Maino

Rapper This scrappy Brooklyn MC isn’t afraid to combine New York rap moxie with a hint of southern breeziness. After serving a 10-year prison stint for a drug-related kidnapping, Maino, upon release in 2003, launched his Hustle Hard Entertainment. Grinding on the mixtape circuit lead to his brief deal with Universal Records (he split with the label in 2007) and, soon after, he signed a deal for himself and his Hustle Hard Imprint on Atlantic. His debut LP, If Tomorrow Comes, produced the radio/club hit “Hi Hater,” which became the hustler’s anthem in the summer of 2008. Recently, Maino collaborated with Swizz Beatz, Jadakiss, Jim Jones and Joell Ortiz for his Death Row Record’s-inspired NYC anthem “We Keep It Rockin.”