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A tycoon is defined as a powerful, wealthy figure in business — someone who’s achieved dominance in their field. Few in hip-hop embody that term more than Earl “E-40” Stevens, the legendary Bay Area rapper often credited with bringing it into the culture’s vernacular.
Before he built a wine empire, launched a bestselling cookbook or created his own line of tequila, E-40 was just a kid from Vallejo hustling tapes out of a briefcase.
“Coming from the streets, I’m glad I listened to my grandma, to the church,” Stevens says. “They taught me to give back, stay prayed up, stay positive and