Grammy Winners!

Vincent Jamal Staples is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Staples was once a close associate of Odd Future, Mike G and Earl Sweatshirt in particular. He is currently signed to Motown and Blacksmith Records.

Cordae Amari Dunston known mononymously as Cordae, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He gained popularity by releasing remixes of popular songs, such as "My Name Is" by Eminem, and "Old Niggas", which was a response to the song "1985" by J. Cole. Videos to both remixes were uploaded to WorldStarHipHop's YouTube channel, which led to an immense and immediate positive response from both mainstream media and the online rap community.

Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean, is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean has won two Grammy Awards and a Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist among other accolades, and his two studio albums have been listed on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020).

Destin Choice Route (born October 31, 1990), better known by his stage name JID (also stylized J.I.D), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is a part of the musical collective Spillage Village, founded by EarthGang in 2010, with Hollywood JB, JordxnBryant, and 6lack, among others. He is signed to J. Cole's Dreamville Records and Interscope Records. He is also a member of the hip hop supergroup Zoink Gang, with Smino, Buddy, and Guapdad 4000.

JID began gaining recognition after releasing several independent projects such as Route of Evil (2012), Para Tu (2013) and DiCaprio (2015). His debut studio album, The Never Story, was released in 2017 to public praise and included the single "Never". He released his second album, DiCaprio 2, in 2018; it contains the singles "151 Rum" and "Off Deez" (with J. Cole) and also received critical acclaim. In 2021, he released the single "Enemy" with pop rock band Imagine Dragons, which became his highest charting and most popular single, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. His most recent album, The Forever Story (2022), received widespread acclaim from critics and became his highest charting album peaking at number 12 on the Billboard 200.

SOB X RBE is an American hip hop group. The group consists of two active members, DaBoii and Slimmy B. The group was founded in 2016 by Slimmy B, Yhung T.O., DaBoii, and Lul G. The group was formed during their teenage years and they worked together to create music. Their sound is highly influenced by the Bay Area and various artists that make up the Hip-Hop and Rap culture of Northern California.

Jermaine Lamarr Cole is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in early 2007. Intent on further pursuing a musical career, he went on to release two additional mixtapes, The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010) both to critical acclaim, after signing to Jay-Z's Roc Nation imprint in 2009.

Tierra Helena Whack (born August 11, 1995) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She originally performed as "Dizzle Dizz" as a teenager, but later on reverted to her birth name in 2017. Her debut studio album, Whack World, was released in May 2018 and received widespread critical acclaim.

Whack was born in 1995 and raised by her mother in North Philadelphia. She has two younger siblings. In a 2018 interview with The Fader, Whack mentioned that she and her father are estranged. Whack was an introverted kid growing up; she would write to help herself deal with her insecurities. As a child, Whack loved the author Dr. Seuss so much that she would rhyme together each of her sentences for her homework assignments.

Joseph Davis (born August 3, 1993), better known by his stage name Joey Purp, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He is one half of Leather Corduroys. He is one of the founding members of Savemoney.

Joseph Davis grew up bouncing between various neighborhoods of Chicago, ranging from Wrigleyville to Humboldt Park. His father ran a restaurant and his mother managed thrift stores. He attended Whitney Young High School, where he realized that he had a talent for freestyle rapping. In his senior year, he dropped out of high school. He worked and interned at LDRS 1354, a streetwear store at Wicker Park.

In 2012, Joey Purp released his first mixtape, The Purple Tape. In 2016, he released a mixtape, iiiDrops. Tentatively titled Eyedrops, it featured contributions from Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa, among others. It was included on the year-end lists by Complex, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and Lyrical Lemonade.

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and melancholia, and is often inspired by personal experiences. He has received numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 17 Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Tesfaye began his career in 2009 by anonymously releasing music on YouTube. Two years later, he co-founded the XO record label and released the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which gained recognition for his style of contemporary and alternative R&B and the mystique surrounding his identity. In 2012, he signed with Republic Records and rereleased the mixtapes in the compilation album Trilogy. He explored dark wave in his debut studio album Kiss Land (2013), which debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. After its release, Tesfaye began contributing to film soundtracks, with his acclaimed single "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, while also being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape 10 Day in 2012. He began to gain mainstream recognition in 2013 after releasing his second mixtape, Acid Rap. He then released his third mixtape, Coloring Book in 2016, which garnered further critical acclaim and attention. It earned him three Grammy Awards, including the award for Best Rap Album; upon winning, it became the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy Award, and peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200. His debut studio album The Big Day was released in 2019.

Donald McKinley Glover Jr., also known by his stage name Childish Gambino, is an American actor, comedian, singer, rapper, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glover was hired at age 23 by Tina Fey as a writer for the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He later rose to fame for portraying college student Troy Barnes on the NBC sitcom Community from 2009 to 2014. From 2016 to 2022, Glover starred in the FX series Atlanta, which he created and occasionally directed. For his work on Atlanta, Glover won various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

D'Anthony William Carlos (born May 17, 1993), better known by his stage name GoldLink, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. In 2014, he released his debut mixtape, The God Complex, which received critical acclaim. In June 2015, he was chosen as part of the XXL Freshman Class. In October 2015, GoldLink released his second mixtape, And After That, We Didn't Talk, which was supported by the singles, "Dance on Me" and "Spectrum". His third mixtape, At What Cost, was released on March 24, 2017 to positive reviews. The project's lead single, "Crew" (featuring Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy), peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and earned GoldLink his first Grammy nomination. His debut studio album, Diaspora, was released on June 12, 2019.

Robert Rihmeek Williams, known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, The Bloodhoundz. In 2008, Atlanta-based rapper T.I. signed Meek Mill to his first record deal. In February 2011, after leaving Grand Hustle Records, Mill signed with Miami-based rapper Rick Ross's Maybach Music Group (MMG). Mill's debut album, Dreams and Nightmares, was released in 2012 under MMG and Warner Bros. Records. The album, preceded by the lead single "Amen", peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200.

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation. Born and raised in Compton, California, Lamar began his career as a teenager performing under the stage name K.Dot. He quickly garnered local attention which led to him signing a recording contract with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005.

Kids See Ghosts was an American hip hop duo composed of musicians Kanye West and Kid Cudi. Formed in 2018 during West’s Wyoming sessions, the duo released their eponymous debut album in June of that year, through their respective label imprints, GOOD Music and Wicked Awesome Records. The duo disbanded in 2022.

Francis and the Lights is an American pop project led by Francis Farewell Starlite. The term "and the Lights" refers both to the lights on a stage and pixels on a computer screen.

Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown (born June 7, 1993), known professionally as Swae Lee, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Known for his wide vocal range and genre-bending, Lee is one half of the hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd with his brother Slim Jxmmi. As a member of Rae Sremmurd, he achieved success with the singles "No Flex Zone", "No Type", and "Black Beatles", the last of which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2017, he was featured French Montana's single "Unforgettable", which earned him his first top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 as a soloist, and was later certified Diamond (10× Platinum) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

He was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2017 for co-writing Beyoncé's single "Formation". In 2018, Lee released his debut solo studio album Swaecation as part of Rae Sremmurd's third album, SR3MM (2018), which was a triple album. In the same year, his single "Sunflower" with Post Malone was promotional and lead single to the soundtrack for the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). The song peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, was nominated for two Grammy Awards, and reached Diamond status, being certified 17× Platinum by the RIAA. He was also featured on the single "Close to Me" by Ellie Goulding and Diplo, which reached number one on the US Adult Top 40 airplay chart. In 2020, he released the single "Be Like That" with Kane Brown and Khalid, which reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.