Bi-Coastal Battles
How the division between the East Coast and West Coast hip hop scenes in the 1990s went on to shape the music that we know and love today
No dispute in music has garnered the same amount of notoriety as the famous feud between 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. conspiracy theories aside, not only did the feud inevitably lead to both of their deaths, but also was the centerpiece for a larger divergence in hip hop culture. This divide led to each coast having a different soundscape that still exists today.
Listen to how the coasts stack up against each other
2Pac and Biggie started out as friends, freestyling together and visiting each other between New York and California. Tupac served as an early mentor to Biggie as he had already risen to stardom while Biggie’s career was still taking off. The relationship took a turn when Tupac got involved with a gang from Queens against Biggie’s advice. After getting shot in the lobby of Quad Studios in Times Square, a recording studio that Biggie was using, 2Pac lost all faith in Biggie. More than that, 2Pac made it his mission to destroy Biggie’s label - Bad Boy Records. (Source: Vice Article).
Taking a step back and looking at the larger hip hop environment during the 1990s, the tides were changing as West Coast artists were gaining popularity and the gangster rap vibe was taking over the game. Remember, in the late 1970’s Hip-hop’s founding father and the original crew, Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation had a vision for hip-hop as a force for social change. (Sources: Foundational Flows & Forbes Article). The East Coast mentality reflected that vision with the first breakout hit “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash in the ‘80s and had a socially conscious message. Following suit, East Coast hip-hop in the early days strived to provide an alternative to inner-city violence with artists like the De La Soul, a Tribe Called Quest, and eventually the Wu-Tang Clan looking to make people think and provide universal wisdom.
Click on the image to go to the dashboard! Data from RIAA.com
In stark contrast to the noble motives of the purist East Coast rap scene, Ice-T brought the voice of the gang scene in LA to rap with “6 ‘N The Mornin” in 1987. Inspired by Schoolly D’s P.S.K., Ice-T melded together this relaxed cadence with the harsh realities of the dangerous streets, gang violence, and crack wars of South Central LA. Gangsta rap’s new sound and mentality took hip hop to new heights. With Dr. Dre at the helm, Gangsta rap took the nation by storm with acts like N.W.A., Snoop Dogg, and of course 2Pac and Suge Knight’s Death Row Records going multi-platinum and running the rap game in the early 1990s. Hip-Hop began to flourish on the West Coast with Digital Underground, Cypress Hill, M.C. Hammer, and House of Pain providing depth to the region’s music scene and becoming some of Hip-Hop's best selling acts.
That all began to change in 1994 when both Illmatic by Nas and Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G. came out. Taking from their West Coast counterparts and building upon the legacy of the East Coast, these albums combined thematic concepts of gang rivalry, violence, urban poverty, and the troubled emotional state of a young man who has grown up in such an environment. Although initial sales of Illmatic were slow, both albums were critically acclaimed and the East Coast Renaissance period. This paved the way for rappers like Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, and DMX to take the stage and bring the crown back to the East Coast in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Click on the image to go to the dashboard! Data from RIAA.com
After the East Coast / West Coast rivalries had come to its final blows in 1997 with the tragic deaths of 2Pac and Biggie, East Coast rappers had dominated the charts and taken back the majority of sales as well. By the end of the decade, the East Coast had outsold the West Coast by 61M records with a much more diverse collection of rappers achieving commercial success. With the West Coast able to mark its own turf, other regional subgenres of Hip-Hop started taking root in new markets with major hubs taking root in Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Chicago, and New Orleans, each with its own distinct flavor that would shape the genre into what it is today.