Miguel, Big Sean, Dom Kennedy, Curren$y, Chip Tha Ripper, Pac Div, The Cool Kids, Casey Veggies, Max B, et Gym Class Heroes

Miguel Pimentel grew up surrounded by music. Even after his parents split when he was eight, he was still very much in thrall to the classic rhythm and blues that his mother coveted, and his father’s more diverse tastes in hip-hop, funk and jazz. Needless to say it rubbed off on the young Pimentel, who at the age of five wanted to be a dancer but changed his aspirations at 13. The very next year he began writing songs and developing them on an old four-track recorder that he borrowed from his uncle, and before he’d even finished high school he’d struck up a friendship with a member of a local production team called the Drop Squad.

By the time he was 15, Pimentel had signed a deal with the Drop Squad to produce his records, and over the next four years the two began making music and releasing it onto the internet. This paid off in 2004 when he signed a record deal with the independent record label Black Ice. He spent two years making his debut record but it was shelved mere months before release, a single and a video for “Getcha Hands Up” was released but even at 21 years old Pimentel was a savvy guy. He had already moved on from the sound that he’d developed with the label and walked away from his deal to find somewhere he could develop artistically.

Turns out this was the best idea he could have at the time, but it still took a year before anything else started happening. Near the end of that year, Pimentel’s manager submitted an album’s worth of songs to Mark Pitts, the man who would eventually become president of Urban music at RCA Records. Pitts was impressed and called a meeting with Pimentel in October of 2007, The following month, he had a record deal with Jive Records and almost immediately afterwards, he began work on his debut record “All I Want Is You”. Pimentel strengthened his profile by working with Usher and Asher Roth but Black Ice Records managed to delay the release of his album by a couple of years, suing him for breach of contract.

As if that wasn’t enough Jive Records was in the process of going under when the album was released in November 2010, and the album tanked due to lack of promotion. At least initially, it did. However its title track started to get steady radio airplay and that, combined with opening for both Trey Songz and Usher, made the album into a sleeper hit, ultimately spending 45 weeks on the Billboard Album chart and selling over 400’000 copies in the U.S alone. Jive Records was finally shut down and absorbed by RCA Records in 2012, and with Pitts the head of urban music, Pimentel signed with RCA and in October, released his first bona-fide hit album.

His second effort “Kaleidoscope Dream” went straight in at number three and he had his first top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the form of its lead single “Adorn”. Pimentel was finally a legitimate pop star, and ever since then his star has just risen and risen, leading to sold out concerts all over the world and a million selling collaboration with the one and only Mariah Carey in the form of “#Beautiful”. Clearly, this is an artist who could quite easily achieve greatness in the very near future, he’s at the peak of his powers and we’re lucky enough to watch it unfold in real time. Highly recommended.

Born in 1988 in the West Side of Detroit, Michigan, Big Sean, born Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, spent his years working on his rapping whilst at the same time building an important relationship with local rap station WHTD.

When in 2005 Sean heard Kanye was going to be interviewed at the station, he rushed over hoping to meet one of his heroes. After Kanye reluctantly heard Sean freestyling, he was impressed enough to take a demo. This was the beginning of an important future friendship for Sean and two years later he signed to Kanye’s GOOD Music label.

He soon released his first mixtapes ‘Finally Famous: The Mixtape’ in 2007 and two years later ‘UKNOWBIGSEAN’, both of which began to build his profile with the help of hit singles like ‘Get’Cha Some’.

His debut album ‘Finally Famous’ came out in June 2011 and was a huge success spawning singles like ‘My Last’ and making its way to number 3 on the Billboard 200.

Sean continued to ride the success of this album when he began work on his next project, a collaboration between GOOD Music artists that would eventually become ‘Cruel Summer’. Released in 2012 this was another home-run success birthing the Billboard Award winning single ‘Mercy’.

In 2013 Big Sean released his second solo album ‘Hall of Fame’ and when it reached number one in the R&B and Hip Hop albums there was no denying that Sean really was Finally Famous.

Kennedy released his debut mixtape album “25th Hour” in 2008 and a buzz soon surrounded him on South side L.A. His track “Watermelon Sundae” in particular was played widely on local radio stations. He went on to release a further four independent mixtapes, most notably his third, the critically acclaimed “From the Westside with Love”, released in 2010. The mixtape gained over 100,000 downloads, and Dom Kennedy was quickly being recognized as a major player on the West Coast hip hop scene.

In June 2011, Dom Kennedy released his first commercial studio album on iTunes, titled “From the Westside with Love 2”. It reached the top ten of hip hop and rap albums during its first week and was his first album to be released under self-established record label Other People’s Money. Stand-out track “My Type of Party” is one of his best-known songs and was ranked by Complex Magazine at number 43 in its “Best 50 Songs of 2012” list. In 2012 he also travelled throughout Europe and the US for his Yellow Album Tour.

Major-label Interscope were interested in signing Kennedy in early 2013, however he turned down the offer and chose to remain independent. His second album “Get Home Safely” was released through his label Other People’s Money and debuted at number 29 in its first week, selling over 10,000 copies in the US. Guest appearances on the album from other artists include Skeme, Krondon, Ty Dolla Sign and Nipsey Hussle.

Dom Kennedy has collaborated with many other hip hop artists, including King Chip, Big Sean and Curren$y and has himself made guest appearances on several albums. In particular, he appeared on the track “She Needs Me” with Kendrick Lamar and MURS in 2010. Kennedy cites Notorious B.I.G, Outkast and LL Cool J has three of his most prominent influences.

Born on 4 April 1981, Curren$y signed with Master P’s No Limit Records in 2002. He was also a member of 504 Boyz and made multiple appearances on Master P’s “Good Side, Bad Side” record in 2004. Later that same year, he signed with Cash Money Records and Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment and released a mix tape entitled “Welcome Back.” Additionally, Curren$y started Fly Society, first as just a clothing company, then as a company that also released music. Led off by the single “Where Da Cash At” he released his mix tape album with Young Money Records “Music To Fly To” in 2006.

In 2009 Curren$y signed with Amalgam Digital to released his album “This Ain’t No Mixtape,” which was followed shortly by the release of “Jet Files.” A year later he released “Pilot Talk” which featured guests such as Snoop Dogg, Mos Def and Big K.R.I.T. A mere four months later he followed up with his fourth album, “Pilot Talk II” which featured Fiend and Raekwon. On 11 February 2011 signed with Jet Life Recordings, an imprint of Warner Brothers Records. He released a ten-track album for free entitled “The Alchemist” followed by a mix tape “Weekend At Burnie’s.” Early the next year, Curren$y released his next album, “Muscle Car Chronicles,” followed by a consistent release of albums and EPs, and in 2014 he released “The Drive In Theater.”

Born Casey Jones in Inglewood, California, Veggies delivered his debut mixtape at the modest age of 14 entitled “Customized Greatly Vol. 1”. By this time he had co-founded the hip hop group OFWGKTA and made contributions to their debut mixtape “The Odd Future Tape” released in 2008. Following the release, Veggies left OFWGKTA to pursue his own rap destiny, later releasing his follow-up mixtape “Customized Greatly Vol. 2” in collaboration with Def Jam’s YG. In a partnership alongside friends Joshton Peas and Anwar Carrots, Veggies founded the rap and business venture PNCINTL, otherwise known as Peas & Carrots International.

After graduating from high school, Veggies released his third mixtape “Sleeping in Class”, which the rapper supported by joining Mac Miller as an opening act on the Blue Slide Park Tour in 2011. Veggie has since performed alongside Nipsey Hussle, Dom Kennedy, Kendrick Lamar, Rita Ora and Wiz Khalifa, before dropping his fourth solo mixtape “Customized Greatly Vol. 3”. It wasn’t however until 2013 that Veggies earned his big break with the release of the mixtape “Life Changes” in January. By February 2013 the rapper signed with VIC and Epic Records, released the mixtape ‘Fresh Veggies” with Rockie Fresh, and began work on his debut studio album. In anticipation of the record the rapper began releasing singles including “The Boy” and “Backflip” featuring Iamsu! in 2014, and “Tied Up” featuring Dej Loaf in 2015.