The GodFather's of HipHop

Prop 1:

When the final page is turned on this thing we call Hip-Hop the credit or blame (Ha-ha) will be ultimately clear. However, lacking future 20-20 all we have is the now. Therefore, henceforth (a nod to my late calculus prof Mrs. Exum) the rhetorical question is put forth: Who is responsible for this mess?
Herc? Rush? Dre? Flash? Non-cipher! That's too easy. But for real party people what aspect of today's Rap reflects the original Hip-Hop essence of a "Park Jam"? And what is Dre's contribution, not to the history of Rap because that's obvious, but from a scholarly approach, to the culture as a whole? Or more specifically on how we, it's fans and creators, process and produce Rap as of October 7 2005. So to answer the question... I put on my thinking cap, affixed my digital cable to MTV2 and MTVJams because BET sucks and came up with the following. Enjoy.

-ONYX -Queens foursome and infamous pseudo gangsters. Did the DefJam thing and mixed rock NYHC punk with HipHop. The result? Club rowdy-ness, angry faces and stage diving- the precursor to Crunk. For reference, check the video for the 1993 hit Slam!

-Afrika Bambata/Jazzy J -Synth big beats, see Mannie Fresh, Bass Music, and Crunk.

-BDP- Just-Ice was the first HipHop gangsta, but it didn't stick. Schoolly D did PSK. But BDP's first album Criminal Minded changed the game! Take notes class. They had grenades and guns on the album cover and talked about the "Girlies are free cause the crack cost money" and blasting cats with a 9mm. The "gangsta" rap persona starts here. And this is from the same vegan, Nellie-hating, Mister positive hip-hop himself-KRSOne.

The Source-There was the RapSheet, RapPages but the Source stuck. Nothing like a white/Ivy League pedigree. Influence: Gave "Hip-Hop" a shape and defined it for many, on a global scale. Too bad it sucks now. Good Lookin' Benzino.

-EazyE-When he heard the song "South Bronx" by BDP, Easy was inspired to rep his hood, "Compton". And he kept reppin' it "Compton", "C-P-T", "South Central" ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Contribution: Inspired other cities to take pride in where they "...come from" and all of a sudden NYC took a back seat to LA as Rap's cultural leader. And although the displacement was temporary NYC has never quite regained it's once preeminent role.

-BigDaddyKane- Dark skinned men were not, I repeat not sexy until Kane! The brother single-handedly changed the way we as Black people look at ourselves.

-Lil' Shake- Who? Little Shake! During the height of the NYCBreakdancing era (circa '82-84) the top poppers or boogiers were Shake Master, Active and Lil Shake. Lil Shake battled Shake Master for the name and after beating "Big" Shake took the name Shake. Shake was HipHop's first name "dancer" and chereographer and can be seen doing his thing in Taylor Dayne (Tell it to my heart), BFats, Guy (Groove Me), Johnny Kemp (Just got paid) and RunDMC (Pause). His contribution? He was the first to incorporate or re-incorporate poppin' into hip hop. In the late 80's Shake, DeeRoc, and Shake's brother Lose (TC5 for the graff heads) would be in clubs and on world tours (Guy) mixing poppin' and hip-hop and doing it extra large! Now it's everywhere from Little X videos to IPod commercials. Thanks Shake.

-Ultramagnetics-The song "EgoTrippin" inspired DeLaSol. Who begat TribeCalledQuest. Who begat OutKast. Dubbed the "Future Kids" by ChuckD they achieved a level of lyrical and musical sophistication approached by DeLaSol and unmatched since. CedG did the beats for BDP's Criminal Minded and one can hear their production influence on songs by Dre (California Luv) and PE (Rebel without a pause). They were also the games most disrespectful calling out Slick Rick, LL and RunDMC while they were in their primes. Shouts out to Kool Keith (aka Dr.Octogon), CedG, TR Luv, and DJ MoeLuv.

-GrandMasterVic-The creator of the "blend tape". Vic was the inspiration for the mixtape generation from Capri to Clue to Green Lantern. Back in like 84 a Vic tape was a status symbol. At $40 a pop, the "Rising to the top" beat was the soundtrack to the infamous FatCat, SupremeTeam and Corely crack crews of South Jamaica Queens. Vic defined, orignated, and perfected the R&B vocals over hip-hop beats- hence the name "blend"- which came to light on Mary J's first album courtesy of then Queens resident Prince Markie Dee and was then jacked by Puffy and his clones.

-ATribeCalledQuest "We got the jazz video"- First "two videos in one" video (e.g. Lloyd Banks "On Fire/Warrior video)

-Luke and the 2LiveCrew- Rappin about sex over chest crushing bass in a Strip Club while scantilly clad women shake that ass and tits! aka- Southern Hip-Hop

MCHammer- Made rap safe for Madison Ave.

Damn that's like 12! Three more...

Fab5Freddy-Rick Rubin gets the obvious credit but it was Fred who first brought together two musical genres and worlds separated at the time by a very real racial schism.
Puffy-Brought Hollywood hedonism to hip-hop
Suge-Inspired legions of NYC gangsters to seek hip-hop (extortion) gold from NY to LA and all points in between.