User:OnBeyondZebrax/sandbox/Alternative hip hop

Alternative hip hop developed in the late-80s, in midst of the golden age of hip hop, with East Coast rappers such as De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Alternative hip hop's commercial momentum was impeded by the then also newly emerging, significantly harder-edged West Coast gangsta rap. A resurgence came about in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the rejuvenated interest in indie music by the general public. In the 2000s alternative hip hop reattained its place within the mainstream, due in part to the declining commercial viability of gangsta rap as well as the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West. The alternative hip hop movement expanded beyond the US to include the Somali-Canadian poet K'naan, Japanese rapper Shing02, and British artist M.I.A.. Alternative hip hop has attained critical acclaim but is generally shunned by media outlets.