DMX, the dog of the squad, was born December 18, 1970 in Baltimore Maryland in the projects. His family knew in the area he lived that he would get in trouble a lot
so he moved to Yonkers New York with his aunt. There he showed a talent in music. He was signed to Columbia Records where his first album was brought out called Born Loser. Peepz wasn't feeling him then in 1996..so he had to come out with something rougher and harder. That's when he started appearing on artists songs such as LL cool J, John forte, The Lox , Ma$e and many more. Peepz was feeling him then so he knew he had to come out with something strong to keep him image alive. That's when 98 came around and he brought out It's Dark and Hell is Hot was under Def Jams Records which sold 3 million copies. Now he is one of the best Eastcost rappers alive. He says he started rappering for the ladies and if he wasn't the best rapper right now he would have been stop rappering...but he is the best.So lets welcome Dmx to our world...Where my doggs at.
If there was one defining characteristic to hip hop in 1997, it was the jiggy factor- an aesthetic of unapologetic flash, fashion and glamour that ruled everything around us and made hip hop life nice and organized. Of course, for each movement there always exists a counter-movement; for each yin there is a yang; and for each designer-label clad champagne sipper, there must be an uncompromised figure lurking in the shadows, ready and willing to reclaim rap from the penthouse to the pavement. Embracing this return to the anarchy, enraged and raw, Def Jam Records presents 1998 as the Year of Pandemonium. The human embodiment of such exhilarating and unadulterated chaos exists in none other than Ruff Ryders/Def Jam's very latest lyrical sensation, DMX. "I love to write rhymes," says the Yonkers-born MC. "I love to express what real niggas feel, what street niggas feel. They need to be heard. They need to know there is a voice that speaks for them, and I am that voice." Within the tumultuous annals of hip hop's dog-eat-dog history, second chance opportunities are few and far between. However, every now and then the experienced and distinguished bark of a particularly cagey canine re-emerges from rap's chaotic kennels, representing the triumph and perseverance inherent in true greatness.
Jay-Z was born Shawn Corey Carter on December 4, 1969. He grew up in the infamous Marcy projects in Brooklyn with a sister and a brother. You would think that just growing up on the Marcy projects would be hard enough on a kid, but at the age of twelve, Shawn’s parents got a divorce. Shawn then attended the Brooklyn High school with two of today’s better known rappers, Biggie Smalls and Busta Rhymes.
Tupac Shakur was an actor and a rapper. He was born in Harlem, New York on June 16, 1971, as Lesane Parish Crooks. Both his mother and father were members of the Black Panthers, which later in his career influenced his political views in his songs .At the age of 13, he began his acting career in the production, “Raisin in the Sun” at the Apollo Theater. Tupac’s mother was single mother of two and struggled with money, forcing them to move around a lot and often stay in shelters.Tupac went to Baltimore School of Arts before dropping out and moving to Marin County in California at the age of 17.
Biggie Smalls was the son of Jamaican parents, Violetta Wallace and George Latore. His father left the family when Biggie was just one years old. In Biggie’s early life, he was surrounded by drug dealing and other negative pursuits. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 21, 1972 and grew up on 226 St. James Place in a ghetto area. Biggie dropped out of high school at the age of seventeen. He often told his mother that he saw education as useless and a waste of time. At this point in his life, Biggie turned to drugs and became a crack dealer which became his only source of income. During this same year, he was caught doing a routine drug exchange in North Carolina in 1990 and was sent behind bars for nine months. Biggie called this event, “a blessing in disguise.” When he was released from jail, he began to turn to
Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City. His birth name was Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971. Both of his parents were members of the Black Panther Party. Tupac Shakur was a vocal participant during the East Coast and West Coast hip hop rivalry. He went to high schools in California and Maryland.
After a while he stated to want more so he began to rob people mostly women he carried this pocket knife and was a threat to anyone who stood in his way. Earl was kicked out of school and forced to move into a alternative school at the age of 11 yrs old. 18 lonely doomed months he spent in the school.Earl had no one to trust or protect him he soon turned to Hip-Hop. When he was released he met up with a street rapper named Ready Ron they want all across Yonker looking for anybody to battle. Earl named himself after a DJ Spinner his new name was DMX.During that time that wasn't the only thing Dmx did with him every once in a while he’d take a puff from Ron’s blunt but little did he know Ron had put coke in the blunt.Later in an interview DMX says “ It just wasn't what I wanted to
Tupac Amaru Shakur was an African-American rapper, poet, and record producer during the 1990’s. In his adolescent years, he attended the Baltimore School for the Arts where he took acting and dance classes, like ballet. He was taught radical politics by his mother, which helped him develop ideas about topics he would later use in his many works. At an early age, Tupac had seen the injustices of the real world. His mother was a former Black Panther activist who turned to substance abuse during Tupac’s childhood. Aside from that, he and his mother also moved many times while they lived together in New York City. While Tupac was in Baltimore, he discovered rap; not long after, he and his mother moved to the West Coast where he joined the rap group
"After some time Tupac released his own album "2Pacalypse Now", which was a success. His career skyrocketed; he became tight with main pawns in the rapping industry. Tupac signed to Deathrow Labels and released songs and albums with them."
Since hip-hop has expanded from the undergrounds in Bronx in the 70’s it has grew into a popular accepted music genre. Consequently, as it progressed from the golden age it gradually grew away from its original roots. If one were to evaluate the change of lyrics in hip-hop, they would see a difference between early hip-hop and today’s hip-hop. The current state of hip-hop is in a stage where things like hey young world are outdated. Instead of broadcasting out a positive message, hip-hop sends out a message of sex, drug, and violence. The early musicians who helped solidify hip-hop, by producing music that told stories on subjects of race, respect, or even music that had a positive message.
Hip hop is both a culture and a lifestyle. As a musical genre it is characterized by its hard hitting beats and rhythms and expressive spoken word lyrics that address topics ranging from economic disparity and inequality, to gun violence and gang affiliated activity. Though the genre emerged with greater popularity in the 1970’s, the musical elements involved and utilized have been around for many years. In this paper, we will cover the history and
Hip-Hop became characterized by an aggressive tone marked by graphic descriptions of the harshness and diversity of inner-city life. Primarily a medium of popular entertainment, hip-hop also conveys the more serious voices of youth in the black community. Though the approaches of rappers became more varied in the latter half of the 1980s, message hip-hop remained a viable form for addressing the problems faced by the black community and means to solve those problems. The voices of "message" hip...
Kanye West has been an icon in American hip-hop culture for over a decade. His music, fashion line, producing skills, and flamboyant personality has influenced many people for generations to come. Coming out of Chicago, many people in the music industry didn't even think Kanye had a chance to become a figure in hip-hop, but his hard work and persistence paid off. Kanye started off his music career as a producer. He produced music for the likes of major artists such as Common and Jay-Z. His first major breakthrough came from producing Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint”— which is certified 2x platinum. Kanye believed he could be a successful rapper as well, but music executives didn't believe he had it in him. That all changed when Roc-A-Fella records signed Kanye to their label, and gave him a chance to shine as a rapper. Kanye’s background, critical analysis, and importance all shows that he has become one of the most important characters in American hip-hop culture to this day.
In 1997 he went to the Rap Olympics in Los Angeles where a few producers were very impressed and took a demo to Dr. Dre. After the two met, they recorded four songs within the first six hours of working together, creating his first album Marshall Mathers LP. That album was the first rap album to ever be nominated for “Album of the Year” and won 3 Grammy awards. In the first week the album was released, it sold 1.76 million copies in the U.S. which is a record for a solo artist. Eminem has released 10 albums, all rap music. He would spend hours...
Hip hop has multiple branches of style and is a culture of these. This essay will examine Hip Hop from the point of view of the following three popular music scholars, Johnson, Jeffries and Smitherman. It will delve deeper into their understanding of what hip hop is and its relation to the different people that identify with its message and contents. It will also identify the history of Hip hop and its transition into popular music. In particular this essay will focus on what hip hop represents in the black community and how it can be used as a social movement against inequalities faced by them. This will then open up the discussion for the how this has influenced society, and the impact it has had in terms of race issues which hip hop itself often represents through music.
Dr. Dre (b. Andre Young, February 18, 1965) became involved in hip-hop during the early '80s, performing at house parties and clubs with the World Class Wreckin' Cru around South Central Los Angeles, and making a handful of recordings along the way. In 1986, he met Ice Cube, and the two rappers began writing songs for Ruthless Records, a label started by former drug pusher Eazy-E. Eazy tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz N the Hood," to HBO, a group signed to Ruthless. When the group refused, Eazy formed N.W.A. -- an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude -- with Dre and Cube, releasing their first album in 1987. A year later, N.W.A. delivered Straight Outta Compton, a vicious hardcore record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from radio, the press or MTV. N.W.A. became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those of "Fuck tha Police," which resulted in the FBI sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company Priority, suggesting that the group should watch their step.
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.