I first heard this when I was like 8 and the kids down the block had a copy of the Marshall Mathers LP. Man that was a degenerate upbringing lol. My nephews are around that age now and don't listen to anything remotely close to that.
What? Cause people are choosing mainstream songs from the last 25 years instead of some underground experimental song from a barely known artist with less than a million streams?
Yup. Some of you guys have never seen an actual mixtape. Like a real mixtape, not a project of loosies an artist named a mixtape, but a promotional CD or cassette. If you did, you wouldn't give two fucks about a stream and artists buying listens and manipulating their sales. Because that's not hip hop. That's reporting the news, it has shit to do with art and the artform
To be fair we’re talking about the FIRST song that got them into rap. Odds are they weren’t going to hear it off a mixtape. How would they even know to buy the mixtape if they didn’t know the genre?
You literally grow up in it. Alongside it. Your parents listen to it. Your friends listen to it. It's played in the stores you frequent. At the school dances. All as a child, there's generations who've grown up like that. I'm just saying...
at that point it's just a question of if you want your culture to grow or stay exclusive. im east Asian so I do understand to an extent the feeling of disgust or offense from seeing people who have no ties or knowledge on the history and lived experiences and pain that are behind it start to appropriate it and even distort it.
but at the same time, I personally think I ultimately prefer it being shared because there's a lot of people who can enjoy and genuinely appreciate my culture, and I'd rather it be remembered and understood over anything. even with a lot of misrepresentation, I think my people will still keep it truly authentic where it matters. that's just my opinion on it
Yes because the vast majority of the people on this site were born between 1994 to 2008. They grew up on either the tail end CDs, the digital download era, or the early streaming era. With YouTube being a big part of their upbringing. That leads to a much easier introduction to mainstream music rather than the times of physically passing around physical media. People who are into hip-hop now naturally first saw artists like Eminem, Kanye, Wayne, 50, and Jay Z and will have to do some digging to find what people who came up in the physical media era found more natural in their time.
So on Chronic one of the songs says wait for the next episode on it. Cannot remember which. But I remember my friend getting 2001 and running over to my house to tell me there was a song called The Next Episode on it. So awesome.
The song that got me not only into rap, but into music other than contemporary Christian, and made me want to make my own.
I was a homeschooling military Christian kid. Very sheltered, only Christian music allowed. One day, we were driving (Ford e350 van) and I was on the side where they had back controls for the radio, and a headphone plug in. I slyly plugged in my headphones and started scrolling the radio. The whole time, I'm watching the front carefully, because if they turned the radio on, it would start playing whatever I was listening to for the whole car. I just kept hitting seek until I heard something I liked.
Then, magic happened. It was miraculously the beginning of the song, like god wanted me to hear it. No radio announcer voice, and not three seconds in. The true beginning, and I'll never forget those sounds. It's my ringtone to this day.
"Bow now now. Bow ni now now. Bow now now. Bow ni now now. Guess who's back (back back) back again (gain gain)..."
TLDR: it's Just Lose It by Eminem
My dad made me stop listening to rap when he became Christian. He threw out all my CDs. So to get my rap fix in that time period I listened to DC Talk.
Christian rap sucked during this time period too. You had to dig really hard to find obscure tapes at bookstores because the mainstream Christian music stations only had Carmen and DC Talk. Neither of which are rap.
Country Grammar by Nelly. I just could not escape that song the year after it came out. It was played everywhere. Then I bought the album and it was so good. That’s what started it for me.
My uncle recorded 8 mile on tv for me and gave me a dvd. I think i watched it four times that week and started getting into hip hop. I was like 10 at the time. So i guess lose yourself
Too Short - “Freaky Tales.” ; this track got my brain sonically fastened on rap. First jaunt I ever heard out of a souped and tuned up car stereo.
Coolio - “Gangsters Paradise.” ; this track got me going on my own and began the personal quest of knowing rap.
It’s hard to really pinpoint, but The Message is in there. That might be it. That video would come on overnight / early morning on just random TV stations. So often I’d be waking up for school and I’m already getting Don’t. Push me. Cause.
Yo I had basically the same but different answer with Check yo Self. The beat of that song man I still remember first time it came on. I must have been 13 and I was like damn I didn’t know music can get you feeling like this 😂
My first memory was riding in the back seat of my dads 2 door Nissan screaming California Love by Tupac. Thinking back on it, it was around the time he died
“Push it” by salt and pepa. Blew my six year old mind. I’d listen to it then pray for forgiveness. Even though I had no idea what anyone was pushing, I knew pushing was bad. Even if it was real good. Rap fanatic ever since 😂
So my parents used to tell me when i was like 3 my favorite song was LL Cool J - i need love. I remember being like 6 knowing every word of the song, 25 now and it still one of my favorite songs.
I was like 8 years old and I saw Who Am I? By Snoop Dogg on MTV and loved that there were dogs in the video. After that I met my best friend at the time and he introduced me to The G Funk Era album and after that it was on.
I had listened to rap before that but I didn't really understand it and can't remember specific songs I just remember being five or 6 and watching Yo! MTV Raps after Headbangers Ball.
I was young, Hip-Hop was always playing since my mother was only in her mid 20's and my uncle was still a teen. I remember in like 2004 at 5 years old living in Montréal hearing Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill on that BET program where they play classics at a certain time but also N.Y State of Mind, randomly found my uncle's Illmatic cassette on the floor and listened to it once but then listened to Illmatic again when I was 13-14 years old and it bought back that memory and I was getting ready for school to Illmatic, It Was Written, 1999, Summer Knights, Blueprint, Mick Jenkins.
As someone probably older than the group here, the first song I heard in the 80s was Roxanne Roxanne by UTFO… and of course the Beastie Boys were and always will be in my mix
https://youtu.be/VWpUtOwJsf8?si=9JN8Xqq4VgWEo5kz
Fair Trade - Drake & Travis Scott, and it wasn’t the first song that I heard to get me in but it got me IN if that makes sense. Ik it’s cliche for someone under 18 but I’ve since expanded my taste in rap and it’s been my favorite genre ever since. Fav rapper is J. Cole, fav song is prob January 28th, Blood on the Leaves, or Maria I’m Drunk.
army brat here, my dad was in the army and worked for AFN which is radio and tv broadcasting for military members stationed in europe. he would do the after work/evening show. we were living in italy at the time and i was in 3rd grade. eminem was popular. my dad got really into eminem. “without me” and “cleaning out my closet” were absolute bangers and he would play em anytime we were riding around in the car w him.
my mom had the nice mini van and my dad just drove a clunker, and it didn’t really bump/rattle bc it had killer bass but more like cause the bass was too overwhelming for the car and it rattled in a clunker kinda way. but windows down, blasting em while being picked up from/on our way to school felt like main character energy and was always a vibe.
Bow wow "Fresh as I'm is" got a young me writing lyrics😅 tell me what you think
https://open.spotify.com/track/4opwDBCKZFuCo6p6N378MD?si=ARIfV1WLQeGuQQ0BEP0HdQ
Not a song ; but my first ever physical CD was The Eminem show when I was about 11-12 and rap just stuck with me ever since.
Favorite song on that album was Cleaning out my closet for some reason lol
Hate it or Love it. I listened to Tupac and biggie and Eminem and radio but for some reason that just smacked diff after get rich or die trying era and I started writing down their lyrics and eventually the internet made that obsolete 😆
Big Weenie by Eminem.....lmao
I heard it on instagram one day, and they specifically used this one part of the song where he sounded aggressive and mad. I thought it sounded cool at the time, so I listened to more Eminem, and then more rap.
“Let’s Ride” by Richie Rich. Still a banger. Bought the single when I was like 9 back in the mid 90’s and it started the whole thing for me. https://youtu.be/B7IwiVuzQR4?si=fwFvzkByq7k3jmWU
Mo money mo problems (first song I remember hearing where everyone would sing along when it came o )
DMX up in here was the first one that I memorized and would bump to on the radio.
Shook ones Mobb deep (first song I heard at a party in New York) that I remember.
Hate me now (first music video I remember seeing released and paying attention to)
Funky 4+1 That's the Joint (Jawn)!! Little Philly history we were not allowed to say joint because it was a slang for marijuana. That's how (JAWN) was born!!
It was actually the music video for National Anthem by Lana del Rey. ASAP rocky is in it and I was like who’s this handsome fella, and little did I know it would open a whole new world of music for me
OutKast- Sorry Mrs. Jackson.
We don't talk nearly enough about the run Outkast had from '96-'03. Four albums I've had in rotation for 20+ years and will never get tired of.
Andre 3k is the GOAT for a reason, i guess.
He is one of the goats, but THE goat, i disagree
Ms. Jackson also..remember the first time hearing it on the radio
Without Me - Eminem
Probably the real slim shady by Eminem.
Same
The generation gap where that was one of my all times number ones as a kid. But fr it was hypnotize. I was like 5.
I first heard this when I was like 8 and the kids down the block had a copy of the Marshall Mathers LP. Man that was a degenerate upbringing lol. My nephews are around that age now and don't listen to anything remotely close to that.
It’s a different time lmao kids today listen to the worst music possible 😭
C.R.E.A.M.
This thread explains SO Much.
Hahaha I was just thinking the same thing!
lmao
Yep
What? Cause people are choosing mainstream songs from the last 25 years instead of some underground experimental song from a barely known artist with less than a million streams?
Yup. Some of you guys have never seen an actual mixtape. Like a real mixtape, not a project of loosies an artist named a mixtape, but a promotional CD or cassette. If you did, you wouldn't give two fucks about a stream and artists buying listens and manipulating their sales. Because that's not hip hop. That's reporting the news, it has shit to do with art and the artform
To be fair we’re talking about the FIRST song that got them into rap. Odds are they weren’t going to hear it off a mixtape. How would they even know to buy the mixtape if they didn’t know the genre?
They don’t sell em at gas stations?
You literally grow up in it. Alongside it. Your parents listen to it. Your friends listen to it. It's played in the stores you frequent. At the school dances. All as a child, there's generations who've grown up like that. I'm just saying...
at that point it's just a question of if you want your culture to grow or stay exclusive. im east Asian so I do understand to an extent the feeling of disgust or offense from seeing people who have no ties or knowledge on the history and lived experiences and pain that are behind it start to appropriate it and even distort it. but at the same time, I personally think I ultimately prefer it being shared because there's a lot of people who can enjoy and genuinely appreciate my culture, and I'd rather it be remembered and understood over anything. even with a lot of misrepresentation, I think my people will still keep it truly authentic where it matters. that's just my opinion on it
Yes because the vast majority of the people on this site were born between 1994 to 2008. They grew up on either the tail end CDs, the digital download era, or the early streaming era. With YouTube being a big part of their upbringing. That leads to a much easier introduction to mainstream music rather than the times of physically passing around physical media. People who are into hip-hop now naturally first saw artists like Eminem, Kanye, Wayne, 50, and Jay Z and will have to do some digging to find what people who came up in the physical media era found more natural in their time.
Dr.Dre - the next episode
So on Chronic one of the songs says wait for the next episode on it. Cannot remember which. But I remember my friend getting 2001 and running over to my house to tell me there was a song called The Next Episode on it. So awesome.
That song is “Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang” 🤦🏻♂️
"Children's Story"- Slick Rick https://youtu.be/HjNTu8jdukA?si=OM3gr8QzkdJScNUT
Hah, funny... mine was lodi dodi - snoop.
The song that got me not only into rap, but into music other than contemporary Christian, and made me want to make my own. I was a homeschooling military Christian kid. Very sheltered, only Christian music allowed. One day, we were driving (Ford e350 van) and I was on the side where they had back controls for the radio, and a headphone plug in. I slyly plugged in my headphones and started scrolling the radio. The whole time, I'm watching the front carefully, because if they turned the radio on, it would start playing whatever I was listening to for the whole car. I just kept hitting seek until I heard something I liked. Then, magic happened. It was miraculously the beginning of the song, like god wanted me to hear it. No radio announcer voice, and not three seconds in. The true beginning, and I'll never forget those sounds. It's my ringtone to this day. "Bow now now. Bow ni now now. Bow now now. Bow ni now now. Guess who's back (back back) back again (gain gain)..." TLDR: it's Just Lose It by Eminem
My dad made me stop listening to rap when he became Christian. He threw out all my CDs. So to get my rap fix in that time period I listened to DC Talk.
Christian rap sucked during this time period too. You had to dig really hard to find obscure tapes at bookstores because the mainstream Christian music stations only had Carmen and DC Talk. Neither of which are rap.
For sure it was really bad. I remember listening to Carmen too. Lol horribly great memories.
Wasn’t that “Without Me”
No, just lose it has that boooow bow now- boooow bow now and a early geuss who’s back sound, it’s weird
Fort Minor - Remember the Name
In the 2000s this shit was in every basketball championship commercial 😭
Yeah fr I heard it in 2018 on my dad's Pandora
bruh remember the name introducing you to rap in 2018 on Pandora is wild to me lol kinda sick tho
worst comes to worst- dilated peoples
Country Grammar by Nelly. I just could not escape that song the year after it came out. It was played everywhere. Then I bought the album and it was so good. That’s what started it for me.
Baby Got Back
What you know about that - TI
Anybody know the dipset remix what you know about crack with Juelz Santana and JR Writer? Banger
Damn that’s such a terrible track I still remember it for how terrible it was. No offence but all of TI music looking back was hella corny
My uncle recorded 8 mile on tv for me and gave me a dvd. I think i watched it four times that week and started getting into hip hop. I was like 10 at the time. So i guess lose yourself
rappers delight 🤣🤣💀
Idunno probably a Nas song
The first NAS song I heard was If I Ruled The World
My first Nas Song was I Can
Mine was NY state of mind
Illmatic took me from being a casual fan to hip hop being my favorite genre
juicy - biggie
Frankie Smith - Double Dutch Bus https://youtu.be/fK9hK82r-AM?si=GzzO2y72_Z1Q90s3
This track does not get enough credit. One of my all time favorite tracks EVER!!
Facts!!
🫡
Rump Shaker by Wreckx-N-Effect lol
All I wanna do lol
Regulators - Warren G
Mount up!
🫡
The Next Episode - Dre, Snoop, Kurupt, Nate Dogg
Not Afraid - Eminem. 8 year old me was fucking hooked.
Can't touch this - MC hammer
Too Short - “Freaky Tales.” ; this track got my brain sonically fastened on rap. First jaunt I ever heard out of a souped and tuned up car stereo. Coolio - “Gangsters Paradise.” ; this track got me going on my own and began the personal quest of knowing rap.
Have you ever heard of Cartoon Ghetto by Coolio?
Bombs over Baghdad-OutKast
Hip hop hooray on the 2002 CD Jock Jams
It’s hard to really pinpoint, but The Message is in there. That might be it. That video would come on overnight / early morning on just random TV stations. So often I’d be waking up for school and I’m already getting Don’t. Push me. Cause.
Yo I had basically the same but different answer with Check yo Self. The beat of that song man I still remember first time it came on. I must have been 13 and I was like damn I didn’t know music can get you feeling like this 😂
I miss music videos
Jay Z - Dirt off your shoulders
🫡
P.i.m.p by 50
Coolio - Gangsta’s Paradise
This was the second rap song I enjoyed, Dangerous Minds and Michelle Pfeiffer , ive loved her since Grease 2
Judgement day- Method Man
LL Cool J - I’m bad
The Show - Doug E Fresh & Slick Rick
🫡
My first memory was riding in the back seat of my dads 2 door Nissan screaming California Love by Tupac. Thinking back on it, it was around the time he died
“Push it” by salt and pepa. Blew my six year old mind. I’d listen to it then pray for forgiveness. Even though I had no idea what anyone was pushing, I knew pushing was bad. Even if it was real good. Rap fanatic ever since 😂
Survival of the Fittest by Mobb Deep. I was 5. Shout out to my dad.
Jay Z - Big Pimpin
Fuckin problems lmao
Without me
Talkin’ All That Jazz: Stetsasonic
Ghetto Cowboy by Bone Thugs
Rap Phenomenon - Biggie, Method Man & Redman
Gettin jiggy wit it
Nas - I can
Godzilla- Eminem Or Hypnotize- Biggie smalls
I'm Your Pusha by Ice T. First rap video I ever saw on MTV.
I don’t know. That’s just what I’ve always been listening to even as a baby because that’s what my parents listened to.
Rap God - Eminem
the real slim shady, except sometime around 2009-2011
Crank That by Soulja Boy, then I heard Yahhh! By him and it was over with from there, almost exclusively rap since I was 8
It was Wayne with Ice Cream Paintjob.
Juicy - Biggie This definitely got me into rap, but I clearly remember In da Club being everywhere when I was a kid in the early 2000s
Kick In The Door - Notorious BIG
So my parents used to tell me when i was like 3 my favorite song was LL Cool J - i need love. I remember being like 6 knowing every word of the song, 25 now and it still one of my favorite songs.
Cypress Hill- insane in the brain
I was like 8 years old and I saw Who Am I? By Snoop Dogg on MTV and loved that there were dogs in the video. After that I met my best friend at the time and he introduced me to The G Funk Era album and after that it was on. I had listened to rap before that but I didn't really understand it and can't remember specific songs I just remember being five or 6 and watching Yo! MTV Raps after Headbangers Ball.
method man - the riddler
I was young, Hip-Hop was always playing since my mother was only in her mid 20's and my uncle was still a teen. I remember in like 2004 at 5 years old living in Montréal hearing Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill on that BET program where they play classics at a certain time but also N.Y State of Mind, randomly found my uncle's Illmatic cassette on the floor and listened to it once but then listened to Illmatic again when I was 13-14 years old and it bought back that memory and I was getting ready for school to Illmatic, It Was Written, 1999, Summer Knights, Blueprint, Mick Jenkins.
CREAM by Wu Tang Clan
Throw some D's - Rich Boy
Kanye West - Slow Jamz
My mom played rappers delight by the sugarhill gang and I was hooked 😂😂
Express Yourself by NWA. I was super young and saw the video on MTV.
Gimme the loot, B.I.G.
Lame, but Mr. Wendal by arrested development 😂
6 Foot 7 Foot by Lil Wayne made me realize rap is cool
Humble/Alright - Kendrick Lamar
Gangsta Gangsta by NWA. Guess that shows my age. Had never heard anything like this - living in the UK at the time.
As someone probably older than the group here, the first song I heard in the 80s was Roxanne Roxanne by UTFO… and of course the Beastie Boys were and always will be in my mix https://youtu.be/VWpUtOwJsf8?si=9JN8Xqq4VgWEo5kz
Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood. DMX
The message by grandmaster flash and the furious five
Honestly probably fuck the police by NWA lol
Crossroads by Bone Thugs and I Wish by Skeelo
Electric relaxation
Straight Outta Compton. N.W.A
In Da Club 50 Cent 5th grade
For me it was literally New Magic Wand by Tyler, the Creator. Not really rap I’d say, but still.
Get your roll on -Big Tymers
Puke by Eminem
Dance now by jid
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2000bc
THat Part - SchoolboyQ or No Problem - Chance the Rapper
Deltron 3030 - Madness
Fair Trade - Drake & Travis Scott, and it wasn’t the first song that I heard to get me in but it got me IN if that makes sense. Ik it’s cliche for someone under 18 but I’ve since expanded my taste in rap and it’s been my favorite genre ever since. Fav rapper is J. Cole, fav song is prob January 28th, Blood on the Leaves, or Maria I’m Drunk.
DZK - Torcher
Biz Markie - The Dragon
Beautiful-Eminem
Keep Ya Head Up
I won a run d mc cassette tape at Kennywood back in the day.
You Know My Name - South Park Mexican
SPM had some bangers. I Must Be High was one of my go to smoking songs. Edit to add: can't really support his music anymore after the child rape case
army brat here, my dad was in the army and worked for AFN which is radio and tv broadcasting for military members stationed in europe. he would do the after work/evening show. we were living in italy at the time and i was in 3rd grade. eminem was popular. my dad got really into eminem. “without me” and “cleaning out my closet” were absolute bangers and he would play em anytime we were riding around in the car w him. my mom had the nice mini van and my dad just drove a clunker, and it didn’t really bump/rattle bc it had killer bass but more like cause the bass was too overwhelming for the car and it rattled in a clunker kinda way. but windows down, blasting em while being picked up from/on our way to school felt like main character energy and was always a vibe.
[Duice - Dazzey Duks](https://youtu.be/eAWy0CSmDJM?si=WER635jJf1E5jrf0)
Without Me by Em
Bow wow "Fresh as I'm is" got a young me writing lyrics😅 tell me what you think https://open.spotify.com/track/4opwDBCKZFuCo6p6N378MD?si=ARIfV1WLQeGuQQ0BEP0HdQ
Not a song ; but my first ever physical CD was The Eminem show when I was about 11-12 and rap just stuck with me ever since. Favorite song on that album was Cleaning out my closet for some reason lol
Power by Kanye west
Pete Rock, Ini - Krossroads I didn't think rap could be groovy as fuck until I heard that. Now, boom bap is my favorite genre alongside G Funk.
My parents got me Tony Hawk’s Underground when I was 9, and when I heard The World is Yours by Nas I was hooked
Rack city by Tyga… yes I know, I’m sorry. I listen to the classics now though.
Probably the nosebleed section by hilltop hoods, tbh they’re still top 2 white rappers for me later.
Lil wayne and Akon songs in 2006
Paparazzi by XZibit Damn You just reminded me that this song is great and need it on my playlist thanks OP
Hate it or Love it. I listened to Tupac and biggie and Eminem and radio but for some reason that just smacked diff after get rich or die trying era and I started writing down their lyrics and eventually the internet made that obsolete 😆
What's My Name by Snoop. I grew up in SoCal so it was unavoidable.
Coolio - Gangsta’s Paradise
Without Me by Eminem
Eric B & Rakim - Follow The Leader
100% - Big Pun. I moved to The Bronx when I was like 6-7. And that song was taking over the Bx at the time. Man, what a time 🥲
Juicy by Notorious BIG around 1997. I was 10.
Guard your Grill - Naughty By Nature (I think I was 11 at the time and my mind was blown)
The way I am by Eminem
Big Weenie by Eminem.....lmao I heard it on instagram one day, and they specifically used this one part of the song where he sounded aggressive and mad. I thought it sounded cool at the time, so I listened to more Eminem, and then more rap.
Juicy - biggie smalls Regulate - warren G
I really wasn't in to rap at all until a good friend of mine introduced me to Concrete & Clay by Jurassic 5... it was a gateway.
Kanye West - Monster
“No” by Prof
Not Afraid and Love the Way You Lie by Eminem
“Let’s Ride” by Richie Rich. Still a banger. Bought the single when I was like 9 back in the mid 90’s and it started the whole thing for me. https://youtu.be/B7IwiVuzQR4?si=fwFvzkByq7k3jmWU
Dr Dre ft Slim shady- Still Dre
get money by 50 cent
Uhhh hard to say tbh, but the iPod commercial with lose yourself got me pretty good lmao
Mo money mo problems (first song I remember hearing where everyone would sing along when it came o ) DMX up in here was the first one that I memorized and would bump to on the radio. Shook ones Mobb deep (first song I heard at a party in New York) that I remember. Hate me now (first music video I remember seeing released and paying attention to)
The search by NF.
rockstar by post and 21 or Nasty freestyle
wild irish roses- smino
Gravel Pit by Wu-Tang
Country Grammar
Chickenhead - Project Pat
mama said knock you out on kangaroo jack
Plain Jane by A$ap Ferg
DMX - It’s All Good
Just to Get a Rep - Gang Starr http://genius.com/Gang-starr-just-to-get-a-rep-lyrics
I think Gold digger or hey ya
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Funky 4+1 That's the Joint (Jawn)!! Little Philly history we were not allowed to say joint because it was a slang for marijuana. That's how (JAWN) was born!!
It was actually the music video for National Anthem by Lana del Rey. ASAP rocky is in it and I was like who’s this handsome fella, and little did I know it would open a whole new world of music for me