Lil Wayne

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Having sold millions of albums worldwide and garnered four GRAMMY awards, Lil Wayne is one of the most successful and critically lauded artists in Hip Hop. He released his first project at the age of 12 and went on to release his first solo album in 1999 when he was just 17. He released his first installment of his legendary Tha Carter series in 2004 before releasing three others, including the landmark Tha Carter III in 2008. Lil Wayne also holds the record for the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by a male solo artist with 109 entries, having surpassed the record previously set by Elvis Presley. His most recent studio album, I Am Not A Human Being II, was released in 2013 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 Charts. Last year, Wayne released FWA (Free Weezy Album) exclusively on Tidal, where it was streamed a staggering ten million times within the first seven days alone. Outside of his iconic music career, Lil Wayne has continued on as the CEO of his own Young Money Records, as well as successful apparel brand Trukfit. He also recently launched his own app, Lil Wayne: SQVAD UP, and released his memoir Gone Till November on October 11th, 2016.

The youngest of five children of Sudanese parents, Bas was born in Paris and raised in New York. His musical tastes shaped by a mixture of gritty New York City raps and his brother, DJ MOMA's euro soul sound; Bas started making music in 2010 with a unique style and hasn't looked back since.

After gaining acclaim with his Quarter Water Raised Me series, and a feature on J. Cole’s platinum album Born Sinner, Bas became the first artist signed to Cole’s Dreamville imprint with Interscope in 2014. His debut project, Last Winter, arrived in April to much fanfare. Bas continued his ascent in music by headlining his own “Last Winter” tour in June, and supporting both Ab-Soul on the “These Days” tour and J. Cole on the “Forest Hills Drive” tour.

After tirelessly honing his craft both in the studio and on the road, Bas released his second project, “Too High to Riot” under under Dreamville/Interscope in March. The album has accumulated between 60-70 million streams. In support of the album, Bas headlined a 27 city tour across the US and Canada.

What do you call the rapper that influences the best rappers alive?

You call him Cyhi The Prynce.

The Grammy-nominated rapper/songwriter is known for feeding ideas to the likes of Kanye West for songs like “New Slaves,” “All Day,” “Famous” and “Ultralight Beam.” But now after years of anticipation for a solo album, the Atlanta-raised artist is finally dropping his debut No Dope On Sundays.

“I’m not a weekend rapper,” says CyHi about the album’s title and direction. “I make music for Sunday through Thursday, real life, not fantasy. I want this album to touch everyone- even the most street dude; make him want to shut down his trap on Sundays, which could lead to him shutting down on other days too. We move on to the next thing so fast, I want this album to make them take at least one day to assess what they got going on.”

Before his words were being recited all over the world, Cyhi grew up just east of Atlanta in Stone Mountain and Decatur, the same fertile area that has produced talented artists including Future, Gucci Mane, Childish Gambino and B.o.B. The diversity found between those rappers can also be found in Cyhi’s artistic DNA.

“I feel like I’m from the side of town where black families thrived- kids had good upbringings and the support to be able to do a lot of things,” says Cyhi who remembers seeing legends like Tupac Shakur and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes around his neighborhoods. “Thats where I got a lot of my culture from and that’s how I approach music and the lessons I put in my songs. I come from being taught certain things. I try to give those pros and cons in my music as well.”

Known for his ability to build songs around concepts and deliver metaphors that demand a rewind, No Dope On Sundays is already shaping up to be your favorite rap album. The first offering, “Legend,” features the gifted wordsmith giving listeners four minutes of proof why he’s one of the best to ever pick up a microphone. Then on “Nu Africa” he challenges his fellow rappers, entrepreneurs, athletes, doctors and scholars to leave America and bring their millions and resources back to the “motherland.”

“I treat my raps like school projects,” says Cyhi, explaining his creative process. “I was a bad student in school and teachers held that over my head. I would get Fs in class, but As on the projects, because I could break things down conceptually. That’s why I’m able to give you both night and a day on my album.”

Through spending more than a decade behind-the-scenes, Cyhi has already built a reputation as one of most gifted lyricists in Hip-Hop. He spent the early parts of his career working under the likes of Jazze Pha and Akon. But it wasn’t until he independently released his 2010 mixtape Royal Flush with Atlanta DJ Greg Street that the world started to take notice of his skills. The effort even impressed Kanye West enough to invite him to contribute to his platinum-selling album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. From there Cyhi would go on to be an integral part of Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music collective appearing throughout their G.O.O.D. Fridays series, stealing the show during their 2010 BET Cypher and having valuable input on West and Jay Z’s joint album Watch The Throne.

Despite being featured on XXL’s coveted Freshman cover in 2011, appearing on the Cruel Summer album in 2012 and writing a substantial amount of West’s 2013 album Yeezus, industry red tape prevented Cyhi from ever officially releasing an album on G.O.O.D. But he still used the time he calls “the blessing of my life” to build an impressive mixtape catalog via his Ivy League and Black Hystori series as well as killing freestyle cyphers for every DJ from Tony Touch to Tim Westwood.

Now that his business affairs have caught up with his skill set, the timing is perfect for Cyhi to finally give his fans the album they’ve been waiting for. With West serving as executive producer, No Dope On Sundays, is poised to show why he’s been you favorite rapper’s favorite rapper for almost a decade.

“I had to sit up under the greatest for years and learn how to make music for the masses,” he says. “But now, my fans finally have their moment to tell the world ‘I told you so.’”