Homies are a series of 2-inch figurines based upon Chicano (Mexican American) characters in the life of artist David Gonzales. They were first created in 1997, coming from a comic strip that David Gonzales created  ; these plastic figurines initially sold in vending machines mainly located in supermarkets. Homies have become a highly collectible item among fans. Many imitation toys have hit the market following the success of Homies. The figures caused controversy after their initial release as members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), argued that the figures glorified gang life. Many stores stopped selling the toys after the LAPD complained . Gonzales then created a story for each of the Homies' characters, each of which portrayed a positive view of the characters. For example, some of them became former jail mates who went on to educate children about how to avoid jail. Homies also came around to helping adolescents with identifying who they are.

Mainstream stores, such as Walmart, quickly returned the Homies to their stocks, and the toy branched out to include a line of die cast cars, among other things. By 2005, the Homies character line had women, Filipino, Japanese, and Puerto Rican, and even Evil Clown characters. The Puerto Ricans set, which includes twelve of the Homies, are nicknamed Los Boricuas. According to Gonzales, he has received orders from countries in Europe, South America and Africa requesting characters representing people from those continents. In 2004, the creators of Homies, created "Los Mijos" intended for a younger audience. They are solely Hispanic and are portrayed as kids, babies, and teens. In 2007, a show was made about the figures called The Homies Hip Hop Show. The show had many negative reviews saying the figures don't even move, all they do is stand there and shake. The show did make it to DVD.

Christopher "Chris" Rene (born December 25, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer from Santa Cruz, California. He had been in a band called Diversion and also had a solo career, including the album Soul'd Out. He applied to the first season of The X Factor USA with one of his original compositions "Young Homie" and was one of the finalists to the competition's live shows where he was mentored by L.A. Reid. He finished third overall in the competition, behind winner Melanie Amaro and runner-up Josh Krajcik.

Diversion was an alternative pop band based in Soquel, California (1994–2002) composed of Tas Szemeredi (vox/bass), Chris Rene (guitar/vox), and Mike Rene (drums). They were only 12 or 13 years old when they formed the band, but still managed to perform at venues such as the Red Room. Diversion was one of the young alternative pop bands in Santa Cruz.

Diversion released a self titled CD Diversion in 2000. The band recorded some more tracks for a second album, but they broke up in early 2005 without being able to finish it.

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Young Turk. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live! that year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album Guerrilla Warfare, released in 1999. Also in 1999, Lil Wayne released his Platinum debut album Tha Block Is Hot, selling over one million copies in the U.S.

Although his next two albums Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002) were not as successful (only reaching Gold status), Lil Wayne reached higher popularity in 2004 with Tha Carter, which included the single "Go D.J." Wayne also appeared on the Destiny's Child top ten single "Soldier" that year. In 2005, the sequel to Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, was released. In 2006 and 2007, Lil Wayne released several mixtapes and appeared on several popular rap and R&B singles. His most successful album, Tha Carter III, was released in 2008 and sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. its first week of release. It included the number-one single "Lollipop" featuring Static Major. It also includes the singles "A Milli" and "Got Money" featuring T-Pain and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

Sean Michael Anderson (born March 25, 1988), better known by his stage name Big Sean, is an American rapper. Big Sean signed with Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music in 2007, and then in 2008 signed with Def Jam Recordings.

Sean Michael Anderson was born in Santa Monica, California, and he moved at two months old to west Detroit (6 Mile and Wyoming) where he was raised by his mother and grandmother. He attended Detroit Waldorf School and graduated from Cass Technical High School with a 3.7 GPA. Big Sean is often heard saying " west side " in his songs; he is referring to the west side of his hometown Detroit, Michigan. In his later years in high school, Sean gained a valuable relationship with Detroit hip hop station WHTD; he would show his rhyming skills on a weekly basis as part of a rap battle contest held by the station.

In 2005, Kanye West was doing a radio interview at 102.7 FM. Hearing about this, Sean headed over to the station to meet West and perform some free-style. Initially Kanye was reluctant to hear the emcee, however he gave Sean 16 bars to rap for him, eventually according to Big Sean "As we get to the entrance of the radio station ... we stopped in the middle of the doorway. He starts looking at me and bobbing his head,". He left a demo-tape as well. Two years later, West finally signed Big Sean to GOOD Music.