My Top 7 rap artists of all time (part 3)

2. Xzibit: Real Name: Alvin Nathaniel Joiner
                Date Of Birth: September 18th 1974.
                Place Of Birth: Detroit, Michigan.
                5 Facts: -He was the host of popular MTV TV show 'Pimp My Ride'.
                             - He first began rapping at the age of only 14.
                             - He is a playable character in popular playstation game 'NFL Street 2'.
                             -He lost his driving license in 2007 for repeatedly speeding.
                             - As of 2010, Xzibit owed nearly 1 Million dollars in debt.
                5 Best-known Songs: 'X'[2000]
                                                   'Hey Now'[2000]
                                                   'Front 2 Back'[2004]
                                                   'LAX'[2004]
                                                   'Alkaholik'[2000]


1. Public Enemy: Members: -'Chuck D' Carlton Douglas Ridenhour.
                                              -'Flava Flav' William Jonathan Drayton Jr.
                                              -'Professor Griff' Richard Griffin.
                             5 Facts: -They were formed on Long Island, New York in 1982.
                                           - Their first 4 albums were all gold or platinum certified.

                                          - They were the fourth rap artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

                                           - Their song 'Fight The Power' was huge inspiration to black protestors in the 1980's against the police department.

                                            -They Independently publish their music themselves unaccompanied.

                                5 Best Known Songs: 'Fight The Power'

                                                                    'Bring The Noise'

                                                                    'Harder Than You Think'

                                                                    'Louder Than A Bomb'

                                                                    'Rebel Without A Pause'.

                               

My Top 7 Rap Artists Of All Time[Part 2]

5. Jay Z: Real Name: Shawn Corey Carter
               Date Of Birth: 4th December 1969
               Place Of Birth: Brooklyn, New York
               5 Facts: -He is currently married to female pop sensation Beyoncé.

                       -Carter was involved in a mega feud from 2001-02 with fellow artist Nas, which consisted of verbal slagging being transmitted into the songs.

                             -He has received 21 Grammy Awards during his illustrious career spanning                                       3 decades.

                             -He is the owner of NBA Basketball team, The Brooklyn Nets.

                             -He has the record number of album appearances by a solo artist in                                 the billboard hot 100 with 13.

               5 Best Known Songs: -'Ni**as in Paris'.

                                                   -'99 Problems'.

                                                   -'Empire State Of Mind'.

                                                   -'Run This Town'.

                                                   -'Numb/Encore'.

4. Dr.Dre: Real name: Andre Romelle Young.

                 Date Of Birth: 18th February 1965.

                 Place Of Birth: Los Angeles, California

                 5 Facts: -He found fame as a member of influential gangsta rap group N.W.A.

                               - He is the second wealthiest Hip-Hop artist in the world behind Jay Z with a net  worth of $550,000,000.

                               - He found and is the CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics.

                               - Dre was involved in a relationship with singer Michel'le.

                               - He released his third studio album as a solo artist in 2015 called Compton    because of the new N.W.A film. His previous efforts were 'The Chronic'[1993] and '2001'[1999].



 

                5 Best Known Songs: 'The Next Episode'.

                                                    'Still D.R.E'.

                                                    'I Need A Doctor'.

                                                    'Dre Day'.

                                                    'Express Yourself'.

3. Eazy-E: Real Name: Eric Lynn Wright.

                  Date Of Birth: September 7th 1963

                  Date Of Death: March 26th 1995.

                  5 Facts: -He was also a member of N.W.A[he was also the founder].

                                -He only became a rapper in 1988 when he rapped the words to 'Boyz N Tha Hood. 

                                -His debut album 'Eazy-Duz-It was released in 1988 and sold over 2.5 Million copies.

                                   -He married 12 days before his death.

                                 - In 1995, he died of A.I.D.S at the age of 31.

                   5 Best Known Songs: 'Boyz N Tha Hood'

                                                       'Eazy-Duz-It'

                                                       'Real Muthap****in G's.

                                                       'It's On'

                                                       'Gimmie That Nut'

                                                         

       

My Top 7 Rap Artists Of All Time [Part 1]

7. 50 Cent: Real name: Curtis James Jackson III 
                     Date Of Birth: July 6th 1975
                     Place Of Birth: Queens, New York, New York
                     5 facts: -He became a crack dealer in the 1980's at the age of twelve
                                  -In 2000, he was shot 9 times at point blank range and was remarkably back                                      to full health within six months.
                                  - He is a licensed boxing promoter, forming his TMT[The Money Team]                                      promotion in 2012.
                                  - He was arrested in 1994 for selling vials of cocaine to a police officer.
                                  - He filed for bankruptcy in March 2015
                     5 Best Known songs:
                                  - 'Candy Shop'
                                  - 'In Da Club'
                                  - '21 Questions'
                                  - 'Outta Control'
                                  - 'Get Low'                                            




6. The Notorious B.I.G: Real Name: Christopher George Latore Wallace.
                                       Date Of Birth: May 21st 1972
                                       Date of Death: March 9th 1997#
                                       5 facts: - He got his nickname 'Big' because of the weight issues                                                       that he endured before he was ten.

                                                - He attended the same high school as fellow hip-hop artists Jay Z DMX and Busta Rhymes.

                                                    - He spent nine months in prison for dealing crack cocaine.

                                                    - He had a daughter called T'yanna in 1993 with his ex girlfriend.

                                                    - He was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in March 1997. He was   

                                                       just 24 years old.

                                       5 Best Known songs:

                                         -'Party and bulls**t'.

                                         - 'Juicy'

                                         - 'hypnotise'

                                         - 'Big Poppa'

                                         - 'Mo Money Mo Problems.

8. The Beastie Boys: Members: -Michael Diamond [Mike-D]

                                                    - Adam Yauch [MCA]

                                                    - Adam Horovitz [Ad-Rock]

                                  5 Facts: - They were the first ever mainstream white hip-hop artists.

                                                - They were originally a hardcore punk band.
                                                - They have won 3 grammy awards in 1999 and 2008
                                               - They were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in april 2012.
                                               - Less than a month after the induction, Adam Yauch died of Cancer at                                                    the age of 47.
                                   5 Best Known songs:
                                               - 'Fight For Your Right'
                                               - 'Sabotage'
                                               - 'Make Some Noise'
                                               - 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn
                                               - 'Intergalactic'

                                                

                                            



The Widespread Popularity of Hip-hop music.

The first hip-hop artists began their trade in humble beginnings, but as the 80's wore on the genre enjoyed widespread popularity across the US. One reason for all this is that, at that time the performers lyrics were particularly aggressive towards society [ Police, The Government even the FBI]. This was essentially a voice for millions of citizens across the US who had struggled with racism and all the problems that are faced with that. So pretty much, they were buying and listening to these songs to protest against the people running the show. This made artists such as Public Enemy[who's best known song is 'Fight The Power' who's music video includes the group marching around New York City with black protestors] and NWA[who had a hit with 'F*** Da Police']. Both of these songs were used to relieve the tension of black Americans into now thinking they could do something about these issues. Perhaps another reason for the popularity boom during the 1980's would be, because racism had begun to cease, black culture had begun to come into perspective. Hip-hop was the main genre of music listened to by the black community in America. Also, because of the lyrics of these songs resulted in violent protest, white citizens began to take notice and hip-hop music was soon being heard all over America.

Early Pioneers of hip-hop

Although some have argued that blues musicians in US during the 1920's were the first to rap to their tunes, it was not until the mid to late 1970's until rap or hip-hop music began to become mainstream in American pop culture. Artists such as the sugarhill gang [who had one of the first rap hits in 1979 with 'Rappers Delight'] were starting to become very popular especially in eastern states such as New York and New Jersey where the majority of artists during the decade were being produced. The Bronx and Queens area in New York was regarded as hotbeds of hip-hop music and in the early 1980's artists such as Run-DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys were founded. The question in this instance seems to be why was New York such a hotbed for early hip-hop music. Perhaps a reason for this would be because of the popularity of block parties [a get-together of a certain area in a city]. The music in these block parties would be played usually by dj's who would incorporate funk and soul music, which became especially popular with the crowds. Upon noticing this success, the dj's began introducing the percussive-style breaks of popular songs to their music. This technique was first introduced to New York by Jamaican immigrants in which that style of music was popular back in the Carribean.

What is Rap?

The musical genre of rap or hip-hop music has quite an interesting backstory. The word 'rap' in the English language can mean 'to strike, especially with a swift, light blow'. Performing rap tunes or Rapping involves the performer instead of singing speaking in tandem with the music to give generally a quite passionate, aggressive sound [examples of this aggressive style include Eminem, NWA and Biggie Smalls]. The lyrics and style of these particular songs tend to vary quite a bit. For example, the East Coast rapping scene especially during the 1990's used jazz-style background rhythm and they're lyrics were quite hard-hitting and fast paced. The West-coast style of rap used a funk-style backdrop to accompany the music and the lyrics would tend to be a little bit more relaxed and slower. Another genre of rap music is the Gangsta rap scene. This is the most brutally honest and aggressive style of rap music. Focusing on the lyrics for a second, the performer is telling the listener stories about their lives in the gangster scene and also run-in's with policeman [or cops] as they're known in the US. Examples of performers in the three main rap [or hip-hop] genres include LL Cool J, Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G [or Biggie Smalls as he was also known] for the East Coast style. Famous West Coast rappers include Ice-T, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur. Finally famous gangsta rap artists include Ice Cube, Public Enemy and NWA.

Introduction

My name is Eoghan Copeland and this my blog on the geography of Rap Music. I find this particular genre of popular music extremely fascinating because of firstly the way in which three different cultures [African, Caribbean and American] are blended into one genre of music. Also the origins of the rap genre began in the US and I will tell you all about where the rap scene was initially popular and what it consists of in the following blog