West Coast hip hop is a
hip hop music subgenre that encompasses any artists or music which originates in the
westernmost region of the
United States. Although the
culture of hip hop was given its name in
New York City, it is believed by some that the culture itself was a mutual creation by numerous individuals from both the East and West coasts, respectively.
The
gangsta rap subgenre of West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the early 90s. By the end of the 90s decade, hip hop's focus began to shift back towards the East Coast and also to a fast emerging
Southern hip hop scene.
The West Coast is also known to have a very fertile
underground hip hop scene, with
Los Angeles and the
San Francisco Bay Area being particular hot spots. Many of the West Coast's underground acts focused more on lyrical
technique than their more mainstream peers.
History
Early years
Some believe that the five elements of hip hop culture, which include
B-Boying,
beatboxing,
DJing,
graffiti art, and
MCing, existed on the East and West Coasts of the United States simultaneously during the mid-seventies.
This theory runs in opposition to the more universally accepted belief that the fundamental elements of hip hop were all born and cultivated exclusively on the East Coast,
New York City in particular, in the most early stages of the culture.
Although it is agreed that hip hop was given its name in New York, some say a culture that closely mirrored the East Coast hip hop culture had emerged in the West existing from
Los Angeles to
Oakland during the same period.
The culture itself is believed to have been a mutual creation which probably evolved from interaction between people who identified with elements from their respective coasts.
During the early years, most West Coast rap artists essentially imitated the party rap scene of their
East Coast counterparts. At the time, the style was already considered to be old by those residing on the East Coast.
Gangsta rap era
The pioneering
gangsta rap group
N.W.A and their record label
Ruthless Records infamously received a letter from an assistant director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) excoriating their landmark 1988 album. Then after that, gangsta rap exploded and spawned many rappers and even spawned a kid group named
Quo (group) , and eventually gangsta rap expanded to the east, midwest, and south
Straight Outta Compton for its lyrical themes and content in 1989.
Decline of gangsta rap
By the end of the 1990s, hip hop's focus had shifted back to the East as well as the emerging Southern hip hop movement.
Alternative and underground scene
In the early 90s, many of the Los Angeles hip hop scene's most talented and progressive-minded MCs would attend the
Good Life Cafe to hone their skills and develop their craft.
Artists such as
Abstract Rude,
Ahmad,
Freestyle Fellowship,
Jurassic 5,
the Pharcyde,
Skee-Lo, a pre-
Dogg Pound Kurupt, and many others performed at the Good Life's open mic Thursday nights from the late-80s into the mid-90s.
In the 2009 documentary
This Is the Life, L.A. hip hop artist and Good Life regular
2Mex likened the Good Life movement to that of the
New York punk rock and
Seattle music scenes.
See also
