Proteges of Queen Latifah, the New Jersey rap trio Naughty By Nature ruled the air waves for a large part of the early 1990s, thanks to a string of undeniable hip-hop anthems--including "Hip Hop Hooray," "Feel Me Flow," and the infidelity ode "O.P.P.…

Since releasing his recording debut while still a teenager, LL Cool J has enjoyed one of the most successful and sustained careers in rap history. His aggressive, self-aggrandizing style was one of the form's touchstones in its early incarnation. Aft…

Hardcore Irish American hip-hoppers whose origins can be traced to Taft High School in Los Angeles (former students of which include Ice Cube). The outfit comprised lead rapper Everlast (b. Erik Schrody, USA), his co-lyricist Danny Boy (b. Daniel O'C…

A founding member of seminal West Coast gangsta rap group NWA, Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson) has managed to acheive longevity in the notoriously short-lived world of rap stardom. His earlier solo albums (LETHAL INJECTION, DEATH CERTIFICATE) are among the…

In the mid-1980s, the idea of white middle-class Jewish rappers may have provoked laughter or outright disdain, but the Beastie Boys' albums and singles have shown that they are anything but a joke. After hip-hop and rock fused into the music of choi…

Cross hardcore rap, alternative rock, and a defiantly pro-marijuana agenda, and you get groundbreaking hip-hoppers Cypress Hill. The band's genre-bending approach, as well as its English-Spanish bilingualism and rapper B-Real's distinctive nasal styl…

Hailing from Queens, New York, rapper 50 Cent had already garnered a grass-roots reputation as one of the hottest MCs around when he was tapped in the early 2000s by hip-hop golden boy Eminem for inclusion on the soundtrack to his film 8 MILE and a p…

Atlanta-based hip-hop duo Outkast succeeded in bringing an unorthodox rhyme style and quirky, P-Funk-influenced sound and presentation into the rap mainstream. Successful since their 1994 debut, Outkast have gotten progressively more idiosyncratic. T…

Considered one of the best lyricists to emerge in the wake of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac's deaths, Jay-Z has since carried the flag of hip-hop narrative skill. His Roc-A-Fella family had already created a solid reputation based on Jay-Z's 1997 de…

On their arrival on the music scene in 1989, this trio of former New Edition members, Ricky Bell (b. 18 September 1967, Boston, Massachusetts, USA), Michael Bivins (b. 10 August 1968, Boston, Massachusetts, USA) and Ronnie DeVoe (b. 17 November 1967,…

The early-1990s advent of A Tribe Called Quest represented one of the key evolutions in rap music. The New York group signaled a shift from the boisterous braggadocio of the old school to a more laid-back, fun-loving form buoyed by sophisticated prod…

b. Marvin Young, 10 May 1967, London, England, but raised in Queens, New York City. Young went to college in California, earning a degree in economics from the University Of South California, where he also wrote material for Tone-Loc (including co-wr…

The first rap group with an all-woman crew, including both rappers and DJ, the 1980s successes of Salt 'N Pepa paved the way for a torrent of female hip-hop bands. Performing until the end of the 20th century, the group surprised many critics with th…

Turning the music world on its head, Eminem, the blond-haired rapper from Detroit, forced the hip-hop world to accept him as an equal. Despite lyrics full of anger, misogyny, violence, racism, and homophobia, Eminem has been a major commercial succes…

Dr. Dre has dictated the pace of change in West Coast rap more than any other single figure. As DJ/producer for N.W.A., he ushered in a whole new era in rap by adapting the raw sonics of Public Enemy & Boogie Down Productions to the ethos of L.A.'s y…

b. Warren Griffin III, 10 November 1970, Long Beach, California, USA. Half-brother to Dr. Dre, Griffin's parents relocated to Long Beach from Tennessee and Oklahoma before he was born. He was raised in a staunchly Christian tradition, and despite aff…

Of the many skilled lyricists among his early-1990s East Coast contemporaries (Nas, Jeru, Black Moon), Biggie Smalls, AKA the Notorious B.I.G., was the only one who lived up to the predictions of a comeback for the East Coast hardcore sound. With the…

Self-proclaimed "overweight lover of rap from money earnin' Mount Vernon", Heavy D (b. Dwight Myers, 24 May 1967, Jamaica, West Indies) fronted a mainstream rap outfit which has been considered the genre's equivalent of Luther Vandross. Though the va…

With a smoother, more hypnotically listenable version of Run-DMC's streetwise forthrightness, Eric B. & Rakim added another layer of depth to 1980s rap music. Among the first acts to articulate a hip-hop worldview, the duo represented the first flowe…

Snoop Doggy Dogg ensured his place in rap history by providing the perfect vocal complement to Dr. Dre's mellow, ominous, West Coast G-funk sound. His distinctively lazy singsong and soft-spoken drawl was first heard on Dre's title cut from the DEEP …