 | | One half of the rap duo Crooked Lettaz, David Banner helped put Mississippi on the map in 1999. In 2000, he released his first solo album in Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. |
 | | Rather than taking the underground route like most Southern rappers, Petey Pablo took the direct route into the rap game: he went straight to the top. |
 | | Prior to gaining mainstream exposure during late 2004 and early 2005 with his single "Still Tippin'," Houston-based MC and self-promoter extraordinaire Mike Jones had long been a stalwart of the Swishahouse label, with a handful of releases under his belt. |
 | | The Big Tymers, comprised of Cash Money Records co-founder Brian "Baby" Williams and in-house production workhorse Mannie Fresh, were a staple of the label, appearing as featured guests on most of the label's album releases and releasing several albums of their own, including a couple -- I Got That Work (2000) and Hood Rich (2002) -- that were quite successful. |
 | | Chicago's Do or Die gained a hit with their first single, Po Pimp. Released on a tiny Chicago label, the track became a local hit and sparked the group's signing by Houston's Rap-A-Lot Records. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Dubbed "the Mixtape Messiah," Houston's Chamillionaire arrived late as a major-label artist during his city's 2005 takeover of mainstream rap -- the Top Ten Sound of Revenge, released during November that year, followed albums from Mike Jones, Slim Thug, and former Color Changin' Click partner Paul Wall -- but he had already built a loyal following outside the South and received significant print coverage. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Rapper Yung Joc (born Jasiel Robinson) learned about running his own business from his father, who owned a hair-care products company. |
 | | At Atlanta's Miller Grove Middle School, two young wannabe rappers met up with each other, left their individual rap crews, and joined forces to become YoungBloodZ. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Atlanta's party rap duo Ying Yang Twins scored a hit with the single "Whistle While You Twurk," which received nationwide airplay on urban and crossover radio stations. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Evolving slowly but steadily over the years, Three 6 Mafia began as an exploitative, horror-themed underground hardcore rap sensation ("666 Mafia," get it?) yet went on to enjoy relatively mainstream success years later, eventually winning an Oscar and scoring some major hits. |
 | | C-Murder is the younger brother of Master P, the founder and president of No Limit Records. That explains his membership in the No Limit family, the label where nepotism rules, but he's actually one of the stronger rappers on the label. |
 | | Amid the flourishing underground rap scene of Houston, Lil' Flip rose to quick and prosperous fame after his independently released 2000 album The Leprechaun broke through to a national audience, prompting the young rapper's signing to Universal Records soon after. |
 | | Master P created a hip-hop empire without registering on any mainstream radar. For several years, he operated solely in the rap underground, eventually surfacing in the mid-'90s as a recording artist and producer who knew exactly what his audience wanted. |
 | | Southern rap group Dem Franchize Boyz includes members Gerald "Buddie" Tiller, Bernard "Jizzal Man" Leverette, Maurice "Parlae" Gleaton, and Jamall "Pimpin" Willingham. |
 | | Rapper Cam'ron was born and raised in Harlem, attending Manhattan Center High School, where one of his basketball teammates was Mason "Mase" Betha, who also became a successful rapper. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Atlanta rapper and T.I. protégé Young Dro decided to pursue a career in rap music in order to break the cycle of tribulations from hustling and inner-city life. |
 | | To most, rapper Young Buck was a fresh face when he became a member of 50 Cent's crew G-Unit, but he spent a long time waiting on the bench before that. |
 | | Born into a Jamaican-American family in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, Shawn Mims grew up influenced by the rappers just south of him, in Harlem. |
 | | MC and DJ Paul Wall (born Paul Slayton) grew up as a hardcore disciple of fellow Houstonian DJ Screw and became so familiar with the pioneering DJ's woozy, slowed-down style of remixing that he had to adjust to hearing hip-hop at any other tempo. |
 | | The first MC of significance to be supported by Swizz Beatz's J-affiliated Full Surface label, Cassidy is a fresh-faced Philadelphian who gained a lot of attention as a battle rapper -- with a successful bout against Freeway as one of the first feathers in his cap. |
 | | Lloyd Banks was raised in Jamaica, Queens, by his Puerto Rican mother; his father spent much of his son's childhood behind bars. |
 | | Luniz are a rap duo out of Oakland consisting of Yukmouth and Knumskull, two friends who have known each other since junior high. |
 | | Far from prolific, Terror Squad nonetheless became notable amid the late-'90s/early-2000s East Coast rap scene, mainly for boasting both Big Punisher and Fat Joe among the group's membership. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Da Brat was one of the first of a new breed of hard-edged female MCs to hit the hip-hop scene during the '90s. |
 | | The Cash Money Millionaires included whatever rappers happened to rap for Cash Money Records at the given moment. |
 | | Formed in 1997, the Hot Boys consisted of four youthful rappers from the same neighborhood of New Orleans, LA. |
 | | An imposing figure with a voice to match, Slim Thug had been dropping in for guest verses -- on mixtapes and other artists' albums -- for several years before making his full-length debut through the Neptunes' Star Trak label. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Though G-Unit became generally recognized as the brand name associated with 50 Cent, for instance serving as a catch phrase ("G-G-G-G-G-Unit!") as well as a record label (G-Unit Records), it in fact began as the name of his backing posse. |
 | | Gorilla Zoe is an Atlanta rapper in the mold of Young Jeezy, whom he replaced in the Bad Boy group Boyz n da Hood. |
 | | 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. |
 | | The St. Lunatics crew had been a fixture in its native St. Louis since the early '90s, scoring regional hits and continuing to develop its unique Midwestern spin on the Dirty South dynamic. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Jadakiss (born Jason Phillips) became a member of the Ruff Ryders in 1999. Five years earlier, he joined the LOX (who started their saga as a group called the Warlocks) and has remained a member of both groups since. |
 | | Born Wayne Hardnett, Atlanta rapper Bone Crusher made his mark with a likeable playground machismo and a street-smart pop sensibility. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Classifying their sound as "hood rock," the Shop Boyz tried to separate themselves from the Atlanta crunk scene, but as their 2007 breakout single, "Party Like a Rockstar", showed, the trio fit right in with its heavy bass and drums complemented by pop-savvy and edgy guitar riffs. |
 | | As the flagship artist for producer Irv Gotti's Def Jam-affiliated Murder Inc. label, Ja Rule became one of the rap industry's most commercially successful artists during the early 2000s, working closely with the hitmaking producer and his stable of talent. |
 | | Obie Trice went from no one to someone in the rap world quickly when Eminem signed him to Shady Records and executive produced his debut. |
 | | Before becoming one of the West Coast's most illustrious MCs at the end of the 1990s, and later a TV celebrity, Xzibit was a promising underground rapper. |
 | | Kicking off his career in 2003 with the massive hit "Right Thurr," St. Louis rapper Chingy spent two solid years in the limelight, releasing two platinum-selling albums while becoming a household name thanks to some television appearances and movie roles. |
![Kamikaze [Digital Bonus Track] Album Cover](http://images.slacker.com/isv1/album/v1/441926/aol/1/center/5,0/70.jpg "Kamikaze [Digital Bonus Track] Album Cover")
![Girl Tonite [Digital 1 Track Clean] Album Cover](http://images.slacker.com/isv1/album/v1/923749/aol/1/center/5,0/70.jpg "Girl Tonite [Digital 1 Track Clean] Album Cover")
![Girl Tonite [Digital 1 Track] Album Cover](http://images.slacker.com/isv1/album/v1/919764/aol/1/center/5,0/70.jpg "Girl Tonite [Digital 1 Track] Album Cover")
![So Sexy: Chapter II (Like This) [Digital 1 Track] Album Cover](http://images.slacker.com/isv1/album/v1/918806/aol/1/center/5,0/70.jpg "So Sexy: Chapter II (Like This) [Digital 1 Track] Album Cover")
![Day After [Bonus Track] Album Cover](http://images.slacker.com/isv1/album/v1/835433/aol/1/center/5,0/70.jpg "Day After [Bonus Track] Album Cover")
