Credit:http://willblogforhiphop.files.wordpress.com
Despite its historical roots in Jamaican reggae and dancehall, its an undeniable fact that hip hop was birthed in 1970s New York, specifically the Bronx. Throughout the late 70s and mid 80s, New York and other east coast cities pretty much dominated the hip hop landscape almost to point of it being a monopoly. From LL Cool J to Run DMC to Beastie Boys, the east coast was living large and seemed to be the ONLY authority when it came to the newly created hip hop genre. However due to the rise of gangsta rap on the west coast, the east was no longer the only game in town and a musical power shift would so occur.
Although east coast hip hop never fell off, many artists that were riding high in the 80s, began to lose that momentum at the start of the 90s. A prime example of this would Run DMC’s 1990 effort Back from Hell which was both a critical and commercial failure. Despite the east no longer being in the hip hop throne, all was not lost for the east coast renaissance of the mid 90s began to restore the east coast to the glory that they once enjoyed. Probably one of the most prolific years of this renaissance was 1994, which was also tremendous year for hip hop as a whole. A new breed of raw east coast emcees such as Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Jay-Z, Wu Tang Clan, and Mobb Deep exploded and the scene to reclaim what they felt was originally theirs.
The 90s as whole may have been a huge melting pot of variety, but 1994 was one of the greatest years to demonstrate this characteristic. From Redman’s psychedelic, weary raps on 
Dere is a Darkside to Nas’ somber, razor sharp social observations on Illmatic to the raw, unfiltered basement sounds of Method Man on Tical. And of course, no discussion of ’94 would be complete without mention of the legendary Notorious B.I.G. and his magnum opus Ready to Die. Gangsta’ rap and emcees professing street tales was already o
ld in ’94, but B.I.G. took the formula and dropped it on its head. At the time of of its release, there was nothing in hip hop that sounded anything like Ready to Die and because of that it has permanently been enshrined in hip hop history. All of these albums mentioned are true masterpieces an
d are excellent for a 90s newcomer to start with before moving on to more obscure albums. These albums also exemplify a sprit of pride and ingenuity since the east coast had now returned, if not exceeded their previous achievements.
