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Hip hop's "golden age" is a name given to a period in mainstream hip hop—usually cited as late 1980s—said to be characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence. There were strong themes of Afrocentricity and political militancy, while the music was experimental, the sampling eclectic. The artists most often associated with the phase are Public Enemy, KRS-One and his Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers. Releases by these acts co-existed and successfully competed commercially in this period with those of gangsta rap pioneers Schoolly D and N.W.A, the sex raps of Too $hort, and party-oriented music by acts such as Kid 'n Play, Heavy D, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

Some writers, such as Tony Green, have referenced the two year period 1993–1994 as "a second Golden Age" that saw influential, high quality albums using elements of past classicism—E-mu SP-1200 drum sounds, turntable scratches, references to old school hip hop hits, and "tongue-twisting triplet verbalisms"—while making clear that new directions were being taken. Green lists Enter the Wu-Tang, Illmatic, Buhloone Mindstate, Doggystyle, Midnight Marauders and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik as releases of this ilk.

References

1. Jon Caramanica, "Hip-Hop's Raiders of the Lost Archives", New York Times, June 26 2005.
   Cheo H. Coker, "Slick Rick: Behind Bars", Rolling Stone, March 9 1995.
   Lonnae O'Neal Parker, "U-Md. Senior Aaron McGruder's Edgy Hip-Hop Comic Gets Raves, but No Takers", Washington Post, Aug 20 1997.
2. Jake Coyle of Associated Press, "Spin magazine picks Radiohead CD as best", published in USA Today, June 19 2005.
   Cheo H. Coker, "Slick Rick: Behind Bars", Rolling Stone, March 9 1995.
   Andrew Drever, "Jungle Brothers still untamed", The Age , October 24 2003.
3. Roni Sariq, "Crazy Wisdom Masters", City Pages, April 16 1997.
   Scott Thill, "Whiteness Visible" AlterNet, May 6 2005.
   Will Hodgkinson, "Adventures on the wheels of steel", The Guardian, September 19 2003.
4. Per Coker, Hodgkinson, Drever, Thill, O'Neal Parker and Sariq above. Additionally:
   Cheo H. Coker, "KRS-One: Krs-One", Rolling Stone, November 16, 1995.
   Andrew Pettie, "'Where rap went wrong'", Daily Telegraph, August 11 2005.
   Mosi Reeves, "Easy-Chair Rap", Village Voice, January 29th 2002.
   Greg Kot, "Hip-Hop Below the Mainstream", Los Angeles Times, September 19 2001.
   Cheo Hodari Coker, "'It's a Beautiful Feeling'", Los Angeles Times, August 11 1996.
   Scott Mervis, "From Kool Herc to 50 Cent, the story of rap -- so far", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 15 2004.
5. Bakari Kitwana,"The Cotton Club", Village Voice, June 21 2005.
6. Green, Tony, in Wang, Oliver (ed.) Classic Material, Toronto: ECW Press, 2003. (p. 132)

• History of hip hop