E-40 | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Earl Tywone Stevens [1] |
Born | Vallejo, California, U.S | November 15, 1967
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1986–present |
Labels | |
Member of | |
Spouse | Tracey Stevens (m. 1991) |
Children | 2 |
Website | e-40 |
Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, appeared on numerous movie soundtracks, and has also done guest appearances on a host of other rap albums. Initially an underground artist, his 1995 solo album In a Major Way opened him up to a wider audience. Beginning in 1998, he began collaborating with mainstream rappers outside the San Francisco Bay Area. He rose to higher mainstream popularity in 2006 with his single "Tell Me When to Go", which was produced by Lil Jon.
Stevens was born in Vallejo, California. [2] [1] He grew up with his siblings raised by a divorced mother who worked three jobs, and he became interested in hip hop after hearing "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang. [3] [4] Beginning in fourth grade, Stevens played the snare and bass drum. [3] He graduated from Hogan High School in Vallejo in 1985. [5] [6] Stevens played baseball in high school, recorded music with his siblings, and sold their recordings from the back of a car. [7] After high school, Stevens enrolled at Grambling State University in 1986 with his cousin Brandt Jones and attended the school for one year. [8] [9] [10] [3]
Stevens made his rap debut as E-40 in 1986 with his cousin B-Legit, sister Suga-T, and brother D-Shot in the group Most Valuable Players. After impressing fellow students with a rap remix of the school song and a Grambling State talent show, Most Valuable Players released a single, "The King's Men". [11] [3] The group later became The Click and released the EP Let's Side in 1990. [2] The EP was co-produced by Mike Mosley and Al Eaton and was released on Sick Wid It Records, an independent label founded by E-40. In 1992 they released a second album, Down and Dirty , and in 1993 E-40 made his solo album debut. Federal, a nine-track LP/14-track CD produced by Studio Ton and released by Sick Wid It Records in association with SMG (Solar Music Group), a regional distributor.
In 1993, the Click had mainstream hit, "Captain Save a Hoe" (radio edit "Captain Save Them Thoe"). They moved back to Vallejo and teamed up with D-Shot, E-40's brother, to form the group MVP or Most Valuable Players. E-40's gospel singing uncle (Saint Charles) helped them put out the record. [12] Suga-T was then added to the group to form the Click. [13]
Although having a large following on the West Coast, E-40 did not have a large mainstream audience, so only two of his songs released under Jive Records, "1-Luv" featuring Levitti and "Things'll Never Change" featuring Bo-Roc, charted on the Billboard Hot 100. [2] He had been working nearly exclusively with rappers from the Bay Area until 1997, when he released the double disc compilation Southwest Riders featuring exclusively rap acts from the Bay Area and the south. His collaboration with southern rappers continued in 1998, when he was given guest appearances on albums by Southern rappers, including Lost by Eightball, and MP da Last Don by Master P. [2]
In 2003 E-40 began hosting E-Feezy Radio, a weekly program on San Francisco hip-hop radio station KMEL that showcased Bay Area hip hop. [14] KMEL regularly broadcast the program until 2008. After completing a deal with Jive Records he signed with Lil Jon's BME Recordings and Reprise Records. After the signing, he appeared on Lil Jon's single "Snap Yo Fingers", also featuring Sean P of YoungBloodZ, which became a hit reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Afterwards, his single "Tell Me When to Go", featuring Oakland rapper Keak da Sneak, became popular throughout the United States, and E-40 appeared on MTV's Direct Effect and BET's 106 & Park . Publicity for E-40 was achieved through the MTV special My Block: The Bay. [15] He later released "U and Dat" in April 2006, featuring T-Pain and Kandi Girl and produced by Lil Jon. His album My Ghetto Report Card debuted at #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 200 on March 14, 2006. [16] Released through Sick Wid It/BME/Warner Bros. Records, the album was produced by Lil Jon, Rick Rock, and E-40's son, Droop-E. [17] On March 30, 2010, E-40 released two albums called Revenue Retrievin': Day Shift and Revenue Retrievin': Night Shift . [18] Both include guest appearances from Too Short, Snoop Dogg, Gucci Mane, Bobby V, and more. They debuted at numbers 47 & 49 respectively on the 200. The first single from the Day Shift album is "Bitch" featuring Too Short. On March 29, 2011, E-40 released two albums called Revenue Retrievin': Overtime Shift and Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift . They include guest spots from Lil Jon, Bun B, Slim Thug, Tech N9ne & more. They both entered on the 200 chart at #'s 42 & 40. In November 2010, E-40 and Too Short announced that they would release two collaborative album in Summer 2012 entitled History: Mob Music and History: Function Music . E-40 also performed at the Gathering of the Juggalos. [19]
In 2012, E-40 released three solo albums: The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil series 1, 2, and 3, and released a collaboration album with Too Short. [20] The first single from the second Block Brochure album is "Function" featuring YG, Iamsu! & Problem. It peaked at #21 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, #62 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and #22 on the Rap Songs chart, becoming his most successful single in years. The volumes include Snoop Dogg, Too Short, Kendrick Lamar, Juicy J, Tech N9ne, Twista, Brotha Lynch, Andre Nickatina, 2 Chainz, & T-Pain as guests. They each debuted at #'s 58, 59 & 72 on the Billboard 200, respectively, and the triple album box set that contains all three Block Brochure volumes debuted at #44. History: Function Music debuted at #63 on the 200, while Mob debuted at #72. He made a cameo appearance in the music video for Young Jeezy's song "R.I.P." featuring 2 Chainz in March 2013, and was also featured on the song's official "G-Mix" also featuring Snoop Dogg and Too Short. It was revealed that the 4th, 5th and 6th editions of The Block Brochure would be released exactly one year after the release date of the first three volumes. However, there is no confirmed release date for the three albums, but the artwork for all three volumes and the triple album box set was released on June 12. [21] On May 21, he released the first single from the three albums, "Ripped" featuring Lil Jon. [22] On July 18, he premiered the second single "All My Niggaz" featuring Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q. [23] The song was released to iTunes on August 20, 2013. [24] On August 26, the video for "Off the Block" featuring Stressmatic and J. Banks was released and confirmed to be on the album. [25] On Facebook E-40 announced that parts 4, 5 and 6 would be released on December 10, 2013. [26]
In 2018, E-40 announced the "Definitions" album trilogy. [27] He released his twenty-fifth studio album The Gift of Gab on August 23, which was followed by his twenty-sixth studio album Practice Makes Paper on July 26, 2019. [28] The third album, Rule of Thumb, was released on November 17, 2023. In 2019, he made a guest appearance in the music video of "West Coast", performed by G-Eazy, Blueface, ALLBLACK and YG. [29]
Along with former NFL player Chester McGlockton, E-40 opened a Fatburger franchise in Pleasant Hill, California, which has now been shut down. [30] E-40 has promoted a forthcoming publication, E-40's Book of Slang, since 1998, [31] but as of 2013 [update] the volume has not yet been released. [32] He is also a spokesperson for Landy Cognac, and he opened the now-defunct Ambassador's Lounge, a nightclub in Downtown San Jose. [33]
In late 2007, E-40 announced a new line of energy drinks called "40 Water." [34] He also has a number of other ventures in the beverage industry, including the wine industry, where he has released three wines including a red blend called "Function," a moscato and high-alcohol fortified wine called "Mangoscato." [35] The wines are branded using the rapper's real name, Earl Stevens. In December 2014, he released a premixed cocktail beverage called Sluricane Hurricane, inspired by the 1995 hit song "Hurricane" from his group the Click. [36]
In December 2015, E-40 released a line of malt liquor called "E-40", available in 24 oz. cans and 40 oz. glass bottles. [37]
E-40 is also an investor and has his own investment company. He was an early investor in social media apps Clubhouse and Convoz. [38]
E-40 lives in Danville, California, with his wife Tracey. [10] They married in 1991 and have two children who grew up to become rappers: Earl Jr. (who performs as Droop-E) and Emari (Issue). [39] [40]
E-40 is a longtime San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors fan, [41] and the team gave away 15,000 bobblehead figures of him to visitors at a Giants game on June 25, 2022, [42] where he also made the ceremonial first pitch of the game. [43]
Studio albums
Collaborative albums
Sick Wid It | |
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Founded | 1989 |
Founder | E-40 |
Status | Active |
Distributor(s) | Caroline Distribution |
Genre | West Coast hip hop, hyphy |
Country of origin | United States |
Location | Vallejo, California |
In 1989, E-40 formed independently-owned hip hop record label Sick Wid It.
Earl Tywone Stevens Jr., better known by his stage name Droop-E, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the son of the Bay Area rapper E-40.
Brandt Jones, better known by his stage name B-Legit, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California.
Ricardo Thomas, also known as Rick Rock, is an American record producer originally from Montgomery, Alabama and based in Fairfield, California. He is a founding member of the former rap group Cosmic Slop Shop and the Federation with fellow rapper Doonie Baby, and is regarded as a pioneer of the hip-hop subgenre Hyphy.
Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire is the fifth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on November 9, 1999, by Sick Wid It Records and Jive Records. Production was handled by Bosko, Ant Banks, Rick Rock, Clint "Payback" Sands, DJ Battlecat, DJ Fingaz, Funk Daddy and Studio Ton. It features guest appearances from The Click, The Mossie, A-1, B.G., Birdman, C-Bo, Fat Joe, Jayo Felony, Juvenile, Levitti, Lil' Wayne, Otis & Shug, Sauce Money, Too $hort, and contributions from Big Omeezy, Big Tray Deee, Celly Cel, Kokane, Nutt and Warren Mceanna.
In a Major Way is the second studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 14, 1995, by Sick Wid It Records and Jive Records. Production on the album was handled by Studio Ton, Mike Mosley, Sam Bostic, Funk Daddy, Kevin Gardner, Redwine, and E-40 himself, who also served as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Levitti, 2Pac, Celly Cel, Mac Mall, Mac Shawn and Spice 1, as well as fellow The Click groupmates B-Legit and Suga-T, and his son Droop-E.
The West Coast Vaccine is the second studio album by Vallejo, California rapper Turf Talk. With his older cousin E-40 signed to Lil Jon's BME imprint, it was believed that Jon would produce Turf's second record but when the track list was released, it was apparent that would not be so. The album does however feature production by Bay Area producers Rick Rock, E-A-Ski and Traxamillion. New York Times music critic Kelefa Sanneh said Turf Talk's 2007 effort was "arguably the year’s most exciting hip-hop album" though it had "pretty much remained a secret."
Killa Kali is the second solo studio album by American rapper Celly Cel. It was released in 1996 through Sick Wid It/Jive Records. Recording sessions took place at K-Lou Studios in Richmond and at the Mob Shop in Vallejo. Production was handled by K-Lou, Kevin Gardner, Redwine, Emgee, Sean T, Studio Ton, Tone Capone, and Celly Cel himself, who also served as executive producer. It features guest appearances from B-Legit, E-40, Spice 1, Felisha, Kerry, and L.I.T. The album peaked at number 26 on the Billboard 200 and number 4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album featured three singles, "4 tha Scrilla", "It's Goin' Down" and "Can't Tell Me Shit".
The Hemp Museum is the second solo studio album by American rapper B-Legit. It was released on November 26, 1996 through Sick Wid It/Jive Records. Production was handled by Studio Ton, Mike Mosley, Kevin Gardner, Redwine, Femi Ojetunde, Emgee, Tone Capone and B-Legit himself, who also served as executive producer. It features guest appearances from C-Bo, Levitti, Celly Cel, Daryl Hall, E-40, Kurupt, A-1 and Funk Mobb.
The Mossie was an American rap group from Vallejo, California, with members: Kaveo, Mugzi and Tap Dat Ass. They first appeared together on E-40's 1993 EP, The Mail Man. Before dropping their 1997 debut album, Have Heart Have Money, on Sick Wid It and Jive Records, they appeared together on several other Sick Wid It releases, including: The Hogg in Me, The Hemp Museum and Southwest Riders.
Little Bruce, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California, best known for this 1994 debut album released on Sick Wid It, now known as Heavy on the Grind Entertainment, and Jive Records, XXXtra Manish.
Revenue Retrievin': Day Shift is the eleventh studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 30, 2010, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment and EMI. His twelfth album, Revenue Retrievin': Night Shift, was released on the same day.
Revenue Retrievin': Night Shift is the twelfth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 30, 2010, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment and EMI. His eleventh album, Revenue Retrievin': Day Shift, was released on the same day.
Revenue Retrievin': Overtime Shift is the thirteenth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 29, 2011, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment and EMI. His fourteenth album, Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift, was released on the same day. He also released his eleventh and twelfth albums on the same day in 2010.
Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift is the fourteenth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 29, 2011, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment and EMI. His thirteenth album, Revenue Retrievin': Overtime Shift, was released on the same day. He also released his eleventh and twelfth albums on the same day in 2010.
The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 1 is the fifteenth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 26, 2012, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment and EMI. His sixteenth and seventeenth albums, The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 2 and The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 3, were also released on the same day.
The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 2 is the sixteenth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 26, 2012, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment and EMI. His fifteenth and seventeenth albums, The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 1 and The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 3, were also released on the same day.
The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 3 is the seventeenth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 26, 2012, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment and EMI. His fifteenth and sixteenth albums, The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 1 and The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 2, were also released on the same day.
The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 5 is the nineteenth studio album by American rapper E-40. The album was released on December 10, 2013, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from 2 Chainz, Young Bari, Roach Gigz, Iamsu!, Kool John, Gucci Mane, Young Scooter, Z-Ro, Big K.R.I.T., Danny Brown, Schoolboy Q, B-Legit, Mike Marshall, Too Short, Work Dirty, Laroo T.H.H., Stressmatic and J. Banks.
The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 4 is the eighteenth studio album by American rapper E-40. The album was released on December 10, 2013, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from Droop-E, Work Dirty, Young Dro, Chris Brown, Spodee, NHT Boyz, T.I., King Harris, Cousin Fik, Choose Up Cheese, J. Stalin, Bosko, Webbie, Ty Dolla Sign, and Mike Marshall.
The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 6 is the twentieth studio album by American rapper E-40. The album was released on December 10, 2013, by Heavy on the Grind Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from Rick Ross, French Montana, B-Legit, Iamsu!, Sage the Gemini, Eric Statz, Skeme, Problem, Gucci Mane, Trinidad James, Jeezy, Cousin Fik, Mac Mall, San Quinn and Clyde Carson.
...Earl Tywone Stevens Sr., the gold and platinum-selling hip-hop star E-40's given name.
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