barely on the map in musical terms in the late 1980s. Latifah would hardly be
the last major artist with New Jersey roots to explode onto the scene, but she
was certainly one of the first. Although some of her albums were subject to a
spottier reception than All Hail the Queen, she had already begun the process
of making her nameand that name belonged to a young woman whose
roots were unapologetically Jersey. Even when the demands of her acting
career compelled her to begin splitting time between California and New
Jersey, Latifah has proudly proclaimed that her true home remains the one
of her childhood.
All Hail the Queen sold a million copies globally and achieved Top 10
placement on R&B lists, carried not only by the strength of Ladies First
but by other notable songs such as the fun-loving Come into My House,
which invites listeners into her queendom and nation, and Mama Gave Birth
to the Soul Children, a duet with De La Soul that makes oblique reference to
the Zulu Nation and the family ties it contained. The rasta-infused Wrath of
My Madnesswhich spoke of Latifahs talent, confidence, and friends, but
also of her belief in black unityand the self-affirming Princess of the
Posse, those first songs that captured Tommy Boys attention, were also
on the album. Songs such as The Evil That Men Do, with KRS-One making
references to apartheid and political neglect, further demonstrated her interest
in social and political issues affecting the African American community. The
Evil That Men Do addressed the numerous challenges faced by black women
on welfare, from the indifference of those who could make a difference to the
threat of drugs and the lack of housing. The hard-hitting nature of the lyrics
on songs such as Ladies First and The Evil That Men Do inspired other
community-minded rappers, including the far more controversial Sister
Souljah (Keyes 268). Nature of a Sista, her 1991 follow-up, was considered
by some to be less substantial, and Tommy Boys response was to decline the
opportunity to renew Latifahs contract when it expired, despite the fact that
singles such as Latifahs Had It up 2 Here performed well. The defiant tone
of that song, in which Latifah addressed criticism and rumor by asserting her
command of any situation, seemed an appropriate prelude to her break with
the record label that launched her career. Some have suggested that Tommy
Boy grew wary of dealing with Latifah because of her preference for running
the show her way and including an unexpected level of variety in the songs on
her albums. Regardless of the reason, the outcome seemed to be positive for
Latifah, who went on to create a hit album for Motown.
Queen Latifah was not the first female rapper to have widespread popularity. Others such as Salt-N-Pepa were also making waves, but again,
Latifahs ability to carve out a niche for herself saved her from unfair comparisons. While Salt-N-Pepa attracted occasional fire for being, in the eyes of
some, too mainstream and too popular, Latifahs early work carried extra
credibility for its associations with, among others, Afrika Bambaataa, the
trailblazing rapper whose Zulu Nation collective included, in addition to
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Latifah, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers. These
members, in addition to Monie Love, were also members of the Native Tongues Posse, which came to be regarded by some as a family with Afrika
Bambaataa and Queen Latifah at its head. An American whose mother came
from Barbados, Afrika Bambaataa was always conscious of the need to
spread a message not only within North America but across the diaspora, a
message that resisted racism and encouraged investment in the future. Musically, these rappers all created fresh and innovative work at some point, but
their other common ground lay in a shared belief that rap was not simply an
entertainment vehicleit was, as Latifah had hoped from the first, a way of
raising consciousness without falling into the trap of promoting violence,
consumerism, and misogyny.
Native Tongues was a strong and creative force while it lasted, and for
some time many of its members experienced considerable success. A Tribe
Called Quest and Queen Latifah did very well commercially, but they were
perhaps not the members with the most intense investment in Afrocentricism.
Afrika Bambaataa worked hard to maintain everyones commitment, but as
time went on, the members drifted apart. There was no major rift or pivotal
incident, merely a sense that each person or group was growing into an
individual career, separate from the collective. Eventually the Jungle Brothers
would go on to release an album in 1993following some reported interference from Bambaataa, who tried to influence the records soundthat
clearly showed how far they had moved from strictly Afrocentric themes,
while De La Soul released an album the same year that made oblique and
negative references to the dissolution of the Native Tongues. They retracted
those on a subsequent album, but by that time, Native Tongues was no longer
the force it had been, and even if it was, Latifah had moved on to her own
projects and to different themes. Unlike some female rappers who could not
sustain their careers without the support of a male crew, Latifah benefited
from her association with Native Tongues but maintained her momentum
after the groups meltdown.
Latifah was also different from her female colleagues in one other, significant respect. Unlike young stars such as Shante or Salt-N-Pepa, Latifah maintained creative and financial control as early and as often as possible.
Realizing early on that she needed someone to collect from promoters,
Latifah assigned a reliable friend and kept close track of what was happening.
Younger stars who arrived earlier on the scene, such as Shante, often
struggled to collect what they were owed. Youth was not the only factor
some of those rappers lacked a sufficient base of supportive advisors who
would manage their funds honestly and fairly, while personal stresses and the
distraction of being on the road, pushed from venue to venue, also sapped
some of the energy needed to inquire closely about their affairs. A number of
female rappers, such as Salt of Salt-N-Pepa, also fell into the trap of surrendering their management to lovers, only to realize later what complications
Queen Latifah
could ensue. Blazing a trail for equally strong and smart successors such as
Missy Elliottwho refers to Latifah as a friend and role modelLatifah
managed her own business affairs or delegated them to trusted members of
her family, such as her mother, or to longtime friend Shakim Compere, who
had been a former student of Ritas and eventually became one of Latifahs
closest companions. Always quick to recognize financial implications, she was
careful to trademark the Queen Latifah name as well.
Demonstrating her fearlessness in the face of opposition, she moved over to
Motown when Tommy Boy lost interest after Nature of a Sista. The jump to
Motown meant leaving behind some of her longtime allies, including the 45
King, whose skills were not considered essential by Motown, but it didnt
mean that Latifah gave up all of her creative control or her interest in working
with friends. In the 1990s, Latifah established her own record label and
management company, Flavor Unit, which referred to a posse of New York
and New Jersey rappers such as Chill Rob G, Storm P, and Apache. Among
the acts she discovered and managed for Flavor Unit was Naughty by Nature,
whose hugely successful debut album featured Latifah as executive producer,
rapping on the song Wickedest Man Alive. Naughty by Nature returned
some of Latifahs favors, acknowledging her in their songs and acting as
producers on Nature of a Sista. Although Naughty by Nature made its name
with the lighthearted O.P.P., many of their other songs were powerful
anthems for black pride and progress in the face of indignity and injustice.
Much of their work resonated with the same themes as those favored by
Native Tongues, and several of their records included some mention of Native
Tongues and Zulu Nation, including their Grammy-winning 1995 album,
Povertys Paradise. Flavor Units roster would eventually include artists such
as Outkast, Next, and LL Cool J, and some of the artists loaned their talents
on one anothers albums. Once again, Latifahs mother, always a powerful
force in her life, assumed an important role at Flavor Unit, serving as its vice
president, while Shakim Compere served as Latifahs business partner in
Flavor Unit and other ventures.
While Queen Latifah has refused to describe herself as a feminist, she does
espouse clearly feminist ideals, promoting female strength wherever possible.
When describing the motivation behind songs such as Ladies First, Latifah
has noted the level of distress and puzzlement she experienced when she
realized that the sexism in hip hop was becoming more acceptable to female
rappers as well as male ones. Female rappers began embracing negative labels
for themselves and other women, a development that Latifah observed critically. Rather than attacking the men of hip hop, Latifahs response was to
nurture the self-esteem of her female compatriots. If she could build up their
consciousness, she felt, then empowerment and respect would follow. Given
her investment in a sense of sisterhood, it was no surprise that she was a
participant in a 1991 concert called Sisters in the Name of Rap, a nationally
televised hip hop event featuring thirteen female rappers, including
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Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Nefertiti, Yo Yo, and Shante. Despite the fact that the
Queens image has changed substantially over the years, from tough-talking
Afrocentric rapper to glamorous jazz-singing actress, Latifahs dedication to
social activism seems consistent. Her pride in her culture and her gender made
her a natural, articulate spokeswoman at events organized to support charitable efforts or social activism.
Although Ladies First remains, perhaps, the defining song of the Queens
career, a close second would have to be U.N.I.T.Y., the Grammy-winning
call to arms that condemned the misogyny for which hip hop is so often
criticized. Preaching love for black men and black women alike, the song
also let both know in no uncertain terms that disrespect and name calling
are unacceptable. Offering tough solutions for men who treat women as
sexual objects or who take out their frustrations on them, U.N.I.T.Y. reminded black women to keep their pride and self-respect in the most difficult
of situations. Moreover, it returned to some of the themes that were so important in Ladies First, emphasizing again the unity needed within the
African American community and the power such unity provides. Aside from
the Grammy for Rap Solo Performance, U.N.I.T.Y. also garnered an
NAACP Image Award and a Soul Train Music Award in 1994. U.N.I.T.Y.
was the standout single on Latifahs 1993 Black Reign album, a darker and
more diverse collection of songs than that found on All Hail the Queen, which
highlighted social problems but also preached optimism and positivity. Black
Reign, written during a difficult period in Latifahs life, reflects some of her
moodiness, although the strength of U.N.I.T.Y. clearly indicates that her
tough, enduring spirit has prevailed through everything.
Order in the Court, her 1998 follow-up album, featured an attentiongrabbing cover, with spikes of fire erupting from Latifahs head, but this
implied anger is not in major evidence on the record itself. Order in the Court
did not feature any songs that made the same strong social waves as Ladies
First or U.N.I.T.Y., instead offering a lighter R&B sound and duets with
artists such as Faith Evans. Sales for Order in the Court were moderately
good, buoyed by popular singles such as Bananas, an increasingly rare rap
track in which the Queen once again served notice that she wanted respect
and reminded competitors that she was in a class of her own, and Paper,
featuring Pras Michel and Jaz-A-Belle and sampling I Heard It Through the
Grapevine. A song that garnered less attention was Black on Black Love,
where Latifah demonstrates that she still has something to say about the
social ills affecting her people, and about the lack of unity among them.
Paper, which raps, in part, about the difficulties of the music business
and criticizes MCs who might be trying to interfere in her friendships and
imitate her success, is yet another venue where Queen Latifah is frank about
the sacrifices needed to succeed. Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that Order
in the Court represents what could be her last complete album of original rap
songs. Released at a time when her television and film career was heating up,
Queen Latifah
Order in the Court did not enjoy as much critical success as her earlier work,
which may reflect the fact that she was beginning a slow drift away from a
full-time musical career. The more mellow musical sounds, featuring less
rapping, may also have served as a predictor of Latifahs eventual move
toward experimenting with jazz.
Her final original album to date under the Queen Latifah name, Shes a
Queen: A Collection of Hits, released by Universal in 2002, received tepid
critical attention, although it did feature some of her early major songs. In
between those major releases, Latifah has also loaned her talents to a number
of soundtracks, including Living Out Loud, Bringing Down the House,
Chicago, Set It Off, New Jersey Drive, Sunset Park, Nothing to Lose, The
Associate, White Men Cant Jump, and New Jack City. She has also been
included in a number of collections, including Queen Latifah and the Original Flavor Unit, a 1996 collection featuring longtime collaborators such as
Lakim Shabazz, Lord Alibaski, and Apache. Her most recent album taps into
the world of jazz she explored in films such as Living Out Loud, and is titled
simply The Dana Owens Album. Although jazz may seem a world apart from
Black Reign or All Hail the Queen, critics were favorably impressed by her
range on the Living Out Loud soundtrack, and more than one noted that the
Latifah tracks were perhaps the best on the entire album. Small wonder, then,
that she followed up by delivering a complete album dedicated to jazz. The
departure from her early work is marked not only by the difference in sound,
but by the messages contained. That is to say, there are no real messages from
the Queen on The Dana Owens Albums, which is a collection of covers, many
of which are considered quite goodparticularly the wistful Lush Life
but none of which deliver the forceful rhymes and frank talk of her rap
albums. Although Queen Latifah still performs rap songs in concert, there
are few signs that she plans to reposition herself at some point as an original
and fearless contributor to the world of rap.
THE HIGHS AND LOWS

If Queen Latifah has changed in terms of her professional focus and musical
style, her personal life has been marked forever by one particular transformation. While Latifahs family continues to provide a strong support base in
a number of respects, the loss of one family member was a devastating blow.
At first, 1992 started out as one of the best years of her life, marked by a Top
10 single, Latifahs Had It up 2 Here, a Grammy nomination, and a bit part
in Jungle Fever. However, in March, a tragedy transformed that year into one
of unimaginable sadness. Latifahs brother Winki was killed in an accident,
riding a motorcycle that she had purchased for him as a birthday gift. The
death was unexpected and the grief so sharp that Latifah struggled with
depression and confusion for some time after, using alcohol and marijuana
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in an unsuccessful attempt to cope. Only two years apart in age, Latifah and
Winki had been close friends as well as siblings, and in many ways he was the
man in her life. Her father was an important figure, but his presence was
inconsistent. Battling his own demons and lurching from one affair to another, he fathered other children whose existence had taken Latifah and
Winki by surprise. Eventually the two learned that they had two half-sisters,
Michelle and Kelly, and a half-brother, Angelo. The man who had raised
Latifah to be self-sufficient, strong, and confident also proved to be a man
who was unfaithful and who concealed the results of his affairs. While Latifah
managed to maintain a relationship with her father, she did experience a sense
of betrayal that affected not only her faith in her father, but her faith in other
men as well.
It was, in part, the example of her father, who struggled constantly with a
cocaine addiction, that helped Latifah realize that drugs were not helping her
deal with the pain of loss. She decided to seek solace in her music, since she
was already contractually obligated to Motown and since work appeared to
be therapeutic. On Black Reign, the first album by a female rapper to attain
gold status, Latifah was able to discuss her grief and pay tribute to her
brother. Released in 1993, the album mentioned Winki in the song Black
Hand Side, but the key song was Winkis Theme, which allowed Latifah
to express her belief that her brother was watching over her and also spoke to
her faith in God despite her confusion over what had taken place, as well as
her insistence that she would have to continue being herself. The effect was so
positive that she suggested the inclusion of a song mentioning Winki might be
a trademark on each of her future albums.
Although questions about her sexual orientation have dogged her for years,
particularly following her convincing portrayal of the lesbian Cleo in the
movie Set It Off, Latifahs personal life has rarely occupied the popular press
in the same way as that of fellow rappers. Her reputation has been mainly
impeccable, resulting in a considerable shock for the public when she was
pulled over by the police in 1996 for possession of marijuana and a handgun.
That brush with the law was followed by another in 2002 when she was
pulled over for driving while intoxicated, but while her public may have been
disappointed and surprised, Latifah has always been candid about her drug
use. Despite eschewing prolonged use or experimentation with the hardest
drugs, the rapper went so far as to list the drugs she has tried in her 1999
autobiography.
While Queen Latifah has never attracted the more piercing and strongly
critical attention commanded by audacious counterparts such as Lil Kim or
Foxy Brown, her increasing commercialism and attempts at entering the
mainstream have drawn criticism. The Afrocentrism and social commentary
that guided her earlier efforts appear to have given way to a desire to be more
accessible and more diverse. Although her music is no longer the key component of her career, her most recent collections are far from the fierce battle
Queen Latifah
cries found in Ladies First and U.N.I.T.Y. In fact, her decision to release
her 2004 collection of jazz and soul songs, The Dana Owens Album, under
her given name seems to signal a greater desire than ever to leave behind the
Queen Latifah persona. Interestingly, however, the album cover does feature
Queen Latifahs name despite the contrast with the title.
CELLULOID CELEBRITY: THE RAPPER GOES HOLLYWOOD

However, that persona has enjoyed considerable success inside and outside the
world of music. Queen Latifahs early decision to enter the world of acting is
hardly unique in the world of hip hop, where pragmatic rappers, particularly
female ones, have concluded that a movie or television career may be a boon if
the notoriously competitive world of hip hop forces an early end to musical
prospects. Latifahs success, however, has few peers. With her cameo role in
Spike Lees 1991 hit Jungle Fever, she made a strong foray into territory that no
other rappers had entered decisively at that point, following it up swiftly with
appearances in House Party 2 and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, both vehicles
for other rappersKid N Play in the first case and Will Smith in the second.
With her starring role as Khadijah on the Fox situation comedy Living
Single, she followed in Smiths footsteps as a rapper starring in a successful
situation comedy (see sidebar: Keep Em Laughing: Hip Hop and Sitcoms).
Living Single ran from 1993 to 1997, but before that, Latifah appeared as a
straight-talking record executive opposite young rising stars Omar Epps and
Keep Em Laughing: Hip Hop and Sitcoms
Faiza Hirji
Although the rapper-as-actor scenario has now reached the status of nearcliche, it was still quite unusual when Queen Latifah was selected to headline
Living Single, a situation comedy revolving around a group of close, very
different friends. Living Single debuted in 1993, and LL Cool Js In the House
debuted in 1995, following on the early nineties success of the show that
helped blaze the trail for rappers in sitcoms: Will Smiths The Fresh Prince of BelAir. Latifah made guest appearances on Fresh Prince before her own foray into
television stardom.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which can still be found in reruns, had a long and
successful run from 1990 to 1996, increasing Will Smiths profile both as an
actor and as a rapper. Fresh Prince, a lighthearted comedy about the cultural
clash between an affluent Los Angeles family and their mischievous West
Philadephia-raised nephew, paved the way for a long career. However,
Smiths position at the beginning of Fresh Prince was quite different from that
of LL Cool J or Queen Latifah. In many ways, he had no street credibility to lose
as he assumed the role of the goofy Will. His musical success had begun even
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before Latifahs, but from a very different platform. His biggest songs, such as
Girls Aint Nothing but Trouble and Parents Just Dont Understand were
inoffensive, humorous, and completely apolitical.
The stakes were a bit higher for LL and the Queen. It was the latter who
landed a sitcom first, although both rappers had been testing out their acting
skills with small film roles. Living Single featured Queen Latifah as a magazine
editor whose interactions with her three girlfriends and male neighbors
formed the basis of the show. Running 1993-1998 on Fox, the show only
seemed to make Latifah more popular, but it also marked a period when music
appeared to give way to a focus on acting.
LL Cool J, otherwise known as James Todd Smith, enjoyed a popularity
similar to Latifahs as early as 1984, when he joined forces with the newly
emerging Def Jam. His work, ranging from funky to romantic to hard-hitting,
was perhaps bolder and more controversial than Will Smiths, but it was still
classified by some as mediocre and unoriginal. Nonetheless, LL racked up sales
for records, endorsements, and merchandise, and like Queen Latifah, he
always demonstrated solid business sense, trademarking LL Cool J (Ladies
Love Cool James) and maintaining a presence in different forms of media
and marketing. In the House, which debuted in 1995 on NBC, was his attempt
to master yet another medium. The show, also starring Debbie Allen as the
head of the family renting from LLs character, a former football player, was
not hugely successful in the ratings, but the support of upstart network UPN
kept it on the air until 1999.
UPN has continued to provide a home to hip hop artists in sitcoms, featuring Brandys Moesha (1996-2001) and Eves self-titled show (2003present),
but few situation comedies featuring rappers have managed to come close to
the resounding success that was Fresh Prince, just as very few rappers have
attained the kind of acting resume that Will Smith and Queen Latifah have
accumulated during their careers.
Tupac Shakur in the gritty urban drama Juice. Although her role was relatively small, it offered a sly nod to music insiders: Playing an industry veteran
faced with a bevy of aspiring DJs, Latifahs character dresses down one such
DJ in no uncertain terms before conceding that Eppss character, the Harlembased Q, may have some promise despite having only local experience playing
for his friends. Having been discovered by a female executive while still a
teenager embedded in a New Jersey crew, the Queen may have been enjoying
a laugh and some nostalgia in this scene, as well as a subsequent one where Q
impresses the audience in his first major audition, a contest hosted by Latifah
and featuring an appearance by Fab 5 Freddy, who also contributed to Latifahs big break.
Whether or not the parallels to Latifahs industry experience were intended
in Juice, her next move took her away from movies set in the world of hip hop
Queen Latifah
as she accepted a role in the Michael Keaton film My Life. However, this was
followed three years later by the notable role as Cleo in Set It Off alongside
Vivica A. Fox, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Kimberly Elise. While Latifah also
contributed the song Name Callin to the soundtrack, the real object of
attention during that movie was the sexy and explicit scene between Cleo and
her female lover, spurring inquiry regarding what was acting and what was
natural. Set It Off brought in a Black Film Award for the Acapulco Film
Festival in the category of Best Actress, as well as nominations for an Image
Award and an Independent Spirit Award.
In 1997, Latifah had a small part in the movie Hoodlum, set in 1930s
Harlem and starring Laurence Fishburne, Cicely Tyson, Tim Roth, Vanessa
L. Williams, and Loretta Devine. Following Living Singles run, she made a
return to the movies. She didnt quite hit the ground running with the poorly
received Sphere, a science-fiction film based on the Michael Crichton novel,
but she followed that up with the very differentand more nuancedfeature
Living Out Loud, in which she played a jazz singer who befriends the lead
characters played by Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito. Following Living Out
Loud, for which she received positive reviews and an Image Award nomination, she reunited with Cicely Tyson in the television miniseries Mama Floras
Family, based on Alex Haleys novelized account of his mothers life. In 1999,
she teamed up with another black powerhouse in Denzel Washington, playing
nurse to his paralyzed detective in the crime thriller The Bone Collector.
She had a far smaller role in Bringing Out the Dead, also in 1999, which
coincided with yet another watershed momentthe launch of her daytime
talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, which ran in syndication until 2001.
Given her air of easy confidence, approachability, and humor, she was a
natural choice to head a talk show, despite the fact that the market appeared
to be glutted at that time with such shows. Also, 2001 was a busy year in
general on the television frontshe made appearances on Spin City, followed
up the next year with a supporting role in the television drama Living with the
Dead. A small part as herself in the Disney film The Country Bears was
followed by an Image Awardnominated role as the best friend of Sanaa
Lathans lead character Sidney in the hip hop love story Brown Sugar.
That same year, Latifah snagged what has thus far been one of her most
significant roles: the part of the corrupt jailhouse warden in Chicago, the
award-winning musical that generated Oscar, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild nominations for Latifah in the category of Best Supporting Actress,
as well as a BET award and a Black Reel Award. Other nominations came
from the Teen Choice Awards, the MTV Movie Awards, and the British
Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. The Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress ultimately went to Latifahs costar, Catherine Zeta-Jones,
but the nomination and Latifahs performance provided confirmation of what
some critics had been saying all along: Latifah was in Hollywood to stay, and
she deserved her spot. It was perhaps only appropriate that this affirmation
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should come in a musical, a form rarely embraced by present-day Hollywood

and yet one that the audience seemed to welcome. Chicago was not without
its critics, however; although Latifah was compelling in her role, the idea of
the bawdy, dishonest, and manipulative Mama Morton was one that seemed
to play on a number of stereotypes about black women, especially when
Mama flaunted her natural assets in a sexy number.
Bringing Down the House, in which Latifah starred alongside Steve Martin
while producing as well, attracted some of the same criticism. Playing a
wrongly convicted inmate who ingratiates herself into Steve Martins life in
order to secure his legal services, Latifahs character alternately parodies
every stereotype of poor black people in the United States and then demonstrates her ability to appear polished and sophisticated when required. This
performance, which seemed to highlight both the characters and Latifahs
chameleon-like qualities, snagged her an Image Award for Outstanding
Actress in a Motion Picture. At the same time, however, while many viewers
were pleased to see Latifah in such a high-profile role, others questioned her
success in satirizing stereotypes rather than reinforcing them. As Allison
Samuels noted in a Newsweek article, the theme of the black woman teaching
an uptight white man to get in touch with his emotionsin part by grasping
her breasts, at one pointis hardly new, and seemed to fit neatly into a genre
of comedies that produce laughs by mining ethnic stereotypes. In the same
article, however, acclaimed director John Singleton and rapper Snoop Dogg
both agreed that work is so scarce for black actors that they cannot always
afford to reject such subject matter. As a producer, however, Latifah seemed
comfortable with the overall moral of Bringing Down the House, which she
saw as a sly reminder that people are not always what they seem, a message
reinforced rather absurdly in the satire Scary Movie 3, where Latifah had a
small role. Certainly Latifah has not fit neatly into any category that might
have been designated for herunlike other rappers who have made a career
out of appearing in stories about hip hop or urban life, she has managed to
cover a vast spectrum of projects in her acting.
Rapping is never far from her heart, however, as demonstrated in Barbershop 2: Back in Business, where a typically tough Latifah character puts her
rhyming skills up against the male competition in an impromptu battle of
wills. Although it did not match the success of the original and Latifahs role
seemed peripheral at times, Barbershop 2 was still enough of a crowd pleaser
to snag a BET Comedy Award for Latifah. Following work on television
projects such as Eve and The Fairly OddParents, Latifah turned her attention
to writing, devising the story for The Cookout with friends Shakim Compere
and Darryl Latee French. Latifah also acted as executive producer for that
film and appeared in a supporting role, but those efforts proved mainly futile
as The Cookout debuted to cool reviews. A lead appearance in Taxi opposite
Jimmy Fallon proved no better, but Latifahs star turn in Beauty Shop,
the Barbershop spinoff, was a considerable improvement, earning her
Queen Latifah
nominations from the BET Comedy Awards, the Image Awards, and the Teen
Choice Awards.
Demonstrating her versatility yet again, Latifah added a role as Auntie Em
in The Muppets Wizard of Oz, followed by another leading role in Last
Holiday, a remake of a 1950 Alec Guinness movie. The story of a shy woman
who must cast aside her considerable inhibitions if she wants to enjoy what
she believes are her final days, Last Holiday paired Latifah with another rap
icon, LL Cool J.
With the same determination she has applied to her musical career, Latifah
continues to build on her rich body of screen work, refusing to be stalled by
the misses sprinkled among the hits. Latifah rarely surrenders to typecasting
or the lure of the consistently ordinary. Her Ice Age 2 work is joined by the
film Stranger Than Fiction, a surreal comedy starring Will Ferrell. Thus
Latifahs film interests remain versatile, and she ensures that she has several
avenues open for success. Continuing to demonstrate a good eye for strong
talent, Latifah and Compere recently signed an agreement to comanage
Oscar-nominated actor Terrence Howard through their Flavor Unit Entertainment agency. Even at a young age, Latifah seemed to recognize that she
would need to develop the talent of others, rather than relying simply on the
promise of her own career. Managing others and producing films have allowed her to expand the potential for success. At the same time, her attempts
to be all things to all people can result in more mediocre movies than notably
good ones. In general, she remains one of the most successful rappers to move
into film, bearing in mind how difficult the transition has been for many of
her peers. Although she has only made a handful of truly notable films, that
still sets her apart, and has contributed to the fact that she is now viewed as an
actress as much as a musician.
Interestingly, Latifah is also viewed, to a lesser extent, as a model, appearing in magazines and elsewhere as a spokesperson for Cover Girl. Latifah is
not Cover Girls first musician-cum-actress-cum-model, or its first black
spokespersonBrandy and Tyra Banks have also modeled Cover Girl products. The real surprise lies in the fact that Latifah is not a typical model on a
number of levels. In contrast to the days preceding her career, when her first
sight of Salt-N-Pepa failed to inspire her because the rappers were more sexy
than the down-to-earth Latifah, Queen Latifah is now frequently packaged as
an elegant, well-dressed, meticulously made-up woman. The young rapper in
cobbled-together Afrocentric ensembles or, alternately, casual athletic gear,
appears to have been subsumed into a glossier version. That version, however,
still does not conform to Hollywood standards of thinness or beauty, and
Queen Latifah has been adamant in stating that she would never attempt to
diet her way down to the kind of slimness embraced by many other women,
including most of the African American women who succeed in hip hop
or in acting. She advocates a healthy and active lifestyle, but reminds
women that model-like body types cannot be realistically achieved by most.
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Icons of Hip Hop
Despite suggestions that she did undergo a breast reduction, Queen Latifah
remains visibly heavier than her counterparts, which makes her contract as a
Cover Girl model even more remarkable. Previous contracts have been
awarded to those who do appear to fit into the Hollywood mold, such as
the thin and light-skinned Halle Berry or the aforementioned Brandy. As with
Latifahs move away from rap and toward a smoother, more mainstream
sound, it is difficult to know if this transformation also marks a departure
from her determination to be accepted on her own terms, or a reaffirmation
that she can be a role model for other women who do not quite fit the mold.
AT THE TOP OF HER GAME? MAPPING THE LATIFAH LEGACY

While she has certainly left behind many of her early trademarksthe short
haircut, wearing the colors of the African National Congress, her queens
crown, the military or sporty gearit is difficult to say if this means Latifah
has lost her political or social consciousness. When comparing the regal
stance of the young woman on the cover of All Hail the Queenhead
swathed, next to a black, red, and green symbol that evokes Africato the
elegant, pinstripe-clad woman with silky straight hair on the cover of The
Dana Owens Album, it is equally possible to speculate that this is a performer
who has merely grown up and now presents a more mature face, or that
Latifah has now entered more fully into a glossy corporate system that requires her to tone down any rough edges. Her recent hints that she might
contemplate a political career suggest that she may be finding new ways to get
across the social messages that she once delivered through forceful raps and
in-your-face performances.
Although she seems to have left behind many of her early ambitions to rap
about misogyny and self-respect in a way that would empower women and
African Americans, she remains a trailblazer in other, unanticipated ways.
The Latifah story is still being writtenin 2006, she has shown no sign of
slowing down, voicing a character in the animated sequel, Ice Age 2: The
Meltdown and working on a 2007 film production of Hairspray. Her filmography continues to grow and she keeps her hand in the musical scene, reminding her fans of both her versatility and her tirelessness. Her own star on
the Hollywood Walk of Famethe first ever awarded to a female hip hop
artistprovides further confirmation of the distinctive nature of her accomplishments. While some of her fellow rappersmale and femalehave wilted
under the pressures of a merciless industry, Latifah has put together a model
for success that lasts. She makes no apologies for her mistakes or for her
apparent moves away from the rap world, and in fact, she may have no need
to do so. Lorraine Ali, offering a generally favorable review of The Dana
Owens Album, points out how great a shift Latifah has made away from the
world of hip hop, noting that its unlikely that many of todays rappers devote
Queen Latifah
much consideration to her current musical projects: Too many years have
passed and they know her as an icon and an actor, not as a rapper. Thats
likely fine with Latifah. She is, after all, the Queen of Reinvention (59).
As the Queen of Reinvention, Latifah has still managed to highlight music
in her career, but the music she has performed most recently is softer, far less
political, and arguably less original. The Princess of the Posse who once
collaborated with Jungle Brothers, Naughty by Nature, and De La Soul went
back on tour in 2005, this time with fellow Grammy winners Jill Scott and
Erykah Badu. As the three main personalities behind the Sugar Water Festival,
Latifah, Scott, and Badu have provided a showcase for black, mainly female
vocalists that they hope will make an annual appearance for some time to
come. Given Badus own status as a talented, creative singer who tackles
political and social issues as she sees fit, as well as her moves in and around
an Afrocentric aesthetic, it is certainly interesting to see Latifah collaborating
with her at this stage of their careers. Badus musical sound and life story have
been markedly different from Latifahs, but it may be that artists such as
Badu, not just rappers such as Missy Elliott, provide the best evidence that
Latifahs legacy is meaningful and yielding fruit for the future.
In the meantime, Latifah continues to sing, to act, to host awards shows,
and to foster a kind of omnipresent image in various forms of media. It is
difficult to evaluate whether she has managed to fulfill the definition of
success she provided in 2002, before the string of movies that came to define
her more as actor than rapper: Speaking to Rhonda Baraka and Gail Mitchell
on the subject of women in rap, she explained her philosophy by saying that
any female rapper who comes with her own style, stays true to what she
does, understands the work thats involved and stays with the right people
will be around 10 years from now. But you wont be on top all the time. If you
can accept that, youll be all right (101). In rap terms, of course, it is impossible to see Latifah as currently on top, a position she seems to accept as
she moves toward a softer, more mainstream sound. It does not seem to faze
her successors either, many of whom are also working on building diversity
into their own careers. The young hard-core rapper Trina, in the same article,
commented on the inspiration provided by MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, and
Latifah as women who have been successful at different levels and in different
settings, a success she has attempted to mimic through her own work in rap,
film, and other forms of entrepreneurship (Baraka and Mitchell). Similarly,
Eve, one of the most successful young rappers in recent times, has indicated
that she thinks female up-and-comers must acknowledge and respect the dues
paid by predecessors such as Lyte and Latifah.
The central paradox of Latifahs career is one that can be seen with other
rappers as well. Hailed as an icon, worshipped as hip hop royalty, imitated by
her successors, Latifahs status as a rapper is both unassailable and frozen in
the past. She still has talent, and plenty of it, both dramatic and musical, but
she has chosen to use her talents differently than she once did. If she has
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240
inspired young women significantly, it seems to be primarily by showing them

how to conduct themselves with confidence, to diversify in order to avoid a
narrowly focused and unnecessarily short career, and to create strong and
meaningful relationships with male and female colleagues alike. The result is
a new generation of tough, savvy young female rappers, many of them concentrating on the potential for crossing over into mainstream celebrity. If they
demonstrate self-sufficiency, perhaps Latifahs example deserves some of the
credit. At the same time, however, Latifahs marketing legacy sometimes
seems to overshadow her musical legacy. Her early hits will always be remembered for their frankness, their sincerity, and the impeccability of their
timing, as Latifahs pro-woman rhymes dropped into an industry where gender relations were so troubled. However, as Latifah has moved away from
lyrics that promoted strength, honesty, and pride for both men and women,
few successors have picked up the gauntlet. Hip hop is still a venue where too
many women are marginalized, and the rapper who once spoke out against
this with such passion now seems to have adopted a new coping strategy:
walking away and onto other roads. Regardless of this fact, Latifah remains
an iconic figure in the industry, one who helped mentor other young female
rappers, to pave the way for hip hops entry into other fields, and one whose
longevity, determination, and versatility still mark her as true hip hop royalty.
See also: Lil Kim, MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, Roxanne Shante, Native Tongues, Missy Elliott
WORKS CITED
Ali, Lorraine. God Save the Queen. Newsweek 4 October 2004: 59.
Baraka, Rhonda and Mitchell, Gail. Lady Rappers: Wider Acceptance, Big Ideas and
an Expansive Entrepreneurial Spirit Animate Top Female MCs. Billboard 7
December 2002: 101.
Keyes, Cheryl L. Empowering Self, Making Choices, Creating Spaces: Black Female
Identity via Rap Music Performance. Thats the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies
Reader. Eds. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal. London: Verso, 1994.
265-276.
Samuels, Allison. Minstrels in Baggy Jeans? Newsweek 5 May 2003: 62.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Lipsitz, George. Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Postmodernism and the
Politics of Place. London: Verso, 1994.
Mayo, Kierna. The Last Good Witch. Vibe Books: Hip Hop Divas. New York:
Three Rivers Press, 2001. 52-61.
Owens, Dana and Karen Hunter. Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman.
Foreword by Rita Owens. New York: William Morrow, 1999.
Quinones, Ben. Sista Act. LA Weekly 5 August 2005: 100.
Roberts, Robin. Ladies First: Queen Latifahs Afrocentric Feminist Music. African
American Review 28:2 (1994): 245-257.
Queen Latifah
Wilbekin, Emil. Great Aspirations: Hip Hop and Fashion Dress for Excess and
Success. The Vibe History of Hip Hop. Ed. Alan Light. London: Plexus, 1999.
277-283.
Come into My House. All Hail the Queen. Tommy Boy, 1989.
Ladies First. Duet with Monie Love. All Hail the Queen. Tommy Boy, 1989.
Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children. Duet with De La Soul. All Hail the Queen.
Tommy Boy, 1989.
Latifahs Had It up 2 Here. Nature of a Sista. Tommy Boy, 1991.
U.N.I.T.Y. Black Reign. Motown, 1993.
Winkis Theme. Black Reign. Motown, 1993.
Paper. Order in the Court. Motown, 1998.
Goin Out of My Head. Living Out Loud. RCA, 1998.
Lush Life. Living Out Loud. RCA, 1998.
FILMOGRAPHY
Bringing Down the House. Dir. Adam Shankman. Touchstone Home Entertainment,
2003.
Chicago. Dir. Rob Marshall. Miramax, 2003.
Juice. Dir. Ernest R. Dickerson. Island World, 1992.
Last Holiday. Dir. Wayne Wang. Paramount Pictures, 2006.
Set It Off. Dir. F. Gary Gray. New Line Cinema, 1996.
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The Geto Boys

Jason D. Haugen
The Geto Boys would rather be hated for what we are than loved for what
we are not.
Bushwick Bill
Emerging primarily from the West Coast in the mid to late 1980s, one of the
most influential and oft-maligned movements of hip hop and rap music was
what came to be known as hard-core or gangsta rap. Although originally
associated with such California-based rappers as Ice-T and N.W.A., few
would argue that not many artists took this genre to a level as extreme as
the Geto Boys, the first major rap group to emerge from Houston, Texas.
Considered among the hardest of the hard-core gangsta rappers, the
Geto Boys attained iconic status through their intermingling of themes of
acute mental psychosis with the standard gangsta images of urban street life,
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where the violence concomitant with the hustling lifestyle is so vividly portrayed in the narratives penned by gangsta rappers (see sidebar: Hustle and
Flow).
Hustle and Flow

Jason D. Haugen
Perhaps the most significant rap-related film to cross into the mainstream to
date is 2005s Hustle and Flow, an independently financed film written and
directed by Craig Brewer. This film focuses on DJay, a down-and-out pimp
and drug peddler played by Terrence Howard, who struggles to break free of
his lowly life through creating rap music. Unlike many representations of the
pimp persona that have appeared before, the character of DJay is not portrayed in a glamorous way. Rather, he is a conflicted man who hustles because
he feels like he has to, on the one hand, but who also shows compassion
toward the women for whom he feels a great deal of responsibility.
Facing a midlife crisis of personal and artistic identity, DJay views the
upcoming return of an acquaintance-turned-rap superstar (Skinny Black,
played by Ludacris) as his last chance to make it, if he can come up with
some way not only to produce a worthy sample of original music to present,
but also to get Skinny Black to actually listen to it.
The film highlights the obstacles DJay must face in pursuing his dream, from
being too poor to afford adequate equipment to being too unknown for
successful artists and radio stations to take him seriously. Along the way, we
are given a glimpse into the darker side of Memphis street life, as we are
exposed to DJays relationships with women, whom he both exploits and
depends on: the pregnant Shug (Taraji P. Henson), the extremely negative
Lexus (Paula Jai Parker), and Nola (Taryn Manning), the girl who has to turn
tricks in order to finance DJays recordings. Also emphasized in the film is the
collaborative nature of the process of producing rap songs, as DJay works on
his lyrics and vocal delivery while his friends Key (Anthony Anderson) and
Shelby (DJ Qualls) take on the technical tasks of actually coming up with the
music and recording DJays songs.
Hustle and Flow features original rap songs written by local Memphis underground rapper Al Kapone, as well as the Three 6 Mafia. It was critically
acclaimed and nominated for many awards, and won the Audience Award
at the Sundance Film Festival. Terrence Howard was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance of DJay, although that award
was ultimately presented to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his portrayal of the
title character in Capote. Three 6 Mafia became the first rap group to ever win
an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures
(Original Song) for Its Hard Out Here for a Pimp and was also the first rap
group to actually perform at the ceremony.
The Geto Boys
Being the godfathers of the Houston rap scene, the Geto Boys were not
only the forerunners of the recent explosion of Texas hip hop, they were also
the first major rap figures to emerge out of what would later be a dominating
force in rap music and hip hop much more generally: the Dirty South or the
Third Coast. Thus, the influence of the Geto Boys was huge not only to the
local scene in Houston but also across the South, and their style would inspire
many artists who would later rise out of scenes in New Orleans, Atlanta,
Memphis, and elsewhere (see sidebar: The Memphis Rap Scene).
Of course, the fame of the Geto Boys was not limited to hip hop insiders.
The invocation of their name still recalls their notoriety in American pop
culture at large in their earlier days. The response to their eponymous breakthrough album in 1990 was one of such shock and dismay that not only did
The Memphis Rap Scene

Jason D. Haugen
Memphis, Tennessee, is rightfully known as a historical hotbed of American
music. Not only was it a major hub of early rock n roll (spawning such
legendary artists as Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl
Perkins), but it was also an influential source of legends of country music
(Johnny Cash), the blues (Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, and B.B. King), soul
(Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, and Booker T. and the MGs), and
funk (Isaac Hayes).
More recently, however, Memphis has served as home to a vibrant hip hop
community, being one of the major centers of Southern rap. Although some
artists like Eightball and MJG have been influential throughout the South since
the early 1990s, the explosion of the Dirty South into national consciousness
in the late 1990s brought various Memphis artists to national attention.
Memphis rappers have been heavily influenced by the crunk movement,
featured on the dance floors of clubs throughout the South.
Eightball and MJG, the first major rap artists to emerge from Memphis,
formed Suave House Records in 1993, in order to distribute their own records
and those of such other artists as Tela and Crime Boss. They are acknowledged
as major early influences of the style of rap that would later be associated with
the Dirty South and have maintained a successful career since those early days.
Of late, the best-known Memphis-based group is the Three 6 Mafia. They
began life as the Triple 6 Mafia, a hard-core underground rap group; their
name alludes to the biblical Number of the Beast. Over the years many
lineup changes have occurred, but the stable members have been Juicy J and
DJ Paul. Other members have included the rappers Crunchy Black, Koopsta
Knicca, Lord Infamous, La Chat, and Juicys older brother, Project Pat. While
garnering a large underground following over the years, the group eventually
crossed into mainstream success with their Sony Records album Most Known
Unknown in 2005. They will probably be best remembered as the first rap
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group to win an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Music Written for
Motion Pictures (Original Song). Hard Out Here for a Pimp was written for
the soundtrack to the movie Hustle and Flow, a film that depicts a struggling
young pimp trying to garner success in the Memphis rap music scene. Three 6
Mafia won their Oscar in 2006, beating out their more mainstream fellow
Tennessee native Dolly Parton for the honor.
the groups major label (Geffen, who at that time was the distributor of Rick
Rubins Def American label) refuse to distribute it, the original CD manufacturer refused even to print copies of it. Although the controversy over The
Geto Boys occurred in the wake of the furor over the sexually explicit lyrics of
the 2 Live Crew, the addition of the Geto Boys uniquely explicit brand of
violence to the already turbulent brew of attitude, sex, and foul language
inherent to rap music went way over the line for many. As Greg Baker pointed
out, the popular perception of rap music at the dawn of the 1990s was that 2
Live Crew was too nasty, N.W.A. was too dangerous, and the Geto Boys
were too nasty and too dangerous (60, emphasis mine).
In a genre that is intrinsically (and intentionally) controversial, the emergence of the Geto Boys as the most controversial of a lot that included such
notable figures as N.W.A. (also including the solo work of Eazy-E, Ice Cube,
and Dr. Dre), Ice-T, and myriad others would itself make them icons for
pushing the boundaries of what was deemed possible to express through
music.
THE EARLY DAYS: FROM INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNINGS TO

OVERNIGHT NOTORIETY
The story of the Geto Boys begins with the Ghetto Boys. The prescriptive
English spelling of their name is not the only thing unrecognizable about the
initial incarnation of the group of rap performers assembled by visionary
Houston businessman James Lil J Smith, who set out to create, manage,
and promote a rap group that would focus on issues that were relevant to his
own friends and personal experience. Established in 1986, the original lineup
of Ghetto Boys consisted of Prince Johnny C, the Slim Jukebox, DJ Ready
Red, and, much more marginal in the earlier days than he would eventually
grow to be, Bushwick Bill. They released their first album, Making Trouble,
in 1988. This record met with little acclaim (and not much higher record
sales), and has been dismissed as little more than a Run-DMC ripoff, with
the Ghetto Boys utilizing the Run-DMC musical model of two MCs and an
old-school mixing and scratching DJ, throwing in a dancing dwarf as their
only truly novel contribution. The album cover alone shows not a small
amount of stylistic homage to those New York City rap pioneers, with the
The Geto Boys
Ghetto Boys wearing black top hats and gold chains in the classic Run-DMC
style. What is contained within the album itself has not been the subject of
very much discussion in light of what would come shortly after.
When Prince Johnny C and the Slim Jukebox left the group to pursue other
career paths, Lil J was forced to replace them. In stepped Mr. Scarface
(originally billed as DJ Akshen, Brad Jordan) and Willie D (Willie James
Dennis). Although different versions of the replacement story have been told,
and different people have taken credit for the breakout success that was soon
to follow, this new lineup (minus DJ Ready Red, who would depart the group
after the second album) very quickly established itself as the classic lineup of
Geto Boys. Who were these little-known rappers that would come together to
create such a potent force as a group?
Bushwick Bill was born with the name Richard Shaw in Jamaica, although
he was raised in the Flatbush district of Brooklyn. His induction into the
music business was not as a rapper, but as a break dancer. He moved to
Houston with his family in 1987 and joined up with the Rap-A-Lot crew
as Little Billy, the dancer for the original incarnation of the Ghetto Boys.
Willie D would eventually write some lyrics for Bushwick (including his
eventual breakout song, Size Aint Shit) to see if he could rap, and when
he proved that he could, he became a full-fledged member of the group. He
would eventually develop his own smooth-flow style and become one of the
more recognizable voices and characters in gangsta rap.
Scarface (Brad Jordan) grew up in the South Acres neighborhood in southern Houston. He seems to have had a relatively troubled childhood, with
several trips to mental hospitals for what was regarded as unpredictable behavior, and it has been reported that he made a suicide attempt at age fourteen.
He is also reputed to have spent some time dealing drugs on the streets of
Houston. However, the young kid who would develop into a rap music legend
had always had diverse musical tastes, and before becoming a rapper he played
lead guitar and sang for a rock band in Houston. By the time he met up with
Lil J and joined the Geto Boys, he had already recorded a single, Big Time,
at age sixteen under the name DJ Akshen. He would eventually adopt the
moniker (Mr.) Scarface after recording the song of the same title, which was
based on the cocaine-dealing Cuban refugee mob boss character Tony
Montana, played by Al Pacino in the 1983 film Scarface, which itself became
a classic source of samples for many rap groups. It must be pointed out that the
original Ghetto Boys might be considered the first rap group of many to utilize
this particular cultural source for samples to use in their musicthey had
previously tapped it for the track Balls and My Word on Making Trouble.
This film, with its focus on the violent lifestyle of an underworld gangster,
naturally lends itself to appropriation by rap artists who want to perpetuate
similar identities for themselves in the songs that they perform.
Of the three members of the classic lineup of Geto Boys, it was Willie D
alone that had already established himself with a solo album (Controversy,
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1989) before he joined the group. The reestablished Geto Boys recorded some
of Willie Ds solo songs as a group (e.g., Do It Like a G.O., Bald Headed
Hoes), and it was Willie D who was given the credit for penning most of the
tracks on their breakthrough album, Grip It! On That Other Level, including
such classic Geto Boys songs as Trigga Happy Nigga and Mind of a
Lunatic. From the get-go, Willie D was outspoken with an extremely hard
edge. With DJ Ready Red behind the mixes, this new lineup respelled their
name as the Geto Boys and recorded Grip It! On That Other Level in 1990.
This original recording gained the positive attention of legendary music producer Rick Rubin, of the Def American music label, who was sufficiently
impressed with the material to sign the band and then rerecord, reproduce,
or simply repackage ten of the twelve songs from Grip It!, along with a few
new songs, for the self-titled album The Geto Boys. It was still 1990, and this
revised album brought the Geto Boys into the national spotlight, stirring up
controversy before it was even releasedindeed, before it was even printed.
Because of the controversial nature of the lyrical content, Geffen refused to
distribute The Geto Boys. The Def American label was able to work out a
distribution deal with WEA (owned by Time Warner). By 1991, however,
when the Geto Boys recorded their follow-up album, We Cant Be Stopped,
even WEA backed out and Def American had to move on to yet another
distributor, Priority Records.
Although most of the lyrical material was identical to that which had
already been produced by the local, independently owned Rap-A-Lot label
(in the form of Grip It! On That Other Level), the controversy sparked by
their attempts at getting national distribution with the major labels is what
propelled the Geto Boys into the national spotlight. They would go on to
record several more albums with various lineup changes (and others with the
classic lineup back intact), but The Geto Boys and We Cant Be Stopped in
particular set the tone for the way that the Geto Boys would go down in
history, and it was by means of the public perception created in these records
that the iconic status of the Geto Boys was solidified for posterity.
THE MAJOR THEMES OF THE GETO BOYS MUSIC

What was the fuss all about?
The name Geto Boys has become synonymous with extreme gangsta rap,
and the group has been accused of promoting everything from rape to murder, with cannibalism and necrophilia even rearing their heads in various
songs (e.g., Mind of a Lunatic, Chuckie).
While some cynics have contended that the extreme approach of the Geto
Boys was deliberately engineered to stir up controversy and record sales, the
band themselves steadfastly maintained that they were simply painting portraits of the reality that they had experienced by means of the lyrics that they
The Geto Boys
chose to record in their songs. Although the songs and albums that they have
recorded over the years include a good deal of topical diversity, there are
several thematic threads that hold together the Geto Boys oeuvre.
At the heart of the Geto Boys songs are primarily tales of urban street life,
and particularly of urban gangsta life. In some sense, the Geto Boys portray
themselves as modern urban outlaws. As with most gangsta rap as a genre, the
Geto Boys narratives emphasize drug dealing and other gangstafied
images, and all of these tales require a certain level of authenticity to be taken
seriously by the audience. One thing that is not in doubt is that these Geto
Boys had the street credibility that is so necessary for performers within this
particular genre. Before joining the group, Scarface is said to have dealt drugs
in his youth, and Willie D had served prison time for an armed robbery. Midnineties Geto Boy Big Mike (Mike Barnett) later served a prison term after his
gig with the group, and both Scarface and Bushwick Bill have sustained
serious injuries during various scuffles outside the studio (and, no doubt,
outside the law).
While participating in a genre that takes the gangsta lifestyle as its fundamental backdrop, the Geto Boys are especially noted for the extremity and
explicitness of the violence and sex in their narratives. They have also often
been regarded as particularly misogynistic in a genre already derided as intrinsically misogynistic.
Beyond the usual gangsta cliches, however, the narratives of the Geto Boys
have often centered on the telling of horror stories, which were usually
detailed fictional narratives involving rape, torture, and murder, but placed in
the context of the rough inner-city environments with which the rappers
themselves had been associated. Although the Geto Boys are not typically
considered as overtly political as some other groups like Public Enemy or
N.W.A., they certainly do deliver commentary on various political issues. It
could be argued that any discussion of the inner-city reality portrayed in
gangsta rap is inherently political, but some of the Geto Boys songs address
even more macro-social issues.
Beyond taking gangsta rap to the next level, perhaps the most notable
aspect of the thematic ground covered by the Geto Boys was overtly psychological in nature, the introspective lyrics of many of their songs covering
everything from psychotic breakdown (Mind Playing Tricks on Me) to
suicidal tendencies (e.g., I Just Wanna Die, Mind Playing Tricks on
Me). The suicidal impulse permeates a fair number of Geto Boys songs,
which is remarkable considering that the Geto Boys were some of the foremost proponents of a genre that places so much emphasis on individual
strength, and braggadocio, and swagger. All empirical evidence suggests that
this was not just a gimmick. One example is Scarfaces suicide attempt as a
teenager. However, the most (in)famous eruption of the suicide urge occurred
in real life for Bushwick Bill, in a scene immortalized in the cover art for the
album We Cant Be Stopped. While it is not exactly clear what transpired that
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night, most versions of the story involve a heavily intoxicated Bushwick

coaxing his girlfriend to shoot him, possibly while threatening her infant
son. The bullet wound in his face led to the loss of Bushwicks right eye,
and a photograph of Scarface and Willie D escorting him through the hospital
appears on the album cover. This singular image also vaults the Geto Boys
into a pantheon of artists that are associated with unforgettable images, one
which transcends the narrow genre of hip hop or rap music, fitting into
American pop iconography much more generally.
Since all of the themes mentioned above emerge from the rendition of lyrics
in particular narrative contexts, it is helpful to consider in more detail some of
the most notable specific songs that the Geto Boys produced that address each
of these themes.
The Gangsta Lifestyle
One of the Geto Boys first songs to become known nationally was the
1989 single Do It Like a G.O., which brought the gangsta ethos directly
into the studio and almost instantiated what might have been the first labelon-label rivalries in rap music. Among other things, this song called out the
heads of East Coast and West Coast music labels for ignoring black-owned
independent labels like Rap-A-Lot. In this song, the Geto Boys called on other
rap musicians to not sell out to the white-owned, corporate music industry,
which they saw as being in the habit of ignoring raw, streetwise groups such
as themselves. The song closes with a skit featuring a phone call supposedly
from an executive representing a white corporate label dismissing smaller,
independent and black-owned labels, saying that black businessmen would
never be able to get themselves together in any significant way. Lil J asserts
otherwise, and he assures the caller that he is willing to go to war if that is
what is required.
Other songs give narrative recountings of what life is like in the ghetto and
highlight what the Geto Boys (and many others like them) think they have to
do in order to survive in such a hostile environment. In one particularly
descriptive song, Straight Gangstaism, Big Mike details observing older
gangstas from his neighborhood from when he was a small child. He talks
about how he used to study and emulate their styles, and how he admired
everything from their cars to their nicknames to the way they stood and wore
their hats. He reports that he himself is maintaining the same lifestyle that he
had marveled at as a boy, and that with the respect and admiration he has
gained from others from maintaining this lifestyle he sees no reason to leave it
behind. Thus he promises to always be straight g. In the next verse, the
local cachet of the gangsta image is brought home even more strongly, when
the narrator talks about how he used to emulate his own grandfather and how
he himself is now only doing shit like grandpa in every way. Although it is
acknowledged that this lifestyle might lead to prison, this is the environment
The Geto Boys
and lifestyle that is familiar, and it will not be abandoned. (That prison is
framed as a possibility but not an inevitability is different from the even more
pessimistic vision of fellow Houston rapper E.S.G., who, in one chorus,
exhorts to his friends in the grave and in the pen, Ill see you when I
get in).
Like other gangsta rap artists before and after (e.g., N.W.A. and Ice-T), the
Geto Boys also address the issue of perceived persecution by white law enforcement, particularly in the wake of the notorious video of the beating of
Rodney King. Crooked Officer is a very direct indictment of law enforcement, particularly of brainwashed black police officers. In one verse, Bushwick states that hes not going out like Rodney King but would instead
grab his gun and come out blasting. They state in no uncertain terms that they
and others like them have been persecuted for too long, and they express the
desire to put the crooked officers into their coffins. According to their lyrics,
the fear of the police permeates all age levels, as does the desire for reprisal. In
Straight Gangstaism, Big Mike talks about playing Cops and Robbers
when he was a child, when nobody wanted to play the part of the cops
because doing so was guaranteed to get yo ass kicked.
One particularly poignant portrait of life in the ghetto is delivered in the
song Six Feet Deep, which discusses the aftereffects of gang violence. Here
the Geto Boys highlight the grief expressed by mothers who lose their sons
and friends who lose their homeboys. They reflect on the senselessness of the
death of their friends, how life is going to be without them, and also upon
their own mortality and, specifically, their own vulnerability to inner-city
violence, which subsequently leads to a need for them to carry their own
weapons for self-defense. This tale of ghetto life and loss followed Ice Cubes
Dead Homiez but foreshadows such later songs as The Crossroads, Bone
Thugs-N-Harmonys eulogy for the late Eazy-E, and Puff Daddys Ill Be
Missing You, in memory of the Notorious B.I.G.
Tales of Horror
While many songs by the Geto Boys can be considered violent, the violence
is usually portrayed in the context of stories of hard inner-city lives that are
themselves often punctuated by sudden violence. Some of the groups songs,
however, forego the lessons learnable from those contexts and head straight
for what may be regarded as pure horror stories, in the tradition of the classic
slasher films well known from the cinematic genre.
A prototypical example is Chuckie, from the album We Cant Be
Stopped, which makes an obvious allusion to a film of this very nature
the first in a series of movies released under the name Childs Play. In these
films, a psychopathic (human) killer is able to transfer his soul into a redheaded talking doll named Chuckie. From his new soul-shell he begins a
rampage, attempting especially to murder the child that had tried to befriend
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the Chuckie doll. In the Geto Boys song, Bushwick Bill raps from the perspective of a psychotic child killer. He describes the murder and dismemberment of several victims, and he exhorts the audience, when they find the
victims, to just tell the authorities that Chuckie did it. Bushwick brags that
he would win any murder competition, and that for him murder comes very
easilyit is nothing but childs play. The song opens, closes, and is otherwise infused with audio samples of Chuckie from the movie (e.g., Hi, Im
Chuckie. Wanna play?), and other horror movies are alluded to throught the
narrative (e.g., Friday the 13th and Night of the Living Dead).
Bushwicks invocation of Chuckie as a figure of horror to emulate in this
particular song is notable for several reasons. First, the premise of the soul of
a mass murderer haunting, much less controlling and going on a murder spree
in the guise of, a childs doll is so unbelievable that the character can almost
only be interpreted as a figure of irony. Second, though, is the fact that
Bushwick Bill, himself a dwarf, adopts the Chuckie persona as part of his
own. He claims that half [his] body is Chuckie, the other is Bushwick, but
what he clearly means is that he, Bushwick, in the context of the song, has
Chuckies murderous nature within himself. The message is that dangerous
people can come in all shapes and sizes, and that Bushwick should not be
dismissed as innocuous just because of his small stature. Finally, with
Chuckies murder and cannibalism of children juxtaposed with verbal
images of Iraqi children being killed by U.S. bombs, it is implied that large
institutional forms of violence (as engaged in by the U.S. military) just might
be psychotic as well.
In some cases, the Geto Boys horror story narratives are overtly framed as
simple instances of the exercise of free speech, made in order to point out that
regardless of the extremity of the violence portrayed in these songs, equally
(if not even more) violent things really do occur within our society, and not
necessarily just in the inner-city ghetto. An example of such a framing device
is used in another song that aims at telling a story of pure horror, from the
album Till Death Do Us Part. Murder Avenue is claimed to have been
inspired by Jeffrey Dahmer. In this song, Bushwick Bill raps about the rape
and murder of a law student who had been casing him, and the subsequent
terrorizing of a newlywed couple. Although purportedly a song inspired by a
real-life murderer, some of the crucial details of the real-world events are
erased in the narrative that Bushwick performsspecifically, that Jeffrey
Dahmer was a torturer, rapist, and murderer of other men. Heterosexuality
is so normative within gangsta rap that it is almost inconceivable that any
artist would attempt to lyricize possibly homosexual inclinations, even in a
fictional story about committing atrocities against their fellow men. The rape
in this song is directed toward the female law student (Rosie) and newlywed bride (Bridgett), whereas the newlywed husband (Ted) is merely
tortured and murdered. In a later song (The Bushwicken) from his solo
album Phantom of the Rapra, Bushwick gives a further nod to the reality that
The Geto Boys
inspires some of the lyrics in his music, claiming that in comparison to himself, Dahmer was a minor case.
Psychological Breakdown
Some of the more extreme violence portrayed in the lyrics of the Geto Boys
is intended to be taken much more seriously, however. In these cases, the
presumed psychosis of the narrator is taken to be a natural outgrowth of the
violence and chaos of the urban street life in which the narrator is (or has
been) embedded. That is, the narrator is portrayed as reacting violently to a
violent world over which he has no control.
A prototypical example of a song detailing the psychological breakdown of
a narrator is Mind of a Lunatic, which probes the psyche of men driven
insane by the ghetto. This song, with its grisly details, is probably the most
often cited example of the extreme lyrics of the Geto Boys. In it, Bushwick Bill
raps about his rape and murder of a woman he had observed through an open
window, and the paranoia he experienced after the deed when he remains
with her bloody body. Scarface details getting into gunfights with drug dealers
and the police, with his own insanity being exacerbated by the smoking of
fry, a marijuana joint laced with PCP. In a standoff with the police, Scarface begins to shoot innocent bystanders, but then he wakes up in a mental
ward with slit wrists. Willie D warns the audience not to mess with him,
because he is exceedingly dangerous and does not tolerate bullshit; hell
stab you, blow up your house, and other nefarious doings.
Songs like Mind of a Lunatic are particularly effective because of the
street cred of their performers; although we presume that these stories are
intentionally designed to have dramatic effect, they are delivered in such a
way that the audience might well believe that the real-world rappers have the
capability to do some of the things they rap about. As an example, Willie D
overtly blurs the line between fantasy and reality, stating that what he is
saying is fact, not fiction. Fantasy also intrudes upon reality when the
narrators, in the course of committing their crimes, invoke violent figures
from popular culture (such as Jason, the hockey maskwearing killer from
the Friday the 13th movies, and Freddy Kruger, the killer who murders teens
in their dreams in the Nightmare on Elm Street films). It is left to the audience
to discern what is real and what is not, since we cannot trust the narrators
themselves, they claim to have gone insane.
The narrators also claim that society should be blamed for the ills perpetrated by the characters in Mind of a Lunatic, not only for causing their
psychoses but also for allowing them to roam the streets. Bushwick raps that
he ought to be bound by a straitjacket, and Willie D says that he should have
been killed as a child before he had the opportunity to wreak havoc on society.
Paranoia, homicidal thoughts, and other forms of psychosis are also dealt
with in one of the Geto Boys biggest hits, Mind Playing Tricks on Me.
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Although these same issues are addressed in Mind of a Lunatic, the former
song is much less explicit than the latter. As a result, Mind Playing Tricks
was actually able to be played on commercial radio, and it was, frequently,
when it was released. Scarface describes paranoia and suicidal fantasies but
relates that he cannot kill himself and leave his child an orphan. Willie D
expresses the feeling of being well-known in the hood and feeling constant
fear of being stalked by the people that he himself had victimized in the past.
Bushwick delivers a particularly memorable tale of getting into a fight with
the father of a child whose Halloween candy he and his friends had stolen,
and then coming to the realization that not only is it not Halloween, but his
friends are not with him, and he has not been beating a man but bashing his
fists onto the concrete sidewalk.
World Politics
In some cases, the Geto Boys address geopolitical issues. The song Fuck a
War features a very explicitly negative reaction to the dispatch of troops to
repel Saddam Husseins army from Kuwait in the First Gulf War, with Bushwick arguing that it would be better to simply nuke Iraq than send in niggaz
on the front line. Similarly, the politics of the ghetto are extended to the
national level in Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta, in which the first
George Bush, the president of the United States at the time, is portrayed as
just another gang-banging hustler who only happens to be white and in
possession of much more clout than the ghetto-bound gangstas featured in
most gangsta rap music lyrics. The World Is a Ghetto discusses the similarities of U.S. inner-city urban environments like Houstons Fifth Ward to
well-known hostile locales like Rwanda and discusses how poor (and especially black) people are neglected all across the world.
The Geto Boys engaged in larger political discourses outside the studio as
well, with Bushwick Bill stirring up controversy for his use of the terms bitch
and ho at a meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists in 1993.
Scarface was among a variety of Rap-A-Lot rappers who recorded a song to
benefit Texas death row inmate (and ultimately, executee) Gary Graham in
1993. Willie Ds lyrics were almost always political, and in his later incarnation as a syndicated talk show host he addressed many issues relevant to
urban and black America.
Sexual Politics
Like many rap groups that have been called gangsta, the Geto Boys, especially early in their career, produced songs about sexual relations, utilizing the
well-known categories assigned to women in this genre (i.e., bitches, hos,
etc.). Released in 1990, in the wake of N.W.A.s song A Bitch Is a Bitch
(1989), the Geto Boys Let a Ho Be a Ho did not break any new lyrical
The Geto Boys
ground. Even so, the issue of sexual politics from the gangsta perspective is
addressed in such songs as Gangsta of Love, Bald-Headed Hos, Let a
Ho Be a Ho, and This Dick Is for You.
Other Themes
Of course, not all of the songs recorded by the Geto Boys can be topically
compartmentalized, and many of their works crosscut the categories that have
been proposed here. Among other notable topics covered by the Geto Boys
lyrics, Cereal Killer (from Till Death Do Us Part) is a satiric comedy,
wherein Scarface raps about a crime spree involving various characters from
the world of childrens sugary breakfast cereals. His partner in crime is Captain Crunch; he murders a victim named Fruity Pebbles, is chased down
by a police officer named Franken Berry, and so on. The Unseen, from
Uncut Dope, is an antiabortion song. Bring It On (from Till Death Do Us
Part) is a tour de force melange of the Geto Boys and various guest rappers
(including the 5th Ward Boys) engaging in an old-school rap-off, testing their
skills on the mic as they talk about their skills outside the studio.
THE LATER YEARS AND THE SOLO CAREERS

Perhaps not surprising for a group cobbled together as a business venture by
an enterprising young rap mogul, the Geto Boys were never the best of friends
outside the studio. In later years, they would always express respect for each
other as individuals, while maintaining that their relationship as a group was
for business only. Perhaps it is also not surprising that this perspective was
conducive to a certain fluidity of group membership. Several lineup changes
occurred over the years and, since this has been the case even from the very
beginning, it might be said that fluidity is in fact the norm for the group, even
though what has been called the classic lineup is still the prototypical arrangement of Geto Boys.
DJ Ready Red left after The Geto Boys was released in 1990, and Willie D
would leave after the group released We Cant Be Stopped in 1991. For the
recording of Till Death Do Us Part in 1993, Big Mike was added to the
lineup, but he was gone when Willie D returned for a reunion with Scarface
and Bushwick Bill on 1996s The Resurrection. For their next album, Da
Good Da Bad & Da Ugly in 1998, Bushwick Bill was gone, replaced by
the rapper DMG. In 1998, Bushwick Bill sued Rap-A-Lot Records for $20
million, for an alleged assault that occurred outside a comedy club, which he
claimed had involved Rap-A-Lot employees attacking him for trying to break
out of a recording contract. However, by 2005 all seemed to be forgiven, as
Bushwick returned for yet another reunion with Scarface and Willie D, The
Foundation, in 2005, and for War and Peace in 2006.
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The later Geto Boys albums have met with relatively positive reviews and
decent album sales, although their later work is generally regarded as only
maintaining the legendary status that the group had already acquired. To
date, two greatest hits compilations have been released. Uncut Dope was
released in 1992, containing tracks from the first four albums (and mostly
from The Geto Boys and We Cant Be Stopped), along with some otherwise
unreleased material like The Unseen and Damn It Feels Good to Be a
Gangsta. A later package, Greatest Hits, released in 2002, includes tracks
from those four albums plus songs from the later 1990s albums: Till Death
Do Us Part, The Resurrection, and Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly. The later
package includes a bonus DVD featuring Geto Boys videos and live performances from the entire period covered by the collection.
Throughout the grand run of the Geto Boys, each of the members has
worked on various side projects, and each has released various solo albums
over the years. However, only Scarface has sustained a level of success as a
solo artist that rivals (and possibly even exceeds) that of the Geto Boys as a
collective entity.
Scarface
On October 26, 1991, the leading magazine observing the business side of
the entertainment industry, Billboard, initiated a new category to track the
success (measured in terms of album sales) of new musical artists. Unlike the
other categories monitored by Billboard, the Heatseekers chart was designed
to be open only to artists who had never broken into the top half of album
sales for any given week (i.e., artists who have not appeared in the Top 100
on the Billboard Top 200 list). The number one album on that inaugural list
was Scarfaces first solo album, Mr. Scarface Is Back. While it might at first
seem odd for a debut album to include the notion of returning, Scarface was
already somewhat known from his work with the Geto Boys; in fact, on the
album cover he is billed as Scarface of the Geto Boys. This album graduated from the Heatseekers list (and into the Billboard Top 100) by the next
week, having received critical accolades to go along with its commercial
success. It would ultimately rise to number fifty-one on the Billboard Top
200 and number thirteen on the R&B/Hip-Hop list.
Lyrically, Mr. Scarface Is Back continued with the themes previously covered by the Geto Boys on their albums The Geto Boys and We Cant Be
Stopped, but Scarfaces performances were so well done that this solo effort
quickly began to establish him as the standout performer of the group. This
initial impression would be borne out by the later success of his solo albums,
as compared to the solo output of Bushwick Bill and Willie D. Among the
narrative-driven songs on Mr. Scarface Is Back were ones that dealt with the
life of a drug dealer (Mr. Scarface); life in the urban jungle (Money and
the Power); sexual politics (The Pimp); and mental psychosis brought on
The Geto Boys
by the urban jungle (Murder by Reason of Insanity and Mind of a

Lunatic).
In 1993 Scarface released his second solo album, The World Is Yours
(1993), which has been interpreted as a slight change of direction for him.
On the song Now I Feel Ya, Scarface expanded his thematic ground to
cover the personal maturation that he had to undergo once he was able to see
his own child growing up, and in trying to provide a better lifestyle for himself
and his child Scarface draws a parallel between himself and the mother and
grandmother who had raised him. It is only at this life stage that Scarface
acknowledges understanding where they had been coming from when he was
a troubled youth; as he states in the songs refrain, addressing his mother and
grandmother, Now I feel ya. Additionally, unlike his previous album (and
much other music in hip hop up to that time), new legal issues prevented the
indiscriminate sampling that had been such a focus of this genre in the past.
Commercially The World Is Yours did better than Mr. Scarface Is Back and
all previous Geto Boys efforts, rising to number one on the Billboard Top
R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. (That same year, Till Death Do Us Part would
be the first Geto Boys record to reach that same level.)
Scarfaces commercial success would only improve, as The Diary (1994)
would reach number two on both the R&B/Hip-Hop and Top 200 lists. This
album featured songs about murder (The White Sheet), death (I Seen a
Man Die), vigilante justice (No Tears), gangstas defending their territory
from rivals (Gs), braggadocio over sexual prowess (Goin Down), and a
solo reworking of a Geto Boys classic (Mind Playin Tricks 94), among
others.
In 1997, Scarfaces next album, The Untouchable, went all the way to
number one on both Billboard lists. Although several Geto Boys and Scarface
solo records would eventually be at the top of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
chart, to date The Untouchable is the only Geto Boysrelated album to also
reach the number one spot on the Top 200, which covers all musical genres.
In 1998, Scarface released the double-length album My Homies, and in 2000
he released Last of a Dying Breed. Both of these albums would reach the Top
10 of both Billboard lists, giving Scarface a much better run of album sales
than the other Geto Boys have been able to attain (either as a group or
individually). To add to this commercial success, one of Scarfaces biggest
critical achievements was winning Lyricist of the Year honors from The
Source magazine at the 2001 Source Awards for his work on Last of a Dying
Breed.
Although at this point it is impossible to tell what may be in store for
Scarfaces future, one important milepost in any artists career is the release
of a worthy compendium chronicling their output up to that date. Scarfaces
collection Greatest Hits appeared in 2002, the same year that also saw the
release of the Geto Boys Greatest Hits. Scarfaces collection included memorable tracks from all of his solo albums up to that time. However, this
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collection could hardly be said to have been a career-capper, as he almost

immediately released another album, The Fix, in 2002, and has been actively
recording ever since, subsequently releasing the further albums Balls and My
Word (2003); Scarface Presents the Product: One Hunid (2006); and My
Homies Part 2 (2006). In addition, at this writing Rap-A-Lot Records has
announced the imminent release of a collaborative album from Scarface and
the late Tupac Shakur, 2-Face.
Besides the commercial success evidenced by the numerical measurement of
album sales and relative position on charts like the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop
and Top 200, one important sign of Scarfaces major influence on hip hop and
rap can be gauged by the number of important artists who have wanted to
collaborate with him. The many artists who have recorded songs with Scarface
over the years include Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Too $hort (Game Over); 2Pac
and Johnny P. (Smile); Master P (Homies and Thugz); Too $hort, Devin
The Dude, and Tela (F*** Faces); Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel (Guess Whos
Back); Nas (In Between Us); Faith Evans (Someday); the Game (Never
Snitch); Mos Def and Common (The Corner); and also various Geto Boys
such as Bushwick Bill (Do What You Do) and Willie D (The Geto). Some
of these and many other collaborations are featured especially on the albums
My Homies and My Homies Part 2 (as well as on Greatest Hits).
Beyond his success as a rapper, Scarface has also been a successful producer,
producing not only various material of his own but also that of others. In 2002
he was named the president of Def Jam South, where he has been credited with
the original major-label signing of Ludacris, who would turn out to be one of
the Dirty Souths most successful rappers. More recently, Scarface has formed a
new company, the Underground Railroad Movement, and under a partnership
with KOCH Records released Scarface Presents the Product: One Hunid in
2006. This record represents Scarfaces effort to present and promote a new
group of up-and-coming rappers to the world, rapping alongside Scarface
himself. The Product features the vocal talents of Will Hen (from San Francisco) and Young Malice (from Jackson, Mississippi), in addition to Scarface.
In many ways, this new effort is a return to Scarfaces roots with the Geto
Boys, in that a rap mogul has formed a group to be promoted by his own
independent record label. In this case, however, the man at the helm is one of
the most respected rappers in the world. We will have to wait to see how
successful (critically, commercially, and influentially) the Product will ultimately be; regardless, its appearance is yet one more footprint made by Scarface, who will always be remembered for originally establishing himself in his
work with the Geto Boys.
Bushwick Bill
Although he originally wrote little of his own material with the Geto Boys,
Bushwick Bills stature has always allowed him to stand out in a crowd, and
The Geto Boys
he has developed into a respected rapper with his own style, a flair for the
outrageous, and a dark sense of humor. With such a strong personality, most
people either love him or hate him. His first solo album, Little Big Man, met
relatively positive reviews when it was released in 1992.
Perhaps the most well-known song on Little Big Man is Ever So Clear,
the title of which makes a pun on the high-alcohol grain liquor Everclear,
which he was supposedly drinking on the night that is immortalized on the
cover of the Geto Boys album We Cant Be Stopped. It was on that night that
he got into a fight with his girlfriend, threatened her baby, and tried to coax
her into shooting him after changing his mind about shooting her (according
to the account told in this song). Bushwick details the pain, both physical and
emotional, of being shot in the face and losing his eye, and he concludes that it
was fucked up that he had to lose an eye to see shit clearly. Another song
on that album, Letter from the KKK, implores gangbangers to abandon
the violent gang life, since the inner city of that day was killing off the next
generation of young black men, and that this was actually doing the work
that white supremacists like the Ku Klux Klan would like to have been doing
themselves. In Chuckwick, Bushwick reprises his half-Chuckie/halfBushwick role, for another round of lyrical killing.
According to one interview with the man himself, it was watching a Ducktales cartoon with his children that inspired Bushwicks mix of rap with opera
on his next solo album, Phantom of the Rapra, in 1995. (It is not clear
whence he adopted his new, short-lived pseudonym: Dr. Wolfgang von
Bushwickin the Barbarian Mother Funky Stay High Dollar Bilstir). This album would be Bushwicks most commercially successful, rising to number
three on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart, and number
forty-three on the overall Billboard Top 200. Bushwick Bills later solo albums
include No Surrender . . . No Retreat (1998), Universal Small Souljah (2001),
and Gutta Mixx (2005), all of which have had their fans and detractors.
Willie D
In an interesting twist of fate, Willie D may have started out as the strongest
songwriter of the classic lineup of Geto Boys, but he has probably had the
least successful solo career. This would not have been obvious to an outside
observer in 1989, however, when he released his first album Controversy,
thus becoming the only Geto (or Ghetto) Boy to record his own album before
he joined the group. Controversy contained several songs that would later be
recorded by the Geto Boys.
Willie D left the group, purportedly because of financial disagreements
with Rap-A-Lot, for his second solo effort, which followed on the heels of
his success with the Geto Boys with the albums Grip It! On That Other Level
and We Cant Be Stopped. Im Goin Out Lika Soldier appeared in 1992, and
was a Billboard number one Heatseeker for one week before peaking at
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number eighty-eight on the Top 200. This album was especially notable for its
infamous song Fuck Rodney King, in which Willie D calls Rodney King a
sellout and an Uncle Tom for pleading for peace during the posttrial LA
riots. At this time, Willie D also publicly called fellow rapper Eazy-E a sellout
for supporting one of the four police officers on trial for beating Rodney King.
Willie Ds later albums, all of which have received mixed reviews and marginal attention, include Play Witcha Mama (1994), Loved by Few, Hated by
Many (2000), Relentless (2001), and Unbreakable (2003).
Ironically, it is Willie Ds other careers after the Geto Boys that make him
stand out from the group, including a brief stint as a politically oriented
syndicated radio talk show host, an amateur boxer, and the operator of a
real estate business based in Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, Willie D will not be
forgotten as a rapper and a songwriter, and he will always be recognized as
the man whose bold lyrical invention propelled the Geto Boys into the limelight in their early days.
THE LEGACY OF THE GETO BOYS

The status of the Geto Boys as hip hop icons can be demonstrated by an
examination of their legacy, within hip hop and rap music specifically, but
also within popular culture more generally. With respect to their influence on
other rappers, the Geto Boys showed early on that gangsta rap was a viable
genre of music that could be applied outside of the already well-worn territories covered by LA-based groups. Like other gangsta rappers, the Geto Boys
were able to infuse street credibility into their performances, and the subjects
that they discussed were relevant to and caught on with urban audiences
across the South and across the nation. In addition, the Geto Boys were also
major innovators of the laid-back vocal performance that would come to be
associated with the Southern style, the Dirty South flow, and eventually
Houstons Screwed and Chopped style (see sidebar: Sippin on Some Syrup).
Moreover, the extensive use of humor that permeated their music illustrated
Sippin on Some Syrup

Jason D. Haugen
Sippin on Some Syrup was recorded by Three 6 Mafia (featuring UGK), for
their 2000 album When the Smoke Clears. The title of the song refers to the
practice of drinking large doses of codeine-based prescription cough syrups,
specifically Promethazine. The syrup is mixed with soda or fruit juice and Jolly
Rancher candy. In lyrics, syrup is also called drank, purple drank, or
purple stuff, which references a series of television commercials for the fruit
drink Sunny Delight. In the commercial, a group of thirsty kids searches
through the refigerator, bypassing soda, orange juice, and purple stuff for
The Geto Boys
Sunny D. In Three 6 Mafias Swervin, the chorus from guest vocalist Mike
Jones references drinking purple stuff.
The soporific effects of syrup change or enhance the experience of listening
to music, and inspired the chopped and screwed method of production
pioneered by Houstons DJ Screw. Chopped and screwed radically slows the
backbeats and vocals of rap recordings to create a thick, sluggish sound. DJ
Screw and other producers inspired by his style have created alternate
chopped and screwed versions of full-length albums from major rap artists.
Drug use has been flaunted in rap music by such artists as Cypress Hill,
Redman, Method Man, Ol Dirty Bastard, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre, whose
extremely popular album The Chronic was named for a potent strain of
Southern California marijuana. While marijuana has long been ubiquitous to
many countercultural groups, getting high on codeine-based cough syrups
has become specifically and uniquely identified with rap music, and in particular with artists from the Dirty South, such as DJ Screw and various others in
the Screwed Up Click (from Houston) and Three 6 Mafia (from Memphis). DJ
Screw died at the age of thirty in his recording studio, after suffering a heart
attack that a Houston medical examiner attributed to an overdose of codeine.
that, although the subject matter was often very serious, it could also be
treated in clever and witty ways.
In terms of the business aspect of rap and hip hop, Rap-A-Lot Records was
one of the first independent music labels to make it big in the rap industry,
and the Geto Boys were the featured artists associated with that label. Other
artists to release records with Rap-A-Lot include, in addition to the various
solo efforts of individual Geto Boys themselves, the 5th Ward Boys, Gangsta
NIP, the Convicts, 2 Low, Do or Die, 3-2, Facemob, and Bun B. The success
of Lil Js Rap-A-Lot label allowed Houston to become one of the first major
rap music scenes to emerge outside of New York or LA, and in turn led to the
breakout of other major music scenes across the South (see sidebar: The
Houston Rap Scene).
With respect to American culture at large, the Geto Boys were able to gain
widespread notoriety through a popular acknowledgment that they were
among the hardest of the hard-core gangsta rappers. The fact that they have
been regarded as a bit too extreme may have led to the reality that they have
not been able to maintain a consistent level of popular commercial success.
Many of their songs have been assumed to be created merely to shock the
audience; the controversies over the distribution and printing of their albums
in the early years indicate that many people were in fact shocked by their
music. The Geto Boys have been singled out and publicly criticized from various angles and from different sectors of American political life, from Republican Party presidential hopeful and Senator Bob Dole and William Bennett to
C. Delores Tucker, the head of National Political Congress of Black Women.
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The Houston Rap Scene

Jason D. Haugen
Until the breakout year of 2005, in which various artists from the Swishahouse
record label (especially Mike Jones, Paul Wall, and Slim Thug) put H-Town
on the map in a major way, the Houston rap scene had been thought of as a
hotbed for promising but, financially speaking, ultimately disappointing
talent.
With the exception of the solo career of Scarface, most Houston rappers
could never quite make it onto the national stage for any sustained period
of time. The Geto Boys, while well-respected among those in the know
(including critics and other performers), perhaps pushed the envelope a bit
too far for more mainstream tastes, and never hit it big at the national level.
Some near-misses were derailed through offstage criminal doings (local rappers Fat Pat and Big Hawk were murdered, and the South Park Mexican was
sentenced to forty-five years in prison for aggravated sexual assault on a nineyear-old girl), but most Houston rappers simply failed to catch any prolonged
attention at the national level. However, in the wake of what success the Geto
Boys did have, a number of well-received rap artists emerged from this city,
including UGK (The Underground Kingz, composed of Bun B and Pimp C) and
artists associated with DJ Screw.
Perhaps the most lasting single impact on the music industry is the legacy of
DJ Screws radically slowed down (screwed) style of production. Influenced
by the soporific effects of codeine-based cough syrups, DJ Screw singlehandedly created a musical revolution that was wildly popular on the Houston
underground scene from the early 1990s through the breakout success of
Swishahouse in 2005. Although DJ Screw died in 2000 from a heart attack
caused by an overdose of codeine, this tradition lives on through the work of
many artists, including especially members of the Screwed Up Click from the
early 1990s on, including E.S.G., Lil Keke, Big Pokey, and Lil Flip. Screws
signature method has been adopted by many artists from Houston and
beyond, and remains the most notable contribution to the hip hop world
developed in the Houston rap scene.
In terms of mainstream exposure, while many people have heard about the
Geto Boys and their controversial lyrics, a lot of them have never actually
heard or given serious consideration to the Geto Boys music. One mainstream introduction to the group was provided by Mike Judge in his 1999
film Office Space, which utilized several songs of the Geto Boys in different
contexts, albeit as an overt parody. Most notably, an extended scene highlights the song Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta. The main characters,
portrayed as stereotypical white-collar types who are trying to break out of
the corporate world, get into some gangsta shit with some office supplies,
The Geto Boys
and in a gangbang-type effort involving a baseball bat they take out a

hapless Fax machine, all while the Geto Boys play in the background.
An additional legacy of the Geto Boys is their secure place within American
music generally. Songs that invoke murder are hardly unique to the Geto Boys
or even to gangsta rap. Indeed, there is a long tradition of songs about murder
in American popular music. In what was at the time the definitive collection
of Johnny Cashs music, one of the three albums of his greatest hits collection
covered the theme of murder (i.e., the album Murder appeared alongside the
companion collections illustrating the two other great themes of Johnny
Cashs music: Love and God). Motivations given for murder have varied
widely within the canon, from Frankie murdering Albert because she caught
him with another woman (in Frankie and Albert) to the same crime being
committed by Stagger Lee upon Billy Lyons, for whom it was all about the
theft of the formers John B. Stetson hat. In one of his several classic contributions to this tradition, Johnny Cashs narrator in Folsom Prison Blues
shoots a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
What sets gangsta rap apart from the classical treatment of murder in
American popular music is the fact that the narratives of gangsta rap are
usually framed from the first-person point of view, and that the performers
are African American and based in an urban context. Rap music performers
who invoke murder, rape, drug dealing, and other crimes must adopt a position in their performance that alludes to some level of authenticity (street
credibility) in the subjects of their raps. At the same time, the narratives
(and the narrators) insist that the things being rapped about are true. This
focus on authenticity is only enhanced by the real-world experiences of the
artists, many of whom actually have been involved in the street lifestyle. Of
course, this level of credibility is also not unique to gangsta rap or gangsta
rappers. It is well known that country music legend Merle Haggard served
time in San Quentin prison, supposedly even being in the audience when
Johnny Cash performed there. Even earlier, Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter)
served a couple different terms in prison (once for homicide, and a second
time for attempted homicide), and he was (probably apocryphally) reputed to
have won his pardon from a governor by the pleasing sounds of his musical
performance.
In any event, murder and redemption are themes that permeate not only
American music but also film (e.g., Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho, Oliver Stones
Natural Born Killers, etc.) and literature (e.g., Truman Capotes In Cold
Blood, Cormac McCarthys Blood Meridian, Bret Easton Elliss American
Psycho, etc.), and has even been the focus of a Broadway musical (Stephen
Sondheims Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street).
Tracing such themes as sin and redemption through the course of American
popular song, and art much more generally, would be an interesting exercise
but lies far beyond our discussion here. It should be sufficient to state that
gangsta rap artists have not generally expended much lyrical energy on the
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redemption part, although Bushwick Bill does make a reference to changing

his ways and living for the Lord in Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta.
THE FUTURE
As of this writing, Lil J has changed his name to J. Prince, but he still owns
and operates Rap-A-Lot Records, and he still owns the Geto Boys as a franchise. The classic lineup (Scarface, Bushwick Bill, and Willie D) have been
more active as a group recently than at any time since their initial congregation, having released two albums . They also each pursue their own individual
business interests and seem to be going strong.
For all of its massive popularity, hip hop and rap music can be a fickle
game: New rappers come, strike it big overnight, and then disappear the next
day, and this cycle repeats itself with a great deal of frequency. Regardless of
what may happen down the road, the Geto Boys have solidified their place in
rap music history and will always remain true icons of hip hop.
See also: Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Outkast
FURTHER RESOURCES
Baker, Greg. Program Notes. Miami New Times (Florida) September 18, 1991: 60.
Illseed. Searching for Willie D. of the Geto Boys. http://www.AllHipHop.com/
features/?ID=845.
KOCH Records page for Scarface and the Product, http://www.kochentertainment
.com/scarface.htm.
Mills, David. The Geto Boys, Beating the Murder Rap: How Did Blood and Guts
Get from the Street to the Top 40? Washington Post December 15, 1991.
Official Def Jam Records page, http://www.defjam.com/defjamsouth.
Official Virgin Records page, http://www.virginrecords.com/geto_boys/home.html.
Rap-A-Lot Records, http://www.Rap-A-Lotrecords.com.
Making Trouble. Rap-A-Lot, 1988. Includes Bushwick Bill, but not Scarface or Willie D.
Grip It! On That Other Level. Rap-A-Lot, 1990. The classic lineup.
The Geto Boys. Rap-A-Lot, 1990.
We Cant Be Stopped. Rap-A-Lot, 1991.
Uncut Dope: Geto Boys Best. Rap-A-Lot, 1992.
Till Death Do Us Part. Rap-A-Lot, 1993.Willie D is replaced with Big Mike.
The Resurrection. Rap-A-Lot, 1996.
Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly. Rap-A-Lot, 1998. Bushwick Bill is replaced with DMG.
Greatest Hits. Rap-A-Lot, 2002.
The Foundation. Rap-A-Lot/Asylum, 2005. Bushwick Bill returns.
War and Peace. Rap-A-Lot.
Screwed and/or chopped versions exist for the last six titles.
David Corio.
The Native Tongues

Aine McGlynn
The Native Tongues are a collective of hip hop artists who emerged out of the
burgeoning underground alternative rap scene in New York City in the late
eighties and early nineties. The collective was pioneered by Afrika Bambaataa
in the late seventies and early eighties, with Queen Latifah and the Jungle
Brothers being the initial members. It expanded to incorporate De La Soul, A
Tribe Called Quest, Chi Ali, and Black Sheep. A number of other artists,
namely Common Sense (now Common), the Leaders of the New School,
and Brand Nubian were also peripherally associated with the collective.
The groups in the Native Tongues collective distinguished themselves from
other rap artists of their day in three ways: their use of conscious, positive,
uplifting rap, their allegiance to Afrika Bambaataas Zulu Nation and the
cosmic Afrocentric philosophy it advocated, and finally their sound, which
relied on sampling widely and often from obscure jazz, blues, soul, gospel,
folk, reggae, and rock records (see sidebar: R&B). Although the Native Tongues heyday ended in the mid-1990s, many of the artists continue to record,
although now less in connection with each other. They are a unique group of
Icons of Hip Hop
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R&B
Aine McGlynn
R&B covers a wide range of musical styles. The term rhythm and blues dates
back to the late 1940s and refers to the sound that developed as the deep
rural southern Memphis blues of such artists as Muddy Waters and Howlin
Wolf met an urbanizing black population. By the fifties it was already difficult
to pin down what R&B referred to. It seemed to encompass soul, blues, doo
wop, and jazz to some extent. By the 1990s, however, R&B was associated
with superficiality, sentimentality, and overwrought romantic posturing. Several Native Tongues tracks feature disparaging comments about R&B singers.
They are accused on Black Stars Thieves in the Night of being devoid of any
thought-provoking qualities whatsoever, while on A Tribe Called Quests
Buggin Out Q-Tip rhymes about R&B trying to hone in on rap styling.
Their critiques were for the most part well founded, as the early to mid
nineties witnessed the success of acts such as Boyz II Men, Dru Hill, and
Jodeci. These groups harmonized the fever-pitched strains of unfaithfulness,
the pain of losing their women, and the hardships that go along with being a
lover of ladies. The videos featured soft-focus lenses, yards and yards of
billowing silk, and candlesticks in every corner of the ubiquitous bedroom.
The critique of the R&B singer was multifaceted: The aesthetic was cheesy, the
sound was a noxious and whiny neo-jazz, and the content was vapid.
The tune changed, though, later in De La and Tribes careers as they began
to incorporate R&B on such tracks as Stressed Out and All Good. Initially
they treated R&B with some tongue-in-cheek irony. For instance, De La Souls
Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby, Ooh Baby walks a fine line between parodying
R&B and participating in the genre. By the end of the 1990s, R&B artists were
working with more classically hip hoporiented producers, which resulted in a
sound that teetered between the two genres. The silk sheets had been folded
up and put away, the candles were blown out, and R&B singers like R Kelly
and Bobby Brown began to posture in a way that was more reminiscent of
Snoop Dogg than Luther Vandross. Perhaps it was because the quality of
production changed toward the end of the decade, or perhaps because De La
and Tribe were trying to stay relevant and current by incorporating R&B
sounds into their recordings; whatever the reason, such R&B staples as Faith
Evans and Chaka Khan made their way onto albums by the Native Tongues
artists who had so criticized R&B in the early 1990s.
artists whose presence continues to be felt whenever an MC rhymes about

something other than guns, diamonds, and the size of his rims. The Native
Tongues style lives on in tracks where the sample isnt an instantly recognizable tune from a fifteen-year-old hit single. Native Tongues music has a playful
and enlightening message that can still be heard in such artists as Lauryn
Hill, Mos Def, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, POS, and K-OS among others.
The Native Tongues
These artists are carrying a complex philosophy into the future of a genre
whose mutated materialism takes it further and further away from its roots.
The original Native Tongues cultivated a place for themselves on the margins
of mainstream hip hop, where they cranked up the bass, turned up the Coltrane, and provoked an alternative sound. From hip hops cradle in New York
City, the collective wrote for themselves and for their community, a story of
uplift through solidarity and positive thinking.
THE CONTEXT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIVE TONGUES

There was little to be positive about in the South Bronx in the early 1970s.
The effects of deindustrialization and a crippling post-Vietnam recession were
most deeply felt by the poorest members of New York Citys population. The
overpopulated, dilapidated slums of the Bronx River housing projects, the
hallways and streets around Monroe High School, the subways flying by
Prospect Ave., all sighed under the growing weight of hopelessness and despair. The unemployment rate had never been higher; drugs were never so
cheap or easy to get. New York City was characterized by an ineffectual
police force, an inadequate infrastructure, and a corrupt bureaucracy that
didnt give a damn about its most vulnerable members (see sidebar: New
York City: The Sixth Element).
New York City: The Sixth Element
Aine McGlynn
The first five elements of Native Tongues hip hop are the DJ, the MC, the bboy, the graffiti artist, and knowledge of self. The sixth, unrecognized one is
New York City. Aside from being the birthplace of hip hop, New York is a
character that interacts with all the rhymes in the Native Tongues albums. The
Jungle Brothers shouted out on Belly Dancin Dina that they are from 113th
Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem, while Black Sheeps Dres mentioned
that he wished he could get a cab in midtown Manhattan or a slice of pizza no
matter where he happened to be in the city. The five boroughs are a central
theme on all the Native Tongues albums. De La Soul shouted out their Long
Island heritage as often as possible, while Tribes Phife Dawg rapped about the
New York Knicks, the Yankees, Mets, and Vinnie Testaverde, the quarterback
of the New York Jets. In spite of the fact that Native Tongues philosophy was
resistant to myths of American nationalism, the pride of being from New York
City was always a part of their sound. This can be attributed to the varied
textures of the city itself. It is more of a microcosm of the world than a place
where American nation making occurs. It is home to representatives from all
corners of the planet, and in its 321 square miles it holds infinite possibilities
for shaping not only ones Saturday night but ones deepest sense of self.
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Black Stars Respiration captures the beauty and depth of the life force that
pulses through the city. It is like a body with a heart that beats out the pace of
life. The kind of inclusivity that the Zulu Nation advocated and which the
Native Tongues echoed could only have emerged from New York. Like all
other cities, it undoubtedly has its ghettoes, and people wake up and go to
sleep in segregation. But from 9 to 5, riding the subway puts a person into
contact with every race, creed, color, shape, and size. It is in the flux of
constant though unsustained contact among such varied people that the
Native Tongues operated. The narrative of unity and inclusivity was always
checked by raps that exposed the reality of a racist past and present. New York
Citys eclecticism, however, provided the potential space in which an integrated and equal future might be enacted.
In this environment, violence was a natural outlet for the frustration felt by
the most abused and marginalized members of a crumbling outer borough. In
the South Bronx, gang violence between such groups as the Black Spades, the
Chingalings, and the Savage Nomads threatened to erupt into full-scale warfare. The sense of community and solidarity that might have existed after the
heady days of the civil rights movement had grown thin and anemic. The
prophets of equality and reform, JFK, Dr. King, Robert Kennedy, and
Malcolm X had all been brutally exterminated, and in the void of social
justice, the urban population experienced a collective, alienating grief that
grew into an oppressive anger, which manifested in self- and communitydirected violence.
After the tragic spring of 1968, gang life took on the quality of inevitability
for young men in the South Bronx. To be outside on the street was to be
vulnerable. Being associated with the gang that controlled a given street
neutralized some of that vulnerability. The goal of inner-city gangs, of all
violent collectives in fact, is to expand power and territory bases. Bronx gang
territories were delineated by streets, schools, playgrounds, and bodegas. Intimate knowledge of the landscape was essential to any Bronx youth trying to
negotiate the complex maps of belonging and conflict. As the city and state
authorities were unable, or perhaps unwilling, to assuage the gang conflict, it
became apparent that any kind of revolution of ideas would have to happen
from within. It was up to the community to heal its own divisions. At the first
truce meeting held in December 1971, Charlie Suarez, the infamous captain
of the Ghetto Brothers, opened the meeting with a command: I would like
for the police to leave or we got nothing to say (Chang 58). A treaty was
signed that depended on each gang respecting each others turf. The streets in
the Bronx were once again to become neutral environments where Latinos,
blacks, and whites were, in theory at least, safe to interact with each other.
The record collection is an ideal metaphor for what the peacemakers were
trying to achieve. Afrika Bambaataa, one of the founding fathers of hip hop
The Native Tongues
and a former Black Spade, learned from his mothers eclectic record collection
that South African spiritual music could rub up against northern soul, which
could sit happily beside Motown doo-wop. An avid music fan, Bambaataa
had no trouble finding a great drumbeat from a Monkees single that would
make a crowd jump up and dance. When Bambaataa discovered and played
those records for a Bronx crowd that would normally disdain them, he disrupted a whole set of stereotypes and limitations that kept kids from exploring a varied range of musical possibilities.
Bambaataas most significant contribution to the renaissance that took
place in the Bronx in the early 1970s was his undying faith in the power of
a booty-shakin good time to bring a group of people together. The block
parties thrown by Bambaataa and his crew, the Organization, transformed
the communitys old associations between the street and violence. Instead of
beating each other upside the head like they used to do in the gang days,
Jazzy J recalled, block parties saw kids doing something constructive . . .
plugging into lampposts and playing records until the early hours of the
morning (Chang 97).
THE MEDIUM NEEDS A MESSAGE

The parties, as unifying as they were, were not something to believe in. There
was still a void from the end of the civil rights movement that left these young
hip hop heads without a directive, a policy, or a message that would give this
energetic new outlet called hip hop the feeling of manifesto, of destiny. It took
Afrika Bambaataa to shape the message. Bambaataa was the founder of the
Universal Zulu Nation, which preached freedom, justice, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Bambaataa developed these principles into the
Seven Infinity Lessons of the Universal Zulu Nation (see sidebar: The Infinity
Lessons of the Universal Zulu Nation). At the heart of the Lessons is a drive
toward empowerment through a process of coming to truth. This truth
The Infinity Lessons of the Universal Zulu Nation
Aine McGlynn
The Infinity Lessons were derived from the tenets of the Five Percenter faith
and advocated by Afrika Bambaataa as a platform from which the Zulu Nation
could spread their message. They formed a basic set of rules of behavior for
members of the Zulu Nation but also packaged the movement for travel
beyond the South Bronx. One of the most beautiful and appealing aspects
of the lessons is the fact that they are never complete. They can always, at any
time, by any member, be added to. Indeed, a visit to the Zulu Nations Web
site evidences the often complex and detailed additions that members make
to the lessons. There is, however, a set of fundamental ideals around which
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they shift and develop. Among them is the focus on coming to know the self,
recognizing that the Universal Zulu Nation is the truth and that any real
change must come not from mere uncovering of the systems of power and
oppression but from recognizing the god within oneself. The fact that the
philosophy of the movement is open to improvement and innovation is one of
the reasons that the Zulu Nation gelled so comfortably with the Native
Tongues, and with hip hop more generally. Hip hop at its best is about the
creativity that can happen within a specific moment; this is the legacy of
the street corner ciphers, freestyle sessions where the beatboxer provided the
rhythm and the rapper came up with rhymes right on the spot. In its purest
form, hip hop is dynamic and constantly morphing in the same way as the
Infinity Lessons do.
consisted of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of the self, to the self,

and by the self. It was up to the members of the Native Tongues collective to
bring this message to a wide audience. Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation were the philosophical touchstone for all the early albums produced by
the collectives core members. As a collective, they worked to promote not
only the ideas of the Universal Zulu Nation but each others albums as well,
counting on the probability that success for one would translate into success
for all. It was the philosophy of the Zulu Nation, which they held with such
conviction, that gave them something meaningful to rap about and which,
ironically, ended up forming the backbone of the posses commercial success.
Though each member of the posse was unique, they were bound together by
what set them apart from every other rap group bursting onto the scene.
INTRODUCING THE MEMBERS

The Jungle Brothers
The Jungle Brothers were Afrika Baby Bambaataa, both a DJ and an MC or
rapper; Sammy B, a DJ; and Mike G, also an MC. The Jungle Brothers (the
JBs) emerged out of New York in the late eighties and released their debut,
Straight Out the Jungle, in 1988. Theirs was a sound immediately distinguishable from those of their contemporaries. Their eclectic mix of samples from
jazz, rock, soul, reggae, African spirituals, and blues produced a hip hop with
an emphasis on musicality and melody. Not only was the album easy to listen
to, the lyrics were unmistakably political, advocating sexual equality and
unity within the African American community. Their next album, Done by
the Forces of Nature (1989), is one of hip hops most danceable albums. The
hooks they used and the tunes they sampled were beautifully melodic and the
bass was deeper and more compelling than on their debut. Their later efforts,
J. Beez Wit the Remedy (1993) and Raw Deluxe (1997), did not achieve any
The Native Tongues
notable success with hip hop audiences. These later efforts, along with All
That We Do (2002), reestablished the JBs with a trip-house music audience.
De La Soul
De La Soul (De La) owed much of their sound and success to the Jungle
Brothers. The group, made up of Posdnous (Plug One), Trugoy the Dove
(Plug Two), and Pacemaster Mase (Plug Three), were the most commercially
successful members of the Native Tongues collective. Their first album, 3 Feet
High and Rising (1989) was produced by Prince Paul and recalls the sound of
the JBs debut. The liner notes feature a comic about the making of the album;
the three members of De La are drawn stressing out about not being able to
produce the album in time and calling in the JBs to help them out. The
resulting album is a hip hop classic that reflects the inclusive, hippie-inspired
roots of De Las D.A.I.S.Y. Age (Da Inner Sound Yall) philosophy of spreading love and positivity. Their follow-up album, De La Soul Is Dead (1991),
was more aggressive in its sound and its content. Gone were the songs about
three being a magic number or tracks about washing yourself with soap to get
rid of your stink, rhymed over a sample of the bass line from Stand by Me.
Instead the album pulsed with more aggressive tracks such as Rap de Rap
Show and Afro Connections at a Hi 5 (In the Eyes of the Hoodlum),
disparaging the hard acts who called their style soft. Because they had
achieved a significant amount of commercial success, they were repeatedly
accused of crossing over by rappers who didnt take kindly to De Las making
fun of their ultra-macho gangsta personas. Their next two albums, Buhloone
Mind State (1993) and Stakes Is High (1996), continued to express their
frustration with fame and the accusations of selling out. These two albums
attempted to distance the group from the mainstream by making references to
hip hop history that only the most dedicated hip hop head would comprehend. Nonetheless, their flow, style, and Prince Pauls faultless production
resulted in innovative albums that continued to achieve popularity outside of
the typical rap audience (see sidebar: Prince Paul). The group released two
albums, Art Official Intelligence (1999) and AOI: Bionix (2001), as part of
Prince Paul
Aine McGlynn
Prince Paul is the legendary hip hop DJ and producer who produced De La
Souls debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, in 1989, as well as a couple of tracks on
Queen Latifahs All Hail the Queen. He went on to produce De Las next two
albums as well, and along with the influence of the Jungle Brothers, his
playfulness and tight beats were a major shaping influence for the Native
Tongues sound. Never one to be contained by genres, Prince Paul brought an
open-mindedness to De Las sound that was uniquely his own. Paul
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introduced De La to the concept of album-unifying skits. The skits would carry

some of the thematic weight of the album and create the sense of a singular
work which Paul felt was vital to any album, and which is a distinctive
characteristic of Prince Paulproduced albums. Paul produces conceptual
albums that have a thought-out plan which articulates a single philosophy
or idea.
Born in New York City, Prince Paul began his musical career with Stetsasonic, a hip hop group that got its start in the early eighties. Their live
instrumentation and upbeat lyricism put them on the map and made Prince
Paul the natural choice to be the producer for the positive, conscious rap that
De La Soul was making at mid-decade. After working with De La, Prince Paul
released two of his own albums before teaming up with RZA from Wu-Tang,
Too Poetic, and Frukwan to form the Gravediggaz. Most recently, Prince Paul
has teamed up with DJ Dan the Automator to form Handsome Boy Modeling
School. Their albums So . . . Hows Your Girl and White People showcase an
innovative blend of trip hop, rap, rock, folk, nu metal, R&B, and comedy. It
featured as disparate a lineup as Thom Yorke from Radiohead, Sean Lennon,
Roisin Murphy, Del tha Funky Homosapien, Lord Finesse, Linkin Park, and
comedian Father Guido Sarducci. Pauls postNative Tongues days saw him
continually articulating powerful critiques of the hyperconsumerism that
began to plague hip hop from the early nineties. In a recent interview with
New York Magazine, Paul insists that he will produce one more album as Prince
Paul, and that it will be his last attempt to change the world. It is this type of
ambitious optimism that Paul not only saw mirrored in the Native Tongues
movement but also helped to inspire that movement.
an ambitious trilogy. The third album in the trilogy was never released, but
De Las most recent album, The Grind Date (2004), redeemed them somewhat in the eyes of their critics and faithful fans. The opening track locates
them in the past, present, and future of hip hop and reminds the listener right
off the bat that this music is carrying a message, and a positive one at that.
The rest of the album features musical samples, melodic tunefulness, and
locates De La as successful, long-standing patriarchs of the hip hop family.
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest, or Tribe, consists of Q-Tip and Phife Dawg as the MCs,
Ali Shaheed Muhammed the DJ, and Jarobi, who appears only on their first
album, Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990). Tribes
sound was a jazzier version of the danciness that characterized the JBs albums,
while Phifes raspy growl and complicated sports metaphors and Q-Tips nasal,
New York accent made Tribe a unique and vital addition to the underground
hip hop landscape (see sidebar: Underground Hip Hop under Kool Herc).
The Native Tongues
They followed up the critical success of their first album with a second,
equally acclaimed record, The Low End Theory (1991), which improved on
their first album by combining thumping beats with an elegant jazz vibe.
Critics have described this album as not only gracefully sampling jazz but
also reflecting a similar kind of creative process. Like The Low End Theory,
jazz recordings are a testament to a series of creative moments and interactions, rather than a singular act. The album was a unique blend of timely
critical raps, innovative aesthetic considerations, and thumping bass breaks
that moved the genre forward.
Their next album, Midnight Marauders (1993), kept the party going, but at
the expense of some of the tight rhyme style and vexing content that made the
previous two such standalone works of art. Nonetheless, the playfulness still
pervaded the album. Unfortunately, by the time Beats, Rhymes and Life was
released three years later, the sense of humor had all but disappeared and the
rhymes were tight yet vacant boasts of their rhyme skills. The beats nonetheless still bounced. The last album the group released before the tribe dissolved was The Love Movement (1998). It bounced with the same tight
production and booty-shakin beats, but again the social and political urgency
was missing, reflecting a general trend in hip hop at the turn of the century.
Black Sheep
Made up of Dres and Mista Lawnge, Black Sheep were the slightly more
raunchy, slightly less peace loving, cousin to the tightly knit brotherhood of
Tribe, De La, and the JBs. They came to attention touring with the JBs in the
late eighties and through Dress appearances on De Las De La Soul Is Dead
(1991). Black Sheep had a massive hit with The Choice Is Yours from their
debut album, A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing (1991). As a result, the album sold
close to a million copies and was popular with both the traditional rap
audience and the mainstream college radio stations. Unfortunately, the success didnt extend to their second album. Non-Fiction (1994) forwent the
genuinely hilarious skits and raunchy playfulness of their debut for a more
earnest autobiographical sketch of their transition from South Carolina to
New York City. The failure of this album, somewhat attributable to the lack
of marketing support from their record company, marked the end of Black
Sheep.
Chi-Ali
The youngest member of the Native Tongues posse, Chi-Ali turned heads
with his appearance on Black Sheeps Pass the 40 and Have U.N.E. Pull.
At thirteen, he rapped about not being old enough to smoke joints or drink,
but being old enough to attract the ladies. He gained enough attention to get a
record deal out of his guest spots. The Fabulous Chi-Ali (1991) was the first
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album the Beatnuts ever produced, and it exists more as a testament to their
early production talents than as evidence of Chi-Alis MC skills. At fourteen,
with a hit single in Age Aint Nothing but a Number, Chi-Ali might, if not
for the fickleness of the market and perhaps a breaking voice, have had a
lasting career. Unfortunately, like Another Bad Connection, Kriss Kross, and
other such kiddie rap acts of the day, he was destined to remain a one-hit
wonder. The appearance by Phife of Tribe and Mista Lawnge of Black Sheep
were meant to legitimize him as a rapper, but their experienced flows merely
revealed Chi-Alis immaturity and ill-formed rhymes.
SELLING THE MESSAGE

Like every other genre of music, hip hop has a marketing hook, a saleable
feature that convinces shoppers that they are buying more than an album.
Rock and roll banks on its attitude, funk makes you hustle, jazz trades on its
vibe, and the blues sells you your melancholy. Hip hop, on the other hand,
promises a message. In fact in 1982, one of the earliest commercial successes
of hip hop was the Furious Fives aptly titled The Message. This track
defined the genre in a number of ways. It told the story of a young man
who is pushed to the brink by the degradation he witnesses in his neighborhood. The Message was an unusual track to emerge as a signal of the future
of hip hop. It was downtempo, focused on the MC rather than the DJ, and
was packed with consciousness-raising commentary on the state of the urban
jungle. It diverged from how hip hop had been developing in the early 1970s.
People went to block parties and listened to DJs spin records in order to
dance, to gather together and forget the realities of their inner city lives. It
took the release of The Message before hip hop achieved any mainstream
music industry attention. This was not just about hedonism. This was, to the
leftist liberal media especially, the kind of urgent wake-up call that needed to
come out of the lowest class to challenge the conservatism of Reaganomics.
This legitimating attention, not to mention a decent paycheck for Melle Mel
and the Furious Five, shaped the future of the genre. Hip hop was no longer a
careless grassroots movement for the communitys enjoyment. It was a vehicle
for talking about the needs and frustrations of a community, and in a revolutionary turn, this expression of anger could be lucrative. Thus the saleable
myth of hip hop was born; its makers were urban, black, poor, and frustrated,
and their music was patently designed to carry this message. The hip hop that
moved records had a consciousness that moved minds toward activism and a
break and bass line that moved asses as well.
It was the very fact of its ability to carry a philosophy that drew critical and
thus industry attention to hip hop. This no doubt also influenced the Native
Tongues allegiance to Zulu Nation philosophy. The commercial pressures of
the record industry versus the contradictory desire to pursue right knowledge
The Native Tongues
and community uplift is a central tension in the Native Tongues narrative.

The collective was ultimately united by its positive philosophy, its motivation
to achieve success without selling out, and finally by a sound that called
up the formative moments and ideas from the history of hip hop while
also signaling the direction that the genre would take. Ironically, all three
of these unifying aspects would contribute to the dissolution of the collective,
but for a number of years at the end of the eighties and early nineties, the
Native Tongues posse deeply influenced hip hop in one of its most formative
moments.
DISRUPTING EXPECTATIONS
It was evident in the late eighties that one could make rap music and make
money too. It was also becoming clear that rap could be violently aggressive
and woman hating. The popularity of 2 Live Crew and N.W.A. attested to this
fact. The Native Tongues emerged as a counteractive balance to the serious
hatefulness in such tracks as We Want Some Pussy, A Bitch Is a Bitch, and
Get the Fuck Out of My House. De La Soul, Black Sheep, and A Tribe
Called Quest brought serious playfulness on tracks such as Similak Child,
The Magic Number, and Ham and Eggs. The satirical skits and songs that
peppered their albums played with the image of the rapper as a thug, a drugtaking urban boogeyman with a chip on his shoulder (see sidebar: Skits).
Skits
Aine McGlynn
As early as the Furious Fives 1983 hit The Message, skits became a fairly
common feature in hip hop tracks. For a precedent, one might even look back
at Stevie Wonders 1973 Livin for the City, in which Stevie arrives on the
bus in New York City and is asked to carry a package across the street. When
he does so, he is arrested and the track resumes. Similarly, the skit in the
message depicts a conflict, not with the police, but with other people in the
neighborhood. The Native Tongues picked up on the trend, using the skit
format to speak to the ongoing conflict in their neighborhoods while also
injecting some humor into their albums. Often, the more serious vignettes
feature, as in the Stevie Wonder track, an encounter with the police. These
skits depict the cops as abusing their authority, as dupes and racists. It is as
though this depiction of the police must be stated explicitly; it cannot be
rapped about. This conflict, because it is so central and common to the
experience of being young and black in America, must be articulated as clearly
as possible. The other type of conflict often highlighted in the skits is between
people within the same neighborhood. This is the type of skit featured on
The Message and on A Tribe Called Quests The Crew.
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Their playfulness was a check to the narrative that was emerging about what
an authentic rapper was to look like, sound like, and rap about. This
authentic rapper was a man who had suffered and was damned if he
wasnt going to let everyone know about it. It is a tendency of journalistic
and scholarly writing about African American art forms to make an overly
simplistic association between that communitys suffering and their creative
expressions. This connection between suffering and art is a reduction of the
art to pathology. Pathology, defined as the essential nature of a disease, is a
loaded word to use to speak about African American art. To read black art as
being essentially about struggle and pain suggests that the natural or essential
condition of a black person in America is to be plagued or diseased by the
suffering that he or she endures. This reading often sells the artist short as it
suggests that the art is not subject to aesthetic or stylistic concerns. To always
suggest that the product of African American creativity is about suffering
limits a disease, is a
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Voletta Wallace was Christopher Wallaces primary caregiver and certainly

the person who knew Biggie the best and the longest. Volettas childhood in
Jamaica consisted of humble beginnings informed by a powerful familial and
communal set of ethics with deep, abiding aspirations to and appreciation for
education and religious piety. As a little girl she dreamed of America through
the imagery in travel brochures and Ebony Magazine. Once her opportunity
to come to America presented itself, she quickly took advantage. When she
arrived in the United States at age seventeen, the streets of New York City
were a radical departure from the America she had envisioned from her home
in Jamaica. I was disappointed but still hopeful. I knew there had to be more
in this big country. I just needed time, money and a plan (Wallace and
Mackenzie 19).
Voletta Wallace got herself a plan in 1969 when she came to America. It
involved an indefatigable work ethic and an uncompromising commitment to
economic independence. This plan did not include her relationship with Selwyn Latore. By 1971 she had decided to stay in the United States no matter
what happened. In her first job, she assisted a psychiatrist for just eighteen
dollars a day. She met Selwyn after being coaxed into attending a friends
party. She was immediately drawn to him because he showed flashes of the
father figure she had missed from her upbringing in Trelawny, Jamaica. Selwyn whisked Voletta off her feet, wined and dined her; he showed her New
York City in ways she had not previously experienced, and eventually Christopher Wallace was conceived.
After Wallaces birth, Voletta committed herself to the upbringing of her
son. Selwyn was already married and ambiguous about his newborn son. He
was essentially out of the familial picture during Wallaces toddler years.
Voletta committed herself to contributing the energy and resources of at least
two parents in order to raise her son. It wasnt long before her nurturing had a
direct impact on the young Christopher Wallace. Voletta admits that her son
earned the name Biggie even as a young boy because he was well fed in her
household. If I had it to do over again, thats one area where I would have
done things differently. I would not have fed him so well. But during that
time, the mindset was that the bigger the child, the healthier and happier he or
she is (Wallace and Mackenzie 51).
Biggies mom also stressed education in their home, a two-bedroom apartment on Brooklyns St. James Place between Fulton and Washington streets. If
there was an undying conflict between them, the value and importance of
traditional education would be the battleground. Because Voletta grew up in
Jamaica where education was private and strict with physical disciplinary
consequences, she attached great value to the public educational opportunities in the United States. When Biggie was just a toddler, Voletta also
embarked upon her career as an early childhood educator, thereby underscoring her childhood experiences with education. Biggie, on the other hand,
grew up in Brooklyn and although he did attend private school early on he
Notorious B.I.G.
eventually demanded to be in public school for social (and safety) reasons. It

was not long thereafter that this conflict between mother and son over Christophers commitment to his own education began to erupt. When Voletta was
informed of Biggies truancy and blatant disrespect of the educational process,
she quickly challenged him. This confrontation played itself out repeatedly,
especially during Biggies high school years. From Biggies perspective, he
could make more as a garbage collector than as an educator. Thus his moms
insistence essentially fell on deaf ears. But this was only part of the reasoning
behind Big Poppas aversion to traditional education. According to his
mother, Biggie was always an inquisitive and intellectually gifted child. But
by the mid to late 1980s, Biggies teenage years, Brooklyn was caught up in
the crack cocaine epidemic that plagued much of urban America at that time.
Substance abuse was not the challenge faced by Biggie or his mom, but the
economic allure of the drug game was the centerpiece of the street life within
which Biggie Smalls, the legendary freestyling MC, was to hone his skills and
live the experiences about which he would spend his short career rhyming
earnestly.
BEFORE HE WAS BIGGIE: THE FORMATIVE YEARS

Before Biggie became Biggie Smalls, he chose the name Cwest as his first MC
moniker (see sidebar: Big Time MCs). He and his DJs, the Techniques, would
meet after school and work on their craft. They would also meet with jazz
Big-Time MCs
James Peterson
At close to 400 pounds, Christopher Wallace called himself Biggie Smalls, an
extraordinary oxymoron. Wallaces physical stature and his sensible marriage
of that stature with his artistic designations (Biggie Smalls and eventually
Notorious B.I.G.) follow a powerful and entertaining legacy of larger-than-life
MCs who made similar decisions. As far back as the Fat Boys (circa 1985),
oversized MCs have used their weight as a gimmick or for artistic capital. The
Fat Boys made hit records and hip hop history by starring in the campy film
Disorderlies. Heavy D hit it big with a single whose refrain reminded fans that
the overweight lovers in the house. Heavy D has since shed some pounds
and parlayed his career as an MC into acting and producing.
Fat Joe, representing the Bronx like no other MC since KRS-One, has quietly
become one of the most stable, long-lasting, and successful MCs in hip hop
history. Fat Joe (aka Joey Crack/Don Cartagena) paired himself with an enormous and enormously talented MC by the name of Big Punisher, who
passed away from complications having to do with his weight. Before his
death, Big Pun sought medical treatment in an effort to shed some of the extra
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weight. Gone from the popular hip hop landscape but not forgotten is the
enigmatic Chubb Rock, whose Treat Me Right single is a club classic. All of
these Big MCs have made lasting impressions on their hip hop audiences by
writing classic lyrics, selling millions of records, and challenging traditional
conceptions of masculine body image and sex appeal.
saxophonist Donald Harrison, who encouraged all three of the boys to think
beyond the postindustrial confines of their neighborhood. He allowed them to
hone their craft on his equipment and he traded tidbits of knowledge about
jazz in return for the same in rap and hip hop.
Biggie went to Westinghouse High School in Brooklyn, New York. Both
Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes attended the same school. He dropped out of school
at age seventeen, much to the chagrin of his mother, who is on record as
stating that she and her son were not destitute or even poor by inner-city
standards. Thus Biggies affinity for street life and hustling did not derive
from economic lack in his own home. Essentially, Biggie lived a double life
as a teenager. In the home he was his mothers child, essential to her existence,
polite, loving, respectful, and dearer to her than any other human being in her
life. In the privacy of his room, or, better still, in the streets, on the corners, or
in the basement studios of aspiring producers, he was Biggie Smalls, dreaming
of becoming a rapper just like those superstars he was avidly reading about in
Word-Up Magazine. LL Cool J, Run-DMC, and especially Big Daddy Kane
were all powerful career and artistic influences on Biggie Smalls. But these
dreams did not have the promise of the quick money crack trade, especially
once Biggie realized that he could make even more money even faster if he
trafficked his Brooklyn products in the South. It was in North Carolina that
Biggie actually settled on the MC moniker Biggie Smalls. He came to this
conclusion with one of his hustling partners, while they were hustling and
watching Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosbys Lets Do It Again. Biggie Smalls was
a gangster in the film and hence the appropriate fit. It is ironic and worth
noting here that Biggie borrowed his name from a minor character in a hugely
popular film from the 1970s. He eventually brought more popularity to this
oxymoronic name than that character or even the film itself were able to
achieve. Unfortunately, although he popularized the name Biggie Smalls, he
did eventually have to forego it (due to legal complications) for the less-catchy
Notorious B.I.G.
Biggies DJs, the Techniques, didnt last long beyond the Harrison phase, but
eventually a pair of DJs, DJ 50 Grand and DJ Mister Cee, worked together to
create a demo tape for Biggie Smalls. 50 Grand was aware of Biggies potential
from a basement session where Biggie ripped some freestyles over classic
breakbeats, including the breakbeat sampled for Big Daddy Kanes classic,
Aint No Half-Steppin. 50 Grand implored DJ Mister Cee (who was on
tour with Kane) to listen to Biggie Smalls. 50 Grand knew that Biggie was
Notorious B.I.G.
destined to be big in the rap game. Mister Cee was skeptical at first, but once
he heard the tape, he knew that a more professional demo would have to be
created and he knew exactly who to give it to.
In the early 1990s, The Source magazine was considered a bible of hip hop
culture. Its reputation for covering the culture and informing its broad readership was impeccable. At that time, a young man from Washington, DC,
edited a now famous column titled Unsigned Hype. Matteo Capoluongo
or Matty C had already introduced several rap stars to the world through this
small column in hip hops most important journalistic venue. He felt so
strongly about Biggies demo that he actually played it for a young up-andcoming A&R guy named Sean Combs (see sidebar: Sean Combs and Bad Boy
Records). Sean Puffy Combs, now known as Diddy, needed no convincing when it came to Biggies artistic potential. Biggie was exactly what Combs
was searching for. Combs created Bad Boy Records as a home for hard-core
hip hop with mass marketing appeal, and Biggie fit the bill perfectly. Combs
Sean Combs and Bad Boy Records
James Peterson
Sean Combs has changed monikers several times over the course of his
extraordinary career as a promoter, A&R person, record executive, artist
manager, recording artist, fashion designer, and music television star. But
from Puffy to Puff Daddy to P-Diddy to Diddy, he has always been about an
indefatigable work ethic and a natural penchant for success by all means
necessary. After leaving Howard University without his degree, he returned
to New York where he continued to promote parties and events. One such
event at City College ended in disaster (nine people dead and dozens injured),
when the venue was oversold and concertgoers became trapped and
trampled as more fans tried to push their way inside the doors. But eventually
Combs became Andre Harrells star intern at Uptown Records. As he moved
up the ranks at Uptown Records, he became more and more instrumental in
the careers of some of the hottest up-and-coming acts in the music business,
including Mary J. Blige and Jodeci. The brain child known as Bad Boy was a
collection of slogans and some T-shirts at that time but as Combs began to
take more credit for Uptowns success and aspire to running his own recording
company, he was fired by his mentor and boss, Harrell, in the summer of
1993. Several tracks from Ready to Die had already been recorded. He was
devastated by this, but his desire for success was (and still is) unmatched. He
somehow brokered a meeting with Clive Davis, who promptly advanced him
$1.5 million, total creative control, and distribution. Bad Boy was officially
born. But the core executivesCombs, Harve Pierre, and Derric D-Dot
Angelette (holdovers from the Howard University days)had already been
hard at work in Bad Boys original studio and office, located in Diddys
mothers house. The support from Clive Davis merely helped to catapult the
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Bad Boy brand into the stratosphere. After selling tens of millions of records
with Biggie, Craig Mack, Total, 112, Mase, and himself, Combs went on to
star in movies and TV shows, start clothing companies (Sean John and Bad
Boy), and open a restaurant (Justins).
immediately put Biggie on the remix for Mary J. Bliges hit single, Real
Love. This song was essentially Biggies introduction to the world, although
he had already appeared on a few lesser known singles and posse cuts (songs
with multiple rappers on them). A rough and relatively unknown Biggie was a
natural fit for the up-and-coming queen of hip hop soul. And even though
Real Love aspired to be an upbeat love song, it ended up being a club
banger, most certainly due to the sixteen-bar verse delivered by Biggie Smalls.
Technically speaking, Biggies solo debut is a track titled Party and Bullshit on the 1993 soundtrack to the film Whos the Man?. Although this isnt
the first time we hear Big, it is the first time that a solo recording of his enjoys
a major release. Party and Bullshit is obviously an early Biggie recording;
notice his higher-pitched, faster-paced vocals. However, the content of these
rhymes, which essentially chronicle a night out partying, walks that evertroublesome line between having a good time, drinking, rapping to women
(i.e., the party), and having to deal with the sometimes violent realities of
inner-city living (i.e., the bullshit). Hence, Bigs narrator in Party and Bullshit is having a great night out but he also has two .22s in his shoes in case
anyone is looking for trouble. There were two other collaborations that year.
One was the Whats the 411? remix with Mary J. Blige and the other was
one of the earliest dance hallhip hop collaborative concoctions, Dolly My
Baby. On Dolly My Baby, Biggie coined one of his most famous and most
often sampled lines: I love it when you call me Big Poppa.
Even with this flurry of remixes, singles, and guest appearances, Biggie was
still not satisfied with the pace of the cash flow from the music industry. He
still didnt have any advance monies on the recording deal that was supposed
to come to fruition through Puffy and Andre Harrell at Uptown/Bad Boy. To
make matters worse, Bigs ex-girlfriend, Jan, was pregnant with his first child.
When he broke this news to his mother, Voletta Wallace reminded him that
although he had been talking about this so-called record deal for weeks, no
material evidence of such a deal existed. The pressures of impending fatherhood combined with the sluggish compensation schedule of the entertainment
industry convinced Biggie that he better get his hustle back on in the streets for
real. He returned to North Carolina because he was higher up on the hustlers
food chain in Raleigh than in Brooklyn, but also because in North Carolina he
thought his activities would not be subject to Puffys or the labels scrutiny. He
was wrong. When the various deal points were finally sorted out, Puffy contacted Biggie in North Carolina and expressed his disappointment in where Big
was and what he was doing at that time. His record deal was in New York City
Notorious B.I.G.
waiting for him. This couldnt have happened soon enough. Biggie left for
New York on a Monday morning and that Monday evening his illicit establishment in North Carolina was raided. He, of course, took this as a sign.
Back in New York with his low-level record deal in hand ($125,000 advance and recording budget) Biggie went to work on his first major label
release, Ready to Die. It was fitting that one of the first tracks that Big
worked on was Party and Bullshit, produced by Easy Mo Bee. Easy Mo
Bee was the last producer to work with Miles Davis and the first to work with
Biggie Smalls on a solo record. Mo Bee is a touchstone for Biggies impending
iconic status. Surely, Easy Mo Bee, through the cheerleading efforts of Mister
Cee, 50 Grand, Matty C, and others, was preconditioned to Biggie Smallss
greatness even before he was able to work directly with him.
There are, however, several lesser known contributing reasons to Biggie
Smallss status as an icon within hip hop culture. Some of these factors and
reasons were in place even before he began work on his first major recording
with Bad Boy/Uptown. Bigs flow, voice, persona, and experiencesthose
things that constitute his artistic productionare at least partially a result
of his upbringing and the various regions or neighborhoods with which he
made himself familiar. First, he is from Brooklyn, New York, a borough with
extraordinary cachet in the hip hop world. Even though hip hop started out in
the Bronx, Brooklyn had, by the early 1990s, taken its place as the premier
borough of New York when it came to hip hop culture. Some of this stems
from the number of famous rap artists who hail from Brooklyn, but much of
it also stems from Brooklyns international reputation as one of the toughest,
most culturally diverse cities in the worldespecially when it comes to violent
crime, drug dealing, and other illegal activities. So Biggie is from Brooklyn, an
icon from an iconic town. But more lurks beneath this surface.
Although Biggie was born in Brooklyn, his Jamaican heritage is of extraordinary significance to hip hop. First, certain language undertones in his
milky flow remind us of a peculiar Jamaican-Brooklyn patois. But more importantly, Biggie shares this heritage in common with the founding father of
hip hop Culture, Clive Campbell, also known as the legendary DJ Kool Herc.
Herc immigrated to the United States in 1967. He and his sister started
throwing the first hip hop jams in the mid-seventies in the Bronx. This was
the beginning of hip hop cultureJamaican-born youth finding their voices
and various outlets for artistic expression in postindustrial New York City.
Although we never hear Biggie big-up Jamaica as his homeland (he was born
in the United States, after all), it still must be acknowledged that his parental
heritage and cultural domestic upbringing reflect that of the founding family
of hip hop culture. This heritage informs his iconographic status almost invisibly, but the vocal influence is audible, especially early in his career (listen
to the Dolly My Baby remix with Biggie, Puff, and Supercat, for example).
Once we combine his Jamaican parentage and Brooklyn upbringing with
his hustling experiences in the South, then an accurate portrait of the artist as
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424
black American hip hop icon emerges. Although Biggie never actually lived in
North Carolina, hustling crack anywhere other than where you live is probably the closest one can get to hard-core ethnographic investigation. Biggies
trips to North Carolina were most assuredly lucrative, but they must have
also exposed him to southern black America, an extraordinarily representative group when one considers the folk experience so central to nearly all of
hip hop cultures artistic narratives and historical legacies.
So Jamaican American, Brooklyn-bred Christopher Wallace returned from
Raleigh, North Carolina, to officially begin his recording career as Biggie
Smalls. The preproduction sessions for Biggies first album literally took place
in that very same bedroom in which he first envisioned himself as an MC. In
his tiny bedroom in his mothers apartment, Big would sometimes have all of
his boys jam-packed in for inspiration and general grimy creative energy.
The One Room Shack that Biggie would later refer to in the song Juicy
was Wallaces bedroomfunky yellow walls, a bed, a chair, clothes and
assorted junk all over the place, a TV with a VCR, and two big party-size
speakers. It was in that room that Biggie Smalls, the rapper worked out his
rhymes (Coker 79). This room, along with his vast array of urban lived
experiences, functioned as the incubator for Ready to Die, Biggies classic
debut album.
Ready to Die was released in September 1994. In order to fully understand
the impact and significance of this momentous debut, we must also understand the state of hip hop at that time. Two years earlier, Dr. Dre had released
The Chronic. This multiplatinum G-funk-inspired West Coast gangsta rap
record crystallized the dominance of West Coast artists on the international
rap landscape. New York City, the birth place and mecca of hip hop culture,
hadnt produced a multiplatinum star in years. West Coaststyle gangsta rap
dominated the culture and industries of hip hop. The final testament to the
power of Biggie is the types of songs he made. He single-handedly shifted the
musical dominance back to the East Coast. From 1991 to 1994, the West
Coast style of rap was the dominant force in Hip-hop. Biggie, with the guidance of Puffy, used familiar melodic R&B loops, combined with his voice
texture and rhyme skills, and caused a Hip-hop paradigm shift (Kool Moe
Dee 264). In many ways, the New York/East Coast audiences were given to
believe that the center of the hip hop universe had shifted to Los Angeles. But
in just a few short years the Notorious B.I.G. went from Brooklyn street
hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop (Huey 359).
B.I.G. IN THE PLATINUM ERA

Ready to Die was East Coast raps saving grace for many reasons. The cinematic intro to the album promised a fresh and gritty portrait of the urban
underground hustler-turned-rap artist. The intro track on Ready to Die
Notorious B.I.G.
features snippets of four previously released songs with various voiceover

skits corresponding with key moments in B.I.G.s life. The first scene is
B.I.G.s birth, featuring an ironically proud pappa (who isnt in B.I.G.s life
too much beyond his toddler years) coaxing B.I.G.s mother to push! The
soundtrack for this portion of the intro interpolates snippets from Curtis
Mayfields classic Super Fly, released during the year of B.I.G.s birth,
1972. The second scene begins with Sugarhill Gangs Rappers Delight,
the single that inaugurated hip hop culture in the mainstream music industry
in 1979. The voiceover here is an argument started by B.I.G.s father, who
finds out that his son has been caught shoplifting. Of course he wonders
profanely why neither he nor B.I.G.s mom can control the youngster. Note
here that according to Voletta Wallace, Christopher Wallace actually was a
model child until his high school years, when the allure of the streets simply
overwhelmed her domestic influences. This music snippet is important because it provides listeners with a sense of where B.I.G. was when Rappers
Delight (and by extension modern popular rap music) exploded onto the
American pop cultural landscape. The third and most powerful scene features
B.I.G. in a heated conversation with an anonymous crime partner. B.I.G.
challenges his partner in crime to get this money just as they are about
to rob a New York City subway train. The musical snippet for this scene is the
classic single by Audio Two, Top Billin, released in 1987. As Top Billin
fades out and then back in, B.I.G.s shouts, gunshots, and screams from his
victim flesh out this scene. The final cinematic scene of the intro track features
an exchange between B.I.G. and a prison CO. As B.I.G. is leaving prison, the
CO claims that he will be back: You niggas always are. The musical snippet
for this scene is taken from Tha Shiznit on Snoop Doggs debut album,
Doggystyle, released in 1993. Even though this particular sample bears no
credit to Snoop in the Ready to Die liner notes, listeners can actually hear
Snoop rapping in the background of the final piece of B.I.G.s cinematic
introduction. Moreover, Snoops Doggystyle was an important model for
Ready to Die because of its extraordinary success and its ability to straddle
the hard-core gangsta rap tensions and a lighter sensibility with popular mainstream appeal. In many ways, Ready to Die mirrors Doggystyle even more
than The Chronic. The remainder of Ready to Die realizes the power and
complexity of this four-part introduction.
Several hit singles were released from the album: Juicy, Big Poppa, and
One More Chance. Each of these tremendously successful singles employed
similar formulas by Sean Puffy/Diddy Combs and the Bad Boy production
team. Juicy interpolates Mtumes Juicy Fruit to perfection with a rap
narrative that chronicles a Horatio Algerlike rise from the grimy streets of
Brooklyn to ghetto superstar status as a rapper. Many of the lyrics from this
song have gone on to an unofficial lyrical hall of fame, but at least the
following line warrants repeating here: You never thought that hip hop
would take it this far. This line captures definitive aspects of B.I.G.s lyrical
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appeal; a simple rhyme scheme betrays the complexity of the content. While
Juicy is about B.I.G.s unlikely rise to popularity, he is also very much
aware of the fact that hip hop culture and rap music had by the early nineties
stunned its critics and nay-sayers en route to becoming the worlds most
popular music. In many ways, B.I.G.s career (big, black, ugly, and utterly
lovable) mirrors that of hip hop in terms of early questions about viability and
ultimately achieving rags-to-riches success. Juicy captures these themes
perfectly. More than any other rapper, B.I.G. ushered in the platinum era
of hip hop culture.
Hip hops development can appropriately be broken down into several
eras: First, the old-school era. From 1979 to 1987, hip hop culture cultivated
itself, usually remaining authentic to its countercultural roots in the postindustrial challenges manifested in the urban landscape of the late twentieth
century. Artists associated with this era included Grandmaster Flash and the
Furious Five, the Sugarhill Gang, Lady B, Big Daddy Kane, Run-DMC, Kurtis
Blow, and others.
Second, in the golden age, from 1987 to 1993, rap and rappers began to
take center stage as the culture splashed onto the mainstream platform of
American popular culture. The extraordinary musical production and lyrical
content of rap songs artistically eclipsed most of the other primary elements of
the culture (break dancing, graffiti art, and DJing). Eventually the recording
industry contemplated rap music as a potential billion-dollar opportunity.
Mass-media rap music and hip hop videos displaced the intimate, insulated
urban development of the culture. Artists associated with this era included
Run-DMC, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen
Latifah, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, N.W.A., and many
others.
Third, in the platinum present, from 1994 to the present, hip hop culture
has enjoyed the best and worst of what mass-media popularity and cultural
commodification have to offer. The meteoric rise to popular fame of gangsta
rap in the early nineties set the stage for a marked content shift in the lyrical
discourse of rap music toward more and more violent depictions of inner-city
realities. Millions of magazines and records were sold, but two of hip hops
most promising artists, Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, were literally gunned
down in the crossfire of a media-fueled battle between the so-called East and
West Coast constituents of hip hop culture. With the blueprint of popular
success for rappers laid bare, several exceptional artists stepped into the gaping space left in the wake of Biggie and Tupac. This influx of new talent
included Nas, Jay-Z, Master P, DMX, Big Pun, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Eminem,
and Outkast.
B.I.G.s seminal role in some of the most significant and powerful transitions in hip hop culture developed through the release of the incredibly popular singles from Ready to Die. Thus, the inaugural single, Juicy, covers a
dizzying array of transformations and transitions from B.I.G.s life as a petty
Notorious B.I.G.
thief and hustler to his new life as a player, rapper, and finally an extraordinary storyteller. Notorious B.I.G. is the all time greatest hard-core Hiphop storyteller ever. Slick Rick is the overall king of storytelling, but for the
rated-R, violent type of story, Biggie is the man (Kool Moe Dee 263). Ironically, the singles from Ready to Die do not exhibit B.I.G.s most compelling hard-core narrative abilities. He shows some glimpses, but most of the
released singles are about flossing, partying, and sexing women.
Big Poppa garnered even more industry success than Juicy, sampling
the Isley Brothers Between the Sheets perfectly (and almost in its entirety).
Very few rappers can, as new artists, create singles that sample their own
voices in the hook or refrain. B.I.G.s voice was distinct enough and had been
featured on so many singles even before his major label debut that the classic
line from Party and BullshitI love it when you call me Big Poppa
almost instantly solidified Big Poppa as a mainstay on radio playlists and in
club DJ repertoires. The classic Isley Brothers riff combined with B.I.G.s
classic rap aimed at women make this particular single a timeless testament
to Biggies power as an artist. Another testament to Biggies power was he
was anything but your prototypical ladies man, and yet he made songs geared
towards women, and had a huge female following (Kool Moe Dee 264).
One More Chance solidified B.I.G.s appeal to his women listeners more
than either of the two previously released singles from Ready to Die. One
More Chance samples the Jackson Fives I Want You Back. The album
version and the single version are almost completely different from each other
in sound and content, at least with respect to profanity. Released in the
spring of 95, the One More Chance remixes represented the apex of Biggie-mania in New York City. While Bad Boys previous strategy with singles
featured one side for the radio and one for the streets, One More Chance
covered all bases by including two somewhat different instrumentals to accompany Bigs vocal track of entirely new (and somewhat sanitized) lyrics
(Coker 310). In order to fully appreciate the impact and significance of the
single version of One More Chance, the music video must be taken into
account. The video for the remix of One More Chance was a star-studded
damn I wish I was there, old-school house party. From Kid Capri to Miamis
own Luke, everybody was in this one. Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Da Brat,
the reggae artist Patra . . . Total sang the hook Oh Biggie give me one more
chance (McDaniels 335). The model, Tyson, Heavy D, R&B sensations
Zhane and SWV, and of course Biggies wife, Faith, all make appearances.
The video is a mid-1990s house party how-to manual in visual form. And the
fact that so many well-known female artists were willing to make cameos
(especially considering the lyrics of the original) was a powerful affirmation
of Biggies irresistible sex appeal with women. The video also reifies for its
viewers B.I.G.s iconic status within the music industry itself. The peoples
champ was also the executives. His mass appeal had micro impressions as
well; at this point in hip hop history the Notorious B.I.G. was being crowned
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king both within the music industry and among millions of fans across the
nation.
Although most of B.I.G.s audience might associate Ready to Die with its
overplayed radio-friendly club-smashing singles, the remainder of the album
explores the much darker, somewhat less marketable themes of homicide and
suicidal mentalities in the crack-infested inner-city environment. Consider the
title track, Ready to Die. It is almost as if certain songs like Ready to
Die, Suicidal Thoughts, and Everyday Struggles are on a separate album from the singles Juicy and Big Poppa. But it is all Biggie Smalls.
Ready to Die chronicles the nihilistic inclinations of a crook who is trapped
at the crossroads of lack and desire. This crossroads of lack and desire is
originally connected to hip hop culture via Tricia Rose in Black Noise (1994),
but the concept itself is crystallized in Houston Bakers Blues Ideology and
Afro American Literature: A Vernacular Theory (1987). B.I.G.s narrator
obviously exists in a world where material wealth is ubiquitous; hence his
undying desire. However, he lacks these resources and any legal means of
obtaining them. The narrator on the album title track, Ready to Die,
captures the predicament of hundreds of thousands of inner-city youth who
are jobless and alienated from social institutions like schools and churches;
yet they must navigate one of the wealthiest nations in the world with little or
no resources. They are therefore ready to die for the material assets that tease
and evade them in a prototypical late capitalist society.
Suicidal Thoughts plays like a stream-of-consciousness rap in which B.I.G.
contemplates taking his own life. In his suicidal reverie, B.I.G. explains why
he prefers hell over a heaven filled with goodie goodies hanging out in a
paradise where Gods rules might be too strict. He does, in sincere tones, ask
for forgiveness from his mother for being an evil son. But there is otherwise
very little remorse in Suicidal Thoughts. To B.I.G., deaths call is comparable to the alluring call of crack cocaine for crackhead characters like Pookie
from New Jack Citymaybe the most famous cinematic crackhead for the
hip hop generation. At one point in New Jack City, Pookie, played by a
young, skinny Chris Rock, pleads with a dealer offering to trade sexual favors
for a five-dollar vial of crack cocaine. Taking into account the manner in
which B.I.G. dies, this analogy between crack/crack addicts and B.I.G. and
death takes on an extraordinarily realistic tenor imbued with a sad seriousness of which most listeners in 1994 were hardly aware (see sidebar: Hip
Hops Culture of Death).
In Everyday Struggles, Biggies narrator exclaims that he doesnt want to
live anymore. He hears death knocking at his front door. This song is the
portrait of the low-level crack dealer, hustling to barely sustain himself on the
violent streets of Brooklyn. Initially this narrator is barely surviving. He cant
enhance his hustle through consignment with his supplier, and in general the
community hates him. He contemplates taking his hustle out of state and
finally starts to make some progress in the drug economy. The final verse
Notorious B.I.G.
Hip Hops Culture of Death

Carlos D. Morrison and Celnisha L. Dangerfield
Hip hop figures seemingly have a fascination with death. Artists boast about
being shot or taking someone out. Bulletproof vests adorn the bodies of
rappers in music videos, gunshots can be heard resounding on the tracks of
CDs, and self-made prophecies of death are put to the rhythm of a beat and
made to rhyme. Songs such as Six Feet Deep, by the Geto Boys, Gangsta
Lean by Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, If I Die 2Nite, by Tupac, and Goodbye
to My Homies, by Master P featuring Silk the Shocker, Sons of Funk, and Mo
B. Dick are dirges to the fallen soldiers in the killing fields of urban America.
When gansta rap hit the mainstream, artists such as N.W.A. spoke of the
atrocities that were commonplace in the hood. They gave many people a
dose of reality. However, what was at first a verbal release of pain and anguish
later became a trend.
For many artists in the gangsta rap era, in order to get signed, it became
almost a necessity to have street credibility and a hard-core reputation. This
included having bullet wounds, carrying guns, and wearing bulletproof vests.
Rhyming about death and murder became fashionable, and the violence
spilled out of the lyrics and into the streets, with the murders of Tupac, Biggie,
Big L, Freaky Tah, and Fat Pat, and the attempted murders of 50 Cent and the
Game.
While 1990s gangsta rap certainly elevated the level of attention to murder
and gun violence in lyrics, old-school hip hop also had its run-ins with death.
DJ Scott LaRoc of Boogie Down Productions was stabbed to death in an
altercation, and Slick Rick was sentenced to prison for attempted murder in
a drive-by shooting. Yet even with this history, to say that rap lyrics influence
or cause violence is to ignore the statistics that tell us that physical violence
and murder occur at alarming rates in impoverished neighborhoods, particularly among young African American men. Rappers who capitalize on real-life
ghetto violence, however, may find themselves, even as major-label recording
artists, not that far removed from the perils of street life. In the film documentary, The MC: Why We Do It, several MCs, including Rakim and Raekwon
the Chef, speak of the dangers of promoting violence and death in lyrics;
people may hear these rhymes and test their veracity by turning their guns on
an MC on the street. For some artists, this lyrical theme of death serves as a
way of selling more records. Many opponents, however, point out that a lot of
the artists that talk about death and violence really dont live the life they rap
about in their songs. However, in the case of Tupac Shakur and fellow rapper
Notorious B.I.G., they certainly lived the lives they talked about in their songs.
The question becomes whether their rap personas were true to their persons,
or if offstage they grew into the personas they created in their music. The
legends of Tupac surviving five bullets and 50 Cent surviving nine shots,
including one to the face, make these rappers seem invincible on their
429
Icons of Hip Hop
430
records, and more hard-core than other artists; this hard-core image appeals
to listeners. The music of the day represents the culture of the day and the
current happenings within a society. Many rappers claim that they are confronted with death every day, but this situation is only heightened when
violence, murder, and death become a point of marketing.
Further Resources
Bruno, Anthony. Gangstas. Courtroom Television Network LLC. 17 February
2006. http://www.crimelibrary.comnotorious_murders/celebrity/shakur_BIG/
index.html.
of the song finds his crew surviving the perils of this violent underground
economy even as he suggests that black criminals face limitations that white
criminals (like John Gotti) do not. In the end though, even after some modicum of success, the refrain completes the song, and the struggle to live even
with the desire to die for material wealth ultimately amounts to not living
at all.
READY TO DIE: BIGGIES MUSIC AND HIS SHORT LIFE IN

THE LIMELIGHT
Most of the tracks on B.I.G.s debut album flip back and forth between two
opposite themes. One theme is the celebration of success in the music industry. Partying, running through numerous anonymous women, and flashing (or
flossing) newly acquired monetary resources dominate the content of these
songs. On the opposite side of the spectrum, other songs are much more
thematically aligned with album title. These rhymes reflect a pursuit of material sustenance and wealth that transcends relentlessness. These songs express the futility of ghetto life in terms explicit and real enough to speak to the
streets, but human enough to avoid myopia (Mao 309). In each of these
darker tracks, B.I.G.s narrator is literally ready to die for material gain, but
this preparedness is not glorified. It is not sexy or appealing. In fact, B.I.G.
makes it clear that being ready to die for material things is, in many real-life
cases, the equivalent of already being dead.
Ready to Die went on to sell millions of records. It was certified quadruple
platinum on October 19, 1999. Along with several other debut albums from
New York City artists (Nass Illmatic, Wu-Tangs Enter the Wu-Tang (36
Chambers), and Black Moons Enta da Stage), Ready to Die recaptured the
flag for East Coast hip hop. But most, if not all, of these artists avoided the
ultraviolent pitfalls of overexposure that surely contributed to B.I.G.s early
and unfortunate death. We nodded our heads in affirmation and then when
Notorious B.I.G.
Biggie named his first album Ready to Die we all acted surprised when it
happened. Word is bond, son. Plain and simple (Williams 171).
Many artists with B.I.G.s level of popularity would be criticized for taking
nearly three years to release a sophomore album, but B.I.G. was extraordinarily busy between Ready to Die and the first of three posthumous releases,
Life After Death. On the heels of the One More Chance remixes, B.I.G.s
Brooklyn protegees, Junior M.A.F.I.A. (featuring Lil Cease and Lil Kim),
released Conspiracy on Undeas/Big Beat Records. Two powerhouse singles,
Players Anthem and Get Money, provide the prototypical soundtrack
for ghetto fabulous aspirations; you can almost hear the Cristal bottles popping within their incessantly hooky productions (Mao 314). Conspiracy has
yet to be certified platinum, but the timing of the release of these two popular
singles almost immediately following the last releases from Ready to Die
further reinforced B.I.G. as the icon of hip hop culture. He also clearly targeted the heart of mainstream success in the music industry with as much
relentless desire as those grimy narrators on the darkest Ready to Die tracks.
B.I.G. also had several minor single releases during that time. Some of these
releases were live recordings (at the Palladium in New York and in Philadelphia) and or soundtrack singles (Def Jams soundtrack for the concert film
The Show). In 1995, DJ Mister Cee released the Best of Biggie mixtape.
Lovingly compiled (in near chronological order no less) with little intrusive
or extraneous cutting by the man who gave Big his first significant break in
the music business, it is an essential document of the first half of Biggies
career (Mao 315). Again, this constant release of performances and singles
provided audiences with a sense that B.I.G.s artistry was boundless and that
no matter how much we heard from him we still wanted to hear more. In
1996, B.I.G. collaborated with Jay-Z on Brooklyns Finest, a classic collaboration with his Brooklyn partner in rhyme. But probably the most important project that B.I.G. worked on (other than his own) was Lil Kims debut
album, Hard Core.
There were a lot of women in B.I.G.s short and extraordinary life. But very
few of these women had a significant impact. His mother, Voletta, was, of
course, a dominant force. She raised him and shaped his powerful personality
in ways that only those engaged in strong mother-son relationships might
appreciate. The mother of his first child, daughter Tyanna, was probably
Bigs first young love (Florence Jan Tucker). His only wife, Faith, was a
whirlwind of love, drama, and mother of Bigs only son, Christopher Wallace
Jr. Yet among these powerful women who mothered children for him, Lil
Kim clearly had a special place in B.I.G.s heart. Artistically she continues to
take her cues from him (nearly ten years after his passing), but while he was
alive they were able to pour all of their illicit affection for each other into one
of the most powerful and sexually explicit albums ever released in hip hop (by
either a male or female solo artist), Lil Kims Hard Core. Purely out of
respect for the Wallace family, Kim Jones, and Faith and her new family,
431
The Native Tongues
Renegades of Funk. Tommy Boy, 1983.

Beware (The Funk Is Everywhere). Tommy Boy, 1986.
A Tribe Called Quest

Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. Jive, 1990.
The Low End Theory. Jive, 1992.
Midnight Marauders. Jive, 1994.
Beats, Rhymes and Life. Jive, 1996.
The Love Movement. Jive, 1998.
Solo Albums from Members of A Tribe Called Quest

Q-Tip. Amplified. Arista, 1999.
Phife Dawg. Ventilation: Da LP. Groove Attack, 2000.
Ali Shaheed Muhammed. Shaheedullah and Stereotypes. Penalty, 2004.
Black Sheep
A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing. Mercury, 1991.
Non-Fiction. Mercury, 1994.
De La Soul
3 Feet High and Rising. Tommy Boy, 1989.
De La Soul Is Dead. Tommy Boy, 1991.
Buhloone Mind State. Tommy Boy 1993.
Stakes Is High. Tommy Boy, 1996.
Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump. Tommy Boy, 2000.
AOI II: Bionix. Tommy Boy, 2001.
The Grind Date. Sanctuary, 2004.
The Impossible Mission: TV Series Part 1. AOI, 2006.
The Jungle Brothers

Straight Out the Jungle. Warner Brothers, 1988.
Done by the Forces of Nature. Warner Brothers, 1989.
Queen Latifah
All Hail the Queen. Tommy Boy, 1989.
291
ICONS OF HIP HOP
Recent Titles in
Greenwood Icons
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Kateri Drexler
ICONS OF HIP HOP

An Encyclopedia of the
Movement, Music, And Culture
VOLUME 2
Edited by Mickey Hess
Greenwood Icons
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut . London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Icons of hip hop : an encyclopedia of the movement, music, and culture / edited by Mickey
Hess.
p. cm. (Greenwood icons)
Includes bibliographical references, discographies, and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33902-8 (set : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33903-5 (vol 1 : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33904-2 (vol 2 : alk. paper)
1. Rap musiciansBiography. 2. TurntablistsBiography. 3. Rap (Music)History and
criticism. 4. Hip-hop. I. Hess, Mickey, 1975
ML394. I26 2007
782.421649'03dc22
2007008194
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright 2007 by Mickey Hess
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007008194
ISBN-10: 0-313-33902-3 (set)
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33902-8 (set)
0-313-33903-1 (vol. 1)
978-0-313-33903-5 (vol. 1)
0-313-33904-X (vol. 2)
978-0-313-33904-2 (vol. 2)
First published in 2007
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the

Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Photos
vii
Volume One
Foreword, Jeru the Damaja
ix
Preface
xiii
Introduction
xvii
A Timeline of Hip Hop History, Nicole Hodges Persley
xxi
Kool Herc, Wayne Marshall

Grandmaster Flash, H.C. Williams
Roxanne Shante, Thembisa S. Mshaka
Run-DMC, Jeb Aram Middlebrook
Beastie Boys, Mickey Hess
MC Lyte, Jennifer R. Young
Eric B. & Rakim, Shawn Bernardo
Public Enemy, George Ciccariello-Maher
Salt-N-Pepa, Athena Elafros
Queen Latifah, Faiza Hirji
The Geto Boys, Jason D. Haugen
The Native Tongues, Aine McGlynn
1
27
51
69
91
117
141
169
193
217
243
265
Volume Two
Preface
Ice Cube, David J. Leonard
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, David Diallo
ix
293
317
Contents
vi
Nas, Susan Weinstein

Wu-Tang Clan, Jessica Elliott and Mickey Hess
Tupac Shakur, Carlos D. Morrison and Celnisha L. Dangerfield
Notorious B.I.G., James Peterson
Lil Kim, Aine McGlynn
Outkast, T. Hasan Johnson
Eminem, Katherine V. Tsiopos-Wills
Missy Elliot, Joi Carr
Jay-Z, T. Hasan Johnson
Kanye West, Todd Dills
341
365
391
417
439
457
481
503
529
555
Interviews:
Let Em In: An Interview with DJ Premier, Shamika Ann Mitchell
Word Up: An Interview with DJ Scratch, Shamika Ann Mitchell
579
591
Afterword: The Twenty-Four Most Overlooked MCs in Hip Hop,

Masta Ace
603
609
613
Index
621
List of Photos
DJ Kool Herc (page 1) speaking at a news conference to launch Hip-Hop
Wont Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life, the first ever hip-hop
initiative at the Smithsonians National Museum of American History in
New York, 2006. AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams.
Grandmaster Flash (page 27) performing live at Wembley Arena in London,
1985. S.I.N / Alamy.
Roxanne Shante (page 51). David Corio.
Run DMC (page 69), ca. 1985. Courtesy of Photofest.
Beastie Boys (page 91), 1998. Courtesy of Photofest.
MC Lyte (page 117). Courtesy of Photofest.
Eric B and Rakim (page 141). Waring Abbott / Alamy.
Public Enemy (page 169). Courtesy of Photofest.
Salt n Pepa (page 193), ca. 1994. Courtesy of Photofest.
Queen Latifah (page 217). Courtesy of Photofest.
The Geto Boys (page 243) arrive at the 2004 Source Hip-Hop Music Awards
at the James L. Knight Center, October 10, 2004 in Miami, Florida.
Orlando Garcia / Getty Image.
De La Soul (page 265), one of the founding members of the Native Tongues
posse, along with A Tribe Called Quest, the Jungle Brothers, Afrika
Bambaataa, and others. David Corio.
Ice Cube (page 293). Courtesy of Photofest.
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg (page 317), 1993. Courtesy of Photofest.
Nas (page 341), 1994. Courtesy of Photofest.
List of Photos
viii
Wu Tang Clan (page 365), 2000. Kevin Winter / Getty Images.

Tupac Shakur (page 391), 1996. Courtesy of Photofest.
Notorious B.I.G. (page 417), ca. 1997. Courtesy of Photofest.
Lil Kim (page 439) in the pressroom at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
in New York. AP Photo / Tammie Arroyo.
Big Boi and Andre 3000 (page 457) pose in front of the three awards they
won at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, 2004. AP Photo / Reed
Saxon.
Eminem (page 481), 2000. Courtesy of Photofest.
Missy Elliot (page 503) performs during the 2003 MTV Europe Music
Awards in Edinburgh, Scotland. Courtesy of Photofest.
Jay-Z (page 529) rapper and CEO of Def Jam Records, 2001. Courtesy of
Photofest.
Kanye West (page 555) performs Jesus Walks at the 47th Annual Grammy
Awards in Los Angeles, 2005. AP Photo / Kevork Djansezian.
Preface
Choosing the twenty-four most important hip hop artists of all time is no easy
task. From Kool Herc to Kanye West, Icons of Hip Hop spans four decades of
MCs and DJs, old-school pioneers and new-school innovators, to profile the
figures who have made hip hop music what it is today. Hip hop music, once
considered a passing fad, continues to thrive and evolve more than thirty
years into its history. Icons of Hip Hop presents the stories of twenty-four
important figures who have contributed to the musics development and
success.
Our profiles begin with Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, two DJs who
established hip hops musical foundation with their invention of breakbeats
and turntable scratching. These hip hop pioneers collected funk and soul
records and transformed their record players into instruments that created
new sounds through backspinning and scratching. These turntable techniques, along with digital samplers and drum machines, form the backbone of
hip hop music. The sounds that DJs like Herc, Flash, Afrika Bambaataa,
Pete DJ Jones, and Grandwizard Theodore invented have been built upon by
three decades of DJs and producers, from Rick Rubin and Jam Master Jay to
Eric B and the Bomb Squad to DJ Premier, DJ Scratch, Dr. Dre, and Kanye
West.
At Kool Hercs block parties in the 1970s, the DJ was the focal point of the
performance, and the MC, or rapper, served chiefly to call the crowds
attention to the DJ and to entice people onto the dance floor. As early MCs like
Coke La Rock and Busy Bee began to develop more complex rhyming routines,
the MC came into his own. Famous MC battles, such as the 1982 competition
between Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee, took rhyming to a new level as these
MCs sought to win over the crowd with their rhyme structure, wordplay, and
wit. Whether hyping up the DJ or boasting about his or her own skills on the
mic, the MC was always a crowd pleaser. With the 1979 release of Sugarhill
Gangs Rappers Delight, the first hip hop record to reach mainstream radio
worldwide, the rapper became the face of commercial rap music.
Preface
Rappers Delight also introduced mainstream listeners to the terms rap

and hip hop. The song begins with the words, I said a hip hop. . . . From
that early moment in hip hop history, when rap and hip hop were used in the
title and first lines of the same song, the meanings of these two terms have
been debated. When many fans and artists talk about hip hop, they explain
that it is a culture that expands beyond music to include four central elements:
graffiti art (aka tagging or writing), b-boying (aka break dancing, popping,
and locking), DJing (aka turntablism, or mixing, cutting, and scratching
records), and MCing (aka rapping or rhyming). On his song 9 Elements,
KRS-One expanded this definition to include five more elements: beatboxing,
fashion, language, street knowledge, and entrepreneurialism. In his lyrics to
9 Elements, KRS makes the distinction that to rap is merely an action that
anyone can take, but Hip hop is something you live. Both terms, hip hop
and rap, however, are used to describe music. To distinguish between the two
forms, the term hip hop music is often used to designate a song that holds true
to hip hops orginal aesthetic rather than appealing to a pop audience, and the
term MC, as opposed to rapper, is often used to designate a hip hop vocalist
who holds true to this same aesthetic. In an exclusive interview for Icons of
Hip Hop, Roxanne Shante explained the difference between MCs and rappers:
Rappers need videos, MCs dont.
Although Shante eventually did make a video, she first made her name going
head-to-head with other MCs in the street. Her record Roxannes Revenge,
hailed as one of hip hops first answer records, took rhyme battles into the
recording studio as she responded to a single, Roxanne, Roxanne, by the
group UTFO. Roxanne initiated a series of answer records from several
different MCs, and extended hip hops competitive element to recordings and
radio airplay. Video airplay would become even more important to RunDMC, whose visual imagery of black fedoras, gold chains, and unlaced Adidas
sneakers would introduce hip hop fashion to MTV audiences. As hip hop
culture moved into mainstream outlets like MTV, listeners sought to preserve
the original culture by making distinctions about which songs counted as real
hip hop and which were created for crossover success on the pop charts. In
the mid-1990s, MC Hammer dropped the MC from his name, claiming he
was in the business of entertainment rather than hip hop, in response
to criticisms that his pop hits like U Cant Touch This were selling out
hip hop culture. Debates about what characteristics consitute rap or hip hop
rage on today as artists like Defari claim to make real hip hop rather than
pop rap.
Ideological distinctions aside, however, rap music is an inextricable part of
hip hop culture. Artists and listeners will continue to argue about which MCs
are making music to make money and which ones do it out of a pure love for
hip hop, but even as these debates continue, we should remember that the
shiny suits and diamond grills we see on MTV and BET in the twenty-first
century are as much a part of hip hop as the Kangol hats and Fila jumpsuits
Preface
worn by hip hoppers in New York City parks in the 1980s. Rather than
debating which figures belong to rap and which to hip hop, Icons of Hip Hop
showcases the inventions and innovations of twenty-four musical icons from
1973 to 2007. Even at two volumes, however, our icon profiles are not
comprehensive. As with any collection, there are omissions. Throughout the
book, however, we make connections to other MCs, DJs, and producers
whose stories intersect with the twenty-four figures we have chosen. Each
profile discusses and cross-references other artists connected with the icon at
hand. A foreword from Jeru the Damaja, a rapper included in Kool Moe
Dees list of the top fifty MCs of all time, credits the artists who influenced
his rhyme style. Nicole Hodges Persleys timeline of hip hop history highlights
the innovations of artists like Kurtis Blow and Schoolly D, icons who are
not included in our twenty-four in-depth profiles. An afterword by veteran
rap artist Masta Ace lists the twenty-four most overlooked hip hop icons, who
are worthy of further study. Exclusive interviews with Masta Ace, Roxanne
Shante, Mystic, and Kool DJ Red Alert, included in the Roxanne Shante
profile, provide a firsthand account of the development of the first female
MC to spark a national trend. And finally, Shamika Ann Mitchells exclusive
interviews with DJ Premier and DJ Scratch give further attention to producers, the people behind the music, as icons.
The scope of Icons of Hip Hop is intentionally broad in that we seek to
profile old-school orginators as well as new-school innovators, devote attention to the different regions that have contributed to what hip hop culture
has become in the United States, and recover the stories of lesser-known
artists. As the editor, I sought to pay homage to those artists, like Ice Cube
and Eminem, who typically come to mind when hip hop is mentioned, but
also to call attention to groups like the Native Tongues and Eric B. & Rakim,
that havent matched Ice Cubes sales but that rank high on many fans lists of
the best rappers of all time. In short, the twenty-four artists profiled in these
two volumes were chosen based on their unique contributions to the development of hip hop music, style, and culture: Grandmaster Flash made the
turntables an instrument, Eric B. & Rakim created more complex rhyme
flows, MC Lyte proved that women could rap with aggression, Outkast
shifted attention to Southern hip hop, and the Native Tongues provided a
much-needed critique of hip hop culture itself. Each essay ends with a section
on the legacy of the artists, which emphasizes their influence on hip-hop
today and their importance to hip hop in the future. We include producers
and DJs as well as MCs, fan favorites as well as platinum-selling artists,
women as well as men, and Atlanta and Houston as well as New York and
Los Angeles. With this approach to selecting its subjects, Icons of Hip Hop
presents a historical and cultural framework for hip hop that extends to
current or emerging artists, unearths the histories of important artists from
outside hip hops mainstream, and examines the varied and ever-changing
forms of the music.
xi
xii
Preface

Mickey Hess
Ice Cube
David J. Leonard
As a member of N.W.A., and then as a solo artist, Ice Cube sat at the forefront of gangsta rap. His lyrical brilliance and affected gangsta identity built
the popularity of gangsta rap and West Coast hip hop. Speaking to and for
disempowered and disenfranchised youth, Cube used the platform provided
by hip hop to blow up, all the while giving voice to what was going on in the
hood, from drug dealing and gang banging to police brutality and impoverished, jobless families. Equally important, Cube helped facilitate hip hops
emergence as a news bureau of sorts, often describing his work as that of
294
Icons of Hip Hop
a street reporter. Cubes career also mirrors hip hops history in that Cube has
faced significant opposition and condemnation from mainstream America. In
fact, Cube, both as a member of N.W.A. and as a solo artist, has been at the
center of a significant level of controversy because of his lyrical treatment of
police brutality, black-Korean relations, women, and gays and lesbians. Yet
even with his career characterized by controversy, Cube has emerged as possibly the most successful artist to cross over to the mainstream, not only as a
rapper but as an actor, filmmaker, writer, and television executive. In fact,
Cube symbolizes the life span of hip hop, having grown up to a point where
he can make family films and television shows for the FX network, even as he
continues to produce hip hop albums.
Although one view of Ice Cubes career sees him leaving behind hip hop for
the allure of mainstream acceptance, another perspective sees Cubes career as
a rags-to-riches story in which he uses music to rise out of the same social
conditions he describes in his lyrics. The life and times of Cube is a story of
hip hop, a complex narrative of inclusion and exclusion, progressive and
reactionary agendas, crossover appeal and mainstream demonization, performed identities and keeping it real, and of course the continuity of poverty,
despair, and cultural resistance. Hip hop is Ice Cube and Ice Cube is hip hop
not just in abstract terms, but in its stories and development as a fundamental
American cultural institution.
Born in 1969, Oshea Jackson came into the world in the aftermath of the
Watts Riots and amid struggles over community control within South Central
Los Angeles and other black communities throughout the nation. Insulated
from the streets by his parents, Jacksons childhood was relatively uneventful. His parents, Hosea (a machinist and groundskeeper at the University of
California, Los Angeles) and Doris (a hospital clerk) were loving and dedicated
parents, who went to every length to both protect and empower young Oshea,
giving him just enough freedom to develop as an independent thinker without
sacrificing discipline and safety. His parents were not alone; his older brother,
Clyde, who would eventually rename Oshea Ice Cube because of his coolness
around girls, served as a protective force in his life: He was there. He kept me
on the right track. You dont realize that till you see other people who grew up
without fathers and how their lives turn out (McIver 12). Often excluding his
mother from such praise while handing most of it to his father and brother,
Cube has celebrated the discipline and guidance provided by these men, especially as South Central Los Angeles became more and more violent. The combination of shrinking social services, declining job opportunities, and an
increasingly powerful police state during the 1970s resulted in a less than
idyllic neighborhood. Gangs and drugs slowly infiltrated South Central, causing an even greater loss of jobs, social services, and police presence. In such an
environment, Osheas parents did everything to protect him, while still allowing him to be a kid who played football and basketball, and roamed the
neighborhood. In fact, his childhood mirrored a typical narrative for American
Ice Cube
children, as he explored the spectrum of offerings available to him in South

Central Los Angeles, even as increasing levels of violence and shrinking investment in childrens programs limited his play spaces. Yet his parents did not
respond to the changes in his community with fear and overprotection. Instead
they allowed Cube to explore the streets, contributing to his sense of self and
community, something that would motivate him for years to come. Ice Cubes
childhood established an important foundation for his music career, instilling
in him an immense amount of confidence and respect for family and school
(although he would often eschew these values in his lyrics).
Ice Cubes career took him from novice high school rapper to controversial
cultural figure, to hip hop icon, to major Hollywood player. No matter the
project before him, Cube manages to express his social consciousness in his art;
family, friends, the hood, racism, misogyny, police brutality, and education
all, at different times and with varying degrees of potency, take center stage in
Ice Cubes productions. After Cube completed grammar school, the Jackson
family faced the difficult decision of where he would attend middle school.
Violence and shrinking funds in Los Angeles public schools created uncertainty in the family. After learning that Randy, Cubes best friend, would be
attending Hawthorne Christian School, which was located in the Valley some
twenty miles east of downtown Los Angeles, the Jacksons decided to reunite
the boys at Hawthorne. While crucial in Cubes own persona and artistic
development, the experience was certainly not a positive one. Besides the
lengthy commute that many black children experienced with busing, Cubes
educational experience thrust him into an environment of gang rivalries. It
exposed him to increased violence and stress, as his classmates included Bloods
and Crips from rival gangs, brought to the same schools through busing.The
experience taught Cube a lot about American race relations and how busing
sought to bring together black and white students but did so without regard for
the safety, educational development, and personal well-being of the students,
particularly the black students. It also dramatically impacted Cube in terms of
his interest in school, given the lack of respect afforded to students within this
chaotic environment. The violence, the lessons about race, and his experience
crossing borders and seeing other parts of Los Angeles all had a profound
effect on Cubes outlook and philosophies, some of which can be seen in his
lyrics. The experience turned Cube off school, and his parents removed him
from Hawthorne, choosing to enroll him at William Howard Taft High
School, located in Woodland Hills, a place where he would discover his passion for music alongside a revitalized focus on school and education.
ICE CUBE AND THE EMERGENCE OF WEST COAST GANGSTA RAP

As he entered Taft, Ice Cube was listening to everything from Rappers
Delight to Grandmaster Flashs The Message, the music of Afrika
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Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, DJ Kool Herc, and so many other East
Coast rappers. Rap was emerging as a voice for the underclass. Serving as
vehicle of empowerment and communal bonding, hip hop became a form of
cultural resistance and empowerment for black youth throughout the United
States. Inspired by the music and his burgeoning friendships with several
classmates at Taft, Cube would find his voice in hip hop. In 1983, Cube
penned his first rhyme during a typing class. Discussing the newest cuts from
Run-DMC, his classmate Kiddo challenged Cube to an impromptu battle of
their own. As they each sat down to write their own lyrics, to settle once and
for all who could pen the dopest rhymes, Cube transformed himself from a
listener of hip hop, someone who found voice and empowerment in the
artistry of others, to a practitioner, an artist who used rap to illuminate,
educate, pontificate, and of course give voice to his and his friends anger,
dreams, and frustrations.
Although he hadnt yet developed the rhyme skills for which he would
become known, Cube remained focused on developing his game. After hearing the outcome of Cubes battle with Kiddo, Tony Wheatcob, a Taft classmate who, as Sir Jinx, would become a successful rap producer, proposed a
collaboration. Cube and Jinx put a tape together in Jinxs garage, and
throughout high school they would continue to write and perform their music, all the while devloping their hip hop skills (Chang 299).
By 1986, a hip hop scene had emerged on the West Coast, and once again
Jinx would play an instrumental role in Cubes development. He introduced
Cube to his cousin, a young man from South Central named Andre Young,
who was performer and producer with World Class Wreckin Cru, an up-andcoming hip hop group in the LA scene. Upon their introduction, Cube and
Andre, aka Dr. Dre, began hanging together (Chang 300). After Dre heard
one of Cubes raps, he invited him on a shopping trip. He also introduced
Cube to his party scene, inviting him to the numerous parties he gave at a
local roller rink. One night Dre alerted Cube that he and Jinx should prepare
to perform at the next roller rink party. This was just the break they needed:
Cube and Jinx found the right mix of comedy, serious lyrical content, and
cussing to reach the audience, building on this singular party to a blossoming
place in Los Angeless hip hop scene.
In addition to hanging with Dre and performing at his parties, Cube formed
his own group at Taftthe Stereo Crew. Selling over fifty tapes and known
throughout the community, Stereo Crew put Cube on the local hip hop map.
Their songs Getting Sweated and Shes a Skag, were both relatively
popular among high school kids in the area. However, Stereo Crew would
not last. After their breakup, Cube would join forces with Sir Jinx and Kid
Disaster to form CIACru in Action. Although still in high school, CIA
possessed quite a following, even releasing a Dre-produced single on vinyl,
which contained several notable songs: My Posse, Just 4 the cash $, and
Ill-legal.
Ice Cube
Simultaneous to Cubes rise within the local hip hop scene, a young drug
dealer and entrepreneur who went by the name of Eazy-E emerged on the
scene in Compton, California. In 1986, their paths would cross, after Dre
asked Eazy-E, whom he had met previously, for a $900 loan to post bail (he
had been arrested because of a series of unpaid traffic violations). Eazy agreed
to give Dre the money if he agreed to produce for a label he was developing,
one he would call Ruthless Records. Even though their working relationship
grew out of necessity, it quickly blossomed, with Eazy-E providing Dre with
unlimited support and near autonomy. Dre would soon discover HBO (Home
Boys Only), a New Yorkbased rap group whose skill impressed Eazy and
Dre enough to offer them a record deal. Unfortunately, neither HBO nor Dre
and Eazy-E had writing skills, making the production of a single difficult. Dre
suggested that Ice Cubes lyrics could deliver a hit for HBO, and authored
Boyz N the Hood, a song about violence and gang life in American ghettos.
The members of HBO did not see its merits, but Cube, Dre, and Eazy all loved
it. When HBO refused to record the song, they severed ties with Ruthless
Records and left Eazy-E in a difficult position: a song, but no artist; studio
time paid for but no one to record. Desperate, given the potentially damaging
financial effects of not using the studio time, Dre offered another solution:
Eazy, despite being a rap novice, should record the song himself, being the
truest embodiment of a boy from the hood. After much persuading from both
Cube and Dre, Eazy relented, agreeing to record Boyz. Cube, Eazy, and Dre
initially sold the single out of the trunks of their cars until Macola Records,
who released the single, agreed to distribute it as well. The popularity of the
song convinced Eazy-E to request additional songs from Ice Cube, who delivered 8-Ball, a track on Old English 800 malt liquor, and Dopeman,
a tale about a neighborhood crack dealer.
N.W.A. IS BORN
Although Cube, Dre, and Eazy were each committed to their own groups, the
success of Boyz, coupled with some difficulties each were facing (both Dre
and Cube felt somewhat exploited by Lonzo Williams, the producer for both
World Class Wreckin Cru and CIA), made them think about forming a new
group. As they came together to record these new songs, they were now
joined by MC Ren, DJ Yella, Arabian Prince, and the D.O.C., all friends of
Cube and Dre, resulting in the formation of N.W.A.Niggaz with Attitude.
This lineup lasted until 1988, when Arabian Prince and The D.O.C. went
solo, leaving the group with its now-classic five-man lineup of Dre, Ice Cube,
MC Ren, Eazy-E, and DJ Yella. Cube would later recount the unceremonious
founding of N.W.A. and the process of naming the group in the following
way: Traveling to the studio, Eazy and Dre informed Cube that the time had
come to officially form their own group, leaving behind their various other
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projects. Wondering what to call themselves, Dre and Eazy came up with a
name that would capture the essence of their identity and music: Niggaz with
Attitude. And just like that, N.W.A. began, West Coast rap had arrived, and
Cube and the rest of the group would forever change the landscape of hip
hop, the music industry, and Americas cultural terrain.
After his initial success in the rap game, Ice Cube would continue his
education, graduating from Taft and then heading to college. His wandering
mindwhich tended to fixate on his own music and had greater interest in
the histories of Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash, and LL Cool J than those
offered in classimpacted his studies. Hosea Jackson, however, cared little
for his sons emerging music career, offering a stern hand and significant
discipline as to his educational focus. In Doin Dumb Shit, Cube would
later rap about his lack of focus and his teenage difficulties, again crediting
his father with keeping him on track. He told listeners that while he almost
did not graduate, he ultimately decided to fuck the dumb shit, cause popsll
fuck me real good. Because of his parents disciplinary approach and emphasis on education, Cube not only graduated high school but went on to
earn a bachelors degree in architectural drafting at age twenty-one. Cube
often praises his parents for instilling this passion for learning and teaching, a
love and lifes work that is evident with his determination in school and with
his artistry (McIver 3940).
In fact, Cube attributes both his perseverance with music and his respect for
education to his parents. In 1987, despite the immense success of Boyz and
an N.W.A. summer tour, Cube decided to take a break from N.W.A. so that
he could attend the Phoenix Institute of Technology in Arizona, where he
studied architectural drafting and design. Cube realized that nothing was
guaranteed within the music industry, especially for a hip hop artist from
South Central Los Angeles, a fact his parents emphasized over and over
again. Given the media backlash against hip hop and constant wondering
when the bubble would burst just as it had for disco, Cube agreed, feeling
it was unlikely that he could make a career with music. After a year, Cube
had successfully completed the program, receiving a degree in architectural
drafting and design, which was perfect timing given the emerging success
of N.W.A.
During that year at school, on vacations in California, Eazy had contacted
Cube in hopes that he would write the lyrics for several songs that would
appear on Es debut album, Eazy-Duz-It, which ultimately proved to be a
tremendous commercial success. Although a solo album, the success of EazyDuz-It not only elevated the place of West Coast hip hop, putting Eazy and
the other members of the N.W.A. on a national map, but demonstrated the
market potential of N.W.A. In summer 1988, after returning from Arizona,
Cube wrote A Bitch Is a Bitch, which would become the fourth single
released by N.W.A. Controversial to say the least, A Bitch Is a Bitch defended male descriptions of women as bitches. The success of this song in the
Ice Cube
clubs and the surrounding controversy convinced Macola Records that the
time was ripe to release N.W.A.s first album: N.W.A. and the Posse. The
album, which featured Boyz N the Hood, 8 Ball, Dopeman, A Bitch
Is a Bitch, and several other tracks, was relatively successful as a club album,
particularly within black clubs on the West Coast, yet the lack of radio play
due to its language (niggas and bitches) and fears about its promotion of
violence limited its success nationally.
Through 1988, N.W.A. continued to grow, leading Ice Cube to focus more
attention on a career in hip hop. Joined by MC Ren during that year, N.W.A.
was ready to take the hip hop world by storm with the release of its second
album, Straight Outta Compton. Changing the face of hip hop and American
music in general, Straight Outta Compton marked the arrival of West Coast
hip hop, gangsta rap, N.W.A., and Ice Cube on the American cultural landscape. Within three months of release, Straight Outta Compton had gone
triple platinum, a feat rarely achieved by any artist, ultimately selling over
3 million copies. Its effect on the music industry was not limited to its financial success in that it served as evidence of the long-term profitability of hip
hop. Moreover, more than any other album, it brought hard-core gangsta rap
with an overtly political message into the American mainstream.
The image and agenda of the album is set in the first moments of the title
track, in which Ice Cube announces that he is a crazy motherfucker with a
sawed off, making it clear that N.W.A.s music would bring listeners into
Americas most dangerous ghetto, a place defined by Uzi-packing gangstas,
brutalizing cops, the dopeman, violence, and other unseemly realities that
American culture tended to ignore, deny, and pathologize. It in turn offered
a counternarrative to the dominant representations and discourse, from that
of the news media to the reports of politicians like Daniel Patrick Moynihan;
it chronicled the good, the bad, and the ugly, as any street reporter would do.
In songs like Straight Outta Compton, and Gangsta Gangsta, N.W.A.
sought to force America to deal with or reconcile its immense problems and
reflect on its contradictions. Ice Cube described the album as an attempt to
give voice to the streets, to explain the basis of communal anger (McIver 53).
Through Cubes powerful lyrics, N.W.A. would introduce America to poverty, drive-bys, drug dealing, police brutality, and sadness; since most
Americans feared places like Compton and made judgments without seeing,
N.W.A. forced them to look and listen through their airwaves. No song
embodied their desire to give voice to the underclass and its anger better than
Fuck tha Police.
Chronicling the brutality and daily occurrence of police abuse, Fuck tha
Police documents the sordid and racist history of the LAPD and the daily
experience of brutality faced by black youth. Cube tells listeners that young
nigga got it bad cause Im brown, yet the song provides ample specifics: black
cops being just as guilty as white cops in terms of brutalizing black youth; the
ubiquity of racial profiling, and the daily police searches that resulted from
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300
black youths fitting the stereotype of a drug dealer or a criminal, and even the
occurrence of police murders. While common and accepted knowledge within
much of the black community, such criticism and condemnations of police
officers, admired and revered in much of America, prompted a powerful backlash. Police officers throughout the country refused to work at N.W.A. concerts, while the FBI sent a letter to the members of N.W.A. condemning the
song for its promotion of violence and overall disrespect for both the rule of
law and law enforcement officials. Not surprisingly, Cube scoffed at such
criticism, making clear that it was the police who were guilty of disrespect
and promoting violence within the black community. Although Eazy-E tended
to brush off these criticisms with claims that the group and its fans didnt care if
the album or any of its songs offended the police or the FBI, Ice Cube defended
his lyrics and their music by invoking the truthfulness and authenticity of
experience behind the music. If their music offended people, it was not the
fault of N.W.A., since the words merely described the reality of their world.
Such a defense wasnt limited to the outcry over Fuck tha Police, but extended to criticisms that NWA glorified gangsta violence and promoted misogyny and homophobia. For example, through the media and in a published
conversation with bell hooks, a black feminist cultural critic, Cube questioned
the basis of accusations of misogyny, claiming that his use of the term bitch did
not describe all women but those scandalous and devious women whom he had
met during his lifetime. Yet Cube also recognized then and most certainly in
later interviews that the lyrical description of women and gays and lesbians
reflected where he, and N.W.A., were when he was nineteen years old.
Straight Outta Compton left a lasting mark on the American cultural landscape, shifting the balance of power in hip hop from the East Coast to the
West Coast and bringing the ghettos of a postcivil rights America and the
stories of its gangsta residents to white suburban America. This success and
popularity reflected the power and brilliance of Cubes lyrics as well as the
phatness in N.W.A.s beats; moreover, it showed the pleasure derived from
their lurid stories of murder, mayhem, violence, and brutality. Most significantly, the success of N.W.A. with Straight Outta Compton reflected the
dialectics of their marketing strategy, one that emphasized the truthfulness
and authenticity of their music and those popular discourses that reduced
blackness, particularly young black males, to images of criminals, deviants,
drug dealers, and murderers. In other words, the power of Cubes lyrics and
of course Cube himself with his perpetual scowl and endless swearing reflected their realness, a fact emphasized by N.W.A. and embraced by listeners.
GOING SOLO
In 1989, as Ice Cube and N.W.A. went on tour, Cubes commitment to the
group began to wane. During that summer, he began a friendship with
Ice Cube
Pat Charbonet, a publicist with Priority Records. During one of their many
conversations about N.W.A.s future and the endless possibilities for the
group, Charbonet asked Cube how royalty payments were split between
the group members and their manager, Jerry Heller.
Unable to answer these questions and concerned where the money was
going, Cube requested a meeting of the band to discuss finances, especially
any arrangements between Heller and Eazy-E that gave a larger perecentage
to Eazy. At the meeting, Heller, whom Eazy advised to attend, offered each
member a new contract along with a $75,000 signing bonus. Everyone but Ice
Cube signed that day; Cube, already skeptical, told Heller and Eazy that he
wanted to consult a lawyer. After meeting with both a lawyer and an accountant, Cube was advised never to sign the contract for a number of reasons, all
of which demonstrate the lack of fair compensation in the deal: The Straight
Outta Compton tour had grossed $650,000, of which $130,000 went to
Heller and only $23,000 went to Cube. Although he had written half the
tracks on Straight Outta Compton, he was only paid $32,000 for his work on
the album. The terms of the new contract offered Cube a large cash bonus up
front, yet still mimicked these past arrangements for royalties, which in
Cubes estimation was neither fair nor equitable.
In addition to the royalty structures, the contract established a relationship
between Cube and Ruthless Records but made no mention of Cube being a
full member of N.W.A. To Cube, there was little choice but to leave the group
(he would later sue Heller and settle the case out of court). Although Cube
faced some teasing from other members of N.W.A., who questioned his sanity
for turning down $75,000 and made jokes about how he wanted to go solo
like the Arabian Prince (whose career had not been successful), he left N.W.A.
on relatively good terms. In fact, immediately after his departure, he contacted Yella, Dre, and the others about working with him on his solo album,
all of whom declined because they were busy working on Eazys second
album. In the end, this was a blessing in disguise, resulting in Cubes teaming
up with the Bomb Squad, an East Coast group who had worked with Public
Enemy, and the Da Lench Mob, a group from Southern California, to produce his debut album. His decision to produce the album in New York and
join forces with an East Coast crew opened up many opportunities for Cube,
neutralizing some of the disrespect that many West Coast artists faced from
those on the East side.
AmeriKKKas Most Wanted was released on May 16, 1990, to much fanfare and critical acclaim. The genius of AmeriKKKas Most Wanted rests not
just with Cubes ability to give voice to Americas underclass and offer counternarratives, political commentaries, and powerful stories, but through the
introspection, self-reflection, and his ability to provide listeners with multiple
perspectives, some of which illustrated his own contradictions and shortcomings. For example, in You Cant Fade Me, Cube tells how he got a girl
pregnant; scared, he wonders if he should give her the money or abort the
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baby with a kick to the tummy. He neither endorses nor rationalizes sentiments, using the song to question and problematize his own thoughts. Yet the
power of Cubes lyrics exists in the next line, where he demonizes the consequences of domestic violence. Notwithstanding this newfound self-awareness,
the misogyny evident during the N.W.A. years was on full display with
Get Off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here. Yet, with this album
he offers something more with Its a Mans World, a duet with his cousin Yo
Yo (Yolanda Whitaker) in which she chastises Cube for his misogynist and
sexist views of women. Still, Cubes focus on state violence, on the effects of
police brutality within his community, mass incarceration, and poverty remained his trademark. In Endangered Species, he laments the lack of concern for police brutality and cop killings, noting the absence of justice within
Americas ghettos. To him, the police exist to serve, protect and break a
niggas neck. The consistency of Cubes antipolice brutality stance and his
efforts to give voice to the underclass alongside the albums complexity and
self-reflection embodies the greatness of AmeriKKKas Most Wanted. Spin
magazine called the album a masterpiece, and The Source awarded it the
much-coveted five microphone rating. Despite limited radio play, the album
spent several weeks on the Top 20 Billboard charts. Its success and his formation of Street Knowledge Productions (with Pat Charbonet) seemed to indicate that Cube had successfully left N.W.A. behind, moving on to a solo
career without the proverbial public spats, yet it would be clear that his ties to
N.W.A. would be difficult to sever.
In November 1990, members of N.W.A. appeared on Pump It Up, a hip
hop TV show hosted by Dee Barnes, to promote their new album, 100 Miles
and Runnin. During the course of the interview, its members dissed Cube,
dismissing questions as to whether they would miss him. Shortly thereafter,
Cube appeared on the show, offering similar insults and disparaging commentary about N.W.A. Worse, the producers of the show decided to edit the
two interviews to create a single package that would overemphasize the battle
and the mutual dislike between Cube and NWA. Despite the warning by
Barnes that it was not a good idea, the producers went ahead with its airing,
adding fuel to a smoldering fire with close-up shots of Yella crushing an ice
cube with his shoes juxtaposed with Cube mocking the title of their new
album as evidence of their failure, their lack of manhood, and fear of Cube:
In his absence, they were 100 miles away and running. Their appearance on
Pump It Up resulted in significant media coverage, especially following Dres
assault of Barnes and a more public battle between Cube and members of
N.W.A., particularly Eazy-E. Still, Cube paid little mind to his former bandmates, focusing on his own personal and professional development, both of
which became evident with the release of Death Certificate.
For Ice Cube, 1990 was a year of transition: from posse member to solo
artist, from apprentice to master and mentor, from lyricist to artist and producer, from vocal misogynist to an individual with more enlightened views
Eminem
Katherine V. Tsiopos-Wills
Born October 17, 1972, Eminem rhymed his way onto the hip hop scene in
the 1990s with lyrical innovations and multiplatinum sales, securing his place
as an icon of hip hop. As hip hops first new white superstar since Vanilla Ice
was exposed for lying about his upbringing and criminal background,
Eminem regained respect for white rappers by showing an understanding of
hip hop traditions and keeping his lyrics true to his own experiences.
Eminem was born in rural Missouri. Throughout his childhood, he and his
tattered family moved back and forth between Kansas City and Detroit, cities
Eminem
Eminem was nine years old when his uncle, Ronald (Ronnie) Dean Polkingharn, introduced him to his first rap song. Eminem and Ronnie were less
than three months apart in age. Ronnie played Ice-Ts Reckless from the
1984 Breakin soundtrack. From then on, the two best friends listened to rap
tapes and recorded their own whenever they could. Ronnie committed suicide
on December 14, 1991, at the age of nineteen, leaving Eminem to deal with
the loss of his uncle, close friend, and rap partner. The impact of this loss is
evident in Eminems life and career: he tattooed his arm in tribute to his uncle,
and he commemorated him in the song Cleaning Out My Closet. Prior to
Ronnies death, Eminem had begun working toward a career in rap, and
Ronnies suicide gave him even more motivation toward making his music.
In 1990, Eminem and Proof (DeShaun Holton) formed D-12. Proof, who
also performed with the group 5 Elementz, had the idea to form the band as
they continued to practice and perform their music in Detroit basements. The
band name D-12 is derived from Dirty Dozen: there are six MCs in the band
but each MC has an alter ego. With Proofs vision, Eminem progressed from
performing in basements with the rap band Sole Intent (with Proof and DJ
Butterfingers), which eventually led to his first independent album, Infinite. It
sold about about 500 copies, most of which were sold out of car trunks. It
was with Proof that Mathers decided to call himself M&M. Then Mathers
changed his self-chosen name to Eminem or, more affectionately, Em. Eminem toyed with naming as a process of self-recreation. His alter egos, Slim
Shady, Marshall Mathers, and Eminem, would appear in the eponymous
albums The Slim Shady LP and the The Marshall Mathers LP.
Eminem credits much of his success to the close and savvy inner circle of
friends, Proof in particular, who compensated for years of familial instability.
With Proof and the other four members of D-12, there was no separation
between work and life. Eminem recalled a time when Proof, tired of seeing
Eminem wear the same dirty old shoes, bought him a new pair. The early
appeal of Eminem could be better understood if one were to look at his and
his crews effect on the Detroit club scene. Even before Eminem had signed a
deal with Dr. Dres label Aftermath Records, his presence onstage was undeniable. Eminem began to gain notoriety in freestyle battles in local clubs.
One key element of his success was the element of surprise. When the pale and
relatively geeky-looking Eminem closed in on the mic, the audiences often
booed; after all, he was not black. Yet Eminem turned both black urban and
white suburban scowls of distrust into smiles and hip-swinging affirmation.
He could woo multiracial urbanites at Manhattans Sound Factory or suburban teens from Michigans Upper Peninsula.
Like the Beastie Boys in the 1980s, Em found acceptance among his black
hip hop peers. The B-Boys were one of the first acts signed to the Def Jam
label, and they recorded and toured with hip hop artists such as Run-DMC,
Schoolly D, Public Enemy, Biz Markie, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest.
The Beastie Boys built a bridge between black and white audiences that
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488
Eminem later utilized. Certainly, the fact that the Beasties were managed by
African American Russell Simmons did not hurt the bands access to black
venues and audiences, just as Dr. Dres vouching for Eminems skills helped
him gain a wider audience. Dre provided a link between newcomer Eminem
and a tradition of hip hop culture. Furthermore, Eminem was quick to credit
the early musical influences on his musical heritage, including both East and
West Coast rappers.
Upon accepting his 2003 Grammy for Best Rap Album (The Eminem
Show), Em gave props to those rappers whose influence helped him make
it: Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Kool G. Rap, Masta Ace, Rakim,
Big Daddy Kane, Dr. Dre and N.W.A., Treach from Naughty by Nature, Nas,
Tupac, Biggie, Jay-Z, and the Notorius B.I.G. This list proved Eminems
knowledge of hip hop history, as well as emphasized his desire to pay homage
to the MCs who influenced his own unique style. Eminem also paid homage
to Tupac Shakur for his enormous contributions to hip hop. Eminem would
later produce the track Runnin for the film Tupac: Resurrection. Eminem
used existing vocal tracks from the late rappers Tupac and Notorious B.I.G.
to create a new song in which the two rival MCs posthumously reunite.
As a fan of hip hop from an early age, Eminem understood the importance
of tradition and of giving proper credit to the old-school innovators who
influenced his own style, and Eminem certainly created his own style, with
vocals drawing from the cadence of Masta Ace, the subject material of
N.W.A., and often the speed raps of Big Daddy Kane as well as Ems southern
contemporaries, Outkast. Before deciding to go solo, Eminem performed with
groups such as Basement Productions, the New Jacks, and Sole Intent. In
1997, his Infinite CD received a less than lukewarm reception from the local
hip hop community, who believed that his work was derivative of New York
rappers Nas or Jay-Z. Not to be deterred, Em pursued with renewed vigor
appearances at local radio stations and national MC battles through the late
1990s. Eventually, a promotional tape reached Dr. Dre, who signed Eminem
to his label. The collaboration of Dre and Eminem led to the crossover triple
platinum success of The Slim Shady LP.
DR. DRE: PRODUCING A NEW TALENT

Eminems hard work in the Detroit hip hop underground paid off when he
won second place in the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles. This
battle credential, along with Dr. Dres sophisticated production and marketing, brought Eminem to MTV audiences and crossover status. Although Eminems rhyme skills are evident, his commercial appeal may have also been
built from the fact that he was white. Some evidence suggests that Eminem
was selected by Dre as a white artist to appeal to what has been called raps
largest market: white teen suburbanites (Armstrong 336). Dre provided some
Eminem
guest vocals and appeared in the music video for Eminems first single,
My Name Is, in which Emimem parodies contemporary pop icons such
as Marilyn Manson. The songs title and chorus, as well as the personal
revelations of the songs lyrics, reflect Dres and Eminems strategy for introducing this new white rapper to the world.
Though thousands of miles apart, Eminem and Dre shared similar passions
and childhood experiences. Both grew up poor with a passion for music. At a
young age, Dre was playing turntables in his Compton, California, home to
entertain the adults of his extended family. Dres mother surrounded him with
the sentiments and sounds of Detroit Motown, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross,
Smokey Robinson, and James Brown. Any funky sound was a good sound.
Music was an emotional release. Dre, like Eminem, quit school to focus on his
music; he formed the protohip hop band World Class Wreckin Cru. Both
Eminem and Dre started locally at the bottom of their neighborhoods with
music as a survival tool. In 1986, Dre, Ice Cube, and Eazy-E cofounded the
controversial gangsta rap group N.W.A., whose 1988 song Fuck tha Police
catapulted them into the national limelight, if not onto the airwaves. In 1992,
Dres Death Row Records, cofounded with ex-football star Suge Knight,
released The Chronic, the epitome of West Coast hip hop sound that flooded
the airwaves across the nation. Spin magazine named the Grammy-winning
album, with its $50 million in retail sales, one of the most influential albums
of the 1990s.
The not-so-obvious complexity of Eminem and his rise to hip hop stardom
is that while he lived and exploited his outsider, bad boy lifestyle, he was also
willing to play by the rules to study the hip hop business and understand his
tenuous place in the culture. While Eminems lyrics often seemed to indulge
his emotions, he exhibited the discipline, humility, and foresight to build his
name in underground Detroit rap battles and to design a business model to
promote his self-financed recordings. Like his hip hop contemporaries Master
P and Wu-Tang Clan, he was simultaneously an underground rap artist, an
ambitious businessman selling albums out of his car trunk, a visionary, and a
musician. Eminem had the street cred, the ambition, and the talent. More
important, he was willing to subordinate his personal ego and trust his career
to Dr. Dre, who would enhance each of these features. His production skills
would take Eminems rhymes to a new level, and his label, Aftermath Records, would provide the worldwide promotion and distribution that Eminem
could not have achieved on his own. Beyond these more obvious advantages
of signing to Dres record label, Eminem also benefited from Dres hip hop
lineage. His work in N.W.A. aside, Dre introduced rap listeners to Snoop
Doggy Dogg and the D.O.C., and was known for discovering exciting new
talents and helping to shape their sound.
Dre produced Eminems Slim Shady LP, which sold over 3 million copies in
the first eighteen months of release. Raw to the point of being mean spirited
and embarrassingly naked, the personal nature of Slim Shady impressed those
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in the music business. One of the contributions Eminem made to hip hop was
to use lyrics and topics that explored his own interior landscape. Hip hop
culture in the 1990s had focused heavily on a handful of embedded values
premised on authenticity, or being real. In gangsta rap, a hip hop subgenre,
rappers often demonstrated their realness through masculine posturing, misogyny, violence, and homophobia. Gangsta raps exemplars had to have street
credibility that most often came with documented criminality and underclass
status. Disrespecting people who were called hos, sluts, bitches, and fags was
standard fare on gangsta rap tracks; Eminem, however, took the material one
step further. Eminem not only disrespected women; he dared to disrespect his
mother and his wife in detail and repeatedly as part of his performances.
While gangsta rappers lauded guns, money, and bitches as status symbols,
Eminem turned these symbols inward to vocalize the psychological costs of
being a member of an underclass that spawns self-hatred, crime, and cycles of
violence and poverty. His violent songs played out as revenge fantasies born
from a wounded psyche more than they stood as gangsta posturing or testaments to his aggressive nature. In fact, the songs were clearly fantasies, and on
Stan, Eminem describes the use of violent fantasy in his music. Eminem
brought to the light that family and friends in similar circumstances of poverty do not support each other; rather, they claw at each others emotional
independence and economic success. In his raps, Eminem attacked not only
women but the matriarchy that invisibly scaffolds the masculine posturing in
gangsta rap.
Eminem became famous selling songs that aired his grievances against the
women that molded his life. With fame and fortune often come legal complications, and it was no different for Eminem. However, Eminem turned a
classic ghetto trope by remixing the legal entanglements of his life into his
art. Eminems stories of childhood poverty, drugs, and family turbulence with
his wife and mother had nurtured his art. Now his lyrics provided fodder for
personal and legal retaliation. In 1999, Eminems mother filed suit for defamation of character after hearing her sons lyrics that reported her drug use.
On My Name Is, for example, Eminem rhymes, I just found out my mom
does more dope than I do. Laying bare such personal trauma is part of
Eminems appeal. When his mother sued him, he incorporated this new development into his lyrics for Marshall Mathers.
Eminem remixes the events of his life and exposes not only his anger but his
emotional vulnerability, leaving no separation between his art and his life. In
his lyrics, there is no suburban propriety and no urbane distance. Eminem
develops his authenticity through being real with his audience and telling true
stories about his life. Bringing a tradition from the blues into gangsta rap (as
Ice Cube and the Geto Boys did before him), Eminem writes about his woman
troubles. His mother, wife, and daughter make frequent appearances in his
lyrics. Not to be left out of the public humiliation of family dysfunction, Kim
Mathers openly took offense at Eminems graphic lyrics in the songs
Icons of Hip Hop
308
serving as the ultimate piece of evidence that he hasnt sold out. Here he raps
about white women and black men, more specifically how marrying blonde
white women had become a status symbol for black male celebrities. Cube
sought to demonstrate this outside the mainstream in hip hop, while illustrating the varied reactions of critics to his description of white women and black
women as bitches. Critics who had made little of his description of black
women as bitches denounced him in this case. However, Cave Bitch would
be Cubes last blatantly misogynistic song.
The album was not a total reversal of styles, as Cube remained true to his
more mainstream sound as well. With Bop Gun, an eleven-minute epic
with a contribution from George Clinton, Cube replicates the funky sound
of previous albums. Cube also uses this album to focus on love, dispelling the
criticism that he and hip hop were nothing but anger. To him, the album
represents a lethal injection of truth (the mirror into society and self) and love
(McIver 136). Reconciling street cred with marketability, Lethal Injection is
yet another example of how Cube in particular, and conscious artists in
general, attempt to work the system to both get their message out and avoid
falling by the mainstreams wayside. Lackluster reception by critics is only
one characteristic of an artists competency; an artists intentions are equally
important, as Cubes career in Hollywood can attest.
A NEW BEGINNING
The 1993 release of Lethal Injection would mark the beginning of Ice Cubes
five-year hiatus from making solo albums. During this period, he would
produce and supply the lyrics for several albums, including Kams Never
Again and Da Lench Mobs Guerillas in the Mist. He additionally collaborated on several projects, joining Mack 10 and WC to form the Westside
Connection, which recorded the immensely popular single Bow Down.
He also contributed to the soundtracks from Dangerous Minds (The World
Is Mine) and I Got the Hook Up (Ghetto Vet) and joined with Snoop
Dogg and Mack 10 to produce Only in California. He also released Bootlegs and B-Sides (1994), a compilation of innovative remixes of some of his
most popular songs, and Featuring . . . Ice Cube, a collection of his collaborative projects, and participated in the 1998 Family Values Tour with Korn and
Limp Bizkit. Yet for all intents and purposes, his solo rap career had come to
a standstill. The early and mid-1990s saw Ice Cubes focus turning away from
hip hop music to an emerging ghettocentric imagination within Hollywood.
Whereas rap music proved to be one of the strongest genres of expression for
the black underclass during the 1970s and 1980s (as well as one of the few
opportunities to make it big in the entertainment industry), Hollywood,
which sought to capitalize on the popularity of N.W.A., Public Enemy, and
Run-DMC, emerged as a powerful space for hip hop during the 1990s. Cube,
Ice Cube
perhaps more than any others, would use these opportunities to propel his
own career
Ice Cube would release two more albumsWar and Peace Vol. 1 (The War
Disc) (1998) and War and Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) (2000), both sophisticated examinations of war, peace, violence, calm, death, and life.
Because Cube had lost his fan base to a certain degree and was seen now,
both albums were unable to match the success of the early 1990s. Moreover,
the world of hip hop had changed, with bling, sex, parties, and excess being
predominant themes of hip hop at the turn of the centurya change Cube
was unwilling to accept. Cube claimed that the changes in hip hop reflected
an obsession with fame and money making and an absence of consciousness
raising and communal empowerment. His focus on movies resulted from hip
hop losing its way within the mainstream; to him, there was no place in hip
hop for a voice of politics and opposition. Although Cubes own growth as an
artist and hip hops changes certainly pushed him into virtual retirement, it
was his success in Hollywood that facilitated his transformation from rapper
to actor.
WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD
Ice Cubes acting career began as a natural extension of his place in hip hop,
as Hollywood merely sought to capitalize on the popularity and authenticity
of hip hop artists to sell its projects. In 1988, John Singleton, then a junior
majoring in film writing at the University of Southern California, approached
Cube, telling him that he was developing a script that documented the experience of black youth in South Central Los Angeles; he hoped Cube would
act in the film. Cube did not hear from Singleton again until 1990, when he
asked Cube if he wanted to read for the part of Doughboy, the character
Singleton had written with him in mind. Despite Singletons immense confidence and determination to cast him in Boyz N the Hood, Cubes transition
to acting was neither easy nor natural. His first reading was a disaster, leading
Singleton to inquire if Cube had read the entire script. Learning that he had
only read his part, Singleton sent him home, asking him to return several days
later and only after he had read the entire script, at which time he was offered
a role in the film.
Cube plays Doughboy, partly a stereotype of young black malesangry,
violent, hypersexual, criminally minded, lazyand otherwise a complex, innovative character. Cubes performance gives Doughboy depth, complexity,
and humanity. He masterfully plays a foil to Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and
Ricky (Morris Chestnut), both of whom seek to transcend the limitations of
inner-city life. Likewise, Doughboy contributes to Singletons overarching
argument about black fathers and parents in general, as they relate to black
pathology. Without a father in his life, as opposed to Tre, who benefits from
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the wisdom of his father (played by Lawrence Fishburne), Doughboy falls into
a life of criminality and degradation that ultimately leads to his own death.
Besides mirroring his ideology as it relates to the importance of black fathers
as protectors and educators, Cubes contribution to Boyz transcended his
bringing Doughboy to life: He wrote and recorded the films soundtrack;
he gave legitimacy to the films message and tone given his South Central
roots; and his popularity and connection to hip hop contributed to the media
buzz and the films immense box office success. Still, Boyz and Singletons
faith in Cube did a lot for his career, further elevating him into the mainstream. Up to this point, his popularity had been very much connected to his
place in N.W.A., his celebrity within black youth culture, and his voice and
lyrical genius, yet following the release of Boyz N the Hood his face and
artistry entered the national consciousness. While enhancing his rap career,
the success and critical acclaim that came with Boyz N the Hood provided
additional opportunities for Ice Cube within Hollywood, next with the production of Trespass.
Released on Christmas Day 1992, Trespass sought to capitalize on the
success of Boyz N the Hood, New Jack City, and Menace to Society, as well
as the popularity of hip hop, casting Ice Cube alongside Ice-T. While the film
received mixed reviews, some of which criticized its deployment of racial
stereotypes (white heroes versus black villains/criminals), Cubes performance
was universally praised. Just as with Boyz, reviewers praised his ability to
bring complexity and depth to an otherwise stock and racially flat character.
Moreover, the reviewers tended to offer praise for Cubes growth as an actor,
marking his entry into Hollywood not so much as the story of a rapper who
acts, but as an artist who possesses multiple talents, which include making
music and movies.
Despite the box office and critical success Cube experienced in his first two
films, he faced a relatively bumpy future in the years immediately after the
release of Boyz N the Hood. His next two filmsThe Glass Shield and Higher
Learningwhile certainly more reflective of his politics, were universally
panned, failing to meet box office expectations as well. Both films were
criticized for their over-the-top depictions of race and their focus on whiteon-black racism. Although Cubes supporting performances illustrate his
growth as actorin The Glass Shield, in which he plays an innocent man
arrested and charged with a crime by the racist Los Angeles Sheriffs Department, and in Higher Learning, where he plays Fudge, a campus radical who
counsels Malik (Omar Epps) and other black students on the realities of race
and resistance on a postcivil rights college campushe could not escape the
criticism of these films (although several reviews did describe him as exceptional). Still, his work in these films further solidified his place in Hollywood,
opening up opportunities for greater artistic control.
At the same time Cube was achieving greater control of his film work, he
made peace with N.W.A, the group he had left because he wasnt given equal
Ice Cube
compensation for his lyrics and vocals. (see sidebar: N.W.A. Reunion). He
met with Eazy-E shortly before Eazys death from AIDS in March, 1995. The
former bandmates put their grudge to rest, and Ice Cube put this part of his
musical past behind him just as his debut as a screenwriter was about to make
him a bigger movie star. Friday, which was written by Ice Cube and DJ Pooh,
was released on April 26, 1995. Marketed with slogans like A lot can go
down between Thursday and Saturday, Friday was a surprising comedic
success. In fact, critics and moviegoers alike seemed shocked by Cubes successful turn to comedy, given his place in the American consciousness as
angry, militant, and always serious and scowling. Perhaps to highlight this
shift from the typical Ice Cube image, his character Craig wears the same
clothes in Fridays opening scene as Doughboy wore in his final scene in Boyz
N the Hood. Craig is a relatively conservative Los Angelino, whose unjust
firing from his underpaying job leads him to spend his Friday chillin with
Smokey (Chris Tucker). Cube uses Friday to build on the narrative offered in
It Was a Good Day, chronicling the goodness in chillin with ones homies
even on those days marked by the most heartache and injustice. More than
N.W.A. Reunion
David J. Leonard
Ice Cube left N.W.A. in 1989 over contract disputes, and he and the group
recorded several songs dissing each other until Dr. Dre became unhappy with
the N.W.A. contract terms as well, and left the group to form Death Row
Records in 1991. Dres departure marked the end of N.W.A, and he and Eazy-E
continued the war of words in their subsequent releases. With such public
animosity between group members, an N.W.A. reunion seemed unlikely, but
in 1994, Dre reunited with Ice Cube to record Natural Born Killaz, and in
1995, Ice Cube and Eazy-E put their beef to rest during a meeting at Tunnel, a
popular New York City nightclub. Less than three months later, Eazy-E died
from AIDS, yet the truce that he and Cube had struck during this meeting
would have lasting effects on Cube, N.W.A., and hip hop as a whole. In 1998,
Ice Cube and Dre invited their former bandmate MC Ren to record two new
N.W.A. tracks: Hello was included on Ice Cubes War & Peace: Volume Two,
and Chin Check was featured on the soundtrack to Ice Cubes film Next
Friday. Neither song featured N.W.As fifth member, DJ Yella, and Snoop Dogg
replaced Eazy-E on Chin Check. Although a planned full-length reunion
album never happened, Ice Cube, Dre, Yella, and Ren, joined by Snoop, Nate
Dogg, and other N.W.A. associates, came together for an N.W.A. reunion
concert on March 11, 2000. While these collaborations never amounted to a
full-fledged N.W.A. reunion., the fanfare generated once again reminded the
hip hop world of the power of unity and the legendary status of the original
gangstas of hip hop.
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the movie itself, which received many positive reviews, Ice Cube stole the
show as both a writer and a comedic actor. Review after review heaped praise
on Cube for his humor, his talents as a writer, and his growth as an actor. He
would receive similar critical praise, although not at the same level, following
the release of The Players Club in 1998, which he wrote, directed, and produced (he also has a small part in the film). The Players Club tells the story of
Dina Armstrong (Lisa Raye), who turns to stripping following an argument
with her father, that results in her leaving home with her son. Hoping to make
a film that touched upon the southern black strip club industry and the
complexities and difficulties facing young black women, and explored the
sacrifices people make to better themselves in the long term, Cube wasnt
satisfied with a role as writer and producer, deciding to go behind the camera
as the director, despite having no training. Having a vision and clear understanding of where the picture needed to go required him to take on the
responsibility of directing.
He was able to hold to his vision, delivering a film that spoke to those issues
while also being commercially viable (despite a small budget and limited
release, it amassed $20 million at the box office). However, the film wasnt
so well received by critics, who once again questioned Cubes gender politics.
To many, the film seemed to glorify stripping, ostensibly celebrating the
sexualization of black womens bodies. Though these reviews lacked depth,
it seemed that Cube had not outrun the criticism that had defined his early
years in hip hop. While opportunities increased with his heightened creative
power, Cube remained outside the Hollywood mainstream. All that would
change with the release of Three Kings.
Debuting in September 1999, Three Kings was an immediate hit with
audiences and reviewers alike, something new given the responses to the Gulf
War in the early 1990s. The movie starred George Clooney (Archie Gates)
and Mark Wahlberg (Troy Barlow) along with Ice Cube (Chief Elgin). For
Cube, beyond being part of a successful and politically progressive (in his
mind at least) film, Three Kings provided him the opportunity to grow as an
actor, revealing his talents beyond gangstas and black-theme films. Whether
in his ability to deliver a character that was both tough and vulnerable, or the
ease with which he meshed with Clooney and Wahlberg, reviewers and others
in Hollywood paid notice to his performance specifically. What seemed to
shock reviewers the most and probably opened the most doors was the fact
that Cube, the one-time face of gangsta rap in Hollywood, with ease played a
soldier, one who was deeply religious and spiritual no less. Delivering a
wonderful performance in a film described as a masterpiece by Roger Ebert
and a classic by several others, Three Kings further elevated Cubes acting
career, resulting in increased opportunities in mainstream films, including
Ghosts of Mars (2001) and XXX: State of the Union (2005).
Even with Cubes success as a prominent supporting actor among Hollywoods elite and the opportunities to participate in blockbuster films, he
Ice Cube
remained an active member of a black Hollywood contingent. In 2000, he

wrote, produced, and starred in Next Friday; then in 2002, he also wrote,
produced, and starred in both All About the Benjamins and Friday After
Next. That same year, he starred in the immensely popular Barbershop, with
Cedric the Entertainer and Eve. Cube once again defied expectations and
stereotypes, playing Calvin, a relatively conservative barbershop owner,
who spends most of his day wondering how he can live the American Dream
with his wife and trying to control his hip hop clientele and employees.
Despite playing a character that was a mere shadow of his hip hop beginnings, it was clear that he couldnt outrun his past. As they would again with
the release of Are We There Yet? (2005), fans and critics alike questioned if
Cube had sold out, if the allure of Hollywood had forced Cube to abandon his
hardness, his politics, and his willingness to keep it real. Interestingly, Cube
and others have continually argued that his importance in Barbershop and his
contributions to the film have often been devalued because of widespread
contempt for hip hop and fears over continued distaste for him by audiences.
For example, Cube has long noted how Oprah and others invited Cedric the
Entertainer and Eve and not him to promote the film, which demonstrates
that neither he nor hip hop had been fully accepted in the mainstream. Despite this and similar rejections, the contributions of Ice Cube to the American
cinematic landscape demand recognition, as Cube continues to add controversy with a conscience to the realm of popular culture.
ICE CUBES IMPACT AND LEGACY

In True to the Game, Ice Cube laments the practice of black artists and
other celebrities selling out upon crossing over, leaving behind the artistry
and community that allowed them to blow up. Ironically, his career path
and choices have been subjected to similar criticism. His virtual disappearance
from the rap game, his performance in films such as Barbershop and Are
We There Yet?, have raised questions of his commitment to hip hop and its
gangsta/political roots. For example, many have criticized him for his performance in Barbershop, not so much because he trades in his khakis and AK-47
for business attire and a set of clippers, but for playing a character, Calvin, who
buddies up with the police and shows a propensity to celebrate bootstrap
individualism. Likewise, others have wondered how Cube can claim to be a
voice of the underclass, doing movies about the black middle class.
Jeff Chang and other hip hop critics have thoroughly discounted such
accusations as both simplistic and reactionary. Rather, he and others see
Cubes career as an allegory for hip hop, elucidating the powerful ways in
which hip hop and the American cultural landscape have matured over the
last twenty years. Likewise, Cube is quick to challenge these criticisms, noting
that just because his worldview has changed doesnt mean he is selling out the
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314
community. In his estimation, he has merely matured and grown as a person

and artist. Moreover, he and others (Ludacris, 50 Cent) are quick to point out
that denunciations of him for selling out are ridiculous given the continued
demonization and criticism faced by hip hop. Just because he makes movies
with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, just because his albums have gone
triple platinum or he is able to produce or direct various projects, doesnt
mean that he or other black hip hop artists have made it. Racism and the
widespread demonization of black youth preclude full acceptance of Ice Cube
or hip hop in general from the mainstream. From Bill OReilly and Lynne
Cheney to C. Delores Tucker and Oprah Winfrey, whom Cube has described
as disrespectful, distant, or hostile to hip hop artists, many continue to see hip
hop not only as outside the mainstream of America but as a dangerous pollutant to its cultural fabric. If still not mainstream, it is certainly difficult to
accuse Cube of selling out.
In 2006, Ice Cube coproduced and helped created the controversial FX
show, Black. White., which brought a black and white family together to
experience an alternative racial reality through the use of makeup. For Cube,
this show created an environment of forced engagement and dialogue for both
the shows participants and its viewers. Although some saw it as further
evidence of Cubes fall/ascension into the American mainstream, the show
itself and its intent follow in the footsteps of the vast majority of his works: It
sought to provoke conversation, offer commentary on contemporary racial
issues, and made no attempt to avoid controversy; it was classic Ice Cube.
Whether with Fuck Tha Police, We Had to Tear This Motherfucker Up,
Cave Bitch, Boyz N the Hood, The Players Club, Three Kings, or Barbershop, Ice Cubes career has been a story of controversy, of public outrage and
redemption, of his using art and popular culture to foster self-reflection and
conversation, and his performing different identities in different instances, not
only showing his own growth but illustrating the shifting cultural landscape
that sought different identities within him at different moments in American
history.
See also: Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy
WORKS CITED
New York: Picador, 2005.
McIver, Joel. Ice Cube: Attitude. London: Sanctuary, 2003.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Boyd, Todd. Am I Black Enough for You: Popular Culture from the Hood and
Beyond. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1997.
Ice Cube
Boyd, Todd. The New H.N.I.C.: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of
Hip-Hop. New York: New York University Press, 2002.
Neal, Mark Anthony, and Murray Foreman. Thats the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies
Reader. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Orr, Tamra. Ice Cube. New York: Mitchell Lane, 2006.
N.W.A.
N.W.A. and the Posse. Priority, 1987.
Straight Outta Compton. Priority, 1989.
Ice Cube
AmeriKKKas Most Wanted. Priority, 1990.
Kill at Will. Priority, 1990.
Death Certificate. Priority, 1991.
The Predator. Priority, 1992.
Lethal Injection. Priority, 1993.
War and Peace Vol. 1 (The War Disc). Priority, 1998.
War and Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc). Priority, 2000.
Laugh Now, Cry Later. Lench Mob Records, 2006.
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David Diallo
In his 2005 album The Documentary, Compton rapper the Game establishes
his gangsta stance by affiliating himself with West Coast producer Dr. Dre
and rapper Snoop Dogg (together they are mentioned thirty-five times). Such
name dropping in rap songs is meant to legitimize an artists position through
his or her connections with iconic artists, in this case Snoop Dogg and Dr.
Dre, undisputed icons of West Coast gangsta rap. Jay-Z uses a similar technique in his song Change Clothes, where he defines his high-ranking status
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in East Coast rap through a comparison to Snoop Doggs importance in the

West. In Flowin on the D-Line, Digital Undergrounds rapper Shock-G expresses his ruthlessness toward women through a direct allusion to Dr. Dres
notorious physical assault on Dee Barnes, Pump It Ups TV host. (On January
27, 1991, Dr. Dre got into a physical confrontation with the presenter after
she presented an unfavorable segment on N.W.A. on her Fox TV rap video
show.)
The success of tactical name dropping is highly dependent on the interpretive skills of the listener, for such links are ineffective when the listener cannot
identify the artists named. The widespread references to Dre and Snoop Dogg
in rap lyrics, then, indicate their importance as icons of hip hop. Dre and
Snoop have established their iconic positions through a history of musical
innovation. Dre was a founding member of N.W.A., who developed a new
sound and propelled West Coast gangsta rap to national attention. After that
group broke up in 1991, Dre introduced Snoop Dogg, a new MC whose
unique slang and laid-back lyrical flow brought a new vocal style to fit with
Dres G-funk (gangstafied funk) production.
Artistic innovations aside, Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggs ties to the streets and
their conventional celebration of a gangsta hedonism greatly contributed to
their high-ranking status and helped establish them as major forces in the
music industry. Dre and Snoops biographies follow a gangsta rap course that
takes them out of the streets and into the studio. In gangsta rap, issues of
authenticity, credibility, and legitimacy are integrally linked to the streets of
the ghetto and their social practices. As the sociocultural matrix of rap music,
ghetto streets remain, three decades after rap hit the mainstream, its paradigmatic habitat. In this respect, a catchphrase like keepin it real literally
means representing, realistically or through hyperbolic gangsta narratives,
the symbolic forms of the ghetto. The final battle that opposes Eminems
character B. Rabbit and Papa Doc in the movie 8 Mile offers striking evidence
of the importance of this social and symbolic space. Rabbit defeats and humiliates his opponent by exposing his middle-class origins; Papa Doc went to
private school and comes from a good home, so therefore he is not keepin it
real by posing as a gangsta in his lyrics. This strategy of exposing middle-class
backgrounds is prevalent in hip hop. In one well-known example, Craig G
defeated freestyle champion Supernatural in a battle after he emphasized his
opponents inappropriate geographical origin; Craig G was from New York,
the birthplace of hip hop, whereas Supernatural was originally from Indiana.
Similarly, the career of rapper Vanilla Ice abruptly ended when his claim of
being from the streets was challenged by factual evidence that he had in fact
experienced a middle-class upbringing and had never been involved in crime.
Recent releases and record sales confirm the current dominance of ghetto
rap, an assortment of heterogeneous rap productions signifying streets of the
ghetto, most particularly with labels like G-Unit, Roc-A-Fella, or Aftermath,
whose artists generally glorify a criminal lifestyle and street corner activities
(drug pushing, organized crime, pimping). This institutionalization of rap

music as street/ghetto music is crucial to understanding the central status of
both Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. The power struggle that animates rap music is
undeniably dominated by ghettocentric orientations. Through a logic of inclusion and exclusion, the rap artists who develop street themes in their music,
and who are somehow related to the streets, hold considerable symbolic
capital. They are (according to the slang of the time period) dope, fresh, or
gangsta, while rappers with no connection to the streets are generally wack,
lame, or wanksta. Accordingly, if lyrical references to Dr. Dre and Snoop
Dogg imply symbolic capital, these rappers association with the streets is
equally important.
DR. DRE
Andre Romel Young was born on February 18, 1965, in Compton, a city of
the Los Angeles metropolitan area that would become, twenty years later, as
important as the South Bronx in the geography of rap music (see sidebar:
Compton). In fact, before the commotion caused by Ice-Ts Six N the Morning and N.W.A.s album Straight Outta Compton, California rap had very
little echo outside local venues like Radiotron or the Eve After Dark. One of
the most prominent contributors to the electro rap scene was the World Class
Compton
David Diallo
Like many other black ghettos, Compton, a city of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, went through the post-sixties transformation that turned communal
ghettos into hyperghettos, disadvantaged areas characterized by organizational desertification and informal economy. Yet it symbolizes the aftermath of
the political urban patterning of racial and class exclusion like few other
places. In rap discourse, Compton, an emblematic place, is to West Coast
rap what the South Bronx is to the seminal New York rap scene. The mutual
success of N.W.A. and Dr. Dre firmly established the city as a symbolic space
expressive of Los Angeles gang banging. Subsequently, the emblematic status
of CPT (Compton) and its vicinities has been extensively referred to by local
rappers (and filmmakers) in their expressive forms. Rappers like Comptons
Most Wanted, Tweedy Bird Loc, Above the Law, WC and the Maad Circle,
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. or the Game have drawn on the symbolic gangsta connotations attached to Los Angeless newfound legitimacy in rap to enhance
their credibility. Their glorification of a criminal lifestyle was emulated nationwide by groups like the Geto Boys or Detroits Most Wanted. Almost twenty
years after the release of Straight Outta Compton, Dr. Dre remains the leading
representative of Compton. Throughout his career, he has consistently
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emphasized his ties to the place and has been greatly influential in establishing
Compton as a highly evocative gangsta signifier through his recurrent use of
City of Comptona sample from Ronnie Hudson and the Street Peoples
West Coast Poplock.
Wreckin Cru, a DJ group managed by ex-break dancer Lonzo Williams.

Williams DJs were extremely popular during the first half of the 1980s
and packed venues like the Sports Arena or the Convention Center with
thousands of poppers and lockers (aka b-boys or break dancers) from South
Central, Compton, and Inglewood. Andre started his producing career as a
member of this group in 1984. He had developed an interest in music from a
young age, and, encouraged by a music-loving mother, spent hours practicing
his skills on turntables and mixing tables. Onstage, Dre wore a costume,
including a stethoscope, and perfomed as Dr. Dre, an homage to NBA
superstar Julius Dr. J Irving.
Thanks to his performances with the World Class Wreckin Cru and on
KDAY, a local radio station, which, under the notable influence of Greg
Mack, supported several local acts, Dr. Dre soon attained local celebrity
status. As a result, he appeared regularly on shows like Traffic Jam and
Mixmasters, a Saturday night all-star show where DJs from local crews mixed
live and played their own productions. In 1984 he released Surgery on
Macola Records, a local label owned by Don MacMillan. This title, based
on his doctor persona, exploited his beat surgeon gimmick through a clinical arrangement of connotative samples (Records! Mixer! Turntables! replaced Scalpel! Forceps! Defibrolator!). The following year, World Class
Wreckin Cru released World Class, its first album. The reasonable success
of this album, along with that of other Los Angelesbased electro rap musicians (On the Nile by Egyptian Lover, Rockberry Jam by the L.A. Dream
Team, Naughty Boy by Uncle Jams Army) rapidly stirred the interest of
major record companies. The group was signed on CBS/Epic and in 1987
released First Round Knock-Out. This release put the Los Angeles rap scene
on the map and, with its California imagery, clearly distinguished West Coast
rap from East Coast rap. While rap music had diversified in New York and
was no longer exclusively party music, the Los Angeles rap scene had principally exalted partying and hedonism over electronic melodies. This idiosyncratic aspect of the Angelino musical scene is loosely portrayed in Breakin and
Breakin 2, two low-budget movies that presented a Hollywood version of the
visual gimmicks, outfits, and Jheri curls that prevailed at the time. This imagery would radically change with Ice-Ts 1986 single Six N the Morning
and with Dr. Dres next group, Niggaz with Attitude.
In 1986, Dre had started collaborating with Eric Wright (Eazy-E), an
ambitious young drug pusher eager to launch his rap label, Ruthless Records.
Wright, though he believed in the commercial potential of the new and
scandalous gangsta themes developed by Ice-T in Six N the Morning, had no

serious connections in the music business (see sidebar: Eazy-E) . In contrast,
Dr. Dre benefited from solid experience and considerable social capital in the
fast-growing LA rap scene. He especially had connections at Macola Records
and at Audio Achievements, the studio where he recorded with the World
Class Wreckin Cru, which would help Wright achieve his artistic and financial
ambitions in the lucrative business that rap music was becoming. Their first
release was Boyz N the Hood. This street manifesto, on which Eazy-E
rapped lyrics written by Oshea Jackson (Ice Cube) over Dr. Dres production,
laid the foundations of their N.W.A. collaboration to come. Ruthless Records,
owing to the decisive entrepreneurial skills that Eazy-E had developed pushing
drugs, independently sold more than 200,000 copies of Boyz N the Hood. In
the wake of this success, Eazy-E, with the help of his manager Jerry Heller, a
long-established music executive, launched Niggaz with Attitude, a rap group
that rapidly became, with the vernacular appeal of its exaltation of ghetto
lifestyle and Dr. Dres skillful production, a national musical sensation that
would give its members an unparalleled status in rap.
The first significant release of Ruthless Records produced by Dr. Dre was
its founders solo effort, Eazy-Duz-It (1987). It was followed the next year by
Eazy-E
David Diallo
Folklore research on orality in black ghettos has established the importance of
toastsviolent and obscene oral narratives recounting the exploits of Ba-ad
Niggers. In 1987, when Eazy-E (Eric Wright) founded Ruthless Records and
N.W.A., he musically and parochially adjusted the themes and narrative
structure of these long-standing heroic tales and paved the way for much of
what would subsequently be labeled gangsta rap. As a former drug pusher,
Wright fruitfully applied to the music industry the commercial skills that he
had been developing on the streets and turned Ruthless into a foremost label.
His early releases became underground hits with virtually no support from
radio, the press, or MTV. In 1991, however, the labels maximizing business
tactics led to financial disagreements between N.W.A. members. Dr. Dres
bitter departure ignited a vivid feud with Ruthless. Eazy-E riposted to the
merciless attacks that Dre had launched on The Chronic through his 1993 EP
Its On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa on which he exhibited a ridiculing photograph of
Dre taken during his World Class Wreckin Cru days. Even though Ice Cube
and Dr. Dre, who had been the principal creative forces in the label, had left
Ruthless, Eazy-Es entrepreneurial skills helped him to maintain healthy record
sales, mostly through lucrative groups like Above the Law and Bone Thugs-NHarmony. He was thirty-one years old when he died on March 26, 1995, ten
days after having been diagnosed with AIDS.
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Icons of Hip Hop
one of the most important albums in hip hop history, N.W.A.s first official
release, Straight Outta Compton (1988). By the end of 1987, even though
Don MacMillan, willing to cash in on the increasing appeal of the self-proclaimed worlds most dangerous group, had opportunistically released N.W.A.
and the Posse, a compilation of Macola-distributed N.W.A. EPs (Boyz N
the Hood, Dopeman, 8-ball, and A Bitch Is a Bitch), Straight Outta
Compton was the first official album of the group. The commercial success of
this highly controversial album paved the way for much of what would be
termed gangsta rap in the 1990s. On this record, N.W.A. carried on the
glorification of the activities of local gangs inaugurated on Eazy-Duz-It and
emphatically put Compton on the map, owing greatly to its outrageous lyrics
and to Dres rumbling sonic production on the opening tracks, Straight
Outta Compton, Fuck Tha Police, and Gangsta Gangsta. 100 Miles
and Runnin (1990), the groups second LP, released after Ice Cubes departure, was a ghetto variation of the slave narrative motif that presented soonto-be-generic hyperbolic gangsta narratives. In spite of its obscene and violent
content, it reached the twenty-seventh place on the Billboard Top 200
(Straight Outta Compton had ranked thirty-seventh the previous year). In
1991, N.W.A.s final release, Efil4zaggin (Niggaz4Life spelled backward)
entered the charts at number one and established rap music (with the parallel
success of rap groups like Public Enemy and 2 Live Crew) as the new defiant
musical expression. If, conforming to N.W.A.s trademarks, this album contained larger-than-life violence (on Appetite 4 Destruction and One in a
Million) and pornography (on She Swallowed It), even both (on Dr. Dres
gory One Less Bitch), its generic gangsta themes were enhanced by sepulchral moods that distinctively differed from N.W.A.s previous releases. This
inclination toward gothic sonorities, prominent keyboards, and heavy beats
would lead to the crafting of Dr. Dres signature sound.
In 1989, Dr. Dre had single-handedly produced the D.O.C.s first LP, No
One Can Do It Better. Hitherto he had jointly produced Eazy-E and N.W.A.s
albums with fellow World Class Wreckin Cru member DJ Yella. On this
album, Dre displayed the range of his experienced production and provided
the D.O.C. with an assemblage of slow and fast rhythms on which the skilled
Texan MC delivered his resourceful lyrics. This noteworthy collaboration is
representative of what would be Dr. Dres later approach to rap music: a
polished production designed for a distinctive lyricist with concrete ties to
the streets. His subsequent collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Eminem,
50 Cent and, more recently, the Game, testify to its particularity. Exhibiting
versatility, Dre also produced his wifes eponymous R&B album, Michelle
(Ruthless, 1989). On this record, Michelle, a former chorus member of the
World Class Wreckin Cru who had already featured on No One Can Do It
Better, sang urban romances on her husbands electronic melodies. Its single
No More Lies became the best hit single in the labels history (seventh place
on the Billboard charts). Later on, Dr. Dre would successfully repeat a similar
ground shifting with Mary J. Blige (on No More Drama, MCA, 2002, and its
hit single Family Affair) and with Eves crossover hit featuring Gwen Stefani
(Let Me Blow Ya Mind, 2001).
In 1987, financial and artistic disagreements ended Dres collaboration
with Lonzo Williamss entertainment-formatted group. Similar financial issues would end Dres partnership with Eazy-Es Ruthless Records after the
1991 release of their final album, Efil4zaggin. After Ice Cubes departure and
the D.O.C.s serious car accident, Dr. Dre was the key creative force on the
label. He had significantly participated in the production of all its major
releases (Supersonic, Eazy-Duz-It, Straight Outta Compton, No One Can
Do It Better, Above the Laws Livin Like Hustlers, Michelle), but considered
that he had not been rewarded satisfactorily. In 1991, he left Ruthless at the
peak of its popularity and cofounded Death Row Records.
Dr. Dres new partner was Marion Suge Knight, a determined ex-gang
banger turned bodygard who, inspired by Ruthlesss achievements, was
equally eager to succeed in the music industry. With Dick Griffey, an influential label owner (he was at the head of SOLAR, the Sound of Los Angeles
Records), Dr. Dre and Suge Knight launched Death Row Records, a label that
would rapidly become the first-ranking black-owned business in America and
would top the U.S. charts half a dozen times between 1992 and 1996.
In 1992, Dr. Dre released Deep Cover, his first solo EP on Sony and
SOLAR. Its gothic sonorities, combined with Colin Wolfes prominent bass
line, clearly bore the signature sound Dre had introduced in Efil4zaggin. It
also marked the debut of newcomer Snoop Doggy Dogg, a young MC from
Long Beach who contributed to a great extent to the success of the producers
first album, The Chronic (1992). This multiplatinum album, which showcased several local MCs (Nate Dogg, Daz) was the second milestone of rap
music produced by Dr. Dre. It forcefully introduced his patented G-funk
sound, a transformation of P-funks substantial catalogue into gangsta rap,
and decisively affected mainstream hip hop. Its celebration of a gangsta lifestyle, particularly on the hit singles Nuthin but a G Thang and Let Me
Ride, with their parochial idiosyncrasies and sociolect, greatly influenced the
subsequent rap productions, locally and nationwide, and firmly consolidated
Dr. Dres emblematic status.
Even though he had been prolific at Ruthless Records, producing or collaborating on the seven releases of the label (in five years), Dr. Dre only produced two albums between 1993 and 1996, The Chronic and Snoop Doggs
debut album, Doggystyle. He nonetheless produced a few tracks for Death
Row soundtracks and upcoming artists, most notably Lady of Rages ego trip
Afro Puffs in 1994 and 2Pacs California Love, a highly successful title
(on which Dr. Dre sampled Ronnie Hudson and the Street Peoples West
Coast Poplock and Roger Zapps So Ruff, So Tuff) that blatantly symbolized his long-standing effort to establish California as a serious rival to the
New York seminal rap scene. Due to various artistic disagreements and to the
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324
culture of terror that Suge Knight had transplanted from the violent world of
street gangs to Death Row, Dr. Dre left the label in 1996 to create his own
company, Aftermath Entertainment.
Dr. Dres important achievements and his longevity had granted him high
status in the rap industry. His collaborations with street-oriented groups like
N.W.A., whose Boyz N the Hood figuratively expressed the worldview of
many young blacks trapped in ghettos, with Snoop Dogg and 2Pac, two
rappers who epitomized a hedonistic gangsta lifestyle, and, more recently,
with record-selling rappers Eminem and 50 Cent, decisively conferred unfaltering credibility on him. On 2Pacs California Love, Dre justified his
legitimacy by drawing listeners attention to his longevity in rap and reminded
them that he had been in it for ten years. He would subsequently reiterate this
self-referential strategy to signify his authenticity. He emphasized it on the
opening of Dr. Dre Presents . . . The Aftermath (1996), the first release of his
new label, and even more notably on its song Been There Done That.
Eminem did it in his place on Guilty Conscience, the third single of his
successful and controversial Slim Shady LP, and reiterated on the chorus of
Forgot About Dre, on Chronic 2001, the sequel to Dres first album where
this motif is extensively developed (particularly on The Watcher, Still D.R.E.,
Forgot About Dre). Most importantly, as he proclaims on Still D.R.E.,
Dr. Dre stayed close to the streets and successfully produced underground
sensations and respected battle rhymers with an indisputable street credibility
like Xzibit (Restless), the Game (The Documentary), Eminem, and 50 Cent,
whose respective albums The Marshall Mathers LP and Get Rich or Die Tryin
are two of the best-selling rap albums of all time.
Even though Dr. Dres status derives from the representations, in his productions, of his sociogeographic origins, he nevertheless holds an important
symbolic status in the nationwide field of rap music. He collaborated without
prejudice with artists from both coasts (in 1997 on The Firm, a project that
featured New York rappers like Nas and Foxy Brown, or in 1996 with Blackstreet on the hit single No Diggity), incidentally challenging the East
CoastWest Coast enmity so hyped in the news. The focus on the spatial
(the hood/the streets) being, in rap music, as important as the local (Compton,
California), Dr. Dres idealization of the criminal lifestyle that distinguished
the streets of Los Angeles in the late eighties spoke instinctively to young
blacks of both coasts. This street-oriented discourse undeniably helped establish him as a major force in the music industry.
SNOOP DOGG
Though Dr. Dre became famous as a key member of N.W.A., the group that
would determinedly epitomize gangsta rap, he was never involved in gangs. In
contrast, Snoop Dogg (Calvin Broadus) unambiguously draws his credibility
as an original gangsta (OG) from his criminal feats. Eazy-E, however, would
dispute Snoops criminal background by calling him and Dre studio gangstas on his 1993 EP Its On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa (see sidebar: Studio
Gangsta). Eazys criticism aside, Snoop emphasizes his gang affiliation and
criminal involvement as a key part of his credibility. Snoop was born on
October 20, 1972, and grew up in Long Beach, California with his brother
and his mother, who originally hailed from Mississippi. The number of
Studio Gangsta
Elijah Lossner
The term studio gangsta came into popular use among rappers during the
early 1990s. It was used to describe rappers who portrayed themselves as
gangsters in their lyrics but in reality had never been directly involved with
crime or street gangs. Many believe the term was first used in Los Angeles
during the late 1980s and began popping up in the song lyrics of popular
West Coast rappers in the early nineties.
One of the first rappers to use this term was Oakland rapper Spice 1. The
first two words on his 1993 album, 187 He Wrote are studio gangsta (187 is
the Los Angeles police code for homicide). On another song, All He Wrote,
he questions how many rappers who say they are gang banging are really
doing it. Spice 1 goes on to list many of the rappers he thinks are real
gangsters (he never mentions any rappers he thinks are studio gangstas).
That same year, rap icon Eazy-E released an EP, Its On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa, in
which he calls into question the credibility of his former N.W.A. bandmate Dr.
Dre. On Eazys song Real Muthaphuckkin Gs, guest rapper B.G. Knock Out
calls Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre studio gangstas and actors. The EPs
liner notes feature a picture of Dr. Dre in his days with the 1980s dance group
World Class Wreckin Cru, in which Dre is wearing lipstick, eyeliner, and a
sequined jumpsuit.
As gangsta rap gained popularity during the early 1990s, it seemed that
everyone wanted to rap about crime and murder. Murder was what was
selling and many talented rap artists felt the pressure to conform to the violent
lyrics in order to survive. The market was overflowing with artists claiming to
be gang bangers, provoking many established and respected gangsta rappers
to do some housecleaning. Thus the term studio gangsta became a very
popular way for rappers to call their colleagues into question. If an artist
was considered a studio gangsta by his peers, or worse by consumt2s song Real Muthaphuckkin Gs,
calls Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre studio gangstas and actors. The EPs
liner notes feature a picture of Dr. Dre in his days with the 1980s dance group
World Class Wreckin Cru, in which Dre is wearing lipstick, eyeliner, and a
sequined jumpsuit.
As gangsta rap gained popularity during the early 1990s, it seemed that
everyone wanted to rap about crime and murder. Murder was what was
selling and many talented rap artists felt the pressure to conform to the violent
lyrics in order to survive. The market was overflowing with artists claiming to
be gang bangers, provoking many established and respected gangsta rappers
to do some housecleaning. Thus the term studio gangsta became a very
popular way for rappers to call their colleagues into question. If an artist
was considered a studio gangsta by his peers, or worse by consumt2s song Real Muthaphuckkin Gs,
Missy Elliott
TLC
Jennifer R. Young
TLC, an R&B trio composed of Tionne T-Boz Watkins, rapper Lisa Left Eye
Lopes, and Rozanda Chilli Thomas, formed in 1991 and joined LaFace
Records that same year. Their debut album, Oooooooh . . . On the TLC Tip
was released a year later, going gold and platinum within months. Their three
other albums, CrazySexyCool (1994), Fanmail (1999), and 3D (2002) also sold
well. The Grammy Award-winning albums Crazy and Fanmail have gone
megaplatinum numerous times over; 3D has gone platinum. Left Eye also
released a solo album, Supernova (2001). TLC is one of the first groups that
regularly combined singing, dancing, and rapping.
Other R&B groups in the early 1990s like Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, and Total had
guest appearances from rappers on their singles. However, TLC raised the
stakes by being a multigenre group; their songs are a combination of rap,
R&B, funk, blues, and rock and roll. Their choreography, song harmony, and
thematic appearance give the trio a unique identity that audiences with
different tastes favor. TLC is also one of the groups that should be credited
for their influence on the music industry overall. Noticing the success of TLCs
albums going platinum and receiving critical acclaim, producers and artists
began incorporating more rap into the remix versions of R&B songs. This
trend changed the nature of music in both popular culture and hip hop
culture.
Their first album had three songs that set a new precedent: Aint 2 Proud 2
Beg, Baby, Baby, Baby, and What About Your Friends. Instead of being
an R&B group that only sang standard love songs, TLC rhymed about sex,
romance, womanhood, and sisterhood. Their debut single, Aint 2 Proud 2
Beg, was an upbeat song about sexual liberation. The music video also
promoted safer sex as Left Eye wore a wrapped condom packet on her left
eye and T-Boz and Chilli wore condom packets on their clothes. In a time
when the lyrical content of music was becoming more graphic, TLC was
noticed for their female perspective on sexual desire and conquest.
Similar to something blueswoman Bessie Smith might have sung, Aint 2
Proud 2 Beg positions women as the gazers and men as their objects. TLC
continues this trend with songs like Creep, Red Light Special, and
Scrubs. TLC celebrates women and encourages them to love men and to
demand respect from their men and from themselves. Songs like Waterfalls,
Unpretty, and Damaged discuss physical, mental, and emotional health.
The song Waterfalls contains uncommon subjects such as promiscuity,
incarceration, family crisis, and HIV/AIDS. Unpretty challenges societal notions of beauty. The music video has its characters contemplating face lifts,
breast augmentation, drastic diets, and other types of body alterations. Damaged gets into the psychological effects that physical and emotional abuse
can have on a womans life. TLC is popular not only for their party anthem
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518
songs, but also songs that address profound issues. The group has endured
numerous personal troubles, having to file for bankruptcy in the late 1990s,
enduring public scrutiny during their interpersonal struggles as a trio, and
withstanding the loss of Left Eye, who died in a car accident in Honduras in
August 2002.
and Best Video, and won two of eight MTV Video Music Awards nominations for Best Hip-Hop Video and the coveted Video of the Year.
This Is Not a Test! (2003)
Debuting in November 2003 at number thirteen on the Billboard 200 chart,
This Is Not a Test! earned Elliott her fifth consecutive platinum album, selling
144,000 copies in its first week of release. The album incorporates a range of
genres, integrating early rap (Wake Up featuring Jay-Z), dance hall (Keep
It Movin featuring Elephant Man), and R&B (Im Not Perfect, featuring
the Clark Sisters). The album declares that this recording is an authentic
representation of hip hop and encourages other artists to move away from
commercialism (gimmicks) and return to true artistry.
Elliotts singles were Pass That Dutch and Im Really Hot, which was
nominated for two MTV Video Awards for Best Dance Video and Best
Choreography (see sidebar: B-Boys and Break Dancers). On this recording
she officially drops Misdemeanor, the nickname she received from a childhood disc jockey who claimed that Elliotts style was unlawful. She earned a
Radio Music Award nomination for Artist of the Year Hip-Hop Radio,
among other accolades.
The same year, she appeared on the cover of Rolling Stones October issue
with Alicia Keys and Eva Pigford (Tyra Bankss Americas Next Top Model
winner) and performed on the venerable Saturday Night Live broadcast. She
was also featured on two singles, Wyclef Jeans Party to Damascus and
Ghostface Killahs Tush. In 2004, Elliott collaborated with Christina Aguilera on the remake of Car Wash featured on the Shark Tale motion picture
soundtrack and The Fighting Temptations soundtrack featuring Beyonce
Knowles, MC Lyte, and Free. In addition to making her acting debut as a
costar in the motion picture Honey, starring Jessica Alba, she joined the
Ladies First Tour alongside Alicia Keys and Beyonce Knowles. Elliott ended
the year on top with her appearance on Ciaras Billboard Top 10 single 1, 2
Step.
The Cookbook (2005)
Elliott released her sixth album, The Cookbook, in July 2005, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 176,000 copies in the first
Missy Elliott
B-Boys and Break Dancers

Mickey Hess
Dance, as one of hip hops vital four elements of MCing, DJing, graffiti writing,
and b-boying, has always been central to the culture. When hip hop music
began with Kool Hercs creation of the breakbeat, the b-boys and b-girls took
to the dance floor. In fact, before MCs began to say rhymes over the beat,
they worked as hype men to help the DJ draw people onto the dance floor.
The term b-boy, still used to designate a hip hop dancer, derives from break
boy, and the term break dancer also derives from the break, Kool Hercs
isolation and repetition of key instrumental breaks in funk, jazz, R&B, and soul
records. Early New York City b-boy crews like the Rocksteady Crew, Floor
Masters, Dynasty Rockers, and the Disco Kids faced off in dance competitions
much like MCs would come to do with rhymes. Legendary breakers like Ken
Swift, Crazy Legs, and Frosty Freeze propelled b-boying into worldwide fame
as breakdancing.
Because the dance moves and fashion styles of these b-boy crews added a
dynamic visual element to hip hop music, b-boying was featured prominently
in films, from the documentary Style Wars to the movies Wild Style, Beat Street,
and Flashdance. While New York City had its b-boys and b-girls, Los Angeles
had poppers and lockers. LA dancers were given their own coverage in the
films Breakin and Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo. Break dancing became a popular
umbrella term for New York and LA dance styles, including flashy moves like
head spins and back spins that drew attention to hip hop dance in the 1980s.
Break dancers were featured in films and on television talk shows. They performed for Queen Elizabeth and were showcased at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The sudden and overwhelming popularity of break dancing
made b-boying seem like a symptom of hip hop cultures entrance into mainstream culture. As break dancings popularity grew in the mainstream, hip hop
artists began to turn their backs on the flashy spectacle seen in Hollywood
versions of hip hop culture, and break dancing lost its centrality to hip hop,
making a return in the late 1990s within a burgeoning underground hip hop
culture that sought to return to hip hops old school roots.
Dance, however, did not leave the hip hop scene with break dancings
overexposure. Artists like Big Daddy Kane, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Hammer, Redhead Kingpin, 3rd Bass, and Heavy D and the Boys made dance central to their
performances. Biz Markie, Public Enemys Flavor Flav, and Ed Lover of Yo! MTV
Raps created their own signature comic dances. Several hip hop dancers from
this era went on to become MCs and hip hop singers: Tupac Shakur began his
career as a dancer for the group Digital Underground, and the Fly Girls and Fly
Guys who danced on the Fox comedy series In Living Color featured Jennifer
Lopez and future members of the Pharcyde.
When pop rappers MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice scored multiplatinum album
sales in the early 1990s using flashy costumes and dance moves, hip hop began
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Icons of Hip Hop
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to experience a backlash against dance. With the popularity of West Coast

gangsta rap throughout the mid to late 1990s, dance was relatively absent
from hip hop videos. Dr. Dre, who did not dance in his videos, parodied the
dance styles of his rivals Eazy-E and 2 Live Crews Luther Campbell in the music
video for Dre Day. Dance returned to rap videos with releases from Bad Boy
Records that featured Puff Daddys dance moves, and with Missy Elliott, whose
videos featured innovative choreography and special effects.
Further Resources
The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy. Dir: Israel, Perf: Afrika Bambaataa, Mos
Def, Crazy Legs. Los Angeles: Image, 2002.
Lhamon, W. T. Raising Cain: Blackface Performance from Jim Crow to Hip-Hop.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000.
Veran, Cristina. Breakin It All Down: The Rise and Fall and Rise of the B-Boy
Kingdom. The Vibe History of Hip-Hop. Ed. Alan Light. New York: Three
Rivers Press, 1999: 5359.
week of release. By January 2006 the single Lose Control was certified
triple platinum and had won two MTV Video awards for Best Dance Video
and Best Hip-hop Video. The video was also was nominated for Breakthrough Video, Best Direction (Dave Meyer and Missy Elliott), Best Choreography, and Best Special Effects. The album was nominated for four Grammy
Awards: Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and
Best Short Form Video for Lose Control.
Although considered an industry veteran and one of the most powerful and
influential artists in contemporary music, Elliott, competing now with herself,
found an innovative balance between her edgy experimental nature and respect for old-school hip hop. Each producer, performance, and guest appearance on the album helps develop the notion that The Cookbook is a recipe for
hip hop success. After almost exclusively working with Mosley, the concept
album features a variety of producers including the Neptunes, Warren Campbell, Craig X. Brockman, Rhemario Webber, and Elliott on Lose Control,
featuring Ciara and Fat Man Scoop. Each track offers a distinct hip hop voice.
While Mosley only produced two tracks on the album, Partytime and
Joy, Elliott remained in contact with her longtime collaborator during
the projects development.
Elliott varies her rap lyrical delivery from track to track. For example, On
and On, produced by Pharell of the Neptunes (one of the most sought-after
contemporary producers and a childhood friend of Mosleys), showcases a
straightforward lyrical style absent Elliotts characteristic ornamentation. The
track earned the Neptunes a Grammy Award nomination for Producer of
the Year. Rap pioneer Slick Rick joins Elliott on Irresistible Delicious.
Elliotts rap delivery on this track is a tribute to Rick, slurring over a
Missy Elliott
breakbeat track with lush harmonic vocals lacing the refrain. With Elliott as
the Cookbooks chef, she enlisted Mike Jones, Fantasia, M.I.A., Vybez Cartel,
Mary J. Blige, and Grand Puba. Blige and Puba are on Elliotts most personal
track to date, My Struggles, produced by Quran H. Goodman. Elliott
rhymes about how she witnessed her fathers abuse of her mother. The same
year, Elliott participated in the Donate a Phone, Save a Life campaign
sponsored by the Body Shop and the National Coalition Against Domestic
Violence.
In addition, her commercial stock rose considerably. She was selected to
launch Chrysler/Jeeps Commander, a new luxury sports utility vehicle, which
would include an unprecedented multimedia campaign (television, Internet,
and in-dealership). She also launched Yahoo!s new music subscription service, was featured on the cover of Dub magazine, and appears in Vanity Fairs
coveted music issue.
THE VIDEOS
For a solo artist in any genre, visual imagery is an important aspect of marketing. Unfortunately, artists have to rely on music executives to approve their
visual representation of their artistry. This tradition is especially detrimental
for female artists. Womens bodies are sexualized and become the primary
prisms through which their art is visually represented and experienced by
spectators. In hop hop, this representative situation is even more notorious
for victimizing female artists and ubiquitous video vixens. Despite this practice, Elliott was able to break through and become arguably the most important video icon of the decade. As her own music executive, she trusted her
intuition and remained open to experimentation. Her body, already an aberration in the industry (overweight and with distinctly African American features), is consequently considered not marketable, meaning not typically
accepted as sexually alluring. Ironically, these differences provided an opportunity for her to transcend accepted norms.
As a result, Elliott was able to create a digital identity more in line with her
artistic power and imagination. Her futuristic musical sensibilities are seamlessly translated visually without regard to stereotypical female representation
in music videos. Just as her music is ahead of trends, her visual representation
is revolutionary as well. Her consistent originality helped usher in a new
visual era in music videos. Her fresh approach has made her a multimedia
star and a new norm of beauty. Her solo videography, for instance, has
merited video awards and honors from Billboard to the Grammys including
twenty-five MTV Video Award nominations, being rivaled only by Madonna.
Elliotts videography initially constructed a larger-than-life digital identity
where she seemingly defied nature. The otherworldly and futuristic space
Elliott inhabited helped her transcend industry stereotyping by helping her
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to create powerful iconography. This cyberworld created a space absent a

patriarchal system. The surreal imagery presented her as a powerful agent
who commands the cameras attention. In her video, she used her body to
display power and sexuality on her own terms. By doing this, she portrayed
superhuman characteristicsacting as a powerful lord who inhabits space
disrupted normative discourse about her body and gender.
To illustrate, her first short film introduces her as a cartoon character. Her
groundbreaking The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) video, directed by Hype Williams, hit the airwaves in May 1997, featuring cameos by Sean Diddy
Combs, Total, and Lil Kim. The video catapulted Elliott into pop consciousness. Williams used a fish eye lens and wide angles to construct the exaggerated imagery. Elliotts character has bulbous eyes, a black balloon suit, and
full black lips, engaging spectators in her artistry rather than objectifying her
sexuality.
Akin to a cartoon sequence, humorous images draw the spectator into her
playful world. The video opens with her back to the audience in her black
bubble suit. The first shot of her face reveals a beautiful smile as she laughs.
This opening sequence introduces a woman who does not take herself too
seriously, a woman willing to risk her reputation on her artistry. Most of the
close-ups of the guest artists are playful, but Elliotts face cannot be easily
read. She is playful but coy. Her lips and eyes pop out like a Looney Tunes
character to the rhythm of her track. Her body ticks and jerks to the same
pulsating rhythms, bending and contorting. The setting is vibrant; the color
palette consists of bright primary colors, which add to the playful tone. But
throughout the entire video, a sexualized female body is not the focal point of
the imagery.
In the video as a character she becomes a living cartoon, but more important, as an artist she transcends narrowly prescribed female representation.
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) is still considered one of the most important
videos ever made. Elliott was rewarded with several coveted video honors for
her efforts: Billboard Video Music Awards, Best New Artist Clip, Billboard
Video Music Awards, Best Clip (Rap), Rolling Stones Best Music Video of
the Year, and three MTV nominations for Breakthrough Video, Best Rap
Video, and Best Direction. The awards attest to the importance of the groundbreaking video in the life of hip hop videography. The comparable follow-up
Sock It 2 Me, also directed by Hype Williams, continued the animation
theme. Sock It 2 Me is inspired by Mega Man, a video game published by
Capcom in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
In her next few videos, Elliott continued building her videography around
this potent imagery. In the fantasy fairy-tale video Beep Me 911, directed
by Earle Sebastian, Elliott is a doll that comes to life. This video continues the
powerful imagery set up by the first two Fly) is still considered one of the most impor
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Icons of Hip Hop
Carter was the last of four children raised in a single-parent household by

his mother, Gloria Carter. Carter grew up with little financial security, no
father (his father, Adnis Reeves, left when he was twelve), and complete
access to the streets he later became famous for rhyming about. Crime, drug
dealing, and violence in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of New York in the
1980s was hardly unusual, nor were Carters experiences in Marcy Housing
Projects, but how he articulated his experiences and perceptions to millions
across the world was has made him an icon.
He attended high school for a brief period in New Jersey, and then dropped
out. He also stopped drug dealing after several close brushes with death,
helping him determine which vehicle to pour his creative energies intohis
music or the streets. Carters early nickname, Jazzy, has been suggested to
be an homage to the J-Z subway lines that travel from Manhattan to Brooklyn,
poetically suggesting a link between uptown and downtown, a link of
opposing cultures that one might see later in his life when he bridged underground and mainstream cultures in hip hop. All the same, his name is also
said to be an homage to his early hip hop partner, the Jaz, remembered in hip
hop circles for the song Hawaiian Sophie, a comical yet somewhat typical
braggadocio song about a man in Hawaii who fights off his womans exboyfriend and wins her. If one watches the video closely, a young Jay-Z made
his first media appearance. Carter was not only in some of the Jazs early
videos but recorded verses on some of his records. Such early performances,
and some well-chosen underground battles, helped get his name to the right
music labels, officially launching his career.
Although his work with the Jaz and another group, Original Flavor, seemed
preliminary to the recording career of Jay-Z, it may have proven to be quite
instructive. It could be argued that these early commercial failures taught
Carter more about the music business than one might presume. If nothing
else, to a young MC starting out in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the
entertainment industry could be quite heartless. Unlike todays record industry, record labels in the past were unsure about hip hops potential to make
money. Although there were a number of successful bids by breakout groups
like Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys, this period was a vicious time for
rappers, DJs, and producers alike. Several groups experienced problems with
record labels. The Cold Crush Brothers had disputes over distribution with
Tuff City and Profile Records. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five disputed royalties with Sugar Hill Records. Even in the early 1990s, the GZA,
who would go on to form Wu-Tang Clan, felt that Cold Chillin Records
could not envision how to market his 1991 solo release Words from the
Genius. These problems reflect the constant struggle artists had with labels
about how hip hop should look and sound.
Record labels were unsure what to do with hip hop and had some difficulty
trying to market it. For the most part, their early ambivalence toward hip hop
existed partly because many MCs were not formally trained in recognized
musical traditions. Often they only came with a pad of paper, a pencil, and
countless hours of experience rhyming in back rooms and on the streets with
Jay-Z
However, intrinsic to the rise of entertainment-based technology, people of all

class stations, races, colors, genders, and sexual orientations can experience
virtual blackness. This might just be partially what draws mainstream audiences to rap musicthe desire to experience blackness. Such blackness, usually
perceived as a form of otherness, is also projected on nonblack MCs who
participate in hip hop culture. Yet it is not surprising that the types of blackness
mainstream audiences are exposed to in hip hop are limited, or as bell hooks
said in her 1992 book Black Looks, we are most likely to see images of black
people that reinforce and reinscribe white supremacy, [not challenge it].
In Jay-Zs case, virtual blackness relates to the popular idea that the violence in black ghettos across America is highly adventurous and entertaining.
Because Jay-Zs music has always been associated with such violence, and his
lyrics are often quite explicit and detailed, people of all backgrounds and
orientations can safely experience blackness, violence, and ghetto life without
enduring the repercussions that come with it. However, in a positive sense,
people can also imagine what it may be like to be a black multimillionaire
who drives a Bentley, scoffs at the police, dates Beyonce Knowles, and can
command a stadium full of people when performing. Essentially, blackness
can now be associated with wealth and success as well as violence and chaos.
Yet the overly indulgent imaginings of black success can also be perceived in
unrealistic ways, often to belie the harsh economic conditions that many
African Americans experience daily. This, in turn, can create problematic
ideas about how black people expend wealth. Thus, if one learns about
wealth through hip hop, and by extension Jay-Z, one only learns about the
most superficial and materialistic aspects of it, not its less obvious components (investing, real estate acquisition, and saving for life after retirement).
But what is the definition of success? For Jay-Z, the question has already
been answeredwealth and fame. However, even he has admitted that if he
had his way, he would like to create music more like those that dont sell half
of what he does. MCs like Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli represent the
next phase of an underground segment of hip hop usually referred to as
conscious. Although they have made great strides to distance themselves from
this term (arguing that it has limited the types of audiences they can attract,
the wealth they can accumulate, and the types of music they can make), they
are still able to make music that reaches people and addresses a wider range of
issues and topics than other hip hop artists, even issues of spirituality. Jay-Z
criticized Common on The Black Album by pointing out how many albums
hes sold in comparison, but the line seemed to express a degree of sincerity in
his wish to create music not limited to materialism and gangsta bravado. On
another track, Jay bemoans having to dumb down his lyrics, but then quickly
states that when he does he sells more albums, sort of admonishing his audience for forcing him into his musical style. Nevertheless, this conflicted and
complicated assessment of his self-styled persona begs the question, what is
success? True, to be worth $320 million is clearly a success for most people,
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virtually nonexistent; aside from Missy Elliott and Salt-N-Pepas Spinderella,

few women have ventured into these musical roles.
Further Resources
Though Deep Cover, with its prominent bass line, resumed Efil4zaggins
sinister atmosphere and minor sonorities, Dr. Dres G-funk sound definitely
matured on his first solo album, The Chronic. This album, which lyrically
exalted a gangsta lifestyle epitomized by hedonistic party rhymes, firmly
established Dr. Dres musical interpolations of the 1970s funk canon (Atomic
Dog on Knee Deep, Donny Hattaways Little Ghetto Boy on the
eponymous title, or Leon Haywoods I Wanna Do Something Freaky to
You on Nuthin but a G Thang). The use of interpolation, a technique
that consists of hiring studio musicians to play segments in the studio instead
of sampling a song, significantly developed after several rap producers had to
face numerous lawsuits about copyright issues (interpolation allows producers to secure the rights to sheet music without having to pay royalties to use
the sound recording) Dr. Dre, who admits never having been comfortable
with the sampler, had started using this technique and collaborating with
studio musicians on First Round Knock-Out (on Cabbage Patch).
In the wake of The Chronic, many rappers emulated Dr. Dres G-funk.
Local rappers somehow affiliated with him embraced his patented sound
and released albums that captured the musical (and lyrical) expression of
LA gang banging that he had instituted. Warren G with his album Regulate
. . . G-Funk Era (1994), Tha Dogg Pound (Dat Nigga Daz and Kurupt) with
Dogg Food (1995), Ruthlesss Above the Law with Black Mafia Life (1993),
and the Maad Circle with their album West Up (1995) offer representative
illustrations of this trend. Nevertheless, the impact of Dres G-funk sound was
not restricted to California. MC Breeds album The New Breed, produced by
the D.O.C. and featuringWarren G, and Scarfaces The Diary (1994) adapted
G-funk to, respectively, Atlanta and Houston.
For nearly four years, G-funk, with its typically Californian aesthetic,
dominated hip hop and significantly influenced the imagery of rap music as
we know it today. A new gritty style of East Coast production took hold
around the same time, with Wu-Tang Clans Enter the 36 Chambers (1993),
Mobb Deeps Infamous (1995), and Nas Illmatic (1994) creating sparse,
rough and rugged soundscapes that cleary differed from Dres multi-layered
melodies. This stark difference between East Coast and West Coast style set
the stage for the East Coast versus West Coast beef, in which Death Row was
a prime player. Dres sound became the sound of the West Coast. His productions, for Snoop Doggy Dogg (Doggystyle), Blackstreet (No Diggity),
Icons of Hip Hop
336
2Pac (California Love), and various soundtracks (Fridays Keep Their

Headz Ringin), productions that consistently glorified street corner activities, insensitive sexual intercourse with frivolous women, and a flamboyant
lifestyle, were massive hits. They fashioned a rupture with the dynamic funk
and political activism that somewhat prevailed at the time and established
rap, which had principally been dance oriented, as automobile music (Dr. Dre
maintained that he played some of his demos in his car to make sure they
sounded right). The success of his hit single Let Me Ride and of the Still D.
R.E. video greatly contributed to the valorization of the car as a central
symbol of rap music. The recurrence of cars in the lyrics of rappers and in
their videos, as well as the success of the MTV show Pimp My Ride, hosted by
Xzibit, another Dr. Dre protege for whom the producer used samples of
hydraulic systems and bouncing lowriders (on his album Restless), confirm
the pronounced relationship between automobiles and rap.
The solid production that Dr. Dre subsequently crafted for Eminem, Xzibit,
or 50 Cent were as responsible as the skills of these gifted lyricists for keeping
him at the top of the charts. They exhibited a vast array of high-pitched
pianos or harpsichords (on Xzibits hit single X and Eminems Guilty
Conscience), bells and string orchestrations (on The Documentarys How
We Do), laid-back melodies, heavy beats, synthesizer sounds (on 50 Cents
hit single In da Club and, more recently, on The Documentarys Westside
Story), or clean electric guitars (on 2001s Xplosive, Eves Let Me Blow
Ya Mind), with which Dr. Dre both retained the eerie atmosphere introduced on Efil4zaggin and refined his recognizable signature sound.
This distinctive sound, whether it is supported by prominent kick drums or
old-school 808 beats has guaranteed Dr. Dre, through multiple collaborations
with major artists (Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Ice Cube, 2Pac, etc.) and multiplatinum sales (Eminems Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers LPs, Chronic 2001,
50 Cents Get Rich or Die Tryin), an unfaltering (and repeatedly recalled)
potent symbolic status both in rap discourse and in the field of the production
of this music.
THE SNOOP DOGG PERSONA

The prestige and influence of Snoop Dogg in rap are as palpable as those of
his mentor Dr. Dre. His famous use of a slang device (originally created by
rapper E-40) that consists of substituting an izz or izzle sound for a
syllable has been adopted by several rappers, the most prominent being
Jay-Z on his hit single H.O.V.A. and Ludacris (on Chingys hit single
Holidae Inn). In the same way, he popularized a dog(g) motif that would
be taken up, simultaneously or subsequently, by many other rappers (Nate
Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, Doggys Angels, Cypress Hills Sen Dog, [Lil] Bow
Wow). Like Dr. Dre, if Snoop Dogg owes some of his importance in rap to his
ties to the streets and to his exaltation of its social practices, he equally derives
his status from his aesthetic distinctiveness.
Snoop Doggs flow, like Dr. Dres signature sound, is distinctively recognizable. When Dr. Dre invited him to feature on Deep Cover, the typical
rhyme style was characterized by a fast and emphatic delivery, inspired by
groups like Das EFX, which concentrated predominantly on the rhythm. On
Deep Cover, Snoop Dogg introduced a distinctive languid flow that, with
its musicality, differed somewhat from the paradigmatic vocal style. Snoop
Dogg, like many young blacks from the ghetto, had developed his effortlesssounding MCing on street corners and during his frequent sojourns in jail.
The ritual emulation that singularizes these social spaces, accurately portrayed in Kevin Fitzgeralds documentary Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme
(2004), helped him develop a distinctive type of debonair rhyming that would
sway Dr. Dre and significantly contribute to the success of their subsequent
collaborations (The Chronic, Chronic 2001 with its hit singles Still D.R.E.
and The Next Episode), not to mention Snoops countless featurings on
further releases produced by Dr. Dre (Lady of Rages Afro Puffs, Eminems
Bitch Please II, and Xzibits DNA).
Snoop Dogg developed a symbolic persona of his own that greatly contributed to his success. Even though he circumstantially changes aliases, according to the role-playing function of rap, and introduces himself either as
Snoop Eastwood/Mister 187 (on Deep Cover and Who Am I [Whats My
Name]?), Mr. Dizzle (on his MTV show), or Bigg Snoop depending on the
themes developed in his songs, his Snoop Doggy Dogg persona is primarily
presented. The recurrence of this dog motif, in Snoops lyrics as well as those
of Sen Dog from Cypress Hill, which expressed a similar hedonistic criminal
mind, clearly established it, at least in West Coast rap, as a substitute for the
long-standing monkey (a key character in various toastsviolent and obscene
oral narrativessuch as Pool-Shooting Monkey, Party-Time Monkey, and
some versions of the Signifying Monkey) as the animal personification of
ghetto hustlers. This assertion finds an expressive illustration in the Who
Am I (Whats My Name)? video in which pool-shooting gangstas digitally
morph into dogs. Snoop Dogg equally exploited this motif on several occasions throughout his career. For example, he drew extensively on its prolific
lexical field. He titled his first album Doggystyle, a term that, with its double
entendre, simultaneously conveyed sexual innuendo and enlightened listeners
on his rhyming style. The noteworthy cartoonlike artwork of this LP, realized
by Joe Cool (Darryl Daniel), would considerably influence the design of rap
albums (Virginia rappers from the Clipse used a similar visual aesthetic on
their LP Lord Willin). His second album, Tha Doggfather, through an intertextual technique that literary theorist Michael Riffaterre calls ungrammaticalityan orthographic anomaly referring to a preexisting textual reference
symbolically blended his dog persona with the criminal imagery of The
Godfather, Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppolas mobster trilogy.
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Icons of Hip Hop
This functional dog motif, with its pronounced sexual connotations, is also
instrumental in the affirmation of his pimp persona, Bigg Snoop, through
which he usually expresses a symbolic supremacy over women (irreverently
referred to as bitches in the sociolect of the ghetto). The pimp (or mack)
possesses an important social status in the streets of black ghettos where the
term, used as an adjective, commonly means sharp or beautiful. In rap music,
the pimp is a functional representation that enables rappers to synthesize
important components of the lifestyle of gangstas, in particular the invariable
money, sex, drugs, and alcohol. If terms like gangsta, hustler, pimp, or thug
are generally interchangeable in the criminal discourse of rappers, they generally favor a pimp persona when they wish to emphasize their sexual and
economic exploitation of women. Rap scholar Eithne Quinn has accurately
analyzed this proliferation of pimp imagery in rap lyrics.
Snoop Doggs pimp persona, through present in his early albums, has
become more apparent in his latest releases under the notable influence of
his new guide, Bishop Don Magic Juan, an actual retired pimp who allegedly
gave up pimping years ago when he became a Christian. This deliberate
adoption of a marketable pimp aesthetic, with its long mink coats, coordinated satin suits, and scantily clad women, capitalized on by blaxploitation
films, is especially marked on his albums Paid tha Cost to Be Da Boss (and its
singles From tha Chuuuch to da Palace and Beautiful) and R&G
(Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. Snoop Doggs praised pimp aesthetic,
resting on his charismatic personality and his quick sense of humor, precisely
exemplifies the attitudinal and discursive expressions of masculinity mentioned earlier, expressions that do not correspond to a cool pose or a code
of the street, as sociologists Majors and Billson and Elijah Anderson have
argued respectively, but to a practical rationality shaped by the social restrictions which have altered the roles and socioeconomic status of black lowerclass men living in ghetto communities. Bigg Snoop, Snoop Doggs pimp
persona, precisely exemplifies the allegorical compensation of an inferior
status through what Eithne Quinn calls a pimp lifestylization, a fabulous
representation of pimp lifestyle and iconography. Besides, he conforms to the
basic rules of the pimp game described in the novels of Iceberg Slim and
Donald Goines. Physically, he habitually presents himself as a sharp and
expensively dressed hustler reminiscent of the blaxploitation films of the early
seventies (as in 50 Cents P.I.M.P. video, for example). As for his moral
fiber, he totally despises women, as he indicates lyrically on his pimp anthems
Im Threw with You and Can You Control Your Hoeboth on R&G
(Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpieceand visually in Snoop Doggs Doggystyle and Hustlaz: Diary of a Pimp, two pornographic productions in
which, with the smooth and laid-back tone of voice symptomatic of the pimp,
he expresses no other interest in them than a monetary and functional one.
Snoop Dogg undeniably owes a part of his appeal to the fact that his
gangsta personas, especially this pimp character, differ slightly from the
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Icons of Hip Hop
pandering for mainstream appeal that many associate with Jay-Z. But Jay-Zs
undeniable appeal, tight production, and creative off-the-cuff style was, and
always has been, more accessible to the casual listener than Nass. Although
Nas could enjoy creating more esoteric lyrics and concepts, Jay-Zs style
seemed simple enough for anyone to grasp, and yet his metaphors, similes,
and flow patterns captured peoples attention more readily than Nass. Nevertheless, people debate to this day as to who won the battle, which may be,
quite possibly, the sign of success for both of them over the industry. The
battle heightened both of their album sales and it would not take long before
they both could do no wrong, creatively speaking. Surprisingly, the most
significant part of their battle was how they chose to resolve it. Until then,
hip hop could not claim to have had a great number of reconciliations (XClan/KRS-One and Common/Ice Cube aside), but Jay-Z and Nas had the
most widely known hip hop battle to end in a resolution.
In a 2006 interview on an MTV show called Beyond Beef, Nas and Jay-Z
discussed their battle, its reconciliation, and the potential for the future.
Wisely, Jay-Z described how this monumental decision to end the beef may
reverberate throughout hip hop, offering an alternative to Biggie and Tupacs
disastrous end. For some, it reminded artists that they are just that, artists,
and not necessarily the figures they paint themselves to be (and even if they
ever were, after that, many chose different ways to represent themselves). In
the interview, Nas questioned some of the newer MCs that do not seem to
have a connection to the history of hip hop and its culture, challenging them
to take their craft more seriously; and more important, to use this reconciliation as an example of how not to allow violence to be the inevitable consequence of beef.
This represented a critical juncture for hip hop because it was the first such
statement since the period of the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The conscious
hip hop movement, curtailed by the collusion of dwindling record sales and
preachy lyrics, was more impactful than many gave it credit for. Aside from
influencing hip hop artists directly, it also demonstrated the potential for hip
hop to influence the social reality that many poor African Americans, Puerto
Ricans, Chicano-Latinos, Asians, and others lived in. However, the industry
was more concerned with less politically aware artists who were more marketable to mainstream audiences, staggering the growing consciousness movement in the early 1990s. Thus, it was primarily interested in mainstream
record sales, and although positive hip hop albums sold well in predominantly
black communities, they did not necessarily sell well in white communities.
Simply put, positive albums about African American social uplift was not
necessarily an unappealing concept for white (and other) communities, but
it was not a particularly lucrative one. More important, it did not mesh with
the dominant narratives about blackness that many were accustomed to. Despite portrayals of African Americans as upright, well-to-do citizens by such
figures as Bill Cosby, most were more familiar with myths of black criminality,
Jay-Z
depravity, and materialism. The legacy of postenlightenment Jim Crow ethnic

caricature is so deeply embedded in Western culture that it is no accident that
mainstream consumers would most strongly gravitate toward its most base
impulses. This shift by the recording industry to redefine what types of artists
should be touted as MCs for public consumption marked the decline of the
conscious hip hop movement. Seemingly, Jay-Z represented the type of commercial MC the industry wantedstylish, apolitical, trendy, and seemingly
obsessed with material wealth. However, Jay-Z and Nass public acknowledgment of the correlation between hip hop and social awareness was important because it suggested that hip hop can still deal with more pressing social
issues than materialism, especially at a time when America is more politically
conservative than it has been in decades, and the ghetto may have more black
men in prison than in the hood. But along with challenging materialism in hip
hop, can artists with clout, like Jay-Z, challenge hip hops most dogged problemsexism? Can they challenge the negative and oppressive representations
of women in hip hop? And can such a challenge help address why consumers
support the production of hyperexotic notions of femininity?
THE PROBLEM WITH 99 PROBLEMS

For the most part, celebrity relationships have become a public institution.
Much like other celebrity couples, Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles (of Destinys
Child fame) have become the ideal hip hop couple. The two have become the
topic of much conversation in the hip hop world. Mainly because hip hop has
been known for its composition of young, adolescent males, the idea of Jay-Z
with one of the most desirable women in the industry reaffirmed his persona
to his fans. Although no one could say whether or not their relationship is
genuine, its benefit as a marketing tool cannot be denied. However, such
iconic status begs the question: Can hip hop overcome the difficulty it has
always had with portraying women and overarching notions of domineering
patriarchy? Can this new image of Jay-Z help mend fences with women who
have argued for decades about misogyny in hip hop?
Despite the ways mainstream hip hop has portrayed women in music videos, songs, and other marketing paraphernalia, one of its most dangerous
impacts has been the normalization of patriarchal attitudes. Accordingly,
both men and women participate in the subjugation of womanhood and
femininity. Jay-Z is hardly innocent. From the beginning of his career to his
retirement album, he has seldom addressed women in a positive way. 99
Problems, one of his more popular songs, represents the same kind of repetitive misogyny that has been a trademark in hip hop, even if the bitch in
the song is not the primary topic of conversation.
One of Jay-Zs landmark songs in relation to women was the duet with
Foxy Brown, Aint No Nigga. In it, the hip hop world is introduced to
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Icons of Hip Hop
a new developmentthe mafiosa figure. The mafiosa, as played by Brown, is a

materialistic woman crime boss who only answers to her previously incarcerated boyfriend (there is no information as to whether the two were ever married). She also exerts her power by pointing out that she is responsible for his
financial success, style, and wealth because she has cultivated his talents and
in her words, made [him] a don. She also does not care if he sees other
women, as long as he treats her right by making sure that she continues to drive
new cars and wear expensive furs. Browns caricature would make her famous
in her own right (rivaled only by Lil Kim and Adina Howard); she soon
embodied the female caricature articulated by Tupac in his song Me and
My Girlfriend (1996). This song, about a man and his gun, is not a far stretch
from Browns representation, as guns and women are still symbolic representations of objects owned by men. In fact, both guns and women are only useful
when providing pleasure or exacting revenge for men. They are both, by nature
(or so some MCs would have you believe), objects for mens imagination. Love
for both is solely contingent upon male fantasy, and neither has an independent voice. Interestingly enough, the character Brown portrays is as palpable
as Jay-Zs, as both are consistent with the stereotypes about black men and
women: criminal, violent, sexually promiscuous, and manipulative. Both
characters represent caricatures that seem quite consistent with stereotypical
notions of blackness, at least in the mainstream imagination.
However, what Jay-Z may not do in his music to challenge stereotypes, he
may accomplish in his private life. In one sense, Beyonce is seen as the embodiment of postmillennium womens pride, at least as far as pop music celebrities who address womens issues are concerned. Songs like Independent
Woman Part I (2001) and Survivor (2001) helped mold public perceptions
of Beyonce as one of the most exotically beautiful and outspoken R&B singers. For Jay-Z to perform with her in the song Bonnie and Clyde (2003)
shows the continuation of the narrative that he, Tupac, and Biggie used
before, albeit with a slight twist. Beyonce, considered by some to be a more
reputable feminist than Brown, offers a new type of mafiosa that appears far
less materialistic and violent, but nonetheless supportive of her man. Beyonces persona is confident and intelligent, with extensive experience with
men who have tried to manipulate her. She outsmarts them and has sought to
tell other women to do the same. In her music, acting career, and advertising
roles, she has (to one degree or another) stayed true to this representation.
Her relationship to Jay-Z, however, communicates a specific narrative in
itself, considering that Jay-Z has always described himself as a pimp who
manipulates women to suit his interests. In this regard, she has become an
addition to his harem (a compliment to Jay-Zs prowess), and rather than
finding the type of man she has been looking for, she has instead found the
type of man she has admonished others for falling for. No doubt, both public
personas are pop culture fabrications that do not accurately reflect who they
are as people, but such personas can be read in a narrative, textual fashion
Icons of Hip Hop
342
Enemy, Paris). A collection of artists known as the Native Tongues Posse took
an Afrocentric focus, with artists including A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul,
and Queen Latifah delivering lyrics full of black pride, references to the
motherland, and a playful spirit. Musical experimentation had always been
a feature of hip hop, and shifts in lyrical focus were accompanied by a broadening of musical influences. With The Chronic, Dr. Dre created the G-funk
sound, in which often-harsh images and language were accompanied by irresistible seventies-style horns and bass. Meanwhile, many Native Tongues
artists incorporated jazz rhythms and instrumentation on their tracks.
Young Nasir Jones took it all in. His classrooms were the parks, stoops, and
street corners of New Yorks Queensbridge housing projects, the largest public housing structure in North America. Here, he interacted with members of
the Juice Crew, including DJ Marley Marl, MC Shan, and Intelligent Hoodlum. The variety and richness of raps golden age combined with Queensbridges hip hop heritage and its often violent streets in the young Nas to
produce his universally lauded first album, Illmatic. If Nass career had ended
with Illmatic, he would have been ensured a notable place in hip hop history.
Yet his career continues, and it is the details of that career that make him an
undeniable icon. Nass attention-grabbing debut was followed by biggerselling follow-ups that drew less critical praise, then an artistic comeback
driven by one of hip hops legendary beefs. Through it all, Nas has maintained
a consistent commitment to lyrical and musical experimentation.
CHILDHOOD INFLUENCES
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (bin means son of) comes by his musical talent
honestly. Nas has music in his genes. His father is the jazz trumpeter, guitarist, and singer Olu Dara (born Charles Jones III), and Daras father and
grandfather were both singers in Natchez, Mississippi, where he was raised.
Nas added to his musical lineage a raw intelligence, an impressive vocabulary,
a gift for keen observation, and a remarkable ability with rhyme, imagery,
and narrative. Olu Dara made his living traveling the world with various jazz
ensembles, yet although Nass parents divorced when he was twelve, the child
visited Dara in his Harlem home regularly. During these visits, the two would
waste little time getting down to making music. Nas was playing the trumpet
by age four, and the two might also jam on the drums or guitars Dara had
around the house. While Dara was, and continues to be, a strong personal and
artistic influence on his son, Nass lyrics make clear that it was his mother,
Ann Jones, who provided her children with a sense of stability, self-worth,
and love. The fact that Nas had positive relationships with both of his
parents, and was constantly encouraged and supported by them, probably
explains a good deal about Nas the mans own relative stability, responsibility, and equilibrium. Nas lived with his older brother, Jabari (aka Jungle,
Nas
a member of rap group the Bravehearts, who have appeared on several Nas
songs) and his mother. His father was often on the road playing music, leaving Ann Jones as the boys primary caretaker. Nas refers to the strain this put
on his mother in the song Poppa Was a Playa from The Lost Tapes (2002).
Nass artistic tendencies appeared early. Along with his childhood interest
in music, he also wrote short stories and created his own comic books. By
early adolescence, he had taken to educating himself, studying African history
and the Bible and perusing books at the library to collect new vocabulary for
his rhymes. Nass trademark complexity was already present at this early
point in his life. He was reading, writing, and learning about Five Percenter
beliefs at the same time that he was starting to smoke marijuana, commit
petty crimes, and sell drugs under the name Nasty Nas, one of the many
aliases he would use as a rapper. He dropped out of school in early ninth
grade, around the time his parents split up. His problems with school are
briefly recounted in the 2004 song Bridging the Gap, in which Nas raps
about spending classroom time drawing caricatures of his teachers and writing rhymes, and having his father called to school when he got in trouble. Like
a number of other rappers (e.g., dead prez in They Schools, Kanye West in
We Dont Care, and Masta Killa in School), Nas would later make the
point in his lyrics that though he loved learning, much of the school curriculum seemed irrelevant to him as a young, poor, urban, black male.
During his early adolescence, Nas became deeply enmeshed in all aspects of
hip hop culture. He joined a b-boy posse called Breakin in Action (B.I.A.),
dancing under the name Kid Wave, which was also the name he tagged on walls
as a graffiti writer. He rapped with a crew called the Devastatin Seven. He
briefly aspired to DJing, inspired by the example of fellow Queensbridge native
and hip hop legend Marley Marl. Nass partner in crime during these years was
William Ill Will Graham, who lived in the apartment directly above him. In
Wills bedroom, the two would play with rhymes and beats, Will playing the DJ
with his turntables and mixer. In 1992, the same year that Nas got his first record
contract, Will and Nass brother Jabari were both shot after a Queensbridge
party. While Jabari recovered from his leg injury, Wills wounds proved fatal.
Losing his best friend had an intense effect on the young Nas, who has honored
Wills memory through ubiquitous shout-outs on songs and through the name of
his publishing imprint, Ill Will Records. Nas has said that as a youngster, he
viewed the experiences he was having and seeing in Queensbridge as a movie;
there is an undeniable narrative quality to the timing of both his signing and
Wills death, which together seem to mark the end of the artists childhood.
MAJOR LABEL RELEASES

There are certain stories that every long-term hip hop fan knows: how Kool
Herc kicked it all off by setting up his speakers in a Bronx park, how Sylvia
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Robinson of Sugar Hill Records went searching for local rappers to capitalize
on the new craze, and how Suge Knight bailed Tupac out of jail and signed
him to Death Row Records. In the same vein is the emergence of Nas on the
New York scene. The fifteen-year-old newcomer had been introduced to
Queens-based Large Professor, who was part of a group called Main Source
and whose grand moniker belied the fact that the busy producer was only
seventeen years old and still attending high school while producing songs for
the likes of Eric B. & Rakim and Kool G Rap in his home studio. Nas spent
time at Large Professors home, taking in the production process and occasionally recording his own rhymes when a scheduled rapper didnt show up.
When it was time for Main Source to record its debut album, Breaking
Atoms, Large Professor invited Nas to contribute a verse on the song Live
at the Barbeque. The album was well received; fans and critics alike were
particularly excited about Nass guest verse.
Meanwhile, Def Jam artist 3rd Bass was breaking up (see sidebar: 3rd Bass).
The groups two white MCs, Pete Nice and MC Serch, both would record
solo albums. Serch also moved into a new career as a producer and was
3rd Bass
Susan Weinstein
While the white, Jewish Beastie Boys had established a successful career in the
primarily black world of rap during the mid-eighties, 3rd Bass came along at a
time when Afrocentrismof both the warm-and-fuzzy and militant varieties
was becoming a central trope of the genre. Respected for their skills, the
group was nonetheless targeted by the intensely political group X-Clan, who
accused 3rd Basss record company of trying to pass the group off as black.
How to racially categorize a group that is two thirds white (MC Serch and Pete
Nice) and one third black (DJ Richie Rich) is itself an intriguing question that
reveals the fundamental flaws of racial thinking. 3rd Bass were themselves
sensitive to the racial politics of rap, and they recognized Vanilla Ices hip hop
posturing and false claims to ghetto credibility as problematic. Their second
album, Derelicts of Dialect, features the song Pop Goes the Weasel, which
directly targets Vanilla Ice in order to distance the group from his co-optation
of rap.
3rd Bass worked closely with established black artists such as producer
Prince Paul (of De La Soul and Stetsasonic fame), and up-and-coming group
KMD. KMDs Zev Love X (who would later perform as the masked rapper MF
DOOM) provided a guest verse for 3rd Basss first single The Gas Face, the
video for which features prominent black artists like Erick Sermon of EPMD.
Aligning themselves with established hip hop artists, 3rd Bass used the song to
criticize MC Hammer for being a pop crossover.
3rd Bass was MC Serch (born Michael Berrin), Prime Minister Pete Nice
(born Pete Nash), and DJ Richie Rich (born Richard Lawson). Signed to Def
Nas
345
Jam soon after the Beastie Boys left the label in 1988, 3rd Bass targeted the
Beasties on the well-received Cactus Album. The Beastie Boys issued a delayed
response on Professor Booty (from 1992s Check Your Head). While the
Beastie Boys dont mention 3rd Bass by name, MCAs verse appears to take
on the group as a whole and specifically mock Serchs dancing (Dancing
around like you think youre Janet Jackson). After two albums, 3rd Bass
disbanded, with Nice and Rich continuing to record and perform together.
Serch put out one solo album before turning his focus to production.
3rd Bass is regularly acknowledged by aspiring white rappers as a positive
model. D12 member Proof (DeShaun Holton), who as Eminems onstage hype
man knew something about the potentials and pitfalls facing white rappers,
said of Serch, He was there before the struggle of even todays top artists. He
had to fight. 3rd Bass and the Beastie Boys showed that hip hop can show
racial harmony (Garner).
Work Cited
Garner, Curtrise. Serch and Destroy. Detroit Metro Times, 16 April 2003. 7 July
2006. http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=4797.
Discography
3rd Bass. Cactus Album. Sony, 1989.
3rd Bass. Cactus Album Revisited. Def Jam, 1990. (Remix EP)
3rd Bass. Derelicts of Dialect. Def Jam, 1991.
MC Serch. Return of the Product. Def Jam, 1994.
Prime Minister Pete Nice and Daddy Rich. Dust to Dust. Def Jam, 1993.
looking to work with new artists. Serch drove to Queensbridge to find Nas,
the rapper behind that Live at the Barbeque verse. When Serch discovered
that Nas was still unsigned, he called a representative at Sony Records, who
offered Nas a contract. Serch invited Nas to contribute a song to the soundtrack he was producing for the movie Zebrahead; this song, Halftime,
became the soundtracks first single and appears on Nass acclaimed first
album, Illmatic (1994).
Illmatic earned its place in hip hop history by being the first album ever
awarded five microphones out of five from The Source, at the time the premier rap magazine. The first track is more aural montage than song. The
Genesis starts off with the sound of an elevated train and an almost-inaudible
voice rhyming beneath it. Over these sounds, a snatch of dialogue, two
men arguing. In this brief montage, Nas tells us everything he wants us to
know about him. The train is shorthand for New York; the barely discernible
rap is, in fact, his Live at the Barbeque verse; and the dialogue comes from
Wild Style, one of the earliest movies to focus on hip hop culture. Each of
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these is a point of genesis. New York for Nas as a person, Live at the
Barbeque for Nas the rapper, and Wild Style, symbolically at least, for hip
hop itself. These are my roots, Nas was saying, and he proceeded to demonstrate exactly what those roots had yielded.
Illmatics impact comes from its particular combination of theme and artistry. The setting is New York City: its streets, jails, and low-rent apartments.
Fittingly, the first full song on the album is N.Y. State of Mind. The title
seems an ironic reference to older, more romanticized views of the city, but
Nas sounds respectful when he refers to earlier songs of the same title by
Frank Sinatra and Billy Joel (Nas would release a new song of the same name
on his mixtape Carry the Cross Vol. 1, which would feature a sped-up sample
of the Billy Joel song). While N.Y. State of Mind fills listeners heads with
images of violence and drugs, Nass New York is not all dark. The album
moves back and forth between experiences of pain and pleasure, frustration
and nostalgia. This dialectic is at work as we move from the first tracks
image of the city as a maze full of black rats trapped to the second songs
promise to the residents of those mazes that the world is yours. The latter
phrase is used in the film Scarface, where it resonates with the promise of
material wealth but also with the implied warning that an uncontrolled ambition may ultimately lead to destruction, as it did for Tony Montana, aka
Scarface. Illmatics success lies in these layers of irony and contradiction.
Nass braggadocio is on display here, but so is a love for home (Memory
Lane), a fierce commitment to friends (One Love), and stark, painful
images of the symptoms of urban poverty. A little girl gets shot in the head,
a mother cries for her jailed son, a young man fills himself so full of drugs that
he doesnt know if hes shot any of the children he remembers seeing during
his criminal rampage.
The other thing that sets Illmatic apart is the production. Although MC
Serch was the executive producer of the album, five different producers
worked on various songs. Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip of A Tribe
Called Quest, DJ Premier of Gang Starr, and L.E.S. each contributed production work to the album. Despite the then-unusual decision to use multiple
producers, the album has a consistent sound. Powerful beats combine with
horns on one song, with a marimba on another. It Aint Hard to Tell
samples Michael Jacksons Human Nature. On Lifes a Bitch, rapper
AZ contributes an accomplished opening verse, and Olu Dara plays the song
out with a bittersweet solo. The result of so much talent coming together for
one ten-track LP could hardly have resulted in anything less striking than
Illmatic. For better and for worse, Nas had set a nearly impossible standard
for everyone, himself included, to live up to.
The Nas albums that followed outsold Illmatic, even as their reception was
clouded by comparisons to Nass debut. It Was Written (1996), Nass second
album, went double platinum. It was generally well received by critics, went
to number one on the charts, and had hits with If I Ruled the World,
Nas
featuring Lauryn Hill, and Street Dreams, which samples the Eurythmics
hit Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). Nas continued his lyrical innovation
with the song I Gave You Power, a narrative about a gun told from the
guns perspective. Affirmative Action and The Set Up feature members
of the Firm, Nass Dr. Dre-produced group that included Foxy Brown, AZ,
and Cormega (rapper Nature would replace original member and former Nas
associate Cormega, who was mentioned on Illmatics One Love after he
and Nas had a falling out). The Firm would release its one full album in 1997,
then disband after disappointing sales. The production on It Was Written was
smoother and less gritty than Illmatic. Nas went with one producer, the
production team of Trackmasters Entertainment. The album sold well, produced hit songs, and garnered Nas many new fans, even as Illmatic diehards
began what would be an ongoing murmur of concern about Nass stylistic
departure from his classic debut.
1999s I Am . . . came next, again going double platinum. DJ Premier and
L.E.S., two of the producers from Illmatic, returned and contributed several
songs, as did Trackmasters, who produced It Was Written. Nas Is Like and
Hate Me Now (featuring Puff Daddy) were both released as singles. The
Premier-produced Nas Is Like, the first single from the album, samples lines
from Illmatic as the rapper runs through a long list of similes. Hate Me
Now is an angry, insistent response to the criticism Nas had experienced
after the success of his first album. In the song, Nas attributes to envy the
complaints that he had sold out or was chasing success in too calculated a
fashion: Its a fine line between paper [money] and hate. While Puff Daddy
was a curious choice for a guest appearance (even then, Puff was more entrepreneur than rapper), Nas says that he was motivated to collaborate with
Puffy as a gesture to the memory of Biggie Smalls, the flagship artist on
Diddys Bad Boy label until his death. The other guests are more fitting:
DMX and Scarface each make an appearance, adding their lyrical facility
and street-based perspectives to Life Is What You Make It and Favor
for a Favor, respectively. Originally, I Am . . . was supposed to be a double
album. However, much of disc two was bootlegged (an early case of MP3
leaks), so only disc one was released. This wasnt the only drama surrounding
the album; in the video for Hate Me Now both Nas and Puffy originally
appear on crucifixes. Puff Daddy had second thoughts about the scene and
asked that it be cut, but the wrong edit was sent to MTV, which aired it in its
entirety. As a result, Puff Daddy and his bodyguards barged into the office of
Nass manager, Steve Stoute, attacking him and, at one point, hitting him
over the head with a champagne bottle. Stoute sued, and the case was settled
out of court.
Nastradamus, also released in 1999, is widely considered to be Nass artistic low point. It sold well, but its quality reflects the fact that it was written
and recorded in only four months, after Nas decided not to include the bootlegged I Am . . . songs on the album (some of these songs were finally released
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Icons of Hip Hop
on 2002s The Lost Tapes, a compilation of Nass previously unreleased

material). Nas has acknowledged that this album was a departure from his
other work, saying, Nastradamus was just me experimenting, into some
dark world, I dont know what (Jones, Video Anthology). Nass rhyming
skills remain strong, but some of the sung choruses on songs such as Nastradamus lack energy. The music on several of the songs verges on easy
listening-style jazz. The single U Owe Me, featuring R&B singer Ginuwine
and an electronic dance beat, provided perhaps the best ammunition to date
for critics and fans who feared that Nas was sacrificing artistry for popular
success. The album didnt lack talented producers: DJ Premier and L.E.S.
were on board once again, as was Timbaland, who has since made his reputation producing hits for Missy Elliott, among others. Dame Grease, who produced one song on I Am . . . , produced four cuts here. The album opens and
closes with performances by spoken word poet Jessica Care Moore, although
the ethereal musical accompaniment distracts from Moores words, much as
the music and production do throughout.
By the time Nass fourth studio album came out, much had changed. His
relationship with the mother of his daughter was in trouble, and his own
mother had been diagnosed with cancer. To top it off, Jay-Z launched a
lyrical attack with The Takeover from his album The Blueprint. Combined,
the result of these challenges was to bring Nas back to top form. Released
toward the end of 2001, Stillmatic was heralded by critics and fans alike as
the follow-up to its namesake that they had been waiting for since 1994. Once
again, The Source awarded a Nas album five mics, although other reviews
didnt necessarily reach that level of praise. Despite the negativity of Jay-Zs
attack, it seemed to have gotten Nass juices flowing. He matches his rival
song for song, with biting attacks on Ether and Got Ur Self a Gun, which
borrows its music from HBOs hit mob show The Sopranos, and which JayZs next Nas dis, Supa Ugly, would sample. He also used the album to
address beefs with old neighborhood friends: Destroy and Rebuild takes
aim at Prodigy of Mobb Deep and at former associate Cormega. In this song,
Nas reworks Boogie Down Productions old Queensbridge-knocking Juice
Crew dis song, The Bridge Is Over (see the Roxanne Shante essay for more
on the BDP/Juice Crew beef) and turns it into a chorus about cleaning house
in Queensbridge. Also on this album is the single One Mic, in which each
verse builds in intensity until Nas is screaming out the words, only to be
undercut by the quiet, almost tender refrain.
Gods Son (2002), Nass next release, reflects an artist sobered by the death
of his beloved mother, Ann Jones. Nas returns to her again and again
throughout the disc, culminating with the song Dance, a simple, heartfelt
expression of a sons love and loss. Made You Look, the first single, features a driving loop under Nass relentless delivery; the chorus is a playful
insistence on the power of words. It begins with the sound of a gunshot;
several voices shout in unison, They shootin, to which Nas responds,
Nas
Ah, made you look. This brief exchange is a reminder that speech is not
an alternative to action, but at its most forceful, is itself a form of action.
This perspective reflects and perhaps explains the manner in which Nas
has conducted his various professional beefs, which is always to keep the
battles verbal. The album produced Nass biggest single to date with
I Can, a motivational song for children built around the melody of
Beethovens Fur Elise. Also tucked away on Gods Son is a hint of the
political turn Nas would take on his next release, the song Revolutionary
Warfare, which, however, features a much more overtly political verse from
guest artist Lake, who name checks sixties Black Power leaders Bobby Seale
and Huey Newton.
That political sensibility becomes central on disc one of 2004s double-CD
Streets Disciple, which features songs like American Way and These Are
Our Heroes, which takes to task black actors and athletes whom Nas accuses of being disconnected from their roots and culture. Disc two reflects yet
another development in Nass personal life, this time his marriage to R&B
singer Kelis, to whom he devotes several songs. Nas also takes the unusual
step of singing on this disc, on a song for his daughter Destiny. Listening to
this song, one cant help but be reminded of Eminems Haileys Song, on
which the Detroit rapper sings to his own daughter. There are two standout
songs on disc two, Thiefs Theme, on which Nas raps over the driving
rhythm of Iron Butterflys rock classic In-a-Gadda-da-Vida, and Bridging
the Gap, Nass duet with his father (see sidebar: Hip Hop and the Blues).
Hip Hop and the Blues

Susan Weinstein
Bridging the gap from the blues and jazz to rap, Nas rhymes on a 2004 song
featuring his father, jazz trumpeter Olu Dara. The gap Nas names in his song is
more an issue of awareness than of musical reality. In fact, the blues predict
rap in style, subject matter, and attitude. Like rap, the blues is a form powerfully inflected by the working-class experience. Because of this, both the blues
and rap have, in their times, been the targets of criticism by middle-class
African Americans who view the themes of overt sexuality, alcohol, drugs, and
crime as at best unproductive and at worst reinforcing of stereotypical images
of blacks as hypersexual and uncontrolled.
Born in the rural south before spreading to the cities, the blues reflected
both country and urban realities. Performers lived experiences with work,
love, and sex provided the basic subject matter for the blues, which is, like rap,
primarily a genre of personal narrative. Female performers were often overtly
sexual, expressing through both lyrics and delivery a power and desire starkly
at odds with middle-class notions of femininity. Female rappers like Lil Kim
and Trina are clear descendants of such women.
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350
Both blues and hip hop have also infused new vocabularyor, sometimes,
new meanings for old wordsinto the English language. Much blues lingo
for example, mojo, creeping, jive, boogie, and even rock, which was first used as
a musical reference in blueshas now become so much a part of American
English that we no longer recall the words origins or early connotations.
Further Resources
Davis, Angela. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie
Smith, and Billie Holiday. New York: Vintage, 1998.
Through form and content, Bridging the Gap draws connections among
the many movements in African American music. As striking as the song is
artistically, however, it is also unique because it depicts a functional relationship between a black father and son, something rarely represented in hip hop
songs. The song, and the publicity that accompanied it, focus on this relationship. Nas says the absence of fathers from the lives of many black youths was
a motivation for the song: We had to make this record as an example for the
kids whose fathers were either shot down in the street or taken down by the
prison systems or drugs (Foster 50), to show them that there are other
models that these youths can follow with their own children.
The duos performance of Bridging the Gap on the 2005 VH1 Hip Hop
Honors broadcast captured the power implicit in the song and provided
additional visual layers. The performance featured Nas striding the stage
while Olu Dara leans on a stool, playing his horn and singing his blues
refrain. Nas is dressed for the occasion in a dark suit, yet still sporting his
trademark off-kilter baseball cap. Father and son play off each other, exchanging glances, Olu Dara at times appearing to sing directly to Nas, the
two exchanging the line Youre the greatest to each other during one
refrain (see sidebar: The Father Figure in Hip Hop). Equally striking is the
moment when Nas walks over to the corner of the stage, above which are
seated the shows honorees. He looks up at them, and we see KRS-One and
Chuck D out of their seats, rocking to the music, KRS-One with a broad smile
on his face. In the midst of rapping, never missing a beat, Nas lifts his cap and
offers a formal bow to his predecessors.
VIDEOS AND COVER ART

Nas came of age as an artist at a time when the music video had already come
into its own as both an art form and a potent commercial force. Consistent
with the trajectory of his music, Nass videos started out low-tech, grainy, and
local, and became progressively slicker in look and theme before turning back
Nas
The Father Figure in Hip Hop

Mickey Hess
Naughty by Natures Ghetto Bastard opens with scripted dialogue between
a doctor and nurse in a maternity ward. The nurse informs the doctor that
there is no father to include on a newborns birth certificate, and the doctor
describes the situation as not a shame, a problem. Hip hop lyrics are full of
stories about absentee fathers, from Ghostface Killahs All That I Got (Is You)
to Tupacs Dear Mama, to Kanye Wests Hey Mama, to 50 Cents verse on
the Games Hate It or Love It, which includes the line, Daddy aint around,
probably out committing felonies. These songs tend to celebrate the
mothers strength in raising her kids alone, and to present the father as weak
for abandoning his responsibility. Nass collaboration with his father Olu Dara
on Bridging the Gap is unusual in a music genre where many stars may have
little to no relationship with their fathers.
Many of the same rappers who discuss growing up without a dad also
depict themselves as caring and responsible fathers. Ghostface, who, on All
That I Got (Is You), describes his father packing up and moving out when
Ghost was six years old, brings his own son onstage to perform with him in
concert footage from the DVD Put It on the Line. The Games video for Hate It
or Love It, which opens with 50 Cents verse about his absentee dad, ends
with the Game holding a baby. Will Smith and Eminem have dedicated songs
to their children, and Wu-Tang Clan frequently features their children in skits
between songs, and have recently, in the cases of Ghostface Killah and GZA,
helped their sons launch their own rap careers.
toward simpler settings and styles. Along the way, Nas collaborated with top
directors, often using his videos to reinforce his central grounding in hip hop
culture and his ongoing commitment to home.
Two of the three Illmatic videos, and some from It Was Written, were filmed
on location in the Queensbridge Projects. On the DVD commentary accompanying the video for If I Ruled the World, Nas mocks this early tendency,
saying, I had to like get my head together, smack myself one day, say listen,
stop shooting the videos in your projects, you gotta stop one day, because
every video was seeming the same. At the same time, this early positioning
is important in establishing Nas as an artist firmly grounded in the hoods
apartments, parks, streets, and corners. The videos for One Love, Halftime, Nas Is Like, and The World Is Yours in particular provide visual
references for the world that Nas describes in so many of his songs.
Illmatics It Aint Hard to Tell, directed by Ralph McDaniels of TVs
Video Music Box, became Nass first official video. Using three different New
York settings, the video portrays a young, chip-toothed rapper onstage in a
small Manhattan club, hanging with friends on Coney Island, and performing
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Icons of Hip Hop
at a hip hop landmark. This last is the park that served as the final scene for
the movie Wild Style, which as mentioned above was one of the earliest
movies to portray New York hip hop culture and which Nas drew on in
the opening cut of Illmatic, The Genesis. The rapper says that being able
to shoot on the stage at the park was real serious for me.
The One Love video continued the connection to Wild Style through the
history of its director, Fab 5 Freddy, who appeared in the movie and was one
of the earliest hip hop promoters (he is name checked by Debbie Harry in her
band Blondies 1980 punk-rap song Rapture). The video was shot on location in Queensbridge and at a prison in New Jersey, where Nas brought his
friends to portray inmates shooting baskets and staring out of jail cells. The
brief opening scene of the video resonates with stories that early friends, and
Nas himself, have told about the nascent artist; we see Nas leaning out of an
apartment window, watching as a young man is chased down and arrested by
several police officers. The scene presents Nas as primarily an observer and
chronicler of street life, witnessing the traps in which so many of his peers
were being caught and using his lyrical ability and intellect to contextualize
these lives for listeners.
The video for It Was Writtens If I Ruled the World provides a segue
from the early, gritty, street-style Nas to the more refined and worldly artist
he was in the process of becoming. This video marks the beginning of an
ongoing collaboration with video director Hype Williams, who would also
direct Street Dreams and Hate Me Now, and who would direct Nas and
rapper DMX in the feature-length movie Belly. We once again encounter Nas
in his Queensbridge Projects, but the clothing of Nas and his crew (AZ and
Cormega of the Firm are featured) now sports designer labels, and Lauryn
Hill, who provided the chorus for the song, is shown singing while riding
through the streets of New York, standing up in the sunroof, the colors and
speed providing a polished sensation different from the earlier videos in which
Nas and his crew roam the city on foot, blowing into their hands to ward off
the deep cold of a New York winter.
By the Street Dreams video (also from It Was Written), Queensbridge is
nowhere in sight. This time, the setting is Las Vegas, and we see the most
conceptual treatment yet of a Nas song. The plot is borrowed directly from
Casino, Martin Scorseses Vegas crime drama starring Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci. Frank Vincent, who appeared in the movie, also
appears in the video, and Nas credits Vincent with coaching him on his
performance.
By the time Nass third album, I Am . . . was released, the backlash against
the artist was in full swing. Nas responded with the song Hate Me Now,
which would serve as the basis for one of his most notorious videos. If the
video for Street Dreams was high concept, then the one for Hate Me
Now was literally biblical in scope. The video featured Nas rapping while
hanging on a cross. Prior to the shoot, Nas had gotten a tattoo reading Gods
Nas
Son across his stomach, which made his comparisons of himself to Jesus
Christ even bolder. Puff Daddy, who is featured on the song and in the video,
originally also appeared hanging on a cross. After Puff Daddy changed his
mind, his crucifixion was later cut from the video, which now begins with a
disclaimer noting that thousands upon thousands were crucified in ancient
times and ends by saying that Nas believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and this
video is in no way a depiction or portrayal of his life or death. Commenting
on the video, Nas stands by it as a great video, while acknowledging that
a lot of mess followed it (Jones, Video Anthology).
By Stillmatic, Nas was working with new video directors, and the results
were striking. The video for One Mic features Nas sitting in an empty room
on a simple chair for the hook; by the end, he is marching through a riot
among locals and police in what appears to be an unnamed African town
(apartheid-era South African townships come to mind), though in fact the scenes
were shot in Los Angeles due to time constraints and unrest in the planned
African locations. Got Ur Self a Gun features reenactments of the events
leading up to the murders of both Tupac and Biggie, with Nas sitting in for
each. To Nass way of thinking, the video was an homage to two artists
whose loss he was still mourning, and a way of preserving their memories.
The idea came from director Benny Boom, and Nas admits that he himself was
at first real hesitant about doing it, but then I was like, nah, Im gonna rep
for them. They deserve that. Im gonna acknowledge them as one of their
disciples, and them one of my disciples, and were the same family (Jones,
Video Anthology).
For Gods Sons Made You Look video, Nas returned to the New York
streets and to street style. Working again with Benny Boom, the two created a
very different video from Got Ur Self a Gun. While the quality of production is high, the feel is old school. Sporting khaki jacket and hat and a single
chain, Nas raps in shifting settings; old English-style tags identify each neighborhood: Brooklyn, Queens, Harlem, the Bronx. Local stars turned up for the
shooting; among others, Fat Joe appears standing in front of a mural of his
close friend, deceased rapper Big Pun, whom Nas references in the songs
lyrics. These scenes are interspersed with black-and-white concert footage
of Nas performing in a small club, the audience surrounding him, waving
their hands and jumping up and down in time to the beats.
While Nass videos are stylistically diverse, his other main visual medium,
the album cover, has been almost uniform in its imagery. All of Nass solo
albums prior to Streets Disciple feature a single photograph of the rapper on
the cover; indeed, among these albums, all but Gods Son feature a picture of
Nas against a Queensbridge backdrop (albeit, in the case of I Am . . . ,
a pharaohed-out version)Gods Son shows Nas against a simple blue background. Streets Disciple departs from this tradition by presenting a version of
the last supper, with Nas posing as every character in the scene. This isnt the
first time Nas has posed as Jesus (as mentioned above, he appears on the cross
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in the video for Hate Me Now). Here, though, the iconography suggests
that Nas is both Christ and Judas, as well as everyone in between. For the
artist who proclaimed on his first public verse, When I was twelve, I went to
hell for snuffin Jesus, who tattooed the words Gods Son on his stomach
and years later used the phrase as an album title, the image makes sense.
ARTISTIC INFLUENCES
The esteem with which fans and critics hold Nass skills as a rapper is reflected in the fact that the artist to whom he is most often compared is Rakim,
who secured his legendary status while recording as half of the duo Eric B. &
Rakim from 1987 to 1992. It is hard to find a list of top ten MCs that does
not include Rakim. Old-school rapper Kool Moe Dee puts Rakim at number
two of all time in his book Theres a God on the Mic: The True 50 Greatest
MCs (number one is reserved for Melle Mel, who rapped with Grandmaster
Flash and the Furious Five and delivered the genre-changing lyrics on that
groups The Message). Like Nas, Rakim comes from musical stock. He is
the nephew of blues legend Ruth Brown. He is credited with nothing less than
revolutionizing lyrical style through both the complexity of his rhymes and
the tone and style of his delivery. When other rappers were shouting their
verses, Rakims voice remained deep and cool. Interestingly, while Rakim is
universally considered one of the greatest MCs in hip hop history, the content
of his rhymes has relatively little to do with that reputation. In his heyday,
Rakim rapped primarily about his own skills, but he did it more poetically
than perhaps anyone before him. On Streets Disciple, Nas paid direct
homage to the master on the song U.B.R. (Unauthorized Biography of
Rakim), referring to Rakims calculated rhyme style and crediting him and
Eric B. with invent[ing] a new sound.
Of course, Nas didnt need to look as far as Rakims native Long Island for
models. Queensbridge was full of them when he was growing up. Marley
Marl was, and his Juice Crew were a New York staple for Nass generation
of hip hoppers. In the late seventies and early eighties, Marley was playing
parties in the park and honing his skills in an internship with experienced
producer Arthur Baker. In 1984, he became the record-spinning sidekick to
Mr. Magic, host of Rap Attack, a now-legendary New York radio show
airing on Friday and Saturday nights. At the time, Kurtis Blow was raps star
producer, but playing Blows pop- and synth-tinged records on the air made
Marley want to rebel. Off the air, he began producing his own records in his
sisters Queensbridge living room, developing a gritty sound that diverged
from Blows clean productions. He also pioneered the drum sample (looping
drum segments from old records to create the beats for new songs), which
provided him an alternative to the clean drum machine sounds being used at
the time.
Nas
Marley Marl needed MCs to record songs that would showcase his new
techniques. He organized the Juice Crew, who in short order would put
Queensbridge on the hip hop map. The original members were Roxanne
Shante, MC Shan, Biz Markie, and Big Daddy Kane, with Kool G Rap &
DJ Polo, Craig G., Tragedy (aka Intelligent Hoodlum), and Masta Ace joining
later. Under Marleys production, Shante recorded Roxannes Revenge, the
legendary response to U.T.F.O.s boy-brag song Roxanne, Roxanne.
Meanwhile, MC Shan recorded The Bridge, which would start a style
war with the South Bronxs Boogie Down Productions, also known as
KRS-One and DJ Scott La Rock. Biz Markie would become known as raps
class clown, while Big Daddy Kane developed a smooth, upscale image that
won him many female fans.
It makes sense that of the four original Juice Crew MCs, Nas would gravitate primarily to MC Shan, who had the most straightforward style (at least
among the males of the crew). In addition, the story of The Bridge puts
Nass continual repping of Queensbridge into historical hip hop context.
Now that the term regional in hip hop refers to areas of the country or the
world, the neighborhood representing of New York rappers is a shout-out to
the old days and the now-legends who started it all.
The other major Juice Crew influence Nas cites was a later addition to Marley
Marls stable. Intelligent Hoodlum, aka Tragedy Khadafi, performed primarily
political raps such as Arrest the President and No Justice, No Peace.
Tragedys lyrics reflect the kinds of unusual vocabulary and creative rhyming
that are common to Nass rhymes. Unknown to Tragedy, a young Nas used to
look over his shoulder as he would sit outside in the neighborhood writing in
his rhyme book; during the recording of Da Bridge 2001, Nas told Tragedy
that he remembered how Tragedy would put slashes at the end of each written
line. Perhaps most telling of Tragedys influence on Nas as a young artist is
the fact that the title of his first album is taken from a song on the Intelligent
Hoodlum LP. In The Rebel, Tragedy flows, Forget ill, I get illmatical.
In late 2000, Nas produced an album representing the best of Queensbridge
hip hop, called QBs Finest. Da Bridge 2001 features an all-star cast in an
update of the MC Shan/Marley Marl song The Bridge. Nass version features Capone, Mobb Deep, Tragedy, Nature, MC Shan, Marley Marl, Cormega, and Millennium Thug. Here, Nas takes the opportunity to bring his
generation of artists together with the generation that, to a large extent,
spawned them.
In turn, Nas has either influenced or directly supported countless artists.
Once he gained a level of attention and success with the release of Illmatic,
Nas immediately began contributing guest verses to the albums of other upand-coming New Yorkers, including fellow Queensbridge natives Mobb Deep
and close friend AZ. He rapped on Juice Crew member Kool G Raps Fast
Life on the album 4, 5, 6, and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwons Verbal
Intercourse from the album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, becoming the first
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356
non-Wu-Tang member to appear on one of their albums. Nas has supported

his brother Jabaris (aka Jungles) group Bravehearts, appearing on their 1998
debut album and including them on the 2001 collection QBs Finest. In the
late nineties, Nas created the Firm, with old friends AZ and Cormega (AZ
contributed a verse to Lifes a Bitch from Illmatic; Cormega is name
checked on One Love from the same album) and new discovery Foxy
Brown. When relations between Nas and Cormega soured, the latter was
replaced by school friend Nature. While the Bravehearts connection has
lasted, the Firm disbanded amid unenthusiastic reception of their solo album.
Identifying Nass artistic descendants is more difficultNas has joined
Rakim and KRS-One as standard points of comparison any time a new rapper
emerges who demonstrates an unusual gift for combining meaningful subject
matter and lyrical innovation. Eminem is among Nass artistic descendants;
he has acknowledged his artistic debt to Nas on several occasions, including
in the song Till I Collapse from his 2002 release, The Eminem Show, where
he ranks Nas at number eight on his list of MCs, putting himself just behind
him at number nine. Eminem reiterated and expanded on this list in accepting
his Grammy for Best Rap Album on February 23, 2003, saying that these
MCs inspired me to bring me where I am today, cause honestly, I wouldnt
be here without them. Reflecting a mutual admiration, Nas invited Eminem
to produce the song Carry the Cross on Gods Son; Nas also contributed a
song to the Eminem-produced 8 Mile soundtrack.
KINGS OF NEW YORK

It was inevitable that the three breakout rappers of mid-nineties New York
would be compared to one another. Nas released the first album of the three,
but Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z soon followed, outselling Nas if not outshining his critical reception. In 1997, Jay-Z alluded to the competition on
Where Im From, saying that locals argue all day about whos the best
MC: Biggie, Jay-Z, or Nas? After Biggies murder that same year, the question became which of the two survivors would claim the crown.
The story of how competition turned to beef is complicated, but worth
recounting given that beefs often go on and the flames are fanned by the fans
and the media, long after most everyone has forgotten why they began. In this
case, the origin of the beef was not with Jay-Z but with his protege Memphis
Bleek. Bleeks song Memphis Bleek Is from his debut album appeared to
mimic Nass Nas Is Like. Nas responded by including a song on Nastradamus with the same title as another Memphis Bleek song, What You Think
of That? In it, Nas takes a line that Jay-Z delivered on Bleeks song and turns
it back on Bleek as a challenge. Nas and Memphis Bleek exchanged another
round of insults, Nass on Da Bridge 2001. This time, Nas attacked not
only Bleek but many other Roc-A-Fella artists as well.
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all brand-new parts. My brother-in-law is an electrical engineer, but he builds

transmissions and everything. So all of those things keep me going. All of that
stuff.
Your music is supposed to be for everyone, its supposed to be for the common person. So when I read about your affinity for these things, Im thinking,
watches like Seiko? Especially because, if you made music that was so exclusive and for a select population, it wouldnt be you. And I understand that
you keep yourself very humble.
Without a doubt. Definitely. Ive been with so many people in the business
who have completely changed. On all types of levels. People I knew when they
got their first jobs working at a record company, and I ran into them at Jay-Zs
Reasonable Doubt after-party. I was cursing them outIm not a troublemaker, but they were not letting me holla at Jay. They said, Only you, but
your manager has to fall back. Im like, Yo, I produced on that album. I was
part of that whole jump off. My manager went to junior high and high school
with Jay. He knows who he is. Jay was cool, but the people handling the access
to him were being weird. I see all these other people in thereJadakiss had like
ten people and hes my dude. But all these people in there who didnt work on
the album. I did and I cant even bring one person. I know theyll be apologetic,
but whatever. They think theyre bigger than what they are and a lot of
executives are the reason why the music is getting worse. Then they wonder
why the sales are going down. Theyre the reason why the sales are going down
because most of them want to be famous like us. Their position is to work to
push the product and now they are all playing that I wanna be a star game
with the shades in the club, whos got the biggest chain, the biggest watch, like
crazy. Its just bugged out how all these people changed in the last couple of
years. And these are the same people who are saying how the music should
sound now. Im like, Damn, whens the last time you was even in the street?
I was hanging the other day with gangbangers and I didnt see you. You cant
even walk down that same block. So its outta control. I call these executives at
these labels murderers. Straight up. The radio station people, all that. Theyre
all murderers. They get no love and respect from me. Im gonna continue to
stay that way so I can keep away from all those negative energies.
In the same vein, regarding programming directors and industry executives,
youve openly criticized radio DJs and commercial mixtape DJs for abandoning the tradition. What are some aspects that you feel are overlooked?
Being that hip hop originated in New York City, it should always be the
capital of having the roots of it still exist on a big scale with the commercial
stuff thats more popular. I have nothing against Lil Jon, Paul Wall, all that
stuff. I wont make that type of music, because I am the traditional style. Its
cutting and mixing. The DJ was the major part of the rhyme back then,
because the MCs would talk about my DJ Jam Master Jay, Mixmaster
Let Em in: An Interview with DJ Premier
Ice from U.T.F.O., and Roxanne came out with Howie Teethe DJ was
always the focal point.
It was DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.
Yup. On top of all that, it has to exist in order for the culture . . . if you dont
keep that part going, its going to bow out eventually. So someone has to
preserve that part of it. With Sirius Satellite Radio, they let me do it the way
its supposed to be done. If I never heard the mix shows with Marley Marl and
Red Alert, they way I heard it back in the early eighties, maybe I wouldnt be
doing what I do. But I heard it that way, so when I learned how to cut and
scratch and mix, I was like, All right, I got it. And they were breaking
records. It wasnt about taking the check. I mean, if you pay for respect, youre
fake anyway. Most of these people are paying for their respect of getting their
record spun. You know, payola always existed but when it comes to hip hop,
even if you do it, I guess do whatever you do. But when it comes to a mix show,
every single DJ has to play whatever songs are on that list. It doesnt even sound
authentic and the thing is, a mix show means that you mix your style for two or
three hours, then the next person comes on and they do their style. The way it is
now, its two or three mixes back to back, they all have to play whats on that
list, tacked on the wall. Even if they put two or three unheard-of songs, they still
have to pick at least ten to fifteen songs out of that list. Their job is on the line. If
we were bolder, if we grouped together and said, Nah, it aint going down like
that. You aint gonna do our culture like that, then we could lock it down and
make them follow the rules of how its supposed to be. But everybodys more
worried about their check and their job and all the benefits of getting into the
concert free. Their whole mind state basically is, I gotta suck a dick. This is
mainly aimed at the men. The women, you know, they suck whatever they
gotta suck, but more so toward the men because they talk slicker on the radio,
and their mouths are full of something they shouldnt be chewing on.
Now, you talk about preserving the culture. I attended a recent show of yours
in Brooklyn and the crowd was predominantly Anglo and Asian. It was a
huge turnout and a successful show, but who owns hip hop now? If its about
the need to preserve the culture, it seems that they are the population, or am
I mistaken?
No doubt. The reason why theyre the population now because once something blows up out of our culture, white folks are always going to embrace
something thats fresh and new. Were that intriguing as black people anyway.
So when it comes to the shift in the crowd, it is a little weird to see less black
people involved in it. But we have short attention spans to where once its out
of our hands we either let it go or privately wish for things to be right again.
With me, one of the ways that you bring it back to being correct is that
you gotta aim your music toward whats missing. Ghetto people are missing.
I welcome all races to come into our world and to enjoy the musicthat
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part isnt even a problem. I dont care if Im the only black person in the
room, that part is cool. In order for you to grab your own people back into
it, you have to have stuff that they can relate to that makes them say, You
know what? I wanna get back into investing in this. Most of the stuff is so
really, really watered down, you cant relate. I cant relate to a lot of the
garbage thats out here now because its like, every day aint a party. I mean,
theres nothing wrong with escaping and keeping your mind off the stresses
of the day, but the music came out of hard times. You still have to address
the matters at hand. We still have a lot of issues thats messed up with our
people and someones gotta speak on it to make sure it gets corrected. The
hustlers and gangbangers on the street are more hardheaded, so I aim my
music at them so they can get right. They are the future. Most of our black
males are getting killed off, so I know in order to hit them, I have to speak
their language. In order for them to really enjoy the stuff, what I do is keep
it as raw as possible. Its gotta be so hard-core that theyre like, Yo. This is
what Im spending my money on. Im trying to restore that and again, some
artists should be preserving the historythey do it with rock and roll, they
do it with jazzhip hops the only one that says once you hit your thirties,
you cant rap no more because youre too old. Why are we letting this
happen? I had to be on a mission so that once other people do it, it will
change things around.
You call some pop-rap garbage and watered down. What is real hip
hop? Who determines the criteria?
Real hip hop is dedicated to those who know how to listen to it and for
those who appreciate every aspect: the graffiti, the DJing, the rapping, the
break dancing, and the fifth element, which is beatboxing. All those elements
and the style that made it so good has to be appreciated. The guys appreciating it are my age from forty on down to late thirties, or the ones who got to
see it develop from its early stages to where it is now. Were the ones that
I aim it to. I dont care if its only ten people that really liked real hip hop.
Thats cool because we can all get together, start a whole movement from
scratch and turn it into something. But Ive seen more than ten people appreciate the artists that I appreciate, without having to be influenced by just
me. Just on their own judgment, they know that Brand Nubian is great, A
Tribe Called Quest and even Gang Starr, Cold Crush and Run-DMC, Im not
really concerned with the people that dont care about it. In order to build a
foundation, you have to recruit small and then go big, so if we have to start
from zero, then so be it. I never tried to push this culture on people who dont
really care for it. Even if they listen to the stuff on the radio, being that its
getting less and less pure, thats why the sales are declining. People take it for
granted that there arent a lot of real people out there. There arent a lot of
real people left, so the percentage that exist, we dont want the stuff that
were hearing now. We want something else.
So you dont want the tinkerbell sound?

Never. It doesnt go with our format. You know, create another type of
music.
In another interview, youve said that just because someones rapping over it
doesnt make it hip hop.
Exactly.
Okay. So the fact that someone contemporary, say Nelly Furtado, has teamed
up with Timbaland. Thats considered hip hop.
Thats a good pop record.
What about Justin Timberlake and Pharrell?
Good pop record.
What about the boundaries determining whats hip hop and whats not? Does
it box hip hop in and give it a limited definition?
In order to love hip hop, no matter where you come from, I dont care what
generation, you have to have an appreciation for the people that opened the
door for you. No one cares about the Rakims and the Big Daddy Kanes of
the world, and they are so vital to the culture. If we dont include them as
being appreciated, its not gonna live long. Now that the money has been a
bigger issue of keeping it going, no one cares about the history. If it doesnt
generate money, no ones really concerned. Me, Im always concerned because without the stuff that existed before, we wouldnt have what goes on
now.
History and context are important for you. Is that what keeps you inspired to
keep making music? Are you out to save hip hop from itself?
Without a doubt. Im going to keep preserving, keep it going. I love what it
did for my family, for my friends. I was able to get houses. It kept my boys off
the block, outta jail. Keeping it raw kept them outta jail, so they can do what
they do. Get money and feed their families. I know for fact, from experience,
that this is what Im going to continue to do in that aspect of keeping it true to
the art form. So theres no other way I can do it but that way.
It sounds like you have a serious love-affair with hip hop.
Definitely.
This love affair that you have, it doesnt sound like its going to be over
anytime soon. Retirements not on the horizon?
Not at all. Im gonna do this forever. When I see all these artists like Prince,
U2, and theyre still touring. Shit, the same thing applies to hip hop. You just
have to respect it and have knowledge of it. All that has to go into the mix in
Icons of Hip Hop
362
term to a rapper like Nas may be partly inadvertently ironic, since he recounts
the stories not of the high and mighty but of the dispossessed.
In an era in which rapper has become almost synonymous with entrepreneur, Nas stands out as an artist who is first and foremost committed to his
craft. He has been criticized for not capitalizing on his reputation by branching out into other businesses, like so many of his peers. On Illmatics The
Genesis, Nas says to his friends, When its real, youre doing this with or
without a record contract. That love of music and lyrics remains at the core
of Nass work, and it is what makes him a hip hop icon.
WORKS CITED
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Jones, Nasir. Video Anthology, Vol. 1. Sony, 2004.
Kool Moe Dee. Theres a God on the Mic: The True 50 Greatest MCs. New York:
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FURTHER RESOURCES
Brown, Ethan. Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the
Hip-Hop Hustler. New York: Anchor Books, 2005.
Cowie, D. Nas: Battle Ready. Exclaim, 2004. http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?
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Jones, Nasir. Slave to a Page: The Book of Rhymes. New York: ReganBooks, 2006.
Light, Alan. (Ed.). The Vibe History of Hip-hop. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999.
Margena, C. Nas. Ebony Man 12.8 (1997).
MTV. Greatest MCs of All Time: #4 Rakim. MTV. http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/
hiphop week/2006/emcees/index8.jhtml.
Nas Homepage. 7 July 2006. http://www.streetsdisciple.com.
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Rapcentral.co.uk. Nas Timeline: A Full Career Timeline of His Life and Career. 29
March 2006. http://www.rapcentral.co.uk/nasTimeline.html.
Spirer, Peter. Beef (video). Image Entertainment, 2003.
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Illmatic. Sony, 1994.
It Was Written. Sony, 1996.
Nas
I Am . . . Sony, 1999.
Nastradamus. Sony, 1999.
Stillmatic. Sony, 2001.
Gods Son. Sony, 2002.
Streets Disciple. Sony, 2004.
Remixes, Compilations, and Side Projects

From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes. Sony, 2002.
The Lost Tapes. Sony, 2002.
Nas and Ill Will Records Present QBs Finest. Sony, 2000.
Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album. Sony, 1997.
363
Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
Wu-Tang Clan
Jessica Elliott and Mickey Hess
Wu-Tang Clan is a group of nine MCs that formed in Staten Island in the early
1990s. The structure of the group was unprecedented. RZAs goal was to
build a team of nine generals, a group of nine artists who stood on equal
footing and who could each succeed at solo careers, but who were bound
together by loyalty to the Clan. The RZA, the GZA, Ol Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon the Chef, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Masta
Killa, and U-God burst onto the hip hop scene with a raw new sound that
redefined New York hip hop and reaffirmed New York City as the center of
the hip hop universe. In the early 1990s, West Coast producer Dr. Dre had
created a new sound that he called G-funk in tribute to George Clintons group
Parliament Funkadelic (P-Funk), but with a distinct gangsta attitude. Dr. Dres
work on N.W.A.s Efil4zaggin (1991) and his own album The Chronic (1993)
had shifted attention to the West Coasts new, laid-back style of hip hop.
In 1993, a new label, Loud Records, released twelve-inch singles from
Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep, two groups that along with Nas and
Afterword
606
20. TREACH
Somewhere in between all the success of Naughty by Nature and the long
list of hit records that came with it, people forgot that Treach was pretty nice.
Maybe we were too busy saying haaay, hoooo and yeah, you know me
to recognize his talent, but he deserves to be on this list.
21. DAS EFX
These guys deserve to be on this list as a collective duo because in my
opinion neither of them out performed the other. Their perfect balance of
talent makes them one of the best groups ever, and their EFX on every MC
from New York to New Zealand is well diggity documented.
22. KING TEE
I am not sure who his influences were, but its clear that King Tee is a
student of hip hop. His skill has transcended time and from his early days
until his performance on Dr. Dres Chronic 2001, Teela has been consistently
nice on the mic.
23. KEITH MURRAY
You will rarely hear Keith Murrays name mentioned among the best. Some
complain that they dont know what he is talking about. I suppose Keith is an
acquired taste, but I guess I am used to his flavor because he makes my list.
24. SAUKRATES
Because he reps Toronto, Canada, theres no wonder why this young talent
gets overlooked. The fact is Saukrates is supertalented, and maybe by virtue of
this list, more people in the United States will recognize his ability.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Madlib
Sean Price
Xzibit
Kurupt
Grand Daddy IU
Special Ed
Bahamadia
B Real (Cypress Hill)
Scarface (Geto Boys)
Andre 3000 (Outkast)
CL Smooth
Afterword
Kwame
Young Z
Tha Alkaholiks
Large Professor
The D.O.C.
Rah Digga
607
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and an Expansive Entrepreneurial Spirit Animate Top Female MCs. Billboard 7
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Caponi, Gena Dagel. Signifyin(g), Sanctifyin, & Slam Dunking: A Reader in African
American Expressive Culture. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999.
Cepeda, Raquel. And It Dont Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the
Last 25 Years. New York: Faber and Faber, 2004.
Coker, Cheo Hodari. The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G. New
York: Three Rivers Press, 2003.
Coleman, Brian. Rakim Told Me: Hip-Hop Wax Facts, Straight from the Original
Artists, the 80s. Somersville, MA: Wax Facts Press, 2005.
Dennis, Reginald C. Record Notes. Street Jams: Hip-Hop from the Top, Part II.
Rhino Records, 1992.
610
Dyson, Michael E. Holler if You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur. New York:
Basic Civitas Books, 2001.
50 Cent with Kris Ex. From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside
Queens. New York: Pocket Books, 2005.
Forman, Murray. Movin Closer to an Independent Funk: Black Feminist Theory,
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EDITOR
MICKEY HESS is Assistant Professor of English at Rider University and the
author of Is Hip Hop Dead? The Past, Present, and Future of Americas Most
Wanted Music (Praeger Publishers). His scholarship on hip hop music has
been published in Critical Studies in Media Communication, Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature, Popular Music and Society,
and Computers & Composition.
CONTRIBUTORS
JERU THE DAMAJA hails from Brooklyn, New York, where he was born and
raised. Jeru was first introduced to hip hop in the local parks of his neighborhood at age seven, and started writing his own lyrics at age ten. Hip hop has
been a part of his life for as long as he can remember. Jeru created and took on
the persona of The Damaja (because he damages the mic) that is part conscious truth teller and part true to the streets Brooklyn hard rock. He first
showcased his hardcore Brooklyn style to audiences on Im the Man, a track
from Gang Starrs 1992 album Daily Operation. In 1993 he released his first
single, Come Clean, which was produced by DJ Premier and became an
instant underground hit. His first album, The Sun Rises in the East, released in
1994, and produced entirely by DJ Premier, is considered a classic, and was
one of the most acclaimed hip hop albums of its time.
On wax or in the ride, MASTA ACE is a true hip-hop hall-of-famer and
one of raps greatest lyricists. The rhyme veteran found a renewed energy for
making music in 2000 after a brief spell of industry disenchantment. The
rapper/producer re-entered the scene, dropping acclaimed singles on a variety
of independent labels, and a successful European tour in October of that year
614
inspired him to connect with Yosumi and record Disposable Arts, his fourth
masterfully crafted collection of clever, streetwise wordplay and bangin
beats.
Masta Ace was raised in the projects (on the 7th floor) of Brownsville,
Brooklyn. He made his rap world debut in 1988 on the classic posse cut The
Symphony, from legendary producer Marley Marls In Control . . . Vol. 1
compilation, alongside Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and Craig G. In Control
also featured two Ace solo cuts, and a subsequent recording contract with
Cold Chillin Records led to his 1990 debut album, Take A Look Around,
featuring hip-hop classics like Music Man, Letter to the Better, and Me
And The Biz. After Cold Chillin failed to make Ace a priority, he bounced
to LA-based label Delicious Vinyl, where he teamed up with the Brand New
Heavies for a track on their Heavy Rhyme Experience, and dropped his own
second album, 1993s Slaughtahouse. Grimy rhymes about stick-up kids,
spraycan artists and wack emcees made Slaughtahouse an underground favorite, but it was Born To Roll, a ride-ready remix of Jeep Ass Niguh,
that made the album a national success.
A custom car fanatic himself, Ace found a new audience in the world of
shiny rims and boomin sound systems, which drove him to create his third
album, 1995s Sittin On Chrome. Meanwhile, Ace kept his hardcore hip hop
heads satisfied with joints like the 1994 title track from Spike Lees Crooklyn
soundtrack, rhyming over a Tribe Called Quest production with Special Ed
and Buckshot as The Crooklyn Dodgers, along with elusive basement-bangers
like Top Ten List.
SHAWN BERNARDO was born and raised on the bassy, rubber-burned
streets of Oakland, California, where he has been a lifelong participant in hip
hop culture and an avid devotee of the urban vernacular arts. An art historian
and a classicist by trainingdegrees from UC Berkeley and University of
London flank his kitsch poster of T La Rockhe is a corporate liaison by
profession who has spent the bulk of his professional career collecting breakbeats and vintage tracksuits. Labeled a retro-purist (and a hip hop snob), he
daily laments the passing of the golden era and frequently finds time to put
fingers to keyboard as a freelance writer on all things subculturally old school,
elevating underground hip hop and all of its former manifestations into the
canons of high culture and greater academia.
JOI CARR is an assistant professor of English at Pepperdine University. Her
research interests are interdisciplinary, including African American music and
texts, literature and film, and African American literature and religion. She
has written, directed, and produced several plays for the Multicultural Theatre Project, Seaver College, Pepperdine University. Her current work with this
project is developing an interdisciplinary method for engaging students in
critical reflection on difference: socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity,
Wu-Tang Clan
by his performance at the Grammys, which added to his image as an unpredictable, unstable rap artist.
Ol Dirty started a trend of rappers acting out at awards shows. He connects with a similar feat pulled by MCA of the Beastie Boys at the MTV
Music Awards, and preceded the infamous brawl at the 2000 Source Awards,
in which Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapper Krayzie Bone was injured, and the
2004 Vibe Awards, during which G-Units Young Buck stabbed a man in
defense of Dr. Dre. These antics are parodied in Aaron McGruders comic
and television show The Boondocks, in which rappers often throw chairs at
each other, and the character Eat Dirt is a caricature of Ol Dirty Bastard.
After his release from prison in 2003, Dirty capitalized on becoming a
caricature of himself. He played himself in skits on Americas Next Top
Model and MTVs Video Music Awards. Before his death, the mens network
Spike TV filmed the first season of an Ol Dirty Bastard reality show called
Stuck on Dirty, in which a contestant was required to remain within ten feet
of the rapper as he went through his daily life. The series has never aired,
although Spike, with the blessing of Ol Dirtys mother and his manager, has
announced plans to run it in the future.
Though he is most known for Return to the 36 Chambers, Dirtys second
solo album, Nigga Please, was much anticipated, and was his hip hop tribute
to funk and soul. The cover art features Ol Dirty wearing a 1970s-style track
suit and sporting a long, curly wig. The sound is very different from the raw,
gruff vocals of his debut album. The RZA produced only two tracks, and WuTang affiliates True Master and Buddah Monk contributed mixing and production to three more, but the bulk of the albums production was done by
the Neptunes: Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams. The Neptunes production
made Dirtys sound more club friendly. He covered a Rick James song, Cold
Blooded, adding his own vocal flair over interpolations from Jamess original and new beats produced by the Neptunes. The hit single Got Your
Money featured hip hop singer Kelis, who later married Nas and scored hits
of her own with Milkshake and Bossy. Even over the cleaner production
style of the Neptunes, Dirtys lyrics remained gritty and included references to
tossed salads (prison slang for analingus) and cocaine.
Dirtys third solo album, The Trials and Tribulations of Russell Jones, was
released in 2002 while he was locked up in the Clinton Correctional Facility
doing prison time and undergoing drug rehabilitation. The album was pieced
together from scraps of material Dirty had recorded in the studio. In a prison
interview with William Shaw, Dirty made clear that he had no part in making
the album, and had not even seen the track listing or cover art.
Ol Dirty Bastard signed to Roc-A-Fella records in 2003. On November 13,
2004, he collapsed and died in a New York City recording studio, two
days before his thirty-sixth birthday, of a cocaine overdose. His death came
just as two other Wu-Tang members, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon the
Chef, were returning to the drug stories they had told in their earlier albums.
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Even with his drug problems, Dirty was hard at work in the studio in the
months preceding his death. While an official Roc-A-Fella album has yet to
surface, some of his final recordings have been released by other labels, on
the compilation CDs Osirus: The Official Mixtape and Rest in Peace,
Dirt McGirt.
RAEKWON THE CHEF

Raekwon the Chef (Corey Woods) was given his nickname for three reasons.
First, he liked to cook, and he often cooked for the other members of the WuTang Clan. Second, in the Wu-Tang martial arts movies upon which the
group based much of their ideology, one of the best fighters was a pudgy
figure named the Chef. The final reason Raekwon was called the chef, according to RZA, was because of his flavor or style. Early on, he was the most
fashion-conscious member of the group, although soon other Wu-Tang Clan
members worked with him to found Wu-Wear, a new clothing line. Raekwon
was also the most fluent and creative member in slang. In The Wu-Tang
Manual, RZA asserts that Raekwons first solo album, Only Built 4 Cuban
Linx, has the most slang ever in hip-hop (21). The album title itself means
made for those in the know. RZAs book features a six-page glossary of
Wu-Tang slang, much of it invented by Raekwon.
Raekwon has the honor of being the first MC heard on Wu-Tangs breakout
single C.R.E.A.M., which brought them to MTV airplay. The track opens
with spoken dialogue between Raekwon and Method Man, then launches into
Raekwons verse: I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side.
After recording Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Raekwon stayed with
Loud rather than seeking another label to release his debut single, Heaven
and Hell in 1994. His first solo album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, was released
in 1995, and it went gold within three days. The album plays like a movie from
beginning to end, each track seeming to follow the previous one seamlessly, the
songs woven together by samples from Italian Mafia films. Only Built 4 Cuban
Linx is Raekwons album, but the album cover states guest starring Tony
Starks (Ghost Face Killer). The cover of this album was the first time that
Ghostface had shown his face to the world, having previously worn a mask in
all of the groups appearances. Ghostface appears on the album almost as
much as Raekwon, rhyming on twelve of the eighteen tracks, and in most
songs they trade verses. In the album, the two MCs take on many alter egos
and comic book personas, including Raekwons Lex Diamond. The single
Verbal Intercourse also features Nas Escobar, an alternative persona of Nas.
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was one of the first hip hop albums to use Mafia
themes (see sidebar: Hip Hop and the Mafia). In The Wu-Tang Manual, RZA
calls Raekwon a master criminologist (21). In Incarcerated Scarfaces,
Raekwon expresses respect for the Mafia. He scorns black people who get
Wu-Tang Clan
Hip Hop and the Mafia

Mickey Hess and Jessica Elliott
On the music video for the song Appetite for Destruction, gangsta rap
group N.W.A. borrowed its imagery from another type of gang, the Italian
Mafia. The video, shot in black and white, mimicked the style of classic Mafia
films. The N.W.A. members dressed in suits, rather than the black baseball
caps, sagging jeans, and plaid jackets they had sported in other videos to
assert their association with LA gang culture. They shot tommy guns instead of
the AK-47s and nine millimeters they so often brandished in their videos, press
photos, and album covers. This mafia imagery was also adopted by Kool G
Rap, Notorious B.I.G, Ill Bill, Scarface, and several other artists. While street
gang imagery remains prevalent in gangsta rap today, with Snoop Dogg often
throwing gang signs in his videos, N.W.A.s video set the stage for a new wave
of criminal imagery tied less to street gangs than to the organized crime of the
Mafia. Even as he maintains his gang allegiance in videos, Snoop has embraced Mafia imagery as well; his album The Doggfather played on Francis
Ford Coppolas Godfather films.
Wu-Tang Clan is another group that adopted new Mafioso personas as the
Wu-Gambinos for their second album Wu-Tang Forever. This album picked up
on the Mafia imagery that featured prominently in Raekwon the Chefs solo
album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. On that album, Wu-Tang members Raekwon
and Ghostface Killah referenced Mafia figures in their lyrics and samples,
presenting the gangster as a ruthless but glamorous underdog figure who
got rich through crime. In the song Incarcerated Scarfaces from his album
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Raekwon the Chef expresses his respect for Mafia
members with the line, Word up, peace, incarcerated Scarfaces. The film
Scarface, which tells the story of fictional Cuban-born mafioso Tony Montana,
is a favorite of Ghostface Killah and Raekwon. The film is also widely sampled
by artists like Ill Bill. The figure of the Mafia don carries more wealth than the
figure of the street thug, and as hip hop became big business, several artists
started to promote themselves as dons who enjoyed the spoils of crime while
removed from the streets.
money and forget where they came from, stating, Guess whos the black
Trump? This is a reflection on his success as an artist who earned his money
by staying connected to his time growing up in the projects. The song references the film Scarface, in which Tony Montana (played by Al Pacino) rises
from low status as a Cuban immigrant to Mafia don.
Despite this focus on staying true to his roots, Raekwon appeared to turn
his back on the Wu-Tang Clan in producing his second solo album, Immobilarity (1999). Between his first and second solo albums, Raekwon
had appeared with fellow Wu-Tangers in the film Black and White and
worked with the rest of the group on the second Wu-Tang Clan album,
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378
Wu-Tang Forever. When it came to recording Immobilarity, though, Raekwon became impatient with RZAs busy schedule and his own place in line
among the other members of the clan. So instead of waiting for RZAs production and signature sound, Raekwon chose to use other producers, many of
whom had just gotten into the field but hadnt yet made names for themselves. Several tracks were produced by Triflyn, a member of American
Cream Team, a new group assembled by Raekwon. Further asserting his
independence, Raekwon avoided Ghostfaces guest star role on Immobilarity.
Ghostface wasnt featured on a single track, but Method Man and Masta
Killa did make one appearance each. Immobilarity is almost exclusively
MCed by Raekwon, with the exception of the two verses by Method Man
and Masta Killa, and cameos by American Cream Team and Big Bub.
Raekwons first album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, relied heavily on Mafia
themes and drug-dealing scenarios and became a classic in the subgenre of
cocaine rap. Yet without RZAs production, Raekwons commercial success
faltered in his subsequent albums. Immobilarity and The Lex Diamond Story
established more distance between Raekwon and Wu-Tang Clan, but they
made less of an impact commercially, leaving many listeners to wonder if
RZAs work in the studio formed a key part of Raekwons appeal as an MC.
Raekwon reunited with the Wu-Tang Clan in 2000 and 2001 to make the
albums The W and Iron Flag, and even though he had worked with outside
producers, Immobilarity did not signal a rift between Raekwon and Ghostface. Raekwon appeared on tracks on Ghostfaces solo albums Ironman and
Bulletproof Wallets, and Ghostface appeared on two tracks from Raekwons
third solo album, 2003s The Lex Diamond Story, which tells the story of
Raekwons comic book character alter ego.
Raekwon spent 2006 producing three mixtapes: Vatican, Da Vinci Code:
Vatican Mixtape V2, and, with DJ Thoro, Heroin Only. He also appears on
an Ill Bill mixtape released that same year. Listeners speculate that these tapes
contain rough versions of songs that will eventually be released on Raekwons
forthcoming fourth solo album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, which promises
production from RZA and Dr. Dre as well as an appearance by Ghostface.
Raekwon promises that this Cuban Linx sequel will be a return to the style of
his debut album, and the music for which he is most respected. He released
rough versions of several new tracks in 2006 on his Vatican and Vatican II
mixtapes. Raekwon released these mixtapes in limited quantity on his own Ice
Water Records, in order to build hype for his new album. A release date for
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II has not been announced.
GHOSTFACE KILLAH
Ghostface Killah (Dennis Coles) wore a mask in the photos included in Enter
the Wu-Tang and in each video from the clans first album. The rumor was
Wu-Tang Clan
that he had warrants and didnt want to be recognized by the authorities, but
his image created a new feature of hip hop, the secret identity. The secret
identity and mask would be picked up by underground artist MF DOOM,
who would later collaborate with Ghostface on his 2006 album Fishscale, and
on Cartoon Networks Dangerdoom album, for which Ghostface and MF
DOOM recorded The Mask. Ghostface grew up reading comic books
and alternatively calls himself Tony Starks, the billionaire whose secret identity is the superhero Ironman (see sidebar: Hip Hop and Comic Books).
Ghostface Killah revealed his face to the world on the cover of Raekwons
album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.
Hip Hop and Comic Books

Mickey Hess and Jessica Elliott
Ghostface Killah borrowed the Marvel character Ironman for the title of his
debut album. In keeping with Ghostfaces fascination with secret identities (he
wore a mask in all the publicity photos taken for Wu-Tang Clans first album),
he often calls himself not only Ironman but Tony Starks, the billionaire who
secretly fights evil as Ironman.
Ghostface is not the only Wu-Tang member to create a comic book hero
(or villain) identity. RZAs comic book personality is Bobby Digital. Raekwons is Lex Diamond. RZA explains the relationship between rappers and
comic book characters in The Wu-Tang Manual, saying that growing up
with a single parent in the projects, kids often want to imagine a powerful,
protective second self. They read comic books and want to find the superhero within. Clark Kent was a completely different person than Superman,
just as Tony Starks is a completely different person than Ironman, and
Bobby Digital is a completely different person than RZA. Bobby Digital
was RZAs public way to be the person he grew up as rather than the
rap star.
In 1999, the Wu-Tang Clan developed its own comic book series. In it, each
member is portrayed as his comic book persona, and each member had a say
in his character. Method Man appears in the series as MZA, Ol Dirty Bastard as
Osirus, and U-God as Golden Arms. This trend of MCs borrowing identities
from comic books extends beyond Wu-Tang Clan. Deltron 3030, an alter ego
of Del the Funky Homosapien, is a futuristic rap superhero. MF DOOM
borrows both his name and disguise from Marvel Comics Dr. Doom. DOOM,
one of underground hip hops hottest MCs and producers, has become a Wu
affiliate as well as an honorary member of Spitkickers, the collective consisting
of De La Soul, Talib Kweli, A Tribe Called Quest, Dave Chappelle, and many
other entertainers. DOOM has worked with RZA on a track for Think Differentlys Wu-Tang Meets Indie Culture, and produced tracks for Ghostfaces
Fishscale.
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380
Further Resources
Drumming, Neil. The Nerd Behind the Mask. Village Voice 46.32. 14 August
2001.
Goedde, Brian. Behind the Iron Mask: MF DOOM Faces Arts Volatility. The
Stranger. 16 August 2001. 9 September 2002. http://www.thestranger.com/
2001-08-16/music3.html.
Singer, Marc. Black Skins and White Masks: Comic Books and the Secret of Race.
African American Review 36.1: 107119.
Ghostfaces first solo album, Ironman, introduced the superhero persona he

borrowed from Marvel Comics. This albums standout single was the pensive
All That I Got (Is You), a tribute to Ghostfaces mother, who kept her large
family together after Ghostfaces father left home when his son was six years
old. Like Tupacs album Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z., Ghostfaces Ironman
shifts from a tribute to his mother to songs that disrespect women, including a
revenge fantasy on an ex-girlfriend. In other songs, the album continues the
samples of blaxploitation films and gangster films like Scarface that had begun on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.
Ghostfaces second album, Supreme Clientele, marks his maturation as an
MC. Working closely with RZA as well as producers DJ Premier and the
Beatnuts, Ghostface delivers an album full of complex wordplay. The use of
horns on songs like Apollo Kids and Ironmans 260, a track built around
a sample of horns from an Al Green song, makes his urgent vocal delivery
sound more dramatic. From buying sneakers from a street vendor (Apollo
Kids) to jumping off ledges (Ghost Deini) to dissing Sony Record Executive Tommy Mottola (Cherchez la Ghost), Ghostface shows his range of
topics and styles.
By 2006, Ghost had matched RZAs level as the most productive member
of the Wu-Tang Clan, and he remains one of the most inventive. Ghostface is
now working with a crew called the Theodore Unit, which includes up-andcoming MC Trife da God. In 2005 and 2006, Ghost appeared in a series of
MTV2 commercials called The World According to Pretty Toney, where he
spoke about such topics as stretching his dollars to buy food in his younger
days. Ghostface appeared on a 2005 episode of MTVs Made, in which
Blizzard, a sixteen-year-old hopeful MC visits Ghost in the recording studio.
Ghost shows him a stack of notebooks and encourages him to write every
day. This advice fit with Ghosts own agenda. Between 2004 and 2006, he
released two full-length solo albums, The Pretty Toney Album and Fishscale,
as well as a Theodore Unit album and a Ghostface and Trife da God album,
each of which featured Ghostfaces vocals and production work.
On 2006s Fishscale, Ghostface worked with producers Pete Rock, MF
DOOM, and J Dilla. Dilla died from a lupus-related illness before Fishscale
was released, and shortly after the release of his own album, Donuts.
Wu-Tang Clan
Dilla, only thirty-three years old, was part of Slum Village and the production
team the Umma, which first gained fame for its work on the Pharcydes
Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quests fourth album, Beats,
Rhymes, and Life. His production relied heavily on samples of sixties and
seventies funk, soul, and R&B, and added a new level of dramatics to Ghostfaces music. Pete Rock, producer and half of the group Pete Rock and CL
Smooth, created an upbeat club hit and mixtape favorite with his track for
Ghostfaces Be Easy. Fishscale is named for a form of pure, uncut heroin,
the title indicating that Ghostface was returning to his roots with raw,
straight-ahead rhymes and beats. Aside from providing a metaphor for his
music style, Fishscale also returns to the stories of drug trafficking for which
Ghostface was known on Raekwons Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and his own
Ironman.
METHOD MAN
Method Man (Clifford Sparks) also goes by Johnny Blaze, Ticalian Stallion,
and Mef. He spent his childhood between his fathers home on Long Island
and his mothers home on Staten Island, where hed meet fellow members of
the Wu-Tang Clan. Method Man went on to become one of the most recognizable members of the group, in part because of the track titled Method
Man from Enter the Wu-Tang. The song stands out on Wu-Tangs debut
album as a radio-friendly alternative to the darker, grittier sound of the rest of
the album. Adapting the chorus from Hall and Oatess Method of Modern
Love, Method Man begins his song chanting M-E-T-H-O-D Man. This
single established Method Mans potential to cross over to the pop charts
while maintaining his hip hop credentials with Wu-Tang. As one of the most
radio-friendly members of the group, Method Man is careful never to stray
too far from the dark, gritty production for which RZA and Wu-Tang are
known. His first solo album, Tical, returns to this sound and relies heavily on
beats produced by RZA.
Method Man was the first Wu-Tang member to release a solo album after
the groups debut, Enter the Wu-Tang. Taking advantage of the flexibility of
the groups record contract with Loud, he signed as a solo artist to the
legendary Def Jam label. Ghostface Killah would follow his bandmate to
Def Jam with 2004s The Pretty Toney Album, after working with a series
of other labels. As a breakout solo artist, Method Man emphasized that he
remained a member of Wu-Tang Clan. The cover of his debut album featured
the Wu-Tang logos W flipped to form an M. This visual consistency with the
Wu-Tang logo would continue with GZAs solo album and later with Raekwon and Masta Killa. As the first solo album from a Wu-Tang member since
the group officially formed, Tical featured Method Mans fellow Wu-Tang
members prominently. One track, Meth vs. Chef featured a studio rhyme
381
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Icons of Hip Hop
battle between Method Man and Raekwon. The message was clear: Method
Man had not left Wu-Tang to pursue a solo album. Instead, his solo album
was an extension of the Wu-Tang Clans overall musical project.
In keeping with the Wu-Tangs focus on taking New York City rhyme
styles new places and Method Mans own mad different methods, Tical
begins with the line I got styles, all of em sick. Tical celebrates Method
Mans love of marijuana and his loyalty to his girlfriend. In the music video
for All I Need, Method Man robs a convenience store to steal a box of
tampons for her. Tical had platinum sales, and its single, Bring the Pain,
just missed reaching Top 40 status. Method Man released a second single,
Ill Be There for You/Youre All I Need to Get By, which featured R&B
singer Mary J. Blige. The song made it into the pop Top 5 and gave Method
Man major commercial exposure. As a Def Jam artist, Method Man began to
work with Redman, a loud, funny MC from Newark, New Jersey. Redman
was discovered by Erick Sermon of EPMD, and rhymed with Sermons Def
Squad, a group of three MCs (Sermon, Redman, and Keith Murray), who
scored a hit with their cover of Sugarhill Gangs Rappers Delight. In
November 1994, Def Jam released Method Mans Tical and Redmans Dare
Iz a Darkside one week apart.
On the Wu-Tang Clans live DVD, Disciples of the 36 Chambers, Redman
joins Method Man onstage to perform Da Rockwilder. In 1995, Method
Man recorded the single How High with Redman, and it made it into
Billboards Top 20. In 1999, Redman and Method Man collaborated to
release an album, BlackOut, which showcased how well their rhyme styles
and senses of humor fit together. In videos, the duo dressed up like the Blues
Brothers and like Beavis and Butthead. Redman and Method Man went on to
work together on a film, How High, and a short-lived television sitcom,
Method and Red. How High is a college film in the tradition of Animal
House, and the cinema format allowed Method Man and Redman to showcase their irreverent drug humor farther than the Fox Network censors could
allow on Method and Red.
Method Mans acting skills are not limited to comedy. After the release of
Wu-Tangs group album The W, Method Man spent a lot of time trying to
launch his acting career. His first major acting role was in Hype Williamss
1998 film Belly. In 2001, Method Man played a character on the HBO series
Oz. In 2003, he played himself alongside other Wu members in Scary Movie
3. In 2004, he had roles in My Babys Daddy, Garden State, and Soul Plane.
Method Man released his second solo album, Tical 2000: Judgement Day,
in 1998. This album features both a variety of guest rappers and producers
and skits between songs. Tical 2000: Judgement Day focuses its songs and
lyrics on the Armageddon that many people believed would occur at the turn
of the millennium. In the albums cover art and the music video for the title
track, Judgement Day, Method Man borrows futuristic, postapocalyptic
images from sources such as the Mad Max film trilogy to present a world
Wu-Tang Clan
destroyed by war and disease. The album, like so many Wu-Tang albums,
begins with a lengthy spoken narration in which Method Man describes the
bombs, pestilence, and death that set the scene for the songs on his album.
Songs like Perfect World, featuring Lisa Left Eye Lopes of TLC fame,
extend this theme of a world destroyed. Even with the dark themes that drive
the album, Method Man also maintains the humor for which he became
known on Wu-Tangs debut album and in his acting career. The album features several skits with celebrity guests such as Chris Rock, Janet Jackson, and
Donald Trump.
Method Mans third solo album, Tical 0: The Prequel, was released in
2004. Though he had recorded twenty RZA-produced tracks for the album,
Def Jam decided to include only one of those on the final copy. Though this
album contained the successful single, Whats Happenin, featuring Busta
Rhymes, it was not well received by his fans. Meth later complained that Def
Jam had too much influence on the albums direction. It had a commercialized sound and featured guest rappers Missy Elliott, P. Diddy, and Ludacris.
Method Mans fourth solo album, 4:21 . . . The Day After, was released in
2006.
INSPECTAH DECK
Inspectah Deck (Jason Hunter) is one of the less prominent solo members of
the Wu-Tang Clan, yet his verses on the groups albums are some of the more
memorable. Deck got his nickname because of his quiet and thoughtful demeanor. He was a part of all of the Wu-Tang group albums, but he was
featured more prominently in the groups first two albums, MCing in hit
singles C.R.E.A.M. and Protect Your Neck. His verse begins Triumph, the epic first single from Wu-Tangs highly anticipated sophomore
album, Wu-Tang Forever. Decks line, I bomb atomically, which opens that
song, initiates one of the classic rhymes associated with Wu-Tang Clan.
Deck was born in Brooklyn but grew up in Staten Island, where he attended
school with some of the other members of the Wu-Tang Clan. He lived in the
Park Hill projects at 160, an address that comes up in many Wu-Tang lyrics,
often pronounced one-six-ooh. In The Wu-Tang Manual, RZA explains
that 160 was the best place to get weed in Staten Island. Anyone who smoked
would go to 160 to get their weed, and this is where Deck lived. He had just
been released from prison when the group started recording their debut
album.
Deck, along with U-God and Masta Killa, was one of the last three group
members to release a solo album. His album, Uncontrolled Substance, was
originally scheduled for release in 1995 but was not actually released until
1999. However, besides working on the group albums, Deck was featured on
many of the other members solo albums, including Raekwons Only Built 4
383
Icons of Hip Hop
384
Cuban Linx and GZAs Liquid Swords. Inspectah Deck is both an MC and a
producer. He produced the track Visionz from the Wu-Tang Clans 1997
album Wu-Tang Forever. He also produced most of his first solo album,
Uncontrolled Substance, which heavily featured other Wu-Tang members.
It was well received and made it into the Top 5 on the R&B music charts.
It was completely different from most of the other Wu-Tang solo and group
albums in that its style was influenced by 1970s funk. When Deck released his
second solo album, The Movement, in 2003, he moved away from the funk
style and created an album that would be better accepted commercially.
In between his first and second albums, Deck helped to produce some
tracks and MC some verses in GZAs Beneath the Surface, RZAs Bobby
Digital in Stereo, and Method Mans Tical 2000: Judgement Day. Additionally, he played himself in the 1998 movie Black and White. Though it was
attributed to the entire group, he produced and MCed the song Let Me at
Them from the soundtrack for the 1995 movie Tales from the Hood.
MASTA KILLA
Masta Killa (Elgin Turner) was the only member of the Wu-Tang Clan who
wasnt an MC before the group was formed. He was the last of the nine
members to join Wu-Tang, and he narrowly beat out Killah Priest to record
a verse for Enter the Wu-Tangs Da Mystery of Chessboxin. At the time
the album was produced, he was in prison, so that was the only song in which
he appeared on Wu-Tangs debut. However, after he was released from prison, he contributed to all of the Wu-Tang albums that followed. Within the
Wu-Tang Clan, a group dedicated to dominating the record industry, Masta
Killa provides fewer vocals than any of the other members.
Masta Killa also was the last of Wu-Tangs nine members to release a solo
album. As a comment on his laid-back approach to making the record, he
titled his debut album No Said Date. On the title track, a voice asks Masta
Killa when his album is dropping, and he replies No said date. This album
finally debuted in 2004, more than a decade after the release of Wu-Tangs
first group album. Masta Killas vocal style matches his approach to his
career. Out of Wu-Tangs nine MCs, his delivery is most laid-back. Standing
in stark opposition to Method Mans energy, Ghostface and RZAs urgency,
or Ol Dirty Bastards frenzy, Masta Killas vocals take on a very casual
sound. His subject matter and fashion style are also distinctive within the
group. While he isnt the oldest member of the clanGZA was born in
1966, three years earlierMasta Killa often comments on his age in lyrics,
in lines like I was rollin, showing my age, unshaven and on D.T.D.,
where he says, Got the old man feeling twenty-three.
Aside from Wu-Tang releases, Masta Killa has been involved in a lot of
projects in the music industry, collaborating with Afu-Ra, Bounty Killer, and
Wu-Tang Clan
Vegetarian Rappers
Danielle Hess
Vegetarianism is not a subject typically paired with hip hop. However, there
are over a dozen rappers and producers who refuse to eat meat, including
Andre 3000, Jeru the Damaja, Common, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, KRS-One,
and Wu-Tang Clans Masta Killa and RZA. Many hip hop stars such as Ice Cube
follow Islamic dietary guidelines that omit pork from their diets, and Muslim
rappers Mos Def and Q-Tip are entirely vegetarian. The dead prez song Be
Healthy boasts the health benefits of vegetarianism and speaks out against
the poor lifestyle decisions made in black America regarding food and drink.
Russell Simmons, cofounder of Def Jam and a hip hop producer and
impresario, is a vegan who is a member of PETAs campaign against Kentucky
Fried Chicken and has been very vocal against slaughterhouses and factory
farms. Simmons provided some of his favorite recipes for vegan versions of the
soul food staples hush puppies, ribs, hoppin John, and sweet potato pie for
the spring 2000 issue of PETAs Animal Times, a magazine mailed to their
members. While serving as the founder and manager of his hip hop clothing
company Phat Farm, Simmons was asked to design new uniforms for McDonalds to boost their image. He immediately issued a press release noting that
he would never work with the fast-food restaurant since it is against his vegan
lifestyle. Ironically, Phat Farm Shoes did market a line of leather goods while
under Simmonss management.
Public Enemy. In the film industry, he played himself in the 1999 film, Black
and White. In 2006, Masta Killa joined forces with PETA (People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals), creating advertisements explaining his stance
against eating meat and wearing fur. His vegetarianism extends to his lyrics as
well; on fellow vegetarian RZAs song Grits, Masta Killa touts Morningstar veggie bacon (see sidebar: Vegetarian Rappers).
U-GOD
U-God (Lamont Hawkins) was the eighth Wu-Tang member to release a solo
album. Golden Arms Redemption, released in 1999, was an album, like those
of RZA, Raekwon, and Ghostface, that was written as his comic book personality, Golden Arms. U-God was in jail for drug possession during most of the
recording of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) but was released in time to be
included in the recording of two tracks: Protect Your Neck and Da Mystery of Chessboxin. His verse sets off Chessboxin with U-Gods signature
growl: Raw Imma give it to ya. This gruff delivery made him a prominent
MC on the groups second album, Wu-Tang Forever. In the video for
Triumph, U-God rhymes while hanging by one arm from a burning tree.
385
Icons of Hip Hop
386
On one track from Wu-Tang Forever, A Better Tomorrow, U-God raps

about how his son was accidentally shot and injured. In his lyrics, U-God
expresses remorse for his own actions that he felt contributed to his sons
injury. With 2001s The W, U-God shone on a remix of The Jump Off, a
song that featured all of the Wu-Tang members except for Ol Dirty Bastard.
As U-Gods verse begins, RZA fades out all the music except for the sparse
drumbeat that forms the backbone of the track. U-Gods rhythm over nothing
but drums recalls earlier days of MCs rhyming over breakbeats or drum
machines, and RZAs technique of dropping out the horns and guitar showcases the uniqueness of U-Gods flow.
In The Wu-Tang Manual, RZA asserts that U-God is known for his temper.
In 2004, U-God engaged in a very public battle with RZA over royalties.
Their disagreement was aired over the radio, and RZA later claimed that
U-God had started the argument as a publicity stunt. However, U-God later
went on to record the album, Ugodz-Illa Presents: The Hillside Scramblers,
with four other MCs. He also released a DVD, Rise of a Fallen Soldier, that
documented his complaints against RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan.
U-God and RZA eventually reconciled their disagreements, and U-God
went on tour with Wu-Tang in the summer of 2004. In 2005, he released
his second solo album, Mr. Xcitement. Soon afterward, he again started a
dispute with RZA but resolved it in time to be a part of Wu-Tangs Ol Dirty
Bastard memorial tour in 2006.
THE WU SAGA CONTINUES

Wu-Tangs legacy is built not only from the vocal talents of its nine MCs and
the innovative production of RZA but from a business model that centers on
the strength of the collective. Hip hop is a very collaborative form, with
groups often including the terms clique (often spelled click in hip hop
circles), clan, crew, squad, camp, unit, and posse in their names. Collectives
such as Marley Marls Juice Crew, 50 Cents G-Unit, Buckshots Boot Camp
Click, Outkasts Dungeon Family, Michael Wattss Swisha House, and Del
the Funky Homosapiens Hieroglyphics center on a tight-knit group of artists,
bound together by a common hip hop aesthetic.
The 2001 hit The Jump Off proved that Wu-Tang Clan still could produce a posse cut. Although Ol Dirty Bastard was in prison at the time of the
recording, Inspectah Deck references him in lyrics, suggesting that the group
will send half the songs profits to their incarcerated bandmate. Dirty also is
absent from the back cover photo of Wu-Tang Clan on The W. RZA, posed in
the middle of the shot, holds a black bandana with his cousins hip hop
initials: ODB.
On July 17, 2004, Wu-Tang Clan recorded a live concert in San Bernadino,
California, for the DVD Disciples of the 36 Chambers. This was the first show
Wu-Tang Clan
that all nine Wu-Tang members had come together for in seven years, and it
would prove to be the groups last. Outside the stadium, fans were surprised to
learn that Ol Dirty Bastard would perform on stage with Wu-Tang. He had
begun to skip out on concert appearances with the group, and in an interview
featured on the DVD, RZA says that while ODB had wanted to remain in his
hotel room, other group members encouraged him to perform. In the concert
footage, Ol Dirty Bastard was visibly deteriorating. He had been out of prison
for just over a year. He was wearing his new Roc-A-Fella Records shirt, and he
spent most of the concert sitting down. At times he appeared exhausted, confused, and disoriented. Unlike the other Wu-Tang members, the DVD features
no interviews with Ol Dirty, who died less than four months later. Ghostface
Killah pays tribute to ODB by performing his Shimmy Shimmy Ya in concert
footage included on the 2005 Ghostface and Trife da God CD and DVD Put It
on the Line, released by Ghosts own Starks Enterprises label.
Wu-Tangs legacy is secured with their mainstream sales and their underground credibility. In 2005, Dreddy Kruger produced Wu-Tang Meets Indie
Culture, a CD that paired Wu-Tang MCs with artists from the world of
underground hip hop, including MF DOOM and Del the Funky Homosapien.
Members of the Wu-Tang Clan have been highly successful, both as a group
and as solo artists, but it hasnt been without struggle. After making an abrupt
exit from their tour with Rage Against the Machine in 1997, the group was
sued by a record store employee who alleged that four members of the group
had beaten and robbed him after an August concert in Illinois. During the
same tour, they were charged when, after asking people to get on stage,
people rushed onto the floor, and many attendees were hurt. These charges
were later dropped. In 1998, the group was sued by a dancer who was hired
to appear in one of their videos. She claimed that members of the group made
derogatory comments about her and held her against her will. In 2000, the
group was sued by their lawyer for breach of contract after they failed to pay
the legal fees that accrued during the lawsuit brought by the dancer. Then
there were the many legal problems for the individual group members, particularly Ol Dirty Bastard.
In 2005, the Wu-Tang Clan regrouped to create a new album, their first
since Ol Dirty Bastards death. Though they recorded a few songs, the album
was cancelled, or postponed, due to scheduling conflicts. Its been reported
that some of the tracks they recorded will be included on Raekwons Only
Built 4 Cuban Linx II. In 2006, Wu-Tang Clan grouped together to form a
tour, also the first without Ol Dirty Bastard. The tour lasted less than two
weeks in February 2006, and it was dedicated in memory of Ol Dirty Bastard. The group wanted to celebrate ODBs life and prove that, even though
theyd lost one of their members, they were still connected as a group. A part
of the proceeds of the ticket sales from the tour were donated to ODBs
family. In an interview with Shaheem Reid of MTV News, Raekwon
explained that he thinks ODB would have wanted the group to continue
387
Icons of Hip Hop
388
working together in order to make a living. At the end of the day, he said,
the show must go on.
See also: The Geto Boys, Nas
WORKS CITED
Reid, Shaheem. Raekwon Linx up with Busta, RZA; Wu-Tang Dedicate Tour to
ODB. MTV News.com. 11 January 2006. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/
1520591/20060111/wutangclan.jhtml?headlines=true.
Shaw, William. Portrait of an Artist in Jail. The Guardian. 22 March 2002. http://
www.guardian.co.uk/friday_review/story/0,3605,671387,00.html.
Wu-Tang Clan. Disciples of the 36 Chambers. DVD. Sanctuary, 2004.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Masta Killa. http://www.mastakilla.net.
Wu-Tang Clan. Legend of the Wu-Tang: The Videos. Loud, 2006. http://www
.sonymusic.com/labels/loud/wutang.
Wu-Tang Corp. The Official Site of the Wu-Tang Clan. http://www.wutangcorp.com.
Wu-Tang Clan
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Loud/Columbia, 1993.
Wu-Tang Forever. Loud/Columbia, 1997.
The W. Loud/Columbia, 2000.
Iron Flag. Loud/Columbia, 2001.
Method Man
Tical. Def Jam, 1994.
Tical 2000: Judgement Day. Def Jam, 1998.
Tical 0: The Prequel. Def Jam, 2004.
4:21 . . . The Day After. Def Jam, 2006.
Inspectah Deck
Uncontrolled Substance. Loud, 1999.
The Movement. Koch, 2003.
Raekwon
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Loud, 1995.
Immobilarity. Loud, 1999.
The Lex Diamond Story. UMvd, 2003.
Vol 1: The Vatican. Ice Water, 2006.
The Da Vinci Code: The Vatican Mixtape V2. Ice Water, 2006.
GZA
Liquid Swords. Geffen, 1995.
Beneath the Surface. MCA, 1999.
Legend of the Liquid Sword. MCA, 2002.
GZA and DJ Muggs. Grandmasters. Angeles, 2005.
Index
Q-bert, turntablist, 3839

Quayle, Dan, censorship of Tupac
Shakur, 39798
Queen Latifah: African roots and culture,
22528; Afrocentric fashion, 22021;
All Hail the Queen, 22425, 227,
27778; Barbershop 2: Back in
Business, 23637; Bringing Down the
House, 221, 236; Chicago, 221,
23536; Cover Girl spokesperson,
219, 23738; creative and financial
control, 22829; death of brother
Winki, 23132; discography, 241,
291; duet with Monie Love, 22526,
278; early years, 22224; father,
22223, 232; filmography, 241; highs
and lows, 23133; hip hop and
sitcoms, 23334; hip hop timeline,
xxvi, xxviixxviii; Hollywood,
23338; Last Holiday, 237; legacy,
23840; Living Out Loud, 235;
Motown, 229; name, 223; Native
Tongues, 27778; nurturing female
rappers, 22930; Order in the Court,
23031; overcoming stereotypes for
women in hip hop, 21819; positivity,
21719, 226; professional and
confident, 22122; Shes a Queen:
A Collection of Hits, 231; success,
286; The Dana Owens Album, 233,
238; Tommy Boy, 224, 227, 229;
U.N.I.T.Y., 230
Queen of Rox, Roxanne Shante,
6264
Quick mix theory, Grandmaster Flash,
33
Quinones, Lee George, graffiti artist,
20
Racial chauvinism, Beastie Boys, 9899
Racial politics 3rd Bass, 34445
Racism, Ice Cube, 3045
Radio show, Nas on Rap Attack, 354
Radio station, Hot 97 WQHT and hip
hop, 45354
Raekwon the Chef: Corey Woods, 376;
discography, 388; Immobilarity,
635
37778; Mafia theme, 37677;

mixtapes, 378; Only Built 4 Cuban
Linx, 37677. See also Wu-Tang
Clan
Raggamuffin hip hop, hybrid, 13
Raising Hell, Run-DMC, 8586
Rakim: collaboration with Dr. Dre,
15860; discography, 167; Five
Percent Nation and Islam, 14344;
flow, 163; growing up, 14647; Islam
and Five Percent Nation, 149;
microphone, rhymes, and crowd,
14546; retail powerhouse brand, 159;
return, 15660; Rugrats: The Movie,
157; style, 14246, 162; William
Michael Griffin, Jr., 146. See also Eric
B. & Rakim
Rap, anti-Semitism, 17980
Rap-A-Lot Records, Geto Boys, 248,
250, 261, 264
Rap Attack radio show, Nas, 354
Rap film, Hustle and Flow, 244
Rap music: feminism, 200201; Salt-NPepa, 19697
Rapper-producer dynamic, hip hop
groups, 477
Rappers: categories for hip hop groups,
47678; credibility and law, 44041;
fashion, 44243; fast, 56061; hype
men, 176; mama complex, 39495;
mixtape promotion, 7273; names,
135; number exploding, 1718;
vegetarians, 385
Rap recordings, doing away with hip hop
DJ, 19
Rawkus Records: hip hop, 28889; Mos
Def, 28990
Ready Rock C, human beatbox, 52
Ready to Die, Notorious B.I.G., 423,
42427, 43031
Reality television: hip hop and, 510;
Missy Elliott, 509
Realness, central subject of rap, 357
Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Zs debut, 532,
537
Recording industry, Jay-Z and future of
new, 54951
Index
636
Red Ant Entertainment, Salt-N-Pepa,

206
Reflective thug, gangsta rap, 533
Reggae: Criminal Minded, 13, 22; hip
hop and, 1314; Kool Herc, 25
Religious conversion, Run-DMC, 88
Remix phenomenon, The Black Album,
53536
Respect, old-school keyword, 42
Retirement, rumor of Eminem, 499501
Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty
Version, Ol Dirty Bastard, 37374
Revolutionary vision, Public Enemy,
18688
Rhyme, technique of rap, 358, 360
Rhyme book, hip hop, 35960
Rhyme style, Native Tongues, 28485
Rhythm and blues, range of musical
styles, 266
Ridenour, Carlton Douglas: Chuck D,
170. See also Public Enemy
Robinson, Darren, human beatbox, 52
Robinson, Sylvia, Grandmaster Flash,
4346
Roc-A-Fella Records: Jay-Z, 53132;
Kanye West, 556
Rock, hip hop and, 9293
Rock, Chris, Grandmaster Flash, 44
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland),
hip hop exhibit, 117
Rock Steady Crew, hip hop timeline, xxii
Rock the Vote, MC Lyte, 133
Roland Tr-808, drum machine, 75, 148,
163
Roper, Deidre DJ Spinderella: after
Salt-N-Pepa, 212; Salt-N-Pepa, 193,
19798, 201. See also Salt-N-Pepa
Roxanne Wars phenomenon, Roxanne
Shante, 53
Royce da 5'9'' , Eminems beef with, 494;
MC, 605
Rubin, Rick: Beastie Boys, 9596; Def
American, 96; Def Jam, 71, 7879; hip
hop timeline, xxiv; Run-DMC
management, 69
Rumors, early retirement of Eminem,
499501
Run-DMC: Cold Crush Brothers, 74;

concert violence, 8586; debut, 70,
7273; defining hip hop, 6970; Def
Jam, 70, 71, 7879; Def Jam logo,
84; discography, 90; growing up,
7678; hip hop and reggae, 13; hip
hop brand, 70; hip hop branding,
7981; hip hop timeline, xxiii, xxiv;
hip hop video, 82; legacy, 8889;
management team, 69; My Adidas,
7981; new look, 8485; promotion,
74; Proud to Be Black, 87;
Raising Hell, 8586; religious
conversion, 88; Son of Byford,
7678; Sucker MCs, 7273;
trickiness of industry, 7376
Ruthless Records: Dr. Dre, 32123;
Eazy-E, 321; Ice Cube, 297, 301
RZA: discography, 389; Gravediggaz,
36970; influences, 371; movie
soundtracks, 370; Robert Diggs, 368;
The Wu-Tang Manual, 37071;
vegetarian, 385; Wu-Tang Clan, 365,
36871. See also Wu-Tang Clan
RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo, 370
St. Ides malt liquor, Ice Cube, 3045
Saddler, Joseph. See Grandmaster Flash
Sadler, Eric Vietnam: Bomb Squad,
170, 17273, 177. See also Public
Enemy
Salt-N-Pepa: authenticity of female
rappers, 2089; Blacks Magic, 2035;
Brand New, 21011; discography,
21516; early years, 19798; end of
Blacks Magic, 2056; female rappers
in 1980s, 19597; female rappers with
male producers, 2056; feminism in
rap music, 200201; hip hop timeline,
xxiv; Hot, Cool & Vicious, 19899,
201; inspiration to Missy Elliott, 505;
legacy, 21213; London Records,
2056, 209, 210; Next Plateau
Records, 198, 2023; officially
disbanded, 212; Red Ant
Entertainment, 206, 210; rise to
stardom, 2013; strong, independent
Index
women, 19395; Super Nature, 198;

Very Necessary, 2067, 20910;
women and DJ culture, 194; womens
issues, 19697
Sampler, term, 33435
Sampling, lawsuits, 1045
Sandra Lady Pink Fabara, graffiti
artist, 20
Saukrates, MC, 606
Scarface: Brad Jordan, 247; solo career,
25658. See also Geto Boys
Scratch: DJ Q-bert, 41; Grandmaster
DST, 42
Scratching: DJ Q-bert, 41; Grandwizard
Theodore, 17, 28, 32
Sean Paul, hip hop-generation dance hall
DJ, 13
Secret identity, Ghostface Killah, 37879
Selectors, Jamaican term for DJ, 3940
Sex appeal, Notorious B.I.G., 42728
Sexual abuse, Tupac Shakur, 397
Sexual politics, Geto Boys theme,
25455
Sexual prowess, Dr. Dre and Snoop
Dogg, 33132
Shabba Ranks, reggae, 13
Shakur, Tupac: 2Pacalypse Now,
39697; actor, 400402; alter ego
Makaveli, 4079; C. Delores Tucker,
397400; censorship, 397400;
clothing, 41112; controversial Don
Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory,
4046; Digital Underground (DU),
396; discography, 41415; East
Coast-West Coast feud, 39293, 534;
embrace of death, 410; formative
years, 39395; hip hop timeline,
xxviii; intellectualism, 4024; Juice,
400402; legacy, 41213; life after
death, 4079; literacy, 4024; mama
complex, 39495; meaning of name,
393; murder, 392, 397, 43233;
nihilism, 410; notoriety, 397;
Notorious B.I.G. and, 43233,
43536, 534, 54445; performing arts
school, 394; prison imagery, 397;
sexual abuse, 397; social and political
637
commentary of Don Killuminati,

4067; Thug Life ideology, 40912
Shante, Roxanne: abuse by men, 6263;
answer record, 53, 12426; Cold
Chillin Records, 5859, 63;
discography, 68; education, 6364;
exploitation, 6264, 65, 67; Fly Ty,
5859, 62; innocence lost, 5859;
Janet Jackson, 6566; Juice Crew, 51,
53, 5558; legacy, 6467; Lolita
Shante Gooden, 58; lyric contest with
Sparky D, 6162; Marymount
University, 64; Queen of Rox,
6264; Rick James, 63; Roxanne Wars
phenomenon, 53; teen rap prodigy, 55;
U.T.F.O., 53, 61
Sha Rock, female MC, 18
Shaw, Richard: Bushwick Bill, 247.
See also Geto Boys
Shocklee, Hank, Public Enemy, 170
Shocklee, Keith, Public Enemy, 17071
Signature sound, Dr. Dre, 33233,
33536
Signifying: MC Lyte, 11718, 12426;
rap names, 135
Simmons, Russell: Beastie Boys, 9597;
Def Jam, 71, 7879, 96; Def Jam logo,
84; Grandmaster Flash, 44; hip hop
timeline, xxiv; Run-DMC management,
69, 74; vegetarian, 385
Sir Jinx, Ice Cube and, 296
Sista, girl group with Missy Elliott,
5056
Sitcoms, hip hop and, 23334
Sizzla, hip hop-generation dance hall DJ,
13
Skits, hip hop, 27576
Slang, hip hop, 14344
Slick Rick, storytelling, 122
Slim Shady LP, Eminem, 48990
Smif-N-Wessun, reggae and hip hop, 13
Smith, Will, human beatbox, 52
Snoop Dogg: aliases, 337; criminal
background, 32426; Death Row
label, 32729; discography, 340; flow,
337; gangsta persona, 33839; hip hop
and horror, 370; nickname, 326;
Snoop Dogg (contd.)

persona, 33639; pimp persona,
33839; shooting death and trial,
32728; studio gangsta, 32526.
See also Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
Soaking records, protecting signature
songs, 12
Social issues, Jay-Zs formula for success,
538
Sociopolitical commentary, Grandmaster
Flash, 4546
Son of Byford, Runngsta, 32526.
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
Tupac Shakur
only representation of security, order, and strength. It is no secret that African

American households are disproportionately headed by single females. Often,
African American women find themselves in situations where they must be
both mother and father. The struggles that the African American mother must
endure to ensure that her childrens needs are met are apparently never
forgotten. All of the attention is thus given to the mother-head and she
becomes an eternal symbol of love.
The lyrics to Tupacs Dear Mama support the notion love for ones mother
can supersede the hard knocks experienced during childhood and can even be
used to pay tribute for the good that came as a result. Tupac states that he can
never pay her back for her struggle in raising him. The children also recognize
that the absence of the African American male in the family household puts a
strain on the mother. When the mother overcomes these stresses, it seems
that her children take pride in her. In his song Hey Mama, Kanye West
(2005) thanks his mom for all of her support in spite of the stressful situations
she had to endure in his upbringing. The mother holds an important role in
the hip hop community because she represents strength, persistence, and
courage, values embraced by even the hardest thugs.
Tupac left Baltimore and headed to Marin City, California, in the Bay
Area, to live with Linda Pratt, wife of Black Panther Elmer Geronimo Pratt.
Nicknamed the Jungle, Marin City is an impoverished community across the
bay from Oakland where Tupac began to sell drugs and learn even more
about the streets. Tupac arrived in Marin City at the height of the crack
cocaine explosion of the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period of death and
destruction to the lives of a multitude of young people living in the urban
areas of California. The crack cocaine explosion paralleled the rise of hip hop
in the Bay Area. As a result of the onslaught of drug- and gang-related
violence, rappers and songwriters responded to the urban crisis in a variety
of ways. Drugs and gangs were becoming common topics for songs such as
the crossover hit, The Ghetto. This song from Too $horts 1990 release
Short Dogs in the House painted a gloomy and dark picture of urban America. R&B artist Tony! Toni! Tone! went a step further with their 1988 song
Little Walter, a ballad about a drug dealer shot when he opened his door.
With this new surge of West Coast hip hop, artists and groups like MC
Hammer, Ant Banks, Capitol Tax, and Digital Underground became famous
in the late eighties and early nineties. Although Hammer and Digital Underground were more focused on dance music and party music than exposing
social conditions, Tupac drew material for his music from the poverty, drugs,
and crime he witnessed in California. He would later use his lyrics to speak to
the raging drug scene in Marin City and in the poor black communities across
the country.
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Icons of Hip Hop
THE WORLD WILL NEVER BE THE SAME: ENTER TUPAC SHAKUR

Tupac got his start in the music industry with Digital Underground (DU), one
of the most eccentric hip hop acts of the early nineties. The group, which
consisted of main members Shock-G, MC Humpty Hump, Money-B, and DJ
Fuze, also included a bizarre host of revolving group members such as DJ
DOT, Esenchill, Dungeon Squad, Saafir, and Big Money Otis. The groups
sound blended samples of Parliament/Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, and Jimi
Hendrix to create classic singles such as The Humpty Dance and Doowutchyalike, which were included on their 1989 Grammy-nominated album
Sex Packets. These self-proclaimed Sons of the P, as they would title their
second full-length album, were the inheritors of the P-Funk tradition. They
scored another hit with This Is an E.P. Release in 1990. The album included
the hit Same Song, which introduced the world to Tupac Shakur.
Tupac recorded his first verse for Same Song, which was also featured on
the Nothing but Trouble soundtrack, but he began his career with Digital
Underground as a roadie and dancer. The role of dancer can serve as a point
of entry into the music business for some hip hop artists (e.g., the Pharcyde
and Jennifer Lopez). This strategy certainly worked for Tupac, who worked
as a dancer for only about a year. This helps explain why even though he
enjoyed being able to clown around with the Underground, as he rhymes in
Same Song, Tupac had more to say and could not remain in the shadow of
DU. He decided to venture out as a solo artist, but Atron Gregory, Tupacs
manager at the time, was unable to convince Tommy Boy Management that
he had what it takes to be an independent, financially viable artist. Interscope
Records, however, signed Tupac and financed his debut album.
Interscope Records released 2Pacalypse Now in 1991; it was the boost
Tupac needed to propel him out of the shadows of DU and into the realm
of hip hop stardom. The album included songs such as Rebel of the Underground, Trapped (featuring Shock-G), and Young Black Male. However, it was Brendas Got a Baby that truly caught the attention of the
hip hop community. In the song, Tupacs Brenda is a dope fiend who gives
up her newborn for drugs and sex and is later found dead. The song is a
powerful testament of the grittiness of life in urban America, which Tupac
witnessed in Baltimore and later in Marin City.
2Pacalypse Now reached number thirteen on the R&B charts and was
certified gold in 1995. However, the lyrics on the album became the center
of a national debate. Vice President Dan Quayle brought attention to the
album during his bid for reelection, noting inappropriate lyrics, specifically
Tupacs comments about killing cops on Souljas Story. Tupac was not the
first rap artist to let his fantasies of revenge on police officers play out in
lyrics. N.W.A. got the FBIs attention with Fuck tha Police, Paris recorded
Coffee, Donuts, and Death, and perhaps most infamously, Ice-Ts heavy
metal group Body Count was boycotted by a Texas police group after they
Tupac Shakur
released the single Cop Killer. Body Count ultimately was forced to remove
the song from their album.
Tupacs notoriety grew with the release of his second album, Strictly 4 My
N.I.G.G.A.Z. (1993), his third, Thug Life (1994), and his fourth, Me Against
the World (1995). Yet it was Tupacs 1996 album, All Eyez on Me, that
sparked his rise to iconic status. This record would become hip hops first
double CD, with twenty-eight cuts, including California Love and How
Do U Want It. The album finished number one in the R&B and pop category
and was certified platinum seven times. It was with the release of this album
that Tupac became a major player at Death Row Records, the label founded
by West Coast gangsta rap legend Dr. Dre, and former gang member and
NFL player Marion Suge Knight.
The prison imagery conjured by the name Death Row fits Tupac when one
considers his numerous run-ins with the law. Tupac was accused of shooting
two police officers in Atlanta, but the charges were dismissed. He served time
for assaulting directors Allen and Albert Hughes. However, one of his most
significant cases came in the form of sodomy and sexual abuse charges in
November 1993. Tupac and his friends were accused of sexually assaulting a
twenty-year-old woman. The woman alleged that she had consensual sex with
Shakur before the incident in question, but when she went to visit his hotel
room for the second time, she was sexually abused by members of Tupacs
entourage. Even though Tupac maintained that he was asleep when the incident occurred, Tupac was formally accused of sexual abuse and sodomy and
tried in a court of law. On November 31, 1994, the day before the jury would
deliver its verdict, Tupac was shot five times in the lobby of a Manhattan
recording studio. The next day, against his doctors orders, Tupac arrived at
the courthouse bandaged and in a wheelchair. He was found guilty of sexual
abuse, and served eleven months in jail. It was while he was serving time for
this crime that the album Me Against the World was released. In October
1995, his case got an appeal and he was released on bond through money
supplied by Suge Knight, with the condition that Tupac sign to his label,
Death Row.
Less than a year later, on September 7, 1996, Tupac would be shot five
times in a drive-by shooting as he rode in a car with Knight. He died seven
days later, on September 13, 1996.
C. DELORES TUCKER: TUPACS CENSORSHIP NEMESIS DURING

HIS LIFE AND AFTER DEATH
One of the most vocal opponents of Tupac Shakurs gangsta rap lyrics was
C. Delores Tucker, the founder and chair of the National Congress of Black
Women and the first black woman to serve as Pennsylvanias Secretary of
State (19711977). Tucker and Dan Quayle were critics of Tupacs music,
397
particularly the controversial album 2Pacalypse Now, which was released in

1991. While Tupac billed the recording as a socially conscious album that
addressed the plight of young black males in America, political leaders and
law enforcement officers denounced the album for its violence against the
police. The fury over the album increased after it was reported that the song
Souljas Story allegedly inspired a young man to kill a Texas state trooper.
This incident led former Vice President Quayle to suggest that the album has
no place in our society. Pac would later sample Quayles statement on his
follow-up, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., where he dedicates the songs Point
the Finger and Souljahs Revenge to responding to his critics.
In 1994, criticism of Tupac Shakur and other gangsta rappers lyrics would
culminate in congressional hearings on gangsta rap in Washington, D.C.
Tucker, along with conservative Republican William Bennett and U.S. senators Joseph Lieberman and Sam Nunn, began a four-year crusade to rid
society of a genre of music they deemed to be pornographic smut. Snoop
Doggy Doggs Doggystyle and Dr. Dres The Chronic came under heavy
scrutiny by Tucker and her cohorts during the hearings sponsored by the
Committee on Energy and Commerces Subcommittee on Commerce, Competitiveness, and Consumer Protection. Tucker was particularly critical of
Tupac, and Tupac responded in kind in his lyrics. Nearly a year after Shakurs
death in 1996, Tucker filed a defamation lawsuit against Tupacs estate accusing the slain hip hop artist of slander, invasion of privacy, and emotional
stress. Nevertheless, the lawsuit was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Ronald
Buckwalter in 1999; the judge wrote that while the statements were
inappropriate, they did not qualify as slander (see sidebar: Hip Hop and
Censorship).
Hip Hop and Censorship

Jessica Elliott
In 1985, after her purchase of Princes album Purple Rain, Tipper Gore, wife of
then-Senator Al Gore, cofounded the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC).
They were responsible for the laws that required parental advisory warnings
on records that were deemed inappropriate for young listeners.
By 1990, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced
that it had created a uniform parental advisory sticker that would appear on the
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Icons of Hip Hop
obvious, such as in the example of Shakur assuming the name of Makaveli

and foreshadowing his own death on the album, The Don Killuminati: The 7
Day Theory. The album was an homage to Niccolo Machiavelli, a military
theorist, playwright, historian, and diplomat who spoke of staging ones own
death in his book, The Prince. So while in some cases the listener could clearly
identify the inspiration for Tupacs lyrics, the listener may not have been as
aware of his influences in cases like references to the writings of Shakespeare.
There is no doubt, though, that Tupac was very inquisitive and he not only
analyzed the ideas of others but processed them and (re)presented them in
his music.
Tupacs intellectualism had a profound impact on his rap lyrics. He was
interested in using the power of rap music to educate as well as entertain
members of the hip hop community. As a result of his position on educating
others, his love for reading, learning, and knowledge ultimately translated
into two lasting contributions to hip hop culture: Tupac further shattered the
notion that hip hop culture is anti-intellectual, and Tupac encouraged youths
in the culture to read and think critically: Tupacs profound literacy rebutted
the belief that hip-hop is an intellectual wasteland. [Shakur] helped to combat
the anti-intellectualism in rap, a force to be sure, that pervades the entire
culture (Dyson 99). Tupacs influence can be seen today in the thoughtprovoking lyrics of hip hop artists such as Erykah Badu, Common, Jill Scott,
and Kanye West. These artists all evoke thoughtful consideration of their
lyrics. For example, in the song Bag Lady, Erykah Badu encourages women
to consider the negatives that come with bringing along baggage from past
relationships. Hip hop producer/recording artist Kanye West brings attention
to the mining and sales of conflict diamonds in the song Diamonds from
Sierra Leone.
Tupac wanted the hip hop community to become knowledgeable and informed. He clearly understood the power of ideas and the ability of those
ideas to have great influence over others. He earnestly understood that the
ideas expressed in Machiavellis The Prince, for example, could, despite the
passing of time, have a lasting impact on the hip hop nation. He proved this to
be true with the posthumous release of the film Gridlockd, and the album
The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.
DON KILLUMINATI: THE SUPPOSED MUSICAL CONCLUSION TO

THE LIFE OF TUPAC SHAKUR
Tupacs assault on anti-intellectualism in hip hop stands as a lasting contribution to the culture. However, it would be his release of The Don Killuminati:
The 7 Day Theory that would further solidify his icon status. Produced by
Tyrone Hurt M Badd Wrice and Darryl Big D Harper, the album was
recorded in August 1996 at Los Angeless Can-Am Studios. Twenty songs
Tupac Shakur
were initially recorded during the sessions; however, only twelve songs, such
as the hip hop classics Hail Mary, Toss It Up, and To Live and Die in
L.A. made the cut. Released November 5, 1996, the album went to number
one on both the R&B and pop charts. It was later certified platinum five
times. It would be the last album recorded by Tupac before his death, and
demonstrated a marked improvement of his rhyme styles from early in his
music career. His rhyme style, which had earlier incorporated an upbeat
tempo on songs like Digital Undergrounds Same Song and his own If
My Homies Call, was now slowed down. The keyboards, synthesizers, and
bells used in those early songs were replaced with stringed instruments to give
Don Killuminati a darker and less pop sound. On Hail Mary, Tupac elongates syllables to draw out words like me and see at the end of each line
of the chorus. His voice sounds slower and deeper, almost anticipating the
sluggish, slurred speech that Houstons DJ Screw would later popularize in his
screwed and chopped mixtapes.
Tupacs last album is controversial for several reasons. To begin with, it
was made during the height of the East versus West Coast tension and during
internal conflicts at Death Row. Second, the album was released as the first of
several posthumous records. What made this even more controversial is the
fact that it was this album that introduced Tupac as his alter ego, Makaveli, a
truth that would serve as the catalyst for the Tupac is alive conspiracy
theory. Finally, this album marked Tupacs return to making social and
political commentary.
While the Makaveli album did extremely well once it was released, it was
recorded amid a great deal of strife and controversy between East Coast and
West Coast rappers, as well as the strife and controversy at Death Row
Records. The East-West conflict between Tupac and New York rapper and
Bad Boy recording artist Christopher Wallace, better known by those in the
hip hop community as Notorious B.I.G., had been boiling over for months.
Each of these rappers took turns disrespecting the other on their albums and
in person. Moreover, New York rappers, particularly Biggie Smalls, were still
brooding over Shakurs Hit Em Up anthem, which suggested that Tupac
had sex with Biggies estranged wife, R&B artist Faith Evans. Tupacs song
had been in response to Biggies Who Shot Ya, a song Tupac interpreted as
comments about him being shot, and the suggestion that Biggie was involved
in the shooting. This growing feud gave Tupac, the Outlawz (Shakurs friends
and family members who debut on the Makaveli album), and music producers Wrice and Harper a sense of urgency about the making of Don Killuminati; it took only seven days to make. Some of those close to the making
of the album, and some of his staunchest fans, believe that Tupac sensed that
his life was going to be cut short; he worked feverishly with the understanding
that in all likelihood, he was running out of time.
In addition to the East-West conflict, there were also internal rivalries at
Death Row Records that were created as a result of artistic differences and
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Icons of Hip Hop
inflated egos. Dr. Dre, Death Rows in-house producer, left the company in
part because of differences with Tupac, including Tupacs suggestion that Dre
did nothing more than take credit for the hard work of others. In addition,
Tupac was highly critical of Dr. Dres decision not to testify in court on behalf
of Snoop Doggy Dogg in his murder trial.
Despite tension inside and outside of Death Row Records, Tupac became
even more driven and determined to produce an album that would have a
different sound and feel than his previously released All Eyez on Me. The
recording sessions that took place in the Can-Am studios would, in the end,
yield an album with far-reaching impact, especially after Tupacs death.
DON KILLUMINATI AS SOCIAL AND POLITICAL COMMENTARY

Tupacs Don Killuminati is a very dark, passionate, and intensely dramatic
work that captures the rapper at his best. For Tupac, the album heralds a
return to the social and political commentary that he became known for in
previous recordings. In the song, Bomb First (My Second Reply), Tupac
goes on the attack by dissing his East Coast rivals such as Nas, Jay-Z, Puffy,
and Biggie Smalls. Bomb First (My Second Reply) is a song about a street
soldier or capo (Tupac) maintaining respect in the face of his enemies by
fighting them lyrically. Undoubtedly, Tupacs street credibility was greatly
enhanced in the eyes of fellow West Coast thugs for the barrage of comments
that he directed toward his East Coast adversaries.
In the song, White Manz World, Tupac also provides a sociological
critique of black life behind prison bars. While writing to his mother and
sister from prison, Tupac discusses the complexities of both prison life and
street life, and he reflects on the challenges of being black in a world that
doesnt seem to care about the plight of the urban poor. Moreover, the song
addresses such political issues as reparations, Black Nationalism, and class.
In Life of an Outlaw, Tupac and the Outlawz, Death Rows up-andcoming rap group, provide strong social commentary on the daily struggles
and hardships of an outlaw on the streets of urban America. The rappers
paint a gritty picture of what it means to be a minority caught up in a web
of street violence, retaliation, and nihilism. Moreover, the song demonstrates
that the political nature of the outlaw is ride or die. This kill-or-be-killed
mentality is revealed in the strategic and calculating choices the outlaw makes
to survive in the urban killing fields or war zones of America.
In To Live and Die in L.A., Tupac shows love and admiration for the
city of Angels. While there are differences, the song is reminiscent of
Tupacs California Love. Socially, the song describes the people of Los
Angeles and discusses their lived experiences in the city. Politically, the song
makes reference to the LA rebellion of 1992 and Governor Pete Wilsons
conservative practices.
Tupac Shakur
Yet the most popular (and socially significant) song on Don Killuminati is
Hail Mary. In the song, Shakur, assuming the alias of Makaveli, paints a
dark and gloomy picture of societys thugs contemplating a nihilistic existence
and shrouded in religious symbolismthe same religious imagery also present
on the track Blasphemy. Hail Mary became an instant classic in hip hop
culture. Hail Mary was one of Tupacs favorites, and the song had a lasting
effect on him. Tyrone Hurt M Badd Wrice recalls Tupacs reaction to Hail
Mary: Pac was loving every song. But when they played that song, he just
went through a thing. . . . He threw his hands up in the air like he ruled a
nation (Matthews 112). Digital Underground still covers Hail Mary in
concert as a tribute to their fallen friend.
The duress Tupac was facing inside and outside of Death Row Records
served as a catalyst for the thought-provoking commentary on Don Killuminati. Tupac wanted listeners to think critically about the social and political
conditions affecting black people and other people of color and their communities, and then work to change those conditions. Through Hail Mary,
Tupac also reminds the hip hop nation that their conditions are capable of
changing, but a belief in God and an active prayer life (i.e., Hail Mary full of
grace) may be necessary in order to do so.
TUPACS DON KILLUMINATI: THE BEGINNING OF

LIFE AFTER DEATH
One of the most significant contributions that Tupacs Don Killuminati album makes to hip hop culture involves the development of Shakurs alter ego,
Makaveli, which in turn established the basis for theories that Tupac faked his
death. The creation of the album, coincided with the development of a new
identity for Tupac. Having read The Prince, Tupac saw utility in the thinking
expressed by the fifteenth-century political strategist. Machiavelli was interested in using the thinking promulgated in The Prince to gain a political edge.
In the rap game, Tupac understood that this same advantage could come by
faking his own death or by outselling his competitors. In one of his last indepth interviews, as an answer to questions about the album and why he
chose to name himself after a fifteenth-century politician, Tupac stated,
Its not like I idolize this one guy Machiavelli. I idolize that type of thinking
where you do whatevers gonna make you achieve your goal. Im gonna
change the rules in this rap game (Marriott 125). Shakur was referring to
the album All Eyez on Me in this interview, but the sentiment would evolve as
he moved on to a new project. He used the philosophy espoused in The Prince
to change the rap game through this album: It was hip hops first double CD,
and also hip hops most expensive CD. Taking Tupacs cue, artists such as
Wu-Tang Clan would subsequently release double albums. In 2006, GM
Grimm would take things further to release a triple album.
407
However, raising the bar by releasing a double album belied the deeper
impact of the political philosopher Machiavelli on Tupac. Thus, while All
Eyez on Me
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Icons of Hip Hop
Voletta Wallace was Christopher Wallaces primary caregiver and certainly

the person who knew Biggie the best and the longest. Volettas childhood in
Jamaica consisted of humble beginnings informed by a powerful familial and
communal set of ethics with deep, abiding aspirations to and appreciation for
education and religious piety. As a little girl she dreamed of America through
the imagery in travel brochures and Ebony Magazine. Once her opportunity
to come to America presented itself, she quickly took advantage. When she
arrived in the United States at age seventeen, the streets of New York City
were a radical departure from the America she had envisioned from her home
in Jamaica. I was disappointed but still hopeful. I knew there had to be more
in this big country. I just needed time, money and a plan (Wallace and
Mackenzie 19).
Voletta Wallace got herself a plan in 1969 when she came to America. It
involved an indefatigable work ethic and an uncompromising commitment to
economic independence. This plan did not include her relationship with Selwyn Latore. By 1971 she had decided to stay in the United States no matter
what happened. In her first job, she assisted a psychiatrist for just eighteen
dollars a day. She met Selwyn after being coaxed into attending a friends
party. She was immediately drawn to him because he showed flashes of the
father figure she had missed from her upbringing in Trelawny, Jamaica. Selwyn whisked Voletta off her feet, wined and dined her; he showed her New
York City in ways she had not previously experienced, and eventually Christopher Wallace was conceived.
After Wallaces birth, Voletta committed herself to the upbringing of her
son. Selwyn was already married and ambiguous about his newborn son. He
was essentially out of the familial picture during Wallaces toddler years.
Voletta committed herself to contributing the energy and resources of at least
two parents in order to raise her son. It wasnt long before her nurturing had a
direct impact on the young Christopher Wallace. Voletta admits that her son
earned the name Biggie even as a young boy because he was well fed in her
household. If I had it to do over again, thats one area where I would have
done things differently. I would not have fed him so well. But during that
time, the mindset was that the bigger the child, the healthier and happier he or
she is (Wallace and Mackenzie 51).
Biggies mom also stressed education in their home, a two-bedroom apartment on Brooklyns St. James Place between Fulton and Washington streets. If
there was an undying conflict between them, the value and importance of
traditional education would be the battleground. Because Voletta grew up in
Jamaica where education was private and strict with physical disciplinary
consequences, she attached great value to the public educational opportunities in the United States. When Biggie was just a toddler, Voletta also
embarked upon her career as an early childhood educator, thereby underscoring her childhood experiences with education. Biggie, on the other hand,
grew up in Brooklyn and although he did attend private school early on he
Notorious B.I.G.
eventually demanded to be in public school for social (and safety) reasons. It

was not long thereafter that this conflict between mother and son over Christophers commitment to his own education began to erupt. When Voletta was
informed of Biggies truancy and blatant disrespect of the educational process,
she quickly challenged him. This confrontation played itself out repeatedly,
especially during Biggies high school years. From Biggies perspective, he
could make more as a garbage collector than as an educator. Thus his moms
insistence essentially fell on deaf ears. But this was only part of the reasoning
behind Big Poppas aversion to traditional education. According to his
mother, Biggie was always an inquisitive and intellectually gifted child. But
by the mid to late 1980s, Biggies teenage years, Brooklyn was caught up in
the crack cocaine epidemic that plagued much of urban America at that time.
Substance abuse was not the challenge faced by Biggie or his mom, but the
economic allure of the drug game was the centerpiece of the street life within
which Biggie Smalls, the legendary freestyling MC, was to hone his skills and
live the experiences about which he would spend his short career rhyming
earnestly.
BEFORE HE WAS BIGGIE: THE FORMATIVE YEARS

Before Biggie became Biggie Smalls, he chose the name Cwest as his first MC
moniker (see sidebar: Big Time MCs). He and his DJs, the Techniques, would
meet after school and work on their craft. They would also meet with jazz
Big-Time MCs
James Peterson
At close to 400 pounds, Christopher Wallace called himself Biggie Smalls, an
extraordinary oxymoron. Wallaces physical stature and his sensible marriage
of that stature with his artistic designations (Biggie Smalls and eventually
Notorious B.I.G.) follow a powerful and entertaining legacy of larger-than-life
MCs who made similar decisions. As far back as the Fat Boys (circa 1985),
oversized MCs have used their weight as a gimmick or for artistic capital. The
Fat Boys made hit records and hip hop history by starring in the campy film
Disorderlies. Heavy D hit it big with a single whose refrain reminded fans that
the overweight lovers in the house. Heavy D has since shed some pounds
and parlayed his career as an MC into acting and producing.
Fat Joe, representing the Bronx like no other MC since KRS-One, has quietly
become one of the most stable, long-lasting, and successful MCs in hip hop
history. Fat Joe (aka Joey Crack/Don Cartagena) paired himself with an enormous and enormously talented MC by the name of Big Punisher, who
passed away from complications having to do with his weight. Before his
death, Big Pun sought medical treatment in an effort to shed some of the extra
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Icons of Hip Hop
weight. Gone from the popular hip hop landscape but not forgotten is the
enigmatic Chubb Rock, whose Treat Me Right single is a club classic. All of
these Big MCs have made lasting impressions on their hip hop audiences by
writing classic lyrics, selling millions of records, and challenging traditional
conceptions of masculine body image and sex appeal.
saxophonist Donald Harrison, who encouraged all three of the boys to think
beyond the postindustrial confines of their neighborhood. He allowed them to
hone their craft on his equipment and he traded tidbits of knowledge about
jazz in return for the same in rap and hip hop.
Biggie went to Westinghouse High School in Brooklyn, New York. Both
Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes attended the same school. He dropped out of school
at age seventeen, much to the chagrin of his mother, who is on record as
stating that she and her son were not destitute or even poor by inner-city
standards. Thus Biggies affinity for street life and hustling did not derive
from economic lack in his own home. Essentially, Biggie lived a double life
as a teenager. In the home he was his mothers child, essential to her existence,
polite, loving, respectful, and dearer to her than any other human being in her
life. In the privacy of his room, or, better still, in the streets, on the corners, or
in the basement studios of aspiring producers, he was Biggie Smalls, dreaming
of becoming a rapper just like those superstars he was avidly reading about in
Word-Up Magazine. LL Cool J, Run-DMC, and especially Big Daddy Kane
were all powerful career and artistic influences on Biggie Smalls. But these
dreams did not have the promise of the quick money crack trade, especially
once Biggie realized that he could make even more money even faster if he
trafficked his Brooklyn products in the South. It was in North Carolina that
Biggie actually settled on the MC moniker Biggie Smalls. He came to this
conclusion with one of his hustling partners, while they were hustling and
watching Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosbys Lets Do It Again. Biggie Smalls was
a gangster in the film and hence the appropriate fit. It is ironic and worth
noting here that Biggie borrowed his name from a minor character in a hugely
popular film from the 1970s. He eventually brought more popularity to this
oxymoronic name than that character or even the film itself were able to
achieve. Unfortunately, although he popularized the name Biggie Smalls, he
did eventually have to forego it (due to legal complications) for the less-catchy
Notorious B.I.G.
Biggies DJs, the Techniques, didnt last long beyond the Harrison phase, but
eventually a pair of DJs, DJ 50 Grand and DJ Mister Cee, worked together to
create a demo tape for Biggie Smalls. 50 Grand was aware of Biggies potential
from a basement session where Biggie ripped some freestyles over classic
breakbeats, including the breakbeat sampled for Big Daddy Kanes classic,
Aint No Half-Steppin. 50 Grand implored DJ Mister Cee (who was on
tour with Kane) to listen to Biggie Smalls. 50 Grand knew that Biggie was
Notorious B.I.G.
destined to be big in the rap game. Mister Cee was skeptical at first, but once
he heard the tape, he knew that a more professional demo would have to be
created and he knew exactly who to give it to.
In the early 1990s, The Source magazine was considered a bible of hip hop
culture. Its reputation for covering the culture and informing its broad readership was impeccable. At that time, a young man from Washington, DC,
edited a now famous column titled Unsigned Hype. Matteo Capoluongo
or Matty C had already introduced several rap stars to the world through this
small column in hip hops most important journalistic venue. He felt so
strongly about Biggies demo that he actually played it for a young up-andcoming A&R guy named Sean Combs (see sidebar: Sean Combs and Bad Boy
Records). Sean Puffy Combs, now known as Diddy, needed no convincing when it came to Biggies artistic potential. Biggie was exactly what Combs
was searching for. Combs created Bad Boy Records as a home for hard-core
hip hop with mass marketing appeal, and Biggie fit the bill perfectly. Combs
Sean Combs and Bad Boy Records
James Peterson
Sean Combs has changed monikers several times over the course of his
extraordinary career as a promoter, A&R person, record executive, artist
manager, recording artist, fashion designer, and music television star. But
from Puffy to Puff Daddy to P-Diddy to Diddy, he has always been about an
indefatigable work ethic and a natural penchant for success by all means
necessary. After leaving Howard University without his degree, he returned
to New York where he continued to promote parties and events. One such
event at City College ended in disaster (nine people dead and dozens injured),
when the venue was oversold and concertgoers became trapped and
trampled as more fans tried to push their way inside the doors. But eventually
Combs became Andre Harrells star intern at Uptown Records. As he moved
up the ranks at Uptown Records, he became more and more instrumental in
the careers of some of the hottest up-and-coming acts in the music business,
including Mary J. Blige and Jodeci. The brain child known as Bad Boy was a
collection of slogans and some T-shirts at that time but as Combs began to
take more credit for Uptowns success and aspire to running his own recording
company, he was fired by his mentor and boss, Harrell, in the summer of
1993. Several tracks from Ready to Die had already been recorded. He was
devastated by this, but his desire for success was (and still is) unmatched. He
somehow brokered a meeting with Clive Davis, who promptly advanced him
$1.5 million, total creative control, and distribution. Bad Boy was officially
born. But the core executivesCombs, Harve Pierre, and Derric D-Dot
Angelette (holdovers from the Howard University days)had already been
hard at work in Bad Boys original studio and office, located in Diddys
mothers house. The support from Clive Davis merely helped to catapult the
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Bad Boy brand into the stratosphere. After selling tens of millions of records
with Biggie, Craig Mack, Total, 112, Mase, and himself, Combs went on to
star in movies and TV shows, start clothing companies (Sean John and Bad
Boy), and open a restaurant (Justins).
immediately put Biggie on the remix for Mary J. Bliges hit single, Real
Love. This song was essentially Biggies introduction to the world, although
he had already appeared on a few lesser known singles and posse cuts (songs
with multiple rappers on them). A rough and relatively unknown Biggie was a
natural fit for the up-and-coming queen of hip hop soul. And even though
Real Love aspired to be an upbeat love song, it ended up being a club
banger, most certainly due to the sixteen-bar verse delivered by Biggie Smalls.
Technically speaking, Biggies solo debut is a track titled Party and Bullshit on the 1993 soundtrack to the film Whos the Man?. Although this isnt
the first time we hear Big, it is the first time that a solo recording of his enjoys
a major release. Party and Bullshit is obviously an early Biggie recording;
notice his higher-pitched, faster-paced vocals. However, the content of these
rhymes, which essentially chronicle a night out partying, walks that evertroublesome line between having a good time, drinking, rapping to women
(i.e., the party), and having to deal with the sometimes violent realities of
inner-city living (i.e., the bullshit). Hence, Bigs narrator in Party and Bullshit is having a great night out but he also has two .22s in his shoes in case
anyone is looking for trouble. There were two other collaborations that year.
One was the Whats the 411? remix with Mary J. Blige and the other was
one of the earliest dance hallhip hop collaborative concoctions, Dolly My
Baby. On Dolly My Baby, Biggie coined one of his most famous and most
often sampled lines: I love it when you call me Big Poppa.
Even with this flurry of remixes, singles, and guest appearances, Biggie was
still not satisfied with the pace of the cash flow from the music industry. He
still didnt have any advance monies on the recording deal that was supposed
to come to fruition through Puffy and Andre Harrell at Uptown/Bad Boy. To
make matters worse, Bigs ex-girlfriend, Jan, was pregnant with his first child.
When he broke this news to his mother, Voletta Wallace reminded him that
although he had been talking about this so-called record deal for weeks, no
material evidence of such a deal existed. The pressures of impending fatherhood combined with the sluggish compensation schedule of the entertainment
industry convinced Biggie that he better get his hustle back on in the streets for
real. He returned to North Carolina because he was higher up on the hustlers
food chain in Raleigh than in Brooklyn, but also because in North Carolina he
thought his activities would not be subject to Puffys or the labels scrutiny. He
was wrong. When the various deal points were finally sorted out, Puffy contacted Biggie in North Carolina and expressed his disappointment in where Big
was and what he was doing at that time. His record deal was in New York City
Notorious B.I.G.
waiting for him. This couldnt have happened soon enough. Biggie left for
New York on a Monday morning and that Monday evening his illicit establishment in North Carolina was raided. He, of course, took this as a sign.
Back in New York with his low-level record deal in hand ($125,000 advance and recording budget) Biggie went to work on his first major label
release, Ready to Die. It was fitting that one of the first tracks that Big
worked on was Party and Bullshit, produced by Easy Mo Bee. Easy Mo
Bee was the last producer to work with Miles Davis and the first to work with
Biggie Smalls on a solo record. Mo Bee is a touchstone for Biggies impending
iconic status. Surely, Easy Mo Bee, through the cheerleading efforts of Mister
Cee, 50 Grand, Matty C, and others, was preconditioned to Biggie Smallss
greatness even before he was able to work directly with him.
There are, however, several lesser known contributing reasons to Biggie
Smallss status as an icon within hip hop culture. Some of these factors and
reasons were in place even before he began work on his first major recording
with Bad Boy/Uptown. Bigs flow, voice, persona, and experiencesthose
things that constitute his artistic productionare at least partially a result
of his upbringing and the various regions or neighborhoods with which he
made himself familiar. First, he is from Brooklyn, New York, a borough with
extraordinary cachet in the hip hop world. Even though hip hop started out in
the Bronx, Brooklyn had, by the early 1990s, taken its place as the premier
borough of New York when it came to hip hop culture. Some of this stems
from the number of famous rap artists who hail from Brooklyn, but much of
it also stems from Brooklyns international reputation as one of the toughest,
most culturally diverse cities in the worldespecially when it comes to violent
crime, drug dealing, and other illegal activities. So Biggie is from Brooklyn, an
icon from an iconic town. But more lurks beneath this surface.
Although Biggie was born in Brooklyn, his Jamaican heritage is of extraordinary significance to hip hop. First, certain language undertones in his
milky flow remind us of a peculiar Jamaican-Brooklyn patois. But more importantly, Biggie shares this heritage in common with the founding father of
hip hop Culture, Clive Campbell, also known as the legendary DJ Kool Herc.
Herc immigrated to the United States in 1967. He and his sister started
throwing the first hip hop jams in the mid-seventies in the Bronx. This was
the beginning of hip hop cultureJamaican-born youth finding their voices
and various outlets for artistic expression in postindustrial New York City.
Although we never hear Biggie big-up Jamaica as his homeland (he was born
in the United States, after all), it still must be acknowledged that his parental
heritage and cultural domestic upbringing reflect that of the founding family
of hip hop culture. This heritage informs his iconographic status almost invisibly, but the vocal influence is audible, especially early in his career (listen
to the Dolly My Baby remix with Biggie, Puff, and Supercat, for example).
Once we combine his Jamaican parentage and Brooklyn upbringing with
his hustling experiences in the South, then an accurate portrait of the artist as
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black American hip hop icon emerges. Although Biggie never actually lived in
North Carolina, hustling crack anywhere other than where you live is probably the closest one can get to hard-core ethnographic investigation. Biggies
trips to North Carolina were most assuredly lucrative, but they must have
also exposed him to southern black America, an extraordinarily representative group when one considers the folk experience so central to nearly all of
hip hop cultures artistic narratives and historical legacies.
So Jamaican American, Brooklyn-bred Christopher Wallace returned from
Raleigh, North Carolina, to officially begin his recording career as Biggie
Smalls. The preproduction sessions for Biggies first album literally took place
in that very same bedroom in which he first envisioned himself as an MC. In
his tiny bedroom in his mothers apartment, Big would sometimes have all of
his boys jam-packed in for inspiration and general grimy creative energy.
The One Room Shack that Biggie would later refer to in the song Juicy
was Wallaces bedroomfunky yellow walls, a bed, a chair, clothes and
assorted junk all over the place, a TV with a VCR, and two big party-size
speakers. It was in that room that Biggie Smalls, the rapper worked out his
rhymes (Coker 79). This room, along with his vast array of urban lived
experiences, functioned as the incubator for Ready to Die, Biggies classic
debut album.
Ready to Die was released in September 1994. In order to fully understand
the impact and significance of this momentous debut, we must also understand the state of hip hop at that time. Two years earlier, Dr. Dre had released
The Chronic. This multiplatinum G-funk-inspired West Coast gangsta rap
record crystallized the dominance of West Coast artists on the international
rap landscape. New York City, the birth place and mecca of hip hop culture,
hadnt produced a multiplatinum star in years. West Coaststyle gangsta rap
dominated the culture and industries of hip hop. The final testament to the
power of Biggie is the types of songs he made. He single-handedly shifted the
musical dominance back to the East Coast. From 1991 to 1994, the West
Coast style of rap was the dominant force in Hip-hop. Biggie, with the guidance of Puffy, used familiar melodic R&B loops, combined with his voice
texture and rhyme skills, and caused a Hip-hop paradigm shift (Kool Moe
Dee 264). In many ways, the New York/East Coast audiences were given to
believe that the center of the hip hop universe had shifted to Los Angeles. But
in just a few short years the Notorious B.I.G. went from Brooklyn street
hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop (Huey 359).
B.I.G. IN THE PLATINUM ERA

Ready to Die was East Coast raps saving grace for many reasons. The cinematic intro to the album promised a fresh and gritty portrait of the urban
underground hustler-turned-rap artist. The intro track on Ready to Die
Notorious B.I.G.
features snippets of four previously released songs with various voiceover

skits corresponding with key moments in B.I.G.s life. The first scene is
B.I.G.s birth, featuring an ironically proud pappa (who isnt in B.I.G.s life
too much beyond his toddler years) coaxing B.I.G.s mother to push! The
soundtrack for this portion of the intro interpolates snippets from Curtis
Mayfields classic Super Fly, released during the year of B.I.G.s birth,
1972. The second scene begins with Sugarhill Gangs Rappers Delight,
the single that inaugurated hip hop culture in the mainstream music industry
in 1979. The voiceover here is an argument started by B.I.G.s father, who
finds out that his son has been caught shoplifting. Of course he wonders
profanely why neither he nor B.I.G.s mom can control the youngster. Note
here that according to Voletta Wallace, Christopher Wallace actually was a
model child until his high school years, when the allure of the streets simply
overwhelmed her domestic influences. This music snippet is important because it provides listeners with a sense of where B.I.G. was when Rappers
Delight (and by extension modern popular rap music) exploded onto the
American pop cultural landscape. The third and most powerful scene features
B.I.G. in a heated conversation with an anonymous crime partner. B.I.G.
challenges his partner in crime to get this money just as they are about
to rob a New York City subway train. The musical snippet for this scene is the
classic single by Audio Two, Top Billin, released in 1987. As Top Billin
fades out and then back in, B.I.G.s shouts, gunshots, and screams from his
victim flesh out this scene. The final cinematic scene of the intro track features
an exchange between B.I.G. and a prison CO. As B.I.G. is leaving prison, the
CO claims that he will be back: You niggas always are. The musical snippet
for this scene is taken from Tha Shiznit on Snoop Doggs debut album,
Doggystyle, released in 1993. Even though this particular sample bears no
credit to Snoop in the Ready to Die liner notes, listeners can actually hear
Snoop rapping in the background of the final piece of B.I.G.s cinematic
introduction. Moreover, Snoops Doggystyle was an important model for
Ready to Die because of its extraordinary success and its ability to straddle
the hard-core gangsta rap tensions and a lighter sensibility with popular mainstream appeal. In many ways, Ready to Die mirrors Doggystyle even more
than The Chronic. The remainder of Ready to Die realizes the power and
complexity of this four-part introduction.
Several hit singles were released from the album: Juicy, Big Poppa, and
One More Chance. Each of these tremendously successful singles employed
similar formulas by Sean Puffy/Diddy Combs and the Bad Boy production
team. Juicy interpolates Mtumes Juicy Fruit to perfection with a rap
narrative that chronicles a Horatio Algerlike rise from the grimy streets of
Brooklyn to ghetto superstar status as a rapper. Many of the lyrics from this
song have gone on to an unofficial lyrical hall of fame, but at least the
following line warrants repeating here: You never thought that hip hop
would take it this far. This line captures definitive aspects of B.I.G.s lyrical
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appeal; a simple rhyme scheme betrays the complexity of the content. While
Juicy is about B.I.G.s unlikely rise to popularity, he is also very much
aware of the fact that hip hop culture and rap music had by the early nineties
stunned its critics and nay-sayers en route to becoming the worlds most
popular music. In many ways, B.I.G.s career (big, black, ugly, and utterly
lovable) mirrors that of hip hop in terms of early questions about viability and
ultimately achieving rags-to-riches success. Juicy captures these themes
perfectly. More than any other rapper, B.I.G. ushered in the platinum era
of hip hop culture.
Hip hops development can appropriately be broken down into several
eras: First, the old-school era. From 1979 to 1987, hip hop culture cultivated
itself, usually remaining authentic to its countercultural roots in the postindustrial challenges manifested in the urban landscape of the late twentieth
century. Artists associated with this era included Grandmaster Flash and the
Furious Five, the Sugarhill Gang, Lady B, Big Daddy Kane, Run-DMC, Kurtis
Blow, and others.
Second, in the golden age, from 1987 to 1993, rap and rappers began to
take center stage as the culture splashed onto the mainstream platform of
American popular culture. The extraordinary musical production and lyrical
content of rap songs artistically eclipsed most of the other primary elements of
the culture (break dancing, graffiti art, and DJing). Eventually the recording
industry contemplated rap music as a potential billion-dollar opportunity.
Mass-media rap music and hip hop videos displaced the intimate, insulated
urban development of the culture. Artists associated with this era included
Run-DMC, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen
Latifah, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, N.W.A., and many
others.
Third, in the platinum present, from 1994 to the present, hip hop culture
has enjoyed the best and worst of what mass-media popularity and cultural
commodification have to offer. The meteoric rise to popular fame of gangsta
rap in the early nineties set the stage for a marked content shift in the lyrical
discourse of rap music toward more and more violent depictions of inner-city
realities. Millions of magazines and records were sold, but two of hip hops
most promising artists, Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, were literally gunned
down in the crossfire of a media-fueled battle between the so-called East and
West Coast constituents of hip hop culture. With the blueprint of popular
success for rappers laid bare, several exceptional artists stepped into the gaping space left in the wake of Biggie and Tupac. This influx of new talent
included Nas, Jay-Z, Master P, DMX, Big Pun, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Eminem,
and Outkast.
B.I.G.s seminal role in some of the most significant and powerful transitions in hip hop culture developed through the release of the incredibly popular singles from Ready to Die. Thus, the inaugural single, Juicy, covers a
dizzying array of transformations and transitions from B.I.G.s life as a petty
Notorious B.I.G.
thief and hustler to his new life as a player, rapper, and finally an extraordinary storyteller. Notorious B.I.G. is the all time greatest hard-core Hiphop storyteller ever. Slick Rick is the overall king of storytelling, but for the
rated-R, violent type of story, Biggie is the man (Kool Moe Dee 263). Ironically, the singles from Ready to Die do not exhibit B.I.G.s most compelling hard-core narrative abilities. He shows some glimpses, but most of the
released singles are about flossing, partying, and sexing women.
Big Poppa garnered even more industry success than Juicy, sampling
the Isley Brothers Between the Sheets perfectly (and almost in its entirety).
Very few rappers can, as new artists, create singles that sample their own
voices in the hook or refrain. B.I.G.s voice was distinct enough and had been
featured on so many singles even before his major label debut that the classic
line from Party and BullshitI love it when you call me Big Poppa
almost instantly solidified Big Poppa as a mainstay on radio playlists and in
club DJ repertoires. The classic Isley Brothers riff combined with B.I.G.s
classic rap aimed at women make this particular single a timeless testament
to Biggies power as an artist. Another testament to Biggies power was he
was anything but your prototypical ladies man, and yet he made songs geared
towards women, and had a huge female following (Kool Moe Dee 264).
One More Chance solidified B.I.G.s appeal to his women listeners more
than either of the two previously released singles from Ready to Die. One
More Chance samples the Jackson Fives I Want You Back. The album
version and the single version are almost completely different from each other
in sound and content, at least with respect to profanity. Released in the
spring of 95, the One More Chance remixes represented the apex of Biggie-mania in New York City. While Bad Boys previous strategy with singles
featured one side for the radio and one for the streets, One More Chance
covered all bases by including two somewhat different instrumentals to accompany Bigs vocal track of entirely new (and somewhat sanitized) lyrics
(Coker 310). In order to fully appreciate the impact and significance of the
single version of One More Chance, the music video must be taken into
account. The video for the remix of One More Chance was a star-studded
damn I wish I was there, old-school house party. From Kid Capri to Miamis
own Luke, everybody was in this one. Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Da Brat,
the reggae artist Patra . . . Total sang the hook Oh Biggie give me one more
chance (McDaniels 335). The model, Tyson, Heavy D, R&B sensations
Zhane and SWV, and of course Biggies wife, Faith, all make appearances.
The video is a mid-1990s house party how-to manual in visual form. And the
fact that so many well-known female artists were willing to make cameos
(especially considering the lyrics of the original) was a powerful affirmation
of Biggies irresistible sex appeal with women. The video also reifies for its
viewers B.I.G.s iconic status within the music industry itself. The peoples
champ was also the executives. His mass appeal had micro impressions as
well; at this point in hip hop history the Notorious B.I.G. was being crowned
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king both within the music industry and among millions of fans across the
nation.
Although most of B.I.G.s audience might associate Ready to Die with its
overplayed radio-friendly club-smashing singles, the remainder of the album
explores the much darker, somewhat less marketable themes of homicide and
suicidal mentalities in the crack-infested inner-city environment. Consider the
title track, Ready to Die. It is almost as if certain songs like Ready to
Die, Suicidal Thoughts, and Everyday Struggles are on a separate album from the singles Juicy and Big Poppa. But it is all Biggie Smalls.
Ready to Die chronicles the nihilistic inclinations of a crook who is trapped
at the crossroads of lack and desire. This crossroads of lack and desire is
originally connected to hip hop culture via Tricia Rose in Black Noise (1994),
but the concept itself is crystallized in Houston Bakers Blues Ideology and
Afro American Literature: A Vernacular Theory (1987). B.I.G.s narrator
obviously exists in a world where material wealth is ubiquitous; hence his
undying desire. However, he lacks these resources and any legal means of
obtaining them. The narrator on the album title track, Ready to Die,
captures the predicament of hundreds of thousands of inner-city youth who
are jobless and alienated from social institutions like schools and churches;
yet they must navigate one of the wealthiest nations in the world with little or
no resources. They are therefore ready to die for the material assets that tease
and evade them in a prototypical late capitalist society.
Suicidal Thoughts plays like a stream-of-consciousness rap in which B.I.G.
contemplates taking his own life. In his suicidal reverie, B.I.G. explains why
he prefers hell over a heaven filled with goodie goodies hanging out in a
paradise where Gods rules might be too strict. He does, in sincere tones, ask
for forgiveness from his mother for being an evil son. But there is otherwise
very little remorse in Suicidal Thoughts. To B.I.G., deaths call is comparable to the alluring call of crack cocaine for crackhead characters like Pookie
from New Jack Citymaybe the most famous cinematic crackhead for the
hip hop generation. At one point in New Jack City, Pookie, played by a
young, skinny Chris Rock, pleads with a dealer offering to trade sexual favors
for a five-dollar vial of crack cocaine. Taking into account the manner in
which B.I.G. dies, this analogy between crack/crack addicts and B.I.G. and
death takes on an extraordinarily realistic tenor imbued with a sad seriousness of which most listeners in 1994 were hardly aware (see sidebar: Hip
Hops Culture of Death).
In Everyday Struggles, Biggies narrator exclaims that he doesnt want to
live anymore. He hears death knocking at his front door. This song is the
portrait of the low-level crack dealer, hustling to barely sustain himself on the
violent streets of Brooklyn. Initially this narrator is barely surviving. He cant
enhance his hustle through consignment with his supplier, and in general the
community hates him. He contemplates taking his hustle out of state and
finally starts to make some progress in the drug economy. The final verse
Notorious B.I.G.
Hip Hops Culture of Death

Carlos D. Morrison and Celnisha L. Dangerfield
Hip hop figures seemingly have a fascination with death. Artists boast about
being shot or taking someone out. Bulletproof vests adorn the bodies of
rappers in music videos, gunshots can be heard resounding on the tracks of
CDs, and self-made prophecies of death are put to the rhythm of a beat and
made to rhyme. Songs such as Six Feet Deep, by the Geto Boys, Gangsta
Lean by Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, If I Die 2Nite, by Tupac, and Goodbye
to My Homies, by Master P featuring Silk the Shocker, Sons of Funk, and Mo
B. Dick are dirges to the fallen soldiers in the killing fields of urban America.
When gansta rap hit the mainstream, artists such as N.W.A. spoke of the
atrocities that were commonplace in the hood. They gave many people a
dose of reality. However, what was at first a verbal release of pain and anguish
later became a trend.
For many artists in the gangsta rap era, in order to get signed, it became
almost a necessity to have street credibility and a hard-core reputation. This
included having bullet wounds, carrying guns, and wearing bulletproof vests.
Rhyming about death and murder became fashionable, and the violence
spilled out of the lyrics and into the streets, with the murders of Tupac, Biggie,
Big L, Freaky Tah, and Fat Pat, and the attempted murders of 50 Cent and the
Game.
While 1990s gangsta rap certainly elevated the level of attention to murder
and gun violence in lyrics, old-school hip hop also had its run-ins with death.
DJ Scott LaRoc of Boogie Down Productions was stabbed to death in an
altercation, and Slick Rick was sentenced to prison for attempted murder in
a drive-by shooting. Yet even with this history, to say that rap lyrics influence
or cause violence is to ignore the statistics that tell us that physical violence
and murder occur at alarming rates in impoverished neighborhoods, particularly among young African American men. Rappers who capitalize on real-life
ghetto violence, however, may find themselves, even as major-label recording
artists, not that far removed from the perils of street life. In the film documentary, The MC: Why We Do It, several MCs, including Rakim and Raekwon
the Chef, speak of the dangers of promoting violence and death in lyrics;
people may hear these rhymes and test their veracity by turning their guns on
an MC on the street. For some artists, this lyrical theme of death serves as a
way of selling more records. Many opponents, however, point out that a lot of
the artists that talk about death and violence really dont live the life they rap
about in their songs. However, in the case of Tupac Shakur and fellow rapper
Notorious B.I.G., they certainly lived the lives they talked about in their songs.
The question becomes whether their rap personas were true to their persons,
or if offstage they grew into the personas they created in their music. The
legends of Tupac surviving five bullets and 50 Cent surviving nine shots,
including one to the face, make these rappers seem invincible on their
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records, and more hard-core than other artists; this hard-core image appeals
to listeners. The music of the day represents the culture of the day and the
current happenings within a society. Many rappers claim that they are confronted with death every day, but this situation is only heightened when
violence, murder, and death become a point of marketing.
Further Resources
Bruno, Anthony. Gangstas. Courtroom Television Network LLC. 17 February
2006. http://www.crimelibrary.comnotorious_murders/celebrity/shakur_BIG/
index.html.
of the song finds his crew surviving the perils of this violent underground
economy even as he suggests that black criminals face limitations that white
criminals (like John Gotti) do not. In the end though, even after some modicum of success, the refrain completes the song, and the struggle to live even
with the desire to die for material wealth ultimately amounts to not living
at all.
READY TO DIE: BIGGIES MUSIC AND HIS SHORT LIFE IN

THE LIMELIGHT
Most of the tracks on B.I.G.s debut album flip back and forth between two
opposite themes. One theme is the celebration of success in the music industry. Partying, running through numerous anonymous women, and flashing (or
flossing) newly acquired monetary resources dominate the content of these
songs. On the opposite side of the spectrum, other songs are much more
thematically aligned with album title. These rhymes reflect a pursuit of material sustenance and wealth that transcends relentlessness. These songs express the futility of ghetto life in terms explicit and real enough to speak to the
streets, but human enough to avoid myopia (Mao 309). In each of these
darker tracks, B.I.G.s narrator is literally ready to die for material gain, but
this preparedness is not glorified. It is not sexy or appealing. In fact, B.I.G.
makes it clear that being ready to die for material things is, in many real-life
cases, the equivalent of already being dead.
Ready to Die went on to sell millions of records. It was certified quadruple
platinum on October 19, 1999. Along with several other debut albums from
New York City artists (Nass Illmatic, Wu-Tangs Enter the Wu-Tang (36
Chambers), and Black Moons Enta da Stage), Ready to Die recaptured the
flag for East Coast hip hop. But most, if not all, of these artists avoided the
ultraviolent pitfalls of overexposure that surely contributed to B.I.G.s early
and unfortunate death. We nodded our heads in affirmation and then when
Notorious B.I.G.
Biggie named his first album Ready to Die we all acted surprised when it
happened. Word is bond, son. Plain and simple (Williams 171).
Many artists with B.I.G.s level of popularity would be criticized for taking
nearly three years to release a sophomore album, but B.I.G. was extraordinarily busy between Ready to Die and the first of three posthumous releases,
Life After Death. On the heels of the One More Chance remixes, B.I.G.s
Brooklyn protegees, Junior M.A.F.I.A. (featuring Lil Cease and Lil Kim),
released Conspiracy on Undeas/Big Beat Records. Two powerhouse singles,
Players Anthem and Get Money, provide the prototypical soundtrack
for ghetto fabulous aspirations; you can almost hear the Cristal bottles popping within their incessantly hooky productions (Mao 314). Conspiracy has
yet to be certified platinum, but the timing of the release of these two popular
singles almost immediately following the last releases from Ready to Die
further reinforced B.I.G. as the icon of hip hop culture. He also clearly targeted the heart of mainstream success in the music industry with as much
relentless desire as those grimy narrators on the darkest Ready to Die tracks.
B.I.G. also had several minor single releases during that time. Some of these
releases were live recordings (at the Palladium in New York and in Philadelphia) and or soundtrack singles (Def Jams soundtrack for the concert film
The Show). In 1995, DJ Mister Cee released the Best of Biggie mixtape.
Lovingly compiled (in near chronological order no less) with little intrusive
or extraneous cutting by the man who gave Big his first significant break in
the music business, it is an essential document of the first half of Biggies
career (Mao 315). Again, this constant release of performances and singles
provided audiences with a sense that B.I.G.s artistry was boundless and that
no matter how much we heard from him we still wanted to hear more. In
1996, B.I.G. collaborated with Jay-Z on Brooklyns Finest, a classic collaboration with his Brooklyn partner in rhyme. But probably the most important project that B.I.G. worked on (other than his own) was Lil Kims debut
album, Hard Core.
There were a lot of women in B.I.G.s short and extraordinary life. But very
few of these women had a significant impact. His mother, Voletta, was, of
course, a dominant force. She raised him and shaped his powerful personality
in ways that only those engaged in strong mother-son relationships might
appreciate. The mother of his first child, daughter Tyanna, was probably
Bigs first young love (Florence Jan Tucker). His only wife, Faith, was a
whirlwind of love, drama, and mother of Bigs only son, Christopher Wallace
Jr. Yet among these powerful women who mothered children for him, Lil
Kim clearly had a special place in B.I.G.s heart. Artistically she continues to
take her cues from him (nearly ten years after his passing), but while he was
alive they were able to pour all of their illicit affection for each other into one
of the most powerful and sexually explicit albums ever released in hip hop (by
either a male or female solo artist), Lil Kims Hard Core. Purely out of
respect for the Wallace family, Kim Jones, and Faith and her new family,
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we should not make too much out of the love triangle: B.I.G., Faith, and Lil
Kim. But clearly they were all forced to wrestle with Big and Kims indiscretions in some occasionally very public ways. In the music video for Junior
M.A.F.I.A.s Get Money, B.I.G. and rap artist-model Charli Baltimore
(another reported love interest of B.I.G.) act out a violent domestic disagreement between B.I.G. and a platinum blonde Charli Baltimore. Since Big was
married to Faith and she at that time sported various platinum blonde
hairstyles, the audience was invited to make the most obvious connections.
At the height of the East CoastWest Coast conflict, Faith made a record
with Tupac Shakur and took a photo with him in the recording studio. This
was all Tupac needed to start a vicious rumor that he had slept with Biggies
wife. Although Faith has categorically denied ever having intimate relations
with Tupac, the public hashing out of these matters (between B.I.G. and
Tupac, Kim and Faith, Faith and B.I.G., etc.) created one of the most volatile
and potentially violent moments in hip hop and the music business in general.
To B.I.G.s credit, aside from the one-line jab at Faith on Brooklyns Finest
(If Faith have twins she probably have two Pacs) and the video escapade
with Charli Baltimore, he rarely responded to Tupacs incitement or any of
his relentless dis records. He never responded negatively. Big clearly understood that because of his stature in the industry, any beef between him and
Tupac could be blown completely out of proportion. He was, unfortunately,
absolutely right.
On September 13, 1996, Tupac Shakur died in Las Vegas from multiple
gunshot wounds incurred immediately following a Mike Tyson fight earlier
that week. When B.I.G.s biographer, Cheo Hodari Coker, asked him where
he was when he heard the news of Tupacs death, B.I.G. responded: I got
home and it was on the news, and I couldnt believe it. I knew so many niggaz
like him, so many ruff, tuff mother fuckers getting shot. I said hell be out in
the morning, smoking some weed, drinking some Hennessy, just hanging out
(Coker 167). In other interviews, B.I.G. was similarly shaken by Tupacs
passing. It must have been even more unnerving that he had to finish his
much-anticipated second album and promote this album amid rumors that
he or his label, Bad Boy Records, had something to do with Tupacs unsolved
murder. You be thinking that when a nigga is making so much money that
his lifestyle will protect him; that a drive-by shooting aint supposed to happen. He was supposed to have flocks of security; not even supposed to be
sitting by no window (167).
By the time the fateful 1997 Soul Train Awards were approaching in early
March, B.I.G. had spent over a month in Los Angeles finishing his album,
shooting the video for the first single, Hypnotize, and promoting his upcoming release. On Saturday, March 8, B.I.G. should have been in London,
England, promoting Life After Death. Instead he decided to cancel the promo
tour. He was having a good time in Los Angeles and he wanted a break from his
rigorous recording schedule. His sense about all of the tensions surrounding
Notorious B.I.G.
Tupacs unsolved murder, his rumored involvement, and his impending prominence across the hip hop landscape was extraordinarily positive. He felt as
if he would make all of the haters love him. He knew that he had crafted an
album that could appeal to a mass audience as well as various niches and
regional pockets of the hip hop world. He was excited about how West Coast
listeners would respond to Goin Back to Cali, B.I.G.s ode to the west side.
He had also achieved a newfound peace with God. He commemorated this
peace with a tattoo on his inside right forearm. The tattoo took verses from
Psalm 23 (e.g., The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?).
On the night of March 8, just hours before B.I.G. was murdered, he and his
entourage attended what was by most accounts the party of the century. Vibe
magazine and Qwest Records sponsored an official Soul Train Awards afterparty at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Since there were so many industry
folk in town, as well as most of the key people from Bad Boy records, this afterparty was essentially an unofficial release/listening party for Life After Death.
The single, Hypnotize, had already been released and the Bad Boy promotion machine was gearing up for its biggest project ever. As spectacular as this
party was, it makes sense that it had to be shut down at 12:35 a.m. for being
overcrowded. It was almost too good. As B.I.G. and the caravan carting his
entourage exited the party, a car pulled alongside B.I.G.s rented Suburban and
seven forty-caliber nine-millimeter shots rang out (for a full, detailed account
of this gruesome scene and the eerie events leading up to Biggies murder,
consult the film Tupac and Biggie or Cheo Hodari Cokers in-depth biography,
Unbelievable). After the shooting, B.I.G. was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center, but he never regained consciousness. At 1:15 a.m. on March 9, 1997,
Christopher George Latore Wallace was dead at the age of twenty-four.
BIGGIES IMPACT AND LEGACY

Christopher Wallaces funeral was equivalent to his stature in hip hop culture.
As a beloved son of Brooklyn, he was afforded a funeral procession through
the streets of his neighborhood. This procession was attended by tens of
thousands of people who were emotionally charged and distraught with
shock at the murder of Biggie Smalls. The fact that it was a drive-by shooting
and that the shooting took place in Los Angeles, so far from home for his
homegrown Brooklyn audience, enhanced the tension in the atmosphere even
further. As the procession came to an end, the mournful silence in the streets
was interrupted by the blaring sounds of Biggies new single, Hypnotize.
Journalists and various people who were present claim that the crowd erupted
in joy and pain. Unfortunately, there were several clashes with police and at
least ten people were ultimately arrested, a sad ending to hip hop cultures
most poignant memorial service. But for Biggie there was literally life after
death.
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In many ways, the posthumous album Life After Death picks up exactly
where Ready to Die left B.I.G.s growing audience. But instead of B.I.G. dying
in a suicidal rut, he recovers from a violent trauma to grace us with two
albums worth of the most powerful and appealing rap music produced
to date. Considering the fact that the album was released just weeks after
B.I.G.s murder, the introductory track is just as eerie as the albums title.
B.I.G. has indeed experienced an extraordinary life through his musical career
even after his brutal assassination. Life After Death features tracks that are
specific to various subcommunities within hip hop culture. In order to fully
appreciate B.I.G.s fluidity in almost every vernacular rap style developed in
the United States, you must actually listen to the album with a good sense of
the developments in hip hop culture and rap music since 1997.
The B.I.G. Interlude is modeled directly after Schoolly Ds classic gangsta
rap song PSK (Park Side Killers), which is as much an ode to Philadelphia
as Going Back to Cali is to California. On Notorious Thugs, B.I.G.
assumes the popular staccato style of the (at the time) most famous rap act
to hail from the Midwest: Cleveland, Ohios Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Collaborations with R. Kelly, the Lox, Mase, 112, and Puffys near-ubiquitous
presence were, amazingly, not overdone. And B.I.G. did not disappoint his
base audience. Kick in the Door and Ten Crack Commandments are
pure DJ Premier-produced street bangers, while Hypnotize and Mo
Money, Mo Problems blazed the radios and clubs for months. Never has
an artist attempted to please so many different audiences simultaneously and
done it so brilliantly. . . . Life After Death was nothing short of a gangsta rap
Songs in the Key of Life, the stylistically diverse Stevie Wonder double album
that made listeners wonder if there was anything Stevie couldnt do (Coker
262263). Narrative structure and detail abound on I Got a Story to Tell,
Niggas Bleed, and Somebodys Got to Die. Songs like these make Life
After Death, and Biggies lyrical prowess in general, unparalleled in hip hop
even now, ten years after his death. The Source magazine gave Life After
Death a five-mic rating. The mic rating system is a long-standing barometer
for hip hop albums. Although, unfortunately, this ratings system, along with
The Source itself, has been called into question, very few fans challenged the
five-mic rating on B.I.G.s second album. Even those purists who did not like
the fact that Brooklyns native son was as close as any rapper had ever been to
authentic universality had to at least appreciate such an exceptionally skilled
effort on record.
Notorious B.I.G.s second posthumous album, Born Again, was released in
December 1999, almost three years after his murder. Unlike Life After Death,
Born Again relied on previously recorded material, numerous guest appearances, and some production wizardry from Sean Puffy/Diddy Combs to
make it whole. Guest appearances include Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Nas, Lil
Kim, Busta Rhymes, Redman, Method Man, Ice Cube, and Missy Elliott.
Very few, if any, of these tracks stand out or grab the ears of listeners in
Notorious B.I.G.
the same manner as B.I.G.s earlier work. Dead Wrong, featuring Eminem,
conjures nostalgia for the early preconflict days; here producers sport a classic
verse from early in B.I.G.s career, evidenced by the higher pitch in his delivery. Finally, though, Born Again was (and is) completely incapable of satisfying audiences desire to hear more of their fallen hip hop icon. The album
itself was super-saturated with guest appearances and, in light of the amount
and variety of posthumous material being released on Tupac Shakur (a comparison impossible to avoid, considering the ways in which these two were
connected in life as friends, enemies, and murder victims), Born Again cannot
shine as a viable album in Biggies repertoire.
On what should be the last full-length album headlined by the Notorious
B.I.G., Duets: The Final Chapter, executive producers Sean Diddy Combs
and others were able to somehow come up with a formula that is remarkably
similar to the template for Born Again, but with more effective results. They
combine verses from Biggie with mostly contemporary rappers (except for
Tupac and Big Pun) over contemporary hip hop production. Either we as an
audience of B.I.G. miss him more than ever or these are just better songs,
stronger musical productions, and more authentic collaborations. One of the
albums standouts is the track Living in Pain featuring Mary J. Blige, Nas,
and Tupac. By any standards, this is a legendary all-star lineup of artists. This
may be the best work that Mary J. Blige has provided for a Biggie Smalls track
since his much earlier work on Real Love. Bliges vocals perfectly capture
the pain and mourning that we feel hearing these kinds of posthumously
produced recordings even as she soulfully captures the pain and nihilism of
violent inner-city living that has claimed the lives of two of the three MCs on
this particular recording. Living in Pain stands out among hip hop cultures
posthumously produced materials. Three of the greatest MCs of all time
Biggie, Pac, and Nascontribute classic verses over a modulating operatic
track produced by Just Blaze. It is a shame that these three were unable to
collaborate when they were all alive, but Nas clearly understands the pain of
the lost opportunity and the burden he bears to promote the legacies of both
B.I.G. and Tupac even as he lives and continues to create more music in their
shadows. Other tracks, especially Hustlers Story featuring Akon and the
legendary Scarface, Wake Up Now featuring Korn, and even Ultimate
Rush featuring Missy Elliott all help to lift this album well beyond the results
of Born Again.
Ten years after B.I.G.s murder, the case still remains unsolved. The story and
the controversy surrounding the unsolved murders of both B.I.G. and Tupac
continue to make headlines. In September 2002, a Los Angeles Times business
reporter, Chuck Phillips, wrote a story that directly implicated B.I.G. in Tupacs
murder. The Times reported that on the night of Shakurs killing a Crips
emissary had visited B.I.G. in the penthouse suite at the MGM Grand Hotel
in Las Vegas, where the enormous rapper promised $1 million on the condition that Shakur was killed with his gun (Sullivan, Unsolved Mystery, 140).
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This article turned out to be so flimsy in terms of sourcing and actual new
evidence that less than five days later Phillips published another article detailing
proof provided by the lawyers of B.I.G.s estate that B.I.G. had been in a recording session in New York City at the time that this alleged conspiracy to
murder Tupac Shakur was taking place. Moreover, close friends of B.I.G.
corroborated this and solidified that he was in New York, not Nevada, at those
times. Still, the fact that the Los Angeles Times reported this thinly veiled attack
on B.I.G.s legacy and credibility was indicative of other major developments
between the Wallace contingent and the city of Los Angeles.
Voletta Wallace hired attorney Perry Sanders to spearhead a wrongful
death suit against the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Although the
case ultimately focused on the deliberate indifference of the LAPD with
respect to the investigation of Biggie Smallss murder, author Randall Sullivan
and former LAPD detective Russell Poole had been piecing together one of the
most extraordinary cases of police corruption and cover-up in history. Sullivans book-length expose, LAbyrinth, details Russell Pooles comprehensive
investigations into the Rampart scandal and its overlapping connections to
the murders of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. The Rampart scandal involves various LAPD officers who were part of the CRASH unit, which
focused on gang activities. Several officers from this unit have been implicated
in various illegal activities, including everything from planting weapons on
innocent victims to selling narcotics. Detective Pooles investigations revealed
several incredible facts: (1) Certain CRASH officers were in league with the
Bloods gang; (2) a few of these officers, including Ray Perez and David Mack,
also worked for Marion Suge Knight and Death Row Records at the time
of both murders; and (3) the powers that be in the LAPD, the Los Angeles
Times, and possibly the city of Los Angeles itself were extremely reluctant to
cooperate with Detective Poole when he was leading these investigations or to
accurately and fairly report on these matters as information became available.
Poole believes that David Mack, employed by Suge Knight, conspired with
Amir Muhammed to assassinate Biggie. Muhammed was the alleged trigger
man and David Mack provided the drive-by vehicle and helped to case the
party and security for B.I.G. immediately preceding the actual hit.
All of this labyrinthine mess came to a head when the Wallace estates civil
suit was declared a mistrial. The judge ruled that a detective (Steve Katz) in
the LAPD had deliberately concealed a tremendous amount of evidence in the
Biggie Smalls murder case. She therefore concluded that the department was
attempting to conceal David Macks involvement in the case. Although she
did not find in favor of the Wallace family, the court clearly judged against
the nearly nine-year cover-up. After the mistrial, Wallaces lawyers were
contacted by a number of political figures in Los Angelesworried that this
lawsuit might bankrupt the city (Sullivan, Unsolved Mystery, 142).
Surely these legal maneuverings and mistrials will not be the lasting legacy
of Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G. In fact, generations of Brooklyn
Notorious B.I.G.
youth will know him better through the Christopher Wallace Foundation,
managed by Voletta Wallace. The foundations B.I.G. (books instead of guns)
program provides support for students and schools in Biggies neighborhood.
Ultimately, this will be B.I.G.s legacy: His impact on youth facing the same
challenges he faced will sustain itself based on his short but incredible presence on the hip hop cultural landscape. Biggies legacy is different. Wallaces lasting imprint on hip hop is more musical than iconographic. He is a
master of flow, of lyrical rhythm and techniquethe Jordan to Rakims
Magic. While his catalogue of unreleased records isnt as large as Tupacs,
the quality of many of the surviving freestyles is unsurpassed (Coker 293).
See also: Tupac Shakur, Nas, Lil Kim, Wu-Tang Clan
WORKS CITED
Baker, Houston. Blues Ideology and Afro-American Literature: A Vernacular Theory.
Huey, Steve. The Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace). All Music Guide to Hip
Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip Hop. Ed. Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris
Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, and John Bush. San Francisco: Backbeat
Books, 2003.
Mao, Chairman. If You Dont Know . . . Now You Know: Discography.
Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G. Ed. Cheo
Hodari Coker. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2003.
McDaniels, Ralph. Brooklyns Finest: Videography. Unbelievable: The Life, Death,
and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G. Ed. Cheo Hodari Coker. New York: Three
Rivers Press, 2003.
Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press, 1994.
Sullivan, Randall. LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur
and Notorious B.I.G., the Implications of Death Row Records Suge Knight, and
the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal. New York: Grove Press, 2002.
Sullivan, Randall. The Unsolved Mystery of the Notorious B.I.G.: The Murder. The
Cover-up. The Conspiracy. Rolling Stone. 15 December 2005: 124147.
Williams, Saul. The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-hop. New York:
MTV Books, 2006.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Biggie and Tupac: The Story Behind the Murder of Raps Biggest Superstars.
Lafayette Films, 2002.
Scott, Cathy. The Murder of Biggie Smalls. New York: St. Martins, 2000.
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438
Ready to Die. Uptown/Bad Boy Records, 1994.
Life After Death. Bad Boy Records, 1997.
Born Again. Bad Boy Records, 1999.
Duets: The Final Chapter. Bad Boy Records, 2005.
AP Photo/Tammie Arroyo.
Lil Kim
Aine McGlynn
On a warm July morning in 2006, Kimberly Jones was released from a Pennsylvania correctional facility after having served ten months of a 366-day
sentence. This release would mark the launch of the latest version of the
rappers ever-changing public persona. July 3 would be the next first day in
the epic narrative of the Notorious K.I.M. Just shy of her thirtieth birthday,
and in just over a decade, Lil Kim had established herself as an indelible icon
in the temple of hip hop. Having shaken off the qualifying word female from
Icons of Hip Hop
450
THE ARTIST WHO FORMERLY LOOKED LIKE LIL KIM

Unsurprisingly, women tend not to be as enthralled by Kims silicone breasts,
or may be enthralled by them for different reasons. In a 2000 article in
Essence magazine, written in the form of a letter to Lil Kim, Akissi Britton
calls out Kims central contradiction: She refers to Kim as a self proclaimed
feminist who is a poster girl for plastic surgery and a Black sex symbol who
re-created herself to look like a blond Barbie doll (112). Kim has tried to
maintain the image of an ultraconfident woman with a fuck you attitude,
but the plastic surgery suggests otherwise. Britton argues that there is a frightened and vulnerable woman beneath the altered exterior and that Kim has a
responsibility to that woman. Being responsible to herself, to the realization
that money doesnt change the feeling of exploitation would, Britton assumes, result in Kim taking into account every black woman who has had to
bear the real-life consequences of the way that race and gender are represented in the rap industry. Kim claims to care about real women. The track
Hold On (Notorious K.I.M.) reveals a woman in grief. She raps to my
ladies that she knows what they are going through. Nonetheless, on another
album she rhymes about broke bitches, raggedy-ass bitches, and so on, separating herself by virtue of her money from the poverty that affects the lives of
many of her listeners.
Kim responds to the pressure to live up to the hype with which she is
marketed. Her appearance has undeniably changed over the last few years.
Her nose has shrunk as her breasts have gotten bigger. Her lips have grown
plumper, her eyes are often hidden behind blue contacts, and her hair is as
likely to be green as it is to be blonde. Beginning with Biggie encouraging her
to play up her sexiness, the pressure escalated in the years between her first
and second albums when the hip hop world waited to see if she could produce
an album without Biggies input. The success of the image that accompanied
her first album, the loss of Biggie, the impact of being portrayed as Biggies
bitch, and the fear of failing on her second album, all led to the troubling
equation, sex = money = power. Its evident that on Notorious K.I.M. and La
Bella Mafia she stretched that equation to its breaking point. How Many
Licks on the former album is one of the raunchiest singles to receive airplay,
while The Jump Off on the latter album mentions fourteen separate product brands. The sex and money are certainly present, but where is Kims
power?
Kims skin in recent photos is considerably lighter than earlier in her career;
her hair is blonde, her eyes blue, her nose thinner and her lips fuller. Because
she has undergone so much plastic surgery, some fans and critics have compared Kim to Michael Jackson. Jackson is criticized because he has used
plastic surgery to lighten his skin and feminize his features, thereby morphing
himself out of the prescribed categories of gender and race. Although Kims
appearance did not become masculine in the same way that Jacksons became
Lil Kim
feminine, her most outlandish styles mimicked the fashion style of drag
queens. This look tries to overemphasize feminine qualities. The breasts become huge, the eyebrows overarched, the waist cinched. The drag queen tries
to look more than female in his attempt to hide his masculinity and convince
the world of her feminine beauty. Kim isnt trying to look like a transvestite,
but she overemphasizes her femininity in the same way, making it appear that
her own sense of femininity is not secure. Further, the thinning of her nose,
the lightening of her skin, and the bleaching of her hair have all led to criticisms that Kim is trying to look like a white woman or play up to concepts of
beauty that are rooted in white culture instead of black culture.
THE AUTHENTIC RAPPER

The loudest accusations that Kim was becoming white accompanied her recent alignment with such Hollywood society names as Donatella Versace,
Marc Jacobs, and Victoria Gotti. The timing indicates that perhaps the critiques were equal parts discomfort with a woman who doesnt fit into rigid
gender or racial categories and a discomfort with the shift in Kims class
position. It is easy to hate someone who used to be poor and then ostentatiously flaunts wealth. Any deviation on Kims part from what observers
determine is her most real subject positionpoor, black, and femaleis read
as a betrayal or an instance of dishonesty. Kim has tried to counter these
criticisms in her music and in interviews over the years. In This Is Who I
Am, a track on La Bella Mafia, Kim rapped unapologetically about having
big breasts, about how you cant take the hood out of her, about how shell
never change. This song, as well as Shut Up Bitch from The Naked Truth,
are explicit attempts to recoup her credibility within the hip hop community.
On these tracks, Kim projects an attitude that aggressively defends her deviations from what others have decided was her most authentic self, which was
the identity or persona she projected on her first recordings.
In a 2005 article in Popular Music and Society, Mickey Hess makes the
point that rappers adopt a performative persona in order to deal with the
contradictions between the identity that the ghetto demands from the performer and the identity that the market demands. He argues that if the rapper
cannot satisfy the standards of authenticity and street credibility that the
ghetto requires, then the marketing strategy falls apart. The question becomes
how closely the persona, Lil Kim, represents the identity of the person, Kimberly Jones. Lil Kim exists in the public as an iconic, imaginative construction
of a set of carefully staged performances, outfits, press releases, albums, and
photographs. This woman can kick back on a yacht in a video and be brash,
unemotional, hard, and confident to the last. Kimberly Jones, however, exists
in a world that is governed by the rules of economics, citizenship, time, and
space. This latter world has consequences, is messy, unpredictable, full of joys
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452
and sorrows. This is the world where a woman feels the actual pain of
recovering from plastic surgery, where she falls apart upon her lovers death,
where her looks make her insecure.
Gangsta rap in particular depends on the rapper telling (and to some extent
living out) a story that the listener believes to be true. In other words, 50 Cent
is respected because he has been shot. Incarceration, shoot-outs, growing up
in the projectsall of these are staples of the authentic gangsta rapper. Remember Vanilla Ice? Remember how hard he tried to be hard? Remember his
downfall when everyone discovered that he was from a nice middle-class
suburb of Dallas? The equation then would appear to be that in order to
achieve respect, and album sales, the rapper and the individual must be one
and the same. It is, in fact, far more complex than this. The distinction
between persona and person begins with a name. Eminem is not Marshal
Mathers, Snoop Dogg is not Calvin Brodis, Puffy is not Sean Combs, and
Lil Kim, the Queen Bitch, is not Kimberly Jones. Every rappers government
identity, or given name, refers to a personality that is apart from the moniker
under which they rap. This personality tends to be more somber, subdued,
less theatrical. He or she is the named defendant in a trial, some mothers
child, the name on the tombstone that brackets the hip hop name; Christopher Biggie Smalls Wallace, Eric Eazy-E Wright, Lisa Left Eye Lopes.
In adopting a moniker, or a persona to sell to the public, the performer
protects this government identity from becoming a commodity. More sacred
than the persona, the performers government name is the wizard behind the
curtain, the intelligent design that orchestrates the selling of the persona. Like
the rest of us, such persons have insecurities, strengths, traumas, desires, joys,
and so on, that they grapple with outside of and occasionally, when they are
being honest, inside their music.
With her 2005 album, The Naked Truth, some unification is happening
between Kims persona and Kimberly Jones. She enacts the tough bitch persona in front of the judge, saying on Slippin that the Bee dont budge.
This is the Queen Bee performing the thug loyalty which stipulates that you
dont rat out the members of your posse. This performance had dire consequences for Ms. Jones, who was imprisoned as a result of this act. She associates her choice to perjure herself with having grown up in the projects and
suggests that that history is worth more than anything else. In this track, Lil
Kim finds a point of unity between her ghetto childhood, the performer that
she inhabits, and the woman that she has become as a result of the intersection of those two personalities.
LIL KIM AND FOXY BROWN

The competition that is fostered between hip hop acts was most famously and
tragically played out in the East CoastWest Coast war that the popular
Lil Kim
media blamed for the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. On smaller
and less deadly scales, feuds often take place in hip hop between individual
rappers and are played out in lyrical jabs. Lil Kim got involved in a verbal
war with Foxy Brown, a rapper who has been styled in a manner similar to
Lil Kim. The two women released debut albums at the same time, and both
spit raunchy, sexually aggressive rhymes. Though the two were formerly
friends, their record companies set them up as competitors (and they do
compete for a similar slice of the rap audience) and a feud has continued
between them ever since. Their conflict is fueled by the fact that Foxy is under
contract with Def Jam, while Lil Kim belongs to Atlantic (Puffys Bad Boy
Records parent company). They represent each company cashing in on a
gangsta bitch who will spit fire, wear next to nothing, and have male fans
drooling over her while admiring the men with whom they appear on tracks,
in videos, and on stage.
In 2000, Foxy appeared on a track for Capone-N-Noreagas album and spit
a verse calling Lil Kim out for milking her Biggie connection for profit and
fame. Foxy rapped that Kim was a whore and called her Junior M.A.F.I.A.
family her faggots who act more bitch than she does. Kim responded on
I Came Back for You (La Bella Mafia), calling Foxy this Doo Doo Brown
bitch. Kim did not take kindly to Foxys accusations and the conflict came to
an inevitable head in September 2001 outside of New York hip hop radio
station Hot 97 (see sidebar: Hot 97, Where Hip Hop Lives and Dies). It is
Hot 97, Where Hip Hop Lives and Dies

Aine McGlynn
Hot 97, WQHT, is a New Yorkbased radio station that claims to be the Home
of Hip Hop. With such iconic DJs as Angie Martinez and Funkmaster Flex at
the station, their claim is not that far off. In the halcyon days of the early
nineties, before the airwaves were controlled by Clear Channel Communication and playlists were entirely determined by corporate interests, DJs had far
more control over what they could put on the air. As a result, Flex brought
several underground acts to major success, such as De La Soul and Tribe
Called Quest. He was the first DJ to play Jay-Zs debut, Reasonable Doubt, in
1996. Angie has clout in the industry as well, having released her own album
with big-name guest stars and having appeared on such tracks as the Grammy-nominated Ladies Night with Lil Kim and Missy Elliott. Every up-andcoming rapper wants to get an on-air interview with either Angie or Flex. Their
approval often translates into significant album sales.
Hot 97 is an impromptu second home for many rappers. During the blackout in New York City in the summer of 2003, basketball star LeBron James and
a group of rappers reportedly spent the night in the lobby of the Hot 97
building. The station has seen its share of controversies, many of which
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involved publicity stunts that pushed the level of decency a little too far.
Among the many tricky on-air moments, Smackfest was probably the worst.
Pairs of women were invited into the studio to exchange blows on air. A
winner was chosen each morning based on her style and enthusiasm. Paired
with tasteless joking about Aaliyahs death and the 2004 Asian tsunami, the
shock tactics of the DJs have garnered all sorts of negative press for the station.
As hip hops unofficial mecca, there is no shortage of high-powered rappers
milling around the building that houses Hot 97. They are often accompanied
by their posses, which are sometimes twenty people strong. Because feuds
between rappers are characteristic in hip hop, encounters between two
rappers posses often lead to trouble. It was outside Hot 97 that a member
of 50 Cents entourage was reportedly shot after tensions between 50 and a
former member of G-Unit, the Game, escalated. 50 dissed the Game on the air
in an interview with Flex, and the beef turned into gun violence shortly after.
The sidewalk outside Hot 97 was also the scene of the gun battle between Lil
Kims posse and Capone, Foxy Browns recording partner, which landed one
man in the hospital and two in prison, and resulted in Kims incarceration
as well.
Like many of the rappers it promotes, Hot 97 has been involved in legal
battles, including one in response to attempts to evict the station from its
building in Greenwich Village. In hip hop, there is no such thing as bad press,
and the violence that occurred outside the station is a validation of Hot 97s
position as center stage for the dramatic happenings in the rap world.
reported that Kims entourage met rapper Capones posse and words were
exchanged, followed by gunfire. Foxy has called for a truce, as has Kim. At
one time they were asked to record an album together, tentatively titled
Thelma and Louise. The possibility of these two pairing up as a couple of
vigilante women who intend to punish men for their piggishness is a provocative prospect. What is troubling of course about the comparison of Foxy
and Kim to Thelma and Louise is the fact that in the end, all outlaw women
are either reigned in by the law or choose death in order to escape it. Nonetheless, if Kim and Foxy were to unite on an album, the gesture, though it
might alienate them, would be more powerful than each woman separately
fading into obscurity as the public becomes tired of seeing their cleavage and
pouty faces.
WHO YOU CALLIN A BITCH? KIMS IMPACT AND LEGACY

Kim refers to herself as Queen Bitch, indicating a complex relationship
between the B-word and the way that female and male rappers use it. Female
rappers try to reappropriate the word in the same way that nigger has been
Lil Kim
appropriated by gangsta rappers. Unlike nigger, which had to be reclaimed

from white racists, bitch had to be taken back from men who use it in a
derogatory manner. For example on N.W.A.s classic A Bitch Is a Bitch
(Straight Outta Compton), or Dr. Dres 1992 Bitches Aint Shit (The
Chronic) bitch is synonymous with woman and bitches are no more than
whores. Kim turns that accusation around on Suck My Dick (Notorious
K.I.M.), rapping that its niggas who aint shit. For a woman, nigga stands
in for bitch as a derogatory word when it is used aggressively.
Missy Elliott describes her use of the word bitch to identify herself. She
suggests that in order to be successful in the rap industry, a woman has to be a
bitch. In most industries this is the case. Women in power, such as Oprah
Winfrey, Martha Stewart, or Condoleezza Rice, routinely have to deal with
being called a bitch while their male counterparts, who are just as aggressive
or even more so, are admired for knowing what they want and going to any
lengths to get it. Missy feels that she is a bitch in power, and that there is
nothing wrong with having to put your foot down. This is a definition of
bitch that recoups the word from being associated with whorishness. It reestablishes it as a word that indicates power.
When Kim calls herself the Queen Bitch, it is a call to the rap world that she
is on top of the pyramid of female rappers. While it also makes a troubling
concession to male rappers who think of all women as bitches, her use of the
word is preemptive and protective. Using the word to identify herself prevents
it being used against her. If Kim uses the word first, then the power that it
carries to insult and offend is neutralized. In an interlude on one of Missys
albums, Kim identifies herself and Missy as rich motherfuckin bitches,
thats right (Interlude Checkin for You, on Da Real World). Missy and
Kim occupy the same position in terms of wealth and authority. They are
peers, so the use of the term is playful and empowering. In the same way that
queer and nigger, used among a group of people who can identify those words
with reclaimed power, bitch can imply comfort and solidarity. Nonetheless at
its root, whether it is used as a self-identification or in a derogatory sense, all
three words carry a legacy of offense and violence. Proof of this lies in the fact
that each word can still be used as a put-down.
Bitch is still thrown around as a means of demonstrating power and aggression. On The Naked Truth, the track Shut Up Bitch features a chorus of
Kims haters discussing various rumors about her plastic surgery, her relationship with Biggie, and her jail sentence. Each speculative sentence is answered
with the refrain, Shut up bitch! It is clear that in this situation, the word is
describing someone who is misinformed, jealous, and petty. In short, it becomes obvious that a bitch occupies two opposing categories: the woman
with power, the rich muthafuckin bitch; or the woman without power,
the woman equated with whorishness, ignorance, and poverty. When a woman is called a bitch by someone more powerful than she is, and men can be
included in this category, the implication is that what she has to say doesnt
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456
matter. When that same woman calls her equal a bitch, she is saying that she
has authority over the word, and that what she has to say is important.
Finally, when she calls herself a bitch, she does so with an authority that
silences everybody, men and women alike.
See also: MC Lyte, Notorious B.I.G., Queen Latifah, Roxanne Shante
WORKS CITED
Britton, Akissi. To Kim with Love. Essence October 2000.
Gilroy, Paul. Against Race: Imagining Political Culture Beyond the Color Line.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
Guillory, Nichole Ann. Schoolin Women: Hip Hop Pedagogies of Black Women.
Diss. Louisiana State University, 2005.
Hess, Mickey. Metal Faces, Rap Masks: Identity and Resistance in Hip Hops
Persona Artist. Popular Music and Society 28.3 (2005): 297313.
Lil Kim. Exec. Prod. Suzanne Ross. Driven. VH1. 2001.
Lil Kim: Countdown to Lockdown. Bet.com. 8 August 2006. http://www.bet.com/
Site+Management/Packages/LilKimCountdownToLockdown.htm??Referrer=
{5538883B-DA39-4F14-8524-CA51A4742831}.
Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press, 1994.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Chang, Jeff. Cant Stop Wont Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation.
New York: St. Martins, 2005.
Levy, Ariel. Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture.
New York: Free Press, 2005.
Shapiro, Peter. The Rough Guide to Hip Hop. New York: Rough Guides, 1995.
Hard Core. Atlantic, 1996.
La Bella Mafia. Atlantic, 2003.
Notorious K.I.M. Atlantic, 1999.
The Naked Truth. Interscope, 2005.
AP Photo/Reed Saxon.
Outkast
T. Hasan Johnson
ATLIENS IN ELEVATORS: PIMPS, GANGSTAS, AND SAGES RISEN
FROM SOUTHERN STREETS
Andre Benjamin and Antwon Patton attended Tri-Cities High School in East
Point, Georgia, and developed what would one day become one of the most
influential groups in hip hop. Andre, born May 27, 1975, is also known as
Andre (Ice Cold) 3000, Dookie, Dre, Johnny Vulture, Benjamin Andre, and
Outkast
The term is currently out of fashion in the hip hop community, but may
return to popular rotation like earlier old-school hip hop terms of the 1980s
such as dope and def. Bling-bling is now used as everyday vocabulary in
mainstream pop culture by mainstream news anchors desperately trying to
link to hip hop youth culture as well as suburban soccer moms and grandmothers. The term was officially retired like a basketball jersey by MTV in
2004. The MTV network created a cartoon lampooning the usage of the term
as out of date because of its overuse. The term has been used in childrens
films such as Shark Tale and television shows like MTVs Wild N Out and is
usually used in relation to a character attempting to present himself as hip or
urban cool. The term was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003. In
2005, two books were published on the bling-bling phenomenon: Bling-Bling:
Hip-Hops Crown Jewels by Minya Oh and The Life and Death of Bling-Bling: A
Story of Innovation, Proliferation, Regurgitation, Commercialization and Bastardization by Matthew Vescovo.
Although the South introduced the bling-bling phenomenon and participated in raps overemphasis on materialism and street culture, Outkast and
other southern rappers helped introduce a sort of down-to-earth, pragmatic
wisdom reminiscent of black southern culture. In their earlier albums (at least
up to ATLiens), the group often talked about how little money they had,
rather than celebrating how many cars and necklaces they could buy. This
theme is characterized best by one of Dres verses on the song Elevators on
the ATLiens album, where he states, I live by the beat like you live check to
check, and suggests that even with Outkasts growing number of fans, he
feels continuing pressure to produce music that sells so that he can survive. At
the time of the songs release, Dres statement ran counter to what rappers
like B.G. rhymed about, and counter to the Mo Money Mo Problems
mentality promoted by Bad Boy Records in New York. Even in the midst
of the positive hip hop era of the late 1980s and early 1990s, rappers still
bragged about their success and material fortune. Gangsta rappers even
rhymed about their material wealth, mostly due to illegal activity, and at
most mentioned poverty in terms of what they had pulled themselves out
of. But Outkast openly talked about how much money they did not have.
They also brought the issue of how artists are treated by the entertainment
industry to light by voicing their financial woes. Big Boi, in the song Ms.
Jackson on the Stankonia album, reveals Private school, daycare, shit medical bills, I pay that. Although he does not state that these payments are a
burden to him, to mention them in such detail, especially when outlining his
dedication to caring for his kids, when other rappers talk about Bentleys and
bling, is telling. It suggests that finances are not as abundant as most think,
and that financial obligations such as these require effort, something that
bling and gangsta rappers overlook when talking about their wealth.
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470
Crunk
Crunk is a hip hop slang term and subgenre that arose in the early 1990s in
the Dirty South. The invention of the word crunk has been credited to at least
two sources. In 1993, NBCs Late Night with Conan OBrien urged its guests to
replace profanities with krunk, a new dirty word to confuse the network
censors. That same year, Dirty South rappers Outkast used the term in their
single Players Ball. The term itself means frenetic or excited, with MCs often
urging the crowd to get crunk; Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz and Lil Flip both
have songs called Get Crunk. In this popular usage, crunk is thought to be a
combination of the words crazy and drunk. However, another Dirty South
artist, DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia, reports that crunk originated as a Memphis
slang term that meant crowded (Cobb).
While crunk originated in Memphis, Atlantas Lil Jon (aka the King of Crunk)
popularized crunk as a slang term, a sound, and a brand. He marketed his own
energy drink, Crunk Juice, and produced hit songs like Ushers Yeah and
Ciaras Goodies, which extended crunk to the worlds of R&B and pop
music. Lil Jon is known for pioneering the sound known as crunk, which is
built from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and synthesized sound effects
and designed for dance clubs. Lil Jons vocal style of shouting his rhymes as
well as the words yeah and okay throughout his songs was parodied by
Dave Chappelle on Comedy Centrals Chappelles Show.
Works Cited
Cobb, LaDessa Willow. Three 6 Mafia: The Ill Community Interview. All
Hip-Hop.com. http://www.allhiphop.com/features/?ID=1237.
FUNKIN AROUND THE WHOLE WORLD: AFROFUTURISM AND

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUTKAST
Having reached diamond-level album sales, it is clear that Outkast has
achieved mainstream success. Even though they are quite eclectic, Outkasts
production quality, lyricism, charisma, and thematic style of dress (which
changes with each album) has remained consistent. Outkast has grown in
each of these areas with each album, reaching more and more toward a type
of eclecticism rare for a hip hop duo; but each addition to their portfolio has
remained a top-tier production. Although ATLiens was groundbreaking in its
scope and content in relation to their first album, the groups creative ingenuity did not reach epic proportions, or at least international attention, until
their 2003 album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Nevertheless, their third
album, Aquemini, was a dramatic break from ATLiens, and Stankonia a
break from Aquemini. Even their greatest hits album, Big Boi and Dre Present
Outkast
. . . Outkast, broke from convention and provided new songs and new thematic elements to their mystique.
As Big Boi and Dre consistently reinvent their music, they have demonstrated a capacity to push beyond the boundaries of their own genres. On
their first album, they talked about Southern California gangsta rap themes
such as driving Cadillacs, smoking marijuana, and being players, as heard in
the music of Outkasts contemporaries Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg.
However, if Outkast ever were part of gangsta rap, they quickly expanded
out of that genre. Whether it is their approach to social issues like systemic
black male underdevelopment (e.g., Git Up, Git Out), or the outright break
from convention with ATLiens (the former being more subtle and the latter
being an undisputedly different approach), Outkast has managed to do what
only a few other artists have been able to: shed their audience.
Jimi Hendrix, Parliament/Funkadelic, and Prince are all artists that have
made music that threatened to lose their audience base. Although it may seem
an easy strategy, each artistic break with fan expectation, something the
music industry usually frowns on, was a major risk. Hence, there was no
guarantee that Princes Paisley Park album would be accepted after having
a smash hit with Purple Rain. Similarly, Outkasts shift from Southernplayalisticadillacmuziks aesthetic to the unsure ground of ATLiens out-of-thisworld point of view was a huge risk. However, as with Prince, they managed
to develop an audience that followed them through each artistic change.
More important, they have created an aesthetic space that allows them to
do whatever they want and still have music and film executives clamoring for
them. Few artists manage to find this kind of artistic power. Many artists who
have the courage to break from fan expectations have failed to stimulate
interest in their new endeavor. For many, shifting styles is career suicide.
Yet for those that continue to sell albums, their newfound artistic freedom
is a hard-earned badge of honor. Outkast has, without question, achieved
this status.
Outkast has managed to keep their music ahead of the curve, anticipating
the industrys shifting interests. Although it should be stated that they do not
seem to follow the dominant trends, they do, however, manage to consistently
shift their aesthetic focus, making it difficult to label their music. Clearly they
are generally considered a hip hop group, despite that many are having an
increasingly difficult time categorizing their sound. Dre only rapped in two
instances on The Love Below, spending most of his time singing and verbalizing poetry. Yet this development could have been predicted if one listened to
Dre in the song Funkin Around on Big Boi and Dre Present . . . Outkast
(2001): Im out here knowin hip hop is dead. Dre was becoming more and
more disillusioned by the boundaries of what hip hop artists were supposed to
produce as artists.
This leads to the fourth reason for Outkasts successartistic fearlessness.
Considering that Outkast has been critical of the extent to which hip hop has
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been hijacked by corporate interests, their desire to remain hip hop artists is
exemplary. More to the point, they have been unswerving in their desire to
expand, artistically, as hip hop artists. Thus, they have mixed Dirty South,
Miami bass, electronica, soul, funk, P-Funk, G-funk, and rock to fuse together the Outkast portfolio.
The fifth reason for their success has been their approach to blackness. As
southern rappers, their upbringing and point of origin refers, in many peoples
imagination, to a long-standing tradition of African American blackness. This
blackness stems from the experience of enslavement, lynching, sharecropping,
voting rights activism, civil rights, and state-sanctioned terrorism (e.g., Klan
activity, lynching, police brutality, and antivoting violence against black people). Hence, the blackness and black southern culture that Benjamin and
Patton grew up in is generally considered as the standard type of blackness
within African Americana. However, although they represent such blackness,
they have also come to symbolize a kind of intraracial diversity. In other
words, they have championed a less rigid approach to blackness, one that
embraces the more subtle and diverse trends of blackness.
Although much of this is articulated through Benjamins eccentric persona,
one can extrapolate that Benjamins listeners often embody some of the characteristics of black America that the civil rights generation has been most
uncomfortable with. Black homosexuals, nontraditional spiritualists, science
fiction buffs, comic book readers, and those interested in a more self-reflexive
type of hip hop tend to appreciate Outkasts work. Yet it is this dichotomy
between Big Boi and Andre that leads us to the sixth, and probably most
important, reason for their success.
Outkasts two personas, embodied by Big Boi and Andre, are the hustler
and the visionary respectively. Superficially, Big Boi has become synonymous
with hustling and maintaining multiple relationships with women. Andre, on
the other hand, is perceived as more abstract and artistically driven. He
experiments with mixing alternative musical styles, fashion, and subject matter in a manner that is inconsistent with other MCs in hip hop. Although they
have both delved into each others socially perceived personas, they are more
consistently referred to in this manner.
The duos dichotomous style is the groups most alluring and signature
characteristic. Big Bois persona grounds the group in southern hip hop
culture. It could be argued that he is the primary reason that the groups early
following, mostly underground hip hoppers in the southern (especially Atlanta)
hip hop scene (see sidebar: The Dirty South), still salute Outkast as a southern
group, even after Andres expansive artistic growth since the ATLiens album.
To be succinct, Big Boi grounds Andres eclectic eccentricity, while Andre
prevents the group from becoming a stereotype of southern-born, gangstaoriented rappers, complete with gold teeth, southern drawls, and Cadillacs.
The combination of the two creates a new blend of the old and the new, the
contemporary and the alternative, the homegrown and the far away.
Also, most notably on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, the group successfully cross-pollinates different audience groups. Since that album, the group
has expanded the listening palette of their initial fan base. Theyve expanded
what their hip hop audience listens to and what they might consider hip hop,
as now the hardest listener can enjoy Dres Pink and Blue or Roses. The
group has also garnered new fans not normally considered hip hop listeners.
For these listeners, having to purchase a double CD of Outkasts music was a
brilliant move on the groups part. Many of them who never would have
listened to southern hip hop (or any hip hop at all) are now being introduced
to it (raising the interest in other southern MCs ). For example, mainstreamers
that only purchased Speakerboxxx/The Love Below for songs like Hey Ya
or Prototype are formally introduced to Big Bois The Way You Move,
Tomb e listeners, having to purchase a double CD of Outkasts music was a
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Icons of Hip Hop
ready. Cypress Hill, with superproducer DJ Muggs, featured the high-pitched,

nasal stylings of Be Real, while Sen Dogs lyrics usually punctuated the themes
of the songsalbeit far less intricate than Be Reals. Similar to Cypress Hill, the
lyrical ability of Funkdoobiests lead rapper Son Doobie far outshone his band
mates. These groups, therefore, offer an unbalanced partnership that left the
majority of the creative responsibility on the lead performer, while the other
provided thematic support. Unfortunately, this arrangement often led fans to
describe the group as a solo act, forgetting the other members.
However, Outkast is most specifically centered in the final category, balanced groups. These groups, as opposed to the last category, are more evenly
keeled. Groups like A Tribe Called Quest, Brand Nubian, the Jungle Brothers,
the Fugees (although fan appreciation for Pras and Wyclef took some time at
the onset of their careers), EPMD, Binary Star, De La Soul, Das EFX, and
Black Star all had at least a pair of MCs whose skills both rivaled and
complimented one another. Q-Tip and Phife of Tribe, Erick and Parrish of
EPMD, OneManArmy and Senim Silla of Binary Star, Posdnous and Trugoy
the Dove of De La Soul, Mos Def and Talib Kweli of Black Star, and Books
and Krazy Drazy of Das EFX all exemplify duos that have managed to equally
balance each other. It should be noted that duos whose rhyme styles are
similar to each other, like Das EFX or Binary Star, make it difficult to distinguish one artist from the other; but their styles usually produce a harmonious blend that their audiences dont mind. Adversely, groups with two
artists with distinctly different rhyme styles, cadences, and signature voices
tend to attract a lot of attention as well. Groups like A Tribe Called Quest, De
La Soul, EPMD, Wu-Tang Clan, or Black Star all have members that have
different styles; hence, each of these rappers tend to amass their own cult
followings who like them for very specific reasons.
Outkast falls into this last category. Both Dre and Big Boi have noticeably
different styles, but manage to consistently complement one another, much to
the pleasure of their fan base. Their subject interests and musical references
differ, and yet instead of conflicting, one provides the creative vision while the
other provides the anchor. However, when asking who the best hip hop group
in the world may be, taking past groups into account complicates the question
to such a degree that the question may not be answerable. Recently, questions
have begun to arise as to whether Dre and Big Bois differences have finally
pushed them too far apart to continue to work together.
AN END TO THE PLAYERS BALL? OUTKASTS IMPACT, LEGACY,

AND RUMORS OF AN IMPENDING BREAKUP
Outkasts influence and impact on hip hop, and on music in general, has been
tremendous. Yet, despite their film and album Idlewild (2006), rumors have
begun to surface about their interaction. Although there is little evidence that
Outkast
the duo argues, they have, according to rumor, not been in the studio at the
same time when producing tracks. It has been suggested that they did not tour
after the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below albums release because Dre decided
the stress of performing material that he had outgrown was too great. Big Boi,
on the other hand, was more concerned about how much money they would
lose if they did not tour. So, Big Boi went on tour without Dre, and the two
have not discussed it since. However, in the recording of Idlewild and a new
Outkast album tentatively titled The Hard 10, the two are seldom in the
studio at the same time. In 2006 television appearances to promote Idlewild,
Big Boi and Dre agreed not to perform onstage together. Dre sits out the
performances but does participate in interviews.
One question that many Outkast fans have is whether or not the group will
follow the Wu-Tang Clan model or completely break from one another altogether. This model refers to the practice of some groups who continue to
function as a group while fostering solo careers. Unlike groups who break
up, go solo, and come back together again later (like EPMD), these groups
function as individual artists and groups simultaneously from the onset of
their professional careers. Wu-Tang Clan artists Method Man, U-God,
Ghostface Killah, Ol Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck,
RZA, and GZA all remained part of the group while simultaneously developing their solo careers, independent merchandising, and publishing rights;
more important, acclimating their audiences to their onstage personas so that
when they released solo projects they would be recognized.
Currently, both Dre and Big Boi have engaged in solo projects while claiming to remain a group. Dres film career has taken off, while Big Bois film
career is just getting started. Although Dre is active musically, it is Big Bois
new project, the Purple Ribbon All Stars, that has recently released an album
with the hit song Kryptonite. Yet, amid further rumors, it seems that the
question of a conclusive split might be worth pondering. Nevertheless, the
group insists that it is not splitting up, and both artists have commented on
their frustration with such rumors.
Discussions about Outkasts potential breakup tend to obscure all their
achievements and accomplishments by focusing on what looks like two different agendas within the group. Yet Outkast was founded on such independence. Aside from raising the bar on what hip hop artists can achieve in
musical, business, and artistic freedom, the group has established a new standard for remaining creatively independent. Todays highly corporatized entertainment industry tends to look past individual expression to seek those
artists who best fit into current trends, and many artists have not figured out
how to (or do not have the power to) determine their own creative direction.
This has never been a problem for Outkast, and their latest strategy seems to
be to allow each other that same kind of room for self-expression.
Earlier artists like George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic may have laid
the groundwork for artistic freedom, but many of todays artists tend to view
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480
them as a product of a different ageand to some extent theyre right. But

what most people overlook is that when these artists were paying their dues,
there was no guarantee that their careers would survive the ordeal. In other
words, their wisdom is a product of hard-earned experience and should not be
dismissed. Outkast has already gone through similar experiences, setting new
standards for artistic independence for todays artists in hip hop and alternative music. Outkasts intersection of southern rap, funk, and alternative
musical genres is as groundbreaking today as George Clintons experimentations with funk in the 1970s, or Princes approach to combining Minneapolisbased, black alternative rock with R&B and soul music in the 1980s. In this
light, Outkast should be perceived as a groundbreaking pioneer group that
reinvented the South in many peoples minds, dared to take hip hop to new
creative levels, and reminded people that the outlandish and absurd can still
be funky thirty-six years after the landing of the Parliament/Funkadelic
mother ship.
See also: The Geto Boys, Native Tongues
WORKS CITED
Good, Karen R. Back to the Future. Vibe July 2006: 98105.
Outkast-Web.de. http://www.outkast-web.de/.
FURTHER READINGS
New York: St. Martins, 2005.
Dee, Kool Moe. Theres a God on the Mic: The True 50 Greatest MCs. New York:
Kitwana, Bakari. Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wangstas, Wiggers, Wannabes,
and the New Reality of Race in America. New York: BasicCivitas Books, 2005.
The MC: Why We Do It. Dir. Peter Spirer. Perf. 50 Cent, Common, Ghostface. Q3
Productions, 2005.
The Original Hip-Hop Lyrics Archive. http://www.ohhla.com.
Outkast official Web site. http://www.outkast.com.
Eminem
Born October 17, 1972, Eminem rhymed his way onto the hip hop scene in
the 1990s with lyrical innovations and multiplatinum sales, securing his place
as an icon of hip hop. As hip hops first new white superstar since Vanilla Ice
was exposed for lying about his upbringing and criminal background,
Eminem regained respect for white rappers by showing an understanding of
hip hop traditions and keeping his lyrics true to his own experiences.
Eminem was born in rural Missouri. Throughout his childhood, he and his
tattered family moved back and forth between Kansas City and Detroit, cities
Eminem
Eminem was nine years old when his uncle, Ronald (Ronnie) Dean Polkingharn, introduced him to his first rap song. Eminem and Ronnie were less
than three months apart in age. Ronnie played Ice-Ts Reckless from the
1984 Breakin soundtrack. From then on, the two best friends listened to rap
tapes and recorded their own whenever they could. Ronnie committed suicide
on December 14, 1991, at the age of nineteen, leaving Eminem to deal with
the loss of his uncle, close friend, and rap partner. The impact of this loss is
evident in Eminems life and career: he tattooed his arm in tribute to his uncle,
and he commemorated him in the song Cleaning Out My Closet. Prior to
Ronnies death, Eminem had begun working toward a career in rap, and
Ronnies suicide gave him even more motivation toward making his music.
In 1990, Eminem and Proof (DeShaun Holton) formed D-12. Proof, who
also performed with the group 5 Elementz, had the idea to form the band as
they continued to practice and perform their music in Detroit basements. The
band name D-12 is derived from Dirty Dozen: there are six MCs in the band
but each MC has an alter ego. With Proofs vision, Eminem progressed from
performing in basements with the rap band Sole Intent (with Proof and DJ
Butterfingers), which eventually led to his first independent album, Infinite. It
sold about about 500 copies, most of which were sold out of car trunks. It
was with Proof that Mathers decided to call himself M&M. Then Mathers
changed his self-chosen name to Eminem or, more affectionately, Em. Eminem toyed with naming as a process of self-recreation. His alter egos, Slim
Shady, Marshall Mathers, and Eminem, would appear in the eponymous
albums The Slim Shady LP and the The Marshall Mathers LP.
Eminem credits much of his success to the close and savvy inner circle of
friends, Proof in particular, who compensated for years of familial instability.
With Proof and the other four members of D-12, there was no separation
between work and life. Eminem recalled a time when Proof, tired of seeing
Eminem wear the same dirty old shoes, bought him a new pair. The early
appeal of Eminem could be better understood if one were to look at his and
his crews effect on the Detroit club scene. Even before Eminem had signed a
deal with Dr. Dres label Aftermath Records, his presence onstage was undeniable. Eminem began to gain notoriety in freestyle battles in local clubs.
One key element of his success was the element of surprise. When the pale and
relatively geeky-looking Eminem closed in on the mic, the audiences often
booed; after all, he was not black. Yet Eminem turned both black urban and
white suburban scowls of distrust into smiles and hip-swinging affirmation.
He could woo multiracial urbanites at Manhattans Sound Factory or suburban teens from Michigans Upper Peninsula.
Like the Beastie Boys in the 1980s, Em found acceptance among his black
hip hop peers. The B-Boys were one of the first acts signed to the Def Jam
label, and they recorded and toured with hip hop artists such as Run-DMC,
Schoolly D, Public Enemy, Biz Markie, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest.
The Beastie Boys built a bridge between black and white audiences that
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488
Eminem later utilized. Certainly, the fact that the Beasties were managed by
African American Russell Simmons did not hurt the bands access to black
venues and audiences, just as Dr. Dres vouching for Eminems skills helped
him gain a wider audience. Dre provided a link between newcomer Eminem
and a tradition of hip hop culture. Furthermore, Eminem was quick to credit
the early musical influences on his musical heritage, including both East and
West Coast rappers.
Upon accepting his 2003 Grammy for Best Rap Album (The Eminem
Show), Em gave props to those rappers whose influence helped him make
it: Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Kool G. Rap, Masta Ace, Rakim,
Big Daddy Kane, Dr. Dre and N.W.A., Treach from Naughty by Nature, Nas,
Tupac, Biggie, Jay-Z, and the Notorius B.I.G. This list proved Eminems
knowledge of hip hop history, as well as emphasized his desire to pay homage
to the MCs who influenced his own unique style. Eminem also paid homage
to Tupac Shakur for his enormous contributions to hip hop. Eminem would
later produce the track Runnin for the film Tupac: Resurrection. Eminem
used existing vocal tracks from the late rappers Tupac and Notorious B.I.G.
to create a new song in which the two rival MCs posthumously reunite.
As a fan of hip hop from an early age, Eminem understood the importance
of tradition and of giving proper credit to the old-school innovators who
influenced his own style, and Eminem certainly created his own style, with
vocals drawing from the cadence of Masta Ace, the subject material of
N.W.A., and often the speed raps of Big Daddy Kane as well as Ems southern
contemporaries, Outkast. Before deciding to go solo, Eminem performed with
groups such as Basement Productions, the New Jacks, and Sole Intent. In
1997, his Infinite CD received a less than lukewarm reception from the local
hip hop community, who believed that his work was derivative of New York
rappers Nas or Jay-Z. Not to be deterred, Em pursued with renewed vigor
appearances at local radio stations and national MC battles through the late
1990s. Eventually, a promotional tape reached Dr. Dre, who signed Eminem
to his label. The collaboration of Dre and Eminem led to the crossover triple
platinum success of The Slim Shady LP.
DR. DRE: PRODUCING A NEW TALENT

Eminems hard work in the Detroit hip hop underground paid off when he
won second place in the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles. This
battle credential, along with Dr. Dres sophisticated production and marketing, brought Eminem to MTV audiences and crossover status. Although Eminems rhyme skills are evident, his commercial appeal may have also been
built from the fact that he was white. Some evidence suggests that Eminem
was selected by Dre as a white artist to appeal to what has been called raps
largest market: white teen suburbanites (Armstrong 336). Dre provided some
Eminem
guest vocals and appeared in the music video for Eminems first single,
My Name Is, in which Emimem parodies contemporary pop icons such
as Marilyn Manson. The songs title and chorus, as well as the personal
revelations of the songs lyrics, reflect Dres and Eminems strategy for introducing this new white rapper to the world.
Though thousands of miles apart, Eminem and Dre shared similar passions
and childhood experiences. Both grew up poor with a passion for music. At a
young age, Dre was playing turntables in his Compton, California, home to
entertain the adults of his extended family. Dres mother surrounded him with
the sentiments and sounds of Detroit Motown, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross,
Smokey Robinson, and James Brown. Any funky sound was a good sound.
Music was an emotional release. Dre, like Eminem, quit school to focus on his
music; he formed the protohip hop band World Class Wreckin Cru. Both
Eminem and Dre started locally at the bottom of their neighborhoods with
music as a survival tool. In 1986, Dre, Ice Cube, and Eazy-E cofounded the
controversial gangsta rap group N.W.A., whose 1988 song Fuck tha Police
catapulted them into the national limelight, if not onto the airwaves. In 1992,
Dres Death Row Records, cofounded with ex-football star Suge Knight,
released The Chronic, the epitome of West Coast hip hop sound that flooded
the airwaves across the nation. Spin magazine named the Grammy-winning
album, with its $50 million in retail sales, one of the most influential albums
of the 1990s.
The not-so-obvious complexity of Eminem and his rise to hip hop stardom
is that while he lived and exploited his outsider, bad boy lifestyle, he was also
willing to play by the rules to study the hip hop business and understand his
tenuous place in the culture. While Eminems lyrics often seemed to indulge
his emotions, he exhibited the discipline, humility, and foresight to build his
name in underground Detroit rap battles and to design a business model to
promote his self-financed recordings. Like his hip hop contemporaries Master
P and Wu-Tang Clan, he was simultaneously an underground rap artist, an
ambitious businessman selling albums out of his car trunk, a visionary, and a
musician. Eminem had the street cred, the ambition, and the talent. More
important, he was willing to subordinate his personal ego and trust his career
to Dr. Dre, who would enhance each of these features. His production skills
would take Eminems rhymes to a new level, and his label, Aftermath Records, would provide the worldwide promotion and distribution that Eminem
could not have achieved on his own. Beyond these more obvious advantages
of signing to Dres record label, Eminem also benefited from Dres hip hop
lineage. His work in N.W.A. aside, Dre introduced rap listeners to Snoop
Doggy Dogg and the D.O.C., and was known for discovering exciting new
talents and helping to shape their sound.
Dre produced Eminems Slim Shady LP, which sold over 3 million copies in
the first eighteen months of release. Raw to the point of being mean spirited
and embarrassingly naked, the personal nature of Slim Shady impressed those
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in the music business. One of the contributions Eminem made to hip hop was
to use lyrics and topics that explored his own interior landscape. Hip hop
culture in the 1990s had focused heavily on a handful of embedded values
premised on authenticity, or being real. In gangsta rap, a hip hop subgenre,
rappers often demonstrated their realness through masculine posturing, misogyny, violence, and homophobia. Gangsta raps exemplars had to have street
credibility that most often came with documented criminality and underclass
status. Disrespecting people who were called hos, sluts, bitches, and fags was
standard fare on gangsta rap tracks; Eminem, however, took the material one
step further. Eminem not only disrespected women; he dared to disrespect his
mother and his wife in detail and repeatedly as part of his performances.
While gangsta rappers lauded guns, money, and bitches as status symbols,
Eminem turned these symbols inward to vocalize the psychological costs of
being a member of an underclass that spawns self-hatred, crime, and cycles of
violence and poverty. His violent songs played out as revenge fantasies born
from a wounded psyche more than they stood as gangsta posturing or testaments to his aggressive nature. In fact, the songs were clearly fantasies, and on
Stan, Eminem describes the use of violent fantasy in his music. Eminem
brought to the light that family and friends in similar circumstances of poverty do not support each other; rather, they claw at each others emotional
independence and economic success. In his raps, Eminem attacked not only
women but the matriarchy that invisibly scaffolds the masculine posturing in
gangsta rap.
Eminem became famous selling songs that aired his grievances against the
women that molded his life. With fame and fortune often come legal complications, and it was no different for Eminem. However, Eminem turned a
classic ghetto trope by remixing the legal entanglements of his life into his
art. Eminems stories of childhood poverty, drugs, and family turbulence with
his wife and mother had nurtured his art. Now his lyrics provided fodder for
personal and legal retaliation. In 1999, Eminems mother filed suit for defamation of character after hearing her sons lyrics that reported her drug use.
On My Name Is, for example, Eminem rhymes, I just found out my mom
does more dope than I do. Laying bare such personal trauma is part of
Eminems appeal. When his mother sued him, he incorporated this new development into his lyrics for Marshall Mathers.
Eminem remixes the events of his life and exposes not only his anger but his
emotional vulnerability, leaving no separation between his art and his life. In
his lyrics, there is no suburban propriety and no urbane distance. Eminem
develops his authenticity through being real with his audience and telling true
stories about his life. Bringing a tradition from the blues into gangsta rap (as
Ice Cube and the Geto Boys did before him), Eminem writes about his woman
troubles. His mother, wife, and daughter make frequent appearances in his
lyrics. Not to be left out of the public humiliation of family dysfunction, Kim
Mathers openly took offense at Eminems graphic lyrics in the songs
Eminem
97 Bonnie & Clydeand Kim. Eminem would also rehash his and Kims
marriage problems into the song Soldier.
BEEF
Eminems lyrics chronicle his anger and frustration, and these emotions dont
stop with his family. Like many other hip hop artists such as Tupac and Biggie
or Jay-Z and Nas, Eminem has been entrenched in conflicts with other artists,
known in hip hop lyrics as beef. Beef promotes hip hop music in three ways: It
provides ample topic material for tracks as rappers dis each other; it stimulates discussion about who is the better rhymer or lyricist, and therefore
challenges each rapper involved to showcase his or her ultimate skills; and
beef turns hip hop recordings into a competition that recalls the battles of hip
hops earlier days, when MCs went head to head at parties or in the parks, in
rhyme circles known as ciphers. Hip hops lyrical rivalries could be compared
to verbal professional wrestling: They entail airing of animosity in songs, and
public banter and dissing in magazine interviews and on radio shows. Beef
functions as a way to secure a place in the hip hop hierarchy, gain publicity,
and air ones discontents. These conflicts require quick responses to ones
opponent, utilizing the verbal practices of African griots or storytellers who
prized verbal quickness. This keen control of language could disarm opponents. In African American culture, the tradition translated to the practice of
the mostly good-natured but important game called the Dozens. This verbal
exchange exemplified a code of conduct and control expected among members of an underclass. The ability to stay composed while arguing ones case
with wit and poise remains a coveted form of street power. These sophisticated verbal exchanges were essential to establishing a sense of hip hop
community.
In the 1970s, DJs tried to outdo each other by using competition as a way
to heighten excitement among people at block parties. The goal of Kool Herc,
the father of hip hop, was to build a stronger sound system than his competitors, DJs like Afrika Bambaataa and Pete DJ Jones. When MCs started
rhyming over these DJ routines, their vocal crowd incitement soon led to
verbal challenges from other MCs about who was better on the mic. On
one hand, beef can be a marketing strategy that promotes a feud between
two artists as a way to connect their records. When one MC answers anothers challenge, the new record is geared toward a waiting audience that
expects a response. In the 1980s, the beef between Roxanne Shante and U.T.
F.O. spawned close to 100 answer records from various rap artists. These
artists attacked each others personas, fashion style, gender, and sexuality,
along with rhyme skill, but the animosity was limited to their songs. In the
1990s, beef infamously spilled over to physical violence with the murders of
Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. While neither murder has been solved,
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the long-term beef between these artists is believed to have set in motion the
events that led to their killings. Eminem, through his association with Dre,
falls into the lineage of the Tupac-Biggie beef. Their rivalry created a rhyme
war for ascendancy between West and East Coast rap artists, specifically
Death Row Records on the West Coast and Bad Boy Records on the East.
The East Coast was the undisputed birthplace and world center of hip hop
until 1992, with the phenomenally successful release of Dres The Chronic.
The Chronic heralded the breakout of a West Coast flourishing of artists and
labels: Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, and Death Row Records. Bad Boys stars,
to name a few, were Notorious B.I.G., Mase, Junior M.A.F.I.A., Lil Kim, and
Puff Daddy. The deaths of Tupac and Biggie forever removed beef from the
merely discursive and local plane. Yet their deaths did not stop beef from
happening. Rather, the rivalry seemed to spark new beefs. With two of the
biggest selling hip hop artists murdered, a battle for supremacy took place.
Jay-Z challenged Nas for the title of King of New York, and a series of new
beefs were initiated by artists associated with Eminem: Proof and D-12 versus
Royce da 59; 50 Cent versus Ja Rule; 50 Cent versus the Game; 50 Cent
versus DJ Green Lantern; G-Unit versus Fat Joe; and 50 Cent versus Lil Kim.
The most significant beef for Eminem himself has been his ongoing and
contentious rivalry with Ray Benzino (Raymond Scott), co-owner and editor
of The Source, at one time hip hops premier magazine. Benzino did little to
hide his animosity toward Eminem as he argued that Eminems success as a
white man hindered Latino and black recognition and financial growth. If
Eminem got too large a cut of the rap album profits, no profits would be left
for rappers of color. Curiously, Benzino is himself biracial and Dave Mays,
co-owner of The Source, is white. Even so, Benzino and company saw Eminem, Jimmy Iovine, and Interscope Records as barriers to recognition for
authentic black hip hop culture. Benzino recorded a track disrespecting Eminem. When Eminem heard about the upcoming dis, he recorded two dis
tracks against Benzino. Escalating the vitriolic rhetoric, Benzino attacked
Eminem personally, calling him the 2003 Vanilla Ice on his song Pull
Your Skirt Up. He obliquely threatened Ems daughter Haile and threatened
physical violence to Eminem if they ever met face to face. The verbal wrestling
match spread to the radio when on-air personality Angie Martinez invited
Eminem to air his views. Benzino called the radio station, challenging Eminem to a physical fight.
Benzino consistently rated Em low in the The Source magazines one- to
five-mic rating system, while Benzino rated his own groups consistently in the
four- to five-mic range. In 2000, The Source gave the nine-time-platinum
Marshall Mathers LP only a two-mic rating. This was later upped to four
mics on the heels of vehement protest from readers and the hip hop community. In a press conference, Benzino stated that Em was ruining hip hop and
provided an early freestyle tape by Em in which he disrespected black women
by calling them money hungry gold-diggers (a topic used by black rappers
Eminem
such as Big Daddy Kane in the eighties, and one that Kanye West turned into
a hit record with Gold Digger in 2005). Benzino, with The Source as his
weapon, pounded away at Em because he used the word nigger in a song. In
both cases mentioned above, Em apologized publicly and blamed his lapse in
judgment on youthful indiscretion and ignorance, thereby quickly deflating
public disapproval. Em replied to Benzino in two underground dis tracks,
Nail in the Coffin, and The Sauce, and extended the beef in the track
Yellow Brick Road (Encore).
Arguments for black purity in hip hop notwithstanding, The Source featured Em in its pages. Ultimately, Eminem profited from the beef when he was
awarded a large sum of money for defamation and copyright infringement. In
the end, Benzinos credibility, his lagging album sales, and his legal entanglements brought him under scrutiny at The Source. He ignored a legal injunction and published some of Eminems lyrics. As a result, The Source was
found in contempt of court and forced to pay compensation to Eminem
and his label, Shady Records. Benzino was fired and in 2006 shareholders
of The Source ousted Benzino, though his legal troubles did not end there.
Benzinos bias hurt the magazine itself, which lost credibility as the top hip
hop magazine, making way for newcomers such as XXL. Many fans still
believe that the high-profile public battle between Benzino and Eminem
was an elaborate publicity stunt.
In other beefs, Everlast, the former front man of the white, Irish, hip hop
group House of Pain, insulted Eminem in retaliation for a perceived insult.
The beef went back and forth on rap tracks with disses including jabs at
family members. On Quitter, Eminem ridiculed Everlast for his religious
conversion to Islam, his failure with House of Pain, and his move to a rock
music format with his solo album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues. The beef
between Eminem and Insane Clown Posse (ICP) started in 1995 when Em
was handing out flyers for one of his performances. The flyer mentioned that
ICP might make an appearance. Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope took offense at
the assumption that ICP would play with Eminem. They scorned the thought
of playing at Ems party, which prompted a series of dis tracks such as Get
You Mad and Drastic Measures. The Eminem and ICP beef was turned up
a notch when Eminem dissed ICP on Howard Sterns radio talk show.
In response, ICP with rap crew Twizted returned to the Howard Stern show
with a dis track called Slim Anus, ridiculing Eminem with samples from his
own song My Name Is. Slim Anus alluded to Eminems homosexual
tendencies with Dr. Dre, and borrowed from prison slang to depict Eminem
as Dres bitch, a tactic Dre himself had used in earlier beefs with Eazy-E and Ice
Cube. ICP continued to deride Eminems mother and his wife, Kim. Eminem
would shame ICP by calling them merely Detroit suburbanites without real hip
hop roots. His beef with ICP would eventually lead Em to his arrest for pulling
an unloaded gun on Dougie Doug, a friend of Insane Clown Posse. Em was
charged with brandishing a firearm in public, assault with a dangerous
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weapon, and two counts of concealed weapons possession. He pleaded no

contest and received one year of probation concurrent with another sentence.
Currently, ICP and Eminem are known to have declared a truce.
In another Detroit beef, Em had an on-again off-again conflict with Royce
da 59. Ems beef with Royce is likely his most personal beef, because Royce
was Ems close friend and hype man during the Detroit underground years.
Together they rapped Scary Movies, Nuttin to Do, and Bad Meets
EvilRoyce being the former and Em being the latter. Bad Meets Evil
is considered by many to be their best collaborative track (The Slim Shady
LP). True to hip hop form, nonetheless, the two maintained a testy relationship that exemplified how beef could benefit and destroy rappers within the
hip hop promotion industry.
Eminem opened the doors for Royce in 1999 to Dr. Dre and a successful
collaboration, until Royces manager leaked in a radio interview that Royce
was ghostwriting Dres lyrics, the implication being that Royce was better
than Dre at writing lyrics, and that Dre was hiding something. Dre summarily
shut the door on Royces opportunity by cutting off any of his material and
imminent record deals. Royce harbored a belief that Eminem never gave him
a chance at Shady Records because of Ems ties to Dre and ongoing problems
between Eminem and Proofs D-12 crew and Royces D-Elite crew. In 2002,
Eminem refused to allow Royce to sign on with Shady Records but signed 50
Cent. Royce and D-Elite still agreed to join Ems Anger Management Tour.
The partnership soon soured and turned into a beef between D-12 and D-Elite
over Royces dis lyrics complaining about the Anger Management Tour. Detroit radio stations sizzled with dis tracks from each band, playing retribution
tracks Smack Down and Back Down against Malcolm X and Bang
Bang. Em and Royce hovered above the fracas, never confronting each
other. The beef between Royce and Proof of D-12 simmered for two years
until it boiled over when the crews flaunted guns at each other. Both crews
were hauled off by police to cool down in a Detroit jail cell. Since that time,
Em, Royce, and their respective crews have cooled their animosities. Royce
bounced among many different recording labels, but did release the Independents Day LP in 2005. Like Em, Royce began to reflect on personal and
professional blunders in his tracks. He mourned friends who lost their lives to
violence and friendships lost and squandered in music career aspirations
(Regardless and Death Is Certain).
Outside of hip hop circles, Eminem has been targeted by critic and author
Heshem Samy Abdel-Alim, who pursued more esoteric and less visceral beefs
by scorning Eminems hip hop pedigree. Abdel-Alim implied that Em was a
latecomer to the hip hop scene in the 1990s, which was already on the streets
in the very early 1970s, before Ems birth. Further scorn came from critics
who labeled Ems use of street vernacular as infantile and sophomoric and his
poetics of hard end rhymes as doggerel; these critics missed Eminems
complex rhythms and complicated internal rhymes (see sidebar: Hip Hop
Eminem
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Hip Hop and Poetry

Content aside, the primacy of the word in hip hop music has linked hip hop
lyrics to slam poetry, jazz poetry, the talking blues, bad man legends, toasts,
and other oral poetic traditions. Even though lyrics, nuance, and stylistics were
subordinated to the beat, early hip hops acute sense of wordplay opened
discussions among scholars, musicians, critics, and fans about a poetry renaissance. University instructors in the United States and United Kingdom
added curricula to English language and literature classes examining hip hop
lyrics generally and Eminem specifically.
With his complex rhythms, bridge rhymes, and visual imagery, Eminem
brings a poets skills to his lyrics. However, he is not as involved in connecting
hip hop and poetry as other artists have been. In 2002, Russell Simmons,
founder of Def Jam Records, developed an HBO series, Def Poetry Jam, to
showcase readings and performances by poets. On Def Poetry Jam and in
spoken-word venues like the Nuyorican Poetry Cafe and the Bowery Poetry
Club, spoken word often crosses boundaries with hip hop performances. The
artists Saul Williams, Jill Scott, and Sage Francis each incorporate hip hop styles
into their poetry readings, and hip hop culture itself is often a topic for spokenword poets. Williamss Telegram finds hip hop lying in a ditch, dead to
itself. The poet proceeds to offer hip hop culture a litany of advice on how to
revive itself by abandoning consumer-driven rhymes about cars and jewelry
and returning to its roots.
Further Resources
Alim, H. Samy. On Some Serious Next Millennium Rap Ishhh: Pharoahe Monch,
Hip-hop Poetics, and the Internal Rhymes of Internal Affairs. Journal of
English Linguistics 31 (2003): 6084.
Def Poetry Jam Season 1 DVD. HBO, 2004.
Heaney, Seamus. BBC News 30 June 2003.
Simmons, Russell, et al. Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam . . . and More. New York:
Atria, 2005.
Wood, Brent. Understanding Rap as Rhetorical Folk Poetry. Mosaic: A Journal
for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 32.4 (1999): 129146.
and Poetry). Another attack on his lyrics came from pop star Christina
Aguilera, who feuded with Eminem over his references to her in lyrics.
Eminem alluded to both Britney Spears and Aguileras sex lives in the track
The Real Slim Shady (2000). While not strictly a hip hop beef, Ems clash
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Icons of Hip Hop
with gay coalitions, religious fundamentalists, and parents captured worldwide

attentionand publicity that eventually secured more publicity and sales. The
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and other gay activists declared his lyrics hate speech. Em captured the ire of conservative
Lynne Cheney, wife of the sitting vice president of the United States, mother
of Mary Cheney, a lesbian, and author of Sisters, a novel with some lesbian
themes. She castigated Em as a violent misogynist to the Senate committee
hearing on violence in the entertainment industry, saying that his words posed
a danger to children and the nation. Parents fumed as Teen magazine reported
that 74 percent of its readers surveyed would like to date Em.
Contrary to ghetto form, Em chose not to enter into a global beef with
these detractors from outside of the hip hop community. Rather, Em embraced gay white Anglo icon Elton John and let his actions speak louder than
his words as he performed a duet with Elton at the 2001 Grammy Awards
and hugged him at the end of the song. He would later deny any knowledge of
or problem with Eltons homosexuality. The message to detractors was that
they should focus on his art instead of lobbing ad hominem attacks. Like
other great artists, Em played to all sides of the sexuality spectrum by contradicting his homophobic lyrics with his tolerant words in interviews. Where
the real Slim Shady, or Eminem, or Marshall Mathers stood on homosexuality was ambiguous. Dance clubs with both straight and gay audiences continued to play his rap songs. Another unqualified indication of support came
when Academy Award-winning actor Jodie Foster closed her speech at the
2006 University of Pennsylvania commencement ceremonies with a standing
ovation to lyrics from Eminems Oscar-winning Lose Yourself.
Eminems beefs often had little to do with his own conflicts with other rap
artists; he was involved by association in his friends beefs. The beef between
50 Cent and Ja Rule entangled Emimem, although it existed from the old days
of 50 and Ja hanging around South Jamaica in Queens, New York. 50 Cent
volleyed the first recorded dis on Lifes on the Line, rejecting friendships
and partnerships from the streets: We aint partners and we damn sure aint
friends. Eminem catalogued his take on the beef on the track Like Toy
Soldiers: We just inherited 50s beef with Murder Inc [Jas record label]
With 50 Cent securely ensconced with Dre and Eminem, rappers Busta
Rhymes, Obie Trice, and G-Unit joined the East Coast entourage. Ja Rule
fueled the beef by dissing Eminems wife, calling her a slut and crackhead
while also targeting Eminems daughter Haile.
EMINEMS POLITICS: THE EVOLUTION OF AN I DONT GIVE

A FUCK RAPPER
Except for a few instances, Eminems early lyrics did not highlight sociopolitical themes as consistently as those of artists like Tupac Shakur or Kanye
Eminem
West. While Tupac challenged police brutality and government corruption

(on Point the Finga), and Kanye took on the global diamond trade (on
Diamonds (From Sierra Leone)) and conspiracy theories that the U.S. government created AIDS and the crack epidemic (on Crack Music), Eminem
for the most part raged at the personal exploitation he felt at the hands of his
family and friends. His lyrics bubbled with anger at women and beef with his
colleagues. He rapped class rage as a cultural spectacle lacking political protest or outrage. It was only after increasing criticism and ridicule was heaped
on him by gay activists, womens rights groups, and political conservatives
such as vice presidential wives Lynne Cheney and Tipper Gore that he responded with lyrical vitriol about censorship and participated in more strategic interviews.
His most overt sociopolitical consciousness-raising songs include White
America and Mosh. In White America, he reintroduced black modes of
expression into white suburban homes. He spoke to suburban kids who
without him would not have to face certain truths about their own culture.
He was the poster boy for the low-class, urban hip hop gangtas rubbing fear
into the faces of white suburban parents. Eminems antiwar/pro-voting video
Mosh was released just before the November 2004 election as an indictment of George W. Bush and the Iraq war. Within twenty-four hours of the
Mosh premiere on MTVs Total Request Live, it hit number one. The
protagonist in the video resembles Eminem as he begins to mobilize police
forces, soldiers in fatigues, and black-hooded masses to storm the White
House, but then winds up calling for social action through voting. The term
mosh goes through several iterations in the song. Em envisions mosh pits
outside the Oval Office. He calls for everyone to mosh through this desert
storm. Finally, he castigates Bush for trying to impress his father and calls
for the end of blood for oil. At the end of the video, no violence occurs.
Instead, the screen fades out to the words Vote Tuesday, November 2.
The message of Mosh was powerful because it rekindled public discussion
among Eminems generation about the U.S.-Iraq war.
EMINEM AND THE NEW BREED OF WHITE SOUTHERN RAPPERS

A burgeoning movement of southern rappers and rap groups both black and
white began incrementally infiltrating the hip hop music scene in the mid1990s. Many of these artists were less well known than Eminem but were
performing at the sime time as Eminem developed his musical oeuvre. White
rappers Bubba Sparxxx and Haystak heralded the new South movement. In
the context of rap music, the new South music reflected southern ethnic
diversity and urbanization. Bubba Sparxxx, born in LaGrange, Georgia,
blended rapping with banjos, fiddles, and harmonicas while claiming country
authenticity of poverty, violence, drugs, and dysfunctional families. Sparxxx
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did not escape the eye of Jimmy Iovine of Interscope records, who signed
Sparxxx with the New Beat Club label of southern record producer Timbaland, who had also produced for LL Cool J, Xzibit, Jay-Z, Tweet, and the
Game. Timbaland produced both Sparxxxs debut album Dark Days, Bright
Night (2002) and Deliverance (2003). Sparxxxs hit singles Ugly (2001)
and Ms. New Booty (2006) brought him name recognition and created a
buzz about white southern rappers and new subgenres of southern hip hop
out of locales like Houston.
Haystak, of Nashville, Tennessee, pressed three albums (1998s Mak Million, 2000s Car Fulla White Boys, and 2002s The Natural) that sold hundreds of thousands of copies with almost no marketing, radio, or financial
support. Haystak, a white country boy, grabbed the attention of Scarface of
the Geto Boys, who signed him to the Def Jam South record label. Unlike
Eminem, Haystak refused to contextualize rap as a fundamentally African
American musical form necessarily growing out of hip hop urban culture. To
Haystak, rap is a genre without racial categories. There are white rappers and
there are black rappers. Haystak sought to dispel the social myth that white
equates with wealth and black equates with poverty. Hip hop is a culture of
the poverty class, not race or region, and for these reasons lower and lowermiddle-class white Americans embrace rapping.
Another white rap artist from Detroit, Kid Rock, played on white southern
identity through his connections to country music in his fashion style and his
lyrics in songs like Cowboy. Kid Rock has maintained an ongoing relationship with Eminem since they were reputed to have gotten into an argument at
a Kid Rock autograph signing when Eminem was seventeen years old. The
two would eventually form a professional bond when Eminem provided a
guest verse on Kid Rocks Devil Without a Cause album. Kid Rock was from
the Detroit suburbs. He escaped boredom and familial angst by going to the
Mount Clemens, Michigan, housing project to spin records at basement parties. Kid Rock is purported to have earned his nickname as he spun records
and rapped in lounges and parking lots when listeners exclaimed, Look at
that white kid rock. Kid Rocks high-energy stage presence was undeniable,
as was his musical breadth and virtuosity. He rapped, vocalized, and played
guitar, bass, percussion, keyboard, banjo, and turntables.
He released his first album, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast (1989) with
producer Too $hort on the Jive label. Joining Atlantic Records in 1998, Kid
Rock released the eleven-times-platinum Devil Without a Cause in 1998.
Sustained mainstream success eluded Kid Rock as he experimented with
country hip hop crossover riffs, provoking confusion and a loss of his listener
base. Idiosyncratic and multitalented, Kid Rock captured media attention
when he dated and announced his engagement to actress Pamela Anderson
in 2003 (they late split in 2006). Though Kid Rock politically leaned to the
conservative right as a supporter of George W. Bush, his explicit sexual lyrics,
profanity, and rumors of an orgy sex tape surfacing from his past prevented
Eminem
him from being taken seriously as a supporter by the political right. Furthermore, the Federal Communications Commission levied the largest government fine to date on college radio station WSUC-FM at the State University
of New York for indecency: $23,750 for airing the track Yodeling in the
Valley with its graphic and metaphoric riffs on oral sex. The FCC fine was
eventually decreased. Though Eminem and Kid Rock were blond, disenfranchised, musically talented and ambitious whites from the Detroit environs,
their audiences differed, with Em capturing primarily the hip hop listeners
and Kid capturing the rock market. Unlike Eminem, Kid Rock did not solidify
his core constituency within the tight Detroit hip hop community.
RUMORS OF A THIRTY-SOMETHING EARLY RETIREMENT FOR

EMINEM
Rumors of Eminems early retirement in his thirties started surfacing in 2004
with the release of the Encore album. Eminem was quick to dispel rumors of
his retirement in an MTV interview, affirming that he would never stop
making music and being involved in the music business. In fact, he said he
was using his time to explore other music avenues such as promoting other
musicians careers and finding new artists for his record label. Fans concern
and his comments about retirement came on the heels of three disturbing
events between December 2005 and April 2006 that made Eminem more
reclusive, thus less visible on the club and music scene.
First, there were the Detroit-based shootings of his inner circle: Obie Trice
and Proof. Obie Trice was shot in the head by a highway drive-by shooter on
New Years Eve, 2005. Obie survived the assault but could not have the bullet
removed from his skull. And Proof, one of Eminems best friends, was fatally
shot at an 8 Mile club on April 11, 2006. More than just a friend, Proof was
Ems hype man and coperformer during almost all of his performances, and
was best man at his wedding. Proofs absence would have significant effects
on both Ems personal well-being and his artistic production. The track Like
Toy Soldiers (Encore, 2004) could easily be interpreted as a swan song. The
album cover pictures Em giving a bow, and the set closes with the track
Curtains Down. The Like Toy Soldiers track blends marching band
sounds with a powerful lyrical message about Ems exhaustion with the ongoing strife in the hip hop community.
Em provocatively said Like Toy Soldiers was about walking away. The
tracks meaning was ambiguous as to whether it meant walking away from
his music career or just putting past bad business dealings behind and moving
on. In the track, he specifically referred to going toe to toe with Benzino
and The Source, losing his composure when his daughter Hailes name was
mentioned by another rapper, and being sickened by the 50 Cent and Ja feud.
He mourned the ongoing feuds in the rap community. He reiterated personal
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and professional problems with The Source magazine and its editor Benzino.
The greatest hits album
progressive aesthetic that pushes the boundaries of hip hop, transcending

prescribed genre norms. In addition, Elliott has created a powerful digital
identity that allows her to transcend the normative gaze foisted upon female
artists. Just as Michael Jackson transcended being labeled another black
artist in the 1980s, Missy has overcome the trappings of the usual feminine
images of women in hip hop.
Melissa Arnette Elliott, who would single-handedly redefine the notion of a
female hip hop artist, was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, on July 1, 1971. She
credits her mother, Patricia Elliott, a survivor of domestic violence, with
fostering in her a sense of strength and courage that helped define her career
path. As an only child, Missy, nicknamed by her mother, spent countless
hours listening to music to escape the abuse her mother suffered at the hands
of her father. As early as age four, Missy sang and wrote songs to express her
feelings and escape the harsh realities of her home. She would isolate herself
in her room and sing to her dolls.
The family lived for a brief time in Jacksonville, North Carolina, while
Missys define her career
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510
Hip Hop and Reality Television

Mickey Hess
Hip hop stars have parlayed their personalities into roles on several reality
television shows. The debut season of MTVs long-running reality series The
Real World featured Heather B, a rapper associated with KRS-Ones Boogie
Down Productions. The first episode of The Real Worlds first season was marked
with racial tension in an interchange between Heather B and Julie, a young,
white, cast member from Alabama. When Heathers beeper went off, Julie
naively asked her if she were a drug dealer. After The Real World, Heather would
go on to release a single, All Glocks Down, that was promoted on the
strength of her reality show appearance. In a later season of The Real World,
Slim Kid Tre from the Pharcyde became involved with one of the cast members.
Outside the aspiring rappers featured on The Real World, VH1s The Surreal
Life, in which celebrities live as roommates, regularly includes a rapper among
the cast, and has featured MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Da Brat, Pepa from Salt-NPepa, and Public Enemys Flavor Flav. Flavs escapades on the show, including
an on-screen romance with Brigitte Nielsen, led to two spin-off series: Strange
Love, which chronicled Flavs relationship with Nielsen, and Flavor of Love, in
which women compete to be Flavs new love interest. VH1s Celebreality
lineup also features Celebrity Fit Club, which brings together overweight
celebrities in a competition to develop a healthier lifestyle. The series has
featured overweight rappers Biz Markie, Bizarre from D-12, and Bonecrusher.
In other reality shows, rap artists have become talent scouts, developing
shows like Diddys Making the Band and Missy Elliotts The Road to Stardom, in
which contestants work to establish a career in music. The R&B group TLC
created a UPN series, R U the Girl, as part of a search to replace Lisa Left Eye
Lopes, a singer and MC from the group who died in a car crash in Honduras
in 2002.
MISSYS UNIQUE CONTRIBUTIONS TO HIP HOP

Missy Elliott is an important songwriter, perhaps the most innovative and
prolific African American female songwriter in contemporary American music. Her unique ability to capture and communicate complex relationships in
everyday parlance, while at the same time including subtleties that are difficult to articulate, especially in song, is uncanny. While most rap and hip hop
artists discussed the perils of street life, as in gangsta rap, Elliott entered the
conversation with a palpable truth that resonated with her audience. Her
innovation is exhibited in her cadence, lyrical content and structure, mixture
of singing and rapping, and willingness to discuss taboo subjects. She is
characterized as a risk taker, sonically and visually. She pushes the envelope
without apology and is able to produce evocative critical work.
Missy Elliott
During her time with Swing Mob, Elliott honed her talents and acquired a
keen personal voice. As a songwriter and producer, she formulated a dual
role: to create music that provides a temporary escape from personal issues (i.e.
dance music) and to raise valuable questions about life and artistry without
moralizing. This dialectic allows for a type of critical space that allows one to
face problems without becoming immobilized by them. Her personal experiences have sharpened two important developmental skills: critical self-reflection and her ability to learn from observing others. She channels her personal
knowledge of social problems into humorous dance tracks and melodic airy
ballads. Her quirky and somewhat self-conscious conversation about sexuality also makes her material seem less threatening. Her sexually provocative
and politically charged material invites her listeners into a dialogue while at
the same time disarming them.
Like a blues woman singing in a juke joint hidden in the middle of a
Louisiana bayou in the early twentieth century, Elliott airs her woes of love
and loss, sexual desire, personal conflict, and feelings of female empowerment. She speaks the once private and forbidden thoughts of women. The
tragicomic nature of her songs lifts once-unthinkable topics to speakable
space. Though at times she blushes at her own candor and use of expletives,
she cites her relationship with God as a point of inner conflict. She still feels
comfortable with her subject matter and in her honesty, though she has
admittedly tried to eliminate the use of profanity in her lyrics. She appears
conflicted about her inability to do so. Still, her honesty lends itself to an open
dialogue about common issues in life, primarily personal relationships.
Rather than creating a false representation about a life she does not know
for the sake of commercialism, Elliott broaches subjects that ring true for her.
She gives her audience the opportunity to scrutinize her credibility. Her
exploration of loss and dispossession and concomitant survival sets a cathartic feminine space, communicating her personal message of strength and
empowerment.
In addition to the subtle and profound themes, Elliotts style has distinct
and identifiable characteristics. Like a jazz musician, Elliott first introduces a
motif, riffing and improvising around it. The structure and language of her
rhymes are tight pithy clusters of thought that relate various scenarios. She
then uses short statements and simple concrete language to construct the bulk
of her storytelling. Her sparse use of definite articles creates short staccato
lines, which complement Mosleys rhythm tracks. She even plays with the
balance between connotation and denotation, using allusions to give depth to
her tight diction. She also plays with patterns of sound and perception of
sound and pauses. The use of internal rhyme adds weight or airiness to a
given line, often repeating phrases. Known for her rich sensory detail that
evokes sounds more than pictures, she onomatopoeically imitates sounds
associated with experiences (vroom, beep, blat). This thematic approach to
her work gives each of her albums unity and a unique voice. It also allows
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for that characteristic playfulness of the one formerly known as the Hee
Haw Girl.
As a rapper and singer, Elliott experiments with tone and delivery, emphasizing the unique aspect of each song. She communicates through rhythm,
pitch, tone, and inflection. She uses her speaking voice like an instrument,
varying between a smooth relaxed delivery and a squeezed higher timbre. She
also incorporates slurred intonation, like a jazz trombone player, bending and
sliding tones in a given line. At times, she operates below conventional linguistic structures to convey her feelings (grunts, moans, and hums). Rhythm
in her work plays with patterns of sounds, rhyming phrases, alliterated consonants, and vowel sounds. She uses pauses and variations in pitch and intonation to add meaning and drama to her delivery. The movement of her
tracks creates a unique and distinguishable style and composition. Her sultry,
soulful alto voice also reinforces the uncomplicated melodic hooks, frequently
layered in harmony. Rather than sampling vocals, she sings her vocal hooks
live all the way down each track to add new texture to each refrain.
Elliott has managed to stay ahead of trends. She credits her partnership
with Mosley and now, ironically, her self-imposed distance from listening to
the radio. Though deeply influenced by old-school hip hop pioneers, Elliott
and Mosleys music dictum is to make it new. She also often credits Mosley
for providing the necessary diversity and creative fodder she needs to make
each project new and innovative. Their extensive body of work marks a
noticeable shift in R&B and hip hop, making the two genres less distinguishable. The duo also marks a turning point in the ubiquitous use of sampledriven tracks. Mosleys staccato beats and eclectic use of ambient sounds
from world music help define a new direction in American popular music.
His sound, initially reserved for Elliott and close collaborators, is now
sampled and copied by many in the industry.
THE ALBUMS
Supa Dupa Fly (1997)
Elliott released her debut LP, Supa Dupa Fly, in July 1997, which included the
hit single The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) that introduced Elliott to radio and
television airwaves. The genre-blurring material was received with mostly
high praise for its innovation. The disc is still ranked as the highest debut
for a female hip hop artist on the Billboard charts, peaking at number three in
its first week of release. The follow-up single was Sock It to Me, a moderate
success charting in the pop Top 20 and Top 40, which was certified gold,
featuring Lil Kim and Da Brat. The subsequent singles were Beep Me 911,
featuring Timbaland, Magoo, and 702; and Hit Em wit da Hee, featuring
Timbaland, Lil Kim, and Mocha. The album also featured other hip hop and
Missy Elliott
R&B artists such as Busta Rhymes, Aaliyah, and Ginuwine. The debut was
certified platinum and nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Rap
Album and Best Rap Solo performance, The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly). Among
the several accolades the album received, Spin magazine ranked Supa Dupa
Fly number nine in their Top 20 Albums of the Year and Rolling Stone named
Elliott Best Rap Artist of the Year.
The lyrical content of the album reveals Elliotts complex, creative, and
challenging discussion about womanhood; her demand for respect, respect for
her personal voice and her desire for fulfilling intimacy with lovers and
friends. The album alternates between these two primary subjects. The production features Mosleys signature rhythms, similar to dance hall beats, and
midtempo funky bass-heavy grooves. Supa Dupa Fly opens up with an interlude featuring Busta Rhmyes as a town crier admonishing everyone to be
attentive so they will not miss the historical event about to unfold. Through
storytelling Elliott presents her discourse.
The first track, Hit Em wit da Hee, featuring Lil Kim, discloses the
genesis of Elliotts distinctive laugh. Songs like Im Talkin and Gettaway
declare that Elliott is prolific and the dynamic production duo will remain
eminent in the hip hop food chain. The refrain in each song repeatedly reminds any potential competition of her stylistic originality and confident
voice. Beep Me 911 reveals a woman frustrated with her boyfriend, who
refuses to level with her about his lack of commitment in the relationship.
Though she changed her life to become the object of his affection, her intuition tells her she is being exploited sexually. Magoo, featured on the track,
replies that her intuition is right. In Best Friends, a woman encourages
another female friend to stop complaining about her unfulfilling relationship
and simply move on with her life. Elliott, the voice of the supportive friend,
refuses to listen to the complaints of her companion, viewing the act of
listening as enabling. The same sentiment is echoed in Dont Be Commin
(In My Face). Elliott also critiques women who use their bodies for material
gain in Why You Hurt Me. She views this action as self-hatred and likens
that lifestyle to a bad song she no longer wants to hear.
In 1998 under Goldmind/Elektra, Elliott released protege Nicole Wrays
debut, Make It Hot. Elliott and Mosley produced the album, releasing two
singles, Make It Hot and Eyes Better Not Wander. The album was
certified gold, reaching number nineteen on the R&B charts and forty-two
on the U.S. charts. The same year, Elliott penned and produced for several
other artists, including Spice Girl Mel Bs I Want You Back and songs for
Whitney Houstons My Love Is Your Love.
Da Real World (1999)
Missy released her sophomore effort in July 1999; Da Real World was produced by Mosley. The success of her debut and the multiple hit collaborations
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with other artistsin such a short period of timemade creating a new

project with a fresh sound challenging for Elliott. She reportedly spent two
months in the studio writing and recording for the follow-up disc. The muchanticipated recording was certified platinum by February 2000 and nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Album, among other honors. Da Real
World showcases a range of style influences from reggae to underground
hip hop.
Da Real World also features several top hip hop and R&B artists: Outkasts Big Boi and Nicole Wray (All N My Grill), Aaliyah and Da Brat
(Sticking Chickens), Beyonce of Destinys Child (Crazy Feelings), Eminem (Busa Rhyme), Redman (Dangerous Mouths), Juvenile and B.G.
(U Cant Resist), Lady Saw (Mr. DJ). and Lil Mo (You Dont Know)
and interludes featuring Lil Kim. With so many guest appearances, the album
could be considered a duets project. However, Elliott is able to make her
presence the center of the production.
On this album, a more assertive and politically charged Elliott raises questions about power, race, and gender. She invites her critics and nay-saying
competitors to a verbal joust. The first single, Shes a Bitch, sets the tone for
the rest of the album. This song takes issue with the notion that for a man
aggressive behavior is positive, but for a woman the same behavior is the
object of criticism. The song suggests that strong, articulate, and assertive
women should be accepted as normative. The chorus hurls the insult. The
rest of the song replies that if success requires masculine behavior, she will
perform the forbidden behavior and gladly accept the accompanying derision
and label. The provocative song reclaims and reinvests the word bitch. She
inverts its meaning, redefining it for self-confident women. Elliott says, I am
a bitch.
Other singles included All N My Grill and Hot Boyz, which spent six
weeks on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Hot Boyz, certified platinum,
remained on the Billboard Rap Singles chart for almost an entire year, retaining the number one spot for eighteen consecutive weeks, breaking the previous eleven-week record (held by Da Brat, Coolio, and Puff Daddy aka
Diddy). The single also hit number one on Billboards R&B Singles chart
for six consecutive weeks.
Miss E . . . So Addictive (2001)
Elliotts Miss E . . . So Addictive, released in May 2001, was hailed by critics
as one of the best albums of the year, debuting at number two on the Billboard charts. Elliott was nominated for numerous prestigious awards, including a BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist. Inspired by Marvin Gayes
Sexual Healing, Elliott delivers a contemporary conversation about female
sexuality. She presents a realistic range of female sexuality by juxtaposing
conventional and progressive ideas about intimacy and female sexual desire.
Missy Elliott
She upends the notion that frank sexual talk is reserved only for socially
marginalized women. In the opening interlude, Elliott invites her audience
to get lost in the funky new beats and sound that she and Mosley deliver, a
retro feel with an edgy contemporary flavor.
The album produced four singles that carried her third release well into
2002. The single One Minute Man, featuring Ludacris and Jay-Z on the
remix, produced the megahit for the album, entering the Billboard Top 20.
The song was nominated for six MTV Video Awards for Best Hip-Hop
Video, Best Direction (Dave Myers), Best Cinematography (Karsten Gopinath), Best Art Direction (Mike Martella), Best Editing (Jay Robinson), and
Best Special Effects (Marc Varisco and Nathan McGuinness). The recording
and the video engage both male and female perspectives on this taboo subject.
The Indian-influenced Get Ur Freak On and the remix featuring Nelly
Furtado were equally successful, earning Elliott her first Grammy Award for
Best Rap Solo Performance. The remix was featured on the Lara Croft: Tomb
Raider soundtrack and was heard in the motion picture. 4 My People
became the club anthem from the album, both domestically and internationally. Scream a.k.a. Itchin earned Elliott her second Grammy Award for Best
Rap Solo Performance.
Take Away was a moderate success, which featured Ginuwine and introduced Elliotts new protege and label mate, Tweet. Tweet released her
debut, Southern Hummingbird, in April 2002 to rave reviews. In 1999, after
leaving the Swing Mob and Sugahs failed attempts at musical success, Tweet
became despondent and contemplated suicide. Tweet credits Elliott with saving her life, calling her a guardian angel. Elliott called Tweet to invite her to
work on So Addictive the day before Tweet planned to end her life.
Elliott includes a religious presence on the album that continues to point
to her spiritual sensitivity; she does not separate her faith from her artistry.
On a hidden track, her smooth mellow vocals accompany Yolanda Adams,
Mary Mary, and the legendary members of the Clark Sisters on Movin
On. The preceding spoken interlude and song illustrate Elliotts belief in
Gods forgiveness and her need to look forward rather than dwelling on the
past. She acknowledges her humanity and reliance on Gods presence in her
life despite the criticism from others; she declares that though some misunderstand her work, her faith is a constant source of strength and presence
in her artistry. Busta Rhymes, Da Brat, Eve, Ginuwine, Method Man,
Redman, Lil Mo, and Mosley aka Timbaland are other So Addictive contributors.
The same year, Elliott was featured on Janet Jacksons Son of a Gun
remix with Carly Simon and served as producer on a cover of Patti LaBelles
1975 hit Lady Marmalade featuring Christina Aguilera, Mya, Pink and Lil
Kim. The song and video became the biggest single of 2001 (domestic and
international), selling 5.2 million units and winning a Grammy Award for
Best Pop Collaboration with Vocal.
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Under Construction (2002)

Elliotts fourth album, Under Construction, is her best-selling album to
date, moving nearly 3.5 million units worldwide and being certified platinum
within a month of its November 2002 release. Work It spent ten consecutive weeks at number two on the Hot 100 and VH1 ranked the single number
seventy-seven on VH1: 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years. On this disc,
Elliott and Mosley continue their make it new production philosophy by
borrowing elements from early hip hop. Critics recognized that the album
offers a new palette for hip hop and deemed the duo successful. Elliott utilizes
her lower vocal register, layering harmony beds with rich dark octaves, adding to the soulful nostalgic sound of the album. She teamed up with Method
Man (Bring the Pain), Ludacris (Gossip Folks), Jay-Z (Back in the Day),
Ms. Jade (Funky Fresh Dressed), Beyonce Knowles (Nothing Out There
for Me), and TLC (Can You Hear Me). The celebratory nature of the
album was well received by fans and critics alike. Elliotts honors included an
American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Female Artist, a BET
Award for Best Hip-Hop Artist, and her third Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance for Work It. The album was nominated for
Album of the Year, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or
Group for Gossip Folks at the 2004 Grammys.
Elliott was deeply affected by personal losses, the death of her close friends
Aaliyah and Lisa Left Eye Lopes, and the tragedy of September 11, 2001.
These events caused her to become more reflective about her own life and her
position in the industry. Under Construction is her attempt to bridge gaps in
the hip hop community. The album literally fuses the old with the new by
utilizing retro beats, electro-stylization, allusions, and direct quotes from
iconic old-school recordings, making the old progressive and new. It is a
veritable homage to hip hop. She encourages her peers to take back hip
hop, and love it and nurture it rather than exploiting it. The title is symbolic
of her life, her artistry, and the world itself as a work in progress.
Elliott still considers music a refuge. Can You Hear Me, a duet with
TLC, transports the listener back to moments and days right after Aaliyahs
death when her family began making arrangements for the funeral. Elliott
paints a vivid picture of the pain and desire to make sense of her friends
death. Her grief and concern for Aaliyahs family are representative of her
same concern for the loss of Lisa Left Eye Lopes of TLC, who died in a car
crash in 2002. This cathartic space is extended to the families still grieving, as
a lasting memoriam and celebration of their artistry (see sidebar: TLC).
Under Construction was nominated for Album of the Year for the 2004
Grammy Awards and for Best Rap Album. The song Gossip Folks was
nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Work It was
nominated for Best Rap Song and won for Best Female Rap Solo Performance. Elliott also won two Lady of Soul Awards, for Best Song of the Year
Missy Elliott
TLC
Jennifer R. Young
TLC, an R&B trio composed of Tionne T-Boz Watkins, rapper Lisa Left Eye
Lopes, and Rozanda Chilli Thomas, formed in 1991 and joined LaFace
Records that same year. Their debut album, Oooooooh . . . On the TLC Tip
was released a year later, going gold and platinum within months. Their three
other albums, CrazySexyCool (1994), Fanmail (1999), and 3D (2002) also sold
well. The Grammy Award-winning albums Crazy and Fanmail have gone
megaplatinum numerous times over; 3D has gone platinum. Left Eye also
released a solo album, Supernova (2001). TLC is one of the first groups that
regularly combined singing, dancing, and rapping.
Other R&B groups in the early 1990s like Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, and Total had
guest appearances from rappers on their singles. However, TLC raised the
stakes by being a multigenre group; their songs are a combination of rap,
R&B, funk, blues, and rock and roll. Their choreography, song harmony, and
thematic appearance give the trio a unique identity that audiences with
different tastes favor. TLC is also one of the groups that should be credited
for their influence on the music industry overall. Noticing the success of TLCs
albums going platinum and receiving critical acclaim, producers and artists
began incorporating more rap into the remix versions of R&B songs. This
trend changed the nature of music in both popular culture and hip hop
culture.
Their first album had three songs that set a new precedent: Aint 2 Proud 2
Beg, Baby, Baby, Baby, and What About Your Friends. Instead of being
an R&B group that only sang standard love songs, TLC rhymed about sex,
romance, womanhood, and sisterhood. Their debut single, Aint 2 Proud 2
Beg, was an upbeat song about sexual liberation. The music video also
promoted safer sex as Left Eye wore a wrapped condom packet on her left
eye and T-Boz and Chilli wore condom packets on their clothes. In a time
when the lyrical content of music was becoming more graphic, TLC was
noticed for their female perspective on sexual desire and conquest.
Similar to something blueswoman Bessie Smith might have sung, Aint 2
Proud 2 Beg positions women as the gazers and men as their objects. TLC
continues this trend with songs like Creep, Red Light Special, and
Scrubs. TLC celebrates women and encourages them to love men and to
demand respect from their men and from themselves. Songs like Waterfalls,
Unpretty, and Damaged discuss physical, mental, and emotional health.
The song Waterfalls contains uncommon subjects such as promiscuity,
incarceration, family crisis, and HIV/AIDS. Unpretty challenges societal notions of beauty. The music video has its characters contemplating face lifts,
breast augmentation, drastic diets, and other types of body alterations. Damaged gets into the psychological effects that physical and emotional abuse
can have on a womans life. TLC is popular not only for their party anthem
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songs, but also songs that address profound issues. The group has endured
numerous personal troubles, having to file for bankruptcy in the late 1990s,
enduring public scrutiny during their interpersonal struggles as a trio, and
withstanding the loss of Left Eye, who died in a car accident in Honduras in
August 2002.
and Best Video, and won two of eight MTV Video Music Awards nominations for Best Hip-Hop Video and the coveted Video of the Year.
This Is Not a Test! (2003)
Debuting in November 2003 at number thirteen on the Billboard 200 chart,
This Is Not a Test! earned Elliott her fifth consecutive platinum album, selling
144,000 copies in its first week of release. The album incorporates a range of
genres, integrating early rap (Wake Up featuring Jay-Z), dance hall (Keep
It Movin featuring Elephant Man), and R&B (Im Not Perfect, featuring
the Clark Sisters). The album declares that this recording is an authentic
representation of hip hop and encourages other artists to move away from
commercialism (gimmicks) and return to true artistry.
Elliotts singles were Pass That Dutch and Im Really Hot, which was
nominated for two MTV Video Awards for Best Dance Video and Best
Choreography (see sidebar: B-Boys and Break Dancers). On this recording
she officially drops Misdemeanor, the nickname she received from a childhood disc jockey who claimed that Elliotts style was unlawful. She earned a
Radio Music Award nomination for Artist of the Year Hip-Hop Radio,
among other accolades.
The same year, she appeared on the cover of Rolling Stones October issue
with Alicia Keys and Eva Pigford (Tyra Bankss Americas Next Top Model
winner) and performed on the venerable Saturday Night Live broadcast. She
was also featured on two singles, Wyclef Jeans Party to Damascus and
Ghostface Killahs Tush. In 2004, Elliott collaborated with Christina Aguilera on the remake of Car Wash featured on the Shark Tale motion picture
soundtrack and The Fighting Temptations soundtrack featuring Beyonce
Knowles, MC Lyte, and Free. In addition to making her acting debut as a
costar in the motion picture Honey, starring Jessica Alba, she joined the
Ladies First Tour alongside Alicia Keys and Beyonce Knowles. Elliott ended
the year on top with her appearance on Ciaras Billboard Top 10 single 1, 2
Step.
The Cookbook (2005)
Elliott released her sixth album, The Cookbook, in July 2005, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 176,000 copies in the first
Missy Elliott
B-Boys and Break Dancers

Mickey Hess
Dance, as one of hip hops vital four elements of MCing, DJing, graffiti writing,
and b-boying, has always been central to the culture. When hip hop music
began with Kool Hercs creation of the breakbeat, the b-boys and b-girls took
to the dance floor. In fact, before MCs began to say rhymes over the beat,
they worked as hype men to help the DJ draw people onto the dance floor.
The term b-boy, still used to designate a hip hop dancer, derives from break
boy, and the term break dancer also derives from the break, Kool Hercs
isolation and repetition of key instrumental breaks in funk, jazz, R&B, and soul
records. Early New York City b-boy crews like the Rocksteady Crew, Floor
Masters, Dynasty Rockers, and the Disco Kids faced off in dance competitions
much like MCs would come to do with rhymes. Legendary breakers like Ken
Swift, Crazy Legs, and Frosty Freeze propelled b-boying into worldwide fame
as breakdancing.
Because the dance moves and fashion styles of these b-boy crews added a
dynamic visual element to hip hop music, b-boying was featured prominently
in films, from the documentary Style Wars to the movies Wild Style, Beat Street,
and Flashdance. While New York City had its b-boys and b-girls, Los Angeles
had poppers and lockers. LA dancers were given their own coverage in the
films Breakin and Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo. Break dancing became a popular
umbrella term for New York and LA dance styles, including flashy moves like
head spins and back spins that drew attention to hip hop dance in the 1980s.
Break dancers were featured in films and on television talk shows. They performed for Queen Elizabeth and were showcased at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The sudden and overwhelming popularity of break dancing
made b-boying seem like a symptom of hip hop cultures entrance into mainstream culture. As break dancings popularity grew in the mainstream, hip hop
artists began to turn their backs on the flashy spectacle seen in Hollywood
versions of hip hop culture, and break dancing lost its centrality to hip hop,
making a return in the late 1990s within a burgeoning underground hip hop
culture that sought to return to hip hops old school roots.
Dance, however, did not leave the hip hop scene with break dancings
overexposure. Artists like Big Daddy Kane, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Hammer, Redhead Kingpin, 3rd Bass, and Heavy D and the Boys made dance central to their
performances. Biz Markie, Public Enemys Flavor Flav, and Ed Lover of Yo! MTV
Raps created their own signature comic dances. Several hip hop dancers from
this era went on to become MCs and hip hop singers: Tupac Shakur began his
career as a dancer for the group Digital Underground, and the Fly Girls and Fly
Guys who danced on the Fox comedy series In Living Color featured Jennifer
Lopez and future members of the Pharcyde.
When pop rappers MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice scored multiplatinum album
sales in the early 1990s using flashy costumes and dance moves, hip hop began
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Icons of Hip Hop
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to experience a backlash against dance. With the popularity of West Coast

gangsta rap throughout the mid to late 1990s, dance was relatively absent
from hip hop videos. Dr. Dre, who did not dance in his videos, parodied the
dance styles of his rivals Eazy-E and 2 Live Crews Luther Campbell in the music
video for Dre Day. Dance returned to rap videos with releases from Bad Boy
Records that featured Puff Daddys dance moves, and with Missy Elliott, whose
videos featured innovative choreography and special effects.
Further Resources
The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy. Dir: Israel, Perf: Afrika Bambaataa, Mos
Def, Crazy Legs. Los Angeles: Image, 2002.
Lhamon, W. T. Raising Cain: Blackface Performance from Jim Crow to Hip-Hop.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000.
Veran, Cristina. Breakin It All Down: The Rise and Fall and Rise of the B-Boy
Kingdom. The Vibe History of Hip-Hop. Ed. Alan Light. New York: Three
Rivers Press, 1999: 5359.
week of release. By January 2006 the single Lose Control was certified
triple platinum and had won two MTV Video awards for Best Dance Video
and Best Hip-hop Video. The video was also was nominated for Breakthrough Video, Best Direction (Dave Meyer and Missy Elliott), Best Choreography, and Best Special Effects. The album was nominated for four Grammy
Awards: Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and
Best Short Form Video for Lose Control.
Although considered an industry veteran and one of the most powerful and
influential artists in contemporary music, Elliott, competing now with herself,
found an innovative balance between her edgy experimental nature and respect for old-school hip hop. Each producer, performance, and guest appearance on the album helps develop the notion that The Cookbook is a recipe for
hip hop success. After almost exclusively working with Mosley, the concept
album features a variety of producers including the Neptunes, Warren Campbell, Craig X. Brockman, Rhemario Webber, and Elliott on Lose Control,
featuring Ciara and Fat Man Scoop. Each track offers a distinct hip hop voice.
While Mosley only produced two tracks on the album, Partytime and
Joy, Elliott remained in contact with her longtime collaborator during
the projects development.
Elliott varies her rap lyrical delivery from track to track. For example, On
and On, produced by Pharell of the Neptunes (one of the most sought-after
contemporary producers and a childhood friend of Mosleys), showcases a
straightforward lyrical style absent Elliotts characteristic ornamentation. The
track earned the Neptunes a Grammy Award nomination for Producer of
the Year. Rap pioneer Slick Rick joins Elliott on Irresistible Delicious.
Elliotts rap delivery on this track is a tribute to Rick, slurring over a
Missy Elliott
breakbeat track with lush harmonic vocals lacing the refrain. With Elliott as
the Cookbooks chef, she enlisted Mike Jones, Fantasia, M.I.A., Vybez Cartel,
Mary J. Blige, and Grand Puba. Blige and Puba are on Elliotts most personal
track to date, My Struggles, produced by Quran H. Goodman. Elliott
rhymes about how she witnessed her fathers abuse of her mother. The same
year, Elliott participated in the Donate a Phone, Save a Life campaign
sponsored by the Body Shop and the National Coalition Against Domestic
Violence.
In addition, her commercial stock rose considerably. She was selected to
launch Chrysler/Jeeps Commander, a new luxury sports utility vehicle, which
would include an unprecedented multimedia campaign (television, Internet,
and in-dealership). She also launched Yahoo!s new music subscription service, was featured on the cover of Dub magazine, and appears in Vanity Fairs
coveted music issue.
THE VIDEOS
For a solo artist in any genre, visual imagery is an important aspect of marketing. Unfortunately, artists have to rely on music executives to approve their
visual representation of their artistry. This tradition is especially detrimental
for female artists. Womens bodies are sexualized and become the primary
prisms through which their art is visually represented and experienced by
spectators. In hop hop, this representative situation is even more notorious
for victimizing female artists and ubiquitous video vixens. Despite this practice, Elliott was able to break through and become arguably the most important video icon of the decade. As her own music executive, she trusted her
intuition and remained open to experimentation. Her body, already an aberration in the industry (overweight and with distinctly African American features), is consequently considered not marketable, meaning not typically
accepted as sexually alluring. Ironically, these differences provided an opportunity for her to transcend accepted norms.
As a result, Elliott was able to create a digital identity more in line with her
artistic power and imagination. Her futuristic musical sensibilities are seamlessly translated visually without regard to stereotypical female representation
in music videos. Just as her music is ahead of trends, her visual representation
is revolutionary as well. Her consistent originality helped usher in a new
visual era in music videos. Her fresh approach has made her a multimedia
star and a new norm of beauty. Her solo videography, for instance, has
merited video awards and honors from Billboard to the Grammys including
twenty-five MTV Video Award nominations, being rivaled only by Madonna.
Elliotts videography initially constructed a larger-than-life digital identity
where she seemingly defied nature. The otherworldly and futuristic space
Elliott inhabited helped her transcend industry stereotyping by helping her
521
to create powerful iconography. This cyberworld created a space absent a

patriarchal system. The surreal imagery presented her as a powerful agent
who commands the cameras attention. In her video, she used her body to
display power and sexuality on her own terms. By doing this, she portrayed
superhuman characteristicsacting as a powerful lord who inhabits space
disrupted normative discourse about her body and gender.
To illustrate, her first short film introduces her as a cartoon character. Her
groundbreaking The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) video, directed by Hype Williams, hit the airwaves in May 1997, featuring cameos by Sean Diddy
Combs, Total, and Lil Kim. The video catapulted Elliott into pop consciousness. Williams used a fish eye lens and wide angles to construct the exaggerated imagery. Elliotts character has bulbous eyes, a black balloon suit, and
full black lips, engaging spectators in her artistry rather than objectifying her
sexuality.
Akin to a cartoon sequence, humorous images draw the spectator into her
playful world. The video opens with her back to the audience in her black
bubble suit. The first shot of her face reveals a beautiful smile as she laughs.
This opening sequence introduces a woman who does not take herself too
seriously, a woman willing to risk her reputation on her artistry. Most of the
close-ups of the guest artists are playful, but Elliotts face cannot be easily
read. She is playful but coy. Her lips and eyes pop out like a Looney Tunes
character to the rhythm of her track. Her body ticks and jerks to the same
pulsating rhythms, bending and contorting. The setting is vibrant; the color
palette consists of bright primary colors, which add to the playful tone. But
throughout the entire video, a sexualized female body is not the focal point of
the imagery.
In the video as a character she becomes a living cartoon, but more important, as an artist she transcends narrowly prescribed female representation.
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) is still considered one of the most important
theme. Sock It 2 Me is inspired by Mega Man, a video game published by
Capcom in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
In her next few videos, Elliott continued building her videography around
this potent imagery. In the fantasy fairy-tale video Beep Me 911, directed
by Earle Sebastian, Elliott is a doll that comes to life. This video continues the
powerful imagery set up by the first two Fly) is still considered one of the most impor
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Icons of Hip Hop
Carter was the last of four children raised in a single-parent household by

his mother, Gloria Carter. Carter grew up with little financial security, no
father (his father, Adnis Reeves, left when he was twelve), and complete
access to the streets he later became famous for rhyming about. Crime, drug
dealing, and violence in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of New York in the
1980s was hardly unusual, nor were Carters experiences in Marcy Housing
Projects, but how he articulated his experiences and perceptions to millions
across the world was has made him an icon.
He attended high school for a brief period in New Jersey, and then dropped
out. He also stopped drug dealing after several close brushes with death,
helping him determine which vehicle to pour his creative energies intohis
music or the streets. Carters early nickname, Jazzy, has been suggested to
be an homage to the J-Z subway lines that travel from Manhattan to Brooklyn,
poetically suggesting a link between uptown and downtown, a link of
opposing cultures that one might see later in his life when he bridged underground and mainstream cultures in hip hop. All the same, his name is also
said to be an homage to his early hip hop partner, the Jaz, remembered in hip
hop circles for the song Hawaiian Sophie, a comical yet somewhat typical
braggadocio song about a man in Hawaii who fights off his womans exboyfriend and wins her. If one watches the video closely, a young Jay-Z made
his first media appearance. Carter was not only in some of the Jazs early
videos but recorded verses on some of his records. Such early performances,
and some well-chosen underground battles, helped get his name to the right
music labels, officially launching his career.
Although his work with the Jaz and another group, Original Flavor, seemed
preliminary to the recording career of Jay-Z, it may have proven to be quite
instructive. It could be argued that these early commercial failures taught
Carter more about the music business than one might presume. If nothing
else, to a young MC starting out in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the
entertainment industry could be quite heartless. Unlike todays record industry, record labels in the past were unsure about hip hops potential to make
money. Although there were a number of successful bids by breakout groups
like Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys, this period was a vicious time for
rappers, DJs, and producers alike. Several groups experienced problems with
record labels. The Cold Crush Brothers had disputes over distribution with
Tuff City and Profile Records. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five disputed royalties with Sugar Hill Records. Even in the early 1990s, the GZA,
who would go on to form Wu-Tang Clan, felt that Cold Chillin Records
could not envision how to market his 1991 solo release Words from the
Genius. These problems reflect the constant struggle artists had with labels
about how hip hop should look and sound.
Record labels were unsure what to do with hip hop and had some difficulty
trying to market it. For the most part, their early ambivalence toward hip hop
existed partly because many MCs were not formally trained in recognized
musical traditions. Often they only came with a pad of paper, a pencil, and
countless hours of experience rhyming in back rooms and on the streets with
Jay-Z
However, intrinsic to the rise of entertainment-based technology, people of all

class stations, races, colors, genders, and sexual orientations can experience
virtual blackness. This might just be partially what draws mainstream audiences to rap musicthe desire to experience blackness. Such blackness, usually
perceived as a form of otherness, is also projected on nonblack MCs who
participate in hip hop culture. Yet it is not surprising that the types of blackness
mainstream audiences are exposed to in hip hop are limited, or as bell hooks
said in her 1992 book Black Looks, we are most likely to see images of black
people that reinforce and reinscribe white supremacy, [not challenge it].
In Jay-Zs case, virtual blackness relates to the popular idea that the violence in black ghettos across America is highly adventurous and entertaining.
Because Jay-Zs music has always been associated with such violence, and his
lyrics are often quite explicit and detailed, people of all backgrounds and
orientations can safely experience blackness, violence, and ghetto life without
enduring the repercussions that come with it. However, in a positive sense,
people can also imagine what it may be like to be a black multimillionaire
who drives a Bentley, scoffs at the police, dates Beyonce Knowles, and can
command a stadium full of people when performing. Essentially, blackness
can now be associated with wealth and success as well as violence and chaos.
Yet the overly indulgent imaginings of black success can also be perceived in
unrealistic ways, often to belie the harsh economic conditions that many
African Americans experience daily. This, in turn, can create problematic
ideas about how black people expend wealth. Thus, if one learns about
wealth through hip hop, and by extension Jay-Z, one only learns about the
most superficial and materialistic aspects of it, not its less obvious components (investing, real estate acquisition, and saving for life after retirement).
But what is the definition of success? For Jay-Z, the question has already
been answeredwealth and fame. However, even he has admitted that if he
had his way, he would like to create music more like those that dont sell half
of what he does. MCs like Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli represent the
next phase of an underground segment of hip hop usually referred to as
conscious. Although they have made great strides to distance themselves from
this term (arguing that it has limited the types of audiences they can attract,
the wealth they can accumulate, and the types of music they can make), they
are still able to make music that reaches people and addresses a wider range of
issues and topics than other hip hop artists, even issues of spirituality. Jay-Z
criticized Common on The Black Album by pointing out how many albums
hes sold in comparison, but the line seemed to express a degree of sincerity in
his wish to create music not limited to materialism and gangsta bravado. On
another track, Jay bemoans having to dumb down his lyrics, but then quickly
states that when he does he sells more albums, sort of admonishing his audience for forcing him into his musical style. Nevertheless, this conflicted and
complicated assessment of his self-styled persona begs the question, what is
success? True, to be worth $320 million is clearly a success for most people,
541
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Icons of Hip Hop
but how successful is it when you cannot make the kind of music you want to
for fear of losing your audience? Jay-Z himself followed this line of questioning in his film Fade to Black (2004) when, in conversation with another MC
in a studio, they discussed how rappers have to make music that stays within
a static, formulaic framework of violence and misogyny. Although using
another artist to make his point, one might easily assume that he was also
talking about himself.
It would seem, nonetheless, that Jay-Z did finally answer the riddle of how
to be yourself in the entertainment industry: do it behind the scenes, not
onstage. Do it by bringing the street hustle to the corporate boardroom.
Jay-Zs decision to preside over Def Jam in 2005 might be the opportunity
for him to create his brand of music, albeit more indirectly than he might
wish. Jay-Z has helped spawn the careers of a number of artists like Memphis
Bleek, Beanie Sigel, Amil, Kanye West, Freeway, CamRon, Young Gunz,
Immense, and Samantha Ronson. However, as CEO of Def Jam, he might
be able to write policy that determines funding and supports the development
of new artists with vastly different styles and skills than his own.
UNDERGROUND VERSUS MAINSTREAM: MANUFACTURING

MARKET APPEAL
When analyzing Jay-Zs success, one factor that consistently comes up is the
question of mainstream market interest versus underground hip hop aesthetic.
In many ways, Jay-Z is the perfect figure to examine this dynamic, as he was
perceived as an underground MC (like many other artists) early in his career.
In fact, even Nas was amazed at the degree of underground respect Jay-Z
achieved back in 1992. Prior to the release of his first album, Jay-Z had
achieved a degree of notoriety that other, more experienced MCs could not
match for a good period of time. However, by the time his 1997 album In My
Lifetime, Volume 1 was released, Jay-Z was a superstar whose fans complained that he was pandering to mainstream audiences too much. Although
Jay-Z did not see the problem with collaborations with producers like Puff
Daddy and Rick Rubin, his reputation for maintaining his underground grit
began to suffer. In response, Jay-Z released the straight-to-video film The
Streets Is Watching in 1997. His goal was to remind his underground fans
that he was still an artist to be reckoned with, and he was still as hard as ever.
Nevertheless, the quest for a wide-ranging audience has its costs, and after
the release of his 1998 album, Volume 2: Hard Knock Life, Jay-Z seemed
solidified in his position as a commercial artist. He has managed to maintain
his core audience in the long run, which is a difficult feat not easily accomplished once accusations of selling out set in. But Jay-Z walked the line
between both for a long time. Eventually, his fans overlooked his overproduced, uber-mixed sound. Albums like Volume 3: Life and Times of S. Carter
Jay-Z
(1999) and The Blueprint (2001), considered in many circles to be classics

(most notably the latter), seemed to acclimate Jay-Zs audience to albums that
were a hodgepodge of mainstream and underground tracks alike. This
worked to Jay-Zs advantage as a means of making music that maintained
his street credentials and appealed to his expanding fan base (mostly due to
MTV and BETs all-day video format).
Although mainstream appeal is not an issue that started with Jay-Z, it has
plagued hip hop artists since its inception. Whether talking about the Sugarhill Gang, Will Smith, MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, or Eminem, questions of
mainstream appeal have been a long-standing point of contention in the hip
hop community. Many artists argued that they were merely trying to help hip
hop by expanding its audience base, raising the issue about the degree to
which hip hop might find itself oversaturated with fans who do not appreciate
its history, even posing a threat to the culture.
Currently, the difficulty is that hip hop has become a global phenomenon.
Five-year-old kids in Ghana, England, South Africa, Japan, Jamaica, India,
and Brazil can quote Jay-Zs lyrics as well as he, and more to the point, have
crafted their own forms of hip hop. It has reached across the world from the
streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx and has sparked a worldwide response.
However, to the extent that it has reached the world, the recording industry
and corporate media institutions have also grown due to the marketing of hip
hop culture. If anything, hiphop has become synonymous with youth culture,
and for many youth it has become a necessary part of their self-identity. JayZ, Nas, Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Ice Cube, and many more have become part of
the lexicon of hip hop lingo and comprise a hip hop pantheon of sorts.
Although their representations have become synonymous with hip hop, and
by extension American hip hop culture, they have also become symbolic of
something elseor rather a series of other issues. Corporate media (via television, radio, and Internet), corporate production, the marketing of consumer
commodities, and the culture of Western consumerism have used MCs as
vehicles for the sale of their products. Therefore, CDs and music videos pave
the way for the production and sale of sneakers, liquor, cars, clothes, jewelry,
and other consumer items, but more important, they become the vehicle for
the unilateral and unidirectional imposition of Western cultural values on
non-Western people. Since the United States primarily establishes trade from
its borders to other borders unilaterally (especially with third world countries), ideas about gender, color, class, and sexuality have all become standards for civilized behavior. Moreover, attitudes about violence, rape, and
aggressionand their ties to black masculinityhave become part of the
social memory of American-ness, hip hop-ness, and blackness around
the world. Although this is not accepted without challenge from global
consumers, it is nonetheless part of what they must contend with once received. Therefore, consumers who support underground hip hop often understand that their local culture is intricately tied to the global experience, and
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544
contradict corporate attempts to use hip hop culture as a marketing vehicle by

advocating a global culture of nonmaterialism and artistic proficiency.
It is from this vantage point that questions about Jay-Zs marketability,
crossover appeal, and mainstream success become more poignant. What does
his success, and those who strive to duplicate it, mean in the larger view? Jay
remarked on the song Moment of Clarity (The Black Album) that he
decided that the only way he could help the poor was to become rich and give
back, but having spent so much of his time describing his material wealthor
at least his aspirations for acquiring more of itcan a promaterialist hip hop
aesthetic be used to help people less fortunate? Although it may be difficult to
measure, some hip hop artists have attempted to developed philanthropic
practices. In 2002 Jay-Z and his mother founded the S. Carter Scholarship
Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to those
interested in furthering their education. Other artists have developed philanthropic practices as well, as the Game and Chingy were said to have given
funds for victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami and Sri Lanka earthquake. 50
Cent and the Game, as a symbolic gesture of peace to end their feud, decided
(at the behest of Russell Simmons) to each give donations to the Boys Choir of
Harlem. Such acts may seem sparse and underwhelming when compared to the
kinds of riches these artists flaunt in their music and in videos (and it is difficult
to determine how much these artists actually do give back to the communities
they hail from), but it is still worth mention. However, whether or not these
artists understand the connection between their on-wax materialism and the
impact it may have on young listeners has yet to be determined.
For Jay-Z, his music communicates a series of values and ideas that he
himself may only be partly aware of. Jay-Z sees his wealth as a testament to
his hard work, effort, and talent, and, to be sure, this is true. But his wealth is
only possible because of the sacrifices of the economically impoverished communities that helped mold his cultural aesthetic. It is hoped that hip hop artists
like Jay-Z have reflected on the weight of their cultural influence on society, as
the poor communities that manufacture consumer items sold by rappers (communities whose members often strive to own these consumer items themselves)
have internalized the values espoused in these albums. It is this level of responsibility and analysis that many of Jay-Zs critics and fans would like to see him
address. How does an MC from humble beginnings reach the pinnacle of
stardom and wealth, albeit on the backs of other poor people, and not come
to grips with this intrinsic irony? What does an MC who realizes this do?
Moreover, how much can any one artist be expected to do about it?
THE ROLE OF BEEF IN JAY-ZS FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

One of the staples of hip hop culture has been the battle, and Jay-Z is no
stranger to it. Having had issues with Tupac, Mobb Deep, the Terror Squad,
Jay-Z
CamRon, R. Kelly, and Nas in particular, Jay-Z has helped reinstitute the
significance of the battle in hip hop after the deaths of the Notorious B.I.G.
and Tupac.
For the most part, the battle in hip hop has always been about competition
and proving ones lyrical skills to be superior to anothers. Hip hop has helped
refine the art of the battle to encapsulate the concerns, issues, attitudes, and
perspectives of fans, thus making many battles iconic in the memories of hip
hop fans. Also, battling has helped frame the development and trajectory of
hip hops aesthetic. Battles between Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee, Big Daddy
Kane and Kool G Rap, Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J, X-Clan and KRS-One,
Tupac and Biggie, LL Cool J and Canibus, Eminem and Benzino, and Jay-Z
and Nas each represent turning points in hip hop culture. Busy Bee and Kool
Moe Dee almost single-handedly shifted the aesthetic value of battle rapping
above party pleasing, with Bee representing the old tradition of sparking the
party, and Dee representing the newer tradition of battling and demonstrating
ones superior skill. Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap redefined the craft of
lyrical precision and complicated syncopation, much like Rakim, but in adversarial conversation with one another. Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J battled
on wax, extending their feud for years by trading song for song on sequential
albums. X-Clan and KRS-One set a standard for the first significant battle in
hip hop over Pan-African/Black Power ideology, while Eminem and Benzino
raised issues of race, whiteness, and privilege in hip hop culture (and among
hip hop consumers). However, the battle between Tupac and Biggie might be
the most widely known. Theirs may represent the first public battle in hip hop
to not only end in bloodshed, but with each of their eventual deaths.
Tupac and Biggies battle terrified rappers from the East and West Coasts
(with many refusing to go to the opposites coast, even when not affiliated
with either Biggie or Tupac). After their deaths, people from within and
outside of hip hop began to question the efficacy of the battle. Instead of
criticizing the extent of that particular battle, they began to question the
concept of the battle, suggesting that if it can go this far at this moment,
what might happen in the future? However, battle rapping is unavoidable in
hip hop, and according to Jay-Z, one needs an incredible ego just to handle
the pressure that comes with being an MC. Inevitably, these mammoth-sized
egos collide, and battles begin. Yet it seems that through such contention, hip
hop culture flourishes, develops, and advances.
Jay-Z and Nass beef actually extended, somewhat, out of Biggie and Tupacs. After Biggies death, questions about who would be the King of New
York began to surface. For most, it did not take long before the fans gaze
focused on Nas and Jay-Z. Jay-Z is actually rumored to have started the feud
by dissing Nas at a concert. Nas responded, and between several radio freestyles, released songs, and recorded interviews, they split New York (and the
hip hop world) in half. Many sided with Nas because they saw him as the
more sincere MC, representing the tradition of hip hop, void of the excessive
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pandering for mainstream appeal that many associate with Jay-Z. But Jay-Zs
undeniable appeal, tight production, and creative off-the-cuff style was, and
always has been, more accessible to the casual listener than Nass. Although
Nas could enjoy creating more esoteric lyrics and concepts, Jay-Zs style
seemed simple enough for anyone to grasp, and yet his metaphors, similes,
and flow patterns captured peoples attention more readily than Nass. Nevertheless, people debate to this day as to who won the battle, which may be,
quite possibly, the sign of success for both of them over the industry. The
battle heightened both of their album sales and it would not take long before
they both could do no wrong, creatively speaking. Surprisingly, the most
significant part of their battle was how they chose to resolve it. Until then,
hip hop could not claim to have had a great number of reconciliations (XClan/KRS-One and Common/Ice Cube aside), but Jay-Z and Nas had the
most widely known hip hop battle to end in a resolution.
In a 2006 interview on an MTV show called Beyond Beef, Nas and Jay-Z
discussed their battle, its reconciliation, and the potential for the future.
Wisely, Jay-Z described how this monumental decision to end the beef may
reverberate throughout hip hop, offering an alternative to Biggie and Tupacs
disastrous end. For some, it reminded artists that they are just that, artists,
and not necessarily the figures they paint themselves to be (and even if they
ever were, after that, many chose different ways to represent themselves). In
the interview, Nas questioned some of the newer MCs that do not seem to
have a connection to the history of hip hop and its culture, challenging them
to take their craft more seriously; and more important, to use this reconciliation as an example of how not to allow violence to be the inevitable consequence of beef.
This represented a critical juncture for hip hop because it was the first such
statement since the period of the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The conscious
hip hop movement, curtailed by the collusion of dwindling record sales and
preachy lyrics, was more impactful than many gave it credit for. Aside from
influencing hip hop artists directly, it also demonstrated the potential for hip
hop to influence the social reality that many poor African Americans, Puerto
Ricans, Chicano-Latinos, Asians, and others lived in. However, the industry
was more concerned with less politically aware artists who were more marketable to mainstream audiences, staggering the growing consciousness movement in the early 1990s. Thus, it was primarily interested in mainstream
record sales, and although positive hip hop albums sold well in predominantly
black communities, they did not necessarily sell well in white communities.
Simply put, positive albums about African American social uplift was not
necessarily an unappealing concept for white (and other) communities, but
it was not a particularly lucrative one. More important, it did not mesh with
the dominant narratives about blackness that many were accustomed to. Despite portrayals of African Americans as upright, well-to-do citizens by such
figures as Bill Cosby, most were more familiar with myths of black criminality,
Jay-Z
depravity, and materialism. The legacy of postenlightenment Jim Crow ethnic

caricature is so deeply embedded in Western culture that it is no accident that
mainstream consumers would most strongly gravitate toward its most base
impulses. This shift by the recording industry to redefine what types of artists
should be touted as MCs for public consumption marked the decline of the
conscious hip hop movement. Seemingly, Jay-Z represented the type of commercial MC the industry wantedstylish, apolitical, trendy, and seemingly
obsessed with material wealth. However, Jay-Z and Nass public acknowledgment of the correlation between hip hop and social awareness was important because it suggested that hip hop can still deal with more pressing social
issues than materialism, especially at a time when America is more politically
conservative than it has been in decades, and the ghetto may have more black
men in prison than in the hood. But along with challenging materialism in hip
hop, can artists with clout, like Jay-Z, challenge hip hops most dogged problemsexism? Can they challenge the negative and oppressive representations
of women in hip hop? And can such a challenge help address why consumers
support the production of hyperexotic notions of femininity?
THE PROBLEM WITH 99 PROBLEMS

For the most part, celebrity relationships have become a public institution.
Much like other celebrity couples, Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles (of Destinys
Child fame) have become the ideal hip hop couple. The two have become the
topic of much conversation in the hip hop world. Mainly because hip hop has
been known for its composition of young, adolescent males, the idea of Jay-Z
with one of the most desirable women in the industry reaffirmed his persona
to his fans. Although no one could say whether or not their relationship is
genuine, its benefit as a marketing tool cannot be denied. However, such
iconic status begs the question: Can hip hop overcome the difficulty it has
always had with portraying women and overarching notions of domineering
patriarchy? Can this new image of Jay-Z help mend fences with women who
have argued for decades about misogyny in hip hop?
Despite the ways mainstream hip hop has portrayed women in music videos, songs, and other marketing paraphernalia, one of its most dangerous
impacts has been the normalization of patriarchal attitudes. Accordingly,
both men and women participate in the subjugation of womanhood and
femininity. Jay-Z is hardly innocent. From the beginning of his career to his
retirement album, he has seldom addressed women in a positive way. 99
Problems, one of his more popular songs, represents the same kind of repetitive misogyny that has been a trademark in hip hop, even if the bitch in
the song is not the primary topic of conversation.
One of Jay-Zs landmark songs in relation to women was the duet with
Foxy Brown, Aint No Nigga. In it, the hip hop world is introduced to
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a new developmentthe mafiosa figure. The mafiosa, as played by Brown, is a

materialistic woman crime boss who only answers to her previously incarcerated boyfriend (there is no information as to whether the two were ever married). She also exerts her power by pointing out that she is responsible for his
financial success, style, and wealth because she has cultivated his talents and
in her words, made [him] a don. She also does not care if he sees other
women, as long as he treats her right by making sure that she continues to drive
new cars and wear expensive furs. Browns caricature would make her famous
in her own right (rivaled only by Lil Kim and Adina Howard); she soon
embodied the female caricature articulated by Tupac in his song Me and
My Girlfriend (1996). This song, about a man and his gun, is not a far stretch
from Browns representation, as guns and women are still symbolic representations of objects owned by men. In fact, both guns and women are only useful
when providing pleasure or exacting revenge for men. They are both, by nature
(or so some MCs would have you believe), objects for mens imagination. Love
for both is solely contingent upon male fantasy, and neither has an independent voice. Interestingly enough, the character Brown portrays is as palpable
as Jay-Zs, as both are consistent with the stereotypes about black men and
women: criminal, violent, sexually promiscuous, and manipulative. Both
characters represent caricatures that seem quite consistent with stereotypical
notions of blackness, at least in the mainstream imagination.
However, what Jay-Z may not do in his music to challenge stereotypes, he
may accomplish in his private life. In one sense, Beyonce is seen as the embodiment of postmillennium womens pride, at least as far as pop music celebrities who address womens issues are concerned. Songs like Independent
Woman Part I (2001) and Survivor (2001) helped mold public perceptions
of Beyonce as one of the most exotically beautiful and outspoken R&B singers. For Jay-Z to perform with her in the song Bonnie and Clyde (2003)
shows the continuation of the narrative that he, Tupac, and Biggie used
before, albeit with a slight twist. Beyonce, considered by some to be a more
reputable feminist than Brown, offers a new type of mafiosa that appears far
less materialistic and violent, but nonetheless supportive of her man. Beyonces persona is confident and intelligent, with extensive experience with
men who have tried to manipulate her. She outsmarts them and has sought to
tell other women to do the same. In her music, acting career, and advertising
roles, she has (to one degree or another) stayed true to this representation.
Her relationship to Jay-Z, however, communicates a specific narrative in
itself, considering that Jay-Z has always described himself as a pimp who
manipulates women to suit his interests. In this regard, she has become an
addition to his harem (a compliment to Jay-Zs prowess), and rather than
finding the type of man she has been looking for, she has instead found the
type of man she has admonished others for falling for. No doubt, both public
personas are pop culture fabrications that do not accurately reflect who they
are as people, but such personas can be read in a narrative, textual fashion
that communicates complex (and problematic) thematic codes on black malefemale relationships.
Despite the apparent contradiction in the relationship between the public
personas of both figures, the Jay-Z/Beyonce union may offer a new idea about
what type of woman, and by extension what type of masculinity, men in hip
hop should consider valuable. As Beyonce does not represent the typical
woman articulated by male MCs, especially considering that she has a voice
of her own (this refers to criticisms of Foxy Brown and Lil Kim as being mere
puppets for male rappers Jay-Z and the Notorious B.I.G., respectively, who
wrote their lyrics), she may provide a foil to many MCs perceptions of
women. Even conscious MCs have trouble here, as artists like Jeru the Damaja on his The Sun Rises in the East (1994) and Wrath of the Math (1996)
albums tried to delineate between bitches and women, arguing that the
difference had to do with self-respect. Yet he was nonetheless criticized for
making bitches the subject of the song, and not the respectable women he
applauded. Where even conscious rappers have failed, Jay-Z may succeed and
shift the standards for male-female relationships simply by publicly (and quite
possibly strategically) associating with Beyonce.
JAY-Z, GLOBALIZATION, AND THE FUTURE OF THE NEW

RECORDING INDUSTRY
The record industry is undergoing a dramatic shift in both its infrastructure
and its approach to musical production. Although this change is slow and
ploddingbrought on more by rogue artists and independent labels than its
own decision to changethere is need for new blood (and new direction) at
the decision-making level of many entertainment corporations, especially in
regard to artistic production and management. There is a need for new parameters, new approaches, and a new overall scope of vision for the production
of music in general. It is more plausible than people may think that Jay-Z
could help spearhead, at least as far as public perception is concerned, this
new infrastructural corporate movement. But what are some of the indicators
of this need? Are the impending changes in the entertainment industry this
deep and sweeping?
As far as the industry is concerned, downloading, or file sharing, in yonncerned, this
deep and sweeping?
deep and sweeping?
deep and sweeping?
Kanye West
promoter John Monopoly), whose shows for a time electrified the Chicago
club scene and eventually landed them airplayof the single Oh, Oh, Oh
on local black music FM giant WGCI and other stations. The group also put
West in touch with Craig Bauers Hinge Studios, where most of the Go Getters
output was produced, and it would be from this base that West began to really
extend feelers into the national scene. But it wasnt until he moved to Hoboken, New Jersey in 2001, across the Hudson River from New York City, that
his career as a producer took off. In 2000 hed done work from the Hinge base
for both Lil Kim and Jay-Z (a track on, respectively, Notorious K.I.M. and
The Dynasty: Roc la Familia), but now his popularity soared with his work for
Jays record The Blueprint, whose release happened to coincide with the 9/11
terrorist attacks. Despite all, the album was something of an instant classic,
particularly with the ubiquity of track three, Izzo (H.O.V.A.) (the single was
a Billboard Top 10), which prominently included a sped-up sample from the
Jackson Fives I Want You Back. This technique of speeding up samples,
which West adapted from Wu-Tang Clans RZA, quickly became the young
producers signature. It marked a shift that followed trends in other genres
away from electronics-heavy production and back to the earthy feel of 1970s
music, in this case the soul that West and countless other up-and-coming
producers knew as children. After the violence that marked 1990s hip hop
and the subsequent oftentimes sharp-edged nature of the music, this approach
to music making was bound to catch on. In a certain sense it harked back to the
birth of the genre, as it relied on direct, earthy samples of vinyl records, imparting a soft-edged feel to the backing track, a fine contrast to Jay-Zs microscopic flow. Also, it introduced a significant crossover appeal with its use of
easily recognizable samples on an album from a protoypical gangsta rap artist,
cementing the gangsta subgenre fully in the mainstreamthis can at least
partly be attributed to West. Shawn Carter (aka Jay-Z) called the boy a genius
around this time, and The Blueprint featured a host of tracks produced by
West in addition to Izzo (H.O.V.A.), six in total and among them the
seminal The Takeover, the track that flamed the fires of Jay-Zs then-budding war of words with Nas and others among his competition. The track
West worked up for The Takeover, channeling hip hops early giants RunDMC and Grandmaster Flash, borrowed from a rock song, the Doors Five to
One, an audacious move in and of itself that would inspire a mostly innocuous but clearly homagelike 2004 parody by Mos Def.
But all the while Wests ambitions were to MC himself. At first, anyway, he
was getting nothing but the cold shoulder from his pals at Roc-A-Fella Records, Jay-Z and Damon Dame Dash, who initially looked at the kid and
saw a flashy joker without the authenticity required of marketable MCs in the
then gangsta-dominated hip hop scene. But content or credibility wouldnt be
long in coming. On October 23, 2002, it met him head-on in a car crash in LA
that put West in the same hospital where Biggie Smalls died and nearly ended
his life. This event spurred him on to make his own music no matter who said
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yea or nay, even if he had to quite literally rap through his teethhis jaw was
wired shut as it healed. A few days into the ordeal, still laid up in a hospital
bed, he got to work, calling Dash at Roc-A-Fella and asking for a drum
machine. A few weeks later, out of the hospital and back in the studio but
with his jaw still wired shut, he cut Through the Wire, utilizing the classic
Chaka Khan hit Through the Fire on the backing track and rapping
through the cage in his mouth about the entire ordeal, doubling the vocal
track at times to compensate for his compromised flow. Still, the results
employed what would become his trademark singsong style, with lyrics that
spelled a narrative about the crash and convalescence at once harrowing,
moving, and hilarious.
In the months following he worked out other tunes for what would become
his debut, and after a tentative deal with Capitol Records fell through, he
presented the demo to Dash and Jay-Zalso performing at a sort of private
unveiling of the new material at a New York cluband won the two over. It
wasnt simply a one-way affair, though. Wests lyrics pay tribute to his admiration for and the advice and mentorship provided by both Jay and Dash
over the course of preparation for the debut. The College Dropout was released in mid-2004, and Through the Wire climbed the charts as its first
official singlethough the feel-good party hit of the year, Slow Jamz (with
Twista and Jamie Foxx), had been released well in advance of the album to
generate buzz and had already become a smash. It was a hit across the nation
for its multivalent voicing, synthesizing the crooning of Foxx, Kanyes soulbap flow, and Twistas rapid-fire delivery. A longtime rapper on the Chicago
scene, Twista languished in obscurity for over a decade, despite his flow
earning him the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records plug as the worlds
fastest rapper, before this collaboration with West catapulted him into the
mainstream with a platinum-selling album, Kamikaze, featuring Wests production (see sidebar: Fast Rappers).
Kanye and The College Dropout would garner eight Grammy nominations
and win two, Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for Jesus Walks, with
Fast Rappers
Mickey Hess
Twista, who scored a hit with the song Overnight Celebrity in 2004, worked
for over a decade to achieve the celebrity status that he gained with this single
and Slow Jamz, a collaboration with Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, which
catapulted his 2004 album Kamikaze to platinum sales. Twista, who originally
recorded under the name Tung Twista, was named the worlds fastest
rapper in the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records, but while the careers of
other high-speed rappers such as Das EFX, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and FuSchnickens took off, Twistas sophomore album, Resurrection (1994), was
relegated to the Chicago underground scene rather than MTV airplay.
Kanye West
With his 1991 album, Runnin off at da Mouth, Twistas rapid-fire delivery set
the stage for a new era of hip hop vocal style that moved away from the
smoothed-out jazzy delivery of Rakim and the laid-back drawls of Too $hort
and the Geto Boys. Rather than rappin to the beat as Sugarhill Gang put it
on hip hops breakout hit, Rappers Delight, Twista rapped over and around
the beat, with the tempo of his vocals sped up beyond the music. Big Daddy
Kane, a fast rapper who preceded Twista, created a rapid-fire delivery that
took hip hop vocals to a new level and would influence the styles of Twista,
Eminem, and Outkast. Outkast, known also for the slow southern drawl of
their vocals on songs such as Ms. Jackson and Elevators, brought speed
rap to singles like Bombs over Baghdad. While speed rappers Das EFX and
Fu-Schnickens built their rhyme styles from frenetic Jamaican dance hall
routines, Twistas is distinctive in that it is both faster and more controlled.
Busta Rhymes, known for his gruff vocals and dance hall-influenced delivery
on his work with the group Leaders of the New School, began moving toward
speed rap in a 1992 guest appearance on A Tribe Called Quests Scenario.
By 1999, Busta had developed a faster and smoother vocal style for Gimme
Some More. The Eazy-E proteges Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, hailing from
Cleveland, Ohio, developed speed raps that they combined with singing
and harmony on songs like First of the Month.
West sharing the latter with then little-known MC Rhymefest, who cowrote
the first verse. West also shared a songwriting Grammy for his production
work for Best R&B Song with Alicia Keys and Harold Lilly for You Dont
Know My Name, from the West-produced The Diary of Alicia Keys. In
short, it was a smash year for the young rapper, then only twenty-seven.
The College Dropout was a commendable first effort, and for it West drew
on the credentials hed built up and contacts hed made during his relatively
brief tenure as a big-name producer, drawing cameos from Jay-Z, Mos Def,
Ludacris, Jamie Foxx, and other A-list rappers and R&B singers, to build the
last rung of the bridge between early hip hops party music sensibility, the
late-eighties political and social consciousness of acts like Public Enemy and
De La Soul, and the nineties gangsta reportorial style. Track two, We Dont
Care, after a goofball intro by Cedric the Entertainer, is a satirical sing-along
featuring a chorus with backing vocals by kids extolling the virtues of drug
dealing to achieve a middle-class life. It was a strategy he was to employ to
great effect across the record, which had the effect of anticipating catcalls and
accusations of inauthenticity by in effect employing the double-edged theatrical sword of the satirist. We Dont Care at once examines and embraces
something that is commonly portrayed in our culture as the first resort of the
lowlife, and in the gangsta subgenre as the exact opposite, the be-all and endall of dog-eat-dog ghetto life, raising orphans to the height of kingsbut West
struck a new pitch with equal parts humor and bile by humorously portraying
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drug dealing as a means to just getting by, a simple requirement of existence,

just another job, driving audiences to both tears and hilarity. And not only
traditional hip hop audiences. The College Dropout was admired by hardcore aficionados and suburban mothers, by high school kids and hip hop
legends like Darryl McDaniels (aka DMC), who told Time that Kanyes
Jesus Walks had interested him in hip hop again.
Indeed, Jesus Walks marked West as an artist of the highest caliber and
quickly became for 2004 what Izzo (H.O.V.A.) was for 2001. It secured for
West a reputation as a man fully prepared to embrace the contradictions
inherent in all of our lives, not just those of the young rapper-producer on
the make. West, particularly since his accident, sees God at work in his life,
and Jesus Walks is as much a testament to this fact as it is a spiritual
celebration of humanitys imperfections. Cowritten with fellow Chicago
area-bred rapper and close friend Rhymefest (aka Che Smith), the song engages the hip hop worlds aversion to spirituality in favor of hard-nosed street
themes, but also it celebrates religion as a balm for the wayward soul. Rhymefests part in the writing of Jesus Walks was significant. He alerted West
to the Arc Choir sample that dominates the track. He also wrote part of the
first verse, and he receives half the royalties from the singles sale. Wests
detractors seized on this as proof of his lack of abilities as a writer-MC,
but Rhymefest told Time that Kanye developed the central themes of the song
(Tyrangiel).
MYTHOLOGY, BACKLASH
But is it cool to rap about gold?
Kanye West, Breathe In Breathe Out
If appealing to the everyman defined the young rappers goals from the beginning, and he began voicing the sentiment time and again in interviews, he
certainly threw obstacles in his path toward realizing them. While West was
filming the video for Jesus Walks celebrity prankster Ashton Kutcher, for
an episode of his MTV show Punkd, pulled off a stunt with a posse posing as
representatives of the Los Angeles Film Commission, shutting down the shoot
and confiscating the tape already shot on account of an invented rule about
filming on Sundays without a permit. Kanye stole the tape back and tried to
get away in a van before Kutcher appeared and the gag was up. Later that
year, in November, at the American Music Awards West had been nominated
Kanye West
young Wests bombastic studio energy. Seemingly following his albums educational motif, with Late Registration West was indeed back in school.
As on The College Dropout, there was something for everyone on the
record. As evidenced above, Wests winking, self-conscious swagger was in
full effect on tracks like Gold Digger and Diamonds, but hed taken it all
to a significantly higher level of intensity. Where Dropout had been slightly
giddy in its youthful exuberance, Late Registration was more sober, downbeat, dark, and morally focused if eclectic. On Heard Em Say, the opening
track, the rapper riffs further on the notion that AIDS was invented to oppress
communities of color and engages the hypocrisy of America and the first
worlds elite. The pose struck is of an embattled yet proud American telling
his story to an unreceptive audience. The overall mood of the song, with
Levines melancholy guest vocals, is soulful and almost mournfully contemplative. Then theres the searing Crack Music, with its dark strings, propulsive beat, symphonic backing vocals, and tough message. The lyrics riff on
an archetypal hip hop trope, as of course the crack of the title is the
eponymous narcotic and the extended metaphor depicts hip hop music as
both borne of and a remedy for addiction and the trials of life in general.
On this song, West waxes overtly political as well, again picking up an old
notion, or conspiracy theory, that crack cocaine was introduced in black
communities by the American government as a way to temper the inroads
the militant Black Panther Party had made therealong with certain more
contemporary topics, such as the hypocrisy of American foreign policy (Who
gave Saddam anthrax?). Crack Music rose above the kind of reportorial
gangsta chronicles of pushing rocks of the days of yorethe songs overall
approach is to exist through engagement of Jay-Zs bricks to billboards
metaphor for Wests rise to stardom as a monument, or a memorial of sorts, a
look back at the truth of the history of hip hop as a genre. Wests aggressive
tone and cadence are sufficiently exaggerated to create a kind of presentational or narrative distance from the material at hand.
Finally the symphonic, uplifting We Majorfeaturing a guest spot from
another of Wests idols, and one of Jay-Zs enemies, Nasthough equally
rich production-wise, turned lyrically on a sort of spiritual exultation at generational and personal success. Anticipating Jay-Zs possible objections to
Nass inclusion on the record, as West told Sway Calloway, he went out of
his way to make the song Jays favorite song on the album. . . . When you
hear the horns on We Major and you hear the chorus come in and you hear
Nas, that could like warm somebodys heart. Good music can break through
anything and maybe start to break down the wall between two of the greatest
MCs that we have. Indeed, at a New Jersey concert Thursday, October 27,
that very year, Jay brought Nas onstage to bury the hatchet. This is for hip
hop, he told the crowd.
The whole of Late Registration had a greater continuity of sound than
Wests previous effort, and he capitalized on every opportunity to pack the
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lyrics with more serious stuff than that on Dropout. The end result is a record
that communicates a fantastic range of American experience. The obligatory
skits, too, made a more cohesive picture than the occasionally, some said,
bizarre antieducation rants on Dropout. The idea behind them was a bunch of
broke dudes banding together to form a fraternityBroke Phi Broketo
celebrate life without money, a world outside of the material American culture. The men share a single pair of pants and take pride in giving up their
girlfriends to the guys with carsthey cant afford to buy gas, anyway, much
less a vehicle. Kanye, of course, is a charter member, but by the last of these
skits hes begun cheating, making beats for cash on the side. He gets caught
with a new pair of shoes and is then summarily admonished by the groups
leader. Again, West brazenly embraces a contradiction at the core of contemporary American life: the need to belong, to fit in, with your fellow humans
versus the Darwinistic mad grab at material things, success in the latter being
the very definition of success in our culture.
But Hsu was right in saying that Late Registration operated on the whole in
a manner very similar to Dropout, as the record is infused with this singular
embrace of contradictory impulses and is very much about West himself. It
remained on Billboards best-seller charts for months; even as the Grammys
approached, in late January 2006, it stood at number twenty-nine, having
been out for over five months. The record had garnered nominations for
Album, Record (for Gold Digger), and Rap Album of the Year, plus five
others, including nods for a couple cowriting and collaborative credits on
songs by Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, and John Legend. Legend, whose debut
was released by Kanyes own label, garnered eight nominations himself. West
was in top form, telling Rolling Stones Lola Ogunnaike in that magazines
cover story one week prior to the event, Dont ask me what I think the best
song of last year was, because my opinion is the same as most of Americas. . . .
It was Gold Digger. Ogunnaike went on, Just to be clear, he would also
like the Album of the Year Grammy, thank you very much. In a moment of
seeming humility in the piece, West disavowed his nomination for Best Rap/
Sung Collaboration, for his work on Commons They Say, only to then
admit, Not to sound arrogant, but how was They Say nominated over
Heard Em Say, and how was that song nominated over Gold Digger?
(The last featured Jamie Foxx in Ray Charles mode, be reminded.)
LEGACY
Im tryin to right my wrongs
Kanye West, Touch the Sky
Meanwhile, back in Chicago, in Wests wake the scene crawled with majorlabel scouts looking to scoop up the next talent. Molemen MC Vakills Worst
Kanye West
Fears Confirmed (though an indie release on Molemen Records) was being

highly touted in both the alternative and mainstream press. Rhymefest (who
cowrote Jesus Walks) had nabbed a major deal with J-Records, an Arista
imprint, and his debut, Blue Collar, was scheduled for a 2006 release. Bump J
and Lupe Fiasco (who guested on Touch the Sky on Late Registration) had
both also been scooped up by major labels. The perception of Chicagos scene
lived on, now even in the minds of its principal participants. Indeed, much of
what little local resentment appeared with Wests success had died down, and
his hometown seemed proud. But though his presence was felt via his continuing production work with local MCs, West was long gone, renovating a
loft in Manhattan and building a sort of dream headquarters in California. In
Ogunnaikes Rolling Stone story, West introduces the journalist to his homein-progress in the Hollywood Hills. But as Ogunnaike portrayed him, West is
ever on the move, working till the wee hours in the studio on his next offering,
even as the Grammys approached to recognize his endeavors of the past year.
The cover image of that issue of Rolling Stone ignited a firestorm of both
criticism and glee, as it featured Kanye done up in caked-on fake blood and
wearing a crown of thornstagged of course with the hackneyed headline
The Passion of Kanye West. Fundamentalist Christians, predictably, derided it as sacrilegededicated fans couldnt praise it enough. The Village
Voices RiffRaff blogger Nick Sylvester struck a note between the extremes
and took both Kanye and Rolling Stone down a peg for disingenuous marketeering. Beyond the fact that . . . there should be a moratorium on The Passion of X headlines, . . . can we talk about how boring this cover is? Sylvester
wrote. How far a cry from the truly shocking Rolling Stone covers, be it the
naked Lennon/Ono, so tender beyond the thrill of glossy flesh, or the Chili
Peppers cocksocks one, which was just sorta funny? Here the shock is so
transparent, the board room meeting and aha! moment so needlessly vivid,
so too the night they opened up the Kanye Jesus issue boxes and saw the cover
and started laughing, hee fucking haw, about what they were about to do to
the American public. Kanye Wests over-the-top self-image and the projection of said image onto the American public seemed to have lost a bit of its
crucial authenticity in the hands of the national media. After his numerous
political pronouncements of the previous summerand the ubiquity of his
tracks on mainstream radioWest was perhaps suffering from overexposure.
In the article, he defended himself partly (likewise attempting to explain away
his braggadocio) by saying, In America, they want you to accomplish these
great feats, to pull off these David Copperfield-type stunts. . . . You want me to
be great, but you dont ever want me to say Im great? The blogger Bol,
meanwhile, had taken to calling him The Fudge.
This appropriately contradictory climate followed him into the February 8
Grammy Awards show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. West was scheduled to perform, plus hed been nominated in eight different categories, including the coveted Album of the Year and Record of the Year (for Gold
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Digger) slots. The man arrived dressed in white from head to toe, and later
gave a spirited performance of Touch the Sky and Gold Digger, refraining from using the word nigga, as he has several times in the past on television. Injecting an element of theatricality into his performance, West dressed
as a high school marching band drum major leading the procession. He was
playing by the rules again, but perhaps it was too late. Late Registration lost
out in the Album of the Year category to U2, and Record of the Year went to
pop-punk outfit Green Day. West did garner three awards, in totalin various rap categories, including Rap Album of the Yearthough many interpreted it as industry backlash to his rocking the boat just a little too forcefully
over the previous year. Nonetheless, his after-party was purportedly the place
to be, and he basked in the glow of youth and fame. And if he resented not
winning in the big categories, he mostly held his tongue that year. As if
anticipating young Wests ire, Bono, U2s lead singer, when accepting the
Album of the Year award, said, This is our second album of the year,
but weve lost two, Achtung Baby and All That You Cant Leave Behind,
so we know how it feelsKanye, youre next (Caro).
Critical prediction had indeed favored Late Registration to win in the Best
Album category. The Chicago Tribunes Greg Kot, writing just three days
prior to the awards ceremony, pointed out the impossibility of a critic or an
association sifting through this morass of material, but went on to describe a
coherent convergence of opinion around Late Registration. The Village
Voices well-respected Pazz & Jop poll, a nationwide critics poll, had West
at the top of the list for best album for the second year in a row. Kots choices
well reflected the nationwide sentiment, though he presented skepticism
about Wests actually winning.
Almost a week later in the same paper, Mark Caro looked back at the
awards through the comfortable lens of a little bit of time, comparing Pazz
& Jop Poll winners from years past to their Grammy counterparts and coming to similar conclusionsrarely do the two match up. Even so, Kanye West,
with two Pazz & Jop top slots in a row, seemed to bear out another trend,
that of critical lauding portending commercial and hence Grammy success. As
Bono suggested in his shout-out to the rapper at the awards show, it was only
a matter of time.
See also: Jay-Z, The Native Tongues, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
WORKS CITED
Bol Guevara, Ban Kanye West from the Grammys. 27 August 2005. byroncrawford.typepad.com/kanyegate/.
Callahan-Bever, Noah. Kanye, Common, Legend: Too G.O.O.D. to Be True! Vibe
14 June 2005.
Calloway, Sway. All Eyes on Kanye West. MTV. 22 August 2005.
Caro, Mark. The Pop Machine: U2 vs. Kanye revisited. ChicagoTribune.com. 13
February 2006.
Kanye West
Christian, Marqena A. Why Everybody Is Talking About Producer-Turned-Rapper

Kanye West. Jet 31 January 2005.
Concert for Hurricane Relief. NBC. 2 September 2005.
Hsu, Hua. Hip-Hops Hamlet: The Fascinating Contradictions of Kanye West.
Slate 8 September 2005.
Kot, Greg. The Grammys Just Dont Get It. Chicago Tribune 5 February 2006.
Kot, Greg. Rappers Rise: From South Side to Top of Charts. Chicago Tribune 11
February 2004.
Mehr, Bob. Who the Hell Is Vakill? Chicago Reader 27 January 2006.
Ogunnaike, Lola. The Passion of Kanye West. Rolling Stone 27 January 2006.
Reins, Dan. Common: Electric Circus. SF Weekly 18 December 2002.
Sylvester, Nick. Riff Raff: Kanye West on Rolling Stone Cover, Tasteless?
VillageVoice.com. 24 January 2006.
Tyrangiel, Josh. Why You Cant Ignore Kanye. Time 29 August 2005.
Williams, Houston. Kanye West: Ye Day: Its a Celebration! Allhiphop.com.
September 2005.
Williams, Houston, and Clover Hope. Common, Kanye Talk Be. Allhiphop.com.
1 April 2005.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Allmusic.com. Kanye West Artist Page. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?
p=amg&sql=11:3amsa9ugi23h, 7 July 2006.
Brown, Jake. Kanye West in the Studio: Beats Down! Money Up! The Studio Years
(20002006). Phoenix: Colossus Books, 2006.
Kanye West: College DropoutVideo Anthology. Roc-A-Fella, 2005.
Kanye West Official Site. www.kanyewest.com. 7 July 2006.
College Dropout. Roc-A-Fella, 2004.
Late Registration. Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam, 2005.
Late Orchestration: Live at Abbey Road Studios. Universal (UK), 2006.
577
Let Em in: An Interview

with DJ Premier
Formerly called Waxmaster C and born Christopher Martin, super-producer
DJ Premier is often lauded as one of the top two hip hop producers of all time.
There is very little that cannot be said about his achievements and milestones.
For one, he has had the privilege of working with New York Citys elite MCs:
Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, KRS-One, Notorious B.I.G., Nas, and
Jay-Z. He is also considered a remix king, having produced tracks for artists
such as Mary J. Blige, Craig David, and the Black Eyed Peas. His love and
passion for the culture keep him quite busy; he has a prolific career that spans
over two decades and features over 500 album credits to date. Furthermore,
he is one half of Gang Starr, one of hip hops most innovative groups. As if
this were not enough, in addition to establishing his own record label, Year
Round Records, DJ Premier owns HeadQcourterz Studio (formerly D&D
Studio), which is a landmark in New York City hip hop history. With new
projects constantly on the horizon and more wrongs needing to be corrected
in the hip hop world, DJ Premier often maintains a pace that would lead the
seasoned ultramarathoner to collapse from exhaustion; yet he has no retirement plans in the works. Born March 21, 1966, the recently-turned-fortyyear-old b-boy is still in love with hip hop and remains loyal to his muse.
Always official in his b-boy stance, the world has proven to be DJ Premiers
oyster. Here is what keeps him going.
You first put beats together in 1989, while using an SP12, but how did you
learn about production?
Listening to the records that intently. Ive always had a good ear for music.
I took piano lessons when I was in the second grade and you know how boys
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are, Thats girlie stuff, so I quit and stopped doing recitals and all that.
I played sax in the band when I was playing football in high school, but
I couldnt march with the band because I was on the field. Even that, learning
about notes and measures, its crazy because I never cared but now I see how
it applies. Working with Christina Aguilera, shes like, Hey, I wanna do a Bsection and a bridge. I knew what a bridge was, but what was a B-section?
So she explained it to me, but at least I knew measures. She had asked me
what key we were in and I told her G-sharp. I know keys and all that and even
if I didnt learn all that, if I didnt have piano lessons, I still listened intently to
what made all the stuff come together. I wanted to know what each sound
was and who was playing it. When it came to a drum machine, when all the
records were a hard drum sound, I tried to pick that apart. The 1200s didnt
sound like the record. Since they sampled, I started to take those sounds off
those records: the kick and the snare and the high hat and then, work around
that. Once I started hearing other artists do it, like Marley Marl with the
drums, thats when I got it. I catch on to things fast anyway. Once you show
me a couple of times, its in memory. Then I can take it to a greater level.
I read that you said hip hop is your Viagra. Do you still feel that way?
Yeah. Its all about representing us as black people. Making black music
that represents us and the struggle. I saw hip hop start from day one, you
know, Im forty years old, so I have an understanding of the culture and
where its grown from. Being that its growing from the streets of New York,
I dont ever want to see that element die because it did a lot for me to make a
career and make me a bigger person. Because of that I dont ever disrespect it.
I have a respect for music that other people dontthey just listen to it and
buy whatevers popular. Whereas me, Ive always been a person who makes
my own judgments on what I think is good through my upbringing and my
family and again, being around the culture from day one. Im from Texas and
I used to stay with my grandfather in Brooklyn back in 1973, 74 when hip
hop was just starting to grow, way before records were made. All those
elements still go back to the streets of New York City and the ghetto, and
most people in the ghetto are predominantly black and theyre struggling hard
to maintain. Even if you look at how Harlem is now slowly but surely starting
to become less culturally oriented with our own kind, it comes to us having a
hold on something we can call ours.
My accountant, God bless her, before she passed away, she always used to
say, Shop in the black neighborhoods, Bank in the black neighborhoods,
which I still do. When she died, I still followed that. Again, it takes nothing
away from my white friends or my Asian friends or other people that Im cool
with, but I still make sure that I stay grounded on knowing who I am and
what my people are going through.
Hip hop is definitely the same situation, you know, the right hip hop, not
all the garbage out there thats got everybody confused. For the most part, all
that is combined in the way Im thinking. Thats the reason why I dont ever,
ever, think that I do it wrong. I always strive on doing it right based on how
I was taught. I have a lot of heroes that made me want to do it. As a consumer
and a fanwhich I still amand as a DJ its my responsibility that I rep it
right, so I stay in the mind state every time I go into the studio to bang out.
Lets stay on this race consciousness theme for a second. I read somewhere
that you enjoy reading black literature and that you attended Prairie-View, a
historically black college. How does your race consciousness have an impact
in the music you create? How does it become black music for you?
With hip hop, its automatic. The style of dress, the way we dance, all of
that, even our slang, everything was created brand new from this culture and
from the parties that was rocking during that era. When I was a child and
didnt have hip hop, I had Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Grover Washington, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, the Jackson Five, James
Brown, Rufus, and Chaka Khan. I had all of that as a child, and again, this
was prescratching and mixing and cutting, pop and locking and doing windmills. I used to do all that. I used to battle all the kids in my neighborhood.
One of the bigger kids was Harvey Williams, who played for the Oakland
Raiders. He used to come down to the parties in the black tux and the white
gloves, and he used to do the moonwalk better than Michael Jackson.
I recently ran into him after damn near twenty years, and Im telling him
about me starting up my record company now, and he is saying, Yo man,
I still got a little money. If you want me to throw some of my NFL money into
the label, let me know. I told him he has to hear the music first and hes like,
Man, if youre doing it, I know its great because you always kept it raw.
The stuff we came up listening to, you still keep it like that. I already trust
you. For somebody to say that, when Im talking about borrowing a million
dollars from somebody and theyre not even wanting to check the product
first to see theyre not making a bad investment, that makes me feel good on
the strength that he respects what Ive done to keep this thing going. Again,
respect is what makes the whole thing complete for me because [without it]
then its fake, and I just cant stand fake anything.
You talk a lot about your past. In looking back, how would you classify your
career thus far?
Id classify it as highly successful. Thats minus the finances, just on the love
I get from all the people I looked up to in the business that I wanted to like
me, told me that I was great. From Rakim to Big Daddy Kane to even KRSOne.
The people who matter.
Yeah. EPMD, like when I was still buying their records and everything.
When they told me that they were feeling everything I was doing and they
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wanted to get with me in the studio, I felt like I had made it. I didnt worry
about the dough. I always knew in my early days, even when I was doing
funny stuff in high school and my mother found out I was dealingshe never
caught mebut word got around, I always knew that the financial part of it
will kick in as long as youre busting your ass. Thats something my father
instilled in me, to always have a good reputation, make a name for yourself
and always be responsible, which although I did not do it in the beginning
the responsibility part I was worst atbut as far as making my name known
I was always a go-getter. I think it comes from my mother and my father
combined because theyre both in their late seventies now and they dont sit
around. They still travel. My mother just had a major knee surgeryher
second oneand shes already going on another trip. She came to my birthday party. She came to New York to see me and I took her to Jay-Zs place to
eat. Shes into, my whole familys into sports where my mother can tell you
about the draft and really talk it like the way fellas chop it up. Not just the
basics. She can talk everything from tennis to basketball to track so all that
ran in our family, but music was definitely number one. I do consider myself
one of the great ones. I consider myself a hall of famer. I got a nickname
instead of Mean Joe Green, I call myself Mean Joe Preem.
Well, since you consider yourself one of the great ones, one of the issues that
Ive seen with people is that once they get to that level, people start pushing
them into retirement. What is left for you to accomplish?
I want to do films, in regard to directing. Ive shot a couple of videos.
I directed the Full Clip video for Gang Starr back when Big L passed away.
That was the first one I ever shot. Im into editing anyway because to me
editing and doing pictures and putting music togetherI want to do soundtrack work because all that to me is like music with just pictures. Being that
I mix down all my records anyway, I can do it with visuals, getting the right
actors, casting the right things, it all will turn into what I want it to be before
I release it. Im like that with my music at this point anyway. You know, if its
something I record in the studio, even if I got a lot of money from the artist,
I dont let it leave the studio until were both happy. If theyre happy with it
and Im not, Im not letting it go. I dont care if I have to write them a check
back or whatever. It has to satisfy me before it leaves the studio.
Do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
Oh, without a doubt. Definitely.
Well, I guess it has to have your seal on it, right? Reputation is the cornerstone of power [quoting a tattoo on his forearm]; your reputations on the
line with every track you do. Is that how you see it?
Yeah. And I put my own self under that judgment. I know how to step
outside of myself and listen to a record that I worked on. I know how to listen
to it and judge it with an open mind instead of saying just because I did it, its
great. I dont sweat myself like that. I think I am great, but I dont think
everything I do is incredible. So, I step outside [of myself] and with an open
mind, Ill play a record two, three, sometimes even four or five times in a row
just to be sure its ready to go. If its still got me like that, then its a go. No
matter what critics think or how they judge it, I know its right because
I know how to listen to hip hop music. I know how to listen to music period.
I know how to judge the greatness of it and the wackness of it. Thats just
from my respect for it and my knowledge and the history. My knowledge of
the history of music in general is very, very vast. Im really good with these
game shows . . . um . . .
Trivia shows?
Yeah. Im real good with that.
Since were talking about the qualities and characteristics of your music, Im
paraphrasing, but Ive read that you have a passion for women, food, and
watches. Of the qualities and characteristics that you find appealing in those
things, what translates into your music?
All of them. The women-side thing is the feeling side. Because I aim to
please in all aspects. I was very close with my sisters while growing up. They
taught me about women, how to kiss. One is four years older and the other is
two years older. We all used to do things together, until they went to high
school and started dating. Im still very, very close with my sisters. Im real,
real close with my oldest sister. Shes the illest. Food . . .
Yeah. Your love of ice cream and cookies. I dont see anything sweet in the
music you create. Its very aggressive.
Im a dessert fanatic, so ice cream, cheesecake, cookies, warm brownies, all
that stuff. All of that is something that you crave and I crave music just as
much. So, I mean, I dont think about the desserts when Im making the
music, but the cravingI have to satisfy that.
And watches? What about watches manifests itself in your music? What do
you go for? Breitling? Rolex?
I had a Rolex years ago because as a kid I always saw that logo over on
Thirty-fourth Street over by the Tourneau store. From seeing that logo I said
I wanted to get one. I started getting more into watches when some friends of
minethey owned the studio I worked at, which was D&Dthey were best
friends with this watch dealer from the Diamond District. He used to have all
these nice watches, Bertolucci, Baume & Mercier, Tag Heuer, and so I started
getting into the craftsmanship of it and the mechanics. Im into cars and
working on engines. Me and my brother-in-law are building a truck right
now that Im doing from scratch. All I have is a frame. Im buying everything,
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all brand-new parts. My brother-in-law is an electrical engineer, but he builds

transmissions and everything. So all of those things keep me going. All of that
stuff.
Your music is supposed to be for everyone, its supposed to be for the common person. So when I read about your affinity for these things, Im thinking,
watches like Seiko? Especially because, if you made music that was so exclusive and for a select population, it wouldnt be you. And I understand that
you keep yourself very humble.
Without a doubt. Definitely. Ive been with so many people in the business
who have completely changed. On all types of levels. People I knew when they
got their first jobs working at a record company, and I ran into them at Jay-Zs
Reasonable Doubt after-party. I was cursing them outIm not a troublemaker, but they were not letting me holla at Jay. They said, Only you, but
your manager has to fall back. Im like, Yo, I produced on that album. I was
part of that whole jump off. My manager went to junior high and high school
with Jay. He knows who he is. Jay was cool, but the people handling the access
to him were being weird. I see all these other people in thereJadakiss had like
ten people and hes my dude. But all these people in there who didnt work on
the album. I did and I cant even bring one person. I know theyll be apologetic,
but whatever. They think theyre bigger than what they are and a lot of
executives are the reason why the music is getting worse. Then they wonder
why the sales are going down. Theyre the reason why the sales are going down
because most of them want to be famous like us. Their position is to work to
push the product and now they are all playing that I wanna be a star game
with the shades in the club, whos got the biggest chain, the biggest watch, like
crazy. Its just bugged out how all these people changed in the last couple of
years. And these are the same people who are saying how the music should
sound now. Im like, Damn, whens the last time you was even in the street?
I was hanging the other day with gangbangers and I didnt see you. You cant
even walk down that same block. So its outta control. I call these executives at
these labels murderers. Straight up. The radio station people, all that. Theyre
all murderers. They get no love and respect from me. Im gonna continue to
stay that way so I can keep away from all those negative energies.
In the same vein, regarding programming directors and industry executives,
youve openly criticized radio DJs and commercial mixtape DJs for abandoning the tradition. What are some aspects that you feel are overlooked?
Being that hip hop originated in New York City, it should always be the
capital of having the roots of it still exist on a big scale with the commercial
stuff thats more popular. I have nothing against Lil Jon, Paul Wall, all that
stuff. I wont make that type of music, because I am the traditional style. Its
cutting and mixing. The DJ was the major part of the rhyme back then,
because the MCs would talk about my DJ Jam Master Jay, Mixmaster
Ice from U.T.F.O., and Roxanne came out with Howie Teethe DJ was
always the focal point.
It was DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.
Yup. On top of all that, it has to exist in order for the culture . . . if you dont
keep that part going, its going to bow out eventually. So someone has to
preserve that part of it. With Sirius Satellite Radio, they let me do it the way
its supposed to be done. If I never heard the mix shows with Marley Marl and
Red Alert, they way I heard it back in the early eighties, maybe I wouldnt be
doing what I do. But I heard it that way, so when I learned how to cut and
scratch and mix, I was like, All right, I got it. And they were breaking
records. It wasnt about taking the check. I mean, if you pay for respect, youre
fake anyway. Most of these people are paying for their respect of getting their
record spun. You know, payola always existed but when it comes to hip hop,
even if you do it, I guess do whatever you do. But when it comes to a mix show,
every single DJ has to play whatever songs are on that list. It doesnt even sound
authentic and the thing is, a mix show means that you mix your style for two or
three hours, then the next person comes on and they do their style. The way it is
now, its two or three mixes back to back, they all have to play whats on that
list, tacked on the wall. Even if they put two or three unheard-of songs, they still
have to pick at least ten to fifteen songs out of that list. Their job is on the line. If
we were bolder, if we grouped together and said, Nah, it aint going down like
that. You aint gonna do our culture like that, then we could lock it down and
make them follow the rules of how its supposed to be. But everybodys more
worried about their check and their job and all the benefits of getting into the
concert free. Their whole mind state basically is, I gotta suck a dick. This is
mainly aimed at the men. The women, you know, they suck whatever they
gotta suck, but more so toward the men because they talk slicker on the radio,
and their mouths are full of something they shouldnt be chewing on.
Now, you talk about preserving the culture. I attended a recent show of yours
in Brooklyn and the crowd was predominantly Anglo and Asian. It was a
huge turnout and a successful show, but who owns hip hop now? If its about
the need to preserve the culture, it seems that they are the population, or am
I mistaken?
No doubt. The reason why theyre the population now because once something blows up out of our culture, white folks are always going to embrace
something thats fresh and new. Were that intriguing as black people anyway.
So when it comes to the shift in the crowd, it is a little weird to see less black
people involved in it. But we have short attention spans to where once its out
of our hands we either let it go or privately wish for things to be right again.
With me, one of the ways that you bring it back to being correct is that
you gotta aim your music toward whats missing. Ghetto people are missing.
I welcome all races to come into our world and to enjoy the musicthat
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part isnt even a problem. I dont care if Im the only black person in the
room, that part is cool. In order for you to grab your own people back into
it, you have to have stuff that they can relate to that makes them say, You
know what? I wanna get back into investing in this. Most of the stuff is so
really, really watered down, you cant relate. I cant relate to a lot of the
garbage thats out here now because its like, every day aint a party. I mean,
theres nothing wrong with escaping and keeping your mind off the stresses
of the day, but the music came out of hard times. You still have to address
the matters at hand. We still have a lot of issues thats messed up with our
people and someones gotta speak on it to make sure it gets corrected. The
hustlers and gangbangers on the street are more hardheaded, so I aim my
music at them so they can get right. They are the future. Most of our black
males are getting killed off, so I know in order to hit them, I have to speak
their language. In order for them to really enjoy the stuff, what I do is keep
it as raw as possible. Its gotta be so hard-core that theyre like, Yo. This is
what Im spending my money on. Im trying to restore that and again, some
artists should be preserving the historythey do it with rock and roll, they
do it with jazzhip hops the only one that says once you hit your thirties,
you cant rap no more because youre too old. Why are we letting this
happen? I had to be on a mission so that once other people do it, it will
change things around.
You call some pop-rap garbage and watered down. What is real hip
hop? Who determines the criteria?
Real hip hop is dedicated to those who know how to listen to it and for
those who appreciate every aspect: the graffiti, the DJing, the rapping, the
break dancing, and the fifth element, which is beatboxing. All those elements
and the style that made it so good has to be appreciated. The guys appreciating it are my age from forty on down to late thirties, or the ones who got to
see it develop from its early stages to where it is now. Were the ones that
I aim it to. I dont care if its only ten people that really liked real hip hop.
Thats cool because we can all get together, start a whole movement from
scratch and turn it into something. But Ive seen more than ten people appreciate the artists that I appreciate, without having to be influenced by just
me. Just on their own judgment, they know that Brand Nubian is great, A
Tribe Called Quest and even Gang Starr, Cold Crush and Run-DMC, Im not
really concerned with the people that dont care about it. In order to build a
foundation, you have to recruit small and then go big, so if we have to start
from zero, then so be it. I never tried to push this culture on people who dont
really care for it. Even if they listen to the stuff on the radio, being that its
getting less and less pure, thats why the sales are declining. People take it for
granted that there arent a lot of real people out there. There arent a lot of
real people left, so the percentage that exist, we dont want the stuff that
were hearing now. We want something else.
So you dont want the tinkerbell sound?

Never. It doesnt go with our format. You know, create another type of
music.
In another interview, youve said that just because someones rapping over it
doesnt make it hip hop.
Exactly.
Okay. So the fact that someone contemporary, say Nelly Furtado, has teamed
up with Timbaland. Thats considered hip hop.
Thats a good pop record.
What about Justin Timberlake and Pharrell?
Good pop record.
What about the boundaries determining whats hip hop and whats not? Does
it box hip hop in and give it a limited definition?
In order to love hip hop, no matter where you come from, I dont care what
generation, you have to have an appreciation for the people that opened the
door for you. No one cares about the Rakims and the Big Daddy Kanes of
the world, and they are so vital to the culture. If we dont include them as
being appreciated, its not gonna live long. Now that the money has been a
bigger issue of keeping it going, no one cares about the history. If it doesnt
generate money, no ones really concerned. Me, Im always concerned because without the stuff that existed before, we wouldnt have what goes on
now.
History and context are important for you. Is that what keeps you inspired to
keep making music? Are you out to save hip hop from itself?
Without a doubt. Im going to keep preserving, keep it going. I love what it
did for my family, for my friends. I was able to get houses. It kept my boys off
the block, outta jail. Keeping it raw kept them outta jail, so they can do what
they do. Get money and feed their families. I know for fact, from experience,
that this is what Im going to continue to do in that aspect of keeping it true to
the art form. So theres no other way I can do it but that way.
It sounds like you have a serious love-affair with hip hop.
Definitely.
This love affair that you have, it doesnt sound like its going to be over
anytime soon. Retirements not on the horizon?
Not at all. Im gonna do this forever. When I see all these artists like Prince,
U2, and theyre still touring. Shit, the same thing applies to hip hop. You just
have to respect it and have knowledge of it. All that has to go into the mix in
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Oh shit. Whats that? And theyre trying to look at the label, write it down,
go to their party and are like, I got the new hot shit that I discovered. For
the sucker DJs, you would cover it up, or put the records in the tub to get the
label lifted off. Theres a guy who comes to the club I spin at now, who types
my entire playlist into his Blackberry. He goes to his club and plays the same
recordssloppybut its still my routine.
Well, thats like playing cards. The saying goes, You can look in my
hand . . .
But you cant play them like me. Sucker DJs, they still exist.
Is that also part of your inspiration?
Yeah. Switch it up a little. You can play the same records, but you cant
play them like me.
Afterword: The TwentyFour Most Overlooked

MCs in Hip Hop
Masta Ace
Those of us who consider ourselves to be true hip hop fans have at some point
engaged in a spirited discussion with our friends about who might be the best
rapper. The discussion inevitably escalates to a heated argument as we each
try to make our point on why a certain artist deserves or doesnt deserve to be
mentioned. Inevitably, there are some names that almost never get mentioned
in these debates. For whatever reason, these artists get overlooked by the
masses of hip hop fans despite their overwhelming talents and ability.
I have been asked to compile a list of the most overlooked MCs in the game,
the cats that rarely get mentioned in discussions of who is the best. It seems
appropriate that I was chosen to write this piece since in many peoples minds,
and my own I suppose, I myself fit into this category. It also is fitting that this
section was chosen to be the afterword of this book since these MCs have gone
through their careers being an afterthought in the minds of most hip hop fans.
Here are, in my opinion, twenty-four of the most overlooked MCs in hip
hop history. The list is based on lyrical talent and not song making or record
sales. The talent of these MCs is undeniable, but their lyrical significance has
been overlooked.
1. CHILL ROB G
Chill Rob was killinem with his lyrics in the early nineties with songs like
Court Is in Session and Let Me Show You from his album produced by
Mark the 45 King.
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Afterword
2. G DEP
Some may be surprised to see Dep on this list, but hes been consistently
putting words together in unique ways since his appearance on Gang Starrs
At the Mall from their Moment of Truth album.
3. GRAND PUBA
You cannot forget the impact that Puba had on the game with his colorful
flow and one-of-a-kind style of bragging.
4. CHUBB ROCK
Most people write this guy off because of minimal record sales, but in terms
of lyrics, Chubb really had a knack for connecting the dots and making words
sound incredible.
5. COMMON
Com is not in most peoples top twenty, but his lyrics speak for themselves.
He has done it at the highest level lyrically and still remained true to his
conscious message.
6. PHONTE (FROM LITTLE BROTHER)
Someone from the now school and reppin Little Brother to the fullest,
Phonte has really been raising eyebrows with his standout performances featured on several albums and LB mixtapes. His consistency gets him on this list
easily.
7. LAURYN HILL
I am sure Im not the only one who wishes L Boogie never discovered she
could sing. Her lyrical prowess as a straight-up MC is missed by the many
mainstream fans who bought her album.
8. GZA
How can you front on this Wu-Tang general who has been crushing us with
the rhymes since his anchor leg on Protect Ya Neck?
9. JUICE
This cat has never released a commercially recognized album but yet deserves to be on this list for his ability to do it on the highest level with writtens
and off the dome, which are both equally incredible.
10. LUDACRIS
I know youre thinking, What is this guy doing on here? With his
overwhelming commercial success and his proven ability to make hits,
Ludas talent as a lyricist gets lost in all the hype. Straight up, this guy is
nice.
Afterword
11. BLACK THOUGHT

Supertalented as an MC, Thoughts lyrical ability sometimes gets overshadowed and often drowned out by the great Roots movement.
12. ROYCE DA 59
Most dont mention Royce anywhere in their top twenty, but I have the
freestyles of him and Eminem trading verses on several occasions. If it werent
Em on the other side of those exchanges, this guy wouldve made history
already.
13. TALIB KWELI
Kweli has established himself as one of the most skilled from his early Black
Star days to the present.
14. MOS DEF
For the casual fan, Mos Defs talent as an actor has overshadowed the fact
that on the microphone he is incredibly talented.
15. ELZHI (FROM SLUM VILLAGE)
As in the case of Phonte, I hate to single out one member of a group because
its the contribution of each member that truly makes musical chemistry.
With that being said, Elzhi has consistently delivered incredible lyrical performances on the Slum Village projects, yet most dont know his name.
16. CANIBUS
So many of us confuse song making with lyrical talent. Canibus is without a
doubt one of the best MCs to ever spit a verse. His true talent can be heard on
any number of fifty-plus bar freestyles floating around the Internet. His ability
to put words together in unusual rhyme patterns is unparalleled.
17. LADY OF RAGE
Reppin for the ladies, the Lady of Rage is one of those rare talents who
writes all her own material and has always been able to hold her own against
the best, male or female.
18. LORD FINESSE
With his crowd-pleasing punch lines and his affiliation with the DITC
crew, Finesse has been one of the best and most entertaining MCs in the
game.
19. BUCKSHOT
This original member of the Boot Camp Clik led the way with incredible
flow and intense wordplay, first on the Black Moon album Enta Da Stage and
then with his contributions on all the BCC releases thereafter.
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Afterword
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20. TREACH
Somewhere in between all the success of Naughty by Nature and the long
list of hit records that came with it, people forgot that Treach was pretty nice.
Maybe we were too busy saying haaay, hoooo and yeah, you know me
to recognize his talent, but he deserves to be on this list.
21. DAS EFX
These guys deserve to be on this list as a collective duo because in my
opinion neither of them out performed the other. Their perfect balance of
talent makes them one of the best groups ever, and their EFX on every MC
from New York to New Zealand is well diggity documented.
22. KING TEE
I am not sure who his influences were, but its clear that King Tee is a
student of hip hop. His skill has transcended time and from his early days
until his performance on Dr. Dres Chronic 2001, Teela has been consistently
nice on the mic.
23. KEITH MURRAY
You will rarely hear Keith Murrays name mentioned among the best. Some
complain that they dont know what he is talking about. I suppose Keith is an
acquired taste, but I guess I am used to his flavor because he makes my list.
24. SAUKRATES
Because he reps Toronto, Canada, theres no wonder why this young talent
gets overlooked. The fact is Saukrates is supertalented, and maybe by virtue of
this list, more people in the United States will recognize his ability.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Madlib
Sean Price
Xzibit
Kurupt
Grand Daddy IU
Special Ed
Bahamadia
B Real (Cypress Hill)
Scarface (Geto Boys)
Andre 3000 (Outkast)
CL Smooth
Afterword
Kwame
Young Z
Tha Alkaholiks
Large Professor
The D.O.C.
Rah Digga
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EDITOR
MICKEY HESS is Assistant Professor of English at Rider University and the
author of Is Hip Hop Dead? The Past, Present, and Future of Americas Most
Wanted Music (Praeger Publishers). His scholarship on hip hop music has
been published in Critical Studies in Media Communication, Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature, Popular Music and Society,
and Computers & Composition.
CONTRIBUTORS
JERU THE DAMAJA hails from Brooklyn, New York, where he was born and
raised. Jeru was first introduced to hip hop in the local parks of his neighborhood at age seven, and started writing his own lyrics at age ten. Hip hop has
been a part of his life for as long as he can remember. Jeru created and took on
the persona of The Damaja (because he damages the mic) that is part conscious truth teller and part true to the streets Brooklyn hard rock. He first
showcased his hardcore Brooklyn style to audiences on Im the Man, a track
from Gang Starrs 1992 album Daily Operation. In 1993 he released his first
single, Come Clean, which was produced by DJ Premier and became an
instant underground hit. His first album, The Sun Rises in the East, released in
1994, and produced entirely by DJ Premier, is considered a classic, and was
one of the most acclaimed hip hop albums of its time.
On wax or in the ride, MASTA ACE is a true hip-hop hall-of-famer and
one of raps greatest lyricists. The rhyme veteran found a renewed energy for
making music in 2000 after a brief spell of industry disenchantment. The
rapper/producer re-entered the scene, dropping acclaimed singles on a variety
of independent labels, and a successful European tour in October of that year
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inspired him to connect with Yosumi and record Disposable Arts, his fourth
masterfully crafted collection of clever, streetwise wordplay and bangin
beats.
Masta Ace was raised in the projects (on the 7th floor) of Brownsville,
Brooklyn. He made his rap world debut in 1988 on the classic posse cut The
Symphony, from legendary producer Marley Marls In Control . . . Vol. 1
compilation, alongside Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and Craig G. In Control
also featured two Ace solo cuts, and a subsequent recording contract with
Cold Chillin Records led to his 1990 debut album, Take A Look Around,
featuring hip-hop classics like Music Man, Letter to the Better, and Me
And The Biz. After Cold Chillin failed to make Ace a priority, he bounced
to LA-based label Delicious Vinyl, where he teamed up with the Brand New
Heavies for a track on their Heavy Rhyme Experience, and dropped his own
second album, 1993s Slaughtahouse. Grimy rhymes about stick-up kids,
spraycan artists and wack emcees made Slaughtahouse an underground favorite, but it was Born To Roll, a ride-ready remix of Jeep Ass Niguh,
that made the album a national success.
A custom car fanatic himself, Ace found a new audience in the world of
shiny rims and boomin sound systems, which drove him to create his third
album, 1995s Sittin On Chrome. Meanwhile, Ace kept his hardcore hip hop
heads satisfied with joints like the 1994 title track from Spike Lees Crooklyn
soundtrack, rhyming over a Tribe Called Quest production with Special Ed
and Buckshot as The Crooklyn Dodgers, along with elusive basement-bangers
like Top Ten List.
SHAWN BERNARDO was born and raised on the bassy, rubber-burned
streets of Oakland, California, where he has been a lifelong participant in hip
hop culture and an avid devotee of the urban vernacular arts. An art historian
and a classicist by trainingdegrees from UC Berkeley and University of
London flank his kitsch poster of T La Rockhe is a corporate liaison by
profession who has spent the bulk of his professional career collecting breakbeats and vintage tracksuits. Labeled a retro-purist (and a hip hop snob), he
daily laments the passing of the golden era and frequently finds time to put
fingers to keyboard as a freelance writer on all things subculturally old school,
elevating underground hip hop and all of its former manifestations into the
canons of high culture and greater academia.
JOI CARR is an assistant professor of English at Pepperdine University. Her
research interests are interdisciplinary, including African American music and
texts, literature and film, and African American literature and religion. She
has written, directed, and produced several plays for the Multicultural Theatre Project, Seaver College, Pepperdine University. Her current work with this
project is developing an interdisciplinary method for engaging students in
critical reflection on difference: socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity,
religion, gender, and disabilities. She is also an independent artist with several
albums to her credit.
ROBIN CHAMBERLAIN is a doctoral candidate in the Department of
English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University. Her research interests
include the aesthetics of masochism in both contemporary popular music and
Victorian literature.
GEORGE CICCARIELLO-MAHER studies radical political theory at the
University of California, Berkeley. His interests include race, colonialism,
and liberation, and his work has appeared in Journal of Black Studies, The
Commoner, and Radical Philosophy Review. Additionally, he is interested in
Latin American political praxis, and he currently lives in Caracas, Venezuela.
CELNISHA L. DANGERFIELD, MA (Pennsylvania State University) is a
speech instructor at Chattahoochee Technical College in Marietta, Georgia.
Her research interests include identity negotiation, intercultural communication, African American communication, and popular culture. Her related
work includes Lauryn Hill as Lyricist and Womanist (2004), a piece that
explores the intersection of hip hop music and spirituality.
DAVID DIALLO is a doctoral candidate at LUniversite Michel de Montaigne, Bordeaux, France. His research interests focus on African American
expressive forms, the sociology of art, and contemporary social theory. He
has been a visiting research scholar in folklore at the University of Pennsylvania and at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and has contributed to
the Journal of American Folklore and Ethnologies.
TODD DILLS is the editor and publisher of The 2nd Hand, the Chicago
broadsheet and online magazine for new writing he founded in 2000. In
2004, he edited a best-of collection, All Hands On: A The 2nd Hand Reader.
He is the author of a novel, Sons of the Rapture, and a collection of short
stories, For Weeks Above the Umbrella, and his fiction and nonfiction have
appeared in several publications, including The Chicago Reader. He holds an
MFA from Columbia College Chicagos Fiction Writing department.
ATHENA ELAFROS is a doctoral student in sociology at McMaster University. Her masters thesis, Revolutionary but Gangsta: An Examination of
Message Raps and Gangsta Raps in the Late 1980s, examined definitional
debates in the music of four artists from the late 1980s North American rap
scene. Her PhD dissertation, funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SHRCC), will continue to examine popular music from a sociological perspective.
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JESSICA ELLIOTT is a freelance writer and a student at Indiana University

Southeast, where she is editor of the Undergraduate Research Journal and
associate editor of The IUS Review. She has presented her research at the
Midwest MLA Convention, and her fiction has appeared in the literary
magazine The 2nd Hand.
JASON D. HAUGEN is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Arizona, where he earned his PhD in
the Joint Program in Anthropology and Linguistics in 2004. He hails from
Houston, Texas.
DANIELLE HESS is an administrator in Princeton Universitys Humanities
Council.
FAIZA HIRJI is a doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism and
Communication at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She is
currently working on a dissertation about identity construction among Canadian youth of South Asian origin in relation to diasporic media such as Bollywood films. Her research interests include popular culture, ethnicity, and
migration.
T. HASAN JOHNSON is a PhD candidate in the Cultural Studies Department at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. A 2006
2007 academic year Ford Foundation Diversity Dissertation Fellow, he currently teaches at Pitzer College in the Intercollegiate Department of Black
Studies and the International and Intercultural Studies Department. His
research focuses on how Africana resistance cultures function in Africana
communities. His work also emphasizes how political ideology, icon construction, identity formation, and the imagination have been used as tools
for social agency, cultural development, and political mobilization.
DAVID J. LEONARD is an assistant professor in the Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies at Washington State University. He has written on
sports, video games, film, and social movements, appearing in both popular
and academic mediums. He has recently completed an edited volume on
sports films, to be published by Peter Lang, with another examining race
and the NBA scheduled for publication by SUNY Press. His work has appeared in Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies, and Game and Culture, as well as several anthologies, including
Handbook of Sports and Media and Capitalizing on Sport: America, Democracy and Everyday Life. He is a regular contributor to popmatters.com and
Colorlines Magazine. His work explores the political economy of popular
culture and globalized discourses of race, examining the dialectical interplay
of movements of popular culture, white supremacy, and state violence

through contextual, textual, and subtextual analysis.
ELIJAH LOSSNER is a journalism student at Indiana University Southeast.
He has been involved in hip hop for twenty years.
WAYNE MARSHALL (PhD in Ethnomusicology, University of Wisconsin
Madison 2006) is teaching at the University of Chicago as a postdoctoral
fellow during the 20062007 academic year. With an emphasis on migration,
mass media, and music as cultural politics, his dissertation, Routes, Rap,
Reggae: Hearing the Histories of Hip-hop and Reggae Together, examines
the long-standing and increasing interplay of American and Caribbean music.
He has taught courses on popular and electronic music, hip hop and reggae,
and ethnomusicological theory and method at Harvard Extension School,
Brown University, and University of WisconsinMadison. He has published
articles and reviews in Popular Music, Interventions, and The World of Music
while also writing for public outlets such as XLR8R and the Boston Phoenix
as well as on his blog, which has been featured in the Village Voice education
supplement, and from which a post on reggaeton, We Use So Many Snares,
has been selected for the DaCapo Best Music Writing 2006 anthology. He is
also an active DJ and producer of hip hop, reggae, and related styles, embracing the ways his studies inform his performances and vice versa.
AINE MCGLYNN is a PhD candidate in English at the University of
Toronto and has published articles on Kenyan novelist Ngugi Wa Thiongo.
She researches contemporary South African and Irish literature as well as the
literary historical context of transnationalism.
JEB ARAM MIDDLEBROOK is a doctoral student in the Program in
American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California in
Los Angeles. He is a hip hop MC, racial justice activist, and founder of the
company AR-15 (AntiRacist Fifteen) Entertainment LLC (www.AR15entertainment.com). He is the author of A Different Shade of White, Another
Kind of Male: A Guide to Using Privilege Responsibly (www.umn.edu,
2003) and is currently writing on gangsta rap and the prison system. Jeb
has worked with national hip hop recording artists KRS-One, dead prez,
and the Coup, and has been sought after by Def Jam Entertainment. Jeb is
featured in the book Other Peoples Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop
in White America (Bloomsbury Press, 2007) and the movie Making Whiteness
Visible (World Trust, 2006).
SHAMIKA ANN MITCHELL is a doctoral student in the English Department at Temple University. Her research area of interest is ethnic American
literature. She is an alumna of Seton Hall University and Syracuse University,
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where she completed her MA and BA in English (respectively). Currently, she

is in the beginning stages of her dissertation, which will focus on constructions of identity in contemporary black and Latino fiction.
CARLOS D. MORRISON, PhD (Howard University), is Associate Professor of Public Relations at Alabama State University. Dr. Morrisons research
focuses on black popular culture, rap music, and African American rhetoric.
He is the author of Death Narratives from the Killing Fields: Narrative
Criticism and the Case of Tupac Shakur (2003).
THEMBISA S. MSHAKA is senior copywriter for the worlds premiere
African American cable network, BET. She is the first creative services copywriter in their twenty-five-year history. A veteran of music advertising and
urban music journalism, she contributed to the sale of over 120 million
albums during her tenure at Sony Music, and was the first African American
and female rap editor of GAVIN. An established authority on urban culture,
the music industry, and radio, her opinions and insights have been featured in
several print and television outlets including VIBE, RapPages, Essence, and
NBC and FOX. She is also a board member for the Temple of Hip-Hop. Her
writings have been published in Launch.com, Essence.com, EMixshow Magazine, and Honey. She is currently at work on her first book, Handle Your
[music] Business: Her Guide to Entering, Navigating, and Exiting the Record
Industry. Also a voice-over actor and music supervisor, she is a member of
AFTRA.
NICOLE HODGES PERSLEY is a doctoral candidate in American Studies
and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. She is a professional
actress, writer, director, and artist. Her solo performances have been featured
at the World Stage, the Cali Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Harvard University,
and the Arm & Hammer Museum as well as national and international academic conferences. Her writing has been published in academic journals such
as Theatre Journal and pop culture publications such as Chicken Soup for the
African American Soul. Her academic interests include race and performance,
improvisation and identity, hip hop studies, critical theory, and African diaspora studies.
JAMES PETERSON is an assistant professor of English at Pennsylvania
State University, Abington College. He was a visiting lecturer and preceptor
in African American Studies at Princeton University and was the founding
media coordinator for the Harvard University Hip-hop Archive. Dr. Peterson
has assisted Dr. Cornel West and delivered the Hip Hop Studies lectures at
Princeton University (2004). He has also assisted and guest lectured in courses
taught by Dr. Michael Eric Dyson at the University of Pennsylvania (2004
2005). He has written numerous scholarly articles on hip hop culture, African
American literature, culture, and linguistics, as well as urban studies. He is

currently working on a book that explores in detail the lyrics and life of
Tupac Shakur (Praeger/Greenwood Press). Peterson has conducted interviews
with Gil Scott Heron, Dr. Manny Marable, Sistah Souljah, Snoop Dogg, and
DJ Jazzy Jeff and generally applies his journalistic skills and ethnographic
training toward innovative academic inquiry. Dr. Peterson has been featured
on BET and Bet.com (The Jeff Johnson Chronicles) and has published in
Callaloo, Black Arts Quarterly, XXL, Technitions, and Lexani magazine.
He has also been featured and/or quoted in VIBE Magazine, Philadelphia
Weekly, Southern Voices and the Wall Street Journal.
KATHERINE V. TSIOPOS-WILLS is an assistant professor at Indiana
UniversityPurdue University at Indianapolis. She has published original poetry and scholarly essays on rhetoric and cultural studies. She is the coeditor
of two collections: Politics of Information (2004) and Critical Power Tools:
Technical Writing and Cultural Studies (2006).
SUSAN WEINSTEIN is an assistant professor of English at Louisiana State
University in Baton Rouge, where she directs the secondary English concentration. She became interested in hip hop through her ethnographic research
with teenaged and young adult poets and lyricists in Chicago. Dr. Weinstein
has published articles in English Education and the Journal of Adolescent and
Adult Literacy, among others. She is currently working toward the publication of her book, That Aint How I Write: What Urban Youths Know
About Literacy and Learning, and conducting research on the national youth
poetry movement.
H. C. WILLIAMS is a graduate assistant at Florida State University, where
she teaches Freshman Composition and Writing About Insanity. She has explored such topics as popular culture, postmodernism, literature and Eastern
philosophy, literature and abnormal psychology, and poetry. Her poetry has
appeared in several publications, such as Mindfire Renew and Sage of Consciousness.
JENNIFER R. YOUNG is assistant professor of English at Hope College in
Holland, Michigan. She has written articles comparing hip hop culture and
lyricism to traditional literature. One of her recent articles discusses the relationship between Roxanne Shante, eighteenth-century poet Phillis Wheatley, and Niobe, a mythological character from Greco-Roman antiquity.
619
Index
2 Live Crew: hip hop timeline, xxvi;
Miami sound, 459
2Pacalypse Now, Tupac Shakur, 39697
2 Shades Deep, Andre Benjamin and
Antwon Patton, 458
3MCs, Grandmaster Flash with, 43
3rd Bass, racial politics, 34445
Acting career: Dre and Big Boi of
Outkast, 467; Ice Cube, 30913;
Method Man, 38283; Tupac Shakur,
400402
Adidas, Run-DMC and brand loyalty,
7981
Adler, Bill, Run-DMC management, 69
Adrock (Horovitz, Adam): Beastie Boys
career, 93, 95. See also Beastie Boys
The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash
on the Wheels of Steel, recording,
4445
Aerosmith, Walk This Way by RunDMC, 8184, 92
African roots and culture, Queen Latifah,
22528
Afrika Bambaataa: discography, 29091;
Zulu Nation, 265, 26970
Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic
Force, hip hop timeline, xxiii
Afrocentric fashion, rappers, 22021
Afrocentric philosophy, Native Tongues,

265
Afro-feminist philosophy, Native
Tongues, 27880
Afrofuturism, Outkast, 47073
Aftermath Entertainment: Dr. Dre, 324;
Eminem, 487, 489
Alcohol and drugs, Dr. Dre and Snoop
Dogg, 33031
Aliveness, Run-DMC, 8485
All About the Benjamins, Ice Cube, 313
All Eyes on Kanye West, MTV, 567
All Hail the Queen, Queen Latifah,
22425, 227, 27778
AmeriKKKas Most Wanted, Ice Cube,
3012
Answer records: female MCs, 12426;
Roxanne Shante, 53
Anti-Semitism: Ice Cube, 3045; rap,
17980, 181
Antiviolence, MC Lyte, 133
Apocalypse 91 . . . The Enemy Strikes
Black, Public Enemy, 18386
Aquemini: Outkast, 462; remaking
southern hip hop, 46769
Are We There Yet?, Ice Cube, 313
Arrests, Ol Dirty Bastard, 374
Artistic fearlessness, Outkast, 47172
Artistic influences, Nas, 35456
Asher D, raggamuffin hip hop, 13
ATLiens, Outkast, 461

A Tribe Called Quest: Beastie Boys and,
112; discography, 291; hip hop
timeline, xxvii; legacy of Native
Tongues, 28788; Native Tongues
breakup, 285; Native Tongues
member, 265, 27273; reggae and hip
hop, 13; rhythm and blues, 266.
See also Native Tongues
Authenticity: central subject of rap, 357;
Eminem, 485; female rappers, 2089;
Kanye West, 56364; Lil Kim,
45152
Bad Boy Records: Jay-Z on Bad Boy
Entertainment, 53435; Sean Combs
and, 42122; Tupac Shakur and
Notorious B.I.G., 43233
Balanced group, Outkast, 478
Barbershop, Ice Cube, 313
Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Queen
Latifah, 23637
Barrier, Louis Eric: growing up, 14751.
See also Eric B. & Rakim
Bathtub, soaking records, 12
Beastie Boys: acronym Boys Entering
Anarchistic States Through Internal
Excellence, 93; adolescent male
fantasy world, 1023; A Tribe Called
Quest, 112; California and New
York, 99100; Check Your Head,
1068; Def Jam by Rubin and
Simmons, 9597; discography, 116;
gangsta rap, 1012; Hello Nasty,
11113; hip hop and horror, 36970;
hip hop and rock, 9293; hip hop
outsiders, 9899; III Communication
Index
628
Grandmaster Flash (contd.)

hop, 4748; vocational training, 29;
Wild Style, 20
Grandmasters, GZA with DJ Muggs,
37273
Grand Puba, MC, 604
Grandwizard Theodore: little brother of
L Brothers, 34; scratching, 17, 28, 32;
student of Grandmaster Flash, 35;
Wild Style, 20
Gravediggaz, RZA in, 36970
Grice, Gary: GZA in Wu-Tang Clan,
365, 37173. See also GZA
Griff, Professor. See Professor Griff;
Public Enemy
Griffin, William Michael, Jr.: Rakim,
14647. See also Eric B. & Rakim;
Rakim
Grills, status symbols, 186
GZA: Beneath the Surface, 372;
discography, 389; Gary Grice, 371;
Grandmasters, 37273; Liquid Swords,
372; MC, 604; Words from the Genius,
Hard Core, Lil Kim, 44445
Hard-core gangsta rap: Geto Boys,
24346, 26163. See also Geto Boys
Hawkins, Lamont: U-God of Wu-Tang
Clan, 365, 38586. See also U-God
Haystak, white southern rapper, 49798
Hedonism, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg,
31819, 32932
Hello Nasty, Beastie Boys, 11113
Heltah Sheltah, reggae and hip hop, 13
Higher Learning, Ice Cube, 310
Hill, Lauryn: hip hop timeline, xxix; MC,
604; Ziggy Marley, 42
Hip hop: answer records, 12426; beef,
54; blues and, 34950; book of
rhymes, 35960; break dancers,
51920; Canada, 12021; car culture,
57172; censorship and, 39899;
comic books and, 37980; conscious,
53334, 54647; crack cocaine and
rise of, 395; culture of death, 42930;
Detroit scene, 482; Dirty South,
45860; DJ Premier interview,

57989; DJ Scratch interview,
591602; eras of development, 426;
exhibits, 117; fashion, 44243; father
figure in, 351; funk and, 474; global
phenomenon, 54344; grills, 186;
Hollywood, 2122; homophobia,
56869; horror and, 36970; Hot 97
WQHT radio, 45354; human
beatbox, 52; Islam and, 14950; jazz
and, 165; LA uprising, 306; law and,
44041; Mafia and, 377; message,
27475; metal and, 189; most
overlooked MCs, 6037; poetry, 495;
post-gangsta political, 19091; reality
television, 510; reggae and, 1314;
rock and, 9293; sampler, 33435;
sitcoms and, 23334; skits, 27576;
slang, 14344; slang crunk, 470;
Thug Life ideology, 40912;
turntables, 32; underground, 1516;
wigger as derogatory term, 48384;
Wild Style, 20; women in, 21819;
year 1977, 19
Hip hop industry, trickiness and RunDMC, 7376
Hip hop values, Eminem, 48586
Hip hop video, Run-DMC, 82
Hollywood: Ice Cube, 30913; Queen
Latifah, 23338
Homophobia: hip hop, 56869; Ice
Cube, 3045; Kanye West, 56769
Hornblower, Nathanial, Beastie Boys,
11011, 115
Horovitz, Adam (Adrock): Beastie Boys
career, 93, 95. See also Beastie Boys
Horror, Geto Boys music theme,
25153; hip hop and, 36970
Hot, Cool & Vicious, Salt-N-Pepa,
19899, 201
Houston rap scene: drug use in rap
music, 26061; Geto Boys, 243, 245;
impact on music industry, 262.
See also Geto Boys
Human beatbox, term, 52
Hunter, Jason, Inspectah Deck of
Wu-Tang Clan, 365, 38384
Index
Hurricane Katrina, Kanye West, 567,

570
Hustle and Flow, rap film, 244
Hype men, rappers, 176
I Am. . ., album by Nas, 34748
Ice Cube: accusations, 3045; acting
career, 30913; All About the
Benjamins, 313; AmeriKKKas Most
Wanted, 3012; Andre Young (Dr.
Dre) and, 296; Are We There Yet?,
313; Barbershop, 313; collaborations,
3089; collaboration with Sir Jinx,
296; controversy of No Vaseline,
3034; Death Certificate, 3024;
discography, 315; Doughboy, 30910;
Eazy-E, 297; education, 298;
emergence of West Coast gangsta rap,
29597; Friday, 31112; Friday After
Next, 313; The Glass Shield, 310;
going solo, 300308; Higher
Learning, 310; hip hop and LA
uprising, 306; Hollywood, 30913;
legacy, 31314; Lethal Injection,
3078; new beginning, 3089; N.W.A.
formation, 297300; N.W.A. reunion,
311; Oshea Jackson, 29495;
platform by hip hop, 29394; The
Players Club, 312; police abuse,
299300; The Predator, 3057;
Ruthless Records, 297, 301; St. Ides
malt liquor, 3045; social
consciousness, 295; Stereo Crew, 296;
Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A.,
299300; Three Kings, 312; Trespass,
310
Ice rap, Kanye West, 564
Ideology. See Thug Life ideology
Ice-T, hip hop timeline, xxv
Icons icon in hip hop, Run-DMC, 85
Ill Communication, Beastie Boys,
10811
Illmatic: album by Nas, 342, 34546;
videos, 35152
Immobilarity, Raekwon the Chef,
37778
Infinity Lessons, Zulu Nation, 26970
629
Insane Clown Posse (ICP), Eminems beef

with, 49394
Insane Poetry, hip hop and horror, 369
Inspectah Deck: discography, 388; Jason
Hunter, 383; The Movement, 384;
producer, 384; Uncontrolled
Substance, 38384. See also Wu-Tang
Clan
Intellectualism, Tupac Shakur, 4024
Interview: DJ Premier, 57989; DJ
Scratch, 591602
Ironman, Ghostface Killah, 380
Islam: Five-Percenter terminology,
14344; hip hop and, 14950
Island Black Music, Salt-N-Pepa, 206
It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us
Back, Public Enemy, 17679
It Was Written: Nas album, 34647;
videos, 35253
Jackson, Janet, Roxanne Shante, 6566
Jackson, Oshea, Ice Cube, 29495
Jacobs, Marc, fashion of Lil Kim, 448
Jamaica: Kool Herc, 2, 24; Notorious
B.I.G., 42324
James, Cheryl Salt Renee: after Salt-NPepa, 212; Salt-N-Pepa, 193, 19798.
See also Salt-N-Pepa
James, Rick, Roxanne Shante, 63
Jay-Z: approach to spirituality, 53839;
Bad Boy Entertainment and Sean
Combs, 53435; beef with Nas,
54546, 547; The Black Album,
53536; black masculinity, 540;
conscious hip hop, 53334, 54647;
crossover appeal, 544; debut album
Reasonable Doubt, 532; duet with
Beyonce, 54849; duet with Foxy
Brown, 54748; family, 530; formula
for success, 53742; future of new
recording industry, 54951; influences,
531; Jaz, 530; legacy, 55153; lyrics,
53738; marketability, 544; MTV
show Beyond Beef, 546; new type of
gangsta, 551; Original Flavor, 530;
president and CEO of Def Jam
Recordings, 53637; problem
Index
630
Jay-Z (contd.)
with 99 Problems, 54749; record
labels, 53031; reflective thug, 533;
Roc-A-Fella Records, 53132; role of
beef, 54447; Shawn Corey Carter,
529; social issues, 538; symbolic
representation, 53940; Tupac-Biggie
Smalls feud, 534, 54445;
underground vs. mainstream, 54244;
values and ideas, 544; virtual
blackness, 54041; wealth and fame,
54142
Jay-Z and Nas, hip hop timeline, xxix
Jaz, Jay-Z, 530
Jazz, hip hop and, 165
Jazz rap, 165
Jazzy Jeff, DJ, human beatbox, 52
Jones, Kimberly. See Lil Kim
Jones, Nasir: biography, 34243.
See also Nas
Jones, Russell: Ol Dirty Bastard of WuTang Clan, 37376. See also Ol Dirty
Bastard
Jordan, Brad: Scarface, 247. See also
Geto Boys
Juice, MC, 604
Juice movie, Tupac Shakur, 400402
Juice Crew: Big Daddy Kan, 5556; Biz
Markie, 60; influence on Nas, 355;
Kool G Rap, 5758; Masta Ace,
5657; Roxanne Shante, 51, 53,
5862
Jungle Brothers: discography, 291;
members of Native Tongues,
27071; Native Tongues breakup,
285
Just My Take, MC Lyte, 13334
Kanye West. See West, Kanye
Kid Rock, white southern rapper,
49899
King Tee, MC, 606
K Love, human beatbox, 52
Kool G Rap, Juice Crew, 5758
Kool Herc: accent, 58; block parties and
Saddler, 3031; break dancing, 78;
Clive Campbell, 1, 2; collaborator on
recordings, 23; commercialization

challenges, 1519; drug addiction, 22;
exposure to American music, 45;
family, 2; film Beat Street, 2021; first
party, 67; Herc, 5; hip hop and
reggae, 1314; hip hop timeline, xxi;
Kool, 56; merry-go-round
technique, 36; mixtape, 1112; name,
56; parties, 7, 19, 23; record
selection, 910; reggae roots, 25;
sound system, 89; stabbing, 19; style
of playing records, 1012, 14;
trailblazer status, 2324; Trenchtown,
2; underground hip hop, 1516;
VH1's Hip Hop Honors, 24; year
1977, 19
Kool Moe Dee, hip hop timeline,
xxiixxiii
Kriss Kross, reggae and hip hop, 13
KRS-One, hip hop and reggae, 13
KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions,
hip hop timeline, xxivxxv
Krush Groove, hip hop film, 20, 22
Kurtis Blow, hip hop timeline, xxii
Kutcher, Ashton, prank on Kanye West,
562
La Bella Mafia, Lil Kim, 447
Ladies First, Queen Latifah and Monie
Love, 22526, 278
Lady of Rage, MC, 605
LaFace Records: Outkast, 458, 460;
TLC, 517
Large Professor, Nas and, 344
LaRock, Scott, Criminal Minded, 13
Last Holiday, Queen Latifah, 237
Late Registration, Kanye West, 555, 557,
56667, 569, 57174
Lauryn Hill. See Hill, Lauryn
Law, hip hop and, 44041
Lawsuits, sampling, 1045
L Brothers, Grandmaster Flash, 34
Lee, Spike, Do the Right Thing, 18081
Lee George Quinones, graffiti artist,
20
Legend, John, Kanye West and, 565
Lethal Injection, Ice Cube, 3078
Index
Let the Rhythm Hit Em, Eric B &

Rakim, 15556, 161
Licensed to Ill, Beastie Boys, 100103
Life After Death, Notorious B.I.G.s
posthumous album, 434
Lil Kim: authentic rapper, 45152;
discography, 456; fashion, 44849;
feud with Foxy Brown, 45254;
gangsta rap, 444, 452; Hard Core,
44445; hip hop timeline, xxx;
inimitable style, 44849; Kimberly
Jones, 439, 44143; La Bella Mafia,
447; legacy, 45456; The Naked
Truth, 440, 44546, 45152, 455;
Notorious B.I.G., 43132, 44345;
The Notorious K.I.M., 445; notorious
life, 44146; personal feminism,
44648; plastic surgery, 45051;
prison sentence, 44041; use of
B-word, 45456
Liquid Swords, GZA, 372
Lisa Lee, female MC, 18
Literacy, Tupac Shakur, 4024
Live 8 concerts, Kanye West, 567
Living Out Loud, Queen Latifah,
235
Living Single, Queen Latifah, 23334
Livingston, Theodore. See Grandwizard
Theodore
Lockers dance group, hip hop timeline,
xxi
Lollapalooza, Beastie Boys, 109
London Records, Salt-N-Pepa, 2056,
209, 210
Lopes, Lisa Left Eye, TLC, 51718
Lord Finesse, MC, 605
Los Angeles area, Compton and Dr. Dre,
31920
Los Angeles uprising, hip hop, 306
Loud Records, Wu-Tang Clan, 36566
Love, Monie, duet with Queen Latifah,
22526, 278
Love songs, MC Lyte, 12627
Loyalty, MC Lyte, 127
Ludacris, MC, 604
Lyrical strategies: signifying, 12426;
storytelling, 12124
631
Lyrics: Jay-Zs formula for success,

53738; treatment of women,
10910
Lyte. See MC Lyte
Mafia, hip hop and, 377
Mainstream, underground vs., for Jay-Z,
54244
Makaveli, Shakurs alter ego, 4079
Male producers, female rappers with,
2056
Mama complex: Notorious B.I.G.,
41719; rappers, 39495
Marketability, Jay-Z, 544
Marketing, underground vs. mainstream
for Jay-Z, 54244
Marley, Bob, hip hop and reggae, 13
Marley Marls Juice Crew, hip hop
timeline, xxivxxv
Martin, Christopher. See DJ Premier
Masculinity, Jay-Z, 540
Mask, Ghostface Killah, 37879
Masta Ace, Juice Crew, 5657
Masta Killa: collaborations, 38485;
discography, 389; Elgin Turner, 384;
No Said Date, 384; vegetarian, 385.
See also Wu-Tang Clan
MCA (Yauch, Adam): Beastie Boys
career, 93, 95; Tibetan Freedom
Concert, 109. See also Beastie Boys
MC Lyte: answer records, 12426;
antiviolence initiatives, 133;
collaboration, 1367; community
health, 13134; discography, 140;
First Priority record label, 11920;
firsts in career, 13638; gender role
reversals, 12829; Lana Moorer
growing up, 11820; legacy, 138; love
songs, 12627; lyrical strategies, 121,
12326; music videos, 12731; name,
135; Rock the Vote, 133; signifying,
12426; spirituality, 13436;
storytelling, 121, 12324; subway
train, 12728; womanhood, 12627;
writing books, 13334
MCs: female, 18; hip hop timeline,
xxixxii; influence of Grandmaster
Index
632
MCs (contd.)
Caz, 18; most overlooked, in hip hop,
6037; outshining DJs, 17
Mean Gene, Grandmaster Flash, 34
Memphis rap scene, 24546
Merry-go-round technique, Kool Herc,
36
Message, hip hop, 27475
Metal, hip hop and, 189
Metaphor, technique of rap, 358, 360
Method Man: acting career, 38283;
Clifford Sparks, 381; discography,
388; reggae and hip hop, 14; solo
album, 381; Tical, 38182. See also
Wu-Tang Clan
Michigan, Detroit hip hop scene, 482
Microphone, rhymes, and crowd, Eric B.
& Rakim, 14546
Mind of a Lunatic, Geto Boys,
25354
Miss E. . .So Addictive, Missy Elliott,
51415
Missy Elliott: Adidas-sponsored clothing
line, 509; albums, 51221; awards,
508; break dancers, 51920;
childhood, 504; contributions to hip
hop, 51012; The Cookbook, 518,
52021; Da Real World, 51314;
digital identity, 5034, 52122;
discography, 527; fairy tales, 52223;
hip hop pioneer, 52526; inspiration
of Salt-N-Pepa, 505; Miss E. . .So
Addictive, 51415; partnership with
Timothy Mosley, 5057, 509, 51112;
R&B group Sista, 5056; reality
television, 509, 510; spokesperson for
Break the Cycle, 508; street credibility,
507; Supa Dupa Fly, 508, 51213;
Swing Mob, 506, 511; This Is Not a
Test, 518; turning point, 5045; Under
Construction, 516, 518; videos,
52125
Mixmaster Mike, Beastie Boys, 99,
112
Mixtapes:, 1112; promotion, 7273;
Raekwon the Chef, 378; Run-DMC,
79
MJG, Memphis rap scene, 245

Monie Love, duet with Queen Latifah,
22526, 278
Moorer, Lana: becoming MC Lyte,
11820. See also MC Lyte
Mos Def: breakout star for Rawkus
Records, 28990; MC, 605
Mosley, Timothy, Missy Elliott and,
5057, 509, 51112
Motown, Queen Latifah, 229
The Movement, Inspectah Deck, 384
Movies, hip hop culture, 458
Movie soundtracks, RZA, 370
Mr. Xcitement, U-God, 386
MTV, Run-DMC, 82
MTVs All Eyes on Kanye West,
Kanye West, 567
Murder of: Notorious B.I.G., 43233,
43536; Tupac Shakur, 392, 397
Murray, Keith, MC, 606
Music videos, MC Lyte, 12731
The Naked Truth, Lil Kim, 440, 445,
45152, 455
Names, rappers, 135
Nas: artistic influences, 35456;
authenticity, 357; beef with Jay-Z,
54546, 547; book of rhymes,
35960; childhood influences,
34243; discography, 36263; father
figure in hip hop, 351; Gods Son,
34849; Gods Son video, 35354; hip
hop and blues, 34950; I Am. . .,
34748; Illmatic, 342, 34546;
Illmatic videos, 35152; It Was
Written, 34647; It Was Written
videos, 35253; Juice Crew influence,
355; kings of New York, 35657;
Large Professor, 344; legacy, 36162;
literary techniques, 35861; Mahatma
Gandhi reference, 35960; major label
releases, 34350; metaphor, 360;
Nasir Jones biography, 34243;
Nastradamus, 34748; Rap Attack
radio show, 354; rap scene, 34142;
rhyme, 360; Stillmatic, 348; Stillmatic
video, 353; Streets Disciple, 349;
Index
Streets Disciple videos, 353; videos

and cover art, 35054
Nasal glide, Beastie Boys, 97
Nastradamus, album by Nas, 34748
National Museum of American History,
Nation of Islam: Five-Percenter
terminology, 14344; Islam and,
14950; Public Enemy, 170
Native Tongues: Afrocentric philosophy,
265; Afro-feminist philosophy,
27880; A Tribe Called Quest,
27273, 291; Black Sheep, 273, 291;
breakup of collective, 28587; Chi-Ali,
27374; context of development,
26769; defending pease, 28082;
De La Soul, 27172; discography,
29091; disrupting expectations,
27577; Infinity Lessons of Zulu
Nation, 26970; initial members, 265;
legacy, 28790; members, 27074;
message, 26970; Mos Def, 28990;
New York City: sixth element,
26768; philosophy of Zulu Nation,
27475, 286, 288; Prince Paul,
27172; princess of posse, 27778;
Queen Latifah, 27778, 286; Rawkus
Records, 28889; rhyme style, 28485;
rhythm and blues, 266; role of
collective, 28085; selling message,
27475; skits, 27576; solidarity and
positive thinking, 26567; speaking in
tongues, 28285; The Jungle Brothers,
27071, 291; unity of sound, 28285;
women and, 27780
New York City, Native Tongues, 26768
Next Friday, Ice Cube, 313
Next Plateau Records, Salt-N-Pepa, 198,
2023
Nihilism, Thug Life ideology, 410
No Said Date, Masta Killa, 384
Notorious B.I.G.: Bad Boy Records,
42122; Biggie Smalls, 417, 41920;
big-time MCs, 41920; Cwest, 419;
discography, 438; education, 41819,
420; formative years, 41924; hip hop
development, 426; hip hops culture of
633
death, 42930; hip hop timeline,

xxviii; Jamaican heritage, 42324;
legacy, 43337; Life After Death, 434;
Lil Kim, 43132, 44345; mother as
primary caregiver, 41718; murder,
433, 43536; music and short life in
limelight, 43033; platinum era,
42428, 430; Ready to Die, 423,
42425, 43031; Sean Puffy
Combs, 42122; sex appeal with
women, 42728; suicidal songs, 428,
430; Tupac Shakur and, 43233,
43536, 534, 54445; Uptown/Bad
Boy, 42223; women in his life,
43132
Notorious K.I.M.. See Lil Kim
N.W.A.: discography, 315, 340;
formation, 297300; hip hop and
Mafia, 377; hip hop timeline, xxvi; Ice
Cube going solo, 300301; reunion,
311
Ol Dirty Bastard: acting out at awards
shows, 37475; arrests, 374; death,
374, 37576; discography, 389; drug
problems, 374, 37576; Nigga Please,
375; Return to the 36 Chambers: The
Dirty Version, 37374; Russell Jones,
373; X-rated material, 37374.
See also Wu-Tang Clan
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Raekwon the
Chef, 37678
Orange Crush, Run-DMC, 72
Order in the Court, Queen Latifah,
23031
Original Flavor, Jay-Z, 530
Outkast: acting, 467; Afrofuturism,
47073; Andre Benjamin and Antwon
Patton, 45758; Aquemini, 462;
Aquemini millenium, 46769; artistic
fearlessness, 47172; ATLiens, 461;
balanced group, 478; black class
generational divide, 46364; blingbling phenomenon, 469;
collaboration with Goodie Mob,
46061; fast rappers, 56061;
fighting categorization, 47376;
Index
634
Outkast (contd.)
funk, 473, 474; Grammy Awards, 465;
hip hop timeline, xxviii; influences,
47678; LaFace Records, 458, 460;
legacy, 47880; litigation by Rosa
Parks, 46264; musical creativity,
47576; personas, 472; potential
breakup, 479; reinventing music,
47073; relationship, 458; remaking
southern hip hop, 46769; slang
crunk, 470; So Fresh, So Clean
with Sleepy Brown, 465;
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, 460;
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,
46667; Stankonia, 46465; style,
47273
Outsiders, Beastie Boys, 9899
Owens, Dana Elaine: queen of hip hop,
22224. See also Queen Latifah
Paid in Full, Eric B & Rakim, 15153
Parents Music Resource Center, hip hop
timeline, xxiv
Parks, Rosa, litigation against Outkast,
46264
Parties, Kool Herc, 7, 19, 23
Patton, Antwon: 2 Shades Deep, 458;
aliases, 458; relationship with Andre
Benjamin, 45758. See also Outkast
Pauls Boutique, Beastie Boys and
contributions, 1036
Pease defense, Native Tongues,
28082
Peek-a-boo system, Grandmaster Flash,
3536
Performing art school, Tupac Shakur, 394
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals), Masta Killa, 385
Phonte from Little Brother, MC, 604
Pimp persona, Snoop Dogg, 33839
Plastic surgery, Lil Kim, 45051
The Players Club, Ice Cube, 312
Poetry, hip hop, 495
Police, brutality and racist history,
299300
Political hip hop: post-gangsta, 19091;
Public Enemy, 18687, 19092
Political lyrics, MC Lyte, 13031

Political rap, Public Enemy, 16970
Politics: 3rd Bass, 34445; Eminem,
49697; Kanye West, 56674
Positivity: Native Tongues, 267, 26970;
Queen Latifah, 21719, 226
Post-gangsta political hip hop, 19091
The Predator, Ice Cube, 3057
Premier, DJ. See DJ Premier
The Pretty Toney Album, Ghostface
Killah, 380
Prince Paul, member of Native Tongues,
27172
Prison imagery, Tupac Shakur, 397
Prison sentence, Lil Kim, 44041
Professor Griff: controversy, 18283
Minister of Information, 18081
Public Enemy, 170. See also Public
Enemy
Proud to Be Black, Run-DMC, 87
Psychological breakdown, Geto Boys
music theme, 25354
Public Enemy: anti-Semitism, 17980, 181
Apocalypse 91 . . . The Enemy Strikes
Black, 18386; Bomb Squads sonic
boom, 17273; breakdown of Bomb
Squad, 18283; Carlton Douglas
Ridenour (Chuck D), 170; Do the
Right Thing by Spike Lee, 18081;
early years, 17072; Eric Vietnam
Sadler, 17273; Fear of a Black Planet,
18283; gangsta rap, 184, 18688;
Griff controversy, 18081, 18283;
Hank and Keith Shocklee, 17071; hip
hop and metal, 189; hip hop timeline,
xxv; hype men, 176; It Takes a Nation
of Millions to Hold Us Back, 17679;
legacy, 18892; political hip hop,
18687; political rap, 16970;
postgangsta political hip hop,
19092; Professor Griff and Hank
Shocklee, 170; Spectrum Show,
17172; Spike Lee, 180, 18485; Stop
the Violence, 187; Yo! Bum Rush the
Show, 17476
Public Enemys Terminator X, Kool Herc
collaborator, 23
Index
Q-bert, turntablist, 3839

Quayle, Dan, censorship of Tupac
Shakur, 39798
Queen Latifah: African roots and culture,
22528; Afrocentric fashion, 22021;
All Hail the Queen, 22425, 227,
27778; Barbershop 2: Back in
Business, 23637; Bringing Down the
House, 221, 236; Chicago, 221,
23536; Cover Girl spokesperson,
219, 23738; creative and financial
control, 22829; death of brother
Winki, 23132; discography, 241,
291; duet with Monie Love, 22526,
278; early years, 22224; father,
22223, 232; filmography, 241; highs
and lows, 23133; hip hop and
sitcoms, 23334; hip hop timeline,
xxvi, xxviixxviii; Hollywood,
23338; Last Holiday, 237; legacy,
23840; Living Out Loud, 235;
Motown, 229; name, 223; Native
Tongues, 27778; nurturing female
rappers, 22930; Order in the Court,
23031; overcoming stereotypes for
women in hip hop, 21819; positivity,
21719, 226; professional and
confident, 22122; Shes a Queen:
A Collection of Hits, 231; success,
286; The Dana Owens Album, 233,
238; Tommy Boy, 224, 227, 229;
U.N.I.T.Y., 230
Queen of Rox, Roxanne Shante,
6264
Quick mix theory, Grandmaster Flash,
33
Quinones, Lee George, graffiti artist,
20
Racial chauvinism, Beastie Boys, 9899
Racial politics 3rd Bass, 34445
Racism, Ice Cube, 3045
Radio show, Nas on Rap Attack, 354
Radio station, Hot 97 WQHT and hip
hop, 45354
Raekwon the Chef: Corey Woods, 376;
discography, 388; Immobilarity,
635
37778; Mafia theme, 37677;

mixtapes, 378; Only Built 4 Cuban
Linx, 37677. See also Wu-Tang
Clan
Raggamuffin hip hop, hybrid, 13
Raising Hell, Run-DMC, 8586
Rakim: collaboration with Dr. Dre,
15860; discography, 167; Five
Percent Nation and Islam, 14344;
flow, 163; growing up, 14647; Islam
and Five Percent Nation, 149;
microphone, rhymes, and crowd,
14546; retail powerhouse brand, 159;
return, 15660; Rugrats: The Movie,
157; style, 14246, 162; William
Michael Griffin, Jr., 146. See also Eric
B. & Rakim
Rap, anti-Semitism, 17980
Rap-A-Lot Records, Geto Boys, 248,
250, 261, 264
Rap Attack radio show, Nas, 354
Rap film, Hustle and Flow, 244
Rap music: feminism, 200201; Salt-NPepa, 19697
Rapper-producer dynamic, hip hop
groups, 477
Rappers: categories for hip hop groups,
47678; credibility and law, 44041;
fashion, 44243; fast, 56061; hype
men, 176; mama complex, 39495;
mixtape promotion, 7273; names,
135; number exploding, 1718;
vegetarians, 385
Rap recordings, doing away with hip hop
DJ, 19
Rawkus Records: hip hop, 28889; Mos
Def, 28990
Ready Rock C, human beatbox, 52
Ready to Die, Notorious B.I.G., 423,
42427, 43031
Reality television: hip hop and, 510;
Missy Elliott, 509
Realness, central subject of rap, 357
Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Zs debut, 532,
537
Recording industry, Jay-Z and future of
new, 54951
Index
636
Red Ant Entertainment, Salt-N-Pepa,

206
Reflective thug, gangsta rap, 533
Reggae: Criminal Minded, 13, 22; hip
hop and, 1314; Kool Herc, 25
Religious conversion, Run-DMC, 88
Remix phenomenon, The Black Album,
53536
Respect, old-school keyword, 42
Retirement, rumor of Eminem, 499501
Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty
Version, Ol Dirty Bastard, 37374
Revolutionary vision, Public Enemy,
18688
Rhyme, technique of rap, 358, 360
Rhyme book, hip hop, 35960
Rhyme style, Native Tongues, 28485
Rhythm and blues, range of musical
styles, 266
Ridenour, Carlton Douglas: Chuck D,
170. See also Public Enemy
Robinson, Darren, human beatbox, 52
Robinson, Sylvia, Grandmaster Flash,
4346
Roc-A-Fella Records: Jay-Z, 53132;
Kanye West, 556
Rock, hip hop and, 9293
Rock, Chris, Grandmaster Flash, 44
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland),
Rock Steady Crew, hip hop timeline, xxii
Rock the Vote, MC Lyte, 133
Roland Tr-808, drum machine, 75, 148,
163
Roper, Deidre DJ Spinderella: after
Salt-N-Pepa, 212; Salt-N-Pepa, 193,
19798, 201. See also Salt-N-Pepa
Roxanne Wars phenomenon, Roxanne
Shante, 53
Royce da 5'9'' , Eminems beef with, 494;
MC, 605
Rubin, Rick: Beastie Boys, 9596; Def
American, 96; Def Jam, 71, 7879; hip
hop timeline, xxiv; Run-DMC
management, 69
Rumors, early retirement of Eminem,
499501
Run-DMC: Cold Crush Brothers, 74;

concert violence, 8586; debut, 70,
7273; defining hip hop, 6970; Def
Jam, 70, 71, 7879; Def Jam logo,
84; discography, 90; growing up,
7678; hip hop and reggae, 13; hip
hop brand, 70; hip hop branding,
7981; hip hop timeline, xxiii, xxiv;
hip hop video, 82; legacy, 8889;
management team, 69; My Adidas,
7981; new look, 8485; promotion,
74; Proud to Be Black, 87;
Raising Hell, 8586; religious
conversion, 88; Son of Byford,
7678; Sucker MCs, 7273;
trickiness of industry, 7376
Ruthless Records: Dr. Dre, 32123;
Eazy-E, 321; Ice Cube, 297, 301
RZA: discography, 389; Gravediggaz,
36970; influences, 371; movie
soundtracks, 370; Robert Diggs, 368;
The Wu-Tang Manual, 37071;
vegetarian, 385; Wu-Tang Clan, 365,
RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo, 370
St. Ides malt liquor, Ice Cube, 3045
Saddler, Joseph. See Grandmaster Flash
Sadler, Eric Vietnam: Bomb Squad,
170, 17273, 177. See also Public
Enemy
Salt-N-Pepa: authenticity of female
rappers, 2089; Blacks Magic, 2035;
Brand New, 21011; discography,
21516; early years, 19798; end of
Blacks Magic, 2056; female rappers
in 1980s, 19597; female rappers with
male producers, 2056; feminism in
rap music, 200201; hip hop timeline,
xxiv; Hot, Cool & Vicious, 19899,
201; inspiration to Missy Elliott, 505;
legacy, 21213; London Records,
2056, 209, 210; Next Plateau
Records, 198, 2023; officially
disbanded, 212; Red Ant
Entertainment, 206, 210; rise to
stardom, 2013; strong, independent
Index
women, 19395; Super Nature, 198;

Very Necessary, 2067, 20910;
women and DJ culture, 194; womens
issues, 19697
Sampler, term, 33435
Sampling, lawsuits, 1045
Sandra Lady Pink Fabara, graffiti
artist, 20
Saukrates, MC, 606
Scarface: Brad Jordan, 247; solo career,
25658. See also Geto Boys
Scratch: DJ Q-bert, 41; Grandmaster
DST, 42
Scratching: DJ Q-bert, 41; Grandwizard
Theodore, 17, 28, 32
Sean Paul, hip hop-generation dance hall
DJ, 13
Secret identity, Ghostface Killah, 37879
Selectors, Jamaican term for DJ, 3940
Sex appeal, Notorious B.I.G., 42728
Sexual abuse, Tupac Shakur, 397
Sexual politics, Geto Boys theme,
25455
Sexual prowess, Dr. Dre and Snoop
Dogg, 33132
Shabba Ranks, reggae, 13
Shakur, Tupac: 2Pacalypse Now,
39697; actor, 400402; alter ego
Makaveli, 4079; C. Delores Tucker,
397400; censorship, 397400;
clothing, 41112; controversial Don
Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory,
4046; Digital Underground (DU),
396; discography, 41415; East
Coast-West Coast feud, 39293, 534;
embrace of death, 410; formative
years, 39395; hip hop timeline,
xxviii; intellectualism, 4024; Juice,
400402; legacy, 41213; life after
death, 4079; literacy, 4024; mama
complex, 39495; meaning of name,
393; murder, 392, 397, 43233;
nihilism, 410; notoriety, 397;
Notorious B.I.G. and, 43233,
43536, 534, 54445; performing arts
school, 394; prison imagery, 397;
sexual abuse, 397; social and political
637
commentary of Don Killuminati,

4067; Thug Life ideology, 40912
Shante, Roxanne: abuse by men, 6263;
answer record, 53, 12426; Cold
Chillin Records, 5859, 63;
discography, 68; education, 6364;
exploitation, 6264, 65, 67; Fly Ty,
5859, 62; innocence lost, 5859;
Janet Jackson, 6566; Juice Crew, 51,
53, 5558; legacy, 6467; Lolita
Shante Gooden, 58; lyric contest with
Sparky D, 6162; Marymount
University, 64; Queen of Rox,
6264; Rick James, 63; Roxanne Wars
phenomenon, 53; teen rap prodigy, 55;
U.T.F.O., 53, 61
Sha Rock, female MC, 18
Shaw, Richard: Bushwick Bill, 247.
See also Geto Boys
Shocklee, Hank, Public Enemy, 170
Shocklee, Keith, Public Enemy, 17071
Signature sound, Dr. Dre, 33233,
33536
Signifying: MC Lyte, 11718, 12426;
rap names, 135
Simmons, Russell: Beastie Boys, 9597;
Def Jam, 71, 7879, 96; Def Jam logo,
84; Grandmaster Flash, 44; hip hop
timeline, xxiv; Run-DMC management,
69, 74; vegetarian, 385
Sir Jinx, Ice Cube and, 296
Sista, girl group with Missy Elliott,
5056
Sitcoms, hip hop and, 23334
Sizzla, hip hop-generation dance hall DJ,
13
Skits, hip hop, 27576
Slang, hip hop, 14344
Slick Rick, storytelling, 122
Slim Shady LP, Eminem, 48990
Smif-N-Wessun, reggae and hip hop, 13
Smith, Will, human beatbox, 52
Snoop Dogg: aliases, 337; criminal
background, 32426; Death Row
label, 32729; discography, 340; flow,
337; gangsta persona, 33839; hip hop
and horror, 370; nickname, 326;
Snoop Dogg (contd.)

persona, 33639; pimp persona,
33839; shooting death and trial,
32728; studio gangsta, 32526.
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546
songs, 12
538
Flash, 4546

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ICONS OF HIP HOP

ICONS OF HIP HOP

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The paper used in this book complies with the

A Timeline of Hip Hop History, Nicole Hodges Persley

Kool Herc, Wayne Marshall

Nas, Susan Weinstein

Afterword: The Twenty-Four Most Overlooked MCs in Hip Hop,

Each of our twenty-four profiles features in-depth coverage of the artists

provocative title sparked a lot of response, including an on-air debate between

A Timeline of Hip Hop

Jamaican American DJ Kool Herc creates the breakbeat by

The Lockers dance group is started in Los Angeles by Don

A Timeline of Hip Hop History

toasting to talk over breakbeats and move the crowd to action.

The Rock Steady Crew is founded by Jojo and Jimmy D in the

Sugarhill Gang releases Rappers Delight, considered the first

Kurtis Blow becomes the first rap artist to release a full-length

Turntable scratching is featured on Grandmaster Flashs The

A Timeline of Hip Hop History

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five release The Message,

Run-DMCs self-titled debut album is released, and their music

U.T.F.O. records the song Roxanne, Roxanne, which disses a

Each of our twenty-four profiles features in-depth coverage of the artists

provocative title sparked a lot of response, including an on-air debate between

A Timeline of Hip Hop

Jamaican American DJ Kool Herc creates the breakbeat by

The Lockers dance group is started in Los Angeles by Don

A Timeline of Hip Hop History

toasting to talk over breakbeats and move the crowd to action.

The Rock Steady Crew is founded by Jojo and Jimmy D in the

Sugarhill Gang releases Rappers Delight, considered the first

Kurtis Blow becomes the first rap artist to release a full-length

Turntable scratching is featured on Grandmaster Flashs The

A Timeline of Hip Hop History

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five release The Message,

Run-DMCs self-titled debut album is released, and their music

U.T.F.O. records the song Roxanne, Roxanne, which disses a

A Timeline of Hip Hop History

Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons form Def Jam Records,

Tipper Gores group PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center)

Run-DMCs Raising Hell is the first platinum hip hop album. On

Salt-N-Pepas Hot, Cool & Vicious album debuts, bringing new

A Timeline of Hip Hop History

featuring exchange responses from the Juice Crew and Boogie

Ice-Ts Six in the Morning becomes a hallmark of West Coast

Yo! MTV Raps is born. The show is so popular that it is soon

A Timeline of Hip Hop History

N.W.A.s Straight Outta Compton becomes a breakthrough

Queen Latifahs All Hail the Queen debuts. Ladies First

De La Soul releases 3 Feet High and Rising. Their eclectic sound

The Miami group 2 Live Crew releases the album As Nasty as

Vanilla Ice becomes one of the most successful white rappers in a

A Timeline of Hip Hop History

Death Row Records is founded by Suge Knight and Dr. Dre

Conservative activist C. Delores Tucker begins her boycott of

Queen Latifahs album Black Reign produces the hit U.N.I.T.

A Timeline of Hip Hop History

Hollywood. In 2004 she departs from rapping to record a jazz