name	Next
director	Lee Tamahori
producer	Nicolas CageJason Koornick Todd Garner Norm GolightlyGraham KingArne Schmidt
screenplay	Gary GoldmanJonathan HensleighPaul Bernbaum
story	Gary Goldman
starring	Nicolas CageJulianne MooreJessica BielThomas KretschmannPeter Falk
music	Mark Isham
cinematography	David Tattersall
editing	Christian Wagner
studio	Revolution StudiosInitial Entertainment GroupVirtual StudiosSaturn Films
distributor	Paramount Pictures (US and select other countries only)
released
runtime	96 minutes
country
language	English
budget	$70 million
gross	$73,541,500 }}

''Next'' is a 2007 film, whose original script was very loosely based on the science fiction short story "The Golden Man" by Philip K. Dick. The film is directed by Lee Tamahori and stars Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel. The film was released on April 27, 2007.

Plot

Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage) can see into his future. He can only see two minutes ahead, with the exception of a vision he once had of a woman walking into a diner. Because there are no details other than the time, he goes to the diner twice each day at 8:09, to await her arrival. He works as a small-time magician in Las Vegas, where he supplements his income with gambling, using his powers to win against the house. He draws the attention of FBI agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore), who has figured out his ability and wants to stop terrorists from detonating a nuclear weapon. Before Ferris can approach Cris, however, his gambling draws the attention of casino security. On his way out of the casino, he stops an imminent robbery, yet is chased by security agents. Using his ability to forecast the actions of his pursuers, he eludes both them and Las Vegas police. Ferris tracks Cris to his home, but he escapes after foreseeing her arrival. Later that night, the casino's security chief is approached by two of the terrorists, is interrogated about Johnson and is then killed.

The following morning, Cris is at the diner again when he sees Liz Cooper (Jessica Biel), the woman from his vision. It turns out that not only can Cris see the future, but can see the effects of what any number of his actions can do to that future. After envisioning a number of different approachesall of which fall flathe meets Liz after intervening when her ex-boyfriend arrives. Knowing that she is heading for Flagstaff, Arizona, Cris charms her into giving him a ride. Ferris follows, while the terrorists decide to kill him. A washed-out road forces Cris and Liz to spend the night in a motel. With the weapon tracked to Los Angeles, Ferris convinces her superiors to let her bring Cris in. The terrorists follow in the hope that the agents will lead them to Cris.

Later that day, Agent Ferris confronts Liz while she is walking near the hotel. Claiming Cris is a dangerous sociopath, she asks her to drug Cris so that they can bring him in peacefully. Instead, Liz warns Cris, who tells her about his secret. When she asks why he will not help the FBI stop the terrorists, he explains his limitations, noting the exception for events involving her. Asking for Liz to wait for him, he tries to escape from the FBI agents waiting to arrest him but is captured after saving Ferris from logs tumbling down the side of a mountain. Unable to kill Cris, the terrorists kidnap Liz instead.

In custody, Cris is strapped to a chair with his eyes held open and forced to watch television until he has a vision that can help the FBI. Expecting him to see a report about the detonation of the bomb, instead he envisions a broadcast from several hours in the future in which Liz is killed by a bomb while strapped to a wheelchair as bait for Cris. Cris escapes from captivity and races to the parking garage where she will be killed. Pursuing Cris to the garage, Ferris promises to help save her as long as Cris will help stop the bomb, and sets up a plan to draw out the terrorists.

Using his ability, Cris helps the FBI track the terrorists to the port where they are based. When they arrive, after a series of exchanges, Cris is able to walk right up to the terrorist leader and avoid being hit, by seeing where the bullets will go and dodging them. After killing the terrorists and saving Liz, they find that the bomb has already been moved. Ferris shows Cris a seismograph hoping that he will see any tremors caused by explosions before they happen. As he stares at the screen he realizes that he has made a mistake and that he was too late; the bomb detonates out at sea and completely destroys the port, as well as the rest of the city.

The timeline reverts back to Cris and Liz in bed at the hotel in Arizona, before Liz goes outside to be confronted by Ferris. Because of Liz's involvement in events, Cris has been able to envision everything that could happen leading to the nuclear explosion. "Everytime you look into the future, it changes."

Cris calls Ferris and offers to help prevent the nuclear disaster, then asks Liz to wait for him.

Cast

Nicolas Cage as Cris Johnson

Julianne Moore as Callie Ferris

Jessica Biel as Liz Cooper

Thomas Kretschmann as Mr. Smith

Tory Kittles as Cavanaugh

Jose Zuniga as Security Chief Roybal

Jim Beaver as Wisdom

Jason Butler Harner as Jeff Baines

Michael Trucco as Kendall

Enzo Cilenti as Mr. Jones

Laetitia Danielle as Miss Brown

Nicolas Pajon as Mr. Green

Peter Falk as Irv

Production

Gary Goldman and Jason Koornick initially optioned the science fiction short story ''The Golden Man'' by Philip K. Dick. Goldman wrote a script treatment that he and Koornick presented to Nicolas Cage's production company, Saturn Films, but Goldman ended up writing the screenplay on spec.

Original draft

This first draft had more similarities to the short story, detailing the efforts of a government agency to capture and contain a precognitive mutant.

To provide greater interaction between the opposing parties (as well as create a leading role), Cris was changed from a feral animal whose existence threatened humanity's into a more familiar and understandable social outcast. A romantic subplot was added: the character of Liz Cooper, who in this draft was not only destined to be the love of Cris's life, but a mutant as well (born in Love Canal) and the only woman he has ever met with whom he can have children, herself incapable of procreating with normal humans.

As the original short story had a distinct tone of racist paranoia, the motivation for the pursuit of Cris was changed from an ironclad policy of exterminating mutations to a manipulative Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent's obsessive search for unconventional assets in the war on terror, though the DHS began exhibiting this paranoia as their efforts to control Cris prove increasingly inadequate.

This script was filled with anti-authoritarian themes, with Cris often speaking clearly and eloquently of how he enjoys his independence. He states plainly that "what I want is freedom. And you don’t get it by giving it up." Though many uses of his gift are detailed by the DHS, Cris lives a simple life as a stage magician, only gambling in an extremely limited fashion.

The DHS is explicitly depicted as a completely unregulated, astoundingly powerful and unapologetically ruthless collection of fanatics, breaking laws without consideration and eager to torture and even murder innocent civilians to achieve their objectives. Forcing Cris's co-operation is just the objective that they are focused on, for it will permit them to achieve countless others. They wax poetic on their plans in using Cris as if he were a piece of machinery, most of which consist of using him as a "timescope"; that is, bolting him into a chair for the rest of his life so his only experiences are ones which are useful to them, a process which they believe would extend the range of his abilities. One agent suggests that they amputate his arms and legs, a suggestion his colleague considers humorous. That is, until she realizes Cris has probably realized the possibility of such an occurrence the instant it was proposed.

However, his enemies are skilled tormentors, and eventually they drive him to the breaking point: when the DHS learns that Liz is pregnant with his child, they coldly decide to have her executed at a pre-determined time, thus pre-emptively proving to Cris their determination to possess him. Even then all his efforts are focused on securing Liz's safety: an objective which the DHS, though only with great difficulty, is able to prevent him from achieving. Then and only then does he make his only counterattack on those who have abused him so relentlessly and thoroughly. He demolishes the Las Vegas DHS headquarters with a barrel of C-4 agents had seized earlier in a warrant-less search. His abilities, of course, ensure that Liz and he are the ''only'' survivors.

But one constant throughout the script was the knowledge that Cris is running for his life. The script begins with Cris's seeming infallibility informing him that the authorities will settle for nothing less than total control of his abilities. Cris thus constantly flees the DHS, sure that if he is captured he will be imprisoned for the rest of his life. This theory is never challenged: even as the film ends, Cris believes he is trading his freedom for his son's life.

The only clue as to his motivation for surrendering is a conversation between him and Liz Cooper in which he says that he wants a real family. Liz would never bear his child if he let the bombs go off, but by willingly accepting imprisonment, he might be able to keep the authorities from ever learning of his son's existence – he may be a slave, but he ensures his son will live free. He thus makes the ultimate sacrifice. "Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame. For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see."

Saturn re-draft

Saturn Films had the script extensively rewritten, and in the process almost completely eliminated its anti-authoritarian themes. Though Cris remained a meek social outcast, he is somewhat less sympathetic; he is portrayed as arrogant, and far more prone to applying violent solutions. The DHS's role was replaced with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Despite a scene in which Cris experiences his worst nightmare – spending the rest of his life strapped into a chair with his eyes wedged open – the authorities are portrayed as sympathetic, and Cris as uncooperative and belligerent. Their insistence on his obedience is reduced to the point that the authorities offer their assistance in ''rescuing'' Liz (whom they neglect to arrest despite her efforts to sabotage Cris's capture) from the terrorists. This leads to the film's greatest variation from the original draft – a confrontation with the terrorists. No clue is given as to the motivation for the terrorists' detonation of the nuclear device in Los Angeles. The few terrorists who speak in the film, mostly with French and German accents, seem to be under the guidance of an unseen leader who has told them that they must kill Cris since "he says that Cris is the only threat to the plan". During the confrontation with the terrorists, Cris willingly supports the FBI with his abilities in a series of sequences similar to those in the original script, only with the authorities as allies instead of antagonists.

This was the script Saturn Films brought to the attention of Revolution Studios. Revolution Studios acquired the screenplay and in November 2004, Revolution Studios hired Lee Tamahori to direct the film, with Cage in the lead role. Filming was to begin in Summer 2005. In December 2005, Moore was cast as the federal agent who seeks people to help prevent future terrorism and uncovers Cage's character as a potential candidate. In November 2005, Initial Entertainment Group negotiated for rights of international distribution of ''Next'', which had a target release date of 2007. In February 2006, actress Jessica Biel was cast as the love interest of Cage's character.

In May 2006, Starz! Entertainment's 14-episode reality television miniseries, ''Looking for Stars'', gave 200 contestants the opportunity to earn a speaking role in ''Next'', which was won by actor Marcus Welch.

''Next'' originally was to be distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment (which had a deal with Revolution), set to be released on September 28, 2006, but that studio dumped it in January 2007, and Paramount Pictures subsequently picked it up and released the film on April 27, 2007 .

Box office

The film opened at #3 at the U.S. box office, grossing $7.1 million in 2,725 theaters in its opening weekend. In its eight-week run in the United States, it grossed a total of $18 million and has a combined worldwide gross of $64.7 million. Compared to other films based on Philip K. Dick stories, ''Next'' grossed less than ''Minority Report'', ''Total Recall'', ''Paycheck'' and ''Blade Runner'' – but performed better than ''Impostor'', ''Screamers'' and ''A Scanner Darkly''.

Reception

''Next'' received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 28% based on 128 reviews (36 "fresh", 92 "rotten"). Metacritic gives the film had an average score of 42% based on 23 reviews.

Justin Chang of ''Variety'' said the film plays "like the cinematic equivalent of a Choose Your Own Adventure novel" and that the plot is highly reminiscent of ''24''. Chang also said "What starts out as a mildly diverting thriller blows itself to smithereens in the final reel", describing the climax as a "stunning cheat." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film 2½ out of 4 stars and said parts of the film are "fascinating" and "compelling" but that "the whole thing ends up collapsing under its own weight." Berardinelli said Nicolas Cage "seems to be going through the motions", "Julianne Moore brings intensity to the part of Callie, although the character is incomplete", "Jessica Biel is appealing" but "the character is unfinished", and that "Thomas Kretschmann is unimpressive as a generic ''24''-style terrorist." He also said "some viewers will feel cheated by what ''Next'' does, and it's hard to blame them." Connie Ogle of the ''Miami Herald'' gave the film 2 out of 4 stars and said the film looks like director Lee Tamahori "spent about 12 bucks on his special effects budget." Ogle said the film had a decent premise but "''Next'' begins to seriously embarrass itself and its stars once it rolls to its climax." ''Toronto Star'' film critic Peter Howell gave the film 1½ stars out of 4 and called it a "colossal waste of time" and said it is "possibly the most egregious befouling of Dick's work to date." Howell said the roles "seem to be cut-and-pasted from other movies", called the film a "straight-to-DVD wannabe", and said the film "has one of the most infuriating endings ever."

Moira MacDonald of the ''Seattle Times'' gave ''Next'' 1½ stars out of 4 and said "Late in the movie, Cris shouts at a bad guy, 'I've seen every possible ending here. None of them are good for you.' It's as if he's talking to the audience, and alas, he's right." and "Julianne Moore spends most of her screen time in Lee Tamahori's confused sci-fi thriller ''Next'' looking royally pissed off, like she got tricked into making the movie on a sucker bet. You can't blame her; this film's audience is likely to look that way as well by the time the end credits roll." ''Kalamazoo Gazette'' critic James Sanford gave the film 1½ stars and said "the only visions ''Next'' inspires are flashbacks to better films" like ''Honeymoon in Vegas'', ''Leaving Las Vegas'', ''The Illusionist'', and ''Hannibal'', adding "any film that makes someone wish he or she were watching ''Hannibal'' must be pretty awful." Sanford said "Cage performs as if he's on autopilot, Moore looks more miserable than she did as the suicidal housewife in ''The Hours'', and Biel seems fully aware she was hired only to provide a few glimpses of cheesecake." Sanford also remarked, "the ending of this film is not just a colossal cheat, its a hard slap in the face to anyone who has invested his or her time in watching it." Daniel Eagan of ''Film Journal International'' said the film "follows a familiar Hollywood pattern in which a few intriguing ideas are swamped by the demands of a big-budget, star-driven vehicle" and that it "won't add any luster to Nicolas Cage's resume." Eagan said "Half of ''Next'' is a clever, unpredictable thriller that plays with Dick's customary obsessions with time and reality. The other half is a sloppy, bloated adventure marred by cheesy special effects and some equally cheesy acting" and also that "the script to ''Next'' has plenty of [plot jams], one or two egregious enough to demand ticket refunds."

''Orlando Sentinel'' critic Roger Moore gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and said "who says preposterous junk can't be fun?" Moore said "this sloppy little time-travel variation is a crowd-pleasing hoot, thanks mostly to Cage turning on the charisma and showing off his gift for hangdog understatement" and that the ''Groundhog Day''-like attempts to woo Jessica Biel's character are "hilarious." Moore concluded "It's all so stupid and ends so perfunctorily that you can't call ''Next'' good, or even as good as the dopey ''Déjà Vu''...but it does score over [''Déjà Vu''] in one important criterion. It's just fun." Wesley Morris of the ''Boston Globe'' gave the film 2½ out of 4 stars and called it a "watchably absurd popcorn flick" and that the film "bears almost no resemblance" to the original short story "The Golden Man", the short story it was adapted from. He described Moore's performance as "enjoyably curt" and said "alongside Cage's spontaneity, Biel seems humorless and earnestly dull." Morris said the film is fun "until it turns crass" and concluded, "when you're being toyed with that cheaply, you forget how much you admire Nicolas Cage's shamelessness and start to resent the movie's." Diana Saenger of ''ReviewExpress'' gave the film 3½ stars and said "''Next'' boasts a fresh plot with a tricky twist ending that can be misconstrued if you don't pay close attention and then pause to think about it." Saenger reported that it was Nicolas Cage's idea for Cris to be a magician, and that it was his suggestion that his wife be part of the scene where a woman comes out of the audience to be part of the magic show. Saenger remarked that people complaining about the twist being a rip-off probably didn't understand it and said it made perfect sense and concluded "I liked the surprise twist and found ''Next'' very entertaining."

The film was subject to the heckling of Bridget Jones Nelson and Michael J. Nelson in an October 2007 installment of ''Rifftrax''.

Filming

Sections of the film were filmed in the San Bernardino Mountains in California. Mountain Locations used in production of the film included Crestline, Running Springs and Big Bear Lake. The hotel featured in the film, "The Cliffhanger", is actually a restaurant in the Crestline area that has remained closed for some time. The restaurant, located on a cliff, overlooks the City of San Bernardino. In order to make the restaurant look more like a hotel, a facade was attached to the building. The facade is the section of the motel where Johnson and Liz Cooper were staying. Interior shots were filmed elsewhere. Following the end of production, the facade was removed. However, remnants of the signage placed and the paint works conducted remain intact. The property has been fenced off and a for sale sign has been posted. Running Springs served for scenes shot in the town. Scenes (in which a vehicle was rolled off the side of a cliff) shot in Big Bear Lake were shot at a campground. Due to the terrain located on the side of the cliff the Cliffhanger is located on, the producers decided to finish the scenes at the campground in Big Bear Lake.

References

External links

Category:2007 films Category:American films Category:English-language films Category:2000s thriller films Category:American thriller films Category:Films based on the works of Philip K. Dick Category:Films set in Las Vegas Category:Films shot in Arizona Category:Films shot in California Category:Films shot in Nevada Category:Films shot digitally Category:Paramount Pictures films Category:Revolution Studios films Category:Supernatural thriller films

ca:Next (pel·lícula) cs:Next de:Next (Film) el:Next es:Next (película) fa:آینده (فیلم) fr:Next (film) id:Next (film) it:Next (film) lt:Pranašas (filmas) hu:Next – A holnap a múlté nl:Next (2007) ja:NEXT -ネクスト- no:Next pl:Next (film) pt:Next (filme) ru:Пророк (фильм, 2007) fi:Next sv:Next (film) tr:Next (film) zh:驚魂下一秒

birth date	January 07, 1964
birth place	Long Beach, California, US
birth name	Nicolas Kim Coppola
occupation	Actor, producer, director
years active	1980–present
spouse
parents
relatives	Marc Coppola (brother)Christopher Coppola (brother) }}

Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola on January 7, 1964) is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including ''Raising Arizona'' (1987), ''The Rock'' (1996), ''Face/Off'' (1997), ''Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), ''Adaptation'' (2002), ''National Treasure'' (2004), ''Ghost Rider'' (2007), ''Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'' (2009), and ''Kick-Ass'' (2010). Cage, at age 32, became the fifth youngest actor ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Leaving Las Vegas''.

Early life

Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola on January 7, 1964 in Long Beach, California. Raised by Catholic parents, his father, August Coppola, a professor of literature and his mother, Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer divorced in 1976. Cage's mother is of German descent and his father was of Italian descent (his paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata). Through his father, Cage is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are New York radio personality Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. He attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of ''Golden Boy''.

Career

Acting career

To avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name early in his career to Nicolas Cage, inspired in part by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. Since his minor role in the film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', with Sean Penn, Cage has appeared in a wide range of films, both mainstream and offbeat. He tried out for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film ''The Outsiders'', based on S.E. Hinton's novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. He was also in Coppola's films ''Rumble Fish'' and ''Peggy Sue Got Married.''

Other Cage roles included appearances in the acclaimed 1987 romantic-comedy ''Moonstruck'', also starring Cher; The Coen Brothers cult-classic comedy ''Raising Arizona''; David Lynch's 1990 offbeat film ''Wild at Heart''; a lead role in Martin Scorsese's 1999 New York City paramedic drama ''Bringing Out the Dead''; and Ridley Scott's 2003 quirky drama ''Matchstick Men'', in which he played an agoraphobic, mysophobic, obsessive-compulsive con artist with a tic disorder.

Cage has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, winning once for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in ''Leaving Las Vegas''. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Kaufman's fictional twin Donald in ''Adaptation.'' Despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles. The suspense thriller ''8mm'' (1999) was not a box office success, but is now considered a cult film. He took the lead role in the 2001 film ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin'' and learned to play the mandolin from scratch for the part. In 2005, two offbeat films he headlined, ''Lord of War'' and ''The Weather Man'', failed to find a significant audience despite nationwide releases and good reviews for his acting in those roles. Poor reviews for ''The Wicker Man'' resulted in low box office sales. The much criticized ''Ghost Rider'' (2007), based on the Marvel Comics character, fared better, earning more than $45 million (the top earner) during its opening weekend and over $208 million worldwide through the weekend ending on March 25, 2007. Also in 2007, he made his directorial debut in ''Sonny'' and he starred in ''Next'', which shares the concept of a glimpse into an alternate timeline with ''The Family Man'' (2000).

Most of Cage's movies that have achieved financial success were in the action/adventure genre. In his second-highest grossing film to date, ''National Treasure'', he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Other action hits include ''The Rock'', in which Cage plays a young FBI chemical weapons expert who infiltrates Alcatraz Island in hopes of neutralizing a terrorist threat, ''Face/Off'', a John Woo film where he plays both a hero and a villain, and ''World Trade Center'', director Oliver Stone's film regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks. He had a small but notable role as the Chinese criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu in Rob Zombie's fake trailer ''Werewolf Women of the S.S.'' from the B-movie double feature ''Grindhouse''.

Cage made his directorial debut with ''Sonny'', a low-budget drama starring James Franco as a male prostitute whose mother (Brenda Blethyn) serves as his pimp. Cage had a small role in the film, which received poor reviews and a short run in a limited number of theatres. Cage's producing career includes ''Shadow of the Vampire'', the first film from Saturn Films.

In early December 2006, Cage announced at the Bahamas International Film Festival that he planned to curtail his future acting endeavors to pursue other interests. On ''The Dresden Files'' for the Sci-Fi Channel, Cage is listed as the executive producer. Cage said: "I feel I've made a lot of movies already and I want to start exploring other opportunities that I can apply myself to, whether it's writing or other interests that I may develop."

In November 2007, Cage was spotted backstage at a ''Ring of Honor'' wrestling show in New York City researching his role for ''The Wrestler''. The role was ultimately played by Mickey Rourke, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance. ''Wrestler'' Director Darren Aronofsky, in an interview with slashfilm.com, said of Cage's decision to leave the film that: "Nic was a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but ... you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race."

In 2008, Cage appeared as Joe, a contract killer who undergoes a change of heart while on a work outing in Bangkok, in the film ''Bangkok Dangerous''. The film is shot by the Pang Brothers and has a distinct South-East Asian flavor. In 2009, Cage starred in science fiction thriller ''Knowing'', directed by Alex Proyas. In the film, he plays an MIT professor who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son's elementary school. Startling predictions found inside the capsule that have already come true lead him to believe the world is going to end at the close of the week, and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction. The film received mainly negative reviews but was the box office winner on its opening weekend. Also in 2009, Cage starred in the film ''Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'', directed by acclaimed German director Werner Herzog. He portrayed a corrupt police officer with gambling, drug and alcohol addictions. The film was very well-received by critics, holding a rating of 87% positive reviews on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Cage received lauds for his performance, with Michael Phillips of the ''Chicago Tribune'' writing "Herzog has found his ideal interpreter, a performer whose truth lies deep in the artifice of performance: ladies and gentlemen, Nicolas Cage, at his finest." This film reunited Cage with Eva Mendes, who played his love interest in ''Ghost Rider''. In 2010, Cage starred in the period piece ''Season of the Witch'', playing a 14th-century knight transporting a girl accused of causing the Black Plague to a monastery, and ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'', in which he played the sorcerer. He will star in ''National Treasure 3'', which has a possible release date as early as 2011. He will again take the role of Benjamin Gates, a cryptologist-turned-treasure hunter.

Other works

Cage, an avid comic book fan, auctioned a collection of 400 vintage comics through Heritage Auctions for over $1.6 million in 2002.

In 2007 he created a comic book with his son Weston, called ''Voodoo Child'', which was published by Virgin Comics.

Cage is a fan and collector of painter and underground comic artist Robert Williams. He has written introductions for ''Juxtapoz'' magazine and purchased the painting ''Death On The Boards''.

Acting style

In February 2011, Cage claimed to have created a new method of acting he calls "Nouveau Shamanic". He claims to have used the acting style throughout his career and one day plans to write a book about the method.

Praise and criticism

The acting work of Cage has been praised by influential film critic Roger Ebert who writes, in his "Great Movies" essay about the film ''Adaptation'', that: "There are often lists of the great living male movie stars: De Niro, Nicholson and Pacino, usually. How often do you see the name of Nicolas Cage? He should always be up there. He's daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively.... He always seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him." Roger Ebert, in response to mixed reviews of ''Knowing'' and their focus on criticizing Cage, wrote an article in which he defends both Cage as an actor and the movie which, in stark contrast to other critics, Ebert gave 4/4 stars.

In the 1995 edition of the Academy Awards, Cage was awarded Best Actor for his performance in ''Leaving Las Vegas''.

In May 2001, Cage was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Fullerton. He spoke at the commencement ceremony.

Despite such praise, Cage has his detractors. Cage has been criticized for choosing to star in big-budget action-adventure movies rather than smaller character-driven dramas, the type of film that initially garnered him praise. In 1999, one-time friend Sean Penn expressed that sentiment to the ''New York Times'', declaring Cage "no longer an actor."

Personal life

Relationships and family

In 1988, Cage began dating actress Christina Fulton, who later bore their son, Weston Coppola Cage (born December 26, 1990). Weston is lead singer of the black metal band Eyes of Noctum, and appeared in Cage's film ''Lord of War'' as Vladimir, a young Ukrainian mechanic who quickly disarms a Mil Mi-24 helicopter.

Cage has been married three times. His first wife was actress Patricia Arquette (married on April 8, 1995, divorce finalized on May 18, 2001). Cage later married singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. Cage is an Elvis fan and used the star as the base of his performance in ''Wild at Heart''. Presley and Cage married on August 10, 2002 and filed for divorce on November 25, 2002 which was finalized on May 16, 2004. The divorce proceeding was longer than the marriage.

Cage met his third and current wife Alice Kim, a former waitress who previously worked at the plush Los Angeles restaurant Kabuki, at the Los Angeles-based Korean nightclub, Le Privé. She bore their son, Kal-El, (named after Superman's birth name) on October 3, 2005. Cage was once considered for the role of Superman in a film to be directed by Tim Burton. Alice had a minor role in the 2007 film ''Next'', which Cage produced. They were married at a private ranch in Northern California on July 30, 2004.

Real estate and tax problems

Cage had a Malibu home where he and Kim lived, but sold the property in 2005 for $10 million. In 2004 he bought a property on Paradise Island, Bahamas. In May 2006, he bought a island in the Exuma archipelago, some southeast of Nassau and close to a similar island owned by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

He once owned the medieval castle of Schloss Neidstein in the Oberpfalz region in Germany, which he bought in 2006 and sold in 2009 for $2.5 million. His grandmother was German, living in Cochem an der Mosel.

In August 2007, Cage purchased a home in Middletown, Rhode Island. The , brick-and-stone country manor occupies , has 12 bedrooms, 10 full bathrooms, and ocean views and borders the Norman Bird Sanctuary. The estate is called the "Grey Craig". The sale ranked among the state’s most expensive residential purchases, eclipsed by the 2007 $17.15 million sale of the Miramar mansion on Bellevue Avenue in Newport. Also in 2007, the actor purchased Midford Castle in Somerset, England.

Shortly after selling his German castle, Cage also put homes in Rhode Island, Louisiana, Nevada, and California, as well as a $7 million island in the Bahamas, up for sale.

On July 14, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service filed documents in New Orleans in connection with a federal tax lien against property owned by Cage in Louisiana, concerning unpaid federal taxes. The IRS alleges that Cage failed to pay over $6.2 million in federal income tax for the year 2007. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service has another lien for more than $350,000 in unpaid taxes dating from 2002 to 2004. Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit on October 16, 2009, against his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, alleging negligence and fraud. The lawsuit states that Levin "had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed [Cage] in speculative and risky real estate investments 'resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses'." Cage is also facing separate lawsuits from East West Bank and Red Curb Investments for unpaid, multimillion dollar loans.

Samuel Levin filed a counter-complaint and responded to the lawsuit in a filing stating that he warned Cage that he was living beyond his means and urged him to spend less. Levin's filing states that "instead of listening to Levin, cross-defendant Cage (Coppola) spent most of his free time shopping for high ticket purchases, and wound up with 15 personal residences", Levin's complaint continued: "Likewise, Levin advised Coppola against buying a Gulfstream jet, against buying and owning a flotilla of yachts, against buying and owning a squadron of Rolls Royces, against buying millions of dollars in jewelry and art."

In his filing Levin says that in 2007 Cage's "shopping spree entailed the purchase of three additional residences at a total cost of more than $33 million; the purchase of 22 automobiles (including 9 Rolls Royces); 12 purchases of expensive jewelry; and 47 purchases of artwork and exotic items." One of those exotic items was a dinosaur skull of a Tarbosaurus for which Nicolas Cage paid $276,000 in an auction after winning a bidding contest against Leonardo DiCaprio.

According to Cage, he owned the "Most Haunted House in America", a home located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The home is known as "The LaLaurie house" after its former owner Delphine LaLaurie. The house was foreclosed and sold at auction on November 12, 2009 along with another New Orleans property for a total of $5.5 million, in the wake of his financial problems.

His Bel Air home, which had six loans totaling $18 million on it, failed to sell at an April 2010 foreclosure auction despite an opening offer of $10.4 million, substantially less than the $35 million that Cage had originally tried to sell it for. The home, built in 1940 for $110,000 had been owned by Dean Martin and singer Tom Jones. The home eventually sold in November 2010 for $10.5 million. Another home in Nevada also faces foreclosure auction.

Nicolas Cage remains one of Hollywood's highest paid actors, earning $40 million in 2009 according to ''Forbes Magazine''.

Legal issues

In December 2009, Christina Fulton sued Cage for $13 million and the house she is living in. The suit was in response to an order that she leave the house, brought about by the financial problems of Cage.

On April 15, 2011, at 11:30 pm, Cage was arrested in New Orleans in the city's famed French Quarter district for suspicion of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace, and public intoxication, after a police officer was flagged down by onlookers after Cage allegedly grabbed his wife's upper arm, while appearing to be under the influence. Cage was held in police custody until a bail of US$11,000 was posted by Duane "Dog" Chapman. He was later ordered to appear in court on May 31, 2011. On May 5, 2011, it was announced that the charges against Cage had been dropped.

Filmography

+ Film credits
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1980	''Brubaker''	Extra	Uncredited
1981	''Best Of Times''	Nicholas
1982	''Fast Times at Ridgemont High''	Brad's Bud
1983	''''	man in rumble scene	Uncredited
1983		Randy
1983	''Rumble Fish''	Smokey
1984	''Racing with the Moon''	Nicky and Bud
1984	''''	Vincent Dwyer
1984		Sergeant Al Columbato
1986	''''	Ned Hanlan
1986	''Peggy Sue Got Married''	Charlie Bodell
1987	''Raising Arizona''	H. I. McDunnough
1987	''Moonstruck''	Ronny Cammareri	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1988		Man In Red Sports Car
1989	''Vampire's Kiss''	Peter Leow
1990	''Tempo di uccidere''	Enrico Silvestri
1990	''Fire Birds''	Jake Preston	aka ''Wings of the Apache''
1990		Sailor
1990	''Zandalee''	Johnny
1992	''Honeymoon in Vegas''	Jack Singer	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1993	''Amos & Andrew''	Amos Odell
1993		Eddie
1994	''''	Himself
1994	''Red Rock West''	Michael Williams
1994	''Guarding Tess''	Doug Chesnic
1994		Charlie Lang
1994	''Trapped in Paradise''	Bill Firpo
1995		Little Junior Brown
1995	''Leaving Las Vegas''	Ben Sanderson
1996	''''	Dr. Stanley Goodspeed	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action/Adventure
1997	''Con Air''	Cameron Poe	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action/Adventure
1997	''Face/Off''	Castor Troy/Sean Archer
1998		Seth	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Drama or Romance Film
1998		Rick Santoro	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Suspense Film
1999		Tom Welles
1999	''Bringing Out the Dead''	Frank Pierce
2000		Randall "Memphis" Raines	Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action Film
2000	''''	Jack Campbell	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Comedy or Romance Film
2000	''Welcome to Hollywood''	Himself
2001	''Italian Soldiers''	Himself
2001		Captain Antonio Corelli
2001	''Christmas Carol: The Movie''	Jacob Marley	Voice
2002	''Windtalkers''	Sgt. Joe Enders
2002	''Adaptation.''
2002		Acid Yellow
2003		Roy Waller
2004
2005	''Lord of War''	Yuri Orlov
2005	''''	David Spritz
2006	''''	Zoc	Voice
2006	''''	Edward Malus
2006	''Too Tough To Die''	Himself
2006
2007
2007
2007		Cris Johnson
2007	''National Treasure: Book of Secrets
2008		Joe
2009		Professor Jonathan "John" Koestler
2009		Speckles the Mole	Voice
2009		Dr. Tenma	Voice
2009	''Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans''	Terrence McDonagh, The bad Lieutenant
2010		Damon Macready/Big Daddy
2010	''''	Balthazar Blake
2011		Behman von Bleiruck
2011	''Drive Angry''	Milton
2011		Kyle	post-production
2011	''''	Nick Gerard	post-production
2012	''Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance''		filming
2012			filming
2012	''Frank or Francis''		pre-production
2013	''''	Crug	Voice, pre-production

See also

Coppola family tree

List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

References

External links

World Trade Center Interview with Nicolas Cage From IGN FilmForce

Category:1964 births Category:Actors from California Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American voice actors Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Coppola family members Category:Living people Category:People from Long Beach, California Category:Science fiction fans Category:Pseudonymous artists

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Name	Dr. Dre
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Andre Romelle Young
Born	February 18, 1965Compton, California, U.S.
Origin	Los Angeles, California,U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, synthesizer, keyboards, turntables, drum machine, sampler
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, DJ, record producer, actor
Years active	1983–present
Label	Priority, Death Row, Aftermath, Interscope, Ruthless
Associated acts	World Class Wreckin' Cru, N.W.A, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Soul Assassins, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Nate Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, Xzibit, Warren G, 50 Cent
Website	}}

Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers signed to those record labels, such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent. As a producer he is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, a style of rap music characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats.

Dr. Dre began his career in music as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru and he later found fame with the influential gangsta rap group N.W.A with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Mc Ren, and DJ Yella which popularized the use of explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life. His 1992 solo debut, ''The Chronic'', released under Death Row Records, led him to become one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993 and to win a Grammy Award for the single "Let Me Ride". In 1996, he left Death Row to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. Under that label, he produced a compilation album titled ''Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath'' in 1996, and released a solo album titled ''2001'' in 1999, for which he won the Grammy producer's award the next year.

During the 2000s, he focused his career on production for other artists, while occasionally contributing vocals to other artists' songs. Dr. Dre signed Eminem and 50 Cent to his record label in 1996 and 2003 respectively while contributing production on their albums. ''Rolling Stone'' named Dr. Dre among the highest-paid performers of 2001 and 2004. Dr. Dre has also had acting roles in movies such as ''Set It Off'', and the 2001 films ''The Wash'' and ''Training Day''.

Life and career

Early life

The first child of Theodore and Verna Young, Dr. Dre was born André Romelle Young on February 18, 1965, when his mother and father were ages 16 and 17; they married in 1964. Young's middle name, "Romelle," came from his father's unsigned amateur R&B; singing group, The Romells. In 1968, his parents divorced, and his mother later married Curtis Crayon. They had three more children together, two sons named Jerome and Tyree (both deceased) and daughter Shameka.

In 1976 Young began attending Vanguard Junior High School but due to gang violence around Vanguard he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School. Verna later married Warren Griffin, whom she met at her new job in Long Beach, which added three new stepsisters and one new stepbrother to the family. That stepbrother, Warren Griffin III, would eventually become rapper Warren G.

Young attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School due to poor grades. Young attempted to enroll in an apprenticeship program at Northrop Aviation Company, but poor grades at school made him ineligible. Thereafter, he focused on his social life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years. Young fathered a son, Curtis, born December 15, 1981, with Lisa Johnson. Curtis Young was brought up by his mother and first met his father 20 years later, when Curtis became rapper Hood Surgeon.

1984–85: World Class Wreckin' Cru

Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", he often attended a club called The Eve After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. Thus, he became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J", based on the nickname of Julius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A. Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology". He later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru under the independent Kru-Cut Records in 1984. The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early 1980s West Coast hip hop, and their first hit "Surgery" would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntables and sell 50,000 copies within the Compton area. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show ''The Traffic Jam''. Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titled ''Concrete Roots''. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website ''Allmusic'' described the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", as "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".

His frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house. He later dropped out of Chester to focus on performing at the Eve's After Dark nightclub.

1986–91: N.W.A and Ruthless Records

In 1986, Dr. Dre met rapper Ice Cube, who collaborated with Dr. Dre to record songs for Ruthless Records, a rap record label run by local rapper Eazy-E. N.W.A and fellow West Coast rapper Ice-T are widely credited as seminal artists of the gangsta rap genre, a profanity-heavy subgenre of hip hop, replete with gritty depictions of urban crime and gang lifestyle. Not feeling constricted to racially charged political issues pioneered by rap artists such as Public Enemy or Boogie Down Productions, N.W.A favored themes and uncompromising lyrics, offering stark descriptions of violent, inner-city streets. Propelled by the hit "Fuck tha Police", the group's first full album ''Straight Outta Compton'' became a major success, despite an almost complete absence of radio airplay or major concert tours. The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Ruthless Records a warning letter in response to the song's content.

After Ice Cube left N.W.A in 1989 over financial disputes, Dr. Dre produced and performed for much of the group's second album ''Efil4zaggin''. He also produced tracks for a number of other rap acts on Ruthless Records, including Above the Law, and The D.O.C. for his 1989 album ''No One Can Do It Better''. In 1991, at a music industry party in Hollywood, he assaulted television host Dee Barnes of the Fox television program ''Pump it Up'', feeling dissatisfied with a news report of hers regarding the feud between the remaining N.W.A members and Ice Cube. Thus, Dr. Dre was fined $2,500 and given two years' probation and 240 hours of community service, as well as a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement on television.

1992–95: ''The Chronic'' and Death Row Records

After a dispute with Eazy-E, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, The D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time, Suge Knight. Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Eazy-E release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, founded Death Row Records. In 1992 Young released his first single, the title track to the film ''Deep Cover'', a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G. Dr. Dre's debut solo album was ''The Chronic'', released under Death Row Records. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content.

On the strength of singles such as "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", "Let Me Ride", and "Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')" (known as "Dre Day" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, ''The Chronic'' became a cultural phenomenon, its G-funk sound dominating much of hip hop music for the early 1990s. In 1993 the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album multi-platinum, and Dr. Dre also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his performance on "Let Me Ride". For that year, ''Billboard'' magazine also ranked Dr. Dre as the eighth best-selling musical artist, ''The Chronic'' as the sixth best-selling album, and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" as the 11th best-selling single.

Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album ''Doggystyle'', which became the first debut album for an artist to debut at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 album charts. In 1994 Dr. Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the films ''Above the Rim'' and ''Murder Was the Case''. He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz" in 1995. For the film ''Friday'', Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached No.10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No.1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.

In 1995, just as Death Row Records was signing rapper 2Pac and positioning him as their major star, Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Thus, in 1996, he formed his own label, Aftermath Entertainment, under the distribution label for Death Row Records, Interscope Records. Consequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the racketeering charges brought against Knight.

1996–98: Move to Aftermath Entertainment

The ''Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath'' album, released on November 26, 1996, featured songs by Dr. Dre himself, as well as by newly signed Aftermath Entertainment artists, and a solo track "Been There, Done That", intended as a symbolic farewell to gangsta rap. Despite being classified platinum by the RIAA, the album was not very popular among music fans. In October 1996, Dre performed "Been There, Done That" on ''Saturday Night Live''. In 1997, Dr. Dre produced several tracks on The Firm's ''The Album''; it was met with largely negative reviews from critics. Rumors began to abound that Aftermath was facing financial difficulties. Aftermath Entertainment also faced a trademark infringement lawsuit by the underground thrash metal band Aftermath. ''First Round Knock Out'', a compilation of various tracks produced and performed by Dr. Dre was also released in 1996, with material ranging from World Class Wreckin' Cru to N.W.A to Death Row recordings.

Despite the mixed reception to his label's album, Dr. Dre was featured on two Billboard Hot 100 No.1 singles in 1996, those being 2Pac's "California Love" and R&B; group Blackstreet's "No Diggity". They were Dr. Dre's first No.1 singles as a lead or featured artist.

The turning point for Aftermath came in 1998, when Jimmy Iovine, the head of Aftermath's parent label Interscope, suggested that Dr. Dre sign Eminem, a rapper from Detroit. Dre produced three songs and provided vocals for two on Eminem's successful and controversial debut album ''The Slim Shady LP'', released in 1999. The Dr. Dre-produced lead single from that album, "My Name Is", would help propel Eminem into stardom. The album was eventually certified 4x Platinum and helped to revive the Aftermath label. Also during this time, Dre assisted on the mix for Nine Inch Nails track "Even Deeper", from 1999 album ''The Fragile''.

1999–2000: ''2001''

Dr. Dre's second solo album, ''2001'', released on November 16, 1999, was considered an ostentatious return to his gangsta rap roots. It was initially titled ''The Chronic 2000'' to imply being a sequel to his debut solo effort ''The Chronic'' but was re-titled ''2001'' after Death Row Records released an unrelated compilation album with the title ''Chronic 2000: Still Smokin'' in May 1999. Other tentative titles included ''The Chronic 2001'' and ''Dr. Dre''. The album featured numerous collaborators, including Devin the Dude, Hittman, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg and Eminem. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website Allmusic described the sound of the album as "adding ominous strings, soulful vocals, and reggae" to Dr. Dre's style. The album was highly successful, charting at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 charts and has since been certified six times platinum, validating a recurring theme on the album: Dr. Dre was still a force to be reckoned with, despite the lack of major releases in the previous few years. The album included popular hit singles "Still D.R.E." and "Forgot About Dre", both of which Dr. Dre performed on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' on October 23, 1999. Dr. Dre won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2000, and joined the Up in Smoke Tour with fellow rappers Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube that year as well.

During the course of ''2001'''s popularity, Dr. Dre was involved in several lawsuits. Lucasfilm Ltd., the film company behind the Star Wars film franchise, sued him over the use of the THX-trademarked "Deep Note". The Fatback Band also sued Dr. Dre over alleged infringement regarding its song "Backstrokin'" in his song "Let's Get High" from the ''2001'' album; Dr. Dre was ordered to pay $1.5 million to the band in 2003. The online music file-sharing company Napster also settled a lawsuit with him and heavy metal rock band Metallica in the summer of 2001, agreeing to block access to certain files that artists do not want to have shared on the network.

2001–08: Focus on production

Following the success of ''2001'', Dr. Dre focused on producing songs and albums for other artists. He co-produced six tracks on Eminem’s landmark ''Marshall Mathers LP'', including the Grammy-winning lead single, “The Real Slim Shady”. The album itself earned a Grammy and proved to be the fastest-selling rap album of all time, moving 1.76 million units in its first week alone. He produced the single "Family Affair" by R&B; singer Mary J. Blige for her album ''No More Drama'' in 2001. He also produced "Let Me Blow Ya Mind", a duet by rapper Eve and No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani and signed R&B; singer Truth Hurts to Aftermath in 2001. Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem’s 2002 release, ''The Eminem Show''. He produced three songs on the album, one of which was released as a single, and he appeared in the award-winning video for “Without Me”.

Another copyright-related lawsuit hit Dr. Dre in the fall of 2002, when Sa Re Ga Ma, a film and music company based in Calcutta, India, sued Aftermath Entertainment over an uncredited sample of the Lata Mangeshkar song "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" on the Aftermath-produced song "Addictive" by singer Truth Hurts. In February 2003, a judge ruled that Aftermath would have to halt sales of Truth Hurts' album ''Truthfully Speaking'' if the company would not credit Mangeshkar.

Another successful album on the Aftermath label was ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''', the 2003 major-label debut album by Queens, New York-based rapper 50 Cent. Dr. Dre produced or co-produced four tracks on the album, including the hit single "In da Club", a joint production between Aftermath, Eminem's boutique label Shady Records and Interscope. Eminem's fourth album since joining Aftermath, ''Encore'', again saw Dre taking on the role of executive producer, and this time he was more actively involved in the music, producing or co-producing a total of eight tracks, including three singles. In November 2004, at the ''Vibe'' magazine awards show in Los Angeles, Dr. Dre was attacked by a fan named Jimmy James Johnson, who was supposedly asking for an autograph. In the resulting scuffle, then-G-Unit rapper Young Buck stabbed the man. Johnson claimed that Suge Knight, president of Death Row Records, paid him $5,000 to assault Dre in order to humiliate him before he received his Lifetime Achievement Award. Knight immediately went on CBS's ''The Late Late Show'' to deny involvement and insisted that he supported Dr. Dre and wanted Johnson charged. In September 2005, Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to stay away from Dr. Dre until 2008.

Dr. Dre also produced "How We Do", a 2005 hit single from rapper The Game from his album ''The Documentary''. For an issue of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in April 2005, Dr. Dre was ranked 54th out of 100 artists for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list "The Immortals: The Greatest Artists of All Time". Kanye West wrote the summary for Dr. Dre, where he stated Dr. Dre's song "Xplosive" as where he "got (his) whole sound from".

In November 2006 Dr. Dre began working with Raekwon on his album ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II''. He also produced tracks for the rap albums ''Buck the World'' by Young Buck, ''Curtis'' by 50 Cent, ''Tha Blue Carpet Treatment'' by Snoop Dogg, and ''Kingdom Come'' by Jay-Z. Dre also appeared on Timbaland's track "Bounce", from his 2007 solo album, ''Timbaland Presents Shock Value'' along side, Missy Elliott, and Justin Timberlake.

Planned but unreleased albums during Dr. Dre's tenure at Aftermath have included a full-length reunion with Snoop Dogg titled ''Breakup to Makeup'', an album with fellow former N.W.A member Ice Cube which was to be titled ''Heltah Skeltah'', an N.W.A reunion album, and a joint album with fellow producer Timbaland titled ''Chairmen of the Board''. Other upcoming albums for which he will produce include ''The Reformation'' by Bishop Lamont, ''The Nacirema Dream'' by Papoose, ''Flirt'' by Eve, and an upcoming album by Queen Latifah.

2009–present: ''Detox'' and ''The Planets''

''Detox'' is to be Dr. Dre's final album. In 2002, Dre told Corey Moss of MTV News that he intended ''Detox'' to be a concept album. Work for the album dates back to early 2004, but later in that year he decided to stop working on the album to focus on producing for other artists, but then changed his mind; the album had initially been set for a fall 2005 release. After several delays, the album was finally scheduled to be released sometime in 2010 by Interscope Records, which has not set a firm release date for the album as of July 2010. Producers confirmed to work on the album include DJ Khalil, Nottz, Bernard "Focus" Edwards Jr., Hi-Tek, J.R. Rotem, RZA, Jay-Z, Warren G, and Boi-1da. Snoop Dogg claimed that ''Detox'' was finished, according to a June 2008 report by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine.

After another delay based on producing other artists' work, ''Detox'' was then scheduled for a 2010 release, coming after 50 Cent's ''Before I Self Destruct'' and Eminem's ''Relapse'', an album for which Dr. Dre handled the bulk of production duties. Dre appeared in the remix of the song "Set It Off" by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall (also with Pusha T); the remix debuted on DJ Skee's radio show in December 2008. At the beginning of 2009, Dre produced, and made a guest vocal performance on, the single "Crack a Bottle" by Eminem and the single sold a record 418,000 downloads in its first week. and reached the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on the week of February 12, 2009. Along with this single, in 2009 Dr. Dre produced or co-produced 19 of 20 tracks on Eminem's album ''Relapse''. These included other hit singles "We Made You", "Old Time's Sake", and "3 a.m.". (the only track Dre didn't produce was the Eminem produced single "Beautiful")

In a Dr Pepper commercial that debuted on May 28, 2009, he premiered the first official snippet of ''Detox''. 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in an interview on BET's ''106 & Park'' that Dr. Dre had around a dozen songs finished for ''Detox''. ''Detox'' is likely to be released sometime in 2011. The first two singles, "Kush" and "I Need a Doctor", were released in September 2010 and February 2011 respectively. "Kush" has become a top 40 hit in the United States and "I Need a Doctor" peaked at Number Four on the Billboard Hot 100. The third single, "The Psycho" featuring 50 Cent is set to release sometime this year respectively.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers will honor Dr. Dre with its Founders Award for inspiring other musicians.

In an August 2010 interview, Dr. Dre stated that an instrumental album titled ''The Planets'' is in its first stages of production; each song being named after a planet in the Solar System. On September 3, Dr. Dre showed support to longtime protégé Eminem, and appeared on his and Jay-Z's Home & Home Tour, performing hit songs such as "Still D.R.E.," "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," and "Crack a Bottle," alongside Eminem and another protégé, 50 Cent. Sporting an "R.I.P. Proof" shirt, Dre was honored by Eminem telling Detroit's Comerica Park to do the same. They did so, by chanting "DEEE-TOX," to which he replied, "I'm coming!"

Dr. Dre was featured on the cover of XXL in the December/January 2011 issue. After ''Detox'' he will be one of the producers of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins' album ''Still Cool.''

Other ventures

Film career

Dr. Dre made his first on screen appearance as a weapons dealer in the 1996 bank robbery movie ''Set It Off''. In 2001, Dr. Dre also appeared in the movies ''The Wash'' and ''Training Day''. A song of his, "Bad Intentions" (featuring Knoc-Turn'Al) and produced by Mahogany, was featured on ''The Wash'' soundtrack. Dr. Dre also appeared on two other songs "On the Blvd." and "The Wash" along with his co-star Snoop Dogg. In February 2007 it was announced that Dr. Dre would produce dark comedies and horror films for New Line Cinema-owned company Crucial Films, along with longtime video director Phillip Atwell. Dr. Dre announced "This is a natural switch for me, since I've directed a lot of music videos, and I eventually want to get into directing." Along with fellow member Ice Cube, Dr. Dre will produce a biographical film about N.W.A tentatively titled ''Straight Outta Compton''.

Entrepreneur

In July 2008, Dr. Dre released his high-performance brand of headphones, ''Beats by Dr. Dre''. The line consists of Beats Studio, a circumaural headphone, Beats Tour, an in-ear headphone, Beats Solo & Solo HD, a supra-aural headphone, Beats Spin, Heartbeats by Lady Gaga, also an in-ear headphone, and Diddy Beats. The headphones are made by Monster. He is also planning to release an "Aftermath Cognac and vodka" at around the same time he releases ''Detox''. For the 2009 Fall season, HP and Dr. Dre are teaming up to release Beats By Dr. Dre with the sale of all HP laptops and headsets. HP and Dr. Dre announced the deal on October 9, 2009, at a press event in Santa Monica, California. The new laptop, known as HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition, will be available for sale October 22 and be priced around $2,299. Besides the laptop, the PC comes with Dr. Dre's signature headphones.

Legal Battle with China Counterfeit Headphones

On 10th August Dr Dre initiated a legal battle with China Music Headphones company SacrementoMusic for counterfeit headphones manufactured in Shenzhen, China. Dr Dre has provided full patent information to the High Court in China and are currently reviewing the process of application. The counterfeit headphones has been reported to be losing $5 million per year manufactured by partner company Monster. On 11th August 2011 Dr Dre sold the brand name to HTC for £191 million

Personal life

Relationships and family

Dr. Dre's eldest son is named Curtis Young. When Curtis Young was born, Greene was 16, and Dr. Dre was 17. Curtis Young is an aspiring rapper who goes by the rap moniker "Hood Surgeon". In 1988, Dr. Dre had his second son, Andre Young Jr., with Jenita Porter. Porter sued Dr. Dre in 1990 in Orange County Superior Court seeking $5,000 of child support per month. From 1990 to 1996, Dr. Dre dated singer Michel'le, who frequently contributed vocals to Death Row Records albums. In 1991, the couple had a son, Marcel. In 1996, Dr. Dre married Nicole Threatt, the ex-wife of NBA player Sedale Threatt. They have two children together: a son named Truth (born 1997) and a daughter named Truly (born 2001).

On August 23, 2008, Young's second son, Andre Young Jr., died at the age of 20 at his mother's Woodland Hills home. The coroner determined that he died from an overdose of heroin and morphine.

Income

In 2001, Dr. Dre earned a total of about US$52 million from selling part of his share of Aftermath Entertainment to Interscope Records and his production of such hit songs that year as "Family Affair" by Mary J. Blige. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine thus named him the second highest-paid artist of the year. Dr. Dre was ranked 44th in 2004 from earnings of $11.4 million, primarily from production royalties from such projects as albums from G-Unit and D12 and the single "Rich Girl" by singer Gwen Stefani and rapper Eve.

Musical influences and style

Dr. Dre has said that his primary instrument in the studio is the Akai MPC3000, a drum machine and sampler, and that he often uses as many as four or five to produce a single recording. He cites 1970s funk musicians such as George Clinton, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield as his primary musical influences. Unlike most rap producers, he tries to avoid samples as much as possible, preferring to have studio musicians re-play pieces of music he wants to use, because it allows him more flexibility to change the pieces in rhythm and tempo. In 2001 he told ''Time'' magazine, "I may hear something I like on an old record that may inspire me, but I'd rather use musicians to re-create the sound or elaborate on it. I can control it better." Other equipment he uses include the E-mu SP-1200 drum machine and other keyboards from such manufacturers as Korg, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Moog, and Roland.

After founding Aftermath Entertainment in 1996, Dr. Dre took on producer Mel-Man as a co-producer, and his music took on a more synthesizer-based sound, using fewer vocal samples (as he had used on "Lil' Ghetto Boy" and "Let Me Ride" on ''The Chronic'', for example). Mel-Man has not shared co-production credits with Dr. Dre since approximately 2002, but fellow Aftermath producer Focus has credited Mel-Man as a key architect of the signature Aftermath sound.

In 1999 Dr. Dre started working with Mike Elizondo, a bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist who has also produced, written and played on records for female singers such as Poe, Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette, In the past few years Elizondo has since worked for many of Dr. Dre's productions. Dr. Dre also told ''Scratch'' magazine in a 2004 interview that he has been studying piano and music theory formally, and that a major goal is to accumulate enough musical theory to score movies. In the same interview he stated that he has collaborated with famed 1960s songwriter Burt Bacharach by sending him hip hop beats to play over, and hopes to have an in-person collaboration with him in the future.

Work ethic

Dr. Dre has stated that he is a perfectionist and is known to pressure the artists with whom he records to give flawless performances. In 2006 Snoop Dogg told the website Dubcnn.com that Dr. Dre had made new artist Bishop Lamont re-record a single bar of vocals 107 times. Dr. Dre has also stated that Eminem is a fellow perfectionist, and attributes his success on Aftermath to his similar work ethic. He gives a lot of input into the delivery of the vocals and will stop an MC during a take if it isn't to his liking. However, he does give MCs he works with room to write lyrics without too much instruction unless it is a specifically conceptual record, as noted by Bishop Lamont in the book ''How to Rap''.

A consequence of his perfectionism is that some artists that initially sign deals with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label never release albums. In 2001, Aftermath released the soundtrack to the movie ''The Wash'', featuring a number of Aftermath acts such as Shaunta, Daks, Joe Beast and Toi. To date, none have released full-length albums on Aftermath and have apparently ended their relationships with the label and Dr. Dre. Other noteworthy acts to leave Aftermath without releasing albums include King Tee, ''2001'' vocalist Hittman, Joell Ortiz, Raekwon and Rakim.

Collaborators/co-producers

Over the years word of other collaborators has surfaced. During his tenure at Death Row Records, it was alleged that Dr. Dre's stepbrother Warren G and Tha Dogg Pound member Daz made many uncredited contributions to songs on his solo album ''The Chronic'' and Snoop Doggy Dogg's album ''Doggystyle'' (Daz received production credits on Snoop's similar-sounding, albeit less successful album ''Tha Doggfather'' after Young left Death Row Records).

It is known that Scott Storch, who has since gone on to become a successful producer in his own right, contributed to Dr. Dre's second album ''2001''; Storch is credited as a songwriter on several songs and played keyboards on several tracks. In 2006 he told ''Rolling Stone'':

"At the time, I saw Dr. Dre desperately needed something," Storch says. "He needed a fuel injection, and Dr. Dre utilized me as the nitrous oxide. He threw me into the mix, and I sort of tapped on a new flavor with my whole piano sound and the strings and orchestration. So I'd be on the keyboards, and Mike [Elizondo] was on the bass guitar, and Dr. Dre was on the drum machine".

Current collaborator Mike Elizondo, when speaking about his work with Young, describes their recording process as a collaborative effort involving several musicians. In 2004 he claimed to ''Songwriter Universe'' magazine that he had written the foundations of the hit Eminem song "The Real Slim Shady", stating, "I initially played a bass line on the song, and Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster Jr. and I built the track from there. Eminem then heard the track, and he wrote the rap to it." This account is essentially confirmed by Eminem in his book ''Angry Blonde'', stating that the tune for the song was composed by a studio bassist and keyboardist while Dr. Dre was out of the studio but Young later programmed the song's beat after returning.

A group of disgruntled former associates of Dr. Dre complained that they had not received their full due for work on the label in the September 2003 issue of ''The Source''. A producer named Neff-U claimed to have produced the songs "Say What You Say" and "My Dad's Gone Crazy" on ''The Eminem Show'', the songs "If I Can't" and "Back Down" on 50 Cent's ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''', and the beat featured on Dr. Dre's commercial for Coors beer.

Although Young studies piano and musical theory, he serves as more of a conductor than a musician himself, as Josh Tyrangiel of ''TIME'' magazine has noted:

Every Dre track begins the same way, with Dre behind a drum machine in a room full of trusted musicians. (They carry beepers. When he wants to work, they work.) He'll program a beat, then ask the musicians to play along; when Dre hears something he likes, he isolates the player and tells him how to refine the sound. "My greatest talent," Dre says, "is knowing exactly what I want to hear." Dr. Dre's prominent studio collaborators, including Scott Storch, Elizondo, Mark Batson and Dawaun Parker, have shared co-writing, instrumental, and more recently co-production credits on the songs where he is credited as the producer.

Ghostwriters

It is acknowledged that most of Dr. Dre's raps are written for him by others, though he retains ultimate control over his lyrics and the themes of his songs. As Aftermath producer Mahogany told ''Scratch'': "It's like a class room in [the booth]. He'll have three writers in there. They'll bring in something, he'll recite it, then he'll say. 'Change this line, change this word,' like he's grading papers." As seen in the credits for tracks Young has appeared on, there are often multiple people who contribute to his songs (although often in hip hop many people are officially credited as a writer for a song, even the producer).

In the book ''How to Rap'', RBX explains that writing ''The Chronic'' was a "team effort"

Discography

; Solo albums *''The Chronic'' (1992), Death Row

''2001'' (1999), Aftermath

''Detox'' (2011), Aftermath

; Instrumental albums ''The Planets'' (2011), Aftermath

Awards and nominations

Wins

"Let Me Ride" – Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance – 1994

Rap In A Video Dr. Dre (featuring Eminem) — "Forgot About Dre" MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS - 2000

"Forgot About Dre" – Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group – 2001 | (with Eminem)

''The Marshall Mathers LP'' – Grammy Award for Best Rap Album – 2001 (with Eminem)

''Various Productions'' – Grammy Award for Producer of the Year – 2001

"Crack a Bottle" – Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group – 2010 | (with Eminem and 50 Cent)

''Relapse'' – Grammy Award for Best Rap Album – 2010 (with Eminem)

Nominations

"California Love" – Grammy Award Nomination as Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (with 2Pac and Roger Troutman) – 1997

"Still D.R.E." – Grammy Award Nomination Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (with Snoop Dogg) and The Source Awards Nomination Single of the year – 2000

Filmography

''Set It Off'' ''Up in Smoke Tour'' ''Training Day'' ''Shady Talez (2012 film)

Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
1992	''Niggaz4Life: The Only Home Video''	Himself
1996	|	Black Sam
2000	|	Himself	Documentary
rowspan="2"	2001	|	Paul
''The Wash (film)	The Wash''	Sean
	2012	Shady Talez'' ||		Filming

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Official ''Detox'' blog

Beats by Dr. Dre official site

Dr. Dre at WhoSampled

Dr. Dre at Beatbuggy

Category:1965 births Category:African American film actors Category:African American rappers Category:African American record producers Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American music industry executives Category:American music video directors Category:American people convicted of assault Category:Death Row Records artists Category:G-funk Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:N.W.A members Category:People from Compton, California Category:Priority Records artists Category:Rappers from Los Angeles, California Category:Ruthless Records artists Category:Pseudonymous rappers

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name	Taio Cruz
background	solo_singer
born	April 23, 1983)
birth name	Jacob Taio Cruz
birth place	London, England, UK
genre	Electropop, R&B;, hip hop soul
occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, rapper, entrepreneur
years active	2002–present
label	Rokstarr Entertainment Division, Island, Republic, Mercury (US)
associated acts	Luciana Caporaso, Ludacris, David Guetta, Cheryl Cole, McFly
website	}}

Taio Cruz (born Jacob Taio Cruz on April 23, 1983) is a English singer-songwriter, record producer, occasional rapper, and entrepreneur. In 2008, he released his debut album ''Departure'', which Cruz wrote, arranged and produced himself. It achieved initial success in the UK and earned him a MOBO Award nomination. In June 2010, Cruz released his follow-up album ''Rokstarr'', which includes the number one singles "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite". In November 2010, Cruz collaborated with Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy on his single "Higher". Additionally, Cruz penned and recorded the song "Telling the World" as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2011 animated film ''Rio''.

Early life

Cruz was born in London, to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother. He attended Christ's Hospital, a boarding school in West Sussex.

Music career

Career beginnings

Cruz began writing songs when he was 12. His songwriting career began at age 19 as part of Tricky Stewart's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment. Cruz achieved notability in 2005 when he was awarded a BRIT Award for co-writing Will Young's 2004 single, "Your Game".

Cruz is the founder and chief executive of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single "I Just Wanna Know". The single attracted significant attention from radio, and also from music industry insiders, who were already well aware of the artist's potential; manager Jamie Binns, who began representing Cruz at this time, later told HitQuarters: "He was a guy that everyone had earmarked to do damage in the future." Although the single received a reasonable amount of radio airplay, it did not perform as well as expected in either territory. However, rather than lose faith in Cruz, the labels were eager to negotiate an album deal, as by this time they had listened to his other songs and were ever more convinced by his capability.

Cruz's admirers included Island Records's Darcus Beese and Universal Republic's Monte Lipman, whom, according to Binns: "Both believed 'I Just Wanna Know' fitted the format on both sides of the Atlantic." In 2006, Cruz signed a split single deal with Universal Music Group companies, Republic Records and the UK branch of Island Records.

''Departure'' (2006–2008)

Taio Cruz released his second single "Moving On" in September 2007 which made the top 30 in the UK. In March 2008 his next single, "Come On Girl," featuring Luciana, peaked at No. 5 on the UK charts. The related album ''Departure'' appeared on 17 March and peaked at No. 17. This was followed by the single "I Can Be," which reached No. 18 in May. On 18 August, "She's Like a Star" was released, which was a remix of the previous single and featured American rapper Busta Rhymes and girl-group Sugababes. The remix later appeared on the Sugababes studio album ''Catfights & Spotlights'', which peaked at No. 20. It was later revealed that Cruz narrowly missed out on the chance to record the song "Umbrella" which was eventually recorded by Rihanna and ended up topping charts around the world.

''Rokstarr'' and International breakthrough'' (2009)

Cruz was featured on Tinchy Stryder's breakout single "Take Me Back" which peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. According to Cruz's official Myspace blog, as of 1 January 2009, Rokstarr Music London officially changed its name to Rokstarr Entertainment Division and abbreviated to R.E.D Inc.

During 2009, he worked on his follow-up album which was originally titled ''T.W.O. (This Way Out)'' but later changed to ''Rokstarr''. It was released on 12 October through R.E.D Inc/Island Records and is entirely written and produced by Cruz, with co-writes and co-productions predominantly with UK producer Fraser T Smith. The album's lead single "Break Your Heart" was released on 14 September and reached number one in the UK, where it stayed for three weeks. The success of the song attracted the attention of David Massey and Daniel Werner from Mercury/Island Def Jam who were excited and aggressive about releasing "Break Your Heart" in the US on their label. According to Cruz's manager Jamie Binns, the relationship with Monte Lipman at Universal Republic had "gone a bit quiet" by this point and as Taio wanted to be with the label that was most enthusiastic about his music, a move from Universal Republic to Mercury/Island Def Jam was engineered.

The single reached the top spot in the US for one week on the ''Billboard'' charts. In an interview for ''The Guardian'' it was stated that "Cruz was clever to have hooked up with a US rapper Ludacris on his breakthrough hit". In order to introduce Cruz into the US market, David Massey had suggested that the single feature an American rapper with chart credibility. The album spawned two other UK singles, "No Other One", and the top-ten hit "Dirty Picture" featuring American electropop singer Kesha. The album's fourth single (second in the US) titled "Dynamite" debuted at 26 and despite peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Dynamite" peaked at number 1 on US top 40 earning Cruz his second US number 1 record.

''The Rokstarr Collection''

''Rokstarr'' was followed by the compilation album ''The Rokstarr Collection'' which includes songs both from ''Departure'' and the international version of ''Rokstarr''. Cruz later released three versions of his single "Higher" - one featuring Kylie Minogue, one featuring Travie McCoy and with just himself.

Cruz has also been featured on the soundtrack of American reality TV series ''Jersey Shore''.

Cruz is the main featured artist on David Guetta's 2011 single 'Little Bad Girl' which also features US rapper Ludacris.

Troublemaker

On 13 January 2011, Cruz used social networking website Twitter to tells fans that his upcoming third album would be titled ''Troublemaker''. In June 2011, a music video for the title song was put into production, directed by Martin Weisz. It is expected to be unveiled in July 2011 as the lead single from the album. The album is due for release on October 17.

Other ventures

Writing and producing

Cruz has written songs on albums by Cheryl Cole, JLS, The Saturdays, The Wanted and David Guetta. Cruz wrote and featured on Tinchy Stryder's hit single "Take Me Back". Boyband McFly recorded "Shine a Light" which not only features, but was also was penned and produced by Cruz for their fifth studio album. 2011 will see him writing for Justin Bieber's next album. Jennifer Lopez's 2011 single "I'm Into You", featuring Lil Wayne, is also penned by Cruz. On 13 April 2011, Cruz confirmed that he had written and contributed vocals to a Guetta track called "Little Bad Girl" which is the second single from Guetta's fifth album, ''Nothing But the Beat''. Additionally, a track dubbed "Troublemaker (Believe In Me Now)" with Cruz's vocals and said to be produced by Swedish House Mafia was leaked in early May and is most probably featured on Cruz's coming album.

Rokstarr brand

On 1 September 2009, Cruz launched the brand Rokstarr; the fashion and accessories brand has a focus on sunglasses. Musicians such as Kanye West, Shontelle, Keri Hilson and Kelly Rowland have been seen wearing them. Speaking in October to R&B; writer Pete Lewis, Cruz stated: "There's a load of US celebrities that are all rocking the sunglasses already – Kid Cudi, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West... Then in the UK we have The Saturdays, JLS, Daniel Merriweather – who've all been twittering and writing on their blogs how much they love them. So yeah, it's definitely my new album 'Rokstarr' and the fashion brand that are my two main focuses at the moment."

Meanwhile, speaking again to Lewis in April 2010, Cruz revealed: "We're currently looking to expand the brand and possibly go into things like watches. I've also got a new subsidiary of Rokstarr called 'Rok By Rokstarr'. And we've just started doing things like jeans and T-shirts, and stuff that more of the fans of Taio Cruz can buy. Because with Rokstarr in itself being so expensive, a lot of the kids out there who want to buy Rokstarr things can't. So we're bringing in stuff that's a little bit more High Street and more affordable."

Discography

''Departure'' (2008)

''Rokstarr'' (2009)

''Troublemaker'' (2011)

Awards and nominations

Best British Song MOBO AwardsAmerican Music Awards BRIT Awards iTunes Best Album & Song Ascap Vanguard Award BRIT Awards rowspan=3>Virgin Media Awards Best Collaboration rowspan=6>2011 Billboard Music Awards Top Hot 100 Song rowspan=1>2011 MuchMusic Video Awards

Year
2004	Brit Awards>BRIT Awards	|	Your Game
2008	|	Best UK Male
2010	|	Breakthrough Artist
2010	|	Best British Song	Break Your Heart
2010	|	Best Song	Dynamite (Taio Cruz song)>Dynamite
2010	|	Recognition of Album	Departure (Taio Cruz album)>Departure
2011	|	Best British Song	Dynamite
2011	|	Best Male		<
2011	|	Dirty Picture
2011	Best Video
2011	Billboard Awards ||	Top New Artist		<
2011	|	Dynamite
2011	Top Digital Song
2011	Top Radio Song
2011	Top Streaming Song
2011	Top Pop Song
2011	|	MuchMusic.com Most Watched Video	Dynamite

References

External links

Taio Cruz on justRHYMES.com

Taio Cruz 'Blues & Soul' interview by Pete Lewis February 2008

Taio Cruz at Billboard.com

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Black British musicians Category:Christ's Hospital Old Blues Category:English rhythm and blues singers Category:English pop singers Category:English male singers Category:English people of Nigerian descent Category:British people of Brazilian descent Category:Musicians from London Category:Island Records artists

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