“33 Rappers Reppin’ A City Where They Weren’t Born” Listed By XXL

Although Southern wordsmith Big Boi has repped heavily for the city of Atlanta, the rapper was actually born four hours east of the city in Savannah, Georgia, and as a result, joins a number of artists who were born outside of the cities they rep.

As part of their “33 Rappers Reppin’ A City Where They Weren’t Born” list, XXL compiled a list of those artists.

“In hip-hop, the city you rep can almost be as important as the rhymes you spit,” the publication says. “That certainly was the case in the 1990s as the East Coast vs. West Coast feud drew a line in the sand and invited MCs to stick to one side or the other. But there are plenty of rappers who rep the city where they grew up but who were actually born in different locations altogether. Some were Army brats (J. Cole, ScHoolboy Q, Wiz Khalifa), some moved with their families at a young age (Big Sean, Dizzy Wright, Kanye West) and some simply found success in a new city and adopted it as their own (Ludacris, DJ Drama, Xzibit).”

In addition to Big Boi, other artists included on XXL’s list include Big Sean and DJ Drama.

The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-born DJ Drama also serves as another Atlanta-based artist who was born outside of the city. And although Big Sean heavily represents for the city of Detroit, the Motor City rapper was born in Santa Monica, California.

Below are a handful of artists who also made the list:

Angel Haze: Brooklyn Detroit, Michigan
B.o.B: Atlanta Winston-Salem, North Carolina
DJ Khaled: Miami New Orleans, Louisiana
Eminem: Detroit St. Joseph, Missouri
Gucci Mane: Atlanta Birmingham, Alabama

For additional Big Sean coverage, watch the following DX Daily: