Barry Adrian Reese, better known by his stage name Cassidy, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first garnered attention for his freestyles and competitions as a battle rapper in the late 1990s, and formed the Philadelphia-based hip hop collective Larsiny Family by the end of the decade. American record producer Swizz Beatz discovered the group in 2000 and signed Cassidy to his newly-established label Full Surface Records, through a joint venture with J Records. He adopted a commercially-oriented approach for his 2003 debut single "Hotel" and its follow-up, "Get No Better" ; the former peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 while both preceded the release of his debut studio album, Split Personality (2004).
Jason Terrance Phillips, better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s and formed the hip hop trio the Lox alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch in 1994. The group signed with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records, an imprint of Arista Records to release their debut studio album, Money, Power & Respect (1998); their second album, We Are the Streets (2000) was released by Ruff Ryders Entertainment, an imprint of Interscope Records. Both peaked within the top five of the Billboard 200 and yielded critical praise; their two subsequent albums, Filthy America... It's Beautiful (2013) and Living Off Xperience (2020) were both released by Jay-Z's Roc Nation and met with continued praise.
Joseph Guillermo Jones II, better known by his stage name Jim Jones, is an American rapper and record executive. He is a founding member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats, which he formed in 1997 with fellow Harlem native Cam'ron.
Ricardo Emmanuel Brown, better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has released eight albums. He also formed the hip hop group The Hrsmn in 1996, with whom he has released two albums. His debut solo album, Kuruption! (1998) was released by A&M Records and peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200.
Murder Inc. was an American East Coast hip hop supergroup composed of Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule, formed by record executive Irv Gotti in 1995. They first appeared on fellow New York-based rapper Mic Geronimo's 1995 song "Time to Build." After each gaining commercial success, the trio later appeared on the cover for the June 1999 issue of the hip-hop magazine XXL.
Sharif "Reefa" Slater is a music producer who has produced for notable artists. He was raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and currently heads a production company for emerging artists and producers.
American producer and rapper Swizz Beatz has released two studio albums, one compilation album, one extended play (EP), one mixtape, thirty-nine singles, three promotional singles and thirty-three music videos.
Polo Grounds Music is a hip hop and R&B record label, distributed by Sony Music's RCA Records. Founded in 2006 by Bryan Leach, Polo Grounds Music is a full-service entertainment company with a focus in publishing, management, marketing and promotions.
Jermaine Coleman, better known by his stage name Maino, is an American rapper and radio personality. His 2008 debut single, "Hi Hater" entered Billboard's Hot Rap Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Bubbling Under Hot 100 charts. This led to him to sign with Atlantic Records and release his 2009 follow-up single "All the Above", which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Both songs preceded the release of his debut studio album If Tomorrow Comes… (2009), which peaked at number 25 on the Billboard 200. Its sequel, The Day After Tomorrow (2012) peaked at number 94 and was supported by the single "Let It Fly".
Rusty Brito better known by his stage name J.R. Writer, is a Dominican American rapper and freestyle champion. He was also an affiliate of East Coast hip hop group The Diplomats.
The discography of Maino, an American hip hop recording artist, consists of two studio albums, one compilation album, one extended play (EP), thirteen mixtapes, nine singles, four promotional singles and nine music videos.
Leonard Carl Grant, better known by his stage name Uncle Murda, is an American rapper from East New York, Brooklyn. He signed to 50 Cent's G-Unit Records in 2016, having previously signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records in 2007. He is known for his annual retrospective "Rap Up" song series, which lyrically documents major events in hip hop, beginning in 2014.
Dorwin Demarcus Dorrough, known professionally as Dorrough Music, is an American rapper and songwriter. His singles include "Walk That Walk", "Get Big", "Ice Cream Paint Job", and "Beat Up the Block". He has produced a series of 6 mixtapes and 2 studio albums.
Battle rap is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults, wordplay and disses originating in the African-American community. Battle rap is often performed, or freestyled, spontaneously in live battles known as Rap battles, where participants will compete on the same stage to see who has the better verses.
"(Ha Ha) Slow Down" is the first single from Fat Joe's tenth studio album The Darkside Vol. 1. The song features rapper Young Jeezy. It also contains a short sample of Soul II Soul's "Back to Life " throughout the entire beat.
Saleem Bligen, known professionally as Serius Jones, is an American rapper from New Jersey who performs freestyle battles. Jones won 12 consecutive battles at New York's Monday Night Fight Klub before facing and beating former Fight Klub King Jin The MC to become MTV's all-time Fight Klub Champion. Jones independently released King Me in 2006, followed by Serius Bizness in 2008 and Why So Serius? in 2009.
Jarvis Antonio Mills, better known by his stage name Jae Millz, is an American rapper from Harlem, New York. He is best known for his performances on Young Money Entertainment's 2009 singles "BedRock" and "Every Girl," having signed to the label a year prior. His debut album, Nothing Is Promised was scheduled for release in 2013, although it remains unreleased; he departed from the label the following year.
Jamel Da'Shawn Phillips, known professionally as ASAP Twelvyy, is an American rapper from Harlem, New York City. He is a member of the hip hop group ASAP Mob, from which he adopted his moniker. In 2014, he released the song "Xscape", the second single to the ASAP Mob's debut album L.O.R.D. The album was supposed to be released in 2014, but it was officially scrapped. On August 4, 2017, ASAP Twelvyy released his debut album, titled 12.
Shane Lee Lindstrom, known professionally as Murda Beatz, is a Canadian record producer. Born and raised in Ontario, he has produced commercially successful singles for various artists since 2011, predominantly in hip hop and trap music. His credits include the hit singles "Butterfly Effect" by Travis Scott, "Back on Road" by Gucci Mane, "Nice for What" by Drake, and "Motorsport" by Migos. He is best known for his guest feature alongside Nicki Minaj on 6ix9ine's 2018 single "Fefe", which peaked at number three on both the Canadian Hot 100 and US Billboard Hot 100.
Nicholas James Donnelly is a British filmmaker and music video producer. Donnelly first gained national exposure when directing/producing the music video Game Over Female Takeover, an independent release that featured many of the leading female urban artists in England on one video. These artists included Lady leshurr, Mz Bratt, Ruff Diamondz, Cherri Voncelle, and Amplify Dot The video served as the official remix to the record "Game Over".
