Amir Ali Said

Casey Veggies is a rapper from Los Angeles, California who started rhyming in high school.  In 2008, he released his debut mixtape, Customized Greatly Vol 1.  As a founding member of Odd Future, he was actually the first member to release a…

Helene Smith was a soul singer from Miami, Florida who released a number of singles in the 1960s.  She began her career with Willie Clarke and her eventual husband Johnny Pearsall.  Clarke and Pearsall were college friends who created Deep…

Tommie Young is a gospel and soul singer from Dallas, Texas.  She started singing at five years old inside her father's church.  In the early '70s, she performed at Dallas nightclubs.   In 1972, Bobby Patterson, a local Dallas producer and…

Naughty By Nature is a hip hop trio from East Orange, New Jersey.  The group is comprised of Treach, Vin Rock, and DJ Kay Gee.  They're known for hits like "O.P.P." (1991), "Hip Hop Hooray" (1993), and "Feel Me Flow" (1995).  Their third…

Ann Peebles is a singer from St Louis, Missouri who's most well-known for her song "I Can't Stand the Rain."  She released her album I Can't Stand the Rain on Hi Records in 1974.  Hi Records was a notable record label based in Memphis,…

Trina is the most impactful female rapper from Miami.  Her career started in 1997, when Trick Daddy featured her on his song "Nann Nigga."  The following year, after "Nann Nigga" was released as the lead single for Trick Daddy's second…

Fuzzy Haskins was a vocalist, guitarist, and founding member of The Parliaments.  The Parliaments, led by George Clinton, were a doo-wop group formed in the late 1950s.   Haskins was one of the lead vocalists.   For most of the '60s, the…

Richard "Groove" Holmes was a jazz organist from Camden, New Jersey.  He began his career playing the bass guitar, then he transitioned to the Hammond organ.  Holmes taught himself how to play the organ, then he became one of the most…

Inspectah Deck released his debut album, Uncontrolled Substance, in 1999.  The album was originally supposed to be released in 1995, but two floods at RZA's home studio postponed the album indefinitely.  RZA lost upwards of 500 beats…

Candace Love was a schoolteacher from Chicago who became a singer in the late 1960s.  She recorded five singles for Aquarius Records, a small label started by Ric Williams, who was a local soul musician and songwriting talent.  “Uh! Uh!…