Name	Santigold
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Santi White
Born	September 25, 1976Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Origin	Philadelphia
Genre	New Wave, Dub, Electronica
Associated acts	Stiffed, NASA
Instrument	Guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, keyboards, rapping, vocals, drums
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, rapper
Years active	2003–present
Label	Lizard King Records (2007)Atlantic U.K., Downtown

Santi White (born September 25, 1976), better known by her stage name Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American songwriter, producer, and singer. Her debut album Santogold was released in 2008.

Biography

Santi White attended Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then later attended college at Wesleyan University, where she double-majored in Music and African-American studies. The artist got her pseudonym in the 1990s from a friend's nickname for her. She worked for Epic Records as an A&R; representative, but left the position to write and executive produce How I Do, the debut album from the singer Res.

Santigold was the singer of the Philadelphia-based punk rock band Stiffed, whose 2003 album, Sex Sells, and 2005 album, Burned Again, were produced by Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer. Her initial singles "Creator" and "L.E.S. Artistes" received attention from Internet media in 2007.

In February 2009, Santogold changed her stage name to Santigold, as a result of infomercial jeweller Santo Gold threatening legal action.

As Santogold/Santigold

Originally going by the stage name Santogold, Santi White changed this to Santigold in early 2009 for reasons related to a possible lawsuit from director Santo Victor Rigatuso, who produced the movie Santo Gold. Working with fellow Stiffed member John Hill as co-producer, she recorded her debut album, Santogold, which was originally slated for release on Downtown Records in January 2008, The album (including its B-sides and remixes) features appearances or production work from Chuck Treece, Clifford "Moonie" Pusey of Steel Pulse, Diplo, Freq Nasty, Naeem Juwan of Spank Rock, Radioclit, Sinden, Switch, Trouble Andrew, and XXXchange. Rolling Stone, Spin, and BBC all named Santogold an artist to watch in 2008. The album's first singles, "Creator" and "L.E.S. Artistes", were both well received. "L.E.S. Artistes" placed at number two on Rolling Stone's Singles of the Year, behind Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", while the album Santogold was sixth on their albums of the year list. "Creator", along with "Lights Out", has appeared in commercials for Bud Light Lime in the United States, and VO5 hair products in the United Kingdom. Similarly, "You'll Find A Way" was featured in the EA Sports video game, FIFA 08, with "L.E.S. Artistes" featured in some versions of its sister game NHL 08 and "Creator" featured in NBA 2k9. Her songs can also be heard in commercials for the Ford Flex. Her song "Say Aha" was featured in a Zune-Arts video. Her song Shove It feat. Spank Rock was Featured in the ending of the Gossip Girl Season 2 Episode "The Ex-Files". During the summer, the singer also released on cd a mixtape called , which received glowing reviews by Pitchfork and NME.

To promote her debut album, Santi has toured with M.I.A., Björk, and Architecture in Helsinki. Santogold embarked on her first headlining tour in September and October 2008. The Goldrush Tour featured dates across North America. After the tour's completion, Santogold supported Jay-Z and Kanye West on a number of their shows. Additionally, Santogold supported The Streets at BBC's Electric Proms, and she performed at certain dates of Beastie Boys' Get Out and Vote '08 tour. Santigold's performance in May 2009 at the Sasquatch! Music Festival was highlighted by a viral video in which a man dancing to her music inspired a large crowd to join him. This video including her music was subsequently featured in a TED conference talk by Derek Sivers on leadership.

Collaborations

Santi White co-wrote the title track for GZA's 1999 album Beneath the Surface, which featured Res. Santi went on to co-write and produce a majority of Res' album How I Do in 2001.

White also appeared on Mark Ronson's 2007 album Version, performing on a cover of The Jam's "Pretty Green", in her first performance credited as Santogold. Santi co-wrote Lily Allen's "Littlest Things" with Ronson.

Santigold recorded a song with N.E.R.D's Pharrell Williams and The Strokes' Julian Casablancas for Converse. Santi told Gigwise.com that they recorded the song separately and did "their own separate thing", "so it ends up being just this weird long song with sort of everybody with lots of their own personalities separate." The song, "My Drive Thru", was available for free on Converse's website.

In the future, Santigold will be working with Beastie Boys and David Byrne. White revealed to NME that she "may also do something with Jay-Z, it's kind of secret - it's not for anything, it's just 'cause we want to." It appears on the soundtrack to The Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious. The song was also released as a download via subscription to (RED)Wire, with a portion of the profits going towards Bono's Product Red organization. "Brooklyn Go Hard" debuted on Billboard's Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs at number 62.

Santigold, alongside Switch and Sam Endicott of The Bravery, helped write the Christina Aguilera song "Monday Morning" and "Bobblehead" for Aguilera's album ''Bionic.

She also appears on a song entitled "Whachadoin?" with M.I.A., Nick Zinner, and Spank Rock for DJ collective N.A.S.A.'s debut album, The Spirit of Apollo, as well as a song entitled "Gifted" with Kanye West and Lykke Li. Basement Jaxx's Scars also features vocals from Santi on the song "Saga".

Artistry

, July 5, 2008]] White's style has been compared often to that of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, No Doubt, M.I.A., and Missing Persons. White said of the M.I.A. comparison that they are both "women who have similar influences and have worked with some of the same people," but that her "music is different and she wasn't influenced by what the press was saying", adding "I can't think of anybody who would be a better fit of somebody who I'm like... I think what's accurate about that comparison is that she's an artist who has loads of different influences... and is putting things together in a way that's unexpected and genreless." Santigold and her friend Amanda Blank have been described as being part of "a new crop of young, multicultural, female acts in the wake of M.I.A. causing a stir on the internet and in indie-label conference rooms." Some of Santigold's material has been compared to that of Pixies, The singer also cites Blondie, Grace Jones, Devo – whom she describes as her "ultimate favorite band", Fela Kuti, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and reggae music as influences.

In a May 2008 interview, White stated that critics and online music vendors were labeling her music as hip hop, rap, and R&B; because she is black, saying that it was racist. "Everyone is just so shocked that I don't like R&B.; Are you shocked that Good Charlotte isn't into R&B;? Why does R&B; keep coming into my interviews? It's pissing me off. I didn't grow up as a big fan of R&B; and, like, what is the big shocker? It's stupid."

Discography

Albums

2008: Santogold

Singles

2008: "Creator"

2008: "L.E.S. Artistes"

2008: "My Drive Thru"

2008: "Lights Out"

2008: "Say Aha"

Awards and nominations

References

Further reading

External links

Category:Living people Category:1976 births Category:African American rock musicians Category:American female singers Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American indie rock musicians Category:Female New Wave singers Category:Musicians from Pennsylvania Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Wesleyan University alumni

Name	Norman Cook
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Quentin Leo Cook
Alias	Fatboy Slim, and others. See pseudonym section
Born	July 31, 1963
Origin	Reigate, Surrey, England
Spouse	Zoe Ball (1999-present)
Genre	Big beatTrip hopDanceRave
Occupation	musician, producer, disc jockey
Instrument	Turntables, keyboard, bass guitar, guitar, drums
Years active	1981–present
Label	Skint, Astralwerks, Southern Fried,
Associated acts	The Housemartins, Beats International, Freak Power, Brighton Port Authority, David Byrne
Url	FatboySlim.net

Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by the stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English DJ, big beat musician, record producer and pioneer of the electronic dance genre that achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s. Cook has achieved considerable success in the UK charts, performing as Fatboy Slim and with The Housemartins, Beats International and Freak Power. He currently performs as the Brighton Port Authority.

History

Quentin Leo Cook was raised in Reigate, Surrey, England, and was educated at Reigate Grammar School. He played drums in Disque Attack (a British new-wave-influenced rock band). When singer Charlie Alcock was told by his parents that he had to give up the band to concentrate on his O levels, Quentin took over as lead vocalist. At Reigate College he also met Paul Heaton with whom he formed the Stomping Pondfrogs. At 18, he went to the Brighton Polytechnic to study a BA in English, politics and sociology. Although he had begun DJing some years before, it was at this time that he began to develop his skills on the thriving Brighton club scene.

Known as DJ Quentox (The OX that Rocks) Cook and DJ Baptiste started putting on Youth Club Hip Hop jams in Brighton, sowing the seeds of the City's flourishing Hip Hop scene today. These primitive 80's block parties are recalled in the music documentary 'South Coast' which documents Brighton's cult Hip Hop scene from its grass roots to the present day.

In 1985 Cook's friend Paul Heaton had formed a guitar band called The Housemartins. Their bassist quit on the eve of their first national tour, so Cook agreed to move to Hull to join them. The band soon had a hit single with "Happy Hour". They also reached number one just before Christmas 1986 with a version of "Caravan of Love" originally a hit the year before for Isley-Jasper-Isley. However, by 1988 they had split up. Heaton and the band's drummer Dave Hemingway went on to form The Beautiful South, while Cook moved back to Brighton to pursue his interest in the style of music he preferred. It was at this time that he first started working with young studio engineer Simon Thornton, with whom he continues to make records. All Cook's records released from that point onwards have involved both of them to varying degrees (Thornton is credited in 2004 as "Executive Producer" for example).

Cook achieved his first solo hit in 1989, featuring his future Beats International member MC Wildski called "Blame It on the Bassline". Credited to "Norman Cook feat. MC Wildski", the song followed the basic template of what was to come in the style of the music of Beats International. It became a modest hit in the UK Singles Chart, reaching #29.

Cook formed Beats International, a loose confederation of studio musicians including vocalists Lindy Layton, Lester Noel, D.J. Baptiste, rapper MC Wildski, and keyboardist Andy Boucher. Their first album Let Them Eat Bingo included the number one single "Dub Be Good to Me", which caused a legal dispute revolving around allegations of infringement of copyright through the liberal use of unauthorised samples: the bassline was a note-for-note lift from "The Guns of Brixton" by The Clash and the lyrics borrowed heavily from "Just Be Good to Me" by The S.O.S. Band. The 1991 follow-up album Excursion on the Version, an exploration of dub and reggae rhythms, failed to repeat the success of its predecessor, as it did not chart.

Cook then formed Freak Power with horn player Ashley Slater and singer Jesse Graham. They released their debut album Drive Thru Booty in 1994, which contained the single "Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out". The cut was picked up by the Levi's company for use in a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign. In 1996, Cook re-joined Freak Power for their second album More of Everything for Everybody.

Cook enlisted help from producer friends Tim Jeffery and JC Reid to create a solo house music album under the Pizzaman pseudonym. The 1995 Pizzamania album spawned 3 UK Top 40 hits in "Trippin' on Sunshine", "Sex on the Streets" and "Happiness". "Happiness" was picked up by the Del Monte Foods corporation for use in a UK fruit juice ad. The music videos for "Trippin' on Sunshine", "Sex on the Streets" and "Happiness" were all directed by Michael Dominic.

Cook also formed the group The Mighty Dub Katz along with Gareth Hansome (aka GMoney), Cook's former flatmate. Together they started the Boutique Nightclub in Brighton, formerly known as the Big Beat Boutique. Their biggest song together was "Magic Carpet Ride".

Recordings, 1997–2008

Cook adopted the new pseudonym Fatboy Slim in 1996. The Fatboy Slim album and Cook's second solo album Better Living Through Chemistry (released through Skint Records) contained the Top 40 UK hit, "Everybody Needs a 303".

Fatboy Slim's next work was the single "The Rockafeller Skank", released prior to the album You've Come a Long Way, Baby, both of which were released in 1998. "Praise You", also from this album, was Cook's first UK solo number one. Its music video, directed by Spike Jonze, won numerous awards.

In 2003, he produced the Blur album Think Tank, and in 2004, Palookaville was Cook's first studio album for four years.

Fatboy Slim's greatest hits album Why Try Harder was released on 19 June 2006. It comprises eighteen tracks, including ten Top 40 singles, a couple of Number Ones and two exclusive new tracks – "Champion Sound" and "That Old Pair of Jeans". Most of the songs were shortened and heavily edited, resulting in almost fifteen minutes of unused space on the compact disc release.

In 2006 Cook travelled to Cuba, and wrote and produced two original Cuban crossover tracks for the album The Revolution Presents: Revolution, which was released by Studio !K7 and Rapster Records in 2009. The tracks were called "Shelter" (which featured long time collaborator Lateef); and "Siente Mi Ritmo", featuring Cuba's top female vocal group "Sexto Sentido". The recordings took place in Cuba's legendary EGREM Studios, home of the Buena Vista Social Club, and featured a band made up of Cuba's top young musicians, including Harold Lopez Nussa. Another track recorded during these sessions entitled "Guaguanco" was released separately under the Mighty Dub Katz moniker in 2006.

Cook has also been responsible for successful remixes for Cornershop, Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest and Wildchild. In 2008 he did a remix of the track "Amazonas" for the charity Bottletop.

Cook released a mix album in 2010 titled The Legend Returns as a covermount album in the June 2010 issue of Mixmag.

Performances

On 13 July 2002, Fatboy Slim performed the second of his free, open air concerts on Brighton beach. Although organisers expected a crowd of around 60,000 people, the event instead attracted an estimated 250,000 who crammed the promenade and beach between Brighton's piers. Local police forced the event to end early amid safety concerns, overcrowding, and one death. After the music had finished and the crowd began to dissipate, traffic ensued throughout the Brighton area with many caught in traffic jams until the morning.

In June 2005 Fatboy Slim filled the Friday night headline slot on the 'Other Stage' at the Glastonbury Festival, a booking which actually generated a financial loss for Cook.

In 2006, Fatboy Slim filled the Saturday headline slot at the Global Gathering festival, Long Marston Airfield in the English Midlands. He played a two hour set, appearing in front of a visual stage set comprising video screens and 3D lighting. A firework display rounded off the show.

After being banned by police from playing in Brighton since 2002, Fatboy Slim was given permission in 2006 to play again in his home town. On 1 January 2007 he played to an audience of more than 20,000 fans along Brighton's seafront. Tickets to the event, titled 'Fatboy Slim's Big Beach Boutique 3', were made available only to Brighton residents. The concert was deemed a stunning success by Sussex Police, Fatboy Slim, and the crowd. The Cuban Brothers and David Guetta opened the concert. The next similar event, 'Big Beach Boutique 4', was held on 27 September 2008.

In 2008, Fatboy Slim played at the Glastonbury Festival again, and headlined the O2 Wireless Festival and Rockness Festival. According to an NME interview, this may have been one of the last times he performed as Fatboy Slim, as he may now focus on his new album, Brighton Port Authority (The BPA).

In 2009, Fatboy Slim toured Australia in the Good Vibrations festival. Also in 2009, Fatboy Slim played in Marlay Park, Ireland, alongside David Guetta, Dizzee Rascal & Calvin Harris; as well as one huge performance at the Sziget Festival in Budapest. He also has performed at V Festival 2009.

At Glastonbury 2009, Fatboy Slim played an unadvertised concert in the "pinball-machine" stage at trash city.

In 2010 Fatboy Slim headlined the east dance at Glastonbury Festival on Friday.

He performed on June 18 in Cape Town, South Africa as part of the Cool Britannia World Cup music festival at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

He will return to Ireland at Oxegen 2010 in July, following that he will perform at South West Four on Clapham Common on 29 August 2010.

Biography

Cook was awarded a star on the city of Brighton's Walk of Fame, next to that of Winston Churchill.

He married TV personality Zoë Ball in 1999 at Babington House in Somerset; in January 2003, Cook broke up with Zoe but three months later, they reconciled. They have a son named Woody (born 15 December 2000) and a daughter named Nelly May Lois (born 14 January 2010). Cook is a 12% shareholder of the football club he has supported since moving to Brighton in the late 1980s, Brighton & Hove Albion.

Q magazine named Fatboy Slim in their 50 Bands To See Before You Die list.

On 4 March 2009, Cook checked into a rehabilitation centre in Bournemouth to fight a "booze addiction" that he has been battling "for some time".

Because of an extended stay in rehab his performance at Snowbombing (week-long winter sports and music festival held in the Austrian ski resort of Mayrhofen) was canceled – with the slot being filled by 2ManyDJs. Cook then left the clinic at the end of March.

Cook completed the inaugural Brighton Marathon on 18 April 2010 in a time of 4:53:10.

Awards

In 1999, the video to "Praise You" won three MTV awards, for best direction (Spike Jonze), best choreography (Richard Koufey) and best breakthrough video.

Cook's single The Rockafeller Skank topped the 1999 Pazz & Jop singles poll.

In September, 2001, Fatboy Slim's video for "Weapon of Choice" (also directed by Spike Jonze) received six prizes at the MTV Video Awards, the most given to a single winner that year. Cook was also a judge for the 6th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Three Brit awards: 1987 (British breakthrough act: The Housemartins), 1999 (British dance act: Fatboy Slim), 2001 (British dance act: Fatboy Slim)

Bands and pseudonyms

Norman Cook — now his real name |align="center"| — |- | 2000 | "Sunset (Bird of Prey)" |align="center"|9 | rowspan="8"|Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars |- |rowspan="5"| 2001 | "Demons" (featuring Macy Gray) |align="center"|16 |- | "Star 69 / Weapon of Choice" |align="center"|10 |- | "Song for Shelter / Ya Mama" |align="center"|30 |- | "Song for Shelter (Remix)" (featuring Roland Clarke) (12-inch Only) |align="center"|90 |- | "Drop the Hate" (12-inch Only) |align="center"|101 |- |rowspan="2"| 2002 | "Retox" (12-inch Only) |align="center"|73 |- | "Talkin' Bout My Baby" / "Drop the Hate (Remix)" (12-inch Only) |align="center"|92 |- |rowspan="2"| 2004 | "Slash Dot Dash" |align="center"|12 | rowspan="4"|Palookaville |- | "Wonderful Night" |align="center"|51 |- |rowspan="2"| 2005 | "The Joker" |align="center"|32 |- | "Don't Let the Man Get You Down" |align="center"|153 |- |rowspan="3"| 2006 | "That Old Pair of Jeans" |align="center"|39 | rowspan="3"|The Greatest Hits - Why Try Harder |- | "Weapon of Choice (Remix)" (featuring Bootsy Collins) (12-inch Only) |align="center"|137 |- | "Champion Sound" |align="center"|88 |- | 2007 | "Radioactivity" (7-inch Only) |align="center"| — | |- |rowspan="2"| 2008 | "Toe Jam" (featuring Dizzee Rascal & David Byrne) |align="center"|198 | rowspan="4"|I Think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat |- | "Seattle" (featuring Emmy The Great) |align="center"| — |- |rowspan="2"| 2009 | "He's Frank (Slight Return)" (featuring Iggy Pop) |align="center"| — |- | "Should I Stay Or Should I Blow" (featuring Ashley Beedle) |align="center"| — |- |rowspan="1"| 2010 | "Please Don't" |align="center"| — | rowspan="1"|Here Lies Love (with David Byrne) |- |rowspan="1"| 2010 | "Machines Can Do The Work" |align="center"| — | rowspan="1"|(with Hervé (DJ)) |- |}

Other songs

See also

The Chemical Brothers

The Prodigy

The Crystal Method

Notes

External links

A Conversation with Norman Cook

Fatboy Slim (Discography) – beatbuggy.com

Norman Cook's Cuban Tracks on The Revolution Presents: Revolution

Video: Norman Cook In Cuba (Interview)

Category:Electronica musicians Category:English electronic musicians Category:Music from Brighton, England Category:English football chairmen and investors Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Old Reigatians Category:Alumni of the University of Brighton Category:Breakbeat musicians Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:The Housemartins members

Category:Remixers Category:People from Hove

Name	David Byrne
Background	solo_singer
Born	May 14, 1952Dumbarton, Scotland, |UK
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, synthesizer, flute, clavinet, slide guitar, harmonica autoharp, harmonium, violin, accordion buildings
Genre	New Wave, Experimental pop music, worldbeat, alternative rock
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter, artist, singer, actor, director, Film producer, Record producer
Years active	1974–present
Label	Luaka Bop, Nonesuch Records, Thrill Jockey
Associated acts	Talking Heads, Brian Eno, X-Press 2, Fatboy Slim, The BPA
Url	Official Website
Notable instruments	Fender MustangFender Stratocaster

David Byrne (born May 14, 1952) is a Scottish-born musician and artist most associated with his role as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography, opera, and non-fiction. He has received Grammy, Oscar, and Golden Globe awards and been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Although a resident of the United States since childhood, Byrne is a British citizen.

Biography

Byrne was born into a family of Irish origin in Dumbarton, Scotland, to Tom and Emma Byrne. He was the elder of two children. Two years later, his parents moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and then to Arbutus, Maryland, when he was 8 or 9 years old. His father worked as an electronics engineer. Before high school, David Byrne already knew how to play the guitar, accordion, and violin. He was rejected from his middle school’s choir because they claimed he was "off-key and too withdrawn". From a young age, Byrne had a strong interest in music. His parents say that he would constantly play his phonograph from age three and he learned how to play the harmonica at age five. In his journals he says, "I was a peculiar young man — borderline Asperger's, I would guess."

He graduated from Lansdowne High School in southwest Baltimore County. Byrne started his musical career in a high school duo named Bizadi with Mark Kehoe. Their repertoire consisted mostly of songs such as "April Showers", "96 Tears", "Dancing On The Ceiling", and Frank Sinatra songs. Byrne then attended the Rhode Island School of Design and the Maryland Institute College of Art before dropping out and forming a band called "The Artistics" with fellow RISD student Chris Frantz. The band dissolved within a year, and the two moved to New York together with Frantz's girlfriend Tina Weymouth. Unable to find a bass player in New York, Frantz and Byrne persuaded Weymouth to learn to play the bass guitar. She admits that the encouragement she received from Byrne, Frantz, and famed trumpet player Don Cherry (who lived in their building), was critical as to her grasp of the instrument.

After some practice and playing together they founded the group Talking Heads which had its first gig in 1975. Multi-instrumentalist Jerry Harrison joined the group in 1977. During his time in the band, Byrne took on outside projects, collaborating with Brian Eno in 1981 on the album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which attracted considerable critical acclaim and featured a groundbreaking use of sampling.

While working on the film True Stories, Byrne met costume designer Adelle Lutz whom he married in 1987. They have a daughter, Malu Abeni Valentine Byrne, born in 1989. Byrne and Lutz divorced in 2004. He is currently in a relationship with artist Cindy Sherman.

Byrne lives in New York City.

Work in music and film

in 1978 Photo: Jean-Luc Ourlin]]

In 1981, Byrne partnered with choreographer Twyla Tharp, scoring music he wrote that appeared on his album, The Catherine Wheel for a ballet with the same name, prominently featuring unusual rhythms and lyrics. Productions of The Catherine Wheel appeared on Broadway that same year. In Spite of Wishing and Wanting is a soundscape David Byrne produced for the Belgian dance company Ultima Vez.

His work has been extensively used in movie soundtracks, most notably in collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su on Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. In 2004, Lead Us Not Into Temptation (music from the film "Young Adam") included tracks and musical experiments from his score to Young Adam. Byrne also wrote, directed, and starred in True Stories, a musical collage of discordant Americana released in 1986, as well as producing most of the film's music. Byrne also directed the documentary Île Aiye and the concert film of his 1992 Latin-tinged tour titled Between the Teeth. He was chiefly responsible for the stage design and choreography of Stop Making Sense in 1984. Byrne added "Loco de Amor" (Crazy for Love) with Celia Cruz to Jonathan Demme's 1986 film Something Wild.

Byrne wrote the Dirty Dozen Brass Band-inspired score for Robert Wilson's Opera The Knee Plays from . Some of the music from Byrne's orchestral album The Forest was originally used in a Wilson-directed theatre piece with the same name. The Forest premiered at the Theater der Freien Volksbühne, Berlin in 1988. It received its New York premiere in December 1988 at BAM, the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The Forestry Maxi-single contained dance and industrial remixes of pieces from The Forest by Jack Dangers, Rudy Tambala, and Anthony Capel.

Byrne has contributed songs to five AIDS benefit compilation albums produced by the Red Hot Organization: Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter, Red Hot + Rio, , , and . Byrne appeared as a guest vocalist/guitarist for 10,000 Maniacs during their MTV Unplugged concert, though the songs in which he is featured were cut from their following album. One of them, "Let the Mystery Be", appeared as the fourth track on 10,000 Maniacs' CD single "Few and Far Between". Byrne worked with the "Queen of Tex-Mex", Tejano superstar Selena, writing, producing and singing a song ("God's Child (Baila Conmigo)"), included on Selena's last album, "Dreaming of You", before her death. Byrne was the host of Sessions at West 54th during its second of three seasons and collaborated with members of Devo and Morcheeba to record the album Feelings in 1997.

Other work

Byrne founded the world music record label Luaka Bop in 1990. It was originally created to release Latin American compilations, but it has grown to include music from Cuba, Africa, the Far East and beyond, releasing the work of artists such as Cornershop, Os Mutantes, Los De Abajo, Jim White, Zap Mama, Tom Zé, Los Amigos Invisibles and King Chango.

Byrne is also a visual artist whose work has been shown in contemporary art galleries and museums around the world since the 1990s. Represented by the Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York, he has also created public art installations, many of them anonymously. In 2010 his original art work is due to be featured in the exhibition The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

Cycling

Byrne is known for his activism in support of increased cycling, and for having used a bike as his main means of transport for most of his life, especially cycling around New York. He has a regular cycling column in the New York Times.

He says that he cycled when he was in high school and was able to get back into the sport in the late 1970s. He likes the freedom and exhilarating feeling cycling gives him. He has written widely on cycling, including a 2009 book, Bicycle Diaries. In August 2009, he auctioned his Montague folding bike in order to raise money for the London Cycling Campaign.

In 2008, Byrne designed a series of innovative bicycle parking racks in the form of image outlines corresponding to the areas in which they were located, such as a dollar sign for Wall Street and an electric guitar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Byrne worked with a manufacturer that would construct the racks in exchange for the chance to sell them later as artworks, and the racks remained on the streets for about a year.

Musical activity since 2001

in April 2009]] In 2001 a censored version of Byrne's single “Like Humans Do” was selected by Microsoft as the sample music for Windows XP to demonstrate Windows Media Player (not included in SP2 installs). The next year, he provided vocals for a track, "Lazy" by X-Press 2, which reached number 2 in the United Kingdom and number 1 on the U.S. Dance Charts. Byrne said in an interview in BBC Four Sessions's coverage of his Union Chapel performance that “Lazy” was number 1 in Syria.

In April 2003, Byrne appeared as himself in an episode of The Simpsons, "Dude, Where's My Ranch?". Later in the year, Byrne released the book Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information (ISBN 3-88243-907-6). together with a companion DVD. The work included artwork composed entirely in Microsoft PowerPoint. It includes one image that depicts, according to Byrne, "Dan Rather's profile. Expanded to the nth degree. Taken to infinity. Overlaid on the back of Patrick Stewart's head."

Byrne's solo album, Grown Backwards, was released on March 16, 2004 by Nonesuch Records. This album used orchestral string arrangements, and includes two operatic arias. He also launched a North American and Australian tour with the Tosca Strings. This tour ended with Los Angeles, San Diego and New York shows in August 2005. The following year, his singing was featured on "The Heart's a Lonely Hunter" on The Cosmic Game by Thievery Corporation.

In 2005, Byrne initiated his own internet radio station, Radio David Byrne. Each month, Byrne posts a playlist of music he likes, linked by themes or genres. Byrne's playlists have included African popular music; Country music classics; Vox Humana; Classical opera, and film scores from Italian movies. Byrne also posts personal comments on the music and, occasionally, on the state of the recorded music industry. In July 2007, Byrne posted the following comment: }}

Returning to this work in the theatre, in late 2005 Byrne and Fatboy Slim began work on Here Lies Love, a disco opera or song cycle about the life of Imelda Marcos, the controversial former First Lady of the Philippines. Some music from this piece was debuted at Adelaide Festival of Arts in Australia in February 2006 and the following year at Carnegie Hall on February 3, 2007.

Byrne and Eno's influential 1981 album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was re-released for its 25th anniversary in early 2006, with new bonus tracks. In keeping with the spirit of the original album, two of the songs' component tracks were released under Creative Commons licenses and a remix contest site was launched. Later that same year, Byrne released Arboretum, a sketchbook facsimile of his Tree Drawings, published by McSweeney's. He also had an exhibition of his chairs — drawings, photographs, sculptures, and embroideries — at Pace/MacGill Gallery, NYC. In 2007, David Byrne provided a cover of The Fiery Furnaces' song "Ex-Guru" for a compilation to celebrate the 15th birthday of Thrill Jockey, a Chicago-based label.

, in 2008]] In April 2008 Byrne took part in the Paul Simon retrospective concert series at BAM performing "You Can Call Me Al" and "I Know What I Know" from Simon's Graceland album. In 2008, Byrne and his production team programmed the Battery Maritime Building, a 99-year-old ferry terminal in Manhattan, to play music. Essentially Byrne took the old New York City building, hooked the entire structure - pipes, heaters, pillars and all, electronically to an old pipe organ, and made a playable musical instrument of it, for a piece called "Playing the Building". and at the London Roundhouse in 2009. It bears similarities to a series of installations performed by New Zealand and Detroit based artists Alastair Galbraith and Matt De Genaro, recorded on their 1998 record Wire Music and 2006 follow-up Long Wires in Dark Museums, Vol. 2. Byrne says that the point in this project was to allow people to experience art first hand, by creating the music with the organ, rather than simply looking at it. Byrne and Eno reunited for 2008's Everything That Happens Will Happen Today and Byrne assembled a band to tour the album and other collaborations between the two through late 2008. He assembled a band to tour worldwide for the album for a six-month period from late 2008 through early 2009 on the Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour. The day after that album was released, - his soundtrack to season two of Big Love was made available. These two albums constituted the first releases on his personal independent record label Todo Mundo. In the same year, Byrne performed at the Austin City Limits festival.

He is featured on the tracks "Money" and "The People Tree", on N.A.S.A.'s 2009 album The Spirit of Apollo. Also in 2009, David Byrne appeared on HIV/AIDS charity album Dark Was the Night for Red Hot Organization. He collaborated with Dirty Projectors on the song "Knotty Pine". In the same year, Byrne performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. He also was a signator of a letter protesting the decision of the Toronto International Film Festival to choose Tel Aviv as the subject of its inaugural City-to-City Spotlight strand.

In 2010 David Byrne songs were featured on the soundtrack of Oliver Stone's .

Works by David Byrne

Selected discography

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (with Brian Eno) (1981)

Rei Momo (1989)

The Forest (1991)

Uh-Oh (1992)

David Byrne (1994)

Feelings (1997)

Look into the Eyeball (2001)

Grown Backwards (2004)

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (with Brian Eno) (2008)

Books

True Stories (1986)

Strange Ritual, Chronicle Books (1995)

Your Action World (1999)

The New Sins (Los Nuevos Pecados) (2001)

David Byrne Asks You: What Is It? Smart Art Press (2002)

Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information with DVD (2003)

Arboretum, (2006)

Bicycle Diaries (2009)

Film

Stop Making Sense - concert movie from Talking Heads tour (1984)

True Stories (1986)

Ile Aiye (The house of life) - Documentary (1989)

Here Lies Love - with concept album in collaboration with Norman Cook (released 2010)

Ride, Rise, Roar - music documentary of his concert tour with Brian Eno (released 2010)

References

Further reading

Sytze Steenstra: Song and Circumstance. The Work of David Byrne from Talking Heads to the Present. New York and London: Continuum Books, 2010.

John Howell: David Byrne. (American Originals Series) New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1992.

Ian Gittin: Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime: The Stories Behind Every Song.

External links

Byrne, Baby Byrne, Guernica Magazine's Michael Archer interviews David Byrne

TED talk: How architecture helped music evolve. Feb 2010

His journal

David Byrne Carl Jung Lecture

We Are The Noise Between Stations: A philosophical exploration of the work of David Byrne, at the crossroads of popular media, conceptual art, and performance theatre''. Maastricht: Mixed Media, 2003.

The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl

Category:1952 births Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:American bloggers Category:American film score composers Category:American male singers Category:American rock singers Category:American songwriters Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:Scottish people of Irish descent Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from Maryland Category:People from Baltimore, Maryland Category:People from Dumbarton Category:People from Dunbartonshire Category:People from New York City Category:Musicians from New York Category:Rhode Island School of Design alumni Category:Scottish bloggers Category:Scottish buskers Category:Scottish male singers Category:Scottish rock singers Category:Scottish songwriters Category:Scottish immigrants to the United States Category:Talking Heads members Category:English-language singers Category:American New Wave musicians Category:Luaka Bop artists

Name	Spank Rock
Landscape	yes
Background	non_performing_personnel
Origin	Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Genre	Dirty rap
Label	Downtown Records
Associated acts	Amanda Blank
Current members	MC Spank Rock, Chris Devlin, Alex Epton, DJ Ronnie Darko

Spank Rock is an American hip-hop group consisting of rapper Naeem Juwan (MC Spank Rock) and producer Alex Epton (XXXChange). Their style is generally described as a mix of underground alternative rap and electro and rock.

Biography

Spank Rock began performing in Philadelphia and Phoenixville, where their reputation quickly increased. They later toured with Hollertronix and M.I.A.. They also toured with Beck in 2006. Spank Rock's debut album YoYoYoYoYo was released in 2006 on the Big Dada record label. Spank Rock is soon to record their second full length album.

Their single, "Bump", was named Single of the Year by Xfm London breakfast DJ Lauren Laverne in 2006. "Bump" was also played at the beginning of an episode in season three of Entourage. A remixed version of "Bump" is currently playing on a Wish-Bone salad dressing commercial.

In the video game , the song "What It Look Like" appears. In Madden NFL 07, "Backyard Betty" is featured. Also, an instrumental version of "Loose" is in the game NBA 2K9.

In June 2007, Spank Rock signed a deal with Downtown Records. Spank Rock's first Downtown Records release came in the form of fall 2007's Benny Blanco & Spank Rock Present: Bangers & Cash EP , a 2 Live Crew inspired 5 song EP.

In 2010 MC Spank Rock was featured along with The View's Kyle Falconer on "The Bike Song" by Mark Ronson, which featured on Ronson's 2010 album Record Collection. He was also the touring rapper on the album's 2010 UK tour.

Discography

Albums

YoYoYoYoYo (2006)

Singles

"Put That Pussy on Me" (2005)

"Rick Rubin" (2006)

"Sweet Talk" (2006)

"Bump" (2006)

EPs

''Benny Blanco & Spank Rock Present: Bangers & Cash (2007)

Other releases

Couche Tard (2006)

FabricLive.33 (2007)

Appearances

"D.A.N.C.E." (Remix featuring Mos Def and Spank Rock) (2007)

"Kick Drum" from Noise Won't Stop by Shy Child (2007)

"Back It Up" from Ed Rec Vol. 3 by Feadz (2008)

"Keep My Composure" from Brotherhood by The Chemical Brothers (2008)

"Heart Beat Rock" (Benny Blanco Mix featuring Spank Rock) from X by Kylie Minogue (2008)

"Shove It" from Santogold by Santogold (2008)

"Trick or Treat" from Stainless Style by Neon Neon (2008)

"Radical Businessman" from Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt by Japanther (2008)

"Roll That Shit" from Booty Breaks Vol. 3 by Deekline & Wizard (2008)

"Ultraviolence" (Remix featuring Spank Rock) by Heartsrevolution (2009)

"Wachadoin" (featuring Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santogold, & Nick Zinner) from The Spirit of Apollo by N.A.S.A. (musical group) (2009)

"My Eyes" (featuring Spank Rock, Theophilus London, Melo-X & Zakee) from Mishka and Ninjasonik present Darth Banhao by Mishka and Ninjasonik (2009)

"Backseat" (featuring Spank Rock, Lady Tigra & Damien Adore) from Backseat - Single by Staygold (2010)

"Park The Truck" (featuring Spank Rock) from Tons Of Friends by Crookers (2010)

"The Bike Song" (feat. Kyle Falconer & Spank Rock) from Record Collection (album) by Mark Ronson (2010)

References

External links

Spank Rock on MySpace

Category:American hip hop groups Category:Rappers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Living people

Name	Nick Zinner
Landscape	No
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Nicholas Joseph Zinner
Born	December 08, 1974
Origin	Sharon, Massachusetts
Instrument	GuitarKeyboardBassDrum machinePianoViolin
Genre	Alternative rock, New Wave, art punk, indie rock, garage rock, hardcore punk, thrashcore
Occupation	GuitaristSongwriterProducerPhotographer
Years active	1990s–present
Label	InterscopeShifty (formerly)Three One G
Associated acts	Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Head Wound City, The Blood Brothers, Bright Eyes, Scarlett Johansson
Url	www.yeahyeahyeahs.com
Notable instruments	First Act guitar, Dewey Decibel Flipout guitar.

Nicholas Joseph Zinner (born December 8, 1974) is the guitarist for the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. He is known for his "unmistakable" wild hair, skinny physique, and pale appearance.

Career

Zinner is also a member of the band Head Wound City along with members from The Locust and The Blood Brothers.

Since 2001, Zinner has many collaborative efforts under his belt with such acts as TV on the Radio, Har Mar Superstar, Ronnie Spector The Horrors, and Scarlett Johansson. He contributed guitar and keyboard to several tracks on Bright Eyes' 2005 album Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and went on tour with the band as part of the rotating roster.

Zinner produced the re-mix of the track 'Compliments' on British group Bloc Party's 2005 album Silent Alarm Remixed, and has remixed The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower's song, "INRI," on their INRI ep. Zinner has also remixed Single Frame's song, "People are Germs," in addition to appearing in the music video.

In August 2009 Nick was included at number 16 in NME magazine's future 50 list

Personal life

Additionally, Zinner is an accomplished photographer. He studied photography at Bard College and has released three separate collections of his work: No Seats on the Party Car (2001), Slept in Beds (2003) and I hope you are all happy now (2004), which features an introduction written by director Jim Jarmusch. He also studied photography in Paris, France in 2001 before meeting Karen O.

While at Bard college he played in the Boba Fett Experience, who later changed their name to Challenge of the Future because of concerns about being sued by George Lucas. The band moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the late nineties and broke up in 2001.

Nick is a vegan and involved with the animal rights group, PETA. He has tattoos in different places including one of a star on his arm, and another of a heart on his finger and one on his hand. Zinner listened to metal bands while growing up, and cites Mötley Crüe and Glenn Danzig as major influences.

His father, Stephen Zinner MD, is a medical professor at Harvard University and a classical pianist. Nick Zinner also played the violin, referring to himself as a "child prodigy."

His sister, Meredith Zinner, is an actress and photographer based in New York.

Album Appearances

The Blood Brothers – Crimes (2004) – "Wolf Party"

Bright Eyes – Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (2005 · Saddle Creek)

Head Wound City – Head Wound City EP (2005)

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm Remixed (2005) – "Compliments (Shibuyaka Remix By Nick Zinner)"

The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower – INRI (EP) (2006) – "INRI (Nick Zinner Remix)"

Scarlett Johansson – Anywhere I Lay My Head (2008)

Nickel Eye – The Time of the Assassins (2009)

N.A.S.A. – The Spirit of Apollo (2009) – "Whachadoin?"

References

External links

Nick Zinner's blog

Nick Zinner at Discogs

Nick Zinner's Interview with Gothamist

Nick Zinner's Interview with Alexander Laurence

SUPERSWEET interview 2007

Category:American rock guitarists Category:American photographers Category:American songwriters Category:Bard College alumni Category:Musicians from New York Category:American vegans Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Yeah Yeah Yeahs members Category:American record producers Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:People from Sharon, Massachusetts

Name	Kanye West
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Kanye Omari West
Born	June 08, 1977Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, sampler, percussion, synthesizer
Occupation	Producer, rapper, musician, singer
Years active	1996–present
Label	GOOD Music, Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Associated acts	Go Getters, Child Rebel Soldier, Jay-Z, Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Mr Hudson, Pusha T, Big Sean
Url

Kanye Omari West (; born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B;, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.

West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. His five albums have received numerous awards, including a cumulative twelve Grammys, All have been very commercially successful, with 808s & Heartbreak becoming his third consecutive #1 album in the U.S. upon release. West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such as John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi. West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos. About.com ranked Kanye West #8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list. On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's #1 "Hottest MC in the Game." On 17 December 2010, Kanye West was voted as the MTV Man of the Year by MTV.

Early life

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with his parents. When he was three years old, his parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. West's mother, Dr. Donda West, was a Professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as West's manager. He was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. When asked about his grades in high school, West replied, "I got A's and B's. And I'm not even frontin'".

West attended art classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and also enrolled at Chicago State University, but dropped out to focus on his music career.

Music career

Early career (1996–2003)

Kanye West's first career productions came on Chicago rapper Grav's 1996 debut album Down to Earth. West produced eight tracks on the album. While the album didn't attract much attention and would be the only album released by Grav, West would soon be producing for higher profile artists. In 1998-1999 he produced for well known artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Goodie Mob, and the group Harlem World.

West got his big break in the year 2000 however when he began to produce for artists on Roc-a-Fella Records. He produced the well received Jay-Z song "This Can't Be Life" off of the album . West would later state that to create the beat for "This Can't Be Life" he sped up the drum beat from Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive".

After producing for Jay-Z earlier, West’s sound was featured heavily on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed album The Blueprint, released on September 11, 2001. Jay-Z admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that he saw him as a producer first and foremost. Multiple record companies felt he was not as marketable as rappers who portray the "street image" prominent in hip hop culture. West's faith is apparent in many of his songs, such as "Jesus Walks", which became a staple at his benefit performances, such as the Live 8 concert. These songs were featured on West's debut album, The College Dropout, which was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in February 2004, and went on to receive critical acclaim. The album also defined the style for which West would become known, including wordplay and sampling. During 2003 West also co-produced songs for British singer Javine Hylton, even appearing in the music video to Real Things playing the love interest of Javine.

West was involved in a financial dispute over Royce Da 5'9"'s song "Heartbeat", produced by West and released on Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions. West maintains that Royce never paid for the beat, but recorded to it and released it; hearing him on the beat, the original customers decided not to buy it from West. After the disagreement, West vowed to never work with Royce again. Other Kanye West-produced hit singles during the period The College Dropout was released included "I Changed My Mind" by Keyshia Cole, "Overnight Celebrity" by Twista and "Talk About Our Love" by Brandy. Like its predecessor, the sophomore effort garnered universal acclaim from music critics. Late Registration topped countless critic polls and was revered as the best album of the year by numerous publications, including USA Today, Spin, and Time. Rolling Stone awarded the album the highest position on their end of the year record list and hailed it as a "sweepingly generous, absurdly virtuosic hip-hop classic." The record earned the number one spot on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2005 for the second consecutive year. Late Registration was also a commercial success, selling over 860,000 copies in its first week alone and topping the Billboard 200. Grossing over 2.3 million units sold in the United States alone by year's end, Late Registration was considered by industry observers as the sole majorly successful album release of the fall of 2005, a season that was plagued by steadily declining CD sales. The sophomore album earned eight Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Gold Digger". The album is certified triple platinum.

On August 22, 2005, the MTV special All Eyes On Kanye West aired, in which West spoke out against homophobia in hip-hop. He claimed that hip-hop has always been about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He then reflected on a personal experience. He said that he had a "turning point" when he realized one of his cousins was gay. He said regarding this experience: "This is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays." He drew comparison between African Americans' struggle for civil rights and today's gay rights movement. The following year, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, West further expounded his experiences with and views on the relationship between the black and gay communities.

In September 2005, West announced that he would release his Pastelle Clothing line in spring 2006: "Now that I have a Grammy under my belt and Late Registration is finished, I am ready to launch my clothing line next spring." The current status of this project is unknown. In that year, West produced the hit singles "Go" by Common and "Dreams" by The Game.

Graduation (2007)

.]] In 2007, it was announced that West would be starring in a series directed by Larry Charles. He has been working on the pilot episode for the past two years with Larry Charles and Rick Rubin. He also had this to say on January 14: "I wouldn't do something as cliché as a reality show. At least give me the credit for being more creative than that. It's a situational half-hour comedy. It's fictional, and loosely based on my life. " West also collaborated with Japanese hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz to produce the single "I Still Love H.E.R.," a reference to Common's 1994 single "I Used to Love H.E.R.". Further to this, during a radio appearance in early 2007, West, like many of his peers, recorded an impromptu freestyle to the popular song "Throw Some D's." The song that to all other rappers was about automobile rims, was used by West to comically refer to D-cup breasts. Because of the unexpected success of the song, West went on to make a video for the freestyle, in which he is seen playing his 'Old Ass Cousin'.

West was also featured in a new song called "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)". It was believed to be a single for, Graduation, because he is featured on the track, but Nike quickly explained that it was for the Nike Air Force 1's anniversary. It was meant only to be an exclusive track for the company.

On March 25, 2007, he and his father Ray West supported World Water Day by having a "Walk for Water" rally. After a two-year break, West has returned to being a fashion columnist in lifestyle magazine Complex. On July 7, 2007, West performed with The Police and John Mayer at the American leg of Live Earth. West hosted the August 17 edition of British comedy- variety show The Friday Night Project.

In July 2007, West changed the release date of Graduation, his third album, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent's album Curtis, September 11, 2007. 50 Cent later claimed that if Graduation were to sell more records than Curtis, he would stop releasing solo albums. However, 50 Cent would later dispel his comments. The album has been certified double platinum. Guest appearances included T-Pain, Mos Def, and Lil Wayne.

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On August 26, 2007, West appeared as himself on the HBO television show Entourage which he used as a platform to premier his new single "Good Life" during the end credits. On September 9, 2007, West performed at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, losing in every category he was nominated for; he gave an angry speech immediately afterward. (see "Controversies" section)

Following the MTV stint, West was nominated in eight Grammy Award categories for the 50th annual Grammy Awards. He won four of them, including Best Rap Album for Graduation and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Stronger" from Graduation. During the four-hour televised Grammy Awards ceremony, West also performed two songs: "Stronger" (with Daft Punk) and "Hey Mama" (in honor of his recently deceased mother).

Glow in the Dark Tour, 808s & Heartbreak (2008–09)

in Chicago]]

West kicked off the Glow In The Dark Tour in Seattle at the Key Arena on April 16. The tour was originally scheduled to end in June in Cincinnati but was extended into August. Over the course of the tour West was joined by a varying group of opening acts, including Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, N.E.R.D., DJ Craze, and Gnarls Barkley. On June 15, West was scheduled to perform a late night set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. His performance started almost two hours late and ran for half of its alloted time, angering many fans in the audience. West later wrote an outraged entry on his blog, blaming the festival organizers as well as Pearl Jam's preceding set, which ran longer than expected.

On September 7, West debuted a new song "Love Lockdown" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. "Love Lockdown" features no rapping and only singing using an auto-tune device. This song appears on West's fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. The new album was expected to be released on December 16, but West announced on his blog on September 24, 2008, that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November, earlier than previously scheduled. In early October, West made a surprise appearance at a T.I. concert in Los Angeles, where he stated that 808s & Heartbreak was scheduled to be released on November 25, though it was actually released on the 24th, and that the second single is "Heartless". The album was another number one album for West, even though the first week numbers fell well short of Graduation with 450,145 sold.

Along with Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Leona Lewis, and others, West performed at the American Music Awards ceremony on November 23. That same night he won two AMA awards, including Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Graduation and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist. West performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August 2008, along with Wyclef Jean and N.E.R.D. in support of Barack Obama. On January 20, 2009, Kanye West performed at the Youth Inaugural Ball hosted by MTV for Obama's inauguration.

On February 17, 2009, West was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by GQ. The next day, February 18, 2009, West won International Male Solo Artist at The Brit Awards 2009. West was not in attendance but accepted his award with a video speech, saying "Barack is the 'Best Interracial Male' but I'm proud to be the Best International Male in the world.

In April 2009, Kanye West recorded a song called "Hurricane" with 30 Seconds to Mars to appear on their album This Is War, but was not released due to legal issues with both record companies. The song was eventually released on the deluxe version of This Is War, titled "Hurricane 2.0".

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Watch the Throne (2010–present)

In May 2010, West made an animated television guest appearance on Fox's animated television series The Cleveland Show (a spin-off of Family Guy) as the voice behind "Kenny West", a rival of Cleveland Brown's son. In his first episode he performed in a rap battle with Cleveland's son. The producers stated working with West was a very good experience and a reason they chose him was because they knew he was a fan of Family Guy. Kenny West re-appeared in the season 2 premiere of The Cleveland Show.

West spent the first half of 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii, working on his new album with the working title "Good Ass Job", later named My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, released on November 22, 2010. West has cited Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron and Nina Simone as his musical inspirations for this album. Outside production is said to come from RZA, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and DJ Premier. West also had Justin Vernon flown into his studio on Oahu after seemingly expressing interest in sampling one of Bon Iver's songs; Vernon proceeded to feature on a number of new tracks, including "Lost In The World," which features Vernon's vocal line from Woods.

On May 28, the Dwele-assisted first single from the album, entitled "Power", leaked to the Internet. On June 30, the track was officially released via iTunes. The upcoming music video was quoted as being "apocalyptic, in a very personal way" by the director Marco Brambilla.

On September 12, 2010, West performed a new song, "Runaway" featuring Pusha T, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Shortly after the performance, Kanye revealed he was working on a 35 minute short film based around the song. The movie is said to be influenced by film noir and concerns a fallen phoenix whom Kanye falls in love with. The short film debuted consecutively on VH1, MTV, and BET on October 23, 2010.

Watch The Throne, an upcoming collaborative studio album by West and Jay-Z, is scheduled to be released by Def Jam Recordings in 2011. It has been under production since August 2010 as part of West's GOOD Friday initiative of releasing new songs every Friday between August 20 and Christmas 2010. West said through a recent interview with MTV that the album is "going to be very dark and sexy, like couture hip hop. He appeared at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, performing the track "Lost in the World" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On January 6, 2011, Kanye announced via Twitter that the first official single from Watch the Throne would be a song called "H.A.M" produced by Lex Luger. The song was released on January 11, 2011.

Personal life

Relationships

Kanye West and designer Alexis Phifer ended their 18-month engagement in 2008. The couple had been dating on and off since 2002, with West eventually proposing in August 2006. According to a friend, the couple's relationship had been straining, significantly influenced by the sheer amount of time and attention West was dedicating to his current concert tour. "It's always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends," Phifer told People.

West was also in a high profile on/off relationship with Amber Rose from 2008 until the summer of 2010.

Mother's death

On November 10, 2007, West's mother, Donda West, died of complications from cosmetic surgery involving abdominoplasty and breast augmentation. TMZ reported that Beverly Hills physician Andre Aboolian had advised Donda West not to have surgery because of a health condition that placed her at risk for a heart attack. He had previously been under scrutiny by the medical board. Adams appeared on Larry King Live on November 20, 2007 but left before speaking. Two days later, he appeared again, with his attorney, stating he was there to "defend himself." He said that the recently released autopsy results "spoke for themselves". The final coroner's report January 10, 2008 concluded that Donda West died of "coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty."

The funeral and burial for Donda West was held in Oklahoma City on November 20, 2007. West held his first concert following the funeral at The O2 in London on November 22. He dedicated a performance of "Hey Mama", as well as a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", to his mother, and did so on all other dates of his Glow in the Dark tour.

At a December 2008 press conference in New Zealand, West spoke about his mother's death for the first time. "It was like losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that," he told reporters.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed the "Donda West Law," a legislation which makes it mandatory for patients to provide medical clearance for elective cosmetic surgery.

Musical style and influences

(left)]] At the start of his career, Kanye West's production style often used pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. His first major release featuring his trademark vocal sampling style was "This Can't Be Life", a track from Jay-Z’s . West said he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive" to use as a replacement for his drums on "This Can't Be Life". and has said on numerous occasions that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface Killah and Ol' Dirty Bastard were some of his all-time favorites, "Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time... We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that." RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons, stating in an interview for Rolling Stone, "All good. I got super respect for Kanye. He came up to me about a year or two ago. He gave me mad praising and blessings... For people to say Wu-Tang inspire Kanye, Kanye is one of the biggest artists in the world. That goes back to what we say: 'Wu-Tang is forever.' Kanye is going to inspire people to be like him."

While his use of sampling has lessened over time, West's production continues to feature distinctive and intricate string arrangements. This characteristic arose from him listening to the English trip hop group Portishead, whose 1998 live album Roseland NYC Live, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra inspired him to incorporate string sections into his hip hop production. Though he was unable to afford live instruments beyond violin riffs provided by Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari around the time of his debut album, its subsequent commercial success allowed him to hire his very own eleven-piece string orchestra. For a time, West stood as the sole current pop star to tour with a string section. Both a fan and supporter of indie culture, West uses his official website to promote obscure indie rock bands, posting up music videos and mp3s on a daily basis. This musical affinity is mutual, as West has collaborated with indie artists such as Santigold, Peter Bjorn and John and Lykke Li while his songs have gone on to be covered countless times by myriad rock bands.

Other ventures

Business ventures

In August 2008, West revealed plans to open 10 Fatburger restaurants in the Chicago area; the first was set to open in September 2008 in Orland Park. The second followed in January 2009, while a third location is yet to be revealed, although the process is being finalized. His company, KW Foods LLC, bought the rights to the chain in Chicago. Additionally, West planned to launch his fashion career, and applied for internships with major European fashion houses. He is due to release his own clothing line called Past Tell in 2009. He also collaborated with Nike to release his own shoe, Air Yeezys.

On January 22, 2009, during Paris Fashion Week, West introduced his first shoe line designed for Louis Vuitton. The line was released in summer 2009.

Philanthropy

West started the "Kanye West Foundation" in Chicago in 2003. On August 24, 2007, West hosted the inaugural benefit concert to launch the foundation's partnership with Strong American Schools. It is focused on helping Latino and African American children stay in school and to get a proper education through grade school, high school, and college. The foundation also helps children to stay in high school by finding a path through music. West has contributed over $500,000 to his foundation. The foundation has also been called the "Donda West Foundation".

Kanye West has appeared and participated in many fundraisers, benefit concerts, and has done community work for Hurricane Katrina relief, the Kanye West Foundation, the Millions More Movement, 100 Black Men of America, a Live Earth concert benefit, World Water Day rally and march, Nike runs, and a MTV special helping young Iraq War veterans who struggle through debt and PTSD a second chance after returning home.

Controversies

Media

West has had several controversies throughout his career. On September 2, 2005, during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief on NBC, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, West was a featured speaker. When West was presenting alongside actor Mike Myers, he deviated from the prepared script. Myers spoke next and continued to read the script. Once it was West's turn to speak again, he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people." At this point, telethon producer Rick Kaplan cut off the microphone and then cut away to Chris Tucker, who was unaware of the cut for a few seconds. Still, West's comment reached much of the United States. Bush stated in an interview that the comment was "one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency.

In January 2006, West again sparked controversy when he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.

Award shows

Later in 2006, West had his first of a number of incidents involving music award events. After the 2006 Grammy nominations were released, West said he would "really have a problem" if he did not win the Album of the Year, saying, "I don't care what I do, I don't care how much I stunt — you can never take away from the amount of work I put into it. I don't want to hear all of that politically correct stuff." On November 2, 2006, when his "Touch the Sky" failed to win Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards, West went onto the stage as the award was being presented to Justice and Simian for "We Are Your Friends" and argued that he should have won the award instead. Hundreds of news outlets worldwide criticized the outburst. On November 7, 2006, West apologized for this outburst publicly during his performance as support act for U2 for their Vertigo concert in Brisbane. He later spoofed the incident in the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. On September 9, 2007, West suggested that his race had to do with his being overlooked for opening the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in favor of Britney Spears; he claimed, "Maybe my skin’s not right." West was performing at the event; that night, he lost all 5 awards that he was nominated for, including Best Male Artist and Video of the Year. After the show, he was visibly upset that he had lost at the VMAs two years in a row, stating that he would not come back to MTV ever again. He also appeared on several radio stations saying that when he made the song "Stronger" that it was his dream to open the VMAs with it. He has also stated that Spears hasn't had a hit in a long period of time and that MTV exploited her for ratings.

On September 13, 2009, during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards while Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me", West went on stage and grabbed the microphone to proclaim that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time". He was subsequently removed from the remainder of the show for his actions. When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech. and by President Barack Obama, who called West a "jackass" in an off the record comment. In addition, West's VMA disruption sparked a large influx of Internet photo memes with blogs, forums and "tweets" with the "Let you finish" photo-jokes. He posted two apologies for the outburst on his personal blog; one on the night of the incident and the other the same day he appeared on The Jay Leno Show, on September 14, 2009, where he apologized again. After Swift appeared on The View two days after the outburst, partly to discuss the matter, West called her to apologize personally. Swift said she accepted his apology. In September 2010, West wrote a series of apologetic tweets addressed to Swift including "Beyonce didn't need that. MTV didn't need that and Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn't want or need that" and concluding with "I'm sorry Taylor." West also revealed he had written a song for Swift and if she didn't accept the song, he would perform it himself.

Legal issues

In December 2006, Robert "Evel" Knievel sued West for trademark infringement in West's video for "Touch the Sky." Knievel took issue with a "sexually-charged video" in which West takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and attempts flying a rocket over a canyon. The suit filed in federal court claims infringement on his trademarked name and likeness. Knievel also claims the "vulgar and offensive" images depicted in the video damage his reputation. The suit seeks damages and to stop distribution of the video. West's attorneys argued that the music video amounted to satire and therefore was covered under the First Amendment. Just days before his death in November 2007, Knievel amicably settled the suit after being paid a visit from West, saying, "I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman."

On September 11, 2008, West and his road manager/bodyguard Don Crowley were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and booked on charges of felony vandalism after an altercation with the paparazzi in which West and Crowley broke the photographers' cameras. West was later released from the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division station in Culver City on $20,000 bail bond. On September 26, 2008 the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said it would not file felony counts against West over the incident. Instead the case file was forwarded to the city attorney's office, which charged West with one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of grand theft and one count of battery and his manager with three counts of each on March 18, 2009. West's and Crowley's arraignment was delayed from an original date of April 14, 2009. West was arrested again on November 14, 2008 at a hotel near Gateshead after another scuffle involving a photographer outside a nightclub in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He was later released "with no further action", according to a police spokesperson.

Discography

; Studio albums

The College Dropout (2004)

Late Registration (2005)

Graduation (2007)

808s & Heartbreak (2008)

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

; Live albums

''Late Orchestration (2006)

(2010)

; Collaboration albums Watch The Throne (2011) (with Jay-Z)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Kanye West at Beatbuggy

Category:1977 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:African American rappers Category:African American singers Category:American bloggers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American music video directors Category:American pop musicians Category:American record producers Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Chicago State University alumni Category:Electro-hop musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Living people Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Rappers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Roc-A-Fella Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners

Name	Julian Casablancas
Img alt	Julian Casablancas
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Julian Fernando Casablancas
Alias	Jules
Born	August 23, 1978 (age 32) New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin	New York City
Spouse	Juliet Joslin (February, 2005-2011)
Instrument	Lead vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, guitar synthesizer, mouth harp
Genre	Indie rock, New Wave, Alternative rock, garage rock revival, post-punk revival, Synthrock, Synthpop
Occupation	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1998–Present
Label	Cult Records, Rough Trade, RCA, Sony BMG
Associated acts	The Strokes, Queens of the Stone Age, The Lonely Island, Danger Mouse, N.E.R.D, Santigold |URL = Official Website

Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is a solo artist, vocalist, and chief songwriter of the American rock band The Strokes.

Early life, education, and personal life

Julian Fernando Casablancas was born in New York, New York, to Spanish-American business mogul John Casablancas, the founder of Elite Model Management and Jeanette Christiansen, a former Danish model. His paternal grandfather, Fernando Casablancas, is a well-known textile businessman..

The first member of The Strokes Casablancas met was Nikolai Fraiture, who attended Lycée Français de New York with him (Nikolai graduated in 1997, Julian in 1996). When he was 14, Casablancas father sent him to an elite boarding school in Switzerland. It was during Julian's brief stay in Switzerland that he met future Strokes member Albert Hammond, Jr. Casablancas attended The Dwight School with two other future Strokes, Nick Valensi and Fabrizio Moretti.

Julian married The Strokes' former assistant manager, Juliet Joslin, on 5 February 2005 in New York City. The couple have a son named Cal, born January 2010.

Musical career

Influences

Julian Casablancas' has said that Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" is his favorite song of all time.

Solo Album

Phrazes for the Young (inspired by the book of Oscar Wilde "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young"), was released on November 2 in the UK and November 3, 2009, in the US. Recorded in Omaha, Nebraska, and Casablancas' home city New York, the album was produced by Jason Lader, with additional production from Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis.

To celebrate the release, Julian performed a series of shows in October in Los Angeles. Julian then toured with The Sick Six in Europe from November 30, 2009.

Other work

Known to not play much on Strokes' recordings, Julian has proven himself an able multi-instrumentalist through guest appearances. He has played casio guitar and provided backing vocals on "Sick, Sick, Sick" by Queens of the Stone Age, bass guitar and backing vocals on Albert Hammond, Jr.'s "Scared", and the second set of drums on the Strokes' "Evening Sun".

He has also served as inspiration for several other musicians and the painter Elizabeth Peyton . Courtney Love's song "But Julian, I'm a Little Bit Older Than You", from her debut solo album America's Sweetheart (2004), was written about Julian Casablancas.

In 2008, Julian recorded a song with Santigold (then known as Santogold) and Pharrell of N*E*R*D called "My Drive Thru" for Converse. He also appeared in the advertisement campaign.

In 2009, Julian recorded a song with Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer of The Lonely Island called "Boombox" for their debut album. He also collaborated with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse on the song "Little Girl".

Julian performed "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" (based on a Saturday Night Live skit) on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on December 21 2009.

Julian was featured in an SNL Digital Short along with The Lonely Island for their song called "Boombox" which aired on March 13, 2010 on SNL.

Selected discography

As a member of The Strokes

Is This It (2001)

Room on Fire (2003)

First Impressions of Earth (2006)

As a solo artist

Albums

Phrazes for the Young (2009) – UK #19, AUS #55, NZ #34, US #35

Singles

"11th Dimension" (2009)

"I Wish It Was Christmas Today" (2009)

References

External links

Official Website

Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:Roseens Category:American male singers Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American people of Danish descent Category:American people of Catalan descent Category:American people of Spanish descent Category:Musicians from New York Category:People from Manhattan Category:The Strokes members

Name	Gorilla Zoe
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Alonzo Mathis
Born	November 28, 1980
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Trap Star
Years active	2006–present
Label	Bad Boy, Block, Atlantic
Associated acts	Yung Joc, Boyz n da Hood, Gucci Mane, OJ Da Juiceman
Website	Zoe Coming Zoe Coming

Alonzo Mathis,(born November 28, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia), better known by his stage name Gorilla Zoe (, rhymes with JOE),in . he is an American rapper and member of rap group Boyz N Da Hood. His solo debut album Welcome to the Zoo came out in 2007.

Biography

He replaced Young Jeezy as a member of Boyz n da Hood. He first saw success in collaborations with Yung Joc "Coffee Shop" and "Bottle Poppin'," which charted under several Billboard charts. His first solo album, Welcome to the Zoo, was released October 2007, peaking at #18 on the Billboard 200, #8 on Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums, and #3 on Top Rap Albums.

His second solo album, Don't Feed Da Animals, featuring the single "Lost, was released on March 17, 2009. Don't Feed Da Animals topped the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart. Gorilla Zoe is currently working on a mixtape with Die-Verse City's member "Qu1k". He also just released an EP named I Am Atlanta 3. It is currently available on ITunes.

Discography

Studio Albums

Singles

As lead performer

References

External links

Official web site

Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Bad Boy Records artists Category:African American rappers Category:Living people Category:1980 births