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The East Coast vs. West Coast feud is a musical feud, mostly in the Rap genre, that has been going on for almost two decades now. It mostly consist of rappers form either coast degrading and rapping about rappers from the opposite coast and so forth. However, there have been several occasions where real life violence has erupted over the East Coast vs. West Coast feud.

Height of the Feud

The height of the East Coast vs. West Coast feud was in the mid-to-late 90’s when Tupac and Biggie Smalls had a hatred for one another that poured over into the rest of the musical community.Never heard of this before? Get up to speed here. Before that artists such as Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and others were also involved in this feud.

Things got so bad at one point that artist, popular artists, were killed. Both Tupac’s killer and Biggie Small’s killer both remain at large. Many have speculated and even believe that each coast had a hand the both deaths, but nothing concrete was ever proven.

The East Coast vs. West Coast feud will more than likely continue on, with new artists picking up the torch and carrying it. However, it seems like the most violent days are done, and now it is more of a representation and word war than anything else.

Who began the gangsta rap movement? While many people credit Ice T for the birth of gangsta rap, Ice T himself has stated that it was in fact Schooly D who began gangsta rap. Ice T considers Schooly D's record "P.S.K." to be the first gangsta rap record, because it refers to the Park Side Killers gang.

Schooly D's rapping incorporated themes or urban violence and sexual aggression. Originating from Philadelphia, Schooly D eventually began to include afrocentric themes in his rap music. During his career, Schooly D has also contributed music to various films and television shows.

Ice T's 1991 album "O.G. Original Gangster" is considered one of the key defining albums in the genre of gangsta rap. As a result, many see Ice T as the originator of the genre. Later, in 2006, Ice T released an album called "Gangsta Rap," his first album since 1999.

Beyond Schooly D and Ice T, often acknowledged as the genre's founders, gangsta rap was popularized by the rap group N.W.A., the solo artist Ice Cube who was formerly a member of N.W.A., and the rapper Too Short. Gangsta rap as a genre is often criticized for purportedly promoting sex, violence, gang warfare, drug use, and criminal behavior. Those involved in the gangsta rap movement counter that they are merely depicting the realities of the urban black experience.Can’t get enough? There’s more: Freddie Gibbs Speaks On The Evolution Of Gangsta Rap [VIDEO]

Born in the urban area of New York City’s five boroughs, the hip-hop style of music and genre has seen many changes in the 30 plus years of existence. A way for young, interested musicians to create music while lacking proper instruments and training, hip-hop has evolved into a multi-genre musical category of its own. More colloquially referred to as rap, hip-hop has evolved greatly. Along with the evolution, two unique elements of style have evolved as well. These are breakdancing and beatboxing. Breakdancing is a style of dance. Known for its wild moves, each dance stops with a specific move called a freeze. The freeze is an integral part of the dance, and each breakdancer’s freeze was a signature move. Breakdancing involves the entire body moving in specific ways. The dancer spins on their back, shoulders and head. The legs frequently move in large, sweeping circles for momentum.

Beatboxing is a way for a rap team to create a sound and rhythm for the rap artist. Lacking musical instruments, the beatboxer would create various sounds with the mouth, lips, and tongue. The rapper would use the beat to create lyrics that would closely align to the sounds of the beatboxing.

In the history of rap has no man that was more of a trailblazer and pioneer than Kurtis Blow. Every big rap breakthrough had Kurtis leading the charge.

Kurtis became the first rapper ever signed to a major record label when he signed with Mercury and released his debut album Christmas Rappin which sold over 400,000 copies. His sophmore effort "The Breaks" topped that with 500,000 sold. The Hits coninued to come with suck hip hop classics as "If I ruled the world," "AJ Scratch," and basketball. Known as a workhorse in the next ten years, eleven albums followed.

Blow was the first american rapper invited to give concerts overseas, helping to bring

Blow then turned his efforts to promoting new up and coming artists inclusing the Fat Boys and Run DMC. Early in his career Rev. Run was actually billed as the "son of Kurtis Blow" Both Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G often praised Kurtis as an inspiration when they were coming up. With Shakur even name dropping him in various songs including "old school."

Currently Blow is an ordained minister preaching the gospel at various "hip hop" themed churched across the U.S. Still inspiring youth after all these years.

The musical genre of hip hop music has been popularized into it's own diverse subculture since it's virtual debut in the early 1980's. Used synonymously with the term "rap music", hip hop's early beats still find their way onto today's airwaves.Popular 1980's hip hop artists incorporated the use of an MC or a DJ into their early releases. Artists like Vanilla Ice even incorporated well known rock music riffs into his songs. Today popular rap artists record their hits in the same fashion. Much of the popular 80's beats have been reincarnated in today's music.

Some of the 80's most influential hip hop artists are now infamous for their techniques and styles. Artists like Prince, MC Hammer, Kid Frost, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, 2 Live
Crew and of course DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince aka Will Smith, dominated the airwaves with songs like "Can't Touch This" and "Me So Horny". Female artists as well had a huge impact on this generation of music. Do you believe it all started with the release of "Rapture" by Blondie in 1981? Salt-n-Peppa along with young DJ Spinderella,then led the way with "Push It", a single released in 1986 that went double platinum for the all girl group.

Hip hop has become one of the most popular genres of music in the world, with artists such as Jay-Z and Kanye West becoming global superstars. The roots of this genre can be traced back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. The music was originally created for block parties in New York City by pioneers like DJ Kool Herc, who would mix samples of other records with his own shout-outs to party goers. Keith Wiggins is credited with coining the term "hip hop" in 1978, while the first hip hop song is considered to be "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, which was released in 1979.

In the 1980s, hip hop continued to develop into its current state, with various artists focusing on rapping, dancing and DJing. Breakdancing attained great popularity in the early 1980s and was closely tied to hip hop music. Through breakdancing, those outside of New York City discovered beatboxing and sampling, along with the relatively new art form of rapping. Pop group Blondie used rapping in one of its hit songs, which drew more interest to the art form outside of urban areas. Artists such as Ice-T, Run-DMC, Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J and the Fat Boys capitalized on this interest to bring the music to the mainstream, where it remains today.