Biography of 2Pac

Rapper 2-Pac (b. Tupac Amaru Shakur) threatened to supplant Luther Campbell and Ice-T as the most demonized figure in hip-hop in the early '90s. The former Digital Underground member became a solo performer with 2Pacalypse Now, then his status soared following a critically acclaimed performance in Juice. His follow-up album also earned a hit with "Keep Your Head Up." But Shakur generated much more negative publicity for several incidents, one of which earned him a criminal record. He was convicted of assault for attacking the Hughes brothers, who'd fired him from the film Menace II Society. He was also awaiting trials on other charges stemming for various incidents. This hadn't stopped his acting career; there were appearances in the films Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson and Above the Rim. While he was serving his jail sentence for sexual battery in early 1995, 2-Pac released Me Against the World on Death Row Records, which entered the US charts at number one and spawned the Top 10 pop single, "Dear Mama." 2-Pac was released from prison in the summer of 1995. In early 1996, he released All Eyez On Me, the first double-disc set of newly recorded material in hip-hop history. It entered the charts at number one. In September of 1996, 2-Pac was shot in the chest as he was riding in a car in Las Vegas. After struggling to stay alive for a week, Tupac Shakur died on September 13, 1996. ~ Ron Wynn

Biography of Spice 1

Too $hort discovered rapper Spice 1, who'd been born in Texas before moving to California. His self-titled debut was as vivid and fatalistic a gangsta album as possible, and his hard-edged, angry, and pessimistic rapping style and tone only added to the despair emanating from the disc. He followed it with an even more bitter and nihilistic release, 187 He Wrote in 1993, complete with simulated gunfire. Other releases included 1995's 1990 Sick and 1997's Black Bossalini (aka Dr. Bomb From Da Bay). Immortalized followed two years later, and in the spring of 2000 Spice 1 returned with Last Dance and Playa Rich Project. A sequel to the latter brought him into 2002, while the Spiceberg Slim album came out that summer. Unlike many rappers in his position, Spice 1 did not suffer a critical backlash from such a high volume of releases in such a short amount of time. He continued to change with the times, and that reflected on his consistant sales and unwavering fanbase. ~ Ron Wynn

Biography of E-40

From Vallejo, California, rapper E-40 debuted in 1993 with an appearance on Spice 1's 187 He Wrote. Signed to the Jive/Sick Wid' It label the following year, E-40 released several singles, followed by his album debut In a Major Way. A year later, Tha Hall of Game featured Too $hort, Jodeci, B-Legit and Celly Cel. Element of Surprise followed in 1998. ~ John Bush

Biography of Mac Mall

Along with better-known rappers like E-40 and 2Pac, Mac Mall was one of several who helped put the Cali Bay Area on the map in the mid- to late '90s as a hotspot in the rap game. He collaborated with many of the Bay Area's best producers -- Ant Banks, Khayree, Michael Mosley, and Rick Rock -- and helped define the scene's identity, particularly with his most successful album, Untouchable (1996), which featured perhaps his best-known song, "Get Right." His career simmered out quickly, however. He returned in 1999 after a three-year absence and few listeners seemed to notice. Mall was no longer on a major label and the Bay Area scene was no longer the hotspot it had been a few years earlier. Given his brief moment in the spotlight and his sudden decline, it was perhaps no surprise when Mall changed his style in 2001, incorporating a surprising amount of spirituality on his Immaculate album. ~ Jason Birchmeier