The Best Era in Hip-Hop?

[M Dogg™]

The Old School:
Hip-Hop finally gets on the radio, Rapper's Delight, Run DMC, Kurtis Blow, Fat Boys. The movie Wild Style chronicles Hip-Hop culture and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 are making Rap music a legitimate art by producing tracks like The Message and White Lines.

The Goldyn Era:
Hip-Hop goes bi-coastal. The era started when Rakim dropped Eric B. for President and changed emceeing forever. By dropping a smooth flow, and a deep rhyme scheme Rakim kicked off the Goldyn Era. Also in 1986, NWA drops the single Boyz N Tha Hood with Dr. Dre making the beat and Ice Cube writing the rhymes for Eazy E, and Ice T drops 6 In the Morning. Later in the Era the South rises with the Gheto Boys and 2 Live Crew. Yo! MTV Raps came out and put Hip-Hop on TV, KDAY opens in LA in 1986 as the first all Hip-Hop radio station, movies are made starting rappers and 1987 we enter the Public Enemy reign that is dominated by politics.

The Gangsta Era:
1991, Ice Cube goes solo and drops AmeriKKKa'z Most Wanted and Boyz N the Hood. The lead up to the LA Riots are put in music, as the Rodney King beating goes with past songs like Fuck the Police and that makes LA the center of the Black experience in America. Once the LA Riots hit, everyone focuses on the west coast. Oakland becomes a huge commercial success as Digital Underground, 2Pac and others lead the charge. In 1994, off the power of Nas, Wu Tang and Biggie the east comes back with a harder edge. 2Pac and Biggie lead the charge of platinum artist. LA Hood movies rule the Hip-Hop culture.

The Bling Era:
In 1996-'97, Hip-Hop lost 2Pac and Biggie. The west seemed to fade for a time well the east rose with more party Jams. Will Smith goes solo with the song, Getting Jiggy Wit' It, battling becomes almost taboo since it's blamed for the death of 'Pac and Big. The South rises again behind Outkast, No Limit and Cash Money. Jay-Z takes reigns as the King of the Era, and trend setter to many. The West comes back in 1999 with Snoop's Top Dogg and Dre's 2001, and a white boy is introduced as the Era's highest selling artist in Eminem. Big projects continue to dominate the Era, and artist that traditionally would sell because of their talent began to get pushed to the underground. Huge label mergers pushed many artist to the background.

The Global Era:
The Bling Era ends with the battle of Bling King Jay-Z and Nas. Hip-Hop still is struggling from the Bling Era, but many artist are now in the forefront of Hip-Hop like 50 Cent. Eminem comes out with the movie 8 Mile, and the underground is showcased to the casual fan. KRS-One battles Nelly, and Hip-Hop goes global. Reggeton basically blankets American Hip-Hop stations, well around the world Hip-Hop becomes the sound of poverty in many developing nations. Kanye West comes out with College Dropout, the Mid-West is strong, the west and east begin to fad. Jay-Z retires and has a huge farewell concert in Madison Square Garden. Off the power of Crunk music,the South becomes the dominate region of Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop is Dead:
In 2006, only one album went platinum, TI's King (Ludacris Release Therapy eventually went platinum) and everything seemed to hit people, Hip-Hop is WACKED! As artist adjust to the digital world, ring tones, iPods with iTunes and lower CD sales, more party music is put out. Nas released Hip-Hop is Dead at the end of the year, and that seemed to stick to the new era. This album sparked a short term NY/South beef. Currently, Hip-Hop is at a crossroads, is it dead or will it reclaim what made it great?

[Hatesrats™]

Defo a tie between..
The Goldyn Era: '86-'90
The Gangsta Era:'91-'96

I was thru them all, but IMO these are the ones that stand out for me.

[The-Leak (aka) kingwell (bka) JULES]

I liked the Bling Era.. Lotsa good music..

[MontrealCity's Most]

dint this thread happen last week no offense?

[M Dogg™]

dint this thread happen last week no offense?

yeah, but it was 88 vs. 93-96. This basically put all the eras in there, so if their is someone who really believes today is better than yesterday, let them speak. Also I tried to have a small case for each era and what was going on during them. To understand the Riots, and Gangsta culture would lead to better understanding of the Gangsta Era, well to understand the post 'Pac/Biggie shootings is to understand the Bling Era. That way people aren't just... Bling make music suck, theirs some thought to it.

[R1ZE]

since youre doing roughly 4-6 per era...

94-98 or possibly 95-99

basically every artist out put out their best material in this period. Theres some notable exceptions, but rap was on another level.

[The-Leak (aka) kingwell (bka) JULES]

since youre doing roughly 4-6 per era...

94-98 or possibly 95-99

basically every artist out put out their best material in this period. Theres some notable exceptions, but rap was on another level.

Thought the same.. Even tho in this poll that would be the "Bling" era, the music I was listening to didn't reflect that!

This is a good thread, cuz u really explained the eras well...

[Ali Tha Great]

props on this thread cuddie...IMO the gangsta Era was the best...

['EclipZe]

91 untill 2001, those 10 years where the shit.

[M Dogg™]

since youre doing roughly 4-6 per era...

94-98 or possibly 95-99

basically every artist out put out their best material in this period. Theres some notable exceptions, but rap was on another level.

Thought the same.. Even tho in this poll that would be the "Bling" era, the music I was listening to didn't reflect that!

This is a good thread, cuz u really explained the eras well...

yeah... well there are some events that I mentioned. Like the Goldyn Era started in '86 'cause that's when the west came out and Rakim changed the game. Gangsta Era started with Ice Cube becoming the biggest star in 1991 and Gangsta Rap dominating Hip-Hop, the Bling Era started with the deaths of Biggie and 'Pac, and ends with Nas beating Jay-Z, the Global Era reflects the global impact in Hip-Hop like Reggieton and all that Indian sampling, and 2006 was the first year when only one artist went platinum and the digital era finally caught up with it. So using this events which I have notice most Hip-Hop scholars sight as huge events that change Hip-Hop, I basically split up Hip-Hop the way I've heard it split.

I also know that their are some run over in that Gangsta Rap truly started in 1988, but it took time to spread but you can sight '88 as the Gangsta Rap Era, or the South was running things back since 2003 so you can say that Hip-Hop Died in 2003 (as a NYer would say). But since '06 was the year no one sold, well '05 had many platinum records, then '06 is that line.