"anger, identity and reward": rap in the pre-steroids era

before the trade in anabolic steroids caused rappers to lose their tempers and made their shirts fall off, our favourite mcs had to earn their gigantic bodies filled with rage. hence the boo-ya tribe.

boo-ya tribe & faith no more - 'another body murdered' (from judgment night OST)

what were the boo-yas so angry about? water rights for the indigenous peoples of boo-ya? missing out on the part of chong li in bloodsport to bolo yeung, and not getting to go to the kumite?

but if you're not happy with boo-ya angry, what about onyx featuring biohazard angry? onyx were so angry their hair fell out and they had to go to prison, where they met biohazard. i don't know why they were so hell-bent on ire, but the presence of biohazard suggests that "the system" might have had something to do with it.

onyx & biohazard - 'judgment night' (from judgment night OST)

by 1993 de la soul were not angry, just disappointed, which isn't what happens when you're on steroids at all. teenage fanclub looked quite cheery, possibly because they'd just released badwagonesque and someone had let them make a pop record with de la soul.

de la soul & teenage fanclub - 'fallin' (from judgment night OST)

if you want to make a pop record with a rapper these days, you have to be ripped, like maroon 5 or that chap from coldplay. is this progress?