 | | Mixing bud smoker's anthems with socially conscious numbers, rapper ScHoolboy Q spent three years in the mixtape underground before launching his career properly in 2011. |
 | | Planet Asia (born Jason Green) rose from the uncharted hip-hop territory of Fresno, CA, to become one of the stars of the West Coast "true school" generation that emerged in late '90s. |
 | | Philadelphia's clever alt-hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang burst on the scene in early 2010 with their MGMT-sampling track "The Opposite of Adults. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Championed by tastemakers like BBC DJ Gilles Peterson and respected producer Diplo, Baltimore rapper Rye Rye arrived in 2008 with an effervescent style and some support from M. |
 | | An R&B vocalist affiliated with the outlandish hip-hop crew Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, Frank Ocean (Christopher "Lonny" Breaux) was born and raised in New Orleans. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | With a series of hits that bundled gangster rhymes, weed talk, pop hooks, and slick production, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania rapper Wiz Khalifa went from breakthrough single ("Black and Yellow") to feature film star (Mac and Devin Go to High School) in the short span of two years. |
 | | Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill, born Robert Williams, began releasing mixtapes in 2006, debuting with The Real Me. |
 | | Kid Cudi is a Brooklyn-based rapper from Cleveland whose debut single, "Day 'n' Nite," became an online favorite in 2008. |
 | | Of all the rap artists who emerged from Atlanta during the late 2000s, B.o.B -- who was only 17 when he signed his first major-label record deal -- was one of the most unique. |
 | | 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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 | | Mixing electronic polish with guitar-driven hooks à la Phoenix and the Postal Service, Bangor and Donaghadee, Northern Ireland's Two Door Cinema Club feature singer/guitarist/programmer Alex Trimble, guitarist/singer Sam Halliday, and bassist/singer Kevin Baird. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Singer, songwriter, and producer Miguel (born Miguel Jontel Pimentel) spent a handful of years behind the scenes and flirted with the mainstream before he released his first hit single and became one of pop-R&B's most significant artists. |
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 | | Known initially for his role as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Toronto, Ontario, native Drake (born Aubrey Drake Graham) stepped out as a rapper and singer with pop appeal in 2006, when he initiated a series of mixtapes. |
 | | Born Antoine McColister in Port St. Lucie, Florida, Ace Hood was raised by his mother in Deerfield Beach, twenty miles north of Miami. |
 | | Compton, California's Kendrick Lamar initially rapped as K. Dot and released a series of mixtapes under that name. |
 | | Influenced by the Southern-style swagger of UGK and the rhymes of his hometown heroes the Diplomats, ASAP Rocky gave up slinging drugs in Harlem and moved to Elmwood Park, New Jersey, where he started rapping. |
 | | Originally formed in 2006 as the Hard Hitters, the trio officially switched to the enigmatic moniker Travis Porter in 2008. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Busting out of Atlanta in 2011 with his hit street track "Tony Montana," rapper Future grew up in Atlanta's Zone 6 section. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Emerging in 1993, when Dr. Dre's G-funk had overtaken the hip-hop world, the Staten Island, New York-based Wu-Tang Clan proved to be the most revolutionary rap group of the mid-'90s -- and only partially because of their music. |
 | | Indie rock trio Foster the People make atmospheric, psychedelic, and dance-oriented pop. Formed in Los Angeles in 2009, the band features keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist Mark Foster, bassist Cubbie Fink, and drummer Mark Pontius. |
 | | Waka Flocka, also known as Waka Flocka Flame, is a Southern rapper associated with Gucci Mane and his So Icey Entertainment enterprise. |
 | | 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. |
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 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Atmospheric English indie pop group the xx formed in London in 2008 around the talents of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Baria Qureshi, and Jamie Smith, when the bandmembers were still in high school. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | As a solo project with a revolving door of members, the heart and face of Santigold is vivacious frontwoman Santi White. |
 | | Born Thebe Kgositsile, Earl Sweatshirt is a Los Angeles-based rapper and member of the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) crew. |
 | | Following the deaths of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., DMX took over as the undisputed reigning king of hardcore rap. |
 | | 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 Boston, Massachusetts-based Passion Pit began as a one-man project of singer and songwriter Michael Angelakos to produce a Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend. |
 | | Latino rapper Fat Joe (aka Fat Joe da Gangsta, Joey Crack, and his real name, Joe Cartagena) was raised in the South Bronx area of New York. |
 | | It’s too facile to call the Black Keys counterparts of the White Stripes: they share several surface similarities -- their names are color-coded, they hail from the Midwest, they’re guitar-and-drum blues-rock duos -- but the Black Keys are their own distinct thing, a tougher, rougher rock band with a purist streak that never surfaces in the Stripes. |
 | | The biggest hip-hop impresario of the mid-'90s, Sean Combs -- known as Puff Daddy until his professional name change to P. |
