Who is the most important hip hop act to their city/state?

im going to name a bunch of cities and you tell me who you feel not only meant the most to hip hop in their city, but embodies the image of the city, and basically helped put their city on the hip hop map. Basically the most important to the sound of their city:

Detroit - Esham

Atlanta - Outkast

Houston - Scarface

Queens - Run DMC

Brooklyn - probably Biggie

Staten Island - Wu

The Bronx - KRS One

Harlem - Big L

Long Island - Public Enemy

Los Angeles - NWA

Oakland - Too $hort

San Francisco - ?

Sacramento - Brotha Lynch Hung

Chicago - Common

Cleveland - Bone Thugs

Seattle - LOL

Minnesota - Brother Ali

New Orleans - Master P

Philadelphia - The Roots or DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

New Jersey - Queen Latifah

Boston - Edo G and Da Bulldogs

Kansas City - Tech N9ne

Miami - 2 Live Crew

St. Louis - Nelly?

fuck you Slang! You list Seattle and Cleveland, but no Nashville or Memphis?

T. Myers wrote:

fuck you Slang! You list Seattle and Cleveland, but no Nashville or Memphis?

shit i knew i forgot some places


Memphis - hnonestly a toss up between Three 6 and Ball and G, id probably pick Ball and G

Nashville - ?

Slang Editorial wrote:

T. Myers wrote:

fuck you Slang! You list Seattle and Cleveland, but no Nashville or Memphis?

shit i knew i forgot some places


Memphis - hnonestly a toss up between Three 6 and Ball and G, id probably pick Ball and G

Nashville - ?

Well, Memphis may be the only one deserving, but if Seattle gets a mention then Nashville deserves one too. LOL!

My personal pick for Nashville would be Quanie Cash. On the nationwide scale, it would be Young Buck.

I would have to say Atmosphere for Minnesota. They're the reason Ali even picked up a mic.

Slang Editorial wrote:

im going to name a bunch of cities and you tell me who you feel not only meant the most to hip hop in their city, but embodies the image of the city, and basically helped put their city on the hip hop map. Basically the most important to the sound of their city:

Detroit - Esham

Atlanta - Outkast

Houston - Scarface

Queens - Run DMC

Brooklyn - probably Biggie

Staten Island - Wu

The Bronx - KRS One

Harlem - Big L

Long Island - Public Enemy

Los Angeles - NWA

Oakland - Too $hort

San Francisco - ?

Sacramento - Brotha Lynch Hung

Chicago - Common

Cleveland - Bone Thugs

Seattle - LOL

Minnesota - Brother Ali

New Orleans - Master P

Philadelphia - The Roots or DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

New Jersey - Queen Latifah

Boston - Edo G and Da Bulldogs

Kansas City - Tech N9ne

Miami - 2 Live Crew

St. Louis - Nelly?

I co-sign that.

I like Esham, but I don't see how he trumps Eminem in Detroit.

Southern Rap Pro wrote:

I like Esham, but I don't see how he trumps Eminem in Detroit.

he doesnt "trump" Em but look closer at my criteria

Esham is Detroit.

His sound, his image, his style is by far the most influential on the Detroit scene as a whole. Without Esham, Eminem would not have been the way he was.

"Esham is Detroit. "
Tru dat!


Port Arthur-UGK
Atlanta-Dungeon Family in general

Detroit - Eminem (there's NO WAY that Esham is more important than him)

Atlanta - Outkast

Houston - Scarface

Queens - Run DMC (the most important act in hip-hop history)

Brooklyn - probably Biggie

Staten Island - Wu

The Bronx - KRS One

Harlem - Big L

Long Island - Public Enemy/Rakim tie

Los Angeles - NWA

Oakland - Too $hort

Sacramento - Brotha Lynch Hung

Chicago - Common

Cleveland - Bone Thugs

Seattle - Sir Mix A Lot

Minnesota - Brother Ali

New Orleans - Master P

Philadelphia - The Roots/DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince tie

New Jersey - Queen Latifah/Redman tie

Boston - Edo G and Da Bulldogs

Kansas City - Tech N9ne

Miami - 2 Live Crew

St. Louis - Nelly

Detroit - Mc Breed- because he was the 1st artist to hit it big national for that state.

Atlanta - Outkast

Houston - Geto Boys

Queens - Run DMC

Brooklyn - Jay-Z

Staten Island - Wu

The Bronx - KRS One

Harlem - Big L

Long Island - Public Enemy

Los Angeles - Ice Cube

Compton- Eazy-E

Oakland - Too $hort

San Francisco - Paris

Sacramento - Brotha Lynch Hung

Chicago - Common or Kanye West

Cleveland - Bone Thugs

Seattle - Sir-Mix-A-Lot

Minnesota - Brother Ali

New Orleans - Master P

Philadelphia- DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

New Jersey- Naughty By Nature easily with Redman coming 2nd.

Boston - Guru

Kansas City - Tech N9ne

Miami - 2 Live Crew

St. Louis - Nelly?

Memphis- Ball & G

I gotta go with Latifah over Naughty because she put Jersey on the map to begin with, as well as discovered NBN and the Flava Unit.

And Rakim is just as important to Long Island as PE is.

As for Boston, Guru may have been born there but he always repped Brooklyn so I don't put him in that catagory. Ed OG did rep Boston so he gets the nod for me.

MC Breed isnt from Detroit, he reps Flint and was born there, dude is an hour away from Detroit

Kev said Breed had the first big hit "For that state", talking about Detroit. So...yeah. Either he thinks Detroit is a state or just doesn't care that you were talking about a city. Oh no, I got, GANGSTAS DON'T FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS

Maybe its just me and my listening, but it seems like Lif & Ak did more to attract attention to Boston.

All yous giving Minnesota to Ali aren't being objective. Atmosphere was national before Ali even dropped, and his whole style is Atmosphere's. He's better at it, no doubt. He didn't start it, though.

^^^Not only that, but the whole state still swings from Slug's nuts. I see you, Big Jess!!

And if Atmosphere didn't build up Rhymesayers, Ali would still be working at UPS.

Kid Joe wrote:

All yous giving Minnesota to Ali aren't being objective. Atmosphere was national before Ali even dropped, and his whole style is Atmosphere's. He's better at it, no doubt. He didn't start it, though.

100% cosign. Living in Minneapolis, I can tell you Slug & Ant are easily the most recognizable hip-hop name in Minnesota. In fact, I'd venture to say most casual hip-hop listeners in MN would know Atmosphere, but may never have heard of Brother Ali.

Kid Joe wrote:

And if Atmosphere didn't build up Rhymesayers, Ali would still be working at UPS.

You mean with UP's (Unknown Prophets)? lol

I know what you meant, but that was what he was doing before he was working with Slug. Rhyming with and producing (some) for Unknown Prophets...and Knonam's whole debut for that matter.

N3R0N0N Of 0nslaught3r wrote:

^^^Not only that, but the whole state still swings from Slug's nuts. I see you, Big Jess!!

lol...true. I think Big Jess is a better rapper though...and he's right on Ant's heels in the production department IMO...sometimes I feel he's better. The thing about Slug though....most MN rappers are just plain jealous of Slug's exposure...probably because he isn't a great rapper. So yes, they all swing from his nuts.

On the Undisputed Truth DVD he said he was at UPS when he was introduced to Rhymesayers' music. Before then he had pretty much given up on hip hop.

Detroit - J Dilla for me

Atlanta - Outkast for sure

Houston - Geto Boys easily

Queens - Run DMC

Brooklyn - Beastie Boys....easily

Staten Island - Wu Tang

The Bronx - KRS One

Harlem - I guess Big L. But I like Immortal Technique more.

Long Island - Public Enemy

Los Angeles - Ice-T easily. Big ups to Cypress Hill, Tha Alkaholiks, NWA, & Pharcyde.

Oakland - Heiroglyphics or Living Legends

San Francisco - The Coup or E-40

Sacramento - Gift Of Gab

Chicago - Common, Molemen.

Cleveland - Bone Thugs

Seattle - Jake One, Blue Scholars.

Minnesota - Atmosphere easily, even though I like Bro Ali & Unknown Prophets way more.

New Orleans - Big Mike is my favorite

Philadelphia - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

New Jersey - Poor Righteous Teachers or Redman

Boston - Mr. Lif/Akrobatik/Perceptionists, Ed OG & Bulldogs as well.

Kansas City - Tech N9ne I guess. Don't know.

Miami - 2 Live Crew

St. Louis - Don't know...

Memphis - 8Ball & MJG

Nashville - No clue...

Kid Joe wrote:

On the Undisputed Truth DVD he said he was at UPS when he was introduced to Rhymesayers' music. Before then he had pretty much given up on hip hop.

I knew that. But he did some recording around the time of his debut album (Rites Of Passage) with others before Slug & Rhymesayers. And some a little later.

You know what Detroit has such a big presence I forgot all about the damn state of Michigan. But Breed did do a lot for that state getting any props in hip hop. So for the D i'd go with Eminem.

Newark-Redman
Detroit-Esham is one of Eminem's listed influences, E is the Godfather of all that Dark ish in Motown.
Chicago-No ID, influenced Common and Kanye
New Orleans-Master P, got em on the map big time
Flint-MC Breed
LA-NWA
Montgomery, AL-Dirty
Jackson, MS-David Banner

Good call on No ID

St. Louis gets Nelly. Guaranteed.

Everybody swings from Nelly's nuts. Other rappers hate Nelly because they say he isn't that good, but the funny thing is that NONE of the St. Louis rappers have proven them wrong. As far as the new school underground goes, Prince EA gets it.

Minnesota gets Atmosphere.
New Orleans gets Mystical or Master P. I choose Mystical

The Roots get Philly
San Fran gets 40 water
Jersey gets Redman
Atlanta gets Outkast

I gotta go with Schoolly D for Philly, Solaar for Paris (by way of Senegal), Comp for Baltimore, Little Brother for Durham N.C., DMX for Yonkers NY, Heavy D for Mount Vernon NY, (Mad)Skillz for Richmond VA, The Clipse for Va. Beach VA, YZ for Dallas TX, Celph Titled for Tampa FL and The Society of Invisibles for Phoenix AZ.

A. Scott & GK3 nice pix.

But damn, Red gets ALL off Jersey? I'll give him Newark. He might even have to compete with Latifah for that spot. She is one of the most widely recognized FeMcs ever.

East Orange, NJ-Naughty By Nature

Let me add:

Fort Worth, TX-Twisted Black
Montclair, NJ-Outlawz
South Orange, NJ-Lauryn Hill
Jersey City, NJ-Joe Budden
Englewood, NJ-Sugarhill Gang

KJ Styles wrote:

Detroit - Eminem (there's NO WAY that Esham is more important than him)

Uh...Esham is the pioneer of Detroit hip-hop. He put the scene on the map and folks like Eminem followed...so yes...on the local tip, he is more important than Eminem.