American singers and rappers. Foreign rap
Rap is a relatively young musical direction, but it is firmly rooted in modern culture, giving birth to dozens of heroes, and is not going to disappear anywhere. It is quite difficult to choose several of the best singers and teams of the hip-hop scene, but we still dare to present the ten best rappers, which include our contemporaries and representatives of the old school who stood at the origins of rap.
Ice Cube is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time, who began as a member of the group N.W.A., becoming the author of most of its songs, and then continued his career as a solo artist. AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, his first solo album, was an immediate hit, setting the bar he never fell below.
Of course, the top ten rappers couldn't do without Snoop Dogg. The musician was helped to rise to the top of the hip-hop scene by his good friend Dr. Dre. He stands out from other rappers with his rather calm lyrical style of performing songs.
A representative of the old school rap, he became a symbol of the 80s hip-hop scene, and his song Mama Said Knock You Out became a true classic. LL Cool J turned out to be not only a talented rapper, but also a good actor, TV presenter and businessman who owns his own clothing brand and co-owns several record labels.
7. Kurtis Blow (Curtis Blow)
Curtis Blow became a pioneer who made rap music popular and proved that you can make money from it. It was he who became the godfather of the old school turnip. If you don't agree, let's listen to The Breaks.
6. Rakim (Rakim)
Rakim is a representative of the old school, who suddenly became famous after recording the mega hit Paid in Full, which immediately entered the top ten most popular songs on radio stations. It was his clear articulation and complex lyrics, which he perfected over weeks, that had a strong influence on the modern generation of rappers.
This is not one person, but a group that stood at the origins of hip-hop and determined the modern look of rap, which boldly combined different styles. They were the first to risk releasing an album of songs, which immediately became a hit. It was they who helped Aerosmith return to the stage by recording the song Walk This Way with them in 1986. The real old school, which has returned back to the stage, once again gathers entire halls, turning them on.
4. Eminem
The only white rapper in the top ten in the world. Dr. helped him get onto the big stage. Dre, and then everything was done by his talent, lyrics on topics that are painful for society and Eminem’s unique style of performing the text.
3. The Notorious B.I. G.
Notorious B.I. G. also known as Biggie, was the East Coast turnip king. An early death prevented him from becoming number one in the rap world, but he is still one of the legends of the hip-hop world. During the mourning, several hundred radio stations across America honored his memory with 30 seconds of silence.
2. Jay-Z
The new East Coast turnip king, rising from the bottom to a half-billion-dollar fortune. His manner and style of performance is unique, for which he is loved by millions of people around the world.
I think you've already guessed who is considered the number one rapper in the world, the king of the west coast, 2Pac. He was killed young at 25, rumored to have been ordered by Notorious B.I. G. is the king of East Coast rap, but still entered the top 100 artists of all time, having sold more than 75 million albums during his lifetime alone.
IT'S NO SECRET THAT IN RECENT YEARS We increasingly listen to hip-hop, scroll through the Instagrams of modern female MCs, for example M.I.A., and watch as Azealia Banks methodically fights with Iggy Azalea and her other colleagues. To better understand what is the charm of modern hip-hop divas, we decided to look back 30 years and talk about the pioneers of the genre who paved the way for millions of followers and set the trends on which today's pop culture rests.
In a series of posts, we will talk about representatives of three periods of the formation of hip-hop culture and how female MCs made their way in the world of male rap. The talk was about the pioneers of the genre - the first female MC, the founder of the diss track, etc. Today we are talking about the heroines of the second wave - the mid-90s and the first decade of the 2000s. They skillfully mixed hip-hop and pop music, were the first to flirt with the Internet audience, and in everyday life they often behaved like guys and waved their fists left and right.
Sonya Batovrina
DA BRAT
Chicago rapper Shanti Harris, aka Da Brat, became famous in the early 90s thanks to her debut album “Funkdafied,” which instantly sold a million copies around the world and earned her the title of the first solo hip-hop artist whose record reached platinum status. The second factor that made Da Brat a star was her image as an explosive, aggressive and deliberately unfeminine artist, who was nicknamed “Snoop Dogg in a skirt.” Harris is from that caste of rappers who rap about real problems and life on the streets. When in the 2000s, in pursuit of elusive popularity, Da Brat decided to bring more sex into her image - she abandoned baggy shirts in favor of short shorts and deep necklines - it did not help her much. In addition, changing character is much more difficult than changing outfit: Harris regularly got involved in squabbles that ended in physical injury for her opponents, for which she was sentenced to three years in prison in 2008. Da Brat's release was accompanied by a web series Brat Chronicles: In Transition about how the artist adapts to normal life. And yes, she returned to her usual bad girl look in trousers and a T-shirt three sizes too big.
Bahamadia
Soft beat, low tones, thoughtful lyrics - this is all Bahamadia. Antonia Reed (real name of the hip-hopper) started out as a DJ in her native Philadelphia, but became known as an MC and member of the rap group Gang Starr Foundation. By the end of the 90s, Bahamadia had earned a strong fan base around the world, and her work became a clear example of how hip-hop had transformed from a purely American subculture into the mainstream. Bahamadia's reputation as a popular and respected artist has been cemented by a long list of collaborations with representatives of a variety of musical genres, from fellow countrymen The Roots and rapper Talib Kweli to British drum and bass producer Roni Size and trip hoppers Morcheeba.
In one of the interviews with Bahamadia admitted that in 85%
sometimes she is inspired by pure rhythm, plus sometimes
individual lines from the Bible and all sorts of books.
Lil Kim
In the mid-90s Didi (aka Puff Daddy) refused to take Lil Kim under
wing of his label Bad Boy Records because he didn't believe women were capable
release successful hip-hop albums. Lil' Kim later proved him wrong
three platinum records.
Lil Kim was brought into hip-hop by the rapper Notorious B.I.G., whose lover she was until his tragic death and in whose project Junior M.A.F.I.A. debuted in the mid-90s. At the same time, it cannot be said that Lil Kim became famous at the expense of someone. She had more than enough intelligence and charisma to become a role model for future generations of hip-hop divas. The artist's trademarks are daring lyrics, extravagant style (for example, one cannot fail to note her love for colored wigs) and caustic statements on any occasion. Lil Kim's debut album “Hard Core” (1996) immediately hit the 11th line of the American Billboard 200 - before that, not a single record by a single rap artist had entered the chart with such success, and this is not to mention the fact that “ Hard Core" was certified platinum twice. The public received Lil Kim's next two albums with no less success. However, the artist's commercial achievements pale in comparison to the influence she had on the collective image of the hip-hop diva - as she was imagined then and represented today by millions of listeners, including those who are little familiar with the history of rap music. As is usually the case, most followers of Lil Kim's aesthetics were unable to reproduce her image to the fullest and simply descended into crude and excessive exploitation of sexuality. In 2011, Lil Kim bluntly called Nicki Minaj a “plagiarist” of her style and even dedicated a diss to her rival "Black Friday"- by the way, this is one of Kim's best songs in a long time.
Foxy Brown
In the mid-2000s, Foxy Brown experienced hearing loss, but even in the most difficult moments she refused to wear a hearing aid and preferred that someone simply tap the rhythm on her shoulder: this is how the artist could record songs.
Lil' Kim's once best friend turned rival and then enemy. Kim belonged to the Notorious B.I.G. camp, Foxy Brown belonged to the Jay-Z group, the conflict between the clans ultimately quarreled the rappers, who still do not speak to each other. Inga Marchand (real name Foxy) is considered one of Lil Kim's followers in terms of provocatively sexual image, but is definitely inferior to her in creative terms. However, Brown’s debut album “Ill Na Na” brought the rapper platinum, and the subsequent album “Chyna Doll” brought her to number one on the Billboard 200, making Foxy the second hip-hop artist in the history of music (the first was Lauryn Hill) to reach the top spot. top of the chart. The rapper's last LP was released in 2001, and since then most of the news about Brown has been about her problems with the law. The rapper regularly attacks people for some ridiculous reasons: a neighbor asked to turn the music down - she got hit in the eye with a BlackBerry phone, the hotel maids didn’t give her an iron - the rapper spat in their faces. As a result, in 2007, Foxy ended up behind bars for a fight with two Manhattan manicurists, and unfortunately, this is the last bright news from the rapper for many years.
Missy Eliot
Singer, songwriter, producer, actress, trendsetter - Missy Elliott's talents can be listed until you're blue in the face, and few would dare to argue with them. One of the brightest female MCs in music history, before she began singing herself, Missy wrote lyrics for other artists (like Aaliyah) and succeeded like no one else. Eliot worked with Timbaland for a long time, largely thanks to their joint achievements, both turned into real hip-hop mastodons. The artist’s debut album “Supa Dupa Fly” took off in 1997 not only musically, but also as a visual product. The clips for Missy were directed by Hype Williams, who at that time had already established himself as one of the main directors of hip-hop videos of the 90s. The scale of Missy Eliot's success and influence is evidenced by five Grammy awards, five platinum albums and more than 30 million copies of records sold in the United States alone. We probably won’t go into details, because we are sure that Missy will still do so many things that our children will have to edit her biography on Wikipedia more than once.
In 2004, Eliot voiced one of the characters
“Shark Tale”, and also wrote and performed together
with Christina Aguilera song “Car Wash”
for the cartoon soundtrack.
We incur the wrath of the gods by compiling the top popularity of Russian rappers based on social networks.
How do you know which rapper is cooler? By the ability to weave rhymes or by a killer flow? Or maybe by the number of bullet holes in the body or Grammy on the shelf? Or take touring or iTunes sales? Perhaps everyone here will have their own measures of coolness, fame and popularity. But measuring how much a rapper is loved by his fans is not so difficult - it’s 2016, and relatively objective numbers of popularity are right in plain sight - on musicians’ social networks.
With the help of our friend from the public Imho Analytics, we tried to compile a popularity rating of Russian rappers based on social networks. Why social networks? Because they have long become as commonplace as an aluminum pan in the kitchen or a smartphone in your pocket. Even the neighbors’ grandmothers have accounts in Odnoklassniki, and only DMX still doesn’t know how to use a computer. And even despite the possibility of cheating, numbers from social networks are more stable and generalized data than, for example, music sales figures or the density of the touring schedule.
What did we think?
We calculated the average number of subscribers of musicians on the social networks Twitter, Instagram and VKontakte, because... many listeners follow their favorite musicians on several social networks at once, and we didn’t want to inflate the numbers due to duplicate information.
Now let's go.
As you can see, the final ten turned out to be quite varied - here you have the veteran Karandash, and youngsters like Basota, and punk connoisseurs Anacondaz. Unexpectedly, Lupercal closes the top, which has been in the news all this year, and in the fall took part in revolutionizing the game by releasing the release “House of a Thousand Drafts.” Somewhere nearby there should have been Pharaoh, who was also popular throughout the past year, but the Dead Dynasty association shared a VK account, so he did not pass the competition mechanics.
Here we have an even more diverse ten. Her parody projects Khleb and Big Russian Boss close behind her, the sweet-voiced Tati neighbors her labelmate and hero of the year Scryptonite, and Kravets and Joniboy dilute the patriotism of Misha Mavashi and Harry Topor with romance.
Strong rap fighters concentrated in the middle of the list - confidently and without surprises. ST starts the top ten, and closes it with Slim, who is almost neck and neck with his Centr colleague Ptah - 125 thousand subscribers versus 128. In the middle of the list is the name-dropping master Yanix, Smokey Mo, Rem Digga, The Chemodan Clan, MC Doni, Tony Raut and hit rock 25/17.
Perhaps the most controversial and interesting ten, about which the editorial office argued the most. Is it possible to include Dolphin in this list for old times sake? How close are Dorn or Jah Khalib and Bianca to rap? Also pay attention to the 14th position - Ukrainian rapper Yarmak has a strong and large community of fans.
If the artists of the Gazgolder label are evenly distributed according to the rating, then the representatives of Black Star were aiming for the top ten. There are four of them here at once - Mot, Christina Si, L "One and Timati. Plus Dzhigan, who left the ranks of the Black Star mafia. At the same time, the first place with an impressive margin from Basta was taken by Timati, and Oksimiron, who flashed literally everywhere, only closes the top ten.
What do you need to know before you start swearing in the comments?
1. The data is taken for the end of December and the first days of January of this year. Over the past time, the artists managed to gain a thousand or two additional subscribers, but due to the holidays, activity was not the highest and these numbers did not affect the final results.
2. For groups like Casta, Caspian Gruz, TGK and others, the overall indicators and individual subscribers in the musicians’ accounts were calculated.
3. The sum of subscribers and individual data on social networks were rounded separately, so when summing up the data, the final picture may vary upward or downward by a thousand, but this does not in any way affect the final places.
Music, the existence of which almost no one knew for 30 years, today sounds from headphones, stereo speakers, windows of houses and car interiors. Among the first performers our listeners loved is the duet Kris Cross, and today everyone has heard such names as 50 Cent or Snoop Dogg. You can listen to your favorite mp3 collection online or download it to any gadget - the choice is yours. Our music portal gives you the right to choose. Here you can find high-quality music from foreign artists working on the development of rap culture.
