HIPHOP

Sunday, February 20, 2011 6:00PM

NJPAC
One Center Street
Newark, NJ 07102

Salt-N-Pepa
The first all-female rap crew of importance, Salt-N-Pepa broke down a number of doors for women in hip-hop. They were also one of the first rap artists to cross over into the pop mainstream, laying the groundwork for the music’s widespread acceptance in the early ‘90s. Salt-n-Pepa were more pop-oriented than many of their contemporaries, since their songs were primarily party and love anthems, driven by big beats and interlaced with vaguely pro-feminist lyrics that seemed more powerful when delivered by the charismatic and sexy trio. While songs like “Push It” and “Shake Your Thang” made the group appear to be a one-hit pop group during the late ’80s, Salt-n-Pepa defied expectations and became *one of the few hip-hop artists of the 80’s to develop a long-term career.* The trio had major hits in both the ’80s and ’90s, and they hit the height of their popularity in 1994, when “Shoop” and “Whatta Man” drove their third album, Very Necessary, into the Top Ten.

Doug E. Fresh
The first human beatbox in the rap world, and one of the best of all time, Doug E. Fresh amazed audiences from the mid eighties through the 90’s with his note-perfect imitations of drum machines, effects, and often large samples of hip-hop classics.

Big Daddy Kane
Emerging during hip-hop’s massive creative expansion of the late ‘80s, Big Daddy Kane was the ultimate lover man of rap’s first decade, yet there is more to him than the stylish wardrobe, gold jewelry, and sophisticated charisma. Kane possesses a prodigious rhyming technique honed from numerous B-boy battles. While he never scored much pop-crossover success, his best material ranks among the finest hip-hop of its era, and his sex-drenched persona was enormously influential on countless future would-be players.

Kurtis Blow
The first commercially successful rap artist, Kurtis Blow is a towering figure in hip-hop history. His popularity and charisma helped prove that rap music was something more than a flash-in-the-pan novelty, paving the way for the even greater advances of Grandmaster Flash and Run-D.M.C. Blow was the first rapper to sign with (and release an album for) a major label; the first to have a single certified gold (1980’s landmark “The Breaks”); the first to embark on a national (and international) concert tour; and the first to cement rap’s mainstream marketability by signing an endorsement deal. For that matter, he was really the first significant solo rapper on record, and as such he was a natural focal point for many aspiring young MCs in the early days of hip-hop. At his very best, Blow epitomizes the virtues of the old school: ingratiating, strutting party music that captures the exuberance of an art form still in its youth.

Kool Moe Dee
A member of one of the original hip-hop crews, Treacherous Three, Kool Moe Dee later became a solo star in his own right in 1986 by teaming with a teenaged Teddy Riley (later famed as the king of new jack swing) on the crossover hit “Go See the Doctor.” The single earned him a contract with Jive Records, for which he recorded three successful late-’80s albums, dominated by his skillful speed-raps.