Radric Delantic Davis, known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream audiences into the 2000s. His debut studio album, Trap House (2005) was released by the independent label Big Cat Records and entered the Billboard 200; it was followed by Hard to Kill (2006), which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 entry with its 2007 single, "Freaky Gurl". That same year, he released his third album, Trap-A-Thon before signing with Atlantic Records to release his fourth album, Back to the Trap House (2007).

Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., better known by the stage names T.I. and Tip, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Harris is known as one of the pioneers of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers Jeezy and Gucci Mane. Harris first became aquainted with local music executive Kawan "KP" Prather, and joined his company Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment by the late 1990s. He was led to sign his first major-label record deal in 1999 with its parent company LaFace Records, an imprint of Arista Records. His debut studio album, I'm Serious (2001) was met with lukewarm commercial reception and became his only release with the label. He then signed with Atlantic Records, where he soon reached his mainstream breakthrough and co-founded his own label imprint, Grand Hustle Records by 2003.