Roots of Dave East

Sanele Sydow, better known by his stage name WizTheMc, is a South African singer-songwriter and record producer based in Berlin, Germany. He gained recognition for his 2020 single "For a Minute", which has over 76 million streams on Spotify, his 2025 collaboration with Bees & Honey, "Show Me Love" which has achieved gold certification in the UK, and top five chart positions in the UK and Germany with over 193M streams on Spotify.

David R. Styles, better known by his stage name Styles P, is an American rapper, best known as a member of East Coast hip-hop group The Lox. Formed with fellow rappers Sheek Louch and Jadakiss in 1994, the group was also part of the Ruff Ryders Entertainment collective.

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.

Christopher George Latore Wallace, known professionally as the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was an American rapper and songwriter. Rooted in the East Coast hip-hop and gangsta rap traditions, he is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wallace became known for his distinctive, laidback lyrical delivery, offsetting his lyrics' often grim content. His music was semi-autobiographical, telling of hardship and criminality but also of debauchery and celebration.

Earl Simmons, known professionally as DMX, was an American rapper, songwriter, and actor. His accolades included an American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, and six Grammy Award nominations. Regarded as an influential figure in the late 1990s and early 2000s and one of the greats of hip-hop, his music is characterized by his "aggressive" rapping style, with lyrical content varying from hardcore themes to personal themes such as trauma or childhood abuse.

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.

Abraham Orellana, better known by his stage name AraabMuzik, is an American record producer. He made a name for himself by performing beats and instrumentals live and in real time on a AkaiPro Music Production Center (MPC) drum machine. He uses MPC to produce rapid, rhythmic drum patterns and creates melodies with samples and other sounds.