Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

General hip-hop discussion.

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Philaflava
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Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

Post by Philaflava »

This was the time hip-hop kinda lost its way. It definitely was a time NY lost itself and starting crossing over and got distracted by the Jiggy era and the sudden craze of No Limit and other southern acts.

For me, it was a time where collecting music was fun. The IRC days. The AOL or Prodigy chat rooms. The websites that posted all the released dates (what was the name of that?). Cali acts were starting to make a real name and better hip-hop IMO. Slowly, they became the best coast in the late 90s thanks to guys like Dre.

I’d buy all my music online from places like Sandbox or Hiphopsite. I’d get all my news from Hiphopsite, then HHI, then here obviously.

My questions for those who lived in this era.

Where did you frequent online?
Where did you get your music from?
If you could name 3 fav albums from the 96-03 era, which are they?
What were your favorite indie labels? Fondle Em, GuessWyld, Rawkus?
Did you use Napster?
What is one thing you miss from this era?

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Career Over Like Mike(NJJ)
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Re: Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

Post by Career Over Like Mike(NJJ) »

'98/'99 was the era when I started gettin' into non-Rap-A-Lot southern rap via Young Bleed, Juvenile, JT Money etc. Also the era I discovered people like Suga Free.

The 12" reviews in On The Go were my shit because they'd talk about Bad Boy promos, white labels on LOUD + the new Fondle 'Em and Hydra singles. Also loved the reviews of old 12"s on Dusty Groove.com.

Fondle Em was the G.O.AT indie label off Operation Doomsday, Clear Blue Skies. and the Cenobites LP.

Hydra was one of my fave indie labels for all the Screwball and Godfather Don singles. Piece Of The Action/Seeds Of Hate is lowkey the G.O.A.T double-sided NY indie rap 12".





Hated Company Flow, loved the Brick City Kids and Black Attack 12"s on Rawkus, thought Fortified Live was the only killer song Mos Def & Kweli ever made. Still do.

Scaramanga album has to be up there as far as NY indie rap albums go.

Never had Napster myself but did get a friend to dl me stuff offa there. I only ever used the internet very sporadically in the 90s until I discovered the logging on/off trick where you could get online for free with a Dreamcast in 2000 :lol: . Kazaa was probably the first P2P I used.

Embarrassingly the first thing I ever looked up online back in 1996 or something wasn't porn, but the website which listed all the samples on Paul's Boutique a friend told me about :lol: Was fiendin' to find out the loop on Lay It On Me Now, it was this:


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Career Over Like Mike(NJJ)
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Re: Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

Post by Career Over Like Mike(NJJ) »

Fave B Side Wins Again joint of the NY indie era:

Black Attack w/ Al Tariq & Problemz - Verbal Attack



Was pissed the first time I heard Dre & Snoop's The Next Episode because it used the same loop as this:

Missin' Linx - M.I.A


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Philaflava
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Re: Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

Post by Philaflava »

Hydra was the shit.

stype_ones
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Re: Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

Post by stype_ones »

I can expand a bit more later, but this is without a doubt one of my favorites from that era.. the Tru Criminal EP was mad good.


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Versive
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Re: Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

Post by Versive »

HipHopSite

Sandbox and Coconuts

In terms of classics, that I'd rank as "the best":
De La Soul - Stakes Is High, Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever, MF DOOM - Operation: Doomsday

In terms of personal favorites excluding the above (and other obvious choices like Cold Vein):
Cage - Movies for the Blind, Dr. Dooom - First Come, First Served, Big Juss - Plantation Rhymes EP

Sub Verse

Yes, but Kazaa even more so. The RIAA sent me a warning letter around 03/04.

My dog Leslie.

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GUCCI CONDOMS
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Re: Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

Post by GUCCI CONDOMS »

Philaflava wrote:This was the time hip-hop kinda lost its way. It definitely was a time NY lost itself and starting crossing over and got distracted by the Jiggy era and the sudden craze of No Limit and other southern acts.

For me, it was a time where collecting music was fun. The IRC days. The AOL or Prodigy chat rooms. The websites that posted all the released dates (what was the name of that?). Cali acts were starting to make a real name and better hip-hop IMO. Slowly, they became the best coast in the late 90s thanks to guys like Dre.

I’d buy all my music online from places like Sandbox or Hiphopsite. I’d get all my news from Hiphopsite, then HHI, then here obviously.

My questions for those who lived in this era.

Where did you frequent online?
Where did you get your music from?
If you could name 3 fav albums from the 96-03 era, which are they?
What were your favorite indie labels? Fondle Em, GuessWyld, Rawkus?
Did you use Napster?
What is one thing you miss from this era?
The late 90's indie boom was a good thing, but it became a bad thing when the scene morphed into white "nerd rap"...

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fatboybrandon
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Re: Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

Post by fatboybrandon »

I thought this was an interesting time for NY, from my perspective it was a period where we rebelled against the commercialization of Hip Hop with outlets such as the indie labels you mentioned, Fat Beats, WKCR, mixtapes etc. I frequented DJ O-Dub's Soul Sides blog, HipHopSite, some of the many Wu Tang Clan websites that were up at the time, some Japanese and British vinyl websites where I used to salivate over their rare Hip Hop stock.

I remember feeling like the term backpack was an insult and that usually came out of the mouths of people on Hot 97 plus other commercial media outlets who were blinded by the pressure to get jiggy and dismiss the humble essence of Hip Hop's origins. All the glamour and glitz that came into play in the late 90's was excessive and therefore a lack of balance occurred. I remember interning at People magazine's photo dept in '99 and meeting up with Hank Shocklee that same year at Universal Music so I was more into entertainment media at the time than the average person.

fav 3 albums: Moment Of Truth, Train Of Thought, Fantastic Vol. 2
favorite indie labels: Hydra, D.I.T.C., Fat Beats
never used Napster but my younger brother did
What is one thing you miss from this era: I miss the presence of record stores, places like Fat Beats, Sound Library etc. being a hangout
Audio: Organized Konfusion Interviewed by DJ Riz & WildMan Steve, 1994 http://bit.ly/stress1994" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Roy Johnson
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Re: Internet/Backpack/Indie Hip-Hop Movement

Post by Roy Johnson »

This is the Buck 65 era. He must have laid down at least a hundred classic tracks between 1996 and 2001. The Bob Dylan of hip hop. A true legend if there ever was one.

I might have gone 97-02, because there were still a lot of great albums coming out in 96 - Jeru, Chino XL, Bush Babees, The Roots, The Juggaknots, De La Soul, Sadat X, etc.

After 96, it's a struggle for me to come up with even 10 non-buck albums that I truly love. The Artifacts, Organized Konfusion, Hiero's Third Eye Vision, Aceyalone, All Natural, Common's third LP, Labtekwon's Nile Child, Quasimoto's masterpiece The Unseen, and of course, Mr. Lif's front-to-back classic Live At The Middle East, which was like the Peter Frampton album for our parents, and hip hop's last great album. And so ended the genre in the year of our lord 2002. It was a damn good 20 year run.
Tweak Da Leak wrote:My nigga Poppabitch fucks with the swine?

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