Questlove's Hip-Hop Evolution

 

 

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I began this new chapter in my life of reading books at the end of 2023 as a form of meditation. I was searching for something in my life to smooth my soul from the previous few years of stress and anxiety. 

When I started this adventure I never knew where it would lead me, but one thing I knew for sure was that I was going to educate myself on the history of music. All forms. All genres.

I've been reading a lot of autobiographies, memoirs and music history books these last few months. Reading Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson's "Mo’ Meta Blues The World According To Questlove” had opened my eyes, my ears, and my soul to the evolution of hip-hop.

I've never been a big fan of hip-hop. Sure the pop hits, yes, but I never really gave hip-hop much of a chance in the past. I mean, I should have. When I was growing up in the 80s and the 90s I listened to soul and R&B and I love bass. One of my favorite things about music is bass. I wanna feel it in my chest. In my heart. Hip-hop definitely has that.

I've learned a lot reading this book and spent countless hours listening to hip-hop from 1979 to 1994. These years are considered by some to be the golden age of hip-hop.

The evolution of hip-hop began in 1977 in New York City, the year of the big New York City, blackout. Punk music was dying and underground clubs begin to turn into a new kind of DJ culture. A culture that took beats from the past and moved them into the future.

Starting in 1979 with the release of the Sugarhill Gang's “Rappers Delight.” This song set the template for the birth of hip-hop. This was the first hip-hop song that Questlove heard on the radio. This was the song that changed his life forever. 

Going into 1982 Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” gave to the rise of drum machines and in 1983 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message” brought a new kind of politically conscious hip-hop into the mainstream.

1987 is considered to be the apex mountain of mature, early hip-hop with records from Eric B and Public Enemy’s album “It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back.”

In 1992 Dr. Dre's, “The Chronic” brought hip-hop into its second evolutionary stage that brought higher production values with a cleaner sound to the masses.

This playlist ends in 1994 with Notorious B.I.G.'s single “Juicy” and the birth of the Roots with their first single “Distortion To Static.” Both singles were released on the same day at the end of 1994.

This playlist is a progression through time with the disco/funk sounds of the late 70s, the drum machines of the 80s and the aggressive power that hip-hop morphed into during the 90s.

Thank you Questlove for the education. Better than any classroom, that’s for sure.