The Dozens is a game among two contestants, common in African American communities, where participants insult each other until one gives up or violence erupts. It is customary for the Dozens to be played in front of an audience of bystanders, who encourage the participants to reply with more egregious insults to heighten the tension and consequently, to be more interesting to watch. Among African Americans it is also known as "sounding", "joning", "woofing", "wolfing", "sigging", or "signifying", while the insults themselves are known as "snaps".

The origin of the game is unclear, but it has roots in Africa: similar contests are held in Nigeria among the Igbo people, and in Ghana. Comments in the game focus on the opposite player's intelligence, appearance, competency, social status, financial situation, and disparaging remarks about the other player's family members—mothers in particular—are common. Commentary is often related to sexual issues, where the game is then referred to as the "Dirty Dozens". According to sociologist Harry Lefever and journalist John Leland, the game is almost exclusive to African Americans; whites often fail to understand how to play the game and can take remarks in the Dozens seriously. Both males and females participate, but the game is more commonly played among males of varying social status.

Robert Williams (born May 6, 1987), better known by his stage name Meek Mill, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was briefly signed to T.I.'s label Grand Hustle Records and in February 2011 signed to Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group. In March 2011, Mill was included in XXL's "Freshman Class of 2011".

In 2011, he released his debut single, "Tupac Back", featuring Rick Ross, from his label's compilation album Self Made Vol. 1. That same year he released another single from the album, "Ima Boss", also featuring Ross. The song was later remixed, featuring T.I., Birdman, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled Swizz Beatz and Ross. The remix charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #51. "Ima Boss" is so far Meek Mill's most successful song, peaking at #20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

In February 2012, MTV listed Meek Mill as the #7 hottest MC in their annual "Hottest MCs in the Game" list.

On May 7, 2012, Mill released the second fresh installment in his Dreamchasers series. The mixtape features guest appearances from Drake, Jeremih, Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz and more. Mill has stated his favorite tracks off the tape are "Amen," "A1 Everything" and "Racked Up Shawty" with French Montana and Fabolous. On May 10, it was announced Meek Mill signed to Roc Nation management.

Caroline Herring is a country and folk singer-songwriter. Born in Canton, Mississippi, she has lived in Oxford, Mississippi and Austin, Texas, but now lives in Atlanta with her son, daughter, and husband. Many of her songs deal with slavery and her Mississippi upbringing. She co-created Thacker Mountain Radio, a literary and musical hour that broadcasts out of a bookstore in Oxford, MS, that is still syndicated on Mississippi Public Radio.

William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. (born March 16, 1959), better known by his stage name Flavor Flav, is an American rapper and television personality who rose to prominence as a member of the rap group Public Enemy. He is also known for popularizing the role of the hype man and for yelling "Yeah boy!" and "Flavor Flav!" during performances.

After falling out of the public eye for a number of years, he reappeared as the star of several VH1 reality series, including The Surreal Life, Strange Love, and Flavor of Love.

Drayton grew up in Freeport, New York. Flav began playing the piano at age five; and is self-taught. A musical prodigy, he sang in the youth choir at his church and mastered the piano, drums, and guitar at an early age. He eventually became proficient in 15 instruments. He set a house on fire as a small child while playing with a lighter and, by the time he dropped out of school in the 11th grade, he had been in and out of jail for robbery and burglary.

He attended Adelphi University on Long Island where he met Carlton Ridenhour, who would become known as Chuck D. Flavor Flav took his stage name after his graffiti tag. They first collaborated on Chuck D's hip-hop college radio show, then began rapping together. The two worked for Chuck D's father's delivery service.

Ken Lawrence is a nerdcore hip hop artist who purports to be theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking rapping under the name MC Hawking.

MC Hawking gained some popularity on the Internet in the early 2000s. The songs were originally released in MP3 format, but due to the popularity of the website Lawrence was signed to a record deal with Brash Music to release a "greatest hits" album in 2004.

MC Hawking's entire body of work and his rapper persona were created by American web developer Ken Lawrence.[1] Lawrence earned a degree in music composition from Hampshire College. His raps are synthesized by the text-to-speech program WillowTalk. The beats for MC Hawking are provided by DJ Doomsday. Most of the beats are samples of classic hip hop tracks, or taken from commercial royalty-free loop libraries.

The lyrics are a mixture of gangsta rap topics, science topics and Stephen Hawking quotations (such as the famous "When I hear of Schrödinger's cat, I reach for my gun", which became "Every time I think of them my trigger finger itches", referring to creationists). Among subjects of MC Hawking songs are various scientific topics and Hawking's professional relationships with MIT rivals, as well as the standard fare of gangsta rap, including street violence and drug use.