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The Year That Changed Hip-Hop Forever

Stereo Williams takes a look back at 1988, a year that established the blueprint for the next thirty years of hip-hop.

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Hip-hop had broken through big by the mid-1980s.

Platinum-selling albums by acts like Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys and LL Cool J had moved the genre from the pop culture fringes to center-stage. Rappers were selling out tours and landing major endorsement deals—and delivering albums that crushed the perception that this was a singles-driven genre that focused on party-friendly hits. Run-DMC, King of Rock, Raising Hell, Radio, Bigger and Deffer and Licensed To Ill had all been commercially successful releases, with the Beasties and LL putting the fledgling Def Jam label on the musical map. Other labels like Cold Chillin’ and Tommy Boy would soon rise to prominence in the wake of Def Jam’s mainstream success. It all set the table for one of the most significant years in hip-hop history: 1988.

Hip-hop’s ascension had been steady, but in 1988 the genre exploded into a diverse array of styles and sounds that forever restructured how the artform was perceived and how the music was marketed.

Def Jam was riding a major hot streak in the mid-‘80s but by 1988, cracks had begun to show. Label superstars the Beastie Boys were looking to jump ship after butting heads with Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin; in the wake of Licensed To Ill’s success, they were set to head in a new direction. But Def Jam would weather the Beasties’ subsequent departure with the signing of 3rd Bass—which featured two white MCs in Pete Nice and MC Serch. The label also had British-born Slick Rick. Rick had been an acclaimed wordsmith since his days as “MC Ricky D” with Doug E. Fresh and The Get Fresh Crew. Rick rapped on Doug E.’s mid-‘80s classics “The Show” and “Ladi Dadi,” but it took three years for his debut to arrive. The Great Adventures of Slick Rick showcased the smooth rapper’s gifted wordplay, laid-back flow and peerless storytelling, and became a platinum-selling smash for Def Jam—without major musical contribution from the label’s resident hitmaker Rubin.