Music Monday - Hip Hop and R&B

When I say hip hop does your mind conjure up an image similar to this?

Or even this?

Well let's turn back the dial and see how we got where we are with modern hip hop and R&B. Let's time travel all the way back to the 90s: the Golden Age of Hip Hop. This was a time of innovation and social consciousness in rap music that continued the rise of the mid 80s into the culmination of mainstream break through that shook up the vanilla music scene at the time.

1. 2Pac

Key Song: Changes

Year: 1998

2Pac is a true icon of 90s hip hop and probably one of the most recognised public figures of the period. The song dealt with serious issues beyond the gangster stereotype that has obscured his legacy of telling his truth about his life through profound lyrics set to thumping beats.

2Pac was a genuinely inspiration person with words of wisdom that outlived him. Here is one such inspiring quote:

Now, when I say Beyonce, do you picture her like this?

Or do you still see her clearly in your mind as the girl second from the left decked out in the gaudiest 90s garb?

2. Destiny's Child

Key Song: Say My Name

Year: 1999

Yep, before Beyonce was the globe-trotting worldwide pop superstar we're currently familiar with, she was one of three (originally four) powerful women that made up R&B queens Destiny's Child. Waving the flag for the 90s Girl Power Revolution, along with their compatriots across the pond, the Spice Girls, they were the aspirational figures of 90s girls.

3. Wu-Tang Clan

Key Song: Protect Ya Neck

Year: 1993

The Wu-Tang Clan were at the forefront of contemporary hip hop with their baggy jeans (extra brownie points if one leg was rolled up), do-rags, backwards caps, white tees, hi top sneakers and Timberlands. The tight skinny jeans, skinny suits, skinny ties, slim line this, skin tight that was a foreign concept at the time.

With their quick and witty rhymes they were a tour de force, the likes of which are feebly imitated today. Contemporary hardcore hip hop wouldn't have even scared off their mothers back in the day.

That's the end of this week's installment of Music Mondays but tune in next week for our final edition on TV Themes!

After reading all that I hope you've learnt a lesson, mainly that:

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