E-Dub

Following his triumph at the 1999 Blaze Battle of MCs, Detroit rapper E-Dub quickly attracted widespread industry interest, earning favorable coverage in Source magazine before inking a deal with MCA Records that yielded his first major-label release. Even so, Edward Dixon was already a seasoned presence by the time The Prezident arrived in late 2001; through his own Hundred Grand Entertainment imprint he had spent years circulating material in underground circles, most notably within Detroit itself, where local audiences had long recognized him as an emerging force. Because his roots lay in Detroit rather than New York, Cali, or the Dirty South, however, it took Eminem’s breakthrough before E-Dub finally obtained major-label distribution for Hundred Grand. On the MCA project he collaborated with an array of high-profile producers—Swizz Beatz (DMX, Eve, Busta Rhymes), Scott Storch (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Roots), and KLC (Mystikal, Master P, Destiny's Child)—yet selected Frankie B. Nice’s “Gangsta, Gangsta” as the lead single and filmed its video on Detroit’s infamous Belle Isle. Best known for his freestyling abilities, E-Dub has stated that he improvised the bulk of the verses on The Prezident while mapping out the hooks in advance.