Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

I was meant to put this up on Saturday, but my internet connection has been messing up. Anyway, here it goes...11 Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know.



11. Drake has surpassed Jay-Z to become the rapper with the most No. 1 singles on the Billboard R& B/Hip-Hop chart. Jay has 9 No. 1's, Drake currently has 10...and counting.



10. Lil Kim and Missy Elliot are the only female rappers that have at least 3 platinum selling albums. Lil Kim- Hardcore (1996), Notorious Kim (2000), La Bella Mafia (2003). Missy Elliot- Supa Dupa Fly (1997), Tha Real World (1999), Miss E...So Addictive (2001), Under Construction (2002)




9.  In 1991, Gabriel Gravenstuk from The Source Magazine praised DMX in his "Unsigned Hype" column that highlighted unsigned hip-hop artist. In 1992, Columbia Records signed DMX to their subsidiary label, Ruffhouse, who released his debut single "Born Loser". He didn't release a debut album (It's Dark And Hell Is Hot) till 6 years later, in 1998 under Def Jam Records.





8.  Just a few rappers have been able to drop 2 solo studio albums in the same a year. Tupac- All Eyez On Me (February 1996), and Makaveli- The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory  (November 1996). Nas- "I Am" (April 1999), and "Nastradamus" (November 1999). DMX- "It's Dark And Hell Is Hot" (May 1999), and "Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood" (December 1999).




7.  Back in 1992, Sean "Puffy" Combs was A&R at Uptown Records when he signed Biggie to the label. He got fired months later. But because of his enthusiasm for the music business, Sean Combs formed his own label, Bad Boy Records in 1993, and got Biggie on his team again.

If Puff wasn't fired from Uptown Records, he probably wont have started Bad Boy when he did, and he wouldn't have marketed Biggie the way he did, and we probably wont have been blessed with one of the greatest rappers in Hip Hop history.




6.  Tupac was named after Tupac Amaru, Peruvian revolutionary who led an indigenous uprising against Spain and was subsequently executed. Isn't it funny that Tupac's life is almost in the same fashion. He was a revolutionary rapper, who got assassinated.

5.  Eminem's Marshall Marthers LP (2000) is the fastest selling Hip-Hop album in history. The album sold 1.76 million copies in its first 7 days in stores. Snoop Dogg held this record for 7 years prior to this with his Doggystyle album, which sold 800,000 copies in its first week out.




4.  Biggie got married to Faith Evans after knowing her for just 5 weeks.



3.  Not only is DMX the only rapper, he is the only musical artist in history to release his first 5 albums, and have them all debut at No. 1. "It's Dark And Hell Is Hot" (1998), "Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood" (1998), "And Then There Was X..." (1999), "The Great Depression" (2001), and "Grand Champ" (2004) all debuted at No.1.


2.  Contrary to popular belief, Jay-Z doesn't have 11 straight number one albums. He has released 11 solo studio albums, but his first two didn't debut at number one on the Billboard chart. The two other albums he counts to make him have 11 number one albums are his collaborative album with Linkin Park (Collision Course- 2004), and his collaborative album with R.Kelly (Unfinished Business- 2004)

1.  Nas is the only rapper that has had number one albums in 3 decades..."It Was Written" in 1996, "Hip-Hop Is Dead" in 2006, and his latest, "Life Is Good" (2012).