Rap began to spread beyond its East Coast confines to the West Coast. Bid the mid-80's, West Coast hip-hop had begun to come in its own, and Los Angeles served as ground 0. In 1987, when two East Coast groups dropped their debut LPs - Public Enemy gave us Yo! Bum Rush The Show and Boogie Down Productions released Criminal Minded - a Los Angeles-based rapper by the name of Ice-T released his full-length debut, Rhyme Pays.



Public Enemy - Read more about him here

One of the most influential, controversial and revolutionary rap groups of all time, Public Enemy released their debut LP, Yo! Bum Rush the Jam on Def Jam in 1987. Containing tracks like "Rightstarted (Message to a Black Man)" and "Miuzi Weighs a Ton", it mixed hard-core rap with strong socio-political messages. Though this initial Public Enemy release didn't make a huge impact on mainstream audiences, the writing was on the wall: before long they would be impossible to ignore.

"Criminal Minded"

Bronx based duo KRS-One and DJ Scott La Rock of Boogie Down Productions released Criminal Minded in 1987. On the album, KRS-One rapped about life in ghetto using blunt, stark language to make his point. The track "9MM Goes Bang", for example, dealt openly with guns and violence. As rap music became increasingly reality-based, KRS-One emerged as one of its primary storytellers.

"Rhyme Pays" - Read more about Ice-T here

West Coast rapper Ice-T rose out of the Los Angeles hip-hop community of the mid-80s. Though many people associated hip-hop with East Coast, Ice-T proved that the West Coast had a thriving culture its own. In 1987, when he released his debut album Rhyme Pays on Sire Records, his music earned the label "gangster rap". Songs like "6 In the Morning" were explicit, brutal and controversial - garnering respect for Ice-T and igniting interest in West Coast rappers on one hand, and inviting condemnation and criticism on the other. Life in Los Angeles was different, form life in New York, a difference reflected in Ice-T's rhymes. Like East Coast counterparts Public Enemy or KRS-One, Ice-T's rhymes were labeled harsh and hardcore, but with a difference: Ice-T rapped primarily about living the gangster/player lifestyle - with its money, women, cars and violence - rather than any overtly political issues. So when people (most critics) began to label his style as gangster rap, the label stuck - and would continue to be associated with Ice-T and other like-minded West Coast rappers.