January 3rd, 2005: Jay-Z became President of Def Jam for three years while running his label, Roc-A-Fella. Jay-Z’s quote: “I have inherited two of the most important brands in hip-hop, Def Jam and Roc-a-Fella. I feel this is a great step for me and the entire artistic community.”…more!

January 4th, 2001: Vanilla Ice was arrested and spent the night in jail after a physical altercation with his wife while driving down the interstate. His wife told police she feared her husband. Vanilla Ice denied the claim he hit his wife, stating the two had a heated argument. He admitted to placing his hand over her mouth and ripping out some of her hair to prevent her from jumping out of the moving vehicle. They had two children in the car.…more!

January 5th, 1980: Sugarhill Gang’s “Rappers Delight” became the first rap song to reach the Top 40 chart by reaching #36 on Billboard 200 and was arguably the first rap song to be played on the radio.

January 6th, 2008: Beats By Dre was released in collaboration with Monster Cable Products and Dr. Dre. The $400 headphones aimed to bring studio sound quality to the consumer level. The partnership would only last until 2012, when Beats didn’t renew their contract with Monster. Since 2014, Apple now owns Beats.…more!

January 7th, 2003: 50 Cent’s single “In Da Club” was released. It was released in promotion for his debut studio album, “Get Rich Or Die Tryin’.” The track debuted at #67 on Billboard Hot 100, and it took eight weeks to reach the #1 spot to make it 50 Cent’s first #1 Single. In March 2003, it broke Billboard’s record as the “most-listened-to” song in radio history within a week. Billboard also ranked it as the #1 song in 2003, and it is currently 9x Platinum with the RIAA.…more!

January 9th, 1996: The Soundtrack to the movie “Don’t Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood” was released. The album would peak at #18 on Billboard 200 and has been certified Gold by the RIAA. Some songs from this album are “Don’t Give Up,” “Renee,” and “Can’t Be Wasting My Time.”…more!

January 10th, 1994: Dr. Dre led the police on a drunken high-speed chase through Beverly Hills in a 1987 White Ferrari Testarossa. He blew over twice the legal BAC in California.

January 11th, 2011: Schoolboy Q released his debut album, “Setbacks.” The album peaked at #100 on Billboard 200. Some songs on this album are “LigHt Years Ahead (Sky High),” “#BETIGOTSUMWEED,” and “Rolling Stone.”…more!

January 12th, 2000: Ice Cube’s “Next Friday” was released by his TV and Film Production company “Cube Vision.”

January 15th, 1991: Digital Underground released “This Is An EP Release.” Tupac made his debut on the track “Same Song” and can be heard as a background vocalist and humorous ad-libs on the track “The Way We Sing (Remix).” The project peaks at the #29 spot on Billboard 200 and is currently certified Gold by the RIAA. Some songs on this album are “Tie The Knot,” “Nuttin Nis Funky,” and “Arguin’ on the Funk.”…more!

January 16th, 2007: DJ Drama, a well-known mixtape DJ, and Don Cannon, Drama’s Friend/Business Partner, were arrested and taken into custody for illegally distributing mixtapes and violating Georgia’s racketeering laws. They were arrested during a raid on the Aphilliates Music Group in Atlanta, GA. Business accounts were frozen during the raid, and recording equipment, computers, and pressed mixtapes were seized. *The Impact on HipHop* Mixtapes were no longer pressed into CD form. Many Mixtape DJs moved to upload solely online to websites like Datpiff and Live Mixtapes.…more!

January 16th, 2009: The biographical drama film “Notorious” about the Brooklyn-based rapper Notorious B.I.G was released. The film dramatizes key events in Biggie’s life: his criminal lifestyle, his arrest and release from prison, his relationships with Sean Combs, Tupac Shakur, Lil’ Kim, and Faith Evans, his involvement in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry and his drive-by-shooting murder on March 9, 1997. The Soundtrack was released with the film and debuted at #4 on Billboard 200, selling 124k copies in the first week.…more!

January 17th, 1992: The crime thriller “Juice” featuring Tupac was released. This movie was Tupac’s debut acting role. The film touches on the lives of four black youths growing up in Harlem, following their day-to-day activities, their struggles with police harassment, rival neighborhood gangs, and their families. The Soundtrack accompanying the movie was released on December 31st, 1992.…more!

January 18th, 2005: The Game released his second studio album, “The Documentary.” The album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200, selling 586k copies in the first week, which helped it become certified Double Platinum by the RIAA. Some songs on the album are “Hate It or Love It,” “How We Do,” and “We Ain’t.”…more!

January 19th, 1992: Malcolm “Mac Miller” McCormick was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

January 20th, 1992: Based on clues in the song, this date is believed to be the “Good Day” Ice Cube was having in “It Was A Good Day.”

January 20th, 2015: Lupe Fiasco released his fifth studio album, “Tetsuo & Youth.” It debuted at #14 on Billboard 200, selling 42k copies in the first week. Lupe said Tetsuo Shima, a character from the Japanese manga series Akira, loosely inspired the album’s name. Some songs on this project are “Dots & Lines,” “Chopper,” and “Deliver.”…more!

January 21st, 1985: Run-D.M.C. released their second studio album, “King of Rock.” This album was the first rap album to be released on a CD. The album peaked at #52 on Billboard 200 and is certified Platinum by the RIAA. Some songs on this project are “Roots, Rap, Reggae,” “You Talk Too Much,” and “Can You Rock Like This.”…more!

January 21st, 2014: Schoolboy Q released “Break tHe Bank” as a single for his album “Oxymoron.” The Alchemist produced the song, which peaked at #32 on Billboard Hot R&B/HipHop songs.

January 23rd, 1989: Tone Lōc released his debut album, “Lōc-ed After Dark.” The album reached #1 on Billboard 200 and was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA. Some songs on the project are “Wild Thing,” “Funky Cold Medina,” and “I Got It Goin’ On.”…more!

January 25th, 2011: “2Pac Uncensored & Uncut: The Lost Prison Tapes” was released. The film included unreleased footage of interviews with Tupac inside the Clinton Correctional Facility of New York in 1995.

January 25th, 1999: Eminem released “My Name Is” as the lead single for “The Slim Shady LP.” The track would peak at #36 on Billboard Hot 100 and was ranked #6 on Q Magazines’ ‘1001 Best Songs Ever.’

January 26th, 2014: Kendrick Lamar got robbed of a Grammy for Best Rap Album. It was “Good Kid: Madd City” vs. Macklemore’s “The Heist.” Even though Macklemore had 4 Grammys from that night, he knew Kendrick’s GK:MC was the better album and sent him an apology text reading, “You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have…”…more!

January 26th, 2018: The Migos released their third studio album, “Culture 2.” It’s a double album containing 24 tracks and many features from A-list artists. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200, selling 199k copies in the first week, 115k of which were pure album sales, helping it become certified Double Platinum by the RIAA. Some songs on this project are “MotorSport,” “Stir Fry,” and “Walk It Talk It.”…more!

January 27th, 2004: Twista released his fourth studio album, “Kamikaze.” It debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 and sold 312k copies in the first week, helping it become certified Platinum by the RIAA. Some songs off the album are “Slow Jamz,” “So Sexy,” and “Badunkadunk.”…more!

January 28th, 2018: Kendrick Lamar won 5 Grammys for his album, “Damn”: Best Rap Performance, Best Rap/Sung Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album, and Best Music Video.

January 28th, 1997: Camp Lo released their debut album, “Uptown Saturday Night.” The album would peak at #27 on Billboard 200 and #5 on the R&B Album chart. Some songs on the album are “Park Joint,” “Swing,” and “Coolie High.”…more!

January 29th, 2015: The Law finally caught up to Suge Knight after he ran over and killed his friend, Terry Carter. He has currently served three years of his 28-year prison sentence. Suge Knight is a myth and legend in HipHop, but after this tragic event, his legacy may be finalized even when he is eligible for parole in 2037. At 72, the hiphop scene will have evolved so much that it will be a new landscape for one of the OGs from the 90s HipHop.…more!

January 30th, 2009: Kendrick Lamar released his third solo mixtape, “C4.” The mixtape consists of freestyles over instrumentals from Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter 3” and some original songs. Some songs on this mixtape are “Mr. Carter 2,” “A Milli,” and “Play With Fire.”…more!

January 31st, 1994: Wu-Tang Clan released their hit single, “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me).” It was the second single promoting their debut album “Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).” Its critically acclaimed praise didn’t help it commercially, as it peaked at #60 on Billboard Hot 100, but it is certified Gold by the RIAA. After the release of this track, the slang ‘Cream’ was used to reference money.…more!