With a James Brown-sampling beat from Marley Marl, this ode to Queensbridge instigated a full-blown regional war when the Bronx’s Boogie Down Productions released “The Bridge Is Over.” Things got so heated that Marley claimed BDP made their record using a stolen reel of his drum sounds. “ was the first ‘rep your hood’ record,” recalled MC Shan. Outkast, “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)”īefore his sudden death in 2007, rapper Pimp C celebrated his release from jail with this lush posse cut: Houston’s reigning hip-hop duo UGK were joined by fellow Dirty South crews Outkast and producers Three 6 Mafia for a celebration of playalistic splendor over a sweet sample from the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film The Mack. Sure! and I tried to get Keith Sweat but they were busy doing their stuff, so I said I’ll do it.” For “Just a Friend,” he donned a powdered wig to play piano in the video and bellowed an outlandish interpolation of Freddie Scott’s 1968 soul hit “(You) Got What I Need.” Said Biz, “I tried to get Al B. Rotund, uproarious Biz Markie is one of hip-hop’s most lovable figures. Teenage producer Lex Luger came up with more than 200 beats in a week, one of which became the backdrop for Ross’ high-def hustler fantasy “B.M.F.” Ross compares himself to drug lords like Chicago’s Larry Hoover and Detroit’s Big Meech, who later called the song “a priceless way of recognizing and paying homage to me and the B.M.F. “How do we get him to everybody?” The answer was “Bling Bling,” which hooked a diamond-studded slang term to a synth-y bounce and landed it in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. “There’s no way we’re gonna sell this album ’cause all of the songs are so street,” said Cash Money producer Mannie Fresh of rapper B.G.’s fourth LP. “They’re like, ‘ ’93 ’til infinity.’ It means so many different things to so many different people.” “Now you have younger generations who were born in ’93,” said Phesto. Over amped-up sax and marimba, A-Plus, Tajai, Opio and Phesto traded flicking, word-spilling vignettes with uncanny exuberance. The Oakland collective’s lone hit was a transporting blast of youthful talent. Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott, “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”Īfter years in the industry shadows as a producer-writer-guest, Elliott emerged as a singular hip-hop figure with “The Rain.” Timbaland’s stop-motion digital syncopation and her giddy vocal gymnastics gave the song a playfully futuristic tint that Hype Williams’ groundbreaking video only enhanced.“To this day, when we perform it,” said Krayzie Bone, “there will be, like, 20 people in the crowd crying.” At the time, Bone Thugs had lost several loved ones, including Eazy E, who signed them in 1993. One of hip-hop’s most powerful mourning anthems put Midwest hip-hop on the map. Producer Sadat X couldn’t get the “what I am” refrain from Edie Brickell’s 1988 hit to fit an Ohio Players drum break, so he brought a vocalist in to sing it, not that anyone noticed. But Brand Nubian were so good they made it seem like a sure thing. “That’s what the song is about.”Īn Afrocentric crew who rapped about not dating crackheads were hardly natural stars. “Even amongst all that dark and destitution, there’s that underlying possibility that you just might be able to do it,” Keys said. With a vocal from Keys, the song took on an angelic power. This towering New York anthem began as a demo by Angela Hunte, who grew up in the same Brooklyn building as Jay Z, and Jane’t Sewell-Ulepic. Jay Z and Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”.“ my underdog song,” she said, “but it’s become the biggest song.” In 2008, it blew up into one of the unlikeliest Top 10 jams ever. “Paper Planes” was a Clash-sampling shot at immigrant-fearing Westerners, complete with gunshot sound effects. Maya Arulpragasam was a globally connected radical who turned into one of hip-hop’s most forward-thinking artists. “Get Low” was the Number Two hit that signaled the peak of the high-energy, high-alcohol-content, shout-happy movement known as “crunk.” Ying Yang Twins brought the “to the windows, to the walls” hook (originally a black fraternity chant), and yowler-producer Lil Jon flipped it into over-the-top party music. “When I was singing ‘Grab it like you want it,’ I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about,” Tigra recalled. The first national Miami bass hit came from Lady Tigra and Bunny D, teenagers with personality for days who met as dancers on a local TV show and had rhyme battles with boys in the high school lunchroom.
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