West Coast rapper Bad Azz is far from well-known, yet he has worked with some of the best-selling hip-hop artists of all time, including Snoop Dogg, Warren G., and Tupac Shakur. Bad Azz first got into the rap game in his hometown of Long Beach, playing at house parties and eventually joining the LBC Crew. After deciding to go solo, he had a... [+] Read More

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Along with better-known rappers like E-40 and 2Pac, Mac Mall was one of several who helped put the Cali Bay Area on the map in the mid- to late '90s as a hotspot in the rap game. He collaborated with many of the Bay Area's best producers -- Ant Banks, Khayree, Michael Mosley, and Rick Rock -- and helped define the scene's identity, particularly... [+] Read More

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Master P created a hip-hop empire without registering on any mainstream radar. For several years, he operated solely in the rap underground, eventually surfacing in the mid-'90s as a recording artist and producer who knew exactly what his audience wanted. And what they wanted was gangsta rap. With his independent label No Limit, Master P gave... [+] Read More

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One-half of the Queens hardcore rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga, Victor "Noreaga" Santiago met Kiam "Capone" Holley in 1992 while both were serving prison sentences. Signed to Penalty Records in 1996, the pair released a hard-hitting debut (The War Report) in June 1997, but after Holley was thrown back in jail on a parole violation, Santiago began... [+] Read More

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Too $hort discovered rapper Spice 1, who'd been born in Texas before moving to California. His self-titled debut was as vivid and fatalistic a gangsta album as possible, and his hard-edged, angry, and pessimistic rapping style and tone only added to the despair emanating from the disc. He followed it with an even more bitter and nihilistic... [+] Read More

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Too $hort discovered rapper Spice 1, who'd been born in Texas before moving to California. His self-titled debut was as vivid and fatalistic a gangsta album as possible, and his hard-edged, angry, and pessimistic rapping style and tone only added to the despair emanating from the disc. He followed it with an even more bitter and nihilistic... [+] Read More

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