That time in 1993 where artists had to switch up and go hardcore

[tigerstyle]

i remember that time period smh

 

[datnigDASTARDLY]

shyt is overstated imo. There was ALOT of non gangsta rap shyt back then.

Was it really tho .

Not one person, even folk who had little to no business in the culture, rocked timbs or dock Martin's for the ladies, and overalls to emulate

" gangsta" shyt was everywhere.

 

[Tribal Outkast]

That Gangsta shyt made the industry do a 360... Look at Run DMC:





Mc Hammer:






DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince




Even Vanilla Ice switched his whole shyt and tried to rap like Das Efx

That Run DMC video

DMC is literally one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.. he don’t look like he would hurt a fly in this video lol. He looked more tough in their old school look

I still laugh at them trying to change it up even though Down with the king is my shyt

 

[FreshAIG]

That's crazy. Who's responsible for that shift?

Btw tribe called quest is a example of a group that didn't switch their style up but stayed relevant

Midnight Marauders 93

Dre, Onyx and Black Moon

 

[Complexion]

That Gangsta wave really touched something deep in peoples souls. Call it the frustration of a generation, the pain of the world over a dope beat or whatever you want but it had everyone acting real froggie.

Whats nuts is the current devolved state of rap can be traced back directly to this era as it all became one-upmanship and a need to increase shock value as the old "wow" was the new "been there done that" and the drugs got stronger...

I really do wonder if/how the artform will ever be raised back up to the artistry it used to be because it will be us that does it and not a label as they're caking off this new "no money down, no development, all profit" approach with disposable chewing music right now as the customers are happy with weak product as they don't know the difference between that and the uncut raw.

 

[TripleAgent]

That Run DMC video

DMC is literally one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.. he don’t look like he would hurt a fly in this video lol. He looked more tough in their old school look

I still laugh at them trying to change it up even though Down with the king is my shyt

Back in Hollis, they called DMC "Wax-A-nikka". He was a notorious alkie, who would drink and...get in trouble. He just never rapped about that shyt. Jay used to vouch for him when people said shyt like that. He's a super nice guy NOW.

Well, he rapped about it a little...

 

[DarkmanX]

Salt-N-Peppa too


When you watch Unsung it's almost amazing that nearly every 80's artist fell off directly because of the impact of gangsta rap and more specifically The Chronic had all the labels and fans wanting hardcore music.

R&B artists like Jodeci & R. Kelly went from New Jack Swing to a "gangsta" image with g-funk samples.

DRS came out in 1993 with "Gangsta Lean" and were the first to really cuss like gangsta rappers as an R&B group.


They even had a song about them straight up committing rape



It's 1994 but it's hilarious that Ready For The World lead singer Melvin Riley went from jheri curls to gangsta

Word. On another note..

nikkas dont wanna talk about it,but..



Once Doggystyle hit..



Snoop said the same about Bad Boy on his latest Breakfast Club interview. I've BEEN sayin this.

Bad Boy was basically an eastcoast version of Death Row. The sound was very identical & Biggie's flow
was similar to Snoop's. Smooth yet gangsta. Rapping alotta pimp/fly shyt. Over funk/soul beats.


@ Melvin Riley. Never knew he had a solo & went that route.

 

[STEVE]

They even had a song about them straight up committing rape

Jesus Christ, this is unacceptable!

Who greenlit this?!

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Major props OP. That’s actually the first time I’ve see those RUN DMC, Vanilla Ice, and Fresh Prince vids, and lmaooo. That shift was both good and bad. Bad cause it basically took away high energy dancing and replaced it with mean mugging, and good cause it made for a lot of simply dope music. I love to dance even today, but harder more aggressive songs is what I gravitate more to.

 

[Drew Wonder]

I’m not gonna get at Run DMC too much for that. Yes, they were biting Onyx but Jam Master Jay helped put Onyx on in the first place so it was like a favor for a favor lol. Plus, even though they were switching their style up something heavy, Down With the King is one of the GOAT songs/videos in hip hop and my favorite Run DMC joint

 

[tuckgod]

Whole thread trash if you don’t mention the fact that Onyx is responsible for that shift.

 

[old boy]

LONS got grimier sounding on TIME

say word you thought of leaders supreme style switch on t.i.m.e. as being grimey. if anything it was really derivative of the scientific shyt organized sparked in '91 with their debut. releasing hypnotical gases specifically, which had the gawd kool keith's critical beatdown style's DNA all in it while you bullshyttin...

but yo by like '92 damn near every rap nikka who didn't exactly fit the gangsta trope or aesthetic (like my nerdy ass for example) started putting shyt like nucleic acid & binary fission in their rhymes because of organized, word lmao. their G Rap-inspired wanted dead or alive uptempo eventually gave way to a slower and even more dense flow fit for boom bap with echoing horns & all that. my mans Latief was tight with Busta so he got us into the muse when lyricist lounge used to hold their shyt there in '93. son kicked that veronica, sam, wilma rhyme off spontaneous combustion before the album came out. nikkas went WILD kid

matter of fact that night really was goat because black bandana underground Biggie, Puff, 8-Off, YZ, Cella Dwellas and Mad Skillz were all in the building. and i'm not gon hold you son, low key Skillz was the best rapper that night. bro said i fold nikkas up like lawn chairs when it's raining. Busta got so hyped he grabbed Biggie by his jersey and pushed him into Puff lol, nikka spilled his drink on some redbone chick who looked like she might have been interviewing him. i was like who is this dread nikka from Virginia bodying everybody? he was a problem man and arrogant too lol (in a good way, super confident emcee)


anyway yeah, i got too many stories and type too much. i consider it more scientific than grimy with a stream of consciousness element that to me predated anything Ghost or Wu was doing. low key '93 Busta with the Voltronic/Ultrasonic style might be my favorite version of him. wish he gave me a full album of that style before he went commercial

 

[Stick Up Kid]

That's crazy. Who's responsible for that shift?

Btw tribe called quest is a example of a group that didn't switch their style up but stayed relevant

Midnight Marauders 93

Death Row Records

 

[Ze Pequeno]

is this the same track?



the vid you posted says it won’t play in my country and I’m in the US

Yea it's the same track. Cube started to crip walk, throw up the W and all kinda bullshyt

 

[Sbp]

I definitely remember this phase. You even had RnB singers dressed up and moving around like cat burglars pointing there fingers at the camera like a gun while singing love songs.

Example

1992 but still applies