 | | A rapper who built an indie empire with his Cocaine City imprint, French Montana was born in Morocco, but emigrated to the U. |
 | | 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 member of the hip-hop duo Clipse, rapper Pusha T was born Terrence Thornton in the Bronx but was raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia along with his brother Gene Thornton. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Born Antoine McColister in Port St. Lucie, Florida, Ace Hood was raised by his mother in Deerfield Beach, twenty miles north of Miami. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Originally formed in 2006 as the Hard Hitters, the trio officially switched to the enigmatic moniker Travis Porter in 2008. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
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 | | Recalling the Dirty South sound of UGK and Scarface, Mississippi rapper/producer Big K.R.I.T. spent five years on the mixtape circuit honing his skills before his 2010 release took his career to another level. |
 | | 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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 | | 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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 | | Kicking his career off at the age of 16 with the street single "I Don't Like," rapper Chief Keef was a hit on Chicago's high-school circuit before mixtapes and viral videos led to a contract with Interscope. |
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 | | MGK, or Machine Gun Kelly, is a Cleveland rapper born Richard Colson Baker. Taking his stage name from the notorious mobster and applying it to himself for his rapid-fire lyrical flow, MGK started rapping while still in high school and quickly gained a large local following through the release of several mixtapes, 2006's Stamp of Approval, 2008's Homecoming, and 100 Words and Running and Lace Up, both released in 2010. |
 | | A founding member of Harlem's A$AP Mob (Always Strive and Prosper), A$AP Ferg was initially the group's main clothing designer but after teaming with Mob member A$AP Rocky he became one of the crew's breakout rappers. |
 | | Delivering lyrics with the speed of a bullet train, Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly (aka MGK) experienced a meteoric rise in late 2011. |
 | | Yo Gotti is among the many hardcore rappers who came out of hip-hop's Dirty South school in the late '90s. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Born LaRon James in Harlem, the energetic Juelz Santana cut his teeth as an MC with the duo Draft Pick. |
 | | 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. |
 | | A producer, songwriter, and singer from Southfield, Michigan, Bei Maejor (Brandon Green) broke into the music industry in 2005. |
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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. |
 | | 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. |
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 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Busting out of Atlanta in 2011 with his hit street track "Tony Montana," rapper Future grew up in Atlanta's Zone 6 section. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | The ridiculous success of 50 Cent in early 2003 opened the floodgates for other street-level, mixtape-bred rappers, one of whom was Joe Budden, a Jersey City rapper with a distinct loose-cannon style molded from years of freestyling. |
 | | Together with production partner DJ Paul, Juicy J played an important role in the South's rise to prominence within the once East- and West Coast-dominated rap industry. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Hailing from the Bay Area of San Francisco, LoveRance -- real name Rance Oliver -- made the transition between independent local rapper and international major-label star within a head-spinning matter of months. |
 | | After releasing a couple solo platinum albums and plenty of Top Ten collaborations, Atlanta-based rapper Young Jeezy kept his street cred in check by hooking up with rappers Blood Raw and Slick Pulla and forming the crew U. |
 | | OutKast associate Killer Mike earned his own hit in 2003 with "A.D.I.D.A.S." He debuted two years earlier on "The Whole World," from the greatest-hits Big Boi and Dre Present. |
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 | | 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. |
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 | | 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. |
 | | Coming up somewhere between Wiz Khalifa (loose flow, hedonistic lyrics) and Lil B (free spirit, love of alternative-flavored beats), Atlanta's Trinidad James went from viral to Def Jam signee, and all in his rookie season. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
