On the most recent episode of Drink Champs, co-host N.O.R.E. told guests Talib Kweli, Yasiin Bey, and Dave Chappelle about the moment he felt Hip-Hop became divided. The co-founder of Capone-N-Noreaga opined to Black Star that he feels The Roots’ 1996 “What They Do” music video was a dividing line for the culture. That visual, belonging to Illadelph Halflife, portrayed many of the emerging cliches in Rap music. It showed mansions, bikini-clad models at pool parties, champagne drinking, and sequences of well-heeled entertainers posted up in the projects. N.O.R.E., who was still preparing his debut album at the time, recalls conversations with Nas taking offense to the commentary. In a 2011 interview with Pitchfork, The Roots’ Questlove said that he learned Biggie Smalls—a Roots fan—felt dissed by the treatment. The conversation stemmed off of N.O.R.E. mentioning the term “backpacker,” and the show’s guests expounding on the origin of the term and its place in Hip-Hop fashion.

On the latest episode of Ambrosia For Heads’  What’s The Headline podcast, N.O.R.E.’s point is examined at length. At the 24:00 mark of the video and audio (embedded below), the AFH team looks at while a single video cannot be held responsible, the year 1996 featured several of events, factors, and trends that shaped the direction of Hip-Hop for years to come.

Consequence Details A 1996 Brawl Between Ghostface Killah & Wish Bone (Video)

In 2017, 9th Wonder made a similar point to N.O.R.E.’s. The Grammy Award-winning producer looked at July 2, 1996. On that day, Nas released his sophomore album, It Was Written, and De La Soul dropped their fifth LP, Stakes Is High. For two highly-respected New York acts, the two albums represented a crossroads. While Nas was following up a 5-mic debut Illmatic (deemed the greatest Hip-Hop album of all-time by AFH‘s readers), he rebranded himself two years later. By July 1996, Nas—immersed in beef with Tupac Shakur, had embraced his “Escobar” persona. The MC was forming a super-ground with AZ, Foxy Brown, and Cormega, now being managed by Steve Stoute (who reportedly guided Nas to his new plateau), and went from videos directed by Fab 5 Freddie to big-budget visuals from Hype Williams. De La Soul was in their own transition, having broken from mentor/producer Prince Paul after three lauded LPs. After gold and platinum success, the Long Island trio identified new personnel—including producer Jay Dee (nka J Dilla) and Mos Def, to work with. Although Stakes As High reached #13 on the charts, marking a new best for Posdnuos, Dave, and Maseo—It Was Written was atop the same rankings. Nas had leveled up from Illmatic‘s #12 position two years earlier. Two acts who had freestyled together in 1996 and—would again later—suddenly seemed worlds apart. “At a time where some of us felt in the mid-’90s that Hip-Hop taking another direction…….after ‘The Big-Bang’ in the summer of 1996 that made you choose a side between Stakes is High and [Nas’] It Was Written,” wrote 9th in late 2017.

Justin “The Company Man” Hunte did a 2017 video essay for his TBD series titled, “Nas, De La Soul & How Underground Hip Hop Started.” That piece, arguing July 2, 1996 was Hip-Hop’s big bang moment, included the 1996 Telecommunications Act and its lift on radio station regulations. Hunte contends that the legislature “lifted the national cap on radio station ownership. Which allowed fewer companies to own more stations and forced a number of local acts off the airwaves nationwide in most markets.” The move made radio station conglomerates, thus making playlists more uniform. Labels could lobby for airplay, presumably pushing independent and Underground Hip-Hop off the air.

Steve Stoute Explains Why He Took Nas From The Underground To The Mainstream (Video)

In episode #89 of What’s The Headline, the AFH team grabs from these points. It also looks at larger trends in the Hip-Hop space in 1996. While Nas went to #1, he was not alone. Other artists were evolving from places in the underground to new heights. The Fugees, JAY-Z, Busta Rhymes, Mobb Deep, Snoop Dogg, and others were in transition. Meanwhile, artists made pointed comments about the state of the culture—and who was at fault. Like The Roots’ video getting reactions from Nas and Biggie, A Tribe Called Quest had “Phony Rappers,” Jeru The Damaja jabbed at Puff Daddy and Biggie with “Ya Playin’ Yaself,” and Common made “B*tch In Yoo” about Ice Cube and Mack 10. The industry was at a tug of war that would fracture Hip-Hop. One year after O.G. Q-Tip had co-produced Mobb Deep’s The Infamous, those worlds seemed suddenly separated in the eyes of many Hip-Hop fans, consumers, and the industry.

The episode also looks at the elemental origins of Hip-Hop going further back than just 49 years, JAY-Z’s “GOD DID” verse, and more.

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The time codes for episode #89 of the What’s The Headline podcast (with hyperlinks to skip around):

0:00 Intro
1:23 Why we disagree with each other about the quality of JAY-Z’s verse on DJ Khaled’s “God Did”
7:58 How JAY-Z’s rap flow has changed over the years
13:00 People celebrated JAY-Z when he talked about drug money but hate on him for talking about corporate money
24:20 The three things in 1996 that split Hip-Hop in two: mainstream & underground
57:28 The elements of Hip-Hop have been around for closer to 100 years not 50 years
1:12:07 Egon has been accused of stealing MF DOOM’s rhymebooks
1:25:07 New music from JID, Roc Marciano & Alchemist, Black Thought & Danger Mouse, Joey Bada$$, Diamond D, Larry June, Meyhem Lauren & Daringer, Rapper Big Pooh, and more

Here’s A Cypher Between Nas & De La Soul From 1996 (Audio)

AFH readers can catch regular discussions about the culture on our What’s The Headline. The podcast also has interviews with Meyhem Lauren & Daringer, Diamond D, Joell Ortiz, AZ, Blu & Mickey Factz, Kurupt, Evidence, Skyzoo, Pharoahe Monch, Prince Paul & Don Newkirk, Statik Selektah, Lyric Jones, The LOX, MC Eiht, Havoc, Duckwrth, photographer T. Eric Monroe, and Lord Finesse.

#BonusBeat: New music by Nas, Posdnuos, Black Thought, and more is available on the official AFH playlist: