Before They Were Famous

About two years ago now, Jay-Z was crowned the world’s first hip-hop Billionaire by Forbes with an estimated net worth of $1 Billion. That year, in 2019, Jay made $81 Million in earnings and while 2020 brought on a year of decline for pretty much everyone including some of his own investments and real estate holdings, many of Hova’s core assets are still well-positioned to weather the storm. Of course, Jay-Z’s accomplishments are all the more impressive considering where he started from in Brooklyn’s notorious Marcy housing project where he was a drug dealer before building himself into a world-famous musician. Since then, he’s earned himself 14 No. 1 albums, 22 Grammy awards, and over $500 Million in pretax earnings over the course of a decade.

Before Dr. Seuss would publish over 60 books including The Cat in the Hat Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears A Hoo & more. Before Dr. Seuss would have seven us his books be made into feature films including How The Grinch Stole Christmas & Cat In The Hat. Before Dr Seuss would be canceled in 2021 with at least 6 of his books including If I Ran The Zoo & the lesser-known McElligot’s Pool. His rhymes and characters are beloved by generations of fans, or at least they were... If you think the visuals and poetry that he popularized in the Dr Seuss books are problematic well it was a big improvement from his first crack at children's literature which was a collection of books titled. Wait for it. Boners. I'm not even kidding. Researching this video it turns out your boy Dr Seuss was a bit of a party animal himself. The son of a brewmaster. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He also had a long checkered past of creating racist advertisements and political cartoons and even performed in blackface when he was in college. We got lots to get through...

Before Kodak Black would release hit songs like “Skrt”, and “Tunnel Vision” that would get him to notice from some of the biggest names in hip-hop like Drake and set him on a path to superstardom. Before Kodak Black ascent would get halted in its tracks thanks to multiple arrests and a lengthy prison sentence before his recent release. Before Kodak Black would have almost 7 Million subscribers on YouTube, 3.5 Million followers on Twitter, and nearly 10 Million followers on Instagram at the time of this recording. Some people have a harder time staying on the right side of the law than others, and South Florida rapper Kodak Black definitely fits that bill. His legal problems have persisted for years, basically the entire length of his professional career, and while it’s hard to say that these issues have hurt his career, they sure aren’t helping. When Kodak first appeared on the hip-hop scene as a wide-eyed teenager, his distillation of hundreds of years of American history and embodiment of a country locked in an endless struggle with race and class was widely evident in the lyrics to his music. This is a young man who grew up in a poverty-stricken environment and still managed to find a way to create emotionally intelligent observations based upon his own plight. His unfiltered nature is perhaps part of what would get him into trouble later on in his life, but it’s also what makes his music so powerful. Growing up the child of a single Haitian mother, Kodak had to basically skip his adolescence as a means of survival on the rough streets of Pompano Beach and today I’m going to tell you about what that cost him.

Coi Leray was born on May 11th, 1997 in Boston, Massachusetts. Despite being born in Bean Town, she moved to Hackensack, New Jersey soon after where she was raised and spent a considerable part of her life alongside five brothers and a mom who worked as a bartender. Before Coi Leray would become a rising star in the world of hip-hop thanks to tracks like “Huddy”, “Did It”, and “No More Parties”. Before Coi Leray would get into a social media war with her very own father, former rapper Benzino. Before Coi Leray would have over 332K subscribers on YouTube, 142K followers on Twitter, and almost 2.5 Million followers on Instagram at the time of this recording. As far as Coi Leray is concerned, her time is now. This young woman is poised to become one of the most popular emcees in the game by spreading her contagiously positive energy with her music. It’s a lifestyle that she’s already ingeniously branded, “Everything COZ”. Coi emerged onto the hip-hop scene in 2017, but she has music running through her veins thanks to her father being Boston’s very own, Benzino – a man who has helped her navigate the waters of fame while, at the same time, threatened to capsize her ship. These two have something of a love/hate relationship for reasons I’ll get into in a little bit, but needless to say with the release of Coi’s latest hit song “No More Parties”, where she heavily criticizes her pops, things have taken a bit of a turn for the worst in terms of this relationship. That being said, Coi is more than prepared to stand on her own two feet and embrace the fame that is quickly rushing her way.

Before Gesaffelstein would become one of the biggest names in electronic music, first in Europe, then the US, helped in large part by his extremely memorable performance at Coachella in 2019. Before Gesaffelstein would work with artists like Kanye West and The Weeknd on some of their biggest hit songs like “Black Skinhead” and “I Was Never There”. Before Gesaffelstein would remain largely a mysterious presence on social media has deleted his Twitter and Instagram profiles years ago and only maintaining his YouTube channel which has over 311K subscribers at the time of this recording. Gesaffelstein is a French DJ and electronic musician who produces industrial techno and electro music under a moniker that’s meant to combine his passion for art with his fandom for science. That’s right his name is a portmanteau of the German word “Gesamtkunstwerk”, which means “a total work of art”, along with the name of the world-famous scientist, Albert Einstein. Heavily influenced by early EBM acts like Nitzer Ebb and Front 242 as well as house producers like Green Velvet and Laurent Garnier, Gesaffelstein began injecting clubs in France with his sinister dose of darkness during the late 2000s. Over time, the man who would come to be known as the Dark Prince of Techno has built up a cult following that exploded in 2018. But throughout his career, Gesaffelstein’s life has been shrouded in mystery.

Emma attempted to promote herself as a small-town girl, the simple daughter of a bean farmer turned devoted wife and mother but court documents and her family tree tell a different story. She was born into a world of crime and her arranged marriage to famous Mexican criminal at the age of 18 is part of a Mafia tradition. Having been married since 2007 her husband has been on the run or in and out of prison for the better part of the last decade. Despite this, she has remained loyal to the powerful man which takes a certain type of woman - seeing that he was convicted for a catalog of crimes. Now the law has caught up with her and besides her own list of charges, it is believed she is also being linked to his now-infamous escape that went down in 2016. Find out more about this woman and her ties to the Sinaloa group, her beauty pageant past, and more in this episode of BTWF.

After Hopsin would distinguish himself in the world of hip-hop as a multitalented artist capable of producing, writing, performing, directing, and editing his own work. After Hopsin would lose his mind after getting name-dropped by one of his all-time favorite rappers, Eminem, in the lyrics to the song “Fall”. After Hopsin would have over 575K followers on Twitter, 1.4 Million followers on Instagram, and over 3 Million subscribers on YouTube at the time of this recording. With his trademarked white contact lenses distinguishing him from many of his peers, Hopsin broke into the rap game in a big way in the mid-2000s and before he knew it, he was signed to the former label of Eazy-E himself, Ruthless Records. At that time Hopsin was heralded as the golden child, the one who would bring Ruthless back to the mountain top. But within three years, that relationship would be over thanks in large part to disagreements between the up-and-coming rapper and Eazy-E’s widow, Tomica Wright. No less determined to make it big, Hopsin then co-founded his own label, Funk Volume, with a roster of artists like SwizZz, Dizzy Wright, and DJ Hoppa. But that wouldn’t last either and by the end of the next decade, Hopsin would be starting over once again – would he succeed or would his battles with depression have him fade away into obscurity? Today, I’m going to give you an answer in this newest episode of Where Are They Now?

In this video, we detail the best Rapper Chains of 2021 purchased by your favorite rappers thus far. Diamonds are a girl's best friend and we’re focusing on Asian Doll’s new grills and Mulatto’s new pendant that she dropped $100k on. Speaking of grills, Sauce Walka has a new set PLUS he added a diamond to him…get this…FACE. Is this a thing now? Plus, we’ll be talking about Kodak Black’s new iced-out face mask and his new grills as well….let the best grill win!

Before Bobby Shmurda would become a hip-hop sensation in the mid-2010’s thanks to his hit song “Hot N*gga” and the creation of a viral dance craze. Before Bobby Shmurda would find himself arrested in a police raid in 2014 and be locked up for over six years. Before Bobby Shmurda would have over 194K followers on Twitter, over 1.4 Million followers on Instagram, and over 2 Million subscribers on YouTube at the time of this recording. Back in October of 2014, Bobby Shmurda was one of the biggest rap names on the planet. His song “Hot N*gga” had blown up online and earned this kid from East Flatbush a contract from Epic. Heck, celebrities of all types were even taking part in his Shmoney Dance craze. Within two months, those words would come back to haunt this talented, young artist – because just as quickly as he entered the spotlight, he disappeared after getting arrested during a police raid of his neighborhood crew. Before he knew it, Bobby Shmurda would find himself serving close to seven years in prison and wouldn’t taste freedom again until right now, in February 2021. But how did Bobby find himself in this predicament in the first place and is he really as guilty as the police made him out to be?

After Daft Punk would become the most recognizable name in dance music thanks to hitting songs like “Around the World”, “Da Funk”, and “One More Time”. After Daft Punk would earn their first number one Billboard Hot 100 track by producing The Weeknd’s “Starboy” and perform the song with him live at the Grammy’s in 2017. I don’t know about you guys, but Daft Punk has been playing at my house for well over a decade now. Ever since I first heard their hit song, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” -- not to mention that Kanye sample -- I’ve been a huge fan of this trailblazing duo. In fact, I’m such a big fan that I gotta be honest with you guys, when I heard earlier today that they were breaking up, I was pretty heartbroken. This duo announced their apparent dissolution on their YouTube page with a video titled “Epilogue”. Since then, their publicist has confirmed the news but has given no reason for the breakup. Daft Punk first teamed up in 1993, which was like, a really long time ago now, so this abrupt ending has taken a lot of their fans by surprise. From their debut album “Homework” to their biggest success, “Get Lucky”, Daft Punk has left a list of hit songs longer than most other musicians – but are they really breaking up? Or is this possibly just a PR stunt to drum up interest in an upcoming project? With these two, it’s always impossible to know for sure, but today I’m going to take a look back at their story and project forward with what it may tell us about their future.