Lana Michele Moorer, better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a full solo album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock. The album spawned the singles "10% Dis" and "Paper Thin".
Claude Honoré M'Barali, professionally known as MC Solaar, is a French rapper of Senegalese and Chadian origin. He is one of France's most famous and influential hip hop artists. Some consider him the best French rapper of all time.
Straight Outta Compton is the debut studio album by American gangsta rap group N.W.A, which, led by Eazy-E, formed in Los Angeles County's City of Compton in early 1987. Released by his label, Ruthless Records, on August 8, 1988, the album was produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince, with lyrics written by N.W.A members Ice Cube and MC Ren along with Ruthless rapper The D.O.C. Not merely depicting Compton's street violence, the lyrics repeatedly threaten to lead it by attacking peers and even police. The track "Fuck tha Police" drew an FBI agent's warning letter, which aided N.W.A's notoriety, with N.W.A calling itself "the world's most dangerous group."
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.
Prakazrel Samuel Michel, known professionally as Pras, is an American rapper. He is best known as a member of the hip hop group Fugees, alongside Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. After the Fugees, he earned two Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the Grammy-nominated song "Ghetto Supastar " featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and Mýa from the film Bulworth, and "Avenues" with Refugee Camp All-Stars and Ky-Mani Marley. He also collaborated with Jean and rock band Queen on the 1998 remix of "Another One Bites the Dust", which reached the top five on the UK Singles Chart. In 2017, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series, as a producer on the web series The Bay.
Tamer Nafar is a Palestinian rapper, actor, screenwriter and social activist of Israeli citizenship. He is the leader and a founding member of DAM, the first Palestinian hip hop group.
Ahmir K. Thompson, known professionally as Questlove, is an American musician, drummer, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman for the hip hop band the Roots. The Roots have been serving as the in-house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014, after having fulfilled the same role on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Questlove is also one of the producers of the cast album of the Broadway musical Hamilton. He is the co-founder of the websites Okayplayer and OkayAfrica. He is also known for the podcast Questlove Supreme. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University.
Dwight Equan Grant, better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first became known for his association with Jay-Z, as a flagship artist for his now-defunct label imprint, Roc-A-Fella Records. Grant's debut studio album, The Truth (2000) was met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200. Along with his solo career, Grant was the de facto leader of the Philadelphia-based collective State Property, which was formed by Roc-A-Fella labelmates and debuted in 2002 with a namesake film in which Grant starred. The group released two well-received studio albums.
Paul Hunter is an American film director, screenwriter, and music video director. He has directed over 100 music videos, television advertisements and was nominated for an Emmy for Nike's Freestyle commercial. In 2004, the Washington Post called Hunter one of "most seminal names among black hip-hop directors."
M. K. Asante is an American author, filmmaker, recording artist, and professor. He is the author of the 2013 best-selling memoir Buck: A Memoir.
Nelson George is an American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
DAM is a Palestinian hip-hop group founded in 1999 by brothers Tamer and Suhell Nafar and their friend Mahmoud Jreri from the mixed city of Lod. The group's songs are themed on protest, inequality, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and self-criticism of Arab-Israeli society, including the violence and drug dealing within Israel's mixed cities. DAM is the best-known and most famous Palestinian hip hop group; it is also often called the "quintessential Palestinian resistance band".
Mutulu Olugbala, better known by his stage name M-1, is an American rapper, songwriter, and activist from Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his work as one half of the political hip hop duo dead prez with stic.man.
QBoy is a UK-based rapper, producer, DJ, writer and presenter. He is one of the original few out rappers in hip hop circa 2001 that became pioneers of the new subgenre colloquially known as "homo hop". QBoy is currently a DJ and promoter of popular LGBTQ club night and party 'R & She: The Queens of Hip-Hop & R&B' which hosts events in London, Berlin and New York City.
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes is a 2006 documentary film written, produced, and directed by Byron Hurt. The documentary explores the issues of masculinity, violence, homophobia, and sexism in hip hop music and culture, through interviews with artists, academics, and fans. Hurt's activism in gender issues and his love of hip-hop caused him to feel what he described as a sense of hypocrisy, and began working on the film. The premiere of the film took place at the Sundance Film Festival, and was welcomed by a standing ovation. It has also won Best Documentary at the San Francisco Black Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Roxbury Film Festival. On February 20, 2007 the film aired on the PBS Emmy-winning documentary series, Independent Lens.
Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme is a 2000 American documentary film directed by Kevin Fitzgerald. The film depicts the art of freestyle rap.
Hip-hop theater is a form of theater that presents contemporary stories through the use of one or more of the four elements of hip-hop culture—b-boying, graffiti writing, MCing (rapping), and DJing. Other cultural markers of hip-hop such as spoken word, beatboxing, and hip-hop dance can be included as well although they are not always present. What is most important is the language of the theatrical piece and the plot's relevance to the world. Danny Hoch, the founder of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, further defines it as such: "Hip-hop theatre must fit into the realm of theatrical performance, and it must be by, about and for the hip-hop generation, participants in hip-hop culture, or both."
The 49ers is a hip-hop duo from Newark, Delaware and consists of members Jas Mace and Marchitect. They were also the focal members of another hip-hop group called The Outfit. The 49ers are known for their laid-back, jazzy, and soulful hip-hop music.
Babaluku, born Silas Babaluku Balabyekkubo, is a Ugandan rapper, musician, producer, community youth activist and social entrepreneur who raps in Luganda. He is a member of the Bataka Squad. He is the founder of "the Bavubuka Foundation which equips the youth with leadership skills". He is one of the pioneers of "Lugaflow" which is rap music in Luganda. He was featured in a 2008 documentary "Diamonds in the Rough: A Ugandan Hip-hop Revolution" that covered his journey from his crew’s early days of performing in Uganda to performing in at festivals in the United States of America.
Run-DMC was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, formed in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture and especially one of the most famous hip hop acts of the 1980s. Along with Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, and Public Enemy, the group pioneered new-school hip hop music and helped usher in the golden age of hip hop. The group was among the first to highlight the importance of the MC and DJ relationship.
