Some Hip-Hop Facts You Might Not Know

Most times when I'm with my friends, and we are speaking on music, I might say something and make people go like- "I didn't know that." So, I decided to put together some facts in hip-hop history that some might not know, or might have gotten wrong. Please note that I don't boast of knowing it all, but anyone that dedicate as much time as I do to Hip Hop is bound to know some things that a lot of people don't.

So, I have decided that every Saturday, I would list 11 hip-hop facts that people might not be aware of. Hear we go.








1.  Lil Wayne signed to Bryan "Birdman" William's Cash Money Records in 1995, at the age of 12. It is safe to say that this man lived his life in studio.








2.  Jay-Z didn't sell platinum (a million copies) till he released his third album (Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life)) in 1998...the album was his third studio album, and his first to debut at number 1. on the billboard Top 200 Album Chart.



3.  50 Cent got his name (50 Cent) from a New York criminal of the 80s, whose real name was Kelvin Darnell Martins, but got nicknamed 50 Cent cos he was always ready to rob anyone, regardless of howmuch they might have on them.



4.  Dr. Dre named his second album, Chronic 2001, eventhough it came out in 1999. He did this because Suge Knight  made a CD named Chronic 2000, which had old Death Row tracks. A the time, Suge and Dre had had a falling out. And for those that don't know, Suge Knight started Death Row Records in 1991, and signed Dr. Dre as a producer...that lead to the signing of successful artists like- Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound (Daz & Kurrupt), and Tupac.



5.  Nas's critically acclaimed debut album, Illmatic wasn't a commercial success when it was first released in 1994. In fact, it didn't go platinum until Stillmatic was released 7 years later. I guess the line in Got Your Self A Gun, where he said- "Hit the record store...get my whole collection"- helped the sales.



6.  The late Violator Management founder, Chris Lighty hired Jay-Z to ghostwrite most of Foxy Brown's debut album- Ill Na Na (1996).



7.  Kanye West was doing Ghost Production job at Bad Boy records in the late 90s, and also worked at JD and Mase's collaborative All Out Record label about the same time.













8.  The real reason Mase left Hip-Hop & Harlem was because of heavy extortion, not an epiphany from God. Cam'Ron and Jim Jones confirm this. And in recent interviews, Loon (former bad boy records artist) spoke on how Mase messed with a lot of girls, and he had to always step in when the girls' boyfriends wanted to give Mase a beatdown.



9.  A young Fat Joe, and his boys Tony Montana (R.I.P) and Charlie Rock L.D were one of the top two crack crews in the Bronx in the mid 80s, and bringing in thousands of dollars daily.








10. Jay-Z and Fat Joe have had a cold war for as long as they have been on the scene. Fat Joe, who has stated in may mediums that he is a Nas fan, said he almost cried when he heard that Nas was ending his beef with Jay-Z back in 2005. But in 2009, Jay-Z attended the album release party for Fat Joe's 9th album, J.O.S.E 2, and it has been love ever since. You see how LOVE is the greatest weapon?



11. During an argument back in the early 00s, Styles P stabbed a man in the buttocks.  He wast convicted of the crime and went to jail for 8 months in 2002.