West Coast hip-hop is a regional genre of hip-hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip-hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the early to-mid 1990s with the birth of G-funk and the emergence of record labels such as Suge Knight and Dr. Dre's Death Row Records, Ice Cube's Lench Mob Records, the continued success of Eazy-E's Ruthless Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and others.
Cameron Ezike Giles, known mononymously as Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance "Un" Rivera's Untertainment, an imprint of Epic Records to release his first two studio albums Confessions of Fire (1998) and S.D.E. (2000); the former received gold certification by the RIAA. After leaving Epic, Giles signed with Roc-A-Fella Records in 2001 to release his third studio album, Come Home with Me, the following year. It received platinum certification by the RIAA and spawned the singles "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma", which peaked at numbers four and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. His fourth studio album, Purple Haze (2004) was met with similar success and likewise received gold certification by the RIAA.
Christopher George Manak, better known by his stage name Peanut Butter Wolf, is an American disc jockey and record producer from San Jose, California. He is based in Los Angeles, where he moved to in 2000. He is the founder of Stones Throw Records.
Monterrio Williams, better known by his stage names Luni Coleone or Lunasicc, is an American rapper who began his career on the streets of Sacramento, California.
Marvin Watson Jr., better known by his stage name Messy Marv, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. Messy was also known as a collaborator in the rap group Kaalman's Krew.
Brandt Jones, better known by his stage name B-Legit, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California.
Anouar Hajoui, better known as DJ Cut Killer or simply Cut Killer, is a Moroccan-born French DJ and record producer with a versatile repertoire of hip hop music.
Turf Talk, is a Bay Area rapper involved with the hyphy movement. He is a cousin of Bay Area rapper E-40, and is signed to his record label Sick Wid It Records.
Sultan Banks, better known as Traxamillion, was an American hip hop producer. He produced records such as Keak da Sneak's "Super Hyphy" and Dem Hoodstarz "Grown Man Remix". His first album, The Slapp Addict, was a compilation of Bay Area hyphy artists and was released August 22, 2006.
Charles Mitchell, known professionally as Mitchy Slick, is an American rapper from Southeast San Diego, California. He is a member of the rap supergroup Strong Arm Steady, along with rappers Phil Da Agony and Krondon. He performs solo with three albums released in addition to many collaborations. Mitchell is the CEO of Wrongkind Records.
Mandolyn Wind Ludlum, better known by her stage name Mystic, is an American singer and rapper from the San Francisco Bay Area. After touring and recording with Digital Underground, she released her debut solo album in 2001.
11/5 was an American hip hop group from the Hunters Point section of San Francisco, California whose members were Maine-O, Hennessy and Taydatay, they were signed to Dogday Records, and were active from 1994 to 2001.
In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists more creative freedom and less commercial pressure. The term has significantly increased in popularity over the years due to high-profile artists marketing their projects as such. Mixtapes also have been inconsistently referred to as albums by reputable media outlets such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and Complex. This has caused notable confusion on the differences between an album and a mixtape.
Fredrick Jamel Tipton, better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper and songwriter. He signed with Interscope Records in 2006 and recorded his debut album for the label; however, its release was cancelled and he was dropped from the label due to executive shakeups. Gibbs later signed with Young Jeezy's CTE World in 2011 and released a number of mixtapes through the label, including his highly acclaimed Baby Face Killa (2012).
Emiliano Rudolf Giambelli, known professionally as Emis Killa, is an Italian rapper.
Rashard Bradshaw, better known as Cakes da Killa, is an American rap artist who fuses genres of hip hop, house, and electronic dance music. He came to prominence in the "queer explosion" of hip hop music stemming from New York in 2012 and is among the credited performers for the current trend of acceptance of LGBT people in the rap community. Bradshaw is currently based in Atlanta and his second full-length studio album Svengali was released on October 28, 2022.
Dark Lane Demo Tapes is the sixth mixtape by Canadian rapper Drake. The mixtape is a compilation of songs that were released on SoundCloud or leaked on the internet, as well as new songs, and is considered a "warm-up" to Drake's sixth studio album Certified Lover Boy (2021). It was released on May 1, 2020, by OVO Sound and Republic Records. Production was handled by Drake's longtime collaborator 40, among others. Featured guest appearances include Future, Young Thug, Chris Brown, Playboi Carti, Giveon, Fivio Foreign, and Sosa Geek.
Jack the Smoker, pseudonym of Giacomo Giuseppe Romano, is an Italian rapper and record producer active since 2000.
Terry Parker, known professionally as MC Juice, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois.
