Picture this: It’s 2001, and you just graduated high school. Congrats! That was no small achievement! You now have the entire summer to enjoy life before going out into the daunting world of… college! So, how do you kick back and relax during those warm carefree months? Music, of course!
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And in 2001, there were some incredible tunes to choose from. Today, they’re called bangers! Yes, we wanted to take a look back at some of our favorites from back in the day—nearly 25 years ago. These are three Grammy Award-winning rappers (and their tunes) from 2001 that we still revisit often.
Dr. Dre
After discovering Eminem and bringing him to the forefront the year prior, Dr. Dre focused on his own material. And in 2001 he was honored for his solo album, 2001. To start, he earned the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for the single from that LP, “Forgot About Dre”. But to cap that off, Dre also won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, for his work on Eminem’s sophomore LP (see more on that below).
Eminem
While controversy followed him everywhere, so did the awards. Eminem brought home Grammys for Best Rap Solo Performance for his song “The Real Slim Shady” and Best Rap Album for The Marshall Mathers LP. He also helped Dr. Dre earn a couple of trophies—truly, the two were incredible for each other’s careers. What Eminem could do with words was bolstered by what Dre could do with beat making and production. Dynamic stuff!
Rage Against The Machine
While some may see the name Rage Against The Machine on a list about rappers and scratch their heads, there is a true-blue rap element to the group, to be sure. Lead vocalist Zack de la Rocha is an M.C. just as much as someone like Chuck D. and lead guitarist Tom Morello has said that he tried to play chords and notes that resembled turntables. So, we’re taking some poetic license here and included Rage as rappers. So, kudos to them for earning the Grammy for (ahem) Best Hard Rock Performance for their tune “Guerrilla Radio”. Some bands just don’t fit in boxes!
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
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