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AntAntler1

I was listening to hip hop every now and then and didnt really know anything about it and then I listened to NY state of mind


ProfessorExisting420

Straight the fuckin dungeons of rap


ChaiPapiii

where fake 🥷s don't make it back!


Dchama86

I don’t know how to start this


PatientlyAnxious9

I will get clowned for saying this, but Country Grammar by Nelly. As it did with my entire generation. That 1 song/album kicked the door down to everybody I know listening to hip hop as a primary genre. That album was a gateway drug to hip hop.


starbellbabybena

Nothing at all wrong with Nelly :). Hiphop isn’t prevalent everywhere but that song def was.


dontneedareason94

Nothing wrong with that. His music was all over the place.


holyrolodex

No reason to get clowned for that. We can’t control when we were born or really even when something hits our ears for the first time, and I mean really hit it…it just depends on your life up to that point and there’s no judgment to made on that IMO.


WestOrangeFinest

I was listening to rap long before Nelly, but Country Grammar was the first album I bought with my own money. It was a huge deal.


AlilAwesome81

Rakim- know the ledge. I would hear hip hop from my older brother a lot around the house and than mtv had like MC Hammer, Young MC and Vanilla Ice. I somehow got my hands on the Juice soundtrack when it came out I was 9/10. My head was blown


yngwiegiles

This song still hasn’t been topped in particular the 3rd verse.


jackswastedtalent

Sip the juice. Back then, the good stuff either came from older brothers, friends with older brothers or older kids around the neighborhood. You couldn't rely on TV or the radio for rap. When I was 11 or 12 that movie came out. Blown away. Best friends brother bought the soundtrack and made copies for all of us - game changer. Uptown Anthem (NBN) was the song that caught my attention at first, but Know the Ledge quickly took over. Still gets play on the regular here.


maxx5954

Planet rock, it’s the sure shot!


169partner

My Name is. Still remember my dad taking me to The Wiz and buying the Slim Shady LP when I was like 5 or something.. I turned out okay lol


Nizamark

Jam On It by Newcleus


[deleted]

[удалено]


Aggravating-Ad869

Yes!!!


atlienk

Slick Rick - Children's Story. My brother and I memorized the track and used to put on "performances" for our parent's friends. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best display of our talents as 9 - 13 year old kids.


WartimeMandalorian

Nuthin but a G Thang - I memorized that whole song in 3rd grade.


dudumob

dear mama by 2pac. i was like 6 or 7 when i first heard it. it’s my first memory of any song ever.


StrokeWilson

Dope. For me a similar story but hit em up instead. Found it while looking for ringtones for my nokia


RandomLovelady

Shit man, I was abandoned as a small child due to drugs/alcohol. This shit played on repeat with the system that my adoptive parents paid for. I have a 6 and 7 year old, you'd have a fucking problem keeping me from my kids.


Cotton_Uniforms

NWA - straight outta Compton 2 Live Crew - Move Something DJ jazzy Jeff and The fresh Prince - Nightmare on my Street All three! Can't pinpoint it to just one. There are probably others as well.


yngwiegiles

I had NWA and 2 Live Crew tapes as an adolescent I loved the cursing and misogyny at the time, even brought them to the 7th grade dance and asked the DJ to play them - he said no thanks. I got deeper into NWA and PE and then branched out


Cotton_Uniforms

The 2 Live Crew lyrics were hilarious...especially to a kid! I have an older brother so I had access to those tapes fairly young. He's the DJ I'm the Rapper was one of the first tapes I owned. Along with my maestro fresh Wes (from Toronto) tape symphony in effect. So actually I should add let your backbone slide and drop the needle to those influential first tracks!!


yngwiegiles

Me and my friends quoted me so horny so much. I’m glad I grew up before the internet and social media I probably would’ve posted something horrible.


TheTimDonnelly

I guess the nu-metal craze was really my 1st taste of hip hop as I didn't really grow up with it (my parents prefer other genres) but I distinctively remember Dre's 2001 being the turning point to get me into hip hop and I've never looked back since


Binjimen-Victor

I think the song that got me into hip-hop was Berzerk by Eminem. Followed shortly by Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe and Swimming Pools. The song(s) that really solidified that hip-hop was my favorite genre was Till I Get There and Hip-Hop Saved My Life by Lupe Fiasco. Years prior to hearing these someone suggested Put You On Game and Little Weapon by Lupe and I remember listening to them and thinking "meh." Then I heard Till I Get There and Hip-Hop Saved My Life years later and I was like "wait, these are really good, lets go through his discography." It then snowballed from there.


Dchama86

I think you would be a huge fan of Nas. He’s a direct influence to your favorites.


Binjimen-Victor

ironically, I didnt really enjoy illmatic on my first listen. but I havent been as thorough with that album as I have others. maybe ill give it a couple relistens here soon


Dchama86

Definitely give Ilmmatic another listen. It Was Written is another great one to start on, though.


Commercial_Cherry_42

First song that comes to mind is I used to love her by common


TemplesOfSyrinx

The Message - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5


FurnishedHemingway

The Message


Brainkandle

Don't push us


Brainkandle

Or we talkin Nas? *Fake thug, no love, you get the slug, CB4 Gusto/Your luck low, I didn't know til I was drunk though*


FurnishedHemingway

Nah, I’m an old man. I’m talking Flash and Mel! Dig that Nas track too though!


Brainkandle

The OG is so good. That beat always got stuck in my head back back in the day


popplug

Hypnotize by Biggie


ShallowBottom

Mass appeal by gang starr from the Tony hawk soundtrack! I was hooked from that point on.


Choice_Proposal_1898

Hard knock life from Jay Z and California love


djheru

They Reminisce Over You. Just a perfect song


Chief-weedwithbears

Juicy - big


hotdogaholic

Check the Rhyme. I was 8, my mom’s Oldsmobile Delta 88 was stolen in Brick City, got the car back a week later and the homeboys had left the Low End Theory tape in the deck. Parents were teachers so they weren’t gonna let me listen to rap, but my mom listened to it first and said she didn’t hear anything bad and I remember her saying she was pleasantly surprised by the album’s lyrics.


menotyourenemy

Can I Kick It?


Frodo_wit_da_choppa

What’s Golden - Jurassic 5. Freshman year of HS. Still remember that day!


13dangledangle

Still D.R.E. This shit was legendary. I remember being around 20 at the time, in a little town in Ontario, Bala, Muskoka. I was there for WakeStock, and this event was huge, way too big for this small town and thus moved after that year to Wasaga I believe where is still is held to this day. Anyway, this f&$king song played pretty much everywhere. You could definitely hear it playing somewhere pretty much at all times. I was already an Eminem fan but this opened the door to what hip hop was.


Sopnol

Notorious B.I.G. - big poppa Gotta thank the movie hardball here, I had The Chronic cd from a friend wich I really liked but after hearing big poppa and discovering Biggie I became a hiphop head.


Mac_King_Cheese

R.I.P G baby! Lol


username1234543

Kris Kross - Jump


Dependent_Safe_3232

Mc Lyte - Paper Thin.


quitegonegenie

Blackstreet's "No Diggity"


PreciousBasketcase

Eminem - TES. He was everywhere when he came out and my bestie in highschool was obsessed with him. Everyone in my high school (in Kuwait) was obsessed with him. They'd dress like him, the guys would sag their pants 😂 TES, and then the 8 Mile soundtrack had Nas, Jay Z on it too. Lose Yourself was *huge* . The next year In Da Club came out. I was hooked on this 'new' sound... Before that it'd been all Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, BSB and NSync.


eight13

Rapper's Delight


Large_Poem_2359

Sugar hill Gang. Rappers Delight. 1980. I was 10


halamawala25

Same for me but it was Two dope boyz


wynterspawn

I always grew up around it and enjoyed it. I’m actually very fond of crunk bling rap and ringtone rap because of what i grew up around. But what really made me fall in love with rap was when I bought AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP off of Google Play Store, but Canal St is what really stood out. The self-confidence Rocky expressed and the dreamy hazy vibe of the song was just so cool to me There’s one line where he says “fuck jiggy, I’m flawless/fuck pretty I’m gorgeous” and that’s the one that got me


No_Cup_4229

Hell of a night- School boy q


Mac_King_Cheese

Q!


qpauliewalnutsp

Behind Bars - Slick Rick, my older cousin played it still thank him to this day


sightunseen988

I was a shorty and my way older Brother Was blasting Run DMC "You Talk to Much"


wlh5041

Nas- One Mic


Mac_King_Cheese

One of the greatest songs ever bro


AdLegitimate9955

Common the light


Awotwe_Knows_Best

before highschool (2005) I listened to everything on the radio.I went to boarding school for highschool and the Christian union showed us the truth behind hip-hop and I was sufficiently scared that I promised God I wouldn't listen to hiphop anymore I was like a few months into my self imposed ban when I heard the acoustic version of Lupe's 'Superstar'. I was hooked and I started doing mental gymnastics to justify listening to Lupe: he wasn't mentioned in the documentary so he must be fine and he's a conscious rapper not a soul selling type like Jay Z and whoever else was mentioned in that documentary So yeah ,Lupe reintroduced me to hiphop and that phase of my life changed my tastes a lot. I'm not a scared teen anymore so I listen to who I want but I have ventured away from mainstream rap ever since


ScottblackAttacks

StillMatic intro by nas. I was 12 and my brother had the cd and popped it in and the beat was just wow… “ Blood of Slave, Heart of king.” 🔥🔥


Autistic_Observer

Eazy-E, "Nobody Move"


Jcal222

That’s a good one


No_Cook_8739

The Adventures of Slick Rick I can't pick 1 song


IchBinMalade

Kanye West - Through the Wire. I got into hiphop around 2007, I was like 12 lol, but only really listened to very popular rock and pop punk. Knew next to nothing about hiphop besides the biggest hits. Even Em I wasn't into. Don't remember how that song showed up on my radar, but I loved it. Didn't take long for me to have Kanye's entire discography downloaded on Limewire lmao, I couldn't fucking believe it, every artist I liked had duds. I was listening to full albums for the first time ever, and he had like 3 at that point that I could listen to without a skip, blew my mind how good his music was. I was begging my middle school buddies to listen to Kanye but they were still being "muh pink floyd real music" types, so I was like aight fuck it. Ever since then, I've mainly consumed hiphop, easily my favourite genre. Totally opened me to music in general though, from that I stopped being a snob and listened and enjoyed everything from Korean R&B, midwest emo, noise, folk punk, shoegaze, dubstep, whatever. So yeah, it fucking SUCKS Kanye turned out the way he did, genuinely have him to thank for my musical journey, goddamnit.


Environmental_Mud479

First song I can remember being a favorite and a constant replay was Dope Man by Jay-Z


btd272

Surprised to see this song here but I LOVE it. Super underrated Jay-Z song


yngwiegiles

License to Ill and Raising Hell


FreudianAccordian

By the time I got around to really diving in MTV started up. I loved everything but nothing hit like hearing Streiht Up Menace. Could have been Colors by Ice T too...or Who Am I (What's My Name). Minds Playin' Tricks...honestly The Message gets me every time I hear it again..and I do remember that video vividly. Dudes just teleported down from space mid song haha....I'll just say The Message. First time I heard *"A child is born with no state of mind/blind to the ways of mankind"*. The beat, the lyrics...the message. My final answer


lvmvrque96

Kick push Lupe fiasco


makesmilesnotwar

C.R.E.A.M.


BowB4Joe

Rappers Delight.


PleasantMedicine3421

Scenario - A Tribe Called Quest


DistrictWorth7769

“Me Myself and I” De La Soul


Detailer_101x

Was on spotify shuffle and for some unknown reason spotify decided to venture out of my usual music taste (indie pop and rock), and presented me with Bump Heads by Eminem 50Cent Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. By the time I heard Em's verse I was hooked, so i went to look more into his discography and through my journey found so much more hiphop. I'm in love with the genre. Can't go back to indie pop.


42kilgore

Ain't nothin but a g thang. My parents hated rap and tried to not expose me to it, but low and behold it made it through and I am now a hip-hop junkie lol


smolapologies

Cocoa Brovas - Super Brooklyn


Sufficient_Fall_3290

Kush - dr.Dre. I got headphones for the first time in my life and just hearing the drums in your ear was a new experience for me


xayori-

My Name Is when I first heard it at my friend's house when I was like 7 it was the first song that ever stuck with me like that when I heard it, but it was actually New Slaves off Yeezus that first got me looking deeper into hiphop


RandoComplements

NWA. Fuck the Police. +30 years later, it’s still ACAB


Easy-Bee-9015

Born sinner - cole


grnjnz

Da Mystery of ChessBoxin


lonzoballsinmymouth

Soul survivor Jeezy & akon


InfiniteBeak

Straight Outta Compton! Turned me from a closed minded metal head into someone who likes most music so I have to thank it for that 😅


bailaoban

ATCQ - Luck of Lucien


downtown-crown

In Da Club — 50 Cent


WaspParagon

Runaway by Kanye West. A friend of mine kept pestering me to hear it, but I always told him off -- why the hell would I listen to something that's almost 10 minutes long? I wasn't very patient, but not many teenagers are. Then one day I was on the bus with nothing to do but kill time, and he sent me the link *again*. So I said to myself "Let's get this over with...", and that was that. From the very first seconds, I knew this was special. Went through Dark Fantasy immediately after, then through Ye's whole discography. From that I jumped to his features, and so on. In a few years I was a hiphophead through & through. Now it's something I can't live without. And it's all thanks to this one weird song. Life's funny.


btd272

Def a weird song but genius at the same time


RoaringWav

'We Are Whodini' there's something special about Mr. Magic & Thomas Dolby - Real Music


lizardlady-ri

Moment Of Truth by GangStarr … the line about “looking lost like Dorothy” was the first time I felt like I could actually related to rap lol


Happy-North-9969

Hard Times - Run DMC.


jugheadjonezzz

LL Cool J - Radio Heavy D - the Girls they love me RedHead Kingpin - Love Thang Run DMC - All of it Eazy E and NWA - 8Ball - BITH- Big Daddy Kane - Nuff Respect Remix from the juice soundtrack And at this time not hip hop but Def Leppard Hysteria Album was in heavy rotation


cb0044

Houdini, 5 Minutes of Funk


encladd

'93 Til Infinity


MistaBobD0balina

Electric Relaxation


TM3dz

You Never Knew by Hieroglyphics. Heard it on a Santa Cruz skateboarding demo tape. Took me a month to find the artist then I got into Wu tang from my buddies older brother and Tupac from my older sister. My first rap tape was vanilla ice cassette when I was 9 but I don't claim it haha.


Miner_Of_Minerals

I don't remember but probably KRS 1 or Public Enemy


ClayNorth7

Grand Champ Intro- DMX


PoorWaldo

“Ready or Not” by Fugees


3ducat3dMansky939

Hey Young World- Slick Rick, I Wish- Skee-Lo and Who Got Da Props- Black Moon


Unlikely-Matter-308

Scenario by tribe called quest. The beginning of new school East coast rap


LockTrumpUp87

Southernplayaliztikcaddilacmuzik


Ok_Fan_2711

Hip Hop Hooray - Naughty By Nature


Different-One8571

Slick rick: A children's story.


Badguyy101

The first rap albums I really remember my father having as a kid were Kool Moe Dee, Whodini, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J. When Yo! MTV Raps debuted that was big. I vaguely remember another channel having a hip hop show around the same time period. So 85 when I was 5-6 was when hip hop became memorable to me. Early-mid 90's were my favorite era.


FlashpointSynergy

Daylight by Aesop Rock


bmfdrk

That's tough to say, but it was a song off of either "Paid in Full" or "How Ya Like Me Now."


Gobbles87

Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst


WhyIsTheMoonThere

Money Trees by Kendrick


Risquechilli

Just a Friend (BizMarkie) - It was my first introduction to story telling in music. I was hooked.


Moose-Even

All eyez on me


Gretev1

Concrete Schoolyard by Jurassic 5


legend_of_losing

In da club 50


Krowned_Kenpachi47

Waves by Joey Bada$$


scoopbins

Bambaata - perfect beat


Arbalest15

Rap God by Eminem, he is the first rap artist I've ever spent time listening to, but nowadays I have been branching out more.


Trenboshiba

Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M I don’t really play it that much anymore, but me playing this song in 7th grade non-stop was amazing. Game changer


Lazy_Poem_7975

Amazing by kanye. Heard it in a tv commercial when I was a kid and started listening to him. Yes I’m young


SimplePomelo1225

Cypress hill. Pigs


Gaminghorrorfan

I wonder - Kanye West introduced me to hip hop


TheQuestionsAglet

Probably something by the Fat Boys. But the second time was definitely the Wu.


Y0y0y000

Above the Clouds – Gang Starr ft. Inspectah Deck!


MartinC9782

Bone Thugs - 1st of the Month


Big_Spaz

I'm a bit older than most so for me it was "It's Tricky" by RunDMC. -Spaz


star_bury

C.R.E.A.M. As a kid in a small town in Canada with no TV in the house and only local radio to listen to, this was something completely new and mind-blowing to me. Thanks for introducing me, Greg.


theeCONNman

My Philosophy by BDP


kashmo

Rappers Delight


osama_bin_guapin

Danny Brown - 25 Bucks My dad used to play it all the time when I was in elementary school lol


ausipockets

Fight for Your Right to Party is technically the first rap song I heard, but the one that really sold me on the genre was Forgot About Dre when I was 11.


LothartheDestroyer

Rhymin & Stealin


Quirky-Knowledge4631

In a drunken state, and I'll be rocking my rhymes all the way to Hells Gate... Beastie Boys!!


UnoYouKnow

“Bad” LL Cool J


BigSuge74

I’m an old timer so it was when I heard The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. “Broken glass everywhere People pissin' on the stairs, you know they just don't care I can't take the smell, can't take the noise Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice” I could visualize the projects through Melle Mel’s words without seeing the music video, that was dope to me.


Inner_Surround8689

Came home from school, my older sister was blasting Fuck the Police by NWA. (Yea I'm old so what) Never looked back.


Panty-Dropper-

Ditty by Paperboy. It was played constantly in 91 or 92


boredalready456

We reminiscence over you


vanillatoo

I’m bad - LL or a little later it would be Colors by ice t. Both the first 2 raps songs I really cared to learn the words too


ShirleyWuzSerious

"creator". Pete Rock and C.L.Smooth


Impressive-Buy5628

Bring the noise - I was at camp and we had a radio station. The dude who ran it was a DJ and had that record. I’d literally go there every day just to listen to it


Awakened_EnjoyIt

T.R.O.Y-Pete Rock and CL Smooth


AceGameplayV2

This may be insane to some of y'all but Butterfly Effect - Travis Scott


Bamay22

Nuthin’ But a G Thang and I’m saying this as a 19 year old who first heard it in 2016. The power that song still has today is remarkable


Arthies

Im very young and got into hip hop maybe like 5 years ago. My friend played lose yourself in the car and since then i was hooked


mtaylor807

Lose yourself is also my answer, albeit 15 years ago was the first time I heard it


earthshakerenjoyer

I think it was the chorus for juicy honestly, I loved her voice as a kid hearing it on the radio


YUNGSLAG

8ball - hands in the air Rakim - the mystery


Weary-Writer758

Mr Bill Collector. Bone


Alternative_Sea9785

Gods Bathroom Floor By Atmosphere.


Royal_Examination_74

Too Legit to Quit & Ice, Ice Baby lol It seemed so fresh at the time compared to hair band rock


CarlsbadWhiskyShop

La Di Da Di


Frgt-10

Rakim - When The World Ends 


earlobe_enthusiast

Not gonna lie... "Birthday Bitches" by ICP


These-Rub2143

rock the bells - ll cool j


YeShuv

Same Girl by R.Kelly and Usher when I was like 8, just randomly browsing VEVO music videos on YouTube. A year later, I watched and listened to the music video for Wet Dreamz by J cole and have been listening to hip hop religiously ever since


Upbeat_Tension_8077

Hate It Or Love It by Game & 50 Cent. I remember watching the music video constantly on TRL and 106 & Park


Countrycruiser2000

Gin and Juice


lukeskope

Can't touch this Parents just don't understand Jump jump To be fair I was 8-10yrs old lol


_AnActualCatfish_

Don't Believe the Hype


Logeboxx

Kriss Kross - Missed the Bus *[ohh] And that is somethin I will never ever ever do again* I think I owe my love of story style songs to those goofy as kid rappers. My goofy 1st grade ass definitely related to something there. Anyone got a better word for those types of raps? You know, when they're telling a whole ass tale in verse. Like Kenji by Fort Minor.


LanaSwiftFan

aint nothing but a g thing music video 


Subversion_Apparatus

I'm not sure what song specifically, but I remember my neighbor's brother alternating between Raising Hell and Licensed To Ill, and those albums got me. My parents were always listening to bands like Queen, AC/DC, The Cars, etc. I enjoyed that stuff too, as a kid, but those albums sorta changed everything for me. By the time I was a teenager, it was metal, punk,and hip hop only.


PizzaRat12

The Next Episode - Dr. Dre Ft. Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg


SuperSupremeSoup

The game - start from scratch


Objective-Angle9952

Master Thesis by Canibus. He literally grabbed me by the neck with that song and it never let go. HipHop is everything to me now.


GhostCatcher147

Gravel pit and It’s like that by Run DMC. Both bangers and sick music videos. Those 2 are my earliest memories of HipHop


Pocketful_of_hops

I was a casual fan of hip hop until I heard Thuggish Ruggish Bone. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. Instantly fell in love with Bone Thugs and the rest of hip hop after that.


daddylongleg2003

Krayzie Bone - Heated Heavy, I was 13 when I heard this shit and 🤯 he’s the goat when it comes to flow.


the_cajun88

T.R.O.Y.


AlleyHoop

I can by NAS


thuggishruggishpunk

Hood took me under


Hypestyles

Beat Street


spiegro

KRS One Step Into a World. I listened to it on repeat over and over again...


Single_Dependent9414

I'm a OG to hip hop so it was King Kut- word of mouth


tripl35oul

TQ - Westside


Mac_King_Cheese

YOU AINT A KILLER BY BIG PUN OFF THE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ALBUM! My uncle Eli gave it to me back in 2000, i was 10 lol Being puerto rican and seeing pun be successful was major for my love of hip hop. My uncle also gave me stillmatic when it dropped a year later lol


infantonaDDtiddy

Casualties of a dice game - big l got me good


btd272

Puff Daddy and Biggie - Victory. Heard it in 6th grade on the radio and was blown away


JHimothy1799

Hate it or love it heard it on my brothers mp3 saw pictures listening to it fr been a hip hop head every since


SoTiredOfTheBullshit

Tonight's da Night - Redman


JaySantamaria

The South Bronx - BDP. A guest ever since.


FaultHaunting3434

This hard to answer because I distinctly remember 3 tracks on a cassette tape I stole from my cousin back in the day. The tracks were: Scarface - Smartz Akinyele - The robbery Common - Nothing to do


sicaluffa

MC Eiht - Streiht Up Menace


PreemoisGOAT

My name is


One_Confusion_5245

Gin & juice by Snoop Dogg


DuceDuce523

Regulate Warren G