Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

Check out some Hip Hop facts you might not know...sit back and let me edutain you.

5.  Kanye West has won 112 music awards in total, including 21 Grammys.

4.  50 Cent, Jay Z, and Eminem are all left-handed.

3.  In 1993, a 20 year old JD started his own label, So So Def. 2 years before that, he had discovered Kris Kross (a young rap duo) at a local mall in Atlanta. He signed them to his label, and their debut album, Totalled Krossed Out (1992) sold over 4 million copies (they were both 13 years old at the time). JD also signed female R&B group, Xscape, and they also went platinum with their debut album, Hummin' Comin' at Cha.' In 1993, JD signed his biggest act of the 90s, female rapper, Da Brat, and her debut album, Funkadafied (1994) sold over a million copies, making Da Brat the first solo female rapper to go plat in Hip Hop history.

2.  Nicki Minaj is originally from Trinidad and Tobago. She moved to the New York City borough of Queens when she was 5 years old.

1.  Although Illmatic was released in 1994, Nas wrote and recorded most of the songs that appear on the album between 1991-1992, when he was 17 to 18 years old. 

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

It's that time of the week again, and here we go. Below are some Hip Hop facts you might not know.




5.  Before starting out Death Row Records, Suge Knight used to do bodyguard work for Bobby Brown.

















4.  50 Cent doesn't drink, or smoke.

3.  Back in the early 90s, Dr. Dre beat up a female TV host, Dee Barnes, for interviewing Ice Cube, and taking sides with him as he said some disrespectful things about Dre. Ice Cube had just left N.W.A at the time, and he was dissing Dre and the other members of N.W.A. After the interview, Dre saw Dee Barnes at an industry event; he beat her to the ground, and continually kicked her on the floor while his bodyguards held people off. He ended up with 240 hours of community service, 2 years probation and an anti-violence PSA.





2.  Fat Joe gave Biggie his first show, and paid him $1,000...along with a bottle of Hennessey.







1.  Mary J. Blige got on Jay Z's 'Can't Knock The Hustle' (off Reasonable Doubt) as a favour for Damon Dash, whom she had previously dated.

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

Okay, since what's popping right now is the Kendrick Lamar Responses...I mean, responses to Kendrick Lamar's controversial rap verse on Big Sean's Control track, where he called himself the King Of New York, I will have some Hip Hop facts related to that.




Lets kick things off...


5.  During the 90s, the crown of the king of New York was passed around between Biggie, Nas and Jay Z. It was more than just a title for the best selling or the most lyrical artist out there; It had a lot of respect connotations to it. And New Yorkers hold the title in high respect.










4.  50 Cent co-owns a movie production company (Cheetah Vision) with Randall Emmett, and has a $200 million deal with Lionsgate to produce 10 movies; an average of $20 million to be spent on each movie. Setup, All Things Fall Apart and Freelance are some of the movies that have been released through the company.

3.  Papoose started out with a verse on one of Kool G Rap's songs back in 1998, and then was highly promoted by DJ Kay Slay in the early 2000s, when he had his "Alphabetical Slaughter" song buzzing. To date, he has dropped 26 mixtapes, and one studio album.









2.  Except for 2004's Encore, all Eminem's albums have won Grammy Awards...that is a total of 5 awards for best rap album.







1.  In 2010, Kendrick Lamar recorded a freeestyle over Kanye West's Monster beat, where he said he was the best rapper alive. That was before the mainstream got to know about him. And on the track, he said he was going at Busta Rhymes, Lupe Fiasco, Snoop, Jay Z, Nas...and a host of other rappers for the top spot. So, his recent verse on Control, where he pulled a similar move wasn't his first.

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

Okay, here we go again. It's another Friday, and i wish you all a great weekend. Below are some Hip Hop facts you might not know.

5.  J.Cole's mother is a Caucasian  woman, while his dad is African American.

4.  Fat Joe and Biggie were working on collaboration album in the mid 90s, and were 4 songs in before they discontinued the project. Fat Joe related the story recently during an interview on 105.1's The Breakfast Club. He said Biggie had approached him for the project as he felt they were both dons in their worlds...Biggie, the Black don, and Joe the Latin don. The project couldn't b completed as Fat Joe got ownership of his own label at the time, and got carried away. Till this day, no joints from the session has leaked. DJ Envy also spoke on trying to lay his hands on the tracks back in the 90s, but to no avail.

3.  Eminem failed the 9th grade a total of 3 times, because all he was concerned about was being one of the greatest rappers in history.

2.  Chief Keef's mother is 32 years old, and she follows him to most of his shows. Keef said he was inspired to be a rapper cos she was really into Hip Hop music when he was younger, and he would hear her rap along to some of Beanie Sigel's songs.

1.  Whiz Khalifa once said he spends close to $10,000 a month on weed.

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

I like to put this up every week cos I believe there are so many hip hop facts people might not know. I think this will help people have a better understanding of the Hip Hop world. Below are 5 Hip Hop facts you might not know...enjoy the read.




5.  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.














4.  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.











3.  Kick In The Door, a track off the late Biggie's Life After Death album was a diss record aimed at Nas, Raekwon and a a couple of other rappers. Raekwon and Biggie never got along, and on his Purple Tape (Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...) album in 1995, on a track titled Ice Water, he had some lines aimed at biggie-

"That's life, to top it all off, beef for white
pullin bleach out tryin to throw it in my eyesight"


Biggie was going by an alias at the time, Frank White. Big hit back with these lines off Kick in the Door-


"Fuck that, why try, throw bleach in your eye"

And for Nas, Biggie was on the Source Magazine cover in 1996, with the title- King Of New York. Nas had been known as the King Of New York around 1994/1995. So, he sent a subliminal at Biggie on his The Message track, off his It Was Written (1996) album. Check out the lines from Nas below-

"Yo let me let y'all niggaz know one thing
There's one life, one love, so there can only be one King"

Big hit back on Kick in the Door with these lines.

"Your reign on the top was short like leprechauns
As I crush so-called willies, thugs, and rapper-dons
Get in that ass, quick fast, like ramadan...

...Ain't no other kings in this rap thing
They siblings, nothing but my chil'ren
One shot, they disappearin'
It's ill when MC's used to be on cruddy shit
Took home Ready to Die, listened, studied shit
Now they on some money shit, successful out the blue"

The last line above is talking about how Nas was so street on Illmatic, but became a Mafioso rapper on It Was Written. After all of that, Biggie still shouted out Nas on the Thank You page of Life After Death's booklet.

2.  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)












1.  Canibus and LL Cool J had beef back in 1998Canibus was just getting into the game. Even though LL was a already a rap legend at the time, Canibus won the battle with his Second Round K.O track, which some put up there with Tupac's Hit Em Up, and Nas's Ether, as one of the greatest beef songs of all time. It is rumoured that this caused LL to use his power in the industry to blackball Canibus.
, when

Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

Pardon me for not putting this up yesterday, I got carried away by some business I was trying to sort out. So, here we go again. Below are some Hip Hop facts you might not know.



5.  When Lil Wayne's Cash Money Records deal expired in 2006, Jay-Z tried to sign him to Rocafella Records for a reported $5 million. But Jay made the mistake of telling Birdman about it. Birdman quickly sent a legal paper of warning to the Roc office the next couple of days, and worked out a new contract with Wayne... which included him having his own label (Young Money Records).








4.  Eminem's second album, The Marshall Mathers LP is the best selling Hip Hop album of all time. It has sold 22 million copies globally to date, and is still selling.







3.  Jay-Z had been trying to get his rap career popping since he was Jaz-O's side kick in 1989, when he was just 19. He didn't drop his first album (Reasonable Doubt) till 7 years later, when he was 26 years old.











2.  Although he no longer holds the title, in 2001, Busta Rhymes was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for having said the most syllables in one second.







1.  Most of the rappers that Dr. Dre has mentored in his career have been shot multiple times and survived. Before signing to Suge and Dre's Death Row Records, Tupac had been shot 5 times outside the Quad studio in 1994. Game was shot 5 times in 2001, when a couple of people gained access into his apartment with the intent of buying weed from the rapper. And we all know 50 Cent was shot 9 times (3 times actually...he was shot at 9 times, but 3 bullets hit him) back in 2000.

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

I put this up every Friday and make people go Oooo! Or Hmm! Below are 5 Hip Hop facts you might not know. Have fun.







5.  Tupac made his last album alive, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory in 7 days. He voiced his lyrics in 3 days, and the album was mixed within 4 days.












4.  MC Lyte is the solo first female rapper to release a full length album- Lyte as a Rock (1988).

3. MC Lyte's 1996 album (Bad As I Wanna B), had her throwing up the Roc sign, before Jay-Z even conceptualized his Rocafella sign. For the people shouting Illuminati, you need to check out this MC Lyte album cover, and know that the sign really signifies a diamond shape.












2.  During a Nas Concert in 2008, Busta Rhymes came out on stage and said- "Some might disagree... but Nas is the best MC in the world.









1.  Eminem's 2000 album, The Marshall Mathers LP sold 1.7 million copies first week. It still holds the record for the highest first week sales for a hip hop album in history...even Eminem himself can't beat his own record. The album also is the best selling rap album in Hip Hop history, with over 11 million copies sold in the U.S alone.

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

I put this up every Friday to educate my readers on Hip Hop history, through facts they might not know about. So, here we go again.






5.  Ludacris owns a private jet; a Hawker 700 Jet.









4.  Although a lot of people see Juicy J as a new artist, he was actually the founding member of Grammy Award winning southern rap group, Three 6 Mafia in (founded in 1991). The group has released 9 albums to date, and Juicy J has released 2 solo albums of his own. His third album (Stay Trippy), with lead single, Bandz A Make Her Dance, is scheduled to drop in August of this year.




3.  Beyonce can be seen dancing with her fellow Destiny Child's members in Nas's You Owe Me video from back in 2000. 







2.  In 2009, Jay-Z bought out his contract with Def Jam, and got the rights to all the music he made while under the label for $5,000,000. He went on to form Roc Nation, and signed his new label to Live Nation for $150 million.










1.  Eminem, Jay-Z and 50 Cent are all left-handed.

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

I used to put this up on Saturdays, but i changed that to Fridays now. Below are some Hip Hop facts you might not know.




5.  Brandy and Snoop Lion are first cousin's.



4.  Mac Miller gets inspired to write rap verses by watching movies on mute; that's where he got the title of his second album- Watching Movies With The Sound off.





3.  Eminem's second album, The Marshall Marthers LP was originally titled Amsterdam, cos he wrote  most of the songs on the album there.











2.  Jay-Z's 6th album, The Blueprint was released on Sept 11, 2001...the same day as the world trade centre bombings.



1.  Despite his 'over the top' gangster persona, 50 Cent doesn't drink, nor smoke

.

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

Here we go again; check out some Hip Hop facts you might not know.







7.  Jay-Z's debut album (Reasonable Doubt), although critically acclaimed, sold only 35,000 copies first week when it was released in June of 1996.











6.  Although he started off his rap career proclaiming himself an old time Blood gang member, The Game didn't get with the Blood Gang till his debut album, Documentary dropped in 2005. The Blood gang thing was a marketing strategy to make him look like a certified G. His brother was Cedar Block Piru (Blood), so that helped certify him. He has been down with the bloods ever since.




5.  When Soulja Boy blew up in the late 2000s, he used to always walk around with a million dollars cash in his pockets.






4.  Although shot at 9 times, only 3 bullets hit 50 Cent in his near-death incidence of 2000. One bullet hit his arm, another hit his leg, and the last hit him in the mouth.








3.  Kendrick Lamar used to be Jay Rock's hype man.


2.  Game took Kendrick Lamar on his first nationwide tour in the late 2000s, when he was still going by the name KDot.





1.  Tupac was born in New York, and didn't move to California (West Side America) until his teens.

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

Okay, I am here again to "edu-tain" you. I put this up every Saturday, so If you like reading it, make sure you always check back on Saturdays...remember, it's kaysrapzone.blogspot.com at your service. Below are 7 Hip Hop facts you might not know.










7.  Black Eyed Peas song, "I Gotta Feeling" is the first single ever to sell more than one million downloads in the United Kingdom.












6.  In the new movie, Spring Breakers which stars Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez, Gucci Mane had a sex scene, which happens to be a real sex session. The movie director said it himself that he went out and looked for a big booty girl that would catch Gucci's fancy. During the filming of the particular scene, Gucci said he would rather have the girl ride him cos he was tired, and he ended up falling asleep while they were filming. The director said that's the actual cut that made the movie...no edit.




5.  Tupac's 5th album, The Don- Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996) was recorded within a space of a week. He wrote the lyrics and recorded the whole album (12 track album) in 3 days; and mixing took an additional 4 days. Unfortunately, he was killed a few weeks after completing the album. It was released posthumously, and went on to sell 4 million copies in the U.S alone.



4.  From 1996-1998, Foxy Brown was in a rap group called The Firm,  with Nas, AZ,  and Nature. Around that same time, she was more or less Jay-Z's right hand lady...they recorded countless songs togther, including Ain't No Nigga, which was the hit single of Jay's debut album, Reasonable Doubt. It is funny cos at the time, Nas and Jay-Z were already at war...cold war...and they never crossed parts.




3.  Nas has 3 albums that have received 5 mics ratings (Classic Rating) from the Source Magazine- Illmatic (1994), Stillmatic (2001), and Life Is Good (2012). No other rapper or rap group has achieved that.



2.  Lil Kim and Foxy Brown used to be close friends around 1995-1996, when they were both getting into the game. Close sources say they would spend hours on the phone discussing music, and their future plans. They were even meant to record a collabo album (Thelma & Louise) together in 1997, which never materialized. Things started turning ugly when they dropped their debut albums in the same month (November) of 1996, and the competitive nature of the Hip Hop scene made people close to them turn then against each other. They began a war of words in the late 90s, and it has been on since then.

1.  Although Game came on the scene two years after 50 Cent blew up with "Get Rich Or Die Trying", they were signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records around the same time. Game even made an appearance in 50 Cent's In Da Club video back in 2003.

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.