East Coast Rap | Vibepedia

East Coast Rap, also known as New York Hip Hop, is a subgenre of hip hop music that originated in the 1970s and 1980s in the New York City area. It is characterized by its lyrical focus on the harsh realities of urban life, [[social-inequality|social inequality]], and [[police-brutality|police brutality]]. Pioneers like [[dj-kool-herc|DJ Kool Herc]] and [[afrika-bambaataa|Afrika Bambaataa]] laid the foundation for the genre, which was later popularized by artists such as [[the-notorious-b-i-g|The Notorious B.I.G.]] and [[jay-z|Jay-Z]]. The East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry of the 1990s, which pitted East Coast rappers against their West Coast counterparts, led to a surge in popularity for the genre, with artists like [[nas|Nas]] and [[dmx|DMX]] achieving mainstream success. Today, East Coast Rap continues to influence hip hop music, with artists like [[kendrick-lamar|Kendrick Lamar]] and [[joey-bada$$|Joey Bada$$]] drawing inspiration from the genre's rich history.