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.
Eric Lynn Wright, known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred to as the "Godfather of Gangsta Rap".
Roger McBride, better known by his stage name King T, is an American West Coast hip hop rapper from Compton, California. Emerging as one of Compton's earliest hip hop artists, he was signed to Capitol Records, where he released his debut album Act a Fool in 1988 with the hit singles "Act a Fool," "Payback's A Mutha," "The Coolest," and "Bass” [Remix], all of which were considered hip-hop classics. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he worked primarily with producer DJ Pooh, and was responsible for the rise of Tha Alkaholiks, whom he helped guide into the rap game. King T is also the CEO of his own record label, King T Inc.
Lecrae Devaughn Moore is an American Christian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, record executive, and actor. To date, he has released ten studio albums and three mixtapes as a solo artist, and has released three studio albums, a remix album, one EP, and numerous singles as the leader of the hip hop group 116 Clique.
Matthew Jehu Samuels, known professionally as Boi-1da is a Canadian record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario.
Torrance Esmond, better known by his stage name Street Symphony, is an American record producer and music executive from Memphis, Tennessee.
The discography of Lecrae, an American Christian hip hop artist, consists of 11 studio albums, two of which were collaborative; four mixtapes; two extended plays, one of which was collaborative; 130 singles, including 75 as a featured performer; 73 music videos, including 37 as a featured performer; and 86 guest and other appearances. Lecrae debuted with Real Talk in 2004 through Reach Records; the album was re-issued the following year by Cross Movement Records. After the Music Stops followed in 2006 and his third solo album, Rebel, was released in 2008 and reached No. 1 on the Gospel chart, the first Christian hip hop album to do so. Rehab, his fourth solo album, was released in 2010 and reached No. 1 on the Gospel, Christian, and Independent charts, and garnered a nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards. Rehab: The Overdose, was released on January 11, 2011, and peaked at No. 1 on the Christian and Gospel charts. Lecrae began garnering mainstream attention when he performed at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher and was featured on the Statik Selektah song "Live and Let Live" from his Population Control album.
Church Clothes is the first mixtape by Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released for free on May 10, 2012, and hosted by DJ Don Cannon. It featured No Malice of Clipse on the song "Darkest Hour", and included production work by 9th Wonder, Boi-1da, S1 and Street Symphony. Label-mates Tedashii and Andy Mineo, as well as other fellow Christian hip-hop artists such as Dre Murray, Thi'sl, Swoope, Christon Gray, and Braille, also made appearances on the album. The mixtape was downloaded 100,000 times in 48 hours, and met with critical acclaim. It received controversy in Christian media upon its release due to its condemnation of hypocrisy in the Christian Church and Lecrae's collaboration with the mainstream producer Don Cannon. A shorter, remastered EP version was released on iTunes on June 25, 2012. The EP debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Christian Albums and Gospel Albums charts.
Gravity is the sixth studio album by American Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released on September 4, 2012. The album features appearances from Big K.R.I.T., Mathai, Ashthon Jones, Sho Baraka and Mali Music, along with labelmates Trip Lee, Andy Mineo, Derek Minor, who was formerly known as PRo, and Tedashii. Producers on the album include DJ Khalil, Street Symphony along with his production team Heat Academy, and The Watchmen. The first single off the album, "I Know", was released on July 24, 2012, and was followed by "Tell the World" featuring Mali Music on August 15, 2012, and "Mayday" featuring Big K.R.I.T. and Ashthon Jones on August 30, 2012. Reach Records released five music videos for the album: "Lord Have Mercy", featuring Tedashii along with No Malice of Clipse, on August 1, 2012, "Tell the World", featuring Mali Music, on October 19, 2012, "Mayday", featuring Big K.R.I.T. and Ashthon Jones, on December 13, 2012, "Fakin'", featuring Thi'sl, on February 1, 2013, and "Confe$$ions", featuring David Banner, on April 30, 2013.
Overly Dedicated is the fourth solo mixtape by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, released on September 14, 2010, via Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). The album features guest appearances from Dash Snow, Jhené Aiko, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Ash Riser, Dom Kennedy and Murs, among others. The album's production was handled by several TDE in-house producers, including King Blue, Sounwave, Tae Beast and Willie B; other producers such as Tommy Black, Jairus "J-Mo" Mozee, and Wyldfyer, also contributed production. The mixtape had sold a total of 12,000 copies as of October 2012.
Jesus Piece is the fifth studio album by American rapper the Game, released on December 11, 2012, by DGC Records and Interscope Records, his last release on both labels as he parted ways a year following. The album is also the final DGC Records album to be released as the label became inactive in 2013, before being permanently merged into Interscope's division and Game's previous label, Geffen Records in September 2021.
Reach Records is an American independent record label specializing in Christian hip hop. The label was founded in 2004 by Ben Washer and the hip-hop artist Lecrae. In addition to Lecrae, the Reach Records roster contains artists like Tedashii, Trip Lee, Andy Mineo, 1K Phew, WHATUPRG, Anike, Hulvey, Limoblaze, and Jackie Hill Perry. The hip-hop collective 116 operates under the label and consists primarily of the label's solo acts. The artists Sho Baraka, Derek Minor, Aha Gazelle, KB, and Gawvi were formerly signed to the label, and DJ Official was under the label until his death.
Jon Kevin Freeman Jr., better known by his stage name Jon Connor, is an American rapper and record producer. Connor has released various mixtapes and an album effort during his career including the Jay-Z inspired The Blue Album, and the Eminem inspired The People's Rapper LP. His debut studio album, Unconscious State was released in 2013. Shortly thereafter, he was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment from 2013 to 2019, where he did not release an album. In 2015, he garnered notoriety for being featured on Dr. Dre's album Compton (2015) as well as The Game's album The Documentary 2.5 (2015).
Church Clothes 2, officially Church Clothes, Vol. 2, is the second mixtape by Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released on November 7, 2013 by Reach Records. Hosted by Don Cannon, it follows Lecrae's previous mixtape, Church Clothes, and Grammy Award-winning full-length album Gravity, both of which came out in 2012. Two versions of the album were released, a free version with host Don Cannon, and a commercial version off iTunes without the DJ. The first single off the album, "Round of Applause", was released on May 14, 2013. On May 21, a remixed version of the song, featuring rapper B.o.B, was released. A second single off the album, "I'm Turnt", dropped on October 18, 2013. The mixtape was downloaded over 100,000 times on DatPiff.com in the first two weeks and debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 chart, No. 1 on the Top Christian and Gospel charts, and No. 3 on the Top Rap chart.
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.
Compton is the third studio album by American rapper and producer Dr. Dre. It was released on August 7, 2015, on Apple Music and the iTunes Store, with the physical editions released on August 21, 2015. It is the follow-up to his second album, 2001 (1999), after the cancellation of the premeditated album Detox.
John Lawrence Givens, known professionally as John Givez and sometimes Juan Dando, is an American musician, who plays hip hop, R&B, soul, funk and neo soul music. He is cousins with fellow rapper JGivens. John has released two studio albums, Four Seasons in 2013, Soul Rebel in 2015, while both releases charted on the Billboard magazine charts.
Church Clothes 3 is the third mixtape by Christian hip hop recording artist Lecrae. It was released on January 15, 2016, through his label Reach Records. The mixtape is the third in his Church Clothes series, and his first major release since his studio album Anomaly (2014). It features guest appearances from E-40, N'dambi, Propaganda, John Givez, JGivens, Jackie Hill Perry, and then-label-mate KB. While the previous two mixtapes were hosted by DJ Don Cannon, on Church Clothes 3 S1 served as executive producer on the tape. In addition to S1, Epikh Pro, Black Knight, GAWVI, and others contributed production to the mixtape.
Church Clothes 4 is a 2022 mixtape from Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released on November 4 through his own label Reach Records. It constitutes the final installment of his Church Clothes mixtape series begun in 2012. It includes featured appearances from Andy Mineo, PJ Morton, A.I. the Anomaly, Jon Keith, nobigdyl., WHATUPRG, and Jordan L’Oreal. Two singles were released from the mixtape — "Spread the Opps", on August 5, 2022, and "Fear Not", on October 26, 2022. A deluxe edition of the album, Church Clothes 4: Dry Clean Only, was released February 24, 2023.
