Won-G

Rapper Won-G spent the first 15 years of his life splitting time between Brooklyn and his native Port-au-Prince, Haiti, soaking up a legion of musical and linguistic contrasts. His family subsequently settled permanently in the U.S., where he began entering talent competitions. Success in this area led him to record a small-scale indie-label album, Do It Do It, in 1995 with the help of his father and brother. Won-G next founded his own label, Happy World, in partnership with a friend's parents, and caught the ear of Beyond Music, which picked up his 2000 album The Royal Impression. Produced by Won-G's brother Dubble M and featuring cameos from Layzie Bone, the Outlawz, Yukmouth, and Sylk E. Fine, The Royal Impression projected an upbeat, positive energy and a freewheeling, eclectic range of influences ranging from pop, dance, and urban to the sounds of the rapper's native Haiti.