Five verses that shaped hip-hop in the 1990s
The 1990s were probably the definitive years for hip-hop. This was the era that birthed the first rap superstar celebrities, created a universal hip-hop culture and oversaw the development and utilisation of complex techniques and lyricism.
Lyricism, more than anything, was the primary result of the ’90s. With rap developing a favourability for more of a melodic focus currently, looking back on the tracks of the decade gone by offers an absolute treat for those craving masterful penmanship.
The era was the making for so many current household names and members of the hip-hop hall of fame that you’re spoilt for choice. Choosing five verses that shaped the game is a blessing and a curse, but there are some signifiers of how a verse moulded the landscape of the period.
To shape the genre during this period meant changing the game, changing the genre’s perception or creating a complete idea of what it was to be a rapper in the ‘90s. Here are five verses that are forever chained to those notions and to 1990s hip-hop.
Five best verses of the 1990s:
5. ’93 ‘Till Infinity’, Verse 1 – Souls of Mischief
In 1993 the Souls of Mischief, comprising of A-Plus, Opio, Phesto and Tajai, released one of the most quintessential ‘90s hip-hop tracks ever with ‘’93 ‘Till Infinity’.
If you had to pick one song that represents the state of the genre in the ‘90s, ‘’93 ‘Till Infinity’ might be the only correct answer. The first verse explodes with energy accompanied by the funkiest beat that makes you think of old Spike Lee movies and Kobe Bryant playing for the Lakers. It is also a perfect example of the development of lyrical techniques.
The first verse also utilises the poetic techniques that ’90s hip-hop was beginning to adopt. The rhyming of “dial the seven digits, call up Bridgette her man’s a midget”, was a great introduction to the development of lyricism synonymous with the ‘90s.
The first verse oozes with typical ’90s language and experiences of young people of the period, calling up girls on the phone, drinking in the sun and smoking weed. You can almost smell the streets of 1993 California when this verse hits the airwaves.
4. ‘My Name Is’, Verse 1 – Eminem
Hip-hop is constantly evolving, and this sentiment was never truer than in the ‘90s. To shape hip-hop in the ‘90s is to shape its direction as it moves onto the next decade. Eminem accomplished this and set the tone for where hip-hop would head in the 2000s with his 1999 track ‘My Name Is’.
The first verse of the track culminates in the development of hip-hop through the decade. Em displays a masterful use of flow, syllables, and internal rhyme right from the first two lines: “Hi, kids, do you like violence? Wanna see me stick nine-inch nails through each one of my eyelids?”
The verse is also littered with the references that became commonplace in ‘90s hip-hop as Em raps about women and drugs through “can’t figure out which Spice Girl I want to impregnate” and “I smoke a fat pound of grass, and fall on my ass”.
The verse also represents the shared ideals and experiences that acted as the foundation of the community that developed throughout the decade. By the end of the ’90s, the makings of a good rapper weren’t based on race; they were based on those ideals, and Em had them down to a tee.
3. ‘It Was a Good Day’, Verse 3 – Ice Cube
NWA have always been attributed as one of the founders of hip-hop as a genre, a driving force behind bringing it into the mainstream and an early example of gangsta rap; it’s a pretty good resume. The group, filled with famous names like Dr Dre and Eazy-E, fell through in the late ‘80s. Arguably the most famous of the lot, Ice Cube, went on to make one of the best records of the ‘90s with ‘It Was a Good Day’.
Cube knew what it was to be a ‘90s rapper, and he transitioned smoothly into the evolved genre. The third verse of the track shows him continuing to take the listeners through a day in his life. This verse though offers insight into why it was a good day while also making people realise that the status of a rapper had also evolved, they were celebrities now.
To Cube, it was a good day because it was normal; it felt like he wasn’t famous, but also that luxury comes with the newly attributed fame that ‘90s rappers received. Cube’s finally getting the girls he wanted to be with at school; “picked up a girl been tryna fuck since the 12th grade”, and he’s reaping the rewards of his success; “saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp and it read ‘Ice Cube’s a pimp’”.
As was the standard for a ’90s hip-hop artist, Cube also reminds people of his hood background:“Today, I didn’t even have to use my AK.” Cube, though, looks beyond the violence of being a ‘90s rapper and makes an additional requirement for a ‘90s rapper in this verse: You have to be cool.
2. ‘N.Y. State of Mind’, Verse 1 – Nas
Where better to start than with the man who took over the ‘90s and came out the other side. ‘N.Y. State of Mind’ was the second track on Nas’ legendary 1994 album Illmatic. Though it was the second track it quickly became the most popular and has remained Nas’ defining song ever since.
Nas races out of the block shooting, quickly establishing himself in the middle of all that was synonymous with 90’s hip-hop; drugs, guns and competition. Nas does this with his signature lyricism, he’s “like Scarface sniffin’ cocaine”, and his competition, he’ll either “flip ‘em with a funky rhythm” or he’ll take them out by other means: “hand me a nine and I’ll defeat foes”.
The transition of hip-hop into gangsta rap happened in the ‘90s, and this verse is both symbolic of that change and cements it as the norm. It’s not all fiction for Nas, though; he lets us all know that New York rappers come from the streets as he details his own story of violence throughout the verse: “Lead was hitting niggas, one ran, I made him backflip”.
You can’t think ‘90s without thinking Nas, this verse shaped hip-hop in the ‘90s beyond defining what it meant to be a rapper in that period or through Nas’ slick lyricism, which was becoming the prevailing technique. This verse was Nas’ announcement of his monicker of the gentleman gangster, a modern Al Capone; “Bullet holes left in my peepholes, I’m suited up in street clothes”.
1. ‘Juicy’, Verse 1 – Biggie
Ask a friend to put a ‘90s song on at a party; unless they’re a hip-hop fanatic, they’ll almost always put on ‘Juicy’. Look up ‘90s hip-hop’ in a dictionary, and the definition will read ‘Juicy’ by Biggie. This is the ‘90s hip-hop track.
That great commendation comes in massive part due to the first verse of the track, as soon as the words “it was all a dream” grace the speakers the mind is full of Coogi sweaters. Biggie accomplishes more than most would be able to in one verse; he builds an entire community.
‘Juicy’’s first verse is absolutely slathered in references to the 90s hip-hop community, to their values and to the artists that lead the way. Biggie shoutouts “Word Up! Magazine”, “Salt-n-Peppa and Heavy D” and “every Saturday Rap Attack, Mr Magic, Marley Marl” to name a few.
Hip-hop was divisive, bloody and violent in the ‘90s, there’s no doubting that, but there was a wider community that shared similar values, experiences and idols. Biggie brings that collective idea together in one verse. Those references painted such a vivid image of the ‘90s hip-hop community that they now hold so much nostalgia.