Curated category
Gangsta rappers
- 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.
- Dr. DreAndre Romell Young was born on the 18th of February 1965 in Compton, California, the son of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name came from the Romells…
- RaekwonRaekwon was accidentally shot four times in a crossfire, and he later called it an "important eye opener." That near-death moment pushed Corey Woods, born on…
- Birdman (rapper)Birdman was born Bryan Christopher Brooks on the 15th of February 1969 at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, without a given first name.
- Rick RossRick Ross was born William Leonard Roberts II on the 28th of January 1976 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and grew up in Carol City, Florida.
- Lil WayneLil Wayne left school in tenth grade because his mother found a gun in his school bag. He was fifteen years old, already signed to a major label, already…
- The Notorious B.I.G.The Notorious B.I.G. was shot four times in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on the 9th of March 1997. He was twenty-four years old.
- Snoop DoggCalvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. was born on the 20th of October 1971, in Long Beach, California, to a Vietnam War veteran who walked out on the family just three…
- Tupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur was born on the 16th of June 1971, in East Harlem, Manhattan, not yet carrying the name the world would know him by.
- 50 Cent50 Cent was shot nine times at close range outside his grandmother's former home in South Jamaica, Queens, on the 24th of May 2000.
- The Lady of RageThe Lady of Rage was born Robin Yvette Allen on the 6th of February, 1968, and she would go on to appear on two of the most influential rap albums ever made…
- Ice-TIce-T was born Tracy Lauren Marrow on the 16th of February 1958 in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Solomon and Alice Marrow.
- DMXDMX sold 251,000 copies of his debut album in its very first week. That number alone would be remarkable for any artist.