Not one, but two hip hop legends celebrate their birthdays today: Detroit's own Eminem and The Fugees' Wyclef Jean.
On this day in 1969, Wyclef Jean was born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. His family immigrated to New Jersey in 1982, where Jean grew up idolizing Jamaican reggae stars like Bigga Haitian. In the early 90's, he met up with Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel to form The Fugees, the multi-platinum, Grammy award winning band whose influence is still reflected on modern hip hop to this day. Outside of the Fugees, Jean has enjoyed a successful solo career spanning two decades, earning himself multiple Grammy nominations. His latest single, the politically charged If I Was President 2016, was released just last week.
Today is also the 44th birthday of Marshall Bruce Mathers III, a.k.a. Eminem, arguably the biggest rapper to come out of Detroit, who has multiple Grammy wins and more than 40 million albums sold under his belt. His struggles to get recognized as a legitimate rapper and his rise to success were documented in the 2002 Hollywood biopic 8 Mile, in which Eminem starred as himself. Eminem has been cited as a major influence to many of the rappers who came after him, including Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar, and Chance the Rapper, while many classic hip hop stars, such as Jay Z, Busta Rhymes, Rakim, and Eminem's mentor, Dr. Dre, have publicly stated their admiration for Eminem's skill as a lyricist. Earlier this year, Eminem was featured on his latest track, Kill For You, a collaboration with pop singer Skylar Grey.
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com
