The 90s is regarded as a golden age for hip hop when the musical style began to dominate popular music. Following is a list of some of the best 90s hip hop artists:
• A Tribe Called Quest
One of hip hop’s most legendary and revered groups, this collective has a unique approach to creating their sound by using jazz and Afro beats to create positive messages that were unique compared with the nihilistic and jaded themes of their contemporaries. They are largely responsible for a style that dominated East Coast rap in the 1990s.
• Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg, listed as Calvin Broadus on his birth certificate, grew up in Long Beach California and got his stage name from his mother who thought he looked like the canine in Peanuts cartoons. His debut 1993 album, Doggystyle, was an immediate success making its way to No1 on Billboard’s hip hop charts. His laidback rapping style, on hits such as ‘Gin and Juice’, represents the West Coast sound at its best.
• Cypress Hill
This hip hop crew pioneered the use of a fusion of Latin and hip hop slang in their music and was the first Latino group to have platinum and multi-platinum album sales. The group’s sound and the music samples they used was notable for attracting the first hard rock and metal fans to rap.
• Digital Underground
This alternative rap group originated in Oakland in California and played a large role in the popularity of West Coast rap. They were influenced by funk bands of the 1970s, whose music they regularly sampled (such as Parliament and Funkadelic), and this became a defining feature of their sound. They cultivated a decidedly ‘spaced-out’ image which was in contrast to the gangster rap that was dominating the rap scene at the time.
• Dr Dre
Andre Romelle Young is a hip hop pioneer and is responsible for some of the most important 90s hip hop artists. Starting out as a DJ when only in his teens he was a member of the rap group NWA and went on to co-found Death Row records. His solo album ‘The Chronic’ became a huge hit with the most popular single on the album, ‘Nothin but a G Thang’, featuring Snoop Dogg who was relatively unknown at the time. Behind the scenes he has been instrumental in launching the careers of a huge number of hip hop and rap artists, most notably Eminem and 50 Cent.
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