Rap Joint Lagos

Whether judged strictly by his work with Wu-Tang Clan or as a solo artist, Ghostface Killah is an indisputable giant. A masterful storyteller whose range extends from graphic crime fantasies to stirring autobiographical recollections, the rapper first appeared with his Staten Island group’s trail-blazing Enter the Wu-Tang (1993) and started building a vast solo discography with Ironman (1996). Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970),better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and songwriter. He is a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan.After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success. Ghostface Killah debuted his solo career with Ironman, which was well received by music critics, in 1996. He has enjoyed continued success in the years that have followed, releasing critically acclaimed albums such as Supreme Clientele (2000) and Fishscale (2006). His stage name was taken from one of the characters in the 1979 kung fu film Mystery of Chessboxing. He is the founder of his own record label, Starks Enterprises.  His platinum-certified debut strengthened a partnership with the RZA, whose bracing mutations of dusty soul have either soundtracked or influenced much of his best output. After an occasionally commercial early period with Epic that yielded a second classic, Supreme Clientele (2000), Ghost moved to Def Jam, where he released six additional solo LPs highlighted by his fourth Top Ten pop album, Fishscale (2006). Throughout the following decade, Ghost added to his legacy with a series of creatively unrestricted works, many of which were whole-album collaborations, conceived with the likes of the RZA-inspired Adrian Younge, BadBadNotGood, and Czarface. These included the two-volume Twelve Reasons to Die (2013 and 2015), Sour Soul (2015), and Czarface Meets Ghostface (2019). The rapper born Dennis Coles emerged from his native Staten Island as part of Wu-Tang Clan, who released their first single in 1992 and became one of the strongest hip-hop institutions the following year with Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). On the album’s fifth and final single, “Can It Be All So Simple,” Ghostface rhymed about his intent to “make more hits with Rae and A,” singling out fellow Wu-Tang members Raekwon and the RZA. He quickly achieved his goal. In August 1995, a few months after Enter the Wu-Tang was certified platinum, “Tony Starks (Ghost Face Killer)” was billed as guest star on Raekwon’s RZA-produced Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Among the tracks featuring Ghost were the preceding lead single “Heaven & Hell,” a remix of “Can It Be All So Simple,” and the Top Five Billboard rap hits “Criminology” and “Ice Cream.” During the same year, Ghost linked with Raekwon and RZA on other Wu-Tang projects, namely Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Return to the 36 Chambers and GZA’s Liquid Swords, and took part in the making of yet another classic, Queensbridge duo Mobb Deep’s The Infamous. These appearances, plus subsequent headlining contributions to the soundtracks of Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood and Sunset Park, primed Ghost for his own solo breakout. Signed to major-label Epic via an arrangement with RZA boutique label Razor Sharp, Ghostface Killah became the fifth Wu-Tang member to release a solo album when Ironman was racked in October 1996. Continuing Wu-Tang’s unprecedented spate of spin-off releases, the LP entered the Billboard 200 at number two and topped the R&B/hip-hop chart. RZA served as producer. Raekwon and Ghost’s fellow Razor Sharp signee Cappadonna were featured throughout. Its deep R&B foundation and wide emotional range were promoted in the choice of singles, including the strong-arming and deceptively intricate “Daytona 500” (assisted by the Force M.D.’s) and the bleak autobiographical ballad “All That I Got Is You” (featuring Mary J. Blige). The album was certified gold within three months (and years later went platinum). Between one-off featured roles and his group’s return with Wu-Tang Forever, Ghost put solo activity on hold. He and RZA also spent time in Africa, an experience that fueled the writing of Supreme Clientele, the second Ghostface Killah LP. Production-wise, RZA handled a few tracks on his own and vacated his seat for affiliate beatmakers such as Ju-Ju (the Beatnuts), Hassan (the U.M.C.’s), and Carlos Bess, though he did touch every cut in some capacity. The album went Top Ten pop and number two R&B/hip-hop upon its February 2000 release, and shortly thereafter went gold, pushed by “Apollo Kids” and “Cherchez LaGhost,” both of which charted. “Cherchez LaGhost” actually became Ghost’s biggest single as a lead artist — a number three hit on Hot Rap Songs. That song’s comparatively lighter approach carried into Bulletproof Wallets, which rather expeditiously arrived in November 2001 as Ghost’s third solo album. Like “Cherchez LaGhost,” “Ghost Showers” was built on one of August “Kid Creole” Darnell’s high-spirited compositions, and was almost as successful, topping out at number 11 on the rap chart. Veering even farther away from RZA-style grime was another single, “Never Be the Same Again,” a smooth contemporary R&B production with then-hot Bad Boy artist Carl Thomas on the hook. Only four weeks after the album’s arrival, however, Wu-Tang Clan returned again with Iron Flag, highlighted by the hard-hitting “Uzi (Pinky Ring),” on which Ghost was back in his familiar raw form. Ghost’s next move, The Pretty Toney Album, issued in April 2004 as his first full-length for Def Jam, gunned for pop success with the Missy Elliott collaboration “Tush.” It was otherwise more street-oriented than Bulletproof Wallets, outfitted with tougher productions from the likes of RZA, No I.D., Nottz, and K-Def. Only a few months after it became Ghost’s third album to reach the pop Top Ten, the group Theodore Unit — primarily an outlet for Ghost and Trife da God, but open to several other artists — released the album 718 on the independent Sure Shot label. Theodore Unit ground to a halt, but not before welcoming Sun God, Ghost’s son. Ghost’s Def Jam

Throughout the late ’90s, Master P created a hip-hop empire while flying just beneath the mainstream radar. As the CEO of No Limit Records, he led a camp of prolific artists who redefined rap through innovative production and lyrics derived directly from lived experiences in some of America’s toughest streets. Master P wasn’t just a label head but a rapper himself, actively creating music from his independent beginnings in the early ’90s to mainstream success by the end of the decade. In the years following his 1997 hit “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!,” Master P dabbled in a wide variety of business ventures outside of music. He’d try his hand at everything from acting to writing to involvement with professional wrestling, while periodically releasing new albums like 2016’s Louisiana Hot Sauce and the 2020 mixtape No Limit Chronicles: The Lost Tape. Percy Robert Miller Sr. (born April 29, 1970), also known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as New No Limit Records through Universal Records and Koch Records, and again as Guttar Music Entertainment, and currently, No Limit Forever Records. He is also the founder and CEO of P. Miller Enterprises and Better Black Television, which was a short-lived online television network.  Miller initially gained fame in the mid-1990s with the success of his hip hop group TRU as well as his fifth solo rap album Ice Cream Man, which contained his first single “Mr. Ice Cream Man”. Miller gained further popularity in 1997 after the success of his Platinum single “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!”. In total, Miller has released 15 studio albums. Percy Robert Miller was born and raised in Central City in the Third Ward of Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana in the Calliope Projects. He is the oldest of five children. He has one sister, Germaine, and three brothers: Kevin, and platinum-selling rap artists Corey “C-Murder” and Vyshonne “Silkk the Shocker” Miller. He attended Booker T. Washington High School and Warren Easton High School. Having played on the basketball team, Miller attended the University of Houston on an athletic scholarship, but dropped out months into his freshman year and transferred to Merritt College in Oakland, California to major in business administration.After the death of his grandfather, Miller inherited $10,000 as part of a malpractice settlement. Miller opened a record store in Richmond, California called No Limit Records, which later became the foundation for his own record label of the same name. On February 15, 1990, Master P released the cassette tape Mind Of A Psychopath. His brother Kevin Miller was killed that same year in New Orleans. This increased his motivation to become a successful entrepreneur to change his life and save his family. While working at No Limit, Master P learned that there was a rap audience who loved funky, street-level beats that the major labels weren’t providing. Using this knowledge, he decided to turn No Limit into a record label in 1990. The following year, he debuted with Get Away Clean and later had an underground hit with The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me! in 1994. Around this same time, the compilation West Coast Bad Boyz, which featured rappers Rappin’ 4-Tay and E-40 before they were nationally known, was released and spent over half-a-year on the charts. These latter two albums were significant underground hits and confirmed what Master P suspected: there was an audience for straight-ahead, unapologetic, funky hardcore rap. He soon moved No Limit to New Orleans and began concentrating on making records. By the mid-’90s, No Limit had developed its own production team, Beats by the Pound (comprised of Craig B., KLC, and Mo B. Dick), who worked on every one of the label’s releases. And there were many of them at the rate of nearly ten a year, all masterminded by Master P and Beats by the Pound. They crafted the sound, often stealing songs outright from contemporary hits. They designed album covers, which had the colorfully busy look of straight-to-video exploitation films. And they worked fast, recording and releasing entire albums, some in two weeks. Included in that production schedule were Master P’s own albums. 99 Ways to Die was released in 1995, and Ice Cream Man appeared the following year. By the time Ghetto D was released in the late summer of 1997, Master P had turned No Limit into a mini-empire. “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!,” a single from Ghetto D marked by P’s telltale groan, would go platinum and Tru — a group he formed with his younger brothers Silkk the Shocker and C-Murder — had Top Ten R&B hit albums. His success in the recording industry inspired him to make I’m Bout It, an autobiographical comedy-drama titled after Tru’s breakthrough hit. Master P financed the production himself, and when he found no distributor, it went straight to video in the summer of 1997. His next film, I Got the Hook Up, appeared in theaters during the summer of 1998, concurrent with the release of his album MP da Last Don. In between flirtations with the sports world — including a tryout with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, involvement with pro wrestling, and negotiating the NFL contract of Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams — Master P recorded 1999’s Only God Can Judge Me. Ghetto Postage, and Game Face. The double-CD Good Side, Bad Side appeared in 2004 and marked P and No Limit’s new relationship with the label/distribution company Koch. Both Ghetto Bill and Living Legend: Certified D-Boy arrived a year later. The 2007 compilation Featuring…Master P rounded up some of the rapper’s collaborations. Throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s, P continued releasing new music periodically and starting up various business and entertainment ventures. Aside from being a rapper, Master P has enjoyed a successful career as an entrepreneur and investor. Miller opened a record store in Richmond, California called No Limit Records, which later became

Too $hort was among the first West Coast rap stars, recording three albums on his own before he made his major-label debut in 1988 with the RIAA-certified gold Born to Mack. Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966),better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on pimping and promiscuity, but also drug culture and street survival;the latter in songs such as “The Ghetto” and the former in songs such as “Blow the Whistle”. Anticipating much of the later gangsta phenomenon, he restricted his lyrical themes to explicit tales of sexual prowess and street life, with the occasional social message track to mix things up. Likely the only rapper to have recorded with 2Pac, the Notorious B.I.G., and Jay-Z all superstars indebted to his work he has remained an inspiration for his vulgar verses and sparse instrumentals, remaining an iconic presence in the hip-hop landscape through the ensuing decades with projects like 2020’s E-40 collaboration Ain’t Gone Do It/Terms and Conditions. Too $hort grew up in South Central Los Angeles. Soon after his family moved to Oakland in the early ’80s, he began selling tapes out of the back of his car. Signed to the local label 75 Girls, in 1985 he released his first proper album, Don’t Stop Rappin’. Two albums followed in the next two years, after which Too $hort formed his own Dangerous Music label with friend Freddy B. He released Born to Mack in 1987, and sold more than 50,000 copies just by riding around the region. New York’s Jive Records picked up on the buzz from across the country, and re-released the album one year later. With virtually no radio airplay, Born to Mack went gold and its follow-up, Life Is…Too Short, achieved platinum sales by 1989. Immense underground success and nationwide distribution primed Too $hort for radio airplay. “The Ghetto,” from 1990’s $hort Dog’s in the House, made number 12 on the Billboard R&B/hip-hop chart and enjoyed a brief stay just outside the Top 40 of the Hot 100. The roll continued with 1992’s Shorty the Pimp and 1993’s Get in Where You Fit In, both of which went platinum. By the time of 1995’s Cocktails, however, Too $hort began to be drowned out by a glut of similar-sounding West Coasters, and though Gettin’ It (Album Number Ten) eventually became his sixth platinum album, by late 1996 he decided to retire. Three years later, however, he returned with Can’t Stay Away, which debuted in the Top Ten and went gold. Back for the long term, Too $hort released four albums during the next four years, then in 2006 scored one of his biggest hits with the Lil Jon-produced title track for Blow the Whistle. After Get Off the Stage was released in 2007, Too $hort returned to independence. During the 2010s, he issued the albums Still Blowin’, No Trespassing, the guest-loaded Hella Disrespectful: Bay Area Mixtape, The Sex Tape Playlist, and The Pimp Tape, on his Dangerous Music label. He rounded out the decade in 2019 with the release of his 21st studio album, The Vault. The next year he returned with fellow Bay Area legend E-40 on the collaborative mixtape Ain’t Gone Do It/Terms and Conditions. In addition to the two headliners, the tape included guest spots from Larry June, Freddie Gibbs, G-Eazy, Guapdad 4000, and many others. Too $hort remains a major force on the mainstream and underground scenes in the new millennium, making him one of the most enduring success stories to emerge from the rap scene. On October 7, 2008 Too Short was honored by VH1 at the fifth annual “Hip-Hop Honors” along with Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick and Naughty By Nature.