Artists like Max B

Karim Kharbouch, known professionally as French Montana, is a Moroccan and American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to New York City with his family at the age of 13 and began his career as a battle rapper in the early 2000s — under the name Young French. He first gained recognition hosting the locally-tailored DVD series Cocaine City during the 2000s, which centered around interviews of hip hop figures. He pursued a recording career while doing so, releasing several underground projects before signing with Sean Combs's Bad Boy Records and Rick Ross's Maybach Music Group, in a triple-joint venture with Interscope Records in 2012.

The Diplomats were an American hip hop collective formed in the summer of 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jimmy Jones in Harlem, New York City. The group was originally composed of Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey, all of whom grew up together in Harlem. In 1999, fellow Harlem-based rapper Juelz Santana joined the group.

LaRon Louis James Sr., better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper. A member of now-defunct hip-hop group the Diplomats, he is best known for his appearances on Cam'ron's 2002 singles "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma", both of which peaked within the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. He later guest appeared on Chris Brown's 2005 single, "Run It!", which peaked atop the chart for five weeks and received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As a lead artist, he is also known for his 2005 single "There It Go ", which peaked at number six on the chart and received platinum certification by the RIAA.

Jason Terrance Phillips, better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper who began his career in the 1990s and formed the hip hop trio the Lox alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch in 1994. The group signed with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records, an imprint of Arista Records to release their debut studio album, Money, Power & Respect (1998); their second album, We Are the Streets (2000) was released by Ruff Ryders Entertainment, an imprint of Interscope Records. Both peaked within the top five of the Billboard 200 and yielded critical praise; their two subsequent albums, Filthy America... It's Beautiful (2016) and Living Off Xperience (2020) were both released by Jay-Z's Roc Nation and met with continued praise.

Rahkeim Calief Meyer, better known by his stage name Roc Marciano, is an American rapper and record producer. He is known for his intricate internal rhymes and wordplay detailing mafioso and pimp themes over sample based production. He has been called the "Godfather of the Underground" for pioneering the resurgence of gritty, lyrical rap and use of drumless sample loops in the early 2010s with his highly influential debut album Marcberg (2010).

Shante Scott Franklin, better known by his stage name Currensy, is an American rapper. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, he signed with the local record labels No Limit Records, Cash Money Records and Young Money Entertainment in the mid-2000s, but parted ways with both without any major releases. He signed with DD172 to release four albums before signing with Warner Records to release his fifth album and major label debut, Weekend at Burnie's (2011). In February of that year, he founded the record label Jet Life Recordings.

Justin Harrell, better known by his stage name 38 Spesh, is an American rapper and producer.

Jay Wayne Jenkins, known by his stage name Jeezy, is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream audiences. Jenkins began his career in 2001, releasing two independent albums until signing with Def Jam Recordings to release his major label debut, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005). The album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, sold 172,000 copies in its first week, and received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); its lead single, "Soul Survivor", peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting song.

John David Jackson, known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed to Clue's record label Desert Storm Records, in a joint venture with Elektra Records. He rose to further prominence with his debut studio album Ghetto Fabolous (2001), which spawned the hit singles "Can't Deny It" and "Young'n ." Adopting a further commercially-oriented approach, his second album, Street Dreams (2003), was supported by the singles "Can't Let You Go" and "Into You" —both of which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.

David Lawrence Brewster Jr., known professionally as Dave East, is an American rapper. East began his career in 2010, and gained attention in 2014 for his eighth mixtape, Black Rose. Its release caught the attention of fellow New York rapper Nas, who signed East to a recording contract with his label Mass Appeal Records in 2014, which entered a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings two years later.

Corey Miller, better known by his stage name C-Murder, is an American rapper. He initially gained fame in the mid-1990s as a part of his brother Master P's label No Limit Records, primarily as a member of the label's supergroup, TRU. Miller went on to release several solo albums of his own through the label, including 1998's platinum Life or Death. C-Murder has released nine albums altogether on six different labels, No Limit Records, TRU Records, Koch Records, Asylum Records, RBC Records, and Venti Uno.

Sean Divine Jacobs, better known by his stage name Sheek Louch, is an American rapper, best known as a founding member of East Coast hip hop trio the Lox, which he formed in 1994 with Jadakiss and Styles P.

Quantavious Tavario Thomas, known professionally as Young Nudy, is an American rapper and singer. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, he is the cousin of fellow rapper 21 Savage. Thomas signed with RCA Records to release his debut studio album Anyways (2020), which was followed by Dr. Ev4l (2021), Rich Shooter (2021), EA Monster (2022), and Gumbo (2023). The latter spawned the single "Peaches and Eggplants", which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Trentavious Zamon White, better known by his stage name Bankroll Fresh, was an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He is best known for posthumous guest appearance on fellow Atlanta rapper Jeezy's 2016 single "All There," which received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Prior, he garnered local attention for his 2015 single "Walked In". Also posthumously, he starred in the independent short film Take Over Your Trap in 2016.

Rayshawn Lamar Bennett, known professionally as YFN Lucci, is an American rapper and singer. Bennett signed with Think It's A Game Entertainment to release his first two mixtapes Wish Me Well (2014) and Wish Me Well 2 (2016); the latter marked his first entry on the Billboard 200, and was led by the single "Key to the Streets" —his first Billboard Hot 100 entry. His debut extended play (EP), Long Live Nut (2017), spawned the single "Everyday We Lit", which peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting song.

Marcellus Rayvon Register, known professionally as Babyface Ray, is an American rapper. He is a prominent figure in 2020s Detroit hip hop.

Raqhid Jevon Render, known professionally as Lil Keed, was an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He was signed to Young Thug's record label YSL Records, an imprint of 300 Entertainment. His 2018 single, "Nameless", reached number 42 on the Billboard Hip Hop/R&B Songs Airplay chart.

Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and record executive. In 2023, Billboard and Vibe ranked him as the greatest rapper of all time. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, Jay-Z is known for his complex lyricism that often uses double entendres, wordplay, and braggadocio. His music is built on a rags to riches narrative. According to Forbes, he is the wealthiest music artist in history, worth an estimated US$2.8 billion as of 2026.

Karon Malcolm Vantrees, known professionally as Veeze, is an American rapper and singer. He pursued a recording career in 2017 and released his debut single, "Itself," in 2019. His debut mixtape, Navy Wavy, was released in September of that year. He signed with Warner Records to release his debut studio album, Ganger (2023), which peaked at number 97 on the Billboard 200. It was supported by the single "GOMD".