Question for the older heads about this pre-hype shit...

[ABN]

i´m just wondering if there was any of this pre-hype bullshit back in the day? you know like these days you get all this hype about certain artists and what have you before they´ve even dropped their first single and since i´m prettty young(19)i´m wondering if this shit went on back in the late 80´s/early 90´s aswell. maybe it´s a stupid question but i wanna know or maybe we aint got heads that are that old to remember how it used to be.

[teecee]

Well, i think the mixtape game changed hipop as we know it, artists can be well known before even dropping a  single.  Image play a much larger part today then it did back in the day as well. 
   The hype for Snoop's DOggystyle was incredible, with him catching a murder case and having stole the show on the Chronic, the hype for SNoop's solo was just unbelieveable. 

But for the most part, things have changed, it's all about marketing one self, getiing your name out there..........

[ABN]

yea the mixtapes might´ve changed it but it probably changed for the worst though coz today you get all of this pre-hype thing for every other new artist and not many of them deserves it.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

i´m just wondering if there was any of this pre-hype bullshit back in the day? you know like these days you get all this hype about certain artists and what have you before they´ve even dropped their first single and since i´m prettty young(19)i´m wondering if this shit went on back in the late 80´s/early 90´s aswell. maybe it´s a stupid question but i wanna know or maybe we aint got heads that are that old to remember how it used to be.

I'm 23 and I've been a hip-hop head since 1992.  From what I can tell you, hype is nothing new in hip-hop.  Infact, I think the hype was even better back in the day because bootlegging and internet piracy were not as prevelent.  So you had to anticipate the day of the release to hear the album in it's entirety.  Internet piracy has actually killed a great deal of the hype in hip-hop.

I first got into hip-hop when "Wit A Dre Day" video was number one on the MTV summer countdown.  The hype for Snoop's album was enormous, and the hype was everywhere, from LA to New York to the suburbs of the midwest.  And every Death Row release that followed was heavily hyped.  There was alot of talk leading up to the Death Row albums.  To the best of my recollection, it was Death Row that really set the industry standard for how to market and hype and artist and biuld anticipation.  They used to advertise an album from an artist around a year before it was actually released, and they would spotlight them on guest appearances to biuld anticipation.  Death Row was really the trendsetter in my opinion when it comes to pre-hype. 

Then by the time Bad Boy Records and No Limit Records hip-hop became mainstream and there was heavy anticipation for all of their major releases, they copied Death Row's method of cross-advertisement and spotlighting upcoming artists through other artists on the label.  My friends and I used to skip school during lunch on Tuesday's to go to the record store and grab the new releases the first chance we got.     

[Thirteen]

the internet made it worse...back then all you had was like magazine and record stores to tell you the release date, and when something got pushed back...you never knew the reason....now we know what day the cd comes out as soon as the artist says so, then it gets pushed back for months of even years, all that is mixed in with stupid rumors of groups, cd's guests, mixtapes....

then we can download songs months in advanced and all that other shit...

back in the day you were pretty much surprised when some one's music came out, not you're surprised if you don't have the music on your comptuer 4 months before the cd comes out

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

the internet made it worse...back then all you had was like magazine and record stores to tell you the release date, and when something got pushed back...you never knew the reason....now we know what day the cd comes out as soon as the artist says so, then it gets pushed back for months of even years, all that is mixed in with stupid rumors of groups, cd's guests, mixtapes....

then we can download songs months in advanced and all that other shit...

back in the day you were pretty much surprised when some one's music came out, not you're surprised if you don't have the music on your comptuer 4 months before the cd comes out

No doubt, I'm an old school fan and I miss the way it was back in the day before internet piracy became so prevelant.  You used to really have to have your ear to the ground to know about the ill underground artists, and everybody had to come to you to be exposed to the new artists, I remember I was the only kid in my neighborhood that had "Creepin On A Come Up" back in the day, through a twist of fate a dubbed tape of the album fell into my hands, and everybody came through me to hear it and got turned on to Bone, and those that didn't come, didn't know about Bone until "First of the Month" dropped about a year later. 

Same thing with Xzibit and Crucial Conflict, I got turned onto them from reading a Source article about him in the summer of 96 (Dre cover issue), and your imagination would dream about what the music would sound like, and then when you got the album you would really appreciate it and you felt like you played a role in their success. 

Nowadays, all the college frat-boy geeks are sitting at their computers and downloading all the ill music for free, they don't give a damn about hip-hop, but believe me, they know about many of the underground artists and have most of their songs downloaded to their computer.  Back in the day, you had to be a real hip-hop head to know what was going down.

............these are just a few of the reasons why I don't listen to hardly any music that came out after 2000.

[Thuglife]

its just cause theres more money in the game nowadays so more people try to promote their shit.its not just the internet tho its mtv and bet and all the magazines, internet just makes it more accesible to anybody.

[ImmortalOne]

The most notable hype for me back in the day was the release of Tupac's "Makaveli". The hype for All Eyez On Me was gigantic, the hype for Makaveli was even more gigantic.

It was the first album released after his death (just 2 months after). Based on his death alone, the album was destined to be MAJORLY hyped, but then it was also rumored to be a "next level" type album.....meaning his deepest, most prolific, and outstanding album to date, an album for the ages that would outclass anything else coming out. Sure enough it lived up to that hype. AEOM was a great album, but it wasnt on that next level type shit like Makaveli was.

I remember going to buy the album at midnight on release day at Tower Records, and the line was wrapped all the way around the block. They had got around 800 copies, and all were sold out within an hour. The album sold like 750,000 in its first week (which, back then, was the equal to selling over a million nowadays) and was selling so much, most places had a hard time keeping it in stock. I didnt even get my copy until the second week of its release. Did the album live up to its hype?? I think so. Often, huge releases are overhyped but with Makaveli I think it was justified. The album was just so different and mysterious in sound, and Pac's lyrics on it are still haunting to this day. Its a very dark and intense album, and when it first came out, I wasnt sure what to think of it......now, it has become what I (and many others) consider to be the greatest rap album from the greatest rap artist.

You dont see that with todays artists, not even Eminem and 50 Cent. Sure they sell millions, but I dont see people lining up at midnight for their albums. At least not several hundred deep lol. 1996' and earlier was legendary, and it definatly isnt the same nowadays. I cant really explain it.

[G funker]

Back in the days it was was about culture ,you didn´t become a millionair in the 80´s.Now it´s about money thanx to (50 cent,Eminem,Dr Dre, Thee game, and last but not least all the dirty South/Crunk rappers. The Culture died when Krs-one stopped, the old school didn´t get any respect and pac and big died.

[Suga Foot]

for me, before the internet, I the only hip hop I was exposed to was on TV and the occasional radio show.  But I used to buy albums off the single I heard on the radio.  Thats how I got into Rappin 4 Tay, E-40 ect.  It seemed like there wasn't a lot of hype until the album was already out.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

The most notable hype for me back in the day was the release of Tupac's "Makaveli". The hype for All Eyez On Me was gigantic, the hype for Makaveli was even more gigantic.

It was the first album released after his death (just 2 months after). Based on his death alone, the album was destined to be MAJORLY hyped, but then it was also rumored to be a "next level" type album.....meaning his deepest, most prolific, and outstanding album to date, an album for the ages that would outclass anything else coming out. Sure enough it lived up to that hype. AEOM was a great album, but it wasnt on that next level type shit like Makaveli was.

I remember going to buy the album at midnight on release day at Tower Records, and the line was wrapped all the way around the block. They had got around 800 copies, and all were sold out within an hour. The album sold like 750,000 in its first week (which, back then, was the equal to selling over a million nowadays) and was selling so much, most places had a hard time keeping it in stock. I didnt even get my copy until the second week of its release. Did the album live up to its hype?? I think so. Often, huge releases are overhyped but with Makaveli I think it was justified. The album was just so different and mysterious in sound, and Pac's lyrics on it are still haunting to this day. Its a very dark and intense album, and when it first came out, I wasnt sure what to think of it......now, it has become what I (and many others) consider to be the greatest rap album from the greatest rap artist.

You dont see that with todays artists, not even Eminem and 50 Cent. Sure they sell millions, but I dont see people lining up at midnight for their albums. At least not several hundred deep lol. 1996' and earlier was legendary, and it definatly isnt the same nowadays. I cant really explain it.

Nice post, but for me, actually I don't even remember much hype for the Makevelli record.  It's like that "journalist" on the album says in the beggining, "nobody knows the exact cause of the record, but the industry is scheduling a series of interchart redates fearing a wipeout in internet chart movement".......  The album's release and the album itself were shrouded in mystery, which only furthered the great legacy of Pac, and increased the myth and legend surrounding the last days of his carear.  The Makevelli record is absolutely remarkable, and it was way ahead of it's time.

Funny story, but I didn't even hear much of anything about the album, Snoop's "Doggfather" album had intense hype for years, and it was origionally scheduled to be released on Nov. 5th but Pac's record pushed it back Nov. 12th.   So I was only 14 but I got one of my friends to drive me up to the record store around Nov. 8th to see if Snoop's record was there, and it wasn't there but the Pac record seemed to fall out of the heavens and land on the shelf of the record store.  I picked it up, and at first I wasn't feeling it, because the record was ahead of it's time and I hadn't caught up to it yet, it wouldn't be for another half a year that it grew on me and became one of my favorite records of all time.

[ImmortalOne]

Yea, the album was very ahead of its time. So ahead of its time, it took a few years for even many hardcore Pac fans to appreciate it. Yet, its now widely regarded as being his best work. I think the fact it was such a drastic change from AEOM played a big part in it. He was spitting some mind-blowing shit, and back then some people had doubts but what they really had in their hands was a bonafied classic. No, it didnt change the rap game up forever like AEOM did, but it didnt need to. It was pure artistry, emotion, and lyricism....it didnt rely on classic collaberations/guest appearances, image, or famous producers. It was just GREAT FUCKING music. In some ways, this album did have more impact then Eyez did. "Hail Mary" is considered by many to be Pac's greatest song, and at the very least, it his most sampled. Jay Z borrowed from Me and My Girlfriend, and alot of the concepts influenced many of todays rappers.

One thing is for sure, the first time I heard "Blasphemy", I was like    ......I still consider that to be

I guess the hype surrounding the album was different depending on where you were, but here in Los Angeles, it was pandamonium.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

Yea, the album was very ahead of its time. So ahead of its time, it took a few years for even many hardcore Pac fans to appreciate it. Yet, its now widely regarded as being his best work. I think the fact it was such a drastic change from AEOM played a big part in it. He was spitting some mind-blowing shit, and back then some people had doubts but what they really had in their hands was a bonafied classic. No, it didnt change the rap game up forever like AEOM did, but it didnt need to. It was pure artistry, emotion, and lyricism....it didnt rely on classic collaberations/guest appearances, image, or famous producers. It was just GREAT FUCKING music. In some ways, this album did have more impact then Eyez did. "Hail Mary" is considered by many to be Pac's greatest song, and at the very least, it his most sampled. Jay Z borrowed from Me and My Girlfriend, and alot of the concepts influenced many of todays rappers.

One thing is for sure, the first time I heard "Blasphemy", I was like    ......I still consider that to be

I guess the hype surrounding the album was different depending on where you were, but here in Los Angeles, it was pandamonium.

I was in the midwest so we didn't here alot of hype about the Makevelli record till after "Live And Die In LA" blew up, which was a month or so after the release... 

"Against All Odds" has been sampled as well by No Limit (C Murder), but then again most their catalog was sampled and influenced by Pac...

Has "Hail Mary" been sampled?

...It's a crime that Jay-Z was aloud to sample "Me And My Girlfriend", considering the Pac disses him on the album in "Bomb First".

[Juronimo]

Things were definitely different in the 80's and 90's. The type of hype that a rapper like the game saw last year before dropping an album was rare. You depended a lot more on word of mouth and what your homies would tell you. Usually by the time a single dropped or a video was made, you could go to stores and buy the tape.

I used to watch Ed Lover and Doctor Dre religiously from 4:30pm to 5:30pm after getting home from school to see what the new shit was coming out. I'd hear a song I liked, I'd go to the store and buy the tape, then I'd tell all my homies about it. They would do the same thing. "hey check out this new Ice Cube/Black Sheep/Tribe Called Quest/Too Short/Ice-T/Public Enemy/Cypress Hill tape I got this shit is dope etc etc". They hype usually happened after the album was out.

I think Snoop was the first rapper to really have a lot of hype surrounding him without having an album out. By the time Doggystyle was out, heads were fiending and were lining up at music stores at midnight. That was only because of his features all over the chronic. I think the whole hype element kind of got started with death row records. Once the internet came on the scene, that changed everything. Also, nowadays, rappers release singles and videos months before the album is even out, increasing pre-album hype.

In the old days, there was only so much money to be made. Before the 90's, you could count all the platinum records on one hand, there were a scant few but once rappers figured out how much money that could be made, marketing schemes changed accordingly.

[ImmortalOne]

Yea, the album was very ahead of its time. So ahead of its time, it took a few years for even many hardcore Pac fans to appreciate it. Yet, its now widely regarded as being his best work. I think the fact it was such a drastic change from AEOM played a big part in it. He was spitting some mind-blowing shit, and back then some people had doubts but what they really had in their hands was a bonafied classic. No, it didnt change the rap game up forever like AEOM did, but it didnt need to. It was pure artistry, emotion, and lyricism....it didnt rely on classic collaberations/guest appearances, image, or famous producers. It was just GREAT FUCKING music. In some ways, this album did have more impact then Eyez did. "Hail Mary" is considered by many to be Pac's greatest song, and at the very least, it his most sampled. Jay Z borrowed from Me and My Girlfriend, and alot of the concepts influenced many of todays rappers.

One thing is for sure, the first time I heard "Blasphemy", I was like    ......I still consider that to be

I guess the hype surrounding the album was different depending on where you were, but here in Los Angeles, it was pandamonium.

I was in the midwest so we didn't here alot of hype about the Makevelli record till after "Live And Die In LA" blew up, which was a month or so after the release... 

"Against All Odds" has been sampled as well by No Limit (C Murder), but then again most their catalog was sampled and influenced by Pac...

Has "Hail Mary" been sampled?

...It's a crime that Jay-Z was aloud to sample "Me And My Girlfriend", considering the Pac disses him on the album in "Bomb First".

 Pac's version of Me and My Girlfriend is a classic and one of his greatest songs IMO.....Jay's version was horrible.

Hail Mary has been sampled several times.......Red Spyda and 50 used it when they took Pac's vocals from Lets Fight (originally made for the One Nation album) and put them together with 50's verse on Realest Killaz. Eminem, 50, and Busta Rhymes sampled it on their diss song to Ja Rule (forgot the name of the song), and there was a song on the Gang Related soundtrack that sampled it also. I think theres a couple others that sampled it that I cant think of off hand right now......but without a doubt its his most sampled song ever.