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The West Coast · Compton & Watts · since 1984

1984
West Coast
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South Central (LA)

Compton & Watts
Electro · G-funk · gangsta narrative · TDE
Ride the roster1:40
Story, bloodline and 10 names

LA answered New York with electro and then with reporting. Ice-T's 6 in the Mornin' (1986) and N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton (1988) turned the West Coast into the loudest political flashpoint in American music, and Dr. Dre then spent thirty years being its most consequential producer.

Bloodline · 1 stop from The Bronx
  1. 1973The Bronx
  2. 1984South Central (LA)

TransferDowntown Manhattan

Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" reached LA through mobile DJs and car audio, and electro landed harder there than anywhere. Ice-T then heard Schoolly D's Philadelphia record and realised the form could carry local reporting.

Next stopsOakland & the Bay, Houston, Seattle, São Paulo, Leimert Park (LA) and 8 more

RuthlessDeath RowAftermathTDEShady/Aftermath
Roster
1986
Ice-T

6 in the Mornin' — the first West Coast street narrative record.

YTW
1987
N.W.A

Eazy, Dre, Cube, Ren, Yella. Got a letter from the FBI and kept going.

YTW
1990
Ice Cube

Left N.W.A, went to the Bomb Squad, made the angriest album of the era.

YTW
1991
2Pac

Born in East Harlem, made in the Bay and LA — the whole map in one artist.

YTW
1991
DJ Quik

Compton's other great producer; the musicianship people slept on.

YTW
1992
Dr. Dre

The Chronic invented G-funk and made LA the industry's centre of gravity.

YTW
1992
Snoop Dogg

Long Beach drawl that made menace sound relaxed.

YTW
2010
Nipsey Hussle

Crenshaw. Sold a mixtape for $100 and meant every word about ownership.

YTW
2011
Kendrick Lamar

good kid, m.A.A.d city; the first rapper awarded a Pulitzer.

YTW
2014
Vince Staples

Long Beach, deadpan, allergic to nostalgia.

YTW

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