Concetta Suzanne Kirschner, better known as Princess Superstar, is an American rapper and DJ. She has had two chart hits in the UK, "Bad Babysitter", which reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart in 2002, and "Perfect (Exceeder)", which reached number three in 2007. She has recorded with Moby, The Prodigy, Arthur Baker, Prince Paul, and Grandmaster Flash, amongst others.
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".
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known by his stage name Nas, is an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop, he is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas began his musical career in 1989 under the moniker "Nasty Nas", and recorded demos for fellow East Coast rapper Large Professor. He was later featured on the 1991 song "Live at the Barbeque" by his group, Main Source.
Kimberly Denise Jones, better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and singer. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after being expelled from home. In her teens, she would freestyle rap, influenced by fellow female hip-hop artists like MC Lyte and the Lady of Rage. In 1994, she was discovered by fellow rapper The Notorious B.I.G., who invited her to join his group Junior M.A.F.I.A.; their debut album, Conspiracy, generated two top 20 singles in the United States and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas is an American singer and songwriter. She was first discovered as a teenager and signed to Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2002. That same year, she was featured on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time", both of which were two of the biggest hit songs of 2002. She became the first female artist to occupy the top two positions on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously with "Foolish" and "What's Luv?" at numbers one and two, respectively.
Angela Martinez is an American radio personality, podcaster, entrepreneur, former rapper, and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice of New York", she was prominently known for her twenty-eight year run at New York City station Hot 97 (WQHT). She left the station in 2014 to join crosstown competitor Power 105.1 (WWPR).
Katrina Laverne Taylor, known professionally as Trina, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in the late 1990s for her collaborations with Trick Daddy on the singles "Nann Nigga", "Shut Up", and "Take It to da House". In 2000, she released her debut album Da Baddest Bitch. Afterwards, she made an appearance on the remix of "One Minute Man" by Missy Elliott and Ludacris. In 2002, she released the Kanye West-produced single "B R Right" featuring Ludacris, from her sophomore album Diamond Princess (2002).
Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg, after the highly successful release of Eminem's The Slim Shady LP in 1999.
Yo! MTV Raps was an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-90s and on MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program was the first hip hop music show on the network, and was based on the original MTV Europe show, which first aired one year before the American version. Yo! MTV Raps produced a mix of rap videos, interviews with rap stars, live in-studio performances, and comedy. The show also yielded a Brazilian version called Yo! MTV and broadcast by MTV Brasil from 1990 to 2005.
Kanesha Nichole Brookes, better known by her stage name Brooke Valentine, is an American actress, model, singer, songwriter, and television personality. Her single "Girlfight" peaked on U.S. music charts in 2005, paving the way for her debut album Chain Letter released via Subliminal Entertainment imprint on Virgin Records and went on to sell more than 290,000 units worldwide. After a first attempt at a comeback, Brooke officially returned to the spotlight in 2012 with two singles "Forever" and the Adult R&B Top 40 hit "Don't Wanna Be In Love".
The Real World is the first season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. It was created by producers Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray.
Faheem Rashad Najm, better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for popularizing creative use of the Auto-Tune pitch correction effect, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electronic-styled vocal performances. Blending this with contemporary R&B and hip hop sensibilities, his music became characterized by this distinction, with other music industry artists such as Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Future, and Travis Scott utilizing it to a similar effect.
Do or Die is an American rap trio originally from the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago, consisting of N.A.R.D., Belo Zero, and AK-47. The group experienced mainstream success with the platinum single "Po Pimp", which peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Takin Mine is the debut studio album by American rapper Heather B. It was released on June 11, 1996 through Pendulum/EMI America. Recording sessions took place at D&D Studios and Giant Recording Studios in New York. Production was handled by Boogie Down Productions member DJ Kenny Parker, except for one song produced by Da Beatminerz. It features a guest appearance from M.O.P. The album was a minor success making it to No. 36 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 14 on the Top Heatseekers, and spawned three charting singles, "All Glocks Down", "If Headz Only Knew" and "My Kinda Nigga", each of which found decent success on the Hot Rap Singles chart.
"All Glocks Down" is the first single released from Heather B.'s debut album, Takin' Mine. It was released in 1995 and produced by Boogie Down Productions member Kenny Parker. "All Glocks Down" was a moderate success, making it to 15 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, becoming the most successful of the three singles released from the album.
"If Headz Only Knew" is the second single released from Heather B.'s debut album, Takin' Mine. It was released on April 16, 1996 and produced by Kenny Parker. The single was a moderate success, peaking at 20 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, becoming her second straight top-20 single on that chart.
"Right Thru Me" is a song by rapper Nicki Minaj. It was released on September 24, 2010 by Young Money, Cash Money, and Universal Motown as the second single from her debut studio album, Pink Friday (2010). The song was released as a digital download on September 24, 2010, before being serviced to urban and rhythmic radio on October 5, and then mainstream radio on November 2, 2010. The song charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Braveheart is the sixth studio album by American singer Ashanti, released on March 4, 2014, by Ashanti's independent record label Written Entertainment. This was her first studio album to be released in six years, with her last studio album having been 2008's The Declaration. It was also her first release since leaving Murder Inc Records.
"Take It to the Head" is a song by American hip hop producer DJ Khaled, released as the lead single from his sixth studio album, Kiss the Ring. The song features American singer Chris Brown, rappers Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and Trinidadian American rapper Nicki Minaj. The song was premiered via DJ Khaled's Twitter on March 26, 2012. It was later released for digital download in the United States on April 3, 2012. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 digital copies. Musically, "Take It to the Head" is a hip hop song with elements of trap from Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross, and R&B from Chris Brown.
"Beez in the Trap" is a song by rapper Nicki Minaj, featuring American rapper 2 Chainz. It was released on May 29, 2012 by Young Money, Cash Money, and Universal Republic as the lead single from Minaj's second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012). It was written by both artists, alongside producer Kenoe.
