Born and raised in Los Angeles, Hussle gained a regional following for his Bullets Ain't Got No Name mixtape series, as well as The Marathon, The Marathon Continues, and Crenshaw, the latter of which was purchased 100 times by American rapper Jay-Z for US$100 each. After multiple delays, his debut studio album Victory Lap (2018), peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200, received critical acclaim, and was nominated for the Best Rap Album at the 61st Grammy Awards. His 2019 single, "Racks in the Middle" (featuring Roddy Ricch and Hit-Boy), and guest appearance alongside John Legend on DJ Khaled's song "Higher", won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap/Sung Performance, respectively at the 62nd Grammy Awards.[1]

Outside of music, Hussle inaugurated the Marathon Clothing store, which he founded along with partners Carless, the head of the agency, Karen Civil, and his brother Samiel Asghedom in 2017, and started a co-working environment which he named "Vector 90". On March 31, 2019, Hussle was fatally shot outside his store in South Central Los Angeles.[2] Eric Holder, a 29-year-old man who confronted Hussle earlier that day, was arrested and charged with murder two days later.[3] Holder was found guilty of first-degree murder on July 6, 2022.[4] On February 22, 2023, Holder was sentenced to 60 years to life in prison.[5]

Early life
Airmiess Joseph Asghedom[6][7] was born on August 15, 1985, and raised in the Crenshaw District of South Central Los Angeles[8] by his mother Angelique Smith (née Boutte), an African-American, and Dawit Asghedom, an Eritrean who came to Los Angeles in the 1970s.[9][10][11] He was raised with his brother Samiel,[11] also known as Blacc Sam, and his sister Samantha.[12] Asghedom attended Alexander Hamilton High School in the nearby Castle Heights neighborhood, and dropped out before graduating.[13]

At age 14, Asghedom left home and joined the local Rollin' 60s Neighborhood Crips, a sub-group of the larger Crips gang primarily based in his home neighborhood of Crenshaw.[14][15] In 2002, at the age of 17, Hussle joined Buttervision, a creative multimedia Digital Guerrilla movement led by Dexter Browne where he was part of the BV Boys Sampler, Beats & Babes Vol. 1 DVD, and Shades of Butter Vol. 1 DVD. During that time, he completed the recording for his debut mixtape Slauson Boy Volume 1, and adopted his stage name "Nipsey Hussle".[16]

His stage name, a play on the name of comedian and game show panelist Nipsey Russell, originated as a nickname given to Asghedom by a childhood acquaintance who respected his work ethic.[17] In 2004, when Asghedom was 19, his father took him and his brother Samiel on a three-month trip to Eritrea.[18] Asghedom credited the trip with inspiring him to become a community activist with an "entrepreneurial spirit".[9][19][20][14]

Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina[2] before taking the stage name Teena Marie and later acquired the nickname Lady T,[3] given to her by her collaborator and friend Rick James.

She was known for her distinctive and soulful soprano vocals,[4][5][6] which caused many listeners to believe she was black.[7] Her success in R&B and soul music, and loyalty to these genres earned her the title Ivory Queen of Soul. She played rhythm guitar, keyboards, and congas. Teena Marie was a four-time Grammy Award nominee, winning posthumously in 2023 for Best R&B Song for co-writing "Cuff It".

Early life
Mary Christine Brockert was born on March 5, 1956, in Santa Monica, California,[8] the daughter of construction worker Thomas Leslie Brockert and home renovator Mary Anne.[9][10] She spent her early childhood in Mission Hills, California. She said that her ethnic heritage was Belgian, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, and Native American.[11] In 2005, while visiting Louisiana, she discovered that her paternal ancestors once lived in New Orleans.[12][13][14] She took to singing naturally, performing Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat Song" by age 2.

When she was eight years old, her parents began sending Tina on auditions which, among other things, netted her an acting role on The Beverly Hillbillies, in season 3 episode “Dr. Jed Clampett,” credited as Tina Marie Brockert.[citation needed] She later taught herself the guitar, bass, and congas. She formed a semi-professional R&B band with her younger brother Anthony and their cousin.

In the early 1970s, after the family moved to Venice, California, Brockert spent her adolescent years in the historically black Venice enclave of Oakwood, nicknamed "Venice Harlem". There, she acquired a strong spiritual influence from neighborhood matriarch Berthalynn Jackson, a black woman who became her godmother.[13][14][15]

While attending Venice High School, Brockert joined the Summer Dance Production and was the female lead in the school's production of The Music Man.[16] She also fronted a local Venice rock band "Truvair" in 1974–1975. The band's members were her high school classmates. Following graduation, Brockert juggled auditioning for record companies while studying English literature at Santa Monica College.

Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream audiences.[2][3] Jenkins began his career in 2001, releasing two independent albums until signing with Def Jam Recordings to release his major label debut, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005). The album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, sold 172,000 copies in its first week, and received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); its lead single, "Soul Survivor" (featuring Akon), peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting song.[4][5]

His second and third albums, Thug Motivation 102: The Inspiration (2006) and The Recession (2008) were met with continued success as both peaked atop the Billboard 200; the latter earned a Grammy Award nomination for its lead single, "Put On" (featuring Kanye West). After three follow-up albums, his ninth, Trap or Die 3 (2016) peaked the chart once more. His other platinum-certified singles include "I Luv It", "Go Getta" (featuring R. Kelly), "My President" (featuring Nas), "Lose My Mind" (featuring Plies), and "Leave You Alone" (featuring Ne-Yo), among others. In addition, Jenkins has guest featured on numerous R&B singles, including "Say I" by Christina Milian, "I'm So Paid" by Akon, "Hard" by Rihanna, and "Love in This Club" by Usher; the latter peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 2008.

Along with his solo career, Jenkins is the de facto leader of the Southern hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America (U.S.D.A.), and a former member of the Bad Boy Records group Boyz n da Hood. His record label, CTE World was founded in 2001 and has signed artists including YG and Freddie Gibbs.

The album was considered groundbreaking for its time, presenting a tougher, more hardcore form of rap. The album's sparse beats and aggressive rhymes were in sharp contrast with the light, party-oriented sound that was popular in contemporary hip hop. With the album, Run-D.M.C. came to be regarded by music critics as pioneering the movement of new school hip hop of the mid-1980s.[1] Five singles were released in support of it: "It's Like That", "Hard Times", "Rock Box", "30 Days" and "Hollis Crew". The first single from the album, "It's Like That", released on August 10, 1983, expanded lyrical boundaries in rap with its tone of social protest (unemployment, inflation). "It's Like That" is considered by many to be the first hardcore hip hop song,[2][3] and the first new-school hip hop recording.[4] "Sucker M.C.'s" is one of the first diss tracks,[5] and "Rock Box" is the first song in the rap rock genre.[3]

Run-D.M.C. peaked at number 53 on the Billboard 200 chart and number 14 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. The album became the first rap album to achieve a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) (December 17, 1984).[6][7][8] It was released to critical acclaim, and continues to be highly regarded as a seminal hip hop album. In 1989, it was ranked number 51 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s".[9] In 2003, the album was ranked number 240 on the same magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", with the ranking changing to numbers 242 and 378 in the 2012 and 2020 updates of the list, respectively.[10] The album was reissued by Arista Records in 1999 and 2003. An expanded and remastered edition was released in 2005 and contained 4 previously unreleased songs.

Isis Naija Gaston (born January 1, 2000), known professionally as Ice Spice, is an American rapper and songwriter. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, she began her musical career during college in 2020, after meeting record producer RiotUSA. Her rapping style has been noted by music journalists, who have described her as a "breakout star".[3]

Ice Spice gained major recognition in late 2022 with her song "Munch (Feelin' U)", which went viral on TikTok. After signing with 10K Projects in a joint venture with Capitol Records, she released the singles "Bikini Bottom" and "In Ha Mood" to promote her debut extended play (EP), Like..? (2023). The EP spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single "Princess Diana" (with Nicki Minaj), and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200. She saw continued success with her collaborative singles released that same year: "Boy's a Liar Pt. 2" (with PinkPantheress), "Karma" (with Taylor Swift), and "Barbie World" (with Nicki Minaj and Aqua), all of which peaked within the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100. This made Ice Spice the only rapper to release four songs that achieved top-ten status in 2023. Her 2024 single, "Think U the Shit (Fart)" preceded the release of her debut studio album, Y2K! (2024).

She is the recipient of several accolades, including the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, the People's Choice Award for New Artist of the Year, and the Impact Award from the BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards. She has received four Grammy Award nominations, including Best New Artist. Outside of music, she had roles in the films Highest 2 Lowest and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (both 2025).

In 2004, Brown signed with Jive Records. The following year, he released his first album, Chris Brown, which reached double Platinum certification by the end of 2006.[16][17] Brown topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his debut single, "Run It!", making him the first male artist since 1995 to do so. His second album, Exclusive (2007), was commercially successful worldwide and spawned his second Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "Kiss Kiss".[18]

In 2009, Brown faced significant controversy and media attention when he pleaded guilty to felony assault of his girlfriend, the singer Rihanna. He was sentenced to five years probation with six months community service.[19][20] The same year, he released his third album, Graffiti, which was considered to be a commercial failure.[21] He released his fourth album F.A.M.E. (2011), which was his first album to top the Billboard 200. The album contained three commercially successful singles—"Yeah 3x", Diamond certified "Look at Me Now" and "Beautiful People"—and earned him the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.[22][23] His fifth album, Fortune, released in 2012, topped the Billboard 200.

Following the releases of X (2014) and Royalty (2015), both peaking in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, his eighth album, Heartbreak on a Full Moon (2017), a double-disc LP consisting of 45 tracks, was certified Gold for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 after one week, and later certified double Platinum. Brown's ninth album, Indigo (2019) found similar success, debuting atop the Billboard 200.[24] It included the single "No Guidance" which broke the record for longest-running number one on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.[25][26] Its chart success was outdone with the single "Go Crazy" released the following year, which broke Brown's own record for longest-running number one.[27][28][29] In 2022, his Indigo album spawned a sleeper hit with its song "Under the Influence", which was re-released as a single.[28][30]

Brown has sold over 140 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists.[31] He has gained a cult following,[32] and is one of ...

"Diddy" redirects here. For other uses, see Diddy (disambiguation).
Sean Combs

Combs at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
Born Sean John Combs
November 4, 1969 (age 56)
New York City, U.S.
Other names 
PuffyPuffPuff DaddyP. DiddyDiddyPDLoveBrother Love
Occupations 
Rappersongwriterrecord producerentrepreneurrecord executivetelevision produceractordancer
Years active 1989–2024[1]
Works 
Discographyfilmographyproduction
Criminal charges Transportation to engage in prostitution (2 counts)
Criminal penalty 50 months incarceration (with time served) and $500,000 fine
Criminal status Incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix
Partners 
Kimberly Porter (1994–2007)[2]
Jennifer Lopez (1999–2001)
Cassie Ventura (2007–2018)
Yung Miami (2021–2024)[3]
Children 7, including Quincy, Justin, and King Combs
Awards Full list
Musical career
Genres 
East Coast hip-hopR&B
Labels 
AristaAtlanticBad BoyBMGEpicInterscopeLoveMotownUniversalUptown
Member of The Hitmen
Formerly of Diddy – Dirty Money
Signature

Sean John Combs[4] (born November 4, 1969), also known professionally as Diddy (formerly Cx1DJs We Do Things Different Podcast Untold Stories of P Diddy hosted by DJButterrock     Puff Daddy and P. Diddy), is an American former rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. Born in Harlem, Combs worked as a talent director at Uptown Records before founding his own record label, Bad Boy Records, in 1993. He is credited with the discovery and development of musical artists such as the Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, and Usher, among others.

Combs's debut studio album, No Way Out (1997), peaked atop the Billboard 200 and sold over 7 million copies in the US. Two of its singles, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" (featuring Mase) and "I'll Be Missing You" (with Faith Evans featuring 112), topped the Billboard Hot 100—the latter was the first hip-hop song to debut atop the chart. With his guest appearance on "Mo Money Mo Problems", Combs became the first solo artist to replace himself atop the chart. His second and third albums, Forever (1999) and The Saga Continues... (2001), both peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. The collaborative singles "Bump, Bump, Bump" (2002) and "Shake Ya Tailfeather" (2003) made him the first rapper with five US number-one singles. Following the release of his US chart-topping fourth album Press Play (2006), Combs formed the musical trio Diddy – Dirty Money with R&B singers Kalenna Harper and Dawn Richard to release the collaborative album Last Train to Paris (2010) — supported by the single "Coming Home" (featuring Skylar Grey). His fifth album, The Love Album: Off the Grid (2023), was his first to be self-released.

One of the world's wealthiest musical artists, Combs topped Forbes annual hip-hop rich list in 2014 and 2017. His accolades include three Grammy Awards, three BET Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards. He has worked as a producer for other media, including the reality television series Making the Band, and he starred in the films Made, Monster's Ball (both 2001) and Get Him to the Greek (2010). Combs founded the clothing retailer Sean John in 1998, for which he won Menswear Designer of the Year from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2004, having previously been nominated in 2000. He served as brand ambassador for the liquor brand Cîroc from 2007 to 2023, and co-founded the digital television network Revolt in 2013. In 2008, Combs became the first male rapper to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In late 2023, Combs settled a high-profile sexual assault and abuse lawsuit filed by his former partner Cassie Ventura. Numerous lawsuits regarding sexual misconduct were filed in the following months, with several claimants alleging sexual assault and abuse by Combs between 1991 and 2009. In March 2024, several of Combs's properties were raided by the Department of Homeland Security, and that September he was charged with federal sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering. He pled not guilty and was denied bail three times. His trial began on May 5, 2025; on July 2, he was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution, but not guilty on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. As of October 2025, he is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix. On October 3, 2025, Combs was sentenced to 50 months in prison with credit for 12 months time serve

Lighty[3] was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, and raised in the Bronx River Housing Projects.[4][1] His mother was single. He had five siblings, including a brother, Dave.[6] He attended Samuel Gompers High School, and did not attend college, and he stated that he "got [his] MBA in hell," in reference to growing up on the streets of a dangerous neighborhood.[5]

Career

Lighty began working in the music industry by carrying vinyl record crates for DJ Red Alert.[7] Later, Russell Simmons' company, Rush Artist Management, hired him.[1] After leaving Rush, Lighty co-founded Violator Management with Mona Scott-Young in 1996;[8] the company is named after the gang he belonged to in the Bronx. Violator was responsible for getting L.L. Cool J his first Gap commercial in 1997. Lighty developed endorsements for Sprite with A Tribe Called Quest, AT&T with Diggy Simmons, and for Mountain Dew with Busta Rhymes.

In 2002, Lighty and a DJ from Chicago, DJ Scrap Dirty, created The Violator Allstar DJs. "We wanted to build a situation for the DJs who might need more muscle," Lighty remarked.[7] He appeared in the September 2004 Electronic Arts video game Def Jam: Fight for NY as himself under the moniker "Baby Chris".

Lighty worked for Def Jam, Jive and Loud Records. He was chief executive of the Brand Asset Group. In 2004, Lighty brokered the largest brand endorsement deal in hip hop to date. He was the architect of what turned out to be one of the most lucrative deals in hip hop history: rapper 50 Cent's Vitamin Water pact. When Coca-Cola paid $4.1 billion for Vitamin Water's company Glaceau three years later, 50 Cent received $100 million,[1] and Lighty received an undisclosed sum.[9]

In 2011, Lighty launched the website pleaselistentomydemo.com, which allowed new artists to submit their music online and have top music executives listen to it for a US$10 fee.[10] (The site is no longer active.)

In 2011, Violator merged with another company, Primary Wave to form Primary Violator.[5]

Personal life

Lighty married his wife Veronica in 2003. Together they had two children, daughter Deja (born 1995) as well as a son (born 2007). He also had four other children from previous relationships including daughter Tiffany (born 1995). In 2011, Veronica filed for divorce but at the time of Lighty's death, she claimed to have retracted her original request.[1]

He had reportedly been under scrutiny for income tax issues for amounts up to US$5 million, but this was resolved with the sale of a Manhattan property of his; other sums were also owed.[1]

Death

On August 30, 2012, Lighty was found dead on the patio of his South Riverdale, Bronx[1] apartment from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.[5] The New York Daily News reported that "a gun shot was heard and Lighty was found lying face-up with a 9mm pistol next to his body".

During this time, Davis continued self-releasing releasing mixtapes and collaborative projects. He signed with Atlantic's sister label, Warner Bros. Records to release his sixth album and mainstream breakthrough, The State vs. Radric Davis (2009). Preceded by the double platinum-certified single "Lemonade", it peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200, while the album's sequel, The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted (2010), peaked at number four. Following a two year incarceration between 2014 and 2016, he re-emerged with several commercial projects beginning with his ninth album, Everybody Looking (2016), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. He guest appeared on Rae Sremmurd's 2016 single "Black Beatles", which became his first song to peak atop the Billboard Hot 100.[6]

Gucci Mane has released sixteen studio albums and seventy-one mixtapes since 2001. He founded the Atlantic Records-distributed label imprint 1017 Records in 2007, which has signed artists including Young Thug, Waka Flocka Flame, Chief Keef, and Pooh Shiesty, among others. Throughout his career, he has worked with artists including the Weeknd, Drake, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Selena Gomez, Mariah Carey, Usher, Bruno Mars, and Marilyn Manson. His influence has earned him the titles of "[an] avatar of East Atlanta," and "the most influential underground rapper of the 2000s". He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2020.[7][8]

Her first studio album, Invasion of Privacy (2018), debuted atop the Billboard 200 with the largest female rap album streaming week of all time and became the best-selling and the highest-certified female rap album of the 21st century. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the best debut album of all time by a female rapper, it made Cardi B the first solo female artist in history to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Its singles "Bodak Yellow" and "I Like It" both topped the Billboard Hot 100 and were certified diamond by the RIAA; the former made Cardi B the first female rapper to top the Hot 100 with a solo song in the 21st century and the first to achieve a diamond-certified song, while the latter made her the first with multiple number-one songs. Her third US number-one, the collaboration "Girls Like You" in 2018, made her the first female rapper to earn multiple RIAA diamond-certified songs.

Cardi B's second album, Am I the Drama? (2025), made her the only female rapper in history to have her first two albums debut atop the Billboard 200. It became the female rap album with the highest certification of the 2020s, the most weeks inside the top ten of the Billboard 200 in the 2020s, and the most charting songs (18) in Billboard Hot 100 history. Including the US top-ten song "Outside" and US number-ones "WAP" and "Up", it tied with her own Invasion of Privacy as the female rap album with the most Hot 100 number-ones (two each). "WAP" is the only female rap collaboration to debut atop the Hot 100 and had a large cultural impact.

Cardi B is the female rapper with the most number-one singles (five) on the Billboard Hot 100, the only female rapper to achieve multiple solo number-ones, and the only to earn number-one singles in two decades (2010s and 2020s). She further is the highest-certified female rapper of all time in US digital single sales (69 million), has three diamond-certified songs—with "Bodak Yellow" being the highest-certified female rap song of all time—and achieved an overall total of 100 million RIAA-certified units sold in the US. Additionally, Invasion of Privacy is the most-streamed female rap album on Apple Music and Spotify, and was the first album in history to have all of its tracks certified platinum or higher. Cardi B has won a Grammy Award, the most Billboard Music Awards (8), Guinness World Records (8), BET Hip Hop Awards (14), and ASCAP Songwriter of the Year awards (2) among female rappers, six American Music Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards. Time listed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018, while Billboard named her Woman of the Year in 2020 and ranked Invasion of Privacy as the top female rap album of the 2010s.