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".
John David Jackson, better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed to Clue's record label Desert Storm Records, in a joint venture with Elektra Records. He rose to further prominence with his debut studio album Ghetto Fabolous (2001), which spawned the hit singles "Can't Deny It" and "Young'n ." Adopting a further commercially-oriented approach, his second album, Street Dreams (2003), was supported by the singles "Can't Let You Go" and "Into You" —both of which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jay Wayne Jenkins, known by his stage name Jeezy, is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream audiences. Jenkins began his career in 2001, releasing two independent albums until signing with Def Jam Recordings to release his major label debut, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005). The album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, sold 172,000 copies in its first week, and received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); its lead single, "Soul Survivor", peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting song.
Richard Preston Butler Jr., better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American songwriter, record producer, singer, and rapper. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and New York City's Harlem neighborhood. He attended Florida A&M and, while visiting Atlanta, Georgia, worked his way into the music industry through connections with singer Usher, who became one of Butler's frequent collaborators.
"I Wanna Love You" is a song written and recorded by Senegalese-American singer Akon featuring American rapper Snoop Dogg. It was released in October 2006 as the second single from his second studio album, Konvicted. It is also featured on Snoop Dogg's eighth album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment. This song was Akon's first #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 and was also Snoop's second #1 on the same chart. It also reached a peak of #3 on the UK Singles Chart. The track originally had Akon as a featured artist and was performed by rapper Plies from Fort Myers, Florida, but his verse was replaced by Snoop's and his name has been left out from the writers' credits. This song was #88 on MTV Asia's list of Top 100 Hits of 2007. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 50th Grammy Awards in 2008.
Algernod Lanier Washington, better known by his stage name Plies, is an American rapper. Born in Fort Myers, Florida, Plies was a wide receiver on the Miami Redskins football team of Miami University in Ohio for two years in 1995 before embarking on a musical career. After a brief transfer to University of Central Florida, he dropped out and signed with the South Florida-based record label Slip-n-Slide Records in 2004; after four mixtapes, he signed a joint venture with Atlantic Records two years later.
"Body on Me" is a song by American rapper Nelly featuring American singers Akon and Ashanti. It was recorded for Ashanti's fourth album The Declaration and Nelly's fifth studio album Brass Knuckles. The track is produced by Akon and Giorgio Tuinfort. It was released as Ashanti's third single from The Declaration, and Nelly's second single from Brass Knuckles.
Antoine Franklin McColister, known professionally Ace Hood, is an American rapper. Born in Port St. Lucie and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida, he was discovered by DJ Khaled and became the first act to sign with his record label, We the Best Music Group in 2008. Released in a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings, his debut studio album, Gutta (2008) was met with mild critical and commercial reception, but yielded his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, "Ride".
"Out Here Grindin" is the first single from DJ Khaled's third studio album, We Global. The track features American hip hop artists Akon, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Trick Daddy, Ace Hood and Plies. It was produced by The Runners and co-produced by Akon, with the hook written by T-Pain.
"Go Hard" is the second single from DJ Khaled's third studio album, We Global. The hip-hop track features American rappers Kanye West and T-Pain and their trademark auto-tune effect. The song is produced by The Runners and it samples Madonna's 1985 song "Angel". It first charted on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip Hop chart on December 4, 2008, debuting at number 25, where it peaked at number 15, and charted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs debuting at number 85 and then rising to number 53. It also debuted at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week the album We Global was released due to digital downloads, also at number 19 on the Hot Rap Tracks.
Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr., better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he 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.
Karim Kharbouch, better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to Northeastern United States with his family at the age of 13.
"Motivation" is a song recorded by American recording artist Kelly Rowland for her third studio album Here I Am (2011). The song was written by Jim Jonsin, Rico Love, Daniel Morris and Lil Wayne, with Jonsin producing the song and Lil Wayne having featured vocals. The R&B slow jam was released as the fourth single from Here I Am on March 2, 2011, by Universal Motown Records.
Brian Todd Collins, known professionally as Kid Ink, is an American rapper and singer from Los Angeles, California. His debut studio album, Up & Away (2012) was released independently and peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200. He then signed with RCA Records to release his debut extended play Almost Home (2013), followed by his second album and major label debut, My Own Lane the following year. The latter peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and was led by the single "Show Me", which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album also spawned the follow-up singles "Iz U Down" and "Main Chick". His third album, Full Speed (2015) spawned the singles "Body Language" and "Be Real", both of which received platinum certifications by the RIAA.
John-Michael Hakeem Gibson, better known by his stage name Cash Out, is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He signed with Epic Records to release his semi-eponymous 2011 debut single, "Cashin' Out". The song peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After parting ways with the label, his 2014 single "She Twerkin" narrowly entered the chart and led his debut studio album Let's Get It (2014), which in turn moderately entered the Billboard 200.
"Cashin' Out" is a song by American rapper Cash Out. It was released on April 25, 2012 as his debut single, originally from his mixtape It's My Time, though the song itself was available on YouTube as of November 21, 2011. Produced by DJ Spinz, it peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and number 1 on the Rap Songs chart. It is Cash Out's only top 40 hit to date. Complex named the song number 45 on its list of the best songs of 2012. "Cashin' Out" was mentioned in the infamous Naval Academy sex scandal by the accuser. Even with only 20 weeks on the chart, and such a low peak position, the single managed to make the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 of 2012, being ranked at number 92.
Carl Eugene Lilly Jr., better known by his stage name Gudda Gudda, is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He performed on Young Money Entertainment's 2009 single "BedRock", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
Nathan John Feuerstein, known by his initials NF, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has released two EPs, I'm Free (2012), and a self-titled EP in 2014 with Capitol CMG. His second and first major-label studio album, Mansion, was released on March 31, 2015. His third studio album, Therapy Session, was released on April 22, 2016, and peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard 200. His albums have earned several accolades, some of which include the Gospel Music Association Dove Award for Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year in 2016 and the Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year in 2017.
Cydel Charles Young, known professionally as CyHi the Prynce, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Stone Mountain, Georgia. He signed a major label recording contract with Akon's Konvict Muzik, in a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings in 2009. The following year, he gained mainstream attention for his guest appearance alongside Jay-Z, Pusha T, Swizz Beatz, and RZA on Kanye West's 2010 song "So Appalled" from his album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). He was then credited with extensive songwriting work on West's further releases, resulting in five Grammy Award nominations for Best Rap Song, as well as one additional nomination for his work on Travis Scott's 2018 single "Sicko Mode."
"Boo Thang" is a song by American rapper Verse Simmonds, featuring singer Kelly Rowland. It was released by Bu Vision, a label run by Akon's brother Bu Thiam, in association with Konvict Muzik and The Island Def Jam Music Group. "Boo Thang" peaked at No. 44 on both the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. The song was ultimately included on Simmonds' mixtape Sextape Chronicles 2.
