Hip-Hop ToneBits‏

Do you think you know all there is to know about hip-hop? Well resident blogger DJ Raetone puts you to the test with twenty ‘ToneBits’ that you may not know. Check out the list below and see if you know the ledge.

Hip-Hop ToneBits‏
1) ‘Rappers Delight,’ generally considered the first song to popularize hip-hop in the U.S. and around the world, never reached the top 20 in America but reached number 1 in both Canada and the Netherlands.

2) Legendary producer Rick Rubin, the man behind Jay Z’s ’99 Problems,’ almost singlehandedly provided the soundscape for these 3 seminal albums: ‘Radio’ by LL Cool J, ‘Raising Hell’ by Run D.M.C. and ‘Licensed to Ill’ by the Beastie Boys. Jeezus!

3) QD III, the one and only son of 27-time Grammy award winner Quincy Jones, produced four tracks on Ice Cube’s 1993 platinum LP ‘Lethal Injection’.

4) The first album to bear the ‘parental advisory’ sticker was the 2 Live Crew’s 1990 album ‘Banned in the USA’.

5) Ad Rock, one third of the groundbreaking Beastie Boys, is the son of famous playwright Israel Horovitz.

6) 2 Pac’s ‘I Get Around,’ arguably his most club-friendly song ever, was produced by Shock G aka Humpty Hump.

7) Rappers NAS, Snoop Doggy Dogg, 2 Pac and Notorious B.I.G. all have something rather unique in common: their fist major releases as solo or featured artist were on movie soundtracks.

8) The N-word was uttered on the classic N.W.A. album ‘Niggaz4Life’ 249 times.

9) Five emcees with college degrees: Chuck D of Public Enemy (Adelphi University), Talib Kweli (NYU), David Banner (Southern University), Phonte (North Carolina Central), Guru of Gang Starr (Morehouse).

10) The first rap group to appear on Saturday Night Live was Funky 4 + 1.

11) The only guest emcee to appear on both Notorious B.I.G.s ‘Ready To Die’ and Tupac Shakur’s ‘All Eyez on Me’ was Method Man.

12) Ice Cube has appeared in over 30 movies, writing a whopping six of them including the FRIDAY trilogy.

13) The first rap album to be initially released on CD as well as cassette and vinyl was Run D.M.C.’s 1985 sophomore LP ‘King Of Rock’.

14) Busta Rhymes received his rap moniker from the aforementioned Chuck D who recalled an Oklahoma Sooners’ wide receiver from the 80’s, Buster Rhymes.

15) 2 Pac’s first rap nickname was ‘MC New York’. The irony.

16) Kool Herc is generally recognized as the first ever hip-hop DJ, spinning his first party in 1973 in Bronx, NY.

17) Kurtis Blow is the first rapper to sign a major record label deal. The deal was signed with Mercury Records in 1979.

18) In 1997 global superstar Will Smith employed NAS to write verses for his solo debut album, the multi Grammy award winning ‘Big Willie Style’.

19) Dr. Dre’s lead single ‘Still D.R.E’ from the 7x platinum “Dr. Dre (Chronic) 2001” was written by Jay Z.

20) ‘Crush on You,’ Lil Kim’s huge single from 1996 featuring Lil Cease, was written by Cam’Ron of DipSet fame.

-Jermaine Raetone Johnson

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