 | | Mowii (a onetime touring dancer for Madonna), Pee W33, and Bounc3 broke out as the Rej3ctz, a Los Angeles-based rap group, in late 2010, when the video for their low-slung single “Cat Daddy” -- also a dance -- was uploaded to YouTube. |
 | | A Southern rapper associated with Grand Hustle Records, Yung L.A. made his chart debut in 2008 with "Ain't I," a collaboration with labelmates T. |
 | | Classifying their sound as "hood rock," the Shop Boyz tried to separate themselves from the Atlanta crunk scene, but as their 2007 breakout single, "Party Like a Rockstar", showed, the trio fit right in with its heavy bass and drums complemented by pop-savvy and edgy guitar riffs. |
 | | J-Kwon's path to fame included mooning Arista head L.A. Reid and mocking producer Jermaine Dupri. These events helped gain the MC a contract with the latter's So So Def, a subsidiary of the former's employer. |
 | | Born James Andrew Reigart in Rock Hill, South Carolina, DJ Felli Fel grew up in Atlanta, moved with his family to Los Angeles as a teenager, and began his career as a radio DJ in Dallas on K104. |
 | | YC, aka Yung Chris (not to be confused with Young Chris of Young Gunz), is a rapper who hails from Decatur, Georgia. |
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 | | Atlanta DJ and rapper Unk entered the spotlight in 2006 with the hit single "Walk It Out." Under the guidance of Atlanta underground impresario Big Oomp, he turned the local Atlanta hit into a national one, enjoying rotation on MTV2 and BET as well as some radio outlets around the country. |
 | | Born into a Jamaican-American family in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, Shawn Mims grew up influenced by the rappers just south of him, in Harlem. |
 | | A favorite on the New York mixtape circuit, Brooklyn rapper Maino, born Jermaine Coleman, grew up in the borough's Bedford-Stuyvesant section in a household with two drug-addicted parents. |
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 | | St. Louis rapper Huey (aka Baby Huey) started dropping beats with a friend on his neighborhood block of Arlington Ave. |
 | | No mere glossy gimmick, despite their youthfulness and their novelty hit, the New Boyz were labeled "the Young Teens of Hip-Hop" by the New York Times before they even had an official single out. |
 | | Dorrough is a Texas rapper who made his debut in 2009 with the minor hit single "Ice Cream Paint Job. |
 | | Southern rap group Dem Franchize Boyz includes members Gerald "Buddie" Tiller, Bernard "Jizzal Man" Leverette, Maurice "Parlae" Gleaton, and Jamall "Pimpin" Willingham. |
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 | | Mixing the party rap sound of his hometown Atlanta with more of an indie attitude, Roscoe Dash came on the scene in 2009 with the club track “All the Way Turnt Up!” Dash was originally called ATL, a moniker he used when he became friendly with the local hip-hop crew Travis Porter. |
 | | Originally formed in 2006 as the Hard Hitters, the trio officially switched to the enigmatic moniker Travis Porter in 2008. |
 | | Attempting to balance club-friendly, Southern crunk with more conceptual lyrics, Atlanta-based rappers Tity Boi and Dolla Boy first teamed up as Playaz Circle (aka the Duffle Bag Boys) in 1997 in adjacent city College Park, GA. |
 | | An MC from the south side of Chicago -- and the daughter of blues guitarist Buddy Guy -- Shawnna (Rashawnna Guy) began writing rhymes while in high school. |
 | | The St. Lunatics crew had been a fixture in its native St. Louis since the early '90s, scoring regional hits and continuing to develop its unique Midwestern spin on the Dirty South dynamic. |
 | | Along with fellow Harlem-based player Cam'ron, Jim Jones founded the Diplomat label, home to the Diplomats/Dipset and many of that crew's prolific solo activities. |
 | | Chicago native Yung Berg sat in the music industry background for the first half of the 2000s before his "Sexy Lady" jam blew up in 2007. |
 | | Before he reached the age of 18, Soulja Boy Tell Em (born DeAndre Way; originally Soulja Boy until copyright issues interfered) was already an ambitious artist and a seasoned businessman, wielding all the hitmaking requirements: producer, live entertainer, and an ability to write catchy hooks. |
 | | A South Carolinian with a self-described "gumbo of crunk, snap, and other popular Southern rap styles," Lil' Ru earned his first stutter-start as a teenager in 2001 when fellow Palmetto-stater Angie Stone took him under her wing and got him inked to Elektra Records. |
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 | | Based in Mobile, AL, rapper Rich Boy (born Maurice Richards) didn't enter the music industry until after he enrolled as a mechanical engineering major at Tuskegee University. |
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 | | When he's doing business, Cash Money Records CEO Bryan Williams uses his real name, but when he grabs the mike to spit Dirty South raps, Williams goes by the names Birdman or Baby. |
 | | At only age 13, Bow Wow made his rap debut on Beware of Dog (2000), a double-platinum Top Ten hit, and though he struggled to rival such breakout success in the years that followed, he persevered impressively, maturing as an artist (as well as a man) and releasing a series of albums that met varying degrees of commercial success. |
 | | Atlanta-born and bred trap rapper Shawty Lo, aka Carlos Walker, did not reach national prominence with his street-hustling raps, but by ushering in the "snap dance" craze with the Billboard-topping "Laffy Taffy" as part of his four-man crew, D4L, in 2005. |
 | | Far from prolific, Terror Squad nonetheless became notable amid the late-'90s/early-2000s East Coast rap scene, mainly for boasting both Big Punisher and Fat Joe among the group's membership. |
 | | The first MC of significance to be supported by Swizz Beatz's J-affiliated Full Surface label, Cassidy is a fresh-faced Philadelphian who gained a lot of attention as a battle rapper -- with a successful bout against Freeway as one of the first feathers in his cap. |
 | | Born LaRon James in Harlem, the energetic Juelz Santana cut his teeth as an MC with the duo Draft Pick. |
 | | Born Natassia Zolot, the San Francisco, California-based rapper and director is better known by her stage name, Kreayshawn. |
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 | | Rapper Yung Joc (born Jasiel Robinson) learned about running his own business from his father, who owned a hair-care products company. |
 | | One of the most important, famous, and even infamous players in the mixtape game, Drama certainly lives up to his moniker thanks to some high-profile legal problems. |
 | | Rapping since he was just nine years old, Shreveport, LA's Hurricane Chris burst onto the national scene in 2007 with his catchy single "A Bay Bay. |
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 | | Lloyd Banks was raised in Jamaica, Queens, by his Puerto Rican mother; his father spent much of his son's childhood behind bars. |
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 | | Gorilla Zoe is an Atlanta rapper in the mold of Young Jeezy, whom he replaced in the Bad Boy group Boyz n da Hood. |
 | | The kind of talented kid who had a recording contract before a driver's license, Diggy Simmons is a rapper, reality television star, fashion mogul, and descendent of hip-hop royalty. |
 | | The boisterous and brash Trillville began their bid for the title "Gods of Crunk" in 1997 while attending ninth grade in Atlanta's public school system. |
 | | Signed to Slip-N-Slide in 2004 after recording his first track, "Tell Dem Krackers Dat," the Ft. Myers, FL-based Plies built anticipation for his official debut album with a couple mixtape releases, along with an appearance on Trina's "So Fresh. |
 | | Young Money are a rap group affiliated with Lil Wayne and the Cash Money record label who made their commercial debut in 2009 after years of mixtape appearances. |
 | | Before establishing himself as a solo artist in the early 2000s, Mr. Cheeks made a name for himself as a member of the Lost Boyz in the mid- to late '90s. |
![Where You Are [feat. Michael Jackson] Album Cover](http://images.slacker.com/isv1/album/v1/1794106/aol/1/center/5,0/70.jpg "Where You Are [feat. Michael Jackson] Album Cover")
