Curated category
East Coast hip-hop musicians
- Keef CowboyRobert Keith Wiggins stood in a Bronx hallway on the 20th of September 1960. He would later become known as Keef Cowboy, but his name was just a sound to him…
- Spoonie GeeGabriel Jackson arrived in Harlem on the 27th of May 1963. He grew up using a spoon as his only eating utensil during early childhood years.
- Disco King MarioDisco King Mario entered the world on the 1st of July 1956. His family originated from Edenton, North Carolina. This small town in eastern North Carolina…
- FabolousJohn David Jackson stood before the microphone on the 18th of November 1977. He was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Breevort Houses within Bedford-Stuyvesant.
- 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…
- Coke La RockCoke La Rock was born on the 24th of April 1955 in The Bronx, New York City. His family roots traced back to North Carolina before he arrived in the city.
- RaekwonCorey Woods was born on the 12th of January 1970 in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He grew up under the care of his mother while his father struggled with addiction.
- 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.
- The Notorious B.I.G.Christopher George Latore Wallace was born at Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, on the 21st of May 1972. He grew up in the Clinton Hill neighborhood…
- Queen LatifahDana Elaine Owens arrived in the world on the 18th of March 1970 within the city limits of Newark, New Jersey. Her childhood unfolded primarily in nearby…
- 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…
- 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.
- Afrika BambaataaLance Taylor grew up in the Bronx River Projects during the 1960s and 1970s. He was born on the 17th of April 1957 to Jamaican and Barbadian immigrants.
- 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…
- Shaquille O'NealShaquille Rashaun O'Neal entered the world on the 6th of March 1972, in Newark, New Jersey. His biological father was Joe Toney, a high school basketball…
- 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…
- Sean PriceSean Duval Price entered the world on the 17th of March 1972. He grew up in the borough of Brooklyn during a time when hip hop was transforming from local…
- Nicki MinajOnika Tanya Maraj was born on the 8th of December 1982, in the Saint James district of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
- MF DoomDaniel Dumile entered the world in Hounslow, London on the 13th of July 1971. His mother was from Trinidad and his father came from Zimbabwe.
- DMXEarl Simmons was born on the 18th of December 1970, in Mount Vernon, New York. He grew up as the middle child of a family that included two daughters and two…