Born Melissa Arnette Elliot in 1971, Missy Elliot grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia and had a passion for music and performing by the time she turned four years of age. As precocious and talented as she was in her childhood, Elliot also had to face turbulent family moments when her father, who was a Marine, … Read more
Newark, New Jersey native Dana Elaine Owens, known worldwide by her stage name Queen Latifah, has enjoyed a long career in hip hop music. She began as an amateur beat boxer for the group Ladies Fresh and went on to become a part of the group Flavor Unit. While performing with Flavor Unit, Queen Latifah … Read more
Australia native Iggy Azalea, born Amethyst Amelia Kelly in 1990, has been in the hip hop and rap music industry for six years, accruing a modest Iggy Azalea net worth of $6 million. Her income has been generated during her professional career in music, which began before she turned 16 years of age. In fact, … Read more
Angel Haze, born Raeen Roes Wilson in 1991, grew up in Detroit in a religious household. In fact, she has gone on record as saying that her family belonged to what she has called a cult, a religious organization called Greater Apostolic Faith. She reported that the cult told her and other members what to … Read more
Hip hop recording artist and actress Eve set her sights on making music in high school. Born in 1978 in Philadelphia, she began focusing on becoming a legitimate performer by forming her own hip hop groups and writing music well before she graduated from school. She also gained experience by joining her school’s choir and … Read more
Born in Harlem in 1991, Azealia Banks grew up in a self-described abusive household. When she was two years old, her father died from pancreatic cancer. His death left Azealia’s mother so distraught that she became emotionally and physically abusive to both Banks and Banks’ older sister. Both girls endured years of physical torment until … Read more
Born Paul Michael Slayton in Houston in 1981, Paul Wall seemed destined at first to join a different career path than a hip hop and rap star. In fact, when he attended college at the University of Houston, he majored in Mass Communications instead of music. Nonetheless, while he was working for the station KBXX, … Read more
Born to a teenage mother in 1979, Yelawolf spent most of his childhood in poverty. In fact, because of his mother’s addiction to cocaine, he and his mother moved often, sometimes staying in poor neighborhood and projects. It was during his time in the projects in Nashville that Yelawolf, born Michael Wayne Atha, first came … Read more
MGK, or Machine Gun Kelly, was born Richard Colson Baker in Houston, Texas in 1990. His parents were Christian missionaries who took their young son on their missionary trips around the world. In fact, he lived in Egypt until the age of four and spoke fluent Arabic before ever learning English. After the family returned … Read more
Hip hop performer and rapper Macklemore was born Ben Haggerty in Seattle in 1983. He began listening to hip hop music as a young boy. This early exposure influenced his aspirations to join suit and join his favorite performers in this industry. By the time he was 14 years of age, he was already writing … Read more