2. Year 1999
• 1999
• Backed by producer Dr. Dre, Eminem zooms past racial
hurdles and sells 4 million copies of his debut, The Slim
Shady LP.
• Production duo The Neptunes (Chad Hugo & Pharrell
Williams) dominate the airwave with a string of radio hits,
including Kelis' "Caught Out There," ODB's "Got Your
Money," Noreaga's "Oh No," and Mase's "One Big
Fiesta." Their infectious, bling-tinged sound would later
become an unofficial requisite on hip-hop albums.
• Dr. Dre puts the west coast back on the spotlight with his
comeback LP 2001.
3. Year 2000
• 2000
• Dr. Dre files a lawsuit against MP3-swapping firm
Napster.
• Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney holds the first Hip-
Hop Powershop summit to address the various political,
economic, and social issues affecting the youth.
• DJ Craze wins the Technics DMC World DJ
Championship 3 consecutive times.
• Eminem, through the release of his well received second
album Marshall Mathers LP, solidifies his place as rap's
future great. The title sells 1.76 million copies in its first
week and later scores two Grammys for the rapper
4. Year 2001
• 2001
• Puff Daddy reveals in an MTV interview that he will now be known as P.
Diddy.
• Eminem pleads guilty to one of two felony charges from an incident in 2000
when he pistol-whipped a man caught kissing wife Kim Mathers.
• Prosecutors drop the felony assault charge in exchange for Eminem's guilty
plea on carrying a concealed weapon.
• On the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, two of the city's most
revered rappers Jay-Z and Nas are in a different New York state of mind.
After years of subliminal sniping, they finally take the gloves off and engage
in a highly controversial lyrical face-off.
• After Nas dropped "Ether," an earth-shattering response to Jay's equally
venemous "Takeover," Jay re-emerges with "Super Ugly," (rhymed over
Nas' "Got Yourself a Gun") in which Hov spilled his sexual relationship with
Nas' baby-mama to disgusting effect. New York's Hot 97 FM asks call-in
voters to decide a winner.
• As votes are being tallied, Jay rushes to Hot 97 and offers an apology for
the kiss-and-tell lyrics. His apology fails to deny Nas an outstanding victory.
Regardless, fans would forever debate the battle
5. Year 2002
• 2002
• DJ Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC is shot and killed in a
Queens studio on October 30. No one has been
convicted of his murder.
• Hip-hop feuds: Nelly vs. KRS-One, Eminem vs. The
Source magazine, Jermaine Dupri vs. Dr. Dre, etc
• The rapping member of TLC, Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes, dies
in a car crash while traveling with seven other people.
• Malik B is booted from The Roots following a drug use
problem.
6. Year 2003
• 2003
• Eminem becomes the new focus of a debate on hip-hop and racism after some
unidentified friends of the rapper submitted a tape of him using the N-word and making
several derogatory remarks about the African-American community.
• Sample lyrics from the Eminem tape: "Black girls are b****es/ That's why I'ma tell ya
you better pull up your britches/'Cause all that cash is making your a** drag. On
another song, he rhymes: "Black girls and white girls just don't mix/Because Black girls
are dumb and white girls are good chicks."
• The Source uses the tape to renew their anti-Eminem campaign, even releasing a CD
version of the "racist tape." In response, Eminem apologizes publicly and claims the
rap was done out of teen angst following a break-up with a black girlfriend.
• "I did and said a lot of stupid s**t when I was a kid, but that's part of growing up," said
Eminem in a statement. "The tape of me rapping 15 years ago as a teenager that was
recently put out by The Source in no way represents who I was then or who I am
today.“
• Federal investigators raid the New York offices of Murder Inc., the record label home of
Ja Rule and Ashanti, as part of an ongoing investigation into label head Irv Gotti.
Authorities were looking into allegations of money laundering and an alleged financial
link between Gotti and a New York drug gang called the "Supreme Team."
• ODB, fresh out of jail, signs to Roc-A-Fella Records and changes his name to Dirt
McGirt.
7. Year 2004
• 2004
• In the middle of the 2004 Vibe Awards ceremony, a man named
Jimmy James Johnson approaches rap legend Dr. Dre, who was
preparing to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, and punches
him in the face. A full-on brawl ensues during which Johnson gets
stabbed.
• After reviewing tape of the melee, authorities identify the stabber as
G-Unit rapper Young Buck, a member of Dr. Dre's entourage. Suge
Knight, who also crashed the event, later denies allegations that he
had promised Johnson $5000 to assault Dr. Dre.
• P.Diddy's "Citizen Change" campaign adopts the slogan 'Vote or
Die' in a bid to convince young people to vote in November's U.S.
Presidential elections.
• Wu-Tang member ODB dies inside a recording studio two days
before his 36th birthday.
8. Year 2005
• 2005
• The "Miss Jones Morning Show" crew on Hot 97 FM sparks outrage by
playing the "Tsunami Song," a racist parody of "We Are the World" that
ridicules victims of the South Asian tidal wave that killed almost 300,000
people. The "Miss Jones" is temporarily yanked off the air.
• Jay-Z and Nas end their long-running feud at the former's Power 105.1
concert in New York.
• A 24-year-old Compton, CA native identified as Kevin Reed is hospitalized
after a shooting outside the Hot 97 offices, as 50 Cent was making an
appearance at the radio station to announce that The Game had been
booted from G-Unit. The Game, who had appeared on Hot 97 earlier that
evening, reportedly returned to the station with an undisclosed number of
men and was denied entrance into the building.
• Jay-Z Dame Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke sell off the remaining 50%
stake of Roc-A-Fella Records to Universal's Island Def Jam for less than
$10 million and go their separate ways.
