Biggie Smalls, the Most Influential Rapper of All Time

After the release of his first album, Infinite, Eminem developed his alter ego Slim Shady. He then created The Slim Shady EP which created many opportunities for Eminem, jump starting his career. He obtained a contract with Interscope Records and was introduced to Dr. Dre who became his mentor. His first album with Interscop Records was The Slim Shady LP in 1999 followed by The Marshall Mathers LP in 2000. The combination of these two albums proved that Eminem was one of the most important and popular pop artists of the time (Thomas, 2013).

In the 1970’s, he introduced the type of music into a style we know now as rap. He used turn tables and used other records to make longer segments. Soon deejays started to work with other rappers and talk in rhythmic sayings, this became to be known as hip hop. For years popular styles of club deejays like Herc, and Afrika Bambaataa, rapped originally in African American neighborhoods in New York. Rap hit the air on the mainstream for the first time in 1980, with well-known performers L.L Cool J, Run- D.M.C., Hammer, and Will Smith.

While these songs were immensely popular (“Whoomp!” is ranked by Billboard as one of the greatest songs of all time (“Greatest of All Time”) while “Jump” was one of the top 3 selling songs of 1992 (“Week Ending May”), groups from the city, for the most part, were commonly seen as “novelty” and “kiddie crews” (“Kriss Kross: Da Bomb”). While the emergence of relatively simple but enjoyable music was going on in Atlanta, rap as a whole began to truly explode. The newest major music genre entered its golden era; “Ready to Die” by Biggie Smalls, “Illmatic” by Nas, and “Me Against The World” by 2Pac were all albums that were rated “five mics” by The Source (“5 Mics?”) The “five mic” rating from The Source indicated an exceptional and rare hip-hop album. In this time of growth in hip-hop culture Atlanta, and the South as a whole was in large part left out. People were enthralled by cross country feuds between rap superstars; but just when it seemed like there was no space at the time for rap from anywhere but New York or California, the duo of Andre “3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, better known as Outkast single-handedly redefined rap music.

If skills sold, Talib Kweli would have been one of the most commercially successful rappers of his time. However, the earnest MC became one of the most critically successful rappers of his time, which dawned in the late '90s when he rapped alongside Mos Def and DJ Hi-Tek as part of the group Black Star. This trio of up-and-comers and their widely acclaimed self-titled 1998 album debut, Black Star, helped make Rawkus Records one of the premier underground rap outposts of the late '90s. Kweli and Hi-Tek then collaborated as a duo on Reflection Eternal (2000), which firmly established them apart from Mos Def, who had gone solo. For a moment there, Kweli and his Rawkus associates seemed like a full-fledged movement -- a return to the sort of hip-hop associated with the so-called golden age.

Picking up where his previous effort left off, "KING" (Grand Hustle/Atlantic) builds on the sound and the success of 2004's "URBAN LEGEND" - a blockbuster project that debuted at the top of Billboard's "Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums" chart and at #7 on the Billboard 200, spawned the RIAA platinum-certified single, "Bring Em Out" and the Grammy-nominated smash, "U Don't Know Me," registered over three million in ringtone sales, and was certified RIAA platinum, going on to sell over 1.3 million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside its commercial success, "URBAN LEGEND" secured a multitude of award nominations, including Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album at the 2005 American Music Awards, Best Rap Video ("U Don't Know Me") at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, and Choice Rap Track ("Bring Em Out") at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, plus landing T.I. his second annual VIBE Award for Street Anthem of the Year ("U Don't Know Me"). The kudos culminated with his Grammy nomination for "U Don't Know Me" for Best Rap Solo Performance, sharing the category with Common, Eminem, 50 Cent, Ludacris, and Kanye West. Since he first burst on the scene in 2001 with his impressive solo debut, "I'M SERIOUS," T.I.

Not bad for a kid no one had ever heard of before. Two years later, in the summer of 2002, Nelly proved to be no one-hit wonder when his sophomore album Nellyville came in at the number one position on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart. That same week, the rapper just happened to be controlling the top slot on ten separate Billboard charts as well. Nellyville went on to sell over 6 million records domestically and earn its creator two Grammy trophies for the singles "Hot In Herre" (Best Male Rap Solo) and "Dilemma" (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration). In 2003, he released a platinum-selling remix album, Da Derrty Versions (The Reinvention).

Robert James Ritchie, known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor. His 1998 album Devil Without a Cause sold 14 million copies worldwide. The song that made Kid Rock a star was “Bawitdaba” from his breakout album Devil Without a Cause. It was the third single released from the album and really established Kid Rock as the king of rap metal. The song earned Kid Rock two Grammy nominations as it reached 10th on the mainstream rock charts.

Curtis Jackson, 26 (more commonly known as 50 Cent) has made a huge impact on the hip hop industry. He was born July 6th, 1976, on the south side of Jamaica, Queens. Nearby residents of Queens have described it as the main area for all the to-be drug dealers. 50's excellentmajor-label debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin', sold 2.1 million copies in its first three weeks, breaking record sales in America. Only last year the well-known hip-hop artists/ producers signed him to a joint label deal.

Like the spirituals, blues, and jazz—the greatest art forms to emerge from the U.S.A.—hip-hop music expressed and enacted Socratic parrhesia (bold, frank, and plain speech in the face of conventional morality and entrenched power).” Based on the beliefs of the community-proclaimed “Godfather of Hip-Hop”, Universal Zulu Nati... ... middle of paper ... ...n Hill, released to universally rave reviews. Known to several fans simply as The Miseducation, the album rose to the top of the Billboard charts at a rapid pace. Breaking numerous records, Hill was nominated for ten awards at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, the most for a woman at the time, until broken by music superstar, Beyoncé in 2010. Hill then took home five out of those ten awards at the show, the most awards won by a woman in a single night. This feat remained untouched until R&B singer, Alicia Keys’, win in 2002.

"Top 50 Richest Rappers ." celebritynetworth.com. celeberitynetworth.com. Web. 19 Feb 2014.