The East Coast, namely New York City, is considered the birthplace of rap and hip-hop culture. In the 1970s New York City was home to the originators of the genre, namely Afrika Bambaata, Kurtis Blow, and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. New York is also considered the center of what many deem the 'Golden Age' of hip-hop, which spanned the mid-1980s to the early '90s and was exemplified by artists such as Run-DMC, and Public Enemy. This period witnessed the birth of a distinctly 'East Coast' sound, characterized by showy and often aggressive wordplay, as well as gritty, cacophonous beats. Artists in the 1990s who continued to develop this sound include the Notorious BIG, Nas, and Wu Tang Clan.
California rap artists generally imitated the New York sound until the mid- to late 1980s when break-out stars like NWA and Ice-T shocked audiences nationwide with gratuitously violent and explicitly sexual lyrics that were largely unheard at the time. By blending social commentary with what many perceived as the glorification of drugs and violence, these artists spawned "gangsta rap," drastically altering the lyrical subject matter of rap nationwide for decades to come. NWA member Dr. Dre would go on to become one of America's most influential producers by creating "G-Funk," which combined Parliament/Funkadelic samples with woozy synthesizer melodies and heavy drums. The distinctive instrumental style and lyrical bite of West Coast rap permeated Rap across the country throughout the early 1990s.
Southern rap is associated primarily with Atlanta, New Orleans and Miami. Starting in the late 1980s, the Miami rap scene rose to prominence with what came to be referred to as Miami Bass -- the uptempo, lyrically raunchy style of club music exemplified by 2 Live Crew. Atlanta groups like Arrested Development and OutKast began incorporating classic Southern Soul in the early 1990s and received considerable critical acclaim. Some of the most commercially successful Southern rap artists emerged in the late 1990s out of New Orleans, blending gangsta rap from the East and West coasts into a distinctly Southern sound, most famously epitomized by artists like Master P and Mannie Fresh.
In many ways, the Midwest encapsulates just how convoluted rap styles have become in the 21st century. In the late '90s, artists like Eminem, from Detroit; Twista, from Chicago; and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, from Cleveland all shared a similar kind of speedy vocal delivery, but that is just about where Midwestern similarities end. What's more, many of the most famous Midwestern stars of the early 2000s have been catalysts for the breakdown of regional distinctions within the genre. Eminem became a breakthrough success with the helping hand of West Coast producer Dr. Dre, while Kanye West, arguably the most influential hip-hop producer of the last decade, made a name for himself by producing New York legend Jay-Z and New Orleans golden child Lil Wayne.