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Midwest hip hop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Midwest rap | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins: | Hip hop, other influences |
| Cultural origins: | Early-1980s Midwestern United States |
| Typical instruments: | Prominent drum machine - Turntable - rapping - Sampler - synthesizer - human beatboxing |
| Mainstream popularity: | Became a staple of popular music in the mid-to-late 1990s; dominant in the 2000s. |
Midwest hip-hop is hip hop music performed by artists from the Midwestern United States. In contrast with its East Coast, West Coast and Southern counterparts, Midwest hip hop has very few constants. Its first dose of national popularity in the mid-90s was associated with fast-paced styles, of rappers such as Twista (Chicago), Rico Love (Milwaukee) and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (Cleveland). However, subsequent acts which have since risen to national prominence such as Nelly, D12 and Kanye West share very few similarities. It is because these lack of constants between acts from different cities (and sometimes even between artists from the same city) that it can be extremely difficult to define a "typical" midwest sound.
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Chicago has harbored several locally popular acts since the early 1990's, including Do Or Die and Crucial Conflict; the former being a fast-rapping trio associated with Twista, and the latter of which was a group with a decidedly down-home, country sound. Chicago soon became known for more than fast rapping with the rising popularity of Common Sense, protege of producer No I.D., who put flippant battle raps over a jazzy backdrop. Other rappers in this vein included Vakill, who also gained some notoriety in Chicago. Da Brat, a female Chicago native, also had a hit in this period with Jermaine Dupri's label So So Def.
In 2004, Chicagoan producer/rapper Kanye West broke the scene with his multi platinum debut, College Dropout on Roc-A-Fella Records. He became an industry commodity, reworking and repopularizing Wu-Tang producer RZA's style of speeding up Soul instrumental and vocal samples to fit hip hop beats. The style became known as "chipmunk soul". The same year, West produced two hits for Twista, "Slow Jamz" and "Overnight Celebrity"; these led to the rapper's first platinum release, Kamikaze. In 2005, Common (having dropped the "Sense" from his name) signed with Kanye's GOOD Music, West also being a student of No I.D. This led to Be, Common's second gold album, which some said revitalized his career.
Kanye attempted to push longtime associate Rhymefest, a Chicago battle rapper and ghostwriter; his support helped carve the MC a local niche and some national attention. A guest spot on West's 2006 second album, Late Registration, also solidified the buzz of up-and-coming Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco, whose debut album Food & Liquor was the #1 rap album in the country upon its release.
In the early 1990's, 5 drop outs formed the unit Bone Enterpri$e and took a one way bus ticket to Compton. They went searching for Eazy E, a pioneer of gangsta rap, and signed to his label. They were signed to Ruthless when they got back to Cleveland for a concert, where they performed for Eazy on the spot. They changed their name to Bone Thugs N Harmony consisting of Flesh N Bone ( now incarcerated), Layzie Bone, Wish Bone, Krayzie Bone and now solo artist Bizzy Bone. They created a style never heard in hip hop , a rapid-fire flow and melodic mesh of harmonizing vocals, a style they called the Cleveland Sound. They released their LP Creepin on ah Come Up with the smash single "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "Foe tha Love of $" featuring Eazy E. They were the first Midwest rappers to go platinum, the only ones to collaborate with greats like The Notorious BIG, Tupac, Big Pun, and Eazy E while they were all living, and have sold more than 35 million records. Today they have their own label after contractual difficulties with Ruthless records. Their new album, Strength and Loyalty, was released May 2007.
Detroit is continuing its proud Motown tradition of quality African American music with hip hop. Detroit began developing its own scene with a bevy of acts including Insane Clown Posse and Esham, who put something of a horrorcore twist on hip hop. Slum Village, and later their producer J Dilla with a solo career, each gained some growing recognition outside their local Detroit area, mostly through working with Native Tongues-associated acts such as Common and A Tribe Called Quest. Eminem, a white rapper with a bent towards battle raps, slapstick humor and angst, was one of the first rappers to have a thoroughly visible career, beginning with his signing to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment in 1999. Aide from some exceptions, in Detroit they are mainly into the Gangsta Rap scene. The best known gangsta rappers from Detroit are Blade Icewood, K-Doe, Street Lordz, Esham, Rock Bottom, EastSide Chedda Boyz and Big Herk. Eminem brought with him his Detroit-based group D12 and friends Obie Trice and Royce da 5'9", increasing the Detroit scene's popularity.
Kansas City, Missouri has a burgeoning underground Hip-Hop Scene, with many artists actually declining from signing with any type of record labels. Kansas City acts tend to blend both Southern and Bay Area hyphy sounds. Notable Kansas City rappers include Rich the Factor,Chat Monitor, Solè, Fat Tone and Tech N9ne. Rich the Factor quickly became a local legend though the release of dozens of albums over his career, pioneering what would become the Kansas City style of rap. Tech N9ne has gained international notoriety, selling hundreds of thousands of albums and touring worldwide.
The Milwaukee scene first got national recognition in the early 1990's with the success of Arrested Development whose frontman, Speech, is a native of the city.
The city, like many others in the Midwest, is home to a number of styles which can make it difficult to characterize a "typical" Milwaukee sound. However, many of the city's most prominent acts such as Black Elephant, Def Harmonic, Juiceboxxx, Growing Nation, KingHellBastard, The Rusty P's (formerly the Rusty Pelicans) and Taste Emcees are influcenced (in one way or another) by neo-soul, hardcore, and conscious lyricism. It is also not uncommon to see Milwaukee artists accompanied by a live band in addition to a DJ (similar to East Coast acts such as The Roots or The Fugees).
Other Milwaukee artists with a more commercial sound, such as Coo Coo Cal and Rico Love have had (or been featured on) commercially successful singles in recent years, Streetz & Young Deuces who is currently everywhere throughtout the mixtape scene and satellite radios. The city is also home to some of the hottest producers who've yet to surface mainstream such as the Lmntlyst, Swift G (produced for Arista Records), Big City (Midwest Funk/ X-rated), JR Da Supastar, Scottie Knoxx,J Billa (Ghosttown), Durty Mouf, Big Hank, and Dylan Thomas.
Although strictly underground, there existed a sub-terraean hip hop culture in the Twin Cities starting as early as 1981. Similar to the development of hip hop in the South Bronx, Twin Cities rap started as humble parties with a DJ and an emcee.[1] A DJ named Travitron was comparable to the DJ Kool Herc of the Twin Cities area. Shows took place at many venues, most notoriously Club Hip Hop on Selby Avenue in St. Paul. Other artists and DJ's include Disco T, Verb X, Brother Jules, Delite, and Truth Maze. The first real album to come out of the Twin Cities was called The I.R.M. Crew, released in 1985. Graffiti and b-boy crews were also existent in the city. This is the world that the current movers of Twin Cities Hip Hop were brought up in.
The main movers of Twin Cities Hip Hop came together to form the group Headshots, a precursor to the Rhymesayers Entertainment label. Members of this group included Slug, I Self Devine, Micranots, Musab, Siddiq, and Ant. Slug was one of the main artists to move into the foreground, setting the tone for the style of music to follow in the years to come.
The Twin Cities Celebration of Hip-Hop is an annual event hosted by Yo! The Movement, bringing together people from all walks of life to celebrate the power of community through hip-hop culture. Over the past five years nearly 20,000 people from around the world have taken part in the festival and conference. Past participants include Slick Rick, MC Lyte, Cee-Lo of Gnarls Barkley, Clipse, Camp Lo, Crazy Legs, Slug of Atmosphere, Jean Grae, Asia-One, EWOK (HM Crew), Brother Ali, and many others.
At the same time, St. Louis rapper Nelly hit with a smash single and album, Country Grammar in 2000. Nelly and his St. Lunatics collective went on to a career driven by commercial singles, while Eminem, D12 and Obie Trice formed Shady Records and proceeded into national and international consciousness. In 2004, FLAME, also from St. Louis, became the first national Christian Hip-Hop artist from the Midwest. Gospel singer Praiz' also hit the St. Louis scene with his 2006 crossover hit "Deliver Me" in 2005.
Currently, several Midwest acts are verging on national recognition, including Marissa Illinois rapid-fire MC, MC Promo MobScene (made up of Bonez and Promo). Self Produced team The mobscene has also been making waves. upon the release of their rap star-studded mixtape, Dusk Til Dawn. The Midwest today is considered to be very popular in equal levels with the Dirty South. Unlike the West Coast, East Coast, and Southern genres, Midwest rap seems to have no (if not, very little) interest, or reference of competition with other regions.
While the Midwest recently lost some of its most supported acts, namely Proof of D12 and J Dilla, other artists stand to uphold the area's scene. Royce da 5'9", long eluded by commercial fame, is currently working on an album with DJ Premier and may sign with Nas's The Jones Experience; Upcoming young rappers such as Boss Whalin and Denzy, from Kansas City, Kansas, are releasing their debut album title From My Hood to Out The Hood and mixtape K.R.G Vol.1; Lupe Fiasco has announced his next album, anticipated by a (mostly internet-based) cult following. Kanye West and Common have also both announced their next albums on GOOD Music, to be released sometime in '07. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are also releasing their 7th studio album as a trio (Flesh-N-Bone is in jail liable for parole in 2008 and Bizzy Bone left the group, Bizzy is also releasing an album this year titled A Song for You. On April 17, 2007 will Strength and Loyalty, be released of Interscope/Full Surface, with the singles I Tried feat. Akon, and Lil L.O.V.E.. Rumored appearances from one time rival Twista, Mariah Carey, The Game, Akon, and many more plus production from Swizz Beatz.
- ^ Scholtes, Peter S. (2004-08-18). "One Nation, Invisible: The Untold Story of TC hip hop, 1981-1996". City Pages 25 (1237). ISSN 0744-0456. Retrieved on 2007-11-27.