obviously there are/were people that would listen to all kinds of hip hop, but back then, the music didn't travel the same way.

on top of that, on the West Coast, gang culture was so prevalent that there were A LOT of rap music listeners HERE who were not checking for anything else outside of that sound. up until 1990-1991, most people *I* knew were almost strictly listening West Coast rap, with few exceptions. at the same time, you had a lot of East Coast rap fans who did not like the violence and misogyny of West Coast rap, and wouldn't give it the time of day.

and even if they were listening to music from other locales, their focus was still on the music from closer to where they were from.

thus, there was a territoriality (is that word) to the music that just doesn't exist today.

have you never watched a documentary?