Floyd Harrison, better known as Sylk Smoov, is an American rapper from St. Louis, Missouri. [1]
Harrison was born in north St. Louis. [2] In 1991, performing as Sylk Smoov, he signed a deal with Mercury Records, making him the first rapper from St. Louis to sign with a major record label. [3] [4] His debut album, also called Sylk Smoov, was released on PWL America in 1991. Two singles were released from the album: "Klientele" and "Trick Wit a Good Rap". [2] These peaked at #27 and #14 on Billboard 's Hot Rap Songs chart, respectively. [5] He subsequently contributed the song "Drop Down" to the soundtrack of the 1994 movie House Party 3 . [6] Having traveled to Los Angeles to make his debut album, he subsequently returned to St. Louis to work in the construction industry prior to the release of his second album, Cat Action 25-8, in 2004. [2] The same year, he also performed at SXSW in Austin, Texas, [7] where he opened for Dizzee Rascal. [8]
Sylk Smoov was reviewed favorably in the Source , which gave it a rating of 3 out of 5. The review stated that Smoov "...delivers hardcore lyrics in a smooth, mellow style that sounds like a cross between Too Short or MC Breed and Barry White." [9]
O'Shea Jackson Sr., known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1988 album Straight Outta Compton contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popularity, and his political rap solo albums AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991), and The Predator (1992) were all critically and commercially successful. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of N.W.A in 2016.
Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop group St. Lunatics. He signed with Universal Records as a solo act in 1999 to release his debut studio album, Country Grammar (2000). Its lead single of the same name and follow-up, "Ride wit Me",, both entered the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. The album peaked atop the Billboard 200 and received diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His second album, Nellyville (2002), spawned two consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma", along with the top-five single, "Air Force Ones".
Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Houston-born record producer DJ Premier and Boston, Massachusetts rapper Guru.
Yolanda "Yo-Yo" Whitaker is an American rapper and actress.
Simone Johnson, better known by her stage name Monie Love, is a British rapper, actress, and radio personality known for her singles during the late 1980s and the 1990s. Love is a radio personality for urban adult contemporary station KISS 104.1 WALR-FM in Atlanta, Georgia. Love is a pioneer female emcee, a two-time Grammy Award nominee, the first British female hip hop artist to hold that distinction.
Howard Earl Bailey Jr., known professionally as Chingy, is an American rapper from St. Louis, Missouri. He toured as an opening act with fellow St. Louis rapper Nelly in 2002, and signed with Georgia-based rapper Ludacris' record label, Disturbing tha Peace (DTP), that same year. Released in a joint-venture with Capitol Records, his 2003 debut single, "Right Thurr" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWE) is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by British pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL, is most famous for being the home of hit record producers Stock Aitken Waterman.
St. Lunatics were an American hip hop group formed in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1993. The group consisted of childhood friends Nelly, Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, City Spud, and Slo Down.
Torhi Harper better known by his stage name Murphy Lee, is an American rapper who is best known as a member of the St. Louis, Missouri-based hip hop group, St. Lunatics. Following the commercial success of its lead member Nelly in the early 2000s, Lee signed with his label Derrty Entertainment, an imprint of Universal Records to release his debut studio album, Murphy's Law (2003). It peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 and was supported by the Billboard Hot 100-number one single "Shake Your Tailfeather", which was also included on the accompanying soundtrack to the 2003 film Bad Boys II.
Edwin Maximilian "Eddie" Hayes, Jr., better known by his stage name Aceyalone, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California, United States. He is a member of Freestyle Fellowship, Haiku D'Etat and The A-Team. He is also a co-founder of Project Blowed. Aceyalone is best known for his role in evolving left-field hip-hop on the West Coast at a time when the West Coast was dominated by gangsta rap.
Lawrence Franks Jr., better known by his stage name Huey, was an American rapper from St. Louis, Missouri. Originally signed to Jive Records, Huey was best known for his 2006 single, "Pop, Lock & Drop It".
Heavy Starch is the debut studio album by American rapper Ali of St. Lunatics. It was released on April 30, 2002, via Universal Records. The album features guest appearances from fellow St. Lunatics members Kyjuan, Murphy Lee, & Nelly, St. Louis Alumni, Ms. Toi, Kandi Burruss, Toya, and Waiel "Wally" Yaghnam. Its first single was "Boughetto".
La'Mar Lorraine Johnson, professionally known by her stage name Sylk-E. Fyne, is an American female rapper from South Central Los Angeles and former member of the unreleased group G.B.M. from Eazy-E's Ruthless Records. She started rapping while in high school and, after getting a college degree, recorded her 1998 debut, Raw Sylk, on RCA. She later released her second album Tha Cum Up on Rufftown in 2000, toured with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, and made numerous guest appearances on hip hop albums in the late 1990s. She had a hit solo song in 1998, "Romeo and Juliet", which reached number 6 on the Billboard Singles Chart. She briefly reappeared a couple of years later in 2000 with a song called "Ya Style" featuring Snoop Dogg and Bizzy Bone. In 2010 Sylk E. Fyne resurfaced back into the rap game. She released 2 new songs on her official Myspace page.
Andre Lamond Adams, better known by his stage name Andre Nickatina, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. He previously performed under the stage name Dre Dog.
Adam Cherrington, born April 20, 1979, better known as "Wyshmaster", is an American, Grammy Award nominated, multi-platinum selling, record producer of hip-hop, contemporary R&B, and pop music. He has produced for games, commercials, television, movies, internet and radio; working with prominent names such as Nelly, T-Pain, Pitbull, Tech N9ne, St. Lunatics, Chingy, The Lonely Island, Field Mob, B.o.B and more. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2010 for the multi-platinum selling single, "I'm on a Boat" featuring Lonely Island and T-Pain.
House Party 3: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1994 film House Party 3. It was released on January 11, 1994, through Select Records and consisted of a blend of hip hop and R&B. The soundtrack was the least successful of the three, making it to number 55 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, nor was the soundtrack's only charting single "Butt Booty Naked" by AMG. Six songs on the album were performed by the film's stars, Kid 'n Play; to date it has been the last original material the group has released.
Rockwell Knuckles is a hip hop/rap artist from St. Louis, Missouri. He has performed at SXSW and has been nominated for several Riverfront Times Music Awards. Rockwell currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
Christopher Lee Schamber, better known by his stage name Savage Sun, is an American rapper and hip hop recording artist from Stockton, California.
"Mindful" is a hip-hop and R&B song by American singer K. Michelle from her third studio album More Issues Than Vogue (2016). T-Pain wrote and produced the song, which Atlantic Records released as the album's third single on February 19, 2016. Throughout the track, Michelle raps the lyrics and warns critics to be "mindful" of her. Some reviewers noted that its uptempo production differed from Michelle's previous singles, and she stated that it was one of the first times she recorded a more light-hearted song.
Christopher Smith Jr., better known by his stage name Smino, is an American rapper. He is the founder of the musical collective Zero Fatigue with Bari, Monte Booker, Jay2, and Ravyn Lenae. He is one third of the supergroup Ghetto Sage, with Saba and Noname. Smino is signed to Downtown Records and Interscope.