94 Blogspot: Hip Hop

If you type into Google today, you might find that the original URL has shifted—Blogspot blogs often migrate or go dormant. But the footprint remains. Here is what you can expect when you land on an archive like this:

: Defined the laid-back West Coast sound of the year. hip hop 94 blogspot

The author(s) of the "Hip Hop 94" Blogspot understood something that record labels forgot: Context is king. They didn’t just post a download link to "Illmatic." They posted a scanned image of The Source magazine’s review. They wrote a 500-word essay on the engineering of "The World Is Yours." They linked to a grainy YouTube video of Nas on Yo! MTV Raps wearing a Carhartt jacket. If you type into Google today, you might

In 1994, hip hop was transitioning from its early days as an underground movement to a mainstream phenomenon. The previous year had seen the release of landmark albums such as A Tribe Called Quest's "Midnight Marauders" and Dr. Dre's "The Chronic", which had helped to bring hip hop to a wider audience. However, it was in 1994 that the genre truly began to explode. The author(s) of the "Hip Hop 94" Blogspot

This is the most nostalgic part. Before Mega and Dropbox, these blogs used ZShare, Rapidshare, and Mediafire. You had to wait 45 seconds for a download. You had to solve a CAPTCHA that looked like a warped Bus Stop sign. It made you work for the music.

Several albums released in 1994 would have a lasting impact on hip hop. Some of the most notable include: