# MediaItems

Name: C Jackson
SortName: C Jackson
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Overview:
Mark Chadwick, better known by his stage name, Chad Jackson, is an English DJ, remixer and record producer. He is best known for his hit single "Hear the Drummer (Get Wicked)", but he also created member only mixes for the Disco Mix Club (DMC).

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Name: C. Lloyd
SortName: C. Lloyd
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Overview:
Christopher Charles Lloyd (born April 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American hip hop recording artist and member of East Coast hip hop group G-Unit along with childhood friends and fellow American rappers 50 Cent and Tony Yayo. Raised in South Jamaica, Queens, he dropped out of high school in 1998. G-Unit released two albums, Beg for Mercy in 2003 and T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight) in 2008. Banks released his first solo album The Hunger for More in 2004 with the top ten hit single "On Fire". He followed with Rotten Apple in 2006 and left Interscope Records 2009. In 2010 G-Unit signed with EMI  to distribute Banks third studio album H.F.M. 2 (Hunger for More 2), which was released on November 22, 2010. Banks was born in New Carrollton, Maryland and raised in Queens, New York City; he is of mixed Puerto Rican and African American descent. His father spent most of Lloyd's childhood in prison, leaving his mother to raise him and his two siblings. Lloyd attended August Martin High School but dropped out at age 16. For his stage name, he took his great, great-grandfather's name Banks, which was passed on by his uncles who also shared it.

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Name: Marshall Mathers
SortName: Marshall Mathers
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Overview:
Ist er nun Amerikas Alptraum, ein neuer Elvis Presley oder einfach nur ein verdammt guter Rapper? Es treffen wohl die meisten Urteile über Eminem irgendwie zu. Der Hollywood'schen Selbstinszenierung seiner Persönlichkeit sei Dank.

Wenn zum Beispiel konservative Politiker den Detroiter Superstar auf eine Stufe mit Bin Laden stellen, so zeigt dies nur, dass Slim Shadys mediale Selbstdarstellung mehr als erfolgreich war. Mit Videos voll schwarzen Humors und aufhetzenden Totschlag-Texten schockt er von Anfang an bewusst die strenge US-Öffentlichkeit. Er schlüpft dazu in verschiedene Rollen, um die falschzüngige Doppelmoral Amerikas widerzuspiegeln.

Außerhalb der USA verliert der Schrecken stark an Wirkung. Von der Basis ertönen indes andere Anschuldigungen. Wie einst Elvis den Rock'n'Roll entreiße Eminem den Afroamerikanern ihre Hip Hop-Kultur. Zwar drängelt er sich schon sehr offensiv in den Mittelpunkt, doch vor ihm hatte auch noch nie ein so talentierter Weißer zum Mikrofon gegriffen. Weder Vanilla Ice, noch Fred Durst, die Beastie Boys oder Everlast können ihn das Wasser reichen. Klasse kennt eben keine Rasse. Gewiss aber treffen Eminems böse und vielschichtigen Provokationen ihre Ziele mindestens ebenso hart und genau wie Elvis' Hüftschwung den Otto-Moral-Verbraucher der frühen sechziger Jahre.

Eminem erblickt 17. Oktober 1972 in St. Joseph, Vorort von Kansas City, als Marshall Bruce Mathers III das Licht der Welt. Er wächst bei seiner alleinerziehenden Mutter auf, die alle drei Monate ziellos von einem Ort zum anderen zieht. Für seinen abwesenden Vater hat der spätere Rap-Superstar auch heute noch nur einen kurzes "Der Wichser kann mich am Arsch lecken" übrig, und das Verhältnis zu Mama Mathers sollte sich im Laufe der Jahre dank Klagen und Hasstexten ebenfalls arg verschlechtern.

Wegen der ständigen Umzugsquälereien sind Schulfreunde für den kleinen Marshall natürlich Mangelware, und so widmet sich der kleine Steppke bereits mit zehn Jahren der Rap-Musik. Besonders Ice Ts "Reckless" begeistert den einsamen Jungen in den Hip Hop-Kindertagen. 1985 findet die kleine Familie im Trailerpark der sozial schwachen und von Schwarzen dominierten Detroiter Eastside ein längeres Zuhause.

"Als Kind bin ich von meinen Mitschülern derart gehänselt worden, dass ich nur zu gerne mit einer Maschinenpistole durch die Klassen gezogen wäre", legt Eminem im taz-Interview seine Seele offen. Nach dem Eistee wandern nun verstärkt die Beastie Boys und N.W.A. in den Teenie-Walkmann, "da die sich einfach trauten, alles zu sagen". Doch nur Rap zu konsumieren, genügt dem Jungen nicht. Mit 14 beginnt er im Keller eines Freundes als Manix bzw. M&M zu reimen. Freestyle-Battles in der Aula oder auf dem Schulhof bestimmen seine Tagesordnung.

Kurz entschlossen schmeißt er die Schule und schlägt sich mit schlecht bezahlten Jobs als Lagerarbeiter durchs Leben. Seine eigentliche Passion gilt jedoch den lokalen Reim-Wettkämpfen. Trotz weißer Hautfarbe errappt er sich als Eminem schnell den Respekt der Detroiter Hip Hop-Szene. Er profitiert davon, dass sich seine Skills in der Rap-Provinz besser entwickeln als im hart umkämpften Mekka New York.

Das Hip Hop-Element der "Competition" spielt in Eminems weiterer Rap-Karriere eine große Rolle. Diss-Tracks und Business-Beefs ersetzen nach dem großen Durchbruch die regionalen Freestyle Battles. Jetzt muss er sich nicht nur Detroit, sondern landesweit behaupten, und da kann einen die eigene große Klappe schon in Verlegenheit bringen. Nicht jeder Streit läuft nur lyrisch auf Platte ab wie die Duelle KRS-One vs. MC Shan, LL Cool J vs. Canius oder Jay-Z vs. Nas. Wenn Millionen im Rapgame zirkulieren und Mafiosi mitmischen, kann die Auseinandersetzung schnell eskalieren, so geschehen bei den Morden an 2Pac und Notorious BIG.

Natürlich rasselt auch Eminem des öfteren mit Kollegen zusammen. Glimpflich, sprich auf sportlicher Ebene läuft der Stress mit Underground-Emcee Cage, Evidence von den Dilated Peoples und Ford City-Nachbar Royce Da 5'9 ab. Giftpfeile in Richtung Fred Durst, Moby oder Britney Spears bleiben unbeantwortet. Härter geht es dagegen bei der Fehde mit Everlast zur Sache. Der Ex-House Of Pain-Mann prügelt sich mit Eminems D-12-Freunden während seiner Show in Detroit. Auch Ray Benzino, Chef des Hip Hop-Magazins The Source, würde gerne mal die Fäuste gegen Eminem schwingen, wie er in Interviews und Songs ankündigt. Noch gefährlicher könnte der Beef mit Murder Inc und Suge Knight enden, in den er durch seine Geschäftsfreunde 50 Cent und Dr. Dre hineingezogen wird.

Erstgenannter Feind besitzt enge Verbindungen zu New Yorker Drogenbossen und letzterer spielte angeblich schon bei den Attentaten auf 2Pac und Notorious B.I.G. eine dubiose Rolle. Nach unzähligen Freestyle-Fights in Detroit schließt sich Eminem 1994 zwecks Gruppenstärke der New Jack-Crew an, wechselt aber schon bald zu Soul Intent, die 1995 seine erste Single veröffentlichen. Auf der B-Seite tritt ein gewisser Proof als Gastrapper in Erscheinung. Dieser ist von Eminem so angetan, dass er mit ihm die Clique D-12 gründet. Vier weitere Mitglieder stoßen zu D-12, die sich jedoch nicht als strenge Band verstanden wissen wollen sondern eher ein loses Kollektiv bilden, um sich gegenseitig zu unterstützen.

Nach der Geburt von Tochter Hailie am 25. Dezember 1995 sieht sich der junge Vater gezwungen, seine Rap-Leidenschaft in wirtschaftliche Stabilität umzumünzen. 1996 darf Eminem endlich ein paar Demos im Studio eines Kumpels aufnehmen. Das Albumergebnis "Infinite" erscheint in geringer Stückzahl als Tape auf dem Independent-Label Web Entertainment. Ems Style klingt auf der Scheibe noch wie eine unausgegorene Mischung der angesagten New Yorker-Emcees Nas und AZ. "Auf 'Infinite' habe ich noch versucht herauszufinden, wie mein eigener Rap-Style klingen soll", gesteht der talentierte Nachwuchskünstler. Durch die neuen Aufnahmen angestachelt, lässt er Werbeposter für Plattenläden drucken und versucht, seine Platte auf der Straße zu verchecken. Noch zeigt niemand größeres Interesse. Doch das eiserne Durchhaltevermögen des Hip Hop-Freaks öffnet ihm schließlich die Tür einer Radiostation, die einen seiner Songs ins Programm nimmt. Die Sendung wird landesweit ausgestrahlt und festigt Eminems Ruf als talentierter Mass Controller.

Auf seinen steigenden Bekanntheitsgrad bauend, händigt er Konzertveranstalterin Wendy Day eine Kopie des "Infinite"-Albums aus. Daraufhin sichert sie ihm die Teilnahme an den 97er MC Battles bei den Rap-Olympics. Eminem liefert eine Top-Leistung ab und muss sich erst im Finale geschlagen geben. "Für mich ging es irgendwie um Leben oder Tod", erinnert sich der bis in die Haarspitzen motivierte Vize. Nach dem erfolgreichen Event drückt sein Manager Paul Rosenberg den anwesenden Talentscouts vom Interscope-Label zudem sein Demo in die Hand.

Parallel dazu wirft Web Entertainment das Demo als "Slim Shady"-EP auf den regionalen Markt. Das Werk wimmelt nur so vor krassen Texten von Ems neuem Alter Ego Slim Shady. Er rappt sich hier förmlich den Frust von Seele und zeigt erste Anzeichen seines heutigen Rüpel-Status': "Auf der 'Slim Shady'-EP schlug ich gegen jeden zurück, der jemals Scheiße über mich erzählt hatte."
Ein paar Wochen später findet Produzentenlegende Dr. Dre jenes legendäre Tape auf dem Büroboden von Interscope-Präsident Jimmy Iovine. Der Hip Hop-Veteran kann sich vor Begeisterung kaum auf den Beinen halten. Nachdem er Eminem auch noch in der Los Angeles' Radiosendung von Sway und Tech reimen hört, setzt der G-Funk-Boss alle Hebel in Bewegung, um den weißen Wahnsinns-Emcee ins Studio zu locken. Dr. Dre im Rolling Stone-Magazin vom April 1999: "Wenn er die gleiche Person bleibt, die damals zum ersten Mal in mein Studio kam, dann wird er garantiert größer als Michael Jackson." Klar, dass Eminem sofort zu Dre in die Beat-Werkstatt eilt, denn "es war eine Ehre für mich, Lob aus dem Mund meines Jugendidols zu hören". Die Chemie zwischen den beiden stimmt sofort, und flugs kreiert das neue Paar diverse Songs für Eminems richtiges Debüt. Der Doktor nimmt ihn sogar als ersten Weißen für sein Aftermath-Label unter Vertrag. Der Grundstein für Ems Weltkarriere ist gelegt.

Kurz vor Albumveröffentlichung heizt der kommende Superstar auf der Lyricist Lounge-Tour den Hype weiter an. Der deutsche Rapstar Curse war damals während der ersten Eminem-Vorbeben hautnah dabei: "Ich weilte 1998 zu Besuch in New York und traf mich mit Ill Bill von der Hip Hop-Crew Non Phixion. Ich fragte Bill nebenbei, was es denn so Neues in Sachen Rap gäbe. Er antwortete verschwörerisch: 'Pass mal auf mein Freund. Ich habe hier ein Demotape von einem weißen Rapper aus Detroit, der jetzt gerade in LA bei Dr. Dre ist. Hör dir dieses Demo mal an. Wenn der Typ herauskommt, werden sich viele Emcees Gedanken machen müssen, ob sie noch auf dem gleichen Level sind.'"

Ein dreiviertel Jahr später überschwemmt das Eminem-Fieber angeheizt von Video "My Name Is ..." den ganzen Erdball. Während die deutschen Hip Hop-Kollegen Bauklötze über seinen nasalen, hyperschnellen Flow staunen, stehen die Münder der weltweiten Musikfans ob dieses blondierten, rotzfrechen Punks, der als Marilyn Manson und Bill Clinton auftritt, offen wie ein Scheunentor. Die geschickte Selbstinszenierung des bürgerlichen Rebellen mit seelischen Abgründen treibt das "Slim Shady"-Album zu vier Millionen verkauften Einheiten. Im Herbst 1999 folgt zudem die Heirat mit Langzeitfreundin Kim.

Trotz zunehmenden Erfolges und privater Bürgerlichkeit weht ihm aber in den USA der Wind weiter scharf ins Gesicht. Besonders nach dem Massaker von Littleton stellen konservative Politiker Eminem an den Pranger. Seine Provokationen zeigen also Wirkung, denn tatsächlich sieht sich der Künstler nur als Rollenspieler, der gesellschaftliche Schattenseiten anprangert. Nur einmal scheint der Rapper die Grenze zwischen Darstellung und Anwendung von Gewalt zu überschreiten: Im Frühjahr 2000 teilt er nicht nur verbal Prügel aus. Einstecken muss Douglas Dail von der Insane Clown Posse, da der Eminems Frau geküsst haben soll. Im Verlauf des Streites zieht Eminem sogar eine Handfeuerwaffe. Der Staatsanwalt droht ihm eine mehrjährige Haftstrafe an, die der Rapper aber im letzten Moment noch abwenden kann, indem er sich teilweise schuldig bekennt.

Im Juli überlebt seine Frau Kim Scott Mathers einen Selbstmordversuch und reicht im August die Scheidung ein. Kurz darauf lässt sie ihre Klage wegen der bösen Texte in "97 Bonnie and Clyde" jedoch wieder fallen. Eminem verspricht Kim und Tochter Hailie Jade Scott finanzielle Unterstützung, das Paar kommt sich wieder näher. Auch die Zehn-Millionen-Klage seiner Mutter verläuft im Sande. Dieses Verhältnis bleibt jedoch unterkühlt bis feindlich.

Im Milleniumsjahr steht die Veröffentlichung von Eminems drittem Studioalbum "The Marshall Mathers LP" an. Der Rapper reagiert ziemlich sauer, nachdem die Scheibe bereits Tage vor dem Release-Datum im Internet kursiert. Zudem wird auf Napster sogar Eminems angebliche Privatadresse mit Telefonnummer vertrieben. Aus dem Verantwortlichen würde er am liebsten "die Scheiße herausprügeln", erklärt der Rapper. Dennoch wird das Album dank der bekannt provokanten Videos und Lyrics zu "The Real Slim Shady", "Stan" und "The Way I Am" zum Kassenschlager und verkauft sich allein in Amerika knapp acht Millionen Mal. Es hagelt Grammys und MTV-Awards ohne Ende.

Anlässlich der Grammy-Verleihung 2001 gehen gerade die Schwulen auf die Straße, um gegen die Diskriminierung in seinen Texten zu demonstrieren. Zudem tritt er mit dem bekennenden Homosexuellen Elton John auf die Bühne und performt mit ihm den Song "Stan". Zum Unverständnis der amerikanischen Schwulen- und Lesbenvereinigung natürlich. John selbst nimmt den Rapper zusätzlich in Schutz, indem er sich als großer Eminem-Fan outet. Eminem stellt daraufhin in der taz richtig: "Das Schimpfwort 'Schwuchtel' (Faggott) heißt für mich einfach so etwas wie 'Verlierer, Weichei'. Es hat nichts zu tun mit Homosexuellen." Elton John: "Sein 'Marshall Mathers'-Album ist frisch, kontrovers, kurz: ein Meisterwerk."

Nach erfolgreicher Welttournee, die ihn mit Bühnenmotorsäge auch nach Deutschland führt, steht im Mai 2002 "The Eminem Show" in den Läden. Das vierte Studioalbum Eminems sorgt wieder schon im Vorfeld für Schlagzeilen: Da es bereits Wochen vor dem offiziellen Release-Datum illegal im Netz erhältlich ist, veröffentlicht Interscope die Platte früher als geplant. Trotzdem erobert der weiße Rapper die Charts diesseits wie jenseits des Atlantiks erneut im Sauseschritt. In einer Zeit, in der die meisten Künstler Einbußen bei den Verkaufszahlen hinnehmen müssen, bildet alles, was Eminem anfasst, die Ausnahme von der Regel. Selbst auf der Kinoleinwand machte der Rapper ein sehr gute Figur.

"8 Mile" heißt sein autobiographischer Film, bei dem Eminem selbst die Hauptrolle des Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith übernimmt, Kim Basinger seine Rabenmutter spielt, und Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential", "Wonder Boys") die Regie führt. Eminem ist Jimmy Rabbit. Jimmy Rabbit ist Eminem. Realistisch und stilecht setzt Hanson Ems Aufstieg während der Detroiter Freestyle-Battles in Szene. Nur die wütende Schattenseite des Superstars fällt dem Hollywoodprinzip zum Opfer. Dafür stimmt jedoch die Intention von "8 Mile": Nicht die Hautfarbe ist entscheidend sondern die Skills, wie der traurig-komische White Trash-Charakter des naiven Cheddar Bob zeigt. "Nie wieder", lautete am letzten Drehtag Eminems kurzer Kommentar auf die Frage, ob er weiter schauspielern wolle. Doch das offene Ende erzwingt eine Fortsetzung förmlich, die sicherlich von seinen weiteren Schritten im Musikgeschäft handeln wird.

Nach dem sich das Enfant Terrible also auf dem Thron des Rap eingenistet hat, erweitert er seine künstlerischen und wirtschaftlichen Fähigkeiten, um vollkommen autark arbeiten zu können. Bereits für die "The Eminem Show" kreiert er eigene Beats, die später auch bei Künstlern wie Nas oder Jay-Z hoch im Kurs stehen. Dr. Dre fungiert nur noch als Mentor im Hintergrund. Ähnlich verhält es sich auch auf Label-Ebene. Eminem gründet Shady Records als eigenständiges Subunternehmen von Dres Aftermath-Firma. Neben seiner Detroit-Crew D-12 nimmt er noch Obie Trice sowie 50 Cent und dessen G-Unit unter Vertrag. Wie nicht anders zu erwarten, landet auch das erste 50 Cent-Album für Shady Records auf Platz eins der Billboard Charts.

Ein Album ("Encore") und zwei DVDs später vervollständigt er seinen Backkatalog mit der obligatorischen Greatest Hits. "Curtain Call" erscheint am 6. Dezember 2005 und enthält neben den Hits auch persönliche Lieblingstracks des Rapstars sowie eine Reihe unveröffentlichter bzw. neuer Tracks. Damit nährt der mittlerweile 33-Jährige erneut Gerüchte, er wolle sich auf's Altenteil zurück ziehen und seine Sporen in Zukunft lieber als Produzent als an der Bühnenfront verdienen.

Weltweit hat Em bis 2009 über 75 Millionen Platten verkauft und auch den ein oder anderen Skandal (Rassismus-Vorwürfe vom Hip Hop-Magazin The Source, ein Beef mit Ja Rule oder das Eingestehen seiner Tablettenabhängigkeit) überstanden. Den Sound verliert er dennoch nie aus den Augen und kümmert sich beispielsweise im Auftrag von Tupacs Mutter erneut um dessen musikalisches Erbe.

An Irritationen mangelt es im Leben des Marshall Mathers auch weiterhin nicht. Ab Sommer 2005 kursieren wieder einmal Gerüchte, Eminem wolle seine Rap-Karriere nun endgültig an den Nagel hängen. Obwohl Em bei einer Show in Kalifornien darauf gepflegt einen fahren lässt, bekommen die Unkenrufe doch Substanz: Wegen Erschöpfung sagt der Detroiter sämtliche Europatermine seiner "Anger Management"-Tour ab.

Statt auf die Bühnen in Übersee begibt sich der Rap-Star in Behandlung, um seiner Tablettensucht Herr zu werden. Mit Entspannung ist es allerdings im Therapiezentrum nicht weit her: Eminem führt von hier aus eine Klage gegen Klingelton-Anbieter: Er besteht darauf, ihm stehe ein Teil des mit seinen Songs erwirtschafteten Kuchens zu.

Im Sinne seiner von ihm vergötterten Tochter söhnt sich Eminem mit seiner Ex-Frau aus. Die beiden wagen einen weiteren Anlauf und heiraten erneut. Auch dieser Bund soll nicht fürs Leben sein: Nach nur drei Monaten liegt die zweite Ehe von Marshall und Kim Mathers in Trümmern. Privat ohnehin schon arg gebeutelt, trifft Em der Tod seines Freundes Proof, der im April 2006 bei einer Schießerei in Detroit eine Kugel in den Kopf bekommt, doppelt hart.

Dennoch: Eminem lässt sich nicht unterkriegen. Im Dezember 2006 meldet sich der Boss von Shady-Records zurück. "Eminem Presents The Re-Up" featuret das komplette Line-Up seines Labels und überbrückt die Zeit zu seinem Album-Comeback mit "Relapse" im Mai 2009.

Ist Eminem nun der neue Elvis? Seine rasante Entwicklung von Nobody zum Superstar zum Produzenten verbildlicht die Beschleunigung aller gesellschaftlichen Prozesse. Anders als Elvis oder auch dessen Nachfolger Michael Jackson scheint Eminem sich kaum nach der Liebe der Massen zu sehnen. Als Künstler muss Eminem sich aber trotzdem hinter niemandem verstecken.

Auch wenn die Gewalt-Exzesse des Alltags in seinen Texten recht eindeutig auf Missstände im eigenen Land abzielen - andere Ebenen seiner ungezügelten Aufmüpfigkeit bewegen die ganze Welt. Nichts gegen Filz und Fett. Als aber der bekennende Homo Elton John Eminem öffentlich den Rücken stärkte, irritierte dies vermutlich mehr Menschen in ihrer Weltanschauung, als beispielsweise die gesammelten Werke des großartigen Joseph Beuys.

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Name: Burt Bacharach
SortName: Burt Bacharach
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Overview:
Burt Bacharach [bɝt-ˈbæ.kə.ˌɹæk] (* 12. Mai 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri; † 8. Februar 2023 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Pianist und Komponist. Ab 1957 gehörte er zu den erfolgreichsten Komponisten der USA; rund 130 seiner Werke erreichten die Single-Charts seiner Heimat. Ein Großteil seiner Lieder entstand in langjähriger Zusammenarbeit mit dem Texter Hal David und im Anschluss daran mit Carole Bayer Sager. Besonders erfolgreich waren die mit David in den 1960er und 1970er Jahren verfassten Songs für Dionne Warwick. Für seine Leistungen erhielt Bacharach so gut wie alle wichtigen Preise der Entertainmentindustrie, darunter mehrere Grammys, Golden Globes und Oscars. 

Bacharach wurde 1928 in eine jüdische Familie als Sohn eines Journalisten und einer Musiklehrerin in Kansas City geboren und wuchs in New York auf. Er studierte Musik am Mannes College of Music, an der New School for Social Research, New York, und der McGill University, Montreal, u. a. bei den Komponisten Bohuslav Martinů, Henry Cowell und Darius Milhaud. 1947 schrieb er einen ersten Song für den Bandleader Sammy Kaye. Von 1957 bis 1961 tourte er als Pianist, Arrangeur und später auch Bandleader mit Marlene Dietrich. Nebenbei schrieb er auch schon erste Hits für verschiedene Interpreten, etwa Perry Como (Magic Moments, 1958). Damit begann auch seine langjährige Zusammenarbeit mit dem Texter Hal David (1921–2012). Die beiden lernten einander 1957 bei Paramount Records kennen und hatten im selben Jahr einen ersten Hit mit The Story of My Life für Marty Robbins.

1961 begann seine eigentliche Karriere als Komponist. Bis in die 1970er wurde Bacharach sehr erfolgreich und populär als Komponist und Produzent sanft arrangierter Popmusik, die damals von Kritikern als Easy Listening verschrien war. Er entdeckte auch die Sängerin Dionne Warwick, mit der ihn und Hal David eine langjährige Partnerschaft verband. Mit Hal David, aber auch mit Kollegen wie Bob Hilliard und Neil Diamond (Heartlight), schrieb er viele weltweit erfolgreiche Hits wie Walk on By, Make It Easy on Yourself (für Warwick), I Never Fall in Love Again (für Jill O’Hara in dem Musical Promises, Promises, 1968) und This Guy’s in Love with You. Insgesamt komponierte Bacharach 60 US-„Top-Forty“-Hits.

Für seinen Soundtrack (Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head) zu dem Film Zwei Banditen aus dem Jahr 1969 erhielt er 1970 den Oscar. Einen Bruch erlebte seine Karriere kurz darauf in den frühen 1970er-Jahren, als der Film Der verlorene Horizont (Lost Horizon, 1973), für den er unter widrigen Produktionsbedingungen die Musik geschrieben hatte, an der Kinokasse floppte. Er zerstritt sich dabei mit seinem Textpartner Hal David sowie in der Folge, da die beiden der Interpretin vertraglich noch für ein Album verpflichtet waren, auch mit Dionne Warwick.

Ende 1979 lernte er die Sängerin und Songschreiberin Carole Bayer Sager kennen, mit der er bereits im folgenden Jahr die ersten Songs veröffentlichte. 1981 entstand Bayer Sagers letztes Studioalbum Sometimes Late at Night in Zusammenarbeit mit Bacharach, der hier auch wieder als Arrangeur und Produzent fungierte. Ebenfalls 1981 gelangte Christopher Cross mit Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) auf Platz eins der US-Single-Charts. Dieser mit Bayer, Cross und Peter Allen geschriebene Titel läutete Bacharachs endgültiges Comeback ein. Im Jahre 1986 folgten weitere Nummer-eins-Hits mit der Coversion von That’s What Friends Are For (ursprünglich geschrieben 1982 für Rod Stewart) für das Quartett Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Elton John und Stevie Wonder sowie On My Own für Patti LaBelle und Michael McDonald.

Im Jahr 1993 kam es zu einer erneuten Zusammenarbeit von Bacharach, David und Warwick für das Album Friends Can Be Lovers, schließlich noch einmal 1999 für die Filmbiographie von Jacqueline Susann, Isn’t She Great?, für den sie den Song On My Way beisteuerten. Bacharachs letzter großer Erfolg war das Album Painted from Memory, das in Zusammenarbeit mit Elvis Costello 1999 entstand, sowie im selben Jahr der Song Walkin’ Tall mit dem Text von Tim Rice.

Bacharach hatte einige Gastauftritte in Hollywood-Filmen, zum Beispiel in allen drei Austin-Powers-Filmen sowie in den Serien Die Nanny und Nip/Tuck. 

Musik:
Zu den bekanntesten Interpreten seiner Musik zählen Dionne Warwick, Marlene Dietrich, Connie Francis, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Jack Jones, Tom Jones, The Carpenters, Sérgio Mendes, Elvis Costello, Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra und Dusty Springfield. 2007/08 nahm Trijntje Oosterhuis (Traincha) zwei Alben mit Neuinterpretationen teilweise zusammen mit Bacharach auf. Seine Musik wird für die eingängigen Melodien und den eigenen Sound, der durch gezielten Einsatz von Klavier, Oboe und Streichern entsteht, von vielen Kollegen wie Brian Wilson, Frank Zappa, John Zorn und Noel Gallagher gelobt. Bacharach selbst sagt, dass seine Musik stark von Maurice Ravels Werk Daphnis und Chloe beeinflusst sei; daher rühre sein Gespür für üppige Instrumentierungen und den Einsatz im Pop unüblicher Instrumente wie Glockenspiel und Triangel, wie bei You’ll Never Get to Heaven, Vibraphon bei Make It Easy on Yourself. Seine Arbeiten für Dionne Warwick fußen auf Gospel und Rhythm and Blues; Titel wie I’ll Never Fall in Love Again und Paper Mache verströmen die luftig-leichte Atmosphäre des Bossa Nova.

Privat:
Burt Bacharach war viermal verheiratet: mit Paula Stewart (1953–1958), der Schauspielerin Angie Dickinson (1965–1981), der Sängerin und Songtexterin Carole Bayer Sager (1982–1991), mit der er zusammen einige Lieder schrieb, und ab 1993 mit Jane Hansen, die 32 Jahre jünger als Bacharach war.

Er hatte vier Kinder; sein Sohn Oliver spielte Keyboard in Bacharachs letzter Band. Lea Nikki Bacharach, das einzige gemeinsame Kind von Burt Bacharach und Angie Dickinson, nahm sich 2007 im Alter von 40 Jahren das Leben; sie litt unter einer Autismus-Spektrum-Störung.

Ab Anfang der 1970er Jahre betrieb er eine eigene Vollblüter-Pferdezucht.
(Wikipedia)

Images:
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Name: Irv Gotti
SortName: Irv Gotti
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Overview:
Irv Gotti (born Irving Lorenzo on June 26, 1970[1]) was a prominent hip hop and R&B record producer and is the head of The Inc. (Formerly Murder Inc.) record label. He is known for producing many hit rap songs such as Jay-Z's "Can I Get A...", DMX's "What's My Name?", and Ja Rule's "Holla Holla. He chose the stage name Irv Gotti by naming himself after John Gotti.

Legal trouble

In 2004, The Inc came under investigation for allegedly laundering money through the label for New York City drug kingpin Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff. On January 25, 2005, Lorenzo and his brother Chris turned themselves in, alleging their innocence. They were released on $1 million bail, and would not be tried alongside McGriff for the charges against them.

On November 16, 2005, the federal prosecutor Sean Haran said in his opening statement at U.S. District Court that Irving Lorenzo and his brother Christopher "used their corporate bank accounts to clean drug money". According to Haran, convicted drug dealer Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, had shopping bags and shoe boxes full of cash delivered to the label's Manhattan office in 2000. The company then cut McGriff $280,000 in checks. Authorities alleged that McGriff was permitted to funnel more than $1 million in drug money through Murder Inc. in return for serving as the label's protector and enforcer. Prosecutors additionally claim that the Lorenzos knew about a murder plot against platinum-selling rapper 50 Cent. On December 2, 2005, Irving Lorenzo and his brother Christopher were acquitted of all money laundering charges.

The brothers could have faced up to 20 years in prison. The defense countered all along that the brothers were victims of guilt by association with Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff.

Music production

Gotti co-produced Vanessa Carlton's third album, Heroes and Thieves, with Channel 7, Rick Rubin and Stephan Jenkins, which was released October 9, 2007.

In an interview with Angie Martinez in early May 2009, Irv stated that his label The Inc. was leaving Universal Records.


Name: Big Noyd
SortName: Big Noyd
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Overview:
TaJuan Perry, better known as Big Noyd, is an American emcee from the Queensbridge projects in the New York City borough of Queens. He is closely affiliated with Mobb Deep, and he is featured on all of their albums except Blood Money. He is of Puerto Rican and African American descent. He also has one daughter born Tiara Perry, who still lives in the Queens area.

Big Noyd's (born May 7, 1975) debut was his verse on "Stomp 'Em Out" from Mobb Deep's 1993 debut Juvenile Hell, but it was first in 1995, on Mobb Deep's album The Infamous that Big Noyd attracted wider attention. On Mobb Deep's song "Give Up the Goods (Just Step)" from The Infamous he started the second verse with the line: Yo, it's the R-A-double-P-E-R N-O-Y-D, niggas can't fuck with me! He has later stated that he received his first contract, for $300,000, because of that verse.

His debut album, Episodes of a Hustla, was released in 1996 on Tommy Boy Records. Noyd was incarcerated at the time of the release. In 2003, Big Noyd returned with his second album, Only The Strong. This album, just like his debut, had many Mobb Deep-related features. Noyd attributes the lackluster sales to Landspeed Records filing for bankruptcy (which became Traffic Entertainment Group) in an unrelated lawsuit, just as the album was being released. In 2004, Big Noyd released his third album, On The Grind, also featuring many guest-spots by Mobb Deep-related artists. The album was released independently through Monopolee Records, which Noyd helped to found and released under his full control, preventing issues that happened with Landspeed and Tommy Boy Records. He founded Noyd Inc. in 2007.

Images:
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Name: Nitty
SortName: Nitty
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Overview:
Frank Ross (born December 23, 1977), better known by stage name Nitty is a pop rap artist from The Bronx, New York.
His singles include "Nasty Girl" and "Hey Bitty," the former reaching #1 in sales in the United States in October 2004, and also debuted at #1 in Australia in 2005. The following album, Player's Paradise, was released in 2005.
In an interview with the former Australian music television show So Fresh, Nitty explained that he did not want to jump into rap as a mean, edgy type of rapper that is the current trend, but more of a nice guy rapper, with lighthearted songs and videos. He calls this style "playboy rap."
Nitty wants to be seen as not only a singer, but as an entertainer, in the mold of all-around celebrities such as Will Smith. According to his website, "Nitty's sole mission is to make hip-hop fun again."
Since Player's Paradise Nitty has gone on to continue his career as a producer. He is currently an independent artist. In the recent film Sex Drive, his song Nasty Girl was on the soundtrack.


Name: Shawn Carter
SortName: Shawn Carter
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Overview:
Früher nannte er sich "Jazzy", doch als er heraus findet, dass es einfach zu viele mit diesem Namen gibt, macht er daraus kurz und bündig Jay-Z. Doch das ist nicht das Einzige, was den Rapper charakterisiert und ihn von der Masse abhebt.

Während sich viele Künstler ihre Lyrics von Experten verfassen lassen oder einfach richtig mies covern, schreibt Jay-Z seine Texte nicht einmal mehr auf. "I don't write Songs, they just form" - es gibt eben Orte, an denen
Stift und Papier nicht am Start sind. Deshalb speichert Jay seine Texte im Kopf ab, geht ins Studio und macht einen Song daraus.

Zusammen mit Damond Dash und Kareem Burke gründete er 1996 das Label Roc-A-Fella Records. Die ersten Singels des Labels etablieren Jay-Z als innovativen Künstler im Rap-Buisness, sein Album "In My Lifetime, Volume 1" sahnt gleich Platin ab. Die erste richtig kommerzielle Single ist "Sunshine" mit Foxy Brown und Babyface.

Sein zweites Album featuret viele bekannte Gesichter wie DMX oder erneut Foxy Brown. Das Instumental der Ghetto-Hymne "It's A Hard Knock Life" von Kid Capri muss Jay unbedingt auf seinem Album haben, natürlich mit seinen eigenen Lyrics versehen. Der Refrain stammt jedoch ursprünglich aus "Annie", einem Broadway-Musical.

Ende 1999 erscheint mit "Vol. 3 ... The Life And Times Of S. Carter" das vierte offizielle Album, unterdessen allerdings macht Jay-Z eher durch rüpelhaftes bis gewalttätiges Benehmen auf sich aufmerksam. Wegen Körperverletzung erwartet ihn bereits ein Verfahren, nun aber kommt es noch dicker.

Nach einer Messerstecherei im New Yorker Kit Kat Club, bei der Labelchef Lance Rivera schwer verletzt wird, gilt Jay-Z als Hauptverdächtiger. Obwohl er seine Unschuld beteuert, wird Jay-Z zunächst verhaftet, kommt aber nach der Anklageerhebung und gegen eine Kaution von 50.000 Dollar wieder auf freien Fuß. Eine Verurteilung kann er vermeiden - somit auch bis zu 25 Jahre Haft wegen schwerer Körperverletzung.

Trägt "The Dynasty: Roc La Familia 2000" eher die Handschrift seines Labelumfeldes, ist das im September 2001 erscheinende sechtse Studioalbum "The Blueprint" wieder ganz auf Jay-Zs eigenem Mist gewachsen. Die Gastkünstler, darunter Slick Rick, Q-Tip und Biz Markie, sind Gäste im Wortsinn und keine Hauptdarsteller. Die Texte drehen sich in erster Linie um den Meister selbst: "Ich wollte einfach nur all das festhalten, das ich erlebt habe", sagt er. "Alles, das mich zu dem gemacht hat, das ich bin. In diesem Album geht es um mich selbst."

Und um andere, wie die Dissattacken gegen Nas und Mobb Deep im Song "Takeover" beweisen. Mitte Dezember werden auch The Roots in den Beef mit hinein gezogen, denn die Live-Hip Hopper zocken mit Jay-Z bei MTV-Unplugged. Die grandiose Session wird auf CD veröffentlicht. Doch Jay-Z bleibt auch im Frühjahr 2002 in den Charts. Mit "Chapter One" steht das erste Best Of-Werk des Rap-Superstars in den Läden.

Im Jahr 2003 kündigt der mit Beyoncé Knowles liierte Jay-Z seinen Abschied vom aktiven Rap und ein letztes Album an. "It's all said and done", er habe keinen Lust mehr, erklärt Jigga (Gerüchte über einen möglichen Rücktritt vom Rücktritt machen trotzdem bald die Runde).

Die Veröffentlichung des 'letzten' Albums "The Black Album" steht unter einem schlechten Stern. Die Tracks kursieren schon Anfang November im Netz, Jay-Z zieht den Release um zwei Wochen vor. Um die Fans dazu zu bewegen, das Album trotzdem auf legale Weise zu erwerben, senkt Roc-A-Fella Records sogar den Handelspreis und bringt "The Black Album" als Low Price-CD auf den Markt.

Die Maßnahme fruchtet, das schwarze Album verkauft sich in den ersten beiden Wochen über 600.000 mal. Als ein Zukunftsprojekt plant Jay-Z unter anderem, sich in ein Basketball-Team einzukaufen (bevorzugt die New Jersey Nets). Doch der Business-affine Rapper betritt erst einmal wieder die Bühne, um die lang angekündigte "The Best Of Both Worlds"-Tour durch 40 Städte mit R. Kelly durchzuziehen. Das zweite Kollabo-Album "Unfinished Business" (nach dem 2001-Release "The Best Of Both Worlds") ergattert parallel zwar die Poleposition der Billboard-Charts (einen Monat später folgt das Linkin Park/Jay-Z-Bastard-Mixalbum "Collision Course"), trotzdem lassen sich die persönlichen Animositäten zwischen den beiden Black Music-Stars nicht mehr verheimlichen.

Anfang November 2004 endet die Zusammenarbeit unrühmlich im New Yorker Madison Square Garden, als Kelly von der Bühne stürmt und Jay-Z die Tournee vorzeitig für beendet erklärt. Kelly reicht daraufhin eine 75-Millionen-Dollar-Klage wegen Vertragsbruchs und Toursabotage ein. Jigga antwortet Ende Januar 2005 zwar mit einer Gegenklage, doch hat er mit dem Fall Kelly innerlich abgeschlossen und Wichtigeres im Sinn.

Ab 2005 darf er sich Präsident des berühmten Rap-Labels Def Jam nennen. Dafür gliedert er Roc-A-Fella in die Island-Def Jam-Group ein und sorgt mit einigen außergewöhnlichen Businessentscheidungen für Aufsehen. Erst verpflichtet er The Roots für Def Jam, was bei einigen Fans der Truppe für schlechte Stimmung sorgt. Immerhin hatten sich die Roots seit jeher gegen die Kommerzialisierung ihres Genres gewehrt. Dass die Okayplayer sich mit dem Schritt zum Major keinen Deut von ihrer Kompromisslosigkeit entfernen, zeigen sie aber im Sommer 2006 auf ihrem bis dato dunkelsten und politisch eindeutigsten Album "Game Theory".

Viel mehr noch überrascht Jigga die Hip Hop-Welt mit der Nachricht, dass zukünftig sein ehemaliger Erzrivale Nas unter seinen Fittichen steht. Der jahrelange Beef wird publikumswirksam bei Jiggas sogenanntem "I Declare War"-Konzert beigelegt, bald steht auf der Def Jam-VÖ-Liste Nas' neuester Streich "Hip Hop Is Dead" ganz oben.

Anscheinend sogar mit einem Auftritt des Chefs persönlich, der sich nach seinem Ausstieg aus dem Game hinter dem Mikrofon rar macht. Wenn er es jedoch nach seinem Rücktritt in die Gesangskabine schafft, dann stets mit einem durch und durch erfolgreichen Ergebnis. Das Jahr 2005 gehört Def Jam-Sprössling Young Jeezy, dank des von Jay-Z veredelten Remix von "Go Crazy". 2006 tanzt ganz Amerika zum "Hustlin'"-Remix des neuen Miami-Aushängeschildes Rick Ross.

Zeichen für den Rücktritt vom Rücktritt? Kann es Hova doch nicht ohne das Mikro aushalten? Im Spätsommer platzt die Bombe: Erst begibt sich Jay-Z auf Welttournee und bestätigt tatsächlich die Veröffentlichung eines neuen Albums für November. Auf der Produzentenliste für "Kingdom Come" stehen unter anderem Timbaland, Kanye West, Dr. Dre und sogar Chris Martin von Coldplay. Die Hip Hop-Welt steht Kopf, obwohl eigentlich nach Jiggas "Black Album" niemand so wirklich an seinen Abgang geglaubt hat.

Da ihm das anscheinend immer noch nicht ausreicht, begibt er sich bald wieder ins Studio. Bereits im November 2007 kommt "American Gangster" in die Regale der Plattenläden und setzt sich bald an die Spitze der US-Charts. Es ist Jay-Zs zehntes Album auf Platz eins, damit zieht der Rapper mit dem bisher alleinigen Rekordhalter Elvis Presley gleich.

Auch eine kleine Tour steht auf dem Plan. Wie groß das Interesse an Jay-Z nach wie vor ist, beweist auch der Vorverkaufgsstart für die Gigs. Ganze 15 Sekunden dauert es, bis seine Fünf-Städte US-Tour zum neuen Album komplett ausverkauft ist.

Mit Kollegen Kanye West, mit dem er bereits auf "The Blueprint" den ersten gemeinsamen Song veröffentlichte, arbeitet Jay-Z über die Jahre immer wieder zusammen. 2011 endlich ist es an der Zeit, Nägel mit Köpfen zu machen und gemeinsam zuzuschlagen. Die Supergroup bekommt den kaum größenwahnsinnigen Namen The Throne verpasst. Eine geplante EP wächst sich zum Album in voller Länge aus.

Images:
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Name: Styles P
SortName: Styles P
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Overview:
David Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known as Styles P, is an American rapper. He was born to a Jamaican father and a South African mother. He is a member of Hip Hop group D-Block, which includes Jadakiss and Sheek Louch. He is known primarily for the hardcore lyrics and powerful messages in his music.

Born in Corona, Queens, and raised on Groshon Ave in Yonkers, NY, Styles began rapping with Jadakiss and Sheek in 1994, as they all grew up in the same Yonkers, New York neighborhood. They eventually signed to Bad Boy Records, formed the rap group called “THE LOX” which stands for “Living Off Xperience”, and recorded songs with Notorious B.I.G., Sean Combs and Darren Blackburn. In 1998, The Lox released Money, Power & Respect w/ the hit song “Money, Power, Respect” feat. fellow Bad Boy, “Lil Kim” and Ruff Ryder Earl “DMX” Simmons. Soon thereafter, Styles P led the Lox on the now infamous quest to leave Bad Boy Records. When they were finally released, the Lox signed to Interscope. Shortly thereafter, a new Lox album and Jadakiss’ solo album Kiss Tha Game Goodbye were released.

Styles released A Gangster and a Gentleman in 2002, as his debut solo album. The album contained the song “The Life”, featuring Pharoahe Monch which was originally recorded for Rawkus Records’ Soundbombing 3 compilation album. The follow up hit was the song dedicated to marijuana use, “Good Times (I Get High)”, one of the most played songs of 2002.

Images:
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Name: Blaq Poet
SortName: Blaq Poet
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Name: Kool G Rap
SortName: Kool G Rap
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Overview:
Nathaniel Thomas Wilson (born July 20, 1968), better known by his stage names Kool G Rap (or simply G Rap, and originally Kool Genius of Rap) is an American rapper. He hails from the Corona neighborhood of Queens, New York City. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Crew. He is often cited as one of the most influential and skilled MCs of all time as he is a pioneer of mafioso rap/street/hardcore content and multisyllabic rhyming. On his album The Giancana Story, he stated that the "G" in his name stands for "Giancana" (after the mobster Sam Giancana), but on other occasions he's stated that it stands for "Genius".

He has also been cited as a major influence to some of hip-hop's most critically acclaimed figures such as Eminem, Nas, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Big Pun, RZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Necro, Action Bronson, Homeboy Sandman, and more.

Images:
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Name: 2Pac
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Overview:
Tupac Amaru Shakur (* 16. Juni 1971 in Brooklyn, New York City; † 13. September 1996 in Las Vegas, Nevada), auch bekannt unter seinen Pseudonymen 2Pac und Makaveli (nach Niccolò Machiavelli), war einer der erfolgreichsten US-amerikanischen Rap-Musiker. Tupac verkaufte weltweit bisher 75 Mio. Tonträger.[1] Seine Archivaufnahmen wurden nach seinem Tod ebenfalls Verkaufserfolge. Tupac Shakur kam am 16. Juni 1971 als Lesane Parish Crooks in East Harlem im New Yorker Stadtbezirk Manhattan zur Welt und wurde ein Jahr nach seiner Geburt offiziell in Tupac Amaru Shakur umbenannt. Er wuchs mit seiner Halbschwester Sekyiwa Shakur bei seiner Mutter Afeni (* 1947; † 2016) in ärmlichen Verhältnissen auf. Seinen leiblichen Vater William „Billy“ Garland, ein ehemaliges Black-Panther-Mitglied, lernte er erst als erwachsener Mann kennen. Sein Stiefvater, Mutulu Shakur – Bruder der Bürgerrechtlerin Assata Shakur, Vater seiner Halbschwester und Tupacs Stiefbruder Mopreme Shakur – wurde nach einem Banküberfall zu 60 Jahren Haft verurteilt. Seine Vornamen Tupac Amaru verdankt Shakur der Zugehörigkeit seiner leiblichen Eltern zur afroamerikanischen Black-Panther-Bewegung, sie sind eine Anspielung auf Túpac Amaru II., einen südamerikanischen Freiheitskämpfer gegen die spanischen Eroberer. Den Großteil seiner Jugend verbrachte Shakur mit seiner Mutter und seiner Halbschwester in ständig wechselnden Unterkünften in New York.

Images:
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Name: Lake
SortName: Lake
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Name: Joe Budden
SortName: Joe Budden
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Overview:
Joe Budden is an American hip hop recording artist from Jersey City, New Jersey, who, in addition to being a solo artist, is a member of the American hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse, alongside fellow rappers Royce da 5'9", Joell Ortiz, and Crooked I.

His most commercially successful single is the 2003 hit song "Pump It Up", from his self-titled album, which contains production from Just Blaze. He was formerly signed to major record label Def Jam, but left for personal reasons and for them pushing back his album releases. After his splitting from Def Jam, he began recording and releasing mixtapes and albums on independent labels. His most recent release being No Love Lost (2013). Budden also co-stars on the VH1 reality show Love & Hip Hop.

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Name: Statik Selekta
SortName: Statik Selekta
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Name: T. Graham
SortName: T. Graham
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Overview:
Blue-eyed soul singer T. Graham Brown (born Oct. 30, 1954) became a major presence on country radio in the mid '80s, scoring nine consecutive top 10 hits between 1985 and 1989, including the No. 1 singles "Hell and High Water," "Don't Go To Strangers" and "Darlene." He left Capitol Records after the release of the 1991 album "You Can't Take It With You." Personal problems kept him out of the spotlight for the next few years, but he returned to the charts in 1998 with the autobiographical "Wine Into Water." He continues to tour and to record for independent labels. 

More information: www.tgrahambrown.com.


Name: Lil' Kim
SortName: Lil' Kim
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Overview:
Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and actress who rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a member of the hip hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A..
Jones was born and raised in Brooklyn, living much of her adolescent life on the streets after being expelled from home. As a teenager, Kim would rap for fun, being heavily influenced by other female MC'S like MC Lyte and Lady of Rage. When word got to The Notorious B.I.G. that she could rhyme, he made Jones perform a freestyle for him on the spot. Impressed with her, he took her in and she began her music career in 1995 with the group Junior M.A.F.I.A., whose debut album Conspiracy generated three hit singles. In late 1996, her solo debut album Hard Core was released. Hard Core was certified double platinum and spawned three consecutive #1 rap hits that included: "No Time" "Not Tonight (Ladies Night remix)" and "Crush on You", a record for a female rapper. Her following albums, The Notorious K.I.M. (2000) and La Bella Mafia (2003), both were certified platinum by the RIAA, making Kim the only female rapper besides Missy Elliott to have at least 3 platinum albums so far. Kim solidified her star power in 2001, when "Lady Marmalade", a song Kim was featured on, went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. That made her the second female rapper to earn a #1 on that chart.
In 2005, she served a year long prison sentence for lying to a jury about her friends' involvement in a shooting four years earlier. During her incarceration, her fourth album The Naked Truth was released. Lil' Kim returned to the public spotlight in 2009 with an appearance on Dancing with the Stars.

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Name: Rell
SortName: Rell
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Overview:
Gerrell Gaddis, known by his stage name Rell, is an American R&B singer. He was the first male R&B singer signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, where he recorded with artists such as Kanye West, Jay-Z, Consequence, and Young Gunz.
Rell grew up in Bowman, South Carolina, and is a former South Carolina State pre-med student. He signed to Roc-A-Fella Records in 1997, and began work on his debut album which was tentatively titled, Medicine. Rell got his break in 1998, appearing in Jay-Z's rap cult flick Streets Is Watching and contributing the club banger "Love for Free" to the movie's soundtrack and would later be featured on his debut album. Within the latter part of 1998, Rell renamed his debut, The Remedy, and re-released, "Love for Free" as the lead single. In 1999, two other singles ("When Will U See" and "Darlin'") were released as radio buzz singles for the album, however, within the first quarter of that year, Remedy was shelved due to the failed charting of his album's singles. Still signed to the Roc, Rell went on to sing hooks for nearly every Roc-a-Fella MC since, including Jay-Z's "It's Obvious" and Freeway's "Victim of the Ghetto", and appearing on "The Message" featuring Mary J. Blige, from Dr. Dre's Chronic 2001.

In 2001, Rell met agreeable terms with Jay-Z, and began retooling for his cancelled debut, The Remedy. The project spawned a new and official lead single titled, "If That's My Baby". While the album was scheduled for a September release, after the release of another single, "It's Obvious", the album was slated to be released in spring 2002. In early 2002, yet again the expected reworked version of The Remedy was shelved.

In 2004, Rell began work on yet another project, titled Long Time Coming. In promotion of the album, Rell released several leftover tracks from his cancelled project The Remedy on numerous mixtapes and limited Roc-a-Fella EP samplers. Rell eventually released "Real Love" as the lead single for Long Time Coming in 2005. However in the midst of the release, Rell was moved from the Roc label to Dame Dash Music Group. Under the new label, Long was to be released in May 2006. Unfortunately disagreements and lack of promotion from the new label ended up shelving Rell's album and he initially split from the label.

In 2007, collaborations with Latin reggaeton artists Don Omar and Zion saw releases. Rell wrote the title track for Usher's 2008 album Here I Stand. Also in 2008, Rell and Nate Pitts started the independent record label Right Arm Music Group, which is the home for producers Dale Williams, Shabbykat Production and Dark Sun Production.

In 2009, Rell teamed with Tre Williams to form The Revelations. They released their debut album, The Bleeding Edge, on October 6, 2009


Name: Ja Rule
SortName: Ja Rule
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Overview:
Jeffery Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name, Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor from Queens, New York. Born in Hollis, Queens, he debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla". From 1999 to 2005, Ja Rule had several hits that made the top 20 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, including "Between Me and You" with Christina Milian, "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" with Jennifer Lopez, "Always on Time" with Ashanti, "Mesmerize" also with Ashanti, and "Wonderful" with R. Kelly and Ashanti. During the 2000s, Ja Rule was signed to The Inc. Records, which was formerly known as Murder Inc. and was led by Irv Gotti. Ja Rule has sold over 30 million records worldwide and was the best selling rapper in 2001. He is also known for some well-publicized feuds with other rappers, such as 50 Cent and Eminem.

Images:
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Name: Terror Squad
SortName: Terror Squad
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Overview:
Far from prolific, Terror Squad nonetheless became notable amid the late-'90s/early-2000s East Coast rap scene, mainly for boasting both Big Punisher and Fat Joe among the group's membership. The two sizable Latino rappers from the Bronx were already superstars when they came together as Terror Squad in 1998, around the time such posse efforts became fashionable in the wake of the Wu-Tang Clan's breakthrough. In particular, Big Pun had recently scored a huge hit with "Still Not a Player," while Fat Joe had been recording major-label gangsta rap albums since 1993. These two big rappers were the name-brand attraction to Terror Squad, which also included fellow Bronx rappers Cuban Link, Armageddon, Prospect, and Triple Seis, along with singer Tony Sunshine. Fat Joe debuted the group on his Don Cartagena album (1998), featuring certain members separately and bringing together everyone for "The Hidden Hand." A year later came the debut, self-titled Terror Squad album. Atlantic released it in September, but it didn't spawn any substantial hits.

Terror Squad then experienced a huge setback with the sudden passing away of Big Pun in February 2000. This essentially brought the group to an end, and while everyone else fell into obscurity, Fat Joe focused on his increasingly successful solo career. He scored quite a few commercial hits during the early 2000s as he toned down his gangsta image and began collaborating with the radio-friendly likes of Ashanti ("What's Luv?"), R. Kelly ("We Thuggin'"), and Ginuwine ("Crush Tonight"). During that same period, he did feature his Terror Squad colleagues on his albums, if not on his hits. The group's membership had been shuffled by this point, with the core now comprised of Armageddon, Tony Sunshine, Prospect, and newcomer Remy, a feisty female MC who seemed to get special emphasis. Finally, the group recorded another album, True Story, released by Universal in July 2004, a long five years since Terror Squad's debut release. The album's lead single, "Lean Back," became a quick hit, breaking the Top Five of Billboard's Hot 100 before True Story even streeted. Featuring a trademark production by sure-fire hitmaker Scott Storch, the club track spread through urban America like wildfire, its anti-dance dance step capitalizing well on the clubby trends of the time: its hook ("My niggas don't dance, we just pull up our pants/Do the Rockaway/Now lean back, lean back, lean back, lean back") was illustrated well in the song's fun, heavily rotated video. The song put Fat Joe back in the spotlight (his previous album, Loyalty [2002], had been a disappointment by all measures), and it primed Remy for a solo jaunt of her own. The group featured their frequent producer on 2006's Terror Squad Presents DJ Khaled: Listennn.

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Name: Joe Buddens
SortName: Joe Buddens
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Overview:
Joe Budden is an American hip hop recording artist from Jersey City, New Jersey, who, in addition to being a solo artist, is a member of the American hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse, alongside fellow rappers Royce da 5'9", Joell Ortiz, and Crooked I.

His most commercially successful single is the 2003 hit song "Pump It Up", from his self-titled album, which contains production from Just Blaze. He was formerly signed to major record label Def Jam, but left for personal reasons and for them pushing back his album releases. After his splitting from Def Jam, he began recording and releasing mixtapes and albums on independent labels. His most recent release being No Love Lost (2013). Budden also co-stars on the VH1 reality show Love & Hip Hop.

Images:
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Name: Mario
SortName: Mario
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Overview:
Mario kommt 1987 in Baltimore, Maryland/USA, auf die Welt. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt weiß er noch nicht, dass es seine Mission sein wird, die Nachfolge von R. Kelly und Co. anzutreten. Unbeschwert lebt der junge Mario in den Tag hinein. Doch plötzlich im zarten Alter von nur vier Jahren bricht es aus ihm heraus – das Entertainer-Talent.

Seine Mutter ist geschockt, als sie völlig unvorbereitet Klein-Mario kaum bekleidet und lauthals singend in seinem Zimmer entdeckt. Was tun? Es liegt ganz klar auf der Hand: Dem Jungen ein Karaoke-Gerät kaufen und ihm ein Klavier vor die Nase stellen. Alles weitere wird sich schon ergeben.

Mutter Mario soll Recht behalten, ihr Knirps erfreut sich an seinem neuen Spielzeug und macht rege davon Gebrauch. Im Rückblick ist Mario fest davon überzeugt, dass diese beiden Objekte sein Gehör für Harmonien und seine Stimme geschult haben.

Sich seiner Mission noch nicht völlig bewusst, doch sie bereits erahnend, begibt sich das Naturtalent weg von seiner Karaoke-Maschine hin zu Talentwettbewerben. Er strebt nach Höherem, will werden wie Usher oder Stevie Wonder und nimmt dafür unzählige, teils gnadenlose, Wettkämpfe in Kauf. Er schlägt sich wacker und das Schicksal will, dass er entdeckt wird. Damit rückt Mario der Erfüllung seines Lebensauftrages ein Stückchen näher.

Innerhalb kurzer Zeit spielt er die Stücke für sein Debütalbum mit dem Namen "Mario" ein, das 2003 bei J Records (BMG) erscheint. Den ersten wichtigen Schritt getan, strebt der inzwischen in New Jersey ansässige High School Schüler nach noch höheren Zielen. Auch die Schauspielriege will er als Newcomer beglücken. Sein erstes Opfer soll Jada Pinkett-Smith, Ehefrau von Schauspieler und Sänger Will Smith, sein. Mit ihr würde der zu der Zeit 15-Jährige liebend gerne mal einen Film drehen. Doch bis es so weit ist, spielt Mario, wenn es die Zeit erlaubt, auch ganz gerne mit seiner Playstation oder mit seinen Freunden auf dem Football-Feld.

2005 hat Mario die Volljährigkeit erreicht und schart dementsprechend härtere Geschütze um sich. So geben sich auf "Turning Point" die krediblen Rapper die Klinke in die Hand. Cassidy und Juvenile treten als schmuckes Beiwerk eher peripher in Erscheinung, während Jadakiss und T.I. im "Let Me Love"-Remix ordentlich auf den Rap/R'n'B-Putz hauen. Mario hat definitiv den Sprung vom Teeniestar zum überzeugenden Featurepartner geschafft. Davon zeugen über 2 Millionen verkaufter Exemplare, die bis zur VÖ des Follow-Up über die Ladentheke gehen.

Doch bevor es Ende 2007 soweit ist, sammelt Mario noch ein paar Trophäen und Ehrungen. Darunter den Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop-Award 2005 für die Top R&B/Hip-Hop-Single, ein Billboard Music Award in der Kategorie R&B/Hip-Hop-Single of the Year und Nominierungen bei den Grammies, den BET Awards, Vibe Awards, MOBO Awards und den Soul Train Music Awards.

Seiner zweiten Leidenschaft, der Schauspielerei, geht Mario 2006 im Tanzfilm "Step Up" nach, der bis auf Platz zwei der US-Kinocharts klettert. 2007 spielt er neben Hilary Swank in "Freedom Writers" die (Haupt-)Rolle des schwer erziehbaren André.

Im Dezember 2007 kommt "Go!", Marios dritter Silberling, auf den (Weihnachts) Markt. Für den Titelsong "Go" greift Mario auf die Qualitäten von Pharrell (Komposition) und den Neptunes (Produktion) zurück. "'Go!' ist eine persönliche Platte. Ich bin ein sehr spiritueller Mensch. Ich sehe Gott in vielen Dingen. Und langsam fange ich an zu begreifen, wie alles zusammenhängt," philosophiert der zu diesem Zeitpunkt 20-Jährige.

Images:
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Name: Destiny's Child
SortName: Destiny's Child
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Overview:
Destiny’s Child („Kind des Schicksals“) war eine R&B Girls Group die zuletzt aus den drei Sängerinnen Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland und Michelle Williams bestanden. Nach der Veröffentlichung ihres Greatest-Hits-Albums im Herbst 2005 trennte sich die Gruppe. DS‘s Wurzeln reichen ins Jahr 1990 zurück, als Beyoncé Knowles und LaTavia Roberson im Alter von 9 Jahren die von Beyoncés Vater Matthew gemanagte Tanz- und Gesangsgruppe Girl’s Tyme ins Leben riefen. Ein Jahr später stieß Beyoncés Schulfreundin Kelly Rowland hinzu, 1993 folgte LeToya Luckett. Die Gruppe absolvierte zunächst kleinere Auftritte und nahm bei lokalen, aber auch im TV ausgestrahlten Talentwettbewerben teil, darunter das Erfolgsformat - Star Search. 1995 unterzeichneten sie als Destiny’s Child schließlich ihren ersten Plattenvertrag bei Elektra Records. Unzufrieden mit der Zusammenarbeit wechselte die Gruppe bald zu Columbia Records. 1997 veröffentlichte die Gruppe ihren ersten Song: Killing Time auf dem Soundtrack zum Kinoerfolg Men in Black. Wenig später kam ihr Debütalbum Destiny’s Child auf den Markt, das unterschiedliche Meinungen hervorrief. Trotzdem konnte die Gruppe mit der Auskopplung No, No, No, produziert von Rapper Wyclef Jean, ihren ersten Chart Hit verbuchen. Obwohl die zweite Single With Me nicht an den Erfolg der Debütsingle anknüpfen konnten, erreichte das Album später Platinstatus. Nur ein Jahr später kehrten Destiny’s Child für die Aufnahmen zu ihrem zweiten Album The Writing’s on the Wall ins Studio zurück. Diese CD übertraf den Erfolg des Debüts bei Weitem und verkaufte sich in den folgenden zwei Jahren nicht zuletzt dank der Hitsingles Bills Bills Bills, Jumpin’ Jumpin’ und vor allem Say My Name mehr als sagenhafte 13 Millionen Mal weltweit. Trotz des anhaltenden Erfolges zerbrach das ursprüngliche Quartett schließlich Anfang 2000. LaTavia Roberson und LeToya Luckett warfen Manager Matthew Knowles vor, sich an finanziellen Einkünften der Band zu bedienen, während sein eigentliches Interesse ohnehin nur der Karriere seiner Tochter Beyoncé gegolten habe. Danach wurden mit dem Video zur Single Say My Name unmittelbar zwei neue Mitglieder – Michelle Williams und Farrah Franklin vorgestellt. Roberson und Luckett gingen danach gerichtlich gegen die Gruppe und den Manager vor, ließen das Verfahren gegen Knowles und Rowland später jedoch einstellen. Im Juli 2000 verließ auch Farrah Franklin nach gesundheitlichen Problemen und zunehmender Abwesenheit die Band. Destiny’s Child blieben daraufhin als Trio bestehen und veröffentlichten im Spätherbst 2000 die Single Independent Women (Part I), den Titelsong zum Blockbuster 3 Engel für Charlie. Das darauf folgende dritte Album der Band: Survivor, erreichte sowohl in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz als auch in Großbritannien, Australien und in den Vereinigten Staaten Platz 1 der Albumcharts und verkaufte sich allein in den Vereinigten Staaten in der ersten Woche 663.000 Mal. Mit der gleichnamigen Single sowie dem später ausgekoppelten Bootylicious brachte die Platte zwei weitere international erfolgreiche Charttopper hervor; auch Emotion, und Nasty Girl, die Leadsingle des parallel veröffentlichten Remixalbums This is the Remix, konnten an den Erfolg der vorherigen Auskopplungen anschließen. Passend zur Jahreszeit veröffentlichte die Gruppe Ende des Jahres 2001 schließlich ihr erstes Weihnachtsalbum, 8 Days of Christmas. Im Jahre 2002 trennten sich die Wege des Trios zu Gunsten individueller Solokarrieren vorerst. Im November 2004 veröffentlichte das wiedervereinte Trio ihr viertes Album Destiny Fulfilled. Das von dem Trio Rodney Jerkins, Mario Winans und 9th Wonder produzierte Album bescherte der Band mit Lose My Breath, Soldier, den beiden Mid-Tempo-Balladen Girl und Cater 2 U vier weitere internationale Top 10-Hits. Das Album verkaufte sich mehr als 8 Millionen Mal weltweit, konnte jedoch nicht an den überragenden Erfolg der beiden vorherigen Alben The Writing’s on the Wall und Survivor anschließen. Am 11. Juni 2005 verkündeten Destiny’s Child auf ihrer Welttour ihre endgültige Trennung. Während die Band in den Folgemonaten mit mehreren Preisen (darunter drei World Music Awards) geehrt wurde, erschien neben einer DVD zur Welttournee auch das Greatest-Hits-Album #1’s. Die Platte brachte mit Stand Up for Love, der Hymne zum Kindertag 2005, die letzte gemeinsame Single der Band hervor, deren Mitglieder im März 2006 schließlich getrennte Wege gingen. Im Dezember 2007 gab Kelly Rowland bekannt, dass sie mit ihren Bandkolleginnen Beyoncé Knowles und Michelle Williams über eine erneute Wiedervereinigung im Jahre 2008 nachdenken würde. 2008 schloss Williams dies aber aus. Zum 15-jährigen Bandjubiläum brachte die Gruppe im Oktober 2012 ihr zweites Kompilationsalbum Playlist: The Very Best of Destiny’s Child auf den Markt. Am 10.01.2013 wurde schließlich eine dritte Compilation mit dem Namen Love Songs angekündigt.

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Name: Toni Braxton
SortName: Toni Braxton
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Overview:
Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven Grammy Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, and numerous other accolades. In 2011, Braxton was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In 2017 she was honored with the Legend Award at the Soul Train Music Awards.

In the late 1980s, Braxton began performing with her sisters in a music group known as The Braxtons; the group was signed to Arista Records. After attracting the attention of producers Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and being signed to LaFace Records, Braxton released her self-titled debut studio album in 1993. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 10 million copies worldwide. In addition, the singles "Another Sad Love Song" and "Breathe Again" became international successes. The album brought Braxton three Grammy Awards, including the Grammy for Best New Artist.

Braxton experienced continued success with the albums Secrets (1996), which included the U.S. #1 hit singles "You're Makin' Me High/Let It Flow" and "Un-Break My Heart"; and The Heat (2000), which opened at #2 on the Billboard 200 and included the U.S. #2 hit single "He Wasn't Man Enough". Braxton's subsequent studio albums, More Than a Woman (2002), Libra (2005) and Pulse (2010), were released amid contractual disputes and health issues. In 2014, Braxton and longtime collaborator Babyface released a duet album entitled Love, Marriage & Divorce that earned the duo a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album in 2015. Further label changes saw the release of Sex & Cigarettes (2018) under Def Jam/Universal and Spell My Name (2020) under Island.

Braxton is also a television executive producer and personality. She competed in the seventh season of the reality competition series Dancing with the Stars. She has executive produced and starred in Braxton Family Values, a reality television series that aired on We TV from 2011 to 2020. Braxton was also an executive producer of Tamar & Vince, a spinoff reality TV series starring her younger sister, Tamar.

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Name: Justin Timberlake
SortName: Justin Timberlake
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Overview:
Justin Randall Timberlake (* 31. Januar 1981 in Memphis, Tennessee) ist ein US-amerikanischer Popmusiker, Komponist, Moderator und Schauspieler. Einem breiten Publikum wurde er Ende der 1990er Jahre als Mitglied und Frontsänger der ehemaligen Boygroup *NSYNC bekannt. Mit der Veröffentlichung seiner Alben Justified und FutureSex/LoveSounds entwickelte sich Timberlake in den 2000er Jahren zu einem kommerziell erfolgreichen und mit mehreren Musikpreisen ausgezeichneten Solokünstler. Auch sein Comeback 2013 mit den Alben The 20/20 Experience und The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 war ein weltweiter Erfolg.
Justin Randall Timberlake (* 31. Januar 1981 in Memphis, Tennessee) ist ein US-amerikanischer Popmusiker, Komponist, Moderator und Schauspieler. Einem breiten Publikum wurde er Ende der 1990er Jahre als Mitglied und Frontsänger der ehemaligen Boygroup *NSYNC bekannt. Mit der Veröffentlichung seiner Alben Justified und FutureSex/LoveSounds entwickelte sich Timberlake in den 2000er Jahren zu einem kommerziell erfolgreichen und mit mehreren Musikpreisen ausgezeichneten Solokünstler. Auch sein Comeback 2013 mit den Alben The 20/20 Experience und The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 war ein weltweiter Erfolg.

Images:
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Name: Diplomats
SortName: Diplomats
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Overview:
"The Diplomats" (also known as Dipset) are a Harlem, New York-based group who previously signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, but now are signed to own label Diplomats Record. Founded by rappers Cam'ron and Jim Jones, the group released their debut album Diplomatic Immunity under their imprint Diplomat Records.  Diplomat Records also distribute artist Cam'ron through Asylum Records. Under Koch Entertainment, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, 40 Cal., Freekey Zekey, J.R. Writer, Hell Rell, Un Kasa and Jha Jha are also signed on as members of The Diplomats record label. London-based duo, S.A.S, are also part of The Diplomats. Another member, Jay Bezel, is signed to Sure Shot Records. The group's sophomore album Diplomatic Immunity 2 was released under Koch Entertainment. Juelz Santana currently is the only member still signed to Diplomat Records and Def Jam Records.  One of the defining elements of the Diplomats' music is the innovative slang they have incorporated into their lyrics. The broader hip-hop community has accepted and utilized many of their terms, including "doggie,", "no homo", "piff," "huff," "u mad?", "move the movement", "off' wit' Ya' Kufi Smacker", "goonies goo goo,", "duck tales", "family matters", and "coochie rap". They also coined the greeting, "What's Really Good?". Many of the rappers were signed, and were premiered in mixtapes, but the Diplomats did not become exclusive until 2003 with their cd Diplomatic Immunity. In previous music videos when Cam'ron was starting his career you could see fellow diplomats like Jim Jones or Freeky Zeeky. The Diplomats have also gained notable street credability through their mixtapes, especially in New York, and have made a small fortune through mixtape sales. They also have their own brand of Liquor, Sizzurp.

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Name: Nore
SortName: Nore
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Overview:
Victor Santiago, Jr., better known by his stage names Noreaga, N.O.R.E. and P.A.P.I., is an American hip hop and reggaeton recording artist from Queens, New York City. N.O.R.E. is perhaps best known for being one half of the East Coast hip hop duo Capone-N-Noreaga (C-N-N), alongside fellow Queens-based rapper Capone and his solo singles "Superthug", "Banned from T.V.", "Nothin'", "Oye Mi Canto" and "Mas Maiz", among several others. N.O.R.E. has released music under various record labels, including Penalty, Def Jam, Roc-La-Familia and Babygrande Records. In June 2011, it was announced N.O.R.E.partnered with fellow American rapper Busta Rhymes' Conglomerate label, where he released his 2013 album Student of the Game, issued under E1 Music. N.O.R.E. is also chief executive officer (CEO) of his own imprint, Militainment Business.
Santiago's career began to take off in 1996, while under the pseudonym Noreaga (after Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega), as part of the duo Capone-N-Noreaga (C-N-N), alongside friend and fellow Queens-based rapper Capone (whom he met while serving time in prison). They signed to Penalty Recordings in 1996, and released their debut album The War Report, in 1997. The War Report was a commercial and critical success which made the duo well known among hip hop audiences. The album received praise for using the "traditional grimey boom-bap" sound of classic New York City hip hop, which at that time was falling out in favor of a more futuristic sound. The album peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200, and the singles "Illegal Life", "Closer", and "T.O.N.Y. (Top of New York)" all charted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart. 

Following the release of the album, Capone was again sentenced to a jail term, which left Noreaga to take on a solo career and make an album on his own. Noreaga's solo debut studio album N.O.R.E, was released in 1998. The title is an acronym for "Niggaz on (the) Run Eatin'". The album became even more successful than the duo's debut, charting at #3 on the Billboard 200 and being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album features guest appearances from fellow NYC rappers Nas, Kool G Rap, Big Pun and Busta Rhymes. It also features in many cases a different production style than The War Report, including the modern futuristic sound, with tracks produced by then-up-and-coming producers The Neptunes and Swizz Beatz. The Neptunes produced the hit "Superthug", which reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. The song, along with Mase's hit "Lookin' At Me", was one of the Neptunes' first high-profile productions and made them one of the most sought after production teams in hip hop. It also started their relationship with Noreaga as they would continue to produce more hits for him in the future.

In 1999, Noreaga would go on to release his second solo album, Melvin Flynt - Da Hustler, which was a moderate success, reaching the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and becoming certified gold by the RIAA. The album's most successful single (produced by The Neptunes) was "Oh No", which reached #49 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart. Capone was released from prison in 1999. The two subsequently began recording music together again and released their second C-N-N album in the year 2000. The album, titled The Reunion, was not well received critically and failed to match the commercial success of the duo's debut or Noreaga's solo albums. Allmusic reviewer Matt Conaway, summed up the album by stating "With The Reunion, Capone-N-Noreaga take a step backward." The group would then go on a hiatus and not release another album until 2009.
Noreaga continued to pursue his career as a solo artist. He officially changed his stage name to N.O.R.E. and after some delays, his third solo studio album God's Favorite, was released in 2002. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum. It contained the major hit "Nothin'" (produced by The Neptunes), which reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. It became N.O.R.E.'s highest charting hit.

Following God's Favorite, N.O.R.E. changed his musical focus. He began recording Spanish-language songs to reflect his Puerto Rican background and made reggaeton music, rather than traditional hip hop. The reggaeton single "Oye Mi Canto", was released in 2004 and became a major hit, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was originally supposed to be a single from an upcoming album titled 1 Fan a Day, but the album was never released. Instead, N.O.R.E. released a reggaeton/hip hop album in 2006, titled N.O.R.E. y la Familia...Ya Tú Sabe, which included the lead singles "Oye Mi Canto" and "Mas Maiz". The album, released under Jay-Z's Roc-La-Familia, has both English and Spanish language tracks. It did not chart nearly as well as any of N.O.R.E.'s previous solo albums, as it only reached #82 on the Billboard 200.

N.O.R.E. went on to release two more solo albums. The first, his fifth album Noreality, was released in 2007 and supported by the single "Set It Off", featuring vocals and production from Swizz Beatz. N.O.R.E. released his CD/DVD, Noreality, in September via a joint venture with his own Thugged Out Militainment label and Babygrande Records. The album features guest appearances from Jadakiss, Three 6 Mafia, Kanye West, Pharrell, Mobb Deep's Prodigy, Bun B, Tru Life, David Banner, Kurupt and Capone. Swizz Beatz is among the producers. The DVD, which was available in limited quantities, is based on the rapper's life.
The second album S.O.R.E., was controversially released in 2009. N.O.R.E. would go on to denounce S.O.R.E., calling it an album he had nothing to do with and asked fans not to purchase it. The album is a reference to his stage name and his first album which is a backronym for "Niggaz on (the) Run Eatin'", which makes "S.O.R.E.", "Still on (the) Run Eatin'". The term was first used in late 2007, when N.O.R.E. released a song entitled "Still on the Run Eatin'", featuring Lil Wayne. N.O.R.E. said in a video blog that he didn't approve of this album. He also stated the album's artwork was of him at 310 pounds, adding he had lost 62 pounds since then. He also went on to mention five songs on the album were actually handed in, while the rest were pulled off the internet, some of which coming from 2007, probably stemming from label financial issues. He later stated the official album he's working on is N.O.R.E. Pt. 2: Born Again. In 2009, N.O.R.E. collaborated with Capone once again, to release their third studio album Channel 10, which charted at #136 on the Billboard 200. In 2010, a fourth Capone-N-Noreaga album titled The War Report 2, was released. Its lead single was "Hood Pride", featuring Faith Evans. In June 2011, fellow American rapper Busta Rhymes, with whom N.O.R.E. has collaborated with several times in the past, stated on his Twitter account that he had officially signed N.O.R.E. to his newly founded record label Conglomerate Records.
In early 2013, Santiago stated that he would yet again change his moniker, this time to P.A.P.I. (Acronym for Power Always Proves Intelligence), which stirred mixed reactions from his fans. On April 16, 2013 he released Student of the Game, and shortly after announced a sequel would be released as his next album. On September 27, 2013, he told MTV that his next album, Melvin Flynt II: Da Final Hustle will be his final album, as he will stop touring and releasing solo albums to become solely a music executive and CEO.

Images:
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Name: The Clipse
SortName: Clipse
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Overview:
Clipse is a critically acclaimed hip hop duo that formed in Norfolk, Virginia in 1992. The duo is made up of brothers Gene “Malice” Thornton and Terrence “Pusha T” Thornton, who is also currently signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music label. They met Pharrell, of the producing duo, The Neptunes, in 1993, he formed a working relationship with the duo and helped them secure a contract with Elektra Records. Early mixtape success on Clinton Sparks’ Exclusive Audio Footage increased their fan-base, but the group’s major debut single flopped. Williams resuscitated their careers by signing them to his Star Trak Label. The Clipse’s debut album, Lord Willin’, was released in 2002. Label woes delayed the release of their sophomore effort, Hell Hath No Fury, which was released in 2006, to much critical acclaim. During this gap, they released three We Got It For Cheap mixtapes with Ab-Liva and Sandman, the other members of the Re-Up Gang. Their third studio album, Till The Casket Drops, was released in 2009. Their songs have been remixed and mashed up on countless mixtapes, and the unreleased songs they recorded while still on Startrak are out as a mixtape called The Lost Tracks. Pusha-T released his first solo album, Fear of God, in 2011, around the same time that Malice published the book “Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind, & Naked”.

Images:
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Name: Mc Lyte
SortName: Mc Lyte
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Overview:
MC Lyte (born Lana Michele Moorer; October 11, 1971) is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.

Images:
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Name: The Lox
SortName: Lox
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Overview:
"The Lox"   is an American hip hop group formed in 1994, from Yonkers, New York. Jason "Jadakiss" Phillips, David "Styles P" Styles, and Sean "Sheek Louch" Jacobs, began their musical careers in their hometown of Yonkers, New York. As high school students they formed a group called "The Bomb Squad" and began performing at local shows and producing their own demos. The group eventually changed their name to "The Warlocks" and continued developing a fan base by appearing on underground mixtapes. One of their admirers was the "Queen of Hip hop soul," fellow Yonkers native Mary J. Blige. Mary passed their demo tape on to Bad Boy CEO Sean "Puffy" Combs who signed them to a deal. At the behest of Combs, The Warlocks would later change their name to "The L.O.X" which stands for Living Off eXperience.

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Name: Mase
SortName: Mase
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Overview:
Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by stage name Mase (often typeset as Ma$e) who was previously known as Murda Ma$e, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and inspirational speaker. He was an artist on Sean "Diddy" Combs's hip hop label Bad Boy Records. He was introduced as Bad Boy Entertainment's next big artist during the summer of 1996 when he was featured on the remix to 112's debut single, "Only You", which peaked at number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Singles Sales chart as well as its Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. With his soon-to-be-trademarked slow flow, Mase quickly developed a crossover fan base as he was featured on original tracks, as well as remixes, by popular R&B artists such as Brian McKnight, Mariah Carey, Keith Sweat, and Brandy, among others. Puff Daddy (Diddy) featured Mase on "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems" from The Notorious B.I.G.'s double-LP Life After Death, the album's biggest hit single. He then featured Mase on several songs on his own debut album, No Way Out: the lead single, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", which hit number one on the Rap, R&B, and Pop charts, as well as on "Been Around the World", which would also reach number one on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks. By the time Mase released his own debut album, Harlem World, in late 1997, the rapper had become Bad Boy's premier artist, filling the void left by the death of Biggie Smalls. He is married to Twyla Betha and leads an international ministry.

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Name: Ray J
SortName: Ray J
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Overview:
William Ray Norwood, Jr. (born January 17, 1981), better known by his stage name Ray J, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and rapper. He is the son of gospel singer Willie Norwood and the younger brother of Contemporary R&B singer Brandy.  He was signed with Elektra in 1995 by Darryl Williams. In 1997, he performed in a television special with his sister, but despite the mainstream attention, he was dropped by Elektra soon after. His easygoing image and boyish looks appealed to the producers of Brandy's television show, Moesha, scoring him a role on the popular UPN series starting in 1999. He also started producing, putting together the music for several commercials and a few of the demos for his second record. In 1997 he also released his debut album Everything You Want, recorded the year before, which spawned two singles. "Let It Go" was the lead single of the smash soundtrack for Set It Off (Brandy also appeared on the soundtrack; and her song "Missing You" with Tamia, Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight peaked also at number 25). It peaked number 25 in the U.S. and number 11 in New Zealand. The second single peaked at number 54 on the U.S. R&B chart.  After appearing on the last episode of Moesha in 2001, Norwood stepped back into the studio and recorded "Another Day In Paradise" with Brandy, which was a Top Ten success in Austria, UK, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Ireland, the Netherlands and number 11 in Australia and France. The song was the lead single of the R&B/Hip Hop tribute Urban Renewal, in which he co-produced and performed songs. Norwood also worked with The Neptunes, Rodney Jerkins and Lil' Kim, and several other hitmaking producers and singers for his second studio album This Ain't A Game, a Hip hop-oriented record that featured more of his rapping than his debut. The album was released in 2001, but despite a strong promotional push from new label Atlantic Records, it wasn't a breakthrough success. The lead single "Wait A Minute" appeared in the lower half of the charts in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Great Britain. The second single did even worse peaking on the R&B/Hip hop chart only.  In 2002 he appeared in the video for his sister's smash-hit "What About Us", which was produced by Jerkins, and was released as her third album, Full Moon's lead single during the first quarter of 2002 (see 2002 in music). While "What About Us?" entered the Top 20 on the majority of the charts it appeared on, it reached the Top 10 in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, the UK, and the United States.  After a two year break, Norwood returned to recording studios, adding the finishing touches on his third studio album Raydiation with help from producers such as Rodney Jerkins, Timbaland, and R. Kelly. A joint venture by Sanctuary Records and Ray-J's own label, independent Knockout Entertainment, the album was finally released on September 27, 2005 in North America after several delays, debuting at number forty-eight on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 18,321 copies in the first week. Boosted by the album's lead single "One Wish," a top 20 success in Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, the U.S... Raydiation eventually sold over 400,000 copies domestically.  In 2005, Norwood joined the cast of UPN's One On One, where he played the character of D-Mack for the final season.  More recently, Knockout Entertainment announced a multi-million dollar album deal with Koch Records and Shaquille O'Neal's "Deja 34" entertainment company. The first album for this deal is Norwood's upcoming fourth album All I Feel, which featuresThe Game, and remixes with Manny and Gil (MP Productions) among others. It was released on April 1st,2008. The album's first single is "Sexy Can I" featuring rapper Yung Berg peaked at number three on the Top Singles (Hot 100) for six weeks. A video for the track, directed by R. Malcolm Jones, was shot in December 2007

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Name: Nsync
SortName: Nsync
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Overview:
*NSYNC (oft auch ’N SYNC, NSYNC oder N’Sync geschrieben) war eine US-amerikanische Boygroup.
Justin Timberlake und Joshua Scott Chasez (JC), die sich bereits aus der gemeinsamen Zeit als Moderatoren im Mickey Mouse Club des Disney Channels in Orlando kannten, gründeten zusammen mit Chris Kirkpatrick 1994 eine Band. Als nächster stieß Joey Fatone dazu, den Kirkpatrick durch eine Produktion bei Disney kannte. Fünftes Mitglied war dann zunächst Jason Galasso, der jedoch bald ausstieg. Den nun fehlenden Bass fand man kurz darauf in Gestalt von Lance Bass. Inwieweit sich die Band selbst fand oder ob sie vielmehr zusammengestellt wurde, ist umstritten.

Den Namen der Band steuerte Timberlakes Mutter bei. NSYNC – englisch in sync für „synchron“, „im Einklang“ – steht nicht nur für die Einheit in Gesang und Tanz, sondern vereint auch die letzten Buchstaben der fünf Vor- beziehungsweise Spitznamen: Justin, Chris, Joey, Jason und JC. Als Jason durch Bass ersetzt wurde, gab ihm die Band den Spitznamen Lansten, um das N weiterhin erklären zu können. Der Stern im Namen soll durch eine Anregung von Uri Geller entstanden sein.

1995 nahm die Band eine Demo-CD auf, die sie an Plattenfirmen schickte. 1996 gelangten die Unterlagen zu dem Produzenten Johnny Wright, der in Zusammenarbeit mit Lou Pearlman schon den Backstreet Boys zu Ruhm verholfen hatte. Nach langen Gesprächen unterzeichneten *NSYNC den Vertrag. Die Band flog nach Stockholm, um dort mit den Produzenten Denniz PoP und Max Martin die erste Single I Want You Back aufzunehmen. Kurz vor ihrem europäischen Durchbruch waren *NSYNC im Herbst 1996 als Vorgruppe zusammen mit DJ BoBo auf Tour. Die Single I Want You Back hatte in Europa großen Erfolg. Darauf folgte die Rückkehr in die USA, dort wurden sie aber wie Stiefbrüder der zunächst weitaus beliebteren Backstreet Boys behandelt. Die erste Singleauskopplung hatte daher nicht den gewünschten Erfolg. Erst als Disney ein Konzert der Band ausstrahlte, wurden *NSYNC auch in ihrer Heimat zu Chartbreakern. Um den plötzlichen Erfolg voll auszunutzen, nahm die Band 1995 und 1998 eine Weihnachts-CD auf.

Vor den Aufnahmen fürs dritte Studioalbum "No Strings Attached" entschlossen sich die Bandmitglieder, ihre Plattenfirma RCA und das Management um Lou Pearlman zu wechseln, da sie der Meinung waren, dass weder das Management noch die Plattenfirma in letzter Zeit irgendetwas für die Band getan hätten. Zudem ging es auch um die finanziellen Einnahmen und deren, laut *NSYNC, ungerechte Aufteilung zu Gunsten der Gegenparteien. Die Situation eskalierte kurz vor dem neuen Jahrtausend, und es lief auf eine 150-Millionen-Dollar Klage gegen *NSYNC hinaus. Diese waren inzwischen durch die Unterstützung ihres alten Produzenten Johnny Wright zum Label Jive Records und seinem Management Johnny Wright Entertainment gewechselt, wo die Band nun aber um ihren Namen bangen musste, da dieser Eigentum der Plattenfirma RCA war. Durch eine andere Schreibweise des Bandnamens wurde dieses Problem gelöst. Danach brachte die Band im Jahr 2000 ihr drittes Album heraus, welches binnen kürzester Zeit neue Verkaufsrekorde aufstellte. Nur zwei Jahre später folgte das vierte Studioalbum Celebrity, welches zwar einige Hitsingles enthielt, jedoch nicht an den Erfolg des Vorgängers anknüpfen konnte.

Nach dem Ärger wegen des Management-Wechsels, zwei erfolgreichen Tourneen und der Promotion des letzten Albums beschlossen *NSYNC eine kreative Pause einzulegen. Bass ist mittlerweile Inhaber eines eigenen Labels und fördert Nachwuchsbands. Chasez arbeitete als Einzelinterpret und Gastmusiker und veröffentlichte 2004 schließlich ein Soloalbum, das kommerziell mittelmäßig erfolgreiche Schizophrenic. Timberlake feierte große weltweite Erfolge als Solokünstler und veröffentlichte seit 2002 bislang drei sich sehr gut verkaufende Studioalben: Justified, Future Sex/Love Sounds und The 20/20 Experience.

Im Frühjahr 2002 beschloss die Band trotz weiterhin andauernden Erfolges ihre endgültige Auflösung.

Bei den MTV Video Musik Awards am 25. August 2013 standen *NSYNC mit einem Medley zusammen auf der Bühne.

Nick Carter, Mitglied der Backstreet Boys, produzierte den Trash-Movie "Dead 7" im Jahr 2015 in dem Film sind diverse Bandmitglieder von *NSYNC und den Backstreet Boys zu sehen

Images:
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Name: Angie Martinez
SortName: Angie Martinez
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Overview:
Angela "Angie" Martinez (born January 9, 1971) is an American radio personality, former rapper, and actress. Known as “The Voice of New York”, her afternoon radio show has consistently been ranked #1 with more young listeners than any other radio program in the country.

Angie Martinez got her first break in radio at the age of 16 answering hot lines at the urban radio station WQHT ("Hot 97"). There she met popular DJ Funkmaster Flex, and began working as his protégé. Martinez quickly picked up on the craft of running a successful radio program. Executives at the station decided to give her a chance, even though she lacked on-air experience.

As an actress, Angie received small roles in independent hip hop films such as Blood is Thicker Than Water and Paper Soldiers. She then appeared in Brown Sugar starring Taye Diggs, Queen Latifah and Sanaa Lathan.

In 1996, Martinez was encouraged to give rapping a shot by friend KRS-One. She appeared on his track "Heartbeat" from his 1997 album I Got Next. After the song gained a strong fan following, another friend, Lil' Kim, offered her a spot on the "Ladies Night Remix" of her song "Not Tonight" for the Nothing to Lose soundtrack. Along with Missy Elliott, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Da Brat, the ladies enjoyed one of the most successful singles of 1997. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #2, and reached #1 on the Hip-Hop / R&B charts and the Rap charts respectively. The single sold over 1,000,000 copies and was certified Platinum. The ladies were nominated for two Grammy Awards that year, and were also invited to perform the song live on The MTV Video Music Awards. A major label battle began to sign Martinez to a recording contract. Her appearance on other rapper's material was in high demand. She recorded songs with Mary J. Blige ("Christmas in the City"), Terror Squad ("Freak Out"), N.O.R.E. ("Oh No Remix"), Beenie Man ("Tell Me Remix") and Funkmaster Flex & Big Kap's compilation album The Tunnel ("Wow"). She also recorded interludes for mixtapes by Kid Capri, DJ Clue and DJ Kayslay. In 2001, she appeared in the music video for Jay-Z and R. Kelly's "Guilty Until Proven Innocent".
On April 17, 2001, she finally released her delayed debut album, Up Close and Personal. The album included production by DJ Clue, Salaam Remi, Knobody and RocWilder among others, and featured guest appearances by Jay-Z, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, Busta Rhymes and Kool G. Rap. The first single, "Dem Thangzzz" was produced by The Neptunes, and also featured background vocals by Pharrell Williams and Q-Tip. The track failed to make a strong impression at radio, but the album enjoyed strong first week sales.[clarification needed] It debuted at #32 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, and #10 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Charts selling 69,000 its first week. The second single, "Coast 2 Coast" (Suavamente) featuring rapper Wyclef Jean re-sparked interest in the album. She promoted the album with magazine posters, in-store signings, club appearances and television appearances with MTV and BET. The record received mixed reviews from critics, but like Martinez herself, was strongly accepted in the hip hop community. The album sold a low 325,000 units.
Martinez was hired to be a judge on the second season of American Idol, but quit after a few days of auditions, citing discomfort with crushing the dreams of auditioners.
Following her first album's release, Angie began work on a second record Animal House. In order to build anticipation for the record, she appeared on BET's Rap City and began a nation-wide radio tour. She recorded a verse for the remix to her Artist Sacario record "Live Big". It became the number one record in the tri-state area and coincidentally coincided with the release of Martinez's first single from her second album, "If I Could Go" which also featured Sacario and singer Lil' Mo. "If I Could Go" became a huge crossover hit on pop radio, climbing into the top 10 on The Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It became the #1 played on urban radio in 2002. The album, Animal House (named after Martinez's own production company and recording posse), was released on August 21, 2002. It entered the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart at #11, and the Billboard Hot Hip-Hop / R&B Charts selling 92,000 units in its first week. The follow-up single, "Take You Home" featuring R&B singer Kelis didn't receive as much attention, but it did become a minor hit that winter. The album was more strongly received by critics and fans. Following the release of the album, she was featured on a remix for labelmate Lil' Mo's track "Gangster", and Nina Sky's hype single "Time to Go". Following this she announced she was retiring from the recording industry to concentrate on her other projects.

Martinez has a son named Niko Ruffin (born June 12, 2003) with Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin of Dru Hill.

Images:
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Name: T.I
SortName: T.I
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Overview:
Wenn sich Kritiker in Lobeshymnen überschlagen und Hip Hop-Magazine von New York bis Tokio ihren neuen König gefunden zu haben glauben, muss an einem Hype etwas dran sein. Oder nicht?

Ein junger Herr namens Clifford Harris Jr., besser bekannt unter seinem Rap-Alias T.I., räumt jedenfalls 2006 mit seinem vierten Album "King" die Szene auf. Der Süden hat Hochkonjunktur, und T.I. gibt den selbsternannten Monarchen.

Doch zum Hype existiert natürlich eine Geschichte. Am 25. September 1980 geboren, durchlebt Clifford die Jugend eines kämpfenden Heranwachsenden zwischen delinquenten Straßenjobs und dem Traum von einer Rap-Laufbahn.

In Atlanta haben bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt lediglich Outkast, Goodie Mob und Jermaine Dupri etwas zu sagen. Daran ändert 2001 auch T.I.s Debüt "I'm Serious" trotz Unterstützung von Pharrell Williams, Beenie Man, der Youngbloodz und Jazze Pha nicht viel. Die Scheibe entwickelt sich eher zum Ladenhüter als zum Verkaufsschlager - ein harter Dämpfer für die noch junge Laufbahn.

Doch der hoch motivierte T.I. arbeitet in Bankhead in Atlanta eifrig zweigleisig an den Karrieren - in der Musik und in der Kriminalität. Zwei Lebensentwürfe, die er im Song "T.I. Vs. T.I.P." von seinem zweiten Album "Trap Muzik" beim Namen nennt: T.I. ist der Rapper, T.I.P. (sprich: Tip) der Hustler auf den Straßen Atlantas. Ein Anflug von Schizophrenie ist nicht von der Hand zu weisen. Laut Eigenaussage gerät der kriminelle T.I.P. jedoch mit dem steigenden Erfolg in der Musik zwangsläufig immer mehr in den Hintergrund.

Diesen Erfolg läutet der zweite Longplayer "Trap Muzik" mit über 900.000 verkauften Einheiten ein. Großen Anteil daran hat "Rubberband Man", eine Single, die aus der vergangenen Existenz als Drogendealer keinen Hehl macht. Rubberbands, also Gummibänder, tragen die Hustler auf der Straße an Fuß- und Handgelenken, um ihre Dollarscheine damit sicher am Körper zu verstauen. Die Single chartet, T.I. macht sich auf den Weg, das neue große Ding des Südens zu werden.

Der Arm des Gesetzes schiebt der Karriere jedoch vorerst einen Riegel vor. T.I. wird wegen Verstoßes gegen seine Bewährungsauflagen zu mehreren Jahren Zuchthaus verurteilt. Diese gehen auf eine Verurteilung aus dem Jahr 1998 zurück, als die Polizei T.I., besser T.I.P., beim Drogenhandel erwischt hatte. Glück im Unglück: T.I. darf das Gefängnis gelegentlich verlassen, um weiter Musik zu machen, Videos zu drehen und Auftritte zu absolvieren.

Ein freundliches Entgegenkommen der Behörden, das sich für T.I. mit dem 18 Monate später erscheinenden Album "Urban Legend" auszahlt. Die Platte verkauft sich wie geschnitten Brot und avanciert mit über einer Million abgesetzter Einheiten zu einem der am schnellsten verkauften Alben des Dirty South-Raps. Eine ganze Meute von Hip Hop-Vertretern aus dem Derrty Derrty unterstützt T.I. bei seinem bis dato erfolgreichsten Longplayer.

Der Süden freut sich im Großen und Ganzen über so viel Aufmerksamkeit, jedoch gönnt nicht jeder T.I. den Erfolg. Es folgen ausufernde Diss-Geschichten mit Lil' Flip und Ludacris, die im ersten Fall sogar in einer handfesten Auseinandersetzung enden.

Abgesehen davon kann sich T.I. nicht beschweren. Die Karriere geht steil, das eigene Label Grand Hustle floriert. Ein gutes Dutzend Künstler findet dort seinen Broterwerb, darunter DJ Drama, der die überaus erfolgreiche "Gangsta Grillz"-Reihe zu verantworten hat. Außerdem erscheint auf Grand Hustle der Soundtrack zum Hollywood-Blockbuster "Hustle & Flow" mit dem Oscar-vergoldeten Three 6 Mafia-Track "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp".

Die Motivation steigt ins Unermessliche. T.I. will der erste Rapper sein, der mit seinem Album auf Platz eins der Charts steht und gleichzeitig als Schauspieler die Kinohitliste anführt. "King" und der Hollywood-Streifen "ATL" sollen es möglich machen.

Der Coup gelingt nicht ganz. Grund dafür liefert jedoch nicht das Album, eher der Film, der an "Ice Age 2" und Spike Lees "Inside Man" scheitert. Dagegen stilisieren Kritiker und Medien "King" augenblicklich zum Klassiker hoch. Nach Ansicht der Gazetten habe der dreckige Süden Vergleichbares selten bis gar nie hervorgebracht. Unterstützend legen Common, Pharrell, Just Blaze, Young Jeezy, Jamie Foxx, UGK und Young Buck Hand an und sorgen dafür, dass "King" allein in der ersten Woche 500.000 Mal über die Ladentische wandert.

Wirklich darüber freuen kann sich T.I. jedoch nicht. Wenige Wochen vor dem Release von "King" ereignet sich ein Zwischenfall mit weitreichenden Konsequenzen. T.I. und seine Truppe geraten nach einer Party in Cincinnati mit Gästen des Nachtclubs in einen Streit. Die Auseinandersetzung endet in einem Scharmützel, bei dem vier Kollegen T.I.s angeschossen werden. Einer davon stirbt an den Folgen seiner Verletzungen. Der Beginn seiner Regierungszeit als König des Südens steht somit unter einem denkbar schlechten Stern. Seine Untertanen stehen dennoch bedingungslos hinter ihrem Regenten.

Das Jahr 2007 lässt sich zunächst wesentlich besser an. T.I. heimst in den Kategorien "Best Rap Solo Performance" und "Best Rap/Song Collaboration" gleich zwei Grammys ein. Inzwischen besitzt er neben seinem Label eine Baufirma und ein Autohaus.

Das nächste Studio-Album greift die alte Persönlichkeitsspaltung wieder auf: "T.I. Vs. T.I.P." erscheint im Juli 2007 und konfrontiert den Hustler früherer Tage mit dem erfolgreichen Geschäftsmann von heute. Verschiedene Produzenten, darunter einmal mehr Just Blaze, sorgen für Abwechslung. Am Mikrofon unterstützen den König des Südens unter anderem Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, Jay-Z und Wyclef Jean.

Mit dem Herbst allerdings kommen die Schwierigkeiten, an denen T.I. nicht gerade unschuldig ist: Wer in einer Größenordnung Waffen kauft, in der man das komplette A-Team hätte ausrüsten können, muss damit rechnen, die Quittung zu kassieren. Nachdem eine Hausdurchsuchung so Einiges zutage förderte, wird der König des Südens im Oktober wegen illegalen Waffenbesitzes verhaftet. Bis zur Verhandlung wird er unter Hausarrest gestellt.

T.I. nutzt die unfreiwillige Auszeit, um an seinem neuen Album "Paper Trail" zu 
werkeln, dessen Veröffentlichung er für 2008 ankündigt. Zudem lässt er seine Fans wissen, er werde auf Freispruch plädieren. Angesichts einer drohenden hohen Haftstrafe schließt er im März 2008 dann einen Deal mit der Justiz, bekennt sich schuldig und stimmt unter anderem einer einjährigen Haftstrafe sowie knapp 1.500 Stunden sozialer Arbeit zu.

Im März 2010 hat T.I. seine Strafe abgesessen und stürzt sich unmittelbar wieder in die Arbeit. Ein ursprünglich sinnig als "King Uncaged" angekündigter Longplayer erscheint im Dezember, trägt dann aber doch den Titel "No Mercy". T.I. nämlich atmet zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits wegen Verstoßes gegen seine Bewährungsauflagen für weitere elf Monate gesiebte Luft.

Den Höhenflug bremst das nicht. T.I. kündigt sein nächstes Studioalbum an, für dessen Titel "Trouble Man" er sich von Marvin Gaye inspirieren lässt. Er kollaboriert mit den unterschiedlichsten Kollegen, zwischenzeitlich machen auch Gerüchte von einem Kollabo-Album mit B.o.B. die Runde.

Mit den Neuzugängen Iggy Azalea, Chipmunk und Trae Tha Truth baut er den Künstlerbestand seines Labels Grand Hustle aus. Zudem schreibt T.I. Bücher und flimmert als Star einer Doku-Soap über die Bildschirme.

Die Singles, die vorab an die Öffentlichkeit gelangen, entpuppen sich durchwegs als Erfolge. "Trouble Man" erscheint im Dezember 2012. Der Zusatz "Heavy Is The Head" im Titel lässt schon ahnen: Hier wurde das letzte Wort noch nicht gesprochen. Kurz nach der Veröffentlichung verrät T.I., er arbeite längst am zweiten Teil: "Trouble Man II: He Who Wears The Crown".

Den Sitz der Krone haben die mannigfaltigen Konflikte mit dem Gesetz offenbar nicht beeinträchtigt. In einem Business, das unermüdlich nach Authentizität kräht, bedeutet ausgiebige Knasterfahrung eben noch lange nicht das Karriereende.

Images:
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Name: Jadakiss
SortName: Jadakiss
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Overview:
Jason Phillips (born May 27, 1975),better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. (a member of the hip hop collective Ruff Ryders) Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block Records. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records. Jadakiss has also released three studio albums with the most recent being The Last Kiss (2009). Recently he has been releasing mixtapes and plans to release his fourth studio album Top 5, Dead or Alive in 2014.

Images:
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Name: The Liks
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Overview:
"Tha Alkaholiks" also known as Tha Liks, was an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. Formed in the early 1990s they have produced hedonism-themed party music with a hardcore hip hop edge, powered by the beats of DJ and producer E-Swift (born Eric Brooks in Columbus, Georgia, raised in Toledo, Ohio) and the rhymes of J-Ro (born James Robinson in Los Angeles) and Tash (born Rico Smith in Cincinnati). Though commercial crossover success largely eluded the group, they maintained a dedicated following on their native West Coast, throughout the United States and worldwide.

Images:
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Name: Babyface
SortName: Babyface
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Overview:
Babyface (Kenneth Brian Edmonds) is a multi-platinum selling rnb singer, songwriter and record producer. He has written and produced for artists such as Whitney Houston, Karyn White, Johnny Gill, Vanessa Williams, Pebbles, Madonna and Boyz II Men, and has also worked on various film soundtracks in his successful career.

Kenneth Edmonds was born on April 10, 1958, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Marvin and Barbara Edmonds. Barbara was a pharmaceutical plant manager. Edmonds, who is the fifth of six brothers (including future After 7 band members Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, the latter of whom went on to have a modestly successful solo career), attended North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and as a shy youth, wrote songs to express his emotions.

When he was in eighth grade, Edmonds’s father died of lung cancer, leaving his mother to raise her sons alone. At this stage, Edmonds became determined to have a career in music. Edmonds later played with funk performer Bootsy Collins, who tagged him “Babyface” because of his cute face while he was still a teen.

He also played in the groups Manchild (which had a 1976 hit “Especially for You” with band member Daryl Simmons), as he was a guitarist for the band. Then, as a keyboardist in the light-funk and R&B group The Deele (which also included drummer Antonio “L.A.” Reid, with whom he would later form a successful writing and producing partnership).

Images:
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Name: Usher
SortName: Usher
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Overview:
Rechtfertigen das meistverkaufte Album des Nuller-Jahrzehnts und der zweite Platz hinter Eminem im Billboard-Ranking "Artist Of The Decade", als "neuer Michael Jackson" gehandelt zu werden? Glaubt man der US-amerikanischen Musikindustrie, so lautet die Antwort: ein klares lautes Ja!

"Confessions" heißt die Scheibe, die anno 2004 mehr als zehn Millionen Mal über die Ladentheken geht. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt ist Usher Terry Raymond IV bereits ein alter Hase im Geschäft. Mit bescheidenen 16 Lenzen veröffentlichte er zehn Jahre zuvor sein nach seinem ersten Vornamen benanntes Debüt.

Dass der Weg zu Ruhm und Reichtum schwierig ist, erfährt der Teenie schnell am eigenen Leib. "Usher" beschert ihm eine finanzielle Enttäuschung, die Verkaufszahlen stimmen trotz des Namens Puff Daddy, der als Executive Producer 
in den Liner Notes prangt, nicht.

Für eine Fanbasis im knapp geschlechtsreifen Alter reicht es dafür dicke. Usher gewinnt seiner kindlichen Gesichtszüge und seines studio-gestählten Korpus' nebst gewinnendem Lächeln wegen die Herzen der Teenies in ganz Amerika im Sturm.

Wenig später kommt Coca-Cola auf den Geschmack. Für den Weltkonzern singt Usher einige Werbejingles ein, bevor er 1996 im Fernsehen vor der gesamten Welt auftritt. Für die Olympischen Spiele in seiner Heimatstadt Atlanta singt er mit Monica, einem ebenfalls von den Labels gehypten R'n'B-Talent, ein klassisches Soul-Duett ein. Spätestens damit ist der Weg bereitet, um zu einem der größten Popstars unserer Zeit aufzusteigen.

Dass Klein-Usher damit schon rechnete, als er einst im Kirchenchor trällerte, ist nicht anzunehmen. Spaß und Talent hatte der gebürtige Texaner damals schon, was auch seiner Mutter nicht verborgen blieb. Die Familie zieht von Tennessee nach Atlanta, wo die die Chancen, entdeckt zu werden, höher stehen.

Um noch weiter nachzuhelfen, entert Usher die Bühnen verschiedener Nachwuchswettbewerbe. Mit Erfolg: Bei "Star Search" macht er einen gewissen Antonio Reid auf sich aufmerksam. Wie es der Zufall will, agiert besagter Herr als Präsident von Arista. Usher muss jedoch zunächst mit dem kleineren Label LaFace vorlieb nehmen.

Zumindest für einige Jahre, ehe sich die ganz Großen des Geschäfts um ihn balgen. Im Laufe seiner Karriere heimst Usher einen Grammy nach dem anderen ein, spielt mit zahllosen Superstars, von Beyoncé und Alicia Keys über Shakira und Jay-Z bis hin zu T.I. und Enrique Iglesias. Er tritt am Broadway und in der Halbzeitshow des Super Bowls auf. Nebenbei hält er sich als Mitbesitzer seine eigene Basketball-Mannschaft, das NBA-Team Cleveland Cavaliers.

Voraus gingen Millionenverkäufe und damit einher dicke Schecks. Zum Zeitpunkt der Veröffentlichung seiner siebten Platte, "Looking 4 Myself", hat Usher weltweit über 43 Millionen Tonträger verkauft. Ein großer Teil davon dürfte auf das Konto von "Yeah" gehen, eine Single-Auskopplung aus "Confessions", die Lil' Jonund Ludacris featurt und gleichzeitig in den USA, in Großbritannien und in Deutschland an die Spitze der Charts schnellt. Zudem partizipiert Usher als Mentor von Justin Bieber vermutlich nicht unwesentlich an dessen Verkäufen.

Usher hat längst eine breite Fanbasis als das Idol stirbt, zu dessen Nachfolger er stilisiert wird. Bei der Trauerfeier für Michael Jackson im Jahre 2009 gibt Usher "Gone Too Soon" zum Besten.

"Dieser Verlust stimmt mich sehr traurig. Er hat Barrieren durchbrochen und Radio-Formate verändert. Mit seiner Musik ermöglichte er es auch Menschen wie Oprah Winfrey und Barack Obama, Einfluss auf die Allgemeinheit zu nehmen. Sein Erbe ist beispiellos. Michael Jackson wird niemals vergessen werden", kommentiert der Sänger hernach. Usher dürfte die großen Fußstapfen niemals ausfüllen können.

Images:
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Name: Trey Songz
SortName: Trey Songz
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Overview:
Tremaine "Trey" Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005, while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007. His third album, Ready, was released in 2009 while his fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010. His fifth album entitled Chapter V was released on August 21, 2012.

Images:
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Name: Plies
SortName: Plies
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Overview:
Algernod Lanier Washington (born July 1, 1976), better known by his stage name Plies, is an American rapper. He is the founder of Big Gates Records. Born in Fort Myers, Florida, Washington was a wide receiver on the football team of Miami University in Ohio in 1996 and 1997 before he became a rapper. After dropping out of college, he founded Big Gates with his stepbrother. Signed to Slip-n-Slide Records, from 2007 to 2008 he released three albums. Plies debuted in 2007 with The Real Testament with successful singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized". Plies also released two albums in 2008, Definition of Real and Da REAList, and later released Goon Affiliated in 2010.

Images:
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Name: Birdman
SortName: Birdman
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Overview:
Bryan Williams (born February 15, 1969), better known by his stage name Birdman or Baby, is an American rapper and record executive from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the co-founder of Cash Money Records and one half of the duo Big Tymers. Along with his releases with Big Tymers and for his solo career, Birdman recorded a collaboration album and numerous tracks with Lil Wayne.

Birdman was born and raised in Uptown New Orleans. With his brother Ronald “Slim” Williams, Birdman founded Cash Money Records in 1991. He used his first moniker B-32 (Baby with the 32 Golds) and released his only independent album I Need a Bag of Dope in 1993.

In 1997, he joined rapper Mannie Fresh to form the duo Big Tymers. Big Tymers debuted in 1998 with the album How Ya Luv That? and went on to release I Got That Work in 2000 and Hood Rich in 2002. I Got That Work had the hit singles “Get Your Roll On” and “#1 Stunna”; Hood Rich had “Still Fly”, which was nominated for a Grammy, and “Oh Yeah!”. Big Money Heavyweight followed in 2003, the group disbanded in 2004.

In 2002 Birdman released his self-titled debut studio album, Birdman, with the singles “Do That” and “What Happened to That Boy” (with Clipse). Since that album, Birdman made guest performances on the singles “Let’s Get Down” by Bow Wow, “Hell Yeah” by Ginuwine, and “Bounce Back” by Juvenile.

Birdman released his third studio album Fast Money in 2005, Fast Money spawned the singles “Get Your Shine On” and “Neck of the Woods”, both of which featured Lil Wayne. For Lil Wayne, Birdman produced and performed on tracks on Tha Carter and Tha Carter II.

Images:
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Name: Soulja Boy
SortName: Soulja Boy
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Overview:
DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), better known by his stage name Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, or simply Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur.
In September 2007, his single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was initially self-published on the internet, and it later became a number-one hit in the United States for seven non-consecutive weeks starting in September 2007. On August 17 Way was listed at #18 on the Forbes list of Hip-Hop Cash Kings of 2010 earning $7 million for that year.

Way has currently released three studio albums and one independent album: his debut studio album Souljaboytellem.com (2007) was certified platinum by the RIAA. However, his next two albums, iSouljaBoyTellem (2008) and The DeAndre Way (2010) did not match the commercial success of his debut, the latter only selling 100,000 copies, despite the success of several singles across both albums, such as "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" and "Turn My Swag On" (iSouljaBoyTellem) and "Pretty Boy Swag" (The DeAndre Way). This was mainly due to negotiation problems with Interscope Records which meant a limited amount of records were made available to the public.

As of 2011, Way has confirmed he is working on his fourth studio album, entitled Promise, which will be released in 2013.

Images:
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Name: DJ Khaled
SortName: DJ Khaled
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Overview:
Khaled Bin Abdul Khaled (born November 26, 1975), better known by his stage name DJ Khaled, is an American record producer, radio personality, DJ & record label executive. He is a radio host for the Miami-based urban music radio station WEDR and the DJ for the hip hop group Terror Squad. In 2006, Khaled released his debut album Listennn... the Album. He went on to release We the Best (2007), We Global (2008), Victory (2010), and We the Best Forever (2011). In 2009, Khaled became the president of record label Def Jam South.
Khaled was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is of Palestinian descent and lives in Sunny Isles, Florida. Currently, he hosts the weeknight program TakeOver on Miami-based urban music radio station WEDR with fellow host K. Foxx; Khaled states that he has worked for the station professionally since 2003. Early in his career he dj'd for a south Florida regional station Power 96.5 FM. In 1998, Khaled worked as a "sidekick" for Miami rapper Luther Campbell for Campbell's Friday night WEDR radio show The Luke Show. In his albums, Khaled usually provides "shoutouts" that assert his representation of "the ghetto" and urges people to listen. From 2004 to 2006, Khaled assisted in the production of the hip-hop albums Real Talk by Fabolous, True Story by Terror Squad, All or Nothing by Fat Joe, and Me, Myself, & I by Fat Joe. Many of DJ Khaled's songs are known to entice the listener by hip hop chanting his name before the song starts. Khaled represents the Kendall area of Miami. He is currently engaged to Nicole Tuck.

Images:
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Name: Mike Jones
SortName: Mike Jones
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Overview:
Michael "Mike" Jones (born January 6, 1981) is an American hip hop artist, who initially was affiliated with the record label Swishahouse, then left to be the owner of his own label Ice Age Entertainment. Before he was on Swishahouse he was in a group called Souf Folk and his alias was "Sache". He has released one album with Souf Folk called Country Thuggin in 2003. He is also known for his catchphrase "WHO!, MIKE JONES" & at his concerts handing out shirts with his cell phone number on the back.

Images:
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Name: MJG
Overview: Marlon James "MJG" Goodman (born 1971) is a member of the rap duo 8Ball & MJG.
SortName: MJG
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Images:
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Name: David Banner
SortName: David Banner
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Overview:
David Banner is an African American rapper, hip hop music record producer, record label executive, and philanthropist.

Prior to having a solo career, Banner was part of the rap duo Crooked Lettaz which released an album called Grey Skies in 1999. Banner then released his first solo album called Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1 in 2000. The album managed to sell over 10,000 copies in his hometown alone despite having little record label backing.

David Banner is well known for his many contributions to his local community of Jackson, Mississippi as well as Mississippi and the entire Gulf Coast region. In Jackson he has volunteered with such community organizations as Stewpot Ministries. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 he started the non-profit organization Heal the Hood which provided a range of services to victims of Hurricane Katrina ranging from reuniting family members separated by the storm to dispensing food to the various devestated communities of the Gulf Coast. A large benefit concert for Heal the Hood was held on September 17, 2005 at Philips Arena in Atlanta. The concert had performances from myriad recording artists, mostly from Atlanta, from Lil Jon to 112, Busta Rhymes to Lyfe Jennings. He was also involved in similar benefit concerts in Mississippi and New York.

In addition to these efforts Banner has given tens of thousands of dollars to college scholarships for minorities.

Images:
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Name: Sean Kingston
SortName: Sean Kingston
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Overview:
Kisean Anderson (born February 3, 1990), better known by his stage name Sean Kingston, is a Jamaican American rapper, singer and songwriter. He pursued a music career and debuted in 2007 with the album Sean Kingston. Kingston was born on February 3, 1990, in Miami, Florida and moved to Kingston, Jamaica when he was six. He attended high school in Ocho Rios. His grandfather was the noted Jamaican reggae producer Lawrence Lindo, who worked under the stage name Jack Ruby. At age 11, Kingston spent 3 weeks in jail for burglary, and Kingston lived in a car while his mother was incarcerated for identity theft. Sean Kingston was discovered through MySpace by Tommy Rotem at Beluga Heights, and signed to the label in a partnership deal with Sony. Beluga is a label notable for its focus on discovering and developing artists. In an interview with HitQuarters label head and producer J.R. Rotem described this process with regards to Kingston: In a venture between Epic Records and Koch Records, Kingston recorded and released the single "Beautiful Girls" in May 2007. The single, based on the bass line and lyrical "association" of the 1961 hit "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King, reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and topped the UK Singles Chart along with many other international charts. Similarly, the song "Me Love" samples the main hook out Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er", from their 1973 album Houses of the Holy. The song also debuted at number one in Australia, where it knocked off Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry", which had been at number one for nine weeks. The song stayed on the Canadian Hot 100 number one spot for over six weeks before getting knocked down to third place by the Plain White T's. "Beautiful Girls" remained at number one in Canada longer than any other song in 2007. In 2007, Kingston was the opening act for Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape Tour and for select dates on Beyoncé's The Beyoncé Experience Tour. In 2008, he was one of the opening acts for the Australian leg of Kelly Clarkson's My December Tour. Since Sean is a Jamaican singer, he got his stage name "Kingston" from the capital of Jamaica called Kingston, Jamaica.

Images:
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Name: Killer Mike
SortName: Killer Mike
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Overview:
Michael Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, signed to Grind Time Official through the SMC/Fontana Distribution. He made his debut on "Snappin' and Trappin'" on OutKast's 2000 LP Stankonia, and also appeared on the Grammy-winning song, "The Whole World", the single from OutKast's greatest hits album Big Boi and Dre Present...OutKast. He was featured in the movies 20 Funerals, Idlewild, and ATL.

In the mid-90s, Killer Mike briefly attended Morehouse College, where he met producers The Beat Bullies and eventually Big Boi of OutKast. His music debut was a feature appearance on OutKast's "Snappin' & Trappin'" from the 2000 album Stankonia, followed by their 2001 single "The Whole World" and several other features including "Poppin' Tags" from Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2.

Killer Mike released his debut album, Monster, in 2003. The album's lead single was "Akshon (Yeah!)", which featured OutKast on guest vocals, and was included on the soundtrack to the 2004 version of EA Sports popular video game Madden NFL. He even made a Madden '04 remix of "Akshon (Yeah!)" for the game. The album's second single was "A.D.I.D.A.S.", featuring Big Boi and Sleepy Brown, which peaked at #60 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is Killer Mike's highest charting single to date as a lead artist. The song's title was an acronym for "All day I dream about sex". Following the release of his own material, he appeared on "Flip Flop Rock" and "Bust" on the Speakerboxx half of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. He also appeared on "Southern Takeover" with Pastor Troy on Chamillionaire's CD The Sound of Revenge. Killer Mike appeared on the song "Never Scared" by fellow rapper Bone Crusher, also with T.I., from AttenCHUN! It peaked at #26 on the Hot 100, becoming Mike's first top 40 hit. The song was also used on the Madden NFL 04 game and even by the Atlanta Braves for their 2003 season. His second album Ghetto Extraordinary has had its release date pushed back several times due to disputes between Big Boi and Sony Records.

Images:
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Name: DJ Unk
SortName: DJ Unk
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Overview:
Anthony "DJ Unk" Platt, whose worldwide success includes smash hits like "Walk It Out" and "2 Step", is an Atlanta native who began spinning records in 1998 at the age of seventeen. After meeting DJ Jelly and DJ Montay Unk joined their entourage, the Southern Style DJs, and performed for high school parties, proms, pep rallies, and other events around the state of Georgia. In 2000 Big Oomp signed Unk to his label, Big Oomp Records.  Unk's debut album Beat'n Down Yo Block! sold more than two-hundred thousand copies and soared to number 21 on Billboard's top R&B albums of 2006. "Walk It Out" and "2 Step" became international phenomenons that rocked the hip-hop, R&B, and rap charts for multiple weeks. "Walk It Out" was certified Platinum and peaked at number 2 while "2 Step" was certified Gold. The success of Beat'n Down Yo Block! scored Unk a collaboration with Three 6 Mafia on their 2008 hit "I'd Rather" which led to additional collaborations with superstars like T-Pain, Soulja Boy, Sean Kingston, E40, Jim Jones, Ray J, and Andre 3000. In November 2008, Unk released his sophomore album, 2econd Season, and created a track titled "In Yo Face" that was featured on the NBA 2k9 video game trailer.  In August 2009, Unk suffered a heart attack, which led him to some pretty drastic changes in his life. In a March 2010 interview with XXL, Unk shared more about the stress that led up to his heart attack:  "It comes from not exercising, from not eating right. Basically man, I work hard everyday. Everything I do every day I try to make something happen in my household. I constantly be on the go, I constantly be on airplanes, in different weather and you know it just took a toll on me. It was stress...I removed all the [negative stuff]. I'm blessed to be as booked for concerts and hosting and everything. I enjoy myself but I've calmed down on the drinking, on the beer, the smoking...I substituted that with fruits, base foods like good salmon, just healthy things. Whenever I go out, I still enjoy myself like before. I have a drink or two before I hit the stage. I just don't go ham like I did before; everything was so fast. Instead of praying once like before, I go twice a day...It's a blessing to be here. I've been on the road since 2006 and at this age--I'm 28 right now--a lot of people don't get to see 28. A lot of people don't get to see 15, 10, some babies. It's a blessing for me to celebrate [another] birthday. I had some medical issues going on from not eating the right food and that just come from when I stopped taking care of myself. I got to get healthy not just for my sake, but also for my kids and for my wife."  Since recovering from his heart attack, Unk has signed with a new label Nimbus Universal which has its distribution through the executive music group Fontana brand. Nimbus Universal, LLC CEO Robert Thorn III stated "We are happy to have Dj Unk and his "Itsago" brand on board with us and we will be aiming for success with our future releases". Dj Unk has plans to come back to a trending lane in late 2012 and is hard at work on brand new tracks for his 2013 release REVAMP. In the meantime, Unk has nothing but positive thoughts for the future:  "I love my job. I love my beginning. I don't know what my end is. But I love DJ-ing. I always love to rock a crowd. But I also love being on the stage and being right there with the fans. I'd love to expand my career as far as learning production. So it's all a learning experience for me. I don't want to drop nothing I'm doing. I want to learn more and continue pushing forward."

Images:
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Name: Ace Hood
SortName: Ace Hood
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Overview:
Antoine McColister (born May 11, 1988), better known by his stage name Ace Hood, is an American rapper. He was born in Port St. Lucie, Florida and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida. In 2008, he graduated from Deerfield Beach High School in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He is signed to DJ Khaled's label We the Best Music Group and Cash Money Records, and was formerly signed to Def Jam Recordings. His song "Top of the World", from his debut studio album Gutta, was featured in the basketball simulation game, NBA 2K10. Ace Hood was born in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on May 11, 1988 and was raised by his mother and younger cousin Ty Barton, Jr. in Deerfield Beach, part of Broward County. He attended Deerfield Beach High School. Following a football injury in the 10th grade, and after realizing he wouldn't be able to go pro, the Broward County native began to seriously consider rapping as a career. So Hood teamed up with a local group called Dollaz & Dealz and released a single titled "M.O.E." in 2006. He also began promoting himself via open mic events and talent shows around town.

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Name: Rocko
SortName: Rocko
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Overview:
2 Different Rocko's Rocko is a Rap Artist. Rocko is a Pop Artist.    Rocko (born Rodney Hill, Jr.) is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. Signed to So So Def/Island Urban Music through his own Rocky Road Records imprint, Rocko's first single, "Umma Do Me", was released in late 2007. His album, Self-Made, was released on March 18, 2008.  Outside of his music career, Rocko is the former fiance' of R&B singer Monica, with whom he has two children.


Name: R. Kelly
SortName: R. Kelly
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Overview:
Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Often referred to as the King of R&B, Kelly is recognized as one of the most successful R&B artists of all-time. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play. He is known for a collection of major hit singles including "Bump n' Grind", "Your Body's Callin'", "I Believe I Can Fly", "Gotham City", "Ignition (Remix)", "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time", "The World's Greatest", "I'm a Flirt", and the hip-hopera "Trapped in the Closet". In 1998, Kelly won three Grammy Awards for "I Believe I Can Fly".
Kelly has written, produced, and remixed songs for many artists including The Winans, The Isley Brothers, Charlie Wilson, Quincy Jones, K-Ci & JoJo, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Hi-Five, Nivea, Ciara, Mary J. Blige, Luther Vandross, Gerald LeVert, Raheem DeVaughn, Ruben Studdard, Jaheim, Kelly Price, Tamia, Maxwell, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Usher, B2K, Twista, Tyrese, Jennifer Lopez, Trey Songz, and others in the U.S. and abroad.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), has recognized R. Kelly as one of the best-selling music artists in the United States with 38.5 million albums sold as well as only the fifth Black artist to crack the top 50 of the same list. In March 2011, R. Kelly was named the most successful R&B artist of the last 25 years by Billboard. Kelly has released 10 studio albums, sold 38.5 million albums in the U.S., 15 million singles, and over 55 million albums worldwide making him the most successful R&B male artist of 1990s.

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Name: Rich Boy
SortName: Rich Boy
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Overview:
Maurice Richards (born September 2, 1983), better known by his stage name Rich Boy, is a rapper from Mobile, Alabama. He is best known for the hit single "Throw Some D's". His self-titled debut album was released in early 2007. Richards dropped out of his studies of mechanical engineering at Tuskegee University in order to concentrate on trying to rap. Rich Boy signed a contract with Zone 4 through Interscope Records and started to work on his debut album. In the meantime, he appeared one of Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace compilations and on a few mix tapes, such as Comeback Season by Canadian rapper Drake and Da Bottom, Vol. 5 by DJ Ideal and Jermaine Dupri.

Images:
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Name: Swizz Beatz
SortName: Swizz Beatz
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Overview:
Kasseem David Dean (born September 13, 1978), better known by his stage name Swizz Beatz, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer from New York City. Beginning his career in music as a disc jockey, Swizz Beatz is now also a creative director, fashion designer and painter. At the age of 16, he gained recognition in the hip hop community through his friendship with East Coast rapper DMX. He also found a protégé in Philadelphia-based rapper Cassidy, who helped Dean launch his label, Full Surface Records.

About.com ranked him #27 on its list of the "Top 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Producers," while The Source placed him on its list of the 20 greatest producers in the magazine's 20-year history. Renowned hip hop artist Kanye West, called him "the best rap producer of all time." He is married to American R&B singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, with whom he has one child. He has also fathered three other children, including one with ex-wife American R&B singer-songwriter Mashonda and another with English singer Jahna Sebastian.

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Name: Young Buck
SortName: Young Buck
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Overview:
David Darnell Brown, also known as Young Buck, is an American rapper, actor, and producer. Buck is a former member of the hip hop groups UTP Playas & G-Unit. He currently resides as president of his own record label, Ca$hville Records. As of August 6, 2012 Young Buck is serving 18 months in Yazoo City Medium Security Federal Prison for gun possession. His release date is scheduled for November 26, 2013.
Around the age of twelve, Brown began rapping because he was inspired by a Miami friend named Clay Cole. Jealous of his friend's talent, he wanted to beat him no matter what he had to give up. At the same time Clay Cole moved to Tallahassee in Florida, Brown began recording in a real studio. Shortly thereafter, he was given an opportunity to perform for Brian "Baby" Williams, co-founder of Cash Money Records. After several years on and off of Cash Money Records, Brown and fellow rapper Juvenile decided to leave the label for good in 2000 and go to UTP Records, where Brown stayed until 2003. One of his early appearances was on the song "Memphis," where he was featured along with Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat, and other southern rappers. His deal with UTP later led to a meeting with New York rapper 50 Cent, who later signed him to G-Unit Records, under Interscope Records.
Young Buck would get his first major deal with Cash Money Records in 1995 when he was given an opportunity to perform to Brian "Baby" Williams, co-founder of Cash Money. Buck Soon after would tour with Birdman on the road and do several shows together. After several years on and off of Cash Money Records, David Brown and fellow rapper Juvenile decided to leave the label for good in 2000 where he would join Juvenile's record label UTP Records and the rap group UTP Playas.
In late 2011 it was rumoured that Young Buck was close to resigning with Cash Money again but the deal crumbled when the Judge in Bucks bankruptcy case decided to switch the Nashville rappers case from a reorganization to a liquidation was frustrating the multi-platinum rapper's attempts to sign with Cash Money Records and end a contract dispute with G-Unit Records that has stifled his career since 2008. Judge George C. Paine II signed an order converting the case from Chapter 11 reorganization to Chapter 7 liquidation on Wednesday December 21, 2011 and Buck, whose real name is David Darnell Brown, stood to lose more than his shirt. The trustee administering his estate has said she plans to sell the trademarked "Young Buck" moniker itself along with other assets. However on January 9, 2012 Cash Money Records CEO Birdman stepped forward to address the rumors and speculation suggesting Tennessee rapper Young Buck and West Coast hip-hop artist Lil B are on the verge of joining his team. While he admits both artists have his respect, Birdman said there is no truth to the speculation, stating "Both of them is two of the little homies I have the utmost respect for," he said. "I don't know Lil B's situation. I don't know Buck's situation. I'm friends to both of them. If the opportunity ever came, I would love to work with both of them. I know Buck is in a situation. I got love and respect for both of them, but they never came across the menu yet -- I spoke with Buck a few times, he's been a friend of the family. But it ain't came to none of that." 
After leaving Cash Money in 2000, Young Buck joined UTP Records and the rap group UTP Playas. His deal with UTP later led to a meeting with New York rapper 50 Cent who later signed Buck to G-Unit Records, under Interscope Records. Buck would release 2 albums Born To Be A Thug & The Compilation with UTP before leaving the label and rap group in 2003 to join 50 Cent's record label G-Unit Records and the rap group G-Unit.
After leaving UTP Records in 2003, Young Buck would link up with up and coming rap titan 50 Cent who was already making waves with his outfit G-Unit. Looking to broaden his empire 50 Cent was quick to sign Young Buck to his G-Unit imprint and also welcome his as one of the newest members of the rap group G-Unit.
Young Buck would first begin his career with G-Unit Records in 2003 when the rap group G-Unit released their first album Beg for Mercy. As the album was recorded, Tony Yayo was sentenced to jail on charges of gun possession, and so makes only two appearances on the entire record, on the tracks "Groupie Love" and "I Smell Pussy". His image is seen on the brick wall of the album cover because he could not be photographed due to the jail sentence. At the time of the album's release, rapper The Game was put in G-Unit therefore he is not photographed nor does he make an appearance on the album. He does, however, make cameos in the videos for Stunt 101, Wanna Get To Know You, and Poppin' Them Thangs. He was further mentioned in Poppin' Them Thangs when Young Buck states "You ain't no Crip like Snoop you ain't no Blood like Game". In its first week of sales, Beg for Mercy sold 377,000 copies, placing third behind Tupac Shakur's eighth posthumous release, Tupac: Resurrection, which moved 430,000 albums, and Jay-Z's The Black Album, which sold 463,263 copies. It sold 327,000 copies in its second week to peak at number 2 on the Billboard 200, and 193,000 in its third week. It has now sold 2.7 million units in the U.S. and over 6 million copies worldwide. It has been certified 2× platinum by the RIAA.
On August 24, 2004 Young Buck would release his G-Unit Records debut album Straight Outta Cashville, The album's title alludes to the N.W.A. album Straight Outta Compton and is a neologism for Nashville (his hometown). The singles from this album include "Let Me In", "Shorty Wanna Ride", and "Look at Me Now". It features a lot of rappers outside of G-Unit such as Lil' Flip, David Banner, D-Tay, Ludacris, Game, Stat Quo and production from Lil Jon, Kon Artis, and more. The album received very little promotion after November because of the VIBE award incident, after which Young Buck was arrested for assault. Though the case was dropped it had been four months since Young Buck himself had promoted the album. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with about 261,000 copies sold, in the first week, and has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
Following his debut album Buck would join forces with the rest of the G-Unit roster at the time to release a collaboration album Get Rich or Die Tryin' in 2005, soon after Bucks second album Buck The World in 2007 would follow. Before the departure of Young Buck the highly publicised feud between G Unit and their former west coast counterpart Game (rapper) had split the fanbase of the outfit in two with many fans taking sides with the Compton native. As the feud between G Unit and Young Buck was simmering behind the scenes 50 Cent released a phone call he had taped between him and Young Buck in which an emotional Buck was heard crying and asking 50 Cent for help and advice. Buck would take this personal and release several tracks towards 50 Cent and G-Unit. Buck is still signed and legally obligated to release a studio album via G-Unit Records.

In August 2012 Young Buck stated in an interview with XXL he was no longer signed to G-Unit Records and he would be a free agent when he is released fom prison.
After Young Buck was dismissed from the group for multiple reasons, he released numerous tracks attacking 50 Cent, G-Unit and their associates. 50 Cent and G-Unit also responded with many tracks, including one particular instance in which 50 Cent released a phone call he had recorded with Young Buck, which featured the Tennessee native weeping and apologizing for numerous things. After this happened, Young Buck responded, stating that the call was a fake, that happened one year prior to its release, and claimed that only police record phone calls.
After a lengthy battle between Young Buck and his former G-Unit comrades, the feud seemed to settle down, with Young Buck stating that he owed one more album for G-Unit Records which would be released in 2009, then titled The Rehab. In other interviews, he's stated that he does not have a problem with 50 Cent or G-Unit anymore, but is currently doing his "own thing". He also stated that although he's still signed to G-Unit Records, he's trying to get out of the contract, and he's no longer signed to Interscope.
On September 13, 2010 an interview with Shade 45 radio host Angela Yee, 50 Cent stated that Young Buck is still signed to G-Unit Records.
Brown filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in August 2010, shortly after an IRS raid on his home. His bankruptcy lawyer later told The City Paper that he was planning to sue Curtis Jackson (50 Cent) and other parties over the record contract dispute.
The IRS made plans to auction off Young Buck's seized property on October 28, 2010, but his legal counsel filed suit to halt the sale, while simultaneously re-filing a revised bankruptcy petition that no longer referenced a $5 million legal claim against 50 Cent and other parties associated with G Unit.
In the lawsuit, viewable at this link, Young Buck said the studio equipment taken in the raid was "directly tied to" his "ability to generate income in order to reorganize the estate." He stated that the seizure of property that belonged to his children had "created great stress in the home" and "within the common law marriage of the debtor plaintiff." He told the court he needed to get back the property belonging to the family.

Young Buck's attorney was able to convince the court that he would be selling real estate worth $638,500 to begin paying the back taxes due. At a hearing on October 26, 2010, plans for the IRS auction were at least temporarily stopped. Young Buck announced the outcome with a Tweet:

Young Buck was under Chapter 7, Young Buck’s assets were to be sold and distributed among his creditors.
On July 25 and 26, a public auction is set to be held at the estate that Young Buck owns. Property to be sold includes Watches, a 50 Cent Plaque, Artwork, a soda machine, his studio equipment, and more.
Early Sunday morning on March 4, 2012, Young Buck was targeted in a drive-by shooting. According to Nashville police, via WSMV-TV Channel 4, at approximately 3:30 am, a white Chevrolet Tahoe crept past the rapper's SUV and opened fire, hitting the vehicle 11 times. Miraculously, Buck, who was back in his hometown to work on new music, wasn't injured. Police said all parties involved in the argument left the club at the same time.
After a couple of days of silence, Buck took to his Twitter to address the situation. “We all go through things in life,” the former G-Unit star tweeted. “The things I’m experiencing are Truly making me a Better and Stronger man. #GodisGood.”
According to reports, the former G-Unit MC is looking at an 18-month prison stint for gun possession. The Tennessee rap star has agreed to a plea deal with Nashville prosecutors that will land him behind bars for a year and half, TMZ reported on Tuesday (May 22). A judge signed off on the plea, but Buck won't be sentenced formally until July 13, 2012.

After an IRS raid on Buck's Nashville home in 2010, authorities found a .40 caliber Glock 22 as well as ammunition. The raid followed reports that the rapper had an outstanding $300,000 tax debt, and because he's a convicted felon, Buck is prohibited from possessing any firearms. Back in 2005, he pleaded no contest to assault with a chance to produce bodily injury after he stabbed a man while trying to defend Dr. Dre at the 2004 Vibe Awards.
On July 13, 2012 David Brown was sentenced to 18 months in prison on weapon charges, a sentence that he began on August 6, 2012. Until then Buck had remained at his Nashville home on House Arrest with a monitoring bracelet strapped around his ankle. He is currently serving his 18 months in Yazoo City Medium Security Federal Prison in Southern Mississippi.
On November 15, 2004, Jimmy James Johnson approached Dr. Dre at the VIBE Awards and reportedly asked for an autograph before Dr. Dre was about to go on stage. After Dr. Dre declined, Johnson punched him in the back of the head before running towards the nearest exit. A brawl ensued with several uniformed police officers attempting to break up the fight. Chairs were thrown, and it was alleged that Young Buck stabbed Johnson in the chest with a knife. After video evidence was uncovered from the awards ceremony, the Santa Monica Police Department issued an arrest warrant for him. In a preliminary hearing, it was ruled that there was enough evidence to proceed with a jury trial. However, in December 2005, a deal was reportedly struck that would see Young Buck avoid trial.
After The Game was kicked out of G-Unit allegedly for being disloyal, Young Buck as well as new West Coast G-Unit act rapper Spider Loc who had signed to G-Unit Records in September 2004, called him to task for dissing the group and label. The Game then released a track entitled "240 Bars" which insulted both Spider Loc and Young Buck. Young Buck then released a track called "The Real Bitch Boy", which featured Spider Loc and used a beat from The Game's track, "Where I'm from". In the song, Young Buck talks about how he did not even know The Game when he mentions The Game's name on "Poppin' Them Thangs". Also, Young Buck talks about The Game being a male stripper and also how 50 Cent helped The Game to be successful with his album The Documentary.

The feud has continued to escalate, with there being an exchange of many tracks. In February 2007, The Game and Young Buck got into a non-physical altercation at a club, during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas. The last time that they were seen together was when The Game was part of G-Unit.
After being dismissed from G-Unit, Young Buck appeared on a remix to The Game's song Game's Pain, as well as appearing in the music video to the song My Life, which featured another former rival, Lil Wayne. A mixtape by The Game and Young Buck was also confirmed, called "Worth More Than 50 Cents".
Young Buck released a song featuring Tony Yayo called "Off Parole" which insulted Lil Wayne. Young Buck said that Lil Wayne could not be angry, because Young Buck spoke the truth. Young Buck also said "You think you got a problem with Juve and B.G.; you'll have a true problem with me", referring to the Cash Money-Juvenile/B.G feud.
One of the reasons 50 Cent stated he was dismissing Young Buck was what he called "inconsistent behavior" which included appearing on stage with Lil Wayne, then seemingly dissing him on records with G-Unit. After he was dismissed, Young Buck appeared in the music video "My Life" by The Game, which featured Lil Wayne in the vocals.
As of 2009 Buck and Wayne have squashed their beef and also linked up to record a track "Up's and Down's" for Young Buck's Back On My Buck Shit mixtape.
During an interview on Rap City, DJ Khaled was asked to choose three classics out of a total of eight albums. He chose every album except Get Rich or Die Tryin'. DJ Khaled stated:
I'm all about unity, but if you're not down with unity, I can't help you with that.
In response, Young Buck released a track entitled "Personal (Unity)" towards DJ Khaled and Terror Squad. In the song, Young Buck refers to many people on DJ Khaled's second album, We the Best.

During a "TRL" show which 50 Cent was hosting on September 12, 2007 Young Buck repeatedly mocked DJ Khaled by repeatedly shouting "50 we the best. Listennn!" in reference to DJ Khaled’s behaviour, which he exhibited on the same show previously.
Two days later on the same show, 50 Cent was offered the choice of listening to one of his rivals say something about him in a clip from Rap City. He had the choice of Fat Joe, DJ Khaled, Ja Rule, and The Game, and chose Khaled's clip, in which Khaled said he did not consider Get Rich or Die Tryin' a classic.

Young Buck later addressed the issue on the mixtape G-Unit Radio Part 25-Sabrina's Baby Boy. He insults DJ Khaled on multiple tracks.
After numerous rumors of a "beef" within G-Unit, 50 Cent officially dismissed Young Buck from the group, in 2008. He later assured that he was still signed with the label. Numerous slander songs then arose on the internet from both camps, with Young Buck appearing in a music video of former rival The Game.
50 Cent then leaked a taped phone conversation between himself and Young Buck, which showed one of the true reasons for the falling out; 50 Cent was owed money by the Southern rapper. Young Buck later stated the conversation took place over a year before the leak. The two camps have since released a multitude of songs against each other, with the feud settling down by 2009, although on Buck's album The Rehab, he disses 50 on a track titled "Hood Documentary".
In April 2012, after being ousted from the crew back in 2008, Young Buck has entered talks to work with the label. Days after indicating that he would be open to re-teaming with his old crew at G-Unit Records, Young Buck now confirms that he has begun negotiations with the label about making his return. Buck provided the update in a recent interview stating "I'ma be honest with you," he said, "Finally we're at a point where we're having some kind of negotiations with what they're going to be able to do for us at G-Unit." The Nashville, Tennessee native said he was ready to make his return to music, whether as a part of G-Unit or not. "Y’all are gonna be hearing from me," he said. "I don't want to put a timing on it, but the wait is absolutely over, and we're just trying to figure out what's the best situation for us, where I'm gonna go." Buck stated in an interview after a concert in California April 4, 2012. Young Buck's last album was the 2010 independent release The Rehab. It’s been a rough go for Buck since he was expelled from 50’s crew in 2008, he has run into financial troubles and he recently escaped an attempted drive-by shooting in his hometown.

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Name: Lil' Boosie
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Overview:
Torrence Hatch (born November 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Boosie, is an American rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hatch was bestowed the nickname Boosie by his family, and he was raised in southside Baton Rouge. He served time in the Louisiana State Penitentiary from 2009-2014, being sentenced to eight years after pleading guilty to drug charges. He was released early on March 5, 2014. On October 20, 2014 Lil Boosie changed his name to Boosie Badazz. 

Early life:
Hatch was born and raised on W. Garfield St., a poor neighborhood in South Side Baton Rouge (SSB). It was notorious for drugs and violence, a place feared by the general population. Boosie grew up with his mom and dad who nicknamed him after the '70s funk legend, Bootsy Collins. Although being raised by both of his parents was a rarity in his neighborhood, Boosie still struggled with dysfunction inside and outside of his home. His father died when Boosie was young. Boosie started rapping on tracks near when he began high school. Boosie became very involved in basketball to stay off the streets while attending high school and was actually expected to move on to college level basketball, but his involvement with drugs got him expelled from school. After being expelled from school, he rapped. 

Music career:

1998-2001: Camp Life & Youngest of tha Camp:
Boosie became serious about his music, deciding to become a professional rapper. Lil Boosie cousin Young Bleed actually laid the foundation for his career. Bleed introduced Boosie to Baton Rouge rapper C-Loc in the late 1990s. Boosie was mentored by Young Bleed & C-Loc, and joined the group which the two started called Concentration Camp. As the youngest member at the age of only 14 in 1997. The group consists of Young Bleed, C-Loc, Happy Perez, Boo, Max Minelli, J-Von, Lee Tyme & Lucky Knuckles. He eventually debuted on C-Loc's fifth album, 'It's A Gamble' in 2000 under his old alias Boosie and Concentration Camp third studio album Camp III : Thug Brothas in 2000. The departure of Young Bleed from the Camp helped put Lil Boosie in a prime position amongst the group. Alongside C-Loc and Max Minelli, he served as one of the "faces" of the Camp. He recorded his debut album, the aptly-titled 'Youngest of da Camp,' when he was 17 years old. He released Youngest of da Camp, his debut album in 2000 on Camp Life Entertainment. The album quickly gained popularity, and was widely known in Baton Rouge. At the time of this album's recording, Boosie was only 17 years old. The album production was mostly handled by Happy Perez. The album featured C-Loc, Max Minelli & Donkey and more. After the incarceration, Boosie once again turned back to the streets. Ultimately, his behavior led to him also being incarcerated. The album sold 13,000 units. 

2001-2002: Trill Entertainment & For My Thugz:
At this point, Boosie felt as though he was a failure. However, fate lent Boosie a hand, and Boosie had an opportunity to join an up-and-coming record label called Trill Entertainment which was backed by its CEO the late Pimp C of UGK in 2001. Trill signed Boosie and assisted him in bringing his legal issues to an end. Soon after, Trill independently released his debut album For My Thugz as his new alias Lil Boosie in 2002. This release went on to sell over 15,000 copies. As of 2013, the album has sold 90,000 copies, according to Trill Entertainment. The album features Pimp C, Young Bleed, Webbie and more. Lil Boosie would go on to release his first mixtape title Boosie 2002 (Advance). The tape begin with the track I'm Tryin To Fuck featuring Max Minelle. Also with tracks like Never Let Nobody, A Quarter Ounce featuring Pimp C, Life Of Crime, and the club banger If It's Fuck Me... 

2003-2005: Ghetto Stories, Gangsta Muzik & Warner Bros.:
Later in the summer of 2003, Pimp C teamed up Boosie to co-star with one of his label-mates, Webbie, on the album Ghetto Stories. The album also went on to sell well over 15,000 copies. As of 2013, the album has sold 120,000 units. In 2004, Lil Boosie & Webbie released Trill Azz Mixtape Volume 1 which features both of going in over some of the hottest instrumentals. The mixtape starts with Webbie going in over Lil Flip "Game Over" beat on the song "Who They Want." Next is the song "Wanna Be A Gangsta," in which Boosie asks "are you sure you wanna be a gangsta?" The format of this mixtape is: a song from Webbie, followed by a song from Boosie. One of the hardest joints on this entire tape is the song "I'm Ghost" - which features Torrence "Bad Azz" Hatch going in over the instrumental for "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" by Tupac. Other beats that are used on this tape include "I Got 5 On It" by Luniz; "Set It Off" by Juvenile; "Welcome To Atlanta" - which Boosie calls "Welcome To Da Boot;" and "What Happened To That Boy" by Birdman. Lil Boosie released Trill Azz Mixes II which introduce Phat, later known as Lil Phat. The tape has dope tracks like We Don't Play Dat featuring Hatch Boy. He also remix Zapp song Computer Love title Lil Boosie Love. He also remix songs like Thug Mansion, All Eyez On Me, & Dear Mama by 2Pac. And ending the tape with the introducing of Phat freestyling over B.G. single Cash Money Is An Army. Boosie paired up again with Webbie, to release their second compilation album, Gangsta Musik. This is what really gained him popularity. According to Trill, the album sold 320,000 copies. Boosie's talent was now undeniable, and he caught the eye of some Universal Music Group representatives. In 2004 Lil Boosie & South Coast Coalition released Both Sides of the Track. Boosie also released a compilation mixtape title Bad Ass with a few new tracks like Trill Shit. On Trill Shit he start off rapping "I was the youngest and the dumbest on the C.A.M.P. But I had to make a power move cause Big Loc did 3 but now im Triller than ever". It also feature the track I Smoke, I Drank by Body Head Bangerz featuring Boosie and Young Bleed off their debut album Body Head Bangerz: Volume One. January 1, 2005 Boosie teamed up with Lava House Records to release United We Stand, Divided We Fall. He also released Street Code with Pat Lowrenzo. In 2005, Lil Boosie release Bad Ass (Advance) to promote Bad Azz. In late January 2005, Boosie signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. 

2006-2008: Bad Azz and Survival of the Fittest:
In early 2006, Trill released Bad Ass Mixtape Vol.1 as a follow-up to (Bad Ass Advance). The "Bad Azz Mixtape Vol.1" is something that most Boosie fans agree is one of his best pieces of work. He has tracks on there like "Swerve 2," "Platinum," and "Supply Ya Man," which are all piff tracks. On the song "U Got Respect" he talks about how he has earned respect in the rap game. On the following track called "Living Dat Life," he talks about being from the Southside where the murder rate is high. In 2006, Boosie's major label debut album Bad Azz was released. It contained the single "Zoom" featuring Yung Joc. A Bad Azz DVD followed where the rapper explained the death of his father due to drugs and his fight against diabetes.In early December 2006, the mixtape "Streetz Iz Mine" was released by Lil Boosie and DJ Drama (Gangsta Grillz). It features 18 complete tracks of straight up fire from the Louisiana emcee. The entire Boosie mixtape is absolutely bananas, tracks like "Too Much," followed by "U Down To Ride" get the tape off to a hot start. Torrence goes in over Young Jeezy's "Trap Star" on the track "They Dykin." The beat selection for this tape is perfect for the Bad Azz This tape has minimal guest appearances, namely from Webbie (on tracks like "Jealousy" and "Do The Rachett" - which is widely recognized as a street anthem in the south. In 2007, Lil Boosie released Bad Azz Mixtapes Vol.2 Tracks like "I'm Hot," "I Miss U," and one of the biggest bangers of all time entitled "I Know" can be found on Volume 2. In 2007, Boosie & Webbie was on the remix of "Wipe Me Down" by rapper Foxx. It was put on the Trill Entertainment compilation album Survival of the Fittest, which was released in 2007. In 2008 Boosie released Da Beginning Mixtape. At Lil Boosie's 4th Of July Bash party, he passed out his new mixtape, 4th Of July Bash. In December 2008, Lil Boosie released Lil Boosie Presents: Da Click, which features Da Click consist of Hatch Boy, Locco, Quick and Bleek. It also popularized Lil Boosie's career. In 2008, Lil Boosie was featured on the single "Independent" by Webbie and was among several rappers to be featured on "Out Here Grindin" by DJ Khaled. 

2009: Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz & Bad Azz Entertainment:
In March 2009 Boosie released The Return Of Mr. Wipe Me Down as a promotion mixtape to his second major album. The Runners and V-12 produced some of the mixtape. Lil Boosie passed out an untitled mixtape at his July of 4th Bash. Songs from the tape eventually ended up on Da Click: "Street Kingz which was released July 14. In 2009, Lil Boosie released his second major album Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz. The first single from the album, "Better Believe It", featured Webbie and Young Jeezy. Promotional music videos for songs from the album, such as "I'm a Dog" & "Loose as a Goose," were released. Also in 2009, Lil Boosie presented his debut label Bad Azz Entertainment. Lil Boosie released Thug Passion on his Bad Azz Entertainment label in 2009. In the summer (July) of 2009, Lil Boosie and Hurricane Chris released a mixtape titled Category 7: Bad Azz Hurricane. Lil Boosie also released a mixtape titled Untouchables with LoLa Monroe. Lil Boosie also released a mixtape titled The 25th Hour. On an interlude on the mixtape, he speaks on his prison term. 

2010-2012: Incarcerated:
In 2010 Lil Boosie & C-Loc his former CEO release Unbreakable as a Compilation CD. As of 2010, Lil Boosie has announced while he is still in prison on charges of murder and conspiracy, and potentially facing the death penalty, he wants to move forward with his hip hop career. Boosie released his fourth studio album, Incarcerated, on September 28 on Asylum Records. According to MTV News, the project is almost entirely produced by B.J., although Mouse on Tha Track did some work on it as well. Webbie, Foxx and Lil Trill are among the featured guests. Lil Boosie released Gone Til' December in 2010, which is a mixtape album consisting of new music. The 25th Hour tape was originally released in his hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana - but other versions have spread around the internet. The version that he dropped featured songs like "Be Careful" featuring Money Bag$, "I Did You Wrong" feat. Lil Quick, "I Been Icy," "My Children," and "I Ain't Mad At Cha." Other notable guest appearances include: Lil Jas, Hatch Boy, Yung Giga of Bad Azz Entertainment, as well as Lil Trill. There are some other mixtapes floating around the internet with similar titles, so Bad Azz Entertainment released it as Should've Been My Beatz on Amazon, Rhapsody and others. Lil Boosie released 22504 with B.G.. In 2011 Quick release Hit After Hit 3 with Lil Boosie. In 2012 My Brother's Keeeper was released with Money Bagz & Quick. Also Under Investigation was released as a free download on Livemixtapes with Ray Vicks. 

2013-present: name change & Touchdown 2 Cause Hell:
In January 2013 Lil Boosie spoke on his prison sentence and said, 

"I have about 500 songs at the moment. I feel that I'm making the best music I've ever made. The more I go through in life the better my music gets and it's been crazy the last three years. I keep my music heartfelt and stick to making real music. I wouldn't even say it's Hip Hop music. My music is 'reality rap.' Hip Hop music can make you dance and bob your head, but it can't make you cry or touch your heart like reality rap" 

On September 13, 2013 it was reported that judges related to his case agreed to return Lil Boosie, his hard drives and his computers. The equipment contains a lot of music he had recorded before going to jail, which could result in new music from him prior to his release. Jeff Weiss, who covered Boosie's trial for Rolling Stone, also reported that Boosie's attorneys believe that he will be released within the next five months. On March 10, 2014, Lil Boosie will make his first comments to the public following his release from prison. During the press conference he will reveal his new record deal with Atlantic Records. His first single released would be "Show Da World" with Webbie. In April 2014, he announced that his sixth studio album Touchdown 2 Cause Hell would be released on July 15, 2014, but was later pushed back to September 23, 2014. Lil Boosie was feature on "Wuda Cuda Shuda" by 2 Chainz, "Beat Up the Block" by Dorrough Music, "Face Down" by DJ Mustard, "Beez Like" by Young Jeezy, "Jet Fuel" by T.I., "Made Me" (Remix) by Snootie Wild. On October 21, 2014 it was officially announced from one of his Lil Boosie's representatives that he had officially changed his artist name to Boosie Badazz. 

Bad Azz Entertainment:
Bad Azz Entertainment is a record label founded by Lil Boosie. In 2008, Lil Boosie formed his own group, Da Click, then his imprint Bad Azz Entertainment in 2009. Bad Azz Entertainment also has a subsidiary that was started by Donkey named, Track Life Entertainment. Bad Azz Entertainment also has another subsidiary record label called Bad Azz Music Syndicate that was created by Lil Boosie manager TQ. 

Current artists:
Lil Boosie (CEO), 
Donkey, 
Locco, 
Hatch Boy, 
Money Bagz, 
Quick, 
Big Wayne, 
Young KT, 
Lee Banks, 
Boosie Boyz, 
B Wil, 
Lil Jas, 
TBG
Ree-Up, 
Young Gigga, 
Lil Bubba, 
Banga Griffen, 
Young 7, 
, 

Other ventures:

Author:
Lil Boosie also showed interest in releasing a memoir entitled "The Truth, No Lies". Further announcements have not been made about the book. 

Legal troubles:
On October 22, 2008, Lil Boosie was arrested after East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputies found marijuana and a gun in Boosie's car. Boosie pled guilty to third-degree possession of marijuana on September 22, 2009 and was sentenced to two years in prison the next day. Judge James Moore doubled the sentence on November 10 after finding Boosie had violated probation while awaiting sentencing. Between his plea and sentencing, Boosie was electronically monitored and placed under house arrest. 
On June 17, 2010 Lil Boosie was indicted on federal charges on first-degree murder of Terry Boyd. He also faces charges for three counts of possession with intent to distribute narcotics (Schedule II-Codeine, Schedule I-Ecstasy and Schedule I-Marijuana), three counts of "conspiracy to commit possession with intent to distribute narcotics", and two counts of "conspiracy to introduce contraband into a penal institution". He has stated that he is innocent of these charges. District Attorney Hillar Moore stated that the killing seemed to be "over turf". If convicted, Lil Boosie may face the death penalty. Prosecutors have stated that they believe the rapper may have been involved in at least five other murders. On June 28, Lil Boosie entered a not-guilty plea in a Louisiana court room. While Boosie's defense addressed the fact that the rapper has several ongoing cases, they emphasized that he is not a murderer. 
On November 29, 2011, Lil Boosie was sentenced to eight years in state prison after pleading guilty to the drug charges. 
On May 11, 2012, a jury found Lil Boosie not guilty of the first degree murder. Directly after, in an interview, his label-mate Webbie gave his opinion on what was next for Boosie but Boosie's legal troubles were far from over just yet. 
On December 7, 2012 after it seemed Lil Boosie was to remain in prison for 7 more years due to drug charges, Lil Boosie's attorneys were able to argue that the drug ring charge was a set up. This was because the informant offered to provide codeine syrup for Lil Boosie, an admitted codeine addict, in exchange for his help. 
On December 19, 2013, it was revealed Boosie will be released from prison on August 18, 2014. However, the following day his brother/manager revealed that the release date had been pushed up to February 2014. Then on January 29, 2014, it was confirmed that Boosie had his final hearing on February 13, 2014, and he would be released during the following week. He was then released on March 5, 2014. He will remain on parole until 2018. 

Personal life:
Lil Boosie grew up without a father figure in his life, as his father was murdered while he was a child. His mother is Jacquelyn Hatch. He is married to Walnita Decuir-Hatch. He has 7 children. Iviona, Tarlaysia, Torrence Jr., Toriana, Lyric, Ivy Ray, and MJ Hatch Shortly after Bad Azz was released, Boosie announced that he had diabetes. On March 9, 2013 while incarcerated it was announced that Lil Boosie had earned his GED certificate.

Images:
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Name: 8Ball & MJG
SortName: 8Ball & MJG
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Overview:
8Ball & MJG is an American rap duo from Memphis, Tennessee. The two rappers Premro "8Ball" Smith (born 1972) and Marlon James "MJG" Goodman (born 1971) met at Ridgeway Middle School in 1980.
8Ball & MJG first appeared on the rap scene with KushLove,UncleSam, and Nude Panda. In 1993, they released Comin' Out Hard on Suave House Records, the album was successful commercially as well as critically and established the group as a prominent act in the then emerging Southern Rap scene. Their subsequent albums in the 1990s including 1994's On the Outside Looking In and 1995's On Top of the World further established their status among the South's rappers. On Top of the World was particularly successful, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 200 and being certified Gold. It includes the song "Space Age Pimpin'", 8Ball & MJG's first single to chart, reaching #58 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart and #22 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.
Subsequently, 8Ball & MJG released solo albums: MJG's No More Glory in 1997 and 8Ball's Lost in 1998. They reunited in 1999 to release their fourth album as a group, In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1. One year later they released their fifth group album, Space Age 4 Eva.
In 1996, they appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD America is Dying Slowly alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, and Fat Joe, among many other prominent hip hop artists. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source magazine. In 1997, they appeared on the Nothing To Lose soundtrack.
In the early 2000s, the duo signed with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records. They already had some experience with the label, being featured on the song "The Player Way" from Bad Boy rapper Mase's 1997 album Harlem World. Their first album for Bad Boy, Living Legends, was released in 2004 and certified Gold. Their second Bad Boy album Ridin High was released in March 2007.
Commercially one of the high points of 8Ball & MJG's career was their being featured on Three 6 Mafia's hit song "Stay Fly" in 2005 which peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is Three 6 Mafia's biggest hits. The song was a collaboration between two of Tennessee's most successful rap grond MJG also head their own record labels. 8Ball heads 8 Ways Entertainment (distributed by Koch Entertainment). MJG heads MJG Muzik which features another Memphis duo, Da Volunteers, known for their 2006 single, "What's Yo Favorite Color?", which glorifies their neighborhood of Orange Mound.
In September 2007, 8Ball & MJG signed deals in Sacramento, California with Real Talk Entertainment. On April 1, 2008, 8Ball released Doin' It Big with E.D.I. of the Outlawz. MJG released a solo album, Pimp Tight, on April 29, 2008.
In June 2008, the duo announced that they officially signed onto T.I.'s record label Grand Hustle. Their eighth album as a group and their first on Grand Hustle, Ten Toes Down, was released in May 2010.

Images:
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Name: Jazze Pha
SortName: Jazze Pha
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Overview:
Phalon Alexander, professionally known as Jazze Pha (/ˌdʒæzi ˈfeɪ/ jaz-ee fay), is an American record producer, singer, songwriter and rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Sho'nuff Records, which American R&B singer-songwriter Ciara was signed to.

Jazze Pha was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. His father James Alexander, bassist for the Bar-Kays, an influential group on the Memphis soul scene in the 1960s. His mother is singer Denise Williams (not to be confused with chart-topping R&B and gospel singer Deniece "Niecy" Williams). Pha was named after the late Phalon Jones, another member of the Bar-Kays, who died in the December 10, 1967 plane crash that also killed three other Bar-Kays members and Otis Redding.

Pha is known for announcing "Ladies and gentlemen" or "This is a Jazze Phizzle production!", both at the beginning and, occasionally, at the end of songs on which he is featured. In 1990, Pha was signed to Elektra Records.

Images:
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Name: Jermaine Dupri
SortName: Jermaine Dupri
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Overview:
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ.

Dupri got his start as a dancer for the hip hop group Whodini when he was twelve. He made an appearance in their music video for the song "Freaks Come Out At Night". In 1990, he produced his first act- the female hip hop trio Silk Tymes Leather. He later formed the teen duo Kris Kross (Chris Kelly and Chris Smith) after meeting the boys at a local mall in 1991. The group's first album, Totally Krossed Out, was released in 1992 and went multi-platinum due to their singles "Jump" and "It's a Shame". He established his own record label called So So Def Recordings in 1993. Shortly after, he discovered female R&B group Xscape at a festival in Atlanta and signed them to the label. Their first album, Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha, went platinum. During the same year, on Yo! MTV Raps he met Da Brat through Kris Kross, signed her to his label So So Def Recordings, and released her debut Funkdafied (1994) which went platinum. So So Def Recordings entered into a distribution partnership with Columbia Records in 1993. He contributed to Lil' Kim's 1996 album, Hard Core on the track "Not Tonight".

In 1998, Jermaine Dupri was involved in the release of Destiny's Child's eponymous debut album. Dupri renewed the focus on his own music career and released The Party Continues, the lead single from his debut studio album Jermaine Dupri Presents Life In 1472: The Original Soundtrack. Also that year he met Lil Bow Wow and signed him to So So Def Recordings. The two would later part ways but continued to collaborate on later projects. The deal with Columbia was terminated in 2002, and in 2003 Dupri switched to Arista Records. Jermaine worked on Mariah Carey's Christmas album, Merry Christmas II You, as well as with Weezer and Lil Wayne on the song "Can't Stop Partying." He also collaborated with DJ Chuckie to make a vocal version of the song "Let The Bass Kick".

He contributed to several of Mariah Carey's albums, most notably working with her on 2005's The Emancipation Of Mimi with the smash hit "We Belong Together". It stayed at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, becoming the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men on "One Sweet Day". He has also made a contribution to R&B singer Usher's career, producing many songs from his albums My Way, 8701 and Confessions.

On October 7, 2013, he replaced Randy Jackson as Carey's talent manager.

Images:
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Name: Collie Buddz
SortName: Collie Buddz
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Overview:
Collie Buddz (born Colin Plunket Harper, August 21, 1981) is a reggae artist best known for his single "Come Around". Although born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he was raised in Bermuda. He studied audio engineering at Full Sail University in Orlando, FL. He performed on Shaggy's 2007 album Intoxication on the track "Mad Mad World". In 2008, he performed the song "SOS" on WWE The Music, Vol. 8 as the entrance theme for wrestler Kofi Kingston. He also appeared in a 2009 remix of Kid Cudi's single "Day 'n' Nite". His name is based on slang for cannabis. He launched his own record label 'Harper Digital.' Collie Buddz first critically acclaimed album had strong sales internationally and included strong sales in Canada as well which he credits as his home away from home, which is one of his main inspirations for his album as he wrote all of his songs with the exception of three in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Images:
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Name: Gucci Mane
SortName: Gucci Mane
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Overview:
Radric Davis (born February 12, 1980), better known by his stage name Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He debuted in 2005 with Trap House, followed by Hard to Kill in 2006, Trap-A-Thon, and Back to the Trap House in 2007. In 2009, his second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released. The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted was released in 2010, and is his highest charting album so far. Gucci Mane has released many other mixtapes and independent albums as well. On May 21, 2013 he released his eighth studio album Trap House III.

While serving a six-month jail term for assault in late 2005, Davis was charged with murder, though the charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence. In 2009, he served a year-long county jail sentence for violating probation for his 2005 aggravated assault conviction.

Images:
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Name: Mims
SortName: Mims
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Overview:
Shawn Mims (born March 22, 1981), popularly known as Mims, is an American rapper. 

Biography:
Born into a Jamaican-American family in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, Shawn Mims grew up influenced by the rappers just south of him, in Harlem. Despite the fact that he lost both parents by the time he was 13, Mims focused on music (his mother had given him his first set of DJ equipment shortly before she died) and school to keep himself out of trouble. Though he briefly attended community college, Mims decided if he truly wanted to make it as a rapper he needed to drop out, a move that paid off career-wise: he was soon featured on the song "Love Em All" by Canadian group Baby Blue Soundcrew, which was nominated for Best Video in the 2001 Much Music Awards. "I Did You Wrong" came out in 2003 thanks to help from the Miami-based production team the Blackout Movement, and in 2006 the rapper, who was now going by MIMS, independently released the single "This Is Why I'm Hot." The song did well enough on local radio stations, including New York's Hot 97, to garner attention from major labels, including EMI/Capitol, which released MIMS' full-length debut, Music Is My Savior, in 2007. 

Career:
Mims graduated from Westbury High School (Old Westbury, New York) and was born in Washington Heights, NY. He began spending time in Harlem with Cam'ron as an acquaintance. In 2001, he was discovered by Quincy S/Duq Entertainment and soon after featured on a Canadian compilation entitled Private Party Collectors Edition Vol. 2, by Baby Blue Soundcrew. His guest appearance on the single "Love 'Em All", alongside Choclair, enabled him to be recognized in Canada. The music video was nominated for an MMVA award. This song was never officially released in the United States. Mims also released his own single entitled "L.O.V.E." which was commercially unsuccessful. 
Soon after his recognition in Canada, he would gain connections with Blackout Movement. He would release his first U.S. Single, "I Did You Wrong" gaining modest momentum across the United States. This would not be enough to finalize a legitimate record deal for the artist. In 2006, He began to record tracks for Latin hip hop label Urban Box Office. He decided that it would be in his best interests to structure his own label situation. He would create American King Music alongside business partners Corey Llewellyn, Erik Mendelson, ILLCee, & Gp. Mims is also known for his three songs, "Move", "Like This", and "This Is Why I'm Hot". 
In February 2010 Mims appeared alongside hip-hop legends KRS-One and Redman on a song entitled "How To Be An Emcee 2010". 

Guilt:
For more details on this topic, see Guilt (Mims album).
Mims released his second effort on April 7, 2009, titled "Guilt". In October 2009, "Move (If You Wanna)" became the first official single from Mims' new album, peaking at #63 on the Hot 100 charts. The second single was released on April 7, 2009, entitled "Love Rollercoaster" featuring LeToya Luckett.


Name: Crime Mob
SortName: Crime Mob
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Overview:
Crime Mob was a hip hop/crunk group consisting of six members: M.I.G., Cyco Black, Princess, Lil' Jay, Diamond, and Killa C. They are best known for their songs "Knuck If You Buck" and "Rock Yo Hips".

Killa C ended up getting kicked out of the group before they released their second studio album partly due to his December 2005 conviction on child molestation charges. Diamond left the group to pursue a solo career in 2007. Since going solo she has released several mixtapes is working on her debut solo album. She has also become the group's most prolific member being featured on a variety of songs by high profile artists such as Ludacris's "My Chick Bad" remix and has been nominated for a BET Award in the category of Best Female Hip-Hop Artist in 2011 and 2012. During an interview in 2010, Diamond stated that she would like to work on a new Crime Mob album.

Images:
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Name: Kokane
SortName: Kokane
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Overview:
Kokane (born Jerry Long) is a rapper from Pomona, California and best known for working on the G-funk album Funk Upon A Rhyme and his backup work with Snoop Dogg. He is the son of Motown composer Jerry Long and started his career at Eazy-E's Ruthless Records, co-writing songs for N.W.A and Above the Law. He released his first solo album under the name Who Am I?, probably because "Kokane" was deemed to be offensive, also known for fueding with Dr. Dre and Kurupt, and was a member of the 357 Crip (Westside Mafia) set.

Images:
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Name: Shop Boyz
SortName: Shop Boyz
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Overview:
The Shop Boyz are an Atlanta-based rap group. They are most known for their single "Party Like a Rockstar"'. The group is composed of Demetrius "Meany" Hardin, Richard "Fat" Stevens and Rasheed "Sheed" Hightower. 

Career:
After signing with Universal Republic Records, Shop Boyz began to record their debut album, Rockstar Mentality, which saw them create rock influenced-hip-hop. The album's lead single, "Party Like a Rockstar was released in May 2007 and achieved commercial success, reaching number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also topped US rap charts and charted in the top ten on pop and R&B charts, and went on to become the highest selling ringtone of 2007. With its success, their debut, Rockstar Mentality, was released on June 19, 2007. Although it debuted at 11 on the US Billboard 200, it received a negative reception from critics and became a commercial disappointment, selling fewer than 200,000 copies to date The album's second single, "They Like Me", had a similar fate, as it only charted below the top one hundred on US R&B charts. With the group only achieving minor success, they were eventually dropped by Universal Records. 
In August 2008 Shop Boyz premiered "Up Thru There" as the lead single from their then-untitled second studio album. However, the song failed to gain a release for undisclosed reasons. Despite this, it still managed to chart within the lower region of US R&B charts. Shop Boyz went on to release the collaborative album, Community Service, Vol.2, with rapper, C-Murder, on March 23, 2010, which featured the track. The group independently released an Extended play, entitled Back 2 Finish What We Started, on April 4, 2011.


Name: Lil Boosie
SortName: Lil Boosie
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Overview:
Torrence Hatch (born November 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Boosie, is an American rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hatch was bestowed the nickname Boosie by his family, and he was raised in southside Baton Rouge. He served time in the Louisiana State Penitentiary from 2009-2014, being sentenced to eight years after pleading guilty to drug charges. He was released early on March 5, 2014. On October 20, 2014 Lil Boosie changed his name to Boosie Badazz. 

Early life:
Hatch was born and raised on W. Garfield St., a poor neighborhood in South Side Baton Rouge (SSB). It was notorious for drugs and violence, a place feared by the general population. Boosie grew up with his mom and dad who nicknamed him after the '70s funk legend, Bootsy Collins. Although being raised by both of his parents was a rarity in his neighborhood, Boosie still struggled with dysfunction inside and outside of his home. His father died when Boosie was young. Boosie started rapping on tracks near when he began high school. Boosie became very involved in basketball to stay off the streets while attending high school and was actually expected to move on to college level basketball, but his involvement with drugs got him expelled from school. After being expelled from school, he rapped. 

Music career:

1998-2001: Camp Life & Youngest of tha Camp:
Boosie became serious about his music, deciding to become a professional rapper. Lil Boosie cousin Young Bleed actually laid the foundation for his career. Bleed introduced Boosie to Baton Rouge rapper C-Loc in the late 1990s. Boosie was mentored by Young Bleed & C-Loc, and joined the group which the two started called Concentration Camp. As the youngest member at the age of only 14 in 1997. The group consists of Young Bleed, C-Loc, Happy Perez, Boo, Max Minelli, J-Von, Lee Tyme & Lucky Knuckles. He eventually debuted on C-Loc's fifth album, 'It's A Gamble' in 2000 under his old alias Boosie and Concentration Camp third studio album Camp III : Thug Brothas in 2000. The departure of Young Bleed from the Camp helped put Lil Boosie in a prime position amongst the group. Alongside C-Loc and Max Minelli, he served as one of the "faces" of the Camp. He recorded his debut album, the aptly-titled 'Youngest of da Camp,' when he was 17 years old. He released Youngest of da Camp, his debut album in 2000 on Camp Life Entertainment. The album quickly gained popularity, and was widely known in Baton Rouge. At the time of this album's recording, Boosie was only 17 years old. The album production was mostly handled by Happy Perez. The album featured C-Loc, Max Minelli & Donkey and more. After the incarceration, Boosie once again turned back to the streets. Ultimately, his behavior led to him also being incarcerated. The album sold 13,000 units. 

2001-2002: Trill Entertainment & For My Thugz:
At this point, Boosie felt as though he was a failure. However, fate lent Boosie a hand, and Boosie had an opportunity to join an up-and-coming record label called Trill Entertainment which was backed by its CEO the late Pimp C of UGK in 2001. Trill signed Boosie and assisted him in bringing his legal issues to an end. Soon after, Trill independently released his debut album For My Thugz as his new alias Lil Boosie in 2002. This release went on to sell over 15,000 copies. As of 2013, the album has sold 90,000 copies, according to Trill Entertainment. The album features Pimp C, Young Bleed, Webbie and more. Lil Boosie would go on to release his first mixtape title Boosie 2002 (Advance). The tape begin with the track I'm Tryin To Fuck featuring Max Minelle. Also with tracks like Never Let Nobody, A Quarter Ounce featuring Pimp C, Life Of Crime, and the club banger If It's Fuck Me... 

2003-2005: Ghetto Stories, Gangsta Muzik & Warner Bros.:
Later in the summer of 2003, Pimp C teamed up Boosie to co-star with one of his label-mates, Webbie, on the album Ghetto Stories. The album also went on to sell well over 15,000 copies. As of 2013, the album has sold 120,000 units. In 2004, Lil Boosie & Webbie released Trill Azz Mixtape Volume 1 which features both of going in over some of the hottest instrumentals. The mixtape starts with Webbie going in over Lil Flip "Game Over" beat on the song "Who They Want." Next is the song "Wanna Be A Gangsta," in which Boosie asks "are you sure you wanna be a gangsta?" The format of this mixtape is: a song from Webbie, followed by a song from Boosie. One of the hardest joints on this entire tape is the song "I'm Ghost" - which features Torrence "Bad Azz" Hatch going in over the instrumental for "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" by Tupac. Other beats that are used on this tape include "I Got 5 On It" by Luniz; "Set It Off" by Juvenile; "Welcome To Atlanta" - which Boosie calls "Welcome To Da Boot;" and "What Happened To That Boy" by Birdman. Lil Boosie released Trill Azz Mixes II which introduce Phat, later known as Lil Phat. The tape has dope tracks like We Don't Play Dat featuring Hatch Boy. He also remix Zapp song Computer Love title Lil Boosie Love. He also remix songs like Thug Mansion, All Eyez On Me, & Dear Mama by 2Pac. And ending the tape with the introducing of Phat freestyling over B.G. single Cash Money Is An Army. Boosie paired up again with Webbie, to release their second compilation album, Gangsta Musik. This is what really gained him popularity. According to Trill, the album sold 320,000 copies. Boosie's talent was now undeniable, and he caught the eye of some Universal Music Group representatives. In 2004 Lil Boosie & South Coast Coalition released Both Sides of the Track. Boosie also released a compilation mixtape title Bad Ass with a few new tracks like Trill Shit. On Trill Shit he start off rapping "I was the youngest and the dumbest on the C.A.M.P. But I had to make a power move cause Big Loc did 3 but now im Triller than ever". It also feature the track I Smoke, I Drank by Body Head Bangerz featuring Boosie and Young Bleed off their debut album Body Head Bangerz: Volume One. January 1, 2005 Boosie teamed up with Lava House Records to release United We Stand, Divided We Fall. He also released Street Code with Pat Lowrenzo. In 2005, Lil Boosie release Bad Ass (Advance) to promote Bad Azz. In late January 2005, Boosie signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. 

2006-2008: Bad Azz and Survival of the Fittest:
In early 2006, Trill released Bad Ass Mixtape Vol.1 as a follow-up to (Bad Ass Advance). The "Bad Azz Mixtape Vol.1" is something that most Boosie fans agree is one of his best pieces of work. He has tracks on there like "Swerve 2," "Platinum," and "Supply Ya Man," which are all piff tracks. On the song "U Got Respect" he talks about how he has earned respect in the rap game. On the following track called "Living Dat Life," he talks about being from the Southside where the murder rate is high. In 2006, Boosie's major label debut album Bad Azz was released. It contained the single "Zoom" featuring Yung Joc. A Bad Azz DVD followed where the rapper explained the death of his father due to drugs and his fight against diabetes.In early December 2006, the mixtape "Streetz Iz Mine" was released by Lil Boosie and DJ Drama (Gangsta Grillz). It features 18 complete tracks of straight up fire from the Louisiana emcee. The entire Boosie mixtape is absolutely bananas, tracks like "Too Much," followed by "U Down To Ride" get the tape off to a hot start. Torrence goes in over Young Jeezy's "Trap Star" on the track "They Dykin." The beat selection for this tape is perfect for the Bad Azz This tape has minimal guest appearances, namely from Webbie (on tracks like "Jealousy" and "Do The Rachett" - which is widely recognized as a street anthem in the south. In 2007, Lil Boosie released Bad Azz Mixtapes Vol.2 Tracks like "I'm Hot," "I Miss U," and one of the biggest bangers of all time entitled "I Know" can be found on Volume 2. In 2007, Boosie & Webbie was on the remix of "Wipe Me Down" by rapper Foxx. It was put on the Trill Entertainment compilation album Survival of the Fittest, which was released in 2007. In 2008 Boosie released Da Beginning Mixtape. At Lil Boosie's 4th Of July Bash party, he passed out his new mixtape, 4th Of July Bash. In December 2008, Lil Boosie released Lil Boosie Presents: Da Click, which features Da Click consist of Hatch Boy, Locco, Quick and Bleek. It also popularized Lil Boosie's career. In 2008, Lil Boosie was featured on the single "Independent" by Webbie and was among several rappers to be featured on "Out Here Grindin" by DJ Khaled. 

2009: Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz & Bad Azz Entertainment:
In March 2009 Boosie released The Return Of Mr. Wipe Me Down as a promotion mixtape to his second major album. The Runners and V-12 produced some of the mixtape. Lil Boosie passed out an untitled mixtape at his July of 4th Bash. Songs from the tape eventually ended up on Da Click: "Street Kingz which was released July 14. In 2009, Lil Boosie released his second major album Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz. The first single from the album, "Better Believe It", featured Webbie and Young Jeezy. Promotional music videos for songs from the album, such as "I'm a Dog" & "Loose as a Goose," were released. Also in 2009, Lil Boosie presented his debut label Bad Azz Entertainment. Lil Boosie released Thug Passion on his Bad Azz Entertainment label in 2009. In the summer (July) of 2009, Lil Boosie and Hurricane Chris released a mixtape titled Category 7: Bad Azz Hurricane. Lil Boosie also released a mixtape titled Untouchables with LoLa Monroe. Lil Boosie also released a mixtape titled The 25th Hour. On an interlude on the mixtape, he speaks on his prison term. 

2010-2012: Incarcerated:
In 2010 Lil Boosie & C-Loc his former CEO release Unbreakable as a Compilation CD. As of 2010, Lil Boosie has announced while he is still in prison on charges of murder and conspiracy, and potentially facing the death penalty, he wants to move forward with his hip hop career. Boosie released his fourth studio album, Incarcerated, on September 28 on Asylum Records. According to MTV News, the project is almost entirely produced by B.J., although Mouse on Tha Track did some work on it as well. Webbie, Foxx and Lil Trill are among the featured guests. Lil Boosie released Gone Til' December in 2010, which is a mixtape album consisting of new music. The 25th Hour tape was originally released in his hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana - but other versions have spread around the internet. The version that he dropped featured songs like "Be Careful" featuring Money Bag$, "I Did You Wrong" feat. Lil Quick, "I Been Icy," "My Children," and "I Ain't Mad At Cha." Other notable guest appearances include: Lil Jas, Hatch Boy, Yung Giga of Bad Azz Entertainment, as well as Lil Trill. There are some other mixtapes floating around the internet with similar titles, so Bad Azz Entertainment released it as Should've Been My Beatz on Amazon, Rhapsody and others. Lil Boosie released 22504 with B.G.. In 2011 Quick release Hit After Hit 3 with Lil Boosie. In 2012 My Brother's Keeeper was released with Money Bagz & Quick. Also Under Investigation was released as a free download on Livemixtapes with Ray Vicks. 

2013-present: name change & Touchdown 2 Cause Hell:
In January 2013 Lil Boosie spoke on his prison sentence and said, 

"I have about 500 songs at the moment. I feel that I'm making the best music I've ever made. The more I go through in life the better my music gets and it's been crazy the last three years. I keep my music heartfelt and stick to making real music. I wouldn't even say it's Hip Hop music. My music is 'reality rap.' Hip Hop music can make you dance and bob your head, but it can't make you cry or touch your heart like reality rap" 

On September 13, 2013 it was reported that judges related to his case agreed to return Lil Boosie, his hard drives and his computers. The equipment contains a lot of music he had recorded before going to jail, which could result in new music from him prior to his release. Jeff Weiss, who covered Boosie's trial for Rolling Stone, also reported that Boosie's attorneys believe that he will be released within the next five months. On March 10, 2014, Lil Boosie will make his first comments to the public following his release from prison. During the press conference he will reveal his new record deal with Atlantic Records. His first single released would be "Show Da World" with Webbie. In April 2014, he announced that his sixth studio album Touchdown 2 Cause Hell would be released on July 15, 2014, but was later pushed back to September 23, 2014. Lil Boosie was feature on "Wuda Cuda Shuda" by 2 Chainz, "Beat Up the Block" by Dorrough Music, "Face Down" by DJ Mustard, "Beez Like" by Young Jeezy, "Jet Fuel" by T.I., "Made Me" (Remix) by Snootie Wild. On October 21, 2014 it was officially announced from one of his Lil Boosie's representatives that he had officially changed his artist name to Boosie Badazz. 

Bad Azz Entertainment:
Bad Azz Entertainment is a record label founded by Lil Boosie. In 2008, Lil Boosie formed his own group, Da Click, then his imprint Bad Azz Entertainment in 2009. Bad Azz Entertainment also has a subsidiary that was started by Donkey named, Track Life Entertainment. Bad Azz Entertainment also has another subsidiary record label called Bad Azz Music Syndicate that was created by Lil Boosie manager TQ. 

Current artists:
Lil Boosie (CEO), 
Donkey, 
Locco, 
Hatch Boy, 
Money Bagz, 
Quick, 
Big Wayne, 
Young KT, 
Lee Banks, 
Boosie Boyz, 
B Wil, 
Lil Jas, 
TBG
Ree-Up, 
Young Gigga, 
Lil Bubba, 
Banga Griffen, 
Young 7, 
, 

Other ventures:

Author:
Lil Boosie also showed interest in releasing a memoir entitled "The Truth, No Lies". Further announcements have not been made about the book. 

Legal troubles:
On October 22, 2008, Lil Boosie was arrested after East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputies found marijuana and a gun in Boosie's car. Boosie pled guilty to third-degree possession of marijuana on September 22, 2009 and was sentenced to two years in prison the next day. Judge James Moore doubled the sentence on November 10 after finding Boosie had violated probation while awaiting sentencing. Between his plea and sentencing, Boosie was electronically monitored and placed under house arrest. 
On June 17, 2010 Lil Boosie was indicted on federal charges on first-degree murder of Terry Boyd. He also faces charges for three counts of possession with intent to distribute narcotics (Schedule II-Codeine, Schedule I-Ecstasy and Schedule I-Marijuana), three counts of "conspiracy to commit possession with intent to distribute narcotics", and two counts of "conspiracy to introduce contraband into a penal institution". He has stated that he is innocent of these charges. District Attorney Hillar Moore stated that the killing seemed to be "over turf". If convicted, Lil Boosie may face the death penalty. Prosecutors have stated that they believe the rapper may have been involved in at least five other murders. On June 28, Lil Boosie entered a not-guilty plea in a Louisiana court room. While Boosie's defense addressed the fact that the rapper has several ongoing cases, they emphasized that he is not a murderer. 
On November 29, 2011, Lil Boosie was sentenced to eight years in state prison after pleading guilty to the drug charges. 
On May 11, 2012, a jury found Lil Boosie not guilty of the first degree murder. Directly after, in an interview, his label-mate Webbie gave his opinion on what was next for Boosie but Boosie's legal troubles were far from over just yet. 
On December 7, 2012 after it seemed Lil Boosie was to remain in prison for 7 more years due to drug charges, Lil Boosie's attorneys were able to argue that the drug ring charge was a set up. This was because the informant offered to provide codeine syrup for Lil Boosie, an admitted codeine addict, in exchange for his help. 
On December 19, 2013, it was revealed Boosie will be released from prison on August 18, 2014. However, the following day his brother/manager revealed that the release date had been pushed up to February 2014. Then on January 29, 2014, it was confirmed that Boosie had his final hearing on February 13, 2014, and he would be released during the following week. He was then released on March 5, 2014. He will remain on parole until 2018. 

Personal life:
Lil Boosie grew up without a father figure in his life, as his father was murdered while he was a child. His mother is Jacquelyn Hatch. He is married to Walnita Decuir-Hatch. He has 7 children. Iviona, Tarlaysia, Torrence Jr., Toriana, Lyric, Ivy Ray, and MJ Hatch Shortly after Bad Azz was released, Boosie announced that he had diabetes. On March 9, 2013 while incarcerated it was announced that Lil Boosie had earned his GED certificate.

Images:
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Name: Gorilla Zoe
SortName: Gorilla Zoe
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Overview:
Alonzo Mathis (born November 28, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia), better known by his stage name Gorilla Zoe, is an American rapper and a member of the Southern rap group Boyz N Da Hood. Signed to Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment, his debut solo album, Welcome to the Zoo was released in 2007, and his second album Don't Feed Da Animals was released in March of 2009. Gorilla Zoe appears to have a feud with rapper The Game, dissing him on the track "1 Sluggg". He claims that he made the track because he felt offended by comments that The Game had made on his single "One Blood" about Atlanta's hip-hop scene. Game has never responded to Gorilla Zoe or said his name, but has addressed his reasons for the comment, stating that it was not a diss to Atlanta or the South.

Images:
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Name: Lil Scrappy
SortName: Lil Scrappy
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Overview:
Lil Scrappy (born Darryl Kevin Richardson II on January 20, 1984 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American rapper signed to BME Recordings. He was discovered by producer and performer Lil' Jon while performing at a bar, when a fight broke out during his set in his hometown of Atlanta. Along with labelmates Trillville, Lil' Scrappy was one of the first signings to Lil' Jon's BME Recordings.  Lil Scrappy built a strong reputation and eager following throughout the southeast through mixtapes and the street anthem of 2003 "Head Bussa." During this time, Lil' Jon inked a deal to bring his BME Recordings to Warner Bros. Records as a joint venture partnership. With Lil' Jon's signature production, "Head Bussa" made a strong statement within the radio community, reaching #73 on the Billboard R & B and hip hop chart.  Lil Scrappy has released a dual EP with labelmates Trillville entitled The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Lil' Scrappy and Trillville in February 2004. The album featured production by Lil' Jon. Lil' Scrappy and Trillville had ten tracks each appear on this album.  Lil Scrappy's second single and most commercially successful single to date, "No Problem," reached the top 30 of the Billboard 100 and was top 10 on the R & B and rap charts. Thanks to the success of "No Problem" and Trillville's hits "Some Cut" and "Neva Eva," the joint album reached #3 on the r&b chart and #12 on the Billboard 200 in 2004.  Lil Jon invited Lil' Scrappy to participate on the track "What U Gonna Do" appearing on Lil' Jon's 2004 album Crunk Juice. "What U Gonna Do" was released as a single reaching #20 in the US in late December 2004 and reaching #30 in the UK in February 2005.  Lil Scrappy is currently working on an album "Bred 2 Die Born 2 Live" which will be released in 2006 on BME Recordings/Reprise Records. He is recording several tracks on a studio tour bus during the Anger Management tour, of which he is a featured guest performer.  Rumors of Lil Scrappy working with G-Unit are true, but those of him leaving BME are false. Thus he has appeared on many DJ Whoo Kid mixtapes such as "The Wire" in 2005 on a track called Big Scooby and Lil' Scrappy with Snoop Dogg and on "G-Unit Radio pt.15"'s G-Unit Click (Stack That Paper) the same year.   Lil Scrappy's "Bred 2 die born 2 live " also has appearances from Young Joc, Young Dro, Three 6 Mafia, Lloyd Banks, Young Buc, and 50 cent from G-Unit amongst others.


Name: Trae
SortName: Trae
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Overview:
Trae is a Southern rapper from Houston, Texas. With his cousin Z-Ro, he is a part of the underground rap group Screwed Up Click. Trae and Z-Ro, along with Trae’s other cousin Dougie D, are the founding members of the group Guerilla Maab.

Trae’s trademark is a low, deep, guttural voice. His flow is very fast. In these two areas his style is somewhat reminiscent of Z-Ro’s, as well as that of Flesh-N-Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Trae sometimes, though not always, mixes multiple vocal layers into his songs.

Trae first gained exposure on the Houston rap scene when he appeared on Z-Ro’s album Look What You Did to Me. In 2003, he began his solo career with the album Losing Composure. Same Thing Different Day (2004) and the acclaimed Restless (2006) soon followed. Trae is currently signed to Rap-A-Lot Records.

He was featured in a video called Smash Exclusive: Houston Mic Pass with Lil’ Flip, Chamillionaire, Chingo Bling, Bun B, Short Dawg, Big Hawk, and Mike D. He also appeared on the official remix of Yung Joc’s song “It’s Goin’ Down”, which earned Joc national attention and became one of the biggest mainstream pop hits of 2006.

“Real Talk” was featured on the soundtrack to the video game Madden NFL 07. Trae won an Ozone Award for Patiently Waiting Artist for Texas.

Images:
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Name: Nicole Scherzinger
SortName: Nicole Scherzinger
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Overview:
Der Begriff 'multikulturell' trifft auf diese Dame voll zu. Die hawaiianisch- russisch- philippinisch-stämmige Nicole Elikolani Prescovia Scherzinger erblickt am 29. Juni 1978 in Honolulu das Licht der Welt. Von Anfang an kennt Nicole angeblich nur einen Berufswunsch: Sängerin.

Anders als bei anderen Kinderträumen, die auch solche bleiben, arbeitet dieses Mädchen von Anfang an auf dieses Ziel hin. Vielleicht auch, weil sie einer Entertainer-Familie entstammt, ihre Mutter zum Beispiel tritt als Lead-Hula-Tänzerin in einer polynesischen Show auf. Zunächst muss Nicole sich aber erst einmal mit der Situation in ihrer Schule abfinden.

Kurz vor ihrer Einschulung zieht die Familie nach Louisville, Kentucky, wegen der Versetzung ihres Stiefvaters, eines Soldaten. Für Nicole keine besonders erfreuliche Zeit, denn keiner ihrer Mitschüler sieht so exotisch aus wie sie, wodurch sie bald regelrechte Komplexe entwickelt. "Ich war das hässliche Entlein", erzählt sie Jahre später in Interviews.

Doch sie beschließt, ihre Mitschüler einfach zu ignorieren und statt dessen auf ihren Traum hinzuarbeiten. Singen sei für sie eine angeborene Leidenschaft, man könne fast sagen sie kommunizierte als kleines Mädchen nur in Form von Songs, erinnert Nicole sich. Nebenbei nahm sie Schauspielunterricht und stand zum ersten Mal im Louisville Actors Theater vor einem größerem Publikum auf der Bühne.

Da ihre Eltern ihr keinen Gesangsunterricht bezahlen können, schreibt sie sich als Teenager kurzerhand bei einer Highschool für darstellende Künste ein und setzt diesen Weg auch auf dem Wright State College in Dayton, Ohio fort. Im Hauptfach studiert sie dort Schauspiel, nebenher Gesang und Tanz. So kann man sie in jedem der von der Universität veranstalteten Musicals in der Hauptrolle bewundern, als Thelma Kelly in "Chicago" oder Julie LaVerne in "Show Boat".

Das Studium finanziert sie sich mit kleineren Modeljobs, bis ihr Travis Meeks' Rockband Days Of The New ins Auge fällt, die eine Sängerin sucht. Nicole, sofort Feuer und Flamme nimmt zusammen mit der Truppe ein paar Demos auf, konzentriert sich danach aber wieder auf ihr Studium. Als Produzent Scott Litt die Aufnahmen zu Ohren kommen, zitiert er sie sofort nach Los Angeles um mit der Band ein zweites Album aufzunehmen. Auf die Frage, ob sie denn eine College-Pause einlegen könnte, um mit der Truppe auf Tour zu gehen, antwortet Nicole mit einem begeisterten: "Ja!".

Danach beginnt sie, an ihrer eigenen Musik zu arbeiten, bis ihr eine kleine Notiz über ein "Popstars" Casting von WB Networks ins Auge springt. Sofort macht sie sich auf den Weg nach Chicago und reiht sich dort bereits um fünf Uhr morgens in die Schlange der Kandidaten ein. Der Aufwand lohnt sich - Nicole findet sich neben vier weiteren Mädels als Eden's Crush wieder. Das gleichnamige Album landet 2001 in den US-Top 10.

Innerhalb des nächsten Jahres folgen Touren mit N'Sync und Jessica Simpson, bis Eden's Crush sich 2002 wieder auflösen. Wie einige Klatschblätter munkeln, gibt es Streitereien zwischen den anderen Girls und Nicole. Die sagt dazu hinterher bloß: "Es war hart in einer Gruppe, die irgendwie zusammengestellt wurde und nicht füreinander bestimmt war". Doch jetzt hat sie erst Recht Blut geleckt und zieht nach dem Ende der Band nach Los Angeles, mit dem festen Vorsatz, einen Plattenvertrag zu ergattern.

Um die Zeit bis dahin zu überbrücken tritt sie zum ersten Mal in kleinen Rollen auf der Leinwand in Erscheinung, bis eine Freundin sie auf ein Casting der Pussycat Dolls aufmerksam macht. Das Tanzensemble sucht eine Sängerin, und obwohl Nicole zunächst keine Ahnung hat, worum es dabei geht, packt sie die Neugier und sie geht zum Vorsingen. Bereits bei den Verhandlungen um einen Vertrag bei der Gruppe, stellt Nicole klar: "Nun, ihr werdet wohl um einen zweiten Vertrag, einen Solo-Deal nicht herumkommen".

So viel Selbstbewusstsein zahlt sich aus, doch zunächst geht es 2005 mit den Pussycat Dolls ins Studio um "PCD" aufzunehmen. Das Album entwickelt sich zum Riesenhit, und das nächste Jahr verbringen die Girls mit Touren. Doch Nicole, endlich am Ziel und niemals müde, nimmt derweil ihr Debüt "Her Name Is Nicole" auf, bei dem sie Produzenten wie Timbaland, Akon oder Pharrell Williams unterstützen.


Ursprünglich für Anfang November 2007 geplant, verschiebt Universal den Erscheinungstermin auf Januar 2008. Fans können sich derweil mit den ersten beiden Singleauskoppelungen "Whatever U Like" und "Baby Love" (mit Will.I.Am) trösten. Schlussendlich kommt ihr Solo-Album aber doch nicht. Stattdessen braingt Nicole zusammen mit den Pussycat Dolls das Album "Doll Domination" auf den Markt. Im selben Jahr bandelt sie mit Formel 1-Weltmeister Lewis Hamilton an.

2010 geht sie als Siegerin der zehnten Staffel von Dancing with the Stars hervor und im August spielt sie zusammen mit Vanessa Hudgens im Musical "Rent". Zur selben Zeit geht es mit den Pussycar Dolls zu Ende. Nachdem die anderen Hasen die Gruppe verlassen, verkündete auch Nicole ihren Ausstieg.

In der Folge sitzt sie als Jurorin in der amerikanischen Ausgabe von X Factor an der Seite von Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul und L.A. Reid. Im folgenden Jahr ersetzte sie Kelly Rowland in der Jury der britischen Version des Castingformats.

Im März 2011 erscheint schließlich ihr erstes Solo-Album mit dem Titel "Killer Love".

Images:
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Name: DJ Felli Fel
SortName: DJ Felli Fel
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Overview:
James Andrew Corrine, better known by his stage name DJ Felli Fel is a club and radio DJ for L.A.'s Power 106, record producer, and a recording artist recently signed to So So Def/Island Urban Music. He is also a member of The Heavy Hitters DJs.
DJ Felli Fel was born in Rock Hill, South Carolina and grew up in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Dallas. While a teenager in Dallas, he began spinning turntables for house parties. His radio career began on Dallas radio station K104 and Waco, Texas Spanish-language station KHCK. Later, he joined the Los Angeles hip-hop station Power 106. At Power 106, he hosts the Felli Fel Show on Saturday evenings.
He had a cameo role as himself in the 2003 film Malibu's Most Wanted. In 2007, he signed with Island Def Jam/So So Def. His debut album for the label is tentatively titled Go DJ!. Singles for the album included "Finer Things" with Jermaine Dupri, Kanye West, Fabolous, and Ne-Yo; "Get Buck in Here" with Diddy, Akon, Lil Jon, and Ludacris; and "Feel It" with Sean Paul, Pitbull, Flo Rida, and T-Pain. DJ Felli Fel was also featured on the soundtrack of the game Midnight Club: Los Angeles, with his song "Get Buck in Here". Recently he released the single "Boomerang" featuring Pitbull, Akon, and Jermaine Dupri. The track has been remixed by DJ Vice in 2011.
On April 22nd, he released his brand new single to iTunes titled "Reason To Hate" which features singer Ne-Yo and rappers Tyga and Wiz Khalifa. It was co-produced by Ned Cameron.

Images:
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Name: Flo-Rida
SortName: Flo-Rida
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Overview:
Der amerikanische Bundesstaat Florida rühmt sich seit jeher als Rentnerparadies - in ruhiger Meer-Nähe versüßen sich die ehemals fleißigen Amerikaner den Lebensabend. Von entspannter Urlaubsatmosphäre und der ausgeprägten Party-Szene profitiert in den letzten Jahren zunehmend auch der Hip Hop.

Einst lediglich für das Sub-Genre Miami Bass bekannt, sorgt 2008 nach dem allgegenwärtigen Radio-DJ Khaled, den Produzenten Cool & Dre und Scott Storch, und den Rappern Rick Ross, Trick Daddy, Trina und Pitbull der Newcomer Flo Rida für Furore. Lokalpatriotisch diktiert er mit seinen Hits "Birthday" und "Low" die Tanzflächen.

Natürlich hat ein Künstler, der sich Flo Rida nennt, seine Wurzeln auch in dem Bundesstaat. Geboren als Tramar Dillard in der heimlichen Hauptstadt Miami wächst er jedoch im nahegelegenen Carol City auf. Die Gegend hat wenig vom Plastik-Pomp Miamis, das Leben in den Straßen ist hart. Doch Tramar hält sich aus gröberen Ungerechtigkeiten heraus. Vielmehr ist es die Musik, die den Amerikaner seit den jungen Jahren beschäftigt.

Musikalische Vorbilder aus Miami sind im Rap-Bereich zu dieser Zeit spärlich gesät. Doch der Miami Bass-Hype, im speziellen dessen Speerspitze 2 Live Crew, hinterlässt Spuren bei Tramar. Begeistert von Energie und Party-Fokus heftet sich der Jugendliche an die Fährte der Crew und schafft es tatsächlich als Hype-Man auf die Bühne.

Mit ein paar Kumpels gründet man die eigene Band Groundhoggz. Dank guter Kontakte zur 2 Live Crew nimmt sogar dessen Rapper Fresh Kid Ice einen Track mit den motivierten Jungs auf.

Doch die Unterstützung der 2 Live Crew bedeutet im Jahre 2004 nicht mehr, was sie vielleicht zehn, fünfzehn Jahre früher bedeutet hätte. Normale Tagesjobs müssen her. Auch den Gang aufs College versucht Tramar, ohne rechte Motivation. Es verschlägt ihn an die andere Küste, nach Los Angeles, um dort vielleicht etwas zu reißen. Aber Fehlanzeige.

Durch einen Zufall eröffnen sich neue Türen in der Heimat. Tramars Manager Freezy steckt dem Jodeci-Sänger DeVante Swing ein noch vor dem Umzug nach Kalifornien aufgenommenes Mixtape von Flo Rida zu. Dem ehemaligen R'n'B-Star gefällt, was er hört. Also geht es zurück für Tramar in die Heimat - die Dinge nehmen ihren Lauf.

DeVante lässt seine Kontakte spielen, außerdem bekommt Freezys Bruder Eldrin "E-Class" Prince Wind von der ganzen Sache und nimmt Flo Rida kurzerhand bei seinem Label Poe Boy Entertainment unter Vertrag. Das Unternehmen feiert just zu der Zeit mit Rick Ross und seiner Single "Hustlin'" weltweite Erfolge.

Im Team mit jenem Schwergewicht angelt sich Flo Rida einen Beat der Runners, die auch für "Hustlin'" verantwortlich waren und beginnt mit seiner Übernahme der Tanzflächen. DJ Khaled packt Flo Rida neben Trick Daddy und Trina auf den Florida-Represent-Track "Bitch I'm From Dade County" seine Albums "We The Best", und Flo Rida ist auf einmal Teil der florierenden Szene.

Mit Hook-Crooner T-Pain sackt er erste Hitparaden-Plätze in Irland, Thailand, Frankreich, Kanada, Brasilien, Bulgarien, Schweden, Australien und natürlich den USA ein. Beim Album-Debüt "Mail On Sunday" stellt Atlantic Records dem Newcomer Hochkaräter wie JR Rottem, Rick Ross, Trey Songz, Timbaland und Lil Wayne zur Seite. Im großen Stil verkauft sich "Mail On Sunday" aber nicht, auch wenn Flo Rida nebenher mit Madonna auf ihrem Album "Hard Candy" kollaboriert.

Für den eigentlichen Durchbruch sorgt erst Album Nummer zwei: "Right Round", die Vorab-Single zu "R.O.O.T.S. (Route Of Overcoming The Struggle)", bricht alle Download-Rekorde und avanciert zum "fastest million selling digital song ever".

In seinem Heimatstaat feiert man Flo Rida spätestens jetzt als akzeptablen Repräsentanten - die Auszeichnung als Ehrenbürger: nur eine Frage der Zeit.

Images:
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Name: Drake
SortName: Drake
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Overview:
Aubrey Drake Graham (* 24. Oktober 1986 in Toronto, Ontario) ist ein kanadischer Schauspieler, Rapper und R&B-Sänger afroamerikanischer Abstammung. Er ist ein bekannter Newcomer in der Hip-Hop-Szene. Seine Lieder veröffentlicht er unter seinem Zwischennamen Drake, wobei er auch unter seinem Pseudonym Drizzy bekannt ist. Erste Bekanntheit erlangte Graham als Schauspieler in der Fernsehserie Degrassi: The Next Generation, in der er Jimmy Brooks spielte. 2006 trat er dann auch als Rapper in Erscheinung, als er eine Reihe von Mixtapes veröffentlichte. Sein erster Erfolg als Musiker war schließlich die Single Replacement Girl, die er zusammen mit Trey Songz einspielte und die vom Fernsehsender BET in dessen Show 106 & Park als Joint of the Day (zu deutsch: Lied des Tages) vorgestellt wurde. Er blieb dennoch – trotz Auftritten auf zahlreichen Mixtapes und Remixen und der Unterstützung von Kanye West, Jay-Z und Lil Wayne – ohne Plattenvertrag. 2009 veröffentlichte er dann die Single Best I Ever Had, die sich zum Hit in den Vereinigten Staaten entwickelte. Als Folge davon entwickelte sich ein Bieterwettstreit zwischen mehreren Major-Labels[1], an dessen Ende schließlich ein Kooperationsvertrag zwischen Cash Money Records und Young Money Entertainment stand. Als Vertriebslabel dient Universal Records. Drake ist bekannt für seine einzigartige Mischung aus Hip-Hop und R&B.

Images:
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Name: Wale
SortName: Wale
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Overview:
Ralph Victor Folarin (born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin in September 21, 1984), better known by his stage name Wale (/ˈwɑːlei/ wah-lay), is a Nigerian-American rapper from Washington, D.C. Wale was born to Nigerian parents. He rose to prominence in 2006, when his song "Dig Dug (Shake It)" became popular in his hometown. Wale became locally recognized and continued recording music for the regional audience. Producer Mark Ronson discovered Wale in 2006 and signed him to Allido Records in 2007. While signed to that label, Wale released several mixtapes and appeared in national media including MTV and various urban magazines.

In 2008, Wale signed to Interscope Records for $1.3 million, and his debut album Attention Deficit was released in 2009 with the singles "Chillin", "Pretty Girls", and "World Tour". The album, although under-shipped, received positive reviews from critics. In early 2011 Wale signed on with Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group, where members of the label released a compilation album, Self Made Vol. 1 on May 23, 2011. His second studio album, Ambition was released November 1, 2011.

Images:
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Name: Nipsey Hussle
SortName: Nipsey Hussle
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Overview:
Ermias Asghedom (born August 15, 1985), better known by his stage name Nipsey Hussle (often stylized as Nipsey Hu$$le), is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. He has released numerous mixtapes including the Bullets Ain't Got No Name series and The Marathon.
Nipsey's first recorded mixtape, was Slauson Boy Volume 1, and soon became the name of his own record label. In 2008 Nipsey released two mixtapes, Bullets Ain't Got No Name, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, after signing with Cinematic Music Group and Epic Records. In 2009, his debut single, "Hussle In The House", was released.

In 2009 he released a third mixtape Bullets Ain't Got No Name, Vol. 3. He appeared with Drake on the song "Killer" and on the song "Upside Down" on Snoop Dogg's album Malice n Wonderland. A first studio album, South Central State of Mind, was expected in the summer of 2009 but was never released; it has been postponed indefinitely.
In 2010 he appeared on the song "We Are the World 25 for Haiti". He was chosen as one of XXL Magazine's "Annual Freshman Top Ten", a selection of ten up-and-coming artists in 2010. as "Most Determined" After that he released his new single "Feelin Myself" featuring singer Lloyd. After going through trouble with Epic Records he would be released from the label in late 2010. His first project released after his split from Epic was The Marathon mixtape. The mixtape was released December 21, 2010. It features guest appearances Kokane and MGMT. On November 1, 2011 Hussle released a sequel with the mixtape, The Marathon Continues. Both are available via iTunes.
In early 2012 it was rumored Nipsey Hussle would be signing to Rick Ross's Maybach Music Group. Nipsey made a guest appearance on rapper YG's 2012 single "Bitches Ain't Shit", also featuring Young Money rapper Tyga. The song samples the classic Dr. Dre song "Bitches Ain't Shit". The song debuted on the Hot 100 at #100 and on the Heatseekers Songs chart at #11. On April 17, 2012 Hussle released a collaboration album with fellow rapper Blanco titled Raw. The album features rappers YG, Mistah FAB, Yukmouth, B-Legit, Kokane and Freeway. He was also featured on Maybach Music Group's song "Fountain of Youth" which appeared on the groups second album Self Made Vol. 2. A music video was released on October 1, 2012. In December 2012 Nipsey hinted more at signing with Maybach Music Group/Warner Bros. Records but he would still be looking more for the right label. 
Hussle will release his third and final instalment in The Marathon mixtape series with TM3: Victory Lap in early 2013 after being pushed back from its December 2012 release date. The first song released from the project was "Proud of That" which features Rick Ross. In 2013 Nipsey Hussle will release a mixtape with fellow West Coast rapper and frequent collaborator YG titled Two Of America’s Most Wanted. It will feature Dom Kennedy. Hussle performed at the 2013 Paid Dues festival on March 30, 2013 in California. He has released various songs from the TM3 including the 9th Wonder produced "Face the World" and Bink! produced "Respect Ya Passion"

Images:
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Name: Saigon
SortName: Saigon
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Overview:
Saigon (born Brian Carenard, 1978) is an African-American rapper. Born in Newburgh, New York, He spent his upbringing moving between immediate and extended family members in Spring Valley, New York and Brooklyn as well as parts of New Jersey and Virginia. He cites his mother's inattention towards him due to the new arrival of numerous younger siblings as being the catalyst for his roughly 15-year rebellious period. At age 11 he began selling marijuana and at age 13 he had joined in a neighborhood gang. By the time Saigon reached 15 he had already been involved in at least two shootings for which he received jail time. This would be his home for the majority of the next several years of his life as he was "raised" in the New York Penal System. While incarcerated, he took the stage name Saigon from the influential Vietnam War book "Bloods" by Wallace Terry, which he read while he was serving time in prison.  He is currently signed to Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment record label and is working on his major label debut entitled The Greatest Story Never Told for a November 2006 release, which has now been postponed to a later unannounced date.  He appeared on the second season of the HBO television series Entourage and this is credited as being a big boost to his career to the point where the mainstream U.S. population is beginning to recognize him as opposed to simply his previously small following. He also appears in the third season.  He also performed separate tracks with both Australian hip hop MC Phrase and singer Daniel Merriweather in 2005.  MTV News reported that on January 19th 2006, Saigon was stabbed in the temple with a beer bottle as he left a dinner in the Chelsea section of New York. A man approached Saigon and attempted to steal a chain of his, worth $18,000. When Saigon grabbed it back, a fight started. Saigon, bleeding from the head, tried to hail down a taxi (not wanting to get blood in his Mercedes Benz) but was unable to and drove himself to Bellevue Hospital where he received seventy stitches. On April 14, 2014, Saigon announced the formation of his own record label - Squid Ink Squad Records, which is partnered up with global media company CPXi, who specialize in digital media. On July 28, 2014 it was announced that Saigon's third studio album would release on September 30, 2014.

Images:
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Name: J Cole
SortName: J Cole
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Overview:
Jermaine Lamarr Cole (* 28. Januar 1985 in Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland), bekannt unter seinem Künstlernamen J. Cole oder auch J.Cole, ist ein US-amerikanischer Rapper und Produzent. Er war der erste Künstler, der von Jay-Zs Plattenlabel, Roc Nation, unter Vertrag genommen wurde. 
J. Cole wurde in Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland geboren.[1] Im Alter von acht Monaten zog er nach Fayetteville, North Carolina, wo er von seiner Mutter und Tante aufgezogen wurde. Cole besuchte die Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville und machte seinen Abschluss im Jahr 2003. Er entschied, dass seine Chancen einer Karriere in New York City besser sind, so besuchte er die St. Johns University, wo er als Hauptfach „Kommunikation“ und als Nebenfach „Wirtschaft“ studierte. Sein Diplom schloss er mit der Gesamtbewertung Magna cum laude ab.

Images:
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Name: Neyo
SortName: Neyo
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Overview:
"Ich glaube, der schwierigste Teil ist, sich daran zu gewöhnen, dass man bekannt ist. Ich war bisher immer der Texter, der Typ im Hintergrund. Jetzt nach vorne zu treten, auf der Bühne zu stehen und der eigentliche Künstler zu sein, ist eine völlig neue Erfahrung für mich." Ne-Yo wagt im März 2006 den Schritt aus dem Schatten ins Rampenlicht und meistert die Herausforderung mit Bravour.

Shaffer Chimere Smith kommt am 18. Oktober 1982 in Arkansas zur Welt. Er wächst bei seiner Mutter auf, die allerdings in der Provinz keine Chancen für ihren Sprössling sieht. Um ihm das bieten zu können, das sie für "ein besseres Leben" hält, ziehen sie schon bald nach Las Vegas um.

Hier geht die Saat auf, die Marvin Gaye, Prince, Stevie Wonder und zahllose andere, deren Musik Shaffer von klein auf begleitet und begeistert, sähen: Der Knabe entdeckt sein Songwriter-Talent. "Ich will mit meinen Texten die Seelen der Leute erreichen, egal, welchen Weg Gott für mich wählt." Der Allmächtige scheint es gut mit Shaffer zu meinen, seine Rechnung geht auf: Schon 2002 hat er einen Plattenvertrag mit Columbia Records in der Tasche.

Das Glück ist allerdings nicht von Dauer, musikalische Differenzen machen eine Zusammenarbeit unmöglich. Im Jahr darauf steht Shaffer wieder ohne Deal auf der Straße. Ein gefundenes Fressen für Def Jam Records: Hier verpasst man dem jungen Künstler den schnittigen Alias Ne-Yo und gibt ihm eine neue Heimat.

Ne-Yo schreibt für Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Musiq, Christina Milian und Jamie Foxx. 2005 verhilft er gemeinsam mit Scott Storch und Kam Houf dem R'n'B-Kollegen Mario mit "Let Me Love You" zum Durchbruch. Die Nummer zählt zu den größten Radio-Hits aller Zeiten in den USA und wird von Ne-Yo später als "perfekte Vorbereitung" auf sein eigenes Album bezeichnet.

Dafür wird es höchste Zeit. Ne-Yos Debüt-Single "Stay" landet 2005 zwar lediglich in den R'n'B-Charts, der Nachfolger "So Sick" sorgt dann aber mächtig für internationalen Wirbel. Wochenlang wird die Ballade rauf- und runtergespielt und trägt Ne-Yo eine von zwei Grammy-Nominierungen ein (Kategorie "Best Male R'n'B Vocal Performance").

Die zweite gibt es als "Best Contemporary R'n'B Album" für "In My Own Words". Der Longplayer erscheint im März 2006, verbindet R'n'B mit klassischen Elementen aus Soul und Pop und erreicht mehrfachen Platin-Status.

Ne-Yo avanciert unterdessen zum gefragten Feature-Künstler. Unter anderem ist er auf Ghostface Killahs "Back Like That" und im Remix zu Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" mit von der Partie. Seine Songwriter-Aktivitäten ruhen ebenfalls nicht. Sowohl Rihannas "Unfaithful" als auch Beyoncés "Irreplaceable" entstammen Ne-Yos Feder. Zudem arbeitet er neben etlichen anderen Künstlern weiterin mit Mario, Jennifer Hudson, Usher aber auch Britney Spears an neuen Songs.

Im November 2006 beehrt Ne-Yo seine deutschen Fans mit einigen Live-Shows. Als Support-Act holt er sich den Berliner Reggaeton- und Hip Hop-Newcomer Lucry ins Boot. Daneben wartet bereits die neueste Herausforderung: 2007 steht mit "Steppin' Up: Save The Last Dance 2" und "Stompin'" Ne-Yos Leinwand-Debüt auf dem Plan.

Bevor neben den Herzen der Fans auch noch die Kinos erobert werden, gibts allerdings erst mal neues Horch-Material. Gemeinsam mit Sarah Connor versucht sich Ne-Yo an Marvin Gayes Klassiker "Sexual Healing". Fabolous stattet er für dessen Album "From Nothin' To Somethin'" einen Besuch ab und nimmt "Make Me Better" auf.

Anfang Juni erscheint die Single "Because Of You", die Appetit auf das eine Woche darauf veröffentlichte gleichnamige Album machen soll. Zumindest auf Kanye West verfehlt der Track seine Wirkung nicht: Er quirlt die Nummer umgehend durch seine Remix-Mühle. Auf "Because Of You", dem Longplayer, mischen neben verschiedenen Produzenten Jay-Z und Jennifer Hudson mit.

Die mannigfaltigen Tätigkeiten halten Ne-Yo nicht davon ab, die eingeschlagene Solo-Karriere weiter zu verfolgen. Nachdem der Knoten erst einmal geplatzt und das Debüt veröffentlicht ist, erscheint in schöner Regelmäßigkeit Album um Album. Ne-Yo arbeitet sich beharrlich und beständig zu einer fixen Größe hoch, die aus der R'n'B-, Pop- und Hip Hop-Landschaft des angebrochenen 21. Jahrhunderts vor nur schwer wegzudenken ist - und das vor wie hinter den Kulissen.

Images:
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Name: Diddy
SortName: Diddy
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Overview:
Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, Diddy, and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, media executive, musician, actor, and entrepreneur. Combs was born in Harlem and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. He worked as a talent director at Uptown Records before founding Bad Boy Records in 1993. He signed The Notorious B.I.G. and profited from the success of the artists he signed. He released his debut album No Way Out in 1997, which has been certified seven times platinum and was followed by successful albums such as Forever (1999), The Saga Continues... (2001) and Press Play (2006). In 2009 Combs formed the musical group Diddy – Dirty Money and released the critically well-reviewed and commercially successful album Last Train to Paris (2009).

Combs has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and is the producer of MTV's Making the Band. His non-music business ventures include the clothing lines Sean John and "Sean by Sean Combs" – for which he earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award – a movie production company, and two restaurants. In 2012 Forbes estimated Combs' net worth at $550 million, making him the richest figure in hip hop.

Images:
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Name: Dirty Money
SortName: Dirty Money
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Overview:
Diddy - Dirty Money was a rap group consisting of Sean "Diddy" Combs, singer and dancer Dawn Richard, and singer-songwriter Kalenna Harper. They were signed to Combs' label Bad Boy Records. The group disbanded in 2012.
According to Combs, Diddy-Dirty Money was "a look, a sound, a movement,  a crew" and not about "drug money, illegal money, or anything negative ... for my new concept album Last Train to Paris, I wanted to do something refreshing, something unique, something forward for myself as an artist ... I wanted to tell a love story  I couldn't just tell the male's point of view." Bad Boy A&R Daniel 'Skid' Mitchell told HitQuarters that Diddy-Dirty Money is creating a new genre of "futuristic soul".
The group's first album, Last Train to Paris was released in December 2010. Allmusic called it a "heavily European-influenced effort" that "mashes together Italo-disco, pop-rap, tech-house, and the sound of Bad Boy in its prime, with an all-star guest list that goes from T.I. to Grace Jones."
On July 24, 2010, Diddy-Dirty Money performed at Sun Life Stadium in the Baker Concrete Super Saturday postgame concert following the Florida Marlins' 10-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
Diddy-Dirty Money appeared on NBC's Saturday Night Live on December 4, 2010.
In December 2010, Diddy-Dirty Money was featured in Timati's new song and video "I'm on You".
Diddy-Dirty Money also performed "Coming Home" and "I'll Be Missing You" for the American Armed Forces at Fort Hood, Texas for WWE's Tribute to the Troops December 18, 2010.
Diddy-Dirty Money performed "Coming Home" and a cover of Far East Movement's "Like a G6" at the Maida Vale Studios for BBC Radio One's Live Lounge on January 20, 2011, with Fearne Cotton.
Diddy-Dirty Money performed "Coming Home" live on American Idol with Skylar Grey on March 10, 2011.

Images:
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Name: Jim Jones
SortName: Jim Jones
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Overview:
Fortitude, ambition and creative business tactics are at the forefront of Jim Jones’ career. The enigmatic Diplomat CEO and entrepreneur spent the past decade designing an empire that will solidify his place in Hip Hop history and beyond.

After continued success with his Dipset crew and his Diplomat Record label, Jim’s solo album, On My Way To Church, debuted at #18 on Billboard Top 200 in August 2004, and has sold over 200,000 copies independently to date. The videos for the first single, “Certified Gangsta”, and second single, “Crunk Musik”, have received consistent airplay on both BET and MTV. Jim Jones is also exceedingly popular in the fast-paced world of mix-tape releases.

Building upon successes from his record label to his new alcohol brand, Sizzurp, Jim Jones is preparing to release a new Documentary Film, currently titled THE JIM JONES PROJECT, which presents a candidly-told cautionary tale of a “gangsta” rapper in transition. A purposeful message in the documentary is intended to act as a deterrent for the self-destructive behaviors of at-risk youth who have taken the bravado of “gangsta” rap to heart.

Images:
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Name: Omarion
SortName: Omarion
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Overview:
Omari Ishmael Grandberry (born November 12, 1984 in Inglewood, California), better known as Omarion, is an American Grammy nominated R&B singer, actor and former lead singer of B2K. He released his debut solo album O in 2005, it went Platinum and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. In 2006 his second album, 21, also debuted at #1 and went Gold, selling over 900,000 copies worldwide. In 2007 he collaborated with rapper Bow Wow and they released an album together entitled Face Off. Recently he announced that he had signed to producer Timbaland’s Mosley Music Group and Lil Wayne’s Young Money label, but he left both of these labels to eventually sign with EMI.

Born and raised in Inglewood, California, Omarion rose to fame while still a teen as a member of the groundbreaking urban “boy band” B2K. His soulful vocals, riveting stage presence, and undeniable charisma helped B2K score a hit with the group’s very first single, “Uh Huh,” in 2001; achieve gold status with the group’s self-titled debut album in 2002; and go RIAA platinum with the group’s best-selling sophomore outing, Pandemonium! in 2003.

Omarion’s undeniable media-geniality has led to numerous television guest appearances including “Punk’d,” “The Sharon Osbourne Show,” “Regis & Kelly” and the “American Music Awards.” In addition to his musical performances, Omarion has acted on the big screen with key roles in “You Got Served” and “Fat Albert.” Omarion stars in “Somebody Help Me,” an innovative horror film directed by Chris Stokes and may be seen in the film “Feel The Noise” and Tyger (“Menace II Society”) Williams’ “Street Soldier.”

Images:
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Name: Nicki Minaj
SortName: Nicki Minaj
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Overview:
Nicki Minaj [nɪki minˈɑːʒ][1] (* 8. Dezember 1982[2] in Saint James, Trinidad und Tobago; eigentlich Onika Tanya Maraj) ist eine in den Vereinigten Staaten lebende Rapperin, R&B-Sängerin und Songwriterin. Sie steht seit 2009 bei Young Money Entertainment, dem Label des US-amerikanischen Rappers Lil Wayne, unter Vertrag. Der Name Minaj ist an das französische ménage à trois angelehnt. Im Juni 2010 erreichte sie als erste Rapperin seit Lil’ Kims Magic Sticks aus dem Jahr 2002 mit ihrem Song Your Love die Spitze der US Billboard Hot Rap Tracks. Sie ist die erste Künstlerin überhaupt, die mit sieben Songs gleichzeitig in den US Billboard Hot 100 vertreten war. Nicki Minaj wurde am 8. Dezember 1982 in Saint James, einer Vorstadt von Port of Spain, auf der Insel Trinidad geboren und lebte dort die ersten fünf Jahre bei ihrer Großmutter. Ab ihrem fünften Lebensjahr lebte sie in Queens, New York bei ihren Eltern. Ihr Vater war alkohol- und drogenabhängig und versuchte ihre Mutter durch Brandstiftung umzubringen. Im Jahr 2003 absolvierte sie an der LaGuardia High School in Manhattan ihr Schauspiel- und Musikstudium.

Images:
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Name: Lloyd
SortName: Lloyd
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Overview:
Lloyd Polite, Jr. (born January 3, 1986), who performs under the mononym Lloyd, is an American R&B recording artist, who experienced as a member of the group N-Toon before embarking on a solo career in 2004.
In 2004, he released his solo debut single, "Southside" the title track of his debut album, Southside. The single features Ashanti, and it quickly charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, and became a top thirty hit. His second album, Street Love, was released on March 13, 2007. It featured top-ten and twenty hit "You" and "Get It Shawty". His third album, Lessons in Love, gave the singer his second top ten Billboard 200 album. Lloyd's career received an enormous boost in 2009–10 by being featured in the second single of Young Money's worldwide monster hit "BedRock", gaining publicity from his presence on its guest list. Lloyd also released a 2009 EP entitled Like Me: The Young Goldie EP, including a promo single "Pusha". On March 13, Lloyd signed to Interscope/Zone 4. His fourth album, King of Hearts, was released July 5, 2011. The first single, "Lay It Down", became a top-ten hit on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

Images:
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Name: Jagged Edge
SortName: Jagged Edge
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Overview:
JAGGED EDGE U.K. Formed 1987, England  An excellent melodic rock band, Jagged Edge U.K. fit in perfectly alongside other long forgotten classy rockers such as Beggars & Thieves, Dirty White Boy and Baton Rouge.    Early incarnations of the band had a revolving door membership, with guitarist Myke Gray being the only mainstay. Demos were recorded, at different times, with a female vocalist and production by Whitesnake's Neil Murray. The classic line-up would form in 1989 around Myke Gray, Matt Alfonzetti (vocals, ex-Bam Bam Boys), Andy Robbins (bass, ex-Tokyo Blade and Shogun) and Fabio Del Rio (drums).    The band signed with Sanctuary management (which also looked after the affairs of Iron Maiden) and a record deal with Polydor. The debut EP Trouble arrived in early 1990, but it would be the full-length Fuel For Your Soul that really showed what Jagged Edge U.K. was capable of. The Sanctuary connection led to Del Rio playing drums on Bruce Dickinson's solo album Tattooed Millionaire. The band would also tour behind Dickinson, as well as Thunder and David Lee Roth in 1990/91. But the band was promptly dropped by Polydor and split apart soon after.    Gray and Robbins resurfaced in the even more popular Skin, while Matti Alfonzetti joined the heavy Skintrade before returning with a solo band and then hooking up with Damned Nation.


Name: Keri Hilson
SortName: Keri Hilson
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Overview:
Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, and spent most of her youth working with producer Anthony Dent, as a songwriter and background vocalist for several R&B and hip hop artists. By the age of 14, Hilson had secured a record deal with the girl group D'Signe, who later disbanded. She attended Emory University in Atlanta, while she continued writing songs for artists, including Britney Spears and Mary J. Blige, with the production and songwriting team, The Clutch. In 2006, Hilson signed with American rapper and producer Timbaland's record label, Mosley Music. Her breakthrough came the following year after appearing on Timbaland's single, "The Way I Are", which topped charts around the world.
Hilson's music style is generally R&B and pop, and includes themes around womanhood, sexual intimacy and love. Her musical influences come from her father's side of the family. Hilson's debut studio album, In a Perfect World..., was released in 2009, and debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, eventually being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album spawned the hit singles, "Knock You Down", "Turnin Me On" and "I Like". It also earned Hilson two Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Knock You Down". Her second studio album, No Boys Allowed, was released in 2010 and was considerably less successful than its predecessor; however, it included the hit single, "Pretty Girl Rock".
Besides her musical career, Hilson has also contributed to various charities and pursued a career in acting, but she continues to record and perform music. She has contributed in the fight against HIV and AIDS, helped various relief efforts for natural disasters, and become involved with several educational organizations. In 2012, Hilson made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film, Think Like a Man. Her achievements include a BET Award, MOBO Award, NAACP Image Award and two Soul Train Music Awards.

Images:
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Name: Nas
SortName: Nas
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Overview:
Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones (born September 14, 1973), better known by his stage name Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is also the son of jazz musician Olu Dara. Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums since 1994, four of which topped the Billboard charts upon release and has sold over thirteen-million records in the United States alone. Nas was also part of the hip hop supergroup The Firm, which released one album under Dr. Dre's record label Aftermath. Aside from rapping, Nas is also an occasional actor and has appeared in feature films such as Hype Williams' directorial debut Belly, Ticker and In Too Deep and the television show Hawaii Five-0.
His rise to fame began in 1991 with his feature on hip hop group Main Source's debut album on the track "Live at the Barbeque". In the years that followed, Nas garnered attention from music industry A & R's and record labels with more impressive features and a solo single "Halftime". His debut album Illmatic, released in 1994 by Columbia Records, received universal acclaim from both critics and the hip hop community and would go on to be widely hailed as a musical landmark and a classic in the genre and is consistently ranked as one of the greatest LP's of all time. His follow up album It Was Written debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Charts, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks and went platinum twice in only two months, propelling Nas to worldwide notoriety.
From 1996 to 2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with rapper Jay-Z with both artists verbally attacking each other in songs and interviews. The two formally ended their rivalry through duet performances at concerts sponsored by New York City-area hip hop radio stations. In 2006, Nas signed to Def Jam and released his latest two albums; Hip Hop Is Dead in 2006 and an untitled album in 2008. In 2010, he released a collaboration album with renowned reggae artist Damian Marley in which all income generated from the album's sales were sent to charities created to end poverty and financial suffering in Africa. He is currently preparing his tenth solo studio album for a release in 2012.
Nas is often listed, mentioned, and ranked as one of the greatest and most influential rappers in history. MTV ranked him at number 5 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time. On a similar list, MTV 2's "22 Greatest MC's", compiled by the results of an online poll, fans voted Nas as the 4th greatest MC of all time. Editors of About.com also ranked him number 4 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987-2007), making him the highest ranking rapper of his generation (ahead of The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and 2Pac).

Images:
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Name: Gnarls Barkley
SortName: Gnarls Barkley
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Overview:
Gnarls Barkley is an American soul duo composed of the artists Brian Joseph Burton (known professionally as Danger Mouse) and Thomas DeCarlo Callaway (known professionally as Cee Lo Green). Their first studio album St. Elsewhere was released in 2006 along with its first single "Crazy". Both single and album were a major commercial success and have been noted for their large sales by download. The duo released their second album The Odd Couple in March 2008. Cee Lo first entered the scene as part of the Atlanta hip hop group Goodie Mob which had a large hand in the Dirty South movement of the 1990s. Cee Lo left the group after their third album in 1999 and started his solo career. That year he sang on "Do You Like the Way" along with Lauryn Hill on Santana's multi-platinum Supernatural album. Cee Lo has three solo albums as of November 2010.
Danger Mouse has produced albums for a number of hip hop and rock artists, including Gorillaz' Demon Days. He received international attention for his mash-up The Grey Album, which blended the a cappella edition of Jay-Z's The Black Album with samples from The Beatles' White Album.
The two men first met while Cee Lo was on a tour for which Danger Mouse happened to be the DJ. They became musical partners and worked together on the songs that would become the St. Elsewhere; prior to the release of that album they collaborated on the songs "What You Sittin' On?" for Lex Records in 2004, and "Benzie Box" from the Danger Doom album The Mouse and the Mask in 2005.

Images:
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Name: Lupe Fiasco
SortName: Lupe Fiasco
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Overview:
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( /ËˆluËpeÉª/ loo-pay), is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. He also performs as the frontman of rock band Japanese Cartoon under his real name. As an entrepreneur, Fiasco is the chief executive officer of 1st and 15th Entertainment.
Raised in Chicago, Fiasco developed an interest in hip hop after initially disliking the genre for its use of vulgarity. After adopting the name Lupe Fiasco and recording songs in his father's basement, 19-year-old Fiasco joined a group called Da Pak. The group disbanded shortly after its inception, and Fiasco soon met rapper Jay-Z who helped him sign a record deal with Atlantic Records. In 2006, Fiasco released his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor on the label, which received three Grammy nominations. He released his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, in December 2007. The lead single "Superstar" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. He released Lasers on March 8, 2011 after a two-year delay. The album's lead single "The Show Goes On" peaked at number 9 on the chart, thus becoming his most successful single since "Superstar".
In addition to music, Fiasco has pursued other business ventures, including fashion. He runs two clothing lines, Righteous Kung-Fu and Trilly & Truly; he has designed sneakers for Reebok. He has been involved with charitable activities, including the Summit on the Summit expedition, and in 2010 he recorded a benefit single for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Fiasco is also noted for his anti-establishment views, which he has expressed in both interviews and his music.

Images:
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Name: Janet Jackson
SortName: Janet Jackson
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Overview:
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years. The youngest child of the Jackson family, she began her career with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976 and went on to appear in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Fame.
After signing a recording contract with A&M in 1982, she came to prominence following the release of her third studio album Control (1986). Her collaborations with record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporated elements of rhythm and blues, funk, disco, rap, and industrial beats, which led to crossover appeal in popular music. In addition to receiving recognition for the innovation in her records, choreography, music videos, and prominence on radio airplay and MTV, she was acknowledged as a role model for her socially conscious lyrics.
In 1991, she signed the first of two record-breaking, multi-million dollar contracts with Virgin Records, establishing her as one of the highest paid artists in the industry. Her debut album under the label, Janet (1993), saw her develop a public image as a sex symbol as she began to explore sexuality in her work. That same year, she appeared in her first starring film role in Poetic Justice; since then she has continued to act in feature films. By the end of the 1990s, Billboard named her the second most successful recording artist of the decade, following Mariah Carey. She has amassed an extensive catalog of hits, with singles such as "Nasty", "Rhythm Nation", "That's the Way Love Goes", "Together Again", and "All for You" her most iconic.
Having sold over 100 million records, she is ranked as one of the best-selling artists in the history of contemporary music. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) lists her as the eleventh best-selling female artist in the United States, with 26 million certified albums. In 2008, Billboard magazine released its list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, ranking her at number seven. In 2010, the magazine announced the "Top 50 R&B / Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years", ranking her at number five. One of the world's most awarded artists, her longevity, records and achievements reflect her influence in shaping and redefining the scope of popular music. She has been cited as an inspiration among numerous performers.

Images:
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Name: Wiz Khalifa
SortName: Wiz Khalifa
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Overview:
Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by the stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper. He released his debut album, Show and Prove, in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His Eurodance-influenced single, "Say Yeah", received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008. Khalifa parted with Warner Bros. and released his second album, Deal or No Deal, in November 2009. He released the mixtape Kush and Orange Juice as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records. He is also well known for his debut single for Atlantic, "Black and Yellow", which peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album for the label, Rolling Papers, was released on March 29, 2011.

Images:
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Name: Lyfe Jennings
SortName: Lyfe Jennings
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Overview:
Lyfe Jennings (born Chester Jermaine Jennings on June 3, 1973) is a platinum-selling American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist. He plays the guitar, bass, and piano which he integrates into his music. The New York Times referred to him as a "socially minded R&B singer".

His love for music led him to join a group that included two of his cousins and his older brother. After splitting, Lyfe continued his interest in music. As stated in the songs "Ghetto Superman" and "More Than A Girl" from The Phoenix, Lyfe lost his father at a young age. Lyfe went to prison for ten years at the age of 19.

Images:
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Name: Raheem Devaughn
SortName: Raheem Devaughn
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Overview:
Raheem DeVaughn's debut album was "The Love Experience;" his critically acclaimed follow-up was "Love Behind The Melody."  DeVaughn's musical story began with his mother's vinyl collection. "I always loved music so I would sneak into her record collection when she wasn't around and play her stuff." DeVaughn's father, noted jazz musician Abdul Wadud was also an influence. DeVaughn knew at an early age that he would become an entertainer.  DeVaughn graduated from High Point High School in Beltsville, Maryland; then headed to nearby Coppin State. It was the first day of college that changed the course of his life. "I saw a group of guys standing outside singing, Boyz II Men style," remembers DeVaughn. "I just went up there and started harmonizing with them. Before I knew what was going on, I was in a group, cutting class to write lyrics and record." After winning $2,000.00 in a talent show at Bar None, a Washington D.C. nightclub, DeVaughn decided to go for broke and invested all of his winnings into a CD burner. Several independent releases led to a showcase with [album]Jive Records[/album], and the career was on it's way.

Images:
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Name: Bushido
SortName: Bushido
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Overview:
Bushido, mit bürgerlichem Namen Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi, wurde am 28. September 1978 in Bonn geboren. Er ist ein deutscher Rapper und Produzent tunesischer und deutscher Abstammung. Bushido wurde in Bonn geboren und wuchs in Berlin auf. Er hat einen jüngeren Bruder namens Sercan Ferchichi. Im Laufe seines Lebens hat er sich mit verschiedenen Themen auseinandergesetzt, darunter auch mit seiner Identität als Deutscher tunesischer Herkunft. Bushido begann seine musikalische Karriere in den späten 1990er Jahren. Er ist bekannt für seine kontroversen Texte und hat sich im Laufe der Jahre sowohl Kritik als auch Anerkennung für seine Arbeit eingebracht. Er hat zahlreiche Alben veröffentlicht und ist einer der erfolgreichsten Rapper in Deutschland. Bushido ist im Laufe seiner Karriere oft in Kontroversen verwickelt gewesen, sei es wegen seiner Texte, seines Verhaltens oder seiner öffentlichen Äußerungen. Trotz dieser Kontroversen hat er eine treue Fangemeinde behalten und bleibt eine prominente Figur in der deutschen Musikszene. Neben seiner Musikkarriere hat Bushido auch in Filmen mitgewirkt und mehrere Bücher geschrieben. Er hat auch sein eigenes Plattenlabel gegründet und andere Künstler unter Vertrag genommen. Bushido ist ohne Zweifel eine der prägendsten Figuren in der deutschen Rapszene. Trotz der vielen Herausforderungen und Kontroversen, denen er im Laufe seiner Karriere begegnet ist, hat er es geschafft, an der Spitze zu bleiben und seinen Einfluss in der Musikindustrie zu behaupten.

Images:
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Name: Skyzoo
SortName: Skyzoo
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Overview:
Born Gregory Skyler Taylor in 1982 in Crown Heights, he grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant. He was nicknamed Skyzoo by his parents after the Skyy disco song (his middle name is Skyler). He began rapping at the age of nine and went on to work with producers Jay Dee and 9th Wonder, releasing several mixtapes in the hope of securing a record deal. He was beaten by Jin on BET's 106 & Park freestyle contest, but went on to have tracks used as both the theme to ESPN's Whiplash TV and the soundtrack to a Guinness advert, and set up his own Custom Made Entertainment company. He has also had a long association with North Carolina rap crew the Justus League, whom he was introduced to via his friend Chaundon, and who he describes as his "second family". Jay Dee's death in 2006 prompted Skyzoo to pay tribute with the song "Sky's Last Donut". He worked with 9th Wonder on his debut album, Present Cloud 9: The 3 Day High, which reputedly took only three days to record. He also contributed to three tracks on the Hall of Justus album Soldiers of Fortune.  He released the critically-acclaimed Corner Store Classic mixtape in 2007, and released a remixed version, including some new material, as a digital download album in 2008. Corner Store Classic was rated 'XL' (4/5) by XXL Magazine. In 2007, he stated that he had a second album ready, called The Salvation, but was waiting for a major record deal before releasing it.  He cites as influences hip hop artists such as Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas, N.W.A., Big Daddy Kane, and Kid 'n Play, as well as artists such as Sade, Nirvana and John Coltrane, and cites Coltrane's A Love Supreme as his favorite album. He credits J Dilla as his biggest inspiration and favorite producer. He has been critical of the direction that Hip Hop has taken, stating "People are taking the 'whetever we gotta do' method, resulting in gimmick records. I'm about making money but it has to be with dope records".

Images:
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Name: Jamie Foxx
SortName: Jamie Foxx
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Overview:
Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, rapper, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a musical/comedy. He is also a Grammy Award winning musician, producing three albums which have charted highly on the Billboard 200: Unpredictable, which topped the chart, Best Night of My Life and Intuition.
Born in Terrell, Texas, Foxx was raised by his mother's adoptive parents. He performed in high school and was awarded a scholarship to United States International University. In his twenties, Foxx began performing stand-up at comedy clubs and eventually joined the cast of In Living Color in 1991; this exposure helped him land film roles and star in his own sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show. He released his debut album, Peep This, in 1994, but did not gain significant musical success until 2004, when he was featured in the song "Slow Jamz" by Twista and Kanye West. Also in 2004, Foxx played critically acclaimed roles in the films Collateral and Ray. He released his second album, Unpredictable, in 2005, which was helped by his collaboration on Kanye West's number-one single "Gold Digger". His third album Intuition was released in 2008 and was anchored by the single "Blame It". Foxx released his fourth studio album, Best Night of My Life, in 2010.

Images:
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Name: Timbaland
SortName: Timbaland
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Overview:
"Spieglein, Spieglein an der Wand, wer ist der beste Produzent im Land?"

Darf man ruhig fragen. Da Spiegel aber im Allgemeinen relativ schweigsame Zeitgenossen sind, zieht man besser andere Hilfsmittel zu Rate. Im Falle eines Produzenten liegt es nahe, einen Blick auf die veröffentlichten Platten, sowie die damit erreichten Awards zu werfen. Wer das bei Timbaland tut, dem sollte klar werden, dass es sich hier um einen Meister des US-Hip Hops der 90er handelt. Sieben Din-A4 Seiten voller Veröffentlichungen, auf denen der Name Tim Mosley prangt. Gold, Platin, Doppelplatin, Multi-Platin versammeln sich zu einem lustigen Stelldichein.

Den Grundstein zu seinem Erfolg legt der aus Cesapeake stammende Tim schon in den 80er Jahren. Von eintöniger Musik im Radio genervt, widmet er sich dem ultimativen "back to the roots"-Hobby eines Beatbauers: Beatboxing. So landen seine ersten Erzeugnisse, wie so oft, mittels eines kleinen Kassettenrecorders auf Band.

Einmal vom Hip Hop-Fieber gepackt, lässt sich die Entwicklung nicht mehr stoppen: Timbaland schafft sich zwei Turntables an und widmet sich fortan der hohen Kunst des DJing. In der Zeit lernt er durch einen Schulfreund den Rapper Magoo kennen, und die beiden bleiben aneinander kleben. Gemeinsam hängen sie ab, schreiben Texte, produzieren, hören Musik.

Mit neunzehn Jahren bekommt Tim die Chance, mit einem Produzenten von 2 Pac namens De Vante Swing ein Studio zu besuchen. Das Ergebnis: Im folgenden Jahr krallt er sich bis auf vier Tage dort fest. So viel Übung bleibt nicht ohne Wirkung. Mit Timbaland und seinen neuen Freunden Magoo, Ginuwine, Missy Elliot und Playa entsteht die "Da Bassment" Crew.

Für Timbaland bricht eine neue Zeit an: Ab 1996 verdient sich die Crew mit – fast komplett von ihm produzierten – Platten den Respekt der Hip Hop–Szene. Sein innovativer, elektronisch angehauchter Sound verdrängt teilweise sogar die Westcoast-Piano-Samples. Leider beibt dem Duo Timbaland and Magoo der große Erfolg der Teamkollegen Missy E. und Aaliyah verwehrt: Ihr Debütalbum "Welcome To Our World" verdient sich "nur" Platin. Das bessert sich weder mit dem Solowerk des Meister-Produzenten, "Tim’s Bio", noch mit dem zweiten Anlauf mit Magoo, "Indecent Proposal".

Als Konsequenz aus diesem "Misserfolg" gibt Timbaland Ende 2001 bekannt, keine eigenen Platten mehr zu veröffentlichen. Statt dessen arbeitet er am Aufbau seines eigenen Labels Beat Club. Kein Problem, schließlich gilt er als einer der teuersten Produzenten der späten 90er, - Rap-Größen wie Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg oder Nas stehen bei ihm Schlange.

Den erste Release auf Beat Club stellt Bubba Sparxxx "Dark Days, Bright Nights". Für das Debüt von Tweet steuert er drei Songs bei, frickelt für Scott Storch und Lil' Kim.

Seine Producer-Fähigkeiten sind aber nicht nur im Rapgame gefragt. Für Limp Bizkit steuert er einen Remix zu "New Old Songs" bei, den kommerziell erfolgreichsten Track fährt Timbaland aber mit einem komplett Hip Hop-unverdächtigen Künstler ein. Für Justin Timberlake produziert er dessen Übersingle "Cry Me A River" und macht den Ex-N Sync-Sänger damit auf einen Schlag auch abseits der Boyband-Klientel hoffähig.

Nach diesem Hit schraubt er 2003 an Bubbas zweitem Album "Deliverance", ehe er im Verbund mit Magoo doch wieder eine Scheibe an den Start bringt ("Under Construction II"). Beide Releases erhalten zwar positives Medienecho, reißen aber auf der kommerziellen Seite nichts Entscheidendes.
2004 steht Timbaland für LL Cool J, Xzibit, Fatman Scoop, erneut Jay-Z und Brandy an den Reglern. 2005 darf sich Jennifer Lopez glücklich schätzen, für ihr maues "Rebirth" die Dienste des Wizards in Anspruch zu nehmen.

Im selben Jahr bringt Timbaland mit der Mosley Music Group, die aus Beat Club Records hervorgeht, ein neues Label an den Start. Auf diesem sind Künstler wie Nelly Furtado und Justin Timberlake unter Vertrag. 2006 gibt er bekannt, an einem neuen Koop-Album zu arbeiten, für das sich die gewohnt protzige Feature-Liste wie ein Who Is Who des Musikbusiness liest: Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Nelly Furtado, Ludacris, Chris Martin, Missy Elliott. Desweiteren fummelt er noch für Björk, Duran Duran im Studio und auch Britney Spears möchte sich von ihm Tracks zimmern lassen.

2006 ist Timbaland mit satten sieben Singles in den Charts vertreten. Drei stammen aus dem weitgehend von ihm produzierten Timberlake-Album "FutureSex / LoveSounds". Nelly Furtados "Loose" hält sogar gleich viermal her, sorgt aber auch für einigen Wirbel: Im Januar werden Vorwürfe laut, Timbaland habe sich für die Melodie von "Do It" ungefragt bei dem finnischen Musikerkollegen Janne Suni bedient.

Das größtenteils via YouTube ausgetragene Drama übersteht Timbaland weitgehend unbeschadet. 2007 steuert er erst einmal Vocals zu "Wait A Minute" von den Pussycat Dolls bei. Dann kracht mit "Put It Down" die erste Single aus "Red Gone Wild", dem lang erwarteten Album Redmans aus den Boxen.

Sein nächster eigener Streich "Shock Value" erscheint im April. Neben nahezu allen bereits im Vorjahr angekündigten Mitwirkenden sind auch die auf Mosley Music Group unter Vertrag stehende Sängerin Keri Hilson, Pussycat Dolls-Frontfrau Nicole Scherzinger, Tony Yayo, The Hives, Fall Out Boy und Elton John zu hören - unter anderem. Die Single "Give It To Me" landet nach anfangs zögerlichen Verkäufen doch noch auf Platz 1 der US-Charts.

Was fehlt noch? Richtig, ein Videospiel. Dies entsteht in Zusammenarbeit mit Rockstar Games und lässt ab Sommer 2007 die Playstation zum Mischpult mutieren. Das Album für Madonna ist dann anschließend fällig.

Images:
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Name: Play
SortName: Play
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Overview:
Play was a Swedish pop girl group. Faye Hamlin, Anna Sundstrand, Anaïs Lameche, and Rosie Munter formed Play's original lineup from the band's formation from 2000 until late 2003. After founding member Faye left the group, fifth member Janet Leon joined Play to fill Hamlin's position as lead singer. In 2005, the group officially announced an "indefinite break" and split up. At that time, Play had sold almost one million albums. Four years later, in 2009, the group reformed with a new lineup of three members consisting of Anaïs, Faye, and the sixth and oldest member of Play, Sanne Karlsson. In February 2011, an official statement was made that Faye had once again left the group in 2010 and would be replaced by Emelie Norenberg. It was announced in May 2011 that the band had separated for the second time.

Images:
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Name: Asher Roth
SortName: Asher Roth
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Overview:
Asher Roth was born and raised in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, a small town about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia. His mother, Elizabeth (née McConnell), is a yoga instructor, and his father, David Roth, is the executive director of a design firm. His mother has Scottish ancestry and his paternal grandfather was Jewish. Roth does not consider himself Jewish, although his name sometimes leads people to believe he is. He attended Pennsbury High School. Growing up, Roth was exposed to little hip hop in his family, with his parents preferring "The Temptations, Earth, Wind & Fire ... Bruce Springsteen and Dire Straits." According to Roth:

The first CD I ever bought was Dave Matthews Band's Crash ...That is how suburban I am...I finally got into hip hop in '98 when I heard the Annie sample with Jay-Z....When I wrote my 'A Milli' freestyle, that was me listening to 10 years of hip hop and not relating to it at all. Like, Damn I don’t sell coke. Damn, I don’t have cars or 25-inch rims. I don't have guns. I finally got to a point where I had the confidence to do this thing myself, and I was making music for me. And it turns out, a lot of people feel the same way I do.
Asher has also stated that:

Hip-hop has always been very influential in the burbs, [but] it’s just a matter of where we could relate to it. You find a lot of kids that are really confused. You look at them and they’re dressed out of character. They don’t look right. I figured out, I don’t have to dress this way, but I can still love hip-hop.

After graduating high school, Roth entered West Chester University and became an Elementary Education major, while continuing to record verses over other people's beats. During sophomore year, Roth posted some of his verses on his MySpace page and sent a Friend Request to Scooter Braun, an Atlanta-based promoter and former VP of Marketing for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def. One week after speaking to Braun, Roth flew down to Atlanta and was immediately signed by Braun, who subsequently became his manager.

Asher Roth cites Jay-Z and Eminem among his influences in hip hop, mostly by Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life".

Roth's lyrics characteristically center around what have been called "middle-class minutiae, some also consider them to be a joke." Roth's song "I Love College" is about partying after a visit to Penn State, but includes fatuous lyrics such as "I can get pizza a dollar a slice" that have been identified as "far from threatening".

Images:
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Name: Jay Rock
SortName: Jay Rock
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Overview:
Johnny Reed McKinzie, Jr. (born March 31, 1986), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper from Watts, Los Angeles, California. Growing up in Watts, known for its low income, gang infested and drug infested streets, Rock ultimately chose to take rapping over street life after Anthony Tiffith, CEO of independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment, found Rock in 2005 and signed him to his label after hearing a verse of his. Rock, alongside Top Dawg, worked with Warner Bros. and later Asylum Records, but after both mergers fell through, the label linked up with Strange Music, after Tech N9ne, rapper and founder of the label met with them.

Rock is a member of hip hop supergroup Black Hippy, alongside his label-mates and fellow West Coast rappers Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul. In 2011, after signing his joint-venture deal with Strange Music, Rock released his often-delayed and long-awaited debut studio album Follow Me Home. The album was preceded by the singles "All My Life (In the Ghetto)" and "Hood Gone Love It".

Jay Rock was born and raised in Watts, Los Angeles, California, in the Nickerson Gardens projects. In his neighborhood he is a known member of the Bounty Hunter Bloods gang. Rock attended Locke High School. Two times in his younger life he was jailed due to the areas anti-gang injunction. After signing to Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), he released several mixtapes throughout his neighborhood and the internet. With the help of TDE he signed to Asylum Records and later Warner Bros. Records in 2007.

Rock released his commercial debut single, "All My Life (In the Ghetto)" in late 2008, featuring fellow American recording artists Lil Wayne and will.i.am. The single was promoted as one of "iTunes's Free Downloads" in early 2009. In 2010, Rock was featured on the cover of XXL's annual Top 10 Freshmen issue. He was also named by MTV one of 2010's breakthrough MCs. Jay Rock was featured on Omarion's song "Hoodie" and was supposed to be featured on Flo Rida's third studio album Only One Flo but was left off the final tracklisting.

Rock's mixtape Tales From the Hood 2 went to iTunes on March 28, 2010 and his mixtape From the Hood to the Cover of XXL was released to iTunes on July 24, 2010. He also toured with 50 Cent, and other rappers on The Invitation Tour. Around the same time he left Warner Bros. due to them delaying his album. Jay Rock then signed with indie record label Strange Music in the Fall of 2010, on a multi-album deal after leaving from Warner Bros. Jay Rock then went on tour with Tech N9ne, E-40, Glasses Malone, Kutt Calhoun and Kendrick Lamar on the "Independent Grind National Tour". His mixtape Black Friday, was released December 7, 2010 to iTunes.

On June 21, 2011 Rock released his second single, "Hood Gone Love It", featuring Kendrick Lamar. His debut album Follow Me Home was released on July 26, 2011 under independent record labels Strange Music and Top Dawg. The album debuted at #83 on the Billboard 200, selling 5,300 copies in its first week. "Hood Gone Love It" was featured in the character trailer for Franklin, a main protagonist in the video-game Grand Theft Auto V. The song is also featured in the in-game radio station Radio Los Santos.

During 2012, Rock also toured with the rest of Black Hippy and Stalley, on BET's Music Matters Tour. Rock's appearance on Good kid, m.A.A.d city, was highly significant as he was the only other rapper from Black Hippy to be featured on the standard edition of the album. He was featured on the song "Money Trees", for which his verse was highly acclaimed. He also performed "Money Trees" with Lamar at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards, along with appearing in the TDE Cypher. XXL named his verse the fourth best of the night. In November 2013, he told Power 105 that his second studio album would be released in 2014.

Images:
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Name: Seven
SortName: Seven
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Name: Lil Kim
SortName: Lil Kim
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Overview:
Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and actress who rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a member of the hip hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A..
Jones was born and raised in Brooklyn, living much of her adolescent life on the streets after being expelled from home. As a teenager, Kim would rap for fun, being heavily influenced by other female MC'S like MC Lyte and Lady of Rage. When word got to The Notorious B.I.G. that she could rhyme, he made Jones perform a freestyle for him on the spot. Impressed with her, he took her in and she began her music career in 1995 with the group Junior M.A.F.I.A., whose debut album Conspiracy generated three hit singles. In late 1996, her solo debut album Hard Core was released. Hard Core was certified double platinum and spawned three consecutive #1 rap hits that included: "No Time" "Not Tonight (Ladies Night remix)" and "Crush on You", a record for a female rapper. Her following albums, The Notorious K.I.M. (2000) and La Bella Mafia (2003), both were certified platinum by the RIAA, making Kim the only female rapper besides Missy Elliott to have at least 3 platinum albums so far. Kim solidified her star power in 2001, when "Lady Marmalade", a song Kim was featured on, went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. That made her the second female rapper to earn a #1 on that chart.
In 2005, she served a year long prison sentence for lying to a jury about her friends' involvement in a shooting four years earlier. During her incarceration, her fourth album The Naked Truth was released. Lil' Kim returned to the public spotlight in 2009 with an appearance on Dancing with the Stars.

Images:
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Name: Outkast
SortName: Outkast
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Overview:
Outkast (stylized as OutKast) is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin (formerly known as Dré) and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast. The group's original musical style was a mixture of Dirty South and G-funk. Since then, however, funk, soul, rock, electronic music, spoken word poetry, jazz and blues elements have been added to the group's musical palette.
After forming the group as high school students in 1992, Outkast released its debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994), which gained popularity after the single "Player's Ball" reached number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart. The duo released ATLiens in 1996, which displayed stylistic differences from the band's debut and featured outer space-inspired themes. The albums Aquemini (1998) and Stankonia (2000) further expanded Outkast's musical experimentation. In 2003, the duo released a double album entitled Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which featured the number one singles "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move". The group starred in and created the soundtrack for the 2006 musical film Idlewild. Since 2007, Outkast has been on hiatus and both members have pursued solo careers, although the group moved to Epic Records in September 2011.
The duo is one of the most successful hip-hop groups of all time, having received six Grammy Awards. Over 25 million copies have been sold of OutKast's eight releases: five studio albums, a greatest hits release, and the Grammy Award-winning (for Album of the Year) Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, a double album containing a solo album from each member. Along with their commercial success, OutKast has maintained an experimental approach in their music and are widely praised for their originality and artistic content.

Images:
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Name: French Montana
SortName: French Montana
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Overview:
French Montana (born November 9, 1984) is an American rapper and singer of Moroccan descent. He is the founder and CEO of Cocaine City Records. In 2012, he signed a joint venture recording deal with Maybach Music Group and Bad Boy Records. Montana is known for his frequent collaborations with Max B, and more recently with Rick Ross along with his group Coke Boys, which consists of rappers Chinx Drugz, Cheeze and Flip.  French Montana was born Karim Kharbouch in 1984 in Rabat, Morocco, where he lived for the first 13 years of his life. Growing up, he was consumed by playing football and rapping, describing them as his two favorite childhood hobbies. In 1996, French emigrated with his parents and two younger brothers to the Bronx in New York City. His father left the family when French was 17, and so he began to provide for his mother and younger brothers.  French is also often reported as being of partial Somali descent. Asked about the rumors during a phone-in interview with Nomad Radio, a UK-based Somali music station, he indicated that both of his parents were Moroccan but that he has Somali ancestry as well.  Montana is Muslim (Sunni), having been raised in Morocco under the Maliki madhab, or school of thought. In an interview for Vlad TV which took place on the first day of the Islamic Holy Month Ramadan, French revealed that he participates in fasting during the month and how he was shot in the head and beat a murder charge.  Studio albums Excuse My French (2013)  Mixtapes2007: French Revolution Vol. 1 (Hosted by Evil Empire) 2008: Live From Africa (Hosted by Evil Empire)  2008: Coke Wave (with Max B; Hosted by DJ Whoo Kid) 2009: Coke Wave 2 (with Max B; Hosted by Evil Empire) 2009: The Laundry Man (Hosted by Evil Empire & Big Mike) 2009: Mac Wit Da Cheese (Hosted by Big Mike) 2009: The Laundry Man 2 (Hosted by Evil Empire) 2009: Cocaine Konvicts: Gangsta Grillz (Hosted by DJ Drama) 2010: Mac & Cheese 2 (Hosted by Evil Empire, Self & Big Mike) 2010: Coke Boys(Hosted by DJ Drama,DJ Diggz,DJ Lust) 2011: Mister 16 (Casino Life) (Hosted by DJ Holiday) 2011: Coke Boys 2 (Hosted by Evil Empire) 2011: Coke Boys Run NY (with Chinx Drugz; Hosted by ItsBizkit, Trapemasters Inc & Evil Empire) 2011: Lock Out (with Waka Flocka Flame; Presented by DJ Drama & DJ Green Lantern) 2011: Cocaine Mafia (with Juicy J and Project Pat; Hosted by Evil Empire) 2012: Coke Boys 3 (Hosted by Evil Empire) 2012: Mac & Cheese 3 (Hosted by Evil Empire)  Other mixtapes  2009: The French Connection 2010: Cocaine & Caviar 2011: Cocaine & Caviar 2

Images:
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Name: Stevie Stone
SortName: Stevie Stone
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Overview:
Stephen Williams better known by his stage name Stevie Stone is an American rapper from St. Louis, Missouri. He is signed to Tech N9ne's Strange Music record label.

Images:
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Name: Freeky Zeekey
SortName: Freeky Zeekey
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Overview:
Ezekiel Giles (born October 13, 1975), better known by his stage name Freekey Zekey, is an American rapper and music executive best known as a founding member of The Diplomats, a group he helped form in Harlem in 1997 alongside his childhood friend Jim Jones and cousin Cam'ron. Freekey also serves as the owner/CEO of 730 Dips Records.
Aside from The Diplomats, he is also a member of fellow rapper Jim Jones' ByrdGang, and has made a habit of yelling his name in songs; it is his signature on tracks, whether he is featured or the solo artist.

Images:
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Name: DJ Kay Slay
SortName: DJ Kay Slay
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Overview:
DJ Kayslay - correct tag for that artist.  (Born Keith Grayson in August 16, 1966), also known as The Drama King and Slap Your Favorite DJ, is the ringmaster of the new hip hop rivalries, played out on his mixtapes. The New York Times called him "Hip Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults." He has sold 350,000 copies of his two official albums.


Name: Jaheim
SortName: Jaheim
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Overview:
Jaheim Hoagland (also known simply as Jaheim) is an American R&B singer from New Brunswick, NJ. His father died in 1981, when he was only three years old. His grandfather Hoagy Lands, sang with many top groups, including The Drifters. Singing at family reunions and local talent shows preceded a successful tryout at the Apollo Theater's talent show. He won the contest three times when he was fifteen. He was signed to Kaygee (of Naughty by Nature)'s Divine Mill Records in 2000 and released his debut album, Ghetto Love, through the label in 2001. His sophomore effort, Still Ghetto, was released a year later, both to platinum success. Jaheim's third album, Ghetto Classics, was released on February 14, 2006, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. 2008 saw the release of Makings of a Man. His most recent album to date (Jan 2013) was the 2010 release 'Another Round.'

Images:
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Name: Instrumental's
SortName: Instrumental's
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Name: Alchemist
SortName: Alchemist
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Overview:
Alchemist was an Australian progressive metal band from Canberra whose style combined death metal, progressive rock, psychedelic, Eastern, Aboriginal and electronic influences. The band formed in 1987 and released six studios albums, an EP and a compilation album. Work began on a new EP in 2010 but the band went on an indefinite hiatus and has since ended. They are the only group to appear at every Metal for the Brain festival, an event they ran and organised from 1996. Alchemist has also played at the Big Day Out and toured Europe several times.

Images:
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Name: Instrumental's
SortName: Instrumental's
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Name: Fat Joe
SortName: Fat Joe
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Overview:
Joseph Antonio Cartagena, better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad

Fat Joe's first album was Represent, released in 1993, followed by Jealous One's Envy in 1995. From 1998 to 2006, he was signed to Atlantic Records, releasing four albums under the label, Don Cartagena in 1998, Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.) in 2001, Loyalty in 2002, and All or Nothing in 2005. Around the release of All or Nothing, Fat Joe became involved in a highly publicized feud with another New York City-based rapper 50 Cent, who attacked Fat Joe in his song "Piggy Bank". His most popular song in which he performed was his Remy Ma duet "Lean Back" with Terror Squad. The song was a number-one hit in the summer of 2004.

Starting in 2006, when his album Me, Myself, & I was released, Fat Joe was signed to Imperial Records, which distributes through Terror Squad Entertainment. His follow up album wasThe Elephant in the Room, which was released in 2008; Jealous Ones Still Envy 2 (J.O.S.E. 2), the sequel to Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.), was released in October 2009. His tenth album The Darkside Vol. 1 was released on July 27, 2010.

Images:
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Name: Papoose
SortName: Papoose
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Overview:
Shamele Mackie, better known by his stage name Papoose /pæˈpuːs/, is an American rapper. After breaking into the rap game in 2005 with DJ Kayslay with the release of his song "Alphabetical Slaughter" he signed a 1.5 million dollar contract with Jive Records. After his debut studio album, The Nacirema Dream would be shelved and he would cut ties with Jive. This would result in him releasing over a dozen free mixtapes to keep himself popular. In 2012 he secured a deal with Fontana Distribution and released his debut album independently on March 26, 2013.
Papoose became known to the public when he appeared in 1998 on Kool G Rap's Roots of Evil album. The following year, he released his first single, "Thug Connection"/"Alphabetical Slaughter".
After an early record deal failed, he decided to produce and sell his own mixtapes, one of which he presented to DJ Kay Slay outside the offices of New York's Hot 97 after the latter's radio show there. This led to Kay Slay inviting Papoose onto the air, and, impressed by his rendition of "Alphabetical Slaughter", signing him to his Streetsweepers Entertainment label. He continued to release mixtapes at a prolific rate – over a dozen between 2004 and 2006 – and won the Justo Mixtape Award for Best Underground Artist in 2005.
August 24, 2006, his official website announced that he had signed with Jive Records in a deal worth $1.5 million. An album to be called The Nacirema Dream ("American" spelled backwards) was planned. However, in September 2007, Kay Slay revealed that he and Papoose had left Jive, commenting that they had "almost [become] victims of A&R hell." On 21 Gun Salute, Papoose said that he was able to keep the $1.5 million despite not releasing an album.

He first came to prominence after featuring on the "Touch It" remix by Busta Rhymes. he was briefly associated and signed to Flipmode for a couple of years thereafter.

Since then he has released various mixtapes keeping his name out there with the most recent one being Most Hated Alive which was released December 4, 2012. His debut album The Nacirema Dream was scheduled to be released March 5, 2013. In promotion of the album he released "On Top of My Game" which features Mavado as a single on December 11, 2012. The music video premiered on 106 & Park on February 1, 2013. The release date was however pushed back another three weeks until March 26, 2013
In 2008, Papoose and his cousin James Phelps (stage name Young Purp) issued a statement saying that he and fellow rapper Remy Ma were to be married, but due to Ma's impending jail sentence of potentially up to 15–25 years, that the couple had changed their plans and intend to marry in prison instead. Papoose planned to wed his fiancee while in prison, but the wedding was called off for one day after he attempted to smuggle a key into prison on their wedding day in May 2008. After the incident, Papoose married Ma the next day inside the courtroom right before sentencing and was barred from visiting her for six months. He has a daughter named Dejanae Mackie. Since then they have conjugal visits every six weeks and Remy Ma will be released in 2014. He is of Liberian Descent.

Images:
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Name: Instrumental's
SortName: Instrumental's
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Name: Drag-On
SortName: Drag-On
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Overview:
Malvin Jason Smalls (born February 8th, 1979) is American rapper & actor from The Bronx.  Drag-On was Ruff Ryders member, showing up in their album "Ryde Or Die Vol. 1", also contributing to DJ Clue?'s, The Lox's and Eve's albums.  edit: also featured on the Belly Soundtrack- track 12 "We Can All Get It On"  After releasing his debut album called "Opposite Of H2O" in 2000, he came back in 2004 with "Hell & Back".  Drag-On recently left Ruff Ryders to launch his own label Hood Enviroment. First Drag-On's mixtape is called "Say Hello To The Guys" with its single "Shoe Box". Drag-On's new album Hood Environment came Sept 4, 2007.  You can buy the album via iTunes and Amazon.

Images:
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Name: Black Rob
SortName: Black Rob
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Overview:
Black Rob (born Robert Ross; June 8, 1968) is a rapper who was formerly signed to Bad Boy Records. Black Rob began associating with the label as early as 1996, appearing on the Bad Boy remix to 112's "Come See Me". He was then featured on several other Bad Boy releases including remixes to Total's "What About Us" (1997) and Faith Evans's "Love Like This" (1998), the song "24 Hrs. to Live" (1997) from Mase and albums by Puff Daddy & the Bad Boy Family (1997) and The Notorious B.I.G. (1999). He also made two appearances on Cru 1997 album Da Dirty 30, as well as albums by Ol Dirty Bastard, Channel Live, The Madd Rapper, Benzino, Tony Touch, and others.

These guest appearances earned him a media buzz and he kept attention with the hit single "Whoa!". Following this, the album Life Story was released in 2000 and rose above Platinum sales. Despite subsequently appearing on releases by P. Diddy and G. Dep, he was unable to follow up with another hit single and seemingly fell into obscurity. His second album, The Black Rob Report failed to perform as strongly as his debut and quickly disappeared from the Billboard 100 charts. In his earlier years Black Rob headed the street rap team which he named "Alumni". In 2005 Jemal Mosley from Off The Block Entertainment started managing Black Rob's career. In 2010 he parted from Bad Boy, and signed to independent label Duck Down Records, and is working on a new album titled Game Tested, Streets Approved due to be released July 26, 2011. Black Rob also started his own independent label, Box and One with Jemal Mosley.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Images:
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Name: The Notorious B.I.G
SortName: Notorious B.I.G
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Overview:
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 - March 9, 1997), best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls (after a character in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again) and Frank White (after the main character of the 1990 film King of New York).
Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. When Wallace released his debut album Ready to Die in 1994, he became a central figure in the East Coast hip-hop scene and increased New York's visibility at a time when West Coast artists were more common in the mainstream. The following year, Wallace led his childhood friends to chart success through his protégé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. While recording his second album, Wallace was heavily involved in the East Coast/West Coast hip-hop feud, dominating the scene at the time.
On March 9, 1997, Wallace was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. His double-disc set Life After Death, released 15 days later, hit #1 on the U.S. album charts and was certified Diamond in 2000 (one of the few hip hop albums to receive this certification). Wallace was noted for his "loose, easy flow", dark semi-autobiographical lyrics and storytelling abilities. Since his death, a further two albums have been released. MTV ranked him at #3 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time. He has certified sales of 17 million units in the United States.

Images:
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Name: Instrumental's
SortName: Instrumental's
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Name: Instrumental's
SortName: Instrumental's
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Name: alicia keys
SortName: alicia keys
PresentationUniqueKey: 6581990d63da43bb9f889d97bc71cfe1
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Overview:
Die Karriere der am 25. Januar 1980 in New York geborenen Alicia Keys steht in Verbindung mit der jüngsten Geschichte von Clive Davis. Dieser Mann, in seiner 40-jährigen Karriere für 300 Nummer-1-Hits verantwortlich, entdeckte Top-Acts wie Janis Joplin, Aerosmith, Santana, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston oder Dido und nahm sie unter Vertrag. Clive kauft 1998 den aufstrebenden R'n'B-Star aus ihrem Major-Deal mit Columbia-Records frei, um sie (als Chef von Arista) ins eigene Boot zu holen. Das gelingt ihm, doch kurze Zeit später muss er den dicken Sessel für einen Jüngeren frei machen. Kurzer Hand nimmt er die junge Schöne einfach mit und landet mit ihr 2001 einen weiteren Treffer in der hart umkämpften amerikanischen Musikarena.

Knapp 300.000 verkaufte Einheiten in der ersten Woche, da gerät selbst der alte Hase Davis ins Schwärmen: "Wir kamen mit der Produktion nicht mehr nach. So etwas habe ich in meiner 40-jährigen Karriere noch nicht gesehen". In diesen Erfolg steckt viel Arbeit: Er veranstaltete exklusive Show-Abende in seiner Villa außerhalb New Yorks, besuchte alle wichtigen Radiostationen, und schlug bei MTV mit dem Satz auf "Ich gehe hier nicht eher, bevor ihr mir eine Power-Rotation garantiert". Den Kick aber bringen Alicias Performances auf der 2000er Pre-Grammy-Party (die Clive jedes Jahr veranstaltet), in der berüchtigten Late Night Show von Jay Leno und in der Sendung der "heiligen Mutter" aller Hausfrauen, Oprah Winfrey.

Kein Wunder auch, Alicia spielt seit ihrem fünften Lebensjahr Klavier. Mit 14 beginnt sie die Arbeit an eigenen Songs. Mit 16 schließt sie ihre High-School-Ausbildung mit Diplom ab und wird von Columbia unter Vertrag genommen. Den Rest erledigt ab 1998 Clive Davis, der ihr als Mentor von nun an zur Verfügung steht. Er verzichtet auf einen hochdotierten Job in der Bertelsmann Vorstandsetage und gründet lieber sein eigenes Label J-Records. Dort kann er sich in aller Ruhe um die Karriere von Alicia Keys kümmern.

Im Herbst 2001 erscheint ihr Debütalbum "Songs In A Minor", das eine perfekte Symbiose aus alten Motown-Elementen und einer modernen R'n'B-Produktion darstellt, auch hierzulande. Allein für dieses Meisterwerk erhält sie im Herbst 2002 fünf Grammys, u.a. den für die 'Künstlerin des Jahres', unzählige weitere Auszeichnungen sollen bald folgen. "The Diary Of Alicia Keys" (2003) verfeinert das Rezept weiter, erreicht aber dennoch nicht ganz die Klasse des Debüts. Eine erste Livescheibe spielt sie 2005 für die MTV "Unplugged"-Serie ein.

Wenn sie nicht im Studio steht, engagiert sich Alicia auch für AIDS-Kranke und andere vom Schicksal Geschlagene. Während der Internationalen AIDS-Konferenz vom 13. bis 18. August 2006 im kanadischen Toronto führt sie einen Protestmarsch an, den Mütter von AIDS-Infizierten abhalten. Im Zuge eines Aufenthalts in Südafrika beschließt die Sängerin, die Situation einer größeren Öffentlichkeit nahezubringen.

Außerdem ist sie als Botschafterin für die Organisation 'Keep a child alive', die hauptsächlich Familien in Afrika und Asien hilft, aktiv. Dabei vernachlässigt sie ihre Musik allerdings nicht: 2007 kommt ihr drittes Studioalbum "As I Am". So wird sie 2008 mit zwei Grammys in den Kategorien Best R&B Song und Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ausgezeichnet.

Im September 2009 meldet sie sich mit "Doesn’t Mean Anything", der ersten Single vom vierten Studioalbum "The Element of Freedom" zurück. Der Titel ist laut Keys Programm, da sie sich in diesem Album die Freiheit nimmt, auch vermeintlich abwegige Ideen musikalisch umzusetzen. In Deutschland erreichte die Platte Gold.

Im Juli 2010 heiratet Alicia ihren Freund, den Rapper und Produzenten Swiss Beatz, im Oktober kommt der gemeinsame Sohn Egypt Daoud Ibarr Dean in NYC zur Welt. 2012 singt sie auf der Trauerfeier für Whitney Houston "Can You Send Me An Angel". Im November desselben Jahres erscheint der nächste Longplayer "Girl On Fire".

Weiterentwickung ist für die Sängerin wichtig. Obwohl im Bereich des klassischen R'n'B daheim, ergänzt sie ihren Sound immer wieder durch Elemente anderer Stilrichtigen. Das schließt gleichwohl Kollabos mit Kolleginnen wie Beyoncé ein.

Images:
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Name: Inner City
SortName: Inner City
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Overview:
Inner City is an American house and techno group, formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1987. The group is composed of the record producer and composer Kevin Saunderson and the Chicago, Illinois native Paris Grey. Saunderson is renowned as one of the Belleville Three — along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May — high school friends who later originated the Detroit Techno sound.

Images:
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Name: R Kelly
SortName: R Kelly
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Overview:
Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Often referred to as the King of R&B, Kelly is recognized as one of the most successful R&B artists of all-time. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play. He is known for a collection of major hit singles including "Bump n' Grind", "Your Body's Callin'", "I Believe I Can Fly", "Gotham City", "Ignition (Remix)", "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time", "The World's Greatest", "I'm a Flirt", and the hip-hopera "Trapped in the Closet". In 1998, Kelly won three Grammy Awards for "I Believe I Can Fly".
Kelly has written, produced, and remixed songs for many artists including The Winans, The Isley Brothers, Charlie Wilson, Quincy Jones, K-Ci & JoJo, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Hi-Five, Nivea, Ciara, Mary J. Blige, Luther Vandross, Gerald LeVert, Raheem DeVaughn, Ruben Studdard, Jaheim, Kelly Price, Tamia, Maxwell, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Usher, B2K, Twista, Tyrese, Jennifer Lopez, Trey Songz, and others in the U.S. and abroad.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), has recognized R. Kelly as one of the best-selling music artists in the United States with 38.5 million albums sold as well as only the fifth Black artist to crack the top 50 of the same list. In March 2011, R. Kelly was named the most successful R&B artist of the last 25 years by Billboard. Kelly has released 10 studio albums, sold 38.5 million albums in the U.S., 15 million singles, and over 55 million albums worldwide making him the most successful R&B male artist of 1990s.

Images:
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Name: Ghostface Killah
SortName: Ghostface Killah
PresentationUniqueKey: 7468958f5e864348adf17cbab5e8cd3a
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Overview:
Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and prominent member of the Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success. Ghostface Killah debuted his solo-career with Ironman in 1996, which was well received by music critics. He has continued his success over the following years with critically acclaimed albums such as Supreme Clientele (2000) and FishScale (2006). His stage name was taken from one of the characters in the 1979 kung fu film Mystery of Chessboxing. He is the founder of his own label Starks Enterprises.
Ghostface Killah is critically acclaimed for his loud, fast-paced flow, and his emotional stream-of-consciousness narratives containing cryptic slang and non-sequiturs. In 2006, MTV included him on their honorable mention list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, while the editors of About.com placed him on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007), praising him as "one of the most imaginative storytellers of our time." Ghostface's storytelling abilities have widely been praised, with Q magazine calling him "rap's finest storyteller."

Images:
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Name: Olivia
SortName: Olivia
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Overview:
Olivia Lufkin (born December 9, 1979), professionally known as OLIVIA, is a Japanese American bilingual singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of an American father and a Japanese mother. Her two younger siblings are Jeffrey Lufkin, who is a musician she collaborates regularly with and Caroline Lufkin, who is an independent musician. Lufkin began her solo career after being in the Japanese girl group D&D. She gained mainstream success in 2006 after creating songs for the fictional band Trapnest under the alias of Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest), and the songs were used for the popular anime adaptation of Nana. 

Biography:

Early beginnings:
Olivia Lufkin was born on December 9, 1979 in Okinawa, Japan. In 1982, she moved to San Diego, California then back to Okinawa. Olivia later moved again to North Carolina for two years before moving back to Okinawa. 
Olivia was discovered by the director of "Rising Productions" (Vision Factory) while attending the Okinawa Actors' School, subsequently signing to Avex Trax as part of the Japanese idol group D&D. Famed producer Tetsuya Komuro heard of Olivia one day and decided that she would be perfect for a project in which he was planning along with Jean Michel Jarre. The project was to create the theme song for the 1998 FIFA World Cup entitled Together Now. The single was released a month after D&D's first and only album. It was then decided that D&D would disband and be separated into two different groups: 'Olivia' as Olivia's solo-project and Aya & Chika as Aya & Chika from D&D. 

1999-2002: Solo beginnings:
In contrast to her work with D&D, her first single, "I.L.Y. (Yokubō)", had a driving pop rock sound. While she did not write her first two singles, which were composed and produced by T2ya, she wrote her third single, "Dear Angel", and most of her singles since then. 
In 1999 and 2000, Olivia would release six singles, all with a pop-rock sound. Toward the end of 2000, she released her first solo album, Synchronicity, which contained all singles released to date, five previously unheard tracks, and one bonus track. It would peak at the number twenty position on the Oricon Charts. 
After a hiatus of more than a year, Olivia began to take control of her career, releasing her seventh single "Sea Me" on December 12, 2001. This single marks her switch to one of Avex Trax's sub-labels, Cutting Edge, from which she continues to release singles and albums. Her releases would become increasingly rare and sporadic from then on, with a Video Clips Collection being issued four months later. 
Olivia's next single, "Into the Stars", was planned to be released in July 2002 with an album released at the end of the year. However, plans were changed as the single was postponed until September due to market forces and the album release similarly delayed. 

2003-2004: New style:
2003 saw a complete style change with Olivia's music and an onslaught of mini-albums as she began a series of collaborations with her brother, Jeffrey Lufkin. During this time, her music became considerably darker in both style and lyrical content than seen before. Instead of singles, four mini-albums would be released exclusively through Tower Records Japan in Shibuya, Tokyo. These include: Internal Bleeding Strawberry, Merry&Hell Go Round, Comatose Bunny Butcher and The Return of the Chlorophyll Bunny. 
Alongside this, Olivia decided to launch a rare-items fashion label called Black Daisy Ville with her friend Friedia Niimura (Rin Kozue). This fashion line would continue until the summer of 2004 in which a line of clothes and items were released. Friedia later moved to United States and the line discontinued. 
Then in 2004, she released her second album The Lost Lolli. This album primarily featured the best material from her four mini-albums and introduced two new tracks, "Alone in Our Castle" and "Fake Flowers" as well as two re-arrangements. The album was released nation-wide with a limited first press version available at Tower Records Japan. "SpiderSpins (Lost Lolli Mix)" would be used as a promotional radio single and video for the release. The Lost Lolli would only peak at #111 on the Oricon Charts. However, despite the moderate success of the album, Avex Trax released an overseas version of this album, reflecting Olivia's increasing success outside of Japan. Typically, only chart-topping artists release overseas versions of their albums. 

2005-2006: Interim and return:
After releasing The Lost Lolli, Olivia went on an unofficial hiatus except for a performance at the "Halloween of the Living Dead" concert hosted by Hyde on October 30, 2005. Although, she would continue to work as a model in fashion magazines. 
During March 2006, it was announced that Olivia would once again be releasing music in the Japanese music industry. She would provide vocals for the lead vocalist Reira Serizawa in the fictional band Trapnest as a part of the anime adaptation of Nana. She would produce songs for the anime under the alias Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest) alongside fellow Avex artist, Anna Tsuchiya, who plays the role of Nana Osaki, the vocalist for Trapnest's rival band Black Stones. 
The manga's author, Ai Yazawa, asked Olivia to sing for the anime when a staff member at Avex gave her a copy of Olivia's singles "Sea Me" and "Into the Stars". It is reported that she exclaimed, "It can only be her!" when she first heard the music. "A Little Pain" would be Olivia's first release for this role in which she first made the general theme to the lyrics, then wrote the song in English. Later on, the lyrics would be changed to Japanese. The single is about "Reira's loneliness, pain and strength," as Olivia found that she could relate well to the character. 
Olivia has said that her musical expression has now changed, that the hiatus was because at the time of The Lost Lolli's release, she was "feeling pretty depressed", and "started to notice and realize a lot of her faults"and that her style "has gotten a lot more detailed", it's "pleasing to the ear" and "a lot cooler". She had to do a lot of research into Reira's character, as she "never really read manga". "A Little Pain" is specifically tailored to the point of view of Reira. She states, "It was fun to sing as another person. Like an actress. I wrote the lyrics with the image that Reira looked to herself and wrote it. But because she's Reira she has to help all around her and that's why it seems as though she sings for everyone, but really she sings for herself. I wrote it with that idea in my mind." 
When "A Little Pain" was first released, it reached a position of number eight on the Oricon Charts, her first top ten position, and two positions below Anna Tsuchiya's single, "Rose", which had been released on the same day. After the second week, this single had outsold the total sales for her debut single, "I.L.Y. (Yokubō)" which was her highest selling single to date at the time. 
Olivia would continue to release Nana-related material throughout 2006. The next opening and ending theme songs used after Anna Tsuchiya's "Rose" and Olivia's "A Little Pain" were both songs by Olivia. The single "Wish/Starless Night", was released in October and peaked at number seven on the Oricon Charts. Following the success of these releases, Olivia's first US appearance was scheduled for the Asian entertainment convention Pacific Media Expo held in Los Angeles, California in October 2006. 

2007-present: Modest success:
On January 17, 2007, The Cloudy Dreamer was released in CD and CD+DVD formats. The album debuted at number fifteen on the Oricon Weekly Charts - her highest ranking album to date. In addition to the singles previously released, the mini-album also featured the songs: "Dream Catcher", which was used as the ending theme for the live action television drama series of Jigoku Shōjo, "If You Only Knew", which was used as the main theme for the Korean drama The Snow Queen, as well as an English version of "Wish". Later in February, the compilation album Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest) was released featuring the singles from the Nana and some new songs. 
Nana Best, another compilation album, was released shortly thereafter. This album featured the hit songs from the anime and one unreleased song by both Olivia and Anna Tsuchiya. Olivia and Anna would go on to perform these songs together live at Shibuya-AX in March 2007. 

On July 6, 2007, Olivia held a concert in Paris, France at the popular venue, La Locomotive singing songs from Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest), The Lost Lolli and The Cloudy Dreamer. She also made a special guest appearance at the Japan Expo on July 6 and 7. 
A new song, "Bleeding Heart", which was a collaborative effort with her brother, Jeffrey Lufkin, was produced for the Vision Factory compilation album Flower Festival: Vision Factory Presents. The compilation album contains songs set to the theme of 'flowers' by various other artists such as Lead, Fungo, and Hiro. It was released on March 19, 2008. 
Olivia released her sixth mini album, Trinka Trinka, on September 17. It featured a new song called "Rain", which was used as the second ending theme to K-tai Investigator 7. The album consisted of all new material. There was much confusion about the track line up as a few of the track titles were changed such as the highly anticipated song "Real Love" which was premiered during her concert in Paris with was renamed to "Your Smile" and quite possible "I'm So Excited" was retitled as "Trinka Trinka". Following the release of this mini album, Olivia held a live show on October 24, 2008 at Shibuya Womb in which over 600 fans attended. 
On December 30, 2008, Olivia participated in a duo showcase with Inoran in which she covered a few of his songs such as Owl's Tear and Monsoon Baby. They also talked about their new collaboration single which was released on April 15, 2009. It was titled "Sailing Free" and it served as the theme song to a new game of the saga Sengoku Basara, called "Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes". "Sailing Free" was also Olivia's first single in three years. 
Trinka Trinka was re-released in France which included "Sailing Free" and it's b-sides (Love Love Love and Undress) along with a bonus track which was revealed to be World's End Girlfriend's remix of "If You Only Knew". The bonus track had previously been featured on Olivia's Myspace page. Following this re-release of Trinka Trinka, Olivia remained fairly quiet throughout early 2010. It was then announced that Olivia will give a concert for the visitors of the German Anime convention Connichi 2010. The Connichi 2010 took place at the Kongress Palais of Kassel (former Stadthalle Kassel) from September 10-12, 2010. Olivia talked about a new release, a Greatest Hits album which was released on October 13, 2010. Due to the release there was much concern that Olivia was retiring from the musical business but through her official Facebook page, Olivia assured her fans that she was not quitting and that she is planning to release new material after the release of her Greatest Hits album. The Greatest Hits album included two brand new tracks called "Sunlight" and "Be Your Friend". These tracks saw another turn in the direction of Olivia's musical style; a combination of Trinka Trinka's pop style and The Lost Lolli's dark electronica. 
Olivia's latest live appearance was at UppCon 2011 and after that, she took a hiatus from the music. She took up a job in a kindergarten in Okinawa, and thereafter, moved to California. 
In 2012, She married musician Owen Vallis  and on October 14, 2013, Olivia posted and shared an entry on her blog and Facebook page relaying that she and her husband are currently expecting their first child, a son named Atlas, due January 2014. Atlas was born on January 13, 2014.

Images:
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Name: Mary Mary
SortName: Mary Mary
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Overview:
Mary Mary is an American gospel group, consisting of sisters Erica Monique Campbell (born April 29, 1972) and Trecina "Tina" Evette Campbell (born May 1, 1974), and are often credited for broadening the fan base of contemporary gospel in the 2000s by introducing elements of soul music and hip hop. Erica Atkins-Campbell and Trecina Atkins-Campbell were born in Inglewood, California. The Campbell (formerly Atkins) sisters grew up as part of a large family of nine children in Inglewood, California. Their parents are Thomasina (An evangelist and choir director at the Evangelistic Church of God in Christ) and Eddie (a youth minister). Because of their proximity in age, the two singers grew up closer to one another than to any of their seven siblings. The sisters quickly entered the world of church choirs, traveling gospel shows, and some television productions. All nine Atkins children were on the Bobby Jones Gospel show on BET. The sisters had their sights set on making music a career and enrolled at El Camino College to study voice. There they ran up against the divide between academic music studies and the popular musical world. "We had to study classical and sing arias, which was fine," Erica told the Times, "but the teachers would tell us if we sang anything else it would damage our instrument." The sisters toures with the 1995 Michael Matthews traveling gospel show Mama I'm Sorry and Sneaky. Each sister subsequently toured as a backup singer for a variety of R&B acts including Brandy. A meeting with producer Warryn Campbell led to their song publishing deal with the giant EMI music conglomerate and a series of songs that landed on the soundtracks. They wrote "Dance" and performed it with Robin S. for the soundtrack to the 1998 film Dr. Dolittle; "Let Go, Let God" for The Prince of Egypt Inspirational, one of three soundtrack albums for the film; and songs of theirs were recorded by Yolanda Adams and 702. At the same time, Mary Mary as a musical entity took shape.T he sisters' profile in the gospel industry was raised when their songs "Time To Change" and "Yeah" were recorded by Yolanda Adams on the Mountain High... Valley Low CD. The duo was subsequently signed to Columbia Records/C2 Records and decided to perform under the name Mary Mary, honoring Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. They were first gospel act to record for the industry giant Columbia Records since Tramaine Hawkins in the mid-1990s. Their first single, "Shackles (Praise You)" became a crossover hit, being popular with gospel, R&B, and pop audiences. It was a Top 10 R&B and Top 40 pop hit, and peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It became the first gospel song in five years to crack the R&B top ten and gained wide exposure on the MTV video cable channel. The album was a huge success because it offered a younger, hipper version of gospel that audiences could relate to. Their first album,Thankful (Mary Mary Album) in May 2000, which would go on to win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album, and a second single, "I Sings". Peaking at #1 on the Gospel album chart and at #59 of the overall Top 200 chart, Thankful was certified Platinum for sales of 1 million copies in the USA. Both singles were also hits in the UK and Europe, and to this day remain popular with Christian youths in the US, Latin America, and Europe. With their second album Incredible, the duo was able to maintain their success. The record, soon after its release, went to #1 on the Gospel chart, and was able to enter the Top 20 of the Top 200 album chart. Incredible was later certified Gold for 500,000 copies sold in the United States. The album's singles In The Morning and I Try became relatively large hits within the contemporary gospel nation. After taking time off to have children, their third album Mary Mary appeared. It became the duo's first album to enter the Top 10 on Billboard and was later on certified Gold for sales of 500,000 copies. The first single "Heaven" containing a sample from seventies soul trio the Honey Cone's "Want Ads". Heaven made history and broke chart records as it had an unprecedented 9 week run as the #1 record on Billboard's Gospel Radio chart. The second single, "Yesterday", also became a hit, especially on the Adult R&B charts where it peaked at #10. On the R&B/Hip Hop chart, the song became their second biggest hit since "Shackles" in 2000, reaching the #53 spot so far. On October 10, 2006`, the recording group released their most recent album inspired by Christmas songs and is called A Mary Mary Christmas.

Images:
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Name: Yummy Bingham
SortName: Yummy Bingham
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Overview:
Elizabeth T. Wyce Bingham a.k.a. Yummy is an American R&B singer, songwriter and music executive. She is a former member of Tha Rayne.  She was born on January 7th, 1986 to Dinky Bingham and Patrice Wyce. The godchild of both R&B legends Chaka Khan and New Jack King Aaron Hall, Yummy Bingham has been surrounded by music since her birth. Her father, Dinky Bingham is a noted musician, singer and producer who is responsible for hits from Changing Faces, New Edition, Kylie Minogue and Jaheim.  Her father being always on the road, Yummy grew up with her mother until she was taken away due to allegation of abuses. After a tumultuous few years as a wild child in South Jamaica, Queens (New-York) where she was raised by her grand-parents, Yummy calmed down and began focusing on singing at 12, which led to a stint in Arista recording girl group Tha Rayne after meeting up with veteran producer KayGee in 2000, through a demo she did with her father. Tha' Rayne would eventually split up when Arista folded in 2004, but Bingham did get a taste of the spotlight when she sang on Jaheim's hit single "Fabulous" as well as with Tha Rayne's club bangers "Rock Wit Me", "No Love" and the radio friendly "Didn't You Know", produced by Rich Harrison.  Being part of a group didn't stop Yummy focusing on her solo career, and, in the year 2001, at 15, she appeared on the Osmosis Jones soundtrack, performing on the lead theme ("Turn It Out"), along with hip-hop legends De La Soul. Shortly thereafter, she contributed vocals to De La Soul's hit "Baby Phat" and then completed some more songs with the group until today, establishing herself as De La Soul's appointed vocalist.  Yummy Bingham did hooks and background vocals for numerous artists such as Jaheim, Boyz II Men, Queen Latifah, Next, Jae Millz, Patti Labelle, Philly's Most Wanted, Lupe Fiasco, Talib Kweli, Salt (from Salt-N-Pepa), 2pac, Black Sheep and Ray Cash.  As a songwriter, Yummy has written (released and unreleased) songs for a bunch of artists including Amerie, Mya, Beyoncé, Tarralyn Ramsey, Crystal Kay, Syleena Johnson, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, Chaka Khan, JC Chasez and Monica.  In 2004, she re-connected with platinum beat maestro Rockwilder who took Yummy on as a signed artist on his label (Muzic Park Records) but also as a business partner, offering her to become a part of owning the company and to serve there as co-CEO. Yummy Bingham also owns her own entertainment and production company : Sweat Break Entertainment/Sweat Break Muzic, making her one of the music industry's youngest female executives.  Yummy Bingham was signed in 2005 to Cash Money/Universal for a very brief experience. Because Cash Money's checks bounced, Yummy left the label and was signed up by Universal's Executive Vice President Sylvia Rhone who really wanted Bingham to help revive her own label : Motown Records (a Universal company). Her street single Come Get It (featuring Jadakiss) (used in a Pontiac commercial) had been embraced by the mainstream audiences and turned into a moderate hit.  The following to "Come Get It" was the originally intended for Beyoncé song Is It Good To You, produced by Rockwilder. The single was ready to hit the radios in January, but even after the help of Fabolous and Red Café on the remix (March), it failed to seduce radio DJs who didn't picked out the tune. Motown decided to change the single to One More Chance which impacted US radios on April 24th crashing at #2 Urban Most Added but less than two weeks later, Yummy encountered label problems that caused her to leave Muzic Park Records and sign with new management. The promotion of the single was halted although Motown kept Yummy among its roster and sent her back in the studio.  In July 2006, Yummy had been picked up by Island Record Group (Motown's parent company in the UK) to be one of the new revelations of the 2006 Notting Hill Carnival in late August. During the Carnival, Yummy's "Come Get It" emerged on different music channels. The single is expected to be released in the UK in September.  Her debut solo album The First Seed is expected for an October 9th release.


Name: Charlie Wilson
SortName: Charlie Wilson
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Overview:
"Charles Kent "Charlie" Wilson",  also known as Uncle Charlie, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, producer and the former lead vocalist for The Gap Band. As a solo artist he has been nominated for eleven Grammy awards and six NAACP Image Awards (including one win), received a 2009 Soul Train Icon Award, and was a recipient of a BMI Icon Award in 2005. In 2009, he was named Billboard magazine's No. 1 Adult R&B Artist.
Charlie Wilson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on January 29, 1953; he was the son of the Rev. Oscar Wilson, a minister in the Church of God in Christ. With his older brother Ronnie and younger brother Robert, Wilson often sang in church before their father’s Sunday sermons, accompanied on piano by their mother. He also sang in his junior high school's choir, which was a precursor to his musical career with The Gap Band and later his solo career. 
From the start of his career, Charlie and his brothers, Robert and Ronnie, helped define and popularize an upbeat form of funk music that was infectious and lasting with their group The Gap Band. The group's songs such as “Outstanding”, "Party Train", "Yearning for Your Love", "Burn Rubber on Me", “You Dropped a Bomb on Me”, and “Oops Upside Your Head” are among their immense catalog and some of the most sampled songs in music history. After 15 albums The Gap Band announced their retirement in 2010.

Images:
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Name: Fantasia
SortName: Fantasia
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Overview:
Fantasia Monique Barrino (born June 30, 1984), commonly known simply by the mononym Fantasia, is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series American Idol in 2004. Following her victory, she released her debut single, "I Believe," which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequently, she released her debut album, Free Yourself, which went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA and garnered Barrino three Grammy nominations in 2006.
In 2006, she released her second album, Fantasia, which featured the single "When I See U" which topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for eight weeks. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA and received three Grammy nominations in 2008. She then played the part of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, for which she won a 2007 Theatre World Award. Her third studio album, Back to Me, was released worldwide on August 24, 2010 and features the single "Bittersweet," which peaked in the top ten on the R&B chart. The single won her a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. As of February 2012, Barrino has sold 2,842,000 albums and 1,425,000 tracks in the United States.
On April 18, 2013, Barrino returned to American Idol singing "Lose to Win." The performance dubbed "dynamic, passionate and powerful" won her fervent expressions of approval from the show's current judges and a wild ovation from the live audience. Moreover, she has received rave reviews in the media for the performance

Images:
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Name: The Isley Brothers
SortName: Isley Brothers
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Overview:
The Isley Brothers (pron.: /ˈaɪzliː/ yz-lee) are an American musical group consisting of brothers Ron and Ernie Isley. The founding members of the band were Ronald Isley, older brothers Rudy and Kelly and younger brother Vernon. Originally formed as a gospel quartet, following the death of brother Vernon, the remaining trio launched a career into doo-wop scoring with their first million-selling hit single, "Shout", in 1959. Follow-up successes came with the 1962 single, "Twist and Shout" and the 1966 Motown single, "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)".
Following the release of their 1969 Grammy Award winning hit, "It's Your Thing" and subsequent other hits on their own label, the family eventually grew to include younger brothers Ernie and Marvin Isley as well as brother-in-law Chris Jasper. From 1973 until 1983, the group would release a successive string of hit albums and singles on the R&B charts, becoming one of the few successful black groups to successfully cross over into the pop charts due to their mixture of soul, funk and rock thanks to the albums, 3 + 3 and The Heat Is On and also helped pioneer the quiet storm format with a string of ballads on their 1970s and 1980s albums.
Since then, the group has gone through different lineup changes becoming one of the few acts to have successfully charted a single or an album in five decades. The group has been awarded with accolades including inductions to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as well as the R&B Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.

Images:
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Name: Styles P.
SortName: Styles P.
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Overview:
David Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known as Styles P, is an American rapper. He was born to a Jamaican father and a South African mother. He is a member of Hip Hop group D-Block, which includes Jadakiss and Sheek Louch. He is known primarily for the hardcore lyrics and powerful messages in his music.

Born in Corona, Queens, and raised on Groshon Ave in Yonkers, NY, Styles began rapping with Jadakiss and Sheek in 1994, as they all grew up in the same Yonkers, New York neighborhood. They eventually signed to Bad Boy Records, formed the rap group called “THE LOX” which stands for “Living Off Xperience”, and recorded songs with Notorious B.I.G., Sean Combs and Darren Blackburn. In 1998, The Lox released Money, Power & Respect w/ the hit song “Money, Power, Respect” feat. fellow Bad Boy, “Lil Kim” and Ruff Ryder Earl “DMX” Simmons. Soon thereafter, Styles P led the Lox on the now infamous quest to leave Bad Boy Records. When they were finally released, the Lox signed to Interscope. Shortly thereafter, a new Lox album and Jadakiss’ solo album Kiss Tha Game Goodbye were released.

Styles released A Gangster and a Gentleman in 2002, as his debut solo album. The album contained the song “The Life”, featuring Pharoahe Monch which was originally recorded for Rawkus Records’ Soundbombing 3 compilation album. The follow up hit was the song dedicated to marijuana use, “Good Times (I Get High)”, one of the most played songs of 2002.

Images:
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Name: The Alchemist
SortName: Alchemist
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Overview:
Alan Daniel Maman (born October 25, 1977), better known as The Alchemist (or simply, Alchemist) is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He hails from Beverly Hills, California. After rising to prominence in the late 1990s as a close associate of Dilated Peoples and Mobb Deep, he went on to produce for many of hip hop's leading artists in the 2000s, and has been hailed as one of the genre's leading producers. He is currently working as a DJ with Eminem and is also signed to his label Shady Records as a producer.

He began his career as a teenager as rapper "Mudfoot" in the rap duo The Whooliganz, along with now-actor Scott Caan (whose nickname was "Mad Skillz").

Images:
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Name: Prodigy
SortName: Prodigy
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Overview:
Albert Johnson (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Prodigy, is an American rapper and one half of the Hip-hop duo Mobb Deep with Havoc. He is the great-great-grandson of the founder of Morehouse College.

Born in Hempstead, New York, Prodigy became a member of the duo Mobb Deep. He comes from a musical family—his grandfather, Budd Johnson, and his great-uncle Keg Johnson are remembered for their contributions to the Bebop era of jazz. His mother, Fatima Frances Collins, was a member of The Crystals. Propelled to awareness partially by fellow rapper Nas, who took a similar approach lyrically on his Illmatic album from 1994, as well as with the aid of a successful single, "Shook Ones Pt. 2," Mobb Deep released The Infamous. A year later, in 1996, Prodigy and Havoc released Hell on Earth; debuting at number six on SoundScan the album was composed with both evocative beats and cinematic rhymes that communicated the dark side of New York's urban landscape. Due to a grim video for "Hell on Earth (Front Lines)" and theatrical Scarface-like photos inside the CD booklet picturing the duo with guns and a mound of cocaine, Mobb Deep had created an elaborate image for themselves that took hardcore gangsta rap to a new level for East Coast hip hop. Its next release, Murda Muzik, was heavily bootlegged while still in its demo stage, leaking, onto the streets and over the internet, rough versions of the nearly 30 songs the duo had recorded.

He started work on his third solo album H.N.I.C. Part 2, which was previewed on his official mixtape The Return of the Mac on the independent label Koch Records. The mixtape single and mixtape video are called "Mac 10 Handle,". H.N.I.C. Pt. 2 was released through Voxonic Inc., of which Prodigy is an equity holder. In late 2009, Mobb Deep was released from its contract with 50 Cent's G-Unit label. He recently served a three-year sentence in Mid-State medium-security prison, following a plea agreement stemming from a gun-possession charge. He was officially released on March 7, 2011.

Prodigy released an autobiography during spring 2011 entitled My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy. It was co-written with Laura Checkoway and was published by Touchstone Books. Prodigy was recently featured in the 2011 documentary Rhyme and Punishment a film that documents Hip-Hop artists who have been incarcerated. The film documents Prodigy's trial and his last days before starting his prison sentence. During 2011, Prodigy released a free EP called The Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson EP which is his first project since being released from prison. On April 21, a song titled "The Type", with Curren$y, was released on Curren$y's free album, entitled Covert Coup. Prodigy has spoken out against the secret society Illuminati. In 2013, Prodigy released his second collaboration album with The Alchemist titled Albert Einstein. Then on April 1, 2014, Mobb Deep released The Infamous Mobb Deep their eighth studio album.

Images:
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Name: Group Home
SortName: Group Home
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Overview:
Group Home is a hip hop duo, composed of members Lil' Dap and Melachi the Nutcracker. They came to prominence as members of the Gang Starr Foundation. Lil' Dap made his rhyming debut on Gang Starr's 1992 classic Daily Operation on the song "I'm the Man".

Images:
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Name: Cypress Hill
SortName: Cypress Hill
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Overview:
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Mexican-American/Latino hip hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide. It is one of the most well-known groups in West Coast rap and Hip Hop in general and was critically acclaimed for their first two groundbreaking albums.
Senen Reyes (also known as Sen Dog) and Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (also known as Mellow Man Ace) are brothers who initially lived in South Gate, California. In 1971, their family had immigrated to the United States from Cuba. In 1988, the two brothers teamed up with Lawrence Muggerud (also known as DJ Muggs) and Louis Freese (also known as B-Real) to form a hip-hop group named DVX (Devastating Vocal Excellence). The band soon lost Mellow Man Ace to a solo career, and changed their name to Cypress Hill, after a street in South Gate.
After recording a demo in 1989, Cypress Hill signed a record deal with the major label, Columbia Records. Their self-titled first album was released in August 1991. The lead single was the double A-side "The Phuncky Feel One"/"How I Could Just Kill a Man" which received heavy airplay on urban and college radio. The other two singles released from the album were "Hand on the Pump" and "Latin Lingo", the latter of which combined English and Spanish lyrics. The success of these singles led to the album selling two million copies in the US alone. The group made their first appearance at Lollapalooza on the side stage in 1992.

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Name: Shabaam Sahdeeq
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Name: Sheek Louch
SortName: Sheek Louch
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Overview:
Sean D. Jacobs (born November 9, 1976 in Brooklyn, New York), better known as Sheek Louch, is a rapper and member of The Lox, founded in 1994 which includes Jadakiss and Styles P.

After appearing on two Lox albums, 1998’s platinum debut Money, Power & Respect, and 2000’s follow-up We Are The Streets, Sheek became a business man. First, he bought a recording studio in his hometown city of Yonkers, NY, and then founded the record label D-Block with lifelong friends Jadakiss and Styles P.

When Jadakiss feuded with Beanie Sigel, the battle also brought along Sheek Louch and Styles P. Shortly before Beans went to jail, however, Sigel and Kiss made up definitively, performing together at a show; after his release from jail, the two did a remix on a Sheek Louch song and appeared on a track on a Funkmaster Flex compilation.

When The Lox left Bad Boy Records, the group and each of its members' publication was still owned by label head Sean Combs. The group fought with him over royalties, debt issues and other things until 2005 when they briefly put their differences aside to perform with Jay-Z at his I Declare War concert.Combs still owned The Lox's publishing because they only completed one album on their contract. Afterward they went on New York radio station Hot 97 bashing Diddy about taking all their money.

Sheek Louch has played a supporting role in D-Block's battle with 50 Cent. Originally, after a guest appearance in Ja Rule's single "New York", Jadakiss was insulted on 50 Cent's track "Piggy Bank" on the 2005 album The Massacre. Sheek has in turn insulted 50 Cent and other members of G-Unit on tracks on various mixtapes, including ones by Big Mike and DJ Clue.


Shame on you for ever underestimating Sheek. Shame on you for thinking that his membership in the LOX is all he had and all he’d ever be. After dropping two LOX albums, 1998’s platinum debut Money, Power &  Respect, and 2000’s chart topping follow up We are the Streets, Sheek became a business man. First, he bought a recording studio in his hometown town of Yonkers, NY. Then, he founded the record label D-Block with lifelong friends Jadakiss and Styles P. Sheek has been quietly focused. While Jadakiss and Styles were busy making guest appearances with everyone from Mary J. Blige to Jennifer Lopez, Sheek was planning and securing the foundation for what will undoubtedly become one of hip hop’s greatest classics, “D Block.” As the first artist signed to D-Block, Sheek’s debut Walk Witt Me takes hip hop back to the good days when MCs rapped with the kind of passionate power that could move entire coasts. After listening to Walk Witt Me, you’ll never sleep on Sheek again. In fact, you’ll be excitedly waiting for the next 16 bar ride through his life. “This album is all me,” says Sheek. “With the LOX, I have to write about the topic agreed on by all three of us. But on my album, I can get deep into it and let you understand me.”

Mixtape DJs like Kay Slay, Clue, and Whoo Kid understand Sheek. For months, the streets have been buzzing with his highly sought after freestyles. But when Walk Witt Me drops, the buzz will stop and the raucous will begin. Super lyrical songs like the standout “How I Love You,” take listeners on a mental journey through Sheek’s ups and downs in the hip hop game. “I’m explaining everything that has happened to me,” he says. “How I was chillin with the LOX, got comfortable, and then this hip hop thing left me alone because I got so comfortable.” Tracks like the bonafide hit “Don’t Worry,” featuring legendary DJ Kid Capri, samples the Jackson 5 Motown classic “Don’t Worry.” Sheek’s cocky declaration of his triumphant return to the spotlight will keep kids rapping along to “Don’t Worry” for days. Hardcore cuts like “Love You” and “Don’t Mean Nutin’ featuring Jadakiss, Styles, and J-Hood remind LOX lovers that Sheek will never loose his grimy touch. While the happy, carefree vibe on “Good Day” with the memorable hook “White tees, white airs, TK/Benz coup, rims spinnin, jake hatin me/ But that’s my life, my life in the sunshine” guarantees a summertime bass knocker. Spin queen Cocoa Chanel produced “Ok” the party anthem which is one of Sheek’s favorite album singles. And when the club closes and cats take a minute to focus, the title track “Walk Witt Me” will show a deep, intellectual side of Sheek that will make listeners stretch their eyes wide with amazement. “When I got into this solo project I was in a zone,” he says. “ A lot came out. And I’m still in a zone right now.”

But Sheek has always been focused. As 11 year old Sean Jacobs, he rapped with childhood friend Jayson “Jadakiss” Phillips and started the group Lil J and Shawn Ski. Years later, after signing with the LOX to Bad Boy, fighting for release, and eventually signing to Ruff Ryders, Sheek has only thought about one thing. “I was always the cat like, “Let’s get a label and sign to ourselves,” Why don’t we get our own artists and put ourselves out there? he says.’ Years later, Sheek’s focus paid off. As the first MC set to drop from D-Block, Sheek is concentrating on the task at hand. “I have to blow up this album and take this label to another level,” he says. “I can’t dance on stage forever.”

So although you may’ve doubted Sheek, he never underestimated himself. Because the stellar work on Walk Witt Me is all about confidence and focus. “This is mental. All soul and very carefully thought out,” he says. “Run with it.” And after people witness Walk Witt Me, they’ll be running with Sheek for life.

Sheek's second album, "After Taxes", was released in 2005 with guest spots from Fabolous, Beanie Sigel, T.I., Redman and his two LOX homies Jadakiss and Styles P. It also featured production from producers like Havoc, Rockwilder, Red Spyda and The Alchemist. Unlike his first album, "After Taxes" was released on Kock Records, one of the largest independent labels in the United States. Sheek got a minor hit "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye". Also included on the album was a diss track going at 50 Cent called "Maybe If I Sing".

    * He, as well as Jadakiss, made guest appearances in the movie Honey.

    * Sheek Louch met Jadakiss during his early childhood.

    * In high school, he used to play football on the varsity team. However, due to an             injury, he was force to not continue football.
 .

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Name: Royce Da 5'9"
SortName: Royce Da 5'9"
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Overview:
Ryan Montgomery was born and raised on the West side of Detroit, Michigan on W. McNichols & Wyoming Ave. He moved to Oak Park, Michigan when he was 10 years old, later acquiring the nickname "Royce" during high school after wearing a Turkish link chain with an R pendant resembling the Rolls Royce symbol. He started rapping at age 18, influenced mainly by Ras Kass, Redman, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G. and N.W.A.He signed his first deal in 1998 with Tommy Boy Records, after the label shut down, he signed a deal with Columbia where he started recording an album called Rock City, referring to Detroit's former status as home to Motown Records. When the project was heavily bootlegged, Royce left the label for Koch to re-record some of the album, eventually releasing it in 2002 as Rock City (Version 2.0). While the album did not sell very well, the DJ Premier-produced single "Boom" gained Royce some underground recognition and eventually resulted in the two working together more closely.
Through his manager, Royce was introduced to Eminem in 1997, and the two formed a working relationship; they formed up as a duo, Bad Meets Evil, and released several tracks together. Royce appeared on Eminem's major-label debut studio album The Slim Shady LP, in which he was featured on a song called "Bad Meets Evil". Royce and Eminem also released a track called "Renegades", from which Royce's vocals would later be replaced with Jay-Z's on the latter's The Blueprint. Through Eminem, Royce would also be introduced to both Dr. Dre and execs at Game Recordings. After his manager Kino stated: "I’ve seen Em sit Dre down like a pupil and coach him on rhymes" on a phone interview,Dr. Dre requested that Royce cut ties with his manager. Royce refused to fire his manager, thus his relationship with Dre ended.

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Name: Cormega
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Overview:
Cory McKay (March 2, 1973), better known by his stage name Cormega often abbreviated to Mega, is an American rapper from Queens, New York. Cormega's streetwise poetics and perseverance has made him one of the most respected East Coast lyricists.  Cormega was raised in Long Island City, Queens, forming childhood friendships with future rappers such as Nas, AZ, Nature, and Capone-N-Noreaga.  1980s He was featured on Hot Day's "Going Straight Up" from his album "It's My Turn". He was also featured on Blaq Poet & DJ Hot Day's track "Set It Off" from their album "Without Warning" in 1991.  1990s Cormega was sentenced to 5-15 years in prison for armed robbery in 1991. Despite his incarceration, Cormega gained some attention following a shout-out from Nas on his song "One Love", from the critically acclaimed Illmatic album.  Cormega was released from prison on appeal after serving almost 4 years in New York's Mid-State Correctional Facility. Following his release in 1995, Cormega became determined to pursue rapping. Nas included him on a song entitled "Affirmative Action" for his second album It Was Written. The song also featured AZ and Foxy Brown, and became The Firm's first appearance. Based on his performance, he was signed to Def Jam and recorded an album called The Testament. Based on the buzz from "Affirmative Action," Nas, his manager Steve Stoute and producers Dr. Dre and Trackmasters joined to produce The Firm. Cormega was replaced with another artist, Nature, because either he would not sign a contract with Stoute or Stoute felt Nature was a better rapper. This led to an alleged altercation between Cormega and Nature. Cormega's dispute with Stoute also ended his friendship with Nas. Following the end of his membership in The Firm, Alex Trojano contributed in producing his album The Testament. Meanwhile, following a falling-out over creative differences with his manager Chris Lighty and Def-Jam imprint Violator Records, his debut album The Testament was indefinitely shelved. During the recording for The Testament Cormega responded to Nas' "One Love" in the form of a letter also entitled "One Love".  2000s In 2000, he was released from his contract and he started his own record company, Legal Hustle Records. Cormega vented his disappointment with Nas and The Firm in a mixtape song titled "Never Personal".This song was never directly pointed to Nas, but the media made it look like that. In 2001, he released his new debut album, The Realness, which was acclaimed by critics. Many of the songs share a theme of betrayal. Nas responded to Cormega on his song "Destroy and Rebuild" from his album Stillmatic. Cormega retaliated with more mixtape tracks, "A Slick Response" and "Realmatic". Nas revisited the Cormega beef in his song "The Cross" on the album God's Son. In reference to Cormega, Nas rapped "What I've discovered is my brother's tryin to be/The next me, yeah I support him but he's blinded I see/ Jealousy he love me to death and I'm buggin I love him for life/ We both still mournin on our mother's life" (referencing the fact that Cormega's mother was murdered when he was four).  Cormega's follow-up album, The True Meaning won the Source Magazine's prestigious Underground Album of the Year Award. In 2004, he followed up with Legal Hustle (a compilation album showcasing his label's artists) and other talented hip-hop lyricists such as Ghostface Killah, Large Professor, AZ, Kurupt, Jayo Felony, and several others. This album is considered by some as more of a project than an actual solo album; nonetheless it was well received. In 2005, he was able to release The Testament on his own label, which saw good reviews and sales and featured the original banned version of "Dead Man Walking" as a hidden track.  In early September 2005, Cormega posted a statement on his website that he and Nas had spoken and ended their feud. Cormega explained that their conversation had come about due to the death of Cormega's grandmother. Both rappers have stated the possibility of a collaboration. On December 22, 2006 at the Nokia Theatre Times Square, Cormega appeared on stage at a Nas concert and went on to perform with Nas (and Foxy Brown as well), further evidence that their feud is over.  The feud was settled in Cormega's home in early December 2005, when Cormega and Nas realized that it was destructive for each of them. It is not known who was responsible for their meeting but both artists are now working alone. In the mid-2000s Cormega helped produce a few albums and was featured on several songs with The Jacka and the Mob Figaz.  An album collaboration with Lakey The Kid entitled My Brother's Keeper was released independently on August 22, 2006. On November 20, 2007, Cormega finally released his DVD in-the-making Who am I?. The DVD took over four years of filming of Cormega in all aspects of his life and what others thought of Cormega, unedited. The DVD was released as a soundtrack plus DVD. Cormega intended to release an album which was to be entitled Urban Legend before T.I.'s album of the same name was released (Cormega mentions this on the Who Am I DVD, dated circa 2003); the new title is Born and Raised. The album was released October 20, 2009. The first single is called "Journey."  2010s Cormega has stated his desire to work with a variety of artists including Scarface, Lauryn Hill, Slick Rick, as well as past collaborators M.O.P., Mobb Deep, and tha Dogg Pound. Cormega's Album "Raw Forever" was released on 2011.  His latest work is the Album Mega Philosophy. It was produced by Large Professor and released on July 22, 2014.

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