Mississippi is known as the Birthplace of America’s Music. The state produced the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley, the Father of County Music Jimmie Rodgers, and the King of the Blues B B King. Today, however, we will talk about a different genre of music. One that is not synonymous with Mississippi. Who are some of the most popular Mississippi rappers?
The state is famous for jazz music, classical music, blues music, rock and roll music, and many more. But in the past several years, hip-hop music has made an impact as well. Here are the most famous Mississippi rappers.
David Banner
Born as Lavell William Crump in April 1974, David Banner is an American rapper, actor, and record producer. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, his family moved to Jackson where he was raised. David graduated from Southern University and pursued a master’s of education at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
David Banner started his rap career as a member of the rap duo, Crooked Lettaz. In 2000, he went solo and signed with Universal Records three years later. Over the years, he has collaborated with artists like Snoop Dog, Lil Wayne, Akon, Chris Brown, Jung Joc, and more.
He has been awarded the Visionary Award by the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in Jackson, Mississippi, in recognition of his humanitarian work in response to Hurricane Katrina.
Big K.R.I.T
Born Justin Lewis Scott in August 1986, his stage name is a backronym for King Remembered in Time. Big K.R.I.T is an American rapper and record producer born in Meridian, Mississippi.
He signed with Def Jam Recordings and gained notable recognition following the release of his hit single, Country Shit. The single featured Ludacris and Bun B on the remix.
Justin released his debut album Live from the Underground in June 2012.
Rick Ross
Arguably one of the most famous names in American music. Rick Ross is sometimes used as a running joke. Just type Rick Ross’s Jokes on Google.
That being said, he is a decent Mississippi rapper. He released his debut single Hustlin in 2006. There was a bidding war for his signature before he signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Def Jam Recordings, the record label of Jay Z.
His debut album, Port of Miami, debuted at the top spot of the US Billboard 200 Album chart. Besides his solo career, Rick Ross was also a member of the hip-hop group Triple C alongside rappers like Torch and Gunplay. In 2009, he founded the record label Maybach Music Group.
His real name is William Leonard Roberts II.
Soulja Boy
We have to put Soulja Boy on our list of Mississippi rappers. He was born in Chicago before he moved to Atlanta at the age of six. But at the age of 14, he moved to Batesville, Mississippi, where he actually started rapping professionally.
Soulja Boy has been interested in rap music as early as six years old. At the time he was living in Atlanta but got his career breakthrough in Mississippi.
In 2007, he released his debut single, Crank That, which peaked at Number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single was initially self-published to the internet, becoming a number-one hit in the US for seven non-consecutive weeks.
Born as DeAndre Cortez Way, he explored his musical ambitions thanks to his dad. His father actually provided a recording studio for Soulja Boy. He posted his songs on the website SoundClick in the beginning.
Soulja Boy is famous for his rudimentary rapping technique and vacuous lyrical style.
Pep Love
Pep Love is a hip-hop artist. He is a member of the California-based hip-hop collective, Hieroglyphics. So, why is he on the list of Mississippi rappers? Because he was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. He relocated with his family to Oakland as a teenager.
Pep Love released his debut album Ascension in 2001, then in 2003, he released Ascension Side C. He has four more studio albums, the last one in 2014.
Nate Dogg
Nate Dogg is arguably the most famous rapper from Mississippi. Born in August 1969 as Nathaniel Dwayne Hale, Nate Dogg was an American rapper and singer. He gained recognition for his guest vocals on many rap songs between 1992 and 2007. That helped him earn the nickname King of Hooks.
Nate Dogg started his career in the 1990s as a member of the 213 trio with Snoop Dogg and Warren G. He, later on, became a fixture in the West Coast hip-hop genre. Hale worked with Dr. Dre, Xzibit, and Snoop Dogg in the 1990s and then with Eminem, 50 Cent, Ludacris, and others in the 2000s.
Famous for his deep and melodic vocals, his music is a mix between hip-hop and R&B. Many consider him the inventor of gangsta singing and gangsta rapping. It is a singing style blending R&B soul vocals with gangsta rap lyrics.
Corey J
Born in 2006 as Corey Jackson, he is the youngest member of our list of Mississippi rappers. He is better known by his stage name Corey J or sometimes Lil C-Note. The American rapper and motivational speaker is the protégé of Young Thug and Birdman.
He is currently signed to Fast Life Entertainment.
He showed a talent for entertainment at the early age of 2 when he was breakdancing to his father’s records. He wrote his song at the age of 4 while going over colors with his father.
Corey J released his first single at the age of 6, called Call’em Crayons. It was the song he wrote at the age of 4.
At only 10 years of age, Corey Jackson started the If I Can Do It, You Can To foundation. It is a foundation that he uses to tour the country and give motivational speeches to children.
Swae Lee
Born as Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown, Swae Lee is an American rapper and singer. He is famous for his wide vocal range and genre-bending. He is one part of the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, where he produces music with his brother Slim Jxmmi.
Swae Lee began his music career in 2008. Just five years later, he signed with Ear Drummer Records and released the debut studio album with his brother, Sremm Life in 2015.
Brown was actually born in Inglewood, California to a single mother. But he was raised in Tupelo Mississippi and began making music in high school with his brother and local rapper, Lil Pantz. His mother worked on tanks in the United States Army.
Nowadays, he is famous for his hooks and melodies. Over the years, Brown has worked with Madonna, Ellie Goulding, Anitta, French Montana, and Post Malone.
Many call him the songbird of our generation.
Christopher Topher Townsend
Born in 1991, Topher is an independent American rapper and conservative commentator. He is also a political activist and entrepreneur.
Fun fact: he spent six years in the US Air Force. There, he worked as a cryptologic language analyst and left the army in April 2017.
He has been performing for many years. In 2020, he released the single Patriot, which reached Number 1 in the Billboard Rap Digital Song Sales Chart.
In March 2021, he released his debut album, No Apologies. Topher performed the song The Patriot at a Veterans for Trump rally close to the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol. Spotify removed the song from its platform after the rally, and Instagram banned him from broadcasting live.
Dear Silas Formerly Trey Parker
His real name is Silas Stapleton III. Dear Silas is a singer, rapper, and trumpeter from Jackson, Mississippi. He was raised in a musical family. For example, his father was an alto saxophonist.
At one point he used the stage name, Trey Parker. But now he is known as Dear Silas. Silas attended college at the University of Louisiana in Monroe, where he studied music performance. Yet, he left it before graduation to pursue his music career.
At one point, he was also performing a stand-up comedy act. But music took over stand-up comedy.
Thi’sl
Born as Travis Tremayne Tyler in March 1977, Thi’sl is an American Christian hip-hop producer and songwriter.
He moved to St. Louis when he was a little baby. Thi’sl started rapping at the age of 14 under the name Uncle Y. He recorded his first demo under that name. His album was influenced by the gang activity he was involved in.
He rapped about street life for a while before he sorted his life and devoted himself to positive rapping. He is now one of the many Christian rappers in the US.
Afroman
Afroman might have had just one hit single. Or two if you count Crazy Rap. But most hip-hop fans remember him by the song Because I Got High, released in 2000. Both were featured on his album The Good Times.
In 2002, Afroman was nominated for a Grammy Award. He was born in Los Angeles and has spent part of his life in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
His musical career began in eighth grade when he began recording homemade songs and selling them to classmates. Fun fact: the first tape was about his eighth-grade teacher that got him kicked out of school for sagging his pants.
After the success of his hit single, Because I Got High, he joined the lineup of Cypress Hill’s fall festival Smoke Out. He then signed with Universal Records for a six-album deal.
In October 2014, he released a remix of his hit song in order to highlight the usefulness of marijuana as part of the effort to legalize its sale in the US.
