1997 was a significant year in the history of popular music. With the rise of grunge and alternative rock in the early 90s, the music industry was looking for a new direction, and in 1997, it found it. From boy bands to hip-hop to alternative rock, the year was marked by an incredible diversity of
- yeah, so what were the early records that influenced you? - ooh, man. so many. you know what? rather than tell you the records, i d rather play it for you than show you. - oh, yeah, yeah. please. - let s go upstairs. so this is the first time i heard a spanish rap on a hip-hop record. so this guy, mr. schick, was in a group called the mean machine. - all right. - and this is sugar hill records, bro. [hip-hop music playing] - oh. oh. - we got something we want y all to hear [singing in spanish] - wepa, wepa. - [rapping in spanish] - ooh. - ooh! and we can never forget big punisher. - ahh, big pun. - the first solo latino artist because cypress hill went platinum, also, as a group. [big punisher s still not a player playing] - [singing along in spanish] - and of course, big record. - no more rolling with an entourage
all the photos you see of hip-hop back in the day were all by joe conzo. - joe conzo, man. - yeah, so what were the early records that influenced you? - ooh, man. so many. you know what? rather than tell you the records, i d rather play it for you than show you. - oh, yeah, yeah. please. - let s go upstairs. so this is the first time i heard a spanish rap on a hip-hop record. so this guy, mr. schick, was in a group called the mean machine. - all right. - and this is sugar hill records, bro. [hip-hop music playing] - oh. oh. - we got something we want y all to hear [singing in spanish] - wepa, wepa. - [rapping in spanish] - ooh. - ooh! and we can never forget big punisher. - ahh, big pun. - the first solo latino artist because cypress hill went platinum, also, as a group. [big punisher s still not a player playing] - [singing along in spanish]