ESSENTIALS
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers II, professionally known as Eminem. One of the most famous artists in the world of music and of course rap. He is a rapper, producer, songwriter and actor. The 45-year-old Detroit native is the mentor of many young rappers who are now rising in the rap world like Mike Stud, Witt Lowry and Skizzy Mars. His first rap song ‘Reckless’ was a success and got Eminem’s also known as M&M reputation to the peak. He has won several Grammys in his career and has sold over 300 million records, clearly, one of the best-selling artists in history.
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III, known as 50 Cent, reach world fame with his albums ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2003 and ‘The Massacre’ in 2005. His album ‘Guess who’s back?’ was also key in his career as Eminem discovered him after he released, and it got 50 Cent to sign with Interscope Records. Apart from music he’s also been an actor and appeared in several movies like ‘Home of the Brave’ in 2006. He was named the 6th best artist in the 2000 decade according to the Billboard magazine.
Kanye West
The 40-year-old American started his musical career as a producer in 90’s. His individual singing success didn’t start until 2002 as many rejected him as a rapper because he didn’t appear like a typical rapper and did represent the way rappers were, it was hard for him to get accepted in the rapping world. In 2002 he suffered a car crash which almost ended with his life and inspired him to sing a song. That song was ‘Through the wire’ which narrates his experience after the crash. ‘Through the wire’ was included in the album ‘Get well soon’ in 2002. West is an example to many artists of perseverance as even though it was hard for him to get induced and be considered in the world of rap, he kept working to get where he wanted without listening to harsh critics. Now, he’s one of the most famous artists of hip hop/rap.