Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop musical collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, Ol' Dirty Bastard. Close affiliate Cappadonna later became an official member. They are credited for revitalizing East Coast hip hop and are considered one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time.
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.
Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt, Pepa, and DJ Spinderella. Their debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986), sold more than 1 million copies in the US, making them the first female rap act to achieve gold and platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album included the single, "Push It", which was released in 1987 as the B-side to their single "Tramp", and peaked within the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Anthony Cruz, better known by his stage name AZ, is an American rapper. Best known for his affiliation with hometown native and fellow East Coast rapper Nas, they formed the New York City-based hip hop group the Firm along with Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature in 1996. Cruz first saw recognition for his guest appearance on Nas' 1994 single "Life's a Bitch", from his album Illmatic (1994). Cruz was then signed by EMI to release his debut studio album, Doe or Die (1995), which was met with critical acclaim. Its lead single, "Sugar Hill" peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Moreover, The Firm's sole album (1997) peaked atop the Billboard 200 chart despite unfavorable critical response; the group disbanded two years later.
Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of music that is no longer restricted to the creative underground, with artists such as Onefour, Hilltop Hoods, Kerser and Bliss n Eso and having achieved notable fame. Australian Hip-Hop is still primarily released through independent record labels, which are often owned and operated by the artists themselves. Despite its genesis as an offshoot of American hip-hop, Australian hip hop has developed a distinct personality that reflects its evolution as an Australian musical style. Since the inception of the Australian hip-hop scene, Australian Aboriginals have played a prominent role.
UK rap, also known as British hip hop or UK hip hop, is a music genre and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of R&B/hip-hop. British hip hop can also be referred to as Brit-hop, a term coined and popularised mainly by British Vogue magazine and the BBC. British hip hop was originally influenced by the dub/toasting introduced to the United Kingdom by Jamaican migrants in the 1950s–70s, who eventually developed uniquely influenced rapping in order to match the rhythm of the ever-increasing pace and aggression of Jamaican-influenced dub in the UK. Toasting and soundsystem cultures were also influential in genres outside of hip hop that still included rapping – such as grime, jungle, and UK garage.
Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. LA Weekly deemed the label an "eternally evolving experiment" in celebration of its 20th anniversary.
Kendrick Jeru Davis, known as Jeru the Damaja, is an American rapper and record producer. He is known for his 1993 single "Come Clean" from his debut album, The Sun Rises in the East, ranked as one of the 100 greatest hip-hop albums of all time by the editors of About.com. He has worked extensively with Guru and DJ Premier of Gang Starr, whom he has known since he was in high school.
Camp Lo is an American hip hop duo, formed in 1995, which hails from The Bronx, New York. The duo consists of rappers Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede. The duo is perhaps best known for their 1997 hit "Luchini AKA This Is It".
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.
Derek Andrew Safo, better known by his stage name Sway or Sway DaSafo, is a British rapper of Ghanaian descent. He is also a producer, having established Dcypha Productions, signed to Island/Universal. Safo's 2008 track "Black Stars" gave appreciation to popular Ghanaians across the diaspora. Sway's first big track, "On My Own" was released under the name Sway DaSafo.
William G. Shields, better known by his stage name Jehst, is an English rapper and co-founder of hip hop label YNR Productions.
Foreign Beggars were an English hip hop and dubstep group. Since their formation in 2002, the group's trajectory had seen them evolve from an underground hip hop group to an electronic crossover act. The group consisted of four artists individually known as Orifice Vulgatron, Metropolis Graham, DJ Nonames, and Dag Nabbit. Vulgatron and Metropolis combined with Noisia to make the side project and supergroup "I Am Legion". They released their collaborative album I Am Legion on 2 September 2013.
Asylum Speakers is the debut album by the UK-based hip-hop group Foreign Beggars. It was released on 15 September 2003 on the group's own Dented Records label.
Karl Hinds, also known as R.A.W, is a British rapper and producer, and founder of the record label Assassin Records.
Tumelo Kepadisa, better known as Tuks Senganga, is a South African motswako rapper born in Mafikeng, in the former homeland of the Bophuthatswana. He frequently performs in ethnic languages, though mostly Setswana. Tuks Senganga started writing in 1993, drawing inspiration from everyday issues in his immediate environment. His career took off in 2005 with his first album Mafoko A Me. This was the album that earned him the Best Hip Hop Album Award at the 12th Annual MTN South African Music Awards (SAMA).
Marlanna Evans, better known by her stage name Rapsody, is an American rapper. After signing with music producer 9th Wonder's music label It's a Wonderful World Music Group, she released a series of mixtapes and collaborated with Erykah Badu and Talib Kweli. Soon afterwards Rapsody released her debut album The Idea of Beautiful (2012). She would attain further prominence when she was featured on Kendrick Lamar's 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly, on the track "Complexion ".
Emtee has already secured himself a jointly partnership record deal with Empire early this year in 2024, which currently is the Label of the Late King von the greatest
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.
Vivian Wilson Fernandes, known professionally as Divine, is an Indian rapper. Born and raised in Andheri, Mumbai, Fernandes started gaining popularity after the release of his single "Yeh Mera Bombay" in 2013. He broke through with the release of "Mere Gully Mein" in 2015, which featured fellow Mumbai-based rapper Naezy.
