Some hip-hop fans complain about the relative lack of East Coast-based hip-hop superstars these days. The charts are dominated by rappers who hail from virtually everywhere else in the continental United States and even Canada–but over the last ten years, there have been few big names coming out of New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia, in particular.
That appears to be changing, however.
Harlem-born rapper A$AP Rocky and Azealia Banks, the Bronx’s French Montana, Meek Mill out of Philadelphia–they’ve all become some of the most buzzed-about hip-hop stars of the past year. And up-and-comers like Brooklyn’s Joey Bada$$ are waiting in the wings for their chance to restore the luster to East Coast hip-hop.
With Magna Carta Holy Grail, the latest release from Jay-Z, (one of New York City’s most iconic rhymers), riding high on the charts; it’s a great time to take a look a time when the East was thriving.
Here are the greatest East Coast hip-hop albums of the 1990s…
