Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986 in Toronto, Ontario. Graham is the son of Dennis Graham, a drummer who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis, and his wife, Sandy. He is the nephew of musicians Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges.Graham's father is an African American from Memphis, Tennessee, while Graham's mother, an educator, is a white Jewish Canadian (Graham attended a Jewish day school and had a Bar Mitzvah). His parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised by his mother in Toronto's wealthy Forest Hill neighborhood. Graham attended high school at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he began acting, but did not graduate. He spent most summers with his father in Memphis. Read More

Bio  |  Photos  |  Videos  |  Discography  |  Lyrics  |  Links

Contemporary R&B rising star Jazmine Sullivan spent several years learning the ropes of the recording industry before signing to J Records and making her solo recording debut in 2008 with "Need U Bad." The Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter began her career at a young age, making her national television debut on Showtime at the Apollo at age 11 and signing to Jive Records at age 15. Her stint at Jive Records only lasted a couple years, however, and she was dropped by the label before any recordings were released. In the wake of this disappointment, she began working behind the scenes, for instance working with Missy Elliott on productions for Fantasia's debut album, Free Yourself (2004), and writing a couple songs for Christina Milian's third album, So Amazin' (2006), including the hit single "Say I." Sullivan was then offered a solo recording contract with J Records, which released her debut single, "Need U Bad," featuring and co-produced by Missy Elliott, in 2008. Fearless, her full-length album debut, featuring productions by Salaam Remi and Stargate, among others, was issued that September.

Bio  |  Photos  |  Videos  |  Discography  |  Lyrics  |  Links

Synonymous with Bay Area rap, E-40 garnered a regional following, and eventually a national one, with his flamboyant raps, while his entrepreneurial spirit, embodied by his homegrown record label,
Sick Wid' It Records, did much to cultivate a flourishing rap scene to the east of San Francisco Bay, in communities such as Oakland and his native Vallejo. Along with Too Short, Spice 1, and Ant Banks, E-40 was among the first Bay Area rappers to sign a major-label deal, penning a deal with Jive Records in 1994, after years of releasing music independently, going back as far as 1990, when Sick Wid' It released Let's Side, a four-track EP by the Click, a group comprised of E-40, his cousin B-Legit, his brother D-Shot, and his sister Suga T. Throughout the '90s and into the early 2000s, E-40 and his Sick Wid' It associates released a series of albums on Jive, and though they weren't big sellers nationally, they were well received regionally and proved highly influential, on not only the West Coast but also in the South, thanks in part to Master P, who began his No Limit Records empire in the Bay Area (i.e., Richmond) in the early to mid-'90s before relocating it to New Orleans. Read More

Bio  |  Photos  |  Videos  |  Discography  |  Lyrics  |  Links

Lloyd Banks was raised in Jamaica, Queens, by his Puerto Rican mother; his father spent much of his son's childhood behind bars. Like many young men amid the poverty and ruin of his community, he found solace through ghetto poetry and the work of rappers like Big Daddy Kane and Slick Rick. He dropped out of high school at the age of 16, finding the structured environment a hindrance to his developing talent for rhyming. After appearing on numerous local mixtapes, Banks, along with childhood friends Tony Yayo and 50 Cent, formed a crew called G-Unit, a group that proceeded to redefine the term "street marketing" with a series of self-released albums that included original numbers and quality artwork. Banks stayed on with 50 Cent, appearing on the artist's now classic 2003 debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. November of that same year saw the release of G-Unit's Beg for Mercy. Banks' long-awaited solo debut for G-Unit/ Interscope Records, Hunger for More, was released in June 2004. He followed it two years later with Rotten Apple.

Bio  |  Photos  |  Videos  |  Discography  |  Lyrics  |  Links

A street legend before the recording of his debut even started, rapper Tony Yayo is a lifelong friend of 50 Cent and a member of his G-Unit crew. Yayo had been with 50 during his career-building years in the world of mixtapes. Along with 50 Cent, Yayo was arrested on New Year's Eve 2002 on weapons-possession charges. During a background check, police discovered Yayo had an outstanding warrant for a previous weapons-possession charge. Early 2003, he was sentenced for bail-jumping and would remain in jail until the beginning of 2004. During this time, 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew were blowing up. Videos featured the group wearing "Free Yayo" shirts, but Yayo himself was unaware of all the attention he was getting. The prison inmates Yayo shared a television with preferred watching sports to music videos, but when Eminem and 50 where scheduled to make an appearance during the Grammy Awards, he convinced everyone to change the channel. It was the first time he saw a "Free Yayo" shirt -- this time worn by Eminem. Read More

Bio  |  Photos  |  Videos  |  Discography  |  Lyrics  |  Links

Dorrough is a Texas rapper who made his debut in 2009 with the minor hit single "Ice Cream Paint Job." Born and raised in Dallas, he first experienced success as a basketball player. He was not only the captain of his team at Lancaster High School; he attended Prairie View A&M University with plans to join the school's basketball team as a walk-on. While attending college, he began releasing underground singles, such as "Do tha Muscle" and "Halle Berry," that were increasingly popular on a regional level. His big break came in 2009 with the release of his debut album, Dorrough Music, on the E1 Music label. The album includes "Ice Cream Paint Job" and "Walk That Walk."

Bio  |  Photos  |  Videos  |  Discography  |  Lyrics  |  Links

Born and raised in Oakland, CA Bobby got his start in "Go Dav" a group formed in high school.
Eventually he went onto to become a solo artist.

Photos  |  Videos  |  Discography  |  Lyrics  |  Links

R.O.D is the next hottest R&B/Soul artist to come out the Bay Area in 2006. Following in the foot steps of artist like Keysha Cole, Goapele, and Tone Tony Toni, R.O.D is poised to take the world by storm. If one was forced to draw comparisons you would have to say R.O.D sound is a cross between the smooth expressive essence of modern R&B sensations like DWELE and John Legend and the rich gospel flavor of soul legends Donny Hataway and Stevie Wonder. Using the singing talents that was instilled in him by his father, and being in a youth choir in church. R.O.D hooked-up with long time friend and producer Marcus (Mark Garvy) Smith to begin recording his debut album for Ghetto Retro Entertainment.(R.O.D writes all of his own songs, as well as doing his own back grounds.) Growing up in San Francisco, Ca. R.O.D (aka. Roderick Cudjo) was influenced and taught to sing at an early age of 5. While Growing up into his early teens, he switched his passion from singing into rapping. Read More

Bio  |  Photos  |  Videos  |  Discography  |  Lyrics  |  Links

Since Warren G’s “Regulate…G Funk Era” gave Def Jam/Rush Associated Labels a much needed hit in 1994, arriving just as reports of the label's insolvency surfaced, the New York-based powerhouse has largely steered clear of West Coast rap, hewing almost exclusively to East Coast and Southern artists like Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah and Method Man, as well as Young Jeezy. But as the legendary imprint prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, the label has returned to the Southland, inking a deal with Compton’s Y.G., a rapper loosely affiliated with the jerkin’ movement, and one who has amassed an impressive regional following sans radio or commercial backing. Best known for a series of scabrous sex-themed songs with unprintable titles, the 19-year-old has swapped gang life for the recording booth and hasn’t looked back, racking up enviable MySpace metrics: over 1.5 million profile views, a pair of songs with over 1 million plays each and a third approaching seven digits.  Read More

Bio  |  Photos  |  Videos  |  Discography  |  Lyrics  |  Links