Before They Were Famous

Today’s landscape for the music industry is constantly changing and evolving, the way social media impacts an artist come up and longevity is more significant than ever. 1 viral moment can change everything for any artist new or old and this couldn’t be more evident than with the recent success of Portland-based rapper Yeat. Yeat's latest track Rich Minion has appeared to have taken a life of its...

A musician not having their life together after years in the business isn’t exactly something new. That’s why so many of them burn out and fade away, relegated to the status of one-hit wonders. The world of rap is no different. But few rappers have wasted more of their prime getting shot or serving time in and out of prison than Chicago artist, King Yella. Whether he’s beefing with Offset over “sm...

Big Boss Vette is the bright, blunt, and bold force that hip-hop needs right now. Thanks to some unapologetic bars, singular style, a ratchet vibe, and a scintillating flow, this St. Louis native is taking over the rap scene and demanding everyone’s attention. After accumulating over 30 Million streams all by her very lonesome and going viral on TikTok with her hit track “Outside”, this talented y...

Summer is here and with the great weather as so many rappers have drawn the tragic correlation between in the past, that also generally means a rise in violent crime. As they say, it's hot in these streets and it really looks like Lil Tjay is the latest to fall victim to the cyclical nature of the streets. Few rappers have been on as impressive a career trajectory as New York City’s very own, Lil...

Today we are sitting down with Toronto's very own Anders, who is releasing a new song under Warner Music Group titled "Come With Me". Anders is a Canadian singer, rapper, and songwriter who gained his first wave of success working with Canadian EDM duo Loud Luxury and his collaborative song with Rich The Kid. In the interview, we are talking about Toronto women, why Toronto artists don't support e...

The Atlanta-based rapper known as Lil Kee has made a name for himself by writing some hard-as-all-hell street narratives, only to intermix those tracks with some vulnerable lyrics layered overtop of auto-tuned, atmospheric beats. With the help of a few wildly popular underground tracks like “Hear Me Out”, Lil Kee built himself up some local buzz in A-Town before catching the ear of Lil Baby and si...

The rapper known as SleazyWorld Go is having himself a moment. His sudden brush with fame is thanks in large part to his hit song “Sleazy Flow”, a 2-minute anthem that currently has nearly 30 Million combined listens on platforms like Spotify and YouTube. Following his release from prison, Sleazy returned home only for his girl to then move on without him. This inspired him to embrace his “sleaze”...

The most dangerous section of Chicago goes by one name: O’Block. On one side sits a sprawling behemoth known as Parkway Gardens, a low-income apartment complex. On the other, a string of businesses. This stretch of the city located on South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive has quite the history behind it – in fact, it was once even the home of Michelle Obama – but for the most part, this neighborh...

Summer 2022 is here we are back outside and man is there anything that could signify and commemorate this any better than a surprise Drake album? In a very sudden fall from the sky course of action, Drake announced his surprise album ‘Honestly Never mind’ about 6 hours before it was made available to the public. In classic Drake fashion, he posted a rather simple album cover with the caption “7th...

There are some people in this world whose past just seems to follow around like a shadow. And rapper Lil Reese? He’s one of those people. This Chi-town rapper became a new face of gangsta rap after appearing on a guest verse for Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like”. He’d follow that up by going solo with “Beef”, “Traffic”, and “Us”. Yet, even more so than his music, Reese’s proximity to crime has built his...

These days when you turn on the news it seems like there is a lot to be afraid of, between the pandemic, social unrest, and wild politics but it also seems like the most unlikely and seemingly harmless people are committing unspeakable atrocities. While we here at Before They Were Famous are located in Canada it’s a common narrative to hear that these types of individuals committing these acts are...

Ever since its inception, they say that Hip Hop is a young man's sport. And as hip-hop changes and evolves over time, this has proven to still be true. However as the genre grows older, we see those rappers who dominated the game in their youthful prime reinvent themselves and their main sources of income as they grew too old to constantly be at the forefront of new music and trends or going on to...

Being a successful rapper, these days is something that can be pretty subjective but a rapper’s success has always seemed to depend on a lot more than just the music they create. Whether it’s an artist’s media relevancy, their array of social media profiles, or pretty much their overall status in the court of public opinion and pop culture, sometimes it all just boils down to timing. On the other...

If you consider yourself a hip-hop head or you’re just an avid fan of rap music then there is a pretty good chance that hip-hop and fashion legend Fabolous holds a special place in your heart. From the prolific run of mixtapes, chart-topping singles, and stand-out guest verses, Fab truly represents a prestige era of Hip-hop that many fans remember so fondly. Fab is without question one of the best...

In early February of 2022, the New York City drill artist known as Chii Wvtzz became the latest in a long line of promising young talent to lose his life on the streets of the Bronx. Beginning in January of that same year, the rap industry would see the passing of Houston artist Sad Frosty, followed soon after by the of Florida-based artist Wavy Navy Pooh who was attacked while driving around with...

Coming straight outta the Bronx, rapper Sha Ek is just the latest in a long line of promising drill-artists to have managed to work their way out of one of the world’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Or... was he really the first? If you’ve ever seen any of his interviews than you already know that this dude likes to claim he was the first Bronx-based rapper to really put drill on the map. But how m...

At the offset of the Chicago drill scene, women like Katie Got Bandz, Sasha Go Hard, and Shady were the first to jump on the genre’s rapid-fire growth and contributed hugely to why this style of music was so popular in the first place. But when it comes to New York’s drill scene that hasn’t really been the case. At least not till now. Over the past year or so, an entirely new wave of women has put...

With summer less than a month away what better time than now to start getting your playlist ready? Maybe you’ve already heard of the hit song that should jump to the top of your list, but if not, that’s okay cause I’m here to tell you about it. No, it’s not the next big thing from Drake or even Megan Thee Stallion -- instead, I’m talking about what’s currently one of the internet’s most viral song...

Right now, plastic surgery is more popular than ever before. Facelifts, botox, liposuction, all of these procedures have been normalized over the past few years as more and more of us become obsessed with augmenting our appearance to suit our desires. But those now basic operations aren’t the only options available to us. Just ask social media sensation and Only Fans model, Mary Magdalene – and be...

When it comes to rap beef, calling people out, stirring up controversy, and generating wild headlines there truly aren't too many rappers that hold a candle to Jayceon Tyrell Taylor more commonly known as rapper The Game. Born Jayceon Terrell Taylor on November 29th, 1979, The game was a force to be reckoned with during the 2000s and throughout the 2010s up until this day, giving us classics like...

There are few artists who has left a legacy as polarizing and unique as the late XXXTentacion, this man had a depth to his artistry that is still unparalleled to much of his peers, regardless of what you think of the man himself. Whether you loved his music for the infectious melodies, slick wordplay or overwhelming aggression, or maybe if you were just a fan of the way X was vulnerable about his...

A few short weeks ago it was business as usual for the West Midlands chip shop known as Binley Mega Chippy -- but now their staff is in a whole other dimension -- one where pilgrims flock from all over the UK and other parts of the world simply for the chance to sample some of their deep-fried goodness. Millions have watched TikToks boasting the shop’s ear-worm of a theme song and now everyone is...

Technically speaking, the man we know as Crip Mac is a rapper. I say, “technically” because if you search for his name on Google, odds are you’re going to find a lot more about his wild interviews as well as rumors and gossip about his gang affiliations than you will his music which is, honestly, almost non-existent. But then, why the popularity and the interest? Just who is this dude and why does...

“The funeral will happen in my youth.” That’s a translated line from one of the Indian rappers Sidhu Moose Wala’s latest singles “The Last Ride”. Heartbreakingly, only weeks after that song’s release, those lyrics would take on unforeseen meaning when their author was gunned down in an organized slaying. On Sunday, this 28-year-old rapper was driving near his village in Punjab state when he was am...

For as long as he’s been making music, Kendrick Lamar has been trying to open minds. But Kendrick Lamar is NOT a role model. On his third studio album “To Pimp a Butterfly”, Kendrick became something of a Liberal champion, but the truth is that -- just like the rest of us -- Kendrick is a deeply flawed individual whose been trying to tell us that the entire time. Sure, he’s a Pulitzer Prize winner...