Tupac Amaru Shakur

Born: 16-Jun-1971 , New York, NY
Death: 13-Sep-1996 , Las Vegas, NV
Tupac Shakur became the unlikely martyr of gangsta rap, and a tragic symbol of the toll its lifestyle exacted on urban Black America. At the outset of his career, it didn't appear that he would emerge as one of the definitive rappers of the '90s -- he started out as a second-string rapper and dancer for Digital Underground, joining only after they had already landed their biggest hit. But in 1992, he delivered an acclaimed debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, which quickly followed with a star-making performance in the urban drama Juice. Over the course of one year, his profile rose substantially, based as much on his run-ins with the law as his music. By 1994, 2Pac rivaled Snoop Doggy Dogg as the most controversial figure in rap, spending as much time in prison as he did in the recording studio. His burgeoning outlaw mythology helped his 1995 album Me Against the World enter the charts at number one, and it also opened him up to charges of exploitation. Yet, as the single "Dear Mama" illustrated, he was capable of sensitivity as well as violence. Signing with Death Row Records in late 1995, Shakur released the double album All Eyez on Me in the spring of 1996, and the record, as well as its hit single "California Love," confirmed his superstar status. Unfortunately, the gangsta lifestyle he captured in his music soon overtook his own life. While his celebrity was at its peak, he publicly fought with his rival the Notorious B.I.G., and there were tensions brewing at Death Row. Even with such conflicts, however, 2Pac's drive-by shooting in September 1996 came as an unexpected shock. On September 13, six days after the shooting, Shakur passed away, leaving behind a legacy that was based as much on his lifestyle as it was his music.

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DMX

It's obvious that hip-hop has finally come into its own when one of its most respected rappers (among all kinds of fans) is also one of its best-selling artists, and a successful crossover act to rock fans as well. DMX built himself an excellent reputation in the rap game, working the fragile territory between intense, metaphysical lyrical concerns and his image as a canine-obsessed personality who often uses a backing track to bark assent to his own raps. All this from a tremendously successful chart act, whose first three albums debuted at number one and sold well over ten million records in just a year and a half. With Nas and Jay-Z (both of whom also made it on an artistic and commercial level), DMX is the kingpin of hip-hop in the years after the twin giants, Biggie and 2Pac, were gunned down.

A rough-toned Yonkers MC who debuted with hometown friends the Lox on a DJ Clue mix-tape, DMX hit the big time in early 1998 when his single "Get at Me Dog" became a club and radio smash. The rapper had first appeared seven years earlier however, in an "Unsigned Hype" column by The Source back in 1991. He was signed to Columbia a few years later, but the deal fell through before recording had even begun. DMX guested on tracks by LL Cool J, Mase and Mic Geronimo (among others), then signed to Def Jam in 1997. His debut album It's Dark and Hell Is Hot debuted at number one in May 1998, and eventually sold platinum four times over. Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood followed just six months later (also debuting at the top), and in late 1999 DMX returned with ...And Then There Was X. Once again, he entered the charts at number one. 

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Busta Rhymes

The most idiosyncratic personality in rap and possessor of its most recognizable delivery, a halting, ragga-inspired style with incredible complexity, inventiveness and humor, Busta Rhymes formed Leaders of the New School in 1990 and released two albums with the group before breaking out with a 1996 solo hit single, "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check." Born in East Flatbush, Brooklyn in 1972 of Jamaican heritage (a definite influence on his rapping style), Busta moved to Long Island in 1983 and, at Uniondale High School, met up with MCs Charlie Brown, Dinco D. and Cut Monitor Milo. Inspired by fellow Long Islanders Public Enemy and Eric B. & Rakim, the foursome united as Leaders of the New School and signed a deal with Elektra Records right out of the gate, when Busta was only seventeen years old. Much respected in the hip-hop underground for their Afrocentric philosophy and tough rapping styles, Leaders of the New School debuted in 1991 with Future Without a Past, but released only one more album, 1993's T.I.M.E., before breaking up the following year.

Out on his own for the first time, Busta Rhymes called on some friends, appearing on A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario," the incredible remix of Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear" (also featuring Notorious B.I.G. and LL Cool J) as well as other projects with Boyz II Men, Mary J. Blige and TLC. He also appeared in the 1995 John Singleton film Higher Learning, and earned a solo contract with Elektra. Busta Rhymes' first album, The Coming, proved a huge hit; the single "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check" hit the Top Ten and pushed album into gold-record territory. His second album, When Disaster Strikes, debuted at number three in September 1997. E.L.E. followed a year later, and in mid-2000, Rhymes released Anarchy while appearing on the silver screen in a remake of the blaxploitation classic Shaft.

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P-diddy

The biggest hip-hop impresario of the mid-'90s, Sean "Puffy" Combs -- or Puff Daddy, as he was known on his own musical projects -- created a multi-million dollar industry around Bad Boy Entertainment, with recordings by the Notorious B.I.G., Craig Mack, Faith Evans, 112 and Total, all produced and master-minded by Combs himself. Responsible for over $100 million in total record sales and named ASCAP's 1996 Songwriter of the Year, Combs was, on the other hand, criticized by many in the hip-hop community for watering down the sound of the underground and also for a perceived over-reliance on samples as practically the sole basis for many of his hits. A very successful A&R executive at Uptown Records during the early '90s, responsible for sizeable hit records by Father MC, Mary J. Blige, and Jodeci, Combs formed his own Bad Boy label, signed Notorious B.I.G., Evans, and Craig Mack, and earned enough hits to cement an alliance with Arista Records. A highly publicized feud with Death Row Records (in which Tupac Shakur and label-head Suge Knight served as West Coast/Dark Side equivalents to the Notorious B.I.G. and Combs) was summarily ended in late 1996, when Shakur was murdered and Knight jailed. Six months later, Notorious B.I.G. was dead as well, and after Combs mourned his friend's death, he hit the pop charts in a big way during his biggest year, 1997.

Born in Harlem in 1970, Sean Combs spent much of his childhood in nearby Mt. Vernon, New York. Already a shrewd businessman through his two paper routes, Combs applied to Howard University in Washington, D.C., and while attending, convinced childhood friend Heavy D. to sign him up as an intern at the label he recorded for, Uptown Records. Several months later he was an A&R executive with his sights set on the vice-presidency, serving as the executive producer for Father MC's 1990 album Father's Day, which became a hit. Successful albums followed for Mary J. Blige (What's the 411?) and Heavy D & the Boyz (Blue Funk) during 1992, though Combs was fired from Uptown by the following year (probably because he was a bit too ambitious). He worked as a remixer during 1993, and set up Bad Boy Entertainment as his own venture, running the label out of his apartment during long hours with only several employees. After more than a year of hard work, he finally signed two hit artists, former EPMD roadie Craig Mack and the Notorious B.I.G. Mack hit the big-time in mid-1994, when a remix of his "Flava in Ya Ear" single (featuring LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Rampage, and Notorious B.I.G.) hit the Top Ten and became the first platinum record for Bad Boy. B.I.G. notched the second at the beginning of 1995, when his own second hit "Big Poppa" reached number six on the pop charts. Mack's album Project: Funk Da World eventually went gold, and Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die was certified double-platinum.

Sean "Puffy" Combs began branching out Bad Boy during 1995, adding platinum R&B acts Faith Evans and Total (both of whom were connected to B.I.G., Evans as his wife and Total as his former backing vocal group) plus another platinum seller, 112, in 1996. He also produced for many outside artists (including Aretha Franklin, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, TLC, SWV and Lil' Kim) and added two straightahead hip-hop acts, Mase and the Lox. By that time, however, Combs and B.I.G. were embroiled in a feud with Death Row Records head Suge Knight and star Tupac Shakur. Shakur accused Combs of involvement in his 1994 shooting, mocked B.I.G. by saying he had slept with Faith Evans, and threatened the two in the lyrics to his his song "Hit 'Em Up." (The video for the track featured two characters, P.I.G. and Buffy, who are humiliated in various ways.) In September 1996, however, Shakur was shot and killed by unknown assailants; just six months later, in March of 1997, B.I.G. himself was killed in the same fashion. Just three weeks later, his second album debuted at number one and was eventually certified six times platinum. The single "Hypnotize" also hit number one, and stayed on the charts for months after B.I.G. was killed. Though Combs had been preparing his own solo debut, under the name Puff Daddy, he quit working for several months out of grief for his long-time friend. When he returned in mid-1997, it was with a vengeance, as the single "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" held the top spot on the singles charts for almost two months. Following quickly behind was another monster number one hit, "I'll Be Missing You," a tender tribute to Notorious B.I.G. with Faith Evans providing background vocals. Combs' subsequent LP as Puff Daddy, No Way Out, shot straight to number one and was certified platinum several times over; in 1998 it won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and "I'll Be Missing You" won the award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Forever followed in 1999.

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A member of the Queens, NY-based hip hop trio Cash Money Click, rapper Ja Rule (born Jeffrey Atkins) made his solo debut in 1998 with "Story to Tell, " his contribution to the soundtrack of the film Belly; preceded by the single "Holla Holla, " his LP Venni Vetti Vecci followed a year later. ~ Chuck Donkers, All Music Guide

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The duo known as Mobb Deep -- Prodigy and Havoc -- met at a Queens high school in the early '90s and soon became friends. After writing a few raps together, they hung out around the Def Jam headquarters waiting to get noticed. After attracting the attention of Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest, the duo gained a record deal with 4th & Broadway by 1993 and released their debut album, Juvenile Hell, the same year. The LP wasn't very successful, but Mobb Deep resurfaced on Loud Records the same year, with the single "Temperature's Rising." Prodigy and Havoc's debut album for the label, The Infamous, was released in 1995. It hit the Top 20 and went gold, thanks in part to the Rap Top Ten single, "Shook Ones Part II." Mobb Deep's third album Hell on Earth debuted at number six in early December 1996. Murda Muzik followed in 1999.

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Nas

Long Island rapper Nas, born Nasir Jones, immersed himself in hip-hop and street culture at age nine, the fruits of which can be heard on his 1994 debut, Illmatic. Nas got his big break when former 3rd Bass rapper MC Serch included his "Half Time" on the soundtrack of the film Zebrahead, which led to a deal with Serch's production company. Illmatic was released on Columbia in 1994 and attracted attention for its depiction of ghetto life and Nas's refusal to include much of the misogyny and violence of standard gangsta-rap, not to mention his admiration of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Nas' second album, It Was Written, was an immediate hit upon its release in the summer of 1996, entering the charts at number one, which far eclipsed the number 12 peak of Illmatic. Nastradamus followed in 1999.

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Born: 21-May-1972
Death: 09-Mar-1997

The Brooklyn-born rapper the Notorious B.I.G. (born Chris Wallace) first gained attention for his work on Mary J. Blige's "What's the 411?" When he delivered his debut album, Ready to Die, in 1994, it became one of the most popular hip-hop releases of the year. In June of 1995, his single "One More Chance" debuted at number five in the pop singles chart, tying Michael Jackson's "Scream / Childhood" as the highest-debuting single of all time. Ready to Die continued to gain popularity throughout 1995, eventually selling two million copies. With its success, the Notorious B.I.G. became the most visable figue in East Coast hip-hop, and he became a target in the heated feud between the two coasts; especially, he and Tupac Shakur, a former ally, became vicious rivals.

As the Notorious B.I.G. was preparing his second album, Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas. Many in the media speculated that Biggie's camp was responsible for the shooting, accusations that he and his produces, Sean "Puffy" Combs, vehemently denied. However, the wheels had been set in motion for another tragedy. Early on the morning of March 9, the Notorious B.I.G. was returning to his hotel in Los Angeles after a Soul Train Award party when another car pulled up aside his car and opened fire, killing him instantly. Shakur had been killed just six months earlier.

The Notorious B.I.G.'s second album, the double-disc Life After Death, was released three weeks later, debuting at number one on the charts. His legend continued to grow in the years to follow thanks to subsequent posthumous releases including 1999's Born Again.

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