Shad Gregory Moss, better known by his stage name Bow Wow, is an American rapper and actor. His career began upon being discovered by rapper Snoop Dogg in 1993 at the age of six; five years later, he signed with record producer Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings, an imprint of Columbia Records. As Lil' Bow Wow, he released his debut studio album, Beware of Dog (2000) at age 13, and his second album, Doggy Bag (2001) the following year. Both met with critical and commercial success, the albums peaked at numbers ten and 11 on the Billboard 200, respectively.
Digable Planets is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgenres of jazz rap and alternative hip hop.
Bernard James Freeman, known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the southern rap duo UGK, a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work with UGK, Bun B has released five solo albums, including 2010's Trill OG, which received the rare 5-mic rating from The Source.
EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith. During an interview on college radio station WHOV in 1987, Parrish Smith stated that the name evolved from the original: "We were originally known as "EEPMD", but chose to go with EPMD because it was easier to say." He also stated that they dropped the two "E's" because N.W.A.'s Eric Wright was already using "Eazy-E" as his stage name. The group has been active for 37 years.
Paul Michael Slayton, better known by his stage name Paul Wall, is an American rapper and DJ. He has spent much of his career affiliated with Swishahouse, and has released several albums under the label and collaborated with numerous other rappers signed to the label. He began his career performing alongside fellow Houstonian Chamillionaire, with whom he released several albums, including 2002's independently released Get Ya Mind Correct. By 2005, he was signed to Atlantic Records and became successful with his major label debut The Peoples Champ, which was followed up by Get Money, Stay True released in 2007. He has been nominated for one Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance as a Duo or Group for the song "Grillz", his collaboration with rapper Nelly.
Ron Raphael Braunstein, professionally known by his stage name Necro, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. He founded his own independent record label Psycho+Logical-Records in November 1999. He is a member of hip hop groups the Circle of Tyrants and Secret Society together with his older brother Ill Bill, and one-half of The Godfathers alongside Kool G Rap.
Hakeem Temidayo Seriki, better known by his stage name Chamillionaire, is an American rapper. He began his career with locally-tailored releases in the early 2000s, and signed with Houston's Paid in Full Entertainment to release the collaborative album, Get Ya Mind Correct (2002) with labelmate and hometown native Paul Wall. He signed with Universal Records in 2005 and released his debut studio album, The Sound of Revenge in November of that year to commercial success. It was supported by the singles "Ridin'" —which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group—and "Turn It Up". His second album, Ultimate Victory (2007) was met with continued success; it became notable for its lack of profanity and lead single "Hip Hop Police" —as well as its accompanying music video. His pop rap 2009 single, "Good Morning" peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 was intended to lead his third album Venom, which was ultimately never released.
LeToya Nicole Luckett is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. As a member of Destiny's Child, she achieved four US Top 10 hit singles, "No, No, No", "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Jumpin', Jumpin'", and "Say My Name", and won two Grammy Awards. In the 2000s, she began her solo career after leaving the group and signing a record deal with Capitol Records. Her solo debut album, LeToya (2006), debuted at number-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA, that same year.
Brainpower is a Dutch rapper. Born in Belgium, he grew up in the Netherlands. He has released six studio albums since 1990.
Tremaine Aldon Neverson, known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American singer and actor. He was discovered by record producer Troy Taylor in 2003, and later signed to his Songbook Entertainment label in a joint venture with Atlantic Records. His debut studio album, I Gotta Make It (2005) entered the Billboard 200 at number 20, while his second album, Trey Day (2007) reached number 11. The latter was supported by the single "Can't Help but Wait", which peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. His third album, Ready (2009) reached number three on the Billboard 200, spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single "Say Aah", and earned a nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.
Lawrence E. Elkins High School, more commonly known as Elkins High School is a comprehensive public high school in Missouri City, Texas, that serves communities in Sugar Land and Missouri City. The school, which handles grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. Elkins was established in 1992, with its first graduating class in 1995.
Willowridge High School is a public high school in Houston, Texas, United States and part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. Willowridge serves grades 9 through 12.
You Say Party is a Canadian dance-punk new-wave band from Abbotsford, British Columbia.
The Screwed Up Click is an American hip hop collective based in Houston, Texas, that was led by DJ Screw. Its most notable members include DJ Screw, Big Hawk, Big Mello, Big Moe, Big Pokey, the Botany Boyz, E.S.G., Fat Pat, Lil' Flip, Lil' Keke, Lil' O, and Z-Ro. In addition, Devin the Dude, K-Rino, Lil' Troy, South Park Mexican and UGK are considered to be "Screwed Up Affiliated". Many of the current and former SUC members come from the neighborhoods of South Park, 3rd Ward, Sunnyside, Cloverland, Hiram Clarke and South Acres.
Raheem Jarbo, also known by his stage names Mega Ran and Random, is an American underground nerdcore rapper, chiptune DJ, author and record producer. In February 2015, he changed his stage name to Mega Ran, removing Random from any releases.
The Jonbenét was an American noise rock band formed in Houston, Texas in summer 2003. The group was named after the murdered child JonBenét Ramsey, who was widely publicized during the mid to late nineties.
The Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group is an American experimental rock band, and the main side project of Omar Rodríguez-López. Featuring an ever-changing lineup of musicians alongside Rodriguez-Lopez, the group is most often a live entity to perform the various outlets of his solo music aside from the Mars Volta. After the dissolution of the Mars Volta in 2012, Omar completed a few more solo records until 2013 before deciding to pursue only collaborative efforts with groups At the Drive-In, Bosnian Rainbows, Antemasque, and Crystal Fairy.
Charles Andrew Bothwell, better known by his stage name Astronautalis, is an American alternative hip hop artist currently based in Brooklyn, New York.
Christian Anthony Garcia, better known by his stage name Lucky Luciano, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. After leaving Latium Records and Dope House Records, he is the current CEO of his label Steak N Shrimp Records, Playa Mexican Music Group, Bash Town Records, Diamond Lane Music Group.
Ronald Ray Bryant, better known by his stage name Baby Bash, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California. His first two albums, Savage Dreams (2001) and On Tha Cool (2002) were released independently through Dope House Records. After changing the last part of his stage name to "Bash," he released the 2003 single "Suga Suga", which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and led to his signing of a recording contract from Universal Records. "Suga Suga" served as the lead single for his third album and major label debut, Tha Smokin' Nephew (2003).
