1996 ArchivesAmbrosia For Heads

Big Daddy Kane Turned Down A $1 Million Death Row Deal

In the mid-1990s, Big Daddy Kane was a free agent. After nearly a decade releasing music through Cold Chillin' Records and its Warner Bros. distributor, the Brooklyn, New York lyricist was a talent for hire. In 1994, he had released a sole MCA Records LP, Daddy's Home, featuring involvement with... Read more

September 13, 2023 Video

Why 1996 Had The Perfect Storm To Split Hip-Hop In Two

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... Read more

September 12, 2022 Video

Irv Gotti Describes The Night Nas Stood Up JAY-Z

Irv Gotti has been a close associate of JAY-Z for decades. As a DJ, producer, and record executive, the New Yorker worked with Jay during his ascent to stardom. In 1995, DJ Irv produced "Time To Build" for his artist Mic Geronimo. The song from The Natural featured JAY-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule.... Read more

August 8, 2022 Video

Snoop Reveals Nas Was Cut From All Eyez On Me

UPDATE: Snoop Dogg's cousin and frequent collaborator, Daz Dillinger, has stepped in to correct Snoop's account. The producer of "Got My Mind Made Up" says it is another song entirely that originally featured Nas, and also included Tupac upon release. ORIGINAL APRIL 17 STORY: Twenty years ago, Tupac Shakur reached... Read more

April 17, 2022 Video

Ghostface Killah Recalls Making His Ironman Album 25 Years Later

Yesterday (October 29), Ghostface Killah's debut album Ironman turned 25 years old. In honor of the milestone, the Wu-Tang Clan MC partnered with his former label, Sony Records, with a special video vignette that revisits the RZA-produced Hip-Hop classic from 1996. In the interview, the Staten Island MC says, "[Ironman]... Read more

October 30, 2021 Video

The Fugees Are Reuniting For The Score 25th Anniversary Tour

As Hip-Hop legends and veterans are passing at an alarming rate during the last year, the culture has received some positive news. The Fugees have announced a reunion in the form of a tour celebrating the 25th-anniversary of their Grammy Award-winning sophomore album, The Score. Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean,... Read more

September 21, 2021 News

Questlove Discusses The Time He Changed The Roots’ Entire Show To Impress D’Angelo

D'Angelo is known to be one of the greatest producers, writers, and singers of the last 25 years. He has maintained that status, even with over half of that time spent between albums. His breakthrough soul album Brown Sugar came out in 1995, but it would take the singer five... Read more

February 5, 2020 Audio, Throwback

Talib Kweli & El-P Recall Rawkus Records Taking A Chance On Underground Hip-Hop

Run The Jewels and Company Flow co-founder El-P is the latest guest on Talib Kweli's The People's Party Podcast, with co-host Jasmin Leigh. The two natives of Brooklyn, New York have plenty of history together, including Hip Hop For Respect. They were label-mates at Rawkus Records during an inflection point... Read more

November 12, 2019 Video

A New Video Shows Tupac’s Death Through The Eyes Of His Killer

Nearly 23 years ago, on September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight watched as Mike Tyson defeated Bruce Seldon in the 1st Round by technical knockout. Moments after the fight ended, the superstar rapper who had become Death Row Records' flagship act and the record label's CEO were caught... Read more

July 19, 2019 Video

DJ Quik Recalls Making Tupac’s All Eyez On Me & The Advice Dr. Dre Gave Him (Video)

DJ Quik and Hi-C recently appeared on Los Angeles, California's KDAY radio station. The Compton, California natives who have a long collaborative history spoke to host Romeo about the shows they have been doing together in the Midwest. Quik also praised the upcoming Suga Free album that he worked on.... Read more

April 17, 2019 Throwback, Video

Hear The Original Version Of California Love & It’s Nuthin’ But A Dre Thang

UPDATE: The same version through an alternate upload has been added. ORIGINAL STORY: When Tupac Shakur got out of prison in late 1995, he boarded a private jet and went straight to Death Row Records' Can-Am Studios in Tarzana, California. After pausing for dinner at Monty's Steakhouse with his new... Read more

December 3, 2018 Throwback, Throwback

J. Prince Reveals The Original Plan For Scarface & Tupac’s “Smile” (Video)

J. Prince has shunned the spotlight for much of Rap-A-Lot Records' 32 years of business. The label's founder, the man born James Smith, has gone public in a very big way this year. The Houston, Texas native published his memoir The Art And Science Of Respect. Right as the text... Read more

July 17, 2018 Throwback, Throwback, Video

Snoop Claims Biggie Tried To Have Him Shot & Explains How They Made Peace (Video)

While Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls had the most storied and ultimately tragic Rap beef in history, there were other moments that greatly defined a coastal conflict between the Death Row and Bad Boy labels. In 1995, there was a shooting in Red Hook, Brooklyn while Tha Dogg Pound and... Read more

June 11, 2018 Throwback, Video

Tupac Hit Up Many More People Than Biggie In His Original Makaveli Liner Notes

Tupac was not alive for the release of his fifth solo album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. However, he was promoting and working on the LP at the time of his September 13, 1996 death. Fresh off the success of double-album, All Eyez On Me, Tupac wrote and... Read more

April 5, 2018 News, Throwback

Coolio Explains Why His Tupac Collaboration Was Deliberately Erased (Video)

In the mid-1990s, two of the biggest stars in music were rappers, Coolio and Tupac Shakur. At the 38th Grammy Awards in February of 1996, the two men competed for "Best Rap Solo Performance." Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" took the trophy home, while Tupac's "Dear Mama" joined singles by Biggie, Dr.... Read more

March 28, 2018 Throwback, Video

Snoop Dogg Provides New Details About 1996 Meeting Between Tupac & Nas (Video)

On September 4, 1996, the MTV Video Music Awards took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, and Suge Knight were in Manhattan at a time when tensions were strong between their Death Row Records and several top Rap artists from the Big... Read more

March 19, 2018 Video

An New Video Shows The Rise Of The Soulquarians & Why Things Fell Apart

During the week of special engagements leading up to last Sunday's Grammy Awards, The Roots held a four-day residency at The Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan. During the day, the three-time Grammy-winners programmed events that included the first live taping of Questlove Supreme with guest Common, as well as a Black... Read more

January 30, 2018 Throwback, Video

All Eyez On The Score: A Breakdown Of The Beef Between Tupac & The Fugees (Video)

On February 13, 1996, two of the biggest, and best-selling Hip-Hop albums of all time were released. That Tuesday, Tupac Shakur made his Death Row Records debut with double LP All Eyez On Me. The Fugees followed a tepid response to 1994's Blunted On Reality with a critical and commercial... Read more

November 25, 2017 Exclusive, TBD, Video

How Nas & De La Soul Battled For The Future Of Hip-Hop & Splintered It Forever (Video)

Last month, producer 9th Wonder remembered July 2, 1996's impact on the Hip-Hop community. During one of the biggest commercial booms of Rap albums, Nas released It Was Written the same Tuesday that De La Soul dropped Stakes Is High. Those two releases, coming from artists running in the same... Read more

November 4, 2017 Exclusive, TBD, Video

Teasers For The Tupac Movie Have Been Really Good. The Official Trailer Is GREAT (Video)

Tupac Shakur's life story is coming to theaters in less than 10 weeks. The film, All Eyez On Me will chronicle the rise and fall of one of Hip-Hop's immortal voices. The movie traces a timeline from 'Pac's impressionable childhood to his sudden, tragic death. Following several teasers, the June... Read more

April 6, 2017 TV/Film, Video

Kool Keith, QBert & Dan The Automator Will Perform Dr. Octagon Live For The First Time

In 1996, Kool Keith and his career were at a crossroads. For the last decade, the Bronx, New Yorker had been pushing the envelope of technical rhyme patterns, cadences, and crafty lyricism as the defacto figurehead of the Ultramagnetic MC's. As the group would disband for hiatus (resuming a decade... Read more

February 7, 2017 Exclusive, News

Blahzay Blahzay Still Sounds Great From The East…To The West (Video)

In 1996, Hip-Hop was in the middle of a shift, especially in New York City. The rugged, construction boot days were yielding to the shiny suits. Just as the Big Apple's reigning Rap star The Notorious B.I.G. had transformed from an "Unbelievable" entrance to a "Get Money" mantra involving Cristal,... Read more

February 2, 2017 Do Remember

Cypress Hill, Def Squad & MC Eiht Made Us All Throw Our Hands In The Air (Video)

For more than 25 years, Cypress Hill has bloomed from pure Hip-Hop to mainstream appeal. B-Real, Sen Dog, and DJ Muggs created a sound that made Hip-Hop fans feel the daily angst of gang-controlled Los Angeles, California juxtaposed with the euphoria of medicinal relaxation. In 1996, after three albums (eventually... Read more

January 12, 2017 Do Remember

Eminem Gives Infinite Respect To His Earliest Music With A Documentary & A Remix (Video)

While Eminem's 1999 and 2000 mainstream takeover is often associated with the production of Dr. Dre, much more of The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP is credited to another act behind the boards. The Bass Brothers, Mark and Jeff—had been with Em' since his career took shape.... Read more

November 18, 2016 Audio, Video

A Newly Released ’96 Cypher Shows A Tribe Called Quest Schooling Phony Rappers (Audio)

This month, A Tribe Called Quest released their sixth and said to be final album. We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service appeared to shock to the music world, when it was revealed to exist, less than six months after Phife Dawg's March death. It had been... Read more

November 17, 2016 Throwback

Snoop Dogg DJs A 2 Hour Tribute Mix For 20 Years Of “Tha Doggfather”

This weekend, Snoop Dogg's sophomore album Tha Doggfather celebrated its 20th anniversary. The LP was significant in Snoop's career in that it was his first foray without mentor Dr. Dre behind the boards, and it would be his final Death Row Records release while still at the then reigning label.... Read more

November 13, 2016 Audio, Mixes

Ghostface Killah’s Ironman Showcased A Rap Superhero & The Man Behind The Mask (Video)

Twenty years ago tomorrow (October 29, 1996), Ghostface Killah released a seminal solo debut album in the form of Ironman. To that point, four Wu-Tang Clansmen (GZA, Method Man, O.D.B., and Raekwon) had all stepped to the front with solo efforts, spreading their creative darts across Rap's board. As the... Read more

October 28, 2016 Food for Thought

Tupac Approved The Artwork For Makaveli’s Don Killuminati A Day Before He Was Shot (Audio)

Twenty years ago this month, Tupac Shakur was confirmed dead seven days after a Las Vegas, Nevada drive-by shooting. At the time, Shakur had released one of the biggest albums of 1996 care of double LP All Eyez On Me. However, the Death Row Records artist had recently completed an... Read more

September 24, 2016 Audio

This Ghostface, Cappadonna & Jeru Freestyle From 1996 Still Does Damage (Audio)

In the mid-90s, there were few more dominant crews in Hip-Hop than Wu-Tang Clan and Gang Starr Foundation. Unlike today, however, where it's more common than not to have guest artists on tracks, in that era crews stayed more self-contained and collaborations outside of the collectives were more rare. As... Read more

September 1, 2016 Audio, Throwback, Throwback

20 Years Later, OutKast’s ATLiens Is A Masterpiece Of Space & Time

True to its extraterrestrial theme, OutKast's 1996 sophomore album ATLiens was of another world. Like the "Paid In Full" vocal sample proclaimed, André 3000 and Big Boi added "new color, new dimension, and new value" to the mid-'90s Hip-Hop ethos. Arguably, this came at a time when Hip-Hop's soul needed... Read more

August 25, 2016 Food for Thought

Ed Lover’s Tupac Stories Will Make You Cover Your Mouth (Audio)

Contemporary Hip-Hop has a plethora of media personalities presenting, dissecting, and analyzing the music and culture. Names such as Sway Calloway, Charlamagne Tha God, Miss Info, and DJ Vlad come to mind in breaking news, discourse, and reaction to the daily stream of events. These personalities use different media platforms... Read more

August 16, 2016 Audio

A3C Honors 1996 With Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Redman, Too Short & Bun B

This year’s upcoming A3C Festival in Atlanta, Georgia will look back on the year 1996. The five-day event, beginning October 5 on over 75 stages in the city’s Old 4th Ward and surrounding areas, will feature headlining performances by some of the top acts from 20 years ago — all... Read more

August 11, 2016 Fresh

Daz Explains Why Lady Of Rage & Inspectah Deck Verses Did Not Make “All Eyez On Me” (Video)

Daz Dillinger produced five of the 27 tracks on Tupac's All Eyez On Me double album. Tha Dogg Pound MC/producer was a close affiliate of Shakur during his year with Death Row Records. The blockbuster album would eventually reach diamond certification, with Daz producing singles such as "I Ain't Mad... Read more

April 13, 2016 Video

Ras Kass Plans “Soul On Ice 2,” Featuring Unreleased Songs (Video)

This year marks the 20th anniversary since Ras Kass' debut album, Soul On Ice. The native of both Carson, California would ink a contract with Priority Records to release what some still consider his greatest lyrical work—and a benchmark of intellectual songwriting. In the time since, Razzy Kazzy has released... Read more

March 22, 2016 News, Video

Ras Kass Entered At The Top Of His Game With This Diamond D Remix (Video)

Twenty years ago, Ras Kass debuted with Soul On Ice. In the two years prior, the Carson, California MC has appeared on the Street Fighter soundtrack (alongside Ahmad and Saafir), as well as Coolio's smash album, Gangsta's Paradise. However, the public had not gotten a true dose of the dense... Read more

March 3, 2016 Do Remember

Snoop Shows Why He’s The Boss Dogg on This 20-Minute 1996 Freestyle (Audio)

1996 was a tumultuous year for the artist known as Snoop Doggy Dogg. The Long Beach, California Rap superstar was acquitted for a murder trial that had started shortly after his skyrocketing fame. In the exhalation of that, he was soon faced with the murder of close friend and collaborator... Read more

February 11, 2016 Throwback

JAY-Z Had A Diss Reply Ready For Tupac In 1996. He Even Performed It.

When Nas and Jay Z were entrenched in one of Hip-Hop's most famous battles and beefs, it is Tupac Shakur's words that open up one of the crossfire's most scathing attacks, Nas' "Ether." It was an unusual move for one rival of Tupac to use the slain rapper in his... Read more

August 14, 2015 Throwback

Hear Rakim Rarities, Pete Rock Freestyles From 1996 Future Flavors Set (Mix)

Just like in the late 1980s, Marley Marl and Pete Rock transmitted dopeness into radio waves in much of the 1990s. The Juice Crew founder and The Chocolate Boy Wonder brought their ear for excellence and supreme Rap mixing skills to airwaves for the HOT 97 Future Flavors radio show.... Read more

May 21, 2015 Throwback