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East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry: Difference between revisions
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East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry (view source)
Revision as of 05:08, 9 August 2023
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It is widely speculated that the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry between Double Deuce Records, Brave Heart Productions, NuWrld Records and Common Boy Entertainment resulted in the deaths of Double Deuce's Dave Beamz on 3 March 1997, Common Boy's OG Tracy on 28 December 1992, Tommy Dawg on 22 May 1994, and King Rakeem on 21 December 1997, Brave Heart's Rakki on 19 February 1999, and NuWrld's Genesys on 9 June 1998. | It is widely speculated that the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry between Double Deuce Records, Brave Heart Productions, NuWrld Records and Common Boy Entertainment resulted in the deaths of Double Deuce's Dave Beamz on 3 March 1997, Common Boy's OG Tracy on 28 December 1992, Tommy Dawg on 22 May 1994, and King Rakeem on 21 December 1997, Brave Heart's Rakki on 19 February 1999, and NuWrld's Genesys on 9 June 1998. | ||
For Double Deuce, the label had begun to unravel in 1997 with the departure | For Double Deuce, the label had begun to unravel in 1997 with the departure of co-founder Doc Dre in the aftermath of Dave Beamz's death. Double Deuce proceeded to sink quickly as most of its remaining artists, including Immortal Keys, followed suit shortly after. After a drive-by shooting would leave CEO Jeffery "Metro" Dimes blind, the label began to be mocked by their rivals in the industry, and by 2003, the label had filed for bankruptcy. That year, Doc Dre at the VOD Video Music Awards claimed that "gangsta rap was dead". Despite Shawn "Puffy" Bombs' Common Boy faring better than its West Coast rival in the following decade, beating out Brave Heart and being labeled as the "forefront of East Coast hip hop" in 2001 by [[Newstar]] by "a metric of sales alone", it eventually began to lose popularity and industry-wide support by the early 2010s, primarily due to distancing from its roots in favor of a more mainstream appeal, in addition to up-and-coming challengers from Miami and Toronto-based labels, especially Kell Eazy's The Boondocks stable of local rappers and the Isaiahsburg-based upstart Blue Cash Records. | ||
[[File:Okonma East 2.jpg|thumb|Okonma East (pictured) would release innovative hip hop that maintained accessible pop sensibilities to critical and commercial success throughout the 2000s and 2010s, becoming one of his generation's "greatest talents".]] | [[File:Okonma East 2.jpg|thumb|Okonma East (pictured) would release innovative hip hop that maintained accessible pop sensibilities to critical and commercial success throughout the 2000s and 2010s, becoming one of his generation's "greatest talents".]] | ||
By the early 2000s, alternative, experimental and progressive hip hop had secured its place within the mainstream. Specifically, industry observers view the 2003 sales race between Okonma East's debut album ''I'm Good...'' and X-Pression's fourth album ''Will & Testament'' as a turning point for hip hop as a genre, with East emerging the victor with sales of nearly a million copies in the first week alone, proving that progressive rap music could be just as commercially viable as gangsta rap, if not competitively so, and encouraged other mainstream rappers to take greater creative risks with their music. Additionally, the genre would face the declining commercial viability of gangster rap after highly-publicized RICO charges being placed against various rappers of labels with alleged gang or mob ties throughout the early 2000s, with the 2006 indictments of Nuwrld's Zaa and Killer Woo on racketeering conspiracy to run an illicit operation leading to major publicization and debate around the use of lyrics from hit songs as evidence in court, which subsequently would lead to less support industry-wide. | By the early 2000s, alternative, experimental and progressive hip hop had secured its place within the mainstream. Specifically, industry observers view the 2003 sales race between Okonma East's debut album ''I'm Good...'' and X-Pression's fourth album ''Will & Testament'' as a turning point for hip hop as a genre, with East emerging the victor with sales of nearly a million copies in the first week alone, proving that progressive rap music could be just as commercially viable as gangsta rap, if not competitively so, and encouraged other mainstream rappers to take greater creative risks with their music. Additionally, the genre would face the declining commercial viability of gangster rap after highly-publicized RICO charges being placed against various rappers of labels with alleged gang or mob ties throughout the early 2000s, with the 2006 indictments of Nuwrld's Zaa and Killer Woo on racketeering conspiracy to run an illicit operation leading to major publicization and debate around the use of lyrics from hit songs as evidence in court, which subsequently would lead to less support industry-wide. | ||
During the release of ''The Gauntlet'' (2005), Porciúncula rap mogul Hovah revealed that after listening to Dirty Apache's ''Bitch You're Killing My Vibe'' (2000), his new music would be more experimental, stating, "... I don't care if it's not gonna be a #1 album, and that's just where I'm at right now. I wanna push boundaries, you know, and make the most experimental album I ever made." Hovah would elaborate that like Doc Dre, he was unsatisfied with contemporary hip hop, and was being actively inspired by indie acts such as The Eyelids and Mirage, asserting his belief that the indie rock subgenre would play a critical role in the late evolution of hip-hop. | During the release of ''The Gauntlet'' (2005), Porciúncula rap mogul Hovah revealed that after listening to Dirty Apache's ''Bitch You're Killing My Vibe'' (2000), his new music would be more experimental, stating, "... I don't care if it's not gonna be a #1 album, and that's just where I'm at right now. I wanna push boundaries, you know, and make the most experimental album I ever made." Hovah would elaborate that like Doc Dre, he was unsatisfied with contemporary hip hop, and was being actively inspired by indie acts such as The Eyelids and Mirage, asserting his belief that the indie rock subgenre would play a critical role in the late evolution of hip-hop. | ||
== Resolutions == | == Resolutions == | ||
In a 2005 interview, Roc Steady would state the feud between The Throne and Hovah had been resolved "behind the scenes". In 2009, both Hovah and Roc Steady would be featured on DJ Scene's song "Black Royal" from his debut album, Gangsta Dealz: The Album. In 2012, Hovah would be featured on Mac-12's tenth album, Hustler 101, on the song "Lawyer Talk", where he would express his desire to see other former Throne members, Zaa and Killer Woo, secure early releases from prison. It would be reported in 2015 by Sierra Media that Hovah's management team and select lawyers had aided Zaa in his second appeal to overturn his racketeering charge, though it would be rejected the following year. | In a 2005 interview, Roc Steady would state the feud between The Throne and Hovah had been resolved "behind the scenes". In 2009, both Hovah and Roc Steady would be featured on DJ Scene's song "Black Royal" from his debut album, Gangsta Dealz: The Album. In 2012, Hovah would be featured on Mac-12's tenth album, Hustler 101, on the song "Lawyer Talk", where he would express his desire to see other former Throne members, Zaa and Killer Woo, secure early releases from prison. It would be reported in 2015 by Sierra Media that Hovah's management team and select lawyers had aided Zaa in his second appeal to overturn his racketeering charge, though it would be rejected the following year. | ||