No, in fact, it was very different. Now, all hip hop heads know that the golden age of this culture (and it's music) was during the 1980's - Eric B and Rakim, The Beastie Boys, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and also Public Enemy to name a few, but that isn't to say that the 90's weren't great either.
Although the advent of 'gangster' rap and N.W.A can be blamed for killing the movement for what it originally was, there were still some great artists, and the music was still in a state of relative purity.
Even N.W.A, compared to what they would later be responsible for, were the pinnacle of hip hop in their hey day.
And the pinnacle of mid-80's 'fashion'
Take one member from this group; a young, energetic, recent university graduate who was an aspiring musician. Born O'Shea Jackson, the young man, who later became inspired by the freezing process of water into six-sided solid shapes, changed his stage name to Ice Cube and joined; Dr Dre who was a general practitioner, a man known by the fifth letter of the alphabet, and Stimpy's sidekick. They were collectively known as N.W.A or, if you prefer, Ni##as With Attitude.
Whichever you prefer.
Spoiler Alert: Not a real doctor
Ice Cube was a raw, young rapper with a talent for rhyming and was also quite politically driven. One of the few rappers of the day with a social conscience, Cube was the driving force behind many of the songs on their first album, which itself, was also quite politically charged. Tracks such as, 'Fuck Tha Police', 'Dope Man' and the classic 'Straight Outta Compton' all had political undertones, attacking the white US government, the local law enforcement and also the sad and sorry state that African Americans found themselves in at the time in South Central, Los Angeles.
It wasn't until after the release of this album, that Cube began to feel that the direction of the group was shifting and that this didn't match with his own values. There was also a contract dispute.
Whichever story you prefer.
Although it was argued that the subtle nuances were there but just weren't being interpreted the right way, future songs such as 'To Kill A Hooker', 'She Swallowed It', 'Just Don't Bite It', and the heavily politically motivated, 'I'd Rather Fuck You', weren't exactly convincing Cube, so he was on his way out.
He quickly hired up the production company that worked on Public Enemy's early albums, The Bomb Squad (because subtlety was also their forte) and released his first solo effort, 'Amerikkka's Most Wanted'. Oh, hang on... I see what he did there!
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Ice Cube also sees what I just did there... and he's not too impressed
The Album had 15 tracks inspired by Cube's own values and drive to educate young African Americans about how to stick it to the man. With song titles such as 'Once Upon A Time In The Projects', 'Turn Off The Radio' and 'Get Off My Dick And Tell Yo Bitch To Come Here', Cube emphasised his original... sorry, what's that? Oh yeah, that last one?
Turns out everyone isn't as strong as their convictions...
Back in 2001, I bought a copy of Cube's Lethal Injection. After hearing that it promised to be highly intellectual and thought-provoking, I decided it was time to give it a good listen.
It certainly delivered what it promised, and subsequently was not taken out of my 1992 Ford Festiva's tape deck for at least 6 months (until the tape was chewed up).
Now that was in 2001, but the album itself was released in 1993. So, late to the game I was, but being 11 years old in 1993 and looking something like a mix between Steve Urkel and Alfalfa from The Little Rascals, and being all about Nintendo at the time, I'm not sure Gangster rap would have been of interest to me.
However, at the same time that I was listening to Cube in his absolute prime, a more recent of his song's was also being blasted on radio stations and at clubs.
The eye-line - it's all about the eye-line, Cube. Do you have to make it that obvious?
For those of you that can't be bothered playing the video (and who could blame you?) that is the live version of Cube's famous instructional workout song You Can Do It. Trust me, most people have heard this song, but if you haven't, after the first listening it's more like 'No, Cube... no, I just can't'.
Here's an example of the deep lyrics uttered by Cube himself:
"I can do it put your ass into it"
repeat
"I can do it put your ass into it"
That's from the very first verse of the song. He then goes on to let us know...
"Tic tic boom hear me bangin' down these back streets
Bumpin Blackstreet, fiendin' like an athlete"
The year that the song was produced (1999), Cube is about 30 years old. I highly doubt that, as a high profile celebrity by now and with a wife and kids, he's driving down back streets, loudly playing mid-90's RnB groups in the stereo while looking for women... loose women.
But then again, hip hop is mostly about boasting and not keeping it real so to speak, so for this he can be forgiven a little. Yet, then he follows up later on with this:
"While I pronounce this shit
Baby bounce them tits
Mama move them hips
Baby shake them cheeks
I got dick for days
You got ass for weeks"
Sorry? What in the ACTUAL fuck?
I got dick for days? So someone has given you a temporary loan of a strap-on?
You got ass for weeks? What, are they suddenly going on a diet that's going to slim their buttocks down in only a matter of weeks?
Where are you going with this?
In fact, please, don't go any further or tell us at all, in fact, DON'T EVER explain your lyrics to us, please!
Even if, and this is a long shot here, but even if Cube actually means metaphorically that his penis is in fact quite huge (long as days) and some unidentified woman has quite a large round butt, that even in comparison to his boastful genitalia is very big (big as weeks) then this is still an extremely stupid lyric.
If you're going to measure cocks and ass, then you should actually use good old fashioned mass measurements, not time!
Even Sir Mix A Lot had the sense to give us proportional and visual representations!
The saddest thing, however, is that it didn't end with this song, and the subsequent Friday film remakes, although the original is one of the best films of all time and almost makes up for everything he's done since.
Speaking of his films...
Cube - Doing what's known as an "Eddie Murphy"
Cube - Hoping that this film's title didn't give some sort of hint as to where his career was heading
Cube - Pretty sure that this is the end of the road
They make popular memes like this one floating on the Internet completely justified:
Note: B Real of Cypress Hill is in the background - he's still awesome
OK, to be fair to him, he IS holding a rather large gun in the poster for that last film. But have you seen that film? Yes, you have? Argument over.
Even his incarnation of a gangster rap group Westside Connection in 1997 was a complete flop. One major hit, and then nothing. Oh wait... it gave the start to the career of legendary rapper, Mack 10.
What's that? You haven't heard of Mack 10? Wait a minute, he was on this track:
Hint: It's the VERY same track analysed just previously
All things being equal. At least Ice Cube still has a good catalogue of work that he can look back on and be proud of. Everything pre-1995 was actually very, very good and in some ways, many of his lyrics were pretty deep and intellectual. And at least he hasn't spent the better part of a decade trying to perfect an album. And at least he hasn't changed his name on advice from a Rastafarian priest.
I'm not so sure it was simply growing older, having a family, realising more money could be made or a combination of all those things, but everything he does now is in no way reminiscent of the type of rapper, or even actor, that he used to be.
Then you look on at these great names, and you realise he simply has no excuse:
De La Soul
Mos Def
Talib Kweli
Q-Tip
The Roots
Black Thought
The Coup
Common
I still listen to a lot of their music, old and later stuff and it's still consistent with what they represented when they first started out. It's also a refreshing taste from the 'hip hop' that gets drivelled out in gigantic portions on commercial radio today.
Hey, at least Cube hasn't ended up like these guys yet...
Spoiler Alert - It all goes to shit
You can see more rhymes get busted and be informed of how you can raise your hands in the air like you just don't care by following @SiCar on Twitter
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