11 family ties in rap you should know
More often than not, Hip Hop mirrors family dynamics, with several artists finding their way into the industry through connections that go deeper than music.
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Take Snoop Dogg, for example, who has a long list of relatives both in and outside of Hip Hop. His frequent collaborator, Nate Dogg, not only worked with him on hits like “Boss’ Life” and “Lay Low,” but they’re also cousins. Similarly, rap duo Rae Sremmurd — composed of brothers Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi — leveraged their sibling synergy to climb the charts in a way that may not have been possible if they weren’t related.
REVOLT rounded up a list of 11 family connections within Hip Hop, whether it be cousins, brothers, or distant relatives. Check them out below.
1. Cardi B and GloRilla
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwa7NzNBQig&pp=ygUKdG9tb3Jyb3cgMg%3D%3D
Cardi B and GloRilla struck gold with 2022’s “Tomorrow 2,” which earned the latter artist her first Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. They later teamed up for “Wanna Be (Remix),” which appeared on the Memphis star’s Ehhthang Ehhthang. As it turns out, their musical chemistry runs in the family — quite literally. The pair’s connection traces back to Cardi's granddad, who had a lesser-known life in Tennessee, where he fathered GloRilla's dad. Naturally, they connected the dots from there.
“My grandfather — I don't like to put my family business [out there] — but he used to push weight and everything," Cardi shared with Big Boy on his eponymous radio show. She continued, "There was this one time [when] he lived in Tennessee or whatever. So, he ain't really [tell] my grandma that he was dealing with somebody over there. He had a kid out there, and, you know, that's GloRilla's dad. That's what makes us related."
2. Migos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI-mXMr8glQ&pp=ygUFbWlnaXM%3D
Arguably the most well-known ensemble to land this list, Migos consists of Quavo, his nephew, Takeoff, and their alleged cousin, Offset. The trio’s familial relationship contributed to their coordination both onstage and in the studio, which couldn’t be any more evident in albums like Culture and Culture II. It’s also worth noting that before Takeoff’s untimely death, he formed Unc & Phew with Quavo.
The “Ric Flair Drip” creator’s connection with the other two artists came into question after revealing he isn’t actually related to them by blood. During a cover story with Variety, the publication noted, “Although Offset is often referred to as Quavo’s cousin, they are actually not biologically related.”
3. Rae Sremmurd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmJefsOErr0&pp=ygUMcmFlIHNyZW1tdXJk
Rae Sremmurd delivered an array of hits at the height of their career: “Black Beatles,” “No Flex Zone,” “Come Get Her,” “No Type,” and “Throw Sum Mo” are just a few. The real-life brothers, Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee, were both born in Tupelo, Mississippi.
4. Big Scarr and Pooh Shiesty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sTGdtJWgVU&pp=ygUWYmlnIHNjYXJyIHBvb2ggc2hpZXN0eQ%3D%3D
Before his tragic passing, Big Scarr was well on his way to stardom with hits like “Poppin” and “SolcyBoyz,” the latter of which helped put him on Gucci Mane’s radar. He signed to the trap pioneer’s 1017 Records alongside fellow Memphian Pooh Shiesty, his cousin. Speaking to the “Big Facts” podcast, Scarr detailed, “[Gucci] was on me, but what pressed the button… I ain’t gon’ lie, it was Shiesty.” They worked with each other on “Ballin in LA” from the musician’s Big Grim Reaper.
5. Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6HBZC9pZHQ&pp=ygUYYmFieSBrZWVtIGtlbmRyaWNrIGxhbWFy
Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar’s “family ties” run deeper than their 2021 hit song. The Carson, CA native got his big break as a beatmaker through Zacari’s “Redemption Interlude” from the Black Panther: The Album, helmed by his older cousin, Lamar. He also lent production to other Top Dawg Entertainment acts, such as ScHoolboy Q and Jay Rock, before signing to the “Alright” hitmaker’s pgLang. Since then, Keem has worked with K. Dot on records like “range brothers” and “vent” from The Melodic Blue.
6. Lil Keed and Lil Gotit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hz2wzSKdIY&pp=ygUSbGlsIGtlZWQgbGlsIGdvdGl0
Lil Gotit is the blood brother of the late rapper Lil Keed, who was only a year older. Both born in Atlanta, they’ve teamed up on songs like “Dead Doc,” “Brotherly Love,” and Lil Uzi Vert’s “Heavy Metal,” to name a few. Gotit previously detailed the “Nameless” artist’s tragic death on Instagram: “As we [were] rushing to the hospital, I looked him in the eye, and I’m like, ‘Man, my brother [is] gone.’ I told him I loved him.”
7. GloRilla and Lil Uzi Vert
GloRilla has more than one celebrity relative. During her sit-down with the “Bottoms Up With Fannita” podcast, the “Yeah Glo!” rapper was asked whether she’d collaborate with Lil Uzi Vert, to which she responded, “That’s my cousin.” Though they haven’t formally teamed up for a track yet, she noted, “[We’re] actually working on it. We had started. We gon’ get it together.”
8. Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKS08HkGMA4&pp=ygUUc25vb3AgZG9nZyBuYXRlIGRvZ2c%3D
Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg, first cousins who became pillars of West Coast Hip Hop, frequently collaborated throughout their careers. They most notably helped define G-funk, particularly through tracks like "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)." Unfortunately, Nate passed away in 2011 after complications related to a series of strokes. "We lost a true legend [in] Hip Hop [and] R&B. One of my best friends [and] a brother to me since 1986 when I was a sophomore at Poly High, where we met," Snoop wrote on Twitter in memory of the rap legend.
https://x.com/SnoopDogg/status/47915125088321536
9. Warren G and Dr. Dre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1plPyJdXKIY&pp=ygUPd2FycmVuIGcgZHIgZHJl
Stepbrothers by familial merger, Warren G and Dr. Dre grew a lot closer after the Long Beach native was sent to live with his father in Compton. Around the age of 8, the “What’s the Difference” creator’s mom married Warren’s pops, and the rest is history.
Their relationship proved instrumental in the shaping of West Coast Hip Hop, especially because Warren introduced Dre to Snoop Dogg. It’s interesting to know that if the two artists’ parents didn’t get married, we maybe wouldn’t have hits like “Still D.R.E.” and “The Next Episode.”
10. Chance The Rapper and Taylor Bennett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDjxaQdudAM&pp=ygUgY2hhbmNlIHRoZSByYXBwZXIgdGF5bG9yIGJlbm5ldHQ%3D
Chance The Rapper has a younger brother named Taylor Bennett who looks remarkably similar to him. They’re only two years apart, with the “Favorite Colors” artist releasing his first album, Broad Shoulders, in 2015. Like many of the siblings here, Chance and Taylor have worked together on several tracks: “Grown up Fairy Tales,” “Broad Shoulders,” and “Roo.”
"We definitely share a chemistry of music, and we both push each other to be better artists, for sure," Taylor told the Chicago Tribune regarding their decision to choose rap as a career. "I don't know if it's in the DNA. It might be. I just like to think of it as a God-given gift. Sometimes, I ask myself, why does this sound so good?"
11. Young Dolph and Juice WRLD
A bittersweet addition to this list, fans found out that Young Dolph was cousins with Juice WRLD via a lengthy tribute post on his Instagram account. “The world didn’t know that [you were] my blood lil’ [cousin],” the Paper Route Empire founder wrote before detailing how he met Juice’s uncle at a Thanksgiving dinner in 2017. Dolph added, “I didn’t get a chance to f**k [with you] how I had intentions to do, and it’s killin’ me.” Reunited in the stars, both artists’ legacies live on through the supporters and collaborators they touched.
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