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The Fresh Prince goes solo — and takes over the planet. 'Gettin' Jiggy Wit It,' 'Miami,' 'Just the Two of Us': radio-owning, profanity-free hip-hop from the guy who was simultaneously the biggest movie star alive. Nineteen ninety-eight belonged to Will.
The album that made dance music unavoidable in mainstream culture—and the only one that came with a full-length anime film. "One More Time" was everywhere, filtered into oblivion but instantly recognizable. Every kid with a burned CD knew this album.
An in-house producer known for chopping soul samples into "chipmunk soul" beats insists he's also a rapper. Nobody buys it. Then he nearly dies in a car crash, records a single about it with his jaw wired shut, and delivers one of the defining debuts in hip-hop history.
The nu-metal manifesto that defined 1999. Limp Bizkit's second album landed at #1, Fred Durst's backward red cap became iconic, and Woodstock '99 proved the kids were decidedly not alright.