Mike Stud: Great in Baseball to Great in Rap

Mike Stud

Mike Stud or Micheal Francis Seander, was orginially a baseball starting pitcher for Duke University. When his injury took him out of the sport he had to find a new path, he turned to music during his recovery and eventually he chose music as his new career. Mike made a video called College Humor as a joke and it blew up with over 1.4 million views. His first mixtape was called A Toast To Tommy along with a second one released not much longer called Click. Mike's first studio album was released in 2013 and it was called Relief. A year later he released his second studio album called Closer. In anticipation of his next album he released a EP called This Isn't The Album. Most recently, Mike released his third studio album called These Days which includes features from past teammates. 

You can find his music here: soundcloud.com/mikestudofficial

or you can watch his music videos here: Mike Stud's Youtube

Moosh and Twist: Growing Up

Moosh and Twist

Moosh (DeQuincy Coleman-McRae) on the right and Twist (Oliver Feighan) on the left are both from Philly, PA. They meet and became friends in the second grade and bonded over music. A music teacher taught them the basics of recording and the two went from there. They have now been able to release 4 mixtapes starting with Up Before the World. After being featured in XXL's magazine, they released The Welcome Mat. The third mixtape released was called The Vestibule. Their last mixtape they have released is called Back to the Basement, which they went on tour in honor of the mixtape. Next, Living Out loud was released and was their first EP and is on iTunes. Most recently, they have released a single song from their upcoming project called Growing Pains.

You can purchase their music here: mooshandtwist.com

or watch their videos here: Moosh and Twist's Youtube

Dumbfoundead: Battling His Way to the Top

Dumbfoundead



Dumbfoundead, aka Jonathan Park (real name), was born in February of 1986 in Koreatown, California. Park got a large online fan base from videos on YouTube of his rap battles. Dumbfoundead released his first solo album called DFD in November of 2011, just a year later he dropped his second album in October called Take the Stares. In 2013, still being consistent released his third album, Old Boy Jon. He has done work with various artist like Waka and ASAP Ferg. In 2015 Dumbfoundead changed his focus back to rap battles and entered OVO's King of the Dot, where Drake decided to compliment him on his battles. He then went on to compete in a battle against Wild 'n Out member Conceited, that battle is the most popular rap battle of 2015.

You can purchase his music from his website: music.dumbfoundead.com
or watch his videos here: Dumbfoundead's Youtube

Oliver Spitts: Local Legend

Oliver Spitts

Oliver Spitts is a local rapper from Lock Haven that is determined to put his hometown's name on the map. Oliver stands for Only LIVE Real, which he says is a representation that you should live for who you are and not for what society wants you to be, he chose spitts because he liked the slang term for rapping. He started by writing out his feelings and eventually made it into a rhythm. After being able to sign with the label FITCH, run by George Costulas, he released his first album called Exit 111, in reference to Lock Haven. Also while releasing a numerous amount of individual songs and collaborative work.

You can purchase his music from here: Oliver Spitts Music
or watch his videos here: Oliver Spitts Youtube

Danny Brown: Rapper Turned Writer

Danny Brown



Danny Brown, or known other as Daniel Dewan Stewart, was born on March 16, 1981 in Detroit, Michigan. He as grown his recognition from how individualistic his music can be. After getting in some trouble he had to stop his normal life for awhile and really began to focus on his craft in music. After his time in jail, he was able to find a spot in a group called Rese'vor Dogs, they went on to release a album called Runispkotes-N-Dumpemndariva. After the break up of the group he collaborated with G-Unit member Tony Yayo and created a album called Hawaiian Snow. After working and releasing all four mixtapes to his Detroit State of Mind series he announced his first studio album. Hybrid was released in 2010, which is the album where he found his "voice" with his music. Later signing to Fools Gold Records, Brown released his second studio album called XXX in 2012, which brought Danny serious recognition. After doing features with various artists, he was able to release his third studio album called Old in 2013 with features such as Kendrick Lamar, ASAP Rocky, Ab-Soul, and SchoolBoy Q. Next he went on to write a Dr. Suess inspired book for his daughter, all while working on a album that has yet to be released. Currently he is working on a TV series called Fresh Off the Boat.

You can purchase his music on his website: xdannyxbrownx.com
 or watch his videos here: Danny Brown's Youtube

Devvon Terrell: The Famous Weirdo

Devvon Terrell

Devvon Terrell was born in October of 1988 in Brooklyn, New York. He started out by having a YouTube channel for his vlogs. He then grew into music and dropped his first album called Weird Sexy Cool. While still being prominent on YouTube Terrell was able to drop a second album called House Of The Weirdos. Devvon was lucky enough to get on two record labels called The R Music Group and WEIRDO_o. While on the label he dropped his third album called The Living Weird_o. Recently Terrell has gotten recognition from his work with Futuristic on social media by making remakes and music videos that mostly all have blown up and went viral.

You can purchase his music at his website: devvonterrell.com

or watch his videos here: Devvon Terrell's Youtube

Earl Sweatshirt: Truly Living His Odd Future

Earl Sweatshirt

Earl Sweatshirt, real name Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, was born in Chicago on February 24, 1994. He then moved to Los Angeles a few years later where he grew up and met Tyler the Creator. In the 9th grade he began his rap career under the name of Sly Tendencies, he released his first mixtape called Kitchen Cutlery on Myspace. The next year in 2009, he was discovered by Tyler and changed his name while joining the Odd Future group. As Earl, he was able to self-release his debut mixtape called Earl in March of 2010. After a break from music due to no support from his family and being sent to Samoa to get out of trouble, he came back and started out easy with multiple features in various artists albums. Finally in November of 2012 Earl changed his attention back to his own music and released his solo song Chum. This song was later put into his first album called Doris which came out in December. A couple years later, in the late part of 2014 and early of 2015 he started on his second album called I Dont Like Shit, I Dont Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt, which was released on Itunes in 2016. He also releases a lot of individual songs on his Soundcloud page.

You can purchase his music on his website: earlsweatshirt.com

or watch his videos here: Earl Sweatshirt's Youtube

Ab-Soul: Not Only Metaphors and Punchlines

Ab-Soul

Ab-Soul or also known as Herbert Anthony Stevens IV was born on February 23, 1987, in Los Angeles, California. He actually lived in Germany till he was four and moved back to the U.S. He says that one of his early influences was Michael Jackson and later Twista, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Nas. He started music in 2002 by writing individual songs. In 2005 he was finally able to sign with StreetBeat Entertainment. As soon as his contract was up he switch to a well known label, Top Dawg Entertainment, in 2010. In the next two years he was able to collaborate with artists, most particularly Kendrick Lamar. Along with releasing his own first album, Long Term Mentality, on April 5, 2011 after a long and heavily promoted wait. The next year he started promoting his second album, Control Systems. After touring with SchoolBoy Q he got recognition and got the chance to work with XXL Magazine. Soon after he released the name for his third album called These Days, which was later released on June 24, 2012. The album debuted at number 11 on the  billboard chart.

You can watch his music videos here: Ab-Soul's Youtube

Wax: Livin Good

Wax

Wax was born in April of 1980 in Dunkirk, Maryland. He grew up being influenced mainly by MTV and stars such as Guns N' Roses, The Fresh Prince, and DJ Jazzy Jeff. The influence of them brought upon his want to play guitar and singing, which started in the 6th grade. Later in his music endeavors he started listening to artist such as Eazy-E, N.W.A., and Too Short; which changed his own style of music that he was creating. In 2000 Wax became a lead vocalist and guitarist for the band called MacGregor. While touring internationally and releasing 2 albums with his band, he was able to release his own first solo EP called Biatch!. After separating from the band he went on to future his won music career along with his own twin brother, Herbal T. Together they started a YouTube channel which has since then blown up, with over 80 million views on his videos. In 2006, Grizzly Season was released which was the two brothers first album together, under AGP Records. While taking time off for collaborating with other artists he made numerous songs and albums with EOM called Liquid Courage and another with Dumbfoundead called Clockwise. In 2011 Wax was able to be signed to Dej Jam Records by releasing Scrublife. Finally Wax released his first solo album called Continue in January of 2013. Most recently, Wax announced Livin Foul, which is his second studio album which was released in October of 2015.

You can purchase his music on his website: waxdotcom.com
or watch his videos here: Wax's Youtube

Hopsin: Creator of Funk

Hopsin

Marcus Jamal Hopson was born in July of 1985 in Los Angeles, California. When he started his career as Hopsin he became very memorable because of his white contacts that he wore when he performed. In 2007, Ruthless Records signed Hopsin, while on the label he decided that he would venture on his own and create his own label called Funk Volume in 2009. Problems with the label he created himself he decided to leave and create his own label again in 2016 which is called Undercover Prodigy. From the time he started, Hopsin has released four albums called Gazing in the Moonlight (on Ruthless Records), Raw, Knock Madness, and Pound Syndrome. Along with a collab project, haywire, with SwizZz.

You can purchase his music here: myfunkvolume.com

or watch his music videos here: Hopsin's Youtube

Travis Porter: aka Mr. Porter

Travis Porter

Travis Porter grew up in Georgia, where Travis and his friends made a group called the Hard Hitters. He released four mixtapes before 2009, first Travis released Who is Travis Porter, then Im a Differenter 1 and 2, and Streets R'Us. Later accidentaly releasing All the Way Turnt Up which alone got them recognition along with releasing three more mixtapes before 2010, which were Proud 2 Be a Problem, I Am Travis Porter, and Differenter Gang. After these accomplishments, near the end of 2010 he signed with Jive,while on the label they released From Day 1. Which was later closed but still did work with Jive's parent company RCA, and released Diplo and more popular J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League.

You can get to his music on his website: wearetravisporter.com

or watch his music videos here:  Travis Porter's Youtube

Watsky: Making Magic Happen

Watsky

Watsky, aka George Virden Watsky, was born on September 15, 1986 in San Francisco, California. Before he started a music career he was a extremely good poet, he performed mostly slam poetry and was able to be featured on Russell Wilson's poetry show on HBO. He started getting recognition for his work in poetry in 2006 when he won two championships. In 2009 he decided to change his focus from poetry and use those skills in writing music. That year he released his first unofficial album called Watsky. A year later he released his second album called Guilty Pleasures as a free download on his website mostly due to the fact that it is a mashup of his most popular songs. In 2012 his first mixtape was dropped called Nothing Like The First Time, which also kicked off his tour (also named the same thing). After his tour, he created a mixed concert CD to be released and then started on his second studio album. Major recognition was brought to him because of his album called Cardboard Castles, which was released in March of 2013 and topped Itunes charts in the US, Canada, and the UK. Then he decided to follow up his album with another tour called Sloppy Seconds. Most recently he has dropped another album called All You Can Do in 2014, an his first live album called All You Can Do: Live From The Regency Ballroom. Like usual, Watsky went straight to tour after these releases called Meaner Than The Average. He has found major fame from being a YouTube Star from his music videos and the role of pale kid who raps fast.

You can purchase his music on his website: georgewatsky.com

or watch his videos here: Watsky's Youtube

Action Bronson: Mr. Wonderful

Action Bronson

Action Bronson (Arian Asllani) was born in Queens, New York, on December 2, 1983. Before he found his way in a rap career his was a fire-flame gourmet chef, he then would find out he could also spit fire and dropped his first studio album in March of 2011 called Dr. Lecter, which was independently released under the Fine Fabric Delegates group. In the next year Bronson was able to release a collab mixtape called Well-Done and his own second mixtape called Blue Chips. In 2013 he was found and signed by Goliath Artists, which has names such as Eminem, Danny Brown, and Blink-182 under it also. Later that year he released another mixtape called Rare Chandeliers. Bronson got major recognition when he was featured on XXL Magazine, in the freshman class. He was moved to Atlantic Records and immediately released a EP called Saaab Stories in June of 2013. Also in 2013 he released his second studio album called Blue Chips 2. After his tour in 2014 with J. Cole, Kendrick, and Eminem, Bronson got back into his chef ways with a online food show. Later he released his first studio album called Mr. Wonderful in March.

You can find his music on his website: actionbronson.com

or watch his videos here: Action Bronson's Youtube

Futuristic: Reaching His Big Dreams

Futuristic

Zachary Lewis Beck was born on June 19, 1991 in Bloomington, Illinois. He went on to go by futuristic and released his first ablum called Dream Big in 2012. The hit single, The Greatest, reached 11 million views on Youtube alone and 7 million on SoundCloud. His next 2 albums were both able to make there way on to the billboard; Coast 2 Coast reached number 12 and The Rise reached number 32.

You can purchase his music here: onlyfuturistic.com

or watch his music videos here: Futuristic's Youtube

Schoolboy Q: A True Hippy

Schoolboy Q

Schoolboy Q (Quincy Matthew Hanley), was born in October of 1986 in Wiesbaden, West Germany. Starting his career in Los Angles in 2008, when he released his first mixtape called ScHoolboy Turned Hustla. His next release was Gansta & Soul in 2009. Later he was able to be signed by Top Dawg Entertainment in late 2011. 2011 also brought Q's first independent album, Setbacks, which reached top 100 on the billboard. He is also in a group of great rappers like Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Kendrick Lamar, called Black Hippy. In 2012 he released his second album, Habits & Contradiction. Furthering his career, he signed to Interscope Records, which brought his release of Oxymoron, his first major label studio album in 2014. His most famous songs are Collard Greens, Man fo the Year, Studio, and Break the Bank.

You can purchase his music here: schoolboyq.com

or watch his music videos here: SchoolBoy Q's Youtube

Dizzy Wright: State of Funk

Dizzy Wright

La'Reonte Wright, aka Dizzy Wright, was born on November 26, 1990. Hes from Flint Michigan but started his career in Las Vegas. He really got his name out when he signed with Funk Volume in 2011 alongside Hopsin. While on the label he released his debut studio album, SmokeOut Conversations in April of 2012. Later in the year he released The First Agreement along with a mitape the following year called The Golden Age. Taking time off to tour he came back and released a mixtape called State of Mind that was able to reach number 54 on the billboard. Most recently he released his second studio album, The Growing Process, which also reached the billboard at number 47.

You can purchase his music here: myfunkvolume.com

 or watch his music videos here: Dizzy Wright's Youtube

Will Smith: The Fresh Prince of Music

Will Smith

Will Smith or Willard Carroll Smith Jr. was born in West Philly on September 25, 1968. Smith, which you probably originally know from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is where his rap career started under the name of The Fresh Prince. He started with DJ Jazzy Jeff producing music, they went on to make their most notable songs, Parents Just Don't Understand and Summertime. While together the two created five studio albums and 14 more singles, and were able to win a grammy in the rap category. Later in his life he revived his music career and went on to release four studio albums, 17 singles, a entire video album, and 20 music videos. He got more attention from the more popular songs, Men in Black, Gettin Jiggy wit It, Miami, and Switch.

You can watch his music videos here: Will Smith's Youtube

Chance the Rapper: Surfing Through the Industry

Chance the Rapper

Chance the Rapper was born in south side of Chicago in 1993. Acid Rap was Chance's first real recognition with over 1 million downloads in 2013. Chancelor Bennett (his real name) has completed features with with Childish Gambino, J Cole, A-Soul, and Kanye West. Chance has released two mixtapes, which are 10 Days, and Acid Rap. Then in 2015, he was finally able to release his first album Surf with Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment, which has become a huge hit.

You can get his music from his website: chanceraps.com

or watch his music videos here: Chance's Youtube

Lil Dicky: Changing the Game

Lil Dicky: 

Lil Dicky is a self pronounced Jewish rapper that also goes by LD. David Andrew Burd, LD's real name, was born on March 15, 1988. He grew up in Cheltenham Township, PA on the north side of Philly where he started out as a comedian. Burd tampered with his music around 2 years before releasing his first mixtape, "So Hard", in April of 2013. When he released "Ex-Boyfriend" on Youtube it became a instant hit with over a million views in 24 hours. This brought him instant recognition with larger names and let him collab with Snoop Dogg, T-Pain, and Rich Homie Quan. He went to kickstarter to become a professional rapper and aimed for $70,000. He raised almost $113,000 to start off. In February of 2014 CMSN had decided to sign him to their label. His debut album on the label was Professional Rapper, which was released on July 31, 2015.

You can get his music from his website: lildicky.com

or watch his music videos: Lil DIcky's Youtube

Bryson Tiller: The Next Big Thing

Bryson Tiller

Bryson Tiller was born in 1993 and was raised in Louisville, Kentucky. Tiller is newer to the rap game, and released his first mixtape in 2011 called Killer Instinct Vol. 1. He started getting more recognition with some of his singles, which lead to Bryson being able to release his first studio album called T R A P S O U L. The hit track "Don't" hit number 13 on the billboard chart along with another hit Exchange which hit number 26 on the billboard. Both of the songs came from his new album T R A P S O U L.

You can get his music from his website: trapsoul.com

or watch his music videos here: Bryson Tiller's Youtube

J. Cole: The Most Unappreciated Rapper

J. Cole

J Cole, or other wise known as his real name Jermaine Lamarr Cole, was born in Frankfurt, West Germany in 1985. Cole has found a extraordinary way to tell stories with his songs like no other rap artist. Starting his career in 2007 by dropping his first mixtape called The Come Up, which got him real fans but not real recognition. In the next three years he released his next two mixtapes, The Warm Up and Friday Night Light's. After taking time to work with other artists, Cole was finally able to drop his first album Cole World: The Sideline Story in 2011. The next three years brought two more mixtapes, Born Sinner and The Blow Up. J Cole was able to get more recognition when in 2014 he dropped 2014 Forest Hills Drive. By 2016 he has already released a compilation album with Dreamville Records, and released his first studio album called Forest Hills Drive: Live, which happens to be the first live album in American Hip Hop.

You can get his music from his website: jcolemusic.com

or watch his msuci videos here: J. Cole's Youtube

MGK: Rising to the Top

Machine Gun Kelly

Machine Gun Kelly was born in 1990, living in Cleveland, Ohio. He started rapping when he was 16 years old. Releasing Unstoppable, Stamp of Approval, Certified, Homecoming, and 100 Words and Running.   Then being signed by Bad Boy Records and almost immediately releasing Lace Up. While still on the label he released multiple mixtapes such as Lace Up: the mixtape, Rage Pack, EST 4 Life, and Black Flag, MGK then released his next album General Admission, which was able to give him a nationally known name and stayed at the top of the billboard list for about a month. His songs Wild Boy, Till I Die, and A Little More (which is thought to be a impact for suicide prevention) are the songs that have really brought attention to Machine Gun Kelly.

You can get his music off his website: machinegunkelly.com

or watch his music videos here: MGK's Youtube

Childish Gambino: From Rap to Movies

Childish Gambino

Donald Glover is a rapper known as Childish Gambino but also known to be in shows like 30 Rock and Community.  Donald was born in California in 1983, but was raised in Georgia. He had three underground albums starting with Sick Boi, a year after he released Poindexter, followed up by Culdesac. While being able to release a lot of music, his two signed albums are Camp and Because the Internet which were on Glassnote Records.In 2015 he was nominated for two Grammy Awards, for best rap album with Because the Internet, and best rap performance with 3005. Which both were in 2015.

You can listen to his music here: Childish Gambino's Youtube

Logic: Heard Around the World

Logic

Logic, also known as Young Sinatra, was born and raised in Maryland. Where after his rough upcoming he went into a music career at 16, this is when he released Psychological, which also happened to be his stage name at the time in 2009. Logic became a part of Visionary Music Group Young, Broke, and Famous. Young Sinatra,young Sinatra: Undeniable, and Young Sinatra II. Robert Bryson Hall II, his real name, then was able to sign to Def Jam in 2013, which is when he released Young Sinatra: Welcome Forever. Within the next two years he was able to release his first two albums, Under Pressure and The Incredible True Story, which was able to reach number 3 on the billboard chart.

You can get his music on his website: mindoflogic.com

or watch his music videos here: Visionary Music Youtube

                                     Logic's Youtube