Nobukazu Takemura is a Japanese musician and artist. He became interested in music at a young age by listening to the radio, and began to make music at home with a tape recorder and keyboard. During high school, after a record store job that exposed him to jazz and hip-hop, he had regular gigs in the clubs of Osaka and Kyoto as a battle DJ before launching his music career. Takemura's music career has seen him cover a wide range of genres and styles within short periods of time. Beginning his career in hip-hop and jazz, Takemura later entered into a prolific period as an electronic musician, exploring genres such as glitch, drum and bass and minimalism. Takemura's most recent work has included chamber music and performance art.
Jonathan H. Smith, better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American DJ, record producer, and rapper. He was instrumental in the commercial breakthrough of the hip hop subgenre crunk in the early 2000s, and is often credited as a progenitor of the genre. He was the frontman of the crunk group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, with whom he has released five albums. In addition, Lil Jon served as a record producer for most recordings by artists of whom popularized the genre; these include Miami-based rapper Pitbull, Bay Area-based rappers Too Short and E-40, and fellow Atlanta-based artists Ludacris, Ciara, and Usher.
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. He is known for his trademark Gangsta Grillz series, a branding used on projects of which were compiled by Drama, utilized by collaborators including Lil Wayne, Tyler the Creator, Snoop Dogg, Yo Gotti, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Fabolous, Jeezy, Meek Mill, and Gucci Mane, among others. With 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.
Algernod Lanier Washington, better known by his stage name Plies, is an American rapper. Born in Fort Myers, Florida, Plies was a wide receiver on the Miami Redskins football team of Miami University in Ohio in 1996 and 1997 before beginning his musical career. After dropping out of college, he was signed to Slip-n-Slide Records, he released four studio albums from 2007 until 2010. Plies debuted in 2007 with The Real Testament with successful singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized". Plies also released two albums in 2008, Definition of Real and Da REAList, and later released Goon Affiliated in 2010.
Ahmad Balshe, known professionally as Belly, is a Palestinian-Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Jenin, Balshe was raised in Ottawa. At 21 years old, he moved on to his main love hip-hop with the release of his debut mixtape, Death Before Dishonor: Vol. 1. He then released eight additional projects in a span of six years, including his debut studio album The Revolution (2007), as well as two collaborative mixtapes, The Lost Tapes and The Greatest Dream I Never Had, with Kurupt and DJ Drama, respectively.
Justin Jude Clarke-Samuels , better known by his stage name Ghetts, is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio 1, Kiss 100, BBC Asian Network, and BBC Radio 1Xtra. Currently, Ghetts is signed to independent record label Disrupt, and released his debut studio album, Rebel with a Cause, on 9 March 2014. Known for his hard hitting lyrics and intricate rhyme schemes, he is associated and has toured internationally with such acts as Kano and was a member of NASTY Crew.
Golden Era Records is a record label that specializes in Australian hip hop music and is based in Stirling, South Australia, Australia. The label was founded in 2008 by South Australian hip hop trio Hilltop Hoods.
Dorwin Demarcus Dorrough, known professionally as Dorrough Music, is an American rapper and songwriter. His singles include "Walk That Walk", "Get Big", "Ice Cream Paint Job", and "Beat Up the Block". He has produced a series of 6 mixtapes and 2 studio albums.
Donavan LaMond Johnson better known by his stage name XV is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Wichita, Kansas. He first gained major attention after the release of his twelfth mixtape Everybody's Nobody, for which he received two awards from DJBooth.net. His name, XV, refers to the age (15) at which he began his musical career. On Monday July 26, 2010, XV announced that he had signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records via his Twitter page.
Burrrprint 2 is a mixtape by rapper Gucci Mane. It was released three months after the release of his fourth studio album The State vs. Radric Davis on March 13, 2010. It is the sequel to The Burrprint mixtape released in 2009.
The Pirate Signal is a four-piece hip hop band from Denver, Colorado. The band is composed of MC/Producer Yonnas Abraham, Chez Strong on keyboards and guitar, Sam "Dj 5am" Trumper, and Hogans Daniel on drums.
Kirk Jerel Randle, better known by his stage name Kirko Bangz, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He is best known for his single, "Drank in My Cup" which was released in 2011 and peaked at number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Jeffery Lee Johnson Jr., better known by his stage name Roscoe Dash, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his guest feature alongside Wale on Waka Flocka Flame's 2010 single "No Hands," which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That same year, Roscoe Dash's debut single, "All the Way Turnt Up" peaked within the top 50 on the chart and preceded his debut studio album, Ready Set Go! (2010). Due to erroneous circumstances regarding its release, it failed to chart and was admitted by Roscoe Dash himself to be unfinished. The following year, he guest featured alongside Kanye West on Big Sean's 2011 single "Marvin & Chardonnay," which peaked at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, while his debut extended play, J.U.I.C.E. (2011) entered the Billboard 200.
The discography of American disc jockey DJ Drama consists of six independent studio albums. His first, Gangsta Grillz: The Album, was released in December 2007 and spawned two singles: "5000 Ones" and "The Art of Storytellin' Part 4". Two years later, he released his second album Gangsta Grillz: The Album (2009), which likewise spawned two singles: "Day Dreaming" and "Ridiculous" —both of which failed to chart domestically.
Brian Todd Collins, known professionally as Kid Ink, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. His debut studio album, Up & Away (2012) was released independently and peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200. He then signed with RCA Records to release his debut extended play Almost Home (2013), followed by his second album and first on a major label, My Own Lane the following year. The latter peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and was preceded by the single "Show Me", which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album also spawned the follow-up singles "Iz U Down" and "Main Chick". His third album, Full Speed (2015) spawned the singles "Body Language" and "Be Real", both of which received platinum certification by the RIAA.
Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke, better known by his stage name Sonny Digital, is an American record producer, rapper, and DJ. He rose to prominence after producing YC's hit single "Racks" in 2011. He is best known for his production on ILoveMakonnen's "I Dont Sell Molly No More" and "Tuesday" featuring Drake, Future's single "Same Damn Time", 50 Cent's "I'm the Man" and 2 Chainz's "Birthday Song", as well as the XXL Freshman Cyphers for 2017 and 2018. He has worked with multiple hip-hop artists, such as Future, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, Drake, Chief Keef, 50 Cent, and more.
The HBK Gang is an American hip-hop collective based in San Francisco Bay Area. Founded by Iamsu!, Chief, Skipper, and P-Lo in 2008, members also include singer Kehlani and rapper-producers Sage the Gemini, IsThatCJ, Rossi, Dave Steezy, Jay Ant, and Kool John. After contributing to various mixtapes, including Iamsu's Kilt II, in August 2013, the group released their debut mixtape, Gang Forever. HBK Gang Records is the name of an associated independent record label.
Jon Kevin Freeman Jr., better known by his stage name Jon Connor, is an American rapper and record producer. Connor has released various mixtapes and an album effort during his career including the Jay-Z inspired The Blue Album, and the Eminem inspired The People's Rapper LP. His debut studio album, Unconscious State was released in 2013. Shortly thereafter, he was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment from 2013 to 2019, where he did not release an album. In 2015, he garnered notoriety for being featured on Dr. Dre's album Compton (2015) as well as The Game's album The Documentary 2.5 (2015).
Brandon George Dickinson, better known by his stage name Lil Bibby, is an American rapper and record executive from Chicago, Illinois. Beginning his career in 2011, Bibby released his debut mixtape, Free Crack in 2013. The project was followed by Free Crack 2 (2014) and Free Crack 3 (2015) before he signed with Dr. Luke's Kemosabe Records, an imprint of RCA Records. However, he released no studio albums under the label. He then shifted focus onto expanding his record label—Grade A Productions—in 2017, through which he has signed commercially successful acts including fellow Chicago native, rapper and singer Juice Wrld, as well as Australian rapper and singer the Kid Laroi.
Yves Mondesir, better known by his stage name DJ Whoo Kid, is a Haitian-American hip-hop DJ. He is signed with G-Unit Records and its subsidiary, Shadyville Entertainment. He hosts The Whoolywood Shuffle on SiriusXM's Radio Shade 45. His mixtapes often incorporate a soundbite of him shouting his own name. Mondesir had two albums chart on the Billboard 200: XXL Presents: Bad Season with Tech N9ne and The Whoodlum Ball with Smith and Hay and Ranna Royce.
