A Look Back At Hip Hop In The 2000s

In honor of Hip Hop’s fiftieth Anniversary, The Shade Room want to commemorate the moments, the pioneers, and the instruments of the artwork kind which have in the end transcended the music style, influencing each side of modern-day widespread tradition. Join us every week as we glance again at 5 many years of hip hop.

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To The Flo! Hip Hop Music Adopts Dance Craze Formula

By the early 2000s, hip hop was approaching 30 years of development–in sound, enterprise, and mainstream reputation. So, along with the experimental sounds that rounded out the last decade got here a pattern we see at present with music consumption on social media: fashionable dances. Artists started pairing their hit songs with few-count strikes.

In 2001, G. Dep and Diddy re-introduced hip hop followers to the favored 80s Harlem Shake within the video for “Special Delivery.” The dance additionally impressed DJ Webstar and Young B’s “Chicken Noodle Soup” (2006). Between 2012 and 2013, web customers adopted a watered-down model of the complicated shoulder motion within the viral ‘Harlem Shake’ group problem.

Chingy’s “Right Thur” (2003), the Ying Yang Twins’ “Salt Shaker” (2003), Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s “Lean Back” (2004), Lil Jon’s “Snap Yo Fingers” (2006) and Huey’s “Pop, Lock & Drop It” (2006) are some notable examples that ushered particular dance strikes into hip hop tradition.

DJ Unk’s “Walk It Out” (2007), GS Boyz’s “Stanky Legg,” and New Boyz’s “You’re A Jerk” (2009) nonetheless maintain substantial playback worth at kickbacks, cookouts, and membership scenes. This period’s influence on dance strikes continues to be seen in trendy choreography.

Advanced Tech Skyrockets Hip Hop & Soulja Boy Becomes ‘Founding Father of Internet Fame’

Soulja Boy adopted an identical ‘dance craze’ system along with his debut single in 2007. If you let him inform it, he was the FIRST to realize viral fame with “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” The catchy monitor got here amid that transition from bodily to digital music consumption. It reached primary on Billboard’s Hot 100 and stayed there for seven weeks.

Soulja Boy was a few decade forward of what would develop into a norm for artists in at present’s streaming and TikTookay period. His profession is likely one of the earliest examples of artists leveraging social media and the web to advertise their music by way of “challenges.”

After “Crank That” hit, so did movies of followers cranking it, together with renditions of Batman, Superman, and Spongebob. Dozens of fan uploads landed on rising user-friendly websites like YouTube and MySpace.

RELATED: Soulja Boy Jokingly Says There Would Be No TikTookay If It Weren’t For Him

As talked about, hip hop music was swept up by the altering dynamics of the 2000s. Physical mixtapes and CD albums began to seek out houses on on-line music companies like iTunes (for buy) and Limewire (for unlawful downloads). YouTube, which started in 2005, was additionally a key participant within the altering consumption area.

Such on-line companies diminished the times of followers solely counting on radio stations, DJs, or music reveals like Yo! MTV Raps and BET’s106&Park and Rap City to listen to their favourite tunes or see its music movies.

Starting this month, YouTube is working its FIFTY DEEP marketing campaign, highlighting “two thousand Hip Hop videos that have changed the game.” The platform’s Director of Black Music & Culture, Tuma Basa, not too long ago mentioned why YouTube is “going hard to salute” the style.

“Because Hip Hop has been poppin’ on YouTube dating back to when Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” video went viral in 2007. Since then, we’ve had trailblazers like Cardi B, Latto, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, SZA, and lots of extra ruling our charts. Just final 12 months, 9 of the highest ten artists within the U.S. had been Hip Hop artists and collectively earned over 16 billion views globally,” Basa stated.

Portable CD gamers additionally slowly started making a sleek exit. And MP3 gamers, like the primary iPod in October 2001, ushered in a brand new method to eat hip hop on the go. Not solely that, for loads of hip hop artists, the iPod turned a 2000s vogue accent.

Experimental Sounds Find A Lane In Hip Hop

At the flip of the century, gangsta rap and aware rap had been arguably probably the most distinguished sub-genres of hip hop. But the 2000s ushered in waves of experimental sounds, from snap rap to cross-genre duets, punchline rap, and mixtapes utilizing current beats (shoutout Lil Wayne).

Snap rap (also referred to as ringtone rap) introduced a way of enjoyable and playfulness into rap that usually led to commercialization and mainstream fame. It emerged in West Atlanta with affect from the 90s sub-genre crunk.

Though short-lived on the time, the subgenre was an important influencer of the dance craze and was propelled by artists like D4L, Dem Franchize Boys, and Ok-Rab. Its affect continues to be seen in trendy hip-hop artists just like the Migos.

But the debatable lack of complicated lyrics and bars being changed by catchy verses and hooks didn’t sit effectively with everybody.

Nowadays, it looks like there’s a unending debate about “real” hip-hop music and the way it’s purported to sound and be created. But these critiques even have roots within the early 2000s when MCs had been rapping about the right way to rap.

Take Slaughterhouse members–Joe Budden, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Royce da 5’9. Or Cassidy and Nas. All of which spoke on rappers’ pen video games and lyrics through the 2000s.

Jay-Z, Kanye West & Missy Elliott: Soaring Success In The 2000s

Though Jay-Z discovered success in his music profession all through the 90s, the 2000s actually noticed the rapper soar to new heights. With a label, clothes model, and 5 albums underneath his belt by the tip of the 90s, the Brooklyn artist launched hit-after-hit initiatives for the higher a part of the early 2000s.

Starting with Blueprint (2001) and culminating with The Blueprint 3 (2009), Jay dropped nonetheless highly-praised bops like “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” “Excuse Me Miss,” “Girls Girls Girls,” and “99 Problems.”

The period, nonetheless thriving with remixes and cross-genre duets, additionally noticed a few of his most distinguished options. From “Crazy In Love,” “’03 Bonnie & Clyde” and “Upgrade U” with Beyoncé to “Umbrella” with Rihanna and “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys.

Jay-Z was additionally pivotal in Kanye West‘s (now generally known as Ye) transition from producing to spitting on the mic. Regarding experimental sounds, significantly soulful ones, Kanye was one of many innovators of that area. He began alongside trade heavy hitters like Jermaine Dupri, No I.D., and Deric “D-Dot” Angeletti.

His work on Jay-Z’s “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”–sampling the Jackson 5 “I Want You Back”–made waves. Soon, his manufacturing (and pen recreation) had been on the forefront.

Kanye’s debut album, College Dropout, got here in 2004 and earned him a number of nominations and two Grammy wins on the forty seventh annual present. One was for Best Rap Album and the opposite Best Rap Song for “Jesus Walks.” His chipmunk soul sound, usually involving a sped-up pattern, was prominently featured on the album’s “Through the Wire.”

Today, the rapper boasts 24 Grammy wins–tied with Jay-Z for probably the most wins in historical past.

Like Jay-Z and Ye, Missy Elliott slid via hip hop doorways within the late 90s. But within the early 2000s, she established herself as a game-changer in hip hop.

While producing and penning a number of the biggest hits for artists like Destiny’s Child, Whitney Houston, Aaliyah, and Mariah Carey, the inventive additionally saved some genius for herself. Her first two albums, Supa Dupa Fly and Da Real World, got here within the late 90s, however her third, Miss E…So Addictive got here in 2001.

All three initiatives demonstrated the magic of her partnership with producer Timbaland, together with their use of experimental, funky, and upbeat melodies and beats. Her tracks “One Minute Man” and the enduring “Get Ur Freak On” are core examples.

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Missy’s 2002 album Under Construction adopted in its predecessors’ footsteps with hits like “Work It” and “Gossip Folks.” By 2005, Missy’s The Cookbook had its foot on followers’ necks, particularly with the breakout single “Lose Control” and her unforgettable bars, “got a cute face, chubby waist, thick legs, in shape.”

Years forward (after which on the verge) of YouTube, Missy additionally dominated the music video area with inventive outfits and unmatched set designs.

In 2019, Missy Elliott turned the primary feminine rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Both she and Jay-Z are the one rappers to be given the consideration.

But to be clear, these three are removed from the one artists who soared within the early 2000s. T-Pain was additionally a distinguished determine, famously identified for his autotune use. Pharrell, 50 Cent, T.I., Snoop Dogg, Andre 3000, Ludacris, Nelly, Cam’Ron, Remy Ma, Busta Rhymes, Yung Joc, Akon, and Gucci Mane are a small group amid different hip hop greats from the early 2000s.

Ja Rule, Ashanti, Irv Gotti & The Fall Of Murder Inc. Records

In 1998, brothers Irv and Chris Gotti based the label Murder Inc. as a subsidiary of Def Jam. By then, Irv had established himself as a DJ, adopted by a producer, and finally, an A&R with Def Jam that signed each DMX and Ja Rule, per HotNewHipHop. Irv reportedly discovered inspiration for the label title from the crime group Murder Inc., which he had seen an A&E documentary on.

The label’s debut album, Ja Rule’s Venni Vetti Vecci, got here in 1999 and went on to promote 1,000,000 licensed copies. Muder Inc.’s second launch and first compilation album, Irv Gotti Presents: The Murderers, didn’t do as effectively the next 12 months. But Ja Rule’s second album, Rule 3:36 (2000), and his third, Pain Is Love (2001), went triple platinum.

In 2001, Irv bagged Ashanti for the label, per Black Past. Like Ja, Ashanti shined on the label. Her self-titled debut album in 2002 offered three million models, certifying it platinum. The undertaking received Best Contemporary R&B Album and earned two extra nominations on the forty fifth Annual Grammy Awards. Several of its songs peaked inside the prime 20 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, from “Foolish” to “Baby” and “Happy” that includes Ja Rule.

RELATED: Irv Gotti No Longer Sees Fat Joe As A ‘Brother’ After The Rapper Defended Ashanti: ‘You Don’t Even Know’

Two extra albums got here from the label in 2002, a component two compilation and Ja Rule’s fourth album, “The Last Temptation.” The first went gold, and Ja Rule’s was licensed platinum.

But by 2003, the enterprise began to show bitter when legislation enforcement raided the label’s places of work. Eventually, in 2005, officers indicted Irv and Chris on cash laundering and conspiracy costs. The brothers and their label Murder Inc.–simply Inc. by then– had been acquitted in Dec. 2005.

However, between the hundreds of thousands spent in authorized charges, Ja Rule’s notorious beef with 50 Cent and later Eminem, and the departure of its top-selling artists, the label was virtually non-existent by 2009. At its prime, the label was additionally residence to Vita, Charli Baltimore, Black Child, and Lloyd.

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