A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song (film, literature, beverages etc.).

A remixer uses audio mixing to compose an alternate master recording of a song, adding or subtracting elements, or simply changing the equalization, dynamics, pitch, tempo, playing time, or almost any other aspect of the various musical components. Some remixes involve substantial changes to the arrangement of a recorded work, but many are harmonic, such as creating a "vocal up" version of an album cut that emphasizes the lead singer's voice.

Songs are remixed for a variety of reasons:

to give a formerly popular song a second chance at radio and club play

to create a stereo or surround sound version of a song where none was previously available

to improve the fidelity of an older song for which the original master recording has been lost or degraded

to alter a song to suit a specific music genre or radio format

to alter a song for artistic purposes

Remixes should not be confused with edits, which usually involve shortening a final stereo master for marketing or broadcasting purposes. Another distinction should be made between a remix and a cover. A remix song recombines audio pieces from a recording to create an altered version of the song. A cover is a recording of a song that was previously recorded by someone else.

Roots of the remix

Since the beginnings of recorded sound in the late 19th century, certain people have enjoyed the ability to rearrange the normal listening experience with technology. With the advent of easily editable magnetic tape in the 1940s and 1950s and the subsequent development of multitrack recording, such alterations became more common. In those decades the experimental genre of musique concrète used tape manipulation to create sound compositions. Less artistically lofty edits produced medleys or novelty recordings of various types.

Modern remixing is also called remick. had its roots in the dance hall culture of late-1960s/early-1970s Jamaica. The fluid evolution of music that encompassed ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub was embraced by local music mixers who deconstructed and rebuilt tracks to suit the tastes of their audience. Producers and engineers like Ruddy Redwood, King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry popularized stripped-down instrumental mixes (which they called "versions") of reggae tunes. At first they simply dropped the vocal tracks, but soon more sophisticated effects were created, dropping separate instrumental tracks in and out of the mix, isolating and repeating hooks, and adding various effects like echo, reverberation and delay.

From the mid-1970s, DJs in early discothèques were performing similar tricks with disco songs (using loops and tape edits) to get dancers on the floor and keep them there. One noteworthy figure was Tom Moulton who invented the dance remix as we now know it. Though not a DJ (a popular misconception), Moulton had begun his career by making a homemade mix tape for a Fire Island dance club in the late 1960s. His tapes eventually became popular and he came to the attention of the music industry in New York City. At first Moulton was simply called upon to improve the aesthetics of dance-oriented recordings before release ("I didn't do the remix, I did the mix"—Tom Moulton). Eventually, he moved from being a "fix it" man on pop records to specializing in remixes for the dance floor. Along the way, he invented the breakdown section and the 12-inch single vinyl format. Walter Gibbons provided the dance version of the first commercial 12-inch single ("Ten Percent", by Double Exposure). Contrary to popular belief, Gibbons did not mix the record. In fact his version was a re-edit of the original mix. Moulton, Gibbons and their contemporaries (Jim Burgess, Tee Scott, and later Larry Levan and Shep Pettibone) at Salsoul Records proved to be the most influential group of remixers for the disco era. The Salsoul catalog is seen (especially in the UK and Europe) as being the "canon" for the disco mixer's art form. Pettibone is among a very small number of remixers whose work successfully transitioned from the disco to the House era. (He is certainly the most high profile remixer to do so.) His contemporaries included Arthur Baker and François Kevorkian.

Contemporaneously to disco in the mid-1970s, the dub and disco remix cultures met through Jamaican immigrants to the Bronx, energizing both and helping to create hip hop music. Key figures included DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. Cutting (alternating between duplicate copies of the same record) and scratching (manually moving the vinyl record beneath the turntable needle) became part of the culture, creating what ''Slate'' magazine called "real-time, live-action collage." One of the first mainstream successes of this style of remix was the 1983 track "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock, as remixed by Grand Mixer D.ST. Malcolm McLaren and the creative team behind ZTT Records would feature the "cut up" style of hip hop on such records as "Duck Rock."

Electronic music

Early pop remixes were fairly simple; in the 1980s, "extended mixes" of songs were released to clubs and commercial outlets on vinyl 12-inch singles. These typically had a duration of six to seven minutes, and often consisted of the original song with 8 or 16 bars of instruments inserted, often after the second chorus; some were as simplistic as two copies of the song stitched end to end. As the cost and availability of new technologies allowed, many of the bands who were involved in their own production (such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Depeche Mode, New Order, Erasure, and Duran Duran) experimented with more intricate versions of the extended mix. Madonna began her career writing music for dance clubs and used remixes extensively to propel her career; one of her early boyfriends was noted DJ John Jellybean Benitez, who created several memorable mixes of her work.

Art of Noise took the remix styles to an extreme—creating music entirely of samples. They were among the first popular groups to truly harness the potential that had been unleashed by the synthesizer-based compositions of electronic musicians such as Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Giorgio Moroder, and Jean Michel Jarre. Contemporaneous to Art of Noise was the seminal body of work by Yello (composed, arranged and mixed by Boris Blank). Primarily because they featured sampled and sequenced sounds, Yello and Art of Noise would produce a great deal of influential work for the next phase. Others such as Cabaret Voltaire and the aforementioned Jarre (whose ''Zoolook'' was an epic usage of sampling and sequencing) were equally influential in this era.

After the rise of dance music in the late 1980s, a new form of remix was popularised, where the vocals would be kept and the instruments would be replaced, often with matching backing in the house music idiom. A clear example of this approach is Roberta Flack's 1989 ballad "Uh Oh Look Out," which Chicago House great Steve "Silk" Hurley dramatically reworked into a boisterous floor-filler by stripping away all the instrumental tracks and substituting a minimalist, sequenced "track" to underpin her vocal delivery. The art of the remix gradually evolved, and soon more avant-garde artists such as Aphex Twin were creating more experimental remixes of songs (relying on the groundwork of Cabaret Voltaire and the others), which varied radically from their original sound and were not guided by pragmatic considerations such as sales or "danceability", but were created for "art's sake."

In the 1990s, with the rise of powerful home computers with audio capabilities came the mash-up, an unsolicited, unofficial (and often legally dubious) remix created by "underground remixers" who edit two or more recordings (often of wildly different songs) together. Girl Talk is perhaps the most famous of this movement, creating albums using sounds entirely from other music and cutting it into his own. Underground mixing is more difficult than the typical official remix, because clean copies of separated tracks such as vocals or individual instruments are usually not available to the public. Some artists (such as Björk, Nine Inch Nails, and Public Enemy) embraced this trend and outspokenly sanctioned fan remixing of their work; there was once a web site which hosted hundreds of unofficial remixes of Björk's songs, all made using only various officially-sanctioned mixes. Other artists, such as Erasure, have included remix software in their officially released singles, enabling almost infinite permutations of remixes by users. The band have also presided over remix competitions for their releases, selecting their favourite fan-created remix to appear on later official releases.

Remixing has become very prevalent in heavily synthesized electronic and experimental music circles. Many of the people who create cutting edge music in such genres as synthpop and aggrotech are solo artists or pairs. They will often use remixers to help them with skills or equipment that they do not have. Artists such as Chicago-based Delobbo, Dallas-based LehtMoJoe, and Russian DJ Ram, who has worked with t.A.T.u, are sought out for their remixing skill and have impressive lists of contributions. It is not uncommon for industrial bands to release albums which have remixes as half of the songs. Indeed, there have been popular singles that have been expanded to an entire album of remixes by other well-known artists.

Some industrial groups allow, and often encourage, their fans to remix their music, notably Nine Inch Nails, whose website contains a list of downloadable songs that can be remixed using Apple's GarageBand software. Some artists have started releasing their songs in the U-MYX format, which allows the buyers to mix songs and share them on the U-MYX website.

Urban music

Remixes have become the norm in contemporary dance music, giving one song the ability to appeal across many different musical genres or dance venues. Such remixes often include "featured" artists, adding new vocalists or musicians to the original mix. The remix is also widely used in hip-hop and rap music. An R&B; remix usually has the same music as the original song but has added or altered verses that are rapped or sung by the featured artists. It usually contains some if not all of the original verses of the song however, these verses may be arranged in a different order depending on how the producers decided to remix the song.

In the early 1990s, Mariah Carey became one of the first mainstream artists who re-recorded vocals for a dancefloor version, and by 1993 most of her major dance and urban-targeted versions had been re-sung, e.g. "Dreamlover". Some artists would contribute new or additional vocals for the different versions of their songs. These versions were not technically remixes, as entirely new productions of the material were undertaken (the songs were "re-cut", usually from the ground up). In 1988, Sinead O'Connor's art-rock song "I Want Your (Hands On Me)" was remixed to emphasize the urban appeal of the composition (the original contains a tight, grinding bassline and a rhythm guitar not entirely unlike Chic's work). M.C. Lyte was asked to provide a "guest rap," and a new tradition was born in pop music. George Michael would feature three artistically differentiated arrangements of "I Want Your Sex" in 1987, highlighting the potential of "serial productions" of a piece to find markets and expand the tastes of listeners. In 1995, after doing "California Love", which proved to be his best selling single ever, Tupac Shakur would do its remix with Dr. Dre again featured, who originally wanted it for his next album, but relented to let it be on the album ''All Eyez on Me'' instead. This also included the reappearance of Roger Troutman, also from the original, but he ended the remix with an ab lib on the outro. Another well-known example is R. Kelly, who recorded two different versions of "Ignition" for his 2003 album ''Chocolate Factory''. The song is unique in that it segues from the end of the original to the beginning of the remixed version (accompanied by the line "Now usually I don't do this, but uh, go ahead on, break em' off with a little preview of the remix.") In addition, the original version's beginning line "You remind me of something/I just can't think of what it is" is actually sampled from an older Kelly song, "You Remind Me of Something". Madonna's ''I'm Breathless'' featured a remix of "Now I'm Following You" that was used to segue from the original to "Vogue" so that the latter could be added to the set without jarring the listener.

Many hip-hop remixes arose either from the need for a pop/R&B; singer to add more of an urban, rap edge to one of their slower songs, or from the need for a rapper to gain more pop appeal by getting an R&B; singer to sing some lines here and there. When a song by a solo artist does not take off, a remix with additional performers can give the song a second chance.

Thanks to a combination of guest raps, re-sung or altered lyrics and alternative backing tracks, some hip-hop remixes can end up being almost entirely different songs from the originals. An example is the remix of "Ain't It Funny" by Jennifer Lopez, which has little in common with the original recording apart from the title.

Slow ballads and R&B; songs can be remixed by techno producers and DJ's in order to give the song appeal to the club scene and to urban radio. Conversely, a more uptempo number can be mellowed to give it "quiet storm" appeal. Frankie Knuckles saddled both markets with his Def Classic Mixes, often slowing the tempo slightly as he removed ornamental elements to soften the "attack" of a dancefloor filler. These remixes proved hugely influential, notably Lisa Stansfield's classic single "Change" would be aired by urban radio in the Knuckles version, which had been provided as an alternative to the original mix by Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, the record's producers.

Broader context

John Von Seggern of the ethnomusicology department at the University of California, Riverside says that the remix "is a major conceptual leap: making music on a meta-structural level, drawing together and making sense of a much larger body of information by threading a continuous narrative through it. This is what begins to emerge very early in the hip-hop tradition in works such as Grandmaster Flash's pioneering mix recording ''Adventures on the Wheels of Steel''. The importance of this cannot be overstated: in an era of information overload, the art of remixing and sampling as practiced by hip-hop DJs and producers points to ways of working with information on higher levels of organization, pulling together the efforts of others into a multilayered multireferential whole which is much more than the sum of its parts."

A remix may also refer to a non-linear re-interpretation of a given work or media other than audio. Such as a hybridizing process combining fragments of various works. The process of combining and re-contextualizing will often produce unique results independent of the intentions and vision of the original designer/artist. Thus the concept of a remix can be applied to visual or video arts, and even things farther afield. Mark Z. Danielewski's disjointed novel ''House of Leaves'' has been compared by some to the remix concept.

Remix in literature

A remix in literature is an alternative version of a text. William Burroughs used the cut-up technique developed by Brion Gysin to remix language in the 1960s. Various textual sources (including his own) would be cut literally into pieces with scissors, rearranged on a page, and pasted to form new sentences, new ideas, new stories, and new ways of thinking about words.

''Naked Lunch'' (1959) is a famous example of an early novel by Burroughs based on the cut-up technique. Remixing of literature and language is also apparent in ''Pixel Juice'' (2000) by Jeff Noon who later explained using different methods for this process with ''Cobralingus'' (2001).

Remix in art

A remix in art often takes multiple perspectives upon the same theme. An artist takes an original work of art and adds their own take on the piece creating something completely different while still leaving traces of the original work. It is essentially a reworked abstraction of the original work while still holding remnants of the original piece while still letting the true meanings of the original piece shine through. Famous examples include the Marilyn prints of Andy Warhol (modifies colors and styles of one image), and ''The Weeping Woman'' by Pablo Picasso, (merges various angles of perspective into one view). Some of Picasso's other famous paintings also incorporate parts of his life, such as his love affairs, into his paintings. For example, his painting ''Les Trois Danseuses'', or ''The Three Dancers'', is about a love triangle.

Other types of remixes in art are parodies. A parody in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or make fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation. They can be found all throughout art and culture from literature to animation. Current television shows are filled with parodies such as South Park, Family Guy, and the Simpsons.

The internet has allowed for art to be remixed quite easily, as evidenced by sites like memgenerator.net (provides pictorial template upon which any words may be written by various anonymous users), and Dan Walsh's Garfieldminusgarfield.net (removes the main character from various original strips by Garfield creator Jim Davis).

Remix in media and consumer products

In recent years the concept of the remix has been applied analogously to other media and products. In 2001, the British Channel 4 television program ''Jaaaaam'' was produced as a remix of the sketches from the comedy show ''Jam''. In 2003 the Coca-Cola Corporation released a new version of their soft drink Sprite with tropical flavors under the name Sprite Remix.

Copyright Implications

Because remixes may borrow heavily from an existing piece of music (possibly more than one), the issue of intellectual property becomes a concern. The most important question is whether a remixer is free to redistribute his or her work, or whether the remix falls under the category of a derivative work according to, for example, United States copyright law. Of note are open questions concerning the legality of visual works, like the art form of collage, which can be plagued with licensing issues.

There are two obvious extremes with regard to derivative works. If the song is substantively dissimilar in form (for example, it might only borrow a motif which is modified, and be completely different in all other respects), then it may not necessarily be a derivative work (depending on how heavily modified the melody and chord progressions were). On the other hand, if the remixer only changes a few things (for example, the instrument and tempo), then it is clearly a derivative work and subject to the copyrights of the original work's copyright holder.

The Creative Commons non-profit group created the ccMixter website to provide remixers with creative material licensed for remixers to use with permission. A number of netlabels have similarly used liberal licensing to facilitate remixing.

See also

Musical montages

Sound collage

Cover version

Multitracking

Ccmixter

Assemblage

WhoSampled

References

External links

"The Remixmasters", ''Slate'' (July 29, 2002) at slate.msn.com

Category:Musical techniques

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name	Nicki Minaj
background	solo_singer
birth name	Onika Tanya Maraj
birth date	December 08, 1982
birth place	Saint James, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
origin	South Jamaica, Queens, New York, USA
genre	Hip hop, R&B;, pop
occupation	Rapper, singer-songwriter
years active	2002–present
label	Cash Money Records, Young Money Entertainment, Universal Republic Records, Universal Motown
associated acts	Young Money
website	}}

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj (), is a Trinidadian-born American musician. She was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago, and moved to Queens when she was five.

After releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 and being signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009, Minaj released her debut album, ''Pink Friday'' in November 2010. It quickly became a commercial success, peaking at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release. She became the first artist to have seven singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at the same time. Her second single, "Your Love", reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List. Minaj was named the 2011 ''Rising Star'' by ''Billboard''.

Early life

Maraj was born in 1982 in Saint James, a suburb of Trinidad and Tobago's capital city Port of Spain. Her parents are of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian ancestry and she lived in Saint James with her grandmother until age five, because her parents were looking for a place to live in the Queens borough of New York City at the time. Her mother would occasionally visit, and one day, when Minaj was five, her mother picked her up to move to Queens. According to Minaj, her father drank heavily, took drugs, and once tried to kill her mother by setting the house on fire.

She attended Elizabeth Blackwell Middle School 210, where she played the clarinet. She graduated from LaGuardia High School. At LaGuardia, a school specializing in music and the visual and performing arts, Minaj participated in the drama program. She had initially planned to sing at LaGuardia, but lost her voice on the day of the audition.

Career

2007–09: Mixtapes and Young Money

Minaj released her first mixtape in 2007 after releasing ''Playtime Is Over'' with ''Dirty Money Records''. She released another mixtape on July 7, 2008, titled ''Sucka Free'', under the label ''Be''. On April 18, 2009, Minaj released a third mixtape and appeared in ''XXL'' magazine. She won the Female Artist of the Year award at the 2008 Underground Music Awards. Minaj released ''Beam Me Up Scotty'', another mixtape, in April 2009 under the label of ''Trapaholics Records''; it received positive coverage on both BET and MTV.

In August 2009, Minaj signed a record deal with Young Money Entertainment, with distribution from Universal Motown Records, after fellow American rapper Lil Wayne discovered her and secured the record deal. She then had a solo rap verse in their single "BedRock," which became a commercial success, reaching #2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Minaj also appeared on "Roger That", which charted at #56. The song, and in particular Minaj, received positive reviews from critics. Both songs were included in Young Money Entertainment's debut collaborative studio album ''We Are Young Money'', which was released in December 2009. The album charted in the top ten on the ''Billboard'' 200, reaching #9 and later receiving a Gold Certification by the RIAA.

2010–present: ''Pink Friday'' and ''Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded''

After a major record label bidding war, Young Money Entertainment announced on August 31, 2009 that Minaj had been released a 360 deal with the label in which she retains and owns all of her 360 rights – including merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, touring and publishing. In an interview with 95.8 Capital FM, Rihanna stated that after the two collaborated on "Raining Men" from her album ''Loud'' that the duo would be teaming up together for a possible second collaboration on Minaj's ''Pink Friday''. Hip-hop rap artist and producer Kanye West was also confirmed for the album. On August 3, 2010 Minaj revealed on a Ustream.tv channel that the album's name would be ''Pink Friday'', in reference to Black Friday.

''Pink Friday'' was released on November 19, 2010 in both standard and deluxe versions. A buzz single, "Massive Attack", was released in April. In August, Minaj released "Your Love" as the first official single from her debut album. The single peaked at 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, 7 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart and topped the Rap Songs chart. Minaj became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List and the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. In October 2010, Minaj became the first artist to have seven songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart simultaneously. Minaj released a joint single with The Black Eyed Peas front man, will.i.am titled, "Check It Out", which is Minaj's most successful single to date in Europe. "Right thru Me" was released September 24, 2010; the music video was released in late October. "Moment 4 Life" was released as the fourth single. The track featured Canadian rapper Drake and was released on December 7, 2010, becoming a success on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The single peaked at number 5 on the Hot Rap Songs. The album gained a Platinum certification in the United States a month after the release. It was hinted by Simon Cowell that Minaj would join the judging panel of the American version of the ''The X Factor.'' Starting in June 2011, Minaj will be supporting ''Pink Friday'' by serving as an opening act along with Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo on Britney Spears' sixth concert tour, the Femme Fatale Tour, in support of her seventh studio album, ''Femme Fatale''. She also was featured on the official remix of Spears' track "Till The World Ends" along with Spears and singer Kesha, which charted at number 3 in the US in April 2011. "Super Bass" was released from ''Pink Friday'' in May 2011, the single charted within the top 10 in many countries including; United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada and more. The song gained positive reviews from critics. Minaj will voice a character in the 3D animated film, ''Ice Age: Continental Drift'', as an unknown character. Minaj is also featured on French disc jockey David Guetta's 2011 album, ''Nothing but the Beat'' on "Where Them Girls At" and "Turn Me On". She will be featured alongside Madonna and M.I.A on an upcoming single from Madonna's twelfth studio album, for which a music video has been directed by Megaforce.

On November 22, 2011, Minaj announced via Twitter that her sophomore album, ''Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'', is currently in the works set to be released on April 3, 2012. The first single from the album, titled "Roman in Moscow," was released on December 2, 2011.

Musical style and image

Image

In an interview with ''Vibe'' Minaj discussed her sexual image stating, "[w]hen I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly. The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot... and I thought that to have the success they got, I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn’t have to represent the same thing." In an interview with ''Interview'', Minaj commented on her sexual image again stating, "I made a conscious decision to try to tone down the sexiness, I want people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal. You’ve got to have something else to go with that.” Minaj has a tattoo in Chinese characters that reads "" (''shangdi yu ni chang zai'') on her left arm, meaning, "God is always with you."

Alter egos

While growing up, Minaj's home life was often chaotic, with her parents constantly fighting. As a means of escape, she would create characters and live her life through them. In an interview with ''New York'' she stated, "To get away from all their fighting, I would imagine being a new person. 'Cookie' was my first identity – that stayed with me for a while. I went on to 'Harajuku Barbie,' then 'Nicki Minaj'. Fantasy was my reality."

For her debut album, Minaj created another alter-ego named "Roman Zolanski". She stated that in songs like "Bottoms Up" with Trey Songz it is not Minaj rapping, but instead Roman Zolanski, and claims that Roman is her "twin sister". She claims that he was born inside her, out of rage, and becomes him when she is angry. She has also said 'He is a demon inside her'. Roman has been compared to Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady, and on the song "Roman's Revenge" from ''Pink Friday'', Minaj and Eminem collaborate, using these alter egos. On the collaboration, she said "The new album is going to have a lot of Roman on it ... And if you're not familiar with Roman, then you will be familiar with him very soon. He’s the boy that lives inside of me. He's a lunatic and he's gay and he'll be on there a lot." Roman also has a "mother" called "Martha Zolanski", who also appeared on the song Roman's Revenge, with a British accent. Martha appears in the video for "Moment 4 Life" where she appears to be Minaj's magical Godmother. In songs such as "All I Do Is Win (Remix)" it is Minaj rapping. Minaj stated that on her debut album, fans will get to "meet" Nicki, Roman and Onika.

On November 18, 2010 Minaj assumed a different alter-ego named "Nicki Teresa". Wearing a colorful scarf around her head, she went around as the "healer to her fans" as she visited them at The Garden of Dreams Foundation at Fuse studios in New York City. Minaj made an appearance on ''Lopez Tonight'' on December 6, 2010 and presented a different alter-ego for the Spanish-inspired occasion, named "Rosa" (pronounced Rrrrrosa).

Influences

Minaj has stated that artists who have influenced her musical style include Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Lil Wayne, Lauryn Hill, Jadakiss, Natasha Bedingfield, Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim and Missy Elliott. She was also inspired by Janet Jackson, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Jones M.I.A and Cyndi Lauper.

Personal life

While some songs and interviews have implied that Minaj is bisexual, she has said that she does not date nor have sex with women, but added in an interview with ''Out'' magazine, "I don’t date men either." In an interview with ''Vibe'' she commented, "I just embrace all people of all lifestyles and I don’t tell them they are bad people. And I say girls are beautiful and girls are sexy and they need to be told that, and if they don’t have anyone to tell them that and mean it, I’m gonna tell them that. But I feel like people always wanna define me and I don’t wanna be defined." She reiterated her dislike of being labeled in an interview with ''Out'', saying: "The point is, everyone is not black and white. There are so many shades in the middle, and you’ve got to let people feel comfortable with saying what they want to say when they want to say it."

During an interview in the May 2010 issue of ''Details'', Minaj was asked if she felt hip-hop was becoming more gay-friendly. She responded, "I think the world is getting more gay-friendly, so hip-hop is too. But it's harder to imagine an openly gay male rapper being embraced, people view gay men as having no street credibility. But I think we'll see one in my lifetime."

In July 2011, Minaj's cousin Nicholas was murdered near his home in Brooklyn, New York City.

Discography

''Pink Friday'' (2010)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Nicki Minaj

Notes

References

External links

Category:Nicki Minaj Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:African American female singers Category:African American rappers Category:American musicians of Indian descent Category:American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Category:Female rappers Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Category:Hip hop singers Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Queens Category:People from Port of Spain Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Singers from New York City Category:Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United States Category:Trinidad and Tobago musicians Category:Trinidad and Tobago people of Dougla descent Category:Young Money Entertainment artists

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name	Kid Cudi
background	solo_singer
birth name	Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi
birth date	January 30, 1984
birth place	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
genre	Hip hop, Alternative Hip Hop alternative rock, neo-psychedelia
occupation	Rapper, singer, songwriter, actor
years active	2006–present
label	GOOD Music, Universal Motown, Wicked Awesome
Associated acts	2 Be Continuum, Dot da Genius, Kanye West, Chip tha Ripper, Ratatat
website	kidcudi.com }}

Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), better known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), sometimes stylized KiD CuDi, is an American rapper, singer and actor. He first gained major attention after the release of his debut mixtape ''A Kid Named Cudi''. In 2009, his single "Day 'n' Nite" reached the top five of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs charts. "Day 'n' Nite" is part of Cudi's debut album ''Man on the Moon: The End of Day''. Kid Cudi has sold over 4.6 million digital singles and has worked with Kanye West, Common, David Guetta and other artists signed to the GOOD Music label.

Early life

Kid Cudi was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Shaker Heights and Solon. His father, a house painter, substitute teacher and World War II Air Force veteran was Mexican-Native American, while his mother, a middle-school choir teacher at Roxboro Middle School, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is African-American. When he was eleven years old, Mescudi's father died of cancer; his passing would have a significant effect on Mescudi's personality and subsequently his music. Mescudi attended Shaker Heights High School for two years, then transferred to Solon High School, and later earned his GED. Eventually, Mescudi studied film at the University of Toledo then dropped out after a year.

Music career

It was towards the end of high school that Mescudi first began rapping, inspired by alternative hip hop groups such as The Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest. He moved to Brooklyn in New York City to pursue a music career. In July 2008, Kid Cudi released his first mixtape, ''A Kid Named Cudi'', in collaboration with New York street-wear brand 10.Deep as a free download. The mixtape quickly caught the attention of Kanye West, which in turn spawned his signing to GOOD Music later that year.

Kid Cudi was featured on Kanye West's 2008 album, ''808s & Heartbreak'', singing with West on the track "Welcome to Heartbreak", and helping with songwriting on "Heartless" and "Paranoid". "Welcome to Heartbreak" peaked at #87 on the Pop 100, and music videos for both songs have been released. Cudi was then tipped as an artist to watch for in medias such as ''Rolling Stone'', ''Vibe'', ''The Source'', ''XXL'' and BBC News's Sound of 2009 poll of up-and-coming acts. MTV News also reported on Cudi on a series of reports ''MCs To Watch In 2009''.

His first television appearance was at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, alongside Travis Barker and DJ AM. On February 17, 2009, he appeared on Snoop Dogg's MTV talk show ''Dogg After Dark'' performing "Day 'n' Nite" at the end of the show. Two days later on February 19, 2009, Cudi appeared on BET's ''106 & Park'' with Kanye West to debut the video of "Day 'n' Nite". On March 16, 2009 Kid Cudi performed on mtvU's Spring Break special, and the next day he performed three songs on NBC's ''Last Call with Carson Daly''. He has also appeared as a musical guest on ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' and ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''.

Kid Cudi also made a cameo appearance next to Solange in the video for the song "T.O.N.Y." in February 2009, and later in The Black Eyed Peas' video for "I Gotta Feeling", with David Guetta. He has also been on two magazine covers, ''Complex'' (August/September 2009) and ''URB'' (August 2009). Bape awarded Cudi his own t-shirt in September 2009, in reward for his music and past employment there when living in New York City.

2009–present: ''Man on the Moon'' series

Cudi's debut album ''Man on the Moon: The End of Day'' was released on Universal Motown Records on September 15, 2009 and sold 104,419 copies in the first week and charted at #4. The album's first single was Day 'N' Nite, and is Kid Cudi's greatest commercial success thus far, the song charting well both in the U.S. and in Europe. The next single was "Make Her Say" (originally titled "I Poke Her Face"), which features a sample from Lady Gaga's song "Poker Face" and performances by Kanye West and Common.

On February 25, 2009, Cudi self-leaked a "teaser trailer" for the upcoming ''Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' film using his song "Sky Might Fall" in the background, later he posted that he made the trailer himself and now was in talks to possibly make it official.

With Emile Haynie, Cudi produced an exclusive single called "Switchin Lanes" for the video game ''Midnight Club: Los Angeles'', part of its "South Central Premium Upgrade" downloadable content (DLC) which came out March 19, 2009 for the PlayStation 3 and March 27, 2009 for the Xbox 360.

He revealed information about his future plans via his blog, saying that a possible collaboration with Chip Tha Ripper could be followed with a collaboration project with electrorock duo Ratatat. During the summer of 2009, Cudi joined rapper Asher Roth for the Great Hangover concert tour. Kid Cudi featured on the highly anticipated Jay-Z album ''The Blueprint 3'', on the song "Already Home". In a recent interview, Cudi announced that the follow-up to his debut album will be a collaboration album called ''Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution''. He stated he has already recorded songs with Snoop Dogg, Travis Barker, Clipse, Cage and Pharrell and would also like to work with Drake, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Robin Thicke, The Killers and The Postal Service on the album. Also it's rumored that "Man On The Moon: The End Of Day" will be followed up by a sequel titled "Man On The Moon: The Ghost in the Machine" and that the ''Man on the Moon'' will be a trilogy, but has not been confirmed. Kid Cudi was nominated for three 2010 Grammy Awards for his singles, "Day 'n' Nite" and "Make Her Say". Kid Cudi was recently featured on Snoop Dogg's ''More Malice'' deluxe album, in the song "That Tree". Kid Cudi also teamed up with Johnny Polygon to remix Johnny's "Riot Song" which appears on Johnny's album, ''Rebel Without Applause'' On April 20, 2010, Kid Cudi announced that the name of his second album has been changed from ''Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution'' to ''Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager''. On June 11, 2010, Kid Cudi was arrested in the Chelsea neighborhood of the Manhattan borough New York City and charged with felony criminal mischief and possession of a controlled substance. Despite his arrest, he was released and made it to Manchester, Tennessee in time to play at Bonnaroo.

On June 30, "Erase me" featuring Kanye West was released through the radio. The song was produced by Jim Jonsin.

In October 2010, Cudi announced that he would be forming a rock band with Dot da Genius called Wizard. However, in early 2011, he announced that he would be making a new mixtape followed by a rock album.

In March 2011, Cudi announced that a music video for "Marijuana" will be released in the spring, followed by a music video of "Mr. Rager" in the summer of 2011. Also, the short film for "Maniac" directed by Shia LaBeouf will be released in October 2011.

In April 2011, while performing at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom Kid Cudi announced the new name for his label. The new label, which he will be releasing his third studio album on is called “Wicked Awesome Records”. He also announced the name of his new band, “2 Be Continuum” renaming it from the original Wizard. Kid Cudi explained the reason he changed the name of the band saying, “I needed something more original, something different, but it’s still wizardry at its finest”.

On August 12, 2011, Kid Cudi released the music video for "No One Believes Me", directed by Fright Night director Craig Gillespie. Although the song was recorded as a 2 Be Continuum song, the single was released under Kid Cudi's name. On August 21, Cudi announced that he is no longer releasing the mixtape ''A Man Named Scott'' so that he can focus on the 2 Be Continuum project ''Wizard'' and his third solo album ''Man on the Moon III''.

Acting career

Kid Cudi is currently starring in the new HBO comedy series ''How to Make it in America'', produced by Mark Wahlberg.

Discography

;Studio albums

''Man on the Moon: The End of Day'' (2009)

''Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager'' (2010)

''Man on the Moon III'' (Fall 2012)

;Collaboration albums ''WiZaRd'' (2011) – with 2 Be Continuum

;Mixtapes

''A Kid Named Cudi'' (2008)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:African American singers Category:American rappers of Mexican descent Category:Electro-hop musicians Category:American people of Native American descent Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Shaker Heights, Ohio Category:People from Solon, Ohio Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Rappers from Ohio Category:University of Toledo alumni Category:Wonky Pop acts Category:People from Cleveland, Ohio

cs:Kid Cudi da:Kid Cudi de:Kid Cudi es:Kid Cudi fa:کید کادی fr:Kid Cudi gl:Kid Cudi ko:키드 커디 hr:Kid Cudi it:Kid Cudi he:קיד קאדי lv:Kid Cudi hu:Kid Cudi nl:Kid Cudi ja:キッド・カディ pl:Kid Cudi pt:Kid Cudi ro:Kid Cudi ru:Кид Кади simple:Kid Cudi fi:Kid Cudi sv:Kid Cudi th:คิด คัดดี้ tr:Kid Cudi

name	Jamie xx
landscape	yes
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Jamie Smith
origin	London, UK
instrument	Sampler, drums, steel drums, turntable, personal computer
genre	Indie pop, electronic music, post-dubstep
occupation	Producer, remix artist, DJ
years active	2005–present
label	XL Recordings, Young Turks
associated acts	The xx, Gil Scott-Heron
website	}}

Jamie Smith (known by the stage name Jamie xx) is an English music producer and remix artist. He is a member of the London-based band The xx. Jamie's sound is influenced by fellow British acts Burial and Kode9.

In 2007, Smith joined The xx accompanying old school friends Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Baria Qureshi from the Elliott School, notable for alumni including Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet. The band's first album ''xx'' was released in August 2009 and went on to become platinum in the UK.

In July 2009, one month prior to the album release, The xx were presented by the FACT Magazine in their FACT mix series. The tape was mixed by the then relatively unknown band member Jamie and featured amongst other tracks three exclusive Jamie xx edits and a solo production. He later received numerous opportunities to remix tracks for artists such as Florence + The Machine, Jack Peñate and Glasser.

Jamie xx went on to produce series of remixes of songs by Gil Scott-Heron from his 2010 album ''I'm New Here''. The first remix single "NY Is Killing Me", credited to Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx, aired on radio stations across the UK and Europe in late 2010, followed by "I'll Take Care Of U" in January 2011. Both singles drew a lot of attention by the public and critics and set the way for a 13-track remix album entitled ''We're New Here'', came out on February 21, 2011 on the XL Records label and produced entirely by Jamie xx. "We're New Here" received very positive critical acclaims and was named ''"masterpiece in its own right"'' by BBC's Ele Beattie. A full album preview could be streamed on the website of The Guardian as early as February 14.

His single, "Far Nearer" charted at #128 in the UK singles chart.

References

Category:English record producers

alt	Christian Bale in a black suit at a movie premiere.
birth name	Christian Charles Philip Bale
birth date	January 30, 1974
birth place	Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom
occupation	Actor
years active	1982–present
spouse	Sandra Blažić (2000–present; 1 daughter) }}

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses.

Bale first caught the public eye at the age of 13, when he was cast in the starring role of Steven Spielberg's ''Empire of the Sun'' (1987). He played an English boy who is separated from his parents and subsequently finds himself lost in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. He is notable for his role as serial killer Patrick Bateman in ''American Psycho'' (2000), and for portraying Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and ''The Dark Knight'' (2008).

In 2010, Bale played Dicky Eklund in the biopic ''The Fighter''. He received critical acclaim for his role and won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

Early life

Bale was born in Wales to parents of English descent. His South African–born father, David Bale, was an entrepreneur, commercial pilot, and talent manager, and his mother, Jenny James, was a performer. He is the youngest of four children. After leaving Britain at the age of 2 in 1976, Bale spent his childhood in several countries, such as Portugal.

Settling for four years in Bournemouth and Henley-on-Thames, Bale was educated at Shiplake Church of England Primary School, the independent Dolphin School, Berkshire, and at Bournemouth School. He played rugby. Bale has described his childhood, with respect to his mother being in the circus, as "interesting." He recalled his first kiss was with an acrobat named Barta.

As a child, he trained in ballet and guitar. His sister Louise's work in theatre also influenced his decision to become an actor. Bale's father was very supportive of his son's acting, resigning from his job as a commercial pilot to travel and manage Bale's burgeoning career. The elder Bale later married feminist icon Gloria Steinem. He passed away, at age 62, on 30 December 2003 from brain lymphoma.

Bale's first foray into acting was a commercial for the fabric softener Lenor in 1982, when he was 8 years old. A year later, he appeared in a ''Pac-Man'' cereal commercial playing a child rock star. In 1984, he made his stage debut in ''The Nerd'', opposite Rowan Atkinson.

Career

1986–1998

Bale made his film debut as Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia in the made-for-television film ''Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna'' in 1986, which was followed by leading roles in the miniseries ''Heart of the Country'' and the fantasy adventure ''Mio in the Land of Faraway'', in which he appeared with Christopher Lee and Nick Pickard.

In 1987, Amy Irving, his co-star in ''Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna'', recommended Bale to her then-husband, Steven Spielberg, for a role in ''Empire of the Sun'', adapted from the J.G. Ballard semi-autobiography. Bale's performance as Jim Graham earned him widespread critical praise and the first ever "Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor" award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. The attention the press and his schoolmates lavished upon him after this took a toll on Bale, and he contemplated giving up acting until Kenneth Branagh approached him and persuaded him to appear in ''Henry V'' in 1989. In 1990, he played the role of Jim Hawkins opposite Charlton Heston (as Long John Silver) in ''Treasure Island'', an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic book.

In 1992, Bale starred as Jack Kelly in the Disney musical ''Newsies'', and followed it up in 1993 with another release, ''Swing Kids'', a movie about teenagers who secretly listened to forbidden jazz during the rise of Nazi Germany. Bale was recommended by actress Winona Ryder to star in Gillian Armstrong's 1994 film ''Little Women''. Bale provided the voice for Thomas, a young compatriot of Captain John Smith, in Disney's ''Pocahontas'' (1995) and in 1997 played Arthur Stuart in ''Velvet Goldmine'', Todd Haynes' tribute to glam rock. In 1999, Bale contributed to an all-star cast, including Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci, and Rupert Everett, portraying Demetrius in an updated version of William Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.

1999–2001

In 1999, Bale played serial killer Patrick Bateman in ''American Psycho'', director Mary Harron's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel. Bale was briefly dropped from the project in favor of Leonardo DiCaprio, but DiCaprio eventually dropped out to star in ''The Beach'', and Bale was cast once again. He researched his character by studying the novel and prepared himself physically for the role by spending months tanning and exercising in order to achieve the "Olympian physique" of the character as described in the original novel. He went so far as to distance himself from the cast and crew to maintain the darker side of Bateman's character. ''American Psycho'' premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival to much controversy. Roger Ebert condemned the film at first, calling it pornography, and "the most loathed film at Sundance," but gave it a favourable review, writing that Harron "transformed a novel about bloodlust into a movie about men's vanity." Of Bale's performance, he wrote, "Christian Bale is heroic in the way he allows the character to leap joyfully into despicability; there is no instinct for self-preservation here, and that is one mark of a good actor."

On 14 April 2000, Lions Gate Films released ''American Psycho'' in theatres. Bale was later approached to make a cameo appearance in another Bret Easton Ellis adaptation, ''The Rules of Attraction'', a film loosely connected to ''American Psycho'', but he declined out of loyalty to Harron's vision of Bateman, which he felt could not be properly expressed by anyone else. In 2000, he again played a wealthy murderer, this time in John Singleton's ''Shaft''.

Bale has played an assortment of diverse characters since 2001. His first role after ''American Psycho'' was in the John Madden adaptation of the best-selling novel ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin''. Bale played Mandras, a Greek fisherman who vied with Nicolas Cage's title character for the affections of Pelagia (Penelope Cruz). ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin'' was Bale's second time working with John Hurt, after ''All the Little Animals''.

2002–2004

From 2002 to 2003, Bale starred in three feature films. ''Laurel Canyon'' (2002) was generally well received by critics. This film also marked the second time he worked with actress Kate Beckinsale, his costar in ''Prince of Jutland'' (1994). Critics generally focused on star Frances McDormand's performance over the rest of the cast, however.

''Reign of Fire'' was Bale's first action vehicle and had, compared to all his previous work, an immense budget estimated at US$95,000,000. Bale entered into negotiations about starring in the film with reservations, but director Rob Bowman convinced him to take the lead role. Bale starred as Quinn Abercromby opposite Matthew McConaughey's Denton Van Zan. Bale and McConaughey trained for their respective roles by boxing and working out.

''Equilibrium'' was Bale's third film of 2002, costing US$20 million to produce but earning just over US$5 million worldwide. In ''Equilibrium'', Bale played John Preston, an elite law enforcer in a dystopian society. ''Equilibrium'' featured a fictional martial art called Gun Kata that combined gunfighting with hand-to-hand combat. According to moviebodycounts.com, the character of John Preston has the third most on-screen kills in a single movie ever with 118, exactly half of the movie's total of 236.

After a year's hiatus, Bale returned in 2004 to play Trevor Reznik, the title character in the psychological thriller ''The Machinist''. Bale gained attention for his devotion to the role and for the lengths to which he went to achieve Reznik's emaciated, skeletal appearance. He went without proper rest for prolonged periods, and placed himself on a crash diet of generally coffee and apples, which reduced his weight by 63 pounds () in a matter of months. By the end of filming Bale weighed only 121 pounds (), a transformation he described as "very calming mentally" and which drew comparisons to Robert De Niro's alternate weight-gaining regimen for his role as Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film ''Raging Bull''. Bale claimed that he had not worked for a period of time before he was cast in the film. "...I just hadn't found scripts that I'd really been interested in. So I was really dying for something to arrive. Then when this one did, I just didn't want to put it down. I finished it and, upon the kind of revelation that you get at the end, I immediately wanted to go back and re-visit it, to take a look at what clues I could have gotten throughout". ''The Machinist'' was a low-budget production, costing roughly US$5 million to produce, and was given only a limited US release. It was well received, with the review tallying website Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 75% of the critics' reviews tallied were positive.

Bale, an admirer of Hayao Miyazaki's ''Spirited Away'', was then cast as the voice of the title character, Howl, in the English language dub of the Japanese director's fantasy anime adventure ''Howl's Moving Castle'', an adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones's children's novel. Its gross in the US was US$4,711,096, a fraction of its worldwide gross (US$235,184,110).

Batman: 2005–present

It was reported that Bale had previously auditioned for the role of Robin in ''Batman Forever'' (1995) and later ''Batman and Robin'' (1997), but lost out to Chris O'Donnell. However, this rumor was later dispelled by Bale himself in a magazine interview in 2008. In 2004, after completing filming for ''The Machinist'', Bale won the coveted role of Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan's ''Batman Begins'', a reboot of the Batman film series. Bale beat out Jake Gyllenhaal, the closest competition for the role.

Still fresh off ''The Machinist'', it became necessary for Bale to bulk up to match Batman's muscular physique. He was given a deadline of six months to do this. Bale recalled it as far from a simple accomplishment: "...when it actually came to building muscle, I was useless. I couldn't do one push up the first day. All of the muscles were gone, so I had a real tough time rebuilding all of that." With the help of a personal trainer, Bale succeeded in meeting the deadline, gaining a total of in six months. He went from about 130 lbs to 230 lbs. He then discovered that he had actually gained more weight than the director desired, and dropped his weight to 190 lbs by the time filming began.

Bale had initial concerns about playing Batman, as he felt more ridiculous than intimidating in the Batsuit. He dealt with this by depicting Batman as a savage beast. To attain a deeper understanding of the character, Bale read various Batman comic books. He explained his interpretation of the young boy: "Batman is his hidden, demonic rage-filled side. The creature Batman creates is an absolutely sincere creature and one that he has to control but does so in a very haphazard way. He's capable of enacting violence — and to kill — so he's constantly having to rein himself in." For Bale, the most gruelling part about playing Batman was the suit. "You stick it on, you get hot, you sweat and you get a headache in the mask," he said. "But I'm not going to bitch about it because I get to play Batman." When promoting the film in interviews and public events, Bale retained an American accent to avoid confusion.

''Batman Begins'' was released in the U.S. on 15 June 2005 and was a U.S. and international triumph for Warner Bros., costing approximately US$135 million to produce and taking in over US$370 million in returns worldwide. Bale earned the Best Hero award at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards for his performance.

Bale reprised his role as Batman in the ''Batman Begins'' sequel ''The Dark Knight''. He trained in the Keysi Fighting Method, and performed many of his own stunts. ''The Dark Knight'' was released in the U.S. on 18 July 2008 and stormed through the box office, with a record-breaking $158.4 million in the U.S. in its first weekend. It broke the $300 million barrier in 10 days, the $400 million mark in 18 days and the $500 million mark in 43 days, three new U.S. box office records set by the film. The film went on to gross over $1 billion at the box office worldwide, making it the fourth-highest grossing movie worldwide of all time, before adjusting for inflation.

It has been confirmed that Bale will star in the third projected movie in the rebooted franchise, ''The Dark Knight Rises'', which will be released on 20 July 2012, making Bale the actor who has played Batman more times than any other actor in feature film. Bale has given the same opinion as Nolan that, if the latter was forced to bring Robin into the films, he would never again play Batman; even though one of his favorite Batman stories, ''Batman: Dark Victory'', focuses on Robin's origin.

2006–2009

After ''Batman Begins'', Bale returned to appearing in independent films. He was cast as one of the two leads in the South Central David Ayer-helmed crime drama ''Harsh Times'', co-starring with Freddy Rodriguez and Eva Longoria. Bale played Jim Luther Davis, a grim Afghanistan War veteran afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder, approached by the Department of Homeland Security and hired as a federal agent. ''Harsh Times'' premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival and had a wide release on 10 November 2006.

Terrence Malick directed ''The New World'', a period piece inspired by the stories of Pocahontas, and Bale was cast as John Rolfe. He shared the screen with Colin Farrell and Q'Orianka Kilcher, who played John Smith and Pocahontas. The majority of screen time was devoted to Farrell and Kilcher; Bale was a secondary character, and only appeared during the last third of the film. The film was a failure at the U.S. box office and its worldwide total (US$29,506,437) fell short of turning a profit (the production budget was placed at US$30 million).

In 2006, Bale took on four projects. ''Rescue Dawn'', by German filmmaker Werner Herzog, had him playing U.S. Fighter pilot Dieter Dengler, who has to fight for his life after being shot down while on a mission during the Vietnam War. Bale left a strong impression on Herzog, with the director complimenting his acting abilities: "I find him one of the greatest talents of his generation. We made up our own minds long before he did ''Batman''." }}In ''The Prestige'', an adaptation of the Christopher Priest novel about a rivalry between two Victorian stage magicians, Bale was reunited with ''Batman Begins'' Michael Caine and director Christopher Nolan. The cast of ''The Prestige'' also included Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Piper Perabo, and David Bowie. ''I'm Not There'', a film in which Bale again worked alongside Todd Haynes and Heath Ledger (who would go on to play The Joker in ''The Dark Knight''), is an artistic reflection of the life of Bob Dylan. He starred opposite Russell Crowe in a commercially and critically successful Western film, ''3:10 to Yuma''.

Bale was originally cast to play George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's film ''W.'', but dropped out due to the prosthetics involved. Bale played John Connor in ''Terminator Salvation'' and FBI agent Melvin Purvis in Michael Mann's ''Public Enemies''.

''Terminator Salvation'' incident

In July 2008, Bale flew into an angry tirade on the sets of ''Terminator Salvation'', while filming in New Mexico. In February 2009, the audio recording of the incident was released. The tirade was directed at Shane Hurlbut, director of photography for the film. According to Bale, Hurlbut had, for the second time, ruined his concentration by walking onto the set during a scene. The recording is of a highly agitated Bale directing profanities at Hurlbut, threatening and belittling him, and finally threatening to quit the film if Hurlbut repeated his offence without being fired for it. It was reported that Warner film executives sent the tape to the insurer of the film in case Bale decided to quit the movie. In an interview with ''E! Online'', assistant director and producer of ''Terminator Salvation'', Bruce Franklin, said it was an isolated incident. "If you are working in a very intense scene and someone takes you out of your groove ... It was the most emotional scene in the movie ... [A]nd for him to get stopped in the middle of it. He is very intensely involved in his character. He didn't walk around like that all day long. It was just a moment and it passed," Franklin said.

Actors Whoopi Goldberg and Terry Crews, directors Darren Aronofsky and Ron Howard, as well as ''Ain't It Cool News'' website creator Harry Knowles have also publicly defended Bale's actions, some of them citing the practice that crew members are to remain still while the camera is rolling. The incident also inspired experimental band The Mae Shi to write the song, "R U Professional", which features samples from the recording; similarly, Lucian Piane's remix "Bale Out" is composed almost enirely of audio from the incident. Stephen Colbert parodied the incident on the 4 February 2009 episode of ''The Colbert Report'', in which guest Steve Martin repeatedly walked in front of the camera and was berated by Colbert. The incident was re-enacted on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', with ''Inside the Actor's Studio'' host James Lipton giving performances of both Bale and the crewmember. An episode of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy'' also mixed in the voice of Peter Griffin interacting with Bale and reacting to Bale's comments as if they were directed at him to comedic effect.

After remaining silent for most of the week, Bale gave a public apology on 6 February 2009, to a Los Angeles radio station, KROQ. He stated that the outburst was "inexcusable" and that it was motivated by the day's shooting intensity. Bale said he "acted like a punk", and that he and Hurlbut talked after the incident and "resolved this completely". Bale acknowledged that the two worked together for several hours after the incident, and ''"at least a month after that... I've seen a rough cut of the movie and he has done a wonderful job. It looks fantastic"''.

2010–present

Bale starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in the David O. Russell-directed 2010 drama ''The Fighter'', for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and thirty other awards in 2011. Near the end of his acceptance speech during the televised Golden Globes awards ceremony, Bale complemented Robert DeNiro by saying he was "the shit". The comment was censored by NBC.

Writer/director Joe Carnahan confirmed in November 2007 that Bale is also involved in the upcoming movie ''Killing Pablo'' in which he is to play Major Steve Jacoby. According to a ''Nuts'' magazine interview, Bale stated that he will be in the running to play the role of Solid Snake in a film adaptation of ''Metal Gear Solid''. Niels Arden Oplev, director of ''The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'', is to have Bale as lead in his current project ''The Last Photograph'', which Oplev hopes to start filming early 2011. Bale will also star in the upcoming untitled film from Terrence Malick.

Personal life

On 29 January 2000, Bale married Sandra "Sibi" Blažić (born 1970), a former model, make-up artist and personal assistant to Winona Ryder; the couple have a daughter, Emmeline, who was born on 27 March 2005 in Santa Monica, California. Since 1992, Bale has resided in Los Angeles.

Bale has three elder sisters – Erin Bale, a musician; Sharon Bale, a computer professional; and Louise Bale, a theatre actress and director. The Bale family is deeply rooted in show business, especially theatre. Bale is a distant relative of British actress Lillie Langtry, while his uncle, Rex Bale, and maternal grandfather were actors as well.

Like his late father, Christian Bale actively supports environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund. Feminist activist Gloria Steinem became Christian Bale's stepmother on 3 September 2000; it was her first marriage (at the age of 66), and the couple were together until David's death.

During an interview promoting his 2009 film ''Public Enemies'', Bale said he is a video game fan, specifically of the ''Metal Gear Solid'' series. When questioned about his time spent playing the game, Bale stated that he prefers to devote his spare time to constructive things and dislikes discussing his personal life.

Bale has stated that he is a big fan of late comedian Chris Farley and of Farley's film ''Beverly Hills Ninja''.

Film and television credits

+ List of film and television credits
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1985	''''	Rufus
1986	''Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna''		TV movie
1987	''Heart of the Country''	Ben Harris
1987		BenkeJum-Jum
1987		Jamie "Jim" Graham
1989		Falstaff's Boy
1990			TV movie
1991	''''	Tim Perkins	TV movie
1992	''Newsies''	Jack "Cowboy" KellyFrancis Sullivan
1993		Thomas Berger
1994	''Prince of Jutland''	Amled
1994		Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence
1995		Thomas	Voice only
1996	''''	Edward Rosier
1996	''''	Stevie
1997		Chris Lloyd
1998	''Velvet Goldmine''	Arthur Stuart
1998	''All the Little Animals''	Bobby Platt
1999	''''	Demetrius
1999			TV movie
2000		Patrick Bateman
2000		Walter Wade, Jr.
2001		Mandras
2002		Sam Bentley
2002		Quinn Abercromby
2002		Cleric John Preston
2004	''''	Trevor Reznik
2004
2005	''Batman Begins''
2005			Video gameVoice only
2005	''Harsh Times''	Jim Luther Davis	Also executive producer
2005	''''	John Rolfe
2006	''Rescue Dawn''	Dieter Dengler
2006	''''	Alfred Borden
2007		Dan Evans
2007	''I'm Not There''
2008	''''
2009	''Terminator Salvation''	John Connor
2009		Melvin Purvis
2010	''	Dicky Eklund
TBA	''13 Flowers of Nanjing''		''Filming''
2012	''''		''Filming''

Awards and nominations

+ List of awards and award nominations
! Year	! Award	! Award category	! Title of work	! Result
1987	National Board of Review	Best Juvenile Performance
1988	Young Artist Award		''Empire of the Sun''
2001	Chlotrudis Awards	Best Actor
2001	Empire Award	Best Actor	''American Psycho''
2001	London Film Critics' Circle Awards	British Actor of the Year	''American Psycho''
2001		Best Actor	''American Psycho''
2004		Best Actor	''''
2005	Irish Film and Television Award	Best International Actor	''Batman Begins''
2005	European Film Awards	Best Actor	''''
2005	Saturn Award	Best Actor	''''
2006	London Film Critics' Circle Awards	British Actor of the Year	''''
2006	MTV Movie Awards	Best Hero	''Batman Begins''
2006	Empire Awards	Best Actor	''Batman Begins''
2006	Saturn Awards	Best Actor	''Batman Begins''
2006	Scream Awards	Best Superhero	''Batman Begins''
2006	Scream Awards	Most Heroic Performance	''Batman Begins''
2007	Empire Award	Best Actor	''''
2007	San Diego Film Critics Society Awards	Special Award
2007	Satellite Award	Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama	''Rescue Dawn''
2008	London Film Critics' Circle Awards	British Actor of the Year
2008	Independent Spirit Award	Robert Altman Award (with Todd Haynes, Laura Rosenthal, Cate Blanchett,Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw, Marcus Carl Franklin, Bruce Greenwood, Charlotte Gainsbourg)	''I'm Not There''
2008	Scream Awards	Best Fantasy Actor	''''
2008	Scream Awards	Best Superhero	''''
2009	Empire Awards	Best Actor	''''
2009		Favorite Male Acvion Star	''''
2009	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Leading Man	''''
2009	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Superhero	''''
2009	People's Choice Awards	Favorite On Screen Match Up (with Heath Ledger)	''''
2009	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Cast (with Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine,Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal)	''''
2009	West Point Cadet Choice Awards	Best Exemplification of Leadership	''''
2009	Saturn Award	Best Actor	''''
2010	BAFTA Award		''''
2010	Alliance of Women Film Journalists	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Austin Film Critics Association		''''
2010	Black Film Critics Circle	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Boston Society of Film Critics	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Boston Society of Film Critics		''''
2010	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards		''''
2010	Central Ohio Film Critics Circle Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Central Ohio Film Critics Circle Association Awards		''''
2010	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Denver Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Detroit Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Florida Film Critics Circle	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010			''''
2010	Houston Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010		Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Kansas City Film Critics Circle	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Las Vegas Film Critics Society	Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	London Film Critics' Circle	British Actor of the Year	''''
2010	National Board of Review	National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	New York Film Critics Online	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	North Texas Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Oklahoma Film Critics Circle	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Online Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Phoenix Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	San Diego Film Critics Society		''''
2010	Satellite Awards	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	''''
2011	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Best Cast	''''
2011	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Utah Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Vancouver Film Critics Circle		''''
2010	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor	''''
2010	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	''''
2011	[[Academy Awards	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor	''''

References

External links

Category:1974 births Category:People educated at Bournemouth School Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Category:English child actors Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English film actors Category:Living people Category:People from Haverfordwest Category:People from Bournemouth Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area

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