 | | The Gnarls Barkley collaboration didn't bring producer Danger Mouse to the top of the British charts for the first time, but it did mark his debut as the pilot of a hit record. |
 | | Along with OutKast, with whom they were closely associated, Goodie Mob was among the first Southern rap acts to attain nationwide recognition, particularly with their classic debut, Soul Food (1995). |
 | | OutKast's blend of gritty Southern soul, fluid raps, and the low-slung funk of their Organized Noize production crew epitomized the Atlanta wing of hip-hop's rising force, the Dirty South, during the mid to late '90s. |
 | | Country and proud of it, Nappy Roots formed in 1995 around a sextet of students attending Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. |
 | | Outside his primary roles as André 3000's partner in OutKast and as one of the central members of the Dungeon Family, Big Boi (born Antwan André Patton) appeared on tracks by Missy Elliott ("All N My Grill"), Trick Daddy ("In da Wind"), Jay-Z ("Poppin' Tags"), Killer Mike ("A. |
 | | Though popular success has largely eluded the Roots, the Philadelphia group showed the way for live rap, building on Stetsasonic's "hip-hop band" philosophy of the mid-'80s by focusing on live instrumentation at their concerts and in the studio. |
 | | The influence of the '70s on Atlanta crooner Patrick "Sleepy" Brown is manifested in almost everything he does -- from the soulful and funk-driven textures overlaying his urban hip-hop sound to his taste in sunglasses and pants. |
 | | Following the remarkable success of OutKast's Stankonia and its subsequent touring, L.A. Reid at Arista Records gave the Atlanta duo the go-ahead to record as Dungeon Family, a rap supergroup featuring other Atlanta-based affiliates, in hopes of capitalizing on the momentum. |
 | | One of the pioneers of Southern rap, Eightball & MJG, emerged from Memphis, Tennessee in the early '90s and, aligned with the Houston, Texas-based independent label Suave Records, quickly garnering a tremendous regional following while proving highly influential to a generation of aspiring, independent-minded rap artists and entrepreneurs. |
 | | Multi-talented and flamboyant, Cee Lo Green initially made a name for himself and his trademark crooning as part of pioneering Dirty South rappers Goodie Mob before he broke away in the early 2000s for a colorful solo route. |
 | | While hip-hop prides itself on being the soundtrack to the streets, Field Mob have done their best to represent the country. |
 | | Southern gangsta rappers Pimp C and Bun B formed UGK (aka Underground Kingz) in the late '80s and signed to Jive Records for their major-label debut album, 1992's Too Hard to Swallow. |
 | | Devin Copeland, aka Devin the Dude, was born in St. Petersburg, FL, and moved to Texas while in the fourth grade. |
 | | Initially regarded as one of the most promising rappers to emerge in the late '90s, Mos Def turned to acting in subsequent years as music became a secondary concern for him. |
 | | Common (originally Common Sense) was a highly influential figure in rap's underground during the '90s, keeping the sophisticated lyrical technique and flowing syncopations of jazz-rap alive in an era when commercial gangsta rap was threatening to obliterate everything in its path. |
 | | When the Dirty South movement broke nationwide at the turn of the century, Ludacris rode it to immediate widespread popularity, becoming arguably the most commercially successful Southern rapper of the time. |
 | | No doubt the first of his kind, Bubba Sparxxx dumbfounded the hip-hop community -- and soon after, the mass market -- when he emerged out of nowhere with Timbaland in late 2001. |
 | | 8Ball, half of the pioneering Southern rap duo 8Ball & MJG, branched out occasionally for solo albums, beginning with the double-disc Lost in 1998, and was an active collaborator, appearing as a featured guest on countless rap songs over the years. |
 | | Hailing from College Park, GA, rapper Slimm Calhoun grew up listening to the groundbreaking hip-hop sounds of Run-D. |
 | | If skills sold, Talib Kweli would have been one of the most commercially successful rappers of his time. |
 | | Once one of the leading rappers on Master P's No Limit record label, Mystikal quickly evolved beyond the label's clichéd thug trappings and found himself one of the Dirty South's most recognized rappers, alongside the likes of Juvenile and Ludacris. |
 | | MJG, half of the pioneering Southern rap duo 8Ball & MJG, rarely branched out for solo albums (e.g., No More Glory, 1997), yet his work with 8Ball proved influential, earning him a reputation as a living legend. |
 | | Recognized for the lyrical self-consciousness, thoughtfulness, and sincerity he injects into his otherwise standard approach to Dirty South rap, Pastor Troy stood out among the masses of up-and-coming Southern MC trying to break out nationally in the early 2000s. |
 | | Hip-hopper Tela came busting out of Memphis in 1996 with a contract for the Suave House label (Eightball & MJG). |
 | | Without question the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s, A Tribe Called Quest jump-started and perfected the hip-hop alternative to hardcore and gangsta rap. |
 | | Southern rap duo Dirty signed with Universal Records in late 2000 in the wake of the South's late-'90s emergence as a major force in the rap game, becoming the first major rap act to arise from Alabama. |
 | | An integral member of Goodie Mob, Big Gipp contributed greatly to the pioneering Dirty South group's albums, later embarking on a solo career when the group went on hiatus. |
 | | The most idiosyncratic personality in rap and possessor of its most recognizable delivery, a halting, ragga-inspired style with incredible complexity, inventiveness, and humor, Busta Rhymes formed Leaders of the New School in 1990 and released two albums with the group before breaking out with a 1996 solo hit single, "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check. |
 | | The Fugees translated an intriguing blend of jazz-rap, R&B, and reggae into huge success during the mid-'90s, when the trio's sophomore album The Score hit number one on the pop charts and sold over five million copies. |
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 | | Rapper Bun B (born Bernard Freeman) rose to fame in the duo UGK. Bun B and Pimp C formed UGK in the late '80s when their former crew, Four Black Ministers, fell apart. |
 | | In just a few short years, the Notorious B.I.G. went from a Brooklyn street hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop to a tragic victim of the culture of violence he depicted so realistically on his records. |
 | | An influential alternative rap quartet from South Central Los Angeles, the Pharcyde was formed by MCs/producers Tre "Slimkid" Hardson, Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart, Imani Wilcox, and Romye "Booty Brown" Robinson. |
 | | Chicago-based MC Lupe Fiasco (born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco) began rapping in junior high school and joined a group called da Pak several years later. |
 | | In the span of three short years, Kanye West went from hip-hop beatmaker to worldwide hitmaker, as his stellar production work for Jay-Z led to a major-label recording contract and, ultimately, a wildly successful solo career. |
 | | A game-changing artist and an impervious celebrity, Lil Wayne began as his career as a near-novelty -- a preteen delivering hardcore hip-hop -- but through years of maturation and reinventing the mixtape game, he developed into a million-selling rapper with a massive body of work, one so inventive and cunning that it makes his famous claim of being the "best rapper alive" worth considering. |
 | | Beginning with his classic debut, Illmatic (1994), Nas stood tall for years as one of New York City's leading rap voices, outspokenly expressing a righteous, self-empowered swagger that endeared him to critics and hip-hop purists. |
 | | Formed in 1997, the Hot Boys consisted of four youthful rappers from the same neighborhood of New Orleans, LA. |
 | | Method Man was the first -- and biggest -- solo star to emerge from the groundbreaking Wu-Tang Clan. |
 | | Though there's actually six of them, Jurassic 5 got everything else right on their self-titled debut EP. |
 | | Having come up in the Hot Boys group alongside superstar Lil Wayne, New Orleans rapper Juvenile is a Southern hip-hop veteran, and a chart-topping one as well, having climbed the U. |
 | | Conceived as the first "virtual hip-hop group," Gorillaz blended the musical talents of Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, Blur's Damon Albarn, Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori, and Tom Tom Club's Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz with the arresting visuals of Jamie Hewlett, best known as the creator of the cult comic Tank Girl. |
 | | A product of the same Georgia-based Dungeon Family crew which also gave rise to hip-hop acts including the Goodie Mob and OutKast, rapper Cool Breeze first surfaced during the mid-'90s, appearing on a series of soundtracks including Set It Off and Hoodlum. |
 | | One of the most thuggish rappers ever embraced by the mainstream, Trick Daddy broke out of the South in 2001 with "I'm a Thug" and established himself as an unlikely national superstar. |
 | | Witchdoctor is an ambitious hip-hop artist from Georgia who blends Afrocentric spirituality, soul, rap, and urban R&B. |
 | | Pharrell Williams didn't only help change the face of pop music during the late '90s and early 2000s. |
 | | B.G. was among the first rappers on Cash Money Records, and though he eventually departed from the label and forged his own path through the rap industry, he remains associated with Cash Money, with which he enjoyed his greatest success, most notably the epochal 1999 hit "Bling Bling. |
 | | Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a youth to eventually become the reigning rapper of New York City and, in turn, a major-label executive following his short-lived retirement from music-making. |
 | | Timbaland ascended to the top of the pop industry in the late '90s, impressively balancing his in-demand hitmaking abilities with his outlandish production style. |
 | | The eccentricity and versatility of Da Backwudz's music place them outside the categorical box of crunk music in the 2000s Southern rap scene -- but not that far. |
