E-Dub

by Jason BirchmeierAfter winning the 1999 Blaze Battle of MCs, Detroit rapper E-Dub suddenly became a hot commodity, garnering praise from Source magazine and signing to MCA Records, who released his major-label debut album. Yet E-Dub (Edward Dixon) was no rookie when his MCA debut, The Prezident, dropped in late 2001; his indie label, Hundred Grand Entertainment, had been pushing his music throughout the underground for years, particularly in his hometown, Detroit, where he was widely known and regarded as an on-the-rise talent. Perhaps because he was from Detroit, however -- rather than New York, Cali, or the Dirty South -- it wasn't until Eminem's breakthrough that E-Dub was able to secure a major-label distribution deal for his Hundred Grand label. He worked with several big-name producers for his MCA debut, including Swizz Beatz (DMX, Eve, Busta Rhymes), Scott Storch (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Roots), and KLC (Mystikal, Master P, Destiny's Child), though he went with producer Frankie B. Nice's "Gangsta, Gangsta" for his lead single and shot the video on Detroit's infamous Belle Isle. Known best for his freestyling skills, E-Dub claims to have freestyled most of the rhymes on The Prezident, only writing the hooks beforehand.