About
Also known as: 40 Belafonte, 40 Fonzarelli, E 40, E forty, E-Pheezy, E40, Earl Stevens, Fortywater
Few rappers have grinded as long and as creatively as E 40, the Vallejo bred veteran who built his own lane from the ground up. Born Earl Tywone Stevens, he caught the hip hop bug after hearing Rapper's Delight as a kid, and by the time he hit Grambling State University in 1986 he was already making music with his cousins and siblings under the name Most Valuable Players. That crew eventually became the Click, and E 40 simultaneously launched Sick Wid It Records so he could release music entirely on his own terms, selling tapes out of the back of a car before the industry ever came calling. His 1995 album In a Major Way cracked open a wider audience, but it was the 2006 Lil Jon produced single Tell Me When to Go, featuring Oakland rapper Keak da Sneak, that pushed him into full national spotlight territory. The accompanying album My Ghetto Report Card hit number one on the Top R&B and Hip Hop Albums chart. Since then he has shown no signs of slowing down, dropping multiple albums at a time and racking up a catalogue that now stretches to 27 solo studio albums, plus group releases and a string of collaborations with rappers from the Bay to the South.
