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Tennessee rapper GloRilla makes anthems that celebrate female independence with unapologetic intensity. Her 2022 Hitkidd-produced single "FNF (Let's Go)" was a viral smash, racking up more than eight million plays on streaming services and collecting nearly 25 million views of its accompanying video. GloRilla's overnight success quickly led CMG label boss Yo Gotti to sign her, and she issued subsequent singles like "Tomorrow" from the label showcase compilation Gangsta Art. Her debut EP, Anyway, Life's Great..., appeared later in 2022. Several singles were released in 2023, including "On Wat U On" (with Moneybagg Yo) and "Lick or Sum." The mixtape Ehhthang Ehhthang and the full-length debut GLORIOUS both arrived in 2024.

GloRilla was born and raised in the Frayser neighborhood of North Memphis. After singing in her church choir when she was younger, her teenage years found her listening to Chief Keef and rapping, encouraged by her cousin to take her music seriously and get into the studio. This resulted in early songs like "You Ain't Shit" in 2020 and "Westside Baby" in 2021. It was her 2022 collaboration with Hitkidd that really broke through. Shortly after connecting with the producer, GloRilla entered the studio with Hitkidd and recorded "FNF (Let's Go)," an anthem of independence full of both attitude and party-starting hooks. The song and its accompanying video were both completed in a single day, and GloRilla's charisma helped it go viral almost immediately. Her success reached the ears of CMG figurehead Yo Gotti, who readily signed her to his label.

As 2022 continued, GloRilla appeared on the CMG showcase release Gangsta Art, as well as a remix of "Just Say That" with Duke Deuce and Quavo. Her EP Anyway, Life's Great... appeared in November, including "FNF (Let's Go)" and "Tomorrow 2" featuring Cardi B. The release charted at number 11 on the Billboard 200. GloRilla began 2023 with the Moneybagg Yo collaboration "On Wat U On." "Internet Trolls" (with Hitkidd) followed, as well as a deluxe edition of Anyway, Life's Great..., including the Lil Durk-featuring "Ex's." "Lick or Sum" was released in May. GloRilla also collaborated with Gloss Up, Slimeroni, K Carbon, Aleza, and Tay Keith on the track "Wrong One." The Top 40 hit "Yeah Glo!" and Megan Thee Stallion collaboration "Wanna Be" appeared on GloRilla's 2024 mixtape Ehhthang Ehhthang. Her proper debut album, GLORIOUS (with guests ranging from Sexyy Red to Kirk Franklin), was issued in October, and like the previous mixtape, it debuted in the Top 20 of the Billboard 200. ~ TiVo Staff

Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion's sexually charged lyrics and nonstop confidence meet a pop sheen that consistently delivers commercial hits. She found local success shortly after she began performing in 2016, and the rest of the world caught on soon thereafter. Several one-off tracks led to 2017's Make It Hot mixtape and 2018's follow-up project, Tina Snow. After she and Normani contributed the track "Diamonds" to the 2020 superhero film Birds of Prey, she landed a pair of number one hits, first a Beyoncé-featuring remix of her own track "Savage" and then her feature on Cardi B's "WAP," one of the biggest and most talked-about singles of the year. Her first studio album, Good News, was released in November 2020 and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 charts. The next year, Megan released Something for Thee Hotties, a compilation of freestyles and unreleased material, and followed it with the guest star-packed, lyrically introspective Traumazine in 2022. Along with acting in the film Dicks: The Musical, she again paired with Cardi B for 2023's "Bongos" and teased her next album with "Cobra" and 2024's Hot 100-topping "Hiss." That third studio LP, Megan, arrived in June 2024 and was expanded months later as the double-album variation Megan: Act II.

Born Megan Pete in 1995 and raised in Houston, Texas, she grew up the daughter of rapper Holly-Wood (aka Holly Thomas) and was listening to Southern rap staples like Three 6 Mafia and Pimp C from a young age. She was writing her own raps by age 14 but didn't make serious moves until she posted a series of video clips on social media a few years later. Her first official single came with 2016's "Like a Stallion," and her presence on the Houston rap circuit was solidified by decimating all opponents in local freestyle competitions.

Sexually explicit lyrics and effortless flows became signatures of her sound, and after the less-widely distributed 2016 mixtape Rich Ratchet, she released the singles "Pull Up Late" and "Stalli (Freestyle)" in 2017, the latter of which had an accompanying video that would be viewed millions of times. The seven-track EP Make It Hot arrived that same year and a slowed-down "chopped" remix version of the EP followed the next. Megan's fame grew quickly, and as she gained more fans and followers, she signed with 300 Entertainment in 2018 and released her most consistently produced work to date with the ten-song Tina Snow. The late 2018 collection featured a cameo from Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo and production from Concept P. The project caught on, and a video for single "Big Ole Freak" was streamed millions of times within months of its February 2019 release.

Fever, arrived in May 2019, complete with features from Juicy J and DaBaby. The album hit number ten on the Billboard 200, further cementing Megan's rise. After she and Normani contributed the track "Diamonds" to the 2020 superhero film Birds of Prey, she landed a pair of hits with the attitude-driven "B.I.T.C.H." and "Savage," both of which appeared on the EP Suga. Later that year, she released the singles "Girls in the Hood" and "Don't Stop," the latter of which featured rapper Young Thug. Megan's most crucial appearance of the year, and up until that point, in her career, came with her contributions to "WAP," a collaborative track with Cardi B released on August 7, 2020. "WAP" was a maelstrom of sexual imagery and intense vulgarity, and immediately became a worldwide hit. Deemed by many 2020's "song of the summer," "WAP" charted at number one in multiple countries, was certified platinum several times over, and was streamed hundreds of millions of times.

After a wealth of EPs, mixtapes, and charting singles, Megan's debut studio album, Good News, finally arrived in November 2020. The record was a star-studded celebration of sex, wealth, and power, featuring cameos from SZA, City Girls, Popcaan, Lil Durk, and many others, as well as a remix of "Savage" featuring Beyoncé. That remix would become Megan's first number one hit, and the album itself peaked at the number two position on the charts. The following year, she released several singles, including "Thot Shit," which became a Top 20 hit, and in November 2021, Something for Thee Hotties was released, a compilation made up primarily of freestyles and some unreleased songs from the archives. The collection also included "Thot Shit," as well as several new skits and interludes featuring Juicy J, VickeeLo, and Dino BTW. Something for Thee Hotties was released as a gesture of gratitude for her fan base, and the album reached the number five position on the charts.

More collaborative singles arrived in 2022, including "Lick" with Shenseea and "Sweetest Pie" with Dua Lipa. Megan also released the track "Plan B," which hit number seven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Later that year, she issued her third album, Traumazine, which hit number four on the Billboard 200. Focused lyrically on trauma and her struggle to overcome it, she welcomed a slate of guest artists that ranged from Lucky Daye and Jhené Aiko to Key Glock and fellow Houstonians Big Pokey and Lil' Keke.

In September 2023, the rapper reunited with Cardi B for their "WAP" follow-up, "Bongos," hitting the Top 20 of the Hot 100. That same year, Megan starred in the musical comedy film Dicks: The Musical, for which she also contributed the song "Out Alpha the Alpha." She rounded out the year with "Cobra," the first track off her third studio album. A second song from the album, "Hiss," arrived in January 2024, topping the Hot 100. It was followed that May by "BOA," which also landed within the Top 40 upon its debut. Megan Thee Stallion's third studio album, Megan, was released in June 2024, with her Hot Girl Summer Tour already in full swing at the time of its release. In October of the same year, Megan was expanded with an extra album's worth of material for the deluxe-edition release Megan: Act II. Among its new material were songs with cameos from Flo Milli, Spiritbox, and BTS member RM. ~ Fred Thomas

Rapper and entertainer Cardi B draws from a seemingly never-ending supply of confidence, charisma, and evisceratingly sharp flows. She broke through in 2017 with her debut commercially released single, "Bodak Yellow," topping the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the first female rapper to do so in nearly two decades. Her 2018 debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy, followed shortly thereafter, reaching number one and breaking additional records with the summer smash "I Like It." The record also made her the first solo female rapper to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album. Heading into the next decade, Cardi continued to dominate with chart-topping singles like 2020's "WAP" with Megan Thee Stallion and 2021's "Up." She again teamed with Megan Thee Stallion for 2023's "Bongos" before joining Shakira for 2024's "Puntería" and teasing her sophomore album with "Enough (Miami)."

Spitting raw and aggressive rhymes in the tradition of Lil' Kim, Nicki Minaj, and Foxy Brown, the former stripper and social media star born Belcalis Almanzar made her television debut in late 2015 on VH1's Love & Hip Hop: New York, joining a cast that also included fellow New York rapper Remy Ma. A year later, she made her musical debut alongside dancehall singer Popcaan on Shaggy's "Boom Boom" single. The solo single "Cheap Ass Weave" and the mixtape Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 soon followed in early 2016. Two more singles, "Foreva" and "Wash Poppin'," arrived that summer. A second mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 2, was released in early 2017.

That same year, Cardi B signed with Atlantic Records and scored a hit with the single "Bodak Yellow," which climbed to the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 in late September; it made her the first solo female rapper to do so since 1998. Her chart run continued with features on G-Eazy's "No Limit" and Migos' "MotorSport," two additional Top Ten hits that crowned Cardi as the first female rapper to have her first three entries land in the Top Ten of the Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. After the release of her single "Bartier Cardi" with 21 Savage, Cardi hopped onto a remix of Bruno Mars' "Finesse." The new jack swing revival track soared to number three in the U.S. and topped charts across the globe. With these singles, Cardi became the first woman in history to have five simultaneous Top Ten singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Her official debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy, arrived in spring 2018. Including her two breakthrough singles, the effort also featured appearances by Migos ("Drip"), Chance the Rapper ("Best Life"), Kehlani ("Ring"), SZA ("I Do"), YG ("She Bad"), and Bad Bunny and J. Balvin on "I Like It." The latter track was issued as a single and made a steady climb to the top of the Hot 100 in July 2018, making Cardi the first female rapper to achieve two number ones. That summer, she was also featured on hit singles with Jennifer Lopez ("Dinero") and Maroon 5 ("Girls Like You"). To cap her banner year, she was nominated for multiple Grammy Awards and Invasion of Privacy was included on numerous year-end critics' lists. The album went on to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album, making Cardi the first solo female rapper to achieve the honor. The next year, she was nominated again in the category of Best Rap Performance for her Offset collaboration "Clout."

In August 2020, she topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with the song "WAP," a collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion. Six months later, Cardi landed another smash hit with 2021's "Up," a drill-inspired solo single that earned global success and topped four different Billboard charts. That same year, she contributed to hits by Normani ("Wild Side") and Lizzo ("Rumors") before returning in 2022 with the Kanye West and Lil Durk collaboration "Hot Shit." "Bongos," a second collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion, arrived in September 2023 as the fourth single off Cardi's sophomore album. It landed at number 13 on the Hot 100. That same month, the duo performed the song at the MTV Music Video Awards ceremony. A fifth single, the DJ SwanQo, OG Parker, and Romano-produced "Enough (Miami)," appeared in March 2024. That same month, Cardi joined Shakira for the single "Puntería," off the "Hips Don't Lie" singer's 12th album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. ~ Neil Z. Yeung