N.W.A was an American hip hop group formed in Compton, California. They were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip hop music.
Jeffrey Bruce Atkins Sr., better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its lead single "Holla Holla". During the 2000s, Ja Rule was signed to Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, formerly known as The Inc. From 1999 to 2005, Ja Rule had multiple hits that made the top 20 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, including "Between Me and You", "I'm Real " and "Ain't It Funny" —which both topped the Hot 100—the number 1 hit "Always on Time", "Mesmerize", and "Wonderful".
Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. is an American record executive and convicted felon who is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight was a central figure in gangsta rap's commercial success in the 1990s. This feat is attributed to the record label's first two album releases: Dr. Dre's The Chronic in 1992 and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle in 1993. Knight is serving a 28-year sentence in prison for a fatal hit-and-run in 2015.
Michael Lawrence Tyler, better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper from Louisiana. He initially gained fame in the mid-1990s as an artist under Master P's regionally successful independent label, No Limit Records. Mystikal is known for brash, obstreperous vocal delivery characterized by a distinctive rasp, as well as his 2000 singles: "Shake Ya Ass" and "Danger ". The songs reached number thirteen and fourteen respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded his fourth album, Let's Get Ready (2000), which peaked the Billboard 200 upon release.
Death Row Records is an American independent record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and 2Pac, during the 1990s. At its peak, Death Row was making over US$100 million a year.
Delmar Drew Arnaud, known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz, is an American rapper and record producer. In the 1990s at Death Row Records, he is credited with aiding the catapult of West Coast rap and gangsta rap into the mainstream. He is one half of the rap duo tha Dogg Pound, along with Kurupt.
Barry Adrian Reese, better known by his stage name Cassidy, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is perhaps best known for his singles "Hotel", "Get No Better", "I'm a Hustla", "B-Boy Stance", and "My Drink n My 2 Step".
Anerae Veshaughn Brown, better known by his stage name X-Raided, is an American rapper from Sacramento, California, United States. In 1992, Brown was sentenced to 31 years in prison on murder charges, which Brown denied, maintaining his innocence. The lyrics of his debut album, Psycho Active, was submitted as evidence by the prosecutors. Subsequently, Brown continued to record rap songs in prison, until being released on parole 26 years into his sentence. He was later signed with Strange Music.
Timothy J. Blair, better known by his stage name Tim Dog, was an American rapper from the Bronx, New York, who rose to notoriety during the early 1990s with his debut LP Penicillin on Wax and the celebrated diss track "Fuck Compton". Tim had already appeared on songs with the Ultramagnetic MCs and went on to form a duo, Ultra, with member Kool Keith. "Fuck Compton" appeared in XXL magazine's "Top 25 Diss Tracks of All Time" and earned Tim Dog critical acclaim from progressive hip-hop producer Blockhead, who said Tim Dog's "The Dog's Gonna Getcha" is "quite possibly the hardest song ever made." Nas references Tim Dog on his track "Where Are They Now?" from his 2006 album Hip Hop Is Dead, and despite Tim Dog's feud with Dr. Dre, Eminem name-checked him on the track "Ricky Ticky Toc".
Andre Louis Hicks, known by his stage name Mac Dre, was an American rapper from Vallejo, California. He was an instrumental figure in the emergence of hyphy, a cultural movement in the Bay Area hip hop scene that emerged in the early 2000s. Hicks is considered one of the movement's key pioneers that fueled its popularity into mainstream, releasing songs with fast-paced rhymes and basslines that inspired a new style of dance. As the founder of the independent record label Thizz Entertainment, Hicks recorded dozens of albums and gave aspiring rappers an outlet to release albums locally.
McKinley Phipps, Jr., better known simply as Mac, is an American rapper from New Orleans' 3rd Ward. He began rapping as a child, releasing his debut album The Lyrical Midget at the age of 10
in 1990, under the stage name Lil Mac. Mac would eventually sign with Master P's No Limit Records and would grow to be one of the most critically acclaimed artists on the label, both as a solo rapper and as a member of the super group 504 Boyz. Mac released 2 solo albums and 1 album as part of the 504 Boyz on No Limit, including 1998's Shell Shocked, which peaked at #11 on the US Billboard 200.
"Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')", or as a single titled "Dre Day", is a song by American rapper and record producer Dr. Dre featuring fellow American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, released in May 1993 as the second single from Dre's debut solo album, The Chronic. "Dre Day" was a diss track targeting mainly Dre's former groupmate Eazy-E, who led their onetime rap group N.W.A and who, along with N.W.A's manager Jerry Heller, owned N.W.A's record label, Ruthless Records. In "Dre Day" and in its music video, which accuse Eazy of cheating N.W.A's artists, Dre and Snoop degrade and menace him. Also included are disses retorting earlier disses on songs by Miami rapper Luke Campbell, by New York rapper Tim Dog, and by onetime N.W.A. member Ice Cube, although Dre, while still an N.W.A member, had helped diss Cube first. After "Dre Day," a number of further diss records were exchanged.
415 was an American hip hop group formed in Oakland, California in 1988. The group was composed of rappers Richie Rich and D-Loc, and producers DJ Daryl and J.E.D.
"Tell Me When to Go" is the first single from E-40's BME/Warner Bros. debut, My Ghetto Report Card. Keak da Sneak is also featured on the track. It was produced by Lil Jon, and one of the first singles to kick off the hyphy movement on a national level and popularized the phrase "ghost ride the whip". The song reached number 35 in the U.S. and eventually was certified Gold by the RIAA. The song first premiered online on the MySpace.com homepage and it was the first hip hop single to premiere online before being released.
The East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry was a dispute between artists and fans of the East Coast hip hop and West Coast hip hop scenes in the United States, especially from the mid-1990s. Focal points of the feud were East Coast–based rapper The Notorious B.I.G. with Puff Daddy and their New York City–based label, Bad Boy Records, and West Coast–based rapper Tupac Shakur with Suge Knight and their Los Angeles–based label, Death Row Records. The feud culminated in the murders of both rappers in drive-by shootings. Although several suspects have been identified, both murders remain unsolved.
Brandt Jones, better known by his stage name B-Legit, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California.
Rapper Gone Bad is an album by the American rapper Mac Dre. It was released on September 28, 1999, on Romp Records/Swerve Music in conjunction with Sumo Productions. There are guest appearances from Warren G, Kokane, Little Bruce, and B-Legit, among others.
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.
Ackquille Jean Pollard, known professionally as Bobby Shmurda, is an American rapper. Along with Rowdy Rebel, Shmurda is considered a pioneer of Brooklyn drill music. He rose to international fame in 2014 when his song "Hot Nigga" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of the single led to Shmurda signing a deal with Epic Records. His debut EP, Shmurda She Wrote, was released in November 2014.
Taymor Travon McIntyre, better known professionally as Tay-K is an American rapper and convicted murderer. He is best known for his 2017 hit song "The Race", which peaked at number 44 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the RIAA in January 2018. The lyrics detail criminal activity carried out by McIntyre, and became popular following a nationwide manhunt for his eventual arrest in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
