Closely affiliated with Bobby Shmurda and the GS9 crew, Brooklyn rapper Rowdy Rebel's style is characterized by intensity and high-energy bars. After an especially active phase between 2014 and 2016, he entered a period of relative dormancy for several years, but returned in 2020 with an appearance on a Pop Smoke track and then was back the next year with a new single of his own, "Jesse Owens" featuring NAV. The major-label mixtape Rebel vs. Rowdy arrived in 2022.

Born Chad Marshall in Brooklyn, New York, Rowdy Rebel took his childhood nickname of "Rowdy" and made it his moniker when he joined his East Flatbush friends and formed GS9. When member Bobby Shmurda signed a deal with Epic Records in 2014, Rowdy signed two months later. He appeared alongside Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, Yo Gotti, and others on the remix of Shmurda's 2014 hit "Hot Nigga." That same year, Rebel dropped his debut single, "Beam Jawn," then "Computers" featuring Shmurda landed at the end of the year. Shmurda also appeared on Rebel's 2015 single "She's All About That Shmoney," which also featured veteran rapper Too $hort. His first solo mixtape, Remain Silent, appeared in 2015, and he followed it in 2016 with Shmoney Keeps Calling, a guest star-heavy affair that included spots from several of the GS9 crew as well as Rich the Kid, A$AP Ferg, and many others.

With the exception of a few miscellaneous songs and appearances, Rowdy Rebel was silent for several years until he appeared on Pop Smoke's 2020 track "Make It Rain." In 2021, he offered up "Jesse Owens," a new single under his own name that featured a guest verse from NAV. Rebel vs. Rowdy appeared on Epic in 2022, with guests including French Montana, Fivio Foreign, and Jadakiss. ~ David Jeffries & Fred Thomas, Rovi