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.
Tony Louis Cottrell, better known as Hi-Tek, is an American rapper and music producer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is best known for his work with Talib Kweli. His father is singer Willie Cottrell of the Willie Cottrell Band, whom Hi-Tek featured on his second album, Hi-Teknology 2.
Charles Kente Williams, better known by his stage name Keak da Sneak, is an American rapper from Oakland, California. He is known for his gravelly voice, for coining the term hyphy in 1994, and for his contributions to the hyphy movement.
King Koopa: The Mixtape Messiah is a mixtape by Houston rapper Chamillionaire. It was released on February 15, 2004. The tape featuring 61 tracks over three CDs, this triple album is the longest and most bought mixtape in Texas history. It is the first mixtape in the Mixtape Messiah series. The mixtape established Chamillionaire as one of the premier artists in the Southern rap music industry at the time of its release and was the pivotal mixtape that developed his fan base and ability to obtain mainstream success with the release of The Sound of Revenge years later.
The term hyphy is an Oakland, California slang meaning "hyperactive". More specifically, it is an adjective describing the hip hop music and the culture associated with the Oakland area. The term was first coined by Oakland rapper Keak da Sneak.
Terranova is a German band based between Berlin and Paris made up of current members Fetisch and &me. Terranova are signed to Kompakt records. Terranova was formed in 1996 by Fetisch, Marco Meister and Kaos. They previously went under the moniker Turntable Terranova on the Compost label and sometimes as Edition Terranova. Their music is a fusion of punk rock, electronic, hip hop and House. They currently reside between Paris and Berlin and perform DJ sets worldwide. They have been constant collaborators with artists in the past, Cath Coffey, Nicolette Krebitz, Tricky, Ari Up, Mike Ladd, Khan, Snax, Billie Ray Martin e.a.
Mountain Brothers was an American hip hop group originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Named after the legend of 108 mountain bandits depicted in the Chinese novel Water Margin, Mountain Brothers are considered cultural pioneers, being one of the first Asian American hip-hop groups and also for the lack of sampling of other music in construction of their own. Mountain Brothers released two critically acclaimed albums, Self Vol 1 and Triple Crown, the first of which is widely considered to be an independent hip-hop classic. Some of their more notable songs included "Paperchase," "Galaxies ," and "Thoroughbred." The last of the three is featured in remixed form on CHOPS' album Virtuosity. They produced national radio and TV commercials for Sprite on the ad "Rhymes from The Mind" and Nike on the ad "Players Delight". They also produced a music video for "Galaxies ". Styles Infinite also released two 12" singles, "Fresh Air/Aquarian Mind" and "Easy on the Ears/Finishline".
Tyree Cinque Simmons, known professionally as DJ Drama, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record executive and music promoter. He initially gained recognition as the DJ for Atlanta-based rapper T.I., and continued to gain prominence hosting mixtapes for other hip hop artists. His trademark Gangsta Grillz series is present on releases of which he has compiled; it has been popularized by artists including Lil Wayne, Tyler the Creator, Snoop Dogg, Yo Gotti, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Fabolous, Jeezy, Meek Mill, and Gucci Mane, among others. Alongside record producer and fellow Philadelphia native Don Cannon, he co-founded the record label Generation Now in 2015, an imprint of Atlantic Records which has signed artists including Lil Uzi Vert and Jack Harlow.
Shon Adams, better known by his stage name E-A-Ski, is an American rapper and producer from Oakland, California. He served as both a rapper and producer for No Limit Records, producing on Master P's early records and also releasing some of his own material.
Angel Luis Aguilar, better known by his stage names Agallah, 8-Off, 8-Off the Assassin, Brad Piff, Swagallah and Agallah Don Bishop, is an American rapper and producer. He was a member of The Diplomats-affiliated group Purple City and he is the CEO of his label Propain Campain. He was formerly known as 8-Off Agallah.
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.
Chris Chan Lee is an American filmmaker. After graduating from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California, Lee wrote/directed Yellow, an independently financed feature film about the harrowing grad night of eight Korean-American teens in Los Angeles that culminates in a violent crime that will forever change their lives. Yellow was invited to over a dozen film festivals, including the Slamdance Dramatic Competition 1998, Singapore International 1998, and the Los Angeles Film Festival 1997. The film won the 1999 Golden Ring Award for Best Asian American Independent Film.
Diamond Duggal also known as DJ Swami is a British-Indian music producer, composer, musician and AI researcher. He has produced for a number of notable artists, including Shania Twain, Pras Michel, Apache Indian, Maxi Priest, Stereo Nation, Zoheb Hassan and Viktor Kiraly as well as remixing for artists including Erasure, the Beat and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He is an accomplished guitar player and multi-instrumentalist and toured as lead guitarist with Boyzone and Robbie Williams. Diamond is also co-founder of production duo Simon and Diamond with his brother Simon Duggal. As DJ Swami, he performs and records electronic, Indian Punjabi bhangra and South Asian music both as a solo artist and as band leader of UK electronic world music acts Swami and PunjabTronix. DJ Swami also tours and performs in collaboration with Deep Forest.
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.
Steve Davison, better known as PSD, PSD Tha Drivah or Stevie Dee, is a rapper and producer from Vallejo, California, who is closely associated with the late Mac Dre.
Time Waits for No Man is the debut solo studio album by American rapper Rasco. It was released on July 21, 1998, through Stones Throw Records. Recording sessions took place at Jam Packed Studios and at Treshold Recordings in Santa Monica, California. Production was handled by Peanut Butter Wolf, Paul Nice, Evidence, KutMasta Kurt, DJ Design, Fanatik, Joey Chavez and Protest. It features guest appearances from Defari, Dilated Peoples, DJ Vin Roc, Encore, and his Cali Agents partner Planet Asia.
Third Power is the third studio album by American hip hop disc jockey DJ Drama. It was released on October 11, 2011. It marks his first album not to be released in the Gangsta Grillz series, after his previous two studio albums Gangsta Grillz: The Album (2007) and Gangsta Grillz: The Album (2009). Featured guests on the album include Fabolous, Wiz Khalifa, Roscoe Dash, Freddie Gibbs, Young Jeezy, Wale, J. Cole, Chris Brown, Pusha T, French Montana, Crooked I, B.o.B, Gucci Mane, Ya Boy, Akon, Trey Songz, and Big Sean, among others.
Jay Ghartey, also known as Kweku Gyasi Ghartey, is a Ghanaian–American music producer, singer, and songwriter based in New York City, describing his style as African Rhythm and Blues. He released his debut album Shining Gold in 2011. He is most famous for the singles "My Lady" and "Papa". He is also the co-founder and co-owner of "GH Brothers", an independent record label and production company with his brother DJ and music producer Joe Ghartey.
Timothy Tau is a Taiwanese-American writer, engineer, attorney, law professor and filmmaker. Tau won the 2011 Hyphen Asian American Writers' Workshop Short Story Contest for his short story, "The Understudy", which was published in the Winter 2011 issue of Hyphen magazine, Issue No. 24, the "Survival Issue." Tau also won Second Prize in the 2010 Playboy College Fiction Contest for his short story, "Land of Origin". He has also directed a number of short films and music videos that have screened at various film festivals worldwide and on YouTube.
BB Queen is the second studio album by Philadelphia-based rapper Bahamadia. BB Queen was released on July 25, 2000, through Good Vibe Recordings. BB Queen was Bahamadia's first release in four years, since her debut album, Kollage, which was released in 1996. The album peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Independent Albums Chart.
