D12 was an American hip hop collective from Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 1996, the group achieved mainstream success with its lineup of de facto leader Eminem, Proof, Bizarre, Mr. Porter, Kuniva and Swifty McVay.
Rufus Johnson, better known by his stage name Bizarre, is an American rapper, best known for his work with the Detroit-based hip hop group D12.
EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith. During an interview on college radio station WHOV in 1987, Parrish Smith stated that the name evolved from the original: "We were originally known as "EEPMD", but chose to go with EPMD because it was easier to say." He also stated that they dropped the two "E's" because N.W.A.'s Eric Wright was already using "Eazy-E" as his stage name. The group has been active for 37 years.
Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg in 1999, following the commercially successful release of The Slim Shady LP that same year.
Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9", is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, they became acquainted in 1997 and formed the hip hop duo, Bad Meets Evil the following year. Their 2011 single, "Lighters" peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded the release of their debut extended play (EP), Hell: The Sequel (2011). The song and its parent EP, which debuted atop the Billboard 200, have yielded Montgomery's furthest commercial success.
Aaron Dontez Yates, better known by his stage name Tech N9ne, is an American rapper and singer. In 1999, he and business partner Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. He has sold over two million albums and has had his music featured in film, television, and video games. In 2009, he won the Left Field Woodie award at the mtvU Woodie Awards.
Bad Meets Evil is an American hip hop super duo composed of Detroit-based rappers Royce da 5′9″ (Bad) and Eminem (Evil). Formed in 1998, the duo's name comes from the namesake song from Eminem's The Slim Shady LP (1999), which featured Royce da 5'9". They debuted the same year with the release of the double single, "Nuttin' to Do" and "Scary Movies", the latter of which for the soundtrack to the 2000 horror comedy parody film Scary Movie. A decade later, the duo reunited to release an extended play (EP) to critical and commercial success.
Reggie Gibson, better known as Saafir, is an American rapper, producer, and actor. He is also a member of the rap group "Golden State Project" with Ras Kass and Xzibit. Born in Oakland, California, he lived with Tupac Shakur and became a dancer for Digital Underground.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in Middle America and is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. His global success is considered to have broken racial barriers to the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. While much of his transgressive work during the late 1990s and early 2000s made him a controversial figure, he came to be a representation of popular angst of the American underclass and has been cited as an influence by and upon many artists working in various genres. Eminem's best-known songs include "My Name Is", "The Real Slim Shady", "The Way I Am", "Stan", "Without Me", "Lose Yourself", "Mockingbird", "Not Afraid", "Love the Way You Lie", "Rap God", "The Monster", "River" and "Godzilla".
Jonathan Ahmad Calloway, known as Sway, is an American radio personality, journalist and former rapper known for hosting music, news, and culture programming. He was an on-air reporter and host for MTV News and occasional non-news hosting, including numerous red carpet MTV award pre-shows, and reports on major events, concluding his tenure with the network as host of the short-lived TRLAM. He is co-hosting the nationally syndicated radio show The Wake Up Show as as one half of the duo Sway & King Tech; and hosting Sway in the Morning on SiriusXM Shade45.
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.
The 2002 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 29, 2002, honoring the best music videos from June 9, 2001, to May 31, 2002. The show was hosted by Jimmy Fallon at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. During the show, Michael Jackson accepted a birthday statue in hands of Britney Spears, which he believed to be an "Artist of the Millennium Award" due to a misunderstanding after which he joined her to present the Best Pop Video Award. Performers included Eminem, who won four awards including Video of the Year, and Axl Rose with a new lineup of Guns N' Roses. The show also saw the debut solo performance from Justin Timberlake, performing his soon to be hit single "Like I Love You" alongside rap duo Clipse. TLC members Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chili" Thomas appeared, paying tribute to their fallen member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who died in a car accident in Honduras on April 25, 2002, four months before the event.
"Renegade" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z featuring fellow American rapper Eminem, who produced the song with Luis Resto. Written by all three, the song appears as the 12th track on the former's sixth album The Blueprint. It was originally a collaboration between Eminem and Royce da 5'9" as part of the Bad Meets Evil series, but Royce was later replaced by Jay-Z. The original can be found on mixtapes and has been leaked onto the internet.
This or That is the collaborative album by American hip hop artists Sway & King Tech and DJ Revolution. It was released on June 15, 1999, through Interscope Records. Production was handled mostly by King Tech & DJ Revolution, except for several tracks were produced by Cut Chemist, DJ Nu-Mark, KutMasta Kurt, Main Source and RZA. It features guest appearances from Big Daddy Kane, Canibus, Chill Rob G, Chino XL, Crooked I, Dilated Peoples, Eminem, EPMD, Eric B. & Rakim, Gang Starr, Heltah Skeltah, Inspectah Deck, Jayo Felony, Jurassic 5, Kool Keith, KRS-One, Main Source, Malik B., Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Pharoahe Monch, Planet Asia, Redman, RZA, Tech N9ne and Xzibit among others.
Rod Sepand, better known professionally as King Tech, is an American DJ, B-boy, VJ and audio engineer. He is one half of the duo Sway & King Tech.
When Music Worlds Collide is the debut studio album from Jonathan Hay and Mike Smith that features notable names in the hip hop music genre. Hay and Smith, the producers behind the indie hip-hop compilation When Music Worlds Collide decided to put their release to a Tidal vs. Spotify challenge and see which one better served their album. The story of their independent streaming music album was featured on Billboard, Fox News and Business Insider. King Tech co-produced the majority of the songs on the album. Deluxe: When Music Worlds Collide was released on July 26, 2016 through SMH Records.
Shade 45 is American rapper Eminem's hip-hop station on Sirius XM Radio channel 45 and Dish Network channel 6045.
The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show was an underground hip hop radio show broadcast in New York, originally on 89.9 WKCR-FM, the student radio station at Columbia University, and later on 97.1 WQHT-FM. The show was hosted by Adrian Bartos and Robert "Bobbito" Garcia, and functioned as an alternative to commercial hip hop radio by airing unsigned artists, rarities and B-sides from commercial artists, and live freestyles and DJ scratch sessions. The show has been credited with introducing the world to Biggie Smalls, Eminem, Jay-Z, Big L, Big Pun, Fat Joe, Wu Tang Clan, Fugees and many other names which would rise to prominence in the mid to late 1990s.
Terry Parker, known professionally as MC Juice, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois.
The B.U.M.S. or The B.U.M.S is an American West Coast hip hop duo from Oakland, California composed of emcees D'Wyze and Evocalist. Following the footsteps of west coast rappers such as The Pharcyde, Freestyle Fellowship, Souls of Mischief, Ahmad and Sway & King Tech, the group had little success with releasing their only debut album Lyfe 'N' Tyme, releasing two of their singles "Elevation " and "Take a Look Around" before disbanding in 1995 altogether after the album's commercial failure.
