At which age did you get into Hip Hop?

[yoshi]

^Yeah, that's what I categorize as experiencing Hip Hop, nowadays you can DL it from the internet and listen to it on your Iphone or w.e. Back in the days it was special, buying a record, or copying it from a friend, and listening to it on your walkman/discman in your room or on the go. Damn, how I miss those days.

Me too. I think as much as internet helped hip hop, it sort of destroyed the beauty of it. Not only hip hop, the whole industry. Like you said, back in the days you were the shit if you got a tape/CD. You'd wait until it was available in your country or search for someone and borrow the tapes. I really wish I could go back in time to and experience the times when it was really underground and you'd literally have to dig for some new stuff. At the same I'm grateful for the fact that I could watch the evolution of the industry and catch it maybe not in it's prime, obviously, but still in a good shape.

[garycal5326]

the first rapper i heard was eminem. i liked his songs i heard on the radio when i was in second grade, and now in tenth grade he is still my favorite rapper.

truly into hip hop, id say about 5th-6th grade

[ChristinaE12]

Depends on what you mean get into it. I have listened to Hip Hop for like 19-20 years already, all mainstream stuff at the time obviously. But got into it more when Eminem came onto the seen with SSLP when I was 13... and is when I actually became a hardcore fan/listener. His music just hit me completely different than anything else I've ever heard before. And I noticed he was different in all aspects from everything else I heard in Hip Hop. That was the start of it all basically.

[-[Zach]-]

Eminem is what got me into Hip Hop. Except it was only him and the people he worked with that I would listen too haha. Like for two solid years all I listened to was him. Well him and Dre's The Chronic and Snoop's Doggystyle. And that was when I was around 8 I think. So around 10 is when I got into 2Pac and from there I eventually learned to like other Hip Hop besides Slim Shady. To this day, SSLP - TES bring back more memories than most other CDs I listen to. Looking back, I was dumb haha.

[GladHeAteHerr]

I was 11, and I got Encore (edited version ) for Christmas in 6th grade..I'm 18 now. That's what really got me into hip hop, but before then I got an Aaron Carter tape in like second grade..I know it's considered pop not rap but he raps, so I guess that's technically my first.

I swear that I'm telling you the facts..Cuz that's how I beat Shaq..

[Sam.]

hip hop to me was introduced to me by my cousin bro who used to stay with us at the age of 5-6 and the first rapper i heard was Tupac , i didn't understand that much but something in his raps that i heard made me love the music and connect to it in some way .

[GenePeer]

^Yeah, haha. I remember listening to Nas' It Was Written on a casette tape. Someone had recorded it from a CD for me, haha. I used to listen to that all day long on my Walkman.

I remember the first album I bought was TES when I was like 11; it was a casette tape, but now that I think of it, I think it was bootlegged lol. A few days later, my cousin gave me a tape of MMLP. Other than songs on the radio, that was all I listened to throughout grade 5-6...

The next time I listened to a complete album and started listening to Hip-Hop seriously was with Relapse two years ago.

[Tornado]

12-13, when i was an Eminem Stan (around 02), then went into the whole Shady/Aftermath catergory when 50 dropped. I think what changed my taste is i was pissed that Anger Management 3 Tour was supposed to come to the UK but Em had to fuck it up, didn't he? I lost intrest abit in Shady, started going back to know the classics and seeing other mainstream artists but i got sick of the mainstream cos shit was boring me. Older cousin gave me some underground tapes and from them i ain't looked back.

As for the Inernet as a whole, it really is a double edged sword for Hip-Hop.

[VenomBlackViper]

In 2006 when I was 12 I heard rap songs for the 1st time on friends ipods & phones, the first songs I heard were Grillz by Nelly, Candy Shop & In Da Club by 50 Cent & Lose Yourself by Eminem. From there on I just listened to more and more rap, and yeah I say rap instead of hip hop because for the next 3 years thats what I listened to. Horrible, bullshit rap with a hot beat. The only exceptions were the few Eminem songs I heard, Mac Dre and Immortal Technique. I wasn't even a Eminem fan, from 12-15 before hearing Relapse the only songs I actually liked by him were Smack That, Mockingbird, Ass Like That & Crack A Bottle, horrible decisions I know. Then in 09 I downloaded Relapse after hearing My Mom from a friend & thinking it was hilarious. After being amazed by Relapse I delved into more and more Eminem songs, ended up hearing all his shit, started searching underground for artists with similar styles, came on here ect. I gotta give Eminem his credit though if it wasn't for me listening to him i'd probably still be bumping Soulja Boy & Gucci Mane like there was no tomorrow unless I realized they were horrible through hearing some other good rappers.
Also I got into rock in 06 as well, that was the year I started listening to music before that I never got into music cuz of how brainwashed I was by religion back then.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

when MMLP dropped,first song i heard was the real slim shady.

[dR3]

walkman in hand bumping the last CD we bought - ready to purchase a new one.

Didn't walkmans play only cassettes?

[Sekou]

14-15.
Before that, rap music was like a forbidden drug to me. I grew up in Austria and things around here are a lot different, not many people are into rap and it's not really accepted.
So it was like, I know it's there, but I must not ever try it. I'd heard a few songs and I thought that all rappers were stupid, because of their bad grammar and the curse words. Oh, and I thought all of them were racist for saying "n1gga".
Then I got into 50 Cent at around 15 and started listening to him excessively, wearing baggy pants and shirts, a fitted and diamonds round my neck (thooose were the times ).
I soon realized this "poppin' shit" gangsta rap music wasn't me, but it took me a few more years until I actually found my real taste in rap music.

[Bistnal]

walkman in hand bumping the last CD we bought - ready to purchase a new one.

Didn't walkmans play only cassettes?

yeah...he probably means portable CD players. Still have mine.
But I probably got into hip hop around 14, always heard and listened to a few songs, but I didn't become a "real" fan of it until then, but it was solely Eminem and shady/aftermath family (I used to think Tony Yayo was dope ) until about 16/17 and then slowly expanded to other artists. Didn't really get into underground rap until about a year and a half ago, though.

[NicoleEM]

Like really into hip-hop?Like i am now?About 1 year a go lol,so at 28

[Robbie G]

13-14

I was listening to my sisters mp3 player and fell in love with mockingbird.