parent	Warner Music Group
founded	1947
founder	Ahmet ErtegünHerb Abramson
status
distributor	WEA Corp.(In the US)Warner Music International(Outside of the US)
genre	Various
country	United States
url	}}

Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz. Over its first 20 years of operation Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American independent recording labels, specializing in jazz, R&B; and soul recordings by African-American artists, a position greatly enhanced by its distribution deal with Stax Records.

In 1967 Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music, signing Cream, Led Zeppelin, Yes and Foreigner. In 2004 Atlantic Records and its sister label Elektra Records merged into Atlantic Records Group. Craig Kallman is currently Chairman of Atlantic Records. Label co-founder Ahmet Ertegün served as Founding Chairman until his death on December 14, 2006 at age 83. The label also has a number of deals with previously independent labels such as Must Destroy (which brought Goldie Lookin Chain and The Darkness into the label) and VP Records in Jamaica, home to reggae artists such as Sean Paul.

Early years

In 1944 Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertegun elected to remain in the USA when their mother and sister returned to Turkey after the death of their father Munir Ertegun, who had been the first Turkish Ambasador to the United States. The brothers had become ardent fans of jazz and rhythm & blues music, amassing a collection of over 15,000 78rpm records. Ahmet ostensibly stayed on in Washington to undertake post-graduate music studies at Georgetown University but immersed himself in the Washington music scene and decided to enter the record business, then enjoying a resurgence after wartime restrictions on the shellac used in manufacture. He convinced the family dentist, Dr Vahdi Sabit, to invest $10,000 and recruited Herb Abramson, a dentistry student, who had worked as a part-time A&R; manager/producer for the jazz label National Records, signing Big Joe Turner and Billy Eckstine, and then founded Jubilee Records but had no interest in its most successful artists and now sold his share, investing $2500 in the new label.

Atlantic Records was incorporated in October 1947 and was run by Abramson (the company president) and Ertegun (vice-president in charge of A&R;, production and promotion) while Abramson's wife Miriam ran the label's publishing company, Progressive Music, and did most office duties until 1949 when Atlantic hired its first employee, book-keeper Francine Wakschal, who remained with the label for the next 49 years. Miriam quickly gained a reputation for toughness: staff engineer Tom Dowd later recalled; "Tokyo Rose was the kindest name some people had for her" and Doc Pomus described her as "an extraordinarily vitriolic woman". When interviewed in 2009 she attributed her reputation to the company's chronic cash-flow shortage: " ... most of the problems we had with artists were that they wanted advances, and that was very difficult for us ... we were undercapitalized for a long time." The label's original office in the Ritz Hotel, Manhattan proved too expensive so they relocated to an $85 per month room in the Hotel Jefferson. In the early fifties Atlantic moved from the Hotel Jefferson to offices at 301 West 54th St and then to its best-known home at 356 West 56th St.

Atlantic's first batch of recordings were issued in late January 1948, and included Tiny Grimes' "That Old Black Magic" and "The Spider" by Joe Morris In its early years Atlantic focused principally on modern jazz although it released some country and western and spoken word recordings. Abramson also produced "Magic Records" which were children's records with four different sets of grooves so each side had four different stories of which the story which got played was determined by where the stylus landed on the groove.

Soon after its formation, Atlantic faced a serious challenge - in late 1947 James Petrillo, head of the American Federation of Musicians, announced an indefinite ban on all recording activities by union musicians, and this came into force on 1 January 1948. The union action forced Atlantic to use almost all its capital to cut and stockpile enough recordings to last through the ban, which was initially expected to continue for at least a year. Early releases featured Joe Morris, Frank Culley, Art Pepper, Shelly Manne, Pete Rugolo, Tiny Grimes, The Delta Rhythm Boys, The Clovers, The Cardinals, Big Joe Turner, Erroll Garner, Mal Waldron, Howard McGhee, James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Jackie & Roy, Sarah Vaughan, Leadbelly, Sonny Terry, Professor Longhair, Mabel Mercer, Sylvia Syms, Billy Taylor, Mary Lou Williams, Sidney Bechet, Django Reinhardt, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Pee Wee Russell, Al Hibbler, Meade Lux Lewis, Jimmy Yancey, Johnny Hodges and Bobby Short.

The hits begin

In early 1949 a New Orleans distributor phoned Ertegun trying to obtain Stick McGhee's "Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee", whihc was unavailable due to the closure of McGhee's previous label. Ertegun, knew Stick's younger brother Brownie McGhee with whom Stick happened to be staying, co he contacted the McGhee brothers and made a re-recording; when released in February 1949, became Atlantic's first hit, selling 400,000 copies and reaching #3 in the ''Billboard'' R&B; chart, though McGhee himself earned just $10 for the session. From this point Atlantic's fortunes rose rapidly: they recorded 187 songs in 1949 (more than three times the output of the previous two years) and received overtures of a manufacturing and distribution deal with CBS Records, who would pay Atlantic a 3% royalty on every copy sold. Ertegun asked about artists' royalties, which he paid, which surprised CBS executives, who did not, which scuttled the deal.

On the recommendation of broadcaster Willis Conover Ertegun and Abramson went to see Ruth Brown at the Crystal Caverns club in Washington and invited her to audition for Atlantic. She was badly injured in a car accident en route to New York but Atlantic supported her for nine months and then signed her. Her first release for the label "So Long", cut at her second Atlantic session on 25 May 1949 with the Eddie Condon band, was a major hit, reaching #6 on the R&B; chart. Brown went on to record more than eighty songs for the label, becoming the most prolific and best-selling Atlantic artist of the period.

Joe Morris, one of the label's earliest signings, scored a major hit with his October 1950 release "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere", the first Atlantic record issued in 45rpm format, which the company began pressing in January 1951. The Clovers' "Don't You Know I Love You" (composed by Ertegun) was a first R&B; #1 in September 1951: a few weeks later Ruth Brown's "Teardrops from my Eyes" became Atlantic's first million-selling record. She hit #1 again in March–April 1952 with "5-10-15 Hours". "Daddy Daddy" reached #3 in September 1952, and "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (which featured the MJQ's Connie Kay on drums) reached #1 in February–March 1953, becoming a solid seller for years afterwards, as did the late 1954 "Oh What A Dream", her last hit with Atlantic. She left the label in 1961 and within a few years was working as a cleaner and bus-driver to support her children. In the 1980s she sued her former label for unpaid royalties - Atlantic, which had prided itself on treating artists fairly, had stopped paying royalties to some artists though Ahmet Ertegun denied this was intentional. Brown eventually received a voluntary payment of $20,000 and founded a charity, the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, in 1988 with a donation of $1.5 million from Ertegun.

In 1952 they signed Ray Charles, who had influential hits with "I Got A Woman", "What'd I Say" and "Hallelujah I Love Her So". Later that year The Clovers' "One Mint Julep" reached #2. In 1953, learning that Clyde McPhatter, fired from Billy Ward and His Dominoes, was forming his own group The Drifters, Ahmet Ertegun signed The Drifters, whose "Money Honey" became the biggest R&B; hit of the year. Their subsequent records created some controversy: the suggestive "Such A Night" was banned by radio station WXYZ in Detroit and the follow-up "Honey Love" was banned in Memphis though both records reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B; chart.

The Cookies, put together by Atlantic producer Jesse Stone in 1954, were Darlene (Ethel) McCrea, Dorothy Jones and Dorothy's cousin Beulah Robertson, who was replaced in 1956 by Marjorie "Margie" Hendricks. They recorded "In Paradise", a minor R&B; hit in early 1956, but after another unsuccessful release the trio became backing singers at Atlantic recording sessions, including Joe Turner's "Corinna, Corinna" and "Lipstick, Powder and Paint", Chuck Willis' "It's Too Late (She's Gone)", and Ray Charles' "Lonely Avenue", "Drown In My Own Tears" and "Night Time is the Right Time" (which features Margie Hendricks prominently) before being taken on by Ray Charles and renamed The Raelettes.

Tom Dowd

Recording engineer and producer Tom Dowd played a crucial role in Atlantic's success. He intially worked for Atlantic on a freelance basis, but within a few years he had been hired as the label's full-time staff engineer. His recordings for Atlantic and Stax exerted a major influence on the history of popular music and he scored more hits than George Martin and Phil Spector combined. As Atlantic's studio engineer Tom Dowd oversaw many advances in production.

Atlantic was one of the first independent labels to make recordings in stereo: Dowd used a portable stereo recorder which ran simultaneously with the studio's existing mono recorder. In 1953 (according to ''Billboard'') Atantic was the first label to issue commercial LPs recorded in the early, experimental stereo system called binaural recording. In this system, recordings were made using two microphones, spaced at approximately the distance between the human ears, and the left and right channels were cut as two separate, parallel grooves, although playing them back required a player with a special tone-arm fitted with dual needles; it was not until around 1958 that the single stylus microgroove system (in which the two stereo channels were cut into either side of a single groove) became the industry standard. By the late 1950s stereo LPs and record players were being introduced into the marketplace. Atlantic's early stereo recordings included "Lover's Question" by Clyde McPhatter, "What Am I Living For" by Chuck Willis, "I Cried a Tear" by LaVern Baker, "Splish Splash" by Bobby Darin, "Yakety Yak" by the Coasters and "What'd I Say" by Ray Charles. Although these were primarily 45rpm mono singles for much of the 1950s Dowd stockpiled his "parallel" stereo takes for future release. In 1968 the label issued ''History of Rhythm and Blues, Volume 4'' (Atlantic SD-8164) in stereo and the stereo versions of Ray Charles "What'd I Say" and "Night Time is the Right Time" were also included on the Atlantic anthology ''The Birth Of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Recordings, 1952-1959''.

Atlantic's New York studio was also the first in America to install multitrack recording machines, developed by the Ampex company. Bobby Darin's "Splish, Splash" was the first song to be recorded on 8-track recorder whereas it was not until the mid-1960s that multitrackers became the norm in recording studios and EMI's Abbey Road Studios did not install 8-track facilities until 1968.

The label entered the new LP market very early: its first was a 10" album of poetry by Walter Benton, ''This Is My Beloved'' (March 1949), narrated by John Dall, with music by Vernon Duke In 1951, Atlantic was one of the first independents to press records in the new 45rpm single format, and by 1956 the "45" had overtaken the "78" as the main sales format for singles. In April that year, Miriam (Abramson) Bienstock reported to ''Billboard'' that Atlantic was now selling 75% of its singles as 45s whereas only one year earlier 78s had been outselling 45s by two to one.

Jerry Wexler

Herb Abramson was drafted into the US Army in February 1953 and left for Germany where he served in the US Army Dental Corps, although he retained his post as President of Atlantic on full pay. Ertegun recruited ''Billboard'' reporter Jerry Wexler in June 1953: who is credited with coining the term "rhythm & blues" to replace the earlier "race music". He was appointed vice-president and purchased 13% of the company's stock for $2,063.25. Wexler and Ertegun soon formed a close partnership which, in collaboration with Tom Dowd, produced thirty R&B; hits.

Ertegun and Wexler realised many R&B; recordings by black artists were being covered by white performers, often with greater chart success: Atlantic's LaVern Baker had a #4 R&B; hit with "Tweedlee Dee" but a rival version by Georgia Gibbs went to #2 on the pop charts, Big Joe Turner's April 1954 release "Shake, Rattle and Roll" was a #1 R&B; hit but only made #22 on the pop chart while Bill Haley & His Comets's version reached #7, sold over 1 million copies and was Decca Records' biggest-selling song of the year. In July 1954, as rock'n'roll gathered momentum, Wexler and Ertegun wrote a prescient article for ''Cash Box'', headlined "The Latest Trend: R&B; Disks Are Going Pop", devoted to what they called "cat music"; the same month, Atlantic scored its first major "crossover" hit on the ''Billboard'' pop chart when the "Sh-Boom" by The Clovers reached #5 (although The Crew-Cuts' version went to #1). Atlantic missed an important signing in 1955 when Sun Records' owner Sam Phillips sold Elvis Presley's recording contract in a bidding war between labels. Atlantic offered $25,000 which, Ertegun later noted, "was all the money we had then." but they were outbid by RCA Records's offer of $45,000. In 1990 Ertegun remarked:

: "The president of RCA at the time had been extensively quoted in ''Variety'' damning R&B; music as immoral. He soon stopped when RCA signed Elvis Presley."

Nesuhi Ertegun

Ahmet's older brother Nesuhi was recruited to the label in January 1955. Nesuhi headed the label's jazz division and built a strong roster, signing West Coast jazzers Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, Herbie Mann and Les McCann, as well as Charles Mingus, John Coltrane and the Modern Jazz Quartet, who became a mainstay of the label, releasing twenty albums; by 1958 Atlantic was America's second-largest independent jazz label. Nesuhi was also also in charge of LP album production, a market that was beginning to take off, and he was credited with greatly improving the packaging, production and originality of Atlantic's LP line. In 1956 he started the '8000' popular series (selling for $3.98) for the label's few R&B; albums, reserving the 1200 series for jazz. Joel Dorn became Nesuhi's assistant following his successful production of Hubert Laws' ''The Laws of Jazz''.

Herb Abramson

Herb Abramson's return from military service in 1955 created problems: Ertegun and Wexler had scored a run of hits, including Big Joe Turner's "Flip Flop and Fly" and Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman", and when Abramson realised that that he had been effectively replaced by Wexler as Ahmet's partner. There were also personal conflicts: Abramson did not get on well with Wexler or Nesuhi and he had returned from his military service with a German girlfriend, precipitating his divorce from Miriam, a minor stockholder and Atlantic's business and publishing manager. By 1958 relations between Abramson and his partners had broken down completely, so in December 1958 a $300,000 buy-out was arranged, and his stock was split between Nesuhi Ertegun and Abramson's ex-wife Miriam, who had in the meantime re-married to music publisher Freddy Bienstock (later the owner of the Carlin Music / Chappell Music publishing empire). With Abramson's departure, Ahmet Ertegun took over as president of the label.

Expansion

Atlantic played a major role in popularising the new genre that Jerry Wexler dubbed rhythm & blues and it profited handsomely from this. The market for these records exploded during late 1953 and early 1954, as more and more R&B; hits crossed over to the mainstream (i.e. white) audience. In its tenth anniversary feature on Atlantic, ''Billboard'' noted that previously, "... a very big r&b; record might achieve 250,000 sales, but from this point on (1953-54), the industry began to see million sellers, one after the other, in the r&b; field". Miriam later recalled:

:"I was the one who came to England at the beginning to negotiate all those deals (in the fall of 1955). I would deal with people there who were not really comfortable with women in business, so ... we would do business very quickly and get it over with. But they were charming. Sir Edward Lewis was wonderful, we became great friends. We kept in touch after I left Atlantic."

A new subsidiary label, Atco Records, was established in 1955 as an effort to keep Abramson involved. East West was founded in September 1957; it initially concentrated on singles and featured an "across the board" roster of pop, rock & roll, rhythm & blues and rockabilly artists and its first releases were by Jay Holliday, Johnny Houston and The Glowtones. After a slow start, Atco had considerable success with The Coasters and Bobby Darin. Darin's early releases had not been successful and Abramson planned to drop him, but Ertegun offered him another chance, and the session he produced yielded "Splish Splash", which Darin had written in 12 minutes and which sold 100,000 copies in the first month and became a million-seller. During 1958-59 Darin's "Queen of the Hop" made the Top 10 on both the US pop and R&B; charts and also charted in the UK, "Dream Lover", a multi-million seller, reached #2 in the USA and became a UK #1, and "Mack the Knife" (August 1959) went to #1 in both the US and the UK, sold over 2 million copies and won the 1960 Grammy Award for 'Record of the Year'. "Beyond the Sea", an English-language version of the Charles Trenet hit "La Mer", became his fourth consecutive US/UK Top 10 hit. Darin later signed with Capitol Records and left for Hollywood to begin a movie career although Atco continued to score hits into 1962 with tracks already in the can, including "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" and "Things". Darin returned to Atlantic in 1965.

By 1958 the label had expanded consdiderably - in 1956 Atlantic's head office moved to 157 West 57th St, while retaining two floors in the earlier premises at 234 West 56th St. New staff hired between 1956 and 1958 included Gary Kramer (director of publicity and advertising), Lester Lees (national sales manager), Victor Selsman (DJ promotions), Lester Sill (West Coast promotions) and Bob Buhsnell (recording engineer).

During the 1960s Atlantic distributed selected titles recorded by many small regional independent labels including Dial (Joe Tex), Karen (The Capitols' "Cool Jerk"), Rosemart (Don Covay's "Mercy, Mercy"), Nola (Willie Tee's "Teasin' You"), Vault, Class, Shirley, Tomorrow, Instant, Dade ("Mashed Potatoes" by Nat Kendrick & The Swans), Moonglow, Correct-Tone Records, Lu-Pine, Keetch, Royo, T-Neck, Heidi, Sims and others, using those labels' imprints and separate catalog numbers.

Lieber, Stoller and Spector

In October 1955 Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller scored a West Coast hit with Los Angeles-based vocal group The Robins version of the Leiber-Stoller song "Smokey Joe's Cafe" on their Spark Records label. Seeking a national outlet, they leased the master to Atco. In November Atlantic bought Spark and its catalog: Leiber and Stoller moved back to New York and signed a deal with Atlantic that made them America's first independent record producers. In 1956 two members of The Robins, Carl Gardner and Bobby Nunn, formed The Coasters who provided Atlantic with the crossover success it had been striving for. Their first (March 1956) Atco release (recorded in Hollywood) was "Down in Mexico", a Top 10 R&B; hit: the double-sided "Young Blood"/"Searchin'" (also recorded in Hollywood) followed, both sides entering the pop Top 10 after radio exposure and both charting for over 20 weeks, "Young Blood" reaching #3 and "Young Blood" #8. Relocating to New York, The Coasters' "Yakety Yak" (June 1958), featuring the saxophone of King Curtis, became Atlantic's first pop chart #1, "Charlie Brown" made #2 on both the pop and R&B; charts in February 1959, "Along Came Jones" also reached the pop Top 10 as did "Poison Ivy" (#7, Aug. 1959). "Shopping for Clothes" (1960) was their only single that failed to make the pop chart. "Little Egypt" (1961) was their last hit, reaching #21 in the pop chart.

Lieber and Stoller also wrote and produced "Ruby Baby" for The Drifters, a 1956 #13 R&B; hit that featured Johnny Moore as lead vocalist (replacing Clyde McPhatter, who had been drafted); it became a #2 US pop hit in 1962 for Dion. By 1958 The Drifters had undergone many lineup changes and their former popularity was waning. That May, after one of the members got into a fight with the manager of the Apollo Theater, manager George Treadwell sacked the entire group and recruited the members of The Five Crowns to become the 'new' Drifters. Lieber and Stoller produced "There Goes My Baby" with this second incarnation, featuring Ben E. King who co-wrote the song. It was the first R&B; song to feature a string arrangement, but Ertegun disliked it and Jerry Wexler was appalled, reportedly telling the producers; "Get that out of here. I hate it. It's out of tune and it's phony and it's shit and get it out of here". They refused to release it for several months, but when they finally relented and released it as a single in April 1959 the song shot to #1.

Phil Spector had learned the basics of record production working for Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood's Trey Records label (which was distributed by Atlantic) in California in the late 1950s. At Sill's recommendation he returned to New York to work for Leiber and Stoller in early 1960. Leiber and Stoller assigned him to produce Ray Peterson's "Corrine, Corrina" and Curtis Lee's "Pretty Little Angle Eyes" (released on Petersen's Dunes Records label), both of which became hits, and as a result, Atlantic signed him as a staff producer, though his difficult personality was already evident and Ahmet Ertegun was reportedly the only Atlantic executive who liked him. Lieber later remarked, "He wasn't likeable. He was funny, he was amusing - but he wasn't nice.". Wexler had no time for him and Miriam Bienstock, in her typically blunt fashion, thought Spector's erratic behaviour "insane" and considered him "a pain in the neck". When Ertegun took Spector to meet Bobby Darin, he openly criticized Darin's songwriting, with the result that Darin had him thrown out of the house.

Spector contributed to the production of notable singles by The Coasters, Ben E. King and the Drifters, although the extent of his contributions was later disputed by Lieber and Stoller. He produced The Top Notes' original version of "Twist and Shout," but it flopped. Bert Berns, the song's writer, was incensed and felt that Spector's arrangement had ruined the song, so Berns re-recorded it the way he thought it should sound with The Isley Brothers, and it became a huge hit. Spector also produced Jean DuShon, Billy Storm, LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown during his short stay at Atlantic, with only moderate success. He left Atlantic in 1961 and returned to Los Angeles, where he founded Philles Records with Lester Sill and soon established himself as the preeminent American pop producer of the mid-1960s

In early 1960 the 'new' Drifters debuted with "Dance With Me", which reached #15 on the pop chart and #2 R&B.; "This Magic Moment" reached #16 on the pop chart, and "Save The Last Dance For Me" became a major international pop hit, reaching #1 in the USA and #2 in the UK. However, in May 1960, after only one year and just 10 recordings with the Drifters, lead singer Benjamin Nelson left the group due to a dispute with manager George Treadwell; taking the name Ben E. King, he launched a successful solo career, while the Drifters went on to score several more big hits. King's first solo single, "Spanish Harlem (co-written by Lieber and Spector), became a Top 10 pop hit in early 1961. It was followed by "Stand By Me", a re-interpretation of the gospel standard "Lord, Stand By Me", with new lyrics by King and orchestration by Stan Applebaum. Reaching #4 on the pop chart, the song quickly became a standard covered by many artists including John Lennon. It has since been included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll listing and in 2001 it was voted #25 in the 'Songs of the Century' poll conducted by the Recording Industry Association of America. In late 1962 The Drifters returned to the charts, fronted by new lead vocalist Rudy Lewis, performing hits recorded with Ben E. King on stage and TV. "Up On The Roof", co-written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, was another major crossover hit making the Top 5 on both the pop and R&B; charts and Mann and Weill's "On Broadway", made the Top 10 on both charts. It has since been covered by many artists. Their last hit, "Under The Boardwalk" (1964) was produced by Bert Berns and orchestrated by Mike Leander. Lead singer Rudy Lewis was found dead on the morning of the recording session (21 May 1964) and former lead singer Johnny Moore was brought in to replace him: despite this tragedy, the song became a big hit, reaching #4 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B; chart, and went on to be covered by many other acts, notably by The Rolling Stones.

The Leiber & Stoller/Atlantic partnership was enormously successful, but by 1962 the relationship was deteriorating. The duo reportedly resented the credit accorded to Spector, but their own artistic and financial demands alienated the Atlantic executives. From the beginning, Miriam Bienstock "couldn't see why it was necessary to use them" and although they infuriated Jerry Wexler by asking for producers' credits on record labels and sleeves, this was grudgingly granted. The duo then asked for a producer's royalty, which was also granted informally, but their accountant wanted a written contract and also requested an audit of Atlantic's accounts. When this was carried out (over Jerry Wexler's strenuous objections) it found that Leiber and Stoller had been underpaid by $18,000. Although Leiber considered dropping the matter, Stoller insisted on pressing Atlantic for payment, but when they presented their request, Wexler told them it would mean the end of their relationship with Atlantic. Leiber and Stoller backed down but the showdown ended the partnership anyway: Ertegun and Wexler told them they would not be involved in The Drifters next recording, giving the assignment to Phil Spector. Atlantic quickly filled the gap left by Leiber and Stoller's departure with the hiring of producer and songwriter Bert Berns, who had recently scored a major hit with his remake of "Twist and Shout" for The Isley Brothers.

The ramifications continued after they left Atlantic: in 1963 Leiber and Stoller (with George Goldner) set up Red Bird Records. Although they scored major hits (including The Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love" and The Shangri-Las "Leader of the Pack") the label's business position was precarious, so in late 1964 they approached Jerry Wexler, proposing a merger with Atlantic. When interviewed in 1990 for Ertegun's biography, Wexler declined to discuss the matter, but Ertegun claimed that these negotiations developed into a plan to buy him out. At this time (September 1964) the Ertegun brothers and Wexler were in the process of buying out the company's other two shareholders, Dr Sabit and Miriam Bienstock and it was proposed (presumably by Wexler) that Leiber and Stoller would buy Sabit's shares. Leiber, Stoller, Goldner and Wexler pitched their plan to Ertegun at a fateful lunch meeting at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Though Leiber and Stoller were adamant it was not their intention to buy Ertegun out, he was aggravated by Goldner's high-handed attitude and became convinced that Wexler was conspiring with them. Wexler then told Ertegun that if he refused, Wexler would do the deal without him, but this was impossible since the Ertegun brothers still held the majority share, while Wexler only controlled about 20%. Ertegun nursed a lifelong grudge against Leiber and Stoller and the affair drove an irreparable wedge between Ertegun and Wexler.

Stax

Atlantic was doing so well in early 1959 that some scheduled releases were held back and the company enjoyed two successive months of gross sales of over $1 million that summer, thanks to hits by The Coasters, The Drifters, LaVern Baker, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin and Clyde McPhatter However, only months later the company was reeling from the successive loss of its two biggest artists, Bobby Darin and Ray Charles, who together accounted for one third of sales. Charles signed a deal with ABC-Paramount Records in November 1959 that reportedly included increased royalties, a production deal, profit-sharing and eventual ownership of his master tapes. Wexler later commented; "It was very grim. I thought we were going to die" and Ertegun in 1990 disputed whether Charles had received the promised benefits. It led to a permanent rift between Charles and his former colleagues, although Ertegun remained good friends with Darin.

Through 1961-62 Lieber and Stoller's successes maintained the label's fortunes, and these were further enhanced by a licensing deal with a small Memphis-based independent label Stax Records, which would soon prove to be of enormous value. In 1960, Atlantic's Memphis distributor Buster Williams contacted Wexler and told him he was pressing large quantities of "Cause I Love You", a duet between Memphis-based singers Carla Thomas and her father Rufus Thomas, which was released on a small local label called Satellite (which was soon renamed Stax Records, from the names of the owners, Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, in 1961). Wexler contacted the co-owner of Satellite, Jim Stewart, who agreed to lease the record to Atlantic for $1000 plus a small royalty (the first money the label had ever made). The deal included a $5000 payment against a five-year option on all other records. When Carla Thomas' first solo single, "Gee Whiz (Look at his Eyes)" began to attract national attention in 1961 New York producer Hy Weiss, went to Memphis to try and acquire the rights, but after examining the contract he told Wexler it gave Atlantic options on all Satellite recordings for the next five years. Wexler subsequently claimed he had been unaware of this: "The lawyers did it and I didn't read every contract." Wexler and Stewart and discussed the deal and according to Wexler's account, "... there was no acrimony. Everything was fine and we picked up the record. Then we really rolled with Stax."

The Atlantic deal marked the start of a hugely successful eight-year association between the two labels, giving Stax access to Atlantic's promotions and distribution, and it meant easy money for Atlantic, as Wexler later conceded:

:"...it was certainly biased on our favor. We didn't pay for the masters ... Jim paid for the masters and then he would send us a finished tape and we would put it out. Our costs began at the production level - the pressing, and distribution, and promotion, and advertising."

Atlantic began pressing and distributing Stax records and Wexler soon sent Tom Dowd to upgrade Stax's recording equipment and facilities. Wexler was impressed by the easy-going, cooperative atmosphere at the Stax studios and by the distinctive sound of the label's racially-integrated group of 'house' musicians (which he described as "an unthinkably great band") and he was soon bringing Atlantic artists to Memphis to record. Shortly afterwards Stewart and Wexler hired Al Bell, then working as a DJ at a Washington DC radio station, to take over national promotion of Stax releases, the first African-American partner in the label.

In 1962 the Stax deal began to reap major rewards for both labels. An after-hours jam by members of the Stax house band resulted in the classic instrumental "Green Onions". In conversation with BBC Radio 2 DJ Johnnie Walker on 7 September 2008, guitarist Steve Cropper revealed that the record became an instant success when DJ Reuben Washington played it four times in succession on Memphis radio station WLOK, before either the tune or the band had an agreed-upon name. The single was issued nationally in August 1962, by which time the band had been dubbed Booker T & the MGs; "Green Onions" became the biggest instrumental hit of the year, reaching #1 on the R&B; chart and #3 on the pop chart, where it stayed for 16 weeks, and it sold over one million copies, earning a gold record award.

1962 also saw the Stax debut of Otis Redding, who had been Johnny Jenkins' driver and was allowed to record several songs at the end of one of Jenkins' sessions, among them his own "These Arms of Mine", which was released on Stax's Volt subsidiary and became a minor hit in the south. Over the next five years Redding would become one of Stax's most important artists. During 1965 Redding broke through into the national charts; "Mr. Pitiful" reached #10 on the soul chart and just missed out on the pop Top 40, followed by "I've Been Loving You Too Long", which made #2 on the soul chart and peaked at #21. "Respect" also performed strongly, reaching #4 on the soul chart and #35 on the pop chart.

Over the next five years Stax and its subsidiary Volt provided Atlantic with a tremendous run of success, and many Atlantic artists were taken to Memphis to record. Among the many hits recorded by (or at) Stax between 1963 and 1967 were Rufus Thomas' "Walking The Dog", Otis Redding's "Respect", his classic version of "Try A Little Tenderness" and "Tramp", his hit duet with Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd's "Knock On Wood" and The Bar-Kays' "Soul Finger". Sam & Dave were signed to Atlantic but recorded at Stax at Jerry Wexler's suggestion; with the Stax band and the writing team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, the duo scored eight consecutive R&B; Top 20 hits including "You Don't Know Like I Know", "Hold On, I'm Coming", "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby", "Soul Man" and "I Thank You; Wilson Pickett scored hits with "In The Midnight Hour", "634-5789", "Land of 1000 Dances", "Mustang Sally", "Funky Broadway" and "I'm In Love".

Some of Pickett's earlier hits were recorded at Stax, but in early 1966 Jim Stewart banned all non-Stax productions from the studio, so Atlantic began using other southern studios, notably Rick Hall's FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and the American Group Productions studio in Memphis, run by former Stax producer Chips Moman.

The soul years, 1962-1967

In late 1961 singer Solomon Burke arrived at Jerry Wexler's office unannounced. Wexler was a fan of Burke's and had long wanted to sign him so when Burke told Wexler his contract with his former label had expired Wexler replied: "You're home. I'm signing you today". The first song Wexler produced with Burke was "Just Out of Reach", which became a big hit in September 1961. Burke's the soul/country & western crossover predated Ray Charles' similar venture by more than 6 months. Burke became a consistent big seller through the mid-1960s and scored hits on Atlantic into 1968. In 1962 folk music was booming and the label came very close to signing Peter, Paul & Mary; although Wexler and Ertegun pursued them vigorously the deal fell through at the last minute and they later discovered music publisher Artie Mogull had introduced their manager Albert Grossman to Warner Bros. Records executive Herman Starr, who had made the trio an irresistible offer that gave them complete creative control over the recording and packaging of their music.

Doris Troy signed with Atlantic in early 1963 and in June scored a major hit with "Just One Look", which she co-wrote and which reached #3 on the R&B; chart and #10 on the pop chart. She scored another UK hit with "What'cha Gonna Do About It" and went on to a long and a successful career as a backing vocalist on many Dusty Springfield hits and with other famous acts including Pink Floyd, George Harrison and Nick Drake. "Just One Look" has been covered by many other artists including The Hollies, whose version became a major hit in the UK and gave the group its first US chart placing in 1964.

1967-68 was a peak period for Atlantic, as the string of hits coming from the Stax roster was augmented by by the tremendous success of Aretha Franklin. Wexler had signed her in 1966 after the expiry of her contract with Columbia Records, who had unsuccessfully tried to market her as a jazz singer. In November that year a Columbia executive asked Jerry Wexler what he was going to do with Franklin, to which he replied "we're gonna put her back in church". -- Cream's American success marked the beginning of Atlantic's hugely successful diversification into the exploding rock music market, which would reap enormous rewards in the 1970s with signings such as Led Zeppelin, Yes and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

In late 1966 rising Los Angeles gropup Buffalo Springfield were signed to the Atco label, and in early 1967 they scored a major US hit with their second single, "For What It's Worth", which made the natioanl Top 10, sold over 1 million copies and earned a gold record award. Despite this early breakthrough and Ahmet Ertegun's high hopes for the band, internal tensions and the drug-related deportation of Canadian-born bassist Bruce Palmer led to the band splitting up in May 1968 without achieving any further hits. However former members Stephen Stills and Neil Young would go on to play a major role in Atlantic's rock success as members of 70s supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Acquisition by Warner Bros.

Despite the huge success Atlantic was enjoying with its own artists and through its deal with Stax, by 1967 Jerry Wexler was seriously concerned about the disintegration of the old order of independent record companies and, fearing for the label's future, he began agitating for it to be sold to a larger company. Label president Ahmet Ertgeun still had no desire to sell, but the balance of power had changed since the abortive takeover attempt of 1962; Atlantic's original investor Dr Vahdi Sabit and minority stockholder Miriam Bienstock had both been bought out in September 1964

The sale of Atlantic Records activated a clause in the distribution agreement with Stax Records calling for renegotiation of the distribution deal. The Stax partners discovered that the deal gave Atlantic ownership of the Stax recordings Atlantic distributed. The new Warner owners refused to relinquish ownership of the Stax masters so the distribution deal ended on May 1968. Atlantic continues to hold the rights to Stax recordings they distributed.

In the wake of the takeover, Jerry Wexler's influence in the company rapidly diminished; by his own admission, he and Ertegun had run Atlantic as "utmost despots" and in the new company structure, he found himself unwilling to accept the delegation of responsibility that his executive role dictated. He was also alienated from the "rockoid" white acts that were quickly becoming the label's most profitable commodities, and dispirited by the rapidly waning fortunes of the black acts he had championed, such as Ben E. King and Solomon Burke. Wexler ultimately decided to leave New York and move to Florida. Following his departure, Ertegun -- who had previously taken little interest in Atlantic's business affairs -- took decisive control of the label and quickly became a major force in the expanding Warner music group.

During 1968 Atlantic established a new subsidiary label, Cotillion Records. It The label was originally formed as an outlet for blues and deep Southern soul; its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About A Mover", was an R&B; hit. Cotillion's catalog quickly expanded to include progressive rock, folk-rock, gospel, jazz and comedy. In 1976, the label started focusing on disco and R&B.; Among its acts were the post-Curtis Mayfield Impressions, Slave, Brook Benton, Jean Knight, Mass Production, Sister Sledge, The Velvet Underground, Stacy Lattisaw, Lou Donaldson, Mylon LeFevre, Stevie Woods, Johnny Gill, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Garland Green, The Dynamics, The Fabulous Counts, and The Fatback Band. Cotillion was also responsible for launching the career of Luther Vandross, who recorded for the label as part of the trio Luther. Cotillion also released the triple-albums soundtrack of the Woodstock festival film in 1970. From 1970 it distributed Embryo Records, founded by jazz flautist Herbie Mann after his earlier Atlantic contract had expired.

Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was taken over in 1969 by the Kinney National Company, which later became Warner Communications. After buying Elektra Records and its sister label Nonesuch Records the following year, Kinney combined the operations of all of its record labels under a new holding company, Warner-Elektra-Atlantic, or WEA for short, and also known as Warner Music Group. WEA was also used as a label for distributing the company's artists outside North America. In January 1970, Ahmet Ertegun was successful in his executive battle against Warner Bros. Records president Mike Maitland to keep Atlantic Records autonomous and as a result Maitland was fired by Kinney president Steve Ross. Ertegun recommended Mo Ostin to succeed Maitland as Warner Bros. Records president. Atlantic was able to successfully maintain autonomy through the parent company reorganizations and continue to do their own marketing while WEA handled distribution.

The rock era

In late October 1968 music manager Peter Grant flew to New York with tapes of the debut album by new British rock band Led Zeppelin and met with Ertegun and Wexler. A deal was quickly drawn up and on November 23 Atlantic issused a press release announcing the signing of the band to an exclusive five-year contract, one of the "most substantial" in the label's history; although not disclosed at the time, this included an advance of $US200,000. The band recorded directly for Atlantic Records from 1968 to 1973 and after that contract expired, they founded their own "vanity" label, Swan Song Records and signed a distribution deal with Atlantic (after being turned down by other labels). The arrival of Led Zeppelin proved timely for Atlantic's future as a rock label - one month after the Zeppelin signing, Atlantic's flagship rock act Cream played their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London (supported, coincidentally, by another up-and-coming new band, Yes, who were themselves signed to Atlantic early the next year).

Following his departure from The Hollies, singer-songwriter Graham Nash met Stephen Stills (ex Buffalo Springfield) and David Crosby (ex The Byrds) at a party at the Los Angeles home of Cass Elliott in March 1968. When Nash sang with them their unique vocal chemistry was instantly apparent and this quickly led to them forming Crosby, Stills & Nash. After failing an audition for Apple Records, they went to Atlantic, who eagerly snapped them up and gave them virtually complete freedom to record their debut album. The signing was initially complicated by the fact that Nash was still nominally under contract to Epic Records (The Hollies' US distributor), but Ahmet Ertegun overcame this by arranging a 'swap' - he released former Buffalo Spingfield member Richie Furay from his Atlantic contract, allowing his new group Poco to sign to Epic, in exchange for Nash being allowed to move to Atlantic. The deal proved highly advantageous to Atlantic - Poco only achieved moderate success for Epic, while Crosby, Stills & Nash's self-titled debut album (released in May 1969) was major hit; it reached #6 on the ''Billboard'' album chart, spawned two US Top 40 singles, became a multi-platinum seller and eventually earned a place in the ''Rolling Stone'' list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and this led to a new incarnation of the band, which became even more successful.

Their commercial breakthrough prompted the CSN trio to recruit extra members to allow them to tour (since Stephen Stills had played almost all the instruments on their first album). They added session player Dallas Taylor as their permanent drummer and bassist Greg Reeves, finally recruiting Stills' former Buffalo Spingfield bandmate Neil Young. The new lineup reportedly spent several hundred hours in the studio recording their next album, ''Déjà Vu'', which was released in March 1970 and became a huge hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard album chart (also reaching #1 in Australia and #5 in the UK) and generating three hit singles. It was soon followed by the protest single "Ohio" which was rush-released in May 1970 and became a Top 20 hit. All four members released their own albums over the next few months: Stills, Crosby and Nash released their debut solo albums on Atlantic during 1970-71, each featuring stellar supporting casts of backing musicians alongside the other members of CSNY. (Young's ''After The Goldrush'' came out on Atlantic's sister label Reprise, to which Young had already signed as a solo artist). Stills' album was a major hit, reaching #3 (with the single "Love The One You're With" making #14 on the US singles chart); Crosby's ''If I Could Only Remember My Name'' reached #14 (and has remained in print ever since) and Nash's ''Songs for Beginners'' reached #15, with the single "Chicago" , reaching #35. In the meantime, Atlantic had released CSNY's second album, the 2LP live set ''4 Way Street'', which also went to #1 and earned a gold record award, but by the time it had reached the stores the group had already split. Despite this, Atlantic enjoyed continued success with the various members - Stills' next two LPs both made the US Top 10, as did Crosby and Nash's 1972 duo album. The group briefly reformed in 1974 for a hugely successful stadium tour, and although plans for a new album were scuppered by the band's legendary infighting, the hastily-compiled anthology ''So Far'' still managed to top the US album chart.

Concurrently, Led Zeppelin were becoming one of the biggest groups in the world, earning millions for Atlantic. Despite some early negative critical reactions, their 1969 debut album took off rapidly, going Top 10 in the US and the UK, where it remained on the charts for 73 weeks and 79 weeks respectively, and it was also a Top 10 album in both Spain and Australia. It has remained a consistently huge seller ever since, earning 8 platinum awards (8 million copies) for sales in the USA alone. Their second LP was even more successful, going to #1 in the USA, Canada, Britain, Australia and Spain and earning a Grammy nomination for Best Album. It too became a massive and enduring success, selling over 12 million copies in the USA.

Alongside the huge success of CSNY and Led Zeppelin, British band Yes established themselves as one of the most significant acts in the burgeoning progressive rock genre, and their success played a significant part in establishing the primacy of the long-playing album as the major sales format for rock music in the 1970s. After several lineup changes during 1969-70, the band settled into its "classic" '70s incarnation with guitarist Steve Howe and keyboard player Rick Wakeman during 1971. Although the extended length of much of their material made it somewhat difficult to promote the band with single releases, their albums were hugely successful - their third LP ''The Yes Album'' (1971), which featured the debut of new guitarist Steve Howe, became their first big hit, reaching #4 in the UK and just scraping onto the chart in the US at #40. From this point, and notwithstanding the impact of the punk/New Wave movement in the late 1970s, the band enjoyed an extraordinary run of success -- beginning with ''Fragile'' each of the eleven albums they released between 1971 and 1991 (including the lavishly-packaged live triple-album ''Yessongs'') made the Top 20 in both the USA and the UK, and the double-LP ''Tales of Topographic Oceans'' (1973) and ''Going For The One'' (1977) both reached #1 in the UK.

Atlantic (and the world) suffered an irreparable loss in February 1978 when a fire destroyed most of its tape archive, which had been stored in a non-air-conditioned warehouse in Long Branch, New Jersey. Although (fortunately) the master tapes of the material in Atlantic's released back-catalog survived because they were stored in New York, the fire destroyed or damaged an estimated 5000-6000 reels of tape, including virtually all of the company's unreleased master tapes, alternate takes, rehearsal tapes and session multi-tracks recorded between 1948 and 1969. Atlantic was one of the first labels to record in stereo, and many of the tapes that were lost were stereo 'alternates' recorded in the late 1940s and 1950s (which Atlantic routinely taped simultaneously with the mono versions until the 1960s) as well almost all of the 8-track multitrack masters recorded by Tom Dowd in the 1950s and 1960s. According to ''Billboard'' journalist Bill Holland, news of the fire was kept quiet, and one Atlantic staffer who spoke to Holland reported that he did not find out about it until a year later. Fortunately, reissue producers and archivists subsequently located some tapes that were at first presumed 'lost', but which had survived because they had evidently been removed from the New Jersey archive years earlier and not returned. During the compilation of the Rhino-Atlantic John Coltrane boxed set, producer Joel Dorn located supposedly destroyed outtakes from Coltrane's seminal 1959 album ''Giant Steps'', plus other treasures including Bobby Darin's original Atco demo of "Dream Lover" (with Fred Neil playing guitar); Atlantic archivists have since rediscovered other 'lost' material including unreleased masters, alternate takes and rehearsal tapes by Ray Charles, Van "Piano Man" Walls, Ornette Coleman, Lennie Tristano and Lee Konitz.

In May 1988, the label held a 40th Anniversary concert, broadcast on HBO. This concert, which was almost 13 hours in length, featured performances by a large number of their artists and included reunions of some rock legends like Led Zeppelin and Crosby, Stills, and Nash (being David Crosby's first full band performance since being released from prison).

Merger with Time Inc.

Warner Communications merged with Time Inc. (owners of the aforementioned HBO) in 1990, forming Time Warner. That same year, Jimmy Iovine founded Interscope Records, which Atlantic owned a 50% stake in. Interscope released notable gangsta rap titles — many in conjunction with Death Row Records. Pressure from activist groups opposed to gangsta rap, however, later led to parent company Time Warner's decision to sell Atlantic's stake in the label to MCA in 1995.

Closure of Nashville division

A country music division, which was founded in the 1980s, was closed in 2001. This branch included acts such as Neal McCoy, Tracy Lawrence and John Michael Montgomery, all of whom were transferred to Warner Bros. Records' Nashville division. The Atlantic Nashville division was revived in 2008 with Zac Brown Band and Jesse Lee being signed to it.

Elektra absorption

Time Warner sold Warner Music Group to a group of investors for $2.6 billion in late 2003. The deal closed in early 2004, consolidating Elektra Records and Atlantic into one label operated in the eastern United States.

"You're Pitiful" scandal

In 2006, the label denied "Weird Al" Yankovic permission to release "You're Pitiful", a parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful", despite Blunt's own approval of the song. Atlantic claimed that it was "too early" in Blunt's career, and that they did not want Blunt to become a one-hit wonder. Although Yankovic could have legally gone ahead with the parody anyway, his record label, Volcano Entertainment, thought that it was best not to "go to war" with Atlantic. The parody was released onto the Internet as a free download, and can be legally accessed and downloaded from Yankovic's official website. Later he recorded two more parodies, "White & Nerdy", and "Do I Creep You Out", to replace "You're Pitiful". The music video for "White & Nerdy" depicts Weird Al vandalizing the Wikipedia article for Atlantic Records, replacing the whole page with "YOU SUCK!" in excessively large type (which spawned copycat vandalism of the article).

60 years

In 2007, the label celebrated its 60th anniversary with the May 2 PBS broadcast of the ''American Masters'' documentary ''Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built'' and the simultaneous Starbucks CD release of ''Atlantic 60th Anniversary: R&B; Classics Chosen By Ahmet Ertegun''.

That year also saw Atlantic reach a milestone for major record labels: "More than half of its music sales in the United States are now from digital products, like downloads on iTunes and ring tones for cellphones", doing so "without seeing as steep of a decline in Compact Disc sales as the rest of the industry."

Notable sublabels

Big Beat Records

Big Tree Records

Cotillion Records

Eardrum Records

First Priority Music

Grand Hustle Records

LaSalle Records

Roc Nation *(As Artist's Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 music videos on youtube.com are played and owned by Atlantic Records,and are not on Universal Music's VEVO Website,Roc Nation is partially a sub-label of Atlantic Records)

Stone Flower Records

TAG Recordings

Artists

Atlantic Records Group labels

See also

List of Atlantic Records artists

List of record labels: 0-9

References

External links

Official website

Warner Music Group page about the Atlantic Records Group

Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built television documentary in PBS American Masters series

Category:American record labels Category:Jazz record labels Category:Record labels established in 1947 Category:Rock record labels Category:Warner Music labels Category:Soul music record labels Category:Film soundtrack record labels Category:IFPI members

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name	Lupe Fiasco
background	solo_singer
birth name	Wasalu Muhammad Jaco
alias	Lupe Fiasco
born	February 16, 1982Chicago, Illinois, United States
origin	Chicago, Illinois
religion	Islam
instrument	Keyboards, Piano
genre	Hip hop
occupation	Musician
years active	2005 to Present Day
label	1st & 15th, Atlantic
associated acts	Child Rebel Soldier, Japanese Cartoon, Matthew Santos, B.o.B, All City Chess Club
website	}}

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. He was raised in Chicago, Fiasco developed an interest in hip-hop after initially disliking the genre for its heavy use of profanity and vulgarity; Fiasco eventually adopted the name Lupe Fiasco beginning to record songs in his father's basement then later joining a group called "Da Pak". This group disbanded shortly after its inception and Fiasco then met the bestselling rapper Jay-Z who helped him get signed to a record deal with Atlantic Records. In 2006, Fiasco released his debut album ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' on the label; Fiasco's debut album became a commercial success as well being critically acclaim. In the next year, Fiasco released his second album, ''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'' in December 2007 which the lead single is titled "Superstar"; this became a market success and later becoming a music hit, peaking at #10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

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, a 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 Westside of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project. At the age of three, Fiasco began taking martial arts classes. His parents divorced when he was at the age of five and he went on to live with his mother throughout the rest of his life; Fiasco's 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 the 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. Despite his unstable upbringing, Fiasco states that he was well-educated as a child, asserting that "I grew up in the hood around prostitutes, drug dealers, killers, and gangbangers but I also grew up juxtaposed: On the doorknob outside of our apartment, there was blood from some guy who got shot; but inside, there was ''National Geographic'' magazines and encyclopedias and a little library bookshelf situation. And we didn't have cable, so we didn't have the luxury of having our brains washed by MTV. We watched public television – cooking shows and stuff like that."

He initially disliked hip hop music for its use of vulgarity and profanity so he preferred to listen to jazz; Fiasco idolized clarinet player Benny Goodman. He began rapping when he was in the eighth grade and upon listening to Nas' 1996 album, ''It Was Written'', Fiasco began to get into hip hop. Early in his career, he went by stage names Little Lu/Lu tha Underdog. Growing up, Fiasco was given the nickname "Lu", the last part of his first name given 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, it had the song, 'Firm Fiasco'. I just liked the way it looked on paper." He also said more details on 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(speaking in third person). 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 the likes of Jay-Z and Nas. In the process, his mother had given him a record of The Watts Prophets, one of the first bands to use spoken words with music and would become the basis of the genre, Hip Hop.

Later, Fiasco later signed a solo deal with Arista Records but was dropped when President and CEO L. A. Reid was fired. During his short tenure at Arista, he did meet Jay-Z, who was the president of Def Jam Recordings at the time, he referred to him as a "breath of fresh air" saying that he reminded him of a younger version of himself. Jay-Z would later go on and help him get a record deal at Atlantic Records.

During his early hip hop career Fiasco remixed another one of West's songs, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" by renaming it as "Conflict Diamonds". This caught Kanye West's attention thus resulting in him asking Fiasco to perform on the song "Touch the Sky" off his album ''Late Registration''; tise song which sampled Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" became a music hit in the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #42. When Fiasco released his first Atlantic Records single, "Kick, Push" it 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. Fiasco's "Kick, Push" and its accompanying music video helped Fiasco get respected but not revered 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''

In 2006, Jay-Z assisted him in the production of what would become his debut album ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor''. The title of the album is a reference to 'Food and Liquor' stores common in Chicago. He explains, "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 his anticipation for his upcoming album after ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor''. The debut 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 this 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 eventually sentenced to forty-four years in a correctional facility. These events greatly affected Fiasco and the subsequent themes discussed on the album; the album was released in December 2007 in United States while the first single and video from the album, "Superstar" featuring Matthew Santos was released the first week of November 2007. Baseball's Hanley Ramirez, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Zimmerman, Gerald Laird and Ryan Braun have used "Superstar" as their at-bat song. 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. Moreover, 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, particularly 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 Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour which also featured 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 titled, "Everywhere" would come out in June 2009. On January 30, 2009, Lupe Fiasco originally announced that ''LupE.N.D.'' will be postponed indefinitely. In spite of the bad news that he would not release three albums Fiasco decided to plan a project titled. ''The Great American Rap Album''. In June 2009, Fiasco would released two following albums in December 2009 and June 2010 with rumored ''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. from Atlantic Records announced and confirmed that it would instead be titled simply "''Lasers''". On June 26, 2009, Fiasco announced at the Chicago Theater that the album would be released in the 4th Quarter of 2009, particular in December. The album's first single, "Shining Down" features Matthew Santos and is produced by Soundtrakk; this single was released on July 7, 2009. On January 26, 2010, a new song called "I'm Beamin" was released and Fiasco referred to the song as a 'taste' of what is to come... 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." Besides the forever delays and rhetoric about the release date of his latest album, Fiasco ventured into making songs for movies; he has a bonus track on iTunes for the soundtrack to ''The Twilight Saga: New Moon'' called "Solar Midnight". In a post on his Myspace blog, Fiasco addressed concerns by fans who believed that he had "sold out" by making a song for the soundtrack saying, "I'm not SELLING OUT by doing a song for NEW MOON... People thought I 'SOLD OUT' when I did 'Kick, Push'". On October 7, 2009, Lupe released a song in response to the release of MTV's 2009 "Top 10 Hottest MC's List", he was undoubtedly absent from the list; Lupe stated that the track entitled, "Fire" would prove that he belonged in the number one spot on the list.

In October 2009, Fiasco released two new freestyles, "Turnt Up" and "Say Something". Both freestyles were included on his official mixtape ''Enemy of the State: A Love Story'' 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." In the likes of contributing to the hip hop community itself more, Fiasco contributed his 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, ''B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray''.

Later in 2010, Fiasco announced on Twitter that his new album is complete and is waiting for the release from Atlantic Records; the delay of the release for the album remains to be unclear thus resulted in fans later putting together an online petition demanding that Atlantic Records release ''Lasers''. Around the 3rd or 4th Quarter of 2010, the petition garnered considerable attention on hip hop blog sites as well as attaining over five thousands signatures since its creation, it has since reached over twenty-eight thousand 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 Cable New Networks (CNN) and MTV

In April 2010, in association with Pharrell, Fiasco formed the hip-hop group All City Chess Club which included 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.'"

In August 10, 2010, Fiasco released a snippet of a song "Go to Sleep," on his official Twitter page. 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''. Near the End of August, Fiasco released "Go to Sleep" in its entirety while eventually performing at Wake Forest University's Alumni Weekend Concert in Winston-Salem, NC in October 2010; Fiasco revealed to the crowd that the album would be finally released in March of 2011 (confirmed). As what you've read before about the protests above it wasn't until the 4th Quarter of 2010 that Fiasco's dedicated fan base protested outside the Atlantic Records Headquarters in New York City for the release of his third studio album, ''Lasers''. After the long haul, a Representative officially confirmed an announcement of a release date while would be on March 8, 2011; the first single off of ''Lasers'' was "The Show Goes On" was played at the protest then later released to the public via Fiasco's Official Webpage. The song samples the song "Float On" by Modest Mouse. On a National Level, it was released to iTunes on November 9, 2010 and later debuted at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100. The entire album was released on March 8, 2011 which coincidentally was the day it was the No. 1 album on iTunes; the 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

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.

Political views

Fiasco is known for his anti-establishment views. In an interview with Stephen Colbert on the satirical news show ''The Colbert Report'', Fiasco stated his credo on political philosophy: "You should criticize power even if you agree with it." In another interview in June 2011 on the CBS program "What's Trending," Fiasco discussed the political content of his music while stating, "My fight against terrorism, to me, the biggest terrorist is Obama and the United States of America. I'm trying to fight the terrorism that's actually causing the other forms of terrorism. You know, the root cause of terrorism is the stuff the U.S. government allows to happen. The foreign policies that we have in place in different countries that inspire people to become terrorists." Despite his strong political opinions, Fiasco clearly states he does not vote in U.S. elections nor gets involves himself in U.S. politics which he clearly stated that it was "meaningless." For his strong political views, Fiasco has been getting lots of heat in the media like, the Young Turks for sharing his "liberal" politics but yet stating that voting is "meaningless"; this sparked the anchors of the Young Turks to conclude his statements to be "stupid". Fiasco has also appeared on Fox News' Network's The O'Reilly Factor in Late June 2011 where he continues to states that the "biggest terrorist in America is Obama" and he expresses in detail on what he believes; Bill O' Reilly caught him on his views and questioned how young adults envy his music and his character. The interview was a heavy debate on foreign policy after the statements on Obama being a terrorist which Fiasco makes it clear that he believes the United States Leadership is abusing their power.

Discography

''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' (2006)

''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'' (2007)

''Lasers'' (2011)

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

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 Category:Rappers

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name	Cody Simpson
background	solo_singer
birth name	Cody Robert Simpson
born	January 11, 1997Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
origin	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
instrument	Vocals, guitar
genre	Pop, R&B;
occupation	Singer
years active	2009–present
label	Atlantic 2010 – Present
associated acts
website	codysimpson.com }}

Cody Robert Simpson (born 11 January 1997) is an Australian pop singer from Gold Coast, Queensland, who is currently signed to US record label Atlantic Records.

Early life

Simpson was born to Brad and Angie Simpson. He has two younger siblings, Tom and Alli. He is also a talented swimmer, winning two gold medals at the Queensland Swimming Championships. Simpson trained at the Miami Swimming Club under coach Ken Nixon. Simpson's mother Angie works as a volunteer at the club.

Simpson began to record songs in his bedroom during the summer of 2009 on YouTube, performing "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, "Cry Me a River" and "Señorita" by Justin Timberlake, "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5, and his own songs, "One" and "Perfect." He was subsequently discovered on YouTube by Shawn Campbell, a Grammy-nominated record producer who has produced for Jay-Z and other artists.

Music career

Simpson's rise to recognition was featured on ''The 7.30 Report'' in December 2009. He released his debut single, "iYiYi" (which features American rapper Flo Rida), on 15 May 2010. It was digitally released on 30 May 2010. The music video for "iYiYi" was released on 30 June 2010. The music video for Simpson's second single, "Summertime", was released on 20 September 2010.

Simpson relocated to Los Angeles in June 2010 with his family to record his songs with Atlantic Records and his producer Shawn Campbell. His manager is Michael 'Blue' Williams. That same month, Simpson appeared on ''Sunrise''. On 22 June 2010, it was announced that Simpson would participate in the ''Camplified 2010 Tour'', along with other artists, touring across the United States. The tour began on 5 July 2010 and ended on 14 August 2010. It was also Simpson's first public tour. While on tour, Simpson performed a song called "Love So Strong". In an interview with ''Popstar Magazine'', Simpson stated that his inspiration for the song was "A girl, back home. That's all I can say."

On 4 December 2010, it was announced on Simpson's official website that an EP entitled ''4 U'' would be released through iTunes on 21 December 2010. The EP includes five tracks in total, four of them being previously unreleased.

Simpson recorded a remake of the song "I Want Candy" by The Strangeloves as the main theme song for the Easter-themed live-action/CGI-animated film ''Hop''.

On 23 April 2011, Simpson released the single "On My Mind" through his website. It was released on iTunes on 23 May 2011 and the music video was released on 17 June 2011.

Simpson is currently working on tracks for an upcoming EP on Atlantic Records. It will be released on 20 September 2011. Simpson's best friend, Campbell Carsley announced the release date on twitter on 18 July 2011. It will be called Coast To Coast, the same name as his current mall tour.

Touring

Simpson has been on tour recently promoting his new EP, making stops at various locations in the United States. Most notably, Simpson participated in the "Camplified 2010" tour in June. Other tours include a middle school tour that took place from October–November 2010 and covered 9 U.S States.

In May 2011, Simpson was “egged” during a live show at ''Miranda Fair'', Sydney. Simpson told Australian radio show ''The Kyle & Jackie O Show'' that he wasn’t in fact hit by the eggs and that he was upset on behalf of his fans because the remainder of his show was cancelled because of security concerns.

Filmography

Television

Notes
2011	''So Random!''	Himself

Discography

Extended plays

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |+ List of albums, with selected chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:8em;"| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| Album details ! scope="col" | Peak |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| US Heat |- ! scope="row" |''4 U'' |

Released: 21 December 2010

Label: Atlantic

Format: Digital download

| 4 |- ! scope="row" |''Coast to Coast'' |

Released: 20 September 2011

Label: Atlantic

Format: CD, digital download

| — |}

Singles

— 19 — —

rowspan="2"	Year	Single	Peak chart positions				Album
! width="45"	! width="45"		! width="45"	! width="45"
rowspan="2"	2010		19	83	73	''4 U''
align="left"	—	|	—	—	Non-album single
	align="left"	97	|	79	—	''4 U''
align="left"	—	|	—	—	''Hop (film)	Hop''
align="left"	—	|	83	—

Music videos

!Year	Song	Director(s)
	iYiYi (featuring Flo Rida)	Mark Staubach
"Summertime"
	"All Day"	David Ovenshire
"On My Mind"	Travis Kopach

Tours

Waiting 4U Tour

Awards and nominations

! Year	! Type	! Award	! Result
	Nickelodeon Australian Kids Choice Awards 2010	Fresh Aussie Musos
Breakthrough Of The Year Awards 2010	Breakthrough Internet Sensation
	Iconic Fan Favorite
Icon of Tomorrow
Capricho Awards 2010	International Singer
Hollywood Teen TV Awards	"Teen Pick Music: Male Artist"
		Super Fresh Award
Aussie Musos
Awesome Aussie

References

External links

Category:1997 births Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Australian child singers Category:Australian male singers Category:Australian pop singers Category:Australian rhythm and blues singers Category:Australian singer-songwriters Category:Living people Category:People from the Gold Coast, Queensland

ar:كودي سيمبسون de:Cody Simpson es:Cody Simpson fa:کودی سیمپسون fr:Cody Simpson id:Cody Simpson it:Cody Simpson la:Cody Simpson nl:Cody Simpson ja:コーディー・シンプソン no:Cody Simpson pl:Cody Simpson pt:Cody Simpson fi:Cody Simpson sv:Cody Simpson tr:Cody Simpson

Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Tramar Dillard
Born	September 17, 1979 Carol City, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Rapper, Songwriter, Actor
Genre	Southern hip hop, Pop rap, R&B;, Dance
Years active	2006–present
Label	Atlantic, Poe Boy
Associated acts	Brisco, Timbaland, David Guetta, Ke$ha, T-Pain, Akon
Website	}}

Tramar Dillard (born September 17, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida ("flow rider"), is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, ''Mail on Sunday'', in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from ''Mail on Sunday'': "Elevator" and "In the Ayer". In 2009, his second album ''R.O.O.T.S.'' was released; its most successful single "Right Round" was at the top of the Hot 100 for six weeks. Since then, he has released his third studio album titled ''Only One Flo (Part 1)'', which will see a sequel titled ''Only One Rida (Part 2)''.

Early life

Tramar Dillard was born in the 187th Street projects of Carol City, Florida. His single mother raised him and his seven sisters, some of whom sang in a local gospel group. Dillard's brother-in-law was a hypeman for local rap group 2 Live Crew, and, while in Ninth Grade, Dillard formed his own amateur group with some friends called the Groundhoggz. His work with 2 Live Crew member Fresh Kid Ice attracted attention of DeVante Swing, a member of the band Jodeci. However, he was rejected by several of the major labels, so he sought many other jobs outside of music. After graduating from high school in 1998, he studied international business management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for two years and attended Barry University for two months. He returned to Florida to continue pursuing his music career after receiving a phone call from a representative of the independent label Poe Boy Entertainment. Dillard signed with Poe Boy in 2006, and as Flo Rida he began affiliating with other artists, such as Rick Ross, Trina, T-Pain, and Trick Daddy. A promotional street single entitled "Birthday", featuring Rick Ross, was his first significant release. He made his debut guest appearance with the song "Bitch I'm from Dade County" on DJ Khaled's album ''We the Best'', which featured Trick Daddy, Trina, Rick Ross, Brisco, C-Ride, and Dre.

Music career

''Mail on Sunday'' (2007–08)

Flo Rida's first single was "Low", featuring T-Pain. It was his first official single from his debut album ''Mail On Sunday'' and the soundtrack to the movie ''Step Up 2: The Streets''. "Low" reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. "Elevator", featuring Timbaland, "In the Ayer" featuring will.i.am, and "Roll" featuring Sean Kingston followed and all charted on the Hot 100 and other charts.

After the success of ''Mail on Sunday'', Flo Rida made guest performances on other R&B;, rap, and pop singles, including "Move Shake Drop" by DJ Laz, "We Break the Dawn" by Michelle Williams, the remix of "4 Minutes" by Madonna, "Running Back" by Australian R&B; singer Jessica Mauboy, "Feel It" by DJ Felli Fel, and the remix of "Speedin'" by Rick Ross. During the summer of 2008, he did live performances on the Fox dance competition program ''So You Think You Can Dance'' in the US and 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards in Canada. He appeared on the albums ''We Global'' by DJ Khaled, ''Gutta'' by Ace Hood, and ''The Fame'' by Lady Gaga, among others.

''R.O.O.T.S.'' (2009)

According to ''Billboard'' magazine, Flo Rida began recording his sophomore nine months after ''Mail On Sunday''. The album is titled ''R.O.O.T.S.'' and was released on March 31, 2009. The first single "Right Round" featured Ke$ha and was released for airplay in January 2009. "Right Round" jumped from number 58 to the top spot in one week in late February. The song broke a record for the most digital one week sales in the U.S., with 636,000, beating the previous record he had set himself with "Low". "Right Round" sampled "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", a 1985 hit by Dead or Alive. The second official single was "Sugar", which featured R&B; singer Wynter Gordon. The song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other singles were "Jump" featuring Nelly Furtado, which reached #54 on the Hot 100 and was the promotional single for the animated film ''G-Force'', and "Be On You" featuring Ne-Yo, which reached #19 on the Hot 100. In addition to singles from his own album, Flo Rida made guest performances on "Feel It" by DJ Felli Fel, "Starstruck" by Lady Gaga, and "Feel It" by Three 6 Mafia. "Bad Boys", the first single by winner of British reality show ''The X Factor'' Alexandra Burke that featured Flo Rida, debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart in October.

''Only One Flo (Part 1)'' (2010)

Flo Rida's third album ''Only One Flo (Part 1)'' was released on November 24, 2010. In March 2010, Flo Rida announced on Twitter that the album would be titled ''The Only One''. ''Billboard'' reported that ''The Only One'' was to be a double album. "Club Can't Handle Me", produced by David Guetta, was the first official single and reached #9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States. Flo Rida also made guest appearances on "iYiYi", a song by Australian teen singer Cody Simpson, and on the song "Out My Video" by Bulgarian singer LiLana. Flo Rida collaborated with UK girl group The Saturdays, recording a new version of the girl's single, "Higher".

In December 2010, the Associated Press reported that Flo Rida had created his own label, International Music Group, inspired by Nicki Minaj's signing with Lil Wayne's. He has signed an 18 year-old rapper, Brianna and Git Fresh to International. Currently Flo Rida teamed up with Malaysian singer, Mizz Nina in Take Over. They shoot Take Over in Miami, Florida.

''Only One Rida (Part 2)'' (2011)

On August 29th, 2011 Flo Rida released his new single off the album Only One Rida (Part 2), called Good Feeling, which is now out now on the US iTunes store. The Album is due out later in 2011. A track called Hangover is rumored to be the second Track, Taio Cruz is featured on it. Inna, Starboy Nathan will be featured on the record, too.

Legal issues

On June 9, 2011, Flo Rida was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida for DUI and driving with a suspended license. Flo Rida was released from jail after he posted $2,000 bail and obtained a signed court order allowing him to travel to Asia for a series of previously scheduled concerts in Bangkok over the weekend.

Discography

''Mail on Sunday'' (2008)

''R.O.O.T.S.'' (2009)

''Only One Flo (Part 1)'' (2010)

''Only One Rida (Part 2)'' (2011)

Awards and nominations

! Year	! Type	! Award	! Result
		Breakthrough Performer
Favourite Male Hip-Hop Artist
	Best New Artist
Rookie of the Year
	Breathrough Artist
	Choice Breakout Artist
Choice Rap Artist
APRA Awards
MOBO Awards
MTV Video Music Awards	Best Hip-Hop Video ("Right Round" with Kesha)
NT Indigenous Music Awards
People's Choice Awards
Teen Choice Awards	Best Hip-Hop Rap Track ("Right Round" with Kesha)
	APRA Awards
Grammy Awards	Best Rap Album (''R.O.O.T.S.'')
People's Choice Awards	Hip-Hop Artist of the Year

See also

List of Miami rappers

References

External links

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:American dance musicians Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Barry University alumni Category:Electro-hop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Rappers from Miami, Florida Category:University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni

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