2. Atlanta-born and bred trap rapper Shawty Lo, aka Carlos Walker, did not reach national prominence with his street-hustling raps, but by ushering in the "snap dance" craze with the Billboard- topping "Laffy Taffy" as part of his four-man crew, D4L, in 2005. He co-founded both the group and, acting as CEO, the D4L Records label two years earlier with the intention of only working behind the scenes and never really contributing many verses to the group.

3. The year 2005 was like yin and yang for Atlanta bling rapper Gucci Mane. He enjoyed success entering the charts with his first national hit, "Icy," became involved in a quarrel with that song's collaborator Young Jeezy, and found himself facing murder charges in the Georgia courts. Before his career as a rapper, Gucci Mane, whose birth name is Radric Davis, loved to write poetry when he was in elementary school. He moved to Atlanta from Birmingham, AL, with his single mother during the fourth grade. Since progressing to rap was a fairly easy step, Gucci Mane already had spent time in a recording studio by the age of 14. The glamour and sense of fashion of rappers like Big Daddy Kane motivated him to put words to music.

4. OJ da Juiceman is a hardcore Southern rapper who made his major-label album debut in 2009 after releasing over a dozen underground mixtapes, many of them featuring well-known affiliate Gucci Mane. Born Otis Williams, Jr., on November 26, 1981, in Atlanta, GA, he grew up in a single-parent household on the east side of Atlanta with his mother and was initially influenced by N.W.A and other hardcore rappers. In the late '90s he befriended Gucci Mane, who would evolve into one of the more popular hardcore rappers to emerge from Atlanta in the mid- 2000s with hits such as "Icy.

5. When Jadakiss hit the rap scene with his deafening group, the LOX, all hell broke loose. Why, you may ask, well, primarily because there had never been a hip-hip group in history who revolutionized the sound of hip-hop music as fast as they did. ?They?re the only group who knew how to precisely give you lyrical food for your mind while simultaneously making thongs shake and drop (check out the meteoric rise of their platinum Money, Power & Respect for evidence). Plus, they redrew the rap map and became an influential force in the musical genre.

6. The charismatic Southern rapper Lil Wayne began his industry ascendance as one of the Hot Boys, a short-lived all-star group on Cash Money Records. After establishing himself as a successful solo artist, he grew to become a critical favorite, known for his confident boasts, entertainting underground mixtapes, and prolific output. Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., on September 27, 1982, in New Orleans, LA, Lil Wayne grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans' 17th Ward. There, he became acquainted with the Cash Money Records collective, which he eventually joined as a teenager..