A Little Different: 90s Hip Hop
Sunday, October 2, 2016 at 12:01AM I was in high school during the late 90s. Hip hop was huge then. In a lot of ways, 90s hip hop replaced 80s metal on MTV. Think about it: the artists were larger than life. The videos were mostly big parties. There was a lot of action and fun.
Last night, I took a little trip down memory lane and listened to some of my old school favorites like TuPac, Notorious B.I.G. and Big Pun.
In December, my husband and I will celebrate 14 years of marriage. We've been together much longer than that, as we started dating in high school. During high school, he drove a lime green Nova with huge speakers. The car was kind of crappy, but it got us around and people always knew when he was coming: his speakers would bump for miles and miles! For a long time, hip hop was the only music he would listen to and even enjoy. To this day, we pop on a little 90s hip hop if we need a positive mood boost. When we got married, we entered our very traditional wedding reception to TuPac's "California Love." I'm sure no one really got why, but this song choice was a nod to our early days together.
With everything seemingly so nasty in the world right now, I decided I needed to take a little mental vacation and have some fun. I don't really care for any of the new hip hop or rap out today, but man, the old school stuff sure was off the chain. Here are a few of my 90s hip hop tracks. Do you have any faves?
Reader Comments (8)
Though this song is certainly on the downward side of Run D.M.C.'s success, it captures "fun" rap (sampling the Monkeys!) with just a dose of sleaze as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgmyVLheqkQ
And they had a great stage show for this tour as well, blowing though a brick wall that then revealed a bank of lights that kept flashing their name, with Mizell (Jam Master Jay) floating above the stage in a UFO that would have made George Clinton smile.
Then, of course, you had Public Enemy (not "fun," but gifted . . . esp. Chuck D). And a band that straddled both decades--the 80s and 90s--as well as the fun and sleazy, but also topical and compelling: Naughty by Nature. I swear, Treach was an amazing rapper. Incredible the way he blended lines together.
But I second your point Allyson. In a nasty world, it is often music that helps us get away for a bit. And it doesn't necessarily need to be metal, or rap. Moreover, kudos to you and your husband for such a long relationship.
Public Enemy put on one of the most surreal and funny shows I have ever seen.
However, as soon as Public Enemy walked off the stage at the conclusion of their show, so did half the audience, which is unfortunate because The Sisters of Mercy put on a helluva show, too!
Kudos to the Public Enemy fans who stayed for The Sisters of Mercy since their sound is kind of a cross between early Cult and The Damned when Captain Sensible initially left.
Believe it or not, Mike, there's a lot of great stuff out there now that goes beyond the usual Jay Z / Kanye West continuum.
Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, Mac Miller and Tyler The Creator are a few who particularly stand out.
Here's my favorite Rap track for anyone who might care to listen:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DawrlSwHUiM
Gotta' agree with Bkallday and SenorScience (great name . . . care to share the origins?). Mike, what is wrong? What can we do to help? Garbage? All of it? My posse's on Broadway. Meet us there and we can chat about it over buttermilk biscuits.