90's Rap misconceptions?
- Thread starter Asicz
- Start date
Yes he was. Specifically from 93-95, he 100% was. He was actually a bigger deal than Biggie when Ready to Die dropped. Biggie didn't fully surpass Meth in popularity until like late 95 going into 96. Between C.R.E.A.M., Bring the Pain, Ice Cream and All I Need Remix, Meth was as popular as any solo act on the East Coast during that 2 year period.Method Man was never on Biggies level of popularity wtf
Why you think Big went out his way to get Method Man (the only feature) on his debut?
28 Gramz
How U Luv That???
After One More Chance came out it was a wrap, Biggie sold 4x plat with RTD, not to mention the Junior Mafia singles and r&b remixes its not even a disscussion.
That's records sold way after the time frame we're talking about.
Ready to Die didn't go 4x Platinum until 1999 fam. Ready to Die went Gold after two months, and then platinum after 6 months. Tical went Gold after two months and went Platinum after 7 months. Albums pretty much followed the same exact trajectory.
Ready to Die didn't go 2x Platinum til towards the end of 1995 months after he had dropped "One More Chance" remix which is what really blew him up passed Method Man. Then the 2Pac controversy solidified it.
But the Mary J Blige/All I Need was the biggest song between the two of them in that time period.
I'd say this about Yo! and MTV Jams, but Rap City not so much. Rap City (pre-Basement) was playing pretty much anything that was out there, sometimes to a fault
One of the biggest misconceptions is that "back then you had to have lyrical skills/be original to get signed" and shyt along those lines. There was a LOT of wack/subpar nikkas out there. Not only did you not need skills/originality to get signed, you didn't need it to make a hit or get airplay either. There was a fair share of gimmickry, biting, and mediocrity. We don't celebrate any of those MFs today (OR then), but if you were there, you know they existed.
I always say there's a reason why songs like "I Used To Love HER", "Paparazzi", "Time's Up", "Come Clean", etc. existed... they were all more or less commentaries on the wack shyt that was going on in hip-hop. It wasn't just ALL dope shyt ALL the time as folks would like to believe.
The mediocre, unskilled and gimmicky rappers weren't on top of the game like today though.
threattonature
Veteran
I think y'all basically saying the same thing. I'd believe that Meth was bigger, to me it was Big Poppa that pushed Big over Meth. I HATED Big back then and it used to piss me off how that damn song was everywhere and it seemed from that point on Big had all the momentum and everything he was on started killing. Meth to me was on that trajectory but the Tical CD killed some of that buzz in regards to taking over the game where with Big he was able to build on that momentum due to Ready To Die being a classic so as each new song dropped and got people checking for his CD then it just never stopped growing.
threattonature
Veteran
I think a large part of that is just that music to survive has to be targeted to the kids now days. That was a lot of the case even back then but now it's gotten extreme with mainstream radio being nowhere near what it was. Add in podcasts and you have no easy way to each a large amount of ears the way you could with mainstream radio in the past. Most adults I know are too lazy to be out there searching for the new music and staying up on the latest, and even if they are won't spread the word as fast as the younger listeners. So now so much simple bullshyt is put out there hoping to go viral or spread with kids word of mouth.
The other factor I believe is that with people being able to just go out and search for their own music people are more restrictive in their tastes. Before with mainstream radio you got to hear more of a melting pot of sounds. In the 90s you might still have your formulaic hits mixed in but you also had maybe a midwest song, or a south song mixed in to the countdowns. Now if someone wants to just hear nothing but trap or drill music they can just pull up a radio station with nothing but those types of songs on it so they will never even be exposed to all the dope shyt that's out there, which leads to more artists just following the hottest sounds to a degree that even surpasses the 90s and 00s just so they can make their way to those playlists.
JayStarwind
Superstar
Why?
Couldn't have said it better. You'd think with how diverse Rap is now that redundancy wouldn't be an issue, but record labels are all about money at the end of the day so it makes sense.
I've always heard that music was catered to kids even back then, but I don't see how if the artists y'all are naming were on top. Would you say that artists in the early-to-late 90s targeted a specific audience, in terms of age?
DaveyDave
Superstar
Method Man was never on Biggies level of popularity wtf
yes he was! Mef was at least on par if not bigger than BIG until 96ish
The Source magazine's credibility stature in its prime.
I think if you are a younger millennial or younger there is no way to explain how important and major The Source was
1. There is still not a modern equivalent to The Source not even Complex, less dependency on reviews/reviewers and critics because back then reviewers had an album weeks or months in advance of consumers, for most of the 90s music sharing and downloading did not exist.
So many today associate The Source with Benzino. But Benzino had extremely little visability and input for basically all the 90s. Like his existence was not known at all then. Made Men was a blip on the radar. For some reason this is almost impossible to explain it seems.
Like the fact that a amusic writer got physically assaulted by a Wu member tells you how much weight music magazines held.
The Source literally was called The Bible of Hip Hop and lived up to the title
I think if you are a younger millennial or younger there is no way to explain how important and major The Source was
1. There is still not a modern equivalent to The Source not even Complex, less dependency on reviews/reviewers and critics because back then reviewers had an album weeks or months in advance of consumers, for most of the 90s music sharing and downloading did not exist.
So many today associate The Source with Benzino. But Benzino had extremely little visability and input for basically all the 90s. Like his existence was not known at all then. Made Men was a blip on the radar. For some reason this is almost impossible to explain it seems.
Like the fact that a amusic writer got physically assaulted by a Wu member tells you how much weight music magazines held.
The Source literally was called The Bible of Hip Hop and lived up to the title
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I also think that people don't trealize Drake would be probably be dominant and more dominant than Kendrick if they came out in the 90s imo.
Well Drake may likely come into serious issues with his background possibly
Well Drake may likely come into serious issues with his background possibly
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Prime Method Man was like the epitome of 90s cool. He had the lethal lyrical skills, arguably the most sought after feature artist of the time, raw underground yet can make an appearance on big radio and tv songs, women loved him but kept it rugged style wise.
How High single with Redman... heavy with the weed culture.
He had everything like build a top MC in a lab you get Meth in his prime imo
How High single with Redman... heavy with the weed culture.
He had everything like build a top MC in a lab you get Meth in his prime imo
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