Where did this myth come from that NYC didnt show love to other coasts back in the day?
TV
80's Hip Hop for the most part was NYC...But I was introduced to Eazy E and NWA courtesy of a Hip Hop show in NYC called Video
Music Box. Video Music Box was a 1 hour show on UHF that came on 5 days a week that for the most part played whoever was hot in Hip Hop and had a video. When Toc Loc came out with "Wild Thing" and " Funky Cold Medina" it got nonstop play not only on Video
Music Box but also on NYC top 40 radio. The same with Young MC when "Bust A Move" dropped. You know who else was big on Video
Music Box? MC Hammer....This was before "You Cant Touch This"....MC Hammer in the late 80's didnt get top 40 radioplay like Tone Loc and Young MC but he was heavy on Video Music Box and Kiss/WBLS when they played Hip Hop.
We had BET and The Box so we were exposed to whoever was hot in the country when the 90's kicked in as well. When MC Hammer finally did drop "You Cant Touch This" That sh*t was all over the place.....Radio, TV....we watched the Hammer cartoon show, I had Hammer posters(along with other artists) on my wall at age 10 courtesy of Fresh magazine. From what I remember NY was fukking with Hammer around this time tho years later he would be the target for hate but that had nothing to do with NY(even that show South Central made a reference to Hammer being a "sell out"....NYC was also fukking with the show South Central heavy). Now for the most part 2 Live Crew was considered wack lyrically but they stood out due to their over the top vulgarity, silly catchy hooks, heavy bass and videos with half naked women that were banned on most stations yet only got play on The BOX(some 2 live crew songs did get airplay on mtv but that was after hours) . From what I remember in NYC , Me So Horny, Pop That Coochie and I Wanna Rock were enjoyed for what they were visually. I still acknowledge 2 live Crew being the innovators of half naked women in Hip Hop music videos(i'll never forget seeing Rakims Dont Sweat The Technique video for the first time and thinking "wow..the god took a lil of 2 Live Crews style there.")
Radio
NY didnt have a Hip Hop station until summer 1993 when Hot 97 changed its format from a dance station. Prior to that NY C had Kiss FM and WBLS which were R&B stations that played hip hop here and there. So for the most part if you had a song that was a big hit it found its way on NY radio. 2 Live Crew , NWA, Too Short, Ice T and Geto Boys didnt get NY radio play in the late 80's cuz there music was vulgur and back in the day blackradio had a lil decency unlike today so you only heard of them thru mags, videos and word of mouth(keep in mind EPMD and Public Enemy at the time were also complaining about not getting radio airplay in NYC).
Music
Hammer was mainstream but when it came to real Hip Hop Ice Cube was the go to west coast rep from what I remember. Till this day i say Ice Cube was the leader of the 90's new school...he played the good guy to NWA's bad guy. Now lets speak on NWA....when nikkaz4Life dropped, this is what I remember....NY was fukking with this album heavy. This album was word of mouth heavy. "She swallowed it" was a quote everyone would say when referencing that album. This album was real big when it dropped not only in hip hop but in the record industry as well. It was the first record to soundscan at #1. It was underground music at its finest. No songs on the radio. only word of mouth and a few videos on The Box yet it will always be attached to being the first record to soundscan #1.This album was the beginning of gangster raps dominance. When Public Enemys 4th album failed to meet the hyped up expectations in 1991, the championship belt went to NWA for being the best group that year. I still attribute the sucess of this album to "when the evil seeped into the Hip Hop culture." Even the album cover is evil yet awe inspring at the same time. It was so big that till this day it boggles me how The Chronic has outmaxed it in popularity as the years have gone by...If The Chronic album were a double disc nikkaz4Life would be disc 1. I think of all the classic songs and albums that came out of 1991 yet that album in my neck of the woods was the most popular that year, hands down with Tribes 2nd album coming in 2nd. I went to school in east Harlem but lived in Harlem and this is what I remember in the school and around the neighborhood(I also remember Ice Ice Baby getting heavy play out of many trunks in east and west Harlem when Vanilla Ice had just arrived on the scene)
Also...everyone was fukking with the Humpty Dance...this is undeniable.
When "fukk Compton" dropped we fukked wit it cuz the song went hard. But there was no taking sides like that cuz by early 93 we were fukking with that "Dre Day." Snoops 2nd verse had quotables at Tim Dog for days and heads in NY where reciting them nonstop. Finally, the Geto Boys. I first heard Mind Playing Tricks On Me summer 91 in New Orleans. It was big down there but didnt hit NYC till the fall. When it did hit..NYC was fukking with it from what I remember. It was nothing to hear some kid quoting any line from that one song. That song was big in NYC. But thats the thing. in 1991 there were a lot of big hip hop songs like OPP, Summertime, How I Could Just Kill A Man, Choice Is Yours, Lets Talk About Sex and 2 Legit 2 Quit.
We supported Yo Yo, The Cookie Crew, Oaktowns 357 , JJ Fad, Monie Love, Boss and every dude my age wanted to fukk Da Brat.
I also have to mention the record stores. Wether big outlets like Nobody Beats The Wiz or a mom and Pop..NYC for the most part had everyone who was popping. I remember 2IINone albums, Spice 1, Poison Clan, The Convicts....NYC had everyone who was hot, specifically Harlem 125th.
NYC used to have billboards of rappers singles and albums all over NYC. The first time I heard of AMG was when he had this big billboard on 125 with the "Jiggable Pie" single album cover with the girl in Daisy Dukes sticking out her ass while holding a pie. I bought the single and album courtesy of that bilboard and was also introduced to DJ Quik courtesy of AMG.
Movies
We supported Ice T in New Jack City as well as Boyz N The Hood , South Central, Menace II Society and Friday.. NYC supported Cali culture so much we adopted thier gang culture(Till this day I say Hip Hop music had a role in all of that but thats another story. ) Also, when that 'Bout It' movie dropped, it was the talk of the town in NYC.
Magazines
The magazines of the 80's consisted of Fresh(The source of the 80's), Word Up(XXL of the 80's), Black Beat(vibe of the 80's) and Right On. These mags had articles and posters of whoever was hot in Hip Hop. Fresh mag is where i learned that NWA meant 'nikkaz wit attitude.'I dont know why references to Source Magazine and The Source awards are used to justify a means to say NYC didnt support music from other coasts. So what Outkast got booed in NY. Outkast isnt the first rap act to get booed. Source and Vibe magazine were not the end all be all. The fans werent concerned with the politics behind the scenes that an up and coming rapper who wasnt from NYC had to deal with back in the day....Fans of the music could give two fukks about all of that.....If you were on BET you were in....If you had music that was word of mouth you were in. The only time I remember a strong seperation of the coasts in hip hop was Death Row vs Bad Boy and that was for a short while yet the impact of that one moment still lingers til this day.
In closing, NYC's dominance in the 80's and early 90's hip hop was due to the fact that hip hop started in NYC so that is where the core element developed. Anyone outside of NYC was an automatic minority by default not because of ill intention so when I hear this myth of NYC not showing love to other coasts I cant help but to respond by saying "That's not the way I remember it."
Songs that I remember on heavy rotation after Hot 97 changed its format to Hip Hop summer 1993:
Dominoe _ Ghetto Jam / Sweet Potato Pie
Snoop - Gin and Juice
2pac - I get around / Keep Ya Head up (Ran these songs into the ground)
DRS - Gangsta Lean ( ran this song into the ground along with WBLS)
Cypress Hill - Insane In The Membrane
MC Eiht - Straight Up Menace (non stop with this song)
Tag Team - Whop There It Is (ran this song in the ground as well a kiss and wbls)
Warren G - Regulate / This DJ
Scarface - Never seen a Man cry
2pac - Dear Mama
2Pac - Old School (this wasnt even a single , it was an album cut yet it got heavy rotation on Hot 97...matter fact, the first time I ever heard this song was on Hot 97)
Coolio - Gangster Paradise
Goodie Mob - Cell Therapy
and I'll never ever forget spring 97 when B-Rock, The Bizz's song "My Baby Daddy" won the Angie Martinez's Battle Of The Beats for a week. Till this day I still say that the success of that song was "the beginning of the fukkery in Hip Hop"
) early mid-90s while staying months in NY.. have alot of West coast artists throughout the show..
).. also, played ALOT of music from NY/East, SF, South.. you name it.. if it was dope.. you heard it on stations, or mixtapes..
....if you seriously think there was no bias you're tripping...
....southern dj's have a every right to be bias against NY....you all shytted on them for years....and no way did NY radio fukk with everything.....thats a got damn lie!...
but we didnt bump they shyt
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