Old heads, how dominant was the west coast in the early/mid 90's?

[nieman]

The "dominance" was only like 2-3 years, which began after Cube was making movies, so like 92-94. Up until '92 it was balanced, and by mid '94 it was balanced again. But if we're talking balance as in the West Coast sound culture being everywhere in media and pop culture, then it's only those 2/2.5 years.

 

[JaytheOne]

There was no diversity out West, its like the South today..everyone an NWA clone.

In the East there was diversity in the artform, from styles of rapping to subject matter and content.

La, the bay, and sacramento have a completely different sound.

 

[hex]

I'm from the Midwest and never got the vibe in real time the west was "dominant".

I guess this is the part where people start quoting record sales....keep in mind we had no idea who was selling what, or even charting back then. Billboard was NOT followed by rap fans, as the editor was sh*tting on Cube.

So just from what I was hearing outside, and/or on the radio (Hot 103 Jamz), and seeing on YO! MTV Rap and Rap City....it did not seem like anyone was dominant.

Fast forward to the internet blowing up, and people credit BIG with "saving" the east. It was all very odd.

Fred.

 

[Monoblock]

I'm from the Midwest and never got the vibe in real time the west was "dominant".

I guess this is the part where people start quoting record sales....keep in mind we had no idea who was selling what, or even charting back then. Billboard was NOT followed by rap fans, as the editor was sh*tting on Cube.

So just from what I was hearing outside, and/or on the radio (Hot 103 Jamz), and seeing on YO! MTV Rap and Rap City....it did not seem like anyone was dominant.

Fast forward to the internet blowing up, and people credit BIG with "saving" the east. It was all very odd.

Fred.

Yea I agree about sales. No one really started focusing on that shyt (as far as the audience) until 50 in the 2000s. Like you I was a Rap City, Yo MTV Raps fanatic (hell even Pump It Up) so I had love for everyone from everywhere. I was just happy to see how people rapped from other parts of the country. I mean back then if you didn't have family from certain parts of the country you had no idea what they were doing or how they rapped. I think when Snoop blew up the way he did is when shyt started getting weird and publictions started taking shots. They couldn't do it on TV b/c he was everywhere. I personally didn't think the East Coast fell off or needed a King to save them b/c their music was always amazing and having so many boroughs they had so many different styles the whole Biggie saving them made no sense.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

West Coast was so dominant that by 94 NY rappers were "creeping through the hood up to no good" and "born to roll" in a lowrider:





Here you got Da Brat (Chicago) and Biggie (Brooklyn) produced by JD (ATL) sounding like they're from Crenshaw:


The music, the movies, the gear. the slang, gangbanging (Cube said it best: "dying for a street that they never heard of")...West Coast exploded with NWA and then Death Row had a stranglehold on the culture, until Biggie and Wu-Tang blew up.

What's funny tho was Born To Roll was made to mock the West Coast but got so popular he had to go in an unironically West Coast direction next album

 

[28 Gramz]

Yea I agree about sales. No one really started focusing on that shyt (as far as the audience) until 50 in the 2000s. Like you I was a Rap City, Yo MTV Raps fanatic (hell even Pump It Up) so I had love for everyone from everywhere. I was just happy to see how people rapped from other parts of the country. I mean back then if you didn't have family from certain parts of the country you had no idea what they were doing or how they rapped. I think when Snoop blew up the way he did is when shyt started getting weird and publictions started taking shots. They couldn't do it on TV b/c he was everywhere. I personally didn't think the East Coast fell off or needed a King to save them b/c their music was always amazing and having so many boroughs they had so many different styles the whole Biggie saving them made no sense.

Jay-Z made sales a talking point with "I sold what your whole album sold in my first week".

 

[L. Deezy]

Everything was on lock until Biggie saved the eastcoast

Add Puff too.. his vision

 

[R=G]

The "dominance" was only like 2-3 years, which began after Cube was making movies, so like 92-94. Up until '92 it was balanced, and by mid '94 it was balanced again. But if we're talking balance as in the West Coast sound culture being everywhere in media and pop culture, then it's only those 2/2.5 years.

Lol

 

[iliketurtles]

West Coast been mid

 

[Awesome Wells]

What's funny tho was Born To Roll was made to mock the West Coast but got so popular he had to go in an unironically West Coast direction next album

Nah, most people say that, but it's not true. LOL!!

Like Ace always says, if you listen to the Sittin' on Chrome album, there are only a couple of West Coast "sounding" tracks on it, out of the 16-17 songs. The whole album is pretty much mid-90's NYC boom bap. People saw the cover artwork and heard "Born to Roll" and the title track and assumed dude was making a West Coast album, when he wasn't.





People gotta stop lying on Ace, man, lol. SOC was not a West Coast album, at all.

 

[DaveyDave]

There was no diversity out West, its like the South today..everyone an NWA clone.

In the East there was diversity in the artform, from styles of rapping to subject matter and content.

you either don't know shyt or you're just talking shyt. There was & is shyt tons of diversity in the west.

 

[Digital Omen]

What's funny tho was Born To Roll was made to mock the West Coast but got so popular he had to go in an unironically West Coast direction next album

The original had a 90s boom bap 5 boroughs type beat, then they went to a LA lowrider show and got turned out


Also the Slaughterhouse album had the MC Negro and Ignorant MC murder murder murder kill kill kill skit shytting on "gangsta rap"


But he kept it real like they said back then, cuz his next album was titled "Sittin on Chrome"

 

[iliketurtles]

you either don't know shyt or you're just talking shyt. There was & is shyt tons of diversity in the west.

Atl is way better than L coast