ASAP ROCK
- His real name is Rakim Athelaston Mayers
- He loves to listen to classical music when driving
- He is obsessed with the colour purple
- Asap and Rihanna have recently welcomed the birth of their first baby together
- He is known as a ‘Fashion Killa’
KENDRICK LAMAR
- Kendrick grew up in Compton, California
- He was a straight A student in school
- He watched Tupac and Dr Dre shoot a music video when he was a kid
- His album, ‘DAMN’, was the first hip-hop album to win the Pulitzer Prize
- Kendrick’s father was a member of the Gangster Disciples
NICKI MINAJ
- Nicki wrote her first rap when she was 12
- She was fired from her waitressing job
- In 2001, Nicki starred in a Broadway play titled ‘In Case You Forget’
- She has been named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the world
- Nicki was the first female rapper to perform at Yankee Stadium in New York City, New York
MEGAN THEE STALLION
- Although she is famously known as Megan Thee Stallion, her real name is Megan Jovon Ruth Pete
- Her nickname stems from her height
- She began writing raps at the age of 16
- Megan refers to her fans as ‘Hotties”
- Her mother was a rapper who went by the stage name ‘Holly-Wood’
BLACK SHERIF
- Black Sherif’s real name is Mohammed Ismail Sherif Kwaku Frimpong
- His fans refer to him as Blacko
- He has worked with International artists such as Tory Lanez
- He has 1.3M monthly listeners on Spotify
- His music has been described as a mix of Afrobeats and U.K drill
RUSS
- Although better known as Russ, his real name is Russel James Vitale
- Russ made his first beat at the age of 14
- He is a part of the rap group ‘Diemon Crew’
- He was inspired by his grandfather, who was a guitarist, to learn more about music at a young age
- He has two different eye colours due to an eye condition called heterochromia
BURNA BOY
- Burna Boy rose to prominence in the early part of the 2010s as one of Nigeria’s fastest-rising stars.
- Although he is famously known as Burna Boy, his real name is Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu
- He began making music when he was 10 years old
- His latest album ‘Love, Damini’ became the highest charting Nigerian album in history
- Burna Boy has been nicknamed ‘African Giant’
GIVEON
- He enjoys interior design
- He is a big fan of basketball and admires Kyrie Irving and Jason Douglas.
- Giveon says his mother, who appears on track one of his album ‘Take Time’, used to make him sing at birthday parties when he was younger
- He rose to prominence with his collaboration with Drake on their 2020 single, “Chicago Freestyle”.
- His baritone range is inspired by the work of Frank Sinatra and vocal jazz from the 60s and 70s.
LOKI
- The South African rapper’s real name is Ndlelenhle Nyuswa
- He is from Durban
- He started making music in 2011
- He was discovered by South African rapper K.O
- He is the first artist signed to Skhanda World record label
FIREBOY DML
- Although he is famously known as Fireboy DML, his real name is Adedamola Adefolahan
- Fireboy DML is signed to YBNL Nation, a record label founded by Nigerian rapper Olamide.
- He has worked with famous international artists such as Ed Sheeran and Chris Brown
- He has 9.6M monthly listeners on Spotify
- His music fuses Afrobeats, R&B and Soul
COCO JONES
- She rose to prominence by starring in the Disney Channel film Let It Shine and was featured on Radio Disney’s Next Big Thing from 2010 to 2011.
- Her mother, Jovanda Jones, was also a singer
- Coco Jones has 523.1K monthly listeners.
- She is the new Hilary Banks in the Fresh Prince reboot, Bel-Air
- She has nearly 2 million Tiktok followers
PHARRELL WILLIAMS
- Pharrell was discovered at a high school talent show by producer Teddy Riley
- Together with his colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo The Neptunes in the early 1990s
- He loves the skateboard culture, and was even nicknamed ‘Skateboard P’
- His grandmother was the person who encouraged him to start taking music seriously
- According to Pharrell, his best songs are written while in the shower or on the plane
K.O
- He was born in Soweto, Johannesburg
- He began his career as a member of the South African hip-hop group, Teargas
- He is also known as Skhanda Gawd
- He is the creator of the Skhanda sub-genre
- He is the co-founder of the conceptual record label, clothing and lifestyle brand Skhanda World
MUSA KEYS
- He has 426k monthly listeners on Spotify
- He was only 13 years old when he started playing the piano in church
- Musa produced his first song when he was 14 years old
- He went to Damelin College to study sound engineering but dropped out in his second year, claiming that he had already taught himself all he needed to know.
- He writes and records his own music
