Golden age hip-hop
| Golden age hip-hop | |
|---|---|
Run-DMC and Beastie Boys (with DJ Hurricane) in 1987. Their albums are often considered a start to hip hop's golden era. | |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Mid-to-late 1980s, The Bronx, New York City |
| Typical instruments | |
| Derivative forms | |
| Local scenes | |
| South Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Harlem, Long Island | |
Golden age hip-hop refers to hip-hop music created from roughly the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, coinciding with the genre's advances in the new-school era. The golden age is characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence on overall hip-hop, and is associated with the development and eventual mainstream success of hip-hop. There were various types of subject matter, while the music was experimental and the sampling from old records was eclectic.
The artists most often associated with the period are LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Ultramagnetic MCs, the Jungle Brothers, Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, KRS-One, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Eric B. & Rakim, Kid 'n Play, De La Soul, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, Biz Markie, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, Gang Starr, and A Tribe Called Quest. Releases by these acts co-existed in this period with early gangsta rap artists such as Schoolly D, Ice-T, Geto Boys, N.W.A, the sex raps of 2 Live Crew and Too Short, and party-oriented music by acts such as the Fat Boys, MC Hammer, and Vanilla Ice. A majority of these artists and musicians originated from the New York metropolitan area.