Baby
Government Name: Bryan Williams
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Fun Fact: Earlier in his career, he used his first moniker B-32 (Baby With The 32 Golds) and released his only independent album I Need A Bag Of Dope in 1993
Claim to Fame: Baby recorded a number of albums with producer Mannie Fresh as The Big Tymers and performed as one of his own label's solo acts after the departures of Juvenile, B.G., Mannie Fresh, and Turk. Birdman has adopted fellow rapper Lil Wayne, as his son, and the two have done several musical collaborations. To date, Williams' label has sold nearly 50 million records.
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| Babyface
Government Name: Kenneth Brian Edmonds
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Fun Facts: As a teenager, Edmonds played back up for Bootsy Collins. Collins eventually nicknamed him BabyFace.
Claim to Fame: Edmonds ahs been a major player in the music world for decades. In 1989, Edmonds and L.A. Reid established LaFace Records, producing Toni Braxton and TLC. Edmonds eventually expanded into the motion pictures industry with Edmonds Production Company producing “Soul Food”(1997) and “Josie and the Pussy Cats”(2001).
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| Barack Obama
Government Name: Barack Obama
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii
Fun Fact: Obama met his wife, Michelle Robinson, in June 1989, when he was employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin.
Claim to Fame: On January 20, 2009 Barack Obama was sworn in as the forty-fourth president of The United States. He is the first African American president of the nation.
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| Beanie Sigel
Government Name: Dwight Grant
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Fun Fact: Sigel's name derives from the street in South Philadelphia where he was raised, Sigel Street. It is also a play on the name of the famous gangster, Bugsy Siegel.
Claim to Fame: Sigel's debut LP, The Truth was released February 29, 2000 on Roc-A-Fella Records. The album went gold and spawned hits like "The Truth" and "Remember Them Days" featuring Eve. The album also had Jay-Z's single, "Anything".
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| Beenie Man
Government Name: Anthony Moses Davis
Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica
Fun Facts: Beenie Man as been DJing since the age of six. By the time he was seven, he released his first single. At 10, he released his first long player, The Invincible Beenie Man.
Claim to Fame: Beenine Man is known as the King of the Dancehall. In 2000, he won a Grammy Award for the best reggae album of the year for “Art & Life.”
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| Beyonce
Government Name: Beyonce Giselle Knowles
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Fun Fact: Beyonce's talent in singing was discovered when her elementary school dance instructor began humming a song and she finished it, hitting all the high-pitched notes.
Claim to Fame: After Beyonce branched off to become a solo artist, her career evolved to legendary (and at times, stage toppling) performances, a storied relationship with now husband Jay-Z, and accomplished numerous nominations for five NAACP Image Awards.
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| Big Boi
Government Name: Antwan André Patton
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Fun Fact: Big Boi also goes by the aliases "Daddy Fat Sacks", "General Patton", "Sir Lucious L. Leftfoot", "Billy Ocean", "Hot Tub Tony" and "Francis the Savannah Chitlin' Pimp".
Claim to Fame: After four increasingly successful albums as a duo, Benjamin decided to make a solo album as a side project(Even though Big Boi was on some of The Love Below as Andre 3000 was on some songs in Speakerboxx). Patton also produced a solo effort, and the two albums were packaged together as Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2003. Speakerboxxx featured a style similar to OutKast's previous efforts, while The Love Below explored more offbeat territory. One
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| Bill Bellamy
Government Name: Bill Bellamy
Hometown: Newark, New Jersey
Fun Facts: Bill Bellamy is the cousin of NBA star Shaquille O’Neal. He also introduced the phrase ‘booty call’ to the American public while on “Def Comedy Jam.”
Claim to Fame: Bellemay first gained national notoriety while on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam. He went on to become an MTV VJ hosting several of MTV’s programs. He has been featured in a number of movies including, “Love Jones” (1997), “Any Given Sunday” (1999) and “The Brothers” (2001). He is currently the host of “Last Comic Standing.”
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| Black Thought
Government Name: Tariq Luqmaan Trotter
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Fun Fact: Black Thought is the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group The Roots.
Claim to Fame: The 1996 release Illadelph Halflife was the group's first album to crack the Top 40 on the Billboard 200 chart, spurred in part by MTV's airplay of the video for "What They Do" (a parody of rap video clichés) and "Clones," which was their first single to reach the top five on the rap charts. "What They Do" was also the group's first single to hit the Top 40 of Billboard's charts, reaching a peak of #34.
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| Bobby Brown
Government Name: Robert Barisford Brown
Hometown: Boston, Mass
Fun Fact: In 2008, Brown appears as a contestant on the CMT reality show Gone Country.
Claim to Fame: Bobby Brown began his music career as a member of the R&B boy band New Edition.
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| Bobby Valentino
Government Name: Robert Wilson
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Fun Facts: Bobby Valentino attended Clark Atlanta University, graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication.
Claim to Fame: In 2004 Valentino was signed as the firs R&B singer on Ludacris’s label Disturbing the Peace. His first single, “Slow Down” became a top 10 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
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| Bone Crusher
Government Name: Wayne Hardnett Jr.
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Fun Facts: Bone Crusher has served as a guest judge on The Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” twice.
Claim to Fame: Bone Crusher debuted in 2003 with his hit single “Neva Scared” form the album “AttenCHUN!” Since then he has appeared in VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club” and “ATL.”
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| Bow Wow
Government Name: Shad Gregory Moss
Hometown: Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Fun Fact: At age five, he started his career in rap using the moniker "Kid Gangsta". One year later, in 1993, he performed at a Chronic tour in Columbus, and was noted by rapper Snoop Dogg and rapper Dr. Dre, who subsequently gave him a stage name, "Lil' Bow Wow". Dr. Dre later hired him as an opening act, officially gaining him a spot on the Death Row Records roster. "Lil' Bow Wow" then appeared on a skit on Snoop's debut Doggystyle.
Claim to Fame: In 1998 at the age of eleven, Bow Wow was introduced to record producer Jermaine Dupri, who helped shape his career.
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| Brandy
Government Name: Brandy Norwood
Hometown: McComb, Missouri
Fun Fact: Brandy is the first cousin of gangsta rap star, Snoop Dogg.
Claim to Fame: In 1994, Brandy released her self-titled debut, which included the hits "I Wanna Be Down," and "Brokenhearted.” Two years leader, she starred in her own family comedy sitcom, Moesha.
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| Brian McKnight
Government Name: Brian McKnight
Hometown: Buffalo, New York
Fun Facts: Brian McKnight is a multi-instrumentalist who can play nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, French horn and trumpet.
Claim to Fame: Over the last 16 years McKnight has released 11 albums. In 2007 he made his debut on Broadway in “Chicago.”
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| Bubba Sparxxx
Government Name: Warren Anderson Mathis
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Fun Facts: Bubba Sparxxx played football as a tight end and linebacker all throughout high school. He earned All-Region honors as a senior.
Claim to Fame: Bubba Sparxxx has released 3 albums over the last7 years, but his most notable hit came in 2006 from “The Charm.” “Ms New Booty” featuring the Ying Yang Twins peaked at #7 on the U.S. Billboards Hot 100.
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| Buffie "The Body" Carruth
Government Name: Buffie Carruth
Hometown: Athens, Georgia
Fun Fact: She is an American stripper turned glamour model.
Claim to Fame: Buffie the Body burst on the scene in 2005 accompanying Tony Yayo in his chart topping video “So Seductive”.
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| Bun B
Government Name: Bernard Freeman
Hometown: Port Arthur, Texas
Fun Fact: Bun B and Pimp C formed UGK in the late '80s when their former crew, Four Black Ministers, fell apart. Based in Port Arthur, Texas, UGK independently released their debut album, The Southern Way, on cassette in 1988.
Claim to Fame: Bun B's first major appearances was on Jay Z's song Big Pimpin' along with UGK partner, Pimp C & Three 6 Mafia. With Houston's emergence as a hip hop hotbed in 2005, Bun made guest appearances on numerous albums by Houston rappers as well as other artists throughout the South
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| Busta Rhymes
Government Name: Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr.
Hometown: Uniondale, NY
Fun Fact: Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the name Busta Rhymes (from former NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes) after watching him perform.
Claim to Fame: Busta Rhymes was a member of Leaders of the New School and released two albums with the group before breaking out with a 1996 solo hit single, "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check". He is known for his often high-speed rhyme-delivery, as heard on his hits "Gimme Some More" and "Break Ya Neck".
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