Few MCs break through with an honest-to-gosh freestyle, but Baltimore's Tate Kobang earned his recording contract due to a loose and rapid run of lyrics that was dubbed "Bank Roll." The beat from Tate's 2015 track was lifted from Tim Trees' 2000 single "Bank Rolls," a regional Baltimore hit Kobang encountered when he was just eight years old. Ten years later Tate launched his own hip-hop career with a series of mixtapes including 2012's Book of Joshua. In 2014 he issued the Crown of Thorns mixtape, while 2015 saw him drop Live Hazey along with his own version of "Bank Rolls" (same beat, different lyrics), which was meant as a promotional freebie. It ended up a massive hit and Kobang signed with the 300 Entertainment label at the end of summer 2015. ~ David Jeffries