Clyde Carson

Oakland rapper Clyde Carson started selling mixtapes out of his car years before scoring a hit with 2012's bulky and menacing "Slow Down." Both as a solo artist and as a member of the Team, Carson combined his hometown's favored sound of hyphy with a darker, more street-flavored style of rap. Along with multiple mixtapes and collaborative releases with the Team, Carson's style came into its own on his 2017 debut studio album S.T.S.A. 2 (Something to Speak About). After launching his solo career in 2001 with mixtape The Story, Vol. 1, Carson devoted most of his energy to the Team, who rose to hyphy fame with hits like "Hyphy Juice." In 2006, Carson caught the attention of rapper the-Dream, who helped him snag a record deal with Capitol. The next year, Carson's major-label debut materialized: an EP entitled Doin' That. His time on the label would be short, however, as his deal fell through after the release of 2009's Bass Rock EP. He got back together with the Team in 2011 to work on new material. This resulted in the 2012 single "Slow Down," which was Carson's biggest hit to date. That year he also released the fully solo S.T.S.A. (Something to Speak About) mixtape. In 2014 he returned with the Playboy EP, which featured a guest appearance from veteran MC Master P; it was followed two years later with another EP, Time. His first studio album, S.T.S.A. 2, arrived in 2017, featuring appearances from Bay Area icons E-40, Mozzy, and Keak da Sneak. Carson's output was limited to frequently released singles until 2019 brought the brief Late Night Money High mixtape. The nine-song release featured no rappers besides Carson and embraced a moodier sound with elements of 2010's R&B production intermingled with his established rap styles. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi