<P> In the later half of the decade, from about 1986, rap took off into the mainstream with Run - D.M.C.'s Raising Hell, and the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill, the latter becoming the first rap album to enter No. 1 Spot on the Billboard 200 and helping break down the doors for white performers to do rap . Both of these groups mixed rap and rock together, which appealed to rock and rap audiences . Hip - hop took off from its roots and the golden age hip hop flourished, with artists such as Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Big Daddy Kane, and Salt - N - Pepa . Hip Hop became popular in America until the late 1990s, when it went worldwide . The golden age scene would die out by the early 1990s as gangsta rap and g - funk took over, with west - coast artists Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Ice Cube, east - coast artists Notorious B.I.G., Wu - Tang Clan, and Mobb Deep, and the sounds of urban black male bravado, compassion, and social awareness best represented by the rapper Tupac Shakur . </P> <P> While heavy metal music was almost exclusively created by white performers in the 1970s and 1980s, there were a few exceptions . In 1988, all - black heavy metal band Living Colour achieved mainstream success with their début album Vivid, peaking at #6 on the Billboard 200, thanks to their Top 20 single "Cult of Personality". The band's music contained lyrics that attack what they perceived as the Eurocentrism and racism of America . A decade later, more black artists like Lenny Kravitz, Body Count, Ben Harper, and countless others would start playing rock again . </P> <P> Contemporary R&B, as the post-disco version of soul music came to be known, remained popular throughout the 1980s and 1990s . Male vocal groups in the style of soul groups such as The Temptations and The O'Jays were particularly popular, including New Edition, Boyz II Men, Jodeci, Dru Hill, Blackstreet, and Jagged Edge . Girl groups, including TLC, Destiny's Child, SWV and En Vogue, were also highly successful . </P> <P> Singer - songwriters such as R. Kelly, Mariah Carey, Montell Jordan, D'Angelo, Aaliyah and Raphael Saadiq of Tony! Toni! Toné! were also significantly popular during the 1990s, and artists including Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, and BLACKstreet popularized a fusion blend known as hip - hop soul . The neo soul movement of the 1990s looked back on more classical soul influences and was popularized in the late 1990s / early 2000s by such artists as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, Lauryn Hill, India. Arie, Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, Angie Stone, Bilal and Musiq Soulchild . According to one music writer, D'Angelo's critically acclaimed album Voodoo (2000) "represents African American music at a crossroads (...) To simply call (it) neo-classical soul (...) would be (to) ignore the elements of vaudeville jazz, Memphis horns, ragtime blues, funk and bass grooves, not to mention hip - hop, that slip out of every pore of these haunted songs ." Blue - eyed soul is an influence of African - American music performed by white artists, including Michael McDonald, Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse, Robin Thicke, Jon B., Lisa Stansfield, Teena Marie, Justin Timberlake, Joss Stone, George Michael, and Anastacia . </P>

Which of the following popular american music styles has its roots in african american music