Lil Wayne

Early life

    Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. was born on September 27, 1982, and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. He was born when his mother, a cook, was 19 years old. His parents divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family. Carter enrolled in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School.

    In a CBS interview with Katie Couric, Wayne described why he goes by the name of "Wayne" instead of his given name, Dwayne. Carter explained, "I dropped the D because I'm a junior and my father is living and he's not in my life and he's never been in my life. So I don't want to be Dwayne, I'd rather be Wayne". Couric asked Wayne if his father knew of this and Wayne replied with a smile, "He knows now".

    He wrote his first rap song at age eight. In the summer of 1991, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Carter recorded freestyle raps on Williams's answering machine, leading him to mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. He also recorded his first ever collaboration album True Story with rapper B.G.. At the time, Carter was 11, and B.G. was 14, and was billed as "The B.G.'z". When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wiz. At age 13, he accidentally shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, and off-duty police officer Robert Hoobler drove him to the hospital. At McMain Magnet School, Carter was an honor student, but he dropped out at the age of 14 to focus on a musical career.

Career

1996–99: Career beginnings and Hot Boys

    In 1996, Carter joined the Hot Boys along with rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. At age 15, Carter was the youngest member at that time. Hot Boys' debut album Get It How U Live! was released the same year, followed in 1999 by the group's major-label debut Guerrilla Warfare, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 5 on the Billboard 200. During their career, the Hot Boys had two charting singles, "We on Fire" from Get It How U Live! and "I Need a Hot Girl" from Guerrilla Warfare. Carter was also featured on Juvenile's single "Back That Azz Up", which reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. Let 'Em Burn, a compilation album of unreleased tracks recorded during 1999 and 2000, came out in 2003, several years after the group disbanded. It reached No. 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 14 on the Billboard 200.

1999–02: Tha Block Is Hot, Lights Out, and 500 Degreez

    Carter's debut solo album Tha Block Is Hot at age 17 featured significant contributions from the Hot Boys and was certified platinum, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard album charts. The album earned him a 1999 Source magazine award nomination for "Best New Artist", and also became a Top Ten hit. The lead single was "Tha Block Is Hot". After the release of Tha Block is Hot, Carter was featured on the single, "Bling Bling", with B.G., Juvenile, and Big Tymers. His verse was featured on the radio edition, and on the album version, only his hook was featured on the single.

    His 2000 follow-up album Lights Out failed to attain the level of success achieved by his debut but was certified gold by RIAA. Critics pointed to the lack of coherent narratives in his verses as evidence that he had yet to mature to the level of his fellow Hot Boys. The lead single was "Get Off The Corner" which was noticed for an improvement in lyrical content and style, it also received a music video. The second single which received less attention was "Shine" featuring The Hot Boys. Near the release of Lights Out, Lil Wayne was featured on the single, "#1 Stunna" with Big Tymers and Juvenile, which rose to 24th place on the Hot Rap Tracks charts.

    Lil Wayne's third album 500 Degreez, released in 2002, followed the format of his previous two, with significant contributions from the Hot Boys and Mannie Fresh. While certified Gold like its predecessor,it too failed to match the success of his debut. The title was a reference to the recently estranged Hot Boys member Juvenile's recording, 400 Degreez. The lead single was "Way Of Life" which like the album failed to match the success of his previous singles. After the release of 500 Degreez, he was featured in the single "Neva Get Enuf" by 3LW.

2003–06: Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, and Like Father, Like Son

    In the summer of 2004, Wayne's album Tha Carter was released, marking what critics considered advancement in his rapping style and lyrical themes. In addition, the album's cover art featured the debut of Wayne's now-signature dreadlocks. Tha Carter gained Wayne significant recognition, selling 878,000 copies in the United States, while the single "Go DJ" became a Top 5 Hit on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. After the release of Tha Carter, Lil Wayne was featured in Destiny's Child's single "Soldier" with T.I., which peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Hot 100 and the U.S. R&B Charts.

    Tha Carter II, the follow-up to the original Tha Carter album, was released in December 2005, this time without production by longtime Cash Money Records producer Mannie Fresh, who had since left the label. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and went on to sell 2,000,000 copies world wide. The lead single, "Fireman," became a hit in the US, peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other singles included "Grown Man", "Hustler Muzik", and "Shooter" (featuring R&B singer Robin Thicke). Lil Wayne also appeared on a remix of Bobby Valentino's "Tell Me", which rose to No. 13 on the U.S. R&B Charts. In 2005, Lil Wayne was named president of Cash Money, and in the same year he founded Young Money Entertainmentas an imprint of Cash Money. However, as of late 2007, Lil Wayne reported that he has stepped down from the management of both labels and has handed management of Young Money over to Cortez Bryant.

    In 2006, Lil Wayne collaborated with rapper Birdman for the album Like Father, Like Son, whose first single "Stuntin' Like My Daddy", reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.

2 Chainz

    Tauheed Epps (born September 12, 1977), better known by his stage name 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American hip hop recording artist from College Park, Georgia. He was first known for being one-half of southern hip hop duo Playaz Circle, along with longtime friend and fellow rapper Earl "Dolla Boy" Conyers. They were best known for being signed to Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace label as well as their debut single "Duffle Bag Boy". He is currently signed to Def Jam Records, an imprint of Universal Music Group.

1977–1996: Early life and beginnings

    Tauheed Epps was born September 12, 1977 in College Park, Georgia. He attended North Clayton High School with R&B singer Monica and exceeded his teacher's expectations of him by finishing second in his class. He later attended Alabama State University to play basketball.

1997–2010: Playaz Circle and Disturbing tha Peace

    Epps formed the hip hop duo Playaz Circle (the word "Playaz" being a bacronym for Preparing Legal Assets for Years from A to Z) in College Park, Georgia in 1997 with his high school friend Earl Conyers (known as Dolla Boy) while Epps adopted "Tity Boi" as his stage name. Following the release of an independent album titled United We Stand, United We Fall (2002), the duo were introduced to fellow Atlanta rapper Ludacris, when he moved into their College Park apartment complex whilst he was acting as a DJ. After taking interest in Playaz Circle, Ludacris began to record several songs with the group, playing some of them on his radio station.

    Ludacris soon become one of the highest-selling rappers in the South of the United States. After hearing of their situation, Ludacris requested of Epps that the duo join his newly formed record labelDisturbing Tha Peace, a subsidiary of Def Jam Recordings. Epps agreed to sign, although Conyers did not officially join the label until his mother regained her health a year after the initial signing.

Their debut album Supply & Demand, was released on October 30, 2007. The lead single and their debut single, "Duffle Bag Boy", became an urban hit single. The song features Lil Wayne, and was performed by the duo at the BET Hip Hop Awards. The duo released their second studio album Flight 360: The Takeoff, on September 29, 2009. In January 2010, Playaz Circle filmed a music video for their single "Big Dawg" featuring Lil Wayne and Birdman at Studio Space Atlanta. Shortly afterwards, Epps left Disturbing tha Peace, a move he claimed was taken in order to advance his career. Although Ludacris was initially reluctant to allow Epps to leave the label (as he felt Epps could still prove financially successful), he eventually accepted the decision.

Big Sean

Early life and career beginnings

    Sean Michael Anderson was born in Santa Monica, California, and he moved at two months old to west Detroit (6 Mile and Wyoming), where he was raised by his mother and grandmother. He attended Detroit Waldorf School and graduated from Cass Technical High School with a 3.7 GPA.^[4] Big Sean is often heard saying "west side" in his songs; he is referring to the west side of his hometown Detroit, Michigan. In his later years in high school, Sean gained a valuable relationship with Detroit hip-hop station WHTD; he would show his rhyming skills on a weekly basis as part of a rap battle contest held by the station. In 2005,Kanye West was doing a radio interview at 102.7 FM. Hearing about this, Sean headed over to the station to meet West and perform some freestyle. Initially Kanye was reluctant to hear the emcee, however he gave Sean 16 bars to rap for him. According to Big Sean, Kanye enjoyed his freestyle: "As we get to the entrance of the radio station ... we stopped in the middle of the doorway. He starts looking at me and bobbing his head,". After the freestyle, Sean left Kanye his demo tape. Two years later, West signed Big Sean to GOOD Music.

Gucci Mane

    Radric Devonte Davis (born February 12, 1980) better known by his stage name Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He debuted in 2005 with Trap Housefollowed by Hard to Kill in 2006, Trap-A-Thon and Back to the Trap House in 2007. In 2009, his second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released, andThe Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted was released in 2010, and is his highest charting album so far. Gucci Mane has released many other mixtapes and independent albums as well.

    While serving a six-month jail term for assault in late 2005, Davis was charged with murder, though the charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence. In 2009, he served a year-long county jail sentence for violating probation for his 2005 aggravated assault conviction.

Future

Nayvadius Cash (born Nayvadius Wilburn on November 20, 1985), better known by his stage name Future, is a Haitian American musician from Kirkwood,Atlanta, Georgia. He is signed to the record label Epic Records.

Career beginnings

His name came about after members of The Dungeon Family called him "The Future". His cousin, producer Rico Wade of Dungeon Family, encouraged him to sharpen his writing skills and pursue a career as a rapper. From 2010 to early 2011, Future released a series of mixtapes including 1000, Dirty Sprite and True Story. The latter included the single "Tony Montana", in reference to the Scarface film. During this time, Future also partnered with Gucci Mane on theFree Bricks collaborative album and wrote YC's single "Racks".

Plies

Early life

Plies was born Algernod Lanier Washington in Fort Myers, Florida and grew up in the East Dunbar area of Fort Myers. While at Fort Myers Senior High School, he played receiver and defensive back in its football team, was crowned Homecoming King, and was named the "Best Dressed" student of his class.

He attended Miami University and under the name Nod Washington was wide receiver on its football team from 1995 to 1997, then transferred to the University of Central Florida and dropped out. As a freshman in 1995, Washington had nine receptions for 69 yards. In 1996, his sophomore year, Washington had 25 receptions for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns, the second-most receptions of his team for the season. The next season, Washington had five receptions for 43 yards.

Career beginnings

In the late 1990s, Plies and his stepbrother Ronnell Lawrence Lavatte, also known as Big Gates, established an independent record label, Big Gates Records. Although Plies initially refused to rap, after a demonstration for one of his artists, Big Gates decided to keep Plies' verse on the track "Tell Dem Krackers Dat". Big Gates and Plies promoted the single and traveled many times to Miami, which eventually led to a deal for Plies on Slip-n-Slide Records. Plies's girlfriend Brandy Lacole Lyons gave birth to a son, Nijier Lanier Washington, at the University Community Hospital in Tampa, Florida on October 20, 2003. After signing to Slip-n-Slide in 2004, Plies released several mixtapes.

Trinidad Jame$

Early life

    Nicholas Williams was born in Port of Spain, on the island of Trinidad, on September 24, 1987. His father was born in Tobago and his mother is from Port of Spain. He is the youngest of 12 children. Around the age of eight, Williams migrated with his mother to New York, where they met up with his father. He has made it well known that among other colors, his most favorite is purple, specifically, royal purple. After living in New York, the family moved to East Point, GA where he then moved to Tampa, Fl and graduated from Jesuit High School Tampa where he was in chess club, bowling team, and chorus.Music career

Music Career

    His debut single, "All Gold Everything" has charted at 106 on the Danish pop charts. from his debut mixtape, Don't Be S.A.F.E., released on October 16, 2012. Like many other artists in the Hip-Hop industry, Trinidad James found his way to the mainstream audience via The Source Magazine's Unsigned Hype column.