Spice 1

Gangsta rapper Spice 1 enjoyed a run of gold-certified albums and Top 10 hits during the 1990s. Born as "Robert Lee Green, Jr." on July 2, 1970, he spent the earliest portion of his childhood in Corsicana, Texas, before moving to the San Francisco suburb of Hayward, California. His debut EP, Let It Be Known, introduced his brand of West Coast hip-hop in 1991, followed by the full-length album Spice 1 in April 1992. The latter release climbed to Number 14 on the US Hip-Hop Albums chart, with its most popular song, "Welcome To The Ghetto," peaking at Number 5. One year later, 187 He Wrote became a crossover smash, charting at Number 1 on Billboard's Hip-Hop Albums and Number 10 on the Billboard 200. Both albums went gold, as did 1994's AmeriKKKa's Nightmare. 1990-Sick followed in 1995 and charted at Number 3, while 1997's The Black Bossalini climbed to Number 5. Although Spice 1 never cracked the Top 40 after the late 1990s, he continued releasing albums at a prolific rate, bouncing between solo releases, greatest hits collections, and hardcore gangsta compilations like 2000's The Playa Rich Project and its 2002 sequel, The Playa Rich Project 2.