Analysis of Rap Music

 Who Is Flo Rida? Tramar Lacel Dillard, known as Flo Rida, is a Miami rapper who built a commercial model in 2007–2009 based on sampling recognisable hooks, adding electro production, and releasing the result to radio. Low (2007) and Right Round (2009) both reached #1 on the Hot 100. Only One Flo Part 1 (2010) peaked at #107 with 11,000 first-week copies, confirming the model had run out of source material. Quick Stats  Career Overview Flo Rida released Mail on Sunday (2008) with Low — a collabo

 Who Is Yung Joc? Jasiel Amon Robinson, known as Yung Joc, is an Atlanta rapper who had two of 2006's most recognisable Southern rap singles — It's Goin' Down and I Know You See It — before PopMatters accurately summarised his career in seven words: the Good Charlotte of rap. Quick Stats  Career Overview Yung Joc debuted in 2006 with It's Goin' Down — a snap-rap track that reached #3 on the Hot 100 — and New Joc City, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 and went gold. Hustlenomics (2007), e

 Who Is Snow? Darrin O'Brien, known as Snow, is a Canadian rapper from a Toronto housing project who watched Informer — his debut single — reach #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks while he was serving a prison sentence for assault. He was then denied entry to the United States because of his criminal record, meaning he could not tour the country where his song was number one. 12 Inches of Snow (1993) went platinum. Quick Stats  Career Overview Snow grew up in a North York, Toronto ho

 Who Is Bow Wow? Shad Gregory Moss, known as Lil Bow Wow (later Bow Wow), is a Columbus, Ohio rapper who began performing as a child rapper at age 6 under Snoop Dogg's mentorship and became one of the most commercially successful teen rap acts of the early 2000s. New Jack City II (2009) was his attempt to transition into adult rap, and it debuted at #16 with 31,000 copies. Quick Stats  Career Overview Bow Wow was performing as Lil Bow Wow at age 6 when Snoop Dogg invited him onstage. Jermaine Du

 Who Is Tone Loc? Anthony Terrell Smith, known as Tone Loc, is a Los Angeles rapper who scored two of the late 1980s' biggest crossover rap singles — Wild Thing (#2 Hot 100) and Funky Cold Medina (#3) — and whose debut album Loc-ed After Dark became the first album by a Black rap musician to top the Billboard 200. Cool Hand Loc (1991) confirmed those hits were the whole story. Quick Stats  Career Overview Tone Loc grew up in Los Angeles and began performing with the rap group Triple A as a teena

 Who Is Kreayshawn? Natassia Zolot, known as Kreayshawn, is an Oakland rapper who became briefly famous in 2011 when Gucci Gucci went viral on YouTube. Columbia Records signed her almost immediately. Somethin' Bout Kreay (2012) debuted at #112 with 3,502 first-week copies. On January 16, 2014, Kreayshawn tweeted a screenshot of her total profit from the album: $0.01. Quick Stats  Career Overview Kreayshawn's entire career can be summarised by two things: the Gucci Gucci video (2011) and the $0.0

 Who Is Marky Mark? Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg, known as Marky Mark (and now as Mark Wahlberg), is a Boston actor who briefly had one of 1991's biggest rap hits with Good Vibrations before discovering that Good Vibrations was everything his commercial appeal had to offer. You Gotta Believe (1992) confirmed it. He became an actor instead. Quick Stats  Career Overview Marky Mark was the younger brother of New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg and formed Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch in 1990.

 Who Is Benzino? Raymond Scott, known as Benzino, is a Boston rapper and co-owner of The Source magazine who used his position at hip-hop's most powerful publication to promote his own rap career and wage a multi-year public war against Eminem. He lost decisively. Eminem called him the worst rapper in the world on Hot 97. Arch Nemesis (2005) sold 10,000 copies. Quick Stats  Career Overview Benzino co-founded The Source magazine with David Mays in 1988, building it into the most authoritative rap

 Who Is Nick Cannon? Nick Cannon is an American rapper, comedian, actor, and television host whose music career has existed in the shadow of his entertainment career since his debut single Gigolo in 2003. His second and most recent album White People Party Music (2014) received universally negative reviews and earned a 1/10 from us. Quick Stats  Career Overview Nick Cannon began as an actor and comedian before releasing his self-titled debut album in 2003, which earned a collective shrug and one

 Who Is Chingy? Howard Bailey Jr., known as Chingy, is a St. Louis rapper who had two of 2003's biggest singles — Right Thurr and Holidae In — and a debut album Jackpot that went double platinum, making him briefly the most commercially successful new rapper in mainstream pop-rap. His subsequent releases confirmed that Right Thurr was lightning in a bottle that had struck once and could not be recaptured. Quick Stats  Career Overview Chingy was discovered by Ludacris's Disturbing tha Peace impri

 Who Is Tyga? Micheal Ray Nguyen-Stevenson, known as Tyga, is a Compton-born rapper who scored his biggest commercial moment with Rack City (2012) — a DJ Mustard-produced club banger that went double platinum — and subsequently struggled to sustain that momentum across studio albums that critics consistently dismissed. Quick Stats  Career Overview Tyga released his independent debut No Introduction (2008) on Decaydance before Lil Wayne signed him to Young Money/Cash Money in 2011. Careless World

 Who Is Lil Pump? Gazzy Garcia, known as Lil Pump, is a Miami rapper who became famous at 16 through the viral spread of Gucci Gang (2017) on SoundCloud — a track so stripped-down it consisted almost entirely of the title repeated over a minimal trap beat. He was signed to Warner Bros. Records for a reported $8 million before his debut album was even released. Quick Stats  Career Overview Lil Pump began posting to SoundCloud at 16 and Gucci Gang was picked up by algorithms and radio programmers