Rap Country part II: North Coast

This region should look familiar to many of you: the Great Lakes, factories and copious snow. Welcome to the North Coast, our next stop.

This area is more popularly known as the Midwest or Rust Belt. I use North Coast because my definition takes into account the major geographic similarity most of these communities share, the Great Lakes. Their placement on these inland seas led to their rise, turning towns into cities as America’s industrial might blossomed. Decades later, the shining steel belt is now the Rust Belt.

Some of the nation’s poorest cities are here and the empty shells of former glory are fertile breeding grounds for the North Coast’s new export, rap music.

We will stretch from as far east as Rochester to the Twin Cities in this region. Bundle up and call Pepsi pop, because we are on to the next one.

Buffalo/Rochester

Contribution: These scenes, while not huge, will most likely creep into the national consciousness as their northern neighbors like Drake and Kardinal Offishal out of Toronto continue to reach American radio. Buffalo native Rick James, while not a rap artist, has none the less served as inspiration and sample fodder for many rappers and producers.

Style: Buffalo and Rochester sound similar to New York City, avoiding some of the grime associated with their other North Coast brethren. Style runs the gamut from R&B songbird Tweet to gangsta rap to underground. Notable emcees in Rochester include Emilio Rojas, Hassaan Mackey, Black Sinatra and Ric Rude. Rojas and Rude spit a dizzying amount of syllables a second, both invoking the golden age of wordy rap akin to Talib Kweli. Rojas also has more pop oriented cuts. Mackey delivers intelligent rhymes with a reedy, punished voice. He snakes through beats, armed with biting lines dripping with venom. All three demonstrate the strength of Flower City emcees.

Buffalo contributes Sleep Close Death. Underground style with top 40 quality beats make SCD a good listen and he plays shows in Fredonia.

Listen to This: “585 (remix)” by Emilio Rojas, featuring Mackey, Sinatra, L.I. and Nikal Fieldz is a good place to start. The song is a love letter to Rochester and some of the biggest names in the city are on the track. “Native of the City” by Ric Rude combines Rude’s strong lyrical skills with a fire beat to make perhaps the best song out of the city. “Cook” by L.I. is a more pop oriented track with a haunting beat and strong lines by L dot. Sleep Close Death’s album Shopping Mall Zombie Music is also a must listen.

Cleveland

Contributions: Cleveland’s most noticeable contribution is the sing-songy, melodic and speedy delivery of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. They also helped to develop the horror core style of rap music, similarly employed by the Gravediggaz and Three 6 Mafia. The latter’s use of the style has led to some beef between the two groups. Bone Thugs has had an unappreciated impact on rap. Melodic rappers like Eminem and speedsters like Twista both owe the Bone.

Style: Cleveland’s most distinct style is the Bone Thugs sound. The music tends to be moderately foreboding, although famous Bone tracks invoke the sounds of Compton or other locals. Orchestral samples are also not unusual. The main tie is the harmonies and the rapid fire delivery. Fellow Ohio rapper Kid Cudi is on the edge of a different sound. Thoughtful lyrics and diverse beats and samples power his intelligent music. Even Cudi is not immune to the Bone and often incorporates the melodic flow that they helped bring to the forefront.

Listen to This: Bone Thugs is imperative and has a large catalog. Pick up a greatest hits compilation or torrent the discography. Some songs to get you started include “Crossroads,” “For the Love of $,” “Thuggish Ruggish Bone,” “Look into My Eyes,” “Notorious Thugs” and “Thug Luv.” The last two songs feature Biggie Smalls and Tupac, respectively. Bone Thugs was the only group to record with both legends while they were alive. Kid Cudi’s “The Prayer” and “Embrace the Martian” are two excellent tracks to explore the C’s intellectual side.

Detroit

Contributions: Detroit has embraced the horror-hop style and many of its artists use the form on their tracks. Ironically, the city is also home to some of the most successful white rappers in the business, including Eminem, Insane Clown Posse and Kid Rock. Influential producer J Dilla (Common, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde) is from the city. Like Buffalo, one of Detroit’s biggest contributions to rap came before modern hip hop: the city is the home of Motown records. The influential label helped pave the way for black artists on mainstream radio, besides providing the spine of many a spin.

Style: Fitting for a city more dead then alive, many rappers from the D have frightening, intense lyrics and stage personas. Insane Clown Posse, Esham and Eminem are strong examples of Detroit’s “acid rap” flavor. Like most of their North Coast brethren, Detroit tends to be wordy, although not like New York City.

Listen to This: Pretty much any Eminem will do but “3 a.m.” is my favorite track by him. “Purple Pills” is a classic hard song about hard drugs from Em’s crew, D12. Cuts from Big Herk and Royce Da 5’9 are also indicative of the Motor City sound. Kid Rock’s notorious “Yo De Lin in the Valley” was slammed with an FCC fine for obscenity, which was leveled at SUNY Cortland’s radio station.

Chicago

Contributions: Chi town is the capitol of the Midwest, with influential rappers and a wide range of sounds. Chicago acts as the New York City of the North Coast, springing sounds and careers. Influential artists from Chicago include Kanye West, Common and Twista.