Canadian rapper/producer Night Lovell embraced a dark and mysterious style from the start, working with tense beats and haunting vocal samples. His lyrics skewed toward darkness and pain on much of his work, resulting in a viral hit with his first single and huge fanfare for his brooding full-length releases like 2016's Red Teenage Melody.

Night Lovell was born Shermar Paul in Ottawa, Ontario in 1997. His father was rapper MC Renegade, and Paul grew up in a highly musical environment and was working on his own tracks by his teenage years. He first focused on production, working under the name KLNV (or Killanov) but took on the Night Lovell moniker and began rapping in 2013. In 2014, his song "Dark Light" was an immediate success, being streamed tens of millions of times and bringing Night Lovell's ominous energy to a worldwide fan base. Fiercely self-reliant, Night Lovell independently released his 2014 project, Concept Vague, as well as its 2016 follow-up, Red Teenage Melody. The rapper crafted many of his own beats and sometimes recorded vocals in his closet. He went dormant for a short time, but returned in 2019 with Goodnight Lovell, a lengthy album that included collaborations with $uicideBoy$, Gnar, and Lil West.

American rapper DC the Don quickly earned himself a following debuting with the track "Everything 1K" in 2017. His mix of rough-edged 808 beats and quick-fire bars saw him teaming up with Trippie Redd and YBN Almighty Jay, while dropping albums such as 2020's Come as You Are and the sprawling 2022 release My Own Worst Enemy.

Raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, DC the Don (aka Daijon Davis) moved to Los Angeles when he was 16 to pursue a career in basketball. At the same time the talented youngster also had an interest in rap and decided to ditch his basketball career to focus full-time on his music career. Debuting in 2017 with the track "Everything 1K" the rapper quickly made a name for himself, with the track being snapped up to appear in a television commercial. With his style combining heavy 808 beats and horror-related themes, his debut EP, Halloween on 47th St. appeared just a few months later. DC continued to issue tracks online, with streaming figures reaching into the millions. The EP, DC Fridays, appeared in 2019 and the following year, DC dropped his debut album, Come as You Are. Teaming up with producers such as Trademark and Garza, the album also included guest spots from YBN Almighty Jay and DDG. A deluxe edition followed a few months later, which expanded the release with another five tracks. 2021 saw him issue a slew of releases while also collaborating with the late Sad Frosty on "Beavis and Butt-Head" and jetsonmade on "REROUT3." DC kickstarted 2022 with the release of his sophomore album, the expansive My Own Worst Enemy.

Micro became one of North America's most popular after relentlessly touring the States and recording mix albums for Moonshine. His ascendance began on the East Coast, where in 1991 Micro helped form the Caffeine Records collective in New York. During this time, Caffeine was more than just another record label. Beginning as a weekly club night, it embodied the era's burgeoning rave scene, hosting many parties and selling goods -- in essence, building a brand. Micro spun at many of Caffeine's parties, specializing in acid breakbeat. He recorded two mix albums for Roadrunner in the late '90s -- Coast to Coast (1997) and Caffeine: The Natural Stimulant (1998) -- but, more importantly, hooked up with Moonshine in 1998. This Los Angeles-based label dominated the CD market in the States, releasing more DJ mix albums than any other U.S. label. Micro's first release for Moonshine, Micro-Tech Mix (1998), would be followed by a large succession of mix albums, usually one released annually and each increasingly popular.

Micro slightly changed his style with each album and moved toward trance without forsaking his breakbeat roots. By the end of the '90s, he had become one of the most popular DJs on the East Coast, considered in the same class of superstar DJs as  and Scott Henry. Like his superstar peers, Micro toured often, particularly on the East Coast. His popularity spanned the States, though. For instance, DJ Times magazine put Micro on the cover of its 1999 Winter Music Conference edition, surely a testament to his reputation as one of North America's largest draws. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi