Ransom is a US rapper from Brooklyn and Jersey City. Born in 1980, he grows up in Brooklyn before moving to Jersey City at about eight years old. His early life includes time in foster care and group homes after his father is killed and his mother becomes seriously ill. As a teenager, he sells drugs and spends periods in jail, then turns to rap as a way out.

Career

He starts recording in 2000, when he and friends pool money to buy a studio and begin developing his work under the name Ransom. He later forms the A-Team with fellow rapper Hitchcock and Joe Budden, although Budden leaves soon after. The group becomes known for the Hardhood Classics street albums and builds a presence on the New Jersey mixtape circuit, with less reach in nearby New York.

After an attempted deal with Def Jam does not come together, Ransom and Hitchcock go separate ways around 2006. He continues to appear on DJ Clue mixtapes and also releases his own material, including the Best in the City series and Ransom Note. In 2007, he attracts attention for lyrical exchanges with Joe Budden, who includes a verse from Ransom and Hitchcock on Mood Muzik 3 and presents it as a reunion of the A-Team. Later that year, Ransom prepares the mixtape Street Cinema, issued through the independent label Babygrande.

Style and associations

Ransom is associated with East Coast rap and gangsta rap, and is also linked with chipmunk soul, conscious hip hop, drumless hip hop and hardcore hip hop. He is a US rapper and is connected with the A-Team line-up.