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Draft:Midwest hip hop

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Midwest hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music from the Midwestern U.S.. It popularized with the mid-90's with fast-paced rappers, commonly known as "choppers", and includes Cleveland's Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Chicago's Twista and Da Brat, Kansas City's Tech N9NE, Minneapolis' Atmosphere, and Detroit's Eminem.

List of Midwest hip hop artists

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Chicago rapper Kanye West in 2019

Kanye West - Chicago-based rapper Kanye West is often known for blending hip hop music with other styles, including pop, R&B, electronic, gospel, soul, baroque, trip hop, alternative rock, folk, electronica, industrial, and even classical. Dropped out at school to pursue a career in music, he started working on fellow Chicago rappers on production, before being signed as an in-house producer for fellow rapper Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, before its dissolution in 2013, and written and produced songs for other artists, including Ludacris, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson. His debut album, The College Dropout, was released in 2004, followed by Late Registration in 2005 and Graduation in 2007, as part of his "Dropout Bear Trilogy", named after an alter ego during the The College Dropout era. One of his greatest hits includes the Billboard Hot 100 number ones, including "Slow Jamz" (as a featured artist) in 2004, "Gold Digger" in 2005, "Stronger" in 2007, "E.T." (as a featured artist) in 2011, and "Carnival" in 2024, as well the Grammy-winning songs "Jesus Walks" (2004) in 2005, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (2005) in 2006, "Good Life" (2007) in 2008 (all as a solo artist), "Southside" (2007) in 2008, "American Boy" and "Swagga Like Us" (both 2008) in 2009, "Run This Town" (2009) in 2010 (all as a featured artist), "All of the Lights" (2010) and "Otis" (2011) in 2012, "No Church in the Wild" and "In Paris" (both 2011) in 2013, and "Hurricane" and "Jail" (both 2021) in 2022.

Detroit rapper Eminem performing in 2009

Eminem - Detroit-based rapper Eminem is one of the most important figures in hip hop music and one of the greatest rapper of all time. Discovered in 1998 by West Coast rapper Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, he released his sophomore album The Slim Shady LP a year later. His recent album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (2024) peaked the worldwide charts (including the U.S.) 20 consecutive times as a number one album. Best known for his transgressive works from the 90's to the beginnings of the 21st century, criticized lyrics, and publicized feuds with other artists, as well his appearances under the alter ego Slim Shady, he is often nicknamed as "The King of Hip Hop" by multiple sources. One of his greatest hits includes his signature songs "My Name Is" (1999), "The Real Slim Shady" (2000), and "Lose Yourself" (2002), "Without Me", "'Till I Collapse" (both 2002), "Not Afraid", "Love the Way You Lie" (both 2010), "Rap God", "The Monster" (both 2013), "River" (2017), "Venom" (2018), "Godzilla" (2020), and "Houdini" (2024).

Cleveland rapper Kid Cudi performing in 2014

Kid Cudi - Blending psychedelia, rock and electronic across hip hop music, Cleveland-born and New York City-raised rapper Kid Cudi is also known for his "Moon Man" trilogy, which consists of Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009), Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010) and Man on the Moon III: The Chosen (2020), after his breakthrough success with his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi (2008) and its hit single "Day 'n' Nite", before signing with fellow rapper Kanye West's GOOD Music. The rock album WZRD, a collaboration with longtime producer Dot da Genius (under the name of a duo of the same name), which was later followed by his entirely self-produced album Indicud in 2013, the experimental album Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon in 2014, and his solo rock album Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven in 2015. In 2016, the album Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin' is a return to his Moon Man trilogy due to its acts. His 2020 collaboration with fellow rapper Travis Scott under the duo The Scotts was met with the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single of the same name. In 2022, he released the compilation album The Boy Who Flew to the Moon, Vol. 1 and the soundtrack to his Netflix adult animated TV special Entergalactic, as well the digital reissue to A Kid Named Cudi. In early 2024, his recent album Insano was followed a month later with its sequel, Insano (Nitro Mega).

Detroit rapper Big Sean performing in 2015

Big Sean - Another Detroit rapper, Big Sean, met Kanye West in 2007 and signed to West's GOOD Music the same year. His breakthrough success was met with his third mixtape Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big in 2010, later followed a year later by his debut album, Finally Famous, and its Billboard Hot 100 top-40 singles "My Last", "Marvin & Chardonnay" and "Dance (Ass)". His 2012 mixtape, Detroit, was also met with further success. His second studio album, Hall of Fame (2013), was supported by another Billboard Hot 100 top-40 single, "Beware". In 2015, his third album Dark Sky Paradise peaked atop the Billboard 200 with its single "I Don't F*** with You", which was certified octuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was also met with other platinum singles, including "Paradise", "Blessings", "One Man Can Change the World", and "Play No Games". His 2016 collaborative album with his fiancée Jhené Aiko, titled Twenty88, was later succeeded a year later with his solo effort I Decided, with its Billboard Hot 100 number six single "Bounce Back". In 2020, a studio album sequel to Detroit titled Detroit 2 also debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, along with I Decided, which was later followed a year later by the collaborative EP What You Expect with producer Hit-Boy and four years later with his sixth studio album Better Me Than You, which is a departure with GOOD Music.

Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco teaching at the MIT in 2022

Lupe Fiasco - Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco had a breakthrough success with his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor in 2006, which was met by 3 Grammy nominations, and was followed a year later with Lupe Fiasco's The Cool and its Billboard Hot 100 top-40 single "Superstar". In 2007, he founded with fellow rapper Kanye West and singer Pharrell Williams the supertrio Child Rebel Soldier, which was later a solo project in 2024, and in 2008, he formed the rock band Japanese Cartoon under his real name, Wasalu Jaco. His third album, Lasers, peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, and its number nine Billboard Hot 100 single "The Show Goes On". A sequel to Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor titled Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 was released in 2012, which was later followed by Tetsuo & Youth in 2015, Drogas Light in 2017, Drogas Wave in 2018, Drill Music in Zion in 2022, and the previous one Samurai in 2024. In 2022, he was appointed as a guest teacher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in which he teaches "Rap Theory and Practice", and collaborated with fellow MIT teacher Nick Montfort (Professor of Digital Media).

Chicago rapper Common performing in 2007
Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs performing in 2014
Chicago rapper Twista in 2010
St. Louis rapper Nelly in 2010
Cleveland group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony performing in 2010

References

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