Wiz Khalifa – Waken Baken Tour

Big K.R.I.T. turned heads with the release of his K.R.I.T. Wuz Here album through Cinematic Music Group and GFCNY. K.R.I.T. stands for “King Remembered in Time,” and if the Southern emcee’s creative production and exceptional lyricism are any indicators of his career’s longevity, he'll surely be remembered.

In addition to producing his own music, Big K.R.I.T. runs Multi-Records, a label set up to give Mississippi artists support, and is a member of the rap group The Alumni.

Despite having a smash single in "Say Yeah," Wiz Khalifa spent 2 years sitting on the shelf at Warner Bros. Records. However, after leaving his major label situation during the summer of 2009, the XXL Freshman’s career really started to take off.

Due to an impressive amount of grass roots marketing, orchestrated by his current management team at Rostrum Records, Wiz's most recent project, Kush and Orange Juice, became a trending topic on Twitter and the talk of major music publications upon its release. Wiz Khalifa's once hard-to-pronounce name is now becoming more common place in hip hop discussions.

On July 30th, Wiz announced that he signed a record deal with Atlantic Records.

Yelawolf's Trunk Muzik mixtape, hosted by DJ Burn One, catapulted the Alabama emcee into the emerging artist spotlight in early 2010. This project's buzz coupled with numerous co-signs (including Eminem) helped to land Yela a record deal at Interscope.

Described by Mike Bigga as a mix between Outkast and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Yelawolf’s style is thoroughly southern. The southern drawl adds to Yela's unique sound which often meshes hip hop with classic rock. Other unique aspects of Yelawolf's persona are his love of skateboarding and appreciation for classic rock, which help him stand out amidst a sea of emerging hip hop artists.