b. Charles Tony Williamson, 23 June 1977, Chicago, Illinois, USA. West coast rapper Guerilla Black spent part of his childhood in Mississippi before moving with his family to California, where he eventually ended up in the notorious Compton district. After a period spent on the streets he looked to have broken away from gang culture when, in the late 90s, a meeting with Ice-T helped the fledgling rapper land a recording contract. His career soon stalled, however, and the tragic death of his wife during this period drove Williamson away from music and back onto the streets. With the help of family members he made tentative steps back into the music scene, releasing a number of popular mixtapes as Guerilla Black and eventually landing a major label recording contract with Virgin Records. His debut, Guerilla City, was released in September 2004. Much was made of Black's physical and verbal resemblance to the late Notorious B.I.G., although this media attention somewhat detracted from what was a quality collection of contemporary gangsta rap. The single "You're The One", featuring a highly commercial hookline courtesy of Mario Winans, was a major hit. An official mixtape was released later in the year.

Listen to Guerilla Black at Finetune.

• Say What (Explicit)
• Say What (edited)
• Guerilla Nasty (Instrumental)

• The Notorious B.I.G.
• 2Pac
• Kanye West
• Jay-Z
• Ludacris
• Nas
• 50 Cent
• Snoop Dogg
• Young Jeezy
• R. Kelly
• Busta Rhymes
• Twista
• The Game
• Akon
• Ice Cube
• Musiq
• Eminem
• Lloyd
• DMX
• Lil Wayne

• loveless