TWUM Best Rap City Moments

Rap City Tha Basement was one of the top shows to be on in the early 2000's. The show originally started in 1989, helmed by Chris “The Mayor” Thomas. When Tigger took the helm, the show became Rap City: 

Who Is The King Of Rap?

How do one put a label or tag someone as the king of rap? How do you mix classic rap tracks with today's style of music?

Tupac would probably be the most influential rapper of all time, while Eminem holds the record as the highest selling artist.

Can Rap Music Be Positive?

 

Many rap artists use their lyrics to comment on social and political issues, raising awareness about topics such as inequality, racism, poverty, and injustice. Many don't. 70 percent of Americans believed that rap had an overall negative impact on society.

Rap music, in-spite of the negativity and controversy that often surrounds it, can have a positive influence on listeners and expand their consciousness.It can reduce depression and anxiety, improve emotional expression, expand communication and interpersonal skills, and potentially lift one's self-esteem.

Key Moments In Hip-Hop History

 

Hip hop is more than music; it’s a cultural movement that incorporates different elements of art. Before there was Lil Yachty, Young M.I.A., or YNW Melly, there was a world of hip hop artist who's name rain supreme even still today.

Back when music was real, artist had the opportunity to shine in their own distinctive way. Rap is one of the most distinctive features of hip-hop. Rappers use rhythm, lyrics, and vocal tone to express themselves. The best rappers are distinguished by their “flow” – the way the words run together without the performer getting tongue-tied.

The Evolution Of Gangster Rap

Gangsta rap or Gangster rap is a style of hip hop characterized by themes and lyrics that generally emphasize the "gangsta" lifestyle. The genre evolved from hard rap into a distinct form, pioneered in the mid-1980s by rappers such as Schoolly D and Ice-T, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. 

Did Eminem Really Defeat MGK In The Rap Battle?

It's time to put this debate to rest. Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly had one of the best rap battles that took place in 2018. Since September, the Internet has been buzzing over who won the rap battle.

Battle rap is a type of rapping that includes bragging, insults and boasting content. Eminem has even been rated one of the best rap battlers of all time.

When it comes to MGK and MM beef, this is how we measured it.

1. Best lyrics goes to Machine Gun Kelly for the way he ate Eminem in "Rap Devil." Not only did the lyrics go off, the video was way more entertaining than Eminem's response.

Eminem Is Rap God Not Rap King

Gucci Mane got things twisted up. Eminem did not say he was the king of rap to let things be known. He is the Rap God of music and it is what it is.

Eminem is an all-time great rapper. Known as the Rap God, he can freestyle some killer verses on the spot.

Did Benny The Butcher Bring Real Rap Back

 

Every since rapper Nas did the album Hip Hop Is Dead that's when you saw hip hop/rap became more dumbed down than ever with more lack of commercial raps on the media or on radio stations, at the time real rap was unheard of unless if you was really a hip hop head that was looking for rap on mixtapes or searching on YouTube. In 2010 an empire of hip hop has begun and that's with Griselda Records with artists like Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine and Benny The Butcher.

When you hear songs like Legend, Forever Ft Lil Wayne and Big Sean, Roy Jones Ft Dark Lo,

and Crown For Kings Ft Black Thought.

What Is Your Favorite Rap Group?

 

Every now and then, a hip-hop music group breaks through the barriers to the big screen. Run-DMC's place as the most influential rap group and undeniably one of the greatest hip-hop acts of all-time.

Fans Favorite created this thread for hip-hop lovers and viewers of the Wrap Up Magazine to engage on. "We want to know which rap group is your most favorite?"

Kendrick Lamar Wins Best Rap Album

 

Kendrick Lamar has won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album with Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. The rapper took home the award over fellow nominees Pusha T (It’s Almost Dry), Jack Harlow (Come Home the Kids Miss You), Future (I Never Liked You), and DJ Khaled (God Did). Cardi B presented the Grammy Award to Kendrick Lamar.

Jermaine Dupri Talks The Rap Game

The So So Def founder talks his new Lifetime show "The Rap Game" and goes into detail about the contradiction Hip Hop fans notoriously face everyday. Five emerging young hip hop artists, ages 12 to 16 years old, are given the opportunity to rhyme and flow with highly sought after producer +Jermaine Dupri.

Jermaine Dupri talked exclusively to HipHopDX about the pros and cons of kid rappers on his new Lifetime show "The Rap Game." Jermaine Dupri currently has his hands full creating the next big rap star on his reality show The Rap Game. But, he also has his sights set on catapulting the career of another young artist.

Latto Talks Working with Mariah Carey

 

Being one the hottest female rappers in the game doesn’t shield you from a healthy bout of nerves.

Just ask Latto, who at the age of 24 can already count herself among the new wave of hip-hop queens while also enjoying crossover success in reality TV.

The Atlanta native had to center herself while collaborating with hip-hop pioneer Rakim to remake his 1992 classic, “Don’t Sweat the Technique.”

Kool G Rap Talks Being The First Rap Gangster

The first gangster rapper in rap was Kool G Rap giving you facts from him making reality rap into a gangster rap, speaks on the legend Schooly D giving him his respect and DJ Marley Marl.

 

38 Spesh & Kool G Rap "Upstate 2 Queens" (Prod. By: 38 Spesh)

This is the first single off of 38 Spesh & Kool G rap album Titled "Son Of G Rap" . "Son Of G Rap" has Production from Dj premier, Alchemist, Pete Rock, Showbiz, & Daringer. With features from Cormega, Ransom, Vado, N.O.R.E, Benny the Butcher, AZ, & Anthony Halmilton. "Son Of G Rap" is scheduled to be released 6/8/2018!

Why New York Has Always Been Ground Breaking For Hip -hop Artist

 

Although 50, and Jay-Z may wear the crown as kings of New York, there surrounded by a number of thriving rappers like Nas who could make the claim and not be far off.

The Big Apple can also count on Biggie, Rakim, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, KRS-One, Mos Def, Slick Rick, Nikki Minaj, Run-D.M.C., Mase, and Wu Tang among its influential children, and that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to rappers from New York.

Why Nelly And KRS-One Rap Beef Happened

In 2002, Nelly was one of hip-hop's biggest stars. His 2000 breakout debut, Country Grammar, sold nine million records.

Old school boom-bap rap pioneer, KRS-One, who had earned a reputation not just for his community-conscious lyrics but for never shying away from a lyrical showdown, called Nelly out.

KRS— who by that time had already proclaimed himself to be a keeper of classic hip-hop— voiced his discontent with Nelly on the track "Clear Em Out" from the compilation The Difference.

The song was aimed at pop-rap, and given his success as hip-hop's reigning top-seller at the time. Nelly took offense. He'd just dropped the track "#1" from the Training Day soundtrack, where he was defending his right to reign on top of the charts.

"He had to defend himself. He's like, 'My career probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for KRS-One,' that's what Nelly is on. My man got tired of critics and made a song '#1.' He wasn't specifically talking about nobody, but if the shoe fits, wear it."

KRS claimed he even sent an email to Nelly's camp, explaining there was no beef and he wasn't interested in getting into it with the St. Louis star. Nelly didn't get the memo, however, and in response, recorded a verse on the Freeway's "Roc the Mic" remix, on which he called out the veteran rhymer, letter by letter.

KRS responded by calling for an actual boycott of Nelly's album, Nellyville, which was scheduled to drop that June 2002, dramatically declaring himself a "sovereign power" in the process. Nelly challenged a sovereign power.

Needless to say, the whole boycott thing didn't exactly pan out the way KRS had hoped. June 25, 2002, rolled around, Nelly dropped Nellyville, and the entire world danced to the album's monster hit, "Hot in Herre." Nellyville ended up selling over 6 million albums and it stands as the 14th best-selling rap album of all time.

DMX or Jay-Z

DMX doubles down on wanting to go against JAY-Z in a Verzuz battle. “It's a celebration. We're celebrating music,” DMX said.

In the late '90s, Jay-Z and DMX were Def Jam's most successful stars. The friendly rivalry includes several rap battles between the legendary MCs, including their Backstage Freestyle match in 2000. In 1999, they also created the infamous supergroup Murder Inc, which starred both rappers and Ja Rule.

Before DMX and Jay Z became international rap titans, they competed in a classic hip-hop war. Their Bronx battle in the early '90s is the stuff of legends and it's also what sparked their ongoing beef, according to Irv Gotti.

Is Eminem The King Of Rap

Gucci Mane just released a statement via Vibe Magazine the Eminem was not the king of rap, but who has defeated him? While some people are still debating who the king of R&B is, Gucci Mane is mulling over who is the king of rap, and according to him, it shouldn’t be the genre’s previous champion Eminem.

What Happened To Lil Flip?

Texas had a big impact on the music scene in the mid 2000's and Lil Flip was a big part of the movement. Lil’ Flip these days is perhaps most well known for his feud with fellow rapper T.I.

Flip started rapping for Suckafree Records out of Houston, Texas, when he was 18, in 1999. He released his first album, The Leprechaun, the next year. Eventually selling more than 200,000 copies, it featured the hit single “I Can Do Dat.”

The single, “The Way We Ball,” helped propel Lil’ Flip into the national spotlight. The rapper was also able to work with Yung Wun, Ludacris, and Three 6 Mafia that year. This gave him the clout necessary to create U Gotta Feel Me, a double-disc album released in 2004, distributed by Sony Urban Music.

Lil Flip went on to start his own record label, which he named Clover G Records, after Cloverland, Lil’ Flip’s home neighborhood in Houston.

While T.I. was incarcerated for parole violations, Lil’ Flip used the opportunity to object to T.I. calling himself “King of the South.” The heavily publicized feud led to T.I. going to Cloverland, to expose Lil’ Flip as a fraud. When T.I. arrived in the neighborhood with his crew, Lil’ Flip approached him with his respective crew.

Bill Restricting Use of Rap Lyrics in Court Officially Signed

 

On Friday (September 30), California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into action that will restrict the use of rap lyrics as evidence in court. AB 2799—The Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act, was unanimously approved by the California State Senate in August 2022.