Drake

Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986), who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor.He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. In June 2009, Drake signed a recording contract with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment. In November 2009, Lil Wayne released a statement announcing that Drake's first studio album, Thank Me Later, had been completed. The album was released on June 15, 2010, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album has since gone platinum. He released his second studio album on November 15, 2011 titled Take Care. Drake was set to release an R&B mixtape sometime in the future along with a collaboration album with Lil Wayne, however, both have been postponed for various reasons.

Drake was ranked No. 2 on MTV's Hottest MCs In The Game VII list in 2012.He currently has more number-one singles, twelve, on Billboard's Rap Songs Chart than any other artist, and is, other than 50 Cent, the only artist to simultaneously occupy the chart's top three positions. Early life and career beginnings Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. He is the son of Dennis Graham, a drummer who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis, and Sandi Graham, an educator. Two of his uncles, Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges, are also musicians.Drake's father is an African American from Memphis, Tennessee, and Drake's mother is a white Jewish Canadian. He attended a Jewish day school and had a Bar Mitzvah.His parents divorced when he was five years old, and he was raised by his mother in Toronto's wealthy Forest Hill neighbourhood.Drake attended high school at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he began acting, but did not graduate.He spent most summers with his father in Memphis.Drake stated that his parents' divorce greatly affected him as a person, saying, “I had to become a man very quickly and be the backbone for a woman who I love with all my heart, my mother."

Lil Wayne

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Young Turk. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live! that year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album Guerrilla Warfare, released in 1999. Also in 1999, Lil Wayne released his Platinum debut album Tha Block Is Hot, selling over one million copies in the U.S. Although his next two albums Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002) were not as successful (only reaching Gold status), Lil Wayne reached higher popularity in 2004 with Tha Carter, which included the single "Go D.J." Wayne also appeared on the Destiny's Child top ten single "Soldier" that year. In 2005, the sequel to Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, was released. In 2006 and 2007, Lil Wayne released several mixtapes and appeared on several popular rap and R&B singles.His most successful album, Tha Carter III, was released in 2008 and sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. its first week of release. It included the number-one single "Lollipop" featuring Static Major. It also includes the singles "A Milli" and "Got Money" featuring T-Pain and won theGrammy Award for Best Rap Album. Lil Wayne released his debut rock album, Rebirth, in 2010 to primarily negative reception from critics. The album eventually went gold. In March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an 8-month prison sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. While in prison he released another album entitled I Am Not a Human Being in September 2010, featuring Young Money artists such as Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Twist. His ninth studio album and first since being released from prison, Tha Carter IV, was released on August 29, 2011.The album includes the songs "6 Foot 7 Foot" featuring Cory Gunz, "How to Love" and "She Will" featuring Drake. It sold 964,000 copies in the U.S. its first week out.

Early life Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana.Carter was born when his mother, a chef, was 19 years old. His parents were divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family. Carter enrolled in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School. He wrote his first rap song at age eight. In the summer of 1991, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Carter recorded freestyle raps on Williams's answering machine, leading him to mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. He also recorded his first ever collaboration album True Story with rapper B.G.. At the time, Carter was 11, and B.G. was 14, and was billed as "The B.G.'z". When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wi=z. At age 13, he accidentally shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, and off-duty police officer Robert Hoobler drove him to the hospital.At McMain Magnet School, Carter was an honor student, but he dropped out at the age of 14 to focus on a musical career.

Jay-Z

           Jay-Z co-owns the 40/40 Club, is part-owner of the NBA's New Jersey Nets and is also the creator of the line Rocawear.He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings, one of the three founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, and the founder of Roc Nation. As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with eleven. Jay-Z also has had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, one as lead artist.

           He married American R&B superstar Beyoncé Knowles on April 4, 2008.On December 11, 2009, Jay-Z was ranked as the 10th most successful artist of the 2000's by Billboard and ranking as the 5th top solo male artist and as the 4th top rapper behind Eminem, Nelly, and 50.

Early life

          Originally from Marcy Houses, a housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, the future "Jay-Z" then known as Shawn Carter, was abandoned by his father and in 1982, he shot his brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. Carter attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn, along with future rapper AZ, until it was closed down. After that he attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Downtown Brooklyn, with fellow future rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, and Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, but did not graduate.In his music he refers to having been involved in selling crack cocaine.

      According to his mother, Gloria Carter, her son Shawn used to wake his siblings up at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table. Eventually, she bought him a boom box for his birthday, sparking his interest in music. He began freestyling, writing lyrics, and followed the music of many artists popular at the time.In his neighborhood, Carter was known as "Jazzy", a nickname that eventually developed into his showbiz/stage name, "Jay-Z". The moniker is also an homage to his musical mentor, Jaz-O, as well as to the J/Z subway lines that have a stop at Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn.

Jay-Z can briefly be heard on several of Jaz-O's early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including "The Originators" and "Hawaiian Sophie". Jay-Z was also involved in and won several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 90's as part of a plan to get a sought-after record deal. He first became known to a wide audience by being featured on the posse cut "Show and Prove" on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddy's Home. Jay-Z has been referred to as Big Daddy Kane's hype man during this period, though Kane explains that he didn't fill the traditional hype man role, instead Jay-Z "basically made cameo appearances on stage. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay-Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage".He made an appearance on a popular song by Big L, "Da Graveyard", and on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build", which also featured early appearances by DMX, and Ja Rule in 1995. His first official rap single was called "I Can't Get With That", for which he released a music video

994–1997: Reasonable Doubt and In My Lifetime

From the beginning of his professional recording career, when no major label gave him a record deal, Jay-Z, Damon Dash, and Kareem Biggs created Roc-A-Fella Records as their own independent label in 1995. After striking a deal with Priority to distribute his material, Jay-Z released his 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt with beats from acclaimed producers such as DJ Premier and Super DJ Clark Kent and a notable appearance by The Notorious B.I.G.. The album reached number 23 on the Billboard 200, and was well-received by critics.This album would later be included in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" as No.248 and eventually reach platinum status.

          After reaching a new distribution deal with Def Jam in 1997, Jay-Z released his follow-up In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. Executively produced by Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, it sold better than his previous effort. Jay-Z later explained that the album was made during one of the worst periods of his life, he was reeling from the death of his close friend The Notorious B.I.G. The album was a personal revelation for Jay-Z as he spun the tale of his hard knock upbringing.The album's glossy production stood as a contrast to his first release, and some dedicated fans felt he had "sold out". However, the album did feature some beats from producers who had worked with him on Reasonable Doubt, namely DJ Premier and Ski. Like its predecessor, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 earned Platinum status in the United States.

1998–2000: criminal charges and mainstream success

           In 1998, Jay-Z released Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life which spawned the biggest hit of his career at the time, "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)". He relied more on flow and wordplay, and he continued with his penchant for mining beats from the popular producers of the day such asSwizz Beatz, an upstart in-house producer for Ruff Ryders, and Timbaland. Other producers included DJ Premier, Erick Sermon, The 45 King, and Kid Capri. Charting hits from this album included "Can I Get A...", featuring Ja Rule and Amil, and "Nigga What, Nigga Who", also featuring Amil. Vol. 2 would eventually become Jay-Z's most commercially successful album; it was certified 5× Platinum in the United States and has to date sold over five million copies.The album went on to win a Grammy Award, although Jay-Z boycotted the ceremony protesting DMX's failure to garner a Grammy nomination.In 1999, Jay-Z dueted with Mariah Carey on "Heartbreaker", a song from her seventh album, Rainbow. In that same year, Jay-Z released Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter, the album proved to be successful and sold over 3 million records.Vol. 3's most successful single was "Big Pimpin'", featuring UGK. Around the same time, Jay-Z was accused of stabbing record executive Lance "Un" Rivera for what Jay-Z perceived was Rivera's bootlegging of Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter. The stabbing allegedly occurred at the record release party for Q-Tip's debut solo album Amplified at the Kit Kat Klub, a now defunct night club in Times Square, New York City, on December 9. Jay-Z's associates at the party were accused of causing a commotion within the club, which Jay-Z allegedly used as cover when he supposedly stabbed Rivera in the stomach with a five-inch (127 mm) blade. In his book Decoded, Jay-Z addresses his assault case. While he didn't apologize for his actions, he did express regret that the incident happened and attributed it to a loss of control, saying that there was no reason for him to get into a situation that put him and people who depended on him at risk. He also vowed to never get involved in a similar situation again.

Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known by his stage nameEminem (often stylized as EMINƎM) and by his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group, D12, to mainstream recognition. As well as being a member of the Detroit rap group D12, Eminem is also one half of the Detroit hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil, with Royce da 5'9". Eminem is one of the best-selling artists in the world and is the best selling artist of the 2000s.He has been listed and ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines including theRolling Stone magazine which has ranked him 82nd on its list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The same magazine has declared him The King of Hip Hop. Including his work with D12 and Bad Meets Evil, Eminem has achieved ten number-one albums on the Billboard 200. He has sold more than 42 million tracks and 41 million albums in the United States, and nearly 90 million albums worldwide.
     Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album, The Slim Shady LP. That first album, The Marshall Mathers LP and his third major album, The Eminem Show, all won Grammy Awards, making Eminem the first artist to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LPs. The Marshall Mathers LP is also considered one of Eminem's best and most successful albums. Eminem then went on hiatus after touring in 2005. He released his first album since 2004's Encore, titled Relapse, on May 15, 2009. In 2010, Eminem released his seventh studio album Recovery, which was an international success. Recovery was also named the best selling album worldwide of 2010 joining The Eminem Show, which was the best seller of 2002. Eminem won Grammy Awards for both Relapse and Recovery, giving him a total of 13 Grammys in his career. Eminem has named Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Newcleus, the Beastie Boys, Dr. Dre,Tupac Shakur, AZ, Nas, and Ice-T amongst others as his influences.
     Eminem has opened other ventures since the beginning of his success. He founded his own record label, Shady Records with his manager Paul Rosenberg. He also has his own radio channel, Shade 45. Eminem began an acting career in 2002, when he starred in the hip hop drama film 8 Mile in which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, becoming the first rap artist ever to win the award.He is also set to star in the 2013 films Shady Talez and Have Gun, Will Travel. He has also made cameo appearances in The Wash (2001), Funny People(2009) and television series Entourage.

Life and career
1972–91: Early life and beginnings


     Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972, in Saint Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Deborah R. (Nelson) Mathers-Briggs and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr.He is of Scottish, English, German, Swiss, Polish, and Luxembourgian ancestry.His father abandoned the family when he was 18 months old, and he was raised solely by his mother. By the age of 12, Mathers and his mother had moved between various cities and towns in Missouri (including Saint Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City) before they settled in Warren, Michigan, and in Mathers' teenage years, Detroit.
     As a child, Mathers developed an interest in storytelling and aspired to become a comic book artist before discovering hip hop.When Mathers was around 11 years old, his maternal uncle Ronald "Ronnie" Nelson introduced him to the genre after giving him a copy of Ice-T's single "Reckless".After obtaining a copy of the Beastie Boys album Licensed to Ill as a teenager, Mathers became interested in music, performing amateur raps at age 14 under the pseudonym "M&M" and joining the group called "Bassmint Productions" and released their second EP, Steppin' Onto The Scene. They later changed their name to "Soul Intent" and around 1995 they released their first single called "Fuckin' Backstabber" under the record label Mashin' Duck Records.Although he was enrolled at Lincoln High School in Warren, he frequently participated in freestyle battles at the now-defunct Osborn High School on Detroit's east side.Despite a well-documented struggle succeeding in a predominantly African-American industry, he gained the approval of underground hip hop audiences.After repeating the ninth grade twice due to truancy and near-failing grades,he dropped out of high school at age 17.In 1991, Mathers was devastated by the suicide of his uncle. He has a tattoo reading "Ronnie R.I.P." on his upper left arm.Ronnie was mentioned in the songs "Stan", "Cleanin' Out My Closet" and "My Dad's Gone Crazy".

Tupac Shakur

Afeni is arrested and charged with conspiracy to bomb several public areas in New York City. While out on bail, Afeni courts two men: Legs, a local hood, and Billy, a member of the party. 

February 1971 Afeni, pregnant with Tupac, has her bail revoked; she's sent to the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village. June 16, 1971 Shortly after his mom is acquitted on bombing charges, Tupac Amaru Shakur is born in New York. Tupac Amaru are Inca words meaning "shining serpent." Shakur is Arabic for "thankful to God." 
1975-1983Tupac's family shuttles between the Bronx and Harlem, at times living in shelters. 
1983 Legs comes to live with the Shakur family; Tupac "claims" him as his father. Legs introduces Afeni to crack. 
September 1983 Afeni enrolls 12- year-old Tupac in the 127th Street Ensemble, a Harlem theater group. In his first performance Tupac plays Travis in A Raisin in the Sun. 
June 1986 

Shakur's family moves to Baltimore. As MC New York, Tupac writes his first rap. 
September 1986 Tupac enrolls at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studies ballet and acting. June 1988 Tupac and his family move to Marin City, California. "leaving that school affected me so much," he said later. "I see that as the point where I got off track." Shortly after, Tupac moves in with a neighbor and begins selling drugs. 

August 1988 Mutulu Shakur, Tupac's stepfather, is sentenced to sixty years in prison for his involvement in a 1981 armored-car-robbery. 
1990 Tupac joins Digital Underground as a roadie/dancer/rapper. While on tour, he learns that his mother is using crack. 
January 3, 1991 

Tupac makes his recording debut on the DU's This Is an E.P. Release. 
November 12,1991: 2Pacalypse Now is released. Shortly thereafter, Tupac files a $10 million lawsuit against the Oakland police for alleged brutality following an arrest for jaywalking. 
January 17, 1992 Tupac makes his big-screen debut in Ernest Dickerson's Juice, earning praise for his portrayal of Bishop. He is perhaps best remember for the line "I am crazy. And I don't give a fuck!" 
April 11, 1992 Ronald Ray Howard, 19, shoots a Texas trooper. Howard's attorney claims 2Pacalypse Now, which was in his client's tape deck, incited him to kill. 
August 22, 1992 

Tupac has an altercation with old acquaintances in Marin City. A 6 year-old bystander is shot in the head. Tupac's half brother, Maurice Harding, is arrested buy released due to lack of evidence. 
September 22, 1992 Tupac is denounced by Vice President Day Quayle, who says 2Pacalypse Now :has no place in our society." 
February 1, 1993 

Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. is released and eventually goes platinum. 
March 13, 1993 Tupac has a fight with a limo driver in Hollywood who accuses him of using drugs in the car. Tupac's arrested, but the charges are dropped. 
April 5, 1993 Tupac is arrested in Lansing, Michigan, for taking a swing at a local rapper with a baseball bat during a concert. He's sentenced to ten days in jail. 
July 23, 1993 

John Singleston's Poetic Justice, starring Tupac and Janet Jackson, is released. Before filing began, Jackson demanded Shakur take an HIV test before she would do any kissing scenes. 
October 31, 1993 Tupac is arrested for allegedly shooting two off-duty Atlanta Police officers who he says were harassing a black motorist. Charges are eventually dropped. 
November 18, 1993