swapped out R&B loops for drum machines) and lyrically (as the group rapped about champagne and caviar).Īlthough “Sucker MCs” announced the arrival of hip-hop’s next great act, Run wouldn’t emerge as the leader of the group, and in turn cement his status as the King of Queens, until the release of D.M.C.’s self-titled 1984 debut, Run-D.M.C. Above all, it marked two shifts in the rap game: 1) The track introduced Queens as an emerging NYC rap hotbed 2) It was a rebuttal to the party rap records that’d dominated the genre’s early years, both sonically (D.M.C. It’s impossible to overstate the impact that “It’s Like That” / “Sucker MCs” had on hip-hop. And in 1983, they changed the game forever with the release of their 12-inch single “It’s Like That” / “Sucker MCs.” Before he’d be known by any of those, though, he was merely Joseph “Run” Simmons, one-third of the Hollis-bred threesome Run-D.M.C. Long before he was dropping words of wisdom on a Blackberry while relaxing in bubble baths, Reverend Run was a man of many titles: The Godfather of Modern Rap The Best Rapper Alive The King of New York. Without further ado, here’s who’s held the King of Queens Title Belt every year since 1983-the year that saw the rise of the borough’s first superstar hip-hop act. And yet, only a handful of Queens-bred MCs have seized the throne.
Albans (home to A Tribe Called Quest and LL Cool J), Queensbridge (Nas, Mobb Deep), and Jamaica (50 Cent, Nicki Minaj). The largest borough-geographically-in NYC, Queens has birthed countless hip-hop legends from various neighborhoods, including Hollis (which birthed Run-D.M.C. While it’s not the redheaded stepchild of New York City rap (shout out to Staten Island, Long Island, Yonkers, and Mount Vernon), you could argue Queens is the most underappreciated hip-hop borough.Įver since KRS-One claimed that “ Manhattan keeps on making it / Brooklyn keeps on taking it / Bronx keeps creating it / and Queens keeps on faking it,” Queens has spent years trying to shake a deep-seated inferiority complex.
With all of that being said, let's jump in.
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