The Best New Breakout Artists Of 2009

Mickey Factz

Mickey Factz Was Born in Bronx, New York, The Birthplace Of Hip-Hop.
Mickey’s undaunting work ethic is what has kept his persona and music viable. His talent has taken him so far to where he earned the recognition of Elektra Records and an offer for a solo deal from Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot. Ghostwriting for several established and upcoming artists and constantly reinventing himself through the successful release of several mixtapes—as he’s evolved from Renegade to Jack Danielz and now Mickey Factz—he’s been able to progress his music and brand.

Currently, Mickey Factz is being acknowledged by those constructing the landscape of the music and lifestyle that we know today and will know tomorrow as hip-hop culture. He’s sought and worked on productions from Alchemist, Kanye West, and others. Been embraced and co-signed by brands such as Lemar & Dauley, Mad Ciphas, and Frank 151. He has even taken it a step further by taking part in the creation of GFCnewyork, a creative collective that’s been earning a reputation on its participation and influence in street-culture internationally.

Drake

Born October 24, 1986 Drizzy "Drake" Rogers is a Canadian actor and recording artist. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation. As a rapper, he performs under the name Drake, and is often labeled as the new version of The Fresh Prince. Drake has gained much success without even being signed to a record label. He has worked with artist such as Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Trey Songz, Robin Thicke, Mary J. Blige, and Jamie Foxx.

Drake has successfully became a household without the use of a record label or even an official album. His highly anticipated album "Thank Me Later" is expected to be released later this year. Drake stated that this album would have a different sound from his mixtape So Far Gone. Drake has also stated a desire to work with Kanye West, Andre 3000 and Jay-Z on this album. Drake performed on Young Money Entertainment's group single "Every Girl" and his own single "Best I Ever Had", which is created & produced by Kanye West and has guests such as, Fabolous, Trey Songz, Consequence and some of the Young Money music group.

Asher Roth

Asher Roth is a white suburban rapper who broke through to mainstream success in 2009 with his commercial debut single, "I Love College." Born on August 11, 1985, in Morrisville, PA, a predominantly white suburban community of 10,000 people located northeast of Philadelphia, he began rapping as a high-school teenager and later began to develop a fan base while attending West Chester University, thanks largely to social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook. His early releases include the 2006 mixtape album Believe the Hype. Rap industry businessmen Scooter Braun (of the label Schoolboy Music) and Steve Rifkind (SRC Records) took notice of his talent and signed him to a major-label recording contract with Universal Music Group. In 2008 Roth began drumming up interest in himself on the underground rap scene with The Greenhouse Effect Mixtape. Hosted by Don Cannon and DJ Drama of the renowned Gangsta Grillz mixtape series. In 2009 he released his commercial debut single, "I Love College," a party rap novelty hit that went all the way to number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Roth released his full-length solo album debut, Asleep in the Bread Aisle (2009). Produced primarily by newcomer Oren Yoel, Asleep in the Bread Aisle was greeted with mixed reviews, most of which addressed the inevitable comparisons drawn between Roth and Eminem.

Kid Cudi

Kid Cudi is a Brooklyn-based rapper from Cleveland whose debut single, "Day 'n' Nite," became an online favorite in 2008. Born Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi in suburban Cleveland, his career took off after he moved to Brooklyn and became affiliated with Fool's Gold, the label of DJs A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs. The label released the Day 'n' Nite EP in February 2008 and circulated a Crookers remix around the blogosphere, drumming up a good deal of buzz in the process. It didn't hurt that Kid Cudi began to receive increasing press attention, including a nod from Rolling Stone (which touted him among the magazine's Top Five best indie hip-hop artists of 2008). Not long after the release of "Day 'n' Nite," Kid Cudi began touring with the Fool's Gold collective, which performed at a South by Southwest showcase and subsequently joined forces with Steve Aoki and his Dim Mak collective for a North American tour. As the remixed version of "Day 'n' Nite" climbed the U.K. singles charts, Kid Cudi readied the release of his full-length album debut for summer 2009.

B.O.B

In spite of the plethora of rap artists constantly emerging from Atlanta in the late 2000s, B.o.B., who was only 17 when he signed his first major-label record deal, was still unique. His borderline eccentricity and artistic mind, belied by his music's conventional Dirty South appeal, raised his stock above the many copycat Southern up-and-comers and, of course, welcomed comparisons to OutKast and, specifically, their offbeat half, André 3000. Although he grew up on the east side of Atlanta in Decatur, Bobby Ray Simmons was born in North Carolina on November 15, 1988. Creating music became an early hobby for the young talent, who played trumpet and other instruments throughout grade school. By the time he was in high school, he already had management and had formed a production duo called the Klinic. At age 15, he even successfully sold a beat of his own to Slip-N-Slide recording artist Citty. When his partner left for college, however, B.o.B. decided to take the solo artist path and subsequently recorded the hazy, spoken word-like ode to marijuana, "Cloud 9."

In 2006, B.o.B.'s manager helped sneak him into Club Crucial (owned by Atlanta rap star T.I.), since he was underage, and the teenaged MC wowed the audience with his self-produced ode. A part of that impressed crowd, producer and industry veteran TJ Chapman agreed to co-manage B.o.B., which only a month later led to B.o.B.'s signing with Atlantic and subsidiary imprint Rebel Rock, run by Florida producer Jim Jonsin (Lil Wayne, Trick Daddy, Jamie Foxx).

Charles Hamilton

Born in Cleveland, OH, underground rapper Charles Hamilton grew up exposed to all sorts of music thanks to a mother who worked for the Cleveland Call & Post newspaper. A move to Harlem found him at the Frederick Douglass Academy, where he holed up in the school's recording studio. A series of demos he recorded while at the Academy created an underground buzz, but drug addiction and homelessness sidetracked his career. After a few years spent getting back on his feet, Hamilton recorded all the songs he had written while living on the streets and released The Pink Lavalamp mixtape.

M.I.A.

Although M.I.A. is not exactly a new artist, she is making a name for herself now and i believe that she is going to make a tremendous comeback. M.I.A.'s first album, leaked well before its official release, allowing journalists and downloaders plenty of time to dissect it and bat ideas back and forth -- taking in the sounds, words, and absolutely all of the context -- before average music fans were able to develop their own opinions.

Maya Arulpragasam spent the early years of her life in a number of places. She moved from London, England, to her parents' native Sri Lanka at the age of six months, only to relocate to Madras, India. During a return stay in Sri Lanka, the civil war taking place within the country escalated to the point where Arulpragasam began to lose family members and friends. She didn't see her father -- a devout and active separatist as part of the Tamil rebellion, which has clashed with the Sinhalese majority -- often throughout these years, but her life stabilized once she and the rest of her family were able to make it back to London.

As a student, Arulpragasam became involved in the arts and published a monogram book of her paintings -- titled M.I.A. and heavily influenced by the Tamil rebellion. She later connected with Elastica, providing the photography and graphics for the group's second album, and she shot footage during their American tour. Elastica's support act, Peaches, introduced her to the Roland MC-505, a sequencer she became familiar with after returning home. Steve Mackey (Pulp) and Ross Orton became involved after hearing a demo; they made adjustments to "Galang," a song that was then pressed into 500 copies and released, under the name M.I.A., by the Showbiz label. It didn't take long for the song -- a bold, righteous amalgamation of hip-hop, electro, dancehall, grime, and baile funk -- to make an impact with DJs. She wound up signing a contract with XL, which re-released the single and, eventually, debut album Arular in 2005. Anticipation for the release was considerable, only heightened by the Piracy Funds Terrorism mixtape she put together with DJ Diplo. Her second album, Kala, was released in 2007 and was recorded while spending time in numerous countries. M.I.A. produced most of its tracks with Switch; Blaqstarr, Diplo, and Timbaland also contributed. One single from the album, "Paper Planes," became a surprise hit in summer 2008 after it was used in trailers for the film Pineapple Express; it eventually reached the Top Ten.

Jay Electronica

One of the most talked-about rappers of 2008, Jay Electronica built his reputation via the Internet and word of mouth, without so much as a single commercial release to his credit. Born Je'Ri Allah in 1976, he grew up in the Magnolia projects of New Orleans, where he lived until age 19. In the years that followed, he lived a nomadic lifestyle, moving back and forth between Atlanta, New York, Detroit, and Baltimore, among other cities. He adopted the Jay Electronica alias while living in Baltimore circa 2000. While in Detroit, he befriended associates of J Dilla, working closely with engineer Mike "Chav" Chavarria and collaborating with producer Denaun Porter (aka Mr. Porter). As a rapper, he distributed his recordings via the Internet, primarily his MySpace page. Among these Internet-circulated recordings, a few stood out and helped create a buzz: "Act 1," an epic homemade rap over Jon Brion's score for the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; "Bitches and Drugs," a J Dilla production; "Extra Extra," a Madlib production; and the StyleWars EP. The word of mouth didn't hurt, either, as Erykah Badu, Just Blaze, Nas, and others spoke highly of Jay Electronica in the media. Moreover, Badu reportedly made him the first signee of her Control FreaQ Records label.

Ace Hood

Born Antoine McColister in Port St. Lucie, FL, Ace Hood was raised by his mother in Deerfield Beach, a part of Miami's metro area. Rap music became his full-time obsession after he suffered a football injury in the tenth grade, effectively putting the kibosh on any professional sports career. By age 17, he was recording tracks for local imprint Dollaz & Dealz and had a few street singles put out, including 2006's "M.O.E." (i.e., "Money Over Everything"). The following year in November, Ace maneuvered his way into meeting DJ Khaled at local radio station 99 Jamz and handed the Miami mixtape DJ his demo. Within a matter of weeks, DJ Khaled signed Ace, then 19 years old, as the first artist to his newly formed We the Best Music, which obtained distribution through Def Jam a few weeks after that. Ace's Def Jam debut single, the Runners-produced Cash Flow, featuring Rick Ross and ubiquitous hook singer T-Pain, came in early 2008 and turned out to be a smash hit on South Florida radio. A few mixtapes and guest appearances later, he released his first full-length, Gutta, in summer 2008.

Cory Gunz

Cory "Cory Gunz" Pankey is an American rapper, the son of rapper Peter Gunz. He is currently signed to Def Jam Recordings/Casablanca Records and affiliated with Militia/After Platinum Records He is a native of the Bronx. He was first signed to Tommy Mottola at Universal/Motown. Later on, Jay-Z shepharded him into a joint venture through Island Def Jam Music Group. He was featured on a remix of Rihanna's "If It's Lovin' That You Want". Cory also has some of the hottest mixtapes such as "The Best Kept Secret" and "The Apprentice" which include some of the craziest freestyles. Cory Gunz as well as all the other artists mentioned above are sure to be breakout artists this year.

Well This Is The RAPture Signing out....