Ice Cube

Born in South Central, Los Angeles on 15 June 1969, Ice Cube began writing raps in high school. In 1984, het met a 19-year-old Dr. Dre, and together they released a single “My Posse” under the alias CIA. The two then teamed up with fellow rappers Easy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella as the group NWA (Niggaz Wit Attitude) and together they released “Straight Outta Compton” in 1988. However, due to creative issues, he left the group and by 1989 was pursuing his solo career. His debut album, “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted” was released in 1990 and despite claims of misogyny and racism, was extremely successful. The follow-up record was even more controversial; however his most critically acclaimed album was his 1992 “The Predator.”

Having had so much success as a solo artist, Ice Cube still continued to work with other artists. 1994 saw him reunited with former NWA member, Dr. Dre, and together they recorded and relased “Natural Born Killaz,” and 1996 was the formation of Westside Connection, a collaboration with Mack 10 and WC.

The late 90s found Ice Cube concentrating on his acting career such as “Barber Shop” and “All About The Benjamins,” but he still found time to work on music. He was still collaborating with other artists like his appearance on Lil Jon & The East Side Boys’ “Real Nigga Roll Call,” and in 2003 The Westside Connection reunited for their sophomore album “Gangsta Nation.”

His most recent music musings with a new single release on 10 February 2014 “Sic Them Youngins On ‘Em.”

Killer Mike’s career started to take off when he crossed paths with the producers, The Beat Bullies and Outkast’s Big Boi, through whom, he landed a feature on their song “Snappin’ & Trappin’”, from the album ‘Stankonia’. It put his name firmly on the map and he built a career around it. He also featured on “Poppin’ Tags” by Jay-Z.

With a couple of recognizable accolades to his name, Killer Mike decided to record his debut album entitled “Monster” on March 11th 2003. It was released through the prestigious Columbia Records and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200, and number 4 on the Billboard R&B charts. The second single from the album, “A.D.I.D.A.S”, made it to number 60 on theBillboard 200, and number 22 in the UK Singles Chart, building Killer Mike’s international following. Despite receiving moderate critical acclaim, Killer Mike’s, sophomore album “I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind”, release on November 21st 2006, didn’t chart, however, “I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II” released on July 8th 2008, managed to make the charts climbing to number 9 on the Rap Charts. His following record, “Underground Atlanta”, released on August 31st 2009, fortunately maintained a similar chart reputation to its predecessor, despite not making it into the Billboard 200. “PLE3GE” saw a deserved return to the chart, peaking at number 115 on the chart, with his career only growing further, with “R.A.P. Music” making it to number 82 in the Billboard 200 and number 8 in the Rap Chart. Complex dubbed the album the 32nd best from 2012, and it was number 20 on Rolling Stone’s top 50 albums of 2012.