Remember the days before T-Pain and Nelly? Back when Sean Combs was still Puff Daddy? Back when two kings of the game ruled supreme? When rap still sounded like rap? If you haven’t figured it out yet, this article is dedicated to ’90s rap music. Rap in the ’90s brought widespread popularity to the genre. In the late 80s, Public Enemy, Run-D.M.C. and N.W.A. built a foundation for the gangster rap genre. They paved the way for what would be arguably the best decade the genre has ever seen.
With the exit of Ice Cube in 1989, N.W.A. continued to feud and eventually disbanded in 1991. The stage was set for an epic battle of rap supremacy in the early 90s. An East-West Coast divide had formed with Bad Boy Records on the East Coast, and Death Row Records on the West Coast. Tupac threw gasoline on the fire when he accused Biggie and Combs of being involved with the shooting he fell victim to in a NYC recording studio in 1994. With each record after that, the drama escalated and I think we all know how this story ends.
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It has been a while since we last left off with the countdown but today I have for you a great but perhaps forgotten rock song, “Touch, Peel and Stand” by Days Of The New. “Touch, Peel and Stand” is the band’s biggest hit to date, reaching #6 on the Modern Rock Charts and #1 on the Mainstream Rock Charts for a stay of a remarkable 16 weeks. Only 5 other songs in the chart’s history have managed to stay at #1 for a longer period of time. It was the first single released off of their first album which is self-titled. The album went on to go platinum with the help of “Shelf In The Room” and “The Down Town”, both of which were almost as successful as “Touch, Peel and Stand”.
Days Of The New were really quite a unique band for the time period. I have always felt like they came the closest at bringing a true “grunge” vibe to their songs in a time where most bands were forming the “post-grunge” genre. In my opinion, they have a sound that is a cross between Bush and Alice and Chains. They are known for a “acoustic rock” feel to their songs, and when combined with front man, “Travis Meeks”, voice, you got a sound that no doubt reminded you of the great grunge music that came before them. They went on to release two more self-titled albums but were never able to retain the success of their first album.
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After the popularity of Rizzo Music’s first 90s rap music playlist, I decided to create another one. Like the first, this playlist is just 10 solid rap songs from a great decade, the ’90s. I am in no way an expert on ’90s rap music but I really enjoy each and everyone of the songs on this list.
Enjoy this week’s playlist and don’t forget to sign up for our RSS feed!
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Rizzo Music is back with a new article from the “Popular Music of the 90s” series. Last week I made a list of some of the best pop music of the decade and today I am going to share with you my list for the most popular rock music of the 90s. Out of all the lists and playlists I have created in the past, this was by far the hardest to come up with. There are so many great artists and songs that originated in the 90s and deciding on just 5 songs for every year was tough. I tried to get representation out of all the key rock artists and hopefully I didn’t forget anyone.
After much debate I was able to compile this list of 90s rock music. There are so many songs that I really enjoy that could not be included due restrictions on space but there are 50 great singles here for your enjoyment.
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Remember when you could turn on the radio and actually find some decent music? That is what I miss the most about the 90s. Whether you liked rock, pop, or rap, the ’90s provided your fix for your particular tastes. Although my tastes tend to lean towards the post-grunge music I grew up on, there was no denying some of the great songs that came out of the decade.
I thought it was time to switch it up and bring to you a new kind of article. Within in the next few weeks I am going to present to you my favorite 90s songs separated by genres. I thought I would start off with pop since its pretty general, and well, popular. I will get to strictly rock and rap and many other sub-genres in the future. Feel free to offer your suggestions.
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First of it’s kind on Rizzo Music, this week I am here to introduce our ’90s rap music playlist.
Although I grew up mostly on ’90s alternative rock, I do have some rap favorites that I would like to share with you. These hits are about as good as rap singles go. My favorite from this group of songs would have to be “It Was A Good Day” by Ice Cube. I can’t find a better rap song to stroll through town with the windows down. It will have you head bobbing up and down from beginning to end.
Enjoy this one and be sure to let me know if I missed any classics.
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After watching VH1’s Greatest Songs of the 90s, I was inspired to start up a series of posts with my picks for the Top 100 Songs of the 1990s. I am going to skip out on the rap songs since I am not that big of an expert on that field of music. I am tempted to include some pop from the 90s but we will see if any of it actually makes the list. I am going to set out a few ground rules for the list and link back to this post for every entry.
Rules (subject to change):
1) An artist can only have up to a maximum of three songs on the list.
2) No rap, Hip-Hop, or R&B will be included on this list.
3) Only singles will be considered for this list.
4) I will accept suggestions but this list is in no way comprised of results from a poll or any form of voting process. It is strictly the opinion of Rizzo Music.
5) And obviously the song must have been released between Jan 1st 1990 and Dec 31st 1999.
Lately I have been listening to a lot of music, most of which I never heard before. A lot of it has been from some of my favorite artists, but some have just been random songs that I have come across. I have been going through some old albums as well as some new ones and I decided to make a new playlist with some of my new favorites.
I would just like to make a note of Dishwalla, a band that I recently rediscovered and started to listen to them extensively. Know most for their classic radio hit, “Counting Blue Cars”, they are a band that is much deeper then their one hit wonder status. If you happen to like “Coral Sky”, which is in this playlist, I suggest you check out more of their latest album, which is self-titled. Some of my favorites from that album are “Above The Wreckage”, “Collide” and “40 Stories”. If your more of a fan of their older music you should definitely check out their Live… Greetings From The Flow State album. Well, that’s it for this week. Hope you enjoyed it.
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A great recap to a great decade. Saturday Night Live is a show that I really have enjoyed over the last decade or so. From Chris Farley to Chris Rock, this show was stacked with comedic geniuses. This television special had plenty of commentary from almost all the great cast members of the 1990s but it was lacking a little in the video clips. With such a long span to cover, it was hard to fit everything into a two hour special but I think that they did a good job. You really can’t go wrong with Chris Farrley’s Matt Foley skit or Will Farrell’s Cowbell performance.
It was really fun to see all the old cast members come back to talk about the golden age of SNL that was the early 90s. The cool thing about it was that there were only a few missing from the commentary. The only one that I noticed that was missing was Adam Sandler. I, being such a avid 90s music fan, loved that fact that they included a bunch of past performances from so many good bands. The musical acts have always been an intricate part of Saturday Night Live, and it was nice to see them be included in the special.
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Another Monday playlist for you to enjoy. I just realized how busy these next two weeks will be for me but I am going to try my best to keep up with new articles. For this playlist I thought it would be fun to get a good mix of 10 random songs selected by Itunes. I thought this sample would give a good representation of the kind of music I listen to everyday. I just hope that nothing embarrassing comes up. Thanks for listening and I hope you find something that you like.
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90s Grunge Hits
Just pure flannel shirt Seattle grunge music at it’s finest. »
90's Post-GrungeYour favorite late 90s rock. »
90's Pop Playlist
Hits you either want to forget or have come to embrace. »
90's Rap HitsJams to stroll through town with the windows down. »
90's Slow Songs
The best slow dance songs from the 90s. »
