Hip-Hop Made

Continuing our celebration of 50 years of Hip-Hop on Audacy's 'Hip-Hop Made,' rapper 2 Chainz tells us what Hip-Hop means to him and his immediate family.

As we continue to celebrate 50 years of Hip-Hop on Audacy's 'Hip-Hop Made,' rapper 2 Chainz remembers the first Hip-Hop songs that made him want to get into the game.

We continue to celebrate the 50 years of a groundbreaking, culture-shifting movement of Hip-Hop, so we’re back with more from Hip-Hop Made and we’ve got the originator of booty-shaking music, The 2 Live Crew’s Mr. Mixx to talk about how Miami got its foot in the door in the world of Hip-Hop and the creation of “Miami bass.”

Taking it back to about 1985, David Hobbs (Mr. Mixx) and Christopher Wong Won (Fresh Kid Ice), founders of The 2 Live Crew served in the military together. During their free time they would listen to undercover tapes, Mixx revealed and with him already having a DJ setup– the two figured “let's try to go to the studio and make a record,” he shared.

So they partnered up, “we took a shot at it and that's the record everybody knows– ‘Beat Box.’”

Now while “Beat Box" was originally released in California, it moved around mainstream media and led to the two flying out to Miami. “We showed that the music could be commercialized.”

Mr. Mixx talked about how they shook up the Hip-Hop industry because at the time, Miami didn’t have much of a rap scene or identity. “We really kinda upset the industry because Miami wasn’t known for having any kind of situation… having a rap identity, there was no such thing,” he said.

The “Hoochie Mama,” artists fostered the idea of "uptempo Hip-Hop." With Miami already being a frisky and hot scene, The 2 Live crew “brought out the sexy in music” and it quickly turned into “Miami booty music.”

“It got embraced in a lot of places throughout the south… it just wasn’t embraced in the New York mecca,” he revealed as the music they were making, known to many as "Miami bass,” was frowned upon in the New York area.

But he believes that their music was not a “derailment to what so-called traditional New York Hip-Hop was.” They made music that people could relate to more than what was coming out of New York. “Some of the slang words that came out of New York, you had to have a New York state of mind to follow the music.”

Mr. Mixx believes that “New York created it but we changed the game.”

Listen to DJ ZOG's full talk with Mr. Mixx above, and find more to celebrate the first 50 years of Hip-Hop at audacy.com/hiphopmade.

Looking back with Macklemore as Audacy celebrates 50 years of Hip Hop as he remembers the very first Hip-Hop concert he ever attended.

Macklemore remembers the very first Hip-Hop record he ever got his hands on at the age of 8, looking back with Audacy on 50 years of Hip-Hop.

Macklemore looks back at the very first Hip-Hop single that landed on his ears.

This year we celebrate 50 years of Hip-Hop. Born at a birthday party in the rec room of an apartment building in The Bronx, New York City on August 11, 1973 -- Hip-Hop's cultural impact is still growing and rising to new heights as one of the most influential musical art forms.

Joining in on the celebration and conversation, Hip-Hop legend Big Daddy Kane shared what made him realize that Hip-Hop was more than a hobby, and the moment he realized he made it,

“Honestly I started rapping just because my older cousin Murdock was doing it… And as people were telling me I was good I started focusing on my craft and writing better lyrics. But it wasn’t until I met Biz Markie that I took it real serious, like this could actually be my life. When I saw his determination and everything that he was doing to try and get on… and the places we were going, and the celebrities we were meeting, I was like yo, this can really really happen.”

“I think the first moment that I really felt that I made it was when I was in the studio with Patti LaBelle recording 'Feels Like Another One,' and she came in there with a plate of baked fish, mac n’ cheese, collard greens and she pulled some hot sauce out of her purse.” Recalling the mind blowing moment that “Patti LaBelle made some food for me.”

When asked how he’d like to be described for his role in Hip-Hop, Big Daddy Kane revealed that throughout his career the answer has changed.

“Well I mean when I started with this here thing it was really to be recognized as y’know that dope lyricist, so like that’s one of the main things. But throughout my travels y’know I’ve heard people say things to me like — my music got them through college, my music got them through Desert Storm, my music helped them with their marriage or stuff like that. I’ve heard a lot of crazy stuff, so knowing that music and stuff that you created can touch someone and have that type of impact, I think that that’s a real true blessing and something real special.”

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Mike Street

All year long, Audacy is celebrating the first 50 years of Hip-Hop. Follow along on audacy.com/hiphopmade.

Back with another installment of Hip-Hop Made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hip-Hop born in 1973 in the Bronx, New York, we sat down with Vin Rock and DJ Kay Gee of the rap trio Naughty by Nature to talk about what music made them fall in love with Hip-Hop and their place in Hip-Hop’s legacy.

I’m sure you can guess what song originally made both of them fall in love with Hip-Hop, go ahead and take a guess.

Their answer– “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang followed by them both reciting lyrics from the song. Kay Gee explained it was the message that The Sugarhill Gang conveyed that made him fall in love with the song.

Naughty by Nature is also celebrating the 30th anniversary of their third studio album 19 Naughty III, which was a commercial success in its prime. Vin Rock classifies the leading single from the project “Hip Hop Hooray,” as “the unofficial Hip-Hop anthem for global Hip-Hop.”

Rock shared his admiration for how far the genre has come, “Hip-Hop has grown so much for everyone to joy,” because he believes now “corporations and the gatekeepers in music really respect Hip-Hop as a music genre.”

All year long, Audacy is celebrating the first 50 years of Hip-Hop. Follow along on audacy.com/hiphopmade.