A new crop of rising stars from Long Beach, California, including Vince Staples and O.T. Genasis, have brought renewed attention to the second largest city in Los Angeles County. But Snoop Dogg’s rise to superstardom in the early ‘90s made LBC a hotbed for the West Coast rap explosion, making Snoop associates like Warren G and Daz Dillinger famous as well. And over the last 25 years, Long Beach’s contribution to hip hop has been diverse, from vocalists who combine rapping with singing like Nate Dogg and RBX to the producer BattleCat, Rage Against The Machine’s rap/rock trailblazer Zach de la Rocha, hitmakers like Domino, and respected lyricsts like Crooked I. And modern Long Beach rappers like Joey Fatts and TayF3rd continue to expand the city’s musical identify beyond its storied gangsta rap history. -- Al Shipley
