Like many of his West Coast gangsta peers in the early '90s, DJ Quik's career began wonderfully before slowly descending with each passing year. In 1991, when a 20-year-old Quik debuted on Priority Records, West Coast gangsta rap reigned and his label controlled the rap industry. These factors, coupled with Quik's production abilities, resulted... [+] Read More

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The Gospel Gangstaz comprised DJ Dove, Chilly Chill, Tic Toc, and Mr. Solo, all onetime Los Angeles gang-bangers who later spread the Lord's message via the hard beats and gritty rhymes of the West Coast rap sound. Debuting in 1994 with Gang Affiliated, the group returned two years later with Do or Die; I Can See Clearly Now followed in 1999. ~... [+] Read More

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The Oakland-based Hieroglyphics are an underground rap collective who, at their best, combine an offbeat sensibility with a strong grounding in battle rhyming, freestyling, and other hip-hop traditions. All the members enjoy their own separate careers -- founder Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Casual, the Souls of Mischief, Extra Prolific,... [+] Read More

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A member of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, rapper Krayzie Bone was born Anthony Henderson in Cleveland, OH; also known as Leatherface, the Sawed-Off Gangsta, he joined Bone Thugs in 1993, debuting a year later with the EP Creepin on Ah Come Up. Subsequent LPs, including 1995's E 1999 Eternal and 1997's The Art of War, launched the group to rap... [+] Read More

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Lil' Troy managed to break out of Houston's thriving rap scene in the late '90s with "Wanna Be a Baller," one of the few Houston-based songs to reach national audiences. The song propelled his debut album, Sittin' Fat Down South, to respectable success, particularly for a Houston artist. Released in 1998, Universal picked up the album,... [+] Read More

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Consisting of MCs Ryu and Takbir, Styles of Beyond take their inventive Los Angeles-based hip-hop to the millennium and try to propel the form into uncharted territory. The group came together in 1995 when the two aspiring MCs met and freestyled together while on a break from class at Pierce Community College in Woodland Hills, CA. They were... [+] Read More

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