Kid Ink

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Kid Ink didn’t actually necessarily grow up with dreams of being a rapper; instead, he was far more interested in becoming involved with the production side of things, with the likes of Swizz Beatz and Timbaland being counted amongst his heroes - their diversity, he said, was both inspiring and eye-opening for him. Up until the age of twenty-two - which many would consider late to arrive in the rap game - he focused on duties behind the desk, only releasing his first mixtape, “World Tour”, in 2009, under the name Rockstar.

He followed that up with “Crash Landing” in 2011, and this time he was able to call upon an impressive range of collaborators, including Ray J and Meek Mill. He released two more mixtapes that same year - “Daydreamer” and “Wheels Up” - that were enough to guarantee him not only a spot on hip hop website XXL’s Freshman class feature for 2012, but also ultimately a record deal with RCA. He’s wasted no time in dropping two full-lengths already, with last year’s “Already Home” followed up by “My Own Lane” in January 2014; the latter cracked the top three in the U.S., and spawned the smash singles “Show Me” and “Iz U Down”.