Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture and values typical of urban gangs, reality of the world and street hustlers. Emerging in the late 1980s, gangsta rap's pioneers include Schoolly D of Philadelphia and Ice-T of Los Angeles, later expanding in California with artists such as N.W.A and Tupac Shakur. In 1992, via record producer and rapper Dr. Dre, rapper Snoop Dogg, and their G-funk sound, gangster rap broadened to mainstream popularity.
Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Florida—often titled “The Big 5,” five states which constitute the "Southern Network" in rap music.
Nicholas Neil Carter, better known by his stage name Murs, is an American rapper. His name is an acronym for which he himself has created multiple meanings, such as "Making the Universe Recognize and Submit" or "Making Underground Raw Shit."
Christopher Edward Martin, known professionally as DJ Premier, is an American record producer and DJ. He has been frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest producers by publications such as Vibe. He formed the hip hop duo Gang Starr alongside American rapper Guru, with whom he has released seven albums. He formed another hip hop duo, PRhyme—with American rapper Royce da 5'9"—in 2014, with whom he has released two albums.
Chopped and screwed is a music genre and technique of remixing music that involves slowing down the tempo and DJing. It was developed in the Houston hip hop scene in the early 1990s by DJ Screw. The screwed technique involves slowing the tempo of a song down to 60 and 70 quarter-note beats per minute and applying techniques such as skipping beats, record scratching, stop-time and affecting portions of the original composition to create a "chopped-up" version of the song.
The discography of American rapper Young Thug consists of three studio albums, two compilation albums, twelve self-released mixtapes, seven commercial mixtapes, three extended plays, and sixty-nine singles.
EarthGang is an American hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia, composed of Olu and WowGr8. They are co-founders of the musical collective Spillage Village, with JID, Hollywood JB, JordxnBryant, 6lack, Mereba, and Benji.
Marquis Amonte King, better known by the stage name Shy Glizzy, is an American rapper from Southeast, Washington, D.C. He is best known for his guest appearance alongside Brent Faiyaz on GoldLink's 2016 single "Crew", which peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
Royce Cornell Davison-Rodriguez, better known as Ugly God, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 2016 single "Water", which peaked at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100.
American rapper Offset has released two studio albums, one collaborative album, two compilation albums, two extended plays and twenty-six singles. In 2017, he released Without Warning, in collaboration with fellow Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage and American record producer Metro Boomin. The album entered at number four on the US Billboard 200. The album spawned the single "Ric Flair Drip", which has been certified six-times platinum by the RIAA.
"Ric Flair Drip" is a song by American rapper Offset and American record producer Metro Boomin. It was included on their collaborative studio album with 21 Savage, Without Warning (2017). Upon the album's release, it charted at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100. After its release as the lead single, on March 1, 2018, and a subsequent music video starring Ric Flair himself, it rose to number 13, becoming both Metro Boomin and Offset's highest-charting song as lead artists at the time, until the release of Metro's "Like That", which would peak at number 1. It is prominently featured in the WWE 2K19 soundtrack, particularly in the "Ric Flair Collector's Edition" version of the game. The song has amassed over 1.2 billion streams on Spotify, making it the 271st most played song ever on the streaming service. It is also the second most streamed song of all time on Spotify's influential RapCaviar playlist. The song has been credited for popularizing the term "drip", a slang expression denoting one's fashionability and excess swagger.
Bad Vibes Forever is the fourth and final studio album by American rapper and singer-songwriter XXXTentacion. It was released through Bad Vibes Forever and Empire Distribution on December 6, 2019. The production was handled by XXXTentacion himself, alongside DJ Carnage, John Cunningham, JonFX, Ronny J, XXYYXX, and among others. The album features a wide range of guest appearances from artists including PnB Rock, Trippie Redd, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Killstation, Noah Cyrus, Tom G, Tory Lanez, Mavado, Craig Xen, Kemba, Joey Badass, Sauce Walka, Carnage, Ky-Mani Marley, Stefflon Don, Vybz Kartel, Jimmy Levy, Joyner Lucas, Ikabod Veins, and Blink-182. The album serves as a follow-up to his first posthumous album and third studio album, Skins (2018).
Cordae Amari Brooks, known mononymously as Cordae, is an Multi-Platinum, Emmy Award winning, Grammy nominated American rapper. He began his career as a member of the hip hop collective YBN.
Khadimou Rassoul Cheikh Fall, known professionally as Sheck Wes, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 2017 song "Mo Bamba", which became viral the following year and peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100.
YSL Records is an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 2016 by the Atlanta-based rapper Young Thug. The company is a label imprint of 300 Entertainment. Its artists include Gunna, Lil Keed and more. Several contemporary artists, including Drake, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Lil Baby, Lil Gotit, NAV, Travis Scott, and Slimelife Shawty have expressed allegiance to YSL, but are not contractually signed.
Kobe Vidal Crawford Jr., known professionally as NoCap, is an American rapper and singer. He signed with YoungBoy Never Broke Again's namesake record label, an imprint of Atlantic Records in 2019. His debut studio album, Mr. Crawford (2022), peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 and saw widespread critical praise. He is noted for his use of wordplay.
Tysen Jay Bolding, known professionally as Money Man, is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. His Kobe Bryant-inspired 2020 single, "24" peaked at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded his eighteenth mixtape, Epidemic (2020). His mixtape, Red Eye (2023) marked his highest charting entry on the Billboard 200.
Rashad Jamiyl Spain, known professionally as Saucy Santana, is an American rapper. He began his career as a makeup artist for the hip hop duo City Girls, and soon after embarked on a recording career in February 2019 with his debut single "Walk Em Like A Dog". Meanwhile, he became a recurring guest on the reality television franchise Love & Hip Hop: Miami. In 2021, Santana gained further prominence when his singles "Walk" and "Here We Go" spawned viral challenges on TikTok. That same year, he released the song "Material Girl," and later released the song's remix "Material Gworrllllllll!".
Thomas MacDonald is a Canadian rapper and singer. He is best known for his right-wing and anti-woke lyrics and as a figure in "MAGA rap", a Trumpist subgenre of hip hop.
This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2023.
