 | | Swizz Beatz was born Kasseem Dean in the Bronx borough of New York City. He relocated to Atlanta as a teenager, where he started to DJ parties. |
 | | Virginia Beach native Nathaniel Hills, a producer better known as Danjahandz or just Danja, began his musical foray at age six when his father purchased his first keyboard. |
 | | Scott Storch's knack for laying down dazzling keyboard lines led to a burgeoning career as a musically blessed producer by the early 2000s after aligning himself with production duties for high-profile rappers such as Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes. |
 | | He's half of the brains behind the Cash Money label, his productions have moved over 23 million units, and it all started because of a DJ father. |
 | | Cool & Dre bubbled under the surface of the rap industry for a while, producing stray tracks here and there before breaking big in 2005 with a run of hit records including the Game's "Love It or Hate It," Ja Rule's "New York, New York," and Fat Joe's "So Much More. |
 | | The production team known as da Beatminerz came together in the late '90s to rejuvenate hip-hop with their purist aesthetics, which looked back to the genre's pioneering New York-based producers rather than the contemporary synthesizer-based sounds that were suddenly becoming the norm. |
 | | Benzino may be a rapper, but he's far better known for his disrepute, in particular the discredit he brought to The Source, once the leading rap music magazine. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Rapper, DJ, and producer Pete Rock first emerged in 1991 as one half of a duo with C.L. Smooth, debuting with the All Souled Out EP. |
 | | Growing up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the boy who would become producer 9th Wonder, Pat Douthit, performed in the school band and also played keyboards at home. |
 | | Introduced to hip-hop audiences in 1996 with his appearance on A Tribe Called Quest's album Beats, Rhymes and Life (a opportunity in part made possible by the fact that Q-Tip was his cousin), rapper Consequence was forced to move from label to label after Tribe's breakup in 1998, even recording a full-length album for Elektra that was later shelved. |
 | | Hailing from Landover, MD, Kevin Brown, aka Kev Brown, got his first exposure to hip-hop when he heard his brother's copy of the 1986 Run-D. |
 | | Baltimore club DJ/producer Aaron LaCrate is the founder of Milkcrate Records. His style of music draws from a variety of club styles, primarily ghetto-tech, dirty rap, grime, electro, and bass music. |
 | | With a deep history in mixtapes and plenty of high-profile DJ work behind him, DJ A.P. gets respect both in the studios and in the streets. |
 | | Strongly associated with his group, the LOX (aka D-Block), Styles managed a sporadic solo career on the side. |
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 | | Born and raised in Brooklyn, Nino Bless found himself interested in music because of his family's involvement in the salsa scene as studio and live performers. |
 | | Hip-hop producer and entrepreneur Donald "XL" Robertson was born and raised in New Orleans, home to Master P's No Limit, a label Robertson saw grow from infancy to infamy. |
 | | He may sound like Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, but when rapper Action Bronson calls upon his past life as chef and spits heavy culinary knowledge, you certainly wouldn’t confuse the two. |
 | | 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. |
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 | | As group member Zakee sees it, the five rappers in Pitch Black were already "360 degrees of hip-hop" before they joined together in 1994. |
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 | | Staten Island vocalist Eamon appeared in late 2003, when his bold single "F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)" took urban radio by storm. |
 | | Young Gunz began as just two of the numerous rappers in Roc-a-Fella's State Property collective, yet all it took was one runaway hit, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop," to distance them from the pack and elevate them into the spotlight. |
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 | | Positive K scored a major rap hit with 1992's "I Got a Man." Leading up to that, the Bronx-born rapper cut a few underground compilation appearances, including one -- "I'm Not Havin' It," a duet with MC Lyte -- that upped his profile significantly. |
 | | Based out of Harlem, NY, producer Ron Browz was first brought into the studio by a local hero, Big L. |
 | | The hardcore rap duo Da Cocoa Brovaz paired Tek and Steele, who together first emerged from Brooklyn in 1993 under the name Smif-N-Wessun. |
 | | G. Dep joined the Bad Boy family during the rebuilding years following the Notorious B.I.G.'s death in the late '90s. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Born and bred in Queensbridge, MC Killa Sha (aka Sha-Lumi) first appeared on the 12" single "The Tragedy (Don't Do It)" in 1986 as part of a short-lived group named the Super Kids with fellow Queens rappers Craig G (of the famed Juice Crew) and Tragedy Khadafi. |
 | | Simply put, Grafh was on the verge of becoming one of New York's biggest rap stars à la 50 Cent in the early 2000s. |
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 | | One of the most beloved hip-hop crews in rap music, D.I.T.C. (an acronym for "Diggin' in the Crates") consists of veteran rappers, DJs, and producers dedicated to the true essence of rap music: original lyrics and strong beat-savvy productions. |
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 | | Influenced by production denizens DJ Premier and Large Professor as well as funky offbeat lyricists such as Ultramagnetic MC's, De La Soul, and Organized Konfusion, the white duo Porn Theatre Ushers exploded out of the vibrant late-1990s Boston underground hip-hop scene passionate about the music but disappointed in its growing lack of humor. |
 | | As a founding member of the Outsidaz, Pacewon was one of the many MCs to gain a solo career after his group's appearance on the Fugees' successful The Score. |
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 | | SharpShootaz consisted of Paw and Pheno, aka twin brothers Romeo Skepple and Edwin Skepple. The Bronx-based hip-hop crew made waves in late 2003 when it made the finals of First Break, an AOL-sponsored talent contest for unsigned acts. |
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 | | An underground and critical favorite, Cormega was the rare hardcore rapper to win praise from all directions, and while he never quite crossed over like some of his New York City peers, he maintained a respectable independence over the years nonetheless, self-releasing his work on the Legal Hustle label. |
 | | 2 Deep was the duo of MC Jay Supreme and Thomas "On Time." In 1989, they released their sole album, Honey, That's Show Biz, on Cold Chillin'. |
