1984: The Year That Hip-Hop Became Big Business

In 1984, three rap albums dropped that forever changed the landscape of the rap industry, and set the template for the modern day rap album. These albums contained no ballads and they were sequenced in a way that told a musical story. Rap music was no longer a singles- driven industry. The rap album had it own identity, complete with liner notes, themes, and skits. Run-DMC’s Larry Smith-produced, self-titled album changed the game, based primarily on the momentum of their groundbreaking 1983 single “It’s Like That”/”Sucker MC’s,” and “Hard Times”/”Jam Master Jay.” Fans eagerly awaited a full album of the stripped down, drum machine only beats and rhymes from the Kings from Queens, but the legendary album almost didn’t happen. Profile Records co-founder Cory Robbins told The foundation : “It was time to do an album, and they didn’t want to. I called Russell (Simmons) their manager, and told him that we had all these songs on the radio, and we needed to put on an album.” Robbins added: “Russell said that rap albums don’t sell, and there’s never been one that sold anything and how they all suck. I told him that we had four songs, and that if...