 | | A versatile producer as well as an excellent solo rapper in his own right, Brotha Lynch Hung was born Kevin Mann in Sacramento, California. |
 | | Beginning with his 1993 debut, Gas Chamber, C-BO made it clear that he planned on surprising rap listeners with his controversial lyrics, which would eventually land him in jail. |
 | | Born Marcellus McCarver, Celly Cel grew up in Vallejo, CA, just north of San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area. |
 | | 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. |
 | | B-Legit (aka the Savage) had previously performed with the Click before striking out on his own with 1995's Tryin' to Get a Buck. |
 | | San Quinn began in the early '90s alongside J.T. the Bigga Figga and recorded for J.T.'s Get Low label for several years before breaking away at the end of the decade. |
 | | Kurupt began his winding career with Death Row Records and rose to momentary fame alongside Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, but struggled to establish himself as a successful solo artist. |
 | | Messy Marv is a West Coast rapper from the Bay Area who debuted in 1996 and released a dizzying number of albums in later years. |
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 | | From Vallejo, CA (also the home of the Click), gangsta rapper Mac Dre moved to the Romp label in 1996 after two small releases on the Strictly Business label. |
 | | San Francisco-based Rappin' 4-Tay (aka Anthony Forté) was fresh out of high school when he debuted on record on Too Short's "Don't Fight the Feelin'" (from Life Is. |
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 | | During the mid-'90s, when West Coast rap reigned supreme, Mack 10 emerged as a close associate of Ice Cube and enjoyed several years of considerable commercial success before his popularity faded toward the end of the decade. |
 | | Too Short discovered rapper Spice 1, who'd been born in Texas before moving to California. His self-titled debut was as vivid and fatalistic a gangsta album as possible, and his hard-edged, angry, and pessimistic rapping style and tone only added to the despair emanating from the disc. |
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 | | One of the key members of the mid-'90s Death Row Records empire, producer/rapper Daz Dillinger worked alongside some of the West Coast's best rappers. |
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 | | Rapper Yukmouth first surfaced as one half of the Oakland, CA-based duo the Luniz; debuting in 1995 with the album Operation Stackola, they launched a major hit with the single "I Got 5 on It. |
 | | Fed up with a life of gang-related violence and hopelessness, Woodie dedicated himself to rap music and quickly rose through the ranks of the Cali Bay Area's underground scene, eventually signing to Koch Records. |
 | | San Diego-based rapper Jayo Felony (aka Bullet Loco or Peer Pressure) turned to music after spending his teen years in a gang, a decision that ultimately resulted in a stint in prison; after recording a handful of underground tapes he issued the single "Piss on Your Tombstone," selling it on consignment at local record stores. |
 | | Keak da Sneak launched his career as one-third of 3X Krazy, a semi-successful mid- to late-'90s hardcore rap trio from Oakland, and soon after embarked on a solo career in 1999. |
 | | A Bay Area rap duo formed at the beginning of the 1990s, RBL Posse (short for Ruthless By Law) was originally founded by Black C and Mr. |
 | | Along with better-known rappers like E-40 and 2Pac, Mac Mall was one of several who helped put the Cali Bay Area on the map in the mid- to late '90s as a hotspot in the rap game. |
 | | A long-time staple of the gangsta rap scene, WC began his career with the groups Low Profile and the Maad Circle before forming Westside Connection with Ice Cube and Mack 10. |
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 | | 2Pac became the unlikely martyr of gangsta rap, and a tragic symbol of the toll its lifestyle exacted on urban black America. |
 | | DarkRoom Familia affiliate Sir Dyno became one of the first Chicano hardcore rappers to make an impact on the West Coast. |
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 | | With a penchant for old-school rhymes and lo-fi beats, Andre Nickatina hails from the West Coast. He released Cocaine Raps and Raven in My Eyes simultaneously on the Dogday imprint, but it was the trilogy of 1999's Tears of a Clown and 2000's These R the Tales and Daiquiri Factory Cocaine Raps that put Nickatina on the West Coast circuit. |
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 | | The rap supergroup Westside Connection came together in late 1996, comprising Ice Cube, Mack 10, and WC (of WC & the Madd Circle). |
 | | Veteran West Coast gangsta rapper MC Eiht dedicated much of his life to rap, beginning his seminal career with Compton's Most Wanted (CMW) while only a teenager. |
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 | | With her smoky, but smooth, vocals, Davina (born: Davina Bussey) has advanced quickly to the upper echelon of Detroit's pop music. |
 | | Tha Dogg Pound was an integral part of the Death Row Records empire, which cast a tall shadow over rap music in the early to mid-'90s, and though the label only released one Dogg Pound album, Dogg Food (1995), the duo's impression remained fairly constant in the years that followed, as the two group members pursued solo careers and occasionally reunited. |
 | | His rapping style an influence on Snoop Doggy Dogg (by Snoop's own admission), Richie Rich first entered music in the late '80s with the Oakland-based group 415. |
 | | One of the premier West Coast gangsta rap artists of the early '90s, DJ Quik was a rapper as well as a producer whose career carried on well into the next decade, as he put his career aside and began working primarily as a beat-maker. |
 | | Oakland rapper Dru Down debuted in 1994 with Explicit Game, scoring a hit with the single "Mack of the Year"; the record also served as a launching pad for his Bay Area cronies the Luniz. |
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 | | Latin gangster rappers DarkRoom Familia hail from Hayward, CA (a town close to Oakland), and were originally formed in 1988. |
 | | Protégés of Snoop Doggy Dogg, Long Beach, CA-based duo tha Eastsidaz teamed rappers Big Tray Deee and Goldie Loc, whose partnership was forged in 1999. |
 | | Born in Los Angeles, but an Oakland resident by the age of 14, Too Short was the first West Coast rap star, recording three albums on his own before he made his major-label debut with 1988's gold album Born to Mack; his next four all went platinum. |
 | | Notorious gangsta rapper X-Raided was born Anarae Jones in Waco, TX, and raised primarily in Sacramento, CA. |
 | | Whether as a member of N.W.A., a solo act, or a label head, Eazy-E was one of the most controversial figures in gangsta rap. |
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 | | West Coast rapper Bad Azz is far from well-known, yet he has worked with some of the best-selling hip-hop artists of all time, including Snoop Dogg, Warren G. |
 | | Luniz are a rap duo out of Oakland consisting of Yukmouth and Knumskull, two friends who have known each other since junior high. |
 | | Ice Cube was the first member of the seminal California rap group N.W.A. to leave, and he quickly established himself as one of hip-hop's best and most controversial artists. |
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