 | | 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. |
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 | | Born Antoine McColister in Port St. Lucie, Florida, Ace Hood was raised by his mother in Deerfield Beach, twenty miles north of Miami. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | St. Louis rapper Huey (aka Baby Huey) started dropping beats with a friend on his neighborhood block of Arlington Ave. |
 | | Atlanta Dirty South rapper Rocko's music career always had been a side note to his romantic relationship with R&B singer Monica until he signed with Def Jam in 2007. |
 | | Yo Gotti is among the many hardcore rappers who came out of hip-hop's Dirty South school in the late '90s. |
 | | Originally formed in 2006 as the Hard Hitters, the trio officially switched to the enigmatic moniker Travis Porter in 2008. |
 | | 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. |
 | | YC, aka Yung Chris (not to be confused with Young Chris of Young Gunz), is a rapper who hails from Decatur, Georgia. |
 | | The self-proclaimed "Ambassador of Rap for the Capital," Wale (pronounced "wah-lay") was able to transcend his local sensation status and become a national rap contender using go-go-inspired hip-hop as the vehicle for his clever wordplay and music. |
 | | Coming across like a less sensitive, Houstonian version of Drake, Kirko Bangz is a Southern rapper -- and occasional singer -- who released his first charting single, “What Yo Name Iz,” in late 2010. |
 | | Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill, born Robert Williams, began releasing mixtapes in 2006, debuting with The Real Me. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | The year 2005 was like yin and yang for Atlanta bling rapper Gucci Mane. He enjoyed success entering the charts with his first national hit, "Icy," became involved in a quarrel with that song's collaborator, Young Jeezy, and found himself facing murder charges in the Georgia courts. |
 | | 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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 | | A rapper who built an indie empire with his Cocaine City imprint, French Montana was born in Morocco, but emigrated to the U. |
 | | Crunk practitioner Lil Scrappy was born Darryl Richards in the ATL. Discovered by BME Recordings and Lil Jon, Scrap built his rep throughout the Southeast before breaking nationally in 2003 with the hit "Head Bussa. |
 | | Only 21 when he signed with Epic thanks to the legendary L.A. Reid, Atlanta rapper Cash Out first came on the scene in 2012 with the party-rap hit and personal anthem "Cashin' Out. |
 | | Born LaRon James in Harlem, the energetic Juelz Santana cut his teeth as an MC with the duo Draft Pick. |
 | | Dorrough is a Texas rapper who made his debut in 2009 with the minor hit single "Ice Cream Paint Job. |
 | | Rapper Lil' Boosie's hard Southern style comes from growing up in one of Baton Rouge, LA's more notorious neighborhoods, one that was known for drugs and gunplay. |
 | | Baton Rouge native Webster "Webbie" Gradney, Jr.'s brash and street-smart style was influenced by the early No Limit and Cash Money releases that were creeping out of nearby New Orleans and the classic West Coast sound of Snoop Dogg and Eazy-E. |
 | | Waka Flocka, also known as Waka Flocka Flame, is a Southern rapper associated with Gucci Mane and his So Icey Entertainment enterprise. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | After sending their homeboy Lil Scrappy up the charts, the Atlanta-based label/management team Crunk Incorporated turned to the six-member Crime Mob for their next big hit. |
 | | Southern rap group Dem Franchize Boyz includes members Gerald "Buddie" Tiller, Bernard "Jizzal Man" Leverette, Maurice "Parlae" Gleaton, and Jamall "Pimpin" Willingham. |
 | | Gorilla Zoe is an Atlanta rapper in the mold of Young Jeezy, whom he replaced in the Bad Boy group Boyz n da Hood. |
 | | With a rangy set of friends from Fall Out Boy to Lil Wayne, it was obvious from the start that Tyga was not your everyday rapper from Compton. |
 | | Fabolous scored a bit hit, "Can't Deny It," right out of the gate in 2001, instantly establishing himself as a rising East Coast rap star, the song's combination of street-savvy toughness and pop crossover appeal representative of the rapper himself. |
 | | Born in California but raised in Detroit, rapper Big Sean made big news in 2007 when he signed with Kanye West’s recently formed label, G. |
 | | Miami-based DJ/producer DJ Khaled -- a Palestinian-American born Khaled Khaled -- is a member of Fat Joe's Terror Squad and released Listennn: The Album on Koch in June 2006. |
 | | 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. |
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 | | 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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 | | 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. |
 | | Producer and MC J. Cole was the first artist to signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label. Born in Germany but raised in North Carolina, Cole grew up with a mother who loved rock and folk while his father was a fan of hardcore hip-hop artists like 2Pac and Ice Cube. |
 | | Tattooed with pictures of AK-47s, Miami's six-foot, 300-pound rap figure known as Rick Ross embraced his city's reputation for drug trafficking on his debut single, "Hustlin'," in 2006. |
 | | Born in Guyana, Brooklyn rapper Red Café immigrated to New York with his family when he was young, settling in the Caribbean-populated Flatbush section of Brooklyn. |
 | | 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. |
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 | | Busting out of Atlanta in 2011 with his hit street track "Tony Montana," rapper Future grew up in Atlanta's Zone 6 section. |
![Look What You Made Me [f.y.e. Exclusive] Album Cover](http://images.slacker.com/isv1/album/v1/1321212/aol/1/center/5,0/70.jpg "Look What You Made Me [f.y.e. Exclusive] Album Cover")
