I love lists, and of them I like hip hop and sports lists best. Reading other people’s lists often generates enough passion in me to inspire a topic of discussion. I saw a list of hip hop songs that neglected some of the most important songs in hip hop history, so I thought I’d drop a list to educate some of the new school hip hop fans, while giving my fellow “old skoolers” a chance to reflect. The beauty of lists is that they are always up for debate. Your feedback is more than welcome, in fact it is encouraged. This is, in my opinion, the 5 most important artists in hip hop history – based on how their contribution changed “the game”.

Originally they spelled the “Ghetto” correctly, and dropped a single called “Be Down”. It didn’t take off, but it got a little air play by underground hip hop radio stations in parts of the country outside of New York. At that time, if it wasn’t out of New York it got very little love anywhere, and absolutely NO love in New York. The original Ghetto Boys consisted of the following members: Prince Jonny C, Sire Jukebox; DJ Reddy Red; and Little Billy, the dancer who later came to be known as Bushwick Bill. Geto Boys changed their spelling after the original group broke up and was re-invented with DJ Reddy Red, Bushwick Bill taking on a bigger role along with the addition of two of Houston’s more popular solo artists, Scarface and Willy D. Their self-titled CD featuring songs like “Read These Nikes” and “Trigga Happy N**ga”, introduced a different level of gangster rap, with cannibalistic lyrics and a ruthless street attitude. They make the list because that soulful funk known as the “Dirty South” sound began with the national acceptance of the Geto Boys. They really broke the coastal walls down with the huge hit “My Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me”, and hip hop was never the same after the Geto Boys “dropped them Bs” on us.

Rakim, the god, the microphone fiend, the R, the 18^th letter, one of the most gifted emcees of all times. Eric B was the DJ, but really just along for the ride – this crew was all about Rakim. Rakim came with a style altogether different than anything we had heard before. His first hit “My Melody” took time for us to catch on to because he was the first rapper that wasn’t hollering at us, and we had to get used to that smooth, calm tone. Once we got past that, we couldn’t get enough of those lyrics – the guy was making words rhyme with phrases. Ending sentences at the start of the following bar, dropping pauses and taking breaths within the flow, and just teaching everyone in the game that it was okay to let the track breathe…in fact, it was downright better! Their first CD “Paid In Full” is a classic and belongs in every hip hop fan’s collection. The video to the hip hop classic “I Ain’t No Joke” features a then unknown dancing man that later became a hip hop and reality TV legend in his own right…none other than Flava Flav. The term “pump up the volume” became the unforgettable hook to a dance classic by a group called Mars, but if you’ve never heard the title track Paid In Full…you have not been properly introduced to hip hop. After Rakim’s smooth new style caught on, it changed the game forever…hip hop was never the same after Eric B & Rakim went “rolling with Rush”.

They HAD to be on the list right? They only dropped “Rapper’s Delight”, the first commercially successful rap song in history. They put rap on the map – period. What else needs to be said? Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank, and Master Gee changed music forever…not just hip hop - music! The hip hop era began with the hip hop the hibby to the hibby the hip hip a hop and you don’t stop the rockin to the bang bang boogie said up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogedy beat!

NWA, an acronym for N**gas With Attitudes, brought about a genre within the genre of hip hop – it’s called “gangsta rap”. While Boogie Down Production (BDP) is credited with hip hop’s first true gangsta rap CD, it was NWA that put it all up in your mouth! They taught you how to be a gangsta. They taught you how gangstas walked, talked, dressed, partied, how they felt about police and women, what kind of guns they carry – everything you needed to know about being a gangsta. They put you in the mind of an LA gang member when the majority of America thought Los Angeles was just about Hollywood, glamour, and bright lights. They put Compton, CA on the map! Because of NWA, I now know not to go to LA flexing my bright red jump suit like its cool. They glorified the gangsta, the dope man, the pimp, and every other plague of the community, and it sold against all odds! They challenged the system, brought a whole new sound (thanks to the master music maker Dr. Dre), and gave the West Coast sound an identity that took over the game for a while. They told the East Coast – “you started it, but we’re here now, respect us or else!” The NWA tree spawned several artists, both former members of the group and protégé of it’s membership including, but not limited to: Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, EZ E, Bone Thugs & Harmony, Snoop Dogg, The D.O.C., Death Row Records – we’re talking legends of the game, names that carry weight like Nate Dogg and Suge Knight, all have ties to the NWA family tree. Hip hop was never the same after NWA said “f**k the police”.

Was there any doubt? Run-DMC pretty much dominated an era of music. This is the group that posted hip hop's first Gold CD, first Platinum CD, and first multi-Platinum CD. Aside from that, they headlined hip hop music's first major tour, received hip hop's first Grammy nomination. Although they never actually won a Grammy, they are the reason it was decided to give hip hop it's own category - it was deemed unfair at the time to put Run-DMC up against New Edition and the like, they were simply incomparable. Thank Run-DMC for all the hip hop Grammies, because they set the standard – they told the rest of the music world that hip hop was here to stay, it is a genre all its own, and you need to recognize it! They taught the world how rappers dress, walk, and talk. They introduced the world to "the DJ" as a replacement for "the Band", and are now the only rap group inducted into the prestigious Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame. They came out of the gate as trend setters with their first single "It’s Like That", that featured a style of rap that no one had dropped before. To top it off, they B-Sided that with "Sucker MCs" which is a flow that laid out the blueprint of how the legend was born - all the while introducing another style that no one had dropped before. After Run-DMC, it was evident that hip hop was here to stay - they gave it an identity all its own. They changed music forever. Hip hop has never been the same since Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay, the Kings of Rock, stepped on stage at Live-Aid in the white and black shell toe Adidas.

• Outkast – they put ATL on the map. They told us all that this was a Dirty South thing, and not just a Houston, TX thing. They united southern rappers and impacted hip hop forever with their cleverness, gutsy styles, and that Southernplayalisticcadillacfunky music.

• Nelly/Bone Thugs & Harmony – they almost created a sound for the Midwest. Nelly even gave it a name “Midwest Swang”. We were buying into it too. All of us Midwest folks wanted an identity all our own, we wanted a sound that could be identified as “ours”. That sing-rap, with the funk of the west, soul of the south, and complicated lyric stylings of the east seemed to collaborate beautifully as a staple of the Midwest sound…but no. It was just something that worked for them. Detroit and Chicago were too gangsta for that MW Swang “thang”. It never caught on as something everyone in the Midwest could identify as “this is how we roll” - so that’s why the impact they had didn’t quite measure up to the groups that made this list.
• 2 Live Crew – they introduced us to the “Miami Bass”, that big round bass that can only come out of the Roland 808 drum machine. It was weird because Roland had made the 909 and discontinued the 808, so there was a mad scramble in the industry to get your hands on that outdated 808 drum so you can have that Miami Bass in your song. What made them important though was the censorship issue that Luke took to task. They came with the raunchiest party songs in the history of the game, and man they used to make a party go crazy. Tipper Gore, then VP Al Gore’s wife, took Luke on in a court battle over censorship and lost. So the freedom of speech that is enjoyed to the extent it is in hip hop, is largely thanks to the man that took the bullet with a real good vest on – Luther Campbell aka Luke Skyywalker – founding father of the 2 Live Crew.
• Salt N Pepa– probably belongs on this list because they put female rappers on the map BIG TIME! I’m not sure what else there is to say about it, there was just no respect for female rappers until they came along – they changed all that!