When A Tribe Called Quest released Midnight Marauders, I doubt they knew that the album cover was going to be a signpost for the end of an era. Hip hop’s golden age started around the time Run DMC collaborated with Aerosmith on “Walk this Way” in 1986, and depending on who you ask, lasted not even ten years through the end of ’93. ATCQ came out with three different versions for the cover of their third LP in November of that year featuring a total of 71 head shots of their hip hop peers. You can see a legend for each of the covers here.
I remember watching Yo! MTV Raps after school and catching groups like 3rd Bass on the Arsenio Hall show around 1990-91. My friends and I actually collected the Yo! MTV Raps trading cards for a brief period in eighth grade. I was never really sure if hip hop fell into a slow decline in the mid ’90s, or if I just lost interest once I hit high school and discovered The Pixies and Superchunk. For whatever reason (although you can probably dismiss the conspiracies), rap did take on a harder edge around this time. De La Soul’s Trugoy declared The Native Tongues, one of the great hip hop collectives, dead. The RZA kicked off a whole series of classic albums with Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (released on the same day in ’93 as Midnight Marauders for all you trivia nerds), but the camaraderie of all artists united behind the banner of hip hop seemed to fade away, especially with the start of the East Coast–West Coast rivalry. What are the odds of seeing something like this, from Arsenio Hall’s last show in 1994, today?
I think hip hop as an art form peaked in 1989-90 with the music that producers like the Bomb Squad created by recontextualizing and layering music from hundreds of different sources. On whosampled.com you can see the incredible number of identified samples that they used for just one song. It didn’t take long for copyright lawyers to catch up. Albums like Fear of a Black Planet wouldn’t be able to be released today without a huge expense, but I think that’s ok. What was revolutionary and thrilling twenty years ago when artists were repurposing out-of-print records and giving them new life has lost its punch in today’s musical environment when almost all the music from the past is available a mouse click away.
Hip hop never died and I’m not predicting it will anytime soon, but a silver age that resembles its golden age doesn’t seem likely. Here’s to a golden age of some other new musical movement before I’m too old to appreciate it. Below are some hip hop landmarks and locations from music videos and album covers.
Landmarks
- Birthplace of hip hop
- Linden Boulevard
- First location of Def Jam Records
- Where Biggie Smalls was shot and killed
- Where Tupac was shot
- Brother Ali’s room with a view
- The Doomtree house
Music Videos
- Bed-Stuy neighborhood block from “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy
- Park Hill Apartments from “Protect Ya Neck” by Wu-Tang Clan
- Las Vegas Hilton Casino and Dome Village from “Sure Shot” by the Beastie Boys
- The alleyway, Los Angeles Theatre and St. Vincent Court from “Drop” by the Pharcyde
- Old Town Bar from “Jump Around” by House of Pain
- The Unisphere from “Flava in Ya Ear” by Craig Mack and “Award Tour” by A Tribe Called Quest
- Royal Motel and Kings Inn Motel from “O.P.P.” by Naughty by Nature
- Belmont Plateau from “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
- Somewhere on Flatbush Ave. from “Definition” by Black Star
Album covers
- The house from the Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem
- The intersection from Quality Control by Jurassic 5
- Harrison Square from No Need for Alarm by Del the Funky Homosapien
- Andrew Jackson High School from BAD by LL Cool J
- Under the Brooklyn Bridge from Derelicts of Dialect by 3rd Bass
- Kestrel House from Original Pirate Material by the Streets