The
genre had been around since at least the 1970s or the 1980s, with
Blowfly's
Rapp Dirty release. However, it was not until later that decade, when
Oakland rapper Too Short released the 1985
album ''
Don't Stop Rappin''' containing multiple dirty sex subjects, that sex became a central focus. Although the release did not see much attention outside of his hometown of Oakland, he would continue to use provocative and sexual lyrics throughout his career, gaining him six platinum albums and three gold. The controversial rap group
2 Live Crew brought "dirty rap" to the mainstream with their
Miami bass debut
2 Live Crew Is What We Are. With the graphic sexual content of their X-rated party rhymes, 2 Live Crew garnered much negative publicity. However, it was not until their 1989 album,
As Nasty as They Wanna Be, that dirty rap became a legitimate genre. After being attacked by conservative critics, censors, and attorneys, 2 Live Crew responded with the 1990 album
Banned in the USA, a much more political and angry album. 2 Live Crew returned to their utterly pornographic roots with 1991's
Sports Weekend: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Pt. 2, which was lambasted by many critics as running the sexually deviant lyrics of
As Nasty As They Wanna Be into the ground. From ''Sport's Weekend'' onward, the Crew continued to make dirty rap and party rap. Various rappers followed with dirty rap in the wake of 2 Live Crew's popularity. The group
Poison Clan became widely successful, as did the group
Bytches With Problems.
Sir Mix-A-Lot's 1992
hit single "
Baby Got Back" could arguably be considered within the dirty rap genre; however, the majority of Mix-A-Lot's work is not sexually explicit enough for him to be considered a true dirty rap
artist. Similarly, the
new jack swing hip hop group
Wreckx-n-Effect scored a dirty rap hit with their 1992 single "
Rump Shaker". In the early 1990s, the
Baltimore club scene first began gaining an identity separate from
house music and mainstream hip hop. Baltimore club, or gutter music, often features sexually explicit lyrics, and has influenced many current dirty rappers. Both
ghettotech and
ghetto house (or "booty house") also evolved around the same time, and, to an even greater extent than Baltimore club, frequently contain pornographic and sexually explicit content, as exemplified by
DJ Assault and
DJ Funk, two artists who pioneered ghettotech and ghetto house, respectively. ==Contemporary dirty rap==