Before They Were Famous

Like many rappers, Megan thee Stallion is no stranger to controversy. Ever since this Texas emcee first burst onto the scene with her big personality and impressive freestyle skills, she’s captured the world’s attention. On the Bright Side of Fame this has resulted in a career drenched in accolades, including six BET Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and the fact that in 2020, she became only th...

When Chief Keef shot his music video for “I Don’t Like” in March of 2012 he introduced us all to a dozen or so of his shirtless friends. Right in the middle of that group was a dude with an upside-down cross tattooed in the center of his forehead whom we would soon come to know as Fredo Santana. And while Chief Keef might have gone on to become drill’s most successful star, Fredo was always the on...

Lil Jon is probably best known as the undisputed king of Crunk and in the early 2000’s he spearheaded the Dirty South movement that arose out of the hip-hop haven of Atlanta, Georgia. As a character, Lil Jon often presents himself as larger than life, not to mention loud and belligerent, which has helped produce a few of the most often repeated hip-hop catchphrases of recent memory including “Yaaa...

Prior to “U Can’t Touch This” sure there had been popular rap songs and albums, but no one had ever managed to truly bring hip-hop to the mainstream. Enter the unlikeliest of heroes – a man named MC Hammer. While dressed in one of the most flamboyant pair of parachute pants you’ve ever seen, this young-man sampled hooks from other sources left and right, turning his natural talent as a dancer into...

Vanilla Ice rocketed to superstardom in the early 1990’s and for a split-second there, it really seemed like he might become one of the biggest artists on the planet. After all, his breakthrough hit, “Ice Ice Baby” would become the first hip-hop song to EVER reach the top of the Billboard charts. The only problem was, almost as quickly as people were willing to embrace this energetic track, they t...

In recent years, Drill has gained insane popularity among rap music lovers. There is an opinion that because of this genre, criminal activity has increased. Chicago at the dawn of drill music was considered the most dangerous city in the US and earned its infamous nickname as Chiraq. And the British government removed over a hundred music videos of Drill artists And New York City Hall is trying to...

When Bubba Sparxxx emerged practically out of nowhere in late 2001, his large-set and white-skin dumbfounded the hip-hop market. And yet, some truly well-respected artists like Timbaland and Big Boi were eager to work with him. Following the phenomenal success that was Uglu, Bubba would drop Ms. New Booty in 2005, which would quickly rise all the way to the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts. In...

Slick Rick is just about the epitome of notorious. First, there’s his reputation as one of the very best emcees to ever emerge out of hip-hop’s Golden Age. Then there’s his trademarked eyepatch, concealing a mysterious childhood injury. But most importantly of all, Slick Rick is regarded as one of rap music’s foremost and greatest storytellers. His effortless charisma and lyrical prowess distingui...

One of Hip-Hop’s most influential Latino superstars, Fat Joe would emerge out of the Bronx during the 90s and forge a reputation for himself one gangsta album at a time. After discovering the massive talent of Big Pun, Joe would form Terror Squad -- and while the group didn’t stick around all that long, it left a big impression before it was through. In the early 2000s, Fat Joe would continue to c...

At the end of the 20th Century, hip-hop group Terror Squad was poised to become one of the most promising crews in rap-music history. Headed by Fat Joe and featuring a ton of Latino emcees from the Bronx like Cuban Link, Armageddon, Prospect, and Triple Seis – the roster of this talented bunch would fluctuate over the years but the crown-jewel was most definitely Big Pun -- short for Big Punisher...

I don’t know what you guys were doing in the 4Th Grade, but at that early point in his life, up-and-coming rapper SoFaygo was already recording his first rap song. When he wasn’t even yet an adolescent, SoFayGo would begin spending each and every afternoon teaching himself how to record, mix, and master in GarageBand. Today, SoFayGo is barely twenty-years-old -- only two-years out of high school -...

Right around 2004 the hip-hop scene saw a major influx of rappers from Texas with names like Nelly and Paul Wall – and yet none of them peaked higher than Chamillionaire who hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for two straight weeks in summer 2006 with his hit single, “Ridin’”. Then, as so often happens with the music industry, sounds change and new stars emerge. Chamillionaire found himself lost...

NWA mastermind Eazy-E plucked Bone Thugs-N-Harmony out of obscurity as they were wasting away in Cleveland, Ohio, in desperate need of discovery. This now-legendary group has consisted of five key members over the years, Flesh-N-Bone, Layzie Bone, Wish Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Bizzy Bone, all of whom hit the big time when their tribute song to Eazy-E, “Tha Crossroads” would go onto win the Grammy f...

When YNW Melly dropped “Murder on My Mind” back in 2017, his career absolutely exploded and left all of us asking ourselves, is this maybe the most remorseless, unapologetic rapper alive? After all, rapping about leaving blood-riddled crime scenes and grief-stricken families behind in his wake is glamorizing murder in a way that’s a bit much, even by typical rap music standards. So, when he was ar...

SSGKobe might only be 18-years-old, but this kid is already a verified hip-hop star. Hailing from a very small town in Louisiana, Kobe quickly grew tired of his boring-old lifestyle and decided to make a career for himself in the exciting world of music. After dropping his certified banger, “MIA”, alongside a Cole Bennett-directed music video, it’s safe to say that SSGKobe’s star is most definitel...

For the past handful of years, Javon Walton has been undergoing some extremely intense training in the hopes of appearing in the Paris Olympics 2024 to participate in both boxing AND gymnastics. But before he could ever accomplish this goal, Hollywood casting agents discovered him first and decided to throw something of a monkey wrench into his well-thought-out plans. Now, Javon is most definitely...

Hard as it might be to up-stage an actress as talented as Zendaya, her “Euphoria” co-star, Hunter Schafer has done exactly that in what is, unbelievably, her debut acting role. In that popular series, Hunter plays Jules, a trans-girl with a tendency towards self-destruction. And while Hunter most definitely shares a lot in common with her on-screen counterpart, especially when it comes to her expe...

Sydney Sweeney has been mapping out her future since the age of 12-years-old. After begging her parents to let her audition for a zombie indie-film shooting in her hometown, Sydney would win the part and get bitten by the acting bug. A year later, she’d convince her entire family to pack up and move South so that she could accomplish her dreams of becoming a Hollywood superstar. Only -- things did...

As I stand here recording this video, Volodymyr Zelensky is by almost all accounts the world’s most popular leader. And for good reason too – his bravery in the face of a Russian invasion has been nothing short of remarkable and exactly what his people have needed during these unbelievably trying times. But it wasn’t always shaping up to go this way for Zelensky. This former comedian who rose to f...

I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but Vladimir Putin is everywhere right now. Especially places he shouldn’t be. Like every single one of my social media feeds. Or, you know, the country of Ukraine. The former is just a nuisance. The latter, well, that’s an atrocity. The thing about Putin is that for about as long as he’s been in the public eye, he’s been a closed book. And purposefully so. I...

We’ve all heard that familiar old Hollywood rumor of a normal person getting plucked from relative obscurity and thrust into the spotlight of tinsel town stardom. It’s such a cliché that it’s even been the subject matter of films like “My Fair Lady” or my own personal favorite, “The Jerk”. But let’s be honest – in real life, it doesn’t happen all that often. And then there was Angus Cloud. This st...

Meet the future of African music, Fireboy DML. He burst onto the scene in early 2019 after having spent much of the year prior teaching himself how to create beats and his critically acclaimed debut album, “Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps” produced a trio of supremely popular singles which helped capture the attention of audiences all around the globe. Now, he’s managed to turn himself into the bigge...

Despite having only blown up over the past handful of years, Babyface Ray is easily one of Michigan’s most impactful rappers. He’s increased his relevancy every year of his career and made a name for himself off the back of some deadpan raps that are as cold as any Michigan state winter. Many of us might have only heard his name for the first time with the release of his 2020 EP whose title I can’...

Let’s be honest, “Talking Ben the Dog” sure seems like a pretty generic app on the surface. In the game, users can interact with Ben and ask him basically any question they want in the hopes of receiving a snarky reply -- but what exactly about that screams top-of-the-charts worthy to you? Well, apparently, it’s all in how you use it. After being released over a decade ago, “Talking Ben the Dog” i...

Central Cee is better known as Cench to his litany of friends and fans and these days he’s the UK’s fastest ascending rap star. This 23-year-old grew up listening to a whole bunch of eclectic cultural music as a kid and his fondest childhood memory was the time he spent with his pops listening to old school hip-hop every weekend. Eventually, Cench became engrossed with the idea of making his own m...