DJ Cassidy, Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Ja Rule, Jadakiss, and Nelly

Born Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr to Jamaican parents in Brooklyn, New York, Busta Rhymes came from the same fertile breeding ground as many of the biggest rappers of all time. While he might not have achieved their commercial success, very few other rappers around command the kind of respect that Busta gets from everyone who knows anything about Hip-Hop. Moving to Long Island, New York with his family at the age of 12, Busta would attend George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School alongside Jay-Z, DMX and The Notorious B.I.G before graduating High School in 1991 from Uniondale High School. School, however, was already in the back of Busta’s mind by then.

In 1989, he’d formed his first rap group with fellow New Yorkers Charlie Brown (Bryan Higgins), Dinco D (James Jackson) and Cut Monitor Milo (Sheldon Scott) while still at Uniondale High School. They called themselves Leaders Of The New School and generated such a buzz that before Busta had graduated high school, his group had opened for the mighty Public Enemy and landed a record deal with Elektra Records at the tender age of 17. His first record with Leaders Of The New School was released in the same year he graduated high school, 1991, and while “A Future Without A Past…” wasn’t an enormous commercial success, it was critically adored, and gave the group three top ten singles on the Billboard Hot Rap singles charts.

However, as the group grew in popularity, Busta started grabbing the lion’s share of the public’s attention, stealing the spotlight from the other members of the band. This began in 1992 after he stole the show on a guest spot on A Tribe Called Quest’s track “Scenario”, and despite releasing their second record in 1993, the band split up on the set of MTV’s hip-hop show Yo! MTV Raps. This left the stage set for a solo career, and in 1996 he released his debut solo single “Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check”. The track was a smash hit, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and proving beyond reasonable doubt that Busta gone solo was a force to be reckoned with.

Busta’s name got even bigger in 1998 with the release of his third record “Extinction Level Event (Final World Front)”, which made him a star in the U.K and Europe and continued his imperial phase in his home country with the best reviews of his career and hit single “What’s It Gonna Be?!” which featured Janet Jackson. Since then, it would be easier to compile a list of the artists that Busta hasn’t worked with, with Nas, Eminem, Pharrell and Nicki Minaj naming but a few. His flow is impeccable, his style unmistakeable, and over twenty-five years into his career, he still has the power to take a track and make it a hit. For that, Busta comes highly recommended.

Born on August 19, 1970, Fat Joe released a number of recordings which have lead to the explicit rapper attaining great success. He was raised by parents of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, and was influenced by the Latino lyricist Big Pun in his early life; Fat Joe claimed he respected Big Pun for aiming to “represent our people”.

Between the years of 1992-1995, Joseph Cartagena performed under the show-name Fat Joe da Gangsta whilst being part of the Diggin’ in the Crates (D.I.T.C) rap collective. He released the debut album ‘Represent’ in 1993, which included the single ‘Flow Joe’; it gained Joe widespread recognition and forced people to start noticing his talents after it peaked at number one the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart.

In 1998, Fat Joe released the album ‘Don Cartagena’ - featuring the likes of Nas, Diddy, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and his own group Terror Squad - on Atlantic Records. It peaked at number two on the US R&B chart, and signaled the begging of prolonged success for the east-coast rapper.

In 2001, Fat Joe released ‘Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E)’ - a production from Irv Gotti - which featured Busta Rhymes, Ludacris and R. Kelly. It included the hip-hop, club-classic single ‘What’s Luv’ featuring Ja Rule and Ashanti, which peaked at number four in the UK, at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and featured in the 2002 movie Juwanna Mann; the single has since sold over 4,500,000 copies. Fat Joe also featured heavily with Remy for Terror Squad’s single ‘Lean Back’ in 2004, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, topped the R&B charts for over a month and won the Single of the Year award at The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards.

Fat Joe is comparable to Mase, Redman and Indo G, whilst the Puerto Rican enthusiast is commended for his charitable work, having visited his old school and donated new computers for students, whilst also speaking at a School is Cool assembly in Public School 5 in New Jersey US in 2009. He has performed at prestigious settings such as The Black Music Festival and BET Hip-Hop Awards 2012, and continues to demand respect from the hip-hop scene and beyond for a career decorated with credible accolades.

Born Jeffrey Atkins on February 29th 1976, Ja Rule’s career began in 1993 when he joined the band Cash Money Click. He claimed that the name “Ja Rule” was just a name that his friends called him when he was younger. His debut came in the form of Mic Geronimo’s “Time to Build” in 1995, which featured Jay-Z and DMX. Later on, in 1998, Ja Rule signed to Def Jam.

“Venni Vetti Vecci” was released on June 1st 1999 and immediately went to number 3 in the Billboard 200 chart. It sold a staggering 184,000 copies in its first week, and later achieved Platinum Certification. The first single released of the album, “Holla Holla” went to number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Ja Rule led the release of his second album with the single “Between Me and You” which featured Christina Milian. The song peaked at number 11 on the Hot 100, whilst the second single “Put It on Me” reached number 8. When the album “Rule 3:36” was finally released on October 10th 2000, it debuted at the top spot of the Billboard 200, selling upwards of 276,000 copies in the first week. It eventually earned a Grammy nomination and was certified 3x Platinum.

“Pain Is Love”, released on October 2nd 2001 was hailed as one of the most successful albums of Ja’s career, being responsible for three top 10 singles, with two of which reaching number 1. The leading single “Livin’ It Up” peaked at number 6 on the Hot 100 chart, also a remix of Jennifer Lopez’s “I’m Real” topped the Hot 100. The first week of sales were in excess of 361,000, and like it’s predecessor would be certified 3x Platinum. In 2007, 3.6 million units had been sold. From “The Last Temptation” released on November 19th 2002 until “R.U.L.E” released on November 8th 2004, Ja Rule maintained his chart success with the albums being top ten successes on the Billboard 200 chart. The former achieved Platinum Certification.

In 1991, whilst still 16, Jadakiss had made a name for himself as a freestyle rapper, and competed in the Floridian freestyle battle the “Jack the Rapper Competition”. It wasn’t long before the rapper was making connections and soon became affiliated with the Ruff Ryders management company. Alongside friends Sheek Louch and Styles P. Jadakiss formed the rap group The Warlocks and signed with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment. At the suggestion of the label the group changed their name to The LOX, and made their debut recording on The Main Source’s LP “Fuck What You Think” on the track “Set it Off”. During this time Jadakiss developed a close relationship with The Notorious B.I.G., and The LOX’s first hit came as the B-side to Puff Daddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You” entitled “We’ll Always Love Big Poppa” in 1997.

A year later The LOX released their debut full-length “Money, Power & Respect”, which earned the group positive reviews and platinum certification. Despite the album’s success The LOX parted ways with Bad Boy Entertainment, deciding to sign with Ruff Ryders Entertainment instead. Jadakiss’ solo debut album “Kiss Tha Game Goodbye” was released in August 2001 featuring guest contributions from The Alchemist, DMX, Eve, Snoop Dogg and Swizz Beatz. Despite these high-profile artists however the album was a commercial flop, and Jadakiss has since admitted the album was completed out of a contract obligation to Bad Boy Entertainment.

The rapper’s 2004 sophomore album “Kiss of Death” however received much more favourable reviews, aided by the lead single “Why?” featuring Anthony Hamilton. In 2007 Jadakiss signed with Roc-A-Fella Records in a move that Jay-Z had been orchestrating for a few years. The rapper’s debut release on the label was 2009's “The Last Kiss” led by the single “By My Side” featuring Ne-Yo. Subsequent singles included “Can’t Stop Me”, “Death Wish” featuring Lil Wayne, and “Who’s Real”. In 2012 Jadakiss released the mixtape “Consignment” and in 2013 the single “Big Boy Dialogue” featuring vocals from The-Dream.

Originally born in Austin, Texas, Nelly moved to Missouri as a result of his parents’ separation at the age of 7. It was there that he found initial musical success, with the formation of the hip-hop group “St. Lunatics” with his high school friends in 1993.

After achieving moderate local interest with their song “Gimme What U Got” it became apparent to Nelly and the rest of the group, that he was the star of the group, and they encouraged him to push forward with his solo career.

He was finally signed by Universal, despite concerns about his geographical background not being commercially viable, as the majority of well-liked rappers hailed from New York or California at the time.

However Nelly’s debut release Country Grammar in 2000, was fairly successful, with the title track’s popularity helping pull the album to the top of various charts in the US. The album established Nelly’s personal pop-rap style, matched with his southern drawl that made him distinctive in the genre at the time.

Two years later, Nelly released his second full-length album, “Nellyville”, which took the rapper to superstardom. Tracks such as the catchy “Hot In Here” and R&B collaboration jam “Dilemna” with Destiny Child’s Kelly Rowland, established Nelly at the top of the charts around the globe, with the album certified as six times platinum and ranked as the fourth best selling rap album of all time.

Suddenly, Nelly and his trademark plaster were everywhere. His third LP, a “dual” album called Sweat, Suit, was a half Rap, half R&B album, Both albums were released simultaneously in 2004, with the latter featuring the hit single “Over and Over” a surprise joint track with country singer Tim McGraw. The album was yet another commercial triumph for the rapper, cementing his place as one of the true icons of the 2000’s.

Alongside his musical career, Nelly became known for his business acumen, during a time when rappers could seemingly release anything! Nelly’s ventures included, collaboration with Nike for a limited edition sneaker, his own brand of energy drink “Pimp Juice” and a women’s clothing range called “Apple Bottoms.” He also made a name for himself in the acting industry, starring in comedy sports movie “The Longest Yard” with comedians Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.