Tracy Lauren Marrow, better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American vocalist working in both the rap and heavy metal genres, as well as a songwriter, actor, and producer. He began his career as an underground rapper in the 1980s and was signed to Sire Records in 1987, when he released his debut album Rhyme Pays. The following year, he founded the record label Rhyme $yndicate Records and released another album, Power, which would go platinum. He also released several other albums that went gold.
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. Members of the Native Tongues collective, the group is regarded as a pioneer of alternative hip hop, influencing numerous hip hop and R&B musicians.
The Native Tongues were a collective of late 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop artists known for their positive-minded, good-natured Afrocentric lyrics, and for pioneering the use of eclectic sampling and jazz-influenced beats. Its principal members were the Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Monie Love, and Queen Latifah. The collective was also closely tied to the Universal Zulu Nation. Rolling Stone cites the track "Doin' Our Own Dang" as "the definitive Native Tongues posse cut".
Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and DJ. Nicknamed The Abstract, he is noted for his innovative jazz-influenced style of hip hop production and his philosophical, esoteric and introspective lyrical themes. He embarked on his music career in the late 1980s, as an MC and main producer of the influential alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. In the mid-1990s, he co-founded the production team The Ummah, followed by the release of his gold-certified solo debut Amplified in 1999. In the following decade, he released the Grammy Award-nominated album The Renaissance (2008) and the experimental album Kamaal the Abstract (2009).
Damian Hess, better known by his stage name MC Frontalot, is an American rapper and web designer. Hess began releasing music as MC Frontalot in 1999. His first successes came through Song Fight!, an online songwriting and recording competition, where he became known for consistently beating opponents. Throughout his history at Song Fight!, he has never lost a competition as MC Frontalot, although he has entered only seven entries in that name. In one such song fight, entitled "Romantic Cheapskate", he likens Song Fight! to a neglected lover who favors him regardless of how he treats her. The song went on to garner a total of 614 votes, while the next closest song ended the round with 28.
The Yancy Street Gang is a fictional street gang appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is occasionally featured in the Fantastic Four comic book. The gang is often seen as an antagonist for the Thing, showering him with insults, and occasionally heads of lettuce. In their early appearances, they were an "off-screen" presence, with only their hands and arms visible on-panel.
Hip Hop Connection (HHC) was the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. It was described by rapper Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world".
Yo Gabba Gabba! is a children's musical television series created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz. The series is about five costumed toys come-to-life and their friend DJ Lance Rock. It is co-produced by the Magic Store and Wildbrain Entertainment. Its first episode premiered on Nickelodeon on August 20, 2007, as a part of its Nick Jr. block. Its original run ended on November 12, 2015.
Ego Trip's The (White) Rapper Show is an American reality television series created by Ego Trip magazine that first aired on VH1. In the show, ten white rappers compete with each other for the chance at a $100,000 grand prize. The show is based in the South Bronx, with MC Serch serving as the host. At the end of each show, one rapper was eliminated.
The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club.
Gary Anthony Sturgis is an American actor, musician, writer, teacher and entrepreneur, known for his role as Bar Patron and other characters in the television series America's Most Wanted, and for providing the voice of Ebon in the animated series Static Shock.
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned is the first of two episodic expansion packs of the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. The game was released individually for the Xbox 360 on 17 February 2009, and as part of the disc-based package Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City for PlayStation 3 and Windows on 13 April 2010. The package also includes the second Grand Theft Auto IV expansion, The Ballad of Gay Tony, and does not require the base game to be played. Microsoft added Episodes from Liberty City to its backwards compatibility list for Xbox One platforms in February 2017.
"Slam" is a song by American hip hop group Onyx. It was released on May 11, 1993 by JMJ Records and Rush Associated Labels as the second single from Onyx's debut album, Bacdafucup. The song introduced slamdancing into hip-hop.
Quincy Matthew Hanley, better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q, is an American rapper. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late 2011, secured a recording contract with major label Interscope Records. Hanley is also a member of the hip-hop supergroup Black Hippy, alongside label-mates and fellow California-based rappers Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Kendrick Lamar.
Curtis Brown, better known by the stage name Grandmaster Caz or Casanova Fly, is an American rapper, songwriter, and DJ. He was a member of the hip hop group The Cold Crush Brothers from 1979 to the mid-1980s. He is best known as the (uncredited) main writer of Big Bank Hank's raps on the seminal 1979 hip hop single by The Sugarhill Gang, "Rapper's Delight".
Mark Duffus, also known as Sure Shot and Blak Prophetz, is a British rapper and producer from the West Midlands in England where he formed the group Blak Prophetz in the early 1980s.
Shane Lee Lindstrom, known professionally as Murda Beatz, is a Canadian record producer. He has produced hit singles like "Butterfly Effect" by Travis Scott, "Back on Road" by Gucci Mane, "Nice for What" by Drake, "Motorsport" by Migos, and "Fefe", which was a collaboration between Murda, 6ix9ine, and Nicki Minaj.
Habib Mohamed, better known by his stage name Puffy L'z, is a rapper and singer from Toronto, Ontario. He is of Somali descent. Puffy L'z released his debut studio album Take No L'z on July 19, 2019, and it received a 6/10 rating from Exclaim!.
Jahvante Jahqwane Sheldon Smart, known professionally as Smoke Dawg, was a Canadian rapper, singer and songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. Smoke Dawg was a part of hip hop collective Halal Gang alongside Mustafa the Poet, Puffy L'z, Safe, and Mo-G who come together with the Prime Boys to make the supergroup Full Circle. His debut and only studio album Struggle Before Glory was released posthumously in 2018.
Karma's World is a computer-animated musical comedy streaming television series created by rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, who also co-starred in the show. It was released on Netflix on October 15, 2021.
