Over the past decade, the hip-hop turntablist has gained immense popularity and mainstream recognition. No doubt, one deejay at the forefront of this movement is Queens-born JS-1. One half of the infamous team with Rahzel, ex-beatboxer of The Roots, JS-1 has released 3 albums, “Ground Original,” “Claimstake,” & “Audio Technician” through Fatbeats Distribution, Bomb Records and Studio Distribution.
There is more than one artist with this name: 1) Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) from Tappahannock, Virginia. In late 2005, he released his first studio album, Chris Brown, which spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one debut single, "Run It!" which was produced by Scott Storch and featured Juelz Santana. The album also produced two other top ten singles: "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" and "Say Goodbye." Brown's second studio album, Exclusive was released worldwide in November 2007.
Bobby Ray Simmons (born November 15, 1988 in Decatur, Georgia), better known by his stage name B.o.B, is a Grammy Award-nominated American rapper, singer and producer signed to <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/T.I." class="bbcode_artist">T.I.</a>'s Grand Hustle Label and Atlantic Records. In 2007 he released his debut EP Eastside, and has since released another EP, 12th Dimension, and five mixtapes. His debut album, B.o.B Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray, was released in April 2010 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. The first single from the album, Nothin' on You featuring <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Bruno+Mars" class="bbcode_artist">Bruno Mars</a>, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1992 Rampage landed his first recording deal with Dallas Austin on Rowdy / Arista Records and released Beware of the Rampsack. In 1994, he recorded Flava in Ya Ear (Remix) with Craig Mack, Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes. In 1996, he recorded the Platinum Single "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check" with Busta Rhymes for the platinum album The Coming.
One year later he landed his second recording deal with Elektra Records and released his Gold solo LP Scouts Honor by Way of Blood.
Professor Green is a rapper from East London, currently signed to Virgin Records, after Mike Skinner's The Beats label closed, and ended a run of his own radio shows on BBC Radio 1. Having fortified his name storming through the hip-hop battle rap circuit, 23 year old East London native Professor Green is set to drop his debut album on Mike Skinner's The Beats label (via Warner's). Growing up on the Northwold estate in Upper Clapton, Green's familial situation saw him being raised by his grandmother while he traded up school attendance for just hanging on the estate, like kids do.
Emmanuel Jal (born c. 1980) is a Sudanese musician and former child soldier. Born in the village of Tonj in Southern Sudan, he was a little boy when the civil war broke out. Emmanuel’s father joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and when he was about seven years old his mother died. Emmanuel then decided to join the thousands of children travelling to Ethiopia who had been told that they could be educated there.
Mason Derelle Betha (born August 27, 1977 in Jacksonville, Florida), better known by his stage name Mase, is an American rapper and inspirational speaker. He released his debut album, Harlem World, in 1997 and it went multi-platnium, spawning the singles Feel So Good and What You Want. During the promo tour for his second album, Double Up, he announced his retirement from music. In 2004, under guidance from Diddy he made a relatively successful comeback with the album Welcome Back, but then once again went back to focus on his new career as a preacher.
Otis Jackson Jr., known professionally as Madlib, is a Los Angeles-based DJ, multi-instrumentalist, MC, and music producer born on October 24, 1973 in Oxnard, California, United States. Known under a plethora of pseudonyms, he is one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed hip hop producers of the 2000s and has collaborated with myriad hip hop artists, including The Alkaholiks, Mos Def, De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Talib Kweli, A.G.
Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York, United States), better known by the stage name Mos Def, is a Grammy Award-nominated rapper, an actor and a poet. He also goes by the aliases Mighty Mos Def, The Freaky Night Watchman, Boogie Man, Black Dante and Pretty Flaco. He began rapping in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics in 1994, and then formed the duo Black Star with Talib Kweli in 1998.
Lyrical leader of the original Furious Five and founder of a splinter version of the group during the mid-'80s, Melle Mel wrote many of the legendary raps featured on Grandmaster Flash tracks. Born Melvin Glover, he and his brother Nate (aka Kidd Creole) (not the Caribbean dance-popster of the same name) joined up with Cowboy (Keith Wiggins) in 1978 to form the Three MC's, with production handled by Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler). After Scorpio (originally Mr.