Lil Wayne

Around his neighborhood, Biggie Smalls, as he called himself then, began building a reputation as a musician. After a tape of his landed in the hands of Mister Cee, a DJ, Smalls was featured in the hip-hop company, The Source. That article soon caught the attention of Sean "Puffy" Combs, “a young producer at Uptown Entertainment, a New York-based label expert in hip-hop and rhythm and blues (Google/bio/biggie smalls/.com).” Uptown to start his own label, Bad Boy Entertainment, he brought Smalls with him.

Kanye Omari West, an icon of hip-hop, pop culture, fashion and music in general. Kanye Omari West, a person belittled against and a person subjected to a life of racism and hate. Born on June 8th, 1977, Donda West, West’s mother, always knew he was destined for greatness, but did she know her son would turn out to be the Kanye West, a man lacking the respect he deserves for transforming a big part of the music we listen to on this very day? West came onto the scene in the late nineties but didn’t release The College Dropout until 2004, an album that took everybody by surprise. Kanye West changed the gangster filled rap genre by releasing his positive, soulful debut album, changing the way rappers

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, who is also known as Kendrick Lamar, was born in Compton, California, on June 17, 1987. After writing stories as a child, he put to music some lyrics about the rough Compton streets he grew up on. His stage name was K-Dot when he first started to get the lime light, releasing a series of popular mix tapes, which brought him to the attention of hip-hop producer Dr. Dre. Lamar 's debut major-label recording, good kid, m.A.A.d City, was released to great sales for an up-and-coming recording artist. He continued to receive accolades for his 2015 Grammy-winning album “To Pimp a Butterfly”.

I chose a famous rapper that goes by the name “Lil Uzi Vert” his real name is Symere Woods but that is his rapper name. He is one of my favorite rappers. I chose him because in my opinion, he is unique. He is not like any rapper who shows how rich he is. He’s a man with a good heart. His music videos are unique for a rap music video. I like his style and how he stands out from a crowd.

In 2006 Drake self-released a mixtape that wasn’t the mega hits that we are used to from him today but it was able to get him foot in the door by featuring artists such as Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco. Soon thereafter he released a few more songs to his Myspace page and even got a video played on BET’s 106 and Park. Still not many people knew Drake, the rapper. If you asked anybody, he was wheelchair Jimmy from Degrassi. It wasn’t until he lined up with Lil Wayne, that any hope for success because more than just a dream. It all started when Lil Wayne performed his song, Ransom, from his Myspace page at the 2008 MTV’s Video Music

There may be no bigger name in rap music right now than Chicago's own Chance the Rapper. His third mixtape Coloring Book is now available on all major music streaming platforms (Apple Music, Soundcloud, Spotify, Tidal, etc.) and he is also the first artist EVER to break The Billboard Top 10 Albums chart with streams only. He has burst onto the scene as a "lone wolf" of sorts; refusing to sign to a record label, releasing all of his music for free, and combining rap, jazz, and gospel music more beautifully than anyone we've ever seen in the music industry. To celebrate Lil Chano's recent success let's check out his ten best songs.

During his early years he dropped out of high school and was a drug dealer for some years. He was good friends with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. They started making songs for their new album that was called “Boyz-N-The Hood”. In 1987 they made another album that was called “Straight Outta Compton” that album

Marshall Bruce Mathers, Slim Shady more known as Eminem was born 17th 1972 in Kansas City, Missouri. His father Marshall Mathers jr II abandoned him when he was 18 months old so his mother Deborah Nelson raised him alone.

Sean "Puffy" Combs has established himself as one of the biggest names in hip-hop (Heal). Combs a Harlem native whose father was killed when he was only 3 years old, rose from the mean streets to the top of the music business (AP wire, March 18). "It is true that he started from scratch, and I don't think that because he was arrested, people will stop buying his albums (AP wire, March 18). Before pursuing his career as a vocalist, Combs was a business-minded Howard University student and an intern at Andre Harrell's Uptown Records. Combs soon became the A&R representative for Uptown. He then began producing for soon to be mega-stars Mary J. Blige, Heavy D., and Jodeci to name a few. After being let go

As being part of the Hot Boys, his top hit songs were, “Get it How you Live,” and “Guerilla Warfare.” By the age of 16, Lil Wayne was on his way to music stardom. Tha Block is Hot was his first album to reach top of the charts and it went double platinum. “The Carter lll” hit the top of the rap, hip-hop and pop charts, selling more than 1 million copies in its first week of release.

After a friend introduced him to the owners of Cash Money Records, he pestered them by leaving rap songs on the owners’ answering machines until they finally would give him a chance. The owners, Bryan “Birdman” or “Baby” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams signed him to their record label when he was 12 going by the name of Gangsta D. The owners were impressed by his freestyle abilities. Birdman really liked the young Carter and took him under his wing so to speak and became his mentor. Many people mistakenly believe that Birdman is Lil Wayne’s father and they are additionally confused by the fact that Lil Wayne also refers to Birdman as his dad and pa, but there is actually no relation. The first album released with Cash Money Records was in 1995 when the producer, Mannie Fresh, teamed Dwayne with a 14 year old named B.G. The album was called True Story. In 1997 there was supposed to be a follow up album; however his mom tried to put a stop to his association with Cash Money Records after she noticed him wearing gang related clothes, but Dwayne ran away. He took his stepfather’s gun with him and accidentally shot himself. He was taken to the hospital and questioned by police. He admitted stealing his stepfather’s gun. This landed Rabbit in jail for having an unregistered handgun. Sadly, a short time after Rabbit was released from jail he was kidnapped and killed.

I recently wrote an essay about the development of the star persona of Ice Cube, the rapper/actor who has made the unusual transition from hardcore gangsta rapper to leading man in such “family-friendly” films as Are We There Yet? The essay, entitled “With an Attitude: The Development of Ice Cube’s Star Persona,” will soon be published in the online film journal 16:9; I’ll link to it as soon as it’s up. The thesis of the essay is that, for all the apparent and unexpected alterations to his “street” persona, Cube’s film characters are nevertheless almost always coded as gangstas – an association that he has not been able (or has not wanted) to shake.

This picture is a perfect portrayal of celebrity culture in today’s era. The desire to be virtually ‘connected’ and share everything in one’s life is the new trend. And this has resulted from the constant competition from the new community of ‘microcelebrities’, which is based on achieving fame through broadcasting oneself through media. One of the demeaning aspect of the picture is the lack of genuineness and enforcement of stylish lifestyle on the audience which makes it loose the emotional quotient.

Marshall Bruce Mathers a.k.a. Eminem. Born October 17, 1972, grew up in Kansas City. From there he began his career as an individual white rapper. Not many white people are able to succeed in the rap industry, but Eminem has proved everyone wrong. He is now one of the most talked about persons on the earth. His lyrics offend some people, this sparks controversy and censorship. His lyrics containing things such as drugs, alcohol, death, homosexuals, sex and suicide. In some of his songs he includes lyrical

Dwayne Carter also known as Lil Wayne a very successful rapper ran into trouble on the streets of Manhattan in 2007. The police had pulled over the tour bus