What’s your greatest “what if” in Hip Hop history?

[Don Dada]

Picking up a conversation sparked by Nelly, Ed Lover took to Instagram on Thursday (January 12) to offer his input about who he felt might be considered the biggest “What If” in Hip Hop.

“Nelly said, hands down, the biggest ‘What If’ in Hip Hop history is The D.O.C. because [he] got hurt after giving us one album, right?,” the radio host started. “So I would say yeah, Nelly’s right about D.O.C. But I would also like to add Nipsey Hussle. I would also like to add Pop Smoke. I would also like to add Amil.

 

[dodge]

As a kid from Brooklyn mine is obvious


What if Biggie never died…..

 

[O.G.]

What if NYC never had that huge blackout in 1977? So many electronic stores were looted for their DJ equipment. DJs were everywhere learning a new craft with new equipment, doing block parties that hip hop became a fast spreading phenomenon throughout the city and eventually the world. There still woulda been hip hop without the looters but the spread of it woulda been much much slower.

 

[Norrin_Radd]

Lord Have Mercy that was down with Busta. I thought he had next, Quan that was on that song Just a Moment with Nas, Knocturnal, Ray Cash, SunNy! Remember him??? There’s a bunch of what ifs!

 

[Don Dada]

Lord Have Mercy that was down with Busta. I thought he had next, Quan that was on that song Just a Moment with Nas, Knocturnal, Ray Cash, SunNy! Remember him??? There’s a bunch of what ifs!

Nashawn

I wanna be more than that bullet that go through ya zone
Wanna be the lead that tear through ya skin and crack bones
Wanna be the heat you feel makin' ya moan
Wanna be the hospital bed that you lay on
Wanna be the god you feel when you pray-on
It's Nashawn the type that get the hyper calm
I'm gonna kill somethin', rap cats be real frontin'
Fuck shootin' legs, cock back put his brains on the pave
Nigga how 'bout that, close range with the gauge get payed
First rapper to shoot off stage
Turn the front page the next day, my life is like a book
A twenty four hour song without no hook
Millennium Thug computer chips up in my slug
Turn corners when you turn corners, know who to plug
Thugs around me outside its grimy outside
Better slide before you get bodied outside

 

[Don Dada]

if aaliyah didnt die how big could she be? bigger dan beyonce madonna?

 

[Qawshun]

If I am was never bootlegged.
If jay felt like being competitive
If 50 kept the documentary songs

 

[Stomp Johnson]

What if Pac and Big never died at all, but instead lived long enough to NOT become instant martyrs and legends, and had to remain relevant in the fickle ass entertainment industry?

Does Pac finally get free of that Death Row contract and continue to beef on wax with Dre and other figures he was taking aim at?

Does BIG attain success outside of Puff with Junior MAFIA and that label with Un? What happens to Puff and Bad Boy if so?

Does Pac remain a relevant figure in music, or would he have progressed into acting full-time? If he acts, how does that career go?

Mainstream like Will Smith?
Hip Hop pigeonholed like Fredro Star?
Actor/producer like Cube?
Or does he secure a TV bag in that Cool J & Ice T lane ending up on a CBS cop show?
Or who knows, maybe he ends up in the Flavor Flav, VH1 lane? How can we be so sure he doesn't?

Back east with BIG alive, does Jay Z ever run the game with his run from Vol 2 all the way up to Black Album? Does the Nas rivalry ever occur?


Nigga I got a thousand of these questions.

 

[genocide_cutter]

What if RZA's place never got flooded?

 

[Muad'Dib]

If Pimp C wouldn't have died. I wonder how much would he have further influenced the next generation of rappers , especially down south.
I wonder how far Max B's wave would've went if he hadn't got locked up.
What if B.g. would've never got locked up, would his momentum in street rap kept going?
What if Donny Hathaway would've never killed himself? How far could his stardom have went?
What if Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Walter, and all of those original blues sangers got their propers financially in their time, as well as fame, for coming up with music as we know it today?

 

[grYmes]

I feel like we do this every 6 months but it’s still interesting.

 

[5th Letter]

What if Rza never beat the case?

 

[Suckio Andretti]

I feel like we do this every 6 months but it’s still interesting.

It stopped being interesting 10 years ago

 

[grYmes]

It stopped being interesting 10 years ago

Haha a lot of em are kinda stale.

One that intrigues me is what would have happened if Death Row East got off the ground. Run-DMC was rumored to be one of the acts signed and knowing Jam Master Jays relationship with 50 Cent one could argue 50 could have been a Death Row artist.

 

[Stomp Johnson]

Ed Lover's opinions on Amil says a whole lot about how common it is to expect females to have male writers.

I don't necessarily agree with him about her being any kinda potential force in the game tho. Couldn't get past her voice.

 

[O.G.]

What if we actually had to buy the music we listen to now? How much smaller would your music library be?

 

[Mister]

Mausberg
4 Bent(Billboard)

 

[Don Dada]

What if Jungle had the work ethic and Nas writing for him?

 

[Suckio Andretti]

What if Marie baker got that abortion?

 

[RozayTabernacle]

What if Black Hippy would've put out an album and moved like an actual group?