Fred Brathwaite, more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown underground creative scene in the late 1970s as a graffiti artist. He was the bridge between the burgeoning uptown rap scene and the downtown No Wave art scene. He gained wider recognition in 1981 when Debbie Harry rapped on the Blondie song "Rapture" that "Fab 5 Freddy told me everybody's fly." In the late 1980s, Freddy became the first host of the groundbreaking hip-hop music video show Yo! MTV Raps.
Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, is an American rapper and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social and political issues, such as police brutality, American exceptionalism, and the social status of African Americans.
Warren Griffin III is an American rapper, record producer, and DJ who helped popularize West Coast hip hop during the 1990s. A pioneer of G-funk, he attained mainstream success with his 1994 single "Regulate". He is credited with discovering Snoop Dogg, having introduced the then-unknown rapper to record producer Dr. Dre.
James Todd Smith, known professionally as LL Cool J, is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip hop acts Beastie Boys and Run-DMC.
West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the early to-mid 1990s with the birth of G-funk and the emergence of record labels such as Suge Knight and Dr. Dre's Death Row Records, Ice Cube's Lench Mob Records, the continued success of Eazy-E's Ruthless Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and others.
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.
G-funk, short for gangsta funk, is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the early 1990s. The genre was heavily influenced by the synthesizer-heavy 1970s funk sound of Parliament-Funkadelic, often incorporated through samples or re-recordings. It was represented by commercially successful albums such as Dr. Dre's The Chronic (1992) and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle (1993).
The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, having served in the same role on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon from 2009 to 2014. Current regular members of The Roots on The Tonight Show are Captain Kirk Douglas, Mark Kelley, James Poyser, Ian Hendrickson-Smith, Damon "Tuba Gooding Jr." Bryson, Stro Elliot, Dave Guy, Kamal Gray, and Raymond Angry.
Nathaniel Dwayne Hale, known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the nickname "King of Hooks".
Sunset Beach is an American television soap opera that aired on NBC from January 6, 1997, to December 31, 1999. The show follows the loves and lives of the people living in the Orange County coastal area named Sunset Beach, on the coast of California. Although there is a real community named Sunset Beach, the show's beach scenes were shot in nearby Seal Beach, California. The show was co-produced by NBC and Spelling Television.
Fred Lee Scruggs Jr., better known by his stage name Fredro Starr, is an American rapper and actor best known as a member of the hardcore rap group Onyx. Fredro Starr was discovered by the late hip hop star Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C. who signed Onyx on his label JMJ Records. Onyx went on to release three top selling albums before Fredro began his solo career. As a part of Onyx, Fredro Starr was nominated as "Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist" on American Music Awards of 1994 and won "Best Rap Album" on 1994 Soul Train Music Awards.
Kid 'n Play is an American hip-hop duo from New York City who were most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The duo is composed of Christopher Reid ("Kid") and Christopher Martin ("Play") working alongside their DJ, Mark "DJ Wiz" Eastmond. Besides their musical careers, they also branched out into acting.
In the House is an American sitcom starring LL Cool J, Debbie Allen, Maia Campbell, Jeffery Wood, Alfonso Ribeiro and Kim Wayans. The series aired for two seasons on NBC from April 1995 to May 1996 after which it was canceled due to low ratings. UPN quickly picked up In the House where it aired for an additional two seasons. UPN canceled the series in May 1998. The series ran in first-run syndication for a fifth and final season, which ended on August 11, 1999.
Daniel O'Connor, better known as Danny Boy or Danny Boy O'Connor, is an American rapper, art director, and the executive director of The Outsiders House Museum. O'Connor spent his childhood in New York, before moving to Los Angeles in the 1980s. In the 1990s, O'Connor co-founded the rap group House of Pain, with fellow rapper Erik Schrody (Everlast) and DJ Leor Dimant. Based on their cultural heritage they fashioned themselves as rowdy Irish-American hooligans. O'Connor played the role of art director, designing logos, branding, hype man, and co-rapper. In 1992, with the singles "Jump Around" and "Shamrocks and Shenanigans", their self-titled debut album, also known as Fine Malt Lyrics, went platinum.
Jamarr Antonio Stamps, better known by his stage name Bad Azz, was an American rapper and member of hip-hop collective D.P.G.C.
Randall Park is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Louis Huang in the ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat (2015–2020), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2016.
Rene Francisco Sotomayor, better known by the stage name T-Bone, is a Christian rapper. His father was Nicaraguan and his mother is Salvadoran. His name came from being called 'Bones' as a youngster because he was very skinny. The 'T' was "added to give the name a little slang edge."
Jason Winston George is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Michael Bourne on the NBC daytime soap opera Sunset Beach, as Jeremiah Thurgood "J.T." Hunter on the UPN television sitcom Eve, as Dr. Otis Cole on ABC's Off the Map, and as Dr. Ben Warren on Grey's Anatomy and its spinoff Station 19.
Taylor Gang Entertainment is an American entertainment company. Co-founded by rapper Wiz Khalifa in 2008, it operates as an independent record label, music management, music production and film company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The record label is home to artists such as Wiz Khalifa, Berner, and Juicy J who serves as A&R for the label. TM88 is a producer for the label. The company is currently headquartered at ID Labs in Pittsburgh.
Ready is a song by American rapper Fabolous, released as a single on January 17, 2013. The song features American singer Chris Brown and was produced by The Runners and The Monarch. The song has since peaked at number 93 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
