50 Hip-Hop Facts Every '90s Baby Should Know
Sure, you know every Jay-Z album word for word, cover to cover. You're jokingly called the "hip-hop encyclopedia" in your circle of friends. You feel like you can decode any rap lyric without consulting Rap Genius. But when it comes to hip-hop, it's impossible to know it all. Even the most esteemed rap purist is missing out on a fact or two. For those born and raised in the '90s (and 2000s), especially, it's easy to gloss over the details of hip-hop's evolution. Consider this a much-needed history lesson for the next time that rap OG tries to son you.
Compiled by Stacy-Ann Ellis, Camille Augustin, Desire Thompson and Sharifa Daniels
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1. Nas was 21 when he released his first album, Illmatic, and just 17 when he started recording it.
Photo Credit: rapgenius.com
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2. The acronym for hip-hop group EPMD stands for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars."
Photo Credit: last.fm
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3. Biz Markie produced most of EPMD's first album.
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4. The original four elements of hip-hop are emceeing, B-boying (breaking), DJing and graffiti.
Photo Credit: Beat Street
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5. The Mercedes Ladies were the first all-female rap group.
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6. Although he's currently considered a member of the rap elite, Eminem only sold 1,000 copies of his 1996 debut album, Infinite.
Photo Credit: eminemlab.com
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7. Da Brat was the first female solo rapper to have a platinum-selling album.
Photo Credit: thewomenofhiphop.com
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8. Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' But a G Thang" (from his 1992 debut, The Chronic) sampled Leon Haywood's 1975 hit, "I Want to Do Something Freaky to You."
Photo Credit: last.fm
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9. Before the Diddy Bop became a dance all its own, Mr. Combs was once a back-up dancer for Big Daddy Kane and Heavy D.
Photo Credit: newsone.com
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10. Chubb Rock dropped out of medical school (at Brown University!) to pursue a rap career.
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11. At the time N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton was released in 1988, Eazy-E was the only member of the unapologetically violent rap group with a criminal record and a drug-dealing past.
Photo Credit: respectthenext.com
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12. Nas used to open up on tour for Super Cat when they were both signed to Columbia Records.
Photo Credit: yardhype.com
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13. Nas co-wrote Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," and it was the only Grammy Award-winning project of his career.
Photo Credit: YouTube
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14. Pharrell Williams wrote Teddy Riley's rap in Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 single, "Rump Shaker."
Photo Credit: Tumblr
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15. As they sat in a movie theatre for the opening clip of "Killing Me Softly," The Fugees are watching the original (and decidedly rejected) version of the song's video.
Photo Credit: YouTube
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16. Diddy's 1997 debut album, No Way Out, was originally titled Hell Up in Harlem.
Photo Credit: Amazon.com
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17. Eazy-E signed a pre-Fergie Black Eyed Peas to his own Ruthless Records in 1992.
Photo Credit: arc-records.com
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18. Before her mainstream success, Queen Latifah started out beatboxing for the female rap group, Ladies Fresh.
Photo Credit: Tumblr
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19. Grandwizard Theodore is credited as the "creator of scratching."
Photo Credit: last.fm
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20. The late '80s and early '90s are referred to as hip-hop's "golden era."
Photo Credit: hiphopsince81.com
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21. The first project released by Bad Boy Records was Craig Mack's single "Flava In Ya Ear."
Photo Credit: BET.com
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22. Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg and Warren G were once in a local rap group named 213, which was L.A.'s original telephone area code.
Photo Credit: Tumblr
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23. Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell was the first hip-hop DJ. He's credited with originating the modern hip-hop genre in the early 1970s at a party in the Bronx.
Photo Credit: LA Weekly
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24. Rap pioneer Afrika Bambaataa quit the Black Spades street gang to form the music-oriented "youth organization" Zulu Nation in the mid 1970s.
Photo Credit: AllHipHop.com
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25. Bambaataa was the first rap artist to record a song with James Brown--"Unity" in 1984.
Photo Credit: AllHipHop
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26. After his cameo on Soul Train, Kurtis Blow became the first rapper to appear on national television.
Photo Credit: last.fm
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27. Nas' intro to "NY State of Mind" ("I don't know how to start this shit") was a mistake, and he spat the entire first verse in just one take.
Photo Credit: MissInfo.tv
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28. In 1984, Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin joined forces to launch Def Jam Records.
Photo Credit: Barnes And Noble
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29. The original members of Public Enemy were Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff and DJ Terminator X.
Photo Credit: Newsday
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30. Yo! MTV Raps hits the TV airwaves in 1988.
Photo Credit: AllHipHop
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31. Tupac launched his career as a roadie and dancer for Digital Underground.
Photo Credit: StraightfromtheA.com
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32. Jazzy Jay first introduced Rick Rubin to Russell Simmons.
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33. Kanye West produced songs on Jermaine Dupri's Life in 1472.
Photo Credit: amazon.com
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34. Celeb stylist June Ambrose convinced Diddy to wear the trademark shiny suit in "Mo Money Mo Problems."
Photo Credit: YouTube
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35. Sean Combs went through (at least) four stage names in the '90s and early 2000s: Puff Daddy, Puffy, P. Diddy and Diddy.
Photo Credit: urbanislandz.com
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36. A significant amount of hip-hop heavyweights died in their 20s: Aaliyah (22), Left Eye (25), Tupac (25), Biggie Smalls (24), Big L (24) and Big Pun (28).
Photo Credit: Flickr.com
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37. Run-D.M.C was signed to Profile Records.
Photo Credit: last.fm
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38. Jay-Z's "99 Problems" was originally Ice-T's single. The song appears on Ice's 1993 album Home Invasion.
Photo Credit: volleyballmag.com
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39. Brooklyn duo Smif-N-Wessun changed their name to Cocoa Brovaz in 1996 to avoid a cease and desist lawsuit from firearms company Smith & Wesson.
Photo Credit: grandgood.com
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40. Dr. Dre was in a group called the World Class Wreckin Cru before he was in N.W.A.
Photo Credit: westcoastpioneers.com
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41. Will Smith was the first rapper with a fictional sitcom based on his life.
Photo Credit: amazon.com
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42. Producer Large Professor showed DJ Premier how to use the SP-1200 drum machine.
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43. Lauryn Hill was the the only female rapper to take home five Grammys.
Photo Credit: ginavivinetto.wordpress.com
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44. Rock Steady Crew is considered the biggest known B-boy crew in hip-hop.
Photo Credit: last.fm
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45. The chorus of Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" samples the Broadway play Annie.
Photo Credit: YouTube
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46. Bushwick Bill, one-third of the Houston group The Geto Boys, lost an eye in a shooting incident prior to the release of We Can't Be Stopped. The album's graphic cover art is a picture of him in the emergency room with a clear view of his eye and his group mates Scarface and Willie D by his side.
Photo Credit: grandgood.com
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47. The members of A Tribe Called Quest were first a part of a high school afrocentric group called the Native Tongues.
Photo Credit: cultureclimax.com
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48. Cypress Hill initiated a campaign to legalize hemp during the time they released their self-titled debut album.
Photo Credit: fanart.tv
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49. Interscope Records severed their ties with Death Row back in 1997.
Photo Credit: westlord.com
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50. Jay-Z and Nas had a nasty rap battle where Jay details his sexual relationship with Nas' baby mama. The two have since made up.
Photo Credit: roc4life.com
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