Artists like Vado

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.

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.

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

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.

Barry Adrian Reese, better known by his stage name Cassidy, is an American rapper. He first garnered attention for his freestyles and competitions as a battle rapper in the late 1990s, and formed the Philadelphia-based hip hop collective Larsiny by the end of the decade. American record producer Swizz Beatz discovered the group in 2000 and signed Cassidy to his newly-established Full Surface Records, in a joint venture with J Records. He adopted a commercially-oriented approach for his 2003 debut single "Hotel" and its follow-up, "Get No Better" ; the former peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 while both preceded the release of his debut studio album, Split Personality (2004).

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.

Joell Christopher Ortiz is an American rapper and former member of the group Slaughterhouse. Raised in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn's Cooper Park Houses, he first gained recognition after appearing in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source Magazine, as well as on the Chairman's Choice list on XXL Magazine.

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.

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.

Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9", is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, the two met in 1997 and formed the hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil the following year. Their 2011 single, "Lighters", peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded the release of their debut extended play (EP), Hell: The Sequel (2011). The song and EP—which debuted atop the Billboard 200—have both yielded Montgomery's furthest commercial success.

Daniel Domingo Carrillo, better known by his stage name Termanology, is an American rapper and record producer. He first gained major attention with the 2006 single "Watch How It Go Down". A solo album, Politics as Usual, was released in 2008. He has made a number of collaborative albums, such as 1982 and is known also for his prolific mixtape output. He is of Puerto Rican and French descent.

Robert Rihmeek Williams, known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed the short-lived rap group the Bloodhoundz. He signed with T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records as a solo act in 2008, but parted ways with the label in 2011 without any releases. He then signed with Rick Ross's Maybach Music Group (MMG) later that year, and rose to further recognition following his appearances on the label's Self Made Vol. 1 (2011) compilation album; his song "Tupac Back" served as the album's lead single, while its follow-up, "Ima Boss", became his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.

Patrick Owen Baril, known professionally as Statik Selektah, is an American DJ and record producer from Boston, Massachusetts. He is also the founder of Showoff Records. In 2010, he formed the hip hop group 1982, alongside American rapper Termanology. He has resided in New York City since 2004.

Demond Price, known professionally as Conway the Machine, or simply Conway, is an American rapper and co-founder of the hip hop label Griselda Records, alongside his paternal half-brother Westside Gunn, and Mach-Hommy. Acclaimed for his 1990s inspired, dark and gritty lyricism, he rose to prominence following his mixtape Reject 2 (2015) and debut studio album From King to a God (2020). His second album, God Don't Make Mistakes (2022), was released by Shady Records, and met with universal acclaim.

Ermias Joseph Asghedom, known professionally as Nipsey Hussle, was an American rapper, activist and entrepreneur. Emerging from the West Coast hip-hop scene in the mid-2000s, Hussle self-released his debut mixtape, Slauson Boy Volume 1, to moderate local success, leading him to sign with Cinematic Music Group and Epic Records.

Bernard James Freeman, known professionally as Bun B is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the Southern rap duo UGK, which he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work with UGK, Bun B has released five solo albums, including 2010's Trill OG, which received the rare 5-mic rating from The Source.

Jeremie Damon Pennick, known professionally as Benny the Butcher, or simply Benny, is an American rapper and songwriter. He came to prominence in 2018 following the release of his debut album, Tana Talk 3. Along with his cousins and fellow rappers Westside Gunn and Conway The Machine, with which he forms the collective Griselda, he is known for his '90s inspired rap songs and is often credited with leading a revival of the so called 'grimy' and 'gritty' hip hop music, influenced by mafioso and drug dealing themes.

Antoine Franklin McColister, known professionally Ace Hood, is an American rapper. Born in Port St. Lucie and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida, he was discovered by DJ Khaled and became the first act to sign with his record label, We the Best Music Group, in 2008. Released in a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings, his debut studio album, Gutta (2008), was met with moderate critical and commercial reception, but spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, "Ride".