Got a million things on my mind, executive deals online, limited amount of time, Chasin' these dollar signs and you ain't on your grind
E-40, real name Earl Stevens, is an American Hip-Hop artist hailing from the Bay Area (specifically Vallejo). Starting in the early 90's as part of a family group named The Click, but quickly became known as a solo artist within the Bay Area and Californian hip-hop scenes for his casual style of rapping, and for his creative wordplay; he himself often brags about how many slang words and phrases he introduced into the hip-hop lexicon.
The other thing E-40 is known for is being one of hip-hop's all-time biggest workaholics. Since 1991, he has released 44 albums of varying types, a number of them being part of double or even triple albums. And that's not acknowledging his 200+ appearances as a guest artist or his business ventures.
Discography:
Solo Albums and EP's
- Mr. Flamboyant (1991)
- The Mail Man (1993)
- Federal (1993)
- In a Major Way (1995)
- Tha Hall of Game (1996)
- The Element of Surprise (1998)
- Charlie Hustle: The Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire (1999)
- Loyalty and Betrayal (2000)
- Grit & Grind (2002)
- Breakin' News (2003)
- My Ghetto Report Card (2006)
- The Ball Street Journal (2008)
- Revenue Retrievin': Day Shift/Night Shift (2010)
- Revenue Retrievin': Overtime Shift/Graveyard Shift (2011)
- The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 1/2/3 (2012)
- The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 4/5/6 (2013)
- Sharp On All 4 Corners: Corner 1/2 (2014)
- Poverty and Prosperity (2015)
- The D-Boy Diary: Book 1/2 (2016)
- The Gift of Gab (2018)
- Practice Makes Paper (2019)
- The Curb Commentator Channel 1 (2020)
- The Curb Commentator Channel 2 (2020)
- Rule of Thumb (2023)
Other Albums
Compilation albums:
- The Best of E-40: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (2004)
- The Bay Bridges Compilation (2005)
- Sick Wid It: The Year of the Pig (2019)
- Abundance (2023)
- Down and Dirty (1992)
- Game Related (1995)
- Money & Muscle (2001)
- Southwest Riders (1997)
- Connected and Respected (2018)
- Hyphy Movement (2007)
- History: Mob Music/Function Music (2012)
- Ain't Gone Do It/Terms and Conditions (2020)
- Snoop Cube 40 $hort (2022)
Tropes related to E-40:
- Band of Relatives: The Click consists of E-40, his cousin (B-Legit), brother (D-Shot) and sister (Suga-T).
- Call-and-Response Song: "Choices (Yup)" is an iconic one, with every line having an alternating "nope! yup!" response..
- Cameo Cluster: The music video for "Choices (Yup)" features dozens of noteworthy rappers and personalities performing the call and response.note
- Cut Short: Sharp On All 4 Corners never received its third and fourth entires.
- Distinct Double Album: He has several. Revenue Retrievin goes a step further, being a double double album. The Block Brochure has six parts, released as a pair of triple albums!
- Meal Ticket: "Captain Save A Hoe" is about one, on top of making that term another slang word for them.
- Motor Mouth: He is often a fast rapper.
- Neologizer: He is often credited with helping to popularise a lot of Bay Area slang that has gone nationwide and even global: Calling weed "broccoli", money "fetti", using "pop your collars" to mean getting to work, and even saying that something "slaps" can be traced back to E-40 at some point.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: A pair of rounded glasses have been a constant part of his look, which fits his persona of being a financially-savvy hustler.
- Superman Substitute: The video for "Captain Save A Hoe" portrays the titular character as one.Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane
What's that nigga's name? (Captain Save A Hoe, mayne!) - Technician Versus Performer: Widely considered a technician for being one of hip-hops most consistent and reliable presences over multiple decades. Very few people would call E-40 their favourite rapper, but you will also find it very difficult to find someone who dislikes him.
- Workaholic: A real-life example, as the pace of his output can attest to. This carries over to his music as well; a lot of his songs are about how hard he works for his wealth.
