Mystikal

Mystikal rose quickly among the top acts on Master P's No Limit roster before shedding the imprint's standard street persona and earning recognition as one of the Dirty South's standout voices next to Juvenile and Ludacris. A native of New Orleans like the label itself, he issued a self-titled debut on the independent Big Boy imprint in June 1995. That recording drew interest from Jive Records, which signed him before year's end. His first major-label effort, Mind of Mystikal, arrived in October 1996, gained strong traction in rap's underground circles, and narrowly missed gold certification.

He soon aligned with Master P and No Limit, enlisting the label's in-house Beats by the Pound production squad. The partnership yielded Unpredictable, released in November 1997, which broadened his audience considerably. The set reached the top of Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, landed at number three on the Billboard 200, and later achieved platinum status. Ghetto Fabulous, again powered by Beats by the Pound, followed in December 1998; it also topped the R&B/Hip-Hop chart while debuting at number five on the Billboard 200.

Even after switching back to Jive, Mystikal maintained momentum with Let's Get Ready, which surfaced in September 2000 and attained double-platinum certification. Anchored by the lead single "Shake Ya Ass"—a James Brown-inflected Neptunes production that became an MTV fixture prior to the album's release—the project incorporated beats from Earthtone III, Bink!, and the Medicine Men, the rebranded version of Beats by the Pound. The record revealed broader artistic aims only suggested on earlier releases, rendering Mystikal's singular vocal style appealing to a much larger listenership.

His sixth album, Tarantula, emerged in December 2001. The Neptunes-supplied "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall)" ranked among 2002's most prominent singles. The next year Mystikal earned Grammy nominations for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Album. Tarantula ultimately attained gold status yet fell short of matching his prior commercial peaks. From January 2004 through January 2010 he served a prison sentence stemming from sexual battery. Upon release he reunited with former No Limit associate Fiend, joined forces with R&B vocalist Lloyd, and took the stage at the 2011 Gathering of the Juggalos. Subsequent plans for a seventh album were halted by additional legal troubles.