N.W.A was an American hip hop group formed in Compton, California. Among the earliest and most significant figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, the group is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential acts in hip hop music.
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is often credited for breaking barriers for female rappers, popularizing melodic rap, and pioneering neo soul for mainstream audiences. In addition to being named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR, Hill was listed as one of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2015, she was named the greatest female rapper by Billboard. Her other accolades include eight Grammy Awards—the most for any female rapper. With over 50 million records sold worldwide, she is one of the best-selling female rappers of all time.
The 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.
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the debut solo studio album by American rapper and singer Lauryn Hill. It was released on August 19, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. Recorded after the Fugees embarked on a hiatus, the album was almost entirely written and produced by Hill. It is a concept album about educating oneself on love, with lyrical themes encompassing relationship complexities, interpersonal conflicts, motherhood, and faith. Predominantly a neo soul and R&B record, it incorporates genres such as hip hop, reggae, and soul, and features guest appearances from Carlos Santana, Mary J. Blige, and D'Angelo.
Egyptian hip hop is a form of hip hop music in Egypt that draws its inspiration from local, regional and global events. Since the early 2000s, Egyptian Hip Hop has gained significant popularity and is listened to by a global audience prompted by the internet as the latest medium of technology and music streaming services such as Spotify and Anghami.
Lecrae Devaughn Moore is an American Christian rapper. Since having began his career in 2004, he has released ten studio albums and three mixtapes as a solo artist, as well as three studio albums as a lead member of the hip hop group 116 Clique.
"Doo Wop (That Thing)" is a song by American rapper and singer Lauryn Hill from her debut solo studio album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). It was written and produced by Hill. The song was released as her solo debut and lead single from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on August 10, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. No commercial release was originally intended for the single in the US, but limited-quantity physical formats were issued two months later, on October 27.
Percy Lee Chapman, known by his stage name Tragedy Khadafi, is an American rapper and record producer. Chapman hails from the Queensbridge Housing Projects in Queens, New York City, and helped spawn other hip hop artists such as Mobb Deep, Capone-N-Noreaga, Nas. He is documented to be the first to use the phrase "illmatic" in 1988 on a record called "The Rebel", from the Marley Marl album In Control, Volume 1, which was an inspiration and influence on fellow New York rapper Nas.
Arabic hip-hop is a segment of hip hop music performed in the Arabic-speaking world. Due to variety of dialects and local genres which exist in the localities, Arabic hip-hop music may appear very diverse depending on the country of the song. Like most artists of the genre, the hip-hop artists from the Arabic-speaking world are highly influenced by American hip-hop.
Iranian hip hop, also known as Persian hip hop, refers to hip hop music in the Persian language developed in Iran and the Iranian diaspora. It originated from American hip hop culture, but has developed into a distinct rap style that draws on Iranian cultural concepts and engages with the modern issues Iranians are facing today.
Wust El-Balad is an Egyptian soft rock band, founded in Cairo in 1999. The band released four albums, the self-titled Wust El-Balad in 2007, Rubabekya in 2011, Karakib in 2014, and Bantalony El Jeans in 2018.
"Ex-Factor" is a song by American recording artist Lauryn Hill for her debut solo studio album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). Written and produced by Hill herself, it incorporates elements of R&B, neo soul and hip hop soul. The song features a sample of "Can It Be All So Simple" by Wu-Tang Clan. It has been claimed to be about Hill's former Fugees groupmate Wyclef Jean. The song was released as the second single from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on December 14, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records.
Omar Offendum is a Syrian American hip-hop artist, designer, poet and peace activist. He was born in Saudi Arabia, raised in Washington, DC, and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He tours the world performing internationally at music festivals, lecturing at major academic institutions and fundraising for humanitarian relief organizations. Most recently Offendum has been involved in creating several critically acclaimed songs about the popular democratic uprisings throughout the Middle East & North Africa. He is also working on several new collaborative projects while touring to promote his solo work.
Pauline Bennett, who also goes by the stage name of Jazzi P, is a British DJ, dance teacher and rapper from Wolverhampton. She had a No. 6 hit as a featured artist on Kylie Minogue's 1991 song "Shocked", and also participated in Big Brother: Power Trip in 2014.
While many Islamist jihadists view hip-hop negatively due to its Western origins, there have also been examples of hip-hop songs with pro-jihadist lyrics, and of jihadists embracing hip-hop and gangsta culture as a way of attracting Westerners to join their organizations. The phenomenon is sometimes known as "Jihad Cool" and includes music, clothing, magazine, videos and other media.
Kiernan Jarryd Forbes (28 January 1988 – 10 February 2023), known professionally as AKA, was a South African rapper, record producer, and businessman. Born in Cape Town and raised in Johannesburg, Forbes gained recognition after releasing his single "Victory Lap" from his debut studio album, Altar Ego (2011). Often regarded as one of the greatest South African musicians of all time, he was one of the most popular South African musicians of his era and the best-selling South African hip hop artist of all-time.
"We Fly High" is a song by American rapper Jim Jones, released as the lead single from his third studio album, Hustler's P.O.M.E. (2006). The song is Jim Jones' highest-charting single to date, charting at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It was written by Jones and produced by Zukhan Bey who produced his previous single, "Baby Girl".
Mahragan or Mahraganat, also Egyptian electro, Egyptian street music or shaabi-electro, is a popular genre of Egyptian folk music. Mahraganat is a combination of working class popular Egyptian music (shaabi) played at weddings, EDM and hip-hop, with heavy autotune use. DJ Figo made the genre more well known with his team "set dyaba" released during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Although this may be the first ever track to go mainstream, Mahraganat was conceived early by several Egyptian underground artists as DJ Ahmed Figo, El Sadat, Feelo and Alaa Fifty in 2004. They shared their music via MP3 files and phones, and it could be heard playing everywhere in taxis, tuktuks and on the street, since Egyptian Shaabi music has always been considered as the true soul of Egypt, given how powerful it is. Another Mahragan mix was released by the same group of friends in 2006 and it was called "Mahragan Elsalam", named after their neighbourhood 'Elsalam' in northeastern Cairo, it talked about friendship and how to be mature.
"Nobody" is a song by American rapper Nas from his thirteenth studio album, King's Disease II (2021). The song was produced by Hit-Boy, and features additional verses from fellow American rapper Lauryn Hill. The song was written by the three aforementioned artists, along with songwriters Dustin James Corbett and Joshua Strange.
