Christopher Brian Bridges, known professionally as Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age nine, where he first began rapping. Starting out with a brief stint as a DJ, he formed his own record label, Disturbing tha Peace in the late 1990s, closing the decade with his debut album Incognegro (1999). The album was re-released as his major label debut, Back for the First Time (2000) upon signing with Def Jam Recordings. Its singles, "Southern Hospitality" and "What's Your Fantasy", became top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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 to Universal Records in 1999, releasing his solo debut album Country Grammar in June of the following year. Its title track and follow-up single, "Ride wit Me" both peaked within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, while the album peaked atop the US Billboard 200; it remains Nelly's best-selling album to date, receiving diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His second album, Nellyville (2002) spawned two consecutive number-one hits, "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma", along with the top-five single "Air Force Ones".
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 debuted 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). The album also spawned his highest-charting single as a lead artist to date: "Soul Survivor", which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
Richard Preston Butler Jr., better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American record producer, songwriter, 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 would become one of Butler's frequent collaborators.
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 in 1996 and 1997 before beginning his musical career. After dropping out of college, he was signed to Slip-n-Slide Records, he released four studio albums from 2007 until 2010. Plies debuted in 2007 with The Real Testament with successful singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized". Plies also released two albums in 2008, Definition of Real and Da REAList, and later released Goon Affiliated in 2010.
The discography of Akon, a Senegalese American singer, songwriter, rapper and music producer, consists of five studio albums, four mixtapes, one extended play, thirty eight singles, eight promotional singles and ninety-two music videos. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Akon lived in Senegal with his family until the age of seven, when they returned to the United States to live in New Jersey. A three-year prison sentence inspired Akon to begin recording songs in his home studio: Universal Records signed him after becoming aware of his music, and his debut album Trouble was released in June 2004. Two of its singles – "Locked Up" and "Lonely" – reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100, with the latter topping numerous singles charts worldwide and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Trouble also included the singles "Gunshot ", "Ghetto", "Belly Dancer (Bananza)" and "Pot of Gold", and was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA and by the British Phonographic Industry in the United Kingdom, where it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.
"A Milli", abbreviated occasionally as "Milli", is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne. The song was released February 13, 2008, as the second official single from his sixth album Tha Carter III.
"Girls Around the World" is a song by American recording artist Lloyd. The song features rapper Lil Wayne and was written by Lloyd and Lil Wayne, along with Eric Barrier and William Griffin. The song was produced by his production team, Big Reese and Jasper Cameron, who also produced his breakthrough hit, "You", which also featured Lil Wayne. The song served as the lead single for Lloyd's third studio album Lessons in Love. "Girls Around the World" received positive to mixed reviews from critics, some of whom noted it as generic, and others named it as a top track from the album. It reached No. 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song samples the drum break from "Ashley's Roachclip" by the Soul Searchers, as well as interpolating Rakim's verse in "Paid in Full" by hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim.
Antoine Franklin McColister, better known by his stage name Ace Hood, is an American rapper. He was born in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He was signed by record producer DJ Khaled to his label We the Best Music Group in a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings in 2008.
"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.
Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr., better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, he signed to the local independent label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005. Through the label, he secured a major label record 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 record label Strange Music, in a joint venture deal with TDE in 2011.
Peter Cory Pankey, Jr., better known by his stage name Cory Gunz, is an American rapper from The Bronx, New York City. He is best known for his guest appearance on Lil Wayne's 2010 single "6 Foot 7 Foot," which peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and received septuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That same year, he signed to Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, a then-imprint of Cash Money and Universal Republic Records, although he released no major albums under the label. In 2011, he starred and was the subject of the documentary series Son of a Gun, which was presented by his mentor and manager, Nick Cannon.
Karim Kharbouch, better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 13. He embarked on a musical career in 2002, releasing a slew of independent material until signing a joint-venture record deal with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records and Rick Ross's Maybach Music Group in 2012.
The discography of American rapper Tyga consists of seven studio albums, three compilation albums, twenty mixtapes, sixty-seven singles and forty-six music videos. In 2008, Tyga released his first studio album, No Introduction, on the record label Decaydance Records. The album included the single "Coconut Juice", the song peaked at number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Tyga's first song to appear on the chart. In 2010, Tyga and Virginia singer Chris Brown released the collaborative mixtape Fan of a Fan (2010), which included their hit single "Deuces": the song peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Tyga's first song to chart on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number one.
American rapper Wiz Khalifa has released seven studio albums, one compilation album, one soundtrack album, three extended plays (EP), two collaborative albums, 84 singles, sixteen promotional singles, twenty-one mixtapes, and 82 music videos. After signing to independent record label Rostrum Records at a young age, Khalifa released his first mixtape Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, and his first studio album, Show and Prove (2006). Following the release of Show and Prove, Warner Bros. Records signed Khalifa in 2007 as part of a joint deal with Rostrum. At Warner, Khalifa released the singles "Youngin' on His Grind" and "Say Yeah". The latter became his first song to appear on a Billboard chart, peaking at number 20 on the US Hot Rap Songs. Disagreements with Warner over the release of a purported major-label debut album led Khalifa to departed from the label, and release his second studio album Deal or No Deal in 2009 on Rostrum Records alone.
"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 lead 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-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. He independently released his debut studio album Up & Away in 2012, which 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 first on a major label, My Own Lane the following year. The latter peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and spawned the singles "Show Me", "Iz U Down", and "Main Chick". His third studio album Full Speed (2015), spawned the singles "Body Language", "Hotel", and "Be Real".
Carl Eugene Lilly Jr., better known by his stage name Gudda Gudda, is an American rapper from New Orleans. He was originally a member of Sqad Up with Kidd Kidd and Lil Wayne. After forging a long-time friendship with Wayne, he signed to Young Money Entertainment, and later Republic Records.
"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.
Heartbreak on a Full Moon is the eighth studio album by American singer Chris Brown. The album is a double-disc, consisting of 45 tracks, and was released digitally on October 31, 2017, and onto CD three days later by RCA Records. Brown worked with several producers, including Prince Chrishan, A1, Amadeus, Boi-1da, D. A. Doman, and Scott Storch. The album also features guest appearances by Jhené Aiko, R. Kelly, Dej Loaf, Lil Yachty, Usher, Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Kodak Black, Future, Young Thug, Ty Dolla Sign, and Verse Simmonds, with the deluxe edition having additional features from Agnez Mo, Trippie Redd, Ella Mai, and Solo Lucci. Recording sessions for Heartbreak on a Full Moon took place between the end of 2015 and August 2017.
