<P> Gangsta rap is a kind of hip hop, most importantly characterized by a lyrical focus on macho sexuality, physicality and a dangerous, criminal image . Though the origins of gangsta rap can be traced back to the mid-1980s raps of Philadelphia's Schoolly D and the West Coast's Ice - T, the style is usually said to have begun in the Los Angeles and Oakland area, where Too Short, NWA and others found their fame . This West Coast rap scene spawned the early 1990s G - funk sound, which paired gangsta rap lyrics with a thick and hazy tone, often relying on samples from 1970s P - funk; the best - known proponents of this sound were the breakthrough rappers Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg . </P> <P> By the end of the 1990s and into the early 2000s pop music consisted mostly of a combination of pop - hip hop and R&B - tinged pop, including a number of boy bands . Notable female singers also cemented their status in American and worldwide popular music, such as Beyoncé (with her solo career and as lead singer of Destiny's Child), Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift . Also notable was the influence of hip - hop producers on popular music in the mid-late 2000s, who made the sounds first heard on Usher's Confessions and Nelly Furtado's Loose imitated throughout popular radio with artists Madonna, Akon and Lady Gaga . In the late 2000s into the early 2010s, pop music began to move towards being heavily influenced by the European electronic dance music scene, taking root in the college crowd through producers like David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia and Skrillex . </P> <P> Hip hop / pop combination had also begun to dominate 2000s and early 2010s . In the early 2010s, prominent artists like Bruno Mars, Drake, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar, Machine Gun Kelly, and Macklemore began to dominate the mainstream music scene . </P> <P> The predominant sound in 1990s country music was pop with only very limited elements of country . This includes many of the best - selling artists of the 1990s, like Clint Black, Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the first of these crossover stars, Garth Brooks . </P>

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