Los Angeles, and wider California, is renowned for its gang culture. Crips, Bloods and Chicano mobs have controlled entire neighbourhoods for decades. By the time hip hop reached the West coast, a generation of youth had lived life hard and rough. In 1988, a rap group called N.W.A. (consisting of Ice Cube, Dr Dre, MC Ren, Eazy E and DJ Yeller) became superstars on the back of an album that matched the region's aggressive tone. With hits like Fuck Tha Police and Gangsta Gangsta, the group found an audience for their messages and stole the limelight from the East coast while they were at it. They described the album and its influences as "reality rap," but the media had another name for it: "gangsta rap".

New Yorkers - hip hop's creators, remember - weren't happy. A prominent MC, Tim Dog, released a diss song in retaliation, called Fuck Compton. Its lyrics overtly ask, "we want to know what you're fighting for / fighting over colours? ... come to New York and we'll see who gets robbed". His questions helped begin the coastal conflicts of the coming decade.

Tim Dog himself would later claim the song's purpose was to vent anger towards record companies only wanting to sign West Coast rappers. At the time though, tracks like this were heralded as a call-to-arms.

With massive popularity came rivalries, the next section introduces us to Notorious' key figures...