97 Fun Facts About 2000s Hip Hop

Which 2002 film produced the first hip hop song to win the Oscar for Best Original Song?

8 Mile's 'Lose Yourself' won Best Original Song at the March 2003 Oscars; Eminem assumed he would lose and was asleep at home, so co-producer Luis Resto accepted the statue for him.

How many times was 50 Cent shot on May 24, 2000, an incident that became central to his legend?

Nine shots hit 50 Cent at close range outside his grandmother's old house; Columbia Records then dropped him without releasing his album, and he rebuilt his name on mixtapes.

On what date was Jay-Z's album The Blueprint released?

September 11, 2001: The Blueprint came out on the morning of the attacks and debuted at number one anyway, with Kanye West and Just Blaze producing most of its tracks.

Eminem's guest verse, the only feature on Jay-Z's The Blueprint, came on which track?

'Renegade', which Eminem also produced, carries the album's only credited guest verse; Nas's 'Ether' later mocked Jay-Z for being outshone by Eminem on his own track.

Which Nas album contained 'Ether', his 2001 answer to Jay-Z's 'Takeover'?

'Ether' appeared on Stillmatic, released in December 2001; the title promised a return to the form of his 1994 debut Illmatic after Nastradamus had disappointed critics.

Kanye West's debut single, recorded with his jaw wired shut after a 2002 crash, samples which Chaka Khan song?

'Through the Fire' is sped up to a chipmunk pitch on 'Through the Wire', which West recorded only two weeks after the crash; his title swaps the fire for the wires holding his jaw together.

Which OutKast release won the 2004 Album of the Year Grammy, only the second hip hop album to do so?

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is really two solo albums sold as one, Big Boi's and André 3000's; it won five years after Lauryn Hill's Miseducation became the first hip hop Album of the Year.

Which 2000 OutKast single was inspired partly by André 3000's relationship with Erykah Badu?

'Ms. Jackson' is addressed to the mother of André 3000's ex, Erykah Badu; Badu later said her mother embraced it and bought a 'Ms. Jackson' licence plate, mug and headband.

Which Lil Wayne album sold over a million US copies in its first week?

Tha Carter III sold just over a million copies in a week despite repeated delays and a run of online leaks; it went on to win the Grammy for Best Rap Album.

Which Nelly number one of summer 2002 won the first Grammy for Best Male Rap Solo Performance?

Hot in Herre won in 2003, the first year the rap solo Grammy was split by gender; its groove and its 'bustin' loose' line come from Chuck Brown's go-go hit, which earned Brown a writing credit.

In the 'Dilemma' video (2002), Kelly Rowland tries to text Nelly using what kind of app on her Nokia?

She types her message into a spreadsheet on a Nokia 9210 Communicator; years later the scene became a running internet joke about Kelly Rowland texting in Microsoft Excel.

Which West Coast rapper scored his first Hot 100 number one in 2004 with a Pharrell collaboration built on tongue clicks?

Snoop Dogg had been a star for over a decade without a chart-topper until 'Drop It Like It's Hot' spent three weeks at number one; Billboard later named it the most popular rap song of the 2000s.

Which label's compilation took Dr. Dre's planned album title, Chronic 2000?

Death Row Records, which Dre had left in 1996, put out a compilation called Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000 in May 1999, so his own sequel to The Chronic arrived that November as 2001.

Chamillionaire's 'Ridin'' (2006) won a Grammy and inspired which 'Weird Al' Yankovic parody?

'White & Nerdy' became 'Weird Al' Yankovic's first top-ten hit, and after 'Ridin'' won its Grammy, Chamillionaire thanked him on the red carpet, saying the parody had helped make his song undeniable.

Which 2003 Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz single with the Ying Yang Twins peaked at number two?

'Get Low' was a slow burn: it sat on the 2002 album Kings of Crunk for months before its run to number two lifted that album to its chart peak nearly a year after release.

Which snap single took Atlanta's D4L to number one in January 2006?

Laffy Taffy reached number one largely on download sales, and it sold several times more ringtones than downloads; D4L, short for Down for Life, were Fabo, Mook-B, Stoney and Shawty Lo.

Soulja Boy produced his 2007 number one 'Crank That' on which music software?

FL Studio, the program once called Fruity Loops: Soulja Boy built the beat himself, and after he pushed the song on SoundClick and MySpace it spent seven weeks at number one.

The 'T' in T-Pain's stage name stands for which city, where he grew up?

Tallahassee: the name is short for Tallahassee Pain, his nod to the hardships of growing up in Florida's capital; Akon signed him after hearing his remake of 'Locked Up'.

Which vocal effect did Jay-Z declare dead in a 2009 single, after hearing it in a Wendy's ad?

Auto-Tune: Jay-Z said the Wendy's commercial showed that a trend had become a gimmick, so he wrote 'D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)' and stripped the effect from his album The Blueprint 3.

Drake released his breakthrough mixtape So Far Gone in February 2009 under which label of his own?

October's Very Own was the banner on So Far Gone, which Drake put out himself on February 13, 2009, with no major label; its song 'Best I Ever Had' still climbed to number two on the Hot 100.

Rick Ross took his stage name from which real person, unconnected to him?

He borrowed the name of 'Freeway' Rick Ross, the Los Angeles drug kingpin of the 1980s crack era, who later sued the rapper unsuccessfully over its use.

Who were the duo behind Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy', the first UK No. 1 on downloads alone?

CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse spent nine weeks at UK number one with 'Crazy' in 2006, then deleted the single so listeners would not tire of it; it was the year's best seller anyway.

Which producer handled the tracks on Common's 2005 album Be that Kanye West didn't?

J Dilla made 'Love Is...' and 'It's Your World' for Be; Kanye West produced everything else, but Common kept two beats from the producer who had shaped much of his Like Water for Chocolate.

Lupe Fiasco's 2006 debut single 'Kick, Push' told a love story set in which subculture?

'Kick, Push' is a love story set in skateboarding: a young skater meets a girl with her own board and they ride the city together; it earned two Grammy nominations.

The Game's 2005 debut, executive produced by Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, carried what title?

The Documentary came out in January 2005 and debuted at number one, but the alliance behind it lasted about six weeks: 50 Cent went on New York radio to announce The Game was out of G-Unit.

Which rapper's first five albums, from It's Dark and Hell Is Hot to Grand Champ, all debuted at number one?

DMX was the first artist to open at number one with each of his first five albums; he started the run by releasing two of them in a single year, 1998.

Federal agents raided which record label in 2003 over alleged money laundering for Kenneth 'Supreme' McGriff?

Murder Inc., home of Ja Rule and Ashanti, was raided in January 2003 and later renamed The Inc.; founders Irv and Chris Gotti were acquitted of money-laundering charges in December 2005.

Which Harlem collective did childhood friends Cam'ron and Jim Jones form in 1997, later adding Juelz Santana?

The Diplomats, better known as Dipset, rode in on Cam'ron's deal: when he signed to Roc-A-Fella in 2001 he brought the crew along, and their debut album Diplomatic Immunity followed in 2003.

Cam'ron's 2002 hits 'Oh Boy' and 'Hey Ma' came from which album, released on Roc-A-Fella?

Come Home with Me was mostly recorded while Cam'ron was still at Epic; he took it with him to Roc-A-Fella, where it became his biggest seller, led by Just Blaze's Rose Royce-sampling 'Oh Boy'.

Which 2006 Nas album, his first for Def Jam, includes 'Black Republican', a duet with his former rival Jay-Z?

Hip Hop Is Dead drew fire for its title: Southern rappers took it as aimed at them, and Ludacris performed at the BET Hip-Hop Awards in a T-shirt reading 'Hip-Hop Ain't Dead, It Lives in the South'.

Lil' Kim's 2005 perjury conviction concerned a 2001 shooting outside which New York radio station?

The February 2001 gunfight outside Hot 97's Manhattan studios involved Lil' Kim's entourage and Capone-N-Noreaga's; she was convicted in 2005 of lying to a grand jury about who was there.

Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay was shot dead in October 2002 at his studio in which part of New York?

Jamaica, Queens: Jam Master Jay was shot in his studio on Merrick Boulevard on October 30, 2002, and the case went eighteen years without an arrest, until two men were charged in 2020.

D12 rapper Proof, Eminem's close friend, was shot dead in April 2006 at a club in which city?

Detroit: Proof was shot at the CCC Club on April 11, 2006, after an argument over a game of pool; Eminem, his best friend since their teens, released no studio album between Encore in 2004 and Relapse in 2009.

Madvillain, whose only album was Madvillainy (2004), paired Madlib with which rapper?

MF DOOM rapped over Madlib's beats on Madvillainy, 22 tracks that mostly run under three minutes with no choruses; it peaked at only number 179, yet became one of its label's best sellers.

BET's countdown show 106 & Park premiered in 2000 with which pair of original hosts?

AJ and Free hosted 106 & Park from its 2000 premiere until July 2005; BET named the show for the East Harlem building it had just leased as a studio, at East 106th Street and Park Avenue.

Which album won Best Rap Album at the 2007 Grammys?

Release Therapy, for which Ludacris shaved off his signature cornrows, won Best Rap Album at the February 2007 Grammys; its lead single 'Money Maker' with Pharrell also won Best Rap Song.

Which 2009 single by Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent set a first-week download record with 418,000 sales?

Crack a Bottle leapt from number 78 to number one on those downloads, beating a mark set by T.I. and Rihanna, and held the record for exactly one week before Flo Rida's 'Right Round' broke it.

Which Missy Elliott single sat at number two for ten weeks behind Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' in 2002-03?

'Work It' takes its own advice: right after Missy Elliott tells the listener to flip it and reverse it, the next line is that same lyric played backwards; the single won her a Grammy in 2004.

Which E-40 and Keak da Sneak hit, produced by Lil Jon, took hyphy national in 2006?

'Tell Me When to Go' reached only number 35, but it spread a Bay Area craze across the country: 'ghost riding the whip', dancing beside your car while it rolls along with nobody at the wheel.

50 Cent made a reported $100 million in 2007 when Coca-Cola bought Glacéau, maker of which product?

Vitaminwater: instead of a simple endorsement fee, 50 Cent took a minority stake in Glacéau in 2004 and helped create its grape flavour Formula 50; Coca-Cola then paid $4.1 billion for the company.

Which Ja Rule single with Ashanti topped the Hot 100 in early 2002, giving Ashanti her first number one?

'Always on Time' reached number one in February 2002 and made a name of the little-known Ashanti; two months later her own 'Foolish' took the top spot and held it for ten weeks.

Which Kanye West album outsold 50 Cent's Curtis when the two were released on the same day in September 2007?

Graduation sold about 957,000 copies in its first week to Curtis's 691,000; 50 Cent had said he would stop making solo albums if he lost, then lost and carried on recording.

Which 2009 Jay-Z single gave him his first Hot 100 number one as lead artist?

Empire State of Mind began with two New York songwriters feeling homesick on a trip to London; Jay-Z had Mary J. Blige in mind for the hook until he heard the piano loop and asked Alicia Keys instead.

Which Eminem album sold 1.76 million US copies in its first week in May 2000?

The Marshall Mathers LP had the second-biggest opening week on record at the time, behind only NSYNC's No Strings Attached, yet at the Grammys it lost Album of the Year to the veteran duo Steely Dan.

Which OutKast video restaged a famous 1964 Ed Sullivan Show appearance with André 3000 playing every band member?

'Hey Ya!' restages the Beatles' 1964 Ed Sullivan debut with André 3000 as the whole band; its line about shaking it like a Polaroid picture led Polaroid to warn that shaking could ruin the photo.

Which T.I. single set a Hot 100 record in 2008 by leaping from number 71 straight to number one?

'Whatever You Like' leapt 70 places, beating a mark set by Maroon 5's 'Makes Me Wonder'; six weeks later T.I. broke his own record when 'Live Your Life' jumped from number 80 to the top.

Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak (2008) takes the first part of its title from what?

A drum machine: the 808 is the Roland TR-808, whose booming sounds run through every song; West made the album after his mother's death and a broken engagement, recording partly in Honolulu.

Which Virginia producer got his start, alongside Missy Elliott, in the Swing Mob collective run by Jodeci's DeVante Swing?

Timbaland owes his name to DeVante Swing, who renamed the young Tim Mosley after Timberland boots once Missy Elliott had brought him along to Swing Mob's base in New York.

Which duo did Billboard rank number one on its list of the top producers of the 2000s?

The Neptunes, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, were spotted as teenagers by producer Teddy Riley, whose studio stood next to Williams's high school in Virginia Beach; they won Producer of the Year at the 2004 Grammys.

Which Kid Cudi debut single reached number three on the Hot 100 in 2009 after a Crookers remix took off in clubs?

'Day 'n' Nite' came out of a family rift: Cudi wrote it after the uncle who had taken him in in New York threw him out, then died before the two could make peace.

Which award was Taylor Swift accepting at the 2009 MTV VMAs when Kanye West took the microphone from her?

Swift had just won Best Female Video for 'You Belong with Me' when West insisted Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies' deserved it; Beyoncé, winning Video of the Year later that night, invited Swift back to finish her speech.

What was the title of 50 Cent's shelved 2000 debut album, pulled after Columbia dropped him?

Power of the Dollar was shelved when Columbia dropped 50 Cent after the 2000 shooting; its single 'How to Rob', a comic fantasy about robbing rap's biggest names, had already drawn a reply on record from Jay-Z.

Eminem's 2000 single 'Stan' samples the opening lines of which Dido song?

'Stan' is built on the first verse of Dido's 'Thank You', and Dido plays Stan's pregnant partner in the video; dictionaries now list 'stan' as a word for an obsessive fan and point to the song.

Which 2003 single gave Twista, Kanye West and Jamie Foxx their first Hot 100 number one, built on a Luther Vandross sample?

'Slow Jamz' is built on Luther Vandross's version of 'A House Is Not a Home', which is why Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who wrote that 1964 ballad, share the writing credit on a rap number one.

Which producer made the beat for Terror Squad's 2004 number one 'Lean Back', the hit that launched a shoulder-rocking dance?

Scott Storch also produced Beyoncé's 'Baby Boy' and 50 Cent's 'Candy Shop' in the same hot streak, then lost his fortune to a cocaine habit and filed for bankruptcy in 2015.

Which singer features on Eve's 'Let Me Blow Ya Mind', the first Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Grammy winner?

Gwen Stefani of No Doubt sang the hook, and the session was a reunion: producer Dr. Dre had once signed Eve to his label and dropped her within months, before she became a star without him.

Kanye West's 'Gold Digger' (2005) samples which Ray Charles recording?

'Gold Digger' samples Ray Charles's 1954 hit 'I Got a Woman', with Jamie Foxx, fresh from playing Charles in the biopic Ray, re-singing its opening; the beat had originally been written for Shawnna.

Which 2008 single, featuring the late Static Major, became Lil Wayne's first Hot 100 number one?

Lollipop came out about two weeks after Static Major died; the songwriter behind Aaliyah's 'Try Again' sings its hook and never saw it spend five weeks at number one.

Which 2003 single set a Billboard record as the most listened-to song in radio history in one week?

'In da Club' drew a record radio audience in a single week in early 2003 and spent nine weeks at number one, holding R. Kelly's 'Ignition (Remix)' at number two.

Which 2003 debut album sold 872,000 US copies in its first week?

Get Rich or Die Tryin' grew out of the mixtapes that caught Eminem's ear and won 50 Cent a deal with Shady Records in 2002; it finished as America's best-selling album of 2003.

Which 2003 single, produced by Kanye West, became Ludacris's first Hot 100 number one?

'Stand Up' put Shawnna on the call-and-response hook; a New Jersey group later sued over its 'just like that' chant, and in 2006 a jury sided with Ludacris and Kanye West after both testified.

Nelly's 2000 hit 'Country Grammar' took its melody and chorus from what kind of source?

A children's clapping rhyme: Nelly set new words about St. Louis to 'Down Down Baby', a playground chant that pop records had been borrowing for decades, and took it to number seven.

Which Jay-Z Black Album single, built on a Rick Rubin rock beat, peaked at only number 30, below its two top-ten siblings?

99 Problems takes its hook from a 1993 Ice-T song; Rick Rubin, making his first rap record in years, built the beat from old rock samples and turns up in the video beside Jay-Z.

Which duo's 2002 single 'Grindin'' was built on a famously sparse drum-and-woodblock beat?

Clipse, the brothers Pusha T and Malice, had already recorded a whole album that their first label shelved before dropping them; 'Grindin'', the lead single from Lord Willin', was their second start.

Which pop star sang the uncredited chorus on the Black Eyed Peas' 'Where Is the Love?' (2003)?

Justin Timberlake sang the chorus but went uncredited and skipped the video; his label Jive worried about overexposure while his solo debut Justified was being promoted.

M.I.A.'s 'Paper Planes' (2008) samples which band's 1982 song 'Straight to Hell'?

'Paper Planes' loops the guitar riff of the Clash's 'Straight to Hell', a sample Diplo suggested; the Clash's members received writing credits, and MTV censored the gunshots in the video.

Kanye West's 'Stronger' video, shot partly in Tokyo, was inspired by which 1988 anime film?

The 'Stronger' video borrows scenes from Akira, including its hospital and motorcycle imagery; West built the song on Daft Punk's 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' and performed it with the duo at the 2008 Grammys.

Which 2004 EP paired Jay-Z with Linkin Park and produced the Grammy-winning 'Numb/Encore'?

Collision Course began as an MTV plan to mash up one or two songs; instead Jay-Z and Linkin Park re-recorded their parts together over four days in July 2004, and the six-track EP debuted at number one.

Which Philadelphia band, led by Black Thought and Questlove, became Jimmy Fallon's house band in 2009?

The Roots, formed in Philadelphia in 1987 around Black Thought and Questlove, joined Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2009 and followed him to The Tonight Show in 2014.

Who produced Lil Wayne's 'A Milli' (2008) and later Beyoncé's similar-sounding 'Diva'?

Producer Shondrae 'Bangladesh' Crawford built 'A Milli' on a looped vocal snippet and reused the template for Beyoncé's 'Diva'; 'A Milli' won Best Rap Solo Performance at the 2009 Grammys.

Juvenile's 'Slow Motion' (2004) gave which record label its first ever Hot 100 number one?

'Slow Motion' topped the Hot 100 in August 2004, the first number one for Cash Money Records; guest Soulja Slim had been shot dead in New Orleans the previous November.

Shyne, jailed for a 1999 nightclub shooting, later became a politician in which country?

Belize: Shyne was deported there on leaving prison in 2009, having turned to Orthodox Judaism inside, and followed his father, former prime minister Dean Barrow, into politics, rising to Leader of the Opposition.

Which Wu-Tang Clan rapper collapsed and died in a Manhattan studio in November 2004, two days before his 36th birthday?

Ol' Dirty Bastard had complained of chest pains before he collapsed; the medical examiner later ruled it an accidental overdose of cocaine and the painkiller tramadol. He had formed the group with his cousins RZA and GZA.

Big Pun, who died in February 2000 aged 28, was the first solo Latino rapper to achieve what, with 1998's Capital Punishment?

A platinum album: Capital Punishment went platinum in 1998 and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1999 Grammys. The Bronx rapper, born Christopher Rios, weighed nearly 700 pounds when a heart attack killed him.

Which hip hop album was the best-selling album in the world in 2002?

The Eminem Show was mostly produced by Eminem himself, and its title nods to The Truman Show, the film about a man whose whole life is a TV broadcast; it was 2002's best seller in the US as well.

'Big Pimpin'', Jay-Z's 2000 hit with UGK, samples a 1957 recording from which country?

Egypt: the sample is 'Khosara Khosara', sung by Abdel Halim Hafez and composed by Baligh Hamdi; Hamdi's heirs sued in 2007, and Jay-Z testified in 2015 that he had not known the track contained a sample.

UGK's 'Int'l Players Anthem' (2007) video is built around which staged occasion for guest rapper André 3000?

The video follows André 3000 on the day of his wedding: he turns up in a red kilt while Bun B and friends tell him he is rushing into it. The beat had first been used by Project Pat in 2002.

Which rapper hosted MTV's car-makeover show Pimp My Ride from 2004 to 2007, spawning the 'Yo dawg, I heard you like' meme?

Xzibit fronted a show that was more staged than it looked: contestants later said some gadgets were taken out again once the cameras had gone, and that they had to reshoot their amazed reactions.

Which rapper's debut Boy in da Corner won the 2003 Mercury Prize?

Dizzee Rascal, then the prize's youngest winner, beat Coldplay and The Darkness with Boy in da Corner; he had been shut out of nearly every class at school until a music teacher let him loose on the computers.

Which hip hop group features on Gorillaz's 2005 Grammy-winning single 'Feel Good Inc.'?

De La Soul's Trugoy the Dove raps the verse, and the manic laugh that runs through the track belongs to his bandmate Maseo; the single won the Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Which Kanye West single got three separate music videos?

Jesus Walks spends part of its second verse insisting that a rap single about God will never get airplay; it reached the top twenty, won the Grammy for Best Rap Song and was filmed three different ways.

Jay-Z kept his 2007 album American Gangster off which store, refusing to sell it track by track?

Jay-Z withheld American Gangster from iTunes, arguing that a concept album should not be sold as individual songs any more than a film is sold scene by scene.

Kanye West's 'Touch the Sky' (2005) slows down a sample of which Curtis Mayfield song?

Just Blaze, not West, built the beat by slowing the horn riff of Curtis Mayfield's 'Move On Up'; the track also gave a then little-known Lupe Fiasco his first big guest spot.

Lil' Kim's 2001 number one 'Lady Marmalade' was recorded for which film's soundtrack?

Moulin Rouge! got its hit from Missy Elliott, who produced the remake and speaks its outro; Lil' Kim, Christina Aguilera, Mýa and Pink took it to number one for five weeks, a generation after Labelle's original topped the same chart.

Which 2003 album was Bow Wow's first release after he dropped 'Lil'' from his stage name?

Unleashed (2003) was the first album credited to plain Bow Wow and the only one he made without his mentor Jermaine Dupri, after leaving Dupri's So So Def for its parent label Columbia.

Which mixtape DJ was arrested when police raided his Atlanta studio in January 2007?

DJ Drama and his partner Don Cannon spent a night in jail on racketeering charges after a SWAT team cleared out their studio; before the year was over, Gangsta Grillz had become a major-label album.

Which clothing brand, founded with Damon Dash in 1999, did Jay-Z sell to Iconix for $204 million in 2007?

Rocawear was Jay-Z's alone to sell: he had bought out co-founder Damon Dash for a reported $22.5 million in 2005, and he stayed on to run the brand after Iconix bought the name.

Jay-Z opened his 2008 Glastonbury headline set with a cover of which Oasis song?

'Wonderwall' was a dig at its writer: Noel Gallagher of Oasis had objected to a rapper headlining Glastonbury, so Jay-Z opened by singing the band's best-known song, badly and on purpose.

Kanye West said George Bush 'doesn't care about black people' on live TV after which 2005 disaster?

Kanye went off script on NBC's A Concert for Hurricane Relief on September 2, 2005, days after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans; Bush later called it one of the most disgusting moments of his presidency.

Which Jay-Z song, built on a sampled Nas line, did the two perform together in October 2005 to end their feud?

'Dead Presidents' was a pointed choice: its hook is Nas's own voice, sampled from 'The World Is Yours', so he could perform it live at Jay-Z's 'I Declare War' show; he signed to Def Jam months later.

Whose album kept Kanye West's The College Dropout stuck at number two on the Billboard 200 in 2004?

Norah Jones's Feels Like Home, which opened with over a million copies, held The College Dropout at number two even though Kanye's debut sold 441,000 in its first week.

T.I. was a guest on which Atlanta rapper's 2003 single 'Never Scared'?

Bone Crusher's 'Never Scared', with verses from Killer Mike and T.I., peaked at number 26 and was his only Hot 100 hit; the Atlanta Braves adopted it as their theme song for the 2003 season.

Which Mystikal album, home to 'Shake Ya Ass', topped the Billboard 200 in 2000?

Let's Get Ready, Mystikal's first album after leaving No Limit for Jive, debuted at number one in October 2000; 'Shake Ya Ass' peaked at number 13 with an uncredited Pharrell Williams singing the hook.

Asher Roth's 'I Love College' (2009) originally sampled which Weezer song before being reworked?

The early version of 'I Love College' borrowed Weezer's 'Say It Ain't So'; when Weezer declined to clear the sample, producer Ben H. Allen rebuilt the track for the 2009 single release.

Which TV commentator branded Jadakiss a 'smear merchant' over a 9/11 line in 'Why' (2004)?

Bill O'Reilly called Jadakiss a 'smear merchant' for a line asking why President Bush brought down the towers; radio edits blanked the name, and 'Why' still became the biggest hit of his career.

Fabolous first rapped under a longer name that referenced which fashion line?

Polo Sport gave him the name Fabolous Sport, after Ralph Lauren's line; the odd spelling was an accident, a slip while spelling out 'Fabulous' in a freestyle that stuck, and DJ Clue then signed him.

Which Big Boi-run label released Bubba Sparxxx's 2006 album The Charm and its hit 'Ms. New Booty'?

Purple Ribbon, the label Big Boi first ran as Aquemini Records, signed Bubba Sparxxx after Interscope dropped him; 'Ms. New Booty' then gave him the biggest hit of his career, peaking at number seven.