Emerging during hip-hop's massive creative expansion of the late '80s, Big Daddy Kane was the ultimate lover man of rap's first decade, yet there was more to him than the stylish wardrobe, gold jewelry, and sophisticated charisma. Kane possessed a prodigious rhyming technique honed from numerous B-boy battles; he could also be an Afrocentric... [+] Read More

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Biz Markie's inclination toward juvenile humor and his fondness for goofy, tuneless, half-sung choruses camouflaged his true talents as a freestyle rhymer. The Biz may not have been able to translate his wild rhyming talents to tape, but what he did record was worthwhile in its own way. With his silly humor and inventive, sample-laden... [+] Read More

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Boogie Down Productions was one of the most important and influential hip-hop groups of the latter half of the '80s. Led by the often brilliant and incendiary MC KRS-One, BDP were pioneers of both hardcore and political (or "conscious") rap -- and if that seems contradictory, it also illustrates the scope of KRS-One's talent for chronicling and... [+] Read More

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Craig G's career began in the late '80s when he ran with legendary producer Marley Marl and his Juice Crew posse. The Queensbridge rapper teamed with Marley early on, back in 1985, when the two recorded "Shout" and "Transformer," both released by Pop Art Records. Though definitely not as treasured as other Marley classics from the era such as MC... [+] Read More

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On the surface, the sample-reliant productions and monotone rapping styles of Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith had little to recommend them, but the duo's recordings as EPMD were among the best in hip-hop's underground during the late '80s and early '90s. Over the course of four albums (from the 1988 classic Strictly Business to 1992's Business... [+] Read More

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Never overly prolific nor overly popular, Gang Starr nonetheless became and remain one of hip-hop's most admired acts ever, the duo's legacy nothing short of legendary in terms of influence. DJ Premier and Guru, the duo's respective producer/DJ and lyricist/MC, set standards for early-'90s hip-hop with their two touchstone releases: Step in the... [+] Read More

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Extremely significant for 1991's Breaking Atoms alone, Main Source's effect on hip-hop is nearly impossible to gauge, especially when considering Large Professor and K-Cut's contributions outside of the group. Consisting of MC/producer Large Professor (born Paul Mitchell) and twin DJs/producers K-Cut (born Kevin McKenzie) and Sir Scratch, the... [+] Read More

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Extremely significant for 1991's Breaking Atoms alone, Main Source's effect on hip-hop is nearly impossible to gauge, especially when considering Large Professor and K-Cut's contributions outside of the group. Consisting of MC/producer Large Professor (born Paul Mitchell) and twin DJs/producers K-Cut (born Kevin McKenzie) and Sir Scratch, the... [+] Read More

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When he began releasing singles in the late '90s, party rap was the dominant style most MCs favored, but Mr. Lif's lyrical agenda was a political and socially conscious one that recalled the rap stars of the previous decade -- Public Enemy, Gang Starr, and Boogie Down Productions. Born Jeffrey Haynes, Mr. Lif grew up in the Boston, MA, suburb of... [+] Read More

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Public Enemy rewrote the rules of hip-hop, becoming the most influential and controversial rap group of the late '80s and, for many, the definitive rap group of all time. Building from Run-D.M.C.'s street-oriented beats and Boogie Down Productions' proto-gangsta rhyming, Public Enemy pioneered a variation of hardcore rap that was musically and... [+] Read More

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U.T.F.O. was a Brooklyn, NY-based rap group, comprised of the Kangol Kid, Doctor Ice, the Educated Rapper, and Mix Master Ice. The quartet first met as dancers for Whodini, before forming U.T.F.O. (which stood for "Untouchable Force Organization") in 1983. Early on, the group referred to themselves as "the Village People of Rap," due to the fact... [+] Read More

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Arising from the Boogie Down Bronx in the mid-'80s as a far-flung hip-hop trio with a heap of new ideas to try out, Ultramagnetic's Kool Keith, Ced Gee, and DJ Moe Love occupy something of a singular place in the old-school pantheon. Combining funk-heavy tracks with jeep-rocking beats and obscure lyrical references, Ultramagnetic MC's have a... [+] Read More

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