Zoe Osama

South Central Los Angeles native Zoe Osama fits squarely into the ongoing development of gangsta rap through his unfiltered rhymes and a vocal approach that tends to drive the beat rather than coast along it. He dropped the first in a string of commercial mixtapes during 2019, achieved his initial breakthrough three years afterward with “Underrated,” and then delivered his debut official album, From the Eastside with Love, in 2024—an effort featuring guest spots from E-40 and Snoop Dogg alongside production by Hit-Boy and ZekeBeats.

Osama entered the rap scene while still in his teens. His opening release, the 2019 project Easty, stood out for the lean, bold cut “It Get Easty,” a collaboration with Long Beach native Tapri Grams. Two further 2020 efforts arrived soon after: Nine Street, launched by the hard-edged, trap-leaning “Run Me My Money,” and Based on a True Story, fronted by “Wanna Bet.” In the following years he issued a steady flow of independent singles and guest verses while also putting out the concise releases Nine Street 2 and Top 3. The 2022 mixtape Underrated included its especially groovy and direct title track, which emerged as his most recognized song up to that moment. The Big Deal EP appeared in 2023. The next year, backed by an Empire distribution arrangement for his Tha New Cartel imprint, he issued his first proper full-length, From the Eastside with Love. Later that year he joined another key influence, Warren G, on the song “Let Me Breathe.”