Before They Were Famous

There are some people in this world whose past just seems to follow around like a shadow. And rapper Lil Reese? He’s one of those people. This Chi-town rapper became a new face of gangsta rap after appearing on a guest verse for Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like”. He’d follow that up by going solo with “Beef”, “Traffic”, and “Us”. Yet, even more so than his music, Reese’s proximity to crime has built his legend up over the past few years. In fact, if you combine his own close calls with accusations of unaliving and the brutal fight with a woman caught on camera, you have the story of one of rap music’s most pre-eminent villains. But before we dig into all of that, be sure to take a moment to like, subscribe and ring that bell for notifications. It really helps us get noticed and it’s the best way to show support for our channel. Alright, without any further ado, let’s get into the recent history of Lil Reese on this new episode of Where Are They Now!

These days when you turn on the news it seems like there is a lot to be afraid of, between the pandemic, social unrest, and wild politics but it also seems like the most unlikely and seemingly harmless people are committing unspeakable atrocities. While we here at Before They Were Famous are located in Canada it’s a common narrative to hear that these types of individuals committing these acts are Americans and that this is an “American problem” however this recent story has proven this to not be the case in the latest horrific incident regarding Canadian actor Ryan Grantham. If you haven't seen any headlines yet, Ryan has been charged with a serious crime after admitting to ending his mother’s life as well as coming up with a detailed plan on assassinating the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Yes, you heard that correctly, not even in some type of fake internet threat trolling way either, this man really had a comprehensive plan and told prosecutors about the said plan in court. There are many grizzly details surrounding Ryan’s crimes that have been made available to the public since the trial with new information being revealed so we will be breaking down just who exactly Ryan is, what happened in this truly malevolent tragedy it really is Eye-Opening.

Ever since its inception, they say that Hip Hop is a young man's sport. And as hip-hop changes and evolves over time, this has proven to still be true. However as the genre grows older, we see those rappers who dominated the game in their youthful prime reinvent themselves and their main sources of income as they grew too old to constantly be at the forefront of new music and trends or going on tour. Just look at Jay-Z, a man who many refer to as the goat of rapping, now a billionaire and has one of the most decorated business portfolios out there, the man found different career paths, and, in many ways, he was more successful and made more money than he ever could by rapping. Unfortunately, not everybody can be Jay-Z, but in the case of rappers changing career paths, you don't really need to be, there have been countless rappers over the years that found new ways to make some cash outside of rapping, though they may not be on the level of Diddy or Jay we think it is still important to acknowledge some of our hip-hop heroes that found alternative career paths outside of making music so without further ado here are 5 rappers that changed their careers.

Being a successful rapper, these days is something that can be pretty subjective but a rapper’s success has always seemed to depend on a lot more than just the music they create. Whether it’s an artist’s media relevancy, their array of social media profiles, or pretty much their overall status in the court of public opinion and pop culture, sometimes it all just boils down to timing. On the other hand, it truly is undeniable when an artist reaches a level of success that it simply can’t be ignored and everywhere you go, you see or hear about the said artist. Well for this video we came up with a list of rappers that more or less had this level of success for a point in time. However, with the tumultuous climate of the average hip-hop fan’s attention span, especially in this microwave era of music there have been many artists who had a dramatic drop off from their pinocle of success. Whether this is due to not living up to potential, the perceived quality of their art, commercial viability, or in some cases all three. It needs to be said that the artists on this list have had varying levels of success, so one rapper’s falloff may look a little different than another’s and at the end of the day a rapper falling off is subjective, so if you disagree with any entries please let us know in the comment section down below but without further ado here are 5 Rappers That Fell Off.

If you consider yourself a hip-hop head or you’re just an avid fan of rap music then there is a pretty good chance that hip-hop and fashion legend Fabolous holds a special place in your heart. From the prolific run of mixtapes, chart-topping singles, and stand-out guest verses, Fab truly represents a prestige era of Hip-hop that many fans remember so fondly. Fab is without question one of the best to ever do it and his influence is still felt to this day even though the frequency of his releases has slowed down, there are many rappers that cite Fab as one of their main influences when it comes to fashion and the way they dress or the punchline heavy wordplay that Fab has become so well recognized for that it has become a popular meme format on Twitter. Fab has really done it all, from beef with Ray J and Drake to collab albums with Jadakiss, to impacting the fashion world, he's got quite the story. So I figured why not make a video about the life, career, and current status of the man that had a generation in a chokehold, he is also one of the most requested people that y’all want to see a video about so here we are, stay tuned to find out in our newest episode of Where Are They Now!

In early February of 2022, the New York City drill artist known as Chii Wvtzz became the latest in a long line of promising young talent to lose his life on the streets of the Bronx. Beginning in January of that same year, the rap industry would see the passing of Houston artist Sad Frosty, followed soon after by the of Florida-based artist Wavy Navy Pooh who was attacked while driving around with his two kids in Miami. Then came an attack on Tdott Woo in New York City only weeks before the tragic passing of Chii Wvtzz. And while these tragic events are all seemingly unrelated, they follow the pattern of young rap artists losing their lives long before they’ve ever really had the chance to go mainstream. It’s a devastating chain of events that needs to be ended and the only way we can potentially do so is by understanding what happened in the first place. So, on today’s episode of Before They Were Gone, we’ll investigate the rise of Chii Wvtzz as well as what led to his senseless events.

Coming straight outta the Bronx, rapper Sha Ek is just the latest in a long line of promising drill-artists to have managed to work their way out of one of the world’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Or... was he really the first? If you’ve ever seen any of his interviews than you already know that this dude likes to claim he was the first Bronx-based rapper to really put drill on the map. But how much does this claim rub other artists from his hood the wrong way? What’s more -- just where the heck did this “Jiggy Man” come from and how did he get involved in music in the first place? If you already have some idea, tell us about it the comments down below. Otherwise, stay tuned because today we’re gonna do our best to answer all those questions and more as we investigate the life and come-up of Sha Ek on our newest episode of Before They Were Famous!

At the offset of the Chicago drill scene, women like Katie Got Bandz, Sasha Go Hard, and Shady were the first to jump on the genre’s rapid-fire growth and contributed hugely to why this style of music was so popular in the first place. But when it comes to New York’s drill scene that hasn’t really been the case. At least not till now. Over the past year or so, an entirely new wave of women has put this genre on notice and few have done so more effectively than the woman we know as Kenzo B. This high-school senior grew up freestyling with her brother, you might have heard of him, his name is Bando. But this talented young woman didn’t need her brother to help put her on the scene -- she did that herself with the release of her hit track “Bump It”. All the same, Kenzo B’s come-up was far from easy and it began with her mother giving birth to her while locked up in prison. If you want to learn how one of the internet’s most promising up-and-coming rappers got her start then keep watching out the newest episode of Before They Were Famous!

With summer less than a month away what better time than now to start getting your playlist ready? Maybe you’ve already heard of the hit song that should jump to the top of your list, but if not, that’s okay cause I’m here to tell you about it. No, it’s not the next big thing from Drake or even Megan Thee Stallion -- instead, I’m talking about what’s currently one of the internet’s most viral songs -- “FNF (Let’s Go)” by the incomparable GloRilla. This Memphis-based rapper teamed up with the producer HitKidd to produce a propulsive hit about ditching her cheating lover to hang out with her girls and people all over North America can’t seem to get enough of its attitude and chorus – the latter of which I’m definitely not going to repeat to you on this family-friendly show. Right now, the music video to that track sits at just over 10 Million views on YouTube and by the end of August, I’m sure there will be millions more tacked onto that number. But just who is this woman who’s sick and tired of all these unfaithful men looking to ruin her good time and how did she transform herself into one of the next up-and-coming rappers? Stay tuned to our latest edition of Before They Were Famous to find out! Ready? Then “Let’s Gooooo!”

Right now, plastic surgery is more popular than ever before. Facelifts, botox, liposuction, all of these procedures have been normalized over the past few years as more and more of us become obsessed with augmenting our appearance to suit our desires. But those now basic operations aren’t the only options available to us. Just ask social media sensation and Only Fans model, Mary Magdalene – and before you even ask -- no, there’s no relation between her and the biblical figure, you’re just gonna have to trust me on that one. This version of Mary Magdalene is far more concerned about transforming her body than she is her immortal soul. In fact, in the past five years, she’s had well over a dozen surgical procedures in the hopes of becoming the world’s most lifelike blow-up doll. Already know what some of those were? Then drop the work she’s done in the comments down below. Everyone else stays tuned to find out all that and a whole bunch more on our own modern-day Mary Magdalene in this newest episode of Before They Were Famous!