Related Artists
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AZ One of the numerous thoughtful gangsta rappers to emerge from New York during the mid-'90s, AZ enjoyed critical success early in his career,...
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Big Punisher The first solo Latino rapper to go platinum, Big Punisher was also yet another member of the hip-hop community to fall victim to an early death --...
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Foxy Brown Before she had released any material at all, Foxy Brown appeared on several 1995-1996 platinum singles, including her first credit, LL Cool J's "I...
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Busta Rhymes The most idiosyncratic personality in rap and possessor of its most recognizable delivery, a halting, ragga-inspired style with incredible...
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Canibus Though heralded as a prospective talent at the time of his major-label debut in 1998, Canibus nonetheless became little more than a momentary...
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Capone -N- Noreaga Queens rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga enjoyed massive street credibility with the release of their debut album, The War Report, which earned them a...
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Cappadonna Cappadonna (b. circa 1969) was one of the last members to join the Wu-Tang Clan. He had known the members since grade school in Staten Island, and...
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DJ Clue One of the handful of DJs to make the jump from mixtapes to the major labels, DJ Clue? hooked up with Jay-Z's Roc-a-Fella Records camp for a bit...
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Fat Joe Latino rapper Fat Joe (aka Fat Joe da Gangsta, Joey Crack, and his real name, Joe Cartagena) was raised in the South Bronx area of New York. It...
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Lupe Fiasco Chicago-based Muslim MC Lupe Fiasco began rapping in junior high school and joined a group called Da Pak several years later. The group signed to...
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Ghostface Killah As one of the original members of the seminal '90s rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah (aka Tony Starks) made an impact before he released...
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Jay-Z Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a youth to eventually become the reigning rapper of New York...
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L.O.X. The LOX -- an acronym for Living Off Experience -- are a Yonkers, NY-based rap trio who worked their way up through the Bad Boy training camp,...
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Mobb Deep As golden age rap suddenly gave way to West Coast gangsta in the early '90s, an East Coast variety of hardcore rap arose in turn, with Mobb Deep...
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Mos Def Initially regarded as one of the most promising rappers to emerge in the late '90s, Mos Def turned to acting in subsequent years as music became a...
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Notorious B.I.G. In just a few short years, the Notorious B.I.G. went from a Brooklyn street hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop to a tragic victim of the...
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Prodigy of Mobb Deep Generally acknowledged as the more lyrically gifted member of the New York hardcore rap duo Mobb Deep, Prodigy debuted as a solo artist in 2000...
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R. Kelly Urban R&B producer/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter R. Kelly and his supporting band Public Announcement began recording in 1992 at the...
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Raekwon Raekwon may not have achieved the solo stardom of his fellow Wu-Tang Clan mates Method Man or Ol' Dirty Bastard, but along with Genius/GZA and...
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Redman New Jersey rapper Redman made his initial impact with Whut? Thee Album in 1992. He blended reggae and funk influences with topical commentary and...
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The Roots Though popular success has largely eluded the Roots, the Philadelphia group showed the way for live rap, building on Stetsasonic's "hip-hop band"...
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Gang Starr The most influential MC-and-DJ tandem of the 1990s, Gang Starr set new standards for East Coast rap with a pair of early-'90s touchstones, Step in...
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Kool G Rap As part of the golden-age MC-and-DJ tandem Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, the "Kool Genius of Rap" enjoyed a successful and, above all, influential run...
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Public Enemy Public Enemy rewrote the rules of hip-hop, becoming the most influential and controversial rap group of the late '80s and, for many, the...
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Rakim Although he never became a household name, Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the greatest MCs -- perhaps the greatest -- of...
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Erick Sermon One-half of the legendary hip-hop duo EPMD, Erick Sermon was also among the genre's most prominent producers, deservedly earning the alias...
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50 Cent Though he would later struggle with the nature of his fame as well as market expectations, 50 Cent endured substantial obstacles throughout his...
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The Cool Kids Part of the mid-2000s hip-hop movement that found kids in all-over prints rapping about their shoes and their favorite forms of transportation (which...
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Eminem A protégé of Dr. Dre, rapper Eminem emerged in 1999 as one of the most controversial rappers to ever grace the genre. Using his biting wit and...
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Lupe Fiasco Chicago-based Muslim MC Lupe Fiasco began rapping in junior high school and joined a group called Da Pak several years later. The group signed to...
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Hot Dollar Although he calls both Compton and Mississippi home, West Coast gangsta rapper Hot Dollar was actually born in Chicago, IL. He and his older...
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Jadakiss Jadakiss (born Jason Phillips) became a member of the Ruff Ryders in 1999. Five years earlier, he joined the LOX (who started their saga as a...
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Mims Born into a Jamaican-American family in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, Shawn Mims grew up influenced by the rappers just south...
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Styles P Strongly associated with his group, the LOX (aka D-Block), Styles managed a sporadic solo career on the side. Born David Styles on November 28,...
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Red Cafe Born in Guyana, Brooklyn rapper Red Café immigrated to New York with his family when he was young, settling in the Caribbean-populated Flatbush...
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Talib Kweli If skills sold, Talib Kweli would have been one of the most commercially successful rappers of his time. As it was, however, the earnest MC became...
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Kanye West In the span of a few years, from 2001 to 2004, Kanye West went from hip-hop beatmaker to worldwide hitmaker, as his stellar production work for...
