Hip Hop History vol. 6: Jiggy/Underground Era 1997-2002

Hip Hop History vol. 6: Jiggy/Underground Era 1997-2002

1996 ended with the Telecommunications Act passing which gave radio owners the ability to own multiple stations, this limited the introduction of new musicians as the rotation of music played just relied on what was “hot” at the time. The start of 1997 started with Puff Daddy’s new single “Nobody Can Stop Me Now” which became a smash hit commercially. Thus began the Jiggy era of Hip Hop, with the Telecom Act in place it also gave way to the Underground era. This began the divide which resulted in two sides, based on commercial viability vs underground artists releasing music independently. Radio-friendly artist that rose in status were the Cash Money crew from NOLA, the Dungeon Family from ATL, and the Three 6 Mafia crew from Memphis, essentially the South blew up. With the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, the early ‘00’s saw the rise of Jay-Z to fill the void of losing Hip Hop’s biggest stars. Turntablism grew during this period as the Bay Area DJs Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike, and Apollo changed the definition of what a DJ is. Other DJ crews that gained prominence during this time were The X-Men (X-Ecutioners) in NYC and the Beat Junkies in LA. The NYC and LA/Bay Area underground scene exploded with the new lifeline to Hip Hop. Fondle ‘Em records, Rawkus, Def Jux, and Soulsides begin to give rise to the best artists of the era. In the 2000’s the PTP sites killed record sales, record companies scrambled to fix a problem that they couldn’t contain. As a result, the music industry was changed forever.

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