DJ Snoopadelic, Waka Flocka Flame, Baby Bash, und Travis Porter

Flocka Flame was born in South Jamaica, Queens, New York, but raised in Atlanta after his family went on to settle there; unlike many of his contemporaries, though, his isn’t quite a rags to riches tale. Indeed, his mother actually managed Gucci Mane for a while, and is the CEO of a management company that has also, at some point, counted the likes of Nicki Minaj and French Montana amongst its clients. That, in itself, leaves Flocka Flame in an unusual position; his comfortable upbringing was likely never going to provide him with much in the way of material with which to base his records around, but then again, he’s never really been one to play the traditional hip hop game; after all, how many rappers, like Flocka Flame did in 2011, would pose nude for PETA to protest the killing of animals for the purpose of wearing fur?

His debut record, “Flockaveli”, involved complex lyrical themes and genuine, unabashed aggression across the course of its hour-plus running time, and tracks like “Hard in da Paint” and “No Hands” made a name for Flocka Flame. Since then, his career has unfolded in soap opera style - he made a record, “Ferrari Boyz”, with Gucci Mane before going on to become embroiled in a very public - and recently-resolved - spat with him, and his live performances have taken him everywhere from supporting Drake on tour to playing at the legendary Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK. He’s now set to release two new albums - both the much delayed “Flockaveli 2” and a new EDM record, “Turn Up God.”

Bash’s musical career began in the early noughties, not too long after injury had conspired to curtail a promising basketball career in college. Between his hometown of Vallejo and his new, adopted home base of Houston, Texas, he found himself performing in a number of hip hop groups, including Latino Velvet and Potna Deuce. That was enough to put him on the hip hop map in his own right, and he released a couple of moderately-received records in 2001 and 2002, ‘Savage Dreams’ and ‘On tha Cool’ respectively.

Those records did more than enough to earn Bash a chance with Universal, who quickly signed him and put out album number three, ‘Tha Smokin’ Nephew’, in 2003. It would ultimately go gold, with sales of over half a million. His first release under the Bash name, meanwhile - ‘Super Saucy’ - would secure him a top twenty single in the U.S., in the form of the Akon collaboration, ‘Baby I’m Back’. In the years since, he’s continued to collaborate widely, with the likes of Paul Wall, Miguel, Too Short, Problem and T-Pain having appeared on his solo records, whilst he’s made four albums to date with his rap group Lone Star Ridaz, too.

Formed of childhood friends Ali (Lakeem Mattox), Quez (Donquez Woods), and Strap (Harold Duncan), the group, originally dubbed Hard Hitters, envisioned taking the rap world by storm. By 2008 the name was changed to Travis Porter in order to appeal to a larger audience, and the trio were honing their performing skills playing shows in the U.S. as well as Europe. Through a combination of underground mixtapes, well-profiled live shows, and apt use of social media, Travis Porter quickly gained recognition in the south, aided by the underground hits “Black Boy White Boy”, “Uh Huh”, “Go Shorty Go”, and “All the Way Turnt Up”.

In 2010, having already released four mixtapes, Travis Porter issued “Proud 2 Be a Problem”, “I Am Travis Porter”, and “Differenter Gang”, all of which caught the attention of labels hoping to sign the young, appealing hip hip group. Towards the tail end of the year Travis Porter inked a deal with Jive Records, however the label was closed by its parent RCA in 2011, which resulted in Travis Porter’s debut “From Day 1” being issued by RCA in 2012. The album, featuring Diplo, and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League at the production reigns, peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200, and No. Two on the Billboard Top Rap Albums. Featuring guest appearances from 2 Chainz, Tyga, Mac Miller, and Mike Posner, the album spawned the singles “Make It Rain”, “Bring It Back”, and “Ayy Ladies”. The latter single, featuring Young Money rapper Tyga peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the Heatseekers Songs chart. The group released their self-made film “Red Rock” in November 2012, followed in 2013 by the mixtape “Mr Porter”.