Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Bun B
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Bernard Freeman
Born	March 19, 1973
Origin	Port Arthur, Texas|
Genre	Hip hop, Southern hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	1987–present
Label	Rap-a-Lot
Associated acts	UGK, Pimp C, Drake, Slim Thug, Young Jeezy, Mac Miller, Chamillionaire, Paul Wall, Freddie Gibbs}}

Bernard Freeman (born March 19, 1973) better known by his stage name Bun B, is an American rapper and was one half of the southern hip hop duo UGK (UnderGround Kingz). He is also a guest lecturer at Rice University located in Houston, Texas. He recently released his third official solo album Trill OG on August 3, 2010, which received a 5 Mic "Classic" rating in The Source Magazine - the first album in over five years to receive the honor. Bun B is married with two stepchildren.

Solo career

When Bun B's UGK partner, the late Chad "Pimp C" Butler entered a jail sentence on an aggravated gun assault charge in 2003, Bun B made guest appearances on numerous albums by other Southern rappers and released a 2005 mixtape titled Legends. Singles featuring a Bun B guest appearance included "They Don't Know" by Paul Wall, "Gimme That" by Webbie and "I'm A G" by Yung Joc. Bun B also appeared in a documentary titled Screwed In Houston produced by VBS/Vice Magazine that details the history of the Houston rap scene.

Trill

In October 2005, Bun B's debut solo album Trill was released. Singles included "Draped Up", The album peaked at the sixth spot on the American Billboard 200 chart and number one on the Top R&B;/Hip Hop Albums chart.

II Trill

After Pimp C died in 2007, Bun B returned to a solo career. In 2008, he released his second album, II Trill Other singles were "Damn I'm Cold" featuring Lil Wayne and "You're Everything" featuring Rick Ross, David Banner, and 8Ball & MJG, the latter of which was dedicated to the late Pimp C.

Trill OG

Bun B's third album is Trill OG. In an interview with MTV Live, Bun B stated that 2Pac is set to feature on the album, claiming "It's a brand new verse." The album was released under Universal Music Group after leaving Warner Music Group's Asylum Records. The album was released on August 3, 2010.

Other Ventures

Acting

Bun B recently acted in the Straight-to-DVD movie "". It is unknown at this time though if he is still pursuing an acting career.

Teaching

At the start of the Spring 2011 semester, Bun B joined the faculty of Rice University as a Distinguished Lecturer. He teaches a course in the School of the Humanities on Hip-Hop and Religion.

Personal life

Family

Bun B is married to Angela Walls with two stepchildren.

Discography

2005: Trill

2008: II Trill

2010: Trill OG

Filmography

Films

(2010)

References

External links

Rap-A-Lot Records

Discography at discogs.com

Category:1973 births Category:Screwed Up Click members Category:African American rappers Category:Rappers from Houston, Texas Category:People from Port Arthur, Texas Category:Asylum Records artists Category:Living people Category:Rice University faculty Category:Southern hip hop musicians Category:Rappers from Texas

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Lil Wayne
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.
Born	September 27, 1982New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	1997–present
Associated acts	Birdman, Drake, Cash Money Millionaires, Hot Boys, Juelz Santana, T-Pain, Kevin Rudolf, Young Money, The B.G.'z
Label	Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Motown
Url

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Young Turk. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live! that year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album Guerrilla Warfare, released in 1999. Also in 1999, Lil Wayne released his Platinum debut album Tha Block Is Hot, selling over one million copies in the U.S.

Although his next two albums Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002) were not as successful (only reaching Gold status), Lil Wayne reached higher popularity in 2004 with Tha Carter, which included the single "Go D.J." Wayne also appeared on the Destiny's Child top ten single "Soldier" that year. In 2005, the sequel to Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, was released. In 2006 and 2007, Lil Wayne released several mixtapes and appeared on several popular rap and R&B; singles.

His most successful album, Tha Carter III, was released in 2008 which went on to sell over 1 million copies in the U.S. its first week of release. It included the number-one single "Lollipop" and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Lil Wayne released his debut rock album, Rebirth, in 2010 to primarily negative reception from critics. The album eventually went gold. In March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an 8-month prison sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. While in jail he released another album entitled I Am Not a Human Being in September 2010, featuring Young Money artists such as Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Twist. His upcoming ninth studio album, and first since being released from prison, Tha Carter IV, is due to be released on June 21, 2011.

Early life

Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter was born when his mother, a chef, was 19 years old. His parents were divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family. Carter enrolled in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School. In the summer of 1991, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Carter recorded freestyle raps on Williams's answering machine, leading him to mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. He also recorded his first ever collaboration album True Story with rapper B.G.. At the time, Carter was 11, and B.G. was 14, and was billed as "The B.G.'z". When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wiz. At age 13, he accidentally shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, and off-duty police officer Robert Hoobler drove him to the hospital. At McMain Magnet School, Carter was an honor student, but he dropped out at the age of 14 to focus on a musical career.

Music career

1997–99: The Hot Boys

In 1997, Carter joined the Hot Boys along with rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. At age 15, Carter was the youngest member at that time. Hot Boys' debut album Get It How U Live! was released the same year, followed in 1999 by the group's major-label debut Guerrilla Warfare, Carter was also featured on Juvenile's single "Back That Azz Up", which reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. Let 'Em Burn, a compilation album of unreleased tracks recorded during 1999 and 2000, came out in 2003, several years after the group disbanded. It reached No. 3 on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 14 on the Billboard 200.

Carter's debut solo album Tha Block Is Hot at age 17 featured significant contributions from the Hot Boys and was certified platinum, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard album charts. and also became a Top Ten hit. Critics pointed to the lack of coherent narratives in his verses as evidence that he had yet to mature to the level of his fellow Hot Boys. The lead single was "Get Off The Corner" which was noticed for an improvement in lyrical content and style, it also received a music video. The second single which received less attention was "Shine" featuring The Hot Boys. Near the release of Lights Out, Lil Wayne was featured on the single, "1# Stunna" with Big Tymers and Juvenile, which rose to 24th place on the Hot Rap Tracks charts.

Lil Wayne's third album 500 Degreez, released in 2002, followed the format of his previous two, with significant contributions from the Hot Boys and Mannie Fresh. While certified Gold like its predecessor, The lead single was "Way Of Life" which like the album failed to match the success of his previous singles. After the release of 500 Degreez, he was featured in the single "Neva Get Enuf" by 3LW.

2004–07: Tha Carter, Tha Carter II and collaborations

In the summer of 2004, Wayne's album Tha Carter was released, marking what critics considered advancement in his rapping style and lyrical themes. In addition, the album's cover art featured the debut of Wayne's now-signature dreadlocks. After the release of Tha Carter, Lil Wayne was featured in Destiny's Child's single "Soldier" with T.I., which peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Hot 100 and the U.S. R&B; Charts.

Tha Carter II, the follow-up to the original Tha Carter album, was released in December 2005, this time without production by longtime Cash Money Records producer Mannie Fresh, who had since left the label. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and went on to sell 2,000,000 copies world wide. The lead single, "Fireman," became a hit in the US, peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other singles included "Grown Man", "Hustler Muzik", and "Shooter" (featuring R&B; singer Robin Thicke). Lil Wayne also appeared on a remix of Bobby Valentino's "Tell Me", which rose to No. 13 on the U.S. R&B; Charts.

In 2005, Lil Wayne was named president of Cash Money, and in the same year he founded Young Money Entertainment as an imprint of Cash Money. However, as of late 2007, Lil Wayne reported that he has stepped down from the management of both labels and has handed management of Young Money over to Cortez Bryant.

on July 23, 2007]]

In 2006, Lil Wayne collaborated with rapper Birdman for the album Like Father, Like Son, whose first single "Stuntin' Like My Daddy", reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Instead of a follow-up solo album, Lil Wayne reached his audience through a plethora of mixtapes and guest appearances on a variety of pop and hip-hop singles. and Vibe

Despite no album release for two years, Lil Wayne appeared in numerous singles as a featured performer, including "Gimme That" by Chris Brown, "Make It Rain" by Fat Joe, "You" by Lloyd, and "We Takin' Over" by DJ Khaled (also featuring Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, and Birdman), "Duffle Bag Boy" by Playaz Circle, "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)" by Wyclef Jean (also featuring Akon), and the remix to "I'm So Hood" by DJ Khaled (also featuring T-Pain, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Rick Ross). All these singles charted within the top 20 spots on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Rap Tracks, and Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs charts. On Birdman's 2007 album 5 * Stunna, Lil Wayne appeared on the singles "100 Million" and "I Run This" among several other tracks. Wayne also appeared on tracks from albums Getback by Little Brother, American Gangster by Jay-Z, and Graduation by Kanye West and Insomniac by Enrique Iglesias. "Make it Rain", a Scott Storch production that peaked at number 13 on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot Rap Tracks chart, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for 2008.

Vibe magazine ranked a list of 77 of Lil Wayne's songs from 2007 and ranked his verse in DJ Khaled's "We Takin Over" as his best of 2007, with "Dough Is What I Got" (a freestyle over the beat of Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got") from Da Drought 3 the second song. The New Yorker magazine ranked him "Rapper of the Year", In 2008 he was named "Best MC" by Rolling Stone.

2008–09: Tha Carter III and We Are Young Money

Initially planned to be released in 2007, Tha Carter IIIs largest delay came after the majority of the tracks were leaked and distributed on mixtapes, such as "The Drought Is Over Pt. 2" and "The Drought Is Over Pt. 4". Lil Wayne initially decided to use the leaked tracks, plus four new tracks, to make a separate album, titled The Leak. The Leak was to be released December 18, 2007, with the actual album being delayed until March 18, 2008, The release of The Leak in this format never came to fruition, but an official EP titled The Leak and containing five tracks was released digitally on December 25, 2007.

Tha Carter III was released on June 10, 2008, selling more than a million copies in its first week of release, the first to do so since50 Cent's The Massacre in 2005. The first single "Lollipop", featuring Static Major became the rapper's most commercially successful song at that point, topping the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first Top 10 single for Lil Wayne as a solo artist, as well as his first No. 1 on the chart. His third single from Tha Carter III, "Got Money" featuring T-Pain, peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 100. Tha Carter III also won four Grammy Awards, including best rap album and best rap song, which he won for "Lollipop". In an October 2008 interview with MTV News, Lil Wayne announced plans to re-release this album with all new tracks, including a duet with Ludacris and remixes of "A Milli". concert in Vancouver in January 2009.]]

The lineup for New Orleans' 2008 Voodoo Experience concert, held in October, featured Lil Wayne. Jonathan Cohen of Billboard magazine reported that the event would mark his biggest hometown headlining set of his career. Lil Wayne stated that he would reunite with Hot Boys alongside Juvenile, Turk, and B.G. They plan to release an album after B.G.'s solo album Too Hood to Be Hollywood was completed. Wayne also performed as the 2008 Virgin Mobile Music Fest with Kanye West, performing the remix of "Lollipop" with West and also lip-syncing to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". Lil Wayne also performed at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards with Kid Rock ("All Summer Long"), Leona Lewis ("DontGetIt (Misunderstood)") and T-Pain ("Got Money"). On the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, he performed "Lollipop" and "Got Money". He later performed at the homecoming rally at Vanderbilt University and the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards with 12 nominations. He won the "MVP" title at the BET Hip Hop Awards and seven others. It was revealed that M.I.A. dropped out of performing on the tour due to her pregnancy, however Jay-Z is expected to perform with Wayne on the song "Mr. Carter" at select shows.

On November 11, 2008, Wayne became the first hip-hop act to ever perform at the Country Music Association Awards. He played alongside Kid Rock for the song, "All Summer Long", in which Wayne did not rap but instead inaudibly strummed guitar strings alongside the guitarist in Kid Rock's band. Shortly after, Wayne was nominated for eight Grammys – the most for any artist nominated that year. Wayne was then named the first ever MTV Man of the Year at the end of 2008. He won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for "A Milli", Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for his appearance in T.I.'s single "Swagga Like Us", and Best Rap Song for "Lollipop". Tha Carter III won the award for Best Rap Album.

MTV News listed Lil Wayne number two on their 2009 list of the Hottest MCs In The Game.

On December 23, 2009, Wayne released a collaboration album with Young Money, with the first single confirmed as "Every Girl". The second single is "BedRock", featuring Lloyd. The third single is "Roger That". On May 24, 2010, the album was certified gold by the RIAA with over 500,000 copies sold.

Wayne is featured on the song, "Revolver", with Madonna for her 2009 greatest hits album, Celebration. He was also featured on a Weezer song, "Can't Stop Partying", on their 2009 album, Raditude.

2009–2010: Rebirth

In late 2008, Wayne stated that he would re-release The Carter III with leftover tracks and call it Rebirth, several months later, however, he announced Rebirth would instead release as his debut rock album, maintaining its title as Rebirth. To support the release of Rebirth and a collaboration album with Young Money Entertainment, Wayne headlined the 'Young Money Presents: America's Most Wanted Music Festival'... a United States and Canada–only concert tour which started on July 29, 2009. The Rebirth album was originally scheduled for a April 7, 2009 release, however after numerous delays, the album was released on February 2, 2010. For the anticipation of Rebirth, Wayne was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone.

"Prom Queen", the first official single, debuted on January 27, 2009 immediately after a live Internet broadcast on Ustream of his concert in San Diego. "Prom Queen" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. On December 3, 2009, Lil Wayne's second single from the album, "On Fire", was released on iTunes. "On Fire" was produced by Cool & Dre with Lil Wayne playing the guitar with the aid of Pro Tools. "On Fire" peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. "Drop the World", which features Eminem, is the third single from the album. Following Tha Carter IIIs achievement of selling over 2 million copies, becoming 2008's best-selling record, Wayne re-signed with Cash Money Records for a multi-album deal. Wayne said Tha Carter IV will be released in 2009 just before the holidays. Birdman had previously stated that Tha Carter IV would be packaged with Rebirth as a double disc album. However, Wayne denied this idea saying that "Tha Carter IV deserves Tha Carter IV". He went on to say that We Are Young Money may be packaged with Rebirth. However, it was later confirmed that Rebirth and We Are Young Money will be released separately and that Tha Carter IV will be released during 2011. He started from scratch on Tha Carter IV since getting released from jail. He recorded his first track since being released from jail and it was described as being "a 2010 version of A Milli on steroids." The album is set to feature multiple guests, including Tech N9ne. The first single "6 Foot 7 Foot" featuring Cory Gunz was released on December 15, 2010. It was available for digital download on iTunes December 16, 2010. The song is produced by Bangladesh, who also produced Lil Wayne's single "A Milli" in 2008. On March 8, 2011, Weezy released another song called "We Back Soon." The song is produced by StreetRunner; It is more relaxed than "6 Foot 7 Foot" is, but will not be a track on Tha Carter IV. He also released a second single to Tha Carter IV called "John" on March 24, 2011, which features Rick Ross and is produced by Polow Da Don. Tha Carter IV'' was scheduled to be released on May 16, 2011, 2011. but Mack Maine had confirmed that the forthcoming ninth studio album will be released in June 21, 2011 instead of May 16, 2011, because they need more time to make the album perfect and they'll have a "monster" single coming soon that will possibly be titled "Blows My Brains" or "She's Always In My Head". On March 12, 2011, rapper Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit tweeted that Lil Wayne will be featured on the song "Ready To Go" from Limp Bizkit's upcoming album Gold Cobra.

On March 29, 2011, in an interview with Hot 97's Angie Martinez, Lil Wayne announced that he would retire at age 35; saying "I have four kids," and that "I would feel selfish still going to the studio when it's such a vital point in their lives."

On April 20, 2011, the official cover of Tha Carter IV was released.

Lil Wayne has announced several possible upcoming projects, including a collaboration album I Can't Feel My Face with rapper Juelz Santana that has been in production for several years. And also working on Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins' album Still Cool in late 2011. He has discussed a possible R&B; album titled Luv Sawngz, for which he will heavily rely on a vocoder. He has also talked with singer Lloyd about doing a collaboration album in the future. On June 19, 2008, Lil Wayne and T-Pain formed a duo called T-Wayne and planned to release an album. On June 8, 2010, Drake confirmed that he and Wayne are planning to release a joint album in the future. Lil Wayne and Baby will release a second Like Father, Like Son album around Fathers Day 2011. Wayne and Drake will release a collaboration album sometime in the near future. On February 10, 2009 he also appeared on ESPN's Around the Horn and beat out veterans Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti and fellow New Orleanian Michael Smith to win that show's episode. Prior to the 2009 Grammy Awards, Wayne was featured in an interview with Katie Couric. He then appeared on the April 24, 2009 episode of The View, talking about his GED and addictions. In September 2009, Wayne was profiled in an episode of VH1's Behind the Music and was a presenter of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.

In film, Wayne produced and composed music for and starred in the direct-to-video film Hurricane Season. A documentary of Lil Wayne titled The Carter was released at the Sundance Film Festival.

Personal life

Family

Lil Wayne has four children. His first child, daughter Reginae, was born when he was 15, Internet rumours started circulating in August 2008 that Wayne's daughter had died in a car crash, which however he quickly cleared up as false saying "Please allow me to dispel any rumors or speculations and report that my daughter is alive, healthy and surrounded by family who care and love her dearly. The rumors are completely false and unfounded; neither Reginae nor any other member of my family has been involved in any car accident." His second child, Dwayne III, was then born on October 22, 2008 at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. His third child, Lennox Samuel Ari, was born to actress Lauren London on September 9, 2009. He had his fourth child, Neal, on November 30, 2009 with singer Nivea.

In a CBS interview with Katie Couric, Wayne described why he goes by the name of "Wayne" instead of his given name, Dwayne. Carter explained, "I dropped the D because I'm a junior and my father is living and he's not in my life and he's never been in my life. So I don't want to be Dwayne, I'd rather be Wayne". Couric asked Wayne if his father knew of this and Wayne replied with a smile, "He knows now". He also revealed on The View that he switched to the University of Phoenix and majored in psychology taking online courses.

Sports and musical interests

In an interview with Blender magazine, Lil Wayne revealed one of his favorite bands from childhood to be rock group Nirvana, and cites them as a major influence in his music.

On September 24, 2008, Lil Wayne published his first blog for ESPN in their issue, ESPN The Magazine. Wayne revealed he was a fan of tennis, the Green Bay Packers, the Boston Bruins, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Red Sox. Wayne has continued writing for ESPN, notably reporting at the ESPN Super Bowl party.

Lil Wayne made his debut on ESPN's daily sports round table show Around The Horn on February 10, 2009.

Along with Mack Maine, Wayne was in attendance of Game 3 of the opening round NBA playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and the home team New Orleans Hornets on April 25, 2009.

Religion

Lil Wayne is a practicing Christian, who takes time to read the Bible regularly.

Philanthropy

On February 19, 2008, Lil Wayne and Cortez Bryant revisited their alma mater McMain Secondary School to get students to design an invitation to the gala introducing Lil Wayne's nonprofit One Family Foundation. The website Change.org states: "The mission of One Family Foundation, Inc. is to empower urban youth by engaging them in opportunities to cultivate their talents and skills, educating them to become productive and economically self-sufficient, and motivating them to dream beyond their circumstances."

Legal issues

Wayne told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric on her All Access Grammy Special in 2009 that he enjoys smoking marijuana recreationally. He also stated that he is "not addicted" to drinking purple drank (codeine cough syrup) any longer, as some had claimed. He has been arrested for use or possession of marijuana and other drugs.

On July 22, 2007, Lil Wayne was arrested in New York City following a performance at the Beacon Theatre; the New York City Police Department discovered Lil Wayne and another man smoking marijuana near a tour bus. After taking Lil Wayne into custody, police discovered a .40 caliber pistol on his person. The gun, which was registered to his manager, was in a bag located near the rapper. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and marijuana. On October 22, 2009, Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He was due for sentencing in February 2010 and was expected to receive a one-year jail sentence, but on February 9, 2010, Lil Wayne's attorney announced that the sentencing was delayed until March 2 due to dental surgery, which was performed on February 16. The surgery included eight root canals, the replacement of several tooth implants, as well as the addition of a few new implants and work on his remaining original teeth. On March 2, 2010, sentencing was postponed again when the courthouse reported a fire in the basement. On March 8, 2010, Lil Wayne was sentenced to a year in prison, which he served in Rikers Island. His lawyer said the rapper expected to be held in protective custody, separated from other prisoners. He was released on good behavior. However, in May 2010 Wayne was found by Rikers Island correctional staff to be in possession of contraband (an MP3 player, charger, and headphones). However at that time, it was reported by MTV and HipHopDX (and later confirmed) that Lil Wayne was to be released four months early in November. In April 2010, Lil Wayne's friends created a website called Weezy Thanx You, which publishes letters written by Wayne in prison. In the first letter, titled "Gone 'til November", the rapper described his daily routine, saying he works out a lot, and reads the Bible every day.

Following a performance at Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho, Lil Wayne was arrested October 5, 2007 on felony fugitive charges after Georgia authorities accused the rapper of possessing a controlled substance. The incident was later described as a "mix-up" and the fugitive charges were dropped.

On January 23, 2008, Lil Wayne was arrested alongside two others. His tour bus was stopped by Border Patrol agents near Yuma, Arizona. A K-9 Unit recovered of marijuana, almost of cocaine, of MDMA, and $22,000 in cash. Lil Wayne was charged with four felonies: possession of narcotic drug for sale, possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was granted permission to travel outside of the state and remain out of custody on the $10,185 bond he posted. On May 6, 2008, Wayne returned to court in Arizona to plead not guilty to the charges. A bench warrant was issued on March 17, 2010 when Lil Wayne did not show for a final trial management conference. However, the rapper was already in prison, serving a year-long sentence in Rikers on weapons charges. On June 22, 2010 Wayne plead guilty to the charges. As part of the plea deal he may serve 36 months of probation. On June 30, 2010, he was sentenced to 3 years probation.

In February 2009, production company RMF Productions filed a $1.3 million lawsuit against Wayne, following a $100,000 advance payment for three shows, all of which were cancelled by the artist.

On October 2009, Lil Wayne, Birdman, Cash Money Records and various music distribution outlets were sued for copyright infringement by Thomas Marasciullo, who claims his voice was used without permission. The rappers asked him to record some "Italian-styled spoken word recordings" in 2006. The lyrics were allegedly used on "Respect" and other tracks from the rappers' collaboration album Like Father, Like Son and Birdman's 5 * Stunna.

On December 18, 2009, Wayne and 11 others were detained at the Falfurrias, Texas border patrol checkpoint after an unknown amount of marijuana was found on two of his tour buses.

Public references by Barack Obama

Lil Wayne has been referenced in public speeches by President Barack Obama on at least two occasions, in mixed contexts. Speaking to a largely African-American audience during a general election campaign town hall speech in Georgia, then-U.S. Senator Obama exhorted children to stay in school and achieve their dreams through education and perseverance instead of hoping for shortcuts to fame and riches, stating: "You are probably not that good a rapper. Maybe you are the next Lil Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school."

After assuming the Presidency, Obama later echoed this theme of personal and familial responsibility—and the difficulty of achieving Lil Wayne's lyrical skills or success—during an address to a meeting commemorating the 100th anniversary of the NAACP, telling the audience:}}

Obama has also noted that the music on his iPod includes Lil Wayne:

Controversy

50 Cent

After hearing word that Lil Wayne had prepared a song for him after 50 Cent made some unkind remarks, 50 lashed out at Wayne first on August 17, 2007 with the song "Part Time Lover". Wayne never really responded to the song, although a 50 Cent diss track called "Louisianimal" did leak much later on November 17, 2008. Jackson responded to Lil Wayne in January 2009 in a song entitled "Play This On The Radio". As of August 14, 2009, the controversy between Jackson and Lil Wayne seems to have ended after Jackson appeared and performed at Lil Wayne's America's Most Wanted Musical Festival stop in Anaheim, California.

Discography

1999: Tha Block Is Hot

2000: Lights Out

2002: 500 Degreez

2004: Tha Carter

2005: Tha Carter II

2008: Tha Carter III

2010: Rebirth

2010: I Am Not a Human Being

2011: Tha Carter IV

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:21st-century American criminals Category:African-American Catholics Category:African American rappers Category:American dance musicians Category:American shooting survivors Category:Cash Money Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Rappers from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:University of Houston alumni Category:World Music Awards winners

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Yung Joc
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Jasiel Robinson
Alias	Joc, Yung J.O.C
Born	April 02, 1983 Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	2004–present
Label	Swagg Team (CEO), J Records, Polo Grounds Music
Url	Official Site

Jasiel Robinson (born April 2, 1983), better known by his stage name Yung Joc, is an American rapper.

Early life

Robinson's father name vivian young ran a hair-care products company and helped him write a jingle for Revlon; Robinson founded his own label to release his music.

Music career

New Joc City (2005-2006)

After Teaming with producer Russell"Block" Spencer, founder of the Block Enterprises label, Yung Joc recorded his first single "It's Goin' Down" in the spring of 2006. Spencer got signed Joc to Sean Combs's Bad Boy Records for a multi-million dollar deal, and Bad Boy released Joc's debut New Joc City that year. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 selling nearly 150,000 copies in the first week. The second week it fell to #7. It has since been certified gold by the RIAA selling over 500,000 copies.

"It's Goin' Down" reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. The next single, "I Know U See It", reached #17 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the Hot Rap Tracks.

Hustlenomic$ & Grind Flu (2007-2009)

Joc's next album, Hustlenomics, was released in 2007, with the singles "Coffee Shop" and "Bottle Poppin'". Hustlenomics sold 69,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200. As of April 2009, it has sold approximately 197,000 copies according to Nielsen Soundscan. In 2007 Yung Joc was featured on his new artist Hotstylz single "Lookin Boy". During 2008 Yung Joc was featured in the hit singles on "Get Like Me, "So Fly" & "Beep". Then in 2009 he was featured on Day26 single Imma Put It on Her. Yung Joc released an independent album entitled Grind Flu for free on his label website Swagg Team Entertainment on August 11, 2009.

Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood (2010-present)

Yung Joc recently released his first single from the album Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood entitled "Yeah Boy". They have also recently shot & released the music video for the single. Yung Joc has also stated in a December 26 interview, that he would love to work with New York based producer DJ Premier for a couple of tracks. The second single has been confirmed as "Standing On The Couch" that features Diddy. The third single has been confirmed to be "Drip" that features Lil Wayne.

Other Ventures

Swagg Team Entertainment

Joc has been said to have a new record label through Jive Records, called Swagg Team Entertainment. The label was formed after a widely-publicized lawsuit with Block Entertainment and Bad Boy Records. Joc spoke about the lawsuit and his relationship with Diddy in a recent interview.

Swagg Team Entertainment saw their debut from Chicago rap group Hotstylz; with their first single "Lookin Boy". It also saw the debut from Dallas rap group GS Boyz; their first single being "Stanky Legg."

;Current artists

Hotstylz (Krazee, Meatball & Raydio G)

GS Boyz (Marc D, Slizz & DK)

Swagg Team Mafia (To Green, Doe Shun, Dunte, Cheeze, Tuck & Jon Boi)

Avery J.

C MON3Y (Dolla Dolla Bill)

J-DAM (Deployin Tha Love)

;Former artists

Soufside

Prince Charming

Discography

;Studio albums

New Joc City (2006)

Hustlenomics (2007)

Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood (2011)

Awards

BET Hip-Hop Awards

* 2008, Hip-Hop Video of the Year ("Get Like Me") with David Banner & Chris Brown [Nominated]

* 2006, Hip-Hop Video of the Year ("It's Goin' Down") [Nominated]

* 2006, Hip-Hop Track of the Year ("It's Goin' Down") [Won]

* 2006, Rookie of the Year [Nominated]

* 2006, Hip-Hop MVP of the Year [Nominated]

* 2006, Best Live Performance [Nominated]

* 2006, Best Hip Hop Dance [Nominated]

Grammy Awards

* 2007, Best Rap Song ("It's Goin' Down") [Nominated]

MTV Video Music Awards

* 2006, Best Rap Video ("It's Goin' Down") [Nominated]

Ozone Awards

* 2007, Best Rap/R&B; Collaboration ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')") with T-Pain [Nominated]

Vibe Awards

* 2007, Best Collaboration ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')") with T-Pain [Nominated]

* 2007, Song of the Year ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')") with T-Pain [Won]

References

External links

Official Site

Yung Joc Albums

Category:African American rappers Category:American Christians Category:Jewish rappers Category:Bad Boy Records artists Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:1983 births Category:Living people

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Yelawolf| Img = Yelawolf.jpg
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Michael Wayne Atha
Born	December 30, 1979
Origin	Gadsden, Alabama, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	2005–present
Label	Shady, Interscope
Associated acts
Url	http://www.yelawolf.com/

Michael Wayne Atha (born December 30, 1979), better known by his stage name Yelawolf, is an American rapper. He is currently signed to Ghet-O-Vision / Interscope / Eminem's Shady Records label.

Biography

Atha was born in Gadsden, Alabama, and is of Caucasian and Cherokee descent. His mother gave birth to him when she was 15. Atha's father was absent during his childhood; a time during which he he attended over 15 schools and was heavily influenced by the culture in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Antioch, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia. While trying to stay out of trouble in a turbulent home life filled with drug and alcohol abuse, he discovered rap music in Tennesee and it soon became an obsession.

“When I lived in Antioch, they’d bus us down to the projects in Nashville to go to school and everything just started clicking with me with rap music and in life"..."I felt the connection, these kids had the same problems that I had at home,” Atha stated

He competed on the 2005 reality series The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott. In a December 2010 interview with Canadian music website Exclaim!, he stated that his inspiration to break into hip-hop was OutKast's André 3000.

Yelawolf was featured on the cover of XXL's March 2011 issue, alongside Eminem and fellow new Shady Records signings Slaughterhouse. His first studio album, Radioactive, is scheduled for release this summer.

Yelawolf was also featured among XXL's Top Eleven Freshmen of 2011, releasing several songs on the magazine's yearly Freshman mixtape, along with Kendrick Lamar, Cyhi Da Prynce, Big K.R.I.T., and others.

Eminem and Jim Jonsin are working together with Yelawolf, for his debut studio album "Radioactive", which will be released on Interscope and Shady Records. On April 14, Yelawolf revealed that he will release his upcoming album this summer, and producers include Eminem, Jim Jonsin, Kawan "KP" Prather, Travis Barker, Chuck Inglish, Diplo, The Audibles, Pooh Bear and WillPower.

On May 18, Yelawolf announced his first single off Radioactive will be titled "Gangster of Love", featuring Cyhi Da Prynce.

Discography

;Albums

Creek Water (2005)

Radioactive (2011)

;EPs

Arena Rap (2008)

;Mixtapes

Ball of Flames: The Ballad of Slick Rick E. Bobby (2008)

Stereo (2008)

Trunk Muzik (2010)

Trunk Muzik 0-60 (2010)

;Solo singles

;Guest appearances {|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"|Year !rowspan="2"|Song !colspan="3"|Peak chart positions ! style="width:225px;" rowspan="2"|Album |- !width="40"|U.S. !width="40"|U.S. R&B; !width="40"|U.S. Rap |- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="5"|2009 |"Rocketman" (Prof & St. Paul Slim feat. Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||Recession Music |- |"I Run" (Slim Thug feat. Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|49 | style="text-align:center;"|20 ||Boss of all Bosses |- |"Mixin' Up the Medicine" (Juelz Santana feat. Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||Born to Lose, Built to Win |- |- |"Looking for a Change" (Alex King feat. Yelawolf and Sonny Bama) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||Reincarnated |- |"Like a Sewing Machine" (Alex King feat. Yelawolf and Struggle) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— |Reincarnated |- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"|2010 |"Down this Road" (Bizarre feat. Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||Friday Night at St. Andrews |- |"You Ain't No DJ" (Big Boi feat. Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— || |- |"Live It" (Paul Wall feat. Jay Electronica, Raekwon and Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||Heart of a Champion |- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="5"|2011 |"Worldwide Choppers" (Tech N9ne feat. Busta Rhymes, Ceza, D-Loc, JL, Twista, Twisted Insane, U$O and Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||All 6's And 7's |- |"Let’s Go" (Travis Barker feat. Lil Jon, Busta Rhymes, Twista and Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|119 | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||Give the Drummer Some |- |"2.0 Boys" (Eminem feat. Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||TBD |- |"Rough" (Game feat. Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||The R.E.D. Album |- |"Push It" (Jessie and The Toy Boys feat. Yelawolf) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— ||Push It |- |}

References

External links

Official website

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:Interscope Records artists Category:Shady Records artists Category:American people of European descent Category:American people of Native American descent Category:American rappers Category:American musicians of European descent Category:Native American rappers Category:People from Gadsden, Alabama Category:Rappers from Alabama Category:Underground rappers

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Statik Selektah
Background	non_performing_personnel
Birth name	Patrick Baril
Born	Lawrence, MA
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	DJ, record producer
Years active	1995 - present
Label	Showoff Records,
Associated acts	Saigon, Slaughterhouse, AZ, Termanology, Q-Tip, Nas, Reks, M.O.P., Styles P, Consequence
Url	Statik Selektah

Patrick Baril (Born January 23, 1982, in Lawrence, MA) better known as Statik Selektah, is an East Coast-based DJ, Producer and CEO of Showoff Records.

Biography

Statik Selektah was introduced to music at a young age, experimenting with his parents eight-track machine, cassette recorders, and turntable. By middle school, he was already DJing school functions, but he was inspired to be a true wheels-of-steel artiste after hearing DJ Premier & Funkmaster Flex scratch and mix records on Hot 97fm in New York City. Statik began doing radio at Phillips Exeter Academy’s WPEA, where he also occasionally DJ’ ed some of the Afro-Latino Society Parties. Naming himself DJ Statik, (the "Selektah" came later after hearing a local reggae artist say it unconsciously Besides dropping his own albums, he also has produced on many other artist's projects. Statik currently has a show on Thursday nights on Eminem's Shade 45 XM/Sirus Radio Station.

While recording with Freeway on Ustream, he announced a song off his next album, Population Control, called Groupie Love. Mac Miller is known to be on the song.

Past & Present Radio Stations

WPEA 90.5fm - Exeter, NH (1996-1998)

WERS 88.9fm - Boston, MA (2000)

WBOT 97.7fm - Boston, MA (2001-2004)

WBLX - Mobile, AL (2005-2009)

KMJJ - Shreveport, LA (2006-2008)

Shade 45 Sirius/XM (2005-present)

KDON 102.5fm - Santa Cruz, CA (2009-present)

WJMN 94.5fm - Boston, MA (2008-present)

Discography

Albums

Spell My Name Right (2008)

Stick 2 the Script (2009)

Statik Selektah's: Lost & Damned EP (2009)

All In A Day's Work (with Saigon) (2009)

The Pre-Game EP (2009)

(2010)

1982 (with Termanology) (2010)

The Left-Overs (Of What’s To Come…) EP (2010)

The Evening News EP (with Termanology) (2010)

Statik-Free EP (with Freeway) (2011)

Population Control (April 5, 2011)

Mixtapes

Something to Front On(2000)

Wakin You Up(2001)

Spell My Name Right 1(2001)

Spell My Name Right 2(2001)

SMNR 3 : UnderStand Yet(2001)

SMNR 4 : The Streets (2002)

SMNR5 : THE ALLSTAR JUMP OFF hosted by Chubby Chub (2002)

Digiwaxx Mixshow Power Summit Extravaganza (2002)

SMNR6 : MAJOR THREAT hosted by Talib Kweli (2002)

SMNR7 : CITY ON SMASH (2003)

Manhattan Clothing Mix Volumes 1 & 2 (2003)

Digiwaxx MixshowPowerSummit Extravaganza 2 (2003)

SMNR 8 : Major Threat 2004 Hosted by Gangstarr (dec 2003)

SMNR 9 : Its A Problem hosted by Method Man (2004)

Akon - Trouble Album Sampler (SRC/Universal Records)(2004)

Reggae Smashment 2004, Japan-only release, (2004)

The Champs Are Here, Boston Hip Hop CD (2004)

The Get Lifted Soul Mixtape, Hosted by John Legend (2004)

Nas - The Prophecy (2004)

The Champs Are Here Vol 2 (2005)

Royce da 5'9" - The King Is Back (2005)

Reggae Smashment : The Classics (2005)

AZ - Welcome to My World (2005)

G-Unit Records - The Empire Strikes Back (2005)

Soundtrack To The Summer w/ Mixunit.com & Lord Sear (2006)

Termanology - Hood Politics IV : Show & Prove with DJ Clinton Sparks (2006)

The Sun Still Rises In The East (East Coast Slang Volume 1) with Dj Big Mike (2006)

Nas - The Prophecy 2 : The Beginning of the N (2006) (2006)

The Look Of Love : Hip Hop Is Alive hosted by Q-Tip (2006)

Royce da 5'9" - The Bar Exam hosted by Dj Premier (2007)

''Reflection Eternal - The Re:Union (2010)

''Freddie Gibbs - Str8KillaNoFilla (2010)

''Notoriety - Part Deux (2011)

Production credits

Catch Wrek "Lyrical Mission", "Lyrical Mission Remix" (1998)

Reks "Work" off Along Came The Chose (2001)

KRS-ONE "The Cutclusion" off Keep Right (2003)

O.C. "Intro" and "Outro" off Starchild (2003)

Reks ft. Lucky Dice, L Tha Headtoucha "Major Threats", "Born Beggar" (2003)

Nas "Wiseguys"(Remix) ft. Scram Jones & Capone (2004)

Royce Da 5'9 "Watch Your Back" ft. Termanology & Ed Rock off The King Is Back (2005)

Termanology "Can't Turn Back" off Hood Politics 3 (2005)

Ballcklub "More Or Less", "Ballcklub Soda" (2005)

AZ "Animal" off The Format (2006)

Granite State "Whatup B" & "Starting Lineup" ft Termanology, off The Breaking Point (2006)

Mobb Deep "Every Time" ft Termanology, off G-unit/The Empire Strikes' Back" (2006)

Termanology "Think It Over" ft Trife Da God off Watch How It Go Down 12" (2006)

Nas "The N (Showoff RmX)" & "Life Gone Low" off The Prophecy Vol 2 (Def Jam, 2006)

Foxy Brown "Too Real" ft AZ off of Brooklyn's Don Diva (2007)

Jon Hope "The Rap Life" & "Blue Devils" ft Termanology (2007)

Joell Ortiz "Can't You Tell", "Ups & Downs", "Here The Next" ft Novel, "Damn Right (When It Gets Rough)"

Consequence "There Can Only Be One", "Kissing Cousins",

Reks "How Can It be", "The One", "Cry Baby", "Pray For Me", "Love Sweet Misery", "Big Dreamers Remix", "Rise", "Black Cream", "Day 2", "Premonition" , & "Telescopes" off Grey Hairs (2008)

Slaine "Mistaken Identity" (2008)

Starrs & Murph "Showtime", "Cold World pt 2" & "Untitled" (2008)

Illa Ghee "Mad Man" (2008)

Ali Vegas "The Future" ft. Termanology (2008)

JFK "Baking Soda", "Road Of Sin", "You Can Get Killed" (2008)

Reks "Play My Music", "Goodbye", "Year Of the Showoff", "Killaz On Wax" Off More Grey Hairs (2009)

Reks "I Too America", "Self Titled", "Mr Nobody", "Hennessey" (2010)

Quest The Young'n "To be Nice" ft Reks & Termanology (2009)

Lunox & Astro "Forever & More" ft. Reks (2009)

Ape & Undo "Primetime" (2009)

Granite State "Silver Lining" & "Society's Ill" off The RE:Public (2009)

Termanology "It's a Shame" ft. Joell Ortiz" & "Nobody's Smiling" off Time Machine (2009)

Kali "Cali Kali", "Be Quiet", "Rock Starr", "Rolling Down The Freeway" ft Glasses Malone off Midnight Club: South Central (2009)

Novel "So Much More" ft. Joell Ortiz & Papoose (2009)

M.O.P. "Forever & Always" & "Crazy" ft Termanology off Foundation (M.O.P. album) (2009)

Skyzoo "When I Rhyme" ft. Talib Kweli & Reks

Styles P "Shadows" off The Green Ghost Project (2010)

A.G. & O.C. "Oasis" off Oasis (2009)

''Consequence "Sounds G.O.O.D. To Me"

Donny Goines "My Window"

Joe Scudda "Catch Up"

Styles P "Sellouts"

Sheek Louch "Nite Falls"

Consequence ft. Styles P "Don't Stand So Close"

Freddie Gibbs "Serve Or Get Served"

Drake "Bollywood Flow"

''Bumpy Knuckles "Put The Beats On em" & "Lyrical Workout" ft Noreaga

''Jared Evan "Not Tonight"

''7L & Esoteric "The Most Rotten"

''Josh Xantus ft. Ghostface Killah "I Don't Care"

''Evidence "Bad Luck Good Times"

''Chris Webby ( the best rapper of all time *)"Get Loose" "Can't Deny Me" "Runaround Web""

''Jimmy ValenTime "Understand"

References

http://www.djbooth.net/index/news/entry/statik-selektah-jumps-in-mix-0513101/

External links

Showoff Records Website

Statik Selektah intimate interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio Sep 2010

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:Hip hop DJs Category:Mixtape DJs Category:People from Lawrence, Massachusetts American music industry executives Category:American record producers

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Paul Wall
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Paul Michael Slayton
Born	March 11, 1981
Name	Wall, Paul
Date of birth	1981-03-11
Place of birth	Georgetown Texas

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:American rappers Category:American musicians of European descent Category:Asylum Records artists Category:Jersey Village High School alumni Category:Rappers from Houston, Texas Category:University of Houston alumni

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Lupe Fiasco
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Wasalu Muhammad Jaco
Alias	Lupe Fiasco
Born	February 16, 1982Chicago, Illinois, United States
Instrument	Rapping, piano, keyboards
Genre	Hip hop, alternative rock
Occupation	Rapper, songwriter, record producer, CEO
Years active	2000–present
Label	1st & 15th, Atlantic
Associated acts	Child Rebel Soldier, Japanese Cartoon, Matthew Santos, B.o.B, All City Chess Club
Url

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, artist, producer and CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. He also performs as the frontman of post punk band Japanese Cartoon under his real name.

Raised in Chicago, Fiasco developed an interest in hip-hop after initially disliking the genre for its use of vulgarity. He adopted the name Lupe Fiasco and began recording songs in his father's basement, and 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, to commercial and critical acclaim. He then released his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, in December 2007. The single "Superstar" became a hit, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. His latest album, Lasers, was released on March 8, 2011 after several release date delays.

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 also designed sneakers for Reebok. He has also been involved with charitable activities throughout his career, including the Summit on the Summit expedition, and in 2010 he recorded a benefit single for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Life and career

1982–98: Early life

Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 16, 1982 in Chicago, Illinois. Born of West African descent, he was one of nine children of Shirley, a gourmet chef, and Gregory, an engineer. His father, who was a member of the Black Panther Party, was a prolific African drummer, karate teacher, operating plant engineer, and owner of karate schools and army surplus stores. Fiasco was raised Muslim on the West side of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project. At the age of three, Fiasco began taking martial arts classes.

His parents divorced when he was five, and he went on to live with his mother, but his father still remained prevalent in his life. "After school, my father would come and get us and take us out into the world--one day, we're listening to N.W.A, the next day we're listening to Ravi Shankar, the next day, he's teaching us how to shoot an AK-47, the next day, we're at karate class, the next day, we're in Chinatown...". In sixth grade, he went to live with his father in Harvey, Illinois. His father lived next door to a crack house and taught Fiasco to use guns to defend himself from drug dealers. Early in his career, he went by stage names Little Lu and Lu tha Underdog. Growing up, Fiasco was given the nickname "Lu", the last part of his first name, by his mother. "Lupe" is an extension of this nickname, which he borrowed from a friend from high school. "Fiasco," he says, "came from the Firm album. They had the song, 'Firm Fiasco'. I just liked the way it looked on paper." He also said of his name, "I simply like the way the word looked (Fiasco). You know how rappers always have names like MC Terrorist—like they're 'terrorizing' other rappers? I knew fiasco meant a great disaster or something like that, but I didn't realize that the person named Fiasco would be the disaster, and that you should be calling other MCs fiascos--not yourself. I was moving real fast at the time, and it kind of humbled me in a sense. It taught me like, 'Yo, stop rushing, or you're going to have some fiascos.' So I just kept it. It's like a scar, I guess, a reminder to not over think or overrun anything ever again." Fiasco later described the experience, saying "We had a song out about cocaine, guns, and women, and I would go to a record store and look at it and think, 'What are you doing?' I felt like a hypocrite. I was acting like this rapper who would never be judged, and I had to destroy that guy. Because what Lupe Fiasco says on this microphone is going to come back to Wasalu Jaco. When the music cuts off, you have to go home and live with what you say." After turning away from gangsta rap, he developed a greater appreciation of the lyricism of Jay-Z and Nas. His mother also gave him a record of The Watts Prophets, one of the first bands to use spoken words with music and would become the basis of rap.

Fiasco later signed a solo deal with Arista Records, but was dropped when president and CEO L. A. Reid was fired.

He remixed another one of West's songs, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", and renamed it as "Conflict Diamonds". This caught West's attention, and he asked Fiasco to perform on his song "Touch the Sky" off his album Late Registration. The song, which sampled Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up", became a hit in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #42. After this success his first single "Kick, Push" was released earlier than expected. The song was a love story about two lovers sharing a passion for skateboarding. It would go on to be nominated for two 2007 Grammy Awards. The single, and its accompanying music video, helped Fiasco get attention in the hip-hop community. During this time, he had guest appearances on singles on Tha' Rayne's "Kiss Me" and "Didn't You Know" and also K Foxx's 2004 "This Life". He also released the song "Coulda Been" on a compilation of MTV's Advance Warning.

2006–08: Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor and The Cool

Jay-Z assisted him in the production of what would become his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. The title is, as Fiasco says, "The title reflects on me being Muslim and being from the streets. In Chicago, instead of having bodegas like in New York, the majority of the corner stores are called 'Food and Liquors.' The store is where everything is at, whether it be the wino hanging by the store, or us kids going back and forth to the store to buy something. The 'Food' is the good part and the Liquors is the bad part. I try to balance out both parts of me...Food to me represents growth and progression. You eat food and you get strength. You need it to live. Liquor is not a necessity; it is a want. It destroys you. It breaks you down. I can see why it's prohibited in Islam...I've always felt like liquor represents the bad, the food represents the good, and everyone is made up of a little of both." His single "Kick, Push" became very popular, and was featured in the videogame NBA Live 2007. As his popularity steadily increased, so did anticipation for his upcoming album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. The album was officially released on September 19, 2006. The album featured production from Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mike Shinoda, The Neptunes, Prolyfic, and more. Singles from the album were "Kick, Push," "I Gotcha" and "Daydreamin'" featuring Jill Scott. The critically lauded album was later nominated for three Grammy Awards including Best Rap Album. Fiasco won "Best Urban/Alternative Performance" for "Daydreamin". In the same year, he was voted by GQ magazine as the "Breakout Man of the Year." He also received four BET Hip Hop Award nominations, and it made it to No. 8 on Billboard 200 and No.2 on Billboard Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

In 2007, Fiasco announced his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, a concept album that expands on the story of the track of the same name on his first album. While recording the album, Fiasco's father died of type II diabetes and his business partner, Charles "Chilly" Patton, was convicted of attempting to supply heroin and was sentenced to 44 years in prison. These events greatly affected Fiasco and the subsequent themes discussed on the album. The song has also been featured in HBO's Hard Knocks TV show. The album's second single (released in the UK in April 2008) was "Paris, Tokyo" - a song based around Fiasco's experiences of touring the world between his first and second albums.

Also in 2007, it was revealed that Fiasco, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams had formed a group known as Child Rebel Soldier. CRS initially released one single, entitled "US Placers" and featuring a Thom Yorke sample. In October 2010, as part of Kanye West's G.O.O.D Friday's, a second song titled "Don't Stop" was released. In an interview with MTV, posted on his blog, Lupe said that a full length CRS album would depend on fan demand. The three appeared on the Glow in the Dark Tour together, though under separate billing.

In an interview with The Village Voice, Fiasco revealed that he was writing a novel about a window washer aptly titled Reflections of a Window Washer. In 2008, Fiasco and his band 1500 or Nothin joined West's Glow in the Dark Tour, which also features Rihanna and N.E.R.D. The tour stopped in several cities, including his hometown of Chicago. In 2008, MTV named Fiasco the 7th Hottest MC in the Game and announced that he was remixing The Cool with French electro house act Justice. Fiasco's "Superstar" has been included in the video game Lips.

2009–present: Lasers

Fiasco announced at a Chicago concert late in 2008 that his next and most likely final album will be a three disc album called LupE.N.D. and that the first disc "Everywhere" would come out in June 2009. On January 30, 2009, Lupe Fiasco originally announced that LupE.N.D. will be postponed indefinitely. Instead, he would release three albums; The Great American Rap Album in June 2009, two following albums in December 2009 and June 2010, with LupE.N.D. following afterward. However, it was announced by Fiasco that his next album would instead be titled, "We Are Lasers"; yet later his official rep announced and confirmed that it would instead be titled simply "Lasers". On June 26, Fiasco announced at the Chicago Theater that the album would be released fourth quarter 2009, most likely in December. The album's first single, "Shining Down," features Matthew Santos and is produced by Soundtrakk. The single was released on July 7, 2009. On January 26, 2010, a new song called "I'm Beamin" was released. "I'm Beamin" will be on the upcoming Lasers; Fiasco referred to the song as a 'taste' of what is coming. There are a few snippets of songs that have been released as of August 24, 2009, unofficially titled "Army Girl," "Ladies And Gentlemen," and "2 Ways." On October 7, 2009, Lupe released a song in response to the release of MTV's 2009 "Top 10 Hottest MC's List," on which he was absent. Lupe stated that the track, entitled "Fire", would prove that he belonged in the number 1 spot on the following year's list.

In October 2009, Fiasco released two new freestyles, "Turnt Up" and "Say Something". Both freestyles were included on his official mixtape , released on November 26, 2009. The mixtape also included beats from Diddy's "Angels", Lil Wayne's "Fireman," Slaughterhouse's The One, and Radiohead's "The National Anthem." Lupe Fiasco has also contributed vocals to Chris Brown's song "Girlfriend" on his 2009 album Graffiti and has provided a guest verse on the song "Past My Shades" from Atlanta rapper B.o.B's 2010 album, .

Fiasco announced on Twitter that the new album is complete and is waiting for release from Atlantic Records. Fans waiting on the album have put together an online petition demanding that Atlantic Records release Lasers, due to the fact the album was announced last year and still does not have a release date. The petition garnered considerable attention on hip hop blog sites as well as attaining over 5,000 signatures on its first day. It has since reached over 28,000 signatures. In response to the petition, Fiasco released a song titled "B.M.F-Building Minds Faster" as a gift for his fans. The story was featured on many sites, including CNN, and MTV in which Fiasco said 'I love to see this petition. It brought me to tears a couple of times'.

In April 2010, in association with Pharrell, Fiasco formed the hip-hop group All City Chess Club. It includes himself as well as Asher Roth, B.o.B., The Cool Kids, Charles Hamilton, Blu, Diggy Simmons, Wale, J. Cole, & Dosage. They have so far made one song, a remix of Lupe's "I'm Beamin", which features Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton, The Cool Kids, Blu, Diggy Simmons, B.o.B & Dosage.

On July 16, 2010, Fiasco, under his real name Wasalu Jaco, released his post-punk band Japanese Cartoon's debut album In The Jaws Of The Lords Of Death. He created the album while waiting for Atlantic Records to release his upcoming album, and stated that Japanese Cartoon was influenced by a variety of musical genres, saying, "I’ve always been a fan of all music. My favorite songs aren’t hip-hop songs, they’re songs from Queen like "Somebody To Love". Hip-hop is just something I actually know how to do. But I always had aspirations to participate in other forms of music. Once I got to create some hip-hop, it was like, 'Okay, what am I going to do now?' So my artistic side was like, 'Yo, let’s do some rock music.'" That snippet/song had the album titled Food & Liquor II (TGARA). This led to speculation that "Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album," would be Lupe's follow-up to Lasers.

On August 23, Fiasco released "Go to Sleep" in its entirety. While performing at Wake Forest University's Alumni Weekend Concert in Winston-Salem, NC on October 8, Fiasco revealed to the crowd that the album would be released in early March. On October 15, Fiasco and his fans protested outside the Atlantic Records headquarters in New York City for the release of his third studio album, Lasers. After the long haul, Atlantic has announced a release date of March 8, 2011. The first single off of Lasers, "The Show Goes On", was released on October 26, 2010 via Lupe's official website. The song samples the song "Float On" by Modest Mouse. It was released to iTunes on November 9, 2010, and debuted at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100. The entire album was released on March 8, 2011, on which day it was the #1 album on iTunes. Producers involved on the album include Alex Da Kidd; King David "The Future"; and Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis. Featured artists include Skylar Grey; Trey Songz; and John Legend.

Philanthropy and business ventures

on July 7, 2008.]] In 2001, Fiasco co-founded with Charles "Chilly" Patton 1st & 15th Entertainment (or "FNF", named after the traditional twice-monthly paycheck dates), Although Fiasco was initially to serve as vice-president, he became CEO after Patton was convicted on drug charges. Fiasco and singer Matthew Santos were two of the most recognizable signed artists. In November 2009, Fiasco announced he would get "rid of the entire First and Fifteenth Record Label. Me and Sarah Green are the only artists on the label, like I got rid of the whole label. It was just such a ‘this isn’t right for you right now. This isn’t gonna work for you right now. You need to be focused on you. Do you really want that, do you really have the capacity to do it?’

In 2005, he founded "Righteous Kung-Fu", a company that designs fashions, sneakers, toys, video games, comic books, and graphics for album covers and skateboard decks. He has also sponsored a skateboard team and has endorsements from DGK Skateboards.

In January 2006, Fiasco signed with major footwear and apparel corporation Reebok becoming part of the "O.G" marketing campaign, where rap artists such as Lil Wayne and Mike Jones designed their own personal colorway of the Reebok "O.G" model. Fiasco also runs his own fashion label under the name "Trilly & Truly". Together with Le Messie of FALSE from Singapore he also runs a collaborative clothing line called "Fallacy Of Rome".

In 2009, Fiasco performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that employs musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

On January 7, 2010, Fiasco joined musician Kenna, actress Jessica Biel, and other celebrities and activists for an expedition to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro called Summit on the Summit to raise awareness of the billions of people worldwide who lack access to sanitary drinking water.

On January 20, 2010, Fiasco released a track called "Resurrection" with Kenna in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The song, part of a compilation released through the charity Music for Relief, aimed to encourage donations for immediate relief and long-term recovery following the devastating disaster.

Discography

Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (2006)

Lupe Fiasco's The Cool (2007)

Lasers (2011)

Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album (2011)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Lupe Fiasco

References

External links

Lupe Fiasco at Allmusic

Lupe Fiasco at Rolling Stone

Lupe Fiasco at Metacritic

Lupe Fiasco on Twitter

Lupe Fiasco, Word Star — Lupe Fiasco interview with Chicago

Category:1982 births Category:African American Muslims Category:African American rappers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Rappers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Living people Rappers Category:Rappers Category:2010s rappers

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Lil' Keke
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Marcus Lakee Edwards
Alias
Born	March 29, 1976
Origin	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genre	Southern rap, Screwed & Chopped, Dirty South
Occupation	rapper
Years active	1993–present
Label	Swishahouse, Warner Music Group, TF Records, Universal Motown, Screwed Up Records
Associated acts	Screwed Up Click, Fat Pat, DJ Screw, Herschelwood Hardheadz, Big Hawk, Z-RO, Lil' Flip, UGK, Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Chamillionaire, Big Pokey

Marcus Lakee Edwards (born March 29, 1976),

Biography

Music career

Lil Keke gained national underground love with his track "Southside" from his 1997 release "Don't Mess Wit Texas". In 2005, Lil' Keke signed to Swishahouse Records. In an interview with HitQuarters at the time, label president and A&R; T. Farris said, "He is a legend here in Houston. He plays a big role in the whole style of rap that we make down here." Lil' Keke started out working alongside DJ Screw doing mixtapes.

Discography

1998: The Commission

2001: Platinum In Da Ghetto

2008: Loved by Few, Hated by Many

2011: Only In America

References

External links

Category:African American musicians Category:1976 births Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:African American rappers Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Living people Category:Underground rappers Category:Screwed Up Click members Category:Rappers from Houston, Texas

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Gucci Mane
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Radric Davis
Born	February 02, 1980 Birmingham, Alabama
Died
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	2001 – present
Label	1017 Brick Squad Records, Asylum, Warner Bros.
Associated acts	1017 Brick Squad, OJ Da Juiceman, Yo Gotti, Soulja Boy, Shawty Lo, E-40, Nicki Minaj, French Montana, Ludacris, Devin the Dude, Waka Flocka Flame
Url

Radric Davis (born February 2, 1980), better known by his stage name Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He debuted in 2005 with Trap House and followed with albums such as 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. Gucci Mane has released many other mixtapes as well.

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 prison term for violating probation for his 2005 assault conviction.

Biography

Early life

Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and later moved with his single mother to Atlanta. He enjoyed writing poetry as a child, and began rapping at age 14. Gucci Mane signed to Warner Bros. Records in May 2009.

2009–2010: The State vs. Radric Davis

He appeared on remixes of the songs "Boom Boom Pow" by The Black Eyed Peas, "Obsessed" by Mariah Carey and "5 Star Chick" by Yo Gotti and made a guest appearance on Mario's "Break Up" (he has made 17 guest appearances total in 2009). Gucci Mane's second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released under the label Warner Bros. Records on December 8, 2009. Its first single, "Wasted" featuring Plies, was originally from Mane's 2009 mixtape Writing on the Wall. It peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100, number 3 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 3 on the Rap Songs making it Gucci Mane's most successful single to date. The second single is "Spotlight" featuring Usher. The third single is "Lemonade". The fourth single is "Bingo". On October 2, 2009, Gucci Mane was listed at number 6 on MTV's annual Hottest MC in the Game list.

2010–present: The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted

After being released from jail, Gucci Mane stated that he would start or change the label name from So Icey Entertainment to 1017 Brick Squad Records. The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted, was released on September 28, 2010. The first single from this release was titled "Gucci Time", produced by Swizz Beatz. It premiered on Gucci Mane's official MySpace page on August 6. The single features Swizz Beatz and was released to US urban radio stations on August 24, 2010.

Legal issues

In April 2001, Davis was arrested on cocaine charges and sentenced to 90 days in county jail.

On May 10, 2005, Davis was attacked by a group of men at a house in Decatur, Georgia. Davis and his companions shot at the group, killing one. The corpse of one of the attackers, Henry Lee Clark III, was found later behind a nearby middle school. Davis turned himself in to police investigators on May 19, 2005, and was subsequently charged with murder. Davis claimed that the shots fired by him and his party were in self-defense. Davis was released from jail in late January 2006. He was incarcerated in the Fulton County jail for probation violation and released on May 12, 2010.

On November 2, 2010, Gucci Mane was arrested for driving on the wrong side of the road, running a red light or stop sign, damage to government property, obstruction, no license, no proof of insurance and other traffic charges. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.

On January 4, 2011, A judge in the Superior Court of Georgia’s Fulton County ordered rapper Gucci Mane to a psychiatric hospital, according to court documents. The documents reveal that his lawyers filed a Special Plea of Mental Incompetency on Dec. 27 arguing that he is unable “to go forward and/or intelligently participate in the probation revocation hearing.”

Personal life

After his release from hospital, Mane visited a tattoo parlour and had a large tattoo of an ice cream cone inked onto his face. Although Mane claims that he got this tattoo to symbolise how he lives his life, "cool as ice", it is widely suspected that Mane got this tattoo because where he comes from, the ice cream man is the crack dealer.

Discography

Back to the Trap House (2007)

The State vs. Radric Davis (2009)

(2010)

References

External links

Official website

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:African American rappers Category:American people convicted of assault Category:Asylum Records artists Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Birmingham, Alabama Category:Rappers from Alabama Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Warner Bros. Records artists

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Dizzee Rascal
Landscape	No
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Dylan Kwabena Mills
Alias	Dizzee Rascal
Born	October 01, 1985
Origin	London, England
Genre	Hip-Hop
Occupation	Rapper, record producer, songwriter, singer
Years active	2000–present
Label	XL, Matador, Dirtee Stank, Definitive Jux
Associated acts	Newham Generals, Roll Deep, Wiley, Shirley Bassey
Url

Dylan Kwabena Arthur Mills (born 1 October 1985), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is an English rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles. Best known for his number-one hits "Dance wiv Me", "Bonkers", "Holiday", "Dirtee Disco" & "Shout", his debut album, Boy in da Corner, won him the 2003 Mercury Prize. Follow-up albums Showtime, Maths + English and Tongue n' Cheek have all been critically acclaimed and certified gold, the latter going platinum for sales exceeding 300,000 units.

Early life

Mills' father died when he was young, and he was raised in Bow, East London, for most of his life in a single-parent family by his Ghanaian mother Priscilla, about whom he says: "I had issues as a kid. I was violent and disruptive. The way my mum helped was by finding me a different school every time I got kicked out, always fighting to keep me in the school system".

He attended a series of schools in East London, expelled from four secondary schools in four years – it was a teacher who first called him "Rascal". of which he is now a patron.

Mills supports West Ham United.

Music and style

Dizzee Rascal once told author Ben Thompson in an interview with the Sunday's Observer magazine that “everything I do is for the music – I want to master it like Bruce Lee mastered martial arts."

His music is a mixture of UK Garage and hip-hop beats with an extremely broad palette of influences, ranging from metal guitars to drill and bass synth lines, eclectic samples and even Japanese court music. Dizzee Rascal also makes extensive use of un-coupled octuplets and double and triple couplets in his machine-gun-paced staccato lyrics. Like most grime artists, he uses "beats born of ringtones, video games and staticky pirate-radio sounds" Dizzee's tracks are traditional grime in that the beats are often asymmetrical and make it difficult to dance to his music. His vocal performance is also distinctive; he uses a fast style of rapping which blends elements from garage MCing, conventional rap, grime and ragga. He raps about the same issues a confused generation of youth tends to; broken family, faithless mentors and a lack of support. Dizzee's videos are similar to many grime and garage artists in the UK. They are frenetic and fast, often matching the speed of the rapping; this is especially visible in the videos to "Fix Up, Look Sharp" and "I Luv U". Although his fast style of rapping and his subject matter are nothing more than ordinary in the UK, Dizzee Rascal's diversity nonetheless separates him from other UK rappers. In his song "Brand New Day", Dizzee Rascal used "flat, punching out riddims into cheap PC software, beats born of ringtones, video games, and staticky pirate-radio sounds". Grime is today still considered underground, despite Dizzee's large mainstream exposure.

Career

Experimenting with his decks and styles, he became an amateur DJ, making occasional appearances on a local pirate radio station. Aged 16, he self-produced his first single, "I Luv U". In 2002, he jointly formed the Roll Deep Crew, a 13-piece garage collective, with former school friends. Signed by the XL record label, he signed an additional solo deal.

During his early career, Dizzee worked with his mentor Wiley to create the song 'We Ain't Having It' (which never got released on any albums) and also rapped on some 'Sidewinder' recordings. He made some instrumentals including 'Go' and 'Ho' and 'Streetfighter' which used some music from a video game. Dizzee had beef with fellow grime MC, Crazy Titch, which never really came to an official end. Titch however is now serving life for murder.

After winning a Sidewinder Award for Best Newcomer MC in 2002, in June 2003 the re-recorded and re-produced by Jacob Freitt single I Luv U was released, becoming a Top 30 hit single.

Dizzee was a judge in the Sky1 show Must Be The Music.

2003–2004: Boy in da Corner

Dizzee's first solo album, Boy in da Corner, was released to universal critical acclaim in August 2003, entering the UK Top 40 at #40. The album would peak at #23. In the same week the album was released, while performing with Roll Deep Crew, the rapper was stabbed six times in Ayia Napa.

Following the success of single "I Luv U" and the album, the second single from Boy in da Corner was "Fix Up, Look Sharp". The single, released in August 2003, gave Dizzee his first UK Top 20 single and also became the biggest hit from his debut album. In September, Dizzee was awarded the prestigious Mercury Prize for the best album of 2003. His unique style, as "words pour out at a high pitch and pace, as if syllables are the only thing that can hold back a scream," have given him a sound that hip hop heads can embrace as something new and original in the hip hop scene.

The second single "Dream", another top 20 hit, was released in November 2004. It sampled (and used the chorus of) Captain Sensible's song "Happy Talk", originally from the makers of Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, South Pacific. The "Dream" music video consisted of a mock 1950s style children's marionette show depicting scenes corresponding to the lyrics about Dizzee's youth; street culture, crime, single teenage mothers, pirate radio and garage clubs.

Later in 2004, Dizzee Rascal was part of Band Aid 20, a group of British musicians who re-recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?" He did not sing in the song; rather, he rapped two lines of it ("Spare a thought this yuletide for the deprived, if the table was turned would you survive?" and "You ain't gotta feel guilt just selfless, give a little help to the helpless"). Dizzee Rascal was the first person to add to the song since the original was released; this would mark the first time that Dizzee reached the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart, albeit as part of the ensemble.

In 2004, Dizzee Rascal made an international endorsement deal with urban brand Eckō and designed his own shoe with Nike in 2005. and "English" to writing lyrics. The first single off this album, Sirens, was released on 21 May.

The album was one of the 12 nominees for the 2007 Mercury Prize, which ultimately went to The Klaxons' album Myths of the Near Future. During the year, Dizzee worked with cross-genre artist Beck on a remix of the song "Hell Yes", and provided guest vocals on an Arctic Monkeys track, the B-Side to their single "Brianstorm" named "Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend". Dizzee's version of the same song was featured as "Temptation" on his third album.

The official US album was released on 29 April 2008; it contained two tracks not on the European release, but it did not include the track "Pussyole'". It was Dizzee's first album to be released under the Definitive Jux label.

In 2008, Dizzee Rascal recorded a song for suicide charity CALM; the song "Dean" was about a friend of Dizzee's who took his own life. In December of that year, he was arrested following an alleged incident involving a baseball bat in southeast London. He was released on bail to return to a police station later in December.

2009–present: Tongue N' Cheek

festival.]]

Dizzee Rascal released his fourth studio album, Tongue N' Cheek, on 21 September 2009. It included his four number-one hits "Dance Wiv Me", "Holiday", "Bonkers" and "Dirtee Disco". Its release was announced on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, where Dizzee Rascal revealed some details about the album, including track information and production. Dizzee recently confirmed in an interview on Radio One, that he would be leaving his grime roots behind, in favour of more mainstream pop; however a new collaboration with drum and bass artists "Chase & Status" titled, "Heavy" begs to differ. In the track Dizzee himself says, "Grime had a little time without me still no grime without me, No life without me, no risky roads, no grime daily" assuring his return to grime. On 23 May 2008, Calvin Harris, whom he collaborated with on the number-one smash "Dance Wiv Me", revealed on his Twitter that he was producing a Dizzee track; at the Evolution Festival, Newcastle, and when on tour supporting The Prodigy, he confirmed that two new singles called "Road Rage" and "Dirtee Cash", both of which featured on the album, would be released. "Dirtee Cash" peaked at #10 and Road Rage was never released as a single.

On the 16th February at the 30th annual Brit Awards Dizzee Rascal won the award for Best British Male. He later performed a mash-up entitled "You Got the Dirtee Love" with Florence and the Machine. This collaboration was released as a charity single the following day and peaked at number 2 in the UK charts.

On the 31st May 2010 Dizzee re-released the album Tongue N' Cheek with a few new tracks on including a song called "Dirtee Disco" which was released on 24 May 2010. The track went to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart

In August 2010, it was revealed that he was to collaborate with Colombian popstar Shakira on the English version of "Loca", the lead single of her album Sale el Sol. He stated that "I know it sounds a bit mad now, but you'll see it and see what's going on, it's me doing something different man, on a merengue tip." On the week of October 14, 2010, Dizzee made his first appearance on the US Billboard Hot 100 after the song peaked number 32. However, The UK release was cancelled.

Personal life

In February 2008 Rascal's ex girlfriend Kaya Bousquet, whom he had dated for two years, died in a high speed crash on the M1 motorway; Dizzee was said to be "devastated".

Rascal revealed in 2010 that he plans not to use drugs or alcohol at all in the future. He told The Independent: "I'm not having any alcohol. No weed. I'm not doing anything – except some boxing to release energy.".

Politics

Around 2004, UK newspapers were quoting one particular lyric by Dizzee Rascal – "I'm a problem for Anthony Blair".

Dirtee Stank

Dizzee Rascal has created his own record label, called Dirtee Stank. Dizzee Rascal's explanation of the name is, "The name came from one of the first lyrics I had: 'going on dirty/going on stank…' So I thought 'yeah fuck it, Dirtee Stank.'" Dizzee has stated "I had Dirtee Stank before I had my record deal." although both of his albums and their subsequent singles have been released under XL Recordings. It was not until 2005 that Dizzee Rascal 'revived' the label and made his first signings, Klass A, and Newham Generals. The label's MySpace page states that the ethos of the company is "about bridging the gap between indie, majors and the street. Stank is the way forwards". The label's logo is a picture of flies circling faeces – when asked why this logo was chosen, Dizzee stated that it was the "streetest thing I could think of".

BET Awards

* 2010, Best International Act (Won)

In video games

In PlayStation Home, the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, there was an event dedicated for Dizzee Rascal in the VIP Room of the SingStar themed game space that ran from 24 September 2009 to 9 October 2009. Dizzee performed for the PS Home/SingStar community and answered questions for an hour after the performance. There were also limited time items at this space like a Dizzee Mask. This was available to the European and North American versions of PlayStation Home, however, Dizzee only appeared in the European version answering questions. There is also a SongPack on the SingStore for SingStar that include six of Dizzee's tracks.

Dizzee's track "Fix Up, Look Sharp" is also featured in the video game DJ Hero released on October 27, 2009 in North America and on October 29, 2009 in Europe.

Dizzee's track "Fix Up, Look Sharp" is also featured in the United Kingdom version of the video game Def Jam Rapstar released in Europe on November 5, 2010

Dizzee's track "Bonkers" is also featured in the video game DJ Hero 2.

References

External links

Dizzee Rascal News at the XL Recordings home page

Category:1985 births Category:BRIT Award winners Category:British people of Ghanaian descent Category:English people of Nigerian descent Category:Living people Category:People from Bow, London Category:Musicians from London Category:Black British musicians Category:English rappers Dizzee Rascal

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	David Banner
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Lavell William Crump
Born	April 11, 1973Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Instrument	Sampler, Keyboards
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, record producer
Years active	1999–present
Label	Big Face, SRC, Universal Records
Associated acts	Crooked Lettaz, Lil Flip, Yung Wun, 9th Wonder
Url	www.david-banner.com

Lavell Crump, (born April 11, 1973), better known by the stage name David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer & occasional actor. Banner was born in Jackson, Mississippi and graduated from Southern University. He started his music career as a member of the rap duo, Crooked Lettaz before going solo in 2000 with Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1 and signed to Universal Records in 2003. With Universal, Banner released four albums: (2003), (2004), Certified (2005), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (2008).

Early life

Lavell Crump grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, the son of Zeno and Carolyn Crump. He attended Northwest Jackson Middle School and Provine High School. He attended the University of Maryland to pursue a master's degree in education but dropped out to pursue his music career. With several of his friends, Banner sent some demo tapes to Jackson radio station WJMI, whose operations manager praised them. Banner released his solo debut album Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1 in 2000. Released under the independent label Big Face Records, the album sold about 7,000 copies.

When the single "Like a Pimp" became a radio hit it attracted significant label interest towards the artist. After assessing the offers, Banner and manager Scott Johnson decided to sign with Universal Records subsidiary SRC Records because the pair were aware of CEO Steve Rifkind's successful history with Loud Records. He released the follow-up album the same year called , yielding "Crank It Up", featuring Static Major. Banner produced T.I.'s 2004 single "Rubberband Man", which reached #30 on the Hot 100, #15 on the R&B; chart, and #11 on the rap chart.

In 2005, he released another album, Certified. Its first single was "Ain't Got Nothing", featuring Magic & Lil Boosie, followed by his second single, "Play", which reached #7 on the Hot 100 chart, #5 on the R&B; chart, and #3 on the rap chart. His first single is "9mm", featuring Akon, Lil Wayne, & Snoop Dogg. Banner produced his next two singles: "Get Like Me", featuring Chris Brown and Yung Joc, and "Shawty Say", featuring Lil Wayne. "Get Like Me" reached #16 on the Hot 100, #7 on the R&B; chart, and #2 on the rap chart. He worked with gospel duo Mary Mary in Superfriend.

He is credited with writing, producing and arranging an original song (with vocals by Blackstreet's Kermit Quinn) for Gatorade's 2010 "Gatorade Has Evolved" TV commercial.

2010 will see the release of the first fruits of a much anticipated collaboration between Banner and hip-hop producer 9th Wonder. The duo paired up to create an album entitled "Death Of A Pop Star", which was released on December 21, 2010. In an interview with HitQuarters, 9th Wonder talked about the inspiration behind the album saying, "We thought that in many ways the death of Michael Jackson meant the death of black music ... Not to say black music is dead all the way, but on the mainstream side there’s not really much of a focus on soul. There’s not a lot of people trying to redefine soul music."

Major national advertisement for Gatorade running still in July 2010 featuring Evolve, Written, produced and arranged by David Banner.Revolvution Ad's Full Song on YOUTUBE.

Recently, he contributed an original music for a commercial for the video game . He also collaborated with the gospel duo, Mary Mary, on their album The Sound with the song Superfriend.

Film career

Banner played the part of Tehronne in Black Snake Moan. He has worked on the Adult Swim cartoon show That Crook'd 'Sipp, which premiered Sunday, May 13, 2007. His single "Play" was used as the background music in the pilot's first television promo. In 2007, he played the character of Mo, in the film This Christmas. Banner also starred as Jay, a gang leader from the hood in . In 2010 he played Bosch in the film The Experiment.

Activism

In November 2006, Banner was awarded a Visionary Award by the National Black Caucus of the State Legislature in recognition of his work after Hurricane Katrina.

On September 25, 2007, Banner testified in front of Congress at a hearing about African-American media stereotypes, which was aired nationally on C-SPAN2. He spoke about his lyrics and whether or not they were appropriate or stereotypical. Banner argued that his lyrics explain the pain blacks go through. In his opening statement, Banner was applauded by several in attendance for saying, "I can admit there are some problems in hip hop but it is only a reflection of what's taking place in our society. Hip hop is sick because America is sick."

Discography

2000: Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1

2003:

2003:

2005: Certified

2008: The Greatest Story Ever Told

2011: MTA3: The Trinity Movement

Collaboration

2010: Death of a Pop Star (with 9th Wonder)

Filmography

Awards

BET Hip Hop Awards

* 2008, Best Hip-Hop Video ("Get Like Me") with Chris Brown & Yung Joc [Nominated]

* 2008, Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Get Like Me") with Chris Brown & Yung Joc [Nominated]

* 2008, Best Producer [Nominated]

Ozone Awards

* 2008, Best Rap/R&B; Collaboration ("Get Like Me"), featuring Chris Brown & Yung Joc [Nominated]

References

External links

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:African American actors Category:African American record producers Category:Actors from Mississippi Category:Musicians from Mississippi Category:Rappers from Mississippi Category:People from Jackson, Mississippi Category:American hip hop record producers Category:Southern University alumni Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Colin Munroe
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Colin Munroe
Born	June 18, 1980
Origin	North Gower, Ontario, Canada
Genre	Indie rock, pop, hip hop
Instruments	Piano, guitar, drums, glock, tambourine, banjo
Years active	2004-Present
Associated acts	Dallas Austin, Drake, Wale, Blaqstarr, Black Milk, Game
Label	Marked Music / Rowdy Records / Universal Motown, XV
Url	Official Site

Colin Munroe (born June 18, 1980) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer originally from North Gower, Ontario, who now resides in Toronto.

Biography

Colin was raised by Christian parents who pulled him out of Grade 3 because they felt they could do a better job than the system was doing. Colin was home‐schooled alongside his 3 younger siblings until Grade 9 at which point his parents finally granted their son’s request to attend a nearby arts school.

Don’t Think Less of Me, is an 11-song

Discography

Albums

{|class="wikitable" |Year |Title |- |2006 |The Colin Munroe EP

Release date: September 2006

Label: Marked Music / Rowdy Records / UniversalMotown 1. Your Braids 2. World of Pain 3. Will I Stay 4. Red 5. Never Be Mine 6. Go Home |- |2010 |Don’t Think Less of Me

Release date: 2010

Label: Marked Music / Rowdy Records / UniversalMotown

|}

Mixtapes

{|class="wikitable" |Year |Title |- |2008 |Colin Munroe is the Unsung Hero

Release date: December 1, 2008

Label: Marked Music / Rowdy Records / UniversalMotown 1. The Unsung Hero (feat. Everybody) 2. Piano Lessons (feat. Joell Ortiz) 3. Will I Stay (feat. Wale and Dallas Austin) 4. One More Chance (feat. Mickey Factz) 5. As Much As You (feat. Blaqstarr) 6. Fever (remix) 7. Cannon Ball (feat. Drake) 8. Who Killed Davey Moore? (remix) (Bob Dylan REVOX) 9. Last Cause 10. Brick in the Wall (feat. Skyzoo) 11. To Find a Hero (feat. Novel) 12. Break Off (feat. Saukrates and Black Milk) 13. Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2 cover) 14. What the Young Man Says (feat. Izza Kizza and MIMS) |- |}

Singles

{|class="wikitable" |Year |Title |Format |- |June 2007 |"World of Pain" |Video & MP3 |- |January 2008 |"I Want Those Flashing Lights" (Kanye West remix) |Video & MP3 |- |August 2008 |"Sunday Bloody Sunday" (U2 cover) |Video & MP3 |- |September 2008 |"Will I Stay" |Video & MP3 |- |November 2008 |"Unsung Hero Trailer" |Video |- |November 2008 |"Will I Stay (remix)" (feat. Wale and Dallas Austin) |MP3 |- |January 2009 |"Piano Lessons" (feat. Joell Ortiz) |Video & MP3 |- |January 2009 |"Will I Stay (Rehearsal Footage)" (feat. Wale) |Video |- |February 2009 |"Last Cause (88-Keys Cause N' Effect remix)" (feat. 88-Keys) |MP3 |- |March 2009 |"Piano Lessons" (Felix Cartal remix) |MP3 |- |March 2009 |"Last Cause (Acoustic Version)" |Video & MP3 |- |March 2009 |"As Much as You (Rehearsal Footage)" (feat. Blaqstarr) |Video |- |March 2009 |"Who Killed Davey Moore? (remix)" (Bob Dylan REVOX) |Video & MP3 |- |May 2009 |"Piano Lessons (remix)" (feat. Jim Jones) |MP3 |- |August 2009 |"Start a War" |MP3 |}

Guest appearances

{|class="wikitable" |Year |Song |Album |- |rowspan="9"|2009 |"Without U" (Black Milk feat. Colin Munroe) |Tronic |- |"Too Much Too Soon" (Che Grand feat. Colin Munroe) |Everything's Good Ugly |- |"Connect the Dots" (Izza Kizza feat. Colin Munroe) |- |- |"Oil & Water" (Hollyweerd feat. Colin Munroe) |- |- |"I Am Me" (Donnis feat. Colin Munroe) |Diary Of An Atlanta Brave |- |"Bittersweet" (Wale feat. Colin Munroe) |- |- |"So Close, So Far" (Statik Selektah feat. Bun B, Wale & Colin Munroe) |- |- |"Runaway Girl" (Drake feat. Colin Munroe) |- |- |"Don't Die" (Beatnik & K-salaam feat. Bun B, Talib Kweli & Colin Munroe) |- |- |rowspan="13"|2010 |"So Much More" (Rich Kidd feat. Saukrates & Colin Munroe) |- |- |"Don't Pretend" (Travie McCoy feat. Colin Munroe) |Lazarus |- |"Take Over the World" (Kidz in the Hall feat. Colin Munroe & Just Blaze) |Land of Make Believe |- |"Faster" (Slum Village feat. Colin Munroe) |Villa Manifesto |- |"Walking on Air" (Novel feat. Joell Ortiz & Colin Munroe) |- |- |"Say My Name" (Christian Rich feat. Colin Munroe) |- |- |"Big Bad World" (Diggy feat. Colin Munroe) |AirBorne |- |"No Time For Sleep" (Pill feat. Colin Munroe) |1140: The Overdose |- |"Best is Yet to Come" (XV feat. Colin Munroe) |Vizzy Zone |- |"Wake Up Call" (88-Keys feat. Colin Munroe) |- |- |"Lighning" (Donnis feat. Colin Munroe) |Fashionably Late |- |"Dontcha Wanna Be (My Neighbor)" (Asher Roth & Nottz feat. Colin Munroe) |Rawth EP / You Need This Music |- |"Underdogs 2" (Pac Div feat. Colin Munroe) |Don't Mention It |- |}

Notes

External links

Official Website

Category:Hip hop singers Category:Canadian hip hop record producers Category:Canadian indie rock musicians Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Ottawa

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
Name	Barack Obama
Alt	A portrait shot of a serious looking middle-aged African-American male (Barack Obama) looking straight ahead. He has short black hair, and is wearing a dark navy blazer with a blue striped tie over a light blue collared shirt. In the background are two flags hanging from separate flagpoles: an American flag, and one from the Executive Office of the President.
Order	44th
Office	President of the United States
Vicepresident	Joe Biden
Term start	January 20, 2009
Predecessor	George W. Bush
Jr/sr2	United States Senator
State2	Illinois
Term start2	January 3, 2005
Term end2	November 16, 2008
Predecessor2	Peter Fitzgerald
Successor2	Roland Burris
State senate3	Illinois
State3	Illinois
District3	13th
Term start3	January 8, 1997
Term end3	November 4, 2004
Predecessor3	Alice Palmer
Successor3	Kwame Raoul
Birth date	August 04, 1961
Birth place	Honolulu, Hawaii

References

Further reading

Curry, Jessica. "Barack Obama: Under the Lights", Chicago Life, Fall 2004. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.

Graff, Garrett. "The Legend of Barack Obama", Washingtonian, November 1, 2006. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.

Koltun, Dave (2005) "The 2004 Illinois Senate Race: Obama Wins Open Seat and Becomes National Political "Star"" in "The Road to Congress 2004" Editors: Sunil Ahuja (Youngstown State University) and Robert Dewhirst (Truman State University), Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York, Binding: Hardcover Pub. Date: 2005, ISBN 1-59454-360-7

Lizza, Ryan. "Above the Fray", GQ, September 2007. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.

MacFarquhar, Larissa. "The Conciliator: Where is Barack Obama Coming From?", New Yorker, May 7, 2007. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.

McClelland, Edward, Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President, Bloomsbury Press, 2010.

Zutter, Hank De. "What Makes Obama Run?", Chicago Reader, December 8, 1995. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.

External links

;Official sites

President Barack Obama official White House website

* Full transcript and video of President Obama's inaugural address (from whitehouse.gov)

BarackObama.com (official website)

;Directories ;News media ;Government service links

Category:1961 births Category:African American academics Category:African American lawyers Category:African American memoirists Category:African American United States presidential candidates Category:African American United States Senators Category:American Christians Category:American civil rights lawyers Category:American legal scholars Category:American Nobel laureates Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Kenyan descent Category:American political writers Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:Audio book narrators Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Community organizers Category:Current national leaders Category:Democratic Party (United States) presidential nominees Category:Democratic Party Presidents of the United States Category:Democratic Party United States Senators Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Illinois Democrats Category:Illinois lawyers Category:Illinois State Senators Category:Living people Category:Luo people Category:Nobel Peace Prize laureates Category:Obama family Category:Occidental College alumni Category:People associated with renewable energy Category:People from Honolulu, Hawaii Category:Politicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:Presidents of the United Nations Security Council Category:Presidents of the United States Category:Punahou School alumni Category:United Church of Christ members Category:United States presidential candidates, 2008 Category:United States presidential candidates, 2012 Category:United States Senators from Illinois Category:University of Chicago Law School faculty Category:Writers from Chicago, Illinois