AR-AB

Philadelphia rapper Ar-Ab started out as a battle rapper in the mid-2000s, making some of his first more visible musical moves with prominent features on tracks for Cassidy mixtapes. Ar-Ab was born Abdul Ibrihim West in 1982 and had a long history of run-ins with the law and imprisonment that started before his rap career and would continue well into it. West channeled his real-life experiences with street life and drug-related crime into his amped-up, violent productions. Following several solo mixtapes, West and several other Philly rappers formed OBH or Original Block Hustlaz, a hip-hop collective that also acted as a label. Following even more legal trouble and a prison stint in 2013, Ar-Ab re-emerged more passionate than ever, dropping a steady string of mixtapes before signing a deal with Cash Money Records in 2016. ~ Fred Thomas