Who Were The Top MCs Before 1995?
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in The Reason
If you were discussing Hip Hop on New Years Eve 1994, who would be the top 5 MCs?
Comments
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Looking back at that year IMO.
Biggie
Scarface
Guru
Pac
Nas
Even tho I'm hesitant to have Pac on there since he didn't drop an album that year (I don't count thug life).
-
? was up there
-
Nas
?
Buckshot
SNOOP
Scarface
Ice Cube
KRS 1
BIG
PAC
Rakim
Slick Rick
LL
Kane
REDMAN
-
1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now. -
1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995. -
2pac
'LL
Big -
No order...
Redman
KRS One
LL Cool J
Ice Cube
Scarface -
Big, Nas, Snoop, Face, Cube was coming out of his wave. The momentum from ? was slowing down, and New York was re-establishing itself in that small vacuum. Big was the king at the time.
-
To me it was ice cube
-
1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995.
By 95 Big and Nas where looked at as the kings of NY. You have to remember a rapper career was short back then. Rapper made an album or 2 and fall off. In 95 out of your 5, Kris and Cube was still talked about. LL too, but nobody was saying he was the best. Rappers didn't even want to rap past 30. The genre was still very young. -
power_wisdom wrote: »1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995.
By 95 Big and Nas where looked at as the kings of NY. You have to remember a rapper career was short back then. Rapper made an album or 2 and fall off. In 95 out of your 5, Kris and Cube was still talked about. LL too, but nobody was saying he was the best. Rappers didn't even want to rap past 30. The genre was still very young.
Pretend he said before '94 then and play along. -
BDK
LL
Cube
Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Public Enemy -
I don't remember there being any goat discussions back then but maybe that's just cuz I was young at the time
-
power_wisdom wrote: »1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995.
By 95 Big and Nas where looked at as the kings of NY. You have to remember a rapper career was short back then. Rapper made an album or 2 and fall off. In 95 out of your 5, Kris and Cube was still talked about. LL too, but nobody was saying he was the best. Rappers didn't even want to rap past 30. The genre was still very young.
We're talking New Years Eve 1994. Nobody was calling Big or Nas anything yet. They both had good albums, but think of Kendrick. After GKMC nobody was calling him top 5 DOA.
Biggie had a big summer in 1995. He released the One More Chance (Remix), Flavor In Your Ear (Remix), Players Anthem, Can't You See by Total and Mr Cee's The Best Of Biggie mixtape that had Real ? Do Real Things and The Wickedest Freestyle. But as of New Years 1994 none of those songs had been released yet. Biggie really just had one album.
Nas only had one album, Verbal Intercourse wasn't even out yet.
Your saying that a rappers career was short back then but that simply isn't true. KRS had 7 albums by that point (8 if you count the live album) LL had 5 albums, Cube had 4 albums (6 if you count Straight Outta Compton and the ? At Will EP), Rakim had 4 albums by that point.
I was 21 in 1994. I remember those conversations. Rakim was still considered the standard for an ill MC. Backpackers liked Rakim and KRS. People who weren't backpackers liked Ice Cube. Girls liked LL Cool J.
Nas, Jay, 2Pac and Biggie were just getting started. -
power_wisdom wrote: »1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995.
By 95 Big and Nas where looked at as the kings of NY. You have to remember a rapper career was short back then. Rapper made an album or 2 and fall off. In 95 out of your 5, Kris and Cube was still talked about. LL too, but nobody was saying he was the best. Rappers didn't even want to rap past 30. The genre was still very young.
We're talking New Years Eve 1994. Nobody was calling Big or Nas anything yet. They both had good albums, but think of Kendrick. After GKMC nobody was calling him top 5 DOA.
Biggie had a big summer in 1995. He released the One More Chance (Remix), Flavor In Your Ear (Remix), Players Anthem, Can't You See by Total and Mr Cee's The Best Of Biggie mixtape that had Real ? Do Real Things and The Wickedest Freestyle. But as of New Years 1994 none of those songs had been released yet. Biggie really just had one album.
Nas only had one album, Verbal Intercourse wasn't even out yet.
Your saying that a rappers career was short back then but that simply isn't true. KRS had 7 albums by that point (8 if you count the live album) LL had 5 albums, Cube had 4 albums (6 if you count Straight Outta Compton and the ? At Will EP), Rakim had 4 albums by that point.
I was 21 in 1994. I remember those conversations. Rakim was still considered the standard for an ill MC. Backpackers liked Rakim and KRS. People who weren't backpackers liked Ice Cube. Girls liked LL Cool J.
Nas, Jay, 2Pac and Biggie were just getting started.
In 94, kane and Rakim wasn't really on the scene like that. Their popularity was fading. Illmatic and Ready to die was the biggest things to hit that year. Those was some of the albums to bring it home to the East. Snoop was the biggest thing popping before that. It wasn't really about who was the vets and who had long caeers back then. ? was falling off left and right. It was a few that was still doing it from the 80s. But back then it was about what was going on in the moment. You can't tell me KRS 1 was bigger than Wu in 94. Or LL was hotter than Big or ? in 94. Hip hop was a what have you done for me now movement back then. ? was calling Big and Nas king of Ny back then. Jay said it in 96. All you needed to be considered the best was a classic album that year. -
power_wisdom wrote: »power_wisdom wrote: »1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995.
By 95 Big and Nas where looked at as the kings of NY. You have to remember a rapper career was short back then. Rapper made an album or 2 and fall off. In 95 out of your 5, Kris and Cube was still talked about. LL too, but nobody was saying he was the best. Rappers didn't even want to rap past 30. The genre was still very young.
We're talking New Years Eve 1994. Nobody was calling Big or Nas anything yet. They both had good albums, but think of Kendrick. After GKMC nobody was calling him top 5 DOA.
Biggie had a big summer in 1995. He released the One More Chance (Remix), Flavor In Your Ear (Remix), Players Anthem, Can't You See by Total and Mr Cee's The Best Of Biggie mixtape that had Real ? Do Real Things and The Wickedest Freestyle. But as of New Years 1994 none of those songs had been released yet. Biggie really just had one album.
Nas only had one album, Verbal Intercourse wasn't even out yet.
Your saying that a rappers career was short back then but that simply isn't true. KRS had 7 albums by that point (8 if you count the live album) LL had 5 albums, Cube had 4 albums (6 if you count Straight Outta Compton and the ? At Will EP), Rakim had 4 albums by that point.
I was 21 in 1994. I remember those conversations. Rakim was still considered the standard for an ill MC. Backpackers liked Rakim and KRS. People who weren't backpackers liked Ice Cube. Girls liked LL Cool J.
Nas, Jay, 2Pac and Biggie were just getting started.
In 94, kane and Rakim wasn't really on the scene like that. Their popularity was fading. Illmatic and Ready to die was the biggest things to hit that year. Those was some of the albums to bring it home to the East. Snoop was the biggest thing popping before that. It wasn't really about who was the vets and who had long caeers back then. ? was falling off left and right. It was a few that was still doing it from the 80s. But back then it was about what was going on in the moment. You can't tell me KRS 1 was bigger than Wu in 94. Or LL was hotter than Big or ? in 94. Hip hop was a what have you done for me now movement back then. ? was calling Big and Nas king of Ny back then. Jay said it in 96. All you needed to be considered the best was a classic album that year.
Are you speaking from memory or is your post conjecture?
If we did a Nas vs Kendrick poll right now who would win?
And don't say things have changed. Things are the same now as they were then. Teenagers had fickle taste, but people in their twenties and thirties still appreciated the veterans. -
power_wisdom wrote: »power_wisdom wrote: »1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995.
By 95 Big and Nas where looked at as the kings of NY. You have to remember a rapper career was short back then. Rapper made an album or 2 and fall off. In 95 out of your 5, Kris and Cube was still talked about. LL too, but nobody was saying he was the best. Rappers didn't even want to rap past 30. The genre was still very young.
We're talking New Years Eve 1994. Nobody was calling Big or Nas anything yet. They both had good albums, but think of Kendrick. After GKMC nobody was calling him top 5 DOA.
Biggie had a big summer in 1995. He released the One More Chance (Remix), Flavor In Your Ear (Remix), Players Anthem, Can't You See by Total and Mr Cee's The Best Of Biggie mixtape that had Real ? Do Real Things and The Wickedest Freestyle. But as of New Years 1994 none of those songs had been released yet. Biggie really just had one album.
Nas only had one album, Verbal Intercourse wasn't even out yet.
Your saying that a rappers career was short back then but that simply isn't true. KRS had 7 albums by that point (8 if you count the live album) LL had 5 albums, Cube had 4 albums (6 if you count Straight Outta Compton and the ? At Will EP), Rakim had 4 albums by that point.
I was 21 in 1994. I remember those conversations. Rakim was still considered the standard for an ill MC. Backpackers liked Rakim and KRS. People who weren't backpackers liked Ice Cube. Girls liked LL Cool J.
Nas, Jay, 2Pac and Biggie were just getting started.
In 94, kane and Rakim wasn't really on the scene like that. Their popularity was fading. Illmatic and Ready to die was the biggest things to hit that year. Those was some of the albums to bring it home to the East. Snoop was the biggest thing popping before that. It wasn't really about who was the vets and who had long caeers back then. ? was falling off left and right. It was a few that was still doing it from the 80s. But back then it was about what was going on in the moment. You can't tell me KRS 1 was bigger than Wu in 94. Or LL was hotter than Big or ? in 94. Hip hop was a what have you done for me now movement back then. ? was calling Big and Nas king of Ny back then. Jay said it in 96. All you needed to be considered the best was a classic album that year.
Are you speaking from memory or is your post conjecture?
If we did a Nas vs Kendrick poll right now who would win?
And don't say things have changed. Things are the same now as they were then. Teenagers had fickle taste, but people in their twenties and thirties still appreciated the veterans.
Things have definitely change. ? not even rapping anymore.They mumbling. They wearing girl clothes. ? didn't have 10 to 15 album discography back then. You couldn't just put out music for the world and get on like now. Hip-hop was considered a fade back then. It wasn't getting Grammy's or MTV awards. Most rappers had a 2 to 3 album life span if they was lucky. It was no independent route. You was independent trying to get on. Not independent as a career. Rakim wasn't hot in 94. People still want him to do music. But he was on hiatus. And when he came back he was never the same. Nas is still hot. In the 90s you had classics dropping left and right. It's not like that now. ? done totally changed. -
power_wisdom wrote: »power_wisdom wrote: »power_wisdom wrote: »1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995.
By 95 Big and Nas where looked at as the kings of NY. You have to remember a rapper career was short back then. Rapper made an album or 2 and fall off. In 95 out of your 5, Kris and Cube was still talked about. LL too, but nobody was saying he was the best. Rappers didn't even want to rap past 30. The genre was still very young.
We're talking New Years Eve 1994. Nobody was calling Big or Nas anything yet. They both had good albums, but think of Kendrick. After GKMC nobody was calling him top 5 DOA.
Biggie had a big summer in 1995. He released the One More Chance (Remix), Flavor In Your Ear (Remix), Players Anthem, Can't You See by Total and Mr Cee's The Best Of Biggie mixtape that had Real ? Do Real Things and The Wickedest Freestyle. But as of New Years 1994 none of those songs had been released yet. Biggie really just had one album.
Nas only had one album, Verbal Intercourse wasn't even out yet.
Your saying that a rappers career was short back then but that simply isn't true. KRS had 7 albums by that point (8 if you count the live album) LL had 5 albums, Cube had 4 albums (6 if you count Straight Outta Compton and the ? At Will EP), Rakim had 4 albums by that point.
I was 21 in 1994. I remember those conversations. Rakim was still considered the standard for an ill MC. Backpackers liked Rakim and KRS. People who weren't backpackers liked Ice Cube. Girls liked LL Cool J.
Nas, Jay, 2Pac and Biggie were just getting started.
In 94, kane and Rakim wasn't really on the scene like that. Their popularity was fading. Illmatic and Ready to die was the biggest things to hit that year. Those was some of the albums to bring it home to the East. Snoop was the biggest thing popping before that. It wasn't really about who was the vets and who had long caeers back then. ? was falling off left and right. It was a few that was still doing it from the 80s. But back then it was about what was going on in the moment. You can't tell me KRS 1 was bigger than Wu in 94. Or LL was hotter than Big or ? in 94. Hip hop was a what have you done for me now movement back then. ? was calling Big and Nas king of Ny back then. Jay said it in 96. All you needed to be considered the best was a classic album that year.
Are you speaking from memory or is your post conjecture?
If we did a Nas vs Kendrick poll right now who would win?
And don't say things have changed. Things are the same now as they were then. Teenagers had fickle taste, but people in their twenties and thirties still appreciated the veterans.
Things have definitely change. ? not even rapping anymore.They mumbling. They wearing girl clothes. ? didn't have 10 to 15 album discography back then. You couldn't just put out music for the world and get on like now. Hip-hop was considered a fade back then. It wasn't getting Grammy's or MTV awards. Most rappers had a 2 to 3 album life span if they was lucky. It was no independent route. You was independent trying to get on. Not independent as a career. Rakim wasn't hot in 94. People still want him to do music. But he was on hiatus. And when he came back he was never the same. Nas is still hot. In the 90s you had classics dropping left and right. It's not like that now. ? done totally changed.
In the late 80s/early 90s you had classics dropping left and right. You just don't remember.
You say Rakim wasn't hot in 94 and people still wanted him to do music but he was on hiatus. Then in the very next sentence you say "Nas is still hot" but he hasn't released an album since 2012. That's 5 years ago. -
Tribe
-
power_wisdom wrote: »power_wisdom wrote: »power_wisdom wrote: »1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995.
By 95 Big and Nas where looked at as the kings of NY. You have to remember a rapper career was short back then. Rapper made an album or 2 and fall off. In 95 out of your 5, Kris and Cube was still talked about. LL too, but nobody was saying he was the best. Rappers didn't even want to rap past 30. The genre was still very young.
We're talking New Years Eve 1994. Nobody was calling Big or Nas anything yet. They both had good albums, but think of Kendrick. After GKMC nobody was calling him top 5 DOA.
Biggie had a big summer in 1995. He released the One More Chance (Remix), Flavor In Your Ear (Remix), Players Anthem, Can't You See by Total and Mr Cee's The Best Of Biggie mixtape that had Real ? Do Real Things and The Wickedest Freestyle. But as of New Years 1994 none of those songs had been released yet. Biggie really just had one album.
Nas only had one album, Verbal Intercourse wasn't even out yet.
Your saying that a rappers career was short back then but that simply isn't true. KRS had 7 albums by that point (8 if you count the live album) LL had 5 albums, Cube had 4 albums (6 if you count Straight Outta Compton and the ? At Will EP), Rakim had 4 albums by that point.
I was 21 in 1994. I remember those conversations. Rakim was still considered the standard for an ill MC. Backpackers liked Rakim and KRS. People who weren't backpackers liked Ice Cube. Girls liked LL Cool J.
Nas, Jay, 2Pac and Biggie were just getting started.
In 94, kane and Rakim wasn't really on the scene like that. Their popularity was fading. Illmatic and Ready to die was the biggest things to hit that year. Those was some of the albums to bring it home to the East. Snoop was the biggest thing popping before that. It wasn't really about who was the vets and who had long caeers back then. ? was falling off left and right. It was a few that was still doing it from the 80s. But back then it was about what was going on in the moment. You can't tell me KRS 1 was bigger than Wu in 94. Or LL was hotter than Big or ? in 94. Hip hop was a what have you done for me now movement back then. ? was calling Big and Nas king of Ny back then. Jay said it in 96. All you needed to be considered the best was a classic album that year.
Are you speaking from memory or is your post conjecture?
If we did a Nas vs Kendrick poll right now who would win?
And don't say things have changed. Things are the same now as they were then. Teenagers had fickle taste, but people in their twenties and thirties still appreciated the veterans.
Things have definitely change. ? not even rapping anymore.They mumbling. They wearing girl clothes. ? didn't have 10 to 15 album discography back then. You couldn't just put out music for the world and get on like now. Hip-hop was considered a fade back then. It wasn't getting Grammy's or MTV awards. Most rappers had a 2 to 3 album life span if they was lucky. It was no independent route. You was independent trying to get on. Not independent as a career. Rakim wasn't hot in 94. People still want him to do music. But he was on hiatus. And when he came back he was never the same. Nas is still hot. In the 90s you had classics dropping left and right. It's not like that now. ? done totally changed.
In the late 80s/early 90s you had classics dropping left and right. You just don't remember.
You say Rakim wasn't hot in 94 and people still wanted him to do music but he was on hiatus. Then in the very next sentence you say "Nas is still hot" but he hasn't released an album since 2012. That's 5 years ago.
Nas been on other people ? . He had stuff out there. People make Nas mixtape up. Back then you didn't have that. Rakim wasn't doing nothing. People thought it was over gor him. You like KRS 1. Remember that song Out of here. That what life was for the average Mc. You Redhead Kingpin, Father MC, Grand Daddy IU and countless others. And we wasn't talking about the 80s having classics. We were talking about how thing change from the 90 to now.
https://youtu.be/2EFl5pynoTc -
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power_wisdom wrote: »power_wisdom wrote: »power_wisdom wrote: »power_wisdom wrote: »1. Rakim
2. Kool G. Rap
3. Scarface
4. Redman
5. Ice Cube
Obviously Nas, Big, and everyone else dropped in '94, but I'm giving a realistic list based on a real top 5 before all the careers of those GOATs took off, otherwise my top 5 from '95 wouldn't look much different form how it looks now.
Yeah, thats what I'm getting at. Big, Nas and Pac hadn't reached their apex. Big only had 1 album and so did Nas. And the material Pac had released up to that point wouldn't have put him in anybody's top 5. His best work came later.
Anyway, here's my list
1. Melle Mel
2. Rakim
3. KRS One
4. Ice Cube
5. LL Cool J
^^^ Those guys had full careers and solid discographies by 1995.
By 95 Big and Nas where looked at as the kings of NY. You have to remember a rapper career was short back then. Rapper made an album or 2 and fall off. In 95 out of your 5, Kris and Cube was still talked about. LL too, but nobody was saying he was the best. Rappers didn't even want to rap past 30. The genre was still very young.
We're talking New Years Eve 1994. Nobody was calling Big or Nas anything yet. They both had good albums, but think of Kendrick. After GKMC nobody was calling him top 5 DOA.
Biggie had a big summer in 1995. He released the One More Chance (Remix), Flavor In Your Ear (Remix), Players Anthem, Can't You See by Total and Mr Cee's The Best Of Biggie mixtape that had Real ? Do Real Things and The Wickedest Freestyle. But as of New Years 1994 none of those songs had been released yet. Biggie really just had one album.
Nas only had one album, Verbal Intercourse wasn't even out yet.
Your saying that a rappers career was short back then but that simply isn't true. KRS had 7 albums by that point (8 if you count the live album) LL had 5 albums, Cube had 4 albums (6 if you count Straight Outta Compton and the ? At Will EP), Rakim had 4 albums by that point.
I was 21 in 1994. I remember those conversations. Rakim was still considered the standard for an ill MC. Backpackers liked Rakim and KRS. People who weren't backpackers liked Ice Cube. Girls liked LL Cool J.
Nas, Jay, 2Pac and Biggie were just getting started.
In 94, kane and Rakim wasn't really on the scene like that. Their popularity was fading. Illmatic and Ready to die was the biggest things to hit that year. Those was some of the albums to bring it home to the East. Snoop was the biggest thing popping before that. It wasn't really about who was the vets and who had long caeers back then. ? was falling off left and right. It was a few that was still doing it from the 80s. But back then it was about what was going on in the moment. You can't tell me KRS 1 was bigger than Wu in 94. Or LL was hotter than Big or ? in 94. Hip hop was a what have you done for me now movement back then. ? was calling Big and Nas king of Ny back then. Jay said it in 96. All you needed to be considered the best was a classic album that year.
Are you speaking from memory or is your post conjecture?
If we did a Nas vs Kendrick poll right now who would win?
And don't say things have changed. Things are the same now as they were then. Teenagers had fickle taste, but people in their twenties and thirties still appreciated the veterans.
Things have definitely change. ? not even rapping anymore.They mumbling. They wearing girl clothes. ? didn't have 10 to 15 album discography back then. You couldn't just put out music for the world and get on like now. Hip-hop was considered a fade back then. It wasn't getting Grammy's or MTV awards. Most rappers had a 2 to 3 album life span if they was lucky. It was no independent route. You was independent trying to get on. Not independent as a career. Rakim wasn't hot in 94. People still want him to do music. But he was on hiatus. And when he came back he was never the same. Nas is still hot. In the 90s you had classics dropping left and right. It's not like that now. ? done totally changed.
In the late 80s/early 90s you had classics dropping left and right. You just don't remember.
You say Rakim wasn't hot in 94 and people still wanted him to do music but he was on hiatus. Then in the very next sentence you say "Nas is still hot" but he hasn't released an album since 2012. That's 5 years ago.
Nas been on other people ? . He had stuff out there. People make Nas mixtape up. Back then you didn't have that. Rakim wasn't doing nothing. People thought it was over gor him. You like KRS 1. Remember that song Out of here. That what life was for the average Mc. You Redhead Kingpin, Father MC, Grand Daddy IU and countless others. And we wasn't talking about the 80s having classics. We were talking about how thing change from the 90 to now.https://youtu.be/2EFl5pynoTc
The irony of you posting a song by KRS One to prove your point -
Epmd
Das efx
Onyx
Nice n smooth
Cl
Treach
Damn hip-hop was loaded
I'd say krs, redman, kane, kool g rap, LL -
How many of you Old Heads now but on September 13, 1994 was talking about or buying which album? And remember back then there was only bootlegs No Downloads... so you had to make a purchase for an album... Which albums was y'all jamming too the most... Because if you say BDK album you are a LAIR... end of the discussion and this thread should close.
Or
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NY's commercial resurgence is 90% attributed to Big/Bad Boy's rise. Juicy, and one more chance were inescapable. You know that ? was on fire when you listened to flavor in ya ear and forgot it was craig mack's song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgsUdIMxVmI
