How many
GREAT Rappers
you know?
#1 Notorious B.I.G
Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls and the Notorious B.I.G., lived a short life. He was 24 years old when he was gunned down in 1997 in Los Angeles, a murder that has never been solved. Smalls was from New York and had almost single-handedly reinvented East Coast hip hop — overtaken in the early 1990s by the West Coast "g-funk" sound of Dr. Dre and Death Row Records. With his clear, powerful baritone, effortless flow on the mic and willingness to address the vulnerability, as well as the harshness, of the hustler lifestyle, Smalls swung the spotlight back towards New York and his label home, Bad Boy Records. He styled himself as a gangster and although he was no angel, in reality he was more of a performer than a hardened criminal.
Biggie began rapping as a teenager to entertain people in his neighborhood. After he got out of jail, he made a demo tape as Biggie Smalls — named after a gang leader from the 1975 movie Let's Do It Again; also a nod to his childhood nickname. He had no serious plans to pursue a career in music — "It was fun just hearing myself on tape over beats," he later said in an Arista Records biography.
#2 JAY Z
Shawn Carter grew up in Brooklyn’s often dangerous Marcy Projects, where he was raised mainly by his mother. His firsthand experience with illicit drug dealing would inform his lyrics when he began rapping under the stage name Jazzy, soon shortened to Jay-Z (a name that may also have been derived from the proximity of the J and Z subway lines to the Marcy Projects). Jay-Z and two friends founded their own company, Roc-A-Fella Records, to release his debut album, Reasonable Doubt (1996), which eventually sold more than a million copies in the United States. A string of successful albums followed at a rate of at least one per year through 2003. Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life (1998) not only was the first of Jay-Z’s releases to top the Billboard 200 album chart but also won him his first Grammy Award, for best rap album. The critically acclaimed The Blueprint (2001), featuring the triumphant hit “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” solidified his status as one of the preeminent voices in hip-hop at the dawn of the 21st century.
Shortly after its release, Jay-Z pleaded guilty to assault relating to a 1999 nightclub stabbing and received three years’ probation, but the incident did little to derail his career. Ahead of the release of The Black Album (2003), however, Jay-Z announced his retirement as a performer. The ostensible farewell recording proved to be one of his most popular, with the brash single “99 Problems,” produced by Rick Rubin, attracting considerable attention. In 2004 he assumed the presidency of Def Jam Recordings, making him one of the most highly placed African American executives in the recording industry at the time.
#3 EMINEM
Mathers had a turbulent childhood, marked by poverty and allegations of abuse. At age 14 he began rapping in clubs in Detroit, Michigan, and, when unexcused absences kept him in the ninth grade for the third year, he quit school, determined to make it in hip-hop music. As Eminem, he made a name for himself in the hip-hop underground, both as a solo artist and as a member of the Detroit-based rap sextet D12 (also known as the Dirty Dozen). His first album, Infinite (1996), sold poorly, however, and he continued to work menial jobs.
When Eminem placed second in the freestyle category at the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, he came to the attention of Dr. Dre, founding member of pioneering rappers N.W.A. and the head of Aftermath Entertainment. By that time Eminem had developed the persona of the inhibitionless Slim Shady, who gave voice to Eminem’s id in often vulgar and violent lyrics. With Dr. Dre as his producer and mentor, Eminem released The Slim Shady LP early in 1999. Benefiting from the inventive channel-surfing music video for the hit song “My Name Is” and the instant credibility of Dr. Dre’s involvement, the album sold several million copies, and Eminem won two Grammy Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards.
#4 NAS
Nasir Jones, the son of a jazz musician, grew up in public housing in Queens, New York. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade and searched for a creative outlet, finally settling on hip-hop. His breakthrough came in 1992, when his song “Half Time” (credited to Nasty Nas) appeared on the soundtrack to the film Zebrahead. Columbia Records soon signed him to a contract. His debut recording as Nas, Illmatic (1994), drew widespread acclaim for its poetic narration of hard-edged inner-city life.
