This week on Felix Fridays we’ve decided to bring you the best of old school hip-hop. With tracks from N.W.A, Eminem, Ice Cube, Salt-N-Pepa and more, it’s the perfect playlist to end your work week and bring on the weekend. Listen here and don’t forget to follow us for a new playlist every Friday.
To kick things off, we start with two iconic tracks from Californian based hip-hop group, N.W.A. The group made inherently political music, drawing on their own experiences of racism and heavy policing and they have widely been considered one of the most influential groups in hip-hop music.
Next up we have tracks ‘Full Clip’ and ‘Work’ by hip-hop duo Gang Starr, who were hugely influential to hip-hop on the East Coast and were widely known for their diss tracks.
The Notorious B.I.G needs no introduction and we have featured his tracks ‘Juicy’ and ‘Big Poppa.’ Also known as Biggie Smalls, the rapper was ranked by Billboard magazine as among the ten greatest rappers of all time.
He was tragically killed in a drive-by shooting by an unknown assailant and his poignantly titled album ‘Life after Death’ was released sixteen days later, reaching number one on the US charts and achieving Diamond status certification shortly after, a huge achievement for a hip-hop artist. Three more albums were released after his death and three hour documentary Biggie: The Life of Notorious B.I.G was released earlier this month.
Salt-n-Pepa hail from New York City and made their impact by being one of the first all female rap groups. A female voice was much needed in the rap game, with a growing concern over the overall sexist themes and objectifications within hip-hop’s lyrics and the accompanying visuals.
Salt-N-Pepa flipped these perceptions on their head and took back ownership of the female voice in hip-hop.
Another woman in hip-hop and iconic rapper we’ve added to our Felix Fridays playlist is The Lady of Rage, who has largely been celebrated as one of the most skilful MC’s in hip-hop.
Best known for her collaborations with artists on Death Row Records such as Dr Dre and Snoop Dog, we’ve included her track ‘Afro Puffs’ which made it to number five on Billboard’s Hot Rap Singles list and her debut album was released three years later.
No hip-hop classics playlist is complete without Ice Cube and we have added his tracks ‘No Vaseline’ and ‘It Was A Good Day’ for your Friday listening pleasure. Ice Cube began his career as a member of N.W.A and after leaving, went on to have an incredibly successful career, not only as a solo artist but also as an actor. He had starring roles in the 1991 teen drama film Boyz n the Hood.
We end our playlist (and start your weekend) with one of the most celebrated and well-known rappers of all time, 2Pac. Now, one of the best selling artists of all time, Tupac Shakur made a remarkable impact on rap music and society at large before his tragic death in a drive by shooting aged 25. We’ve included his track, ‘Ambitionz as a Ridah.’
Listen to our playlist here and if you like what you hear, don’t forget to follow us on Spotify, for curated playlists every Friday!
The post Music: Felix Fridays Brings You Old School Hip-Hop appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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