Latin hip hop is hip hop music that is recorded by artists in the United States of Hispanic and Latino descent, along with Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean, North America, Central America, South America, and Spain.
Marlon Lu'Ree Williams, better known by his stage name Marley Marl, is an American DJ, record producer, rapper and record label founder, primarily operating in hip hop music. Marlon grew up in Queensbridge housing projects located in Queens, New York. He performed in local talent shows during the early days of rap music, further fueling his interest.
Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Florida—often titled “The Big 5,” five states which constitute the "Southern Network" in rap music.
Melissa Arnette Elliott, also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began on her musical career as a member of the R&B girl group Sista during the 1990s, who were part of the larger musical collective Swing Mob—led by DeVante Swing of Jodeci. The former group's debut album, 4 All the Sistas Around da World (1994) was released by Elektra Records and met with positive critical reception despite commercial failure. She collaborated with album's producer and Swing Mob cohort Timbaland to work in songwriting and production for other acts, yielding commercially successful releases for 702, Aaliyah, SWV, and Total. She then re-emerged as a solo act with numerous collaborations and guest appearances by 1996, and in July of the following year, she released her debut studio album, Supa Dupa Fly (1997).
Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Baby" Williams. The label gained prominence in the late 1990s for having signed and released albums for New Orleans-based musical acts including Juvenile, B.G., and Hot Boys. It became an imprint of Universal Records, a division of Universal Music Group in March 1998, and remained so during its following iterations as Universal Republic, Universal Motown and ultimately Republic Records.
Swing Mob was a loosely knit musical collective consisting of artists and record labels first discovered by Jodeci member DeVante Swing in 1991. The artists on Swing Mob included Missy Elliott with the group Sista, Timbaland, Magoo, Ginuwine, Static Major and the rest of Playa, Darryl Pearson, Mike "Funky Mike" Jackson, Tweet with the group Sugah, Majik, Jimmy Douglass, Stevie J, Maija Max, Renee Anderson, Bazaar Royale and Chad "Dr. Ceuss" Elliott among others, although the group's full membership has never been documented comprehensively. A list of some known artists in Swing Mob at the time of the group's activity can be found in the liner notes of Jodeci's third studio album, The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel (1995).
Hip hop soul is a subgenre of contemporary R&B music, most popular during the early and mid 1990s, which fuses R&B or soul singing with hip hop musical production. The subgenre had evolved from a previous R&B subgenre, new jack swing, which had incorporated hip-hop influences into R&B music. By contrast, hip hop soul is, as described in The Encyclopedia of African American Music, "quite literally soul singing over hip hop grooves".
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik is the debut studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast, released on April 26, 1994, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. Having befriended each other two years prior, rappers André 3000 and Big Boi pursued recording music as a duo and worked with production team Organized Noize, leading to a record contract with LaFace. With the team producing, Outkast recorded the album at the Dungeon, D.A.R.P. Studios, Purple Dragon, Bosstown, and Doppler Studios, all in their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
David Sheats, known professionally as Mr. DJ, is an American hip-hop producer and DJ from Atlanta. He and Outkast members Big Boi and André 3000 make up the record production company Earthtone III.
Mashonda Karima Dean is an American R&B singer from Boston, Massachusetts. In 2004, she married record producer Swizz Beatz and signed to his record label Full Surface Records, an imprint of J Records to release her debut studio album January Joy (2005). In 2011, Mashonda was a member of the first season of VH1's reality show Love & Hip Hop: New York.
Although the music scene of Atlanta is rich and varied, the city's production of hip-hop music has been especially noteworthy, acclaimed, and commercially successful. In 2009, The New York Times called Atlanta "hip-hop's center of gravity", and the city is home to many famous hip hop, R&B, and neo soul musicians.
Slum Village is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. The group was formerly composed of the rappers Baatin (1974–2009), T3, and rapper / producer J Dilla (1974–2006). J Dilla left in 2001 to pursue a solo career with MCA Records. Elzhi joined in his absence, after which Baatin also left due to health complications.
Contemporary R&B is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.
Jun Seba, better known by his stage name Nujabes, was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger best known for his atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from hip hop, soul, and jazz, as well as incorporating elements of trip hop, breakbeat, downtempo, and ambient music.
Richard Preston Butler Jr., better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American record producer, songwriter, singer, and rapper. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and New York City's Harlem neighborhood. He attended Florida A&M and, while visiting Atlanta, Georgia, worked his way into the music industry through connections with singer Usher, who became one of Butler's frequent collaborators.
Christian J. Ward, known professionally as Hitmaka, is an American record producer and former rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Ward was the first artist to sign with American rapper DMX's vanity label Bloodline Records in 2001, at the age of 14. Six years later, he signed with Epic Records and adopted the stage name Yung Berg. His 2007 debut single, "Sexy Lady" peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, while his guest appearance on Ray J's single, "Sexy Can I" and Ward's own follow-up single, "The Business" peaked at numbers three and 33 on the chart, respectively, the following year; all three of which preceded the release of his debut studio album, Look What You Made Me (2008). Despite generally unfavorable critical reception, it peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200. After releasing a number of follow-up mixtapes and singles that failed to chart, he shifted focus away from recording in favor of a career in music production by 2014.
J-vibe is a composer and record producer who is known for his prolific original compositions. He is an important part of the underground West Coast rap and dance scene. He has also been a computer software programmer since he was 13 years old.
Morgan Lewis, known as Morganics, is a Cairns based hip hop performer.
Rigo "Riggs" Morales is a music executive, writer, producer, author, and former music journalist. He began his career as a music writer for publications such as The Source, XXL, Vibe and The Fader, and later became a record label executive known for working with artists such as Eminem, 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, Janelle Monae, and for producing the Original Broadway Cast Recording for the Tony Award-winning musical, Hamilton.
The Trackmasters, also known as Poke & Tone, is an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke and Tone, best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joined forces with the duo to complete the success of "Trackmasters". Throughout their career, they have worked with various hip-hop and R&B artists including Destiny's Child, Nas, R. Kelly, LL Cool J, Mary J. Blige, Will Smith, Jay-Z, Cam'ron, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, The Notorious B.I.G. and 50 Cent.
