Golden Age Hip Hop Quiz

Golden Age Hip Hop Music (1985-1995)

• Golden Age hip hop is a term used to describe mainstream hip hop music created from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, known for its diversity, quality, innovation, and influence on the genre.
• The era was characterized by experimental music, eclectic sampling, and various types of subject matter.
• The most associated artists with this period were LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, KRS-One, Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest.
• Gangsta rap artists such as N.W.A, 2 Live Crew, and Too Short co-existed with the releases of these artists.
• The golden age was a time of innovation, and every new single seemed to reinvent the genre.
• The era birthed a new breed of producers and DJs who used sampling technology to create sound collages from various genres.
• The golden age also saw some of the greatest advances in rapping techniques, with artists like KRS-One, Rakim, and LL Cool J inventing complex wordplay and lyrical kung-fu.
• Hip hop was used as a form of social protest, addressing social issues such as Afrocentric living, drug use, crime and violence, religion, culture, and the state of the American economy.
• There was often an emphasis on black nationalism in the era.
• The specific time period that the golden age covers varies among different sources, but it is generally accepted that it occurred from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.
• The Juice Crew, led by Marley Marl, was an important force in ushering the golden age era of hip hop, with advances in lyrical technique and distinctive personalities of emerging artists.
• Boogie Down Productions manufactured a disagreement with the Juice Crew's MC Shan, releasing "South Bronx" and "The Bridge is Over" in reply to his "The Bridge" and "Kill That Noise" respectively, and their first album, Criminal Minded, presaged the rise of an underground that matched violent lyrics to the hardcore drum machine tracks of the new school.The New School era of hip hop music was characterized by a shift in the sound and message of rap music. Eric B. & Rakim were one of the most influential groups of the era, with Rakim's precise, logical style and allusions to The Nation of Gods and Earths. Public Enemy, with their circle of hatted b-boy logo and anti-crack messages, saw critical and commercial success with their album Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Gangsta rap, which centered on urban violence, emerged on the East Coast with Schoolly D and on the West Coast with N.W.A. The Native Tongues groups, including The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest, moved away from aggressive posturing towards Afrocentricity and playful, thoughtful raps. The legal cases of Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records Inc. and The Turtles v. De La Soul effectively ended the "Wild West" period of sampling during the golden age of hip hop.

Test your knowledge of the Golden Age of Hip Hop (1985-1995) with our quiz! From LL Cool J to Public Enemy, this era of hip hop was characterized by innovation, diversity, and social protest. See how much you know about the artists, producers, and groundbreaking techniques that shaped this influential period in hip hop history. Take our quiz now and show off your Golden Age hip hop expertise!