Ollie Bruce Williams (born February 22, 1982), better known by his stage name, Ali Vegas, is an American rapper from

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and founder of the record labels Council Recordings and Rich Soil Entertainment. After two failed deals with major record labels, Vegas frequently performed on underground mixtapes and established his own record labels. He is also the younger cousin of two-time NBA champion

Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won NBA Finals, championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named ...

Biography

He entered the New York City hip-hop scene around the late 1990s.

Onyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...

and Panama P.I. mentored him when he was young. Vegas's tracks, one of which featured

Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of t ...

, appeared on mixtapes. He signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in the early 2000s, and his first single "Theme of N.Y." was released in December 2000.

Trackmasters The Trackmasters, also known as Poke & Tone, is an American hip hop production outfit composed of Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier born January 21, 1970; Brooklyn, New York ) and Tone (Samuel Barnes born January 20, 1969; Brooklyn, New York). Active fro ...

lost their distribution deal with Columbia Records, so he signed to

Tommy Mottola Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American businessman, record executive, television producer, theater producer, film producer, investor, and serial entrepreneur. Mottola is the chairman of Mottola Media Group, co-founder of Nter ...

's new label

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label focuses ...

, which never achieved mainstream success. After failing to release a full-length LP on any of this first three major labels, Vegas founded his independent label Council Recordings. At a benefit concert hosted by New York hip-hop radio station

Hot 97 WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding, a subsidiary of the Standard General hedge fund. WQHT's st ...

, rapper

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's WQHT, Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed ...

verbally attacked Vegas on stage. Vegas frequently participated in rap mixtapes, with noted street releases such as "The AV Theme", produced by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

. He composed a song for DJ Boom's ''Boomtown'' in 2003. In 2005, he and basketball player

founded Rich Soil Entertainment, based on Vegas's rap lyric “I'm from the land of rich soil, expect the branches to follow.” Rich Soil intended to release Ali Vegas's official solo debut album. In April 2010, Ali Vegas released his latest mixtape ''Veganomics''. In an interview with hip hop website Icon Hip Hop, he discussed his latest business ventures outside of music. According to his official Facebook fan page, in May 2011, Ali Vegas returned to the music scene this time teaming up with Sydney based production team Sound Kamp, which is made up of The Iron Ghost & P.R to release a six-track album titled Bridging the Gap.

Discography

;Albums *''Generation Gap'' (Unreleased) (1999) *''Generation Gap 2: The Prequel'' (2008) *''Veganomics'' (Alpha Beta Paper, 2010) *''AutoVegography'' (2010) *''Bridging the Gap'' (2011) ;Mixtapes *''Whatevers Whatever'' (1999) *''Heir to the Throne'' (1999) *''The Rebirth of the Price Hosted By DJ Big Mike'' (2002) *''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) *'' The Best of Ali Vegas Vol. 1'' (2005) *''Black Card Council'' (2006) *''The Best of Ali Vegas Vol. 2'' (2006) *''I Got My Glow Back Hosted By Superstar Jay'' (2007) *''America's Prince'' (2008) *''Leader of the New School Hosted By

Statik Selektah Patrick Owen Baril (born January 23, 1982), professionally known as Statik Selektah, is an American record producer, disc jockey (DJ) and radio personality originally from the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is also the founder of Showoff Records ...

'' (2008) *''Transition to Power Hosted By Superstar Jay'' (2009)

References

External links

Ali Vegas
on Twitter {{DEFAULTSORT:Vegas, Ali 1982 births Columbia Records artists 21st-century African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers Rappers from Queens, New York Underground rappers Living people East Coast hip-hop musicians Hardcore hip-hop artists 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians