Rappers from Massachusetts include Cousin Stizz, Joyner Lucas, Bia, and ten more. Massachusetts has introduced many critically acclaimed Hip Hop stars so far.
Natural musical talent is hidden in every US state, such as Texas, Arkansas, California, and more, not only in Massachusetts. For example, top-rated rappers like Bankroll Freddie, Hunter Beard, and Kari Faux were from Arkansas City.
Massachusetts is the most populous state in the Northern USA with an area of 27,363 square kilometers. Spanning from its capital Boston to other cities like Salem, Worcester, Cambridge and more, there are many popular celebrities from this state.
Here we’ve enlisted the 13 best rappers from Massachusetts of all time with their short bio and famous songs.
1) Cousin Stizz
Birthplace: Boston, MA
Age: 30
Date of Birth: March 15, 1992
Cousin Stizz, aka Stephen Gross, is a highly successful American rapper and songwriter from Boston, MA, in Dorchester. He signed a recording deal with RCA Records in late 2016.
Behind his famous stage name is a tragic story that occurred when he was 12. Stephen’s close friend, from a young age, was shot and killed and gave him the Cousin Stizz pet name. He began to behave strangely after his sudden demise.
In 2010, Stizz graduated from Reading Memorial High School (RMHS).
The phenomenal rapper of all time, Cousin Stizz, started his rapping career as a teenager. Since 2014, the promising hip-hop rapper has released three studio albums, two mixtapes, and two EPs.
In addition, he recorded and released two extended plays, All Adds Up (August 17, 2018) and Cold Times (September 20, 2018), in the same year.
Regarding his accolades, Cousin won the “Artist of the Year” at the Boston Music Awards. Stizz became the first hip-hop musician to receive the awards ceremony’s highest honor with these acclaimed rewards.
2) BIA
Birthplace: Medford, Boston, MA
Age: 32
Date of birth: August 16, 1990
Bianca Miquela Landrau, also known online as BIA, is a Boston native hip-hop rapper who stormed the music industry with her excellent rap styles and music. She first signed to Pharrell’s I Am Other record labels, partnering with RCA Records in 2014.
Her first EP, Nice Girls Finish Last: Cuidado was released on September 21, 2018, with RCA Records. She also collaborated with J Balvin on the 2016 single “Safari” and “Best on Earth” with Russ in 2019.
In early 2020, Bia signed a new record deal with Epic Records. She released her second EP, For Certain, on December 11, 2020. The EP spawned the single “Whole Lotta Money,” later released in the remix version featuring Nicki Minaj, reaching the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Per USA Today, the Whole Lotta Money singer Bia was born and raised in Medford, a few miles from Boston in Middlesex county. She describes herself with the term “underdog.”
The Puerto Rican rapper attended Medford High School and graduated from there. Bia then enrolled in college briefly and quit to focus on her dreams as a musical artist. However, she told Latin USA in 2017 that college and university weren’t for her. So instead, Bia did all sorts of work, like bartending, to make things work smoothly. In 2017, she moved to LA.
Bia started her career from scratch, and now she is the most followed rapper of all time and has collaborated with aced artists like Nicki Minaj. Also, she has toured with Ariana Grande, including Pusha T.
Letting you know, Bia managed to grab rapper Fam-Lay’s eyeballs through YouTube. Nathaniel Johnson, aka Fam-Lay, and record producer Pharell Williams gave her wings and a light of hope to kick her musical career at first. It was her do-or-die moment, said Bia.
3) Bo Burnham
Birthplace: Hamilton, MA
Age: 32
Date of birth: August 21, 1990
Massachusetts native Bo Burnham is a versatile, multitalented singer, actor, producer, and comedian. His musical career began in 2009 after releasing his self-titled debut album Bo Burnham on March 10, 2009. He signed a record deal with Comedy Central Records.
Bo has released four comedy albums, Words Words Words (2010), What (2013), and Inside (The Songs) (2021) so far.
His satirical comedic style using offensive language and covering topics such as homophobia, mental illness, sexism, and racism for shock value and social commentary is quite appealing to many fans.
His single, Welcome to the Internet, released in 2021 from the album Inside, spawned 104 million times on Youtube and other audio streaming platforms. He explained the good and bad side of the Internet in his 4:40 seconds video with perfect rhyming and words that hit people’s minds.
YouTuber Bro Band Reactions has called Bo the best rapper ever. Although he may not be the best rapper of all time, he is working seriously on his rap with no jokes. His rap has been getting better over the past few years. Most of his songs are decent, one user wrote on Reddit.
4) Joyner Lucas
Birthplace: Worcester, MA
Age: 34
Date of Birth: August 17, 1988
Rapper Joyner Lucas, born by his birth name Gary Maurice “Joyner” Lucas Jr., is a prolific singer and songwriter from Massachusetts.
In 2015, Lucas gained immense popularity after his single “Ross Capicchioni” stormed the Internet on fire. Since 2007, he has released four mixtapes, one EP, a studio album, multiple collaborative mixtapes with Film Skool Rejekts, and HeadCrack from 2007 to 2011.
As a lead artist, Joyner’s non-album singles and album singles peaked at US Billboard Charts and received RIAA certifications. In addition, his single, “I’m Not Racist,” grabbed Gold RIAA certifications, and another single, “Stranger Things,” ranked 46 for the best R&B songs released in 2018.
Speaking about Lucas’s early life, he attended Worcester’s South High Community School and soon began to rap at age 10.
Since 2016, some of Lucas’s popular hip-hop songs are”Gucci Gang” by Lil Pump, “DNA” by Kendrick Lamar, “Bank Account” by 21 Savage, and many others. Lucas recorded and released his debut studio album ADHD on March 27, 2020, with Twenty-Nine Music Group.
Besides music, Lucas co-founded the music technology platform Tully in 2015 with manager Dhruv Joshi.
5) Nicky Jam
Birthplace: Lawrence, MA
Age: 41
Date of Birth: March 17, 1981
Born and bred in Massachusetts, Nicky Jam is a phenomenal singer and actor. Thanks to his million fan followers on social media, including Instagram and Spotify, made him one of the most-streamed rappers in the US. He has 23.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Nicky’s real name is Nick Rivera Caminero, and he was born to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother.
Latin trap singer Nicky is well known for his hits singles such as “X,” “Travesuras,” “En la Cama,” “Te Busco,” “El Perdón,” and many more. Fenix is the third studio album, and his most high peaked singles from the album are “Hasta el Amanecer,” and “El Amante.”
Nevertheless, Nicky has frequently collaborated with other Latin artists such as Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, Plan B, J Balvin, and Anuel AA.
His early music illustrated traditional fast-paced reggaeton. However, Nicky’s newer compositions emphasized sung vocals and romantic lyrics.
Jam was just ten years old when his family moved to Puerto Rico. However, his interest in music began when he was a middle schooler.
His mentor and idol, Daddy Yankee, aged 46, was impressed by his first EP, Distinto a los demás (1995), which he released when he turned 14.
Together, they formed a duo band called Los Cangris, which disbanded in 2004 due to Nick’s extreme consumption of drugs and alcohol at age 15. He was raised in a working-class family, where his father and mother were drug addicts, according to Billboard.
He then moved to Madelin, Columbia. He started improving his music style and concentrating on music by limiting the use of drugs and alcohol. He began to love himself, and fans embraced him with an open heart, acting like a booster.
6) Esoteric
Birthplace: Boston, MA
Age: 44
Date of Birth: July 24, 1978
Rapper Esoteric is a Boston-based American hip-hop rapper. He is known for being the third member of Czarface.
The band is a hip-hop supergroup formed by two underground rap artists, Inspectah Deck and Esoteric, aka Seamus Ryan, from 2013 till the present.
The group released its first popular studio album, Czarface, on February 19, 2013. Since then, it has recorded and published 11 albums from 2013 to 2022, followed by Every Hero Needs a Villain in 2015 and A Fistful of Peril in 2016 through Brick Records and Silver Age. Also, the group has recorded five music videos, including The Odd Czar Against US.
Also, Esoteric is the founder of the American hip-hop duo band 7LES, George Andrinopoulos, and Esoteric.
The 44-year-old musical career as a solo artist began in 2007. Since 2005, Esoteric has released nine songs as of 2023, including the first, Too Much Posse, Serve Or Suffer, and Machete Mode in 2013.
7) Edward Anderson, aka Edo G
Birthplace: Roxbury, MA
Age: 52
Date of Birth: November 27, 1970.
Edward Anderson, known by his stage name Edo G is a Boston-based American rapper. His musical style is hip-hop, and he started his career in music at age 15 with a crew called FTI (Fresh To Impress).
Since the late 1980s, the singer has released six solo studio albums, including Intelligence and Ignorance, on February 5, 2013, by Envision Entertainment. He first released an album, The Truth Hurt, on April 17, 2000.
Also, Edo G formed a band, Edo G and Da Bulldogs, after three years in 1989 with NY’s Awesome two duo Teddy Ted and Special K. Together, they released an album titled Life of a Kid In A Ghetto, followed by the most played song in the local Boston radio stations titled “Be a Father to Your Child,” including “I Got To Have It.” The group members later quit Mercury Records in 1993 after recording and releasing Roxbury 02119.
The leader Ed then linked with the new group Special Teamz in 2005.
On the other hand, Edo G. also became a member of the Boston hip-hop group 4Peace, alongside Wyatt Jackson, Twice Thou, and DQuest.
In 2013, Edo G collaborated on the song “Done Talking” with Oh No.
8) Chilla Jones
Birthplace: Boston, MA
Age: 36 years
Date of Birth: January 1, 1987
Rapper Chilla Jones is mainly known for his successful musical career, and his rap battle history from 2011 to 2018 will blow your mind.
From 2007 to 2014, Jones released nine mixtapes. Chilla has worked with the Don’t Flop YouTube channel and the Ultimate Rap League throughout his battling career. Additionally, he has competed with fellow rappers Math Hoffa and Charlie Clips.
Chilla gained notoriety in March 2012 after battling against Cash Eatin of Detroit, Michigan. Since then, he went on hype through a rap battle culture with his unique style now branded as “Schemin’ ” or ‘Associated Wordplay.’
Specifically, Chilla has represented his hometown Boston, including England, in the rap battle. At age 16, his career began in high school as he participated in the New England battle rap circuit.
Chilla Jones has a YouTube channel under the pseudonym Chilla Jones created in September 2005. It has 13.1k subscribers, according to Famous Birthdays. He often posts battle videos, vlogs, and rap battle predictions videos.
Jones’s IG bio suggests that he is the co-owner of Pendulum Ink.
9) Benzino
Birthplace: Boston, MA
Age: 57
Date of Birth: July 18, 1965
Born as Raymond Leon Scott is primarily recognized as Benzino online and is known for his feud with all-time favorite rapper Eminem.
In 2003, Raymond, who co-owned the Source, an entertainment magazine, rated his fourth studio album, The Eminem Show, four MICS out of five. Eminem accused the founder of the magazine Benzino which he considered an unfair rating. This way, their fight has escalated till now and has yet to settle.
Speaking about his musical career in depth, Benzino independently released his debut album, The Benzino Project, in 2001, succeeded by Redemption, Arch Nemesis, and The Antidote in 2003, 2005, and 2007 respectively. He collaborated with Almighty RSO on the full-length Doomsday: Forever RSO in 1996 and rapper Made Men’s debut studio album Classic Limited Edition in 1999.
Between 2003 to 2015, Benzino released seven mixtapes, including Welcome to Texaco City with OJ da Juiceman.
Did you know? His single Rock The Party (2002) from his second studio album peaked on the US chart at no. 82 two decades ago.
10) Coi Leray
Birthplace: Boston, MA
Age: 25
Date of Birth: May 11, 1997
Coi Leray is an American rapper born in Boston but raised in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Also, she is a sensational internet star with millions of loyal fan followers on social media, including TikTok.
Leray started her career by uploading songs to an audio streaming platform like SoundCloud. She has over 125k followers on this platform.
Moving on to her musical career, Coi began composing music at the young age of 14. She dropped out of high school after two years and started to serve in sales.
Her dad, Benzino, has been her biggest inspiration to pursue her career in music. Coi released her first song, Bow Down, with her brother, Taj, and Rock Back through YouTube. Unfortunately, both Leray and Taj stopped rapping.
In 2018, Coi released her debut mixtape Everything Coz on March 30 through Rebublic and 1801 record labels. The single Huddy became a hit in the US.
On April 2022, Coi released her debut album, Trendsetter, and its single, Blick Blick featuring Nicki Minaj, topped the US Billboard charts Hot 100.
The daughter of prominent rapper Coi has released one album, two mixtapes, 1 EP, and a total of 47 singles (23 songs as a featuring artist).
11) Gio Dee
Birthplace: Boston, MA
Age: 30
Date of Birth: March 8, 1992
Gio Dee is a 30-year-old rapper born in Boston, Massachusetts. He is mainly known for being the founder of Chef Boyz, a musical group based in the Boston area.
The singer has released five mixtapes so far. His first mixtape was released on May 7, 2011, called This Is Only The Beginning by the record label Chefboyz Entertainment, followed by Fashionably Late EP (2013), TOTB: The 2nd Coming (2015), Mind Yo Business EP (2015), and Never Going Back (2017).
His song Mind Yo Business went viral after social media star Jerry Purpdrank uploaded a video on Vine. The video grabbed a whopping over one million views on YouTube.
On January 17, 2020, Dee released another full-length studio album with Lamsu, DJ Shabazz, Marc E Bassy, One-H, and Polo $ummers.
12) Lil Poopy
Birthplace: Brockton, City in MA
Age: 20
Date of Birth: February 15, 2003
Lil Poopy is a young rap artist from Massachusetts. He started his career in music by releasing a single, Numbers, in 2017.
Per Famous Birthdays, his real name is Luis Rivera Jr. He appeared in the music video as a young rapper in French Montana’s Pop That nine years ago. The video broke the Internet on fire, according to the reports.
In 2016, Lil Poopy showed his rap talent in the Rap Game, a lifetime reality TV series.
His music video, “Lil Poopy Getting In,” is terminated from YouTube. IN 2019, Poopy released two albums, “Blanco” and “Intro,” including Run It Up as a collaborative artist featuring D the Flyest and T Drape.
The budding hip-hop artist Poopy is active on Facebook, Twitter, and music streaming platforms such as SoundCloud and Spotify.
13) Dutch ReBelle
Birthplace: Boston, MA
Age: N/A
Date of Birth: May 27
Dutch Rebelle is a highly noted American rapper and musical artist from Boston, MA. The internet celebrity Dutch is gaining fame steadily in the world of music.
Per The Source, Dutch released her debut album mixtape Kiss Kiss on September 28, 2015, with the signed record music label Rebel Music.
The Haitian-born and Massachusetts-bred Dutch have been releasing music steadily with the great song of all time over the past years.
Rebelle was named the best hip-hop artist at the Boston Music Awards in 2014 since she accomplished musical success by raising funds for her newest album on Kickstarter last fall.
YouTuber Dutch has over 2.74k subscribers as of 2023. Her official musical video Gooniezz is streaming on YouTube now, with around 1.3 views.