what got you into hip hop?

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gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 12:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Run DMC - Walk Ths Way

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 13:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Piqued my curiosity: the Beat Street soundtrack
Got me interested: RUN-D.M.C., either King of Rock or Raising Hell, I don't quite remember
Made me a fan: De La Soul is Dead and/or BDP's Edutainment

Sorry I'm not cool enough to answer The Chronic.

Nate Patrin, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 13:01 (twenty-three years ago)

jeff young's "big beat".

michael wells (michael w.), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 13:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Ian Penman's NME review of Flash's "Wheels of Steel," Feb 1981.

Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 13:15 (twenty-three years ago)

NEW JACK SWING comin' atcha!

Claire (Claire Miccio), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 13:19 (twenty-three years ago)

rockist answer alert: public enemy, run dmc, beastie boys (actually, possibly kurtis blow and faze one and whodini slightly before this, but these 3 were the big ones)

then, after a period away, wu-tang clan and mobb deep

gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 13:20 (twenty-three years ago)

brEAKIN', KRUSH GROOVE, BEAT STREET AND BREAKIN 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO.

Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 13:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Kind of liked: Kurtis Blow
Definitely liked: Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC
Was blown away by: Public Enemy

Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 13:24 (twenty-three years ago)

I like some hip hop I see on the telly.

jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 13:32 (twenty-three years ago)

White Lines by Grandmaster Flash on some freebie thing stuck on the front of the NME in (I think) '81

Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 14:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Cliche upon cliches, Public Enemy, when I was 14.

Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 14:25 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight' but that seemed like an isolated thing. When very early hip hop or electro started taking over the soul/funk scene around 1983 I remember not liking it - mainly because of that fast 808 beat. I think I got into it with stuff like LL Cool J and Run DMC around 1985.

David (David), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 14:28 (twenty-three years ago)

dj shadow...

robin (robin), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 14:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Kind of liked: Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC
Definitely liked: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Was blown away by: Public Enemy, Ice-T

I second what Rockist Scientist said.

Lord Custos Alpha (Lord Custos Alpha), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 14:48 (twenty-three years ago)

;jam on it' by newcleus

scott pl. (scott pl.), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 14:51 (twenty-three years ago)

oops. wrong key. It is a stretch, too, I guess to say that 'got me into hip hop' but it's the first hip-hop song I remember really loving.

scott pl. (scott pl.), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 14:52 (twenty-three years ago)

what the huntsman said about "Rapper's Delight"

"Adventures on the Wheels Of Steel" would be my answer, but I didn't know it was 'hip-hop' at the time and, again, there were few follow-ups to get your teeth into at the time (if you were in the UK). I guess "The Message" sealed it for me tho'.

Jeff W, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 14:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Breakdancing.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 14:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Some kid's fourth-gen tape of Nasty As They Wanna Be at boy scout camp.

g.cannon (gcannon), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 15:07 (twenty-three years ago)

;jam on it' by newcleus

With Scott PL on this one.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 15:10 (twenty-three years ago)

being a child in the 80s

blueski, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 15:15 (twenty-three years ago)


i think it was hard to avoid in the rundmc sense... but later, actually taking notice when i lived in florida and was bombarded with miami bass and so on... it's hard to avoid sir mix a lot "buttermilk biscuits here we go!"... or the gucci crew... thank the stars mtv turned me onto tribe, de la, epmd, kool moe dee, eric b. and rakim, etc... late 80's early 90's underground that rose up... good times, lot's of good stuff during that period.

m.

msp, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 16:00 (twenty-three years ago)

have nevah been able to becuz i know i will be sucked in, and that means i won't have the money for the improv/a-g stuff that i like as well.

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 16:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Neil Kulkarni in Melody Maker. I suspect there are other indie boys (not that I was ever *really* an indie boy, but you get my point) my age who'd say the same thing, because even when he wrote badly, he wrote CONVINCINGLY.

robin carmody (robin carmody), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:15 (twenty-three years ago)

"Nothin but a G Thang" was the first rap video that I wouldn't switch off on MTV. It has been a gradual process, getting into hiphop. I only got my first proper hiphop LP a month ago ("It Was Written" for $3 yay).

Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:23 (twenty-three years ago)

What Dan said (I was in a breakdancing 'gang', complete with homemade sleeveless t-shirts with things like 'Beat It' written on in majik marker), although the impact the "Roxanne" epics had on Harris St. Elementary (East Point in the house! *ducks*) cannot be overstated. Honorable mentions to the Inspector Gadget riff in "The Show" and the Duce Crew's "Pee Wee Herman Rap".

James Blount (James Blount), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:27 (twenty-three years ago)

What Dan and scott pl. said, plus Breakin, Beat Street, "Goin Back to Cali" by LL and "Rightstarter (Message to a Black Man)" by PE ("mind over matter / mouth in motion / can't deny it cause I'll never be quiet / let's start this!")

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:27 (twenty-three years ago)

"Nobody Beats The Biz"! Took me a damn long time to figure out I liked it, though.

David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:30 (twenty-three years ago)

mc hammer and vanilla ice. honestly

boxcubed (boxcubed), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:48 (twenty-three years ago)

New York radio in the early 80s, hanging out at the Roxy.

Arthur (Arthur), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:58 (twenty-three years ago)

"Jam on It," "White Lines," "Rapper's Delight," Beat Street, probably "Rapture" too.

New York radio in the early 80s

Absolutely.

Jody Beth Rosen, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Always had respect for the stuff, since my parents did. But I only liked the occasional track until I bought Public Enemy's "Fear Of A Black Planet". And then I made a concious decision to get into current music and that's very hard to do without owning an extensive Hip-Hop collection...

Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 20:58 (twenty-three years ago)

portishead.

minna (minna), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 21:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaataa
Hip Hop Be Bop - Man Parrish
London Bridge Is Falling Down - Newtrement

Marinaorgan (Marina Organ), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 21:58 (twenty-three years ago)

Wait a minute - Pac Jam... Space Is THe Place... shit I cant even remember who that was...
Pushing it more into elecro... ' Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight'

Marinaorgan (Marina Organ), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 22:02 (twenty-three years ago)

First base: "King of Rock"
Second base: Raising Hell
Third base: local hip hop talent show, Licensed to Ill tour
Home: "It Takes Two," Nation of Millions, By All Means Necessary

Pete Scholtes, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 22:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick on the Pops

'Dangerous' Dave Pearce on Radio London (sellout!)

nebbesh, Thursday, 17 October 2002 00:14 (twenty-three years ago)

everyone else's answers are respectable! this is some bonk shit

boxcubed (boxcubed), Thursday, 17 October 2002 00:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Was aware of some electro through breakdancing fad of 1984. It seemed the only song they danced to was 'Rockit'. After that it was NWA 'Straight Outta Compton' and Public Enemy 'Fear of a Black Planet'.

edward (big E.D), Thursday, 17 October 2002 00:38 (twenty-three years ago)

buying "Fear Of A Black Planet" (on the er recommendation of er Splendid & Nude As The News & so on) & eventually growing to like it (remember this was in NZ & before . . .), the Aotearoa/Pasifika hip-hop avalanche (esp. King Kapisi, P-Money, Deceptikonz & Che Fu); & I probably "got" it (or realised that I loved it) at the start of this year - combination of watching P-Money's Full Clip show on M2, reading Tim Finney's articles on Outkast & Ludicrous (+ general FT/ILx/NYLPM), going to hip-hop night at Bath St (& talking to M. & drugz0r) & the epiphany was (haha) "Bulworth".
I dare anyone else to have taken so long & by so lame a route!
(funnily enough, all the highschool, say, Beastie Boys & Cypress Hill didn't register as hip-hop)

Ess Kay (esskay), Thursday, 17 October 2002 00:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd like to say the Coldcut remix of "Paid In Full". So I will. That, and probably PM Dawn or something. Hated all that gangsta shit. Silly me.

Charlie (Charlie), Thursday, 17 October 2002 01:07 (twenty-three years ago)

boxcubed i also first got into it through hammer. and also... bart simpson!

Honda, Thursday, 17 October 2002 01:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Seeing UTFO on public access TV, tho I already liked "Rappers Delight".

Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 17 October 2002 01:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I also should mention the guy who always played the same Whodini ("Homeboy you never SHUT UP!") album on his ghetto blaster on the school bus but I forgot his name. "Rappin' Ron" was much loved/quoted also - "da ha ha ha, da ha-ha ha-ha ha".

James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 17 October 2002 04:10 (twenty-three years ago)

liscense to ill predictably enough. or maybe the fat boys. or "walk this way." or maybe all three.

jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 17 October 2002 04:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Will Smith.

Yes, Will Smith.

And not when he was calling himself The Fresh Prince either.

My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Thursday, 17 October 2002 04:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Add 'roller skating to the Fat Boys at Skate-A-Round USA and buying Fat Boy shoelaces' to my list. Most nostalgic thread ever...

James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 17 October 2002 04:18 (twenty-three years ago)

my god yes, the roller rink. the caln roller rink. someone got shot there when i was in high school. sorta took the nostalgia away. mmm soggy pizza and lukewarm soda in plastic cups and rampage and excitebike the arcade machine and seeing thriller for the first time...

jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 17 October 2002 04:25 (twenty-three years ago)

New thread!

James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 17 October 2002 04:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Protection
For Gangs, Clubs And Nations
Causing Grief In Human Relations
It's A Turf War On A Global Scale
I'd Rather Hear Both Sides Of The Tale
See, It's Not About Races, Just Places
Faces
Where Your Blood Comes From
Is Where Your Space Is
I've Seen The Bright Get Duller
I'm Not Going To Spend My Life Being A Color

Dan I., Monday, 7 July 2003 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Meat Beat Manifesto. (I'm not kidding)

donut bitch (donut), Monday, 7 July 2003 23:42 (twenty-two years ago)

the earliest memories i have of hip-hop music are the show, la-di-da-di, and jam on it. but at that time it didn't really hit me as anything particularly important, just liked the songs and thought the lyrics were funny.

a few years later i started to listen to the music for real, mostly because it was all over the place at school. stuff like B.A.Deffer. , by all means necessary, paid in full, n.w.a., ice-t, de la and such. you know. i remember a friend got a promo of the first tribe album, so that must have come out during my senior year of HS

anyways, then it basically took over my listening for the next ten years or so, along with the side-interests - jazz and soul etc, largely from a sampling perspective (at least in the beginning)

ron (ron), Monday, 7 July 2003 23:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Ed Lover doing the Ed Lover Dance everyday after school on Yo MTV Raps.

Mike Taylor (mjt), Monday, 7 July 2003 23:55 (twenty-two years ago)

I got into hip-hop back in the old-skool when it was about social realism and lifting people up. Grandmaster Flash, PM Dawn, Disposable Heroes. And they used to have good melodies back then too.

That one track about "I'm sorry mrs. johnson" though. That was really good, like a real change from all that gangster stuff about hoes. But some people are doing real intresting music -- almost like IDM, if you can ignore all the talking over it. This timbaland guy -- you heard of him? He's like this secret genius behind all these hit tracks!

Quentin E. Sential (s_clover), Monday, 7 July 2003 23:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I kiss you Ster- ahem, Quentin

James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 7 July 2003 23:58 (twenty-two years ago)

it sort of seeped in--always sort of liked it but didn't hear too much of it--but De La Soul and Public Enemy and Paul's Boutique all sealed it pretty much permanently. (c'mon, I was 14!)

M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 01:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, I think the first rap album I ever owned was Run-DMC's debut, on cassette around the time it came out. But as my email handle attests, I had the priviledge of growing up listening to greatest DJ of all time, the Electrifying Mojo, and that whole 1984 period is kind of a blur. Gosh, come to think of it that has to be the greatest year for music ever, doesn't it? Anyway yeah Mojo spun all the great early stuff, so Whodini's Escape, Newcleus Jam On Revenge, UTFO's debut, "The Show"/"La-Di-Da-Di", "Looking for the Perfect Beat", Beat Street soundtrack, Breakin' soundtrack, all factored in there somewhere. Man what a year.

Mr. Diamond (diamond), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 01:42 (twenty-two years ago)

and a few year later we got to hear DJ Jesse The Body on The Scene/New Dance Show.

Mike Taylor (mjt), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 02:21 (twenty-two years ago)

"Ha ha ha yeah people who like "conscious" rap are such herbs!" Christ, don't you people ever get bored with that shit?

Meat Beat Manifesto. (I'm not kidding)

Please be talking about "CUTMAN"! Fuck yeah.

Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 02:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Nate - who are you talking to?

James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 02:47 (twenty-two years ago)

but Nate, it's not cool to like 'conscious' rap. do keep up.

oops (Oops), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 02:48 (twenty-two years ago)

(told to jump off bridge)
(jumps off bridge)
(ow)

Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 02:51 (twenty-two years ago)

ILM peer pressure convinced me to like Jay-Z but that's as far as you kiddies are going

Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 02:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Dr Dre. then I lost interest, then the Cash Money singles brought back the interest around 99.

adam west (adamwest), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 03:21 (twenty-two years ago)

nate i wasn't talking about conscious rap, i was talking about a certain surfacey understanding of hip-hop that tends to get imposed by people who mistake their token canon for the "hidden" tradition in the real thing. i had a conversation with a decent friend the other day where he said pretty nearly EXACTLY what quentin said above.

and honestly the biggest nest of misapprehensions about early rap that i know of is probably in the voice crowd (witness that long-gone northern state: too shouty? thread). i mean its more sophisticated, but somewhat similar.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 03:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, to further elaborate on what I said... I've always loved old old skool hip hop when it was on the radio. But being Wax Trax! boy in high school/early college, I really needed Meat Beat to help me really get into all that early 90s stuff like PE, Tribe, De La, 2 Black 2 Strong, Above The Law, Schoolly D, KMD, Hijack, etc. (and yeah, Nate, it was exactly that era of Meat Beat you hinted that helped)

donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 03:29 (twenty-two years ago)

eric b & rakim got me into it. i can't quite remember what got me out of it but it was in the v early 90s

electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 03:52 (twenty-two years ago)

to answer the question

jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 03:53 (twenty-two years ago)

The Chronic. :D Tee hee. At the ripe age of 9.

Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 04:07 (twenty-two years ago)

It was De la, of course -- the Is Dead album. But what set the hook was Gang Starr's Daily Operation. And Pete Rock and CL Smooth's Mecca and the Soul Brother. Can't top that shit.

Man, I miss early 90's hip-hop.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 04:14 (twenty-two years ago)

what matos said above.

joan vich (joan vich), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 07:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember hearing old school rap back in the eighties, but I was quite young then (I was born in '79), and I didn't start seriously buying records until the nineties. The first acts I remember really liking were Cypress Hill and Wu-Tang, followed by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Ice T. G-Funk hit big when I was in junior high, but being a techno fan I thought it sounded too smooth. It took me years to understand the appeal of Dr. Dre.

Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 07:25 (twenty-two years ago)

2 in tha am off my head on mda (before mmda) circa 81. we'd been listening to th old singles: bingo masters, pop group etc when the 12 of themessage gets put on.

everybody goes quiet.

gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 08:10 (twenty-two years ago)

C, i, t, y, you can see why, these guys, the neat guys, smart and streetwise, City Guys, roll with the City Guys, City Guys, roll with the City Guys.

Cozen (Cozen), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Liked Run DMC - "You Be Illin"

But didn't care about hiphop until "3 Feet High and Rising"

dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 16:05 (twenty-two years ago)

First hip-hop songs I remember hearing: "White Lines" by Grandmaster Flash, and "Jam On It" by Newcleus. Liked both, but didn't recognize them as something new as such. Then, a few years later, became obsessed with Schoolly D after hearing "Parkside 5-2." Picked up Run-DMC's Raising Hell soon after that.

Don't listen to much hip-hop at all these days, though I did just interview El-P about an hour ago.

Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 17:45 (twenty-two years ago)

later meat beat manifesto and atari teenage riot got me into consolidated, which i adored for a bit. but it wasn't until a friend of mine made me borrow her cassette copy of "it takes a nation of millions to hold us back" that i fell in love with it.

Felcher (Felcher), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

First time, third grade: The parts of "Every Little Step" and "On Our Own" where Bobby Brown raps were totally my favorite. Followed by some hip-house stuff (lived in London during the 88-89 school year) and then Heavy D, MC Hammer, and especially DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Then I lapsed into rockism somewhere around sixth grade, which probably had something to do with being moved from a mostly-black public elementary school to a mostly-white private middle school.

Second time, eighth grade (mostly white public middle school now): Gradually got back into it via Cypress Hill's Black Sunday and Ice Cube's The Predator.

Tom Breihan (Tom Breihan), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 19:19 (twenty-two years ago)

we listened to nwa and th' fresh prince and slick rick in summer camp in the late eighties. knew all the words and everything. oh actually i had "raising hell" before that. i actually think it may have been "sun city" of all things that turned me on to hip-hop. that, and my friends' mtv. i never quite forgot about it, but i got back into hip-hop a lot more ca. 1995 and the emergence of wu tang. now i don't pay as much attention as i should.

amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

The UK hip-hop tune that will not declare it's name!!!! Yes, I am of course talking about "Buffalo Gals" by Malcom McClaren & The World Famous Supreme Team from 1982/3!!! It's pretty hard describe what it's like to listen to some unoffensive BBC Radio 'drivetime' show (I think it was Peter Powell!!!!) and then hear something that is 100% unlike anything you've ever heard before!!! When you consider that scratching had only just appeared on one or two (not very published at the time) records, to hear warped bits of records coiling and uncoiling around a massive electronic drumbeat (again, pretty new for the time) to melody and rhythm quite seperate from the source material was quite a novel concept!!!! Furthermore, it was obviously a slick and concise production, and I later found out it executed by none other than Trevor Horn, then famous for his work with ABC and Dollar!!!! I actually had to listen to it a couple of times before I could decide whether I liked it or not!!!

Viewed within the context of the time, it was actually one of the most radical hip-hop records of the time, bringing a slick pop version of the cut 'n' sound sound only availble on NY mixtapes!!!! And it was a UK top 10 hit!!!! And the video brought all the famous images of early 80s hip-hop (turntablism, breakdancing, graffitt art, body-popping, etc.) direct into the living rooms of UK viewers when it was show on Top of the Pops!!!! In fact, you could argue it launched hip-hop proper in the UK!!!! Not that you'd know this from most "historians" of hip-hop, even UK one's...

Old Fart!!! (oldfart_sd), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 11:27 (twenty-two years ago)

!!!

James Blount (James Blount), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 11:28 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...
I went to a friends house and his older brother was listening to "Nightmare on My Street" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.
"What's that?"
"Rap"
"Oh"

I bought the tape, mostly because I was a big Freddy Krueger fan. The rest is history. I was seven or eight.

AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 23 July 2004 05:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Kriss Kross was my first tape. I was 8.

When i was 10 we moved to Chicago from VT. I listened to the radio non-stop. This was '93. Wu-Tang, Tribe, Gang Starr, Dre, Snoop, 2Pac, Biggie, Digital Underground, Geto Boys/Scarface, Domino...all this stuff was played on the radio, on the same radio station! They'd seriously segue from Gang Starr's "Mass Appeal" to some snoop track! When I was that age it was all hip-hop to me, no "jazz hip-hop" or "gangsta rap" or whatever, it was all hot, the rap stations played all the same stuff.

djdee2005, Friday, 23 July 2004 05:28 (twenty-one years ago)

When I was 10 years old my favorite songs were "Back in the Day" by Ahmad (I was old enough to be nostalgic! Esp. bcuz we had just moved and I missed my old home, as excited as I was about living in the city) and Pharcyde's "Passin' Me By" (its a universal guy thing.)

djdee2005, Friday, 23 July 2004 05:29 (twenty-one years ago)

damn not one mention of Duck Rock.
was my main entry point. i had heard stuff on radio (The Message) but Duck Rock and especially Buffalo Gals was the start of a long love affair with two turntables and a microphone for me. I'm definitely with greg wilson on this one :

http://www.ireallylovemusic.co.uk/guest/greg_wilson.htm


mark e (mark e), Friday, 23 July 2004 08:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Eric B & Rakim's "Paid In Full" had me mesmerised at 14. Wish I'd had more pocket-money to explore more at the time.

Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Friday, 23 July 2004 08:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Heard "Rapper's Delight" on the AM, thought it was cool and totally unique (my Cheap Trick-worshipping classmates disagreed) and bought the single. Then didn't give rap another thought for years until I heard the Beastie Boys' Led Zep samples. Finally, John Leland's rave review of "Bring the Noise" (in SPIN) intrigued me enough to seriously check it out.

BTW, Run-DMC's "Walk This Way" I never liked at all. I thought Aerosmith's original was superior and funkier, and I still think so. "Walk This Way" is in fact the low point of Raising Hell, in my opinion.

Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 23 July 2004 09:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Run DMC - Peter Piper

Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 23 July 2004 10:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Ill Communication I think. But before that I'd had a cassette of Run DMC's Tougher Than Leather which I worshipped.

dog latin (dog latin), Friday, 23 July 2004 10:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Ice Cube: 'It Was A Good Day' some time in ?93?.

Enrique (Enrique), Friday, 23 July 2004 10:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Grand Wizard Theodore & the Fantastic Romantic MCs live at Club Negril NYC late 1981...yes, yes y'all.
A classic case of being in the right place at the right time.

lovebug starski, Friday, 23 July 2004 10:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Hearing Schooly D, KRS One and Public Enemy for the first time within the space of about three days. I'd say that was in about 1988-89, but - as that would only make me 10-11 - I'm not sure.

coco, Friday, 23 July 2004 10:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Piqued my curiosity: RATM, Beasties, Consolidated
Got me interested: Disposable Heroes, live, Phoenix festival 1993
Made me a fan: Public Enemy, Paris, mixtapes, KRSONE, De La, Jungle Bros, ATCQ, Mobb Deep, Wu Tang....

Very typical rock-to-rap conversion, I reckon...

stevie (stevie), Friday, 23 July 2004 11:41 (twenty-one years ago)

hooked me: "hey you (the rock steady crew)"
early pinnacle: double concert with p.e. & run dmc, 1988
got me back in the game after a few years' hiatus: guru's first jazzmatazz album and disposable heroes of hiphoprisy.

Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 23 July 2004 12:42 (twenty-one years ago)

trip hop and big beat got me into hip hop

pete b. (pete b.), Friday, 23 July 2004 12:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Straight Outta Compton, baby.

j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Friday, 23 July 2004 12:52 (twenty-one years ago)

To those who followed the link to my blog above and couldn't understand what it had to do with hip-hop, try this one.

jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 23 July 2004 13:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Ice Cube's "Good Day." My English was nearly absent at the time, so the lyrics alone couldn't do it for me; I needed a good sample.

And, erm, uh, gulp, KRS-1's bit on R.E.M.'s Radio So- please don't hit me!!!

joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 23 July 2004 14:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I was a seeper who pretty much always liked it but remain a dilettante. The real introduction was Yo! MTV Raps (and maybe a little Video Music Box) ~89-90: De La, PE, Ice-T, NWA, BDP, Stetsasonic, 3rd Bass, Latifah, Kool Moe Dee, Big Daddy Kane, King Tee, King Sun, Young MC, MC Lyte, Poor Righteous Teachers, Salt 'n Pepa, Yo Yo, Def Jef, Nice 'n Smooth, Special Ed, Bobby Brown, Tone Loc, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and Kwame and the fuckin polka dots.

gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 23 July 2004 15:59 (twenty-one years ago)


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