Dylan Mills, known professionally as Dizzee Rascal (born November 1, 1985), is a grime solo artist, formerly a Roll Deep crew member, who emerged from the UK Garage music scene. His music was a blend of garage MCing, conventional rap, grime and ragga, with some more eclectic samples. Dizzee began MCing on pirate radio and at raves at fifteen, but since his mainstream success he has distanced himself from the fledgling scene.
Clipse is an American hip hop duo, formed in Norfolk, Virginia in 1992, made up of brothers Gene "Malice" Thornton and Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. They met Pharrell in 1993, he formed a working relationship with the duo and helped them secure a contract with Elektra Records. The group's debut single flopped, but Williams resuscitated their careers by signing them to his Star Trak Label. The Clipse's debut album, Lord Willin', was released in 2002, and their sophomore effort, Hell Hath No Fury, was released in 2006 to much critical acclaim.
Gift Of Gab (Tim Parker) and Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosley) met at John F. Kennedy High School in 1987 in Sacramento, California and formed the group in the early 1990s. They released their first recording, "Swan Lake", on solesides records. The Solesides Crew consisted of the duo. as well as other friends of theirs they had met at University of California - Davis, including DJ Shadow, Lyrics Born and Lateef The Truth Speaker. The single was an underground hit, but label trouble prevented the duo from immediately capitalizing on their fame.
The Scratch Perverts are a collective of turntablist DJs from the UK, formed in 1996 by Tony Vegas, Prime Cuts and DJ Plus One. The Scratch Perverts originally consisted of 4 members; Tony Vegas, Renegade, First Rate and Mr. Thing. Having made names for themselves both individually and as a team, The Scratch Perverts soon expanded to a 8-member crew with the addition of Prime Cuts, Harry Love, Killa Kela and DJ Plus One.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is a U.S. rap group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, United States in 1991. It consists of rappers Krayzie Bone, Wish Bone, Flesh-N-Bone, Layzie Bone, and Bizzy Bone. Perhaps the group's most important contribution to rap is their speedy, harmonizing flow. While fast rapping has always had a niche in the culture, Bone certainly brought the style to the forefront. In addition, the group's ability to harmonize whilst flowing at top speeds is truly remarkable. Not before nor since has a rapper or rap group sung an a cappella tune without loss of street cred.
D12 (aka The Dirty Dozen and D-Twizzy) was initially formed in 1991 by Proof who invited local Detroit rappers such as Bizarre, Eminem and other members who would leave the crew before it achieved success including Eye Kyu, Killa Hawk and FuzZ. The group was a loose collective in the vein of Wu-Tang Clan. Several members began making names for themselves in hip hop during the late 1990s. Bizarre was named Inner City Entertainment's "Flava of the Week". He would also release an album entitled Attack Of The Weirdos and become a member of Tha Outsidaz with Eminem and Rah Digga.
Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969 in NY, NY) is a record producer and entertainment mogul who presides over a media empire that includes the record label Bad Boy Entertainment, the clothing lines Sean John and Sean by Sean Combs, a movie production company, and a restaurant chain. He has taken the roles of recording executive, producer, writer, arranger, clothing designer, actor, singer and rapper.
One of the original turntablists, J Rocc founded the Beat Junkies in 1992 with Melo-D and Rhettmatic, but has done just as much on his own as in a group setting. He began DJing in the mid-'80s with a California group named PSK. Soon after forming, the Beat Junkies became a seminal force in the rise of instrumental hip-hop, including core member Babu plus future stars Shortkut and D-Styles. In addition to numerous mixtapes and his own production for Stones Throw releases, J Rocc has been the DJ for Madlib's live shows since the early 2000's...
Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born 1979 in Orange County, California), better known by the stage name Aloe Blacc, is an American soul singer, rapper and musician. He began his recording career as an MC back in 1995 when he joined up with hip-hop producer Exile to form the mainstay indie rap group Emanon. Aloe released his debut solo album Shine Through on Stonethrow Records in 2006 and followed this up in 2010 with Good Things.
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.