Maxwell Lemuel Roach was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He worked with many famous jazz musicians, including Clifford Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, and Booker Little. He was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1992.
Eric B. & Rakim are an American hip hop duo formed on Long Island, New York, in 1986, composed of DJ Eric B. and MC Rakim. AllMusic wrote that "during rap's so-called golden age in the late '80s, Eric B. & Rakim were almost universally recognized as the premier DJ/MC team in all of hip-hop." Tom Terrell of NPR called them "the most influential DJ/MC combo in contemporary pop music period." The editors of About.com ranked them as No. 5 on their list of the 10 Greatest Hip-Hop Duos of All-Time, and Rolling Stone ranked them No. 5 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.
Jazz rap is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter." The rhythm was rooted in hip hop over which were placed repetitive phrases of jazz instrumentation: trumpet, double bass, etc. Groups involved in the formation of jazz rap included A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.
Christian hip hop is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United States during the 1980s.
Tackhead is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, industrial music and electronica intersect. The core members are Doug Wimbish (bass), Keith Leblanc (percussion) and Skip McDonald (guitar) and producer Adrian Sherwood. Despite being short-lived as a band proper, the legacy and output of these groups of musicians has been prodigious.
Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term in the 2000 song "Nerdcore Hiphop". Frontalot, like most nerdcore artists, self-publishes his work and has released much of it for free online. As a niche genre, nerdcore generally holds to the DIY ethic, and has a history of self-publishing and self-production.
Roy Anthony Hargrove was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles of jazz in 1998 and in 2002. Hargrove primarily played in the hard bop style for the majority of his albums, but also had a penchant for genre-crossing exploration and collaboration with a variety of hip hop, soul, R&B and alternative rock artists. As Hargrove told one reporter, “I’ve been around all kinds of musicians, and if a cat can play, a cat can play. If it’s gospel, funk, R&B, jazz or hip-hop, if it’s something that gets in your ear and it’s good, that’s what matters.”
Mark Thomas Griffin, better known as MC 900 Ft. Jesus, is an American rapper based out of Dallas, Texas. A classically-trained musician, Griffin is known for blending hip hop with socially conscious lyrics and jazz.
Hell With the Lid Off, released in 1990, is the first album by MC 900 Ft. Jesus collaborating with DJ Zero.
Critical Beatdown is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Ultramagnetic MCs, released on October 4, 1988, by Next Plateau Records. Production for the album was handled primarily by the group's rapper and producer Ced-Gee, who employed an E-mu SP-1200 sampler as the album's main instrument. Music journalists have noted the album for its innovative production, funk-based samples, self-assertive themes, ingenious lyricism, and complex rhyme patterns by Ced-Gee and fellow rapper Kool Keith.
Welcome to My Dream is the second album by MC 900 Ft. Jesus. It was released in 1991 via Nettwerk.
Black Reign is the third studio album by American rapper Queen Latifah, released in 1993. Black Reign was her most successful album up to that point, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard 200. The album also peaked at number fifteen on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album sold in excess of 500,000 copies, achieving gold status.
Enta da Stage is the debut album by American East Coast hip hop group Black Moon, released on October 19, 1993, through Nervous Records. The album was produced by Black Moon member DJ Evil Dee along with Mr. Walt of Da Beatminerz. Enta da Stage features the debut of underground hip hop duo Smif-N-Wessun, as well as appearances from Havoc of Mobb Deep and Dru Ha, the co-founder of Duck Down Records.
On Fire is the debut album by the American hip hop band Stetsasonic. It was released in 1986 via Tommy Boy Records. It was released on compact disc for the first time in 2001, with three bonus tracks.
Business of Punishment is the fourth full-length album by industrial/hip hop artists Consolidated, released in 1994. It was their only record to be released by London Records. The album peaked at #28 on the CMJ Radio Top 150 and #53 on the UK Albums Chart.
"Step It Up" is a 1992 song by British hip hop/electronic dance group Stereo MC's, released as the second single from their third album, Connected (1992). It charted higher than the band's earlier single "Connected" and the next single "Ground Level". The single peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, number 13 on the New Zealand singles chart and in Australia the song peaked at number 87. It appeared in the 1993 comedy film Wayne's World 2 and was also included on the 1996 compilation album The Beautiful Game.
Super Bad is the second solo album by DJ Terminator X. The album was released on June 21, 1994, on Def Jam Recordings sub-label RAL and was produced by Terminator X, Kool DJ Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Russell Simmons. The album was only a minor success, making it to #189 on the Billboard 200 and #38 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Two singles were released, "Under the Sun" and "It All Comes Down to the Money," the latter of which made it to #26 on the Hot Rap Singles. "It All Comes Down to the Money" was released in 1993.
Industrial hip hop is a fusion genre of industrial music and hip hop.
Road to Freedom is the debut album of soul and jazz band Young Disciples, the only album the band ever released. Issued in 1991 on the Talkin' Loud label in the UK and on Polygram in the US, the critically well-received album was influential in the music genres of acid jazz and neo soul. Containing two charting singles, "Get Yourself Together" and "Apparently Nothin'", the album itself reached a chart position of number 21. It was on the short list of nominees for the 1992 Mercury Prize and was reissued in 1993 in limited edition with a bonus remix EP of the song "Apparently Nothin'".
DJ Damage is an Australian hip hop DJ and turntablist from Brisbane, Australia. He started in hip hop culture via breaking and buying records in 1983. DJ Damage was in Brisbane mid 90s hip hop group Towering Inferno, and a member of the Big Rigs six turntable DJ team from the same period. DJ Damage is currently a member of The Optimen. He was a member of the turntablist crew the Terntable Jediz. He is also a member of the Brisbane new jazz and funk band Step It Up.
