I was recently listening to the Music Exists podcast, hosted by Chuck Klosterman and the Ringer’s Chris Ryan, where the topic of debate focused on if music could actually sound like a place, a subconscious image of a physical location that is aroused through the lyrics, production, or personality of the artist. The conversation was fascinating, primarily because I had a similar conversation while I was in New Zealand, where a friend and I discussed the differences between East and West Coast rap, specifically hip-hop during the Nineties, when the brooding rivalry between the transcontinental states escalated to an all-out warfare, resulting in the death Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G, two of the most iconic rappers in hip hop history. Both the East and West Coast retained a level of idiosyncrasy to their actual sound, but as we further discussed, the uniqueness of their individual sounds was figuratively shaped within the parameters of their geographical surrounding.
For example, West Coast Rap of the Nineties produced an image of gangsters in summertime barbeques, drop-top low-ride cars through vibrant L.A. neighborhoods, and illuminating light contrasted with sublime weather, all while maintaining a distinction to the urbanicity to Los Angeles. In contrast, East Coast Rap during the same period always sounded far grittier, producing images of the destruction the War on Drugs had inflicted on impoverished African American neighborhoods, darkened New York streets where the forgotten underbelly of society comes alive, and the sense of containment inspired by the surrounding architecture. Essentially, the cognitive experience with L.A. based films such as Boyz in the Hood, Menace 2 Society, and Colors coincided with the sound of West Coast rap, whereas New York based films, such King of New York, New Jack City, and Juice supported the sound of East Coast rap. However, the distinction between the West and East Coast rap scene was not entirely coincidence, rather the evolution of Hip Hop in both physical locations began producing sub-genres of gangster rap, thereby implanting a homogeneous portrait of both Los Angeles and New York, a stylistic difference that further escalated the brewing rivalry.
Hip Hop, like most other art forms, was never designated to be a specific auxiliary experience, rather the history of hip hop has been progressively evolved through the influence of the world it inhibits. In 1982, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five debuted “The Message” that introduced rap as an artform to critique pollical failures by exploring the pre-existing social conditions that impacted African American neighborhoods in New York, which later influenced the highly-political and revolutionary rhetoric of Public Enemies’ inaugural album Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Years later, in 1986, Eric B. and Rakim dropped Paid in Full, suggesting a shift in hip hop, that emphasized the lyrical prowess of the MC as the forefront of the genre, opposed to the classic model that maintained the MC was secondary to the DJ. Furthermore, gangster rap was the intimidating offspring of political rap, akin to the preaching’s of Malcolm X, that depicted the systematic oppression of African Americans, the rejection of racially-inspired procedures inflicted by law enforcement, and popularized by California rapper Ice-T, New York Hip-Hop duo Boogie Down Productions, and later entered the public sphere with the success of N.W.A. In the span of ten years, after the Sugar Hill Gang recorded the first commercially released hip hop song “Rappers Delight” in 1979, Hip Hop was continually altered, spawning an assortment of sub-genres, and laid the foundation for the ensuing decade with the rise of gangster rap, which, in turn, influenced further branches of the subgenre: Gangster Funk (G-Funk) aligned with the West Coast and Mafioso Rap aligned with the East Coast.
G-Funk, the homogeneous sound of Nineties West Coast rap, originated from the mid-80’s Bay Area’s “Mobb Music” rap scene, and primarily rappers Too Short and E-40, who had begun experimenting with beats sampled from P-Funk records over heavy-bass tracks. Psychedelic funk, or P-Funk for short, was attributed to the music stylings of George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic’s, a group that combined the psychedelic rock of the Sixties with the heavy basslines of funk music. In turn, the music of George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic’s, combined with the Bay Area rap scene, largely inspired the career trajectory of one of the most recognizable producers in hip-hop history: Dr. Dre. Dr. Dre had experimented with P-Funk samples as early as the incarnation of N.W.A, the hip-hop ensemble that revolutionized the genre and initiated an unrelenting attack on the pre-conceived morality of law and order. However, it was not until the debut of The Chronic, Dr. Dre’s first album, that introduced G-Funk as the template for Nineties West Coast rap through The Chronic’s commercial profitability, the inclusion of the synthesizer, the blend of groove and L.A. gangsterism, and the vast collection of unsampled funk records. The Chronic would amass 5.7 million U.S. sales, become certified triple platinum, and be recognized as one of the most influential hip hop albums of all-time.
Next, Dr. Dre’s protégée Snoop Dogg capitalized on the success of Dre’s inaugural G-Funk album with his debut album Doggystyle, a hip-hop masterpiece produced with G-Funk samples from Dr. Dre and introduced Snoop Dogg to the pantheon of Nineties hip hop legends. Doggystyle was a massive success for Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, the Death Row label, and the G-Funk movement, as the album would go on to sell 7 million records domestically and 11 million globally. G-Funk continued steam-rolled through the Nineties, primarily in the West Coast, as well-distinguished L.A. rappers 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and Above the Law utilized the funk-infused beats to match their musical artistry. Furthermore, the G-Funk production remained a distinct sound of Los Angele’s hip hop, commercialized by Suge Knight’s notorious Death Row label, and invigorated the West Coast rap scene, that had been largely overshadowed by the East Coast and New York. However, while West Coast producers were experimenting with funk samples, the use of synthesizers, and heavy basslines, the East Coast rap scene began morphing into its own subgenre of Gangster Rap: one that reveled the stoic, powerful, and ruthless mafia figures of cinema and real life.
Mafioso Rap is regarded as the East Coast’s counterpunch to the emergence of the West Coast’s G-Funk. Opposed to the danceable groove, gangster realism, and innovative style of G-Funk, Mafioso Rap was defined by its imaginative story-telling, that depicted the decimation of urban life through the fictionalized personas of the New York rappers, whose sensationalized alter-egos were often compared to the most recognized and villainous organized crime figures, such as The Godfather’s Michael Corleone, Scarface’s Tony Montana, New York mafia don John Gotti, and Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar. The beats produced for Mafioso rap often replicated the Boom Bap subgenre of the Eighties, a variance of Hip Hop that separated its sound from the artificial sound of mainstream Hip Hop, rather incorporating 808 bass drums, record scratching, and record sampling to create a more authentic musical representation of the New York streets. However, whereas Boom Bap artists, such as KRS One, exploded with an energetic charisma, rappers apart of the Mafioso Rap scene delivered cool and collected verses as a narrative tactic, propelling the image of the rappers mafioso-inspired character. Kool G Rap is notably the first rapper to inspire the Mafioso Rap subgenre in 1989 with his song “Road to the Riches,” in which the rapper compared himself to Al Pacino, the actor who portrayed Michael Corleone and Tony Montana. Prior to Kool G Rap’s emergence, the East Coast had monopolized a majority of the hip hop market throughout the Eighties, yet the West Coast began to dominant the emerging gangster rap division of the genre with California rappers Ice-T and N.W.A, thereby gaining an advantage in the progression of hip hop. However, as Kool G Rap began using themes of organized crime, the ascension from the streets upwards to luxury, and fables of criminality, the New York rapper fueled an onslaught of up-and-coming East Coast rappers who shared a similar affinity to create fictional worlds engulfed by organized crime through hip hop storytelling.
While Kool G Rap continued to fuel the East Coast Mafioso Rap scene, Raekwon, a member of the illustrious Wu-Tang Clan, transcended the genre with his debut album Only Built 4 Cuban Linxx. Released in 1995 and produced by Wu-Tang affiliate RZA, Only Built 4 Cuban Linxx essentially catapulted the Mafioso Rap subgenre out of the cellars of underground rap to rival the prospering G-Funk scene across the nation. While the Notorious B.I.G. dabbled in the genre with his debut album Ready To Die released one year prior, Raekwon provided through Only Built 4 Cuban Linxx an album with vivid and carefully-constructed lyrism to create an urban-like fairytale of drug distribution, illicit business activities, and the violence endured from street business, all while successfully crafting a near-cinematic narrative of his fictionalized characters. Furthermore, Raekwon popularized the Mafioso Rap trend of referencing oneself as a well-recognized criminal figure with his song “Wu-Gambino’s”, a moniker adopted for the Wu-Tang Clan adopted from the Gambino crime family in New York City. The impact of Only Built 4 Cuban Linxx was momentous to East Coast hip hop scene in the mid-90;s, and would later be the inspiration for forthcoming Mafioso Rap concept albums, such as Nas’ It Was Written, Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, and AZ’s Do or Die, that would dominate New York for the remainder of the Nineties. In turn, the rise of popularity of Mafioso Rap and G-Funk further escalated the growing resentment between the West and East coast for control of the thriving hip hop market, hoping to exceed one another to claim absolute authority on the genre, and establish their cities as the epicenter of Gangster Rap.
Overall, the individual characteristics of both G-Funk and Mafioso Rap helped provide a personal interpretation of urbanicity inspired by their surrounding geographical landscape. Although differing in stylistic approach, lyrical content, and musical production, G-Funk and Mafioso Rap coincided throughout the Nineties as subgenres of Gangster Rap, offering diverse responses to the social restrictions inflicted on African American neighborhoods in the era of de facto segregation. Furthermore, the G-Funk and Mafioso Rap subgenres served as an extension of the city they inhabited, ultimately creating a sense of pride, allegiance, and delusion amidst the East and West Coast rivalry of the Nineties. Simply put, G-Funk did not relate to East Coast listeners and Mafioso Rap did not relate to West Coast listeners, further alienating the two factions through the distinctive qualities of their two sounds and creating an atmosphere of hostile competition for who would control the market. The East and West coast beef, in turn, was largely inspired by the territorial dispute of the hip hop music market, intensified by the irresponsible mismanagement of the hip hop media, and resulted in the unsolved murders of two generational talents, slain in an attempt to consolidate power for rival coastlines. Today, hip hop continues to bolster subgenres of the artform, and the success of an artist’s career is not defined by the state they preside from.
Nevertheless, G-Funk and Mafioso Rap capture the evolution of hip hop, the growing resentment between the East and West coast during the Nineties and provide an abstract study of how music can be shaped and illustrated within the confines of the city it originates from. In conclusion, musical taste will dictate the preference of listeners, but Snoop Dogg’s “Murder Was The Case” will never appropriately fit while walking down 5th avenue in New York, nor will Raekwon’s “Criminology” ever fit while barbequing in a Los Angeles park. Those two songs, like G-Funk and Mafioso Rap, inherently belong in the city that birthed their style, captured the intricacies of their cities, and reflect the day-to-day lives of their residents.
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