Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, known professionally as Nas, is an American rapper and entrepreneur. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas began his musical career in 1989 under the moniker "Nasty Nas", and recorded demos under the wing of fellow East Coast rapper Large Professor. Nas made his recording debut on Professor's group, Main Source's 1991 song "Live at the Barbeque".
Eric Lynn Wright, known professionally by the stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred to as the "Godfather of Gangsta Rap".
West Coast hip-hop is a regional genre of hip-hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip-hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the early to-mid 1990s with the birth of G-funk and the emergence of record labels such as Suge Knight and Dr. Dre's Death Row Records, Ice Cube's Lench Mob Records, the continued success of Eazy-E's Ruthless Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and others.
Dead Prez is an American hip hop duo composed of M-1 and stic.man, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, self-determination, and Pan-Africanism. The duo maintains an ethical stance against corporate control over the media, especially hip hop record labels.
The 41st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1999, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1998. Lauryn Hill received the most nominations with 10, setting a record for the most nominations for female artist in one night. During the ceremony, Hill became the first woman to receive 5 Grammy Awards in a single night, and the first woman rapper to take home Best New Artist. Her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill became the first hip hop album to win the award for Album of the Year. Hill's Grammys sweep is widely considered as one of the biggest moments in hip hop history.
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known professionally as Common, is an American rapper and actor. He is the recipient of three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. At the age of 20, he signed with the independent label Relativity Records to release his debut studio album Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992), which was met with critical acclaim along with its follow-ups, Resurrection (1994) and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997). He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s, and achieved mainstream success through his work with the Black music collective, Soulquarians.
Christian hip hop is a cross-genre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United States during the 1980s.
Anthony Henderson, better known as Krayzie Bone, is an American rapper. He is a member of the rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.
"Put You on the Game" is a single by American rapper and West Coast hip hop artist the Game, released as the final single from his debut album, The Documentary. Written by the Game himself and produced by both Timbaland and co-produced by Danja, the song was the album's fifth official single, and it was released on August 30, 2005. This was the first single released by the Game after a beef with former fellow G-Unit member 50 Cent fell apart and after the Game released the mixtape titled You Know What It Is Vol. 3. Also failing to match the popularity of his previous singles, and failing to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, the song peaked at number 96 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song was placed 44th on About.com's Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2005.
Khnum Muata Ibomu, better known by his stage name stic.man and more recently as stic, is an American rapper, activist and author known for his work as one half of the political hip hop duo dead prez with M-1.
Lorenzo Dechalus, known professionally as Lord Jamar, is an American rapper, DJ, record producer, actor and podcaster. He is a founding member of the hip hop group Brand Nubian, which was formed in 1989. In 1996, he discovered Dead Prez and got them signed to Loud Records.
Mutulu Olugbala, better known by his stage name M-1, is an American rapper, songwriter, and activist from Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his work as one half of the political hip hop duo dead prez with stic.man.
U-N-I are a hip hop duo from Inglewood, Los Angeles, consisting of Y-O and Thurzday.
Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr., better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. Rock signed with local independent label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005. He secured a major label joint venture deal with Warner Bros. Records and Asylum Records to release his 2008 debut single, "All My Life ". Failing to chart, the mergers fell through and Rock departed from both of the latter labels shortly after. He then signed with Missouri rapper Tech N9ne's label Strange Music in a joint venture deal with TDE in 2011.
John Willima Armour, better known by his stage name Johnny Polygon, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and music producer. Raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Polygon would meet American producer DJ Green Lantern in 2008, who offered him a record deal with his label imprint, Invasion Music Group. In 2009, Polygon released his first project under the label, an extended play (EP) titled Group Hug, which URB Magazine called "risky yet authentic." In 2010, Polygon followed his EP with Rebel Without Applause, his first official mixtape, which included the promotional single, "The Riot Song". The single went on to be featured on MTV, VH1 and Centric, as well as the HBO television series, How to Make it in America.
Dominic Ross Hunn, better known by his stage name Dom Kennedy, is an American rapper from Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. His fourth mixtape, From the Westside with Love (2010), was met with critical acclaim; its sequel, From the Westside with Love II (2011), served as his debut studio album and entered the Billboard 200. His second and third albums, Get Home Safely (2013) and By Dom Kennedy (2015), both peaked at number 23 on the chart and were met with continued praise.
Corey Isiah Christie, better known by his stage name Reks, is an American rapper. Reks emerged from Lawrence, Massachusetts' underground rap scene. His debut underground album, Along Came The Chosen, was released on Brick Records in 2001. Reks has released eight additional albums and has appeared on various albums and mixtapes.
Deleno Matthews, known professionally as Sean C, is an American producer, DJ and "artists and repertoire" (A&R) specialist. Sean is a member of production duo Sean C & LV which is affiliated with Sean Combs' Hitmen producers. As a DJ, Sean C co-founded the New York DJ crew The X-Men Sean worked as an A&R for Steve Rifkind's Loud Records and SRC Records imprints. He is credited as A&R and executive producer for Mobb Deep, Dead Prez, Big Pun, Terror Squad, Remy Ma and The X-Ecutioners. Sean C has produced songs for Jay-Z, Big Pun, Diddy, Jadakiss and Fabolous among others. He was nominated for best rap album Grammy awards for Jay Z's American Gangster and for Big Pun's debut Capital Punishment.
Maurice "Verse" Simmonds is a Puerto Rican / Virgin Islander rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. Based in Los Angeles but raised in the Virgin Islands, he moved to the United States after high school and he formed the production duo the Jugganauts in the 1990s. The duo has since co-written and produced tracks such as "Man Down" by Rihanna and "Who Gon Stop Me" by Kanye West and Jay-Z, both of which charted prominently on Billboard.
