West Coast Hip Hop
West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the early to-mid 1990s with the birth of G-funk and the emergence of record labels such as Suge Knight and Dr. Dre's Death Row Records, Ice Cube's Lench Mob Records and the continued success of Eazy-E's Ruthless Records, and others. History Early years Several events laid the foundations for West Coast hip hop, long before the emergence of West Coast rappers such as Mellow Man Ace, Too Short, Kid Frost, Ice-T and Eazy-E—or even before the emergence of rap itself. According to Syd Caesar, "a cataclysmic event helped give rise to it out West: the Watts riots of 1965." In 1967, Budd Schulberg founded a creative space in Los Angeles entitled Watts Writers Workshop, intended to help the people of the Watts neighborhood and provide a place ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frost (rapper)
Arturo Molina Jr. (born May 31, 1962), better known as Frost (originally Kid Frost), is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer from Los Angeles. He is the father of record producer Scoop DeVille. Early life Molina was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and occasionally lived with his family in military bases in Guam and Germany. He is of Mexican descent. He began his music career in 1982 as Kid Frost as a tribute to his rival Ice-T, whom he often battled in the music industry. In an interview Frost stated that his first actual DJ was in fact Dr. Dre and DJ Yella. He soon became a breakdancer for Uncle Jamms Army. Career In the mid-1980s, Frost released several pre-gangsta 12" singles on Los Angeles-based labels Electrobeat and Baja. In the late 1980s, Kid Frost moved to Virgin Records. Virgin released his biggest hit, "La Raza". His debut album, ''Hispanic Causing Panic'' was released in 1990. He also established a Latin rap supergroup called Latin Al ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Too Short
Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on pimping and promiscuity, but also drug culture and street survival. This is respectively exemplified in his most popular songs "Blow the Whistle" and " The Ghetto". A pioneer of West Coast rap, Shaw began recording in 1983, cultivating a large following in his native Oakland. In 1987, his fourth album ''Born to Mack'' attracted the attention of Jive Records, who signed him and distributed the album nationally. His subsequent 1988 album '' Life Is...Too Short'' was highly successful, going double platinum, and he remained prominent into the 1990s. Early life Shaw was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California. In the early 1980s, he and his family moved to Oakland, California. He was a drummer in the band at Fremont High School in Oa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mellow Man Ace
Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (born April 12, 1967), better known as Mellow Man Ace, is a Cuban-American rapper known for bilingual delivery and novelty rhymes. He was born in Cuba and moved to Los Angeles with his family at the age of four. Early life and career An Afro-Cuban rapper born in Cuba, Mellow Man Ace focused on lovers rap with a blend of urban hip hop and occasional bilingual delivery, and a heady gift for novelty rhymes. Born Ulpiano Sergio Reyes in 1967, he left Cuba with his family at the age of four and resettled in Los Angeles. His family moved to South Gate, California at a very young age. His debut album ''Escape from Havana'' was released on Capitol on August 29, 1989, and featured production from the Dust Brothers and Def Jef. The single " Mentirosa" was released on March 9, 1990. It was his only hit single, peaking at Number 14 on ''Billboard'''s Hot 100 Chart, with Ace rapping over a crafty hook from the Santana songs "No One to Depend On" and "Evil Ways." His ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ruthless Records
Ruthless Records was an American record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California in 1986, where all of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1997. Several artists on the label such as N.W.A, Eazy-E, MC Ren, The D.O.C., Michel'le, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony have released RIAA certified albums. History N.W.A days The label's first successful single was Eazy's "Boyz-n-the-Hood". It also released singles by underground California acts Frost and J.J. Fad. The label's first album was N.W.A's ''Straight Outta Compton'', which was eventually certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA. Immediately following this was the release of Eazy's solo debut, ''Eazy-Duz-It''. As the six members went on tour in support of their project, some began to voice their displeasure with the financial situation at Ruthless. According to group member MC Ren, it was a common opinion that N.W.A manager and Ruthless co-founder Jerry Heller w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eazy-E
Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred to as the "Godfather of Gangsta Rap". Born and raised in Compton, California, Wright had several legal troubles before founding Ruthless in 1987. After a short solo career with frequent collaboration with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, they joined, forming N.W.A, later that year. N.W.A's debut studio album, ''Straight Outta Compton'', was released in 1988. Controversial upon release, it is now ranked among the greatest and most influential albums ever. The group released its third and final studio album, '' Niggaz4Life'', in 1991, and soon after disbanded. During N.W.A's splintering, largely by disputes over money, Eazy-E became embroiled in bitter rivalries with fellow group-members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, who had departed for solo careers in 1989 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lench Mob Records
Lench Mob Records is an record label owned by Los Angeles rapper and actor Ice Cube. Founded as Street Knowledge Records, it was once home to many of Cube's former allies such as DJ Pooh, and Lench Mob's own Chilly Chill, Del the Funky Homosapien, Kam, Yo-Yo and the group Da Lench Mob. The label, established in 1990, remained dormant for a long period until a revival in 2006 with the release of Ice Cube's album ''Laugh Now, Cry Later''. Lench Mob Records also distributes Bigg Swang Records home to WC, DJ Crazy Toones, Young Maylay and Tha Trapp. Hallway Productionz have produced multiple tracks for the label's two major artists. Releases Current artists Former artists * DJ Pooh * DJ Crazy Toones * Chilly Chill * Threi * Kausion * Kam * Yo Yo * Del tha Funkee Homosapien * Sir Jinx * Mack 10 * Maulkie * Shorty * J Dee * T-Bone * K-Dee * Dazzie Dee * Renegadde * Da Lench Mob * Don Jagwarr * Westside Connection Westside Connection was an American hip-hop supergrou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produced at home in a freezer with an ice tray or in an automated ice-making accessory. They may also be produced industrially and sold commercially. Origin of production American physician and inventor John Gorrie built a refrigerator in 1844 with the purpose of producing ice to cool air. His refrigerator produced ice which hung from the ceiling in a basin to lower the ambient room temperature. During his time, bad air quality was thought to cause disease. Therefore, in order to help prevent and treat sickness, he pushed for the draining of swamps and the cooling of sickrooms. Production Trays and bags Ice cube trays are designed to be filled with water, then placed in a freezer until the water freezes into ice, producing ice cube ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Death Row Records
Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre (''The Chronic''), Snoop Dogg (''Doggystyle'', ''Tha Doggfather''), Tha Dogg Pound (''Dogg Food''), and 2Pac (''All Eyez on Me'', The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory) during the 1990s. At its peak, Death Row was making over US$100 million a year. By the late 1990s, the label began to decline after the death of its star artist, 2Pac, imprisonment of Suge Knight, and the departures of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Although Death Row was enjoying financial success, it was embroiled in controversies, lawsuits, and violence by its artists and associates. Death Row Records filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and was auctioned to WIDEawake Entertainment for $18 million on January 15, 2009. The owner of WIDEawake bankrupted in 2012 and the label was then sold to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |