Mack 10

During the golden era of West Coast rap, Mack 10 earned his break on Ice Cube’s 1994 compilation “Bootlegs & B-Sides”, on the remix of “What Can I Do?”. The rapper subsequently contributed the single “Take a Hit” to the soundtrack of the hip-hop comedy film Friday (1995). The same year Mack 10 released his debut album “Mack 10” on Priority Records, which Spawned the singles “Foe Life”, “On Them Thangs”, and “Westside Slaughterhouse”. The album debuted at No. 33 on the Billboard 200 – aided by guest raps by Ice Cube – and has since been dubbed a West Coast classic.

In 1996, alongside Ice Cube and WC of WC and the Maad Circle, Mack 10 formed the supergroup Westside Connection and issued the album “Bow Down”. The release proved highly popular in the U.S., with the chart hits “Bow Down” and “Gangstas Make the World Go Round” helping the album peak at No. Two on the Billboard 200. A year later in 1997, Mack 10 released his sophomore album “Based on a True Story”, which repeated the commercial success of the rapper’s debut. The 1998 follow up, “The Recipe”, featured a host of well-respected guests including Fat Joe, Big Pun, Snoop Dogg, Master P, and Mystikal, and earned strong reviews from the musical press. Spawning the hits “Let the Games Begin” and “Money’s Just a Touch Away”, the album peaked at No. Six on the Billboard 200, and catapulted Mack 10’s label, Hoo-Bangin’ Records to success.

The Hoo-Bangin’ showcase album “Hoo-Bangin’: The Mix Tape” arrived in 1999, featuring the likes of MC Eiht, Tachniec and the Comrads, succeeded in 2000 by Mack 10’s full-length “The Paper Route”. The album proved less popular than its predecessors, despite the appearances of T-Boz of TLC, Timbaland, and Ice Cube. After a one-album move to Cash Money Records, Mack 10 released his fifth studio album “Bang or Ball” in 2001. The album received favourable reviews from critics however was not reflected in sales, with only one of three singles reaching the Top 100 on the Hot &B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Mack 10 returned in 2003 to release the full-length “Ghetto, Gutter & Gangster”, and the fruits of the supergroup Westside Connection’s second album “Terrorist Threats”. The solo album proved to be a poor seller despite the popular single “Lights Out”, unlike “Terrorist Threats”, which went Gold on the back of the single “Gangsta Nation”. Mack 10 released the album “Hustla’s Handbook” in 2005, followed by the career-spanning compilation “Foe Life: The Best of Mack 10” in 2007.