Ollie Bruce Williams (born February 22, 1982), better known by his stage name, Ali Vegas, is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

from

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and founder of the record labels Council Recordings and Rich Soil Entertainment. After two failed deals with major record labels, Vegas frequently performed on underground mixtapes and established his own record labels. He is also the younger cousin of two-time NBA champion

Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Sixt ...

Biography

He entered the New York City hip-hop scene around the late 1990s.

Onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

and Panama P.I. mentored him when he was young. Vegas's tracks, one of which featured Capone, appeared on mixtapes. He signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in the early 2000s, and his first single "Theme of N.Y." was released in December 2000.

Trackmasters The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joi ...

lost their distribution deal with Columbia Records, so he signed to

Tommy Mottola Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American music executive, producer and author. Mottola is currently the Chairman of Mottola Media Group and was previously the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columb ...

's new label

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently f ...

, which never achieved mainstream success. After failing to release a full-length LP on any of this first three major labels, Vegas founded his independent label Council Recordings. At a benefit concert hosted by New York hip-hop radio station

Hot 97 WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared service ...

, rapper

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...

verbally attacked Vegas on stage. Vegas frequently participated in rap mixtapes, with noted street releases such as "The AV Theme", produced by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

. He composed a song for DJ Boom's ''Boomtown'' in 2003. In 2005, he and basketball player

founded Rich Soil Entertainment, based on Vegas's rap lyric “I’m from the land of rich soil, expect the branches to follow.” Rich Soil intended to release Ali Vegas's official solo debut album. In April 2010, Ali Vegas released his latest mixtape ''Veganomics''. In an interview with hip hop website Icon Hip Hop, he discussed his latest business ventures outside of music. According to his official Facebook fan page, in May 2011, Ali Vegas returned to the music scene this time teaming up with

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

based production team

Sound Kamp In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

, which is made up of The Iron Ghost & P.R to release a six-track album titled Bridging the Gap.

Discography

;Albums *''Generation Gap'' (Unreleased) (1999) *''Generation Gap 2: The Prequel'' (2008) *''Veganomics'' (Alpha Beta Paper, 2010) *''AutoVegography'' (2010) *''Bridging the Gap'' (2011) ;Mixtapes *''Whatevers Whatever'' (1999) *''Heir to the Throne'' (1999) *''The Rebirth of the Price Hosted By DJ Big Mike'' (2002) *''Million Dollar Baby '' (2004) *'' The Best of Ali Vegas Vol. 1'' (2005) *''Black Card Council'' (2006) *''The Best of Ali Vegas Vol. 2'' (2006) *''I Got My Glow Back Hosted By Superstar Jay'' (2007) *''America's Prince'' (2008) *''Leader of the New School Hosted By

Statik Selektah Static may refer to: Places *Static Nunatak, a nunatak in Antarctica United States *Static, Kentucky and Tennessee *Static Peak, a mountain in Wyoming ** Static Peak Divide, a mountain pass near the peak Science and technology Physics *Static el ...

'' (2008) *''Transition to Power Hosted By Superstar Jay'' (2009)

References

External links

Ali Vegas
on Twitter {{DEFAULTSORT:Vegas, Ali 1982 births Columbia Records artists African-American male rappers American male rappers Rappers from Queens, New York Underground rappers Living people East Coast hip hop musicians Hardcore hip hop artists 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people