Curated playlist

20th-century American rappers

Keef CowboyKeef Cowboy teased a friend who joined the Army by singing hip, hop, hip, hop. He is credited with the term hip hop.
Spoonie GeeAfter his mother died, twelve-year-old Spoonie Gee moved in with his uncle, a Harlem record producer.
Disco King MarioDisco King Mario helped launch hip-hop without ever releasing a record. He threw Bronx park jams in the early 1970s.
EminemEminem performed with Elton John at the 43rd Grammy Awards while GLAAD protested outside.
Kanye WestKanye West recorded "Through the Wire" with his jaw still wired shut. A 2002 car accident had shattered it.
Jay-ZNo major label would sign Jay-Z, so he sold burned CDs out of his car.
Coke La RockCoke La Rock quit hip-hop after DJ Kool Herc was stabbed at a party. He said murder had become part of the game.
Dr. DreDr. Dre's G-funk had live musicians replay funk melodies instead of sampling them. It debuted on The Chronic.
RaekwonRaekwon was accidentally shot four times in a crossfire. He later called it an "important eye opener."
Marley MarlMarley Marl's studio mistake with a snare drum changed how hip-hop beats were built.
Large ProfessorLarge Professor turned down an executive producer credit on Nas's Illmatic. He still produced three of its ten songs.
Birdman (rapper)Birdman was born without a first name and was called "Baby" for nearly a month. He later built Cash Money Records.
Jeru the DamajaRapper Jeru the Damaja answered a Fugees line on record after his album upset the group.
Rick RossRick Ross worked as a prison guard before he became a rap star. He first denied it, then confirmed it.
TimbalandTimbaland taught himself to DJ with his left hand after being shot at 14. A co-worker shot him at a Red Lobster.
Pharrell WilliamsPharrell Williams, the American musician, songwriter, record producer and fashion designer, was once behind a startling share of the songs on the radio. An August 2003 survey cited by The Age found that his production duo, the Neptunes,…
Lil WayneLil Wayne left school in tenth grade after his mother found a gun in his bag.
The Notorious B.I.G.The Notorious B.I.G.'s second album hit number one sixteen days after he was shot dead. He was twenty-four.
Queen LatifahQueen Latifah picked her name from a book of Arabic names at age eight. She added the title "Queen" herself.
Tyler, the CreatorAt the age of seven, Tyler Gregory Okonma, known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, was already making albums that did not exist. He pulled the covers out of CD cases and made new ones for imaginary records, each with a tracklist and…
Will SmithWill Smith turned down the lead role in The Matrix to make Wild Wild West. He later called that choice a mistake.
Lauryn HillLauryn Hill stood at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards and said, "This is crazy. This is hip-hop!" She had just become the first woman to win five Grammys in a single night. Her wins spanned album, song, vocal performance and best new artist,…
Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali refused three times to step forward for his Army induction in 1967. He lost his boxing title that same day.
MC HammerMC Hammer started out as an 11-year-old selling baseballs in a parking lot. The Oakland A's owner hired him on the spot.
Missy ElliottMissy Elliott and Timbaland wrote and produced nine tracks on Aaliyah's 1996 album One in a Million.
Sean CombsSean Combs founded Bad Boy Records, which launched the Notorious B.I.G. He was later sentenced to four years in prison.
Kendrick LamarKendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018, the first for a piece outside classical and jazz.
Snoop DoggSnoop Dogg bought Death Row Records, the label that launched his career, in February 2022. It took nearly three decades.
Kid RockKid Rock, born Robert James Ritchie in Romeo, Michigan, was 17 when he signed with Jive Records. Years later, his album Devil Without a Cause sold 14 million copies. Both facts belong to one career, and little else about that career is…
Tupac ShakurTupac Shakur wrote and recorded the album The Don Killuminati in three days. Mixing took four more.
Afrika BambaataaAfrika Bambaataa turned a street gang into a global peace movement. He wanted hip-hop to draw angry kids out of gangs.
50 Cent50 Cent was shot nine times in 2000, then blacklisted by the music industry. He built his comeback on mixtapes.
Shaquille O'NealShaquille O'Neal twice broke steel backboard supports with his dunks. The NBA then redesigned its equipment.
LL Cool JLL Cool J became the first rapper to receive the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017.
MadlibMadlib sampled his first song at 11 years old, using his father's record.
Sean PriceSean Price performed as Ruck in the Brooklyn duo Heltah Skeltah. Their 1996 debut album Nocturnal won acclaim.
Travis ScottTravis Scott, born Jacques Bermon Webster II, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer from Houston, Texas. Within a single twelve-month span, three of his songs entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number one. No artist…
The Lady of RageThe Lady of Rage rapped on The Chronic and Doggystyle before she had an album of her own.
Donald GloverDonald Glover was voted most likely to write for The Simpsons. At 23 he landed a writing job on 30 Rock instead.
Mark WahlbergMark Wahlberg was 13 years old when he became an original member of a boy band, and he quit after only a few months. The group carried on without him and became famous. Wahlberg took a very different road. He first became known as a rapper…
Ice CubeIce Cube, born O'Shea Jackson, started writing raps in ninth grade because a friend challenged him in typewriting class. The friend, nicknamed Kiddo, lost the contest. The class was at George Washington Preparatory High School in Los…
Kid CudiKid Cudi was born Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi in Cleveland on the 30th of January 1984. One day, while he was working at the BAPE store in New York, Kanye West came in and bought a few jackets. Cudi had forgotten to remove a security sensor…
Ice-TIce-T got his stage name when friends heard him recite novels by Iceberg Slim.
Kurtis BlowIn 1979, Harlem's Kurtis Blow became the first rapper signed by a major label.
MF DoomMF Doom died on October 31, 2020, but no one outside his family knew for two months. His wife then announced it.
ASAP RockyASAP Rocky became a radio name in August 2011, when his single "Peso" leaked online. Within weeks, Hot 97, a high-profile New York station, was playing it. The song helped push cloud rap, a style of hip hop, into mainstream attention. The…
DMXDMX was the first artist to open five straight studio albums at number one on the Billboard 200.
Tech N9neTech N9ne rapped the letters of his own name to remember how to spell it.