“If you want a quantum perspective on why the Nuyorican scene happened like this,” reflects Williams, “this is the beginning of real gangsta rap on the radio. All the thought-provoking and wordplay rappers were being called ‘underground,’ so people were looking to be stimulated through hip-hop and not just have their gangsta identities confirmed. And those people were all showing up at poetry readings: ‘Ah, this is where the lyricists are!’”

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