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Remember
1998?
Written by: John Howard
Rapindustry.com
Disclaimer: This article is strictly based on MY opinion. I realize
that this may not be the feelings of you, the reader. You are entitled to
your opinion on this subject matter.
1998 was a time
when there was no T.I. No 50 Cent dominating radio airplay. No “Yeaaaaaaaahs”
from Jeezy. 1998 was a year after Biggie was gunned down and two years after
‘Pac. 1998 was a year before the Chronic 2001 and before Eminem and his
Slim Shady soldiers ambushed the market. 1998 was ten years ago and a lot
has changed in hip hop since then. Not only is ‘98 exactly ten years
ago but it was also a fond year for me because it was the first year that
I began become a “cd freak” as my girlfriend calls me. Personally,
it’s been a lot of great cds and some good years in hip-hop since then,
but I think ‘98 was the last great year.
Need support for this statement? The Class of ‘98 in itself was
as thorough as they come. Not since the class of ‘94 had hip-hop
seen so many stars drop debut albums in the same year. 1994 saw the debuts
of Biggie, Outkast, Nas, and Snoop Dogg. In 1998 Hip Hop witnessed the
debuts of DMX, Canibus, Big Pun, Noreaga and Cam’ron. DMX brought
the gritty, no-holds barred street sound back to hip-hop which had been
wearing thin since Puffy and his shiny suit season took over in ‘97.
Canibus was the prince of the mixtapes and the cameo king long before
today’s artists like Papoose and Saigon could lay claim to the throne.
Canibus dropped a lackluster debut, with Can-I-bus, but his cameos on
albums with artists such as Lost Boyz, LL Cool J, Common, and The Firm
were unforgettable. Big Pun was the first Latin to go platinum off the
strength of radio play like “Still Not a Player” and “You
Came Up“, but his album was also the sickest of the year lyrically.
Noreaga’s N.O.R.E. helped put the Neptunes on the map with “Superthug”
and his album also did well with street bangers such as “N.O.R.E.
“and “Banned From TV” . Cam also put out a stellar album
for the streets with Confessions of Fire and his DipSet following is still
strong to this day. There were undoubtedly others who dropped albums that
year but these five were everywhere and were a prominent influence in
the culture during the year.
Also, in the wake of deaths of Hip hop’s “Malcolm and Martin”
Jay-Z took the throne as the King of New York and the man in the forefront
of hip hop’s explosion to the mainstream. Sure, hip hop was big before,
but after Hard Knock Life dropped Jay-Z along with the rest of the culture
became HUGE. Before Hard Knock Life, Hova produced the classic Reasonable
Doubt and the stellar In My Lifetime Vol. 1, but HKL was the album that really
set him on fire as MTV, BET, and radio kept songs such as “Hard Knock
Life,” “Can I Get a What“, and “Money Cash Hoes,”
were in constant rotation.
However, not only was New York rap doing it big in ‘98, but the South
was uprising too. Outkast went from superstars to legends when they dropped
their five-mic critically acclaimed album, Aquemeni in ‘98. Aquemeni
was an important album because it was the first five-mic album from The Source
in a loooong while and it proved that Southern rap could earn respect too.
Singles such as “Rosa Parks“, “Skew-It on the Barb-b”
featuring Raekwon(one of the first North-South collaborations in the genre)
lit the radio on fire and songs such as “Liberation” and “Aquemeni”sparked
our soul. Juvenile of Cash Money Records fame also blew up all over the map
when he dropped his album 400 Degreez and his lead single “Ha” had
the whole country talking like Juvie. Master P and his No Limit soldiers were
a BIG part of ‘98 as well. Silkk the Shocker, Mystikal, and ‘P were
everywhere as Southern rap started its takeover of the industry with the No
Limit gold tank leading the way.
Soundscan sales were also great across the genre as all aforementioned artists
such as Jay-Z, Juvenile, DMX, Big Pun, Outkast and others all went platinum
or multi. Digital downloading wasn’t so big in this year and this was
a time long ago when people actually went out to the store and purchased cds.
Actually, many hip hop purists argue that fans shouldn’t care about Soundscan
figures or sales. I agree, but you can’t help but have a Kool-aid grin
on your face when one of your favorite artists releases an album of quality
music and it sells a lot .
Lauryn Hill was one of these such artists undeniably the Queen of 1998, as
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill set the world on fire selling over five million
copies. Her album was so damn good that its singles rode into ‘99 and
she constantly shared radio and TV time with her male counterparts. Hill even
won a Grammy for Album of Year which was unprecedented for a hip-hop album,
and truly she was a female artist who had something to talk about and did
it very well.
Also, 1998 was a year when “backpackers” could be happy too.
Gangstarr’s Moment of Truth was a stellar record, and Guru and DJ
Premier further cemented their name as New York Legends. Mos Def and Talib
Kweli released their Black Star album which is a timeless classic. Backpackers
could also shed a tear as A Tribe Called Quest released The Love Movement
which was their last album as a group. Although this album wasn’t
necessarily as good as The Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders, it was
still quality music, and is still better then most of the stuff that comes
out today. Speaking of which, the aforementioned Hard Knock Life, Aquemeni,
The Love Movement, and The Miseducation…. were all released not only
in the same year, but the same month! This truly gave tight pocketed listeners
a dilemma at the record store.
Please forgive me for being so nostalgic over ‘98 but since then
I can’t think of a year that set the world on fire. Sure we’ve
had great rappers here and there who’ve been forces artistically
and commercially (Eminem, 50 Cent, Kanye) but not all debuting in the
same year like the class of ’98. Also, I personally believe only
a handful of truly classic albums have appeared since ‘98 (The Blueprint,
Stillmatic, The Chronic, College Dropout, etc.). I’m not talking
about albums that are “hot“, or albums that sell a lot of copies
but albums such as Moment of Truth and Capital Punishment; are albums
every hip-hop head must have and should be embarrassed to say that they
don’t. Songs such as “Get At Me Dog “are songs that people
can still talk about, play, and remember. Very rarely do songs come out
nowadays that have that same effect.
Also ‘98 was a year when “lyrical” records could hit the radio
and be successful. The dexterous flow of Big Pun (dead in the middle of Italy...)
teamed with the gritty Fat Joe was displayed on “Deep Cover” and
songs such as the rapid fire flow of “Jigga What” and Black Star’s
“Definition” were radio mainstays. Songs like these rarely hit the
radio nowadays as catchy hooks and club-ready beats dominate the radio.
For the most part women are endangered from the game nowadays, but back in
‘98 Lauryn Hill was Queen of the Universe and Lil Kim, Foxy, Missy, and
Da Brat were always consistent.
In 2008, whole ten years later, hopefully hip hop music can return to a year
like we had in ‘98. A lot of people are saying hip hop has died, and
the South, waning sales, poor records etc. are at fault. However, ‘98
was a year when our music was all over the map and gritty street bangers and
hip hop pop records were the rage. People actually bought records and everything
was peachy keen. When will we return to such an era?
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