New Orleans-based rapper Juvenile was born Terius Gray. After beginning his performing career while in his teens, he released a 1995 album on Warlock titled Being Myself. He eventually crossed paths with Cash Money label owners Ronald "Suga Slim" and Brian "Baby" Williams, who issued 1996's Solja Rags; the album became a major underground hit, and set the stage for the release of 1998's 400 Degreez. In 1999, with Juvenile's popularity growing, Solja Rags was reissued nationally, and Warlock jumped on the bandwagon with a remixed version of Being Myself. The year ended with the release of a new studio effort, Tha G-Code, followed by Project English two years later in 2001. In 2002 he left......
Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. (born November 2, 1974 in Austin, Texas), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur signed to Universal and Derrty Records. Born to a half Tunisian father and American mother, he has been active since 1993 as a bandmate of the rap group St. Lunatics, and became a hip-hop superstar after the success of his solo release, Country Grammar, in 2000. The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200, spawned multiple chart toppers and won three Grammy awards. His second effort, 2002's Nellyville, was equally successful and it included the hits "Dilemma" and "Hot in Herre" and was nominated for five Grammy awards, including Album......
Leslie Edward Pridgen (born March 24, 1977), better known by his stage name Freeway, is an American rapper. Freeway a.k.a. Philly Freeway began rapping while in high school. He later met fellow rapper Beanie Sigel, who would be signed to Roc-A-Fella and later help Freeway get a contract with the record label. Freeway became one of the label's most visible artists after making his first appearance on The Dynasty: Roc La Familia in 2000 and appearing on several other Roc releases before putting out his solo album, Philadelphia Freeway.
The album was produced primarily by Roc-A-Fella-affiliated artists–Just Blaze, Bink!, Kanye West–and featured mostly Roc-A-Fella rappers as well,......
Barry Adrian Reese (born July 7, 1982), better known by his rap name Cassidy (also known as "The Problem" and "The Hustla") is a popular rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was born and raised in North Philadelphia. He was in a group called Larsiny together with his home-town-friends Cal Akbar and Shiz Lansky.
Cassidy rose to prominence as a battle rapper and started appearing on mixtapes. Producer Swizz Beatz signed him to his Full Surface label distributed through J Records and featured him on Swizz's 2002 album Presents G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories. Cassidy has also appeared on tracks by Snoop Dogg and Wyclef Jean.
Cassidy recorded the Split Personality album in the year 2003. The......
D12 (an initialism for the Dirty Dozen) was an American hip-hop collective from Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 1996, the group achieved mainstream success with its lineup of de facto leader Eminem, Proof, Bizarre, Mr. Porter, Kuniva and Swifty McVay.
D12 had chart-topping albums in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia during the early 2000s. The group released the albums Devil's Night in 2001 and D12 World in 2004, spawning numerous hits such as "Shit on You", "Purple Pills", "Fight Music", "My Band" and "How Come" throughout that period. Both albums were certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2004, the group won the MTV Europe Music......
UGK (short for Underground Kingz) were a hip-hop duo from Port Arthur, Texas, USA. Formed in 1987 by long-time friends Chad “Pimp C” Butler and Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, they were highly respected by many of their peers, due in part to their longevity and their entrenchment in hip-hop’s underground.
UGK, from Port Arthur, TX, the neighboring city to Beaumont, TX, released their debut EP The Southern Way in 1992. It was distributed by local record label Bigtyme Recordz and only available as an audio cassette. They quickly caught the attention of Jive Records, and were signed to a five album record contract. Their major label debut album Too Hard to Swallow was......
Rakim (pronounced rah-KIM) (Born William Michael Griffin Jr. on January 28, 1968 in Long Island, New York, USA) is an American rapper and pioneer of the musical genre of hip hop. He is consistently cited as one of the most skilled (and top amongst the most influential) MCs of all time due to his exceptional flow and complex lyrical craftsmanship, he revolutionized hip-hop lyricism with his complex flow, elaborate metaphors and rapid delivery. Together with Eric B, he released a number of classic albums between 1987 and 1992. To date his most successful album is 'The 18th Letter,' released in 1997 as his solo debut album.
Griffin is the nephew of American R&B singer and actress Ruth......
Bryan Williams (born February 15, 1969), better known by his stage name Birdman or Baby, is an American rapper and record executive from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the co-founder of Cash Money Records and one half of the duo Big Tymers. Along with his releases with Big Tymers and for his solo career, Birdman recorded a collaboration album and numerous tracks with Lil Wayne.
Birdman was born and raised in Uptown New Orleans. With his brother Ronald "Slim" Williams, Birdman founded Cash Money Records in 1991. He used his first moniker B-32 (Baby with the 32 Golds) and released his only independent album I Need a Bag of Dope in 1993.
In 1997, he joined rapper Mannie Fresh to form the duo......
Bobby Ray Simmons (born November 15, 1988 in Decatur, Georgia, USA), better known by his stage name B.o.B, is a Grammy Award-nominated American rapper, singer, producer and conspiracy theorist, signed to T.I.'s Grand Hustle Label and Atlantic Records. In 2007 he released his debut EP, Eastside, and has since released another EP, 12th Dimension, and five mixtapes. His debut album, B.o.B Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray, was released in April 2010 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. The first single from the album, Nothin' on You featuring Bruno Mars, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album spawned two further hit singles including international smash airplanes and Billboard......
DaBaby was born Jonathan Kirk in Cleveland, Ohio in 1991. By age six, he'd relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina and spent his adolescence engaged in street life. In December 2014, Kirk made a quick decision to become a rapper, taking the name Baby Jesus and issuing his NonFiction mixtape a month later. Never having been on a stage before, he headed to South by Southwest in the spring of 2015. Kirk changed his name to DaBaby, going so far as to explain the "political reasons" for this decision in the lyrics to "DaBaby (Intro)," a short introduction to 2016's God's Work Resurrected, his first mixtape under the new moniker. This release featured a cameo from Boosie Badazz and began to......
