Did you know that Nas inspired 2Pac’s “Me and My Girlfriend”, or that Eazy-E got paid every time The Chronic sold, or that DJ Quik was a suspect in Biggie’s murder?
Did you know that Q-Tip played a huge role in shaping the sound of Mobb Deep’s classic ’95 album, The Infamous, or that Jay-Z’s debut record appearance was back in ’86, or that “Protect Ya Neck” only cost the Wu-Tang Clan $300 to record? How about the fact that Kendrick wanted Nas on “Sing About Me” or that Ice Cube originally wanted Dr. Dre to produce AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted?
Here on Beats, Rhymes & Lists, our goal is focused on documenting and celebrating hip hop history. Below is a (growing) list of little known and interesting facts that any hip hop head would love to check out. We’re going to continue adding to this list so make sure you keep checking back on this page for the latest updates.
1970s hip hop facts
- Sugar Hill Records Was the First Hip Hop Record Label in History
- The Sequence’s “Funk You Up” Was the First Rap Song to Feature a Hook
- Coke La Rock Was the First Rapper in Hip Hop History
- DJ Hollywood Was the First MC to Rap Over Breakbeats
- 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx is the Birthplace of Hip Hop
- “King Tim III (Personality Jock)” is the First Commercially Released Hip Hop Song
1980s hip hop facts
- Big Daddy Kane Used to Ghostwrite for Biz Markie
- Schoolly D’s “P.S.K. What Does It Mean?” Was the First Gangsta Rap Record
- Rakim’s Rapping Style was Inspired by John Coltrane
- Eric B. & Rakim Was the First Hip Hop Act to Sign a Million Dollar Record Deal
- Boogie Down Productions Used Marley Marl’s Drums for “The Bridge Is Over”
- Kurtis Blow Was the First Rapper to Sign With a Major Record Label
- Tone Loc’s “Wild Thing” Was the First Rap Single to Go Platinum
- Run-D.M.C.’s “Rock Box” Was the First Rap-Rock Song
- Public Enemy Made “Rebel Without a Pause” in Response to “I Know You Got Soul”
- MC Shan Wanted to Respond to “The Bridge Is Over” But Marley Marl Refused
- Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee Starski was the First Modern Rap Battle
- The Beastie Boys’ ‘Licensed to Ill’ was the First Rap Album to Top the Billboard Chart
- ‘Lyte as a Rock’ is the First Hip Hop Album by a Female Solo Rapper
- ‘He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper’ is the First Double Album in Hip Hop History
- Run-D.M.C.’s ‘Raising Hell’ Was the First Rap Album to be Certified Platinum
- Jay-Z Shot his Older Brother, Eric, When he was 12 Years Old
- Paul C Taught Rakim How to Produce On the SP-1200
- Big Daddy Kane Tried to Battle Kool Moe Dee When He Was 14
- Jay-Z Debut Record Appearance Was on High Potent’s “H.P. Gets Busy”
- Eminem’s First Hip Hop Song was Ice-T’s “Reckless”
- The Notorious B.I.G. Jay-Z & Busta Rhymes Attended the Same High School
- MC Hammer was the First Rapper to Have a Diamond Album
- Ice Cube Wrote “Boyz-n-the-Hood” for H.B.O. (Home Boys Only)
- Run–D.M.C. Signed Hip Hop’s First Endorsement Deal With Adidas
- Ice-T’s “6 in the Mornin’” was Inspired by Schoolly D’s “P.S.K. What Does It Mean?”
- Rick Rubin Almost Signed N.W.A To Def Jam
- Eric B. & Rakim Could Have Been Eric B. & Freddie Foxxx
1990s hip hop facts
- Raekwon on “Skew It on the Bar-B” was OutKast’s First Non-Dungeon Family Feature
- DJ Quik’s ‘Quik Is The Name’ Was Only Meant to be a Mixtape
- Big L’s “M.V.P.” Inspired Biggie’s “One More Chance / Stay with Me (Remix)”
- AZ Appears in the Video for Jay-Z’s “Dead Presidents”
- Pimp C Was Supposed to Feature on Jay-Z’s “A Week Ago”
- ‘Funky Technician’ Was DJ Premier’s First Production Outside of Gang Starr
- Puffy Almost Signed Mobb Deep to Bad Boy Records
- Jay-Z Had Planned to Retire After ‘Reasonable Doubt’
- Tragedy Khadafi Gave Havoc his Rap Name
- Amp Fiddler Introduced J Dilla to the Akai MPC
- Nas Confronted 2Pac at Bryant Park after the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards
- Bone Thugs-n-Harmony is the Only Group to Have Worked with 2Pac, Biggie, Eazy-E, and Big Pun Before They Passed
- Pharrell Co-Wrote Wreckx-n-Effect’s 1992 Hit “Rump Shaker”
- Biggie and Jay-Z were Planning to Form a Supergroup Called The Commission
- No I.D. was Originally Kanye West’s Manager in the Early Days
- Tupac Shakur’s First Rap Name was MC New York
- Mary J. Blige Helped The LOX Get Signed to Bad Boy Records
- No Limit Records Started Out as a Record Store in Richmond, California
- Queen Latifah was the First Rapper to Perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show
- AZ’s Verse on “Life’s a Bitch” was the First Recorded Verse of his Rap Career
- Raekwon and Ghostface Dissed Biggie on ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…’
- ‘Ready to Die’ Was Inspired by ‘AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted’
- Roc Marciano Was Originally Part of Busta Rhymes’ Crew, Flipmode Squad
- Nas Took Four Years to Create ‘Illmatic’
- Biggie Met 2Pac on the Set of ‘Poetic Justice’ in 1993
- Nas Nearly Suffocated During the ‘I Am…” Album Cover Shoot
- Three 6 Mafia Were Originally Called The Backyard Posse
- ‘Midnight Marauders’ and ‘Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)’ were Released on the Same Day
- Jay-Z Inspired The Notorious B.I.G. to Stop Writing Down his Rhymes
- “Duel of the Iron Mic” is GZA’s Favourite Song off Liquid Swords
- Nas Brought 50 Cent with Him During the Nastradamus Promo Tour
- Tupac Made his Debut On Digital Underground’s “Same Song” in 1991
- “93 ’til Infinity” was Originally Titled “91 ’til Infinity”
- “Flava in Ya Ear” was the First Bad Boy Records Release
- Q-Tip Wrote Part of Busta Rhymes’ Verse on “Scenario”
- 50 Cent’s Debut Record Appearance Was on Onyx’s 1998 Single “React”
- Mobb Deep Pulled “Drop a Gem on ‘Em” Off the Radio After Tupac Passed Away
- Tupac’s Debut and his First Posthumous Album are Only Five Years Apart
- Ice Cube’s ‘Kill At Will’ is the First Hip Hop EP to Reach Platinum Status
- Nas and AZ Were Supposed to Be On ‘Reasonable Doubt’
- Cypress Hill and Ice Cube Passed on “Jump Around”
- Ice Cube Wanted Dr. Dre to Produce ‘AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted’
- Kanye West’s First Major Label Production Placement was on Jermaine Dupri’s ‘Life In 1472’
- Biggie Rapped Over Tha Dogg Pound’s “New York, New York” Beat First
- Nas and Biggie Were Meant to Record a Remix for “Gimme the Loot”
- Mathematics Designed the Wu-Tang Clan Logo for $400
- DJ Premier Charged Jay-Z $4,000 Per Beat on ‘Reasonable Doubt’
- DMX Had his Jaw Wired Shut When He Auditioned for Def Jam
- The Black Eyed Peas were Signed to Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records
- Biggie Recorded a 2Pac Diss On a Busta Rhymes Song Called “The Ugliest”
- Easy Mo Bee is the Only Producer to Work with Tupac and Biggie
- Tupac Set Up Euphanasia to Leave Death Row Records
- Da Brat Was the First Female Solo Rapper to Go Platinum
- Nas’ Father, Olu Dara, Plays the Cornet on “Life’s a Bitch”
- Pimp C’s Verse on “Big Pimpin’” is Only 8 Bars Because He Hated the Song
- Eminem Nearly Signed to Duck Down Music Before Aftermath Entertainment
- Big Pun Kidnapped DJ Whoo Kid the Same Day He Shot the “Banned from T.V.” Video
- Jay-Z Lied to the ‘Annie’ Composer To Clear the Sample
- Tupac Was the First Rapper to Have 2 Albums Top the Billboard Charts in One Year
- Biggie Wanted “Machine Gun Funk” to Be Ready to Die’s Lead Single, Not “Juicy”
- Puffy Didn’t Like the DJ Premier-Produced “Kick In The Door”
- Eazy-E Made Money Off Dr. Dre’s The Chronic
- Straight Outta Compton Inspired The Low End Theory, Which Inspired The Chronic
- DJ 50 Grand Produced Biggie’s First Demo Tape
- Wu-Tang Clan’s First Record Deal with Loud was for $60,000
- Tupac Finished The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory in Seven Days
- Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt Was Released Independently
- Nas Was With Stretch the Night He Got Killed
- Outkast’s Aquemini Was the First Southern Album to Receive Five-Mics from The Source
- Scarface Made Nas Re-Write his “In Between Us” Verse
- Tupac Recorded “Ambitionz Az a Ridah” and “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” On the Same Night
- Q-Tip Introduced J Dilla to The Pharcyde
- Nas’ “One Love” Was Originally Titled “My Summer Vacation”
- Pete Rock Sings the Hook on “The World Is Yours”
- 50 Cent Was Initially a Member of The Firm
- Master P Tried Signing 2Pac to No Limit Records
- Nas Originally Wanted Marley Marl to Produce It Was Written
- Jay-Z Recorded an Unreleased Diss Record for 2Pac
- “Ain’t No Nigga” Helped Jay-Z Get a Partnership Deal With Def Jam
- Chuck D Gave Busta Rhymes his Rap Name
- Sauce Money Wrote Puff Daddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You”
- Nas Was the First Non-Wu Tang Member to Feature on an Album
- DJ Quik Was a Suspect in The Notorious B.I.G.’s Murder Case
- Mobb Deep’s Beef with Jay-Z Started from “Money, Cash, Hoes”
- RZA Thinks Ghostface Killah’s Verse on “Impossible” is the Greatest Wu Verse
- Nas Was the First New York Rapper to Collaborate With Dr. Dre
- The LOX Debuted on Main Source’s “Set It Off” in 1994
- DMX Was the First Artist to Have his First Five Albums Debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200
- Jay-Z Battled DMX in The Bronx During the Early ’90s
- Wu Affiliate I-Cham Broke Mase’s Jaw, Not Ghostface Killah
- Jam Master Jay Taught 50 Cent How to Write Songs
- Redman Met EPMD While DJing for Lords Of The Underground
- 50 Cent Was the First New York Rapper to Collaborate With UGK
- Jay-Z Chose the Scratches On “D’Evils” For DJ Premier
- Nas’ “I Gave You Power” Inspired 2Pac’s “Me and My Girlfriend”
- Royce da 5’9” Wrote “The Message” for Dr. Dre
- Mobb Deep’s “Temperature Rising” is Based On a True Story
- Nas Picked the Sample for “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)”
- Jay-Z and Big L Battled Each Other in Harlem
- Nas Fired Shots at Biggie and Jay Z on “The Message”
- DJ Clark Kent Connected Jay-Z and Biggie for “Brooklyn’s Finest”
- “Protect Ya Neck” Cost Wu-Tang Clan $300 to Record
- RZA Originally Made “Incarcerated Scarfaces” for GZA
- Nas Wanted to Sample Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit” for “Life’s A Bitch”
- Killah Priest Missed Out on Featuring on “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’”
- Nas Rapped the First Verse of “N.Y. State Of Mind” in One Take
- Pete Rock Originally Produced A Tribe Called Quest’s “Jazz (We Got)”
- The Notorious B.I.G.’s Last Ever Recorded Verse was For “Victory”
- Ice Cube Squashed his Beef with Eazy-E at The Tunnel
- Large Professor Originally Created “Halftime” For Busta Rhymes
- Russell Simmons Passed on Signing Nas to Def Jam
- Jay-Z Showed Nas a TEC While on Tour with Large Professor
- OutKast Got their Record Deal Rapping over Tribe’s “Scenario”
- Q-Tip Helped Shape the Production on Mobb Deep’s The Infamous
- DJ Premier Originally Created “Ten Crack Commandments” for Jeru the Damaja
2000s hip hop facts
- The Clipse’s Debut Album ‘Exclusive Audio Footage’ Was Shelved
- “The Bounce” Was the First Time Kanye Rapped on a Jay-Z Song
- Craig G Wrote & Coordinated the Rap Battle Scenes in ‘8 Mile’
- Pharrell Nearly Gave the “Grindin’” Beat Away to Jay-Z
- Future was Originally a Member of Atlanta’s Dungeon Family
- 50 Cent’s “Many Men” Was Originally a Nas Song
- Ghostface Killah Started Writing ‘Supreme Clientele’ in Africa
- Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘n’ Nite” was Inspired by Geto Boys’ “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”
- Mike Dean Met Kanye While Working on Scarface’s ‘The Fix’
- Kanye’s Beat CD Inspired Jay-Z to Start Working on ‘The Blueprint’
- Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” Was Inspired by Ice-T 1993 song “99 Problems”
- It Was Young Guru’s Idea to Make The Blueprint 2 a Double Album
- Dr. Dre Was Going to Produce All of Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come
- Jay Electronica and Just Blaze Made “Exhibit C” in 15 Minutes
- Royce da 5’9″ Was Originally on Jay-Z’s “Renegade”
- Jay-Z Helped The Roots Clear a Radiohead Sample for Game Theory
- Eminem Recorded All the “Lose Yourself” Verses in One Take
- Talib Kweli Used to Take Kanye West on Tours
- Pete Rock Inspired Phonte to Quit His Job and Pursue Music Full Time
- Kendrick Lamar was Signed to Def Jam Before Top Dawg Entertainment
- Q-Tip & J Dilla Planned to Work On a Joint Album Called Buddy Lee
- “This Can’t Be Life” Was the First Beat Kanye West Produced for Jay-Z
- “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” was Originally a Young Jeezy Song
- Ghostface Killah Influenced MF Doom’s Rapping Style
- DJ Quik Produced the Drums on 50 Cent’s “In da Club”
- 50 Cent’s “Heat” Beat Was Originally for Rakim
- Dr. Dre Doesn’t Have a Number One Album or Single
- The Neptunes Originally Produced Hell Hath No Fury Beats for Jay-Z
- Just Blaze Originally Made “Girls, Girls, Girls” for Ghostface Killah
- Jay-Z’s The Black Album Was Supposed to Have 12 Different Producers
- Jay-Z Wrote “Still D.R.E.” for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
2010s hip hop facts
- Kendrick Lamar is the Rapper With the Most Grammy Nominations in a Single Night
- Kanye West’s “All of the Lights” Features 14 Other Artists
- Future and Drake Recorded ‘What a Time to Be Alive’ in Atlanta Over 6 Days
- Future is the First Artist to Have Two Albums Top the Charts in Successive Weeks
- Kendrick Lamar Wanted Nas On “Sing About Me”
- Westside Gunn and Conway Were the First Buffalo Rappers to Sign with a Major Record Label
- Kendrick Lamar’s Real Parents Feature on ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city’
- Danny Brown Nearly Signed with G-Unit Records in 2010
- Kendrick Lamar’s Parents are Originally from Chicago
- Prince Was Meant to Feature on To Pimp a Butterfly
- 4:44 is Jay-Z’s First Album with Only One Producer
- LMFAO’s Redfoo Has a Songwriting Credit on Kendrick Lamar’s “King Kunta”
- Kanye Cut Pusha T’s “I Don’t Like” Verse From 16 Bars to 8 Bars
- Q-Tip Helped Havoc Land Production on Kanye’s The Life of Pablo
- Kanye Made “Gorgeous” in Response to Jay Electronica’s “Exhibit C”
- A$AP Ferg’s Father, Darold Ferguson, Designed the Bad Boy Records Logo
2020s hip hop facts
- ‘It’s Almost Dry’ is Pusha T’s First Billboard 200 Number One Album
- Cardi B is the First Female Rapper to Have a Diamond-Certified Song with “Bodak Yellow”
- YoungBoy Never Broke Again is the Third Artist to Top the Charts While Incarcerated
- Jay-Z has the Most Grammy Nominations of Any Artist in History
- Nas is the Oldest Winner for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, at 47 Years Old
- “Johnny P’s Caddy” is Benny The Butcher’s First Entry on the Billboard Hot 100
