Curated category
African-American record producers
- Michael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson entered the world on the 29th of August 1958 inside a two-bedroom house on Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana.
- Kanye WestKanye Omari West was born on the 8th of June 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents divorced when he was three years old, and he moved with his mother to…
- Jay-ZShawn Corey Carter entered the world on the 4th of December 1969 within Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. He grew up inside the Marcy Houses public…
- Dr. DreAndre Romell Young was born on the 18th of February 1965 in Compton, California. His parents married in 1964 and divorced four years later.
- Prince (musician)Prince Rogers Nelson entered the world at Mount Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the 7th of June 1958. His father John Lewis Nelson was a pianist…
- Marley MarlMarlon Lu'Ree Williams was born on the 30th of September 1962 inside the Queensbridge housing projects in Queens, New York.
- Large ProfessorWilliam Paul Mitchell was born in Harlem on the 21st of March 1972. He grew up in Flushing, Queens, where he attended IS 237 and John Bowne High School.
- London on da TrackLondon Tyler Holmes arrived in the world on the 27th of March 1991. His birthplace was Memphis, Tennessee. He soon moved to Atlanta and spent most of his…
- Birdman (rapper)Bryan Christopher Brooks was born on the 15th of February 1969 at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother Gladys Brooks died when he was five…
- James BrownJames Joseph Brown was born on the 3rd of May 1933, inside a small wooden shack in Barnwell, South Carolina. His mother Susie Behling was only sixteen years…
- TimbalandIn 1986, a fourteen-year-old Timothy Zachery Mosley sat in the parking lot of a Red Lobster restaurant in Norfolk, Virginia.
- Lil WayneDwayne Michael Carter Jr. arrived in the world on the 27th of September 1982 within the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans.
- Will SmithWillard Carroll Smith II arrived in the world on the 25th of September 1968. He grew up in the Wynnefield neighborhood of Philadelphia with his mother…
- Mariah CareyMariah Carey was born on the 27th of March 1969, in Huntington, New York. Her name came from the song They Call the Wind Maria, which appeared in the 1951…
- Missy ElliottMelissa Arnette Elliott was born on the 1st of July 1971, at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. Her family lived in a manufactured home…
- Sean CombsSean John Combs was born on the 4th of November 1969, in Harlem, New York City. His father Melvin Earl Combs worked at a hair salon and served in the U.S.
- Hi-C (rapper)Crawford Wilkerson grew up in Compton, California. He joined the Tree Top Piru gang during his youth. This affiliation shaped his early life and future…
- Kendrick LamarKendrick Lamar Duckworth was born on the 17th of June 1987, in Compton, California. He grew up in Section 8 housing and relied on welfare and food stamps…
- Snoop DoggCalvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. arrived in Long Beach, California on the 20th of October 1971. His biological father left the family three months after his…
- 50 CentCurtis James Jackson III was born on the 6th of July 1975 in Queens, New York City. He grew up in the South Jamaica neighborhood after his mother died in a…
- Dallas AustinDallas Austin was born on the 29th of December 1970 in Columbus, Georgia. He grew up in a home where his parents owned The Party Club, a night club that…
- LL Cool JJames Todd Smith was born on the 14th of January 1968 in Bay Shore, New York. His childhood home became a crime scene when his father shot his mother and…
- Suge KnightMarion Hugh Knight Jr. arrived in the world on the 19th of April 1965 within the city limits of Compton, California. His father was named Marion Knight Sr…
- Lupe FiascoWasalu Muhammad Jaco arrived in Chicago on the 16th of February 1982. He grew up as one of nine children born to Shirley and Gregory Jaco.
- Donald GloverDonald McKinley Glover Jr. arrived at Edwards Air Force Base in California on the 25th of September 1983. His father worked as a postal worker stationed…
- Kurtis BlowKurtis Blow made history in 1979 when he became the first rapper signed to a major label. Mercury Records released his single Christmas Rappin' that same…
- Lil JonJonathan H. Smith was born on the 17th of January 1971 in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up in Southwest Atlanta as the oldest of five children.
- Sylvia RobinsonSylvia Vanterpool entered the world on the 29th of May 1935, within the vibrant streets of Harlem, New York. Her father Herbert worked for General Motors…
- Diana RossDiana Ross was born on the 26th of March 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. Her family lived at 635 Belmont Street in the North End section of the city before…
- DJ Jazzy JeffJeffrey Allen Townes arrived in Philadelphia on the 22nd of January 1965. He grew up watching local block parties from a distance rather than dancing on the…