"Put On" is a song by American recording artist Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West, from Jeezy's third studio album The Recession. The song was released as the album's lead single on June 3, 2008. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, and was featured in the video games Midnight Club: Los Angeles and Skate 3.
Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons signed with producer Jim Jonsin through his Rebel Rock Entertainment label in 2006. Two years later, he signed a joint venture recording contract with fellow Georgia rapper T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records, an imprint of Atlantic Records. Following his major-label deal, Simmons quickly achieved commercial success when his 2009 debut single, "Nothin' on You", peaked the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and received three nominations—Record of the Year, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration—at the 53rd Grammy Awards.
Gregory Skyler Taylor, known professionally as Skyzoo, is an American rapper and songwriter. He has released a number of notable solo and collaborative albums, including Cloud 9: The 3 Day High with 9th Wonder in 2006, The Salvation in 2009, A Dream Deferred in 2012, Music For My Friends in 2015, and his most recent solo album All the Brilliant Things. Skyzoo has also released a plethora of non-commercial mixtapes including Corner Store Classic and The Great Debater throughout his career, and has worked with artists such as Jill Scott, Wale, Lloyd Banks, Tyrese, Dr. Dre, Raheem Devaughn, Black Thought, Jadakiss, Talib Kweli, Spike Lee, John Legend, and others. Skyzoo has headlined or co-headlined often-yearly tours throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, Africa, Australia, and Asia, and he owns and operates the independent record label First Generation Rich.
Jermaine Lamarr Cole is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in early 2007. Intent on further pursuing a musical career, he signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2009 and released two additional mixtapes: The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010) to further critical acclaim as he garnered a wider following.
Donavan LaMond Johnson better known by his stage name XV is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Wichita, Kansas. He first gained major attention after the release of his twelfth mixtape Everybody's Nobody, for which he received two awards from DJBooth.net. His name, XV, refers to the age (15) at which he began his musical career. On Monday July 26, 2010, XV announced that he had signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records via his Twitter page.
The Warm Up is the second official mixtape from Fayetteville, North Carolina rapper J. Cole. It was released on June 15, 2009. J. Cole produced the majority of the mixtape with help from Elite, and Syience. The mixtape has been viewed over 3,100,000 times, streamed over 451,000 times, and downloaded over 700,000 times on DatPiff. The mixtape went Double Platinum on DatPiff.
Cole World: The Sideline Story is the debut studio album by American rapper and record producer J. Cole. It was released on September 27, 2011, by Roc Nation and Columbia Records, with distribution from Sony Music. The album is his first studio release, following three successful mixtapes. In 2007, the album was first recorded and ended, and then began to take place from 2009 to early 2011, featuring the production that was handled mainly by Cole himself, with some production from high-profile producer No I.D. It includes four guest appearances from Trey Songz, Drake, Jay-Z and Missy Elliott.
The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted is the seventh studio album by American rapper Gucci Mane. It was released on September 28, 2010, by 1017 Brick Squad Records, Warner Bros. Records and Asylum Records. It serves as a sequel to his previous studio release The State vs. Radric Davis (2009), which was released after the Atlanta rapper's incarceration from prison. The album debuted at number 4 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 61,450 copies; it has sold an estimated 169,500 copies as of the week ending of August 21, 2011.
Friday Night Lights is the third official mixtape from Fayetteville, North Carolina rapper J. Cole. It was released on November 12, 2010. The mixtape was to originally be called Villematic and contain J. Cole's previous leaks and freestyles, however, Cole later stated it would have original material. The mixtape became the second most searched and trending topics on Google and Twitter respectively following its release. Most songs on the mixtape were slated to be on his debut album at one point or another. The mixtape has been viewed over 4,470,000 times, streamed over 1,280,000 times, and downloaded over 1,700,000 times on mixtape site DatPiff. On June 26, 2013, Cole announced that he would be re-releasing The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights for retail sale, in order to "give them the push they deserved".
American rapper and record producer J. Cole has released six studio albums, one live album, four compilation albums, three extended plays, four mixtapes, 58 singles, two promotional singles and twenty one music videos.
"In the Morning" is a song by American rapper J. Cole, originally released on his third mixtape Friday Night Lights (2010) and included on his debut studio album Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011). The song, produced by L&X Music, features Canadian hip hop recording artist Drake.
Born Sinner is the second studio album by American rapper and record producer J. Cole. It was released on June 18, 2013, by ByStorm Entertainment, Columbia Records, Dreamville Records and Roc Nation. The album serves as the follow-up to his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011). The album features guest appearances from Miguel, Amber Coffman, Jhené Aiko, James Fauntleroy, Bas, TLC, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent. The album was also primarily produced by Cole himself, along with others such as Jake One, Syience, and Elite.
"Power Trip" is a song by American rapper and record producer J. Cole featuring American singer Miguel. It was released on February 14, 2013 as the lead single from J. Cole's second studio album, Born Sinner (2013). The song was written and produced by J. Cole himself, with Hubert Laws receiving songwriting credits for the sampling of his song "No More".
Live in Concert is a collaborative EP by American rappers Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y. The EP was released on April 20, 2013, by Jet Life Recordings and Rostrum Records, and consists of the two rapping over songs from Bobbi Humphrey's Fancy Dancer album. The EP was originally planned to be released as a free mixtape in August 2012, but was released to retail as a way to avoid sample clearance issues.
My Krazy Life is the debut studio album by American rapper YG. It was released on March 18, 2014, through CTE World and Pushaz Ink, and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. The album features guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Rich Homie Quan, Ty Dolla Sign, Schoolboy Q, Meek Mill, Jay Rock, Tory Lanez, Jeezy, TeeFlii and RJ, while the production was primarily handled by frequent collaborator DJ Mustard, along with production from Ty Dolla Sign and Terrace Martin.
Sail Out is the debut extended play (EP) by American recording artist Jhené Aiko, released on November 12, 2013 through Def Jam Recordings. It was Aiko's first release under the label after leaving her contract with Sony Music in 2003. After leaving Sony Music, Aiko released her first mixtape Sailing Soul(s) (2011), independently; the mixtape featured appearances from well-known artists and was met with generally positive reviews and was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. . In 2012, Aiko met with American record producer and vice president of A&R at Def Jam No I.D., who ended up signing Aiko to his Artium Records imprint, through Def Jam.
Dreamville Records is an American record label founded by American rapper J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim Hamad. The label is currently distributed through Interscope Records, a unit of Universal Music Group. The roster includes Bas, Ari Lennox, Cozz, Omen, Lute, JID, EarthGang, and Cole himself. Dreamville also houses American record producers Elite, Ron Gilmore, and Cedric Brown.
Revenge of the Dreamers is the first compilation album by American record label Dreamville Records and was released on January 28, 2014. The album includes contributions by Dreamville artists, J. Cole, Bas, Omen, K-Quick as well as Treasure Davis. Producers on this album include, J. Cole, Omen, Ron Gilmore, Cedric Brown, K-Quick, and Jay Kurzweil. The project is the first in the series and spawned two sequels: Revenge of the Dreamers II (2015) and Revenge of the Dreamers III (2019).
"Never Let Me Down" is a song by American rapper and producer Kanye West featuring Jay-Z and J. Ivy, from West's debut studio album The College Dropout (2004). It was released as the album's eight track, produced solely by West and samples "Maybe It's the Power of Love" by Blackjack. West and Ivy each provide one verse–the latter is a poem–while Jay-Z has two verses. Music critics mostly had praise for it, but tended to view Jay's appearance in a negative light. In 2011, Billboard listed the song as the second greatest collaboration between Kanye and Jay. Although an accompanying music video wasn't ever produced for "Never Let Me Down", the audio of it was used in one of West's videos for "Jesus Walks". The song has developed a significant legacy over time, despite never being released as a single.
Morae Ebony Ruffin, known professionally as Morray, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter from Fayetteville, North Carolina. He first saw recognition for his 2020 single "Quicksand", which led him to sign with Interscope Records and release his debut mixtape, Street Sermons (2021) the following year. The song peaked at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100, while his 2021 single "My Life" peaked at number two on the chart and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
