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".
Leslie Edward Pridgen, better known by his stage name Freeway, is an American rapper. Originally hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he first gained recognition after appearing on Jay-Z's fifth album, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia in 2000. The following year, he became a member of the Philadelphia-based hip hop collective State Property, which were signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. After releasing their debut album, Pridgen signed to Roc-A-Fella as a solo artist and began work on his debut album, Philadelphia Freeway (2003). Upon release, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and saw positive critical response. He released a follow-up, Free at Last (2007) to moderate reception before him and fellow State Property cohorts were dropped from the label.
Rodolfo Franklin, known professionally as DJ Clark Kent, is a Panamanian-American hip hop record producer, DJ and music executive. His crew of DJs is called "The Supermen", and his DJ moniker is derived from the name of Superman's alter ego.
Ramon Ibanga, Jr., known professionally as Illmind, is a Filipino American record producer, songwriter, and educator. As of 2012, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.
"Roc Boys ..." is the second single from Jay-Z's tenth studio album, American Gangster. The song is produced by Skyz Muzik, Diddy and two of his producers known as LV and Sean C from his production team, The Hitmen. It features additional vocals by Beyoncé, Kanye West and Cassie. The song samples "Make the Road by Walking" by The Menahan Street Band. On December 11, 2007, Rolling Stone named it the best song of 2007.
The untitled ninth studio album by American rapper Nas, commonly referred to eponymously as Nas, or simply Untitled, was released on July 15, 2008 by The Jones Experience, Columbia Records and The Island Def Jam Music Group. Its original title Nigger was omitted due to controversy surrounding the racial epithet. The album is distinguished for its political content, diverse sources of production, and provocative subject matter. The album features guest appearances from Chris Brown, Keri Hilson, Busta Rhymes, and The Game, among others.
This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2008.
Gregory Skyler Taylor, known professionally as Skyzoo, is an American rapper and songwriter. He has released a number of notable solo and collaborative albums, including Cloud 9: The 3 Day High with 9th Wonder in 2006, The Salvation in 2009, A Dream Deferred in 2012, Music For My Friends in 2015, and his most recent solo album All the Brilliant Things. Skyzoo has also released a plethora of non-commercial mixtapes including Corner Store Classic and The Great Debater throughout his career, and has worked with artists such as Jill Scott, Wale, Lloyd Banks, Tyrese, Dr. Dre, Raheem Devaughn, Black Thought, Jadakiss, Talib Kweli, Spike Lee, John Legend, and others. Skyzoo has headlined or co-headlined often-yearly tours throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, Africa, Australia, and Asia, and he owns and operates the independent record label First Generation Rich.
Sha Stimuli is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York City. He is known for his mixtape releases, beginning with Let Me Show You the Way in 2002, which earned him a spot in Source Magazine's "Unsigned Hype" section. Sha Stimuli is the cousin of Dre Knight and is the younger brother of producer and rapper Lord Digga, through whom he was introduced to Brooklyn rappers such as Notorious B.I.G. and Masta Ace.
Torae Liston Carr, known mononymously as Torae, is an American rapper from the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York. He has released a number of solo albums and collaborative works, and operates the independent record label Internal Affairs Entertainment.
"Women Lie, Men Lie" is a single by American rapper Yo Gotti. It features rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on iTunes on December 11, 2009, for digital download. The track samples the Jay-Z song "Reminder" released earlier that year.
This article summarizes the events, album releases and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2010.
John Regan: Sorry I'm Late is the debut album by American rapper John Regan. It was released by Culture VI Records on November 16, 2010 and distributed by Fat Beats Distribution. The album features collaborations with 6 Grammy Award winning and 10 multi-platinum selling musicians, having received over 880,000 paid song streams and purchases, to date.
We the Best Forever is the fifth studio album by American disc jockey and record producer DJ Khaled. It was released on July 19, 2011, by We the Best Music Group, Cash Money Records and Universal Motown Records. It is his first album to be released on a major label, his first four albums being released on the independent label Koch Records, which later changed its name to E1 Music.
Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr., known professionally as Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter from Fontana, California. He first signed with fellow producer Polow da Don in 2007 as in-house production staff for his label Zone 4, and later signed with Kanye West's GOOD Music in 2011 to serve a similar role. He first gained major recognition for his work on Lil Wayne's 2009 single "Drop the World", which entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 18. The following year, he produced West and Jay-Z's 2011 single "Niggas in Paris", which peaked at number five on the chart and received diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2012.
Barrel Brothers is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Skyzoo and Torae. It was released on May 27, 2014 via First Generation Rich, Inc./Internal Affairs/Loyalty Digital Corp. Production was handled by Illmind, Antman Wonder, Auréli1 a.k.a Tiga, Black Milk, DJ Premier, Jahlil Beats, Khrysis, MarcNfinit, Oh No, Praise and The Stuyvesants. It features guest appearances from Blu, Guilty Simpson, Livin Proof, Sean Price and Sha Stimuli.
Daily Conversation is a mixtape by American rapper Torae, released on January 29, 2008, under his own Internal Affairs Entertainment imprint, Soulspazm Records and Fat Beats Records. The mixtape was executive produced by Torae and DJ Vega Benetton. Production was handled by several producers including DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, Black Milk, Khrysis, Marco Polo. Guest appearances include Tash, Sha Stimuli, Chaundon, Skyzoo, and others. The mixtape was preceded by the DJ Premier-produced 12-inch single "Get It Done", with B-side "Click", both featuring Skyzoo.
Music for My Friends is the third studio album by Brooklyn rapper Skyzoo. The album was released on June 23, 2015 under his label First Generation Rich. It is the follow-up to A Dream Deferred in 2012. Among the singles are "Luxury," which features Westside Gunn, and had an official music video released. It peaked at No. 15 on the US Top Heatseekers chart, and at No. 36 at Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and was positively received in the music press.
"God Did" is a song by American producer DJ Khaled featuring fellow American musicians Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend, and Fridayy from the former's thirteenth studio album of the same name (2022). The song earned three nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.
