Lorenzo Jerald Patterson, known professionally as MC Ren, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Compton, California. He is the founder and owner of the independent record label Villain Entertainment.
Percy Robert Miller, better known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, dancer, actor and entrepreneur. He founded the record label No Limit Records in 1991, which was relaunched into the spin-off labels New No Limit Records and No Limit Forever Records. Miller gained fame in the mid-1990s as the lead and founding of the label's hip hop group TRU, as well as his fifth solo album, Ice Cream Man (1996), and its namesake lead single. His 1997 single, "Make 'Em Say Uhh!" received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known professionally as Common, is an American rapper and actor. He is the recipient of three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. At the age of 20, he signed with the independent label Relativity Records to release his debut studio album Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992), which was met with critical acclaim along 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 mainstream success through his work with the Black music collective, Soulquarians.
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Harris is credited as one the pioneers of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgia-based rappers Jeezy and Gucci Mane. He first became acquainted with local music executive Kawan "KP" Prather, and joined his company Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment by the late 1990s. He was led to sign a major-label record deal with its parent company LaFace Records, an imprint of Arista Records in 1999. His debut studio album, I'm Serious (2001), was met with lukewarm critical and commercial reception, becoming his only release with the label. He then signed with Atlantic Records, where he soon reached his mainstream breakthrough and co-founded his own label imprint, Grand Hustle Records by 2003.
Joseph Guillermo Jones II, better known by his stage name Jim Jones, is an American rapper, record producer and record executive. He is a founding member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats, which he formed in 1997 with fellow Harlem native Cam'ron.
Duval Clear, better known by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. A lead member of Mr. Magic's hip hop collective Juice Crew, he is best known for his guest appearance alongside Kool G Rap, Craig G and Big Daddy Kane on the group's 1988 posse cut "The Symphony". He is noted for his distinct voice and rapping proficiency.
Chad Aaron Bromley, better known by his stage name Apathy, is a rapper and producer from Willimantic, Connecticut.
Antoine Franklin McColister, known professionally Ace Hood, is an American rapper. Born in Port St. Lucie and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida, he was discovered by DJ Khaled and became the first act to sign with his record label, We the Best Music Group in 2008. Released in a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings, his debut studio album, Gutta (2008) was met with mild critical and commercial reception, but yielded his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, "Ride".
Kiley Hendriks, better known by his stage name Prevail, is a four-time Juno Award winning Canadian hip hop artist raised in Victoria, British Columbia and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Prevail started rapping in 1990 with the guidance of his mentor Moka Only. Prevail was also a founding member of platinum-selling Swollen Members, which consisted primarily of himself and Mad Child on vocals. They have been called "two of the most innovative people in hip-hop", and released an extensive catalog with hundreds of thousands of albums sold.
Gerald Earl Gillum, better known by his stage name G-Eazy, is an American rapper, record producer and actor. Based in Oakland, California, he began his career in 2006 and released two independent studio albums until signing with RCA Records to release his third album and major label debut, These Things Happen (2014). It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "I Mean It", which received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jonathan Matthew McCollum, better known by his stage name Rittz, is an American rapper. His debut album The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant was released on April 30, 2013, rising to number 8 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. His next two albums, Next to Nothing (2014) and Top of the Line (2016) peaked at number 3 on the same chart. His fourth album, Last Call (2017), hit number 43 on the Billboard 200. All of these were released under Tech N9ne's Strange Music label.
Christian Talcott Webster, better known by his stage name Chris Webby, is an American rapper from Norwalk, Connecticut. Webster has released many mixtapes such as the DJ Drama-hosted Bars On Me (2012) and his EP There Goes the Neighborhood (2011), which peaked at number 101 on the Billboard 200. He has worked with various artists such as Freeway, Mac Miller, Joell Ortiz, Big K.R.I.T., Method Man, Apathy, Prodigy, Bun B, Tech N9ne, Jarren Benton and Kid Ink. In 2013 he and his label, Homegrown Music, signed a deal with E1 Music. He then released Homegrown, another EP, in November 2012. Webster released his debut studio album Chemically Imbalanced on October 27, 2014.
Dreamville Records is an American record label founded by American rapper J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim Hamad. The label is currently distributed through Interscope Records, a unit of Universal Music Group. The roster includes Bas, Ari Lennox, Cozz, Omen, Lute, JID, EarthGang, and Cole himself. Dreamville also houses American record producers Elite, Ron Gilmore, and Cedric Brown.
Deja Monét Trimble, known professionally as Dej Loaf, is an American rapper and singer from Detroit, Michigan. She is best known for her 2014 single "Try Me" and its 2015 follow-up, "Back Up". The latter received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and served as lead single for her debut extended play ...And See That's the Thing (2015), which was released by Columbia Records. Both songs, along with her guest appearance on Kid Ink's 2015 single "Be Real", peaked within the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100. Her debut studio album, Sell Sole II (2020), was met with positive critical reception despite failing to chart.
Russell James Vitale, known mononymously as Russ, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. After eleven self-released albums, Vitale signed with Columbia Records to release his twelfth studio album and major label debut, There's Really a Wolf (2017). Met with critical and commercial success, the album received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 entries—"What They Want" and "Losin Control." His thirteenth and fourteenth albums, Zoo (2018) and Shake the Snow Globe (2020), both peaked at number four on the Billboard 200; the latter spawned his highest-charting single, "Best on Earth". Outside of his solo career, he is a member of the Atlanta-based hip hop collective Diemon.
Artist Julius Dubose, known professionally as A Boogie wit da Hoodie or simply A Boogie, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Dubose released his debut studio album, The Bigger Artist, via Atlantic Records in 2017. Led by the Billboard Hot 100-top 20 single "Drowning", the album was met with critical praise and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200.
Destin Choice Route, better known by his stage name JID, is an American rapper, and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Atlanta, he signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2017. He formed the musical collective Spillage Village with EarthGang in 2010, and later formed the hip hop group Zoink Gang with Smino, Buddy, and Guapdad 4000. His fluent rapping style and usage of wordplay has been highly acclaimed by several music critics.
Deante' Van Hitchcock, is an American rapper from Riverdale, Georgia. He initially gained recognition as a rapper following the releases of three mixtapes: 19 Summers (2012), Wishful Thinking (2015) and Good (2016). He received widespread attention on the internet in 2016 after a weekly series of freestyles called New Atlanta Tuesday's. In 2017, he signed to ByStorm and RCA Records. His debut album Better was released on May 13, 2020.
Daniel Nwosu Jr., professionally known by his stage name Dax, is a Nigerian-Canadian rapper and singer-songwriter.
Terrell Anthony Cox, known professionally as Cochise, is an American rapper. He initially garnered attention after his 2019 single "Hatchback" rose to popularity on TikTok in 2020. His song "Tell Em" with fellow rapper Snot peaked at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021. Cochise has since released two studio albums, with his debut being Benbow Crescent in 2021.
