DMX: Rapper Bio Earl Simmons — born December 18, 1970, in Mount Vernon, New York, and raised in Yonkers — was one of the most viscerally powerful performers in the history of hip-hop. Known as DMX (Dark Man X), he released two consecutive #1 albums in 1998, became the first artist to have his first five albums debut at number one, and delivered a raw, emotionally exposed style of rap that felt unlike anything else. He died on April 9, 2021, following a heart attack triggere

Ice Cube: Rapper Bio O'Shea Jackson — born June 15, 1969, in South Central Los Angeles — is one of the most formidable lyricists in the history of hip-hop. Known as Ice Cube, he was the primary writer behind N.W.A's most incendiary material, left the group over a financial dispute, and then released one of the greatest debut albums in rap history as his response. He later became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars without ever losing credibility in rap. Early Life Ra

Snoop Dogg: Rapper Bio Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. — born October 20, 1971, in Long Beach, California — is one of the most recognisable human beings on the planet. Known as Snoop Dogg, Snoop Lion, or simply Snoop, he launched his career on one of the most anticipated debut albums in rap history and has maintained cultural relevance for over thirty years through an almost supernatural ability to stay likeable regardless of what era he finds himself in. Early Life Raised

The Notorious B.I.G.: Rapper Bio Christopher George Latore Wallace — born May 21, 1972, in Brooklyn, New York — is universally regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Known as The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, he released two studio albums across a career that was cut devastatingly short when he was murdered in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997 at age 24. Despite releasing only 32 official tracks in his lifetime, his status in rap history is riv

2Pac (Tupac Shakur): Rapper Bio Tupac Amaru Shakur — born June 16, 1971, in East Harlem, New York — is one of the most commercially successful and arguably the most culturally significant rappers of all time. Known as 2Pac or Makaveli, he released four studio albums in his lifetime — plus the posthumous Makaveli record — across a career that lasted only five years before his murder in Las Vegas on September 13, 1996. Nearly thirty years after his death, he remains one of th

Kendrick Lamar: Rapper Bio Kendrick Lamar Duckworth — born June 17, 1987, in Compton, California — is the most critically acclaimed rapper of his generation and one of the most significant artists in the history of American music. The first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, a Super Bowl halftime headliner, and the man who neutralised Drake's commercial dominance with a single diss track, Kendrick has never made a bad album. Early Life Raised in Compton by pare

Who Is Flo Rida? Tramar Lacel Dillard, known as Flo Rida, is a Miami rapper who built a commercial model in 2007–2009 based on sampling recognisable hooks, adding electro production, and releasing the result to radio. Low (2007) and Right Round (2009) both reached #1 on the Hot 100. Only One Flo Part 1 (2010) peaked at #107 with 11,000 first-week copies, confirming the model had run out of source material. Quick Stats Career Overview Flo Rida released Mail on Sunday

Who Is Snow? Darrin O'Brien, known as Snow, is a Canadian rapper from a Toronto housing project who watched Informer — his debut single — reach #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks while he was serving a prison sentence for assault. He was then denied entry to the United States because of his criminal record, meaning he could not tour the country where his song was number one. 12 Inches of Snow (1993) went platinum. Quick Stats Career Overview Snow grew up

Who Is Marky Mark? Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg, known as Marky Mark (and now as Mark Wahlberg), is a Boston actor who briefly had one of 1991's biggest rap hits with Good Vibrations before discovering that Good Vibrations was everything his commercial appeal had to offer. You Gotta Believe (1992) confirmed it. He became an actor instead. Quick Stats Career Overview Marky Mark was the younger brother of New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg and formed Marky Mark a

Who Is Silkk the Shocker? Vyshonne King Miller, known as Silkk the Shocker, is a New Orleans rapper and younger brother of Master P who released a string of albums on No Limit Records during the label's commercial peak — none of which were made good by the artistic merits of Silkk himself. Made Man (1999) debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 240,000 first-week copies and is widely considered one of the worst #1 rap albums ever released. Quick Stats Career Overview

Who Is Ja Rule? Jeffrey Atkins, known as Ja Rule, is a Queens rapper who was one of the most commercially successful artists in mainstream rap from 1999 to 2002, producing a series of R&B-rap crossover hits with Ashanti, Jennifer Lopez, and Mary J. Blige. His career was effectively ended by a sustained commercial and lyrical demolition campaign by 50 Cent, making him one of rap history's most dramatic falls from commercial dominance. Quick Stats Career Overview Ja R

Who Is Iggy Azalea? Amethyst Amelia Kelly, known as Iggy Azalea, is an Australian rapper who relocated to the United States at 16 and built a career that peaked spectacularly with Fancy (2014) — which spent seven weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 — before collapsing almost as quickly under a combination of cultural criticism, industry disputes, and follow-up albums that could not match the moment. Quick Stats Career Overview Iggy Azalea left Australia at 16 and spent years

Who Is MC Hammer? Stanley Kirk Burrell, known as MC Hammer, is an Oakland rapper who became the first rap artist to achieve genuine mainstream pop crossover success. Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em (1990) became the best-selling rap album of all time at that point, spending 21 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 and eventually selling 10 million copies in the US alone. Quick Stats Career Overview MC Hammer began performing at Oakland A's games as a child, earning the nick

Who Is Vanilla Ice? Robert Van Winkle, known as Vanilla Ice, is a Dallas-born rapper who scored the first hip-hop song to top the US Billboard Hot 100 with Ice Ice Baby in 1990. His debut album To the Extreme became the fastest-selling rap album of all time. His rapid cultural rejection — fuelled by accusations of fabricated biography, 3rd Bass's mockery, and a general backlash against his commercial pop-rap approach — made him one of rap's most scrutinised cautionary tales

Who Is Diddy? Sean John Combs, known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy, and Love, is a New York rapper, record executive, and producer who founded Bad Boy Records in 1993 and built one of the most commercially dominant rap labels of the 1990s. His production work with The Notorious B.I.G. defined the Bad Boy sound that dominated mainstream rap from 1994 to 1998. Quick Stats Career Overview Sean Combs founded Bad Boy Records in 1993 after being fired from Uptown Records

Who Is Soulja Boy? DeAndre Cortez Way, known as Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, is an Atlanta rapper who became famous in 2007 through Crank That (Soulja Boy) — one of the first truly viral rap hits of the internet era, charting at #1 for seven weeks. He is widely credited as a pioneer of digital rap distribution and social media promotion, even as his music has been consistently criticised for minimal lyrical substance. Quick Stats Career Overview Soulja Boy independently upl

Who Is Nas? Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones, known as Nas, is a Queens rapper widely regarded as one of the greatest lyricists in hip-hop history. His 1994 debut Illmatic is universally considered one of the greatest rap albums ever made, setting a standard for New York street poetry that has defined the genre's critical standards for three decades. Quick Stats Career Overview Nas grew up in the Queensbridge Houses in Queens, New York, and first appeared on MC Serch's Retu

Who Is Drake? Aubrey Drake Graham, known simply as Drake, is a Toronto rapper, singer, and producer who became the dominant commercial force in rap from 2009 through the 2020s. He has the most Hot 100 entries of any artist in Billboard history, the most number-one albums of any rap artist, and has fundamentally shaped the sonic direction of mainstream hip-hop through his fusion of rap and R&B. Quick Stats Career Overview Drake began his career as an actor on the Can

Who Is Eminem? Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known as Eminem and Slim Shady, is a Detroit rapper widely regarded as the greatest technical MC in hip-hop history. He is the best-selling music artist of the 2000s in the US, with 220 million+ records sold worldwide and 15 Grammy Awards. His speed, wordplay, and autobiographical storytelling shaped two decades of rap lyricism. Quick Stats Career Overview Eminem grew up in working-class Detroit, battle rapping at the Hip H

Quick Verdict 2014 Forest Hills Drive arrived on December 9, 2014, without any lead single, no features, and no promotional campaign — the most commercially audacious release strategy of J. Cole’s career, and the one that delivered his finest artistic statement. His third studio album is named after the address of the Fayetteville, North Carolina house where he grew up, and it uses that address as a structural metaphor for the album’s entire thematic project: a return to th