Nas (Rap Artist): (Singing) I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death.

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He and Rubin famously discovered a young rap artist named LL Cool J and signed the first major white rap group, the Beastie Boys.

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Rap artist EndruMarch took a different, albeit riskier, route to fame.

BBC: Indie musicians test waters in Indonesia

Bill Clinton, the detoxifier in chief, denounced Sister Souljah, an extreme rap artist, signed welfare reform into law, balanced the budget and cut 350, 000 people from the ranks of government.

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Later on in the series will come S.mouse, a rap artist from Los Angeles and the creative genius behind the most successful hip-hop single of all time, Slap My Elbow, and other US-based characters.

BBC: Chris Lilley: Australia's finest cultural export?

Lil Kim (whose real name is Kimberly Denise Jones) is a rap artist who, after a stint in federal prison in Philadephia on perjury charges relating to a shooting, promised to try and turn her life around.

FORBES: Lil Kim Has Big Tax Troubles

Rap may seem an unusual choice for a Kashmiri artist, as it is not particularly popular in the region.

BBC: MC Kash raps for Kashmir protest victims

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra collaborated with hip-hop artist Al Kapone for a program of orchestral-backed rap as part of its Opus One series performed in alternative spaces.

WSJ: New World Symphony Tries Remix of Classical Music for iPod Generation