..around the same exact time that "Grunge" did.

The first "really popular" Rap song in North America was "O.P.P." by Naughty By Nature, which was released around September 1991 and peaked in November 1991 (The same exact time Grunge blew up)

I can't for the life of me remember any Rap Song as popular/big as "O.P.P." was in Late 1991 at the time, not to mention after the success of that song, that was when Rap/Hip-Hop really started to take off and become a huge success on Pop Radio.  In the Spring of 1992, Kris Kross came onto the scene with "Jump" and then a month or 2 later we had Sir Mix A Lot's "Baby Got Back" and then 2 months after that around Late 1992 we had "Jump Around" by House of Pain.  And of course we all know that Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg introduced their Gangsta Rap in Early 1993 and Rap never looked back.

So in retrospect, it was Naughty By Nature who really made Rap popular to the Popular music scene with the catchy song "O.P.P.".  Ever since that song hit the airwaves, Rap never really took a Backseat to other Genre's anymore.

Plus, "O.P.P." at the time, had an incredible Rap "beat", which is what made the song so darn catchy  ;)

While I do agree that "O.P.P." was one of the tunes that helped make rap prevalent in the mainstream, the club scene embraced rap music quite a bit in the late 80's.  Clubs that I frequented from 88-89 were playing quite a bit of rap/hip-hop.  Stuff like Young MC, Tone-Loc, N.W.A., Ice-T, Sir Mix-A-Lot, M.C. Hammer, De La Soul, Big Daddy Kane, Rob Base, Eric B & Rakim, etc.  Radio mixshows moved towards showcasing more rap/hip hop tracks also.

While I do agree that "O.P.P." was one of the tunes that helped make rap prevalent in the mainstream, the club scene embraced rap music quite a bit in the late 80's.  Clubs that I frequented from 88-89 were playing quite a bit of rap/hip-hop.  Stuff like Young MC, Tone-Loc, N.W.A., Ice-T, Sir Mix-A-Lot, M.C. Hammer, De La Soul, Big Daddy Kane, Rob Base, Eric B & Rakim, etc.  Radio mixshows moved towards showcasing more rap/hip hop tracks also.


Yes, you're right about the Club Scene, but more specifically I meant the popularization of it to Radio/MTV/Mainstream.  Public Enemy, Erik B & Rakim, and N.W.A. were all more in an Underground type scene and were not popular among the Mainstream or Pop Radio

I also don't consider MC Hammer to be "Rap", but more Hip-Hop/R&B/Dance combined

Yes, you're right about the Club Scene, but more specifically I meant the popularization of it to Radio/MTV/Mainstream.  Public Enemy, Erik B & Rakim, and N.W.A. were all more in an Underground type scene and were not popular among the Mainstream or Pop Radio

I also don't consider MC Hammer to be "Rap", but more Hip-Hop/R&B/Dance combined


I agree that Eric B and Rakim, Public Enemy, and NWA were all from a more underground type of scene and therefore not popular with the mainstream who listened to pop (top 40 radio).
In the case of YOung Mc and Tone Loc, Young had a song that was quite well embraced at pop radio level with "Bust a MOve" 1989. Tone Loc had two songs that also were well received in pop radio "WIld THing" and "FUnky Cold MEdina". Heavy D. also was pretty well embraced with "we got our own thang" (1989),
Salt N' Pepa had a huge hit with "Push It" circa 1987-88. However, in the case of the latter, i had the dj promo of PUsh it as far back as 1986, but i digress. Interesting you should bring up the subject of r&b, dance/hip hop combinations. THere were quite a few groups that also in some way i feel helped rap become accepted in the mainstream that i dont even consider to be rap. TechnoTronic- Pump up the jam and Get up(before the night is over)/Dmob featuring Cathy Dennis- Cmon get my Love (1989), and Mc Hammer -U cant touch this (incorporating Rick Jame's Superfreak into the song-1989-90). Before that, the only thing i can think of that comes to mind that wouldve hit at pop radio level wouldve been SUgarhill Gang's -rapper's delight (1979-80 sampling off of Chic's good Times), or Rob Base and Dj EZ Rock with "it takes two"(1989). Both of those charted fairly low in the top 40, but were majorly accepted by the kids of the 80s. I will post a list of rap songs or related songs that i feel helped rap to be accepted with the mainstream on another page, once i have a chance to think about it.

Technically the first popuolar Rap song was "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang in 1979.  Rap didn't really take off fully though until the mid-late 80s with artists like LL Cool J, Run DMC and Real Roxanne

My all-time favourite Rap artist was a Canadian by the name of Maestro Fresh-Wes.  He had a handful of hits including one called "Let Your Backbone Slide" which made him the first Canadian Rap Star to have a Top 40 hit

Newcleus, The Beastie Boys, and 2 Live Crew should also be credited for helping rap's popularity.


Technically the first popuolar Rap song was "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang in 1979.  Rap didn't really take off fully though until the mid-late 80s with artists like LL Cool J, Run DMC and Real Roxanne

My all-time favourite Rap artist was a Canadian by the name of Maestro Fresh-Wes.  He had a handful of hits including one called "Let Your Backbone Slide" which made him the first Canadian Rap Star to have a Top 40 hit


I don't know who he is; I'm just glad you didn't say "Snow".  ;D

More proof the '90s began in late 1991!  ;)

Allow me to be more a bit more specific about my original point.  I'm talking about when Rap started becoming popular in the sense that it "never looked back".  Sure "Rapper's Delight" was the first, but the popularity didn't catch on right afterwards.  There was always that 1 Rap song that may have been popular in the 80s, but it never really led to anything bigger in the long run, not until "O.P.P.", in which a whole herd of Rap/Hip-Hop Hits came directly afterwards and were ALL successful and popular.  All of them were Mainstream and it sprouted Rap into the Pop Scene

I don't know who he is; I'm just glad you didn't say "Snow".  ;D


Snow wasn't all that bad.  He was quite cheesy, but in the late 90s, he moved away from rap, and went more for a reggae sound.  He had a few good early 2000s hits

Maestro Fresh-Wes was awesome.  I still don't know how he missed out on the American charts.  Here's some of his videos.  "Let Your Backbone" slide is just such an awesome song 8)

Let Your Backbone Slide
Drop the Needle
Conductin' Thangs
Stick to Your Vision

Female artists in the late '80s like MC Lyte, Salt n' Pepa and Queen Latifah also added to the popularity.

It started to really become mainstream in the late '80s.

It started to really become mainstream in the late '80s.


I sure don't remember a chain of dominating Rap songs around that time.  It didn't begin until Late 1991/Early 1992 when Rap became just as popular as Rock or Pop and was topping the charts quite often

I sure don't remember a chain of dominating Rap songs around that time.  It didn't begin until Late 1991/Early 1992 when Rap became just as popular as Rock or Pop and was topping the charts quite often


There were some if you look at the charts. "Walk This Way" by Run DMC, LL Cool J had 3 top 40 hits in the late '80s one of which hit number 1 on the hot 100, "Push It" by Salt n Pepa, "Bust a Move" by Young MC, Tone Loc had 2 songs in the top 40 in 1989 "Wild Thing" peaked at number 2 actually. Yes rap really blew up around 1991/92, but it did have some decent mainstream success in the late '80s as well.

There were some if you look at the charts. "Walk This Way" by Run DMC, LL Cool J had 3 top 40 hits in the late '80s one of which hit number 1 on the hot 100, "Push It" by Salt n Pepa, "Bust a Move" by Young MC, Tone Loc had 2 songs in the top 40 in 1989 "Wild Thing" peaked at number 2 actually. Yes rap really blew up around 1991/92, but it did have some decent mainstream success in the late '80s as well.


I think the beginnings of its mainstream success in a big way was 1991 and 1992, but it began to be influential in a "peripheral" sort of way starting around 1986 or 1987, and started influencing dance music and R&B heavily (like, think of a song like "Nasty Boys" by Janet Jackson from 1986; that's definitely influenced by rap.)

I think the beginnings of its mainstream success in a big way was 1991 and 1992, but it began to be influential in a "peripheral" sort of way starting around 1986 or 1987, and started influencing dance music and R&B heavily (like, think of a song like "Nasty Boys" by Janet Jackson from 1986; that's definitely influenced by rap.)


Yeah, Rap was sort of fringe in the late 80s - it was more 'explicit', and more confined to areas like South Central, Harlem.etc. Run DMC, N.W.A.etc were the forebearers of popular rap, which really exploded about 1990-1991.

Yeah, Rap was sort of fringe in the late 80s - it was more 'explicit', and more confined to areas like South Central, Harlem.etc. Run DMC, N.W.A.etc were the forebearers of popular rap, which really exploded about 1990-1991.


Rap's popularity really started in NYC in the early '80s, originating out of the Bronx (along with graffitti and breakdancing culture, and such), in the housing projects that came to dominate the areas following the white flight that afflicted it in the mid-20th century. Some of the areas where the culture was strongest include the area my grandmother grew up in. Disco also started in NYC, and since rap grew out of disco, there's definitely a correlation...

Rap's popularity really started in NYC in the early '80s, originating out of the Bronx (along with graffitti and breakdancing culture, and such), in the housing projects that came to dominate the areas following the white flight that afflicted it in the mid-20th century. Some of the areas where the culture was strongest include the area my grandmother grew up in. Disco also started in NYC, and since rap grew out of disco, there's definitely a correlation...


I heard rap was also largely influenced alot by the 'raps' of West Indian immigrants to New York City in the 1970s, had also had roots in Dancehall and Reggae. Disco's spiritual heart may be New York, but it's a much less geographically specific musical genre than rap was, which seemed strongest in the larger Black communities like Watts in L.A., Oakland in San Francisco, parts of New York, Philly, Detroit and southern cities like Atlanta.

I heard rap was also largely influenced alot by the 'raps' of West Indian immigrants to New York City in the 1970s, had also had roots in Dancehall and Reggae. Disco's spiritual heart may be New York, but it's a much less geographically specific musical genre than rap was, which seemed strongest in the larger Black communities like Watts in L.A., Oakland in San Francisco, parts of New York, Philly, Detroit and southern cities like Atlanta.


Rap was very, very east coast until like, 1987...west coast rap was largely electrofunk-influenced and consisted of like, Egyptian Lover. Even in Chicago and Detroit it was less popular than it was in New York, Jersey, and Philly, and southern rap didn't get big until the '90s. Disco's spiritual heart was always NYC, in the working-class to middle-class Italian, black, and Hispanic communities, and to a lesser degree Chicago, Miami, etc.

New York has given birth to so many genres and movements in the modern rock era, from American punk, New Wave, Disco, East Coast Rap, Post-Grunge, Post-Punk.etc.

New York has given birth to so many genres and movements in the modern rock era, from American punk, New Wave, Disco, East Coast Rap, Post-Grunge, Post-Punk.etc.


Emo and hipster rock are also "New York" genres. I think of '70s-style soft rock like Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac as being very L.A., along with nu metal and hardcore punk.

Emo and hipster rock are also "New York" genres. I think of '70s-style soft rock like Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac as being very L.A., along with nu metal and hardcore punk.


Late 60s and early 70s seem more California- based with the aforementioned artists dominating.