House of Pain was an American hip-hop trio that released three albums in the 1990s. The group consisted of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Everlast. The group's 1992 hit single "Jump Around" reached number 3 in their native United States of America, number 6 in Ireland and number 8 in the United Kingdom. The group broke up in 1996.
Lana Michele Moorer, better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper, disc jockey, entrepreneur and actress. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a full solo album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock. The album spawned the singles "10% Dis" and "Paper Thin". In 1989, she joined the supergroup Stop the Violence Movement, and appeared on the single "Self Destruction", which was the inaugural number-one single on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart.
O'Shea Jackson Sr., better known as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1988 album Straight Outta Compton contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popularity, and his political rap solo albums AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991), and The Predator (1992) were all critically and commercially successful. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of N.W.A in 2016.
Fugees are an American hip hop trio formed in 1990 in South Orange, New Jersey. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to prominence in the mid-1990s for their pioneering blend of reggae, R&B, funk and hip hop, which eschewed gangsta rap and made them one of the most significant alternative hip hop acts. They occasionally rapped in Haitian Creole, and were one of the first hip hop bands to incorporate live instrumentation during their performances, along with The Roots.
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known by his stage name Common, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. He has received three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, and gained wider critical acclaim with its follow-ups, Resurrection (1994) and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997). He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s, and achieved his first mainstream success through his work and affiliation with the black music collective, Soulquarians.
Keith Sweat is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and an early figure in the new jack swing musical movement. He is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her", "Make It Last Forever", "I'll Give All My Love to You", "Make You Sweat", "Get Up on It", "Twisted" and "Nobody". He has released 13 solo albums and discovered the groups Silk and Kut Klose.
Joseph Anthony Budden II is an American media personality, cultural critic, and retired rapper. He first gained recognition as a rapper with his 2003 hit single "Pump It Up", which preceded his eponymous debut studio album (2003). Afterward, he performed as a member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse, which were signed to Eminem's Shady Records in 2012; the group released two studio albums. In 2018, he retired from recording, and refound success as a broadcaster, having a much publicized run as a co-host on Everyday Struggle for Complex. He currently hosts State of the Culture on Revolt, and The Joe Budden Podcast, released twice a week on Patreon and YouTube. He has been described as "the Howard Stern of hip-hop".
David R. Styles, better known by his stage name Styles P, is an American rapper, best known as a member of hip hop group the Lox, alongside childhood friends Sheek Louch and Jadakiss. Along with the other members of the Lox, he is a founder of D-Block Records and was also a part of the Ruff Ryders Entertainment collective. In addition, he has released multiple albums and mixtapes as a solo MC. In 2002, he released his debut solo album A Gangster and a Gentleman, which contained the hit single "Good Times". The song peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The National is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1999. The band consists of Matt Berninger (vocals), twin brothers Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner, as well as brothers Scott Devendorf (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). Carin Besser, the wife of Matt Berninger, is not a band member but has written lyrics for the band alongside her husband since its 2007 album Boxer.
Patrick Denard Douthit, better known as 9th Wonder, is a hip hop record producer, record executive, and DJ from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who is also teaching faculty at North Carolina Central University and Duke University, where he collaborates with Professor Mark Anthony Neal.
Kareem Dennis, better known by his stage name Lowkey, is a British rapper and activist from London. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music business. He would return in 2008, with appearances on BBC Radio and at various festivals and concerts including the BBC Electric Proms, Glastonbury, T In The Park and Oxegen in the buildup to his first solo album Dear Listener, as well as collaborating with other British musicians to form the supergroup Mongrel. He released his second solo album, Soundtrack to the Struggle, independently on in 2011.
Bow Down is the debut studio album by American West Coast hip hop supergroup Westside Connection. It was released on October 22, 1996, through Priority Records. Recording sessions took place at Ice Cube's house studio, Westsiiiiide Studios, in California, except for the song "Gangstas Make the World Go Round", which was recorded at Treehouse Studios in South Africa. Production was handled by Bud'da, Quincy Jones III, Binky Mack, and Ice Cube, who also served as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Allfrumtha I and The Comrads.
Vincenzo Luviner, better known as Vinnie Paz, is an Italian-born American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the frontman of the hip hop collective Army of the Pharaohs.
Murder Inc. was an American East Coast hip hop supergroup, formed by New York record executive Irv Gotti in 1995. The trio was composed of three of the most prominent rappers in the music industry at the time, Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule. The trio first appeared on fellow New York–based rapper Mic Geronimo's song "Time to Build". The trio went on to appear on the cover of the June 1999 issue of American hip-hop magazine XXL.
Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member of the bands Volcano Choir, Big Red Machine, the Shouting Matches, and Gayngs, and was previously a member of the now-defunct band DeYarmond Edison. Known for his distinct falsetto voice, Vernon has received widespread acclaim for his work, predominantly with Bon Iver.
Hip hop or hip-hop, also known as rap, and formerly known as disco rap, is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s by African Americans in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. It existed for several years prior to mainstream discovery. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre consisting of stylized rhythmic music that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech. According to the professor Asante of African American studies at Temple University, "hip hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own". The music developed as part of the broader hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti art. While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.
William Leonard Roberts II, known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper and record executive. An influential figure in modern hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "booming" vocal performance, "larger than life" persona, and vivid lyrical imagery. His lyrics augment the hardships of street life and black market economic activity into a rags to riches narrative, often describing affluence, wealth, and luxury.
Slaughterhouse was an American hip hop supergroup consisting of rappers Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I and Royce da 5'9". They released two studio albums as a group: Slaughterhouse (2009) independently and Welcome to: Our House (2012) under Shady and Interscope Records.
Slaughterhouse is the self-titled debut studio album by hip hop supergroup, Slaughterhouse, consisting of members Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5'9". The album was released on August 11, 2009 on E1 Music and sold 18,600 copies in its first week.
Sean Michael Smith, known professionally as Oreo Jones is an American rapper, songwriter, emcee, and radio station manager. He has released three full-length albums, two EPs, and two collaborative albums, one with Sirius Blvck, and the other, 81355, as a trio, with Sirius Blvck and David Moose Adamson. 81355 released its first album This Time I'll Be of Use in 2021. Jones also works with the Big Car Collaborative as the station manager for WQRT. He has also been an Afrofuturistic Punk band White Moms. In 2019 Jones release the album "Through The Depths of Hell I Picked Up The Phone," under the name Michael Raintree. In 2015 Jones created Chreece, the first all day hip-hop festival in Indianapolis.
