Latin hip hop is hip hop music that is recorded by artists in the United States of Hispanic and Latino descent, along with Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean, North America, Central America, South America, and Spain.
A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985, originally composed of rapper and main producer Q-Tip, rapper Phife Dawg, DJ and co-producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and rapper Jarobi White. The group is regarded as a pioneer of alternative hip hop and merging jazz with hip hop, influencing numerous hip hop and R&B musicians.
Hideyuki Yokoi, known professionally as Zeebra, is a Japanese hip hop recording artist and DJ who made his first appearance in 1995. Zeebra is a former member of the hip-hop group King Giddra, which also included DJ Oasis and K Dub Shine. He went on to pursue a solo career shortly after in 1997, and signed with the Future Shock record label.
Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term in the 2000 song "Nerdcore Hiphop". Frontalot, like most nerdcore artists, self-publishes his work and has released much of it for free online. As a niche genre, nerdcore generally holds to the DIY ethic, and has a history of self-publishing and self-production.
Hip hop music arrived in Cuba via radio and TV broadcasts from Miami. During the 1980s hip hop culture in Cuba was mainly centered on breakdancing. But by the 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the onset of the Special Period, young raperos, exposed to foreign tourists whose wealth highlighted their struggle, turned to rapping to affirm their cubanidad and advocate for further revolutionary reforms.
Tanzanian Hip-hop, which is sometimes referred to Bongo Flava by many outside of Tanzania's hip hop community, encompasses a large variety of different sounds, but it is particularly known for heavy synth riffs and an incorporation of Tanzanian pop.
Ron Raphael Braunstein, better known by his stage name Necro, is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York City.
Cubanito, also known by the former name Cubanito 20.02, is a Cuban reggaeton/cubaton band. The band is credited, along with the band Máxima Alerta, with popularizing cubaton, though Cubanito is influenced more by Jamaican music, whereas Máxima Alerta is influenced more by traditional Cuban music.
Anamaría Tijoux Merino, commonly known by her stage name Ana Tijoux or Anita Tijoux, is a Chilean-French singer and musician. She became famous in Latin America as the MC of hip hop band Makiza during the late 1990s. In 2006, she crossed over to the mainstream of Latin pop after her collaboration with Mexican songstress Julieta Venegas in the radio hit "Eres para mí". Tijoux has often been praised for "exploring sensitive matters devoid of violence." She gained more widespread recognition following her second solo album, 1977, and later with La bala (2011) and Vengo (2014) which brought her a Best Artist of the year award in the 2015's Premios Pulsar.
The Cuban Rap Agency is an industry subsidized by the Cuban government aimed at aiding Cuban hip hop artists in attaining radio exposure and recording contracts. Founded in 2002, the Cuban Rap Agency seeks out talented Cuban hip hop artists in order to promote hip-hop in Cuba.
Hip hop or hip-hop, also known as rap and formerly known as disco rap, is a genre of popular music that was originated in the Bronx borough of New York City in the early 1970s by African Americans, having existed for several years prior to mainstream discovery. Hip hop originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre, while consisting of stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. According to the professor Asante of African American studies at Temple University, "hip hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own". It was developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti art. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, and rhythmic beatboxing. While often used to refer solely to rapping, "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 hip hop culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.
Descemer Bueno is a Cuban singer, songwriter, and record producer. His first professional gigs were playing bass with Cuban troubadour Santiago Feliú.
Lasse Mellberg, better known by his stage name Redrama, is a Finnish rapper. He made a breakthrough in 2003. Redrama, who performs primarily in English, but also in Swedish and Finnish was part of a hip-hop group Alien Allies which also included the Norwegian Paperboys and Madcon. Redrama won the English-language Finnish championship of rapping in 2001 and he also won the Finnish Grammy (Emma) award for The Best Hip Hop Album in 2005.
Marcus Jamal Hopson, known professionally as Hopsin, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles.
Lexus Arnel Lewis, professionally known as Lex Luger, is an American record producer. His stage name is inspired by the WCW/WWF professional wrestler Lex Luger. He co-founded the American hip hop production team 808 Mafia with Southside. He is a member of the hip hop production duo Low Pros with A-Trak, and the VABP, a hip hop group that he founded in high school.
Reach Records is an American independent record label specializing in Christian hip hop. The label was founded in 2004 by Ben Washer and the hip-hop artist Lecrae. In addition to Lecrae, the Reach Records roster contains artists like Tedashii, Trip Lee, Andy Mineo, 1K Phew, WHATUPRG, Wande, Hulvey, and Limoblaze. The hip-hop collective 116 operates under the label and consists primarily of the label's solo acts. The artists Sho Baraka, Derek Minor, Aha Gazelle, KB and Gawvi were formerly signed to the label, and DJ Official was under the label until his death.
Park Jun-young, better known as Bizzy, is a South Korea-based rapper and member of the hip-hop trio MFBTY. He is an affiliate of YDG's, Yucka Squad, and also the hip-hop crew, The Movement. He became more known when he started performing alongside Drunken Tiger member Tiger JK and later featured on Drunken Tiger's 6th album.
Manuel Levins Holden better known by his stage name Manny Phesto, is an Underground hip hop musician based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Manny is also an entrepreneur and business owner in the cannabis and CBD space. Pitchfork Media listed his music amongst their "Best MN Hip-Hop Releases". City Pages named his debut album Southside Looking In one of "The Best Minnesota Rap Albums of 2014". 89.3FM The Current awarded it their "Album of the Year" title XXL magazine also recently jokingly credited him with "getting Action Bronson and Ghostface to agree on one thing." after their recent altercations. The Mexican magazine Me Hace Ruido named him one of their "Artists to Follow".
Fadi Abouabsi professionally known by his stage name FDAMusic, is a Saudi-born American rapper. At the age of 18, he started his first musical venture, Overgrind Records, with business partner B-Luce in 2004. He released his second solo album, Fame, in 2015, which received critical acclaim from underground hip-hop magazines Streetkode, 24hour Hip Hop, and Coast 2 Coast Mixtapes. FDAMusic has worked with other notable underground rappers such as Kirko Bangz and Kevin Gates. He has also worked on projects with producers Savages, Kalani on Da Beat, and The Mechanics.
Krudas Cubensi, also known as Las Krudas, is an activist hip-hop group with black feminist, queer and vegan politics. Born in Cuba in the 1990s, it is part of the Caribbean diaspora in the United States since 2006.
