Portrait of hip-hop in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

1. MUSC 1800: Popular Music
80s and 90s Hip-Hop
Dr. Matthew C. Saunders
Lakeland Community College
C-1078

2. Meanwhile…
• During the early 1980s, hip-hop continued to
build a following, especially on the East Coast
near its origins in New York.

3. Black Culture in the White Mainstream
• In many ways, the 1980s were a high point of
penetration of black culture into the white
mainstream.
– Michael Jackson and Prince in popular music
– The Cosby Show on network television (NBC)
• In other ways, however, this picture of racial
equality was overly idealized.
– Economic disparities between the races remained
– “War on Drugs” disproportionately aimed at black
men

4. Hip-Hop Becomes Mainstream
• 1986: Breakthrough year for hip-hop
– Def Jam Records
• Run-DMC: Raising Hell: “It’s Tricky”
• The Beastie Boys: “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To
Party)”

5. Early Commercialization of Hip-hop
• DJ Jazzy Jeff and the
Fresh Prince: “Parents
Just Don’t
Understand,” 1988
• MC Hammer, “U Can’t
Touch This,” 1990

6. Hip-Hop as Social Protest, ca. 1990
• Public Enemy
– “Black Steel in the
Hour of Chaos,” 1988
• West Coast Hip-Hop
(“gangsta rap”)
– N.W.A.: “Straight
Outa Compton,” 1989

7. Hip-Hop in the 90s
• Death Row Records
– Tupac Shakur: “Dear Mama,”
1995
• East Coast:
– Jay-Z: “(Hard Knock Life)
Ghetto Anthem,” 1998
– Puff Daddy: “Come With Me,”
1998
• Southern Sounds:
– Outkast: “Rosa Parks,” 1999

8. Hip-hop in the 2000s
• Since 9/11
– Eminem: “Lose Yourself,” 2002
– Timbaland: “Carry Out,” 2010
– Jay-Z: “99 Problems,” 2004