From Tupac to Biggie, from Death Row to Bad Boy — test your knowledge of golden-age hip-hop.
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The 1990s are often called the Golden Age of hip-hop — the decade when a street culture born in the Bronx became the dominant sound of American youth and reshaped global pop music. From New York to Compton, producers like Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, RZA and Pete Rock built a sonic palette that ranged from the smoky jazz samples of East Coast boom bap to the synth-heavy funk of West Coast G-funk. Albums like Illmatic, The Chronic, Ready to Die, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and The Score redefined what rap music could be.
It was also the era of larger-than-life personalities and feuds. Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. became icons whose 1996 and 1997 deaths froze the so-called East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry into legend. Labels like Death Row, Bad Boy, Def Jam and No Limit turned rappers into multi-platinum global stars, while Wu-Tang Clan proved that a nine-man collective could dominate the game with nothing but raw verses and kung-fu samples. The Fugees, and pushed the genre toward conscious lyrics and live instrumentation, while and built hip-hop empires that would shape the 2000s.
By the end of the decade, hip-hop had gone from the margins to the center of popular culture — topping the charts, selling out stadiums, and launching fashion, film and business careers. The 90s left behind a catalogue of classic records, quotable lyrics and unforgettable videos that still define the genre today.