Most influential person in hip hop.

Wake

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I recently had this discussion, and was interested in some more input.

Who do you think has had the biggest influence on hip hop over time? Could be an emcee, producer, label owner or anyone else attached to the industry.

I have a couple in mind but I'll hold my opinion for now.
 
I recently had this discussion, and was interested in some more input.

Who do you think has had the biggest influence on hip hop over time? Could be an emcee, producer, label owner or anyone else attached to the industry.

I have a couple in mind but I'll hold my opinion for now.

I personally think this has to be broken down by regions. East, West and South all have distinct sounds and that's a reflection of culture and lifestyle from each region.

Biggest influence overall imo are

Def Jam - Russel Simmons, Rick Rubin, Lyhor Cohen

Ruthless/Interscope - Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Jimmy Iovine

Rap-A-Lot - Jay Prince, Scarface,

So-So Def - Jermaine Dupri

Luke Records - Luther Campbell

I start from there and break down each region to see how they influenced subsequent artists
 
Afrika Bambaataa

Russell Simmons

Jay-Z

Dr.Dre

Ice Cube

Hard to argue with any of those. I would also add Birdman (label owner) and Timbaland (producing/writing) as having had a pretty sizeable influence on current day hip hop.
 
russell simmons

dr. dre

rick rubin
 
Wouldnt it be the guy that started it? Kool Herc
If not him, it has to be Russell Simmons or Rick Rubin.
 
Russell Simmons

Dre

Ice Cube

In that order
 
My first instinct was to say Dr Dre, but then the question would had to have been who's the most influential artist in hip hop. I think Dre is way up there on that list.

More influential person is hard to pin down one, but I would say Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin are hard to top. Def Jam Records was at the start of it all and helped launch and entire genre with artists and sounds that people simply never heard before. Jerry Heller can't go unrecognized either, even though the Straight Outta Compton documentary painted him pretty poorly, he was really there at the beginning of what became west coast gangsta rap and of course we know who and what came from all of that.

Such a hard question to answer definitively, but a great topic for conversation!
 
Gotta be Russell Simmons. Def Jam brought hip hop to the mainstream.


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Not 1 mention of 2-pac or biggie thus far

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Biggie
Pac
NWA
 
Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin.
 
Afrika Bambaataa

Russell Simmons

Jay-Z

Dr.Dre

Ice Cube

This is pretty inline with my thoughts. Although I could narrow it down to Dre, Jay Z and Simmons based on longevity.

Wouldnt it be the guy that started it? Kool Herc
If not him, it has to be Russell Simmons or Rick Rubin.

Kool herc definitely gets credit for starting it all, but did he really continue to influence it for a long period of time after he had started it? Do the pioneers always get the most credit?
 
while I can't really add to the list of most influential in hop hop, I recently started watching the HBO documentary, "Defiant Ones." I wasn't aware of the reach of influence Dr. Dre had (let alone Jimmy Iovine). Pretty cool to watch if you have any passing interest.
 
Guy O' Brien, aka Master Gee. Pretty broad question as this will invoke a west coast vs east coast argument. East coast folks will say jay Z. While west coast will go with suge knight and death row/ Ice cube.
 
No one's got Eminem? I know the ones before and what they did him but didn't he bring it home by making it mainstream?
 
2 Live Crew was a life changer for me.


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Kool herc definitely gets credit for starting it all, but did he really continue to influence it for a long period of time after he had started it? Do the pioneers always get the most credit?

Nobody can move something forward that wasn't started is my line of thinking.
I think a lot of times, its easy to go with recent memory. Guys like Tupac and stuff not being around does not change hip hop. It still continues and grows. He was a popular artist, thats about it.
You could make the case for the 80s guys that brought it to mainstream and got them into the major award shows. Guys like LL COOL J, Kool Moe Dee and even MC Hammer (as shocking as that is), because they brought it to mainstream at the birth of video.
Most people however will just point to really popular guys from the last decade or two and see growth. Most of those guys brought something to the table in their genre, but them not being there does not change the outcome. My opinion anyway.
 
My all time favorite is Eminem. And his biggest influence obviously is Dre.
 
No one's got Eminem? I know the ones before and what they did him but didn't he bring it home by making it mainstream?

I thought about him, but he was influenced by others and then Dr. Dre put him on the map.
 
I thought about him, but he was influenced by others and then Dr. Dre put him on the map.

No doubt he gave him his start but what he did with his start was truly big time and brought in people that never would have come in.
 
No one's got Eminem? I know the ones before and what they did him but didn't he bring it home by making it mainstream?
He may have reached a larger demographic but I don't think he was truly influential. Personally for me he is also highly overrated (complete personal preference)
 
No doubt he gave him his start but what he did with his start was truly big time and brought in people that never would have come in.

The answer would then be Vanilla Ice.
 
He may have reached a larger demographic but I don't think he was truly influential. Personally for me he is also highly overrated (complete personal preference)

Overrated? Wow, that is a HSO right there! Reaching a larger demographic is pretty influential even if they weren't the ones that helped create or keep the music going. Can't be overlooked IMO.

The answer would then be Vanilla Ice.

LOL, maybe so but it appears that eminem built quite a bigger empire than Mr. Ice.
 
A tribe called quest




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