While certain music genres may have hit a plateau in the '80s, others were booming or even just being born. With the auto-tuned-to-the-max T-Pain tracks hogging the radio today, it's hard not to think about where exactly hip-hop went wrong. Hip-hop was at its best in the '80s and early '90s. It was honest, raw and original. It's no wonder much of today's hip-hop samples the great beats and rhymes of the '80s.


Beastie Boys


Licensed to Ill, the band’s 1986 debut album, is considered one of the greatest albums of all time. As one of the earliest fusers of hip-hop and rock, the Beastie Boys discovered a way to reflect the recklessly light-hearted attitude of the decade in their music.


Run DMC


Though a younger generation may know Rev Run from his MTV show Run’s House, his influence is far greater than just another dysfunctional reality television family. Rev Run is one of the founding members of the hip-hop group, Run-D.M.C. The group’s third album, Raising Hell, literally did just that with its blurring of genre lines in the anthem “Walk This Way”. And you can’t forget the irresistibly fun “It’s Tricky”.


N.W.A.


N.W.A.(which stands for something I can't say on here) was simultaneously influenced by the previous groups mentioned, as well as a rebellion against the previous groups mentioned. Even though N.W.A. later contributed on a few Beastie Boys' songs, this hip-hop group transformed the music that was being created at the time into a whole different genre. Gangster rap definitely had more vulgar lyrics than its hip-hop predecessors and reflected a completely different lifestyle. Though that may seem normal today, it was ground-breaking at the time. Straight Outta Compton is considered one of the most preeminent and influential rap albums of all time.