Gangsta rap or gangster rap is a style of hip hop characterized by themes and lyrics that generally emphasize the "gangsta" lifestyle. The genre evolved from hardcore rap into a distinct form, pioneered in the mid-1980s by rappers such as Schoolly D and Ice-T, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. After the national attention that Ice-T and N.W.A attracted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Many gangsta rap artists openly boast of their associations with various active street gangs as part of their artistic image, with the Crips and Bloods being the most commonly represented. Gangsta rap parallels other indigenous gang and crime-oriented forms of music, such as the narcocorrido genre of northern Mexico.
The Geto Boys are an American rap group from Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas, consisting of Scarface, Bushwick Bill and Willie D. The Geto Boys have earned notoriety for their lyrics covering controversial topics such as misogyny, gore, psychotic experiences, and necrophilia. The group enjoyed success in the 1990s with several certified albums and singles.
Compton's Most Wanted (C.M.W.) was an American gangsta rap group and part of the early West Coast hip hop scene. The leaders of the group are MC Eiht and Tha Chill.
Rasheeda Buckner known professionally as Rasheeda, is an American rapper, fashion designer, television personality and businesswoman.
Bad Boy South is a southern hip hop spin-off label of Bad Boy Records. The label was founded by Sean Combs in 2003.
Rap-A-Lot is a Hip Hop record label founded by James Prince in 1985. Sub-labels include Smoke-A-Lot. The label, with its most famous act The Geto Boys, put the South on the Hip Hop map. Since then, it has maintained its success and focus on Gangsta Rap and Southern Rap.
Showbiz and A.G. are an American hip hop duo from The Bronx, New York City. Showbiz is a producer and A.G. is a rapper. The two debuted on Lord Finesse's Funky Technician album in 1990. Show and A.G. are members of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) along with Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Fat Joe, O.C., Buckwild and the late Big L.
5th Ward Boyz is an American southern hip hop trio, based out of Houston, Texas. Their name is derived from Houston's Fifth Ward. The group signed to Rap-A-Lot Records following the Geto Boys' popularity on the label.
Sky's the Limit is the debut studio album by American rapper, Magic. It was released on September 15, 1998, on No Limit Records and Priority Records. Sky's the Limit features production from Beats By the Pound and DJ Daryl. The album also features guest appearances from artist such as Snoop Dogg, C-Murder, and Mac among others
Dominick Wickliffe, better known by his stage name Crooked I or KXNG Crooked, is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is best known as a former member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse with other members Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5'9". Slaughterhouse is currently signed to Shady Records. He is currently CEO of his own record labels, Dynasty Entertainment and C.O.B. Digital as well as Senior Vice President of Treacherous Records. Before starting his own label, he was also signed to Virgin Records and Death Row Records.
On Top of da World is the debut album by Lil Italy. It was released on August 3, 1999 for No Limit Records and was produced by Master P and members of Beats By the Pound. It peaked at #99 on the Billboard 200 and #20 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, but failed to gain the sales of No Limit's previous releases and Lil Italy was soon dropped from the label. Michael Gallucci of Allmusic rated the album two out of five stars, writing that it "has no personality, not one distinguishing mark to separate it from the rest of the [No Limit] army."
Radio Fusion Radio is the debut album by rap group, the College Boyz. It was released on April 7, 1992 through Virgin Records. The album found some success, making it to #118 on the Billboard 200, #25 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #2 on the Top Heatseekers, as did three singles released from the album. Both "Hollywood Paradox" and "Humpin" found decent success on the Hot Rap Singles chart,at #19 but the most successful was "Victim of the Ghetto", which peaked at #68 on the Billboard Hot 100, #28 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and #4 on the Hot Rap Singles.
Bad Boys is the soundtrack to the 1995 action-comedy film Bad Boys. It was released on March 21, 1995 through Sony Music Entertainment's sub-label Work Records. The album peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200 and #13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
Cloud 9 is the second album by Nine, released on August 6, 1996 through Profile Records.
Daryl L Anderson, better known as DJ Daryl, is a producer and DJ from Oakland, California. He was one of the originators of the group 415, producing their first album, 41Fivin. Nu Niggaz On Tha Blokkk, the group’s second album released on Priority Records, peaked at #21 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and #90 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop chart.
Chilldrin of da Ghetto is the debut and only studio album by American rap group Chilldrin of da Ghetto (COG). It was released October 12, 1999 through Hoo-Bangin' Records with distribution via Priority Records. Production was handled entirely by COG member Goldiiz, with Mack 10 serving as executive producer. The album features guest appearances from Mack 10, Soultre, MC Eiht, Juvenile, B.G., and Barbara Wilson. It peaked at number 158 on the Billboard 200, at number 24 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and at number 8 on the Heatseekers Albums in the United States.
On da Grind is the fourth studio album by the Ghetto Mafia. It was released on October 20, 1998 as the group's second and final album through Fully Loaded Records with production handled by the Ghetto Mafia and Carl "Cooly C" Dorsey. On da Grind became the group's most successful album, peaking at 169 on the Billboard 200, their only album to make it to that chart. The single "In Decatur" managed to make it to the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart.
Trapped in the Game is the second album by the Hard Boyz, released on June 27, 1995. The album was released through Atlantic Records, becoming the Hard Boyz only to be released through a major label, and was mostly produced by POR Productions, though Organized Noize and Colin Wolfe also produced for the album. Trapped in the Game failed to have any commercial success, only making it to 67 on the Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and the group was dropped from the label.
The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke and Tone, best known for their commercial hit records in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joined forces with the duo to complete the success of "Trackmasters". Throughout their career, they have worked with various hip-hop and R&B artists including Will Smith, R. Kelly, Nas, Jay-Z, Cam'ron, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, The Notorious B.I.G. and 50 Cent.
