Overview
By the early 1990s, hip-hop had become a major commercial and artistic force in the United States. The music continued to grow and diversify in both style and geography. Although New York had been the center of hip-hop’s development since the 1970s, in the early 1990s, the West Coast became the new hot spot for hip-hop. Soon, New York artists reestablished the significance of the East Coast in hip-hop. In this lesson, we will consider the musical styles of the East and West Coasts in the 1990s, and then we will turn to the feud between the two coasts that culminated in the murders of two young rappers who were at the heights of their careers.
Objectives
- Recall the musical style that defined West Coast hip-hop, in particular the production style of Dr. Dre
- Identify the significant musicians in the new style of East Coast hip-hop
- Recall the feud between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop artists and the roles played by Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. in that feud
Dr. Dre and the West Coast Style continued
Dr. Dre was often criticized because his lyrics were explicit and frequently referred to drug use, violence, and negative treatment of women. In fact, the album's title, The Chronic, refers to a type of high quality marijuana. Dr. Dre's lyrics refer to the gangsta lifestyle, and the "g" in both G-funk and songs such as "Nuthin' but a ‘G' Thang♫" stands for "gangsta." The gangsta lifestyle Dr. Dre touted in his lyrics was characterized by guns, drugs, and general distrust of women, but it is important to recall that gangsta rap was as much fiction and fantasy as it was autobiography. Additionally, Dr. Dre's style of flow differed from that of other rappers because it was slower and more laid-back; in general, West Coast rappers had a far more laid-back style of rapping compared to other rappers.
Although The Chronic is an album by Dr. Dre, every track on the album features at least one other rapper in addition to Dr. Dre. The rapper who appears most often as a guest artist is Snoop (Doggy) Dogg, and in 1993, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album, Doggystyle. Like The Chronic, Doggystyle is in the G-funk style, with resonant bass lines, high synthesizers, and a slow, laid-back style of rapping. Doggystyle also includes a number of guest rappers, and the lyrics are typically about gangsta topics as well as partying and having a good time. The lead single, "Who Am I (What's My Name)? ♫" includes re-performed P-funk music; the chorus lyric "Snoop Doggy Dogg" is adapted from the chorus of George Clinton's "Atomic Dog ♫" (1982), and the bass is borrowed from Funkadelic's "Not Just Knee Deep ♫" (1979) and re-performed by studio musicians.
Dr. Dre produced a number of influential albums by other West Coast rappers during the 1990s, including Daz Dillinger and Warren G (Dr. Dre's stepbrother). Dr. Dre and these other artists helped established West Coast hip-hop as a dominant force during the early 1990s, which eventually led to conflicts between rappers from the East and West Coasts.
"I feel like your city - with hip hop in particular, because we're always beating our chest and shouting where we're from - your city is just as influential as your parents. Even the grimy, hardcore gangster rap from New York - KRS-One and Wu Tang, the stuff acknowledges it."
