Earning the title "King of the Mixtape," DJ Drama's ear for new talent in hip-hop defined his career as a producer, DJ, and tastemaker. Hustling since the early 2000s, Drama would play roles in the rise of many of rap's most valuable players: DJ'ing for T.I., hosting Lil Wayne's groundbreaking Dedication mixtape series, signing Lil Uzi Vert to his Generation Now label, and working with dozens of top-shelf rappers along the way. Starting in his early days of working with a DJ crew and selling cassettes of his mixtapes in college, Drama quickly ascended to working as producer for some of the most important mixtapes of his time, eventually shifting toward a position in A&R and record label management as he continued changing his role in the music industry. Along with work on countless mixtapes, Drama released several of his own fully realized studio albums, including star-studded highlights like 2011's Third Power and 2012's Quality Street Music.