East Coast Lost It's Footing In the Early-Mid '90s Because Of The Lack Of Entertainment Value
- Thread starter Wacky D
- Start date
i agree...DMX resurrected the East in 1998.
the bolded is the exact reason why I went out of my way to type NATIONAL REACH in all caps. but somehow, you still didn't comprehend.
and im not downplaying anything. you've yet to show me an example of me doing such.
as much as I like & prop up brand Nubian, cl smooth, etc. those acts were never all that entertaining or musically appealing to consumers outside of the east coast. they aint have it LIT like the east coast rappers in the '80s, or the late '90s thru mid '00s.
that's late '90s.
youre in agreement with me breh. you might as well just go back & dap up all my posts in this thread.
Max Goonberg
Superstar
NY = east coast dicc head. Microscope always gonna b on NY cuz yall stay on our dicc regardless.
that's late '90s.
youre in agreement with me breh. you might as well just go back & dap up all my posts in this thread.
gotta point there
Kinda true, kinda not at the same time.
The early-90s were still fun and upbeat on the East Coast- what happened through those years was the music taking a more serious, hardcore turn. In that era, even if you were making a party record, you still had to be/look hardcore AF while doing it (see: Naughty, Dre & Snoop, Pac). Dancing was definitely out if you wanted to be taken serious- note how many artists who had dancers in the late-80s weren't incorporating them anymore by '93. Look at the stage performances... as good as a lot of that music was, most of those stage shows consisted of nothing but walking back and forth and rapping. There's actually not many acts from that era that put on good shows, and this was right after an era where almost everyone (LL, Doug E, KRS, Kane, Biz, PE, etc.) put on good shows. "Happy rap" was stamped corny, pop, etc. on all fronts by the time '92-'93 rolled around.
So East Coast hip-hop, for the most part, was either moody and hardcore (Wu, Bootcamp, Jeru, etc) or jazzy with a conscious/serious tone (Tribe, De La, GangStarr, etc.) and lyricism was very important. There was for sure a shortage of party records in that era period, whether from East, West, or South. You had your Nice & Smooth, Puba, Black Sheep, stuff like that which got played at parties, but it wasn't as "big" as the stuff that was going pop. You had stuff like Wreckx N Effect, Salt n Pepa, and whatnot, but that stuff wasn't getting played in the same realm. That was the radio side of rap (which was a much different side... those were like rap music that R&B heads liked). By '93-'94 you had to be hard or not. That's not just an East Coast thing though, that was all over.
Part of this was why Bad Boy was so successful, because it filled a void and inspired a change in East Coast rap... Puff's whole deal was that he was from that Golden Age late-'80s party era, and a partier himself, and party records weren't big anymore in '94 especially in NY. Everyone in rap to some degree was serious and hardcore by then... he wanted to put out serious hardcore shyt too, but his #1 thing was shyt that rocked parties and radio. It's the reason he made BIG do "Juicy", the reason he had Craig deviate from making grungy stuff to make "Flava In Ya Ear"... and that's also why it worked so well, because a lot of artists weren't on a party vibe by then. BIG didn't even move much or do any dancing, but he was a dope live performer when the emphasis on live performances had been downplayed. And then in the years that followed, more rappers in NY were doing party joints or songs aimed at the radio formula of the time- which most people credit/blame Bad Boy for. I also say the same about Method Man, Lost Boyz, Busta... they were standouts in that time because they made hard shyt but also definitely made songs people partied to.
The early-90s were still fun and upbeat on the East Coast- what happened through those years was the music taking a more serious, hardcore turn. In that era, even if you were making a party record, you still had to be/look hardcore AF while doing it (see: Naughty, Dre & Snoop, Pac). Dancing was definitely out if you wanted to be taken serious- note how many artists who had dancers in the late-80s weren't incorporating them anymore by '93. Look at the stage performances... as good as a lot of that music was, most of those stage shows consisted of nothing but walking back and forth and rapping. There's actually not many acts from that era that put on good shows, and this was right after an era where almost everyone (LL, Doug E, KRS, Kane, Biz, PE, etc.) put on good shows. "Happy rap" was stamped corny, pop, etc. on all fronts by the time '92-'93 rolled around.
So East Coast hip-hop, for the most part, was either moody and hardcore (Wu, Bootcamp, Jeru, etc) or jazzy with a conscious/serious tone (Tribe, De La, GangStarr, etc.) and lyricism was very important. There was for sure a shortage of party records in that era period, whether from East, West, or South. You had your Nice & Smooth, Puba, Black Sheep, stuff like that which got played at parties, but it wasn't as "big" as the stuff that was going pop. You had stuff like Wreckx N Effect, Salt n Pepa, and whatnot, but that stuff wasn't getting played in the same realm. That was the radio side of rap (which was a much different side... those were like rap music that R&B heads liked). By '93-'94 you had to be hard or not. That's not just an East Coast thing though, that was all over.
Part of this was why Bad Boy was so successful, because it filled a void and inspired a change in East Coast rap... Puff's whole deal was that he was from that Golden Age late-'80s party era, and a partier himself, and party records weren't big anymore in '94 especially in NY. Everyone in rap to some degree was serious and hardcore by then... he wanted to put out serious hardcore shyt too, but his #1 thing was shyt that rocked parties and radio. It's the reason he made BIG do "Juicy", the reason he had Craig deviate from making grungy stuff to make "Flava In Ya Ear"... and that's also why it worked so well, because a lot of artists weren't on a party vibe by then. BIG didn't even move much or do any dancing, but he was a dope live performer when the emphasis on live performances had been downplayed. And then in the years that followed, more rappers in NY were doing party joints or songs aimed at the radio formula of the time- which most people credit/blame Bad Boy for. I also say the same about Method Man, Lost Boyz, Busta... they were standouts in that time because they made hard shyt but also definitely made songs people partied to.
Last edited:
Good thread, Wacky...
I will note, though, this isn't a knock on that time period either. I like the different eras in rap for their own distinctive reasons. I feel like we needed the Wu-Tang, Nas, Black Moon, Smif N Wessun, Mobb, Jeru, etc... JUST as much as we needed the party joints.
The diversity, breh
I will note, though, this isn't a knock on that time period either. I like the different eras in rap for their own distinctive reasons. I feel like we needed the Wu-Tang, Nas, Black Moon, Smif N Wessun, Mobb, Jeru, etc... JUST as much as we needed the party joints.
The diversity, breh
Good thread, Wacky...
I will note, though, this isn't a knock on that time period either. I like the different eras in rap for their own distinctive reasons. I feel like we needed the Wu-Tang, Nas, Black Moon, Smif N Wessun, Mobb, Jeru, etc... JUST as much as we needed the party joints.
The diversity, breh
THANK YOU. a lot of people came in here responding with their hearts, rather than with their minds.
just a spinoff of my rant in that anti-south thread. being someone who got put on to hip-hop in the '80s, I was kinda put off by a lot of the early '90s east coast acts and ventured off into other coasts more than I would have if I put myself on later on. the east coast began to abandon a lot of the elements that made hip-hop great in the first place. meanwhile, the other coasts never stopped carrying on the tradition.
I feel like the east coast began to enjoy the smell of its own chit a bit too much, as well.
and yea, puff's snake ass doesn't get the credit that he deserves. he was the biggest catalyst in the revival.
But see, I can't say all this either. You had The Chronic and Doggystyle, which (especially Doggystyle) were hard records with party vibes, fair. Matter fact, this was mostly the vibe of everything Death Row put out. Aside from that... Ice Cube was mostly awful at making party songs, his best shyt was still the hard shyt. Pac made party joints here and there, it's not what he's remembered/loved for the most. MC Eiht, Spice 1, Scarface, Geto Boys, Bone Thugs, Cypress? Little to no party vibes. You had your 2 Live Crew, 69 Boyz, bass shyt but again... that was considered to be on the outskirts.
I think between '92-'95, fun just wasn't the central theme anywhere. It had to gradually get back to that.
lol, despite the Boston jerseys, those House of Pain dudes were from LA. they were part of the Soul Assassins crew, and DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) produced Jump Around
Max Goonberg
Superstar
go somewhere weirdo.
youre not in my class.
You aint never lie. Ill never have 20k post on here lol.
spliz
SplizThaDon
Sometimes u try so hard to be an unbiased east coast nikka that u take shyt too far. Lol
