YG and DJ Mustard

Like so many rappers after the turn of the millennium, Los Angeles-based rap artist Keenon Jackson(otherwise known as YG or Young Gangsta) got his start by accumulating a wide internet following. The success of "She a Model" and "Aim Me" online earned him a bid with Def Jam, and he signed to the pioneering hip-hop label in 2009. Several mixtapes followed, including 2010's The Real 4Fingaz and 2011's Just Re'd Up, each of which boasted a charting Billboard single. He also became a popular MC, guesting on tracks by Freddie Gibbs, Travis Porter, E-40, Nipsey Hussle, and Young Jeezy.

The progenitor of what he terms ratchet music, DJ Mustard (Dijon McFarlane) is a rap and R&B DJ and producer from South Central Los Angeles, California whose 2010s rise is attributed to a simple, hypnotic sound. He started with YG, as heard on the 2010 mixtape The Real 4Fingaz, but his first big hit came the following year with Tyga's "Rack City," which reached number seven on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and went double platinum. His 2012 hits came with 2 Chainz's "I'm Different" -- another double-platinum smash -- and Young Jeezy's "R.I.P." In 2013, he was behind a quartet of singles that hit the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart: YG's "My N*gga," Ty Dolla Sign's "Paranoid," Kid Ink's "Show Me," and Trey Songz's "Na Na." The year also saw the release of a DJ Mustard mixtape, Ketchup, on which he was joined by many of the above-mentioned rappers, as well as Dom Kennedy,Casey Veggies, and Cashout. Mustard's 2014 involved ten tracks produced for YG's My Krazy Life, collaborations with Tinashe, Ty Dolla Sign, and TeeFlii, and the development of his proper debut album.