Some of the most dynamic, powerful and politically engaged music of recent years has come from the hip hop fraternity – but so, too, have some of pop’s most infectious singles. This two-part quiz looks at both these sides of the hip hop coin, from homegrown talent to West Coast rap, and almost everything in between . . .
Answers: here
1 ‘U Can’t Touch This’ and ‘Have You Seen Her’ were hit singles in 1990 for which rapper, one of the first to deliberately try to cross over into the pop market? What was his signature fashion feature, showcased in his energetic dance routines?
2 Working alongside Jazzy Jeff, what’s the real name of the Fresh Prince? And what was their number one hit together?
3 Under what name did Daz Dillinger and Kurupt appear on both Dr Dre’s and Snoop Dogg’s debut albums? What’s the title of their own debut album, released in 1995?
4 Which British female artist was sampled on Eminem’s 2000 hit, ‘Stan’? ‘Thank You’, the featured track, first appeared on which 1999 album?
5 ‘Purple Pills’, ‘How Come’ and ‘Shit on You’ are all singles by which rap collective, which counts Eminem as a member? The group have significantly reduced their output since which member of the band died in 2006?
6 Who was a college dropout in 2005? Despite this, what did he achieve two years later?
7 Whose album Licensed to Ill was one of the biggest-selling albums of 1986? Which artist, then still a relative newcomer herself, gave the band a helping hand when she invited them to be her support act on her 1985 tour?
8 Who had three singles ‘Candy Shop’, ‘Disco Inferno’ and ‘How We Do’ in the US top five in the same week, the first solo artist to achieve this? Which album was the only UK No1 hit for this artist?
9 Which nineties hip hop act from Queens was led by rappers Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, with Ali Shaheed Muhammad as producer? What was the name of the 1996 album that broke the band in the UK?
10 After adopting Rastafarianism in his early forties, which rapper released a reggae album called Reincarnated in 2013? Under what name did he release it?
11 Whose first album 1 Polish, 2 Biscuits and a Fish Sandwich yielded two British number-one singles, ‘Don’t Stop (Wiggle Wiggle)’ and ‘Boom Boom Boom’? What’s the name of their greatest-hits compilation?
12 What was the original name given to Public Enemy’s production team? And who was the group’s DJ until 1999, when he was replaced by DJ Lord?
13 Who did Kanye West marry in May 2014? With which distinctly non-hip hop star did Kanye collaborate on the songs ‘Only One’ and ‘FourFiveSeconds’?
14 ‘Bad Meets Evil’ is a collaboration between Eminem and which other rapper? What’s the name of their 2011 EP, which topped the US chart and reached the British Top 10?
15 Released in 2000, Country Grammar is the bestselling album by which Texan rapper? Who guested on his 2002 single ‘Dilemma’, a British and American number one?
16 Which British hip hop artist made his debut in 1999 with Brand New Second Hand? What’s the anthemic single from his second album Run Come Save Me, in which the singer describes himself as ‘Scum of the earth/His worth was nil until he gained the skill of tongues’?
17 What’s the faintly paranoid title of Tupac Shakur’s third album, his first to top the US charts? Which track from the follow-up, All Eyez on Me, gave 2Pac and his collaborator Dr Dre their first American number one?
18 Who had a number one in 1995 in most major music territories with ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’? On which British reality TV programme did he appear in 2009?
19 On which classic 1988 album, by which short-lived Californian act, is the title track followed by ‘Fuck Tha Police’ and ‘Gangsta Gangsta’?
20 Jay Z’s 2010 album was inspired by and shared a title with which 2007 Ridley Scott film? Which other movie inspired a 2002 hit single by Jay Z featuring Beyoncé, taken from Jay Z’s album The Blueprint 2?
21 What was the name of the alter ego that Eminem featured on his first major label album? And which two albums, released in 2000 and 2013, saw the rapper revert to his given name?
22 Who wanted to Thank Us Later in 2010, then advised us to Take Care a year after that? What did the same artist want us to listen to in 2016?
23 Sen Dog, B-Real and DJ Muggs found success in the nineties as which West Coast rap band? How, culturally, were they different from most big rap acts of the same era?
24 Which two high-profile rappers were shot and killed in drive-by shootings in September 1996 and March 1997, the height of the hip hop feuds?
25 Who had a British number one alongside Faith Evans with ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ in 1997? And which band’s earlier hit did it rework?
26 Who attacked his former NWA bandmates in the notorious rap ‘No Vaseline’, which appears on his second album Death Certificate? What’s the title of the 1992 follow-up, the artist’s only American number-one album?
27 Which two singles, one a collaboration with Kanye West and Rihanna, the other a homage to New York featuring Alicia Keys, helped to turn Jay Z’s 2009 album The Blueprint 3 into a worldwide hit?
28 What followed The Eminem Show (2002)? And what came after Relapse (2009)?
29 Who guested on the Drake singles ‘Take Care’ (2012) and ‘Too Good’ (2016)? And on which 2010 single by this artist, a number one in the UK and the US, did Drake provide guest vocals?
30 Which band’s first five albums were entitled Club Classics Volumes I to V? In what way was Volume IV different?