Mar 1, 2015

Well, some of these might not fit the typical definition of "blowing up", but I listened to them before they reached their peak popularity:

Action Bronson (since the "Imported Goods" video dropped in 2010)
Macklemore (since the first time I heard "White Privilege" sometime in 2007)
Danny Brown (since The Hybrid dropped in 2010)
Freddie Gibbs (since 2010, when Str8 Killa No Filla dropped)
El-P (since the late 90s, when Company Flow was on Rawkus)
YC The Cynic (since 2010 when he dropped You're Welcome)
J. Cole (since The Warm Up dropped in 2009)
Joell Ortiz (I first heard of him from his appearance on Kool G. Rap's The Giancana Story album which dropped in 2002)
50 Cent (since his appearance on "React" from Onyx's Shut Em Down album in 1998)
Nitty Scott (since about 2011, before she became an IG thot)