The iconic Robert Van Winkle aka Vanilla Ice exploded on the Rap/Pop music scene in 1990/91, selling 10 million albums in 4 months and hitting number one on the Billboard charts with the number one single "Ice Ice Baby" and number one album positions. His worldwide album sales are over 25 million, and individual songs total over 160 million and are still selling. Ice released his debut album, "Hooked," in 1989 on Ichiban Records, before signing a contract with SBK Records, a record label of the EMI Group, which released a reformatted version of the album in 1990 under the title "To the Extreme," which became the fastest-selling hip hop album of all time and contained Ice's best-known hits: "Ice Ice Baby" and a cover of "Play That Funky Music". "Ice Ice Baby" was the first hip hop single to top the Billboard charts and has been credited with helping to diversify hip hop by introducing it to a mainstream audience.

With over 20 million records sold worldwide, Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum recording artist Coolio is an artist known worldwide as a musical and cooking master of extraordinary reinvention. Coolio achieved mainstream success in the mid-to-late 1990s with his albums "It Takes a Thief" (1994), "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), and "My Soul" (1997). He is best known for his 1995 Grammy Award-winning hit single "Gangsta's Paradise," as well as other singles "Fantastic Voyage" (1994), "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" (1996), and "C U When U Get There" (1997).

Rob Base began performing with various groups; Sure Shot Seven, Cosmic 3 MCs, Freedom Force, and Disco Enforcers. He and partner DJ EZ Rock would eventually separate from the groups to form Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock. Their first single, "DJ Interview," came out on Mike and Dave's label Star Maker's Records in 1986. World to World Records would produce their second single, "Make it Hot," in 1987. Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock are best known for the 1988 hit "It Takes Two," a single that was a Top 40 hit and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. That song was a part of the duo's album of the same name, which also has been certified platinum. They are known for being pioneers of the crossover success that rap music would have in the popular music mainstream.

Tone Loc soared from obscurity into pop stardom in 1989 when his hoarse voice and unmistakable delivery made the song "Wild Thing" (using a sample from Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'") a massive hit winning Grammy's and countless other awards. The music video for "Wild Thing" became a staple on MTV in the US as the song rose to No. 2 on the US Hot 100, and the top twenty in Australia. The song Wild Thing was co-written by Marvin Young, better known as Young MC, as was the second single smash, "Funky Cold Medina." The album "Loc-ed After Dark" became the second rap release ever to top the pop charts and one of the most popular of all time.

Rapper Marvin Young grew up middle-class and earned a degree in economics from USC, where he met Michael Ross and Matt Dike, co-founders of the fledgling Delicious Vinyl rap label. He made his debut as Young MC on the single "I Let 'Em Know." In 1989, Young collaborated with Tone-Loc on "Wild Thing," the first Top Ten pop hit for a black rapper, and the follow-up smash "Funky Cold Medina." Young stepped out on his own later in the year with the Top Ten smash "Bust a Move," a good-natured examination of romantic successes and failures spiced by his sense of humor and quick-tongued rapping. The song won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance, and its strong pop appeal helped the attendant album, Stone Cold Rhymin', go platinum. The follow-up, "Principal's Office," was a humorous, everyday high-school tale resembling a Chuck Berry plot, and also climbed into the Top 40.