SNVRK

Born in 1988 in the West Side of Detroit, Michigan, Big Sean, born Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, spent his years working on his rapping whilst at the same time building an important relationship with local rap station WHTD.

When in 2005 Sean heard Kanye was going to be interviewed at the station, he rushed over hoping to meet one of his heroes. After Kanye reluctantly heard Sean freestyling, he was impressed enough to take a demo. This was the beginning of an important future friendship for Sean and two years later he signed to Kanye’s GOOD Music label.

He soon released his first mixtapes ‘Finally Famous: The Mixtape’ in 2007 and two years later ‘UKNOWBIGSEAN’, both of which began to build his profile with the help of hit singles like ‘Get’Cha Some’.

His debut album ‘Finally Famous’ came out in June 2011 and was a huge success spawning singles like ‘My Last’ and making its way to number 3 on the Billboard 200.

Sean continued to ride the success of this album when he began work on his next project, a collaboration between GOOD Music artists that would eventually become ‘Cruel Summer’. Released in 2012 this was another home-run success birthing the Billboard Award winning single ‘Mercy’.

In 2013 Big Sean released his second solo album ‘Hall of Fame’ and when it reached number one in the R&B and Hip Hop albums there was no denying that Sean really was Finally Famous.

Born Ackquille Jean Pollard in Brooklyn, New York City, Shmurda was raised by his mother since his father was pretty much constantly in and out of jail. He took solace in his music, becoming a devoted hip-hop fan while also skirting dangerously close to a life of crime, selling crack by the time he hit fifth grade. Music was always his true passion though, not to mention his ticket away from a life in. By the age of ten he was remixing songs by his idols Lil Wayne, Jay Z and Juvenile, and began rapping at the age of 10. However, it wasn’t until 2014, when he sample the beat of Lloyd Banks’ track “Jackpot” to create his own track “Hot N*gga”, that he started to create some serious buzz for himself. At first it was localized, becoming huge among the projects of his native Brooklyn, then a video was made for it and the song, along with its “Shmoney Dance” went viral.

The track was a huge hit, hitting number six on the Billboard Hot 100, getting freestyled over by Lil’ Kim, Jeezy and T.I, and Beyoncé herself performed the dance at a show of hers in July 2014. His debut album “Shmurda She Wrote” was released in November of the same year, and ever since then Shmurda has remained one of the hottest (no pun intended) talents in American hip-hop. He’s leapt to stardom quickly, but there’s no reason to believe he won’t have staying power. For that, he comes highly recommended.

Growing up in Inglewood, California and developing a friendship with Tyler, The Creator, Cole subsequently attended Arizona State University. The musician left the school part-way through his degree to focus on rapping and was invited to joined the Tyler-founded group, Odd Future in 2009. The same year Domo Genesis made his debut on Tyler, The Creator’s first mixtape “Bastard”, and released his own debut mixtape the year after entitled “Rolling Papers”. With production duties handles by Tyler, Left Brain, and Syd Tha Kyd, the record proved Domo’s stripes and earned the rapper a growing fan base.

In 2011 with his career gaining momentum, Domo Genesis issued his second mixtape album “Under the Influence”. Also in 2011 Domo contributed to Tyler, The Creator’s studio debut “Goblin” on the non-single track “Window” as well as the Odd Future compilation album “12 Odd Future Songs”. 2012 was another busy year for the alternative rapper, who released a split album with The Alchemist entitled “No Idols” ahead of appearing on Odd Future’s studio album “The OF Tape Vol. 2”. Cole made his TV debut on the Odd Future show “Loiter Squad” later in 2012 and released the track "Ground Up" alongside Wiz Khalifa.

The collaborative album with MellowHype, “MellowHigh” appeared in 2013, the same year as the rapper contributed to records by Earl Sweatshirt, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, and Tyler, The Creator. In 2014 Domo Genesis released his third solo mixtape album “Under the Influence 2” as well as working with the likes of Action Bronson, the Dilated Peoples, Mac Miller and Meechy Darko.