The five best Virginia rappers of all time
Virginia, the Old Dominion, is a state that has significantly contributed to America’s modern music culture. So many major artists have come from Virginia, be they musicians working within blues, jazz, folk, country, rock ’n’ roll, or, of course, hip-hop.
Some of America’s biggest and most influential artists can count Virginia as home, and a quick roll call implies how varied the music culture is there. Heavy metal band Lamb of God, folk-pop star Jason Mraz, and indie singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus are all from the state, while there are countless examples of Virginian hip-hop and R&B artists, too.
Two major stars from Virginia who don’t quite make the cut for this list, despite being rappers in their own right, are Timbaland, known primarily for his era-defining productions throughout the 2000s and 2010s, and Chris Brown, a hugely successful R&B singer. Both are skilled rappers, particularly Brown, and hip-hop culture plays heavily into their sound, but they just don’t break into the top five here.
Virginia is hardly considered to be a state to rival hip-hop’s primary hotbeds, like New York or California. But, since the ’90s, it has been producing a steady stream of talented rappers and producers, some of whom have become some of the biggest stars in the country. Let’s run through five of the most talented.
The five best Virginia rappers of all time:
5. Lil Tracy
Lil Tracy’s sound isn’t for everyone, but, at the very least, it can be recognised as innovative. Along with his late collaborator, Lil Peep, Tracy helped to cohere and popularise the emo-rap subgenre, which, while an acquired taste, does add another string to the bow of hip-hop music. Hip-hop has always been playful and flexible, and, as demonstrated by artists like Lil Tracy, the emo kids have played around with it, too, managing to shape it to their own liking.
Tracy comes from a strong hip-hop and R&B background. Both his parents are musicians, with his mother, Coko, performing as a member of the R&B vocal trio SWV, and his father, Ishmael Butler, being a member of the hip-hop group Digable Planets. Lil Tracy himself was actually born in New Jersey, but, after his parents split up, his mother brought him to Virginia Beach when he was eight years old. That’s where he grew up, and, while he described the area as “boring as fuck” in an interview with The Fader in 2019, it was here that his taste in music began to form.
4. Pharrell Williams
Known mainly for his production of pop mega-hits—as well as for his singing—Pharrell is most certainly a rapper, too. He started working on music in the early ’90s, forming a hip-hop group that included his childhood friend Chad Hugo and his cousin Timbaland, who would himself become a superstar producer in adulthood. That group didn’t really go anywhere, but, before long, Pharrell and Hugo had formed the Neptunes, and they would go on to produce songs for huge artists like Jay-Z, Kelis, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg, among many, many others.
Pharrell has also written some famous rap verses for other people, such as one for Wreckx-n-Effect’s 1992 hit ‘Rump Shaker.’ But, as for his own rapping performances, highlights include features on tracks by Clipse, Wiz Khalifa, and, of course, Snoop Dogg, for the hit song ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot,’ which was also produced by the Neptunes.
3. The Lady of Rage
Born in a Virginian town called Farmville, The Lady of Rage would grow up to become known for her crucial contributions to West Coast hip-hop. Through her features on Dr Dre’s The Chronic album and Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle in the early ’90s, Rage developed a reputation as one of the most talented female MCs out there. Her hard-hitting lyrics, delivered with her distinctly smooth flow, made her one of the best rappers of the era.
She released her debut solo album, Necessary Roughness, in 1997, but, while it’s a great work, it never really took off as might have been expected. It didn’t set the charts alight, and, in the end, it proved to be the only album she’d ever release as a solo artist. She was outshone by her male contemporaries of the gangsta rap era, but she was no less talented than they were.
2. Missy Elliott
Life in Virginia was tough for Missy Elliott. She was born there in 1971, and, in the early stages of her childhood there, she learnt to sing in the church choir, which gave her a taste for performance. She and her family later relocated to North Carolina, while her dad, an active Marine, was on duty, but when he returned, they all went back to Virginia, where they lived in poverty. Here in Virginia, her father’s violent and abusive behaviour became a frequent, intolerable fact of life.
When Missy was a teenager, her mother had finally had enough. She left her abusive husband, and she took Missy with her—a decision that Missy herself finds admirable. “When we left, my mother realised how strong she was on her own, and it made me strong,” she told The Guardian in 2003. “It took her leaving her home to be able to realise that.” Life got better after that, and Missy pursued a music career that would, ultimately, eventually make her a star.
1. Pusha T
Pusha T, one half of the duo Clipse, alongside his brother Malice, is a rapper known for his vivid storytelling, smooth flow, cool voice, and tendency to mention cocaine whenever he gets the chance. Thanks to his collaborations with the likes of Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar, he has become one of the leading rappers of his generation—but it all started for him in Virginia, where he and his brother grew up. While King Push ultimately became a hip-hop star known the world over, he never forgot his roots. He’s proud of Virginia’s contributions to music.
Highlighting the number of producers that have come from Virginia through the years, Push told Complex in 2013, “You had Timbaland. You had Pharrell, Chad Hugo, and The Neptunes, and then you had the transplant [new jack swing pioneering producer] Teddy Riley. Teddy Riley came to Virginia Beach, and he was producing Michael Jackson out of Virginia Beach, and Jay-Z and SWV and all of these smash hit records during the Jack Swing era… Virginia Beach has been very instrumental in my upbringing. Just as far as seeing like, ‘Oh man, you can really make it in the music industry.’ I didn’t really know that before. It’s because of Virginia Beach that I know that.”