Chief Hype

James Steven Harrison CBE (born February 6, 1968), also known by his stage names Chief Hype and briefly as Columbus is a British–Finnish rapper, songwriter and record producer. Hype has sold over 400 million records making him not only one of the best-selling artists of all-time, but the best selling rapper, with almost twice as many sales as the next best selling rapper Eminem, who has 220 million sales. He moved to Los Angeles in late 1986 following job relocation for his father, despite living in Beverly Hills he spent a lot of time in Compton where he met Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur three people who became a huge part of his career.

He would release a Canada only album in 1989 entitled No Way Out and spent the next five years writing and recording his next album but he was also producing for other artists. All Eyez on Me was released in 1994 and became an instant hit charting at number one across the globe, in 2003 Rolling Stone magazine named it the eighth best album of all-time the highest ranking rap album. He would continue to release highly successful albums to date only Epic failed to spawn a UK number one single. After it being rediscovered in 2015 he released No Way Out globally and it saw huge success.

Often billed by the media as one of the West Coast Hip Hop scene's best assets, he left the United States to return to the UK in 1999 and had sporadic spells in both countries over the next 20 years.

In 2015 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of few rap artists inducted. Harrison has also inducted close friends N.W.A. and Tupac Shakur into the hall of fame.

Discography

 * No Way Out (1989)
 * All Eyez on Me (1994)
 * Unlucky Suspects (1995)
 * Reincarnation (1997)
 * Expectations (1999)
 * Pure Hype (2002)
 * Epic (2003)
 * Sensations (2005)
 * Like Minded (2008)
 * X-Rated (2010)


 * The End (2012)
 * Apocalyptic (2014)
 * The MC (2015)
 * Into the Abyss (2015)
 * Death Wish (2016)
 * XIX (2017)
 * Trials & Tribulations (2018)
 * The Crown of Sympathy (2019; with MC Nought )
 * Like Gods of the Sun (2020)
 * Words of Light (2020; with MC Nought )