Graffiti of "hip hop" in Eugene, Oregon

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic subculture that originated in African-American and Hispanic-American communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically within the Bronx.^[1][2][3] The term often refers to hip hop music, which consists of poetry that is spoken - rather than sung - over either original or sampled instrumental recordings mixed with new original sounds from drum machines, and/or other instruments. However, the culture has expanded far beyond its original roots, and now is considered a worldwide subculture comprising rapping, DJing, hip hop dance, and graffiti art - known collectively as "Four Pillars of Hip Hop".

The block parties of DJ Kool Herc at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where Herc would mix samples of existing records with his own shouts to the crowd and dancers, are generally considered the birthplace of hip hop. Kool Herc is credited as the 'father' of the art form. DJ Afrika Bambaataa of the hip-hop collective Zulu Nation outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, B-boying and graffiti writing.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} Since its emergence in the South Bronx, hip hop culture has spread to both urban and suburban communities throughout the world.^[9] Hip hop music first emerged with Kool Herc and contemporary disc jockeys and imitators creating rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables, more commonly referred to as sampling. This was later accompanied by "rap", a rhythmic style of chanting or poetry presented in 16 bar measures or time frames, and beatboxing, a vocal technique mainly used to imitate percussive elements of the music and various technical effects of hip hop DJ's. An original form of dancing and particular styles of dress arose among fans of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the culture.

Hip hop is simultaneously a new and old phenomenon; the importance of sampling to the art form means that much of the culture has revolved around the idea of updating classic recordings, attitudes, and experiences for modern audiences - called "flipping" within the culture. It follows in the footsteps of previous American musical genres blues, jazz, and rock and roll in having become one of the most practiced genres of music in existence worldwide, and also takes additional inspiration regularly from soul music, funk, and rhythm and blues. At its best, hip hop has given a voice to the voiceless and poverty-stricken worldwide, particularly in inner cities and neighborhoods suffering from urban blight, and showcased their artistic ingenuity and talent on a global scale. At its worst hip hop has mirrored the worst aspects of the mainstream culture that it once challenged: materialism, sexism, homophobia, an internalized racism and an apathy towards intellectualism (the most crucial element in the culture according to the pioneering Afrika Bambataa^{[citation needed]}).

Etymology[link]

Hip hop is the combination of two separate slang terms—"hip", used in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) as early as 1898, meaning current or in the now, and "hop", for the hopping movement.

Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins, a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, has been credited with coining the term in 1978 while teasing a friend who had just joined the US Army, by scat singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythmic cadence of marching soldiers.^[10] Cowboy later worked the "hip hop" cadence into his stage performance.^[11] The group frequently performed with disco artists who would refer to this new type of music by calling them "hip hoppers". The name was originally meant as a sign of disrespect, but soon came to identify this new music and culture.

The song "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, released in 1979, begins with the scat phrase, "I said a hip, hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, a you don't stop." Lovebug Starski, a Bronx DJ who put out a single called "The Positive Life" in 1981, and DJ Hollywood then began using the term when referring to this new disco rap music. Hip hop pioneer and South Bronx community leader Afrika Bambaataa also credits Lovebug Starski as the first to use the term "Hip Hop", as it relates to the culture. Bambaataa, former leader of the Black Spades gang, also did much to further popularize the term.^[11][12][13]

History[link]

In the late 1970s an underground urban movement known as "hip hop" began to develop in the South Bronx area of New York City focusing on emceeing (or MCing), breakbeats, and house parties - starting at the home of DJ Kool Herc at the high-rise apartments at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue and later spreading across the entire borough. Emceeing is the rhythmic spoken delivery of rhymes and wordplay, delivered over a beat or without accompaniment - taking inspiration from the the Rapping derived from the griots (folk poets) of West Africa, and Jamaican-style toasting. Rap developed both inside and outside of hip hop culture, and began in America in earnest with the street parties thrown in the Bronx neighborhood of New York in the 1970s by Kool Herc and others - Jamaican born DJ Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell is credited as being highly influential in the pioneering stage of hip hop music,^[14] Herc created the blueprint for hip hop music and culture by building upon the Jamaican tradition of impromptu toasting, boastful poetry and speech over music.^[15] Melle Mel, a rapper/lyricist with The Furious Five, is often credited with being the first rap lyricist to call himself an "MC".^[16]

DJ Kool Herc is credited as being highly influential in the pioneering stage of hip hop music.

Herc also developed upon break-beat deejaying,^[17] where the breaks of funk songs—the part most suited to dance, usually percussion-based—were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties. This form of music playback, using hard funk, rock, formed the basis of hip hop music. Campbell's announcements and exhortations to dancers would lead to the syncopated, rhymed spoken accompaniment now known as rapping. He dubbed his dancers break-boys and break-girls, or simply b-boys and b-girls. According to Herc, "breaking" was also street slang for "getting excited" and "acting energetically".^[18]

DJs such as Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash and Jazzy Jay refined and developed the use of breakbeats, including cutting and scratching. ^[19] The approach used by Herc was soon widely copied, and by the late 1970s DJs were releasing 12" records where they would rap to the beat. Popular tunes included Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks" and The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight".^[20]. Herc and other DJs would connect their equipment to power lines and perform at venues such as public basketball courts and at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York, now officially a historic building^[21]. The equipment was composed of numerous speakers, turntables, and one or more microphones.^[22] By using this technique DJs could create a variety of music, but according to Rap Attack by David Toop “At its worst the technique could turn the night into one endless and inevitably boring song” .^[23] Nevertheless, the popularity of rap steadily increased.

Street gangs were prevalent in the poverty of the South Bronx, and much of the graffiti, rapping, and b-boying at these parties were all artistic variations on the competition and one-upmanship of street gangs. Sensing that gang members' often violent urges could be turned into creative ones, Afrika Bambaataa founded the Zulu Nation, a loose confederation of street-dance crews, graffiti artists, and rap musicians. By the late 1970s, the culture had gained media attention, with Billboard magazine printing an article titled "B Beats Bombarding Bronx", commenting on the local phenomenon and mentioning influential figures such as Kool Herc.^[24]

In late 1979, Debbie Harry of Blondie took Nile Rodgers of Chic to such an event, as the main backing track used was the break from Chic's "Good Times".^[20]. The new style influenced Harry, and Blondie's later hit single from 1981 "Rapture" became the first major single containing hip hop elements by a white group or artist to hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 - the song itself is usually considered new wave and fuses heavy pop music elements, but there is an extended rap by Harry near the end.

Hip hop as a culture was further defined in 1982, when Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force released the seminal electro-funk track "Planet Rock". Instead of simply rapping over disco beats, Bambaataa created an electronic sound, taking advantage of the rapidly improving drum machine Roland TB-303 synthesizer technology, as well as sampling from Kraftwerk.^[25]

Encompassing graffiti art, mc'ing/rapping, dj'ing and b-boying, hip hop became the dominant cultural movement of the minority populated urban communities in the 1980s.^[26] The 1980s also saw many artists make social statements through hip hop. In 1982, Melle Mel and Duke Bootee recorded "The Message" (officially credited to Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five),^[27] a song that foreshadowed the socially conscious statements of Run-DMC's "It's like That" and Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos".^[28] During the 1980s, hip hop also embraced the creation of rhythm by using the human body, via the vocal percussion technique of beatboxing. Pioneers such as Doug E. Fresh,^[29] Biz Markie and Buffy from the Fat Boys made beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using their mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and other body parts. "Human Beatbox" artists would also sing or imitate turntablism scratching or other instrument sounds.

The appearance of music videos changed entertainment: they often glorified urban neighborhoods.^[30] The music video for "Planet Rock" showcased the subculture of hip hop musicians, graffiti artists, and b-boys/b-girls. Many hip hop-related films were released between 1982 and 1985, among them Wild Style, Beat Street, Krush Groove, Breakin, and the documentary Style Wars. These films expanded the appeal of hip hop beyond the boundaries of New York. By 1985, youth worldwide were embracing the hip hop culture. The hip hop artwork and "slang" of US urban communities quickly found its way to Europe, as the culture's global appeal took root.

American society[link]

DJ Kool Herc's dance parties in his home in the Bronx, which started hip hop, became so popular that they were moved to outdoor venues to accommodate more people. City teenagers, after years of gang violence, were looking for new ways to express themselves.^[31] These outdoor parties, hosted in parks, became a means of expression and an outlet for teenagers, where "instead of getting into trouble on the streets, teens now had a place to expend their pent-up energy."^[32]

Afrika Bambaataa with DJ Yutaka of Universal Zulu Nation Japan, 2004.

Tony Tone, a member of the pioneering rap group the Cold Crush Brothers, noted that "hip hop saved a lot of lives".^[32] Hip hop culture became a way of dealing with the hardships of life as minorities within America, and an outlet to deal with violence and gang culture. MC Kid Lucky mentions that "people used to break-dance against each other instead of fighting".^{[33][broken citation]} Inspired by DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa created a street organization called Universal Zulu Nation, centered around hip hop, as a means to draw teenagers out of gang life and violence.^[32]

The lyrical content of many early rap groups concentrated on social issues, most notably in the seminal track "The Message", which discussed the realities of life in the housing projects.^[34] "Young black Americans coming out of the civil rights movement have used hip hop culture in the 1980s and 1990s to show the limitations of the movement."^[35] Hip hop gave young African Americans a voice to let their issues be heard; "Like rock-and-roll, hip hop is vigorously opposed by conservatives because it romanticises violence, law-breaking, and gangs".^[35] It also gave young blacks a chance for financial gain by "reducing the rest of the world to consumers of its social concerns."^[35]

With the commercial success of gangsta rap in the early 1990s, however, emphasis shifted from social issues to drugs, violence, and misogyny. Early proponents of gangsta rap included groups and artists such as Ice-T, who recorded what some consider to be the first gangster rap record, 6 in the Mornin’,^[36] and N.W.A. whose second album Efil4zaggin became the first gangsta rap album to enter the charts at number one.^[37] Gangsta rap also played an important part in hip hop becoming a mainstream commodity. The fact that albums such as N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton, Eazy-E’s Eazy-Duz-It, and Ice Cube’s Amerikkka's Most Wanted were selling in such high numbers meant that black teens were no longer hip hop’s sole buying audience.^[38] As a result, gangsta rap became a platform for artists who chose to use their music to spread politic and social messages to parts of the country that were previously unaware of what went on in the ghettos of place like Los Angeles and New York.^[36] While hip hop music now appeals to a broader demographic, media critics argue that socially and politically conscious hip hop has been largely disregarded by mainstream America.^[39]

Global innovations[link]

Though created in the United States, hip hop culture and music is now global in scope. Asia, The Middle East, Africa, Australia, and the Caribbean have long-established hip hop followings. According to the U.S. Department of State, hip hop is "now the center of a mega music and fashion industry around the world," that crosses social barriers and cuts across racial lines.^[40] National Geographic recognizes hip hop as "the world's favorite youth culture" in which "just about every country on the planet seems to have developed its own local rap scene."^[41] Through its international travels, hip hop is now considered a “global musical epidemic,”^[42] and has diverged from its ethnic roots by way of globalization and localization.

Although some non-American rappers may still relate with young urban Americans, hip hop now transcends its original culture, and is appealing because it is “custom-made to combat the anomie that preys on adolescents wherever nobody knows their name.”^[43] Hip hop is attractive in its ability to give a voice to disenfranchised youth in any country, and as music with a message, it is available to all societies worldwide.

From its early spread to Europe to an almost worldwide acceptance through Asia and South American countries such as Brazil, the musical influence has been global. Hip hop sounds and styles differ from region to region, but there is also a lot of crossbreeding. Unlike the old genres, which popularized throughout the nation via radio, hip hop tends to hold on to its regional identity.^[44] Regardless of where it is found, the music often targets local disaffected youth.^[45]

Hip hop has given people a voice to express themselves, from the "Bronx to Beirut, Kazakhstan to Cali, Hokkaido to Harare, Hip Hop is the new sound of a disaffected global youth culture."^[45] Though on the global scale there is a heavy influence from US culture, different cultures worldwide have transformed hip hop with their own traditions and beliefs. "Global Hip Hop succeeds best when it showcases ... cultures that reside outside the main arteries of the African Diaspora."^[45] Not all countries have embraced hip hop, where "as can be expected in countries with strong local culture, the interloping wildstyle of hip hop is not always welcomed".^[46]

As hip hop becomes globally available, it is not a one-sided process that eradicates local cultures. Instead, global hip hop styles are often synthesized with local styles. Hartwig Vens argues that hip hop can also be viewed as a global learning experience.^[47] Hip hop from countries outside the United States is often labeled "world music" for the American consumer. Author Jeff Chang argues that "the essence of hip hop is the cipher, born in the Bronx, where competition and community feed each other."^[48]

Hip hop has impacted many different countries culturally and socially in positive ways. "Thousands of organizers from Cape Town to Paris use hip hop in their communities to address environmental justice, policing and prisons, media justice, and education."^[49]

While hip hop music has been criticized as a music which creates a divide between western music and music from the rest of the world, a musical "cross pollination" has taken place, which strengthens the power of hip hop to influence different communities.^[50] Hip hop's impact as a "world music" is also due to its translatability among different cultures in the world. Hip hop's messages allow the under-privileged and the mistreated to be heard.^[47] These cultural translations cross borders.^[49] While the music may be from a foreign country, the message is something that many people can relate to- something not "foreign" at all.^[51]

Even when hip hop is transplanted to other countries, it often retains its "vital progressive agenda that challenges the status quo."^[49] Global hip hop is the meeting ground for progressive local activism, as many organizers use hip hop in their communities to address environmental injustice, policing and prisons, media justice, and education. In Gothenburg, Sweden, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) incorporate graffiti and dance to engage disaffected immigrant and working class youths. Indigenous youths in countries such as Bolivia use hip hop and rap to advance new forms of identity.^[52]

Hip hop has played a small but distinct role as the musical face of revolution in the Arab Spring, one example being an anonymous Libyan musician, Ibn Thabit whose anti-government songs fuels the rebellion.^[53]

Commercialization[link]

This article or section may contain previously unpublished synthesis of published material that conveys ideas not attributable to the original sources. See the talk page for details. (March 2009)

Even in the face of growing global popularity, or perhaps because of it, hip hop has come under fire for being too commercial, too commodified. While this of course stirs up controversy, a documentary called The Commodification of Hip Hop directed by Brooke Daniel interviews students at Satellite Academy in New York City. One girl talks about the epidemic of crime that she sees in urban minority communities, relating it directly to the hip hop industry saying “When they can’t afford these kind of things, these things that celebrities have like jewelry and clothes and all that, they’ll go and sell drugs, some people will steal it...”^[54] Many students see this as a negative side effect of the hip hop industry, and indeed, hip hop has been widely criticized for inciting notions of crime, violence, and American ideals of consumerism although much of the hip hop dancing community still chooses to refer back to more "oldschool" types of hip hop music that does not preach violence and drugs.

In an article for Village Voice, Greg Tate argues that the commercialization of hip hop is a negative and pervasive phenomenon, writing that "what we call hiphop is now inseparable from what we call the hip hop industry, in which the nouveau riche and the super-rich employers get richer".^[35] Ironically, this commercialization coincides with a decline in rap sales and pressure from critics of the genre.^[55] Even other musicians, like Nas and KRS-ONE have claimed "hip hop is dead" in that it has changed so much over the years to cater to the consumer that it has lost the essence for which it was originally created. However, in his book In Search Of Africa, Manthia Diawara explains that hip hop is really a voice of people who are down and out in modern society. He argues that the "worldwide spread of hip hop as a market revolution" is actually global "expression of poor people’s desire for the good life," and that this struggle aligns with "the nationalist struggle for citizenship and belonging, but also reveals the need to go beyond such struggles and celebrate the redemption of the black individual through tradition."

This connection to "tradition" however, is something that may be lacking according to one Satellite Academy staff member who says that in all of the focus on materialism, the hip hop community is “not leaving anything for the next generation, we’re not building. As the hip hop genre turns 30, a deeper analysis of the music’s impact is taking place. It has been viewed as a cultural sensation which changed the music industry around the world, but some believe commercialization and mass production have given it a darker side. Tate has described its recent manifestations as a marriage of “New World African ingenuity and that trick of the devil known as global-hypercapitalism”,^[56] arguing it has joined the “mainstream that had once excluded its originators.”^[56] While hip hop's values may have changed over time, the music continues to offer its followers and originators a shared identity which is instantly recognizable and much imitated around the world.

Cultural pillars[link]

DJing[link]

DJ Hypnotize and Baby Cee, two Disc jockeys

Turntablism refers to the extended boundaries and techniques of normal DJing innovated by hip hop. One of the few first hip hop DJ's was Kool DJ Herc, who created hip hop through the isolation of "breaks" (the parts of albums that focused solely on the beat). In addition to developing Herc's techniques, DJs Grandmaster Flowers, Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, and Grandmaster Caz made further innovations with the introduction of scratching.

Traditionally, a DJ will use two turntables simultaneously. These are connected to a DJ mixer, an amplifier, speakers, and various other pieces of electronic music equipment. The DJ will then perform various tricks between the two albums currently in rotation using the above listed methods. The result is a unique sound created by the seemingly combined sound of two separate songs into one song. Although there is considerable overlap between the two roles, a DJ is not the same as a producer of a music track.^[57]

In the early years of hip hop, the DJs were the stars, but that has been taken by MCs since 1978, thanks largely to Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash's crew, the Furious Five. However, a number of DJs have gained stardom nonetheless in recent years. Famous DJs include Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Mr. Magic, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Scratch from EPMD, DJ Premier from Gang Starr, DJ Scott La Rock from Boogie Down Productions, DJ Pete Rock of Pete Rock & CL Smooth, DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill, Jam Master Jay from Run-DMC, Eric B., DJ Screw from the Screwed Up Click and the inventor of the Chopped & Screwed style of mixing music, Funkmaster Flex, Tony Touch, DJ Clue, and DJ Q-Bert. The underground movement of turntablism has also emerged to focus on the skills of the DJ.

Mixtape DJs have also emerged creating mixtapes with different artists and getting exclusive songs and putting them on one disc, such as DJ White Owl, DJ Skee, DJ Drama, DJ Ill Will and DJ Whoo Kid, DJ Scholar.

MCing[link]

Rapper Busta Rhymes performs in Las Vegas for a BET party.

Rapping (also known as emceeing,^[58] MCing,^[58] spitting (bars),^[59] or just rhyming^[60]) refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics with a strong rhythmic accompaniment".^[61] It can be broken down into different components, such as “content”, “flow” (rhythm and rhyme), and “delivery”.^[62] Rapping is distinct from spoken word poetry in that is it performed in time to the beat of the music.^[63][64][65] The use of the word "rap" to describe quick and slangy speech or repartee long predates the musical form.^[66] MCing a form of expression that is embedded within ancient African culture and oral tradition. Throughout history there has always been some form of verbal acrobatics or jousting involving rhymes within the Afro-American community.^[67]

Graffiti[link]

An aerosol paint can, a common tool used in modern graffiti

In America around the late 1960s, graffiti was used as a form of expression by political activists, and also by gangs such as the Savage Skulls, La Familia, and Savage Nomads to mark territory. Towards the end of the 1960s, the signatures—tags—of Philadelphia graffiti writers Top Cat,^[68] Cool Earl and Cornbread started to appear.^[69] Around 1970–71, the center of graffiti innovation moved to New York City where writers following in the wake of TAKI 183 and Tracy 168 would add their street number to their nickname, "bomb" a train with their work, and let the subway take it—and their fame, if it was impressive, or simply pervasive, enough—"all city". Bubble lettering held sway initially among writers from the Bronx, though the elaborate Brooklyn style Tracy 168 dubbed "wildstyle" would come to define the art.^[68][70] The early trendsetters were joined in the 70s by artists like Dondi, Futura 2000, Daze, Blade, Lee, Fab Five Freddy, Zephyr, Rammellzee, Crash, Kel, NOC 167 and Lady Pink.^[68]

The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises both from early graffiti artists practicing other aspects of hip hop,^[71] and its being practiced in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms. Graffiti is recognized as a visual expression of rap music, just as breaking is viewed as a physical expression. The movie "Wild Style" is widely regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, featured prominent figures from lates 70's and early 1980s hip hop culture engaging in activities such as graffiti, MCing, turntablism and bboying: the four pillars of hip hop culture. The book Subway Art (New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1984) and the TV program Style Wars (first shown on the PBS channel in 1984) were also among the first ways the mainstream public were introduced to hip hop graffiti.

The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises from the appearance of new and increasingly elaborate and pervasive forms of the practice in areas where other elements of hip hop were evolving as art forms, with a heavy overlap between those who wrote graffiti and those who practiced other elements of the culture. Today, graffiti remains part of hip hop, while crossing into the mainstream art world with renowned exhibits in galleries throughout the world.

Breaking[link]

Breaking, an early form of hip hop dance, often involves battles, showing off technical skills as well as displaying tongue-in-cheek bravado

In 1925, Earl Tucker (aka Snake Hips), a performer at the Cotton Club created a dance style which would later inspire an element of hip hop culture known as bboying.^[72] Breaking, also called B-boying or breakdancing, is a dynamic style of dance which developed as part of the hip hop culture. Breaking is one of the major elements of hip hop culture. Like many aspects of hip hop culture, breakdance borrows heavily from many cultures, including 1930s-era street dancing,^[73][74] Afro-Brazilian and Asian Martial arts, Russian folk dance,^[75] and the dance moves of James Brown, Michael Jackson, and California Funk styles. Breaking took form in the South Bronx alongside the other elements of hip hop.

According to the documentary film The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy, DJ Kool Herc describes the "B" in B-boy as short for breaking which at the time was slang for "going off", also one of the original names for the dance. However, early on the dance was known as the "boing" (the sound a spring makes). Dancers at DJ Kool Herc's parties, who saved their best dance moves for the break section of the song, getting in front of the audience to dance in a distinctive, frenetic style. The "B" in B-boy also stands simply for break, as in break-boy (or girl). Breaking was documented in Style Wars, and was later given more focus in fictional films such as Wild Style and Beat Street. Early acts include the Rock Steady Crew and New York City Breakers.

Beatbox[link]

Beatbox, popularized by Doug E. Fresh,^[76] is the vocal percussion of hip hop culture. It is primarily concerned with the art of creating beats, rhythms, and melodies using the human mouth.^[77] The term beatboxing is derived from the mimicry of the first generation of drum machines, then known as beatboxes. As it is a way of creating hip hop music, it can be categorized under the production element of hip hop, though it does sometimes include a type of rapping intersected with the human-created beat. It is generally considered to be part of the same "Pillar" of hip hop as DJ'ing - in other words, providing a musical backdrop or foundation for MC's to rhyme over.

The art was quite popular in the 1980s with artists like the Darren "Buffy, the Human Beat Box" Robinson of the Fat Boys and Biz Markie displaying their skills in beatboxing. It declined in popularity along with b-boying in the late '80s, but has undergone a resurgence since the late '90s, marked by the release of "Make the Music 2000." by Rahzel of The Roots.

Social impact[link]

Effects[link]

A b-boy performing in San Francisco, California

Hip hop has made a considerable social impact since its inception in the 1970s. Orlando Patterson, a sociology professor at Harvard University helps describe the phenomenon of how hip hop spread rapidly around the world. Professor Patterson argues that mass communication is controlled by the wealthy, government, and businesses in Third World nations and countries around the world.^[78] He also credits mass communication with creating a global cultural hip hop scene. As a result, the youth absorb and are influenced by the American hip hop scene and start their own form of hip hop. Patterson believes that revitalization of hip hop music will occur around the world as traditional values are mixed with American hip hop musical forms,^[78] and ultimately a global exchange process will develop that brings youth around the world to listen to a common musical form known as hip hop. It has also been argued that rap music formed as a "cultural response to historic oppression and racism, a system for communication among black communities throughout the United States".^[79] This is due to the fact that the culture reflected the social, economic and political realities of the disenfranchised youth.^[80] In the current Arab Spring hip hop is playing a significant role in providing a channel for the youth to express their ideas.^[81]

Language[link]

The development of hip hop linguistics is complex. Source material include the spirituals of slaves arriving in the new world, Jamaican dub music, the laments of jazz and blues singers, patterned cockney slang and radio deejays hyping their audience in rhyme.^[82]

Hip hop has a distinctive associated slang.^[83] It is also known by alternate names, such as "Black English", or "Ebonics". Academics suggest its development stems from a rejection of the racial hierarchy of language, which held "White English" as the superior form of educated speech.^[84] Due to hip hop's commercial success in the late nineties and early 21st century, many of these words have been assimilated into the cultural discourse of several different dialects across America and the world and even to non-hip hop fans. The word dis for example is particularly prolific. There are also a number of words which predate hip hop, but are often associated with the culture, with homie being a notable example.

Sometimes, terms like what the dilly, yo are popularized by a single song (in this case, "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" by Busta Rhymes) and are only used briefly. One particular example is the rule-based slang of Snoop Dogg and E-40, who add -izzle or -izz to the end or middle of words.

Hip hop lyricism has gained a measure of legitimacy in academic and literary circles. Studies of Hip hop linguistics are now offered at institutions such as the University of Toronto, where poet and author George Eliot Clarke has (in the past) taught the potential power of hip hop music to promote social change.^[82] Greg Thomas of the University of Miami offers courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level studying the feminist and assertive nature of Li'l Kim's lyrics.^[85]

Some academics, including Ernest Morrell and Jeffery Duncan Andrade compare hip hop to the satirical works of great “canon” poets of the modern era, who use imagery and mood to directly criticize society. As quoted in their seminal work, "Promoting Academic Literacy with Urban Youth Through Engaging Hip Hop Culture":

Censorship[link]

A graffiti artist uses his artwork to make a satirical social statement on censorship: "Don't blame yourself... blame hip hop."

Hip hop has been met with significant problems in regards to censorship due to the explicit nature of certain genres, and some songs have been criticized for allegedly anti-establishment sentiment. For example, Public Enemy's "Gotta Give the Peeps What They Need" was censored on MTV, removing the words "free Mumia".^[87]

After the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Oakland, California group The Coup was under fire for the cover art on their Party Music, which featured the group's two members holding a detonator as the Twin Towers exploded behind them. Ironically, this art was created months before the actual event. The group, having politically radical and Marxist lyrical content, said the cover meant to symbolize the destruction of capitalism. Their record label pulled the album until a new cover could be designed.

The use of profanity as well as graphic depictions of violence and sex creates challenges in the broadcast of such material both on television stations such as MTV, in music video form, and on radio. As a result, many hip hop recordings are broadcast in censored form, with offending language "bleeped" or blanked out of the soundtrack, or replaced with "clean" lyrics. The result – which sometimes renders the remaining lyrics unintelligible or contradictory to the original recording – has become almost as widely identified with the genre as any other aspect of the music, and has been parodied in films such as Austin Powers in Goldmember, in which Mike Myers' character Dr. Evil – performing in a parody of a hip hop music video ("Hard Knock Life" by Jay-Z) – performs an entire verse that is blanked out. In 1995, Roger Ebert wrote:^[88]

In 1990, Luther Campbell and his group 2 Live Crew filed a lawsuit against Broward County Sheriff Nick Navarro, because Navarro wanted to prosecute stores that sold the group's album As Nasty As They Wanna Be because of its obscene and vulgar lyrics. In June 1990, U.S. district court judge labeled the album obscene and illegal to sell. However, in 1992, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned the obscenity ruling.

Until its discontinuation on July 8, 2006, BET ran a late-night segment titled BET: Uncut to air nearly-uncensored videos. The show was exemplified by music videos such as "Tip Drill" by Nelly which was criticized for what many viewed as an exploitative depiction of women, particularly images of a man swiping a credit card between a stripper's buttocks.

Product placement[link]

Potato chip packages featuring hip hop-design images

Critics such as Businessweek's David Kiley argue that the discussion of many products within hip hop music and culture may actually be the result of undisclosed product placement deals.^[89] Such critics allege that shilling or product placement takes place in commercial rap music, and that lyrical references to products are actually paid endorsements.^[89] In 2005, a proposed plan by McDonalds, which would have paid rappers to advertise McDonalds food in their music, was leaked to the press.^[89] After Russell Simmons made a deal with Courvoisier to promote the brand among hip hop fans, Busta Rhymes recorded the song "Pass the Courvoisier".^[89] Simmons insists that no money changed hands in the deal.^[89]

The symbiotic relationship has also stretched to include car manufacturers, clothing designers and sneaker companies,^[90] and many other companies have used the hip hop community to make their name or to give them credibility. One such beneficiary was Jacob the Jeweler, a diamond merchant from New York, Jacob Arabo's clientele included Sean Combs, Lil Kim and Nas. He created jewelry pieces from precious metals that were heavily loaded with diamond and gemstones. As his name was mentioned in the song lyrics of his hip hop customers, his profile quickly rose. Arabo expanded his brand to include gem-encrusted watches that retail for hundreds of thousands of dollars, gaining so much attention that Cartier filed a trademark-infringement lawsuit against him for putting diamonds on the faces of their watches and reselling them without permission.^[91] Arabo's profile increased steadily until his June, 2006 arrest by the FBI on money laundering charges.^[92]

While some brands welcome the support of the hip hop community, one brand that did not was Cristal champagne maker Louis Roederer. A 2006 article from The Economist magazine featured remarks from managing director Frederic Rouzaud about whether the brand's identification with rap stars could affect their company negatively. His answer was dismissive in tone: "That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business." In retaliation, many hip hop icons such as Jay-Z and Sean Combs, who previously included references to "Cris", ceased all mentions and purchases of the champagne. 50 Cent's merge with Vitamin Water, Dr. Dre's promotion of his Beats by Dr. Dre headphone line and Dr. Pepper, and Drake's commercial with Sprite all act to effectively illustrate successful mergers.

Media[link]

This section may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (December 2011)

Hip hop culture has had extensive coverage in the media, especially in relation to television; there have been a number of television shows devoted to or about hip hop. For many years, BET was the only television channel likely to play hip hop, but in recent years the mainstream channels VH1 and MTV have added a significant amount of hip hop to their play list. Run DMC became the first African-American group to appear on MTV.^[93][94] With the emergence of the Internet a number of online sites began to offer hip hop related video content.

There have also been a number of hip hop films, movies which focused on hip hop as a subject. Some of these films include: Boyz n the Hood, Juice, Menace II Society, Notorious, and Get Rich Or Die Tryin'.

Hip hop magazines have detailed hip hop lifestyle and history, including the first known published hip hop publication The Hip Hop Hit List, which also contained the very first rap music record chart. Published in the early 80s by two brothers from Newark, New Jersey, Vincent and Charles Carroll, it was the first form of media to introduce hip hop as a culture, and it was instrumental in the early commercial success of rap music. The periodical began as as a DJ record chart and tip sheet that was distributed through record stores throughout the New York City Tri-State area. Charles Carroll noted, "Back then, all DJ's came into New York City to buy their records but most of them did not know what was hot enough to spend money on, so we charted it." Later other publications spawned up including: Hip Hop Connection, XXL, Scratch, The Source and Vibe.^[95] Many individual cities have also produced their own local hip hop newsletters, while hip hop magazines with national distribution are found in a few other countries. The 21st century also ushered in the rise of online media, and hip hop fan sites now offer comprehensive hip hop coverage on a daily basis.

Diversification[link]

This section may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (March 2009)

Breaking in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Hip hop has spawned dozens of sub-genres which incorporate a domineering style of music production or rapping. After the Black Americans started hip hop, other ethnic groups began to contribute to the development of the cultural movement.

Hip hop has now expanded and gone on a global scale, with millions of rap albums sold in foreign countries, some of which are not English-speaking. Hip hop has influenced natives of foreign countries to pursue rap careers and do what is being done in the United States, including following the trends, in their country. This is a product of globalization and it explains how popular culture can be interwoven with the everyday life of individuals that follow it, and how it can affect them in many ways.

There are many varying social influences that affect hip hop's message in different nations. It is frequently used as a musical response to perceived political and/or social injustices. In South Africa the largest form of hip hop is called Kwaito, which has had a growth similar to American hip hop. Kwaito is a direct reflection of a post apartheid South Africa and is a voice for the voiceless; a term that U.S. hip hop is often referred to. Kwaito is even perceived as a lifestyle, encompassing many aspects of life, including language and fashion.^[96]

Kwaito is a political and party-driven genre, as performers use the music to express their political views, and also to express their desire to have a good time. Kwaito is a music that came from a once hated and oppressed people, but it is now sweeping the nation. The main consumers of Kwaito are adolescents and half of the South African population is under 21. Some of the large Kwaito artists have sold over 100,000 albums, and in an industry where 25,000 albums sold is considered a gold record, those are impressive numbers.^[97] Kwaito allows the participation and creative engagement of otherwise socially excluded peoples in the generation of popular media.^[98] South African hip hop is more diverse lately and there are hip hop acts in South Africa that have made an impact and continue making impact worldwide. These include Tumi, Ben Sharpa, HipHop Pantsula, Tuks Senganga.^[99]

In Jamaica, the sounds of hip hop are derived from American and Jamaican influences. Jamaican hip hop is defined both through dancehall and reggae music. Jamaican Kool Herc brought the sound systems, technology, and techniques of reggae music to New York during the 1970s. Jamaican hip hop artists often rap in both Brooklyn and Jamaican accents. Jamaican hip hop subject matter is often influenced by outside and internal forces. Outside forces such as the bling-bling era of today's modern hip hop and internal influences coming from the use of anti-colonialism and marijuana or "ganja" references which Rastafarians believe bring them closer to God.^{[100][101][102]}

Author Wayne Marshall argues that "Hip hop, as with any number of African-American cultural forms before it, offers a range of compelling and contradictory significations to Jamaican artist and audiences. From "modern blackness" to "foreign mind", transnational cosmopolitanism to militant pan-Africanism, radical remixology to outright mimicry, hip hop in Jamaica embodies the myriad ways that Jamaicans embrace, reject, and incorporate foreign yet familiar forms."^[103]

In the developing world hip hop has made a considerable impact in the social context. Despite the lack of resources, hip hop has made considerable inroads.^[46] Due to limited funds, hip hop artists are forced to use very basic tools, and even graffiti, an important aspect of the hip hop culture, is constrained due to its unavailability to the average person. Many hip hop artists that make it out of the developing world come to places like the United States in hopes of improving their situations. Maya Arulpragasm is a Sri Lankan born hip hop artist in this situation. She claims, "I'm just trying to build some sort of bridge, I'm trying to create a third place, somewhere in between the developed world and the developing world."^[104]

Education[link]

Many organizations and facilities are providing spaces and programs for communities to explore making and learning about hip hop. A noteworthy example is the IMP Labs in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Many dance studios and colleges now offer lessons in Hip Hop alongside Tap and Ballet. As well as KRS-ONE teaching hip hop lectures at Harvard University.

Hip hop producer 9th Wonder and former rapper/actor Christopher "Play" Martin from the hip hop group Kid-n-Play have both taught hip hop history classes at North Carolina Central University^[105] and 9th Wonder has also taught a "Hip Hop Sampling Soul" class at Duke University.^[106]

Legacy[link]

Having its roots in reggae, disco and funk, hip hop has since exponentially expanded into a widely accepted form of representation world wide. It expansion includes events like Afrika Bambaataa releasing "Planet Rock" in 1982, which tried to establish a more global harmony in hip hop. In the 1980s, the British Slick Rick became the first international hit hip hop artist not native to America. From the 80s onward, television became the major source of widespread outsourcing of hip hop to the global world. From Yo! MTV Raps (a television show that was shown in many countries) to Public Enemy's world tour, hip hop spread further to Latin America and became highly mainstream. Ranging from countries like France, Spain, England, the US and many other countries world wide, voices want to be heard, and hip hop allows them to do so. As such, hip hop has been cut mixed and changed to the areas that adapt to it.^{[45][107][unreliable source?]}

Early hip hop has often been credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with hip hop battles of dance and artwork. However, with the emergence of commercial and crime-related rap during the early 1990s, an emphasis on violence was incorporated, with many rappers boasting about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence. While hip hop music now appeals to a broader demographic, media critics argue that socially and politically conscious hip hop has long been disregarded by mainstream America in favor of its media-baiting sibling, gangsta rap.^[108]

Many artists are now considered to be alternative/underground hip hop when they attempt to reflect what they believe to be the original elements of the culture. Artists/groups such as Lupe Fiasco, J. Cole, The Roots, Shing02, Jay Electronica, Nas, Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Dilated Peoples, Dead Prez, Blackalicious, Joe Budden, Jurassic 5, Kendrick Lamar, Gangstarr, KRS-One, XV and hundreds more emphasize messages of verbal skill, internal/external conflicts, life lessons, unity, social issues, or activism.

Authenticity[link]

Authenticity is often a serious debate within hip hop culture. Dating back to its origins in the 1970s in the Bronx, hip hop revolved around a culture of protest and freedom of expression in the wake of oppression suffered by African-Americans. As hip hop has become less of an underground culture, it is subject to debate whether or not the spirit of hip hop is embodied in protest, or whether it can evolve to exist in a marketable integrated version.^[109] In "Authenticity Within Hip Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with Assimilation", Commentator Kembrew McLeod argues that hip hop culture is actually threatened with assimilation by a larger, mainstream culture.^[110] Believing that hip hop should be utilized as a voice for social justice, Tate points out that in the marketable version of hip hop, there isn't a role for this evolved genre in context of the original theme hip hop originated from (freedom from oppression). The problem with Black progressive political organizing isn't hip hop, but that the No. 1 issue on the table needs to be poverty, and nobody knows how to make poverty sexy.^[111]

Tate discusses how the dynamic of progressive Black politics cannot apply to the genre of hip hop in the current state today due to the genre's heavy involvement in the market. In his article he discusses hip hop's 30th birthday and how its evolution has become more of a devolution due to its capitalistic endeavors. Both Tate and McLeod argue that hip hop has lost its authenticity due to its losing sight of the revolutionary theme and humble "folksy" beginnings the music originated from. "This is the first time artists from around the world will be performing in an international context. The ones that are coming are considered to be the key members of the contemporary underground hip hop movement." This is how the music landscape has broadened around the world over the last ten years. The maturation of hip hop has gotten older with the genres age, but the initial reasoning of why hip hop has started will always be intact.

See also[link]

Hip hop portal

• List of hip hop albums
• List of hip hop musicians
• Museum of African American Music

References[link]

Notes[link]

• Huntington, Carla Stalling. Hip Hop Dance; Meanings and Messages. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Publishers, Inc.

Bibliography[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hip-hop music

Look up hip-hop in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hip-hop music

• Hip hop at the Open Directory Project
• Back in the Days — Vibe
• HiphopDNA — Directory of backstories for every hiphop song

Brett Domino is the alter-ego of Youtube musician Rob J. Madin. As Brett Domino, he is a musician, internet celebrity and TV presenter from Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He is best known for his YouTube videos, in which he plays mostly covers and medleys of popular songs on the Stylophone and keytar - sometimes with his band, 'The Brett Domino Trio'. The band is notable in that its members (Brett Domino, Steven Peavis (Ste Anderson) and Mitch Hutchinson (Michael Denny)) all play exclusively keyboard instruments. In a number of recent videos, however, Brett and Steven have diversified to incorporate other instruments, such as ukulele, theremin, recorder, accordion, kalimba and Skoog. Brett and the band have been featured a number of times as part of BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles Show,^[1] and in 2009 the band appeared on ITV's Britain's Got Talent, performing live as the house band on two episodes of ITV2's sister show, Britain's Got More Talent, in the final week.^[2]

Brett's Youtube videos have received over 11,000,000 views. The Justin Timberlake Medley featuring Trabasacks was posted by Justin Timberlake on his Twitter page and official website.

Brett has also been featured on the websites of Lady Gaga and Ellie Goulding. Another musical alter-ego of Rob J Madin has recently surfaced on YouTube with the name 'Rocco La Bête'. The visual style and editing techniques are very similar to those of the Brett Domino videos.

On November 22, 2010, Brett Domino released a song called "Gillian McKeith", a humorous take on the celebrity during her time in the 10th series of the ITV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!. The YouTube video has had over 1,000,000 views. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 29 on November 28, 2010.

On February 18, 2011, Brett played a specially written song on The Chris Moyles Show for Chris Moyles' Birthday

On June 10, 2011, Rob J Madin has recently surfaced on Youtube with the name 'C-Bomb', a 'cousin' of Brett Domino's. Here, playing in a style of Dubstep, unlike other Madin videos, 'C-Bomb' is not seen playing any instruments, but does dance, in a similar style to Brett Domino's Lady Gaga - Bad Romance. It also appears that 'C-Bomb' writes his own compositions, as seen with his Youtube video 'Irresistible'

He appeared on Blue Peter, the BBC children's programme on March 1st 2012, performing a humorous song detailing a short list for the best children's book of the last ten years.

Singles[link]

Albums[link]

Songs Off Youtube[link]

Release date: 1 March 2011

Track listing:

• Beat It (2011 Version)
• Justin Timberlake Medley
• I Feel for You
• We Speak No Americano
• 1980s Stylophone Medley
• Bad Romance
• Jurassic Park Theme
• Ellie Goulding Medley
• Hip-Hop Medley
• Nelly Furtado Medley
• Michael Jackson Medley
• Korn / 50 Cent / Tenna Marie Medley
• Now 75 Medley
• Party In the Park (Radio Aire) Medley
• William Tell Overture (Live)
• Track By Track Commentary

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is an American hip hop band from Cleveland, Ohio formed in 1991. It originally consisted of rappers Layzie Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Wish Bone. Rapper Eazy-E of the group N.W.A signed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony to Ruthless Records in late 1993, when Bone Thugs debuted with EP Creepin on ah Come Up. The EP included the hit single "Thuggish Ruggish Bone".

In 1995, the group released its second album, E. 1999 Eternal, which included hits "1st of tha Month" and "Tha Crossroads." A tribute to the recently deceased Eazy-E, "Tha Crossroads," won a Grammy award in 1997. The Art of War, the group's third album, was also released in 1997. Bone Thugs is also the only group that has worked with deceased artists 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Eazy-E & Big Pun while they were still alive.

In 2000 BTNHResurrection reached platinum in one month and Thug World Order (2002) received more moderate sales and promotion. After the album the group went on hiatus and released their sixth studio album Thug Stories independently before returning in 2007 with the major label release Strength & Loyalty, this time released by Swizz Beatz's label Full Surface Records. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony officially returned with their new album Uni-5: The World's Enemy, released in 2010 by their own record label, BTNH Worldwide, with distribution by Warner Bros.. Due to internal conflicts with the group, longtime members Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone officially left the group in April 2011. Despite speculation that the group was splitting up, Flesh-n-Bone announced that a new album with him, Layzie and Bizzy will be released soon. Krayzie and Wish are currently working with upcoming artists on their label The Life Ent.

Style and technique[link]

Bone's style and technique can be described as melodic, yet rapid-fire and aggressive. Their flow is often interwoven at a high-speed, melodic pace or slow, harmonic pace. They also tend to ride the beat that they're rapping over. Sometimes there are very few choruses separating their verses from one another. In the beginning, circa Faces of Death, Bone used a pseudo-Jamaican patois delivery with their trademark style, though they rarely do this now. Bone's subject matter has both spiritual and occult undertones (e.g., "Hell Sent", "Intro", "Mr. Ouija", "Mr. Ouija 2" and "Da Introduction"). At first, their subject matter was almost always exclusively about violence and smoking marijuana. Today, however, their subject matter includes other topics such as urban socio-political issues, their old friend and mentor Eazy-E and religion. Besides minor changes to subject matter and sound, their lyrical style, elocution, and overall methodology remain intact and have influenced many new artists today who have picked up this unique style.

B.O.N.E Enterprise Early years[link]

Formed in the early 1990s, the group was originally called "The Band-Aid Boys". The group formed the band B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e, which consisted of five members: Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone and later Flesh-n-Bone and recorded an album entitled Faces of Death in the studio of their then mentor, Kermit Henderson (Krayzie Bone's younger brother) on his indie label Stoney Burke in 1993. In hopes of securing a record deal the group was given an audition over the phone receiving an unfulfilled promise from rapper Eazy-E to call them back. Diego Blak (born Diego hodge), a marketer and promoter and co-executive producer of Faces Of Death introduced them to Eazy-E at a concert he promoted in Cleveland, Ohio where they auditioned for him in his dressing room and then traveled back to Los Angeles, California after the show to seal the deal. On November 2nd 1993, the group auditioned backstage for Eazy-E. Krayzie Bone performed his verse of "Flow Motion" from the Faces of Death album and Eazy-E was impressed.^[1] At this point Eazy named them Thugs-n-Harmony, but they wanted to keep the bone name so they renamed themselves Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Eazy-E signed the group (minus Flesh-n-Bone) to his label Ruthless Records.^[2]

Ruthless Records[link]

[edit] Creepin on ah Come Up

Released in June 1994, the EP Creepin on ah Come Up, was Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's debut with Ruthless. The album subject matter was focused almost entirely on violent criminal activity. Peaking at #12 on the Billboard 200 album chart and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart,^[3] it included the hit singles "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "Foe tha Love of $", the second of which featured a verse by Eazy-E. "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #2 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart, and "Foe tha Love of $" peaked at #41 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Rap Tracks.^[4] After a slow start that saw the album's success limited to gangsta rap audiences, it broke through to the mainstream. The EP marked a major change in style for the group, as they now fully embraced the G-Funk common in West Coast hip-hop of the time. Beats were supplied by DJ Yella, Rhythum D, Kenny McCloud, and it was the group's first collaboration with newcomer producer DJ U-Neek, who would craft the group's signature sound by producing the majority of their next two albums.

[edit] E. 1999 Eternal

In 1995, the group's second album E. 1999 Eternal was released. It included the singles "1st of tha Month", which peaked at #14 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Hot Rap Tracks, and "Tha Crossroads", which reached #1 on the Hot 100 and Hot Rap Tracks charts. The album saw Bone diversify its content and musical style. A considerable portion of the album's concept was built upon violent subject matter, yet Bone also incorporated deeper themes, as its songs dealt with more spirituality and occult mysticism. The album was produced by DJ U-Neek (with co-production from Tony C. and Kenny McCloud). E. 1999 Eternal also introduced Bone's trademark tracks devoted entirely to the use of marijuana. The album name originated from one of the street names of a corner (E. 99th street & St. Clair) that was a familiar hangout to Bone members, as well as Eazy-E's album, Eternal E. Naming it after Eazy-E's album was just another way of showing respect and tribute to the rapper that helped them reach heightened success. In the same year, Flesh-n-Bone would become the first member of the group to release a debut album entitled T.H.U.G.S, which was certified gold according to the RIAA. In 1996 due to their success the Cleveland clan established their own Mo Thugs Records and released the Mo Thugs Family Scriptures compilation album to introduce many of the Cleveland-based and other artists that they were developing. E. 1999 Eternal is the group's most commercially successful album, it has since been certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA.

[edit] The Art of War

In 1997, the group released the double-disc set The Art of War. The album saw Bone further explore a wide variety of subjects and styles, with even more focus on God and family and an overall more ambient, mellow sound. The group still incorporated violent lyrics, though, with a large portion of the album dedicated to what they labeled "clones" who claimed Bone had stolen their quick-tongued rapping style and vice-versa. The album was rumored to be called "DNA Level C" which is Cleveland backwards. The single "Look into My Eyes" appeared on the soundtrack of the film Batman & Robin. It peaked at #4 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart.^[4] "If I Could Teach The World", the other single from The Art of War, peaked at #27 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot Rap Tracks.^[4] and won an American Music Award. The album also included "Thug Luv" with Tupac Shakur. The group's efforts were though dampened by the absence of Bizzy Bone from the album's videos and large portions of the ensuing tour and public appearances. This absence by that time fueled rumors of a break-up.

[edit] BTNHResurrection

In 2000, the group released BTNHResurrection. The album featured the single "Resurrection (Paper, Paper)", which peaked on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #52.^[4] The album's first half featured a slew of hardcore and dark tracks, with the second half being considerably more introspective and soft. Other two singles from the album including "Can't Give it Up" failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100 and the big-budget video for "Change The World" failed to receive any rotation. Their first group album to prominently feature Flesh-n-Bone, whose presence was limited on previous releases because he had never signed with the group's label Ruthless Records. Flesh-n-Bone was convicted for assault with a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon in June 2000.^[5] Pleading guilty, Flesh was sentenced to 11 years in prison.^[6] The group again began having public disputes with Bizzy Bone. Bizzy Bone abstained from promoting BTNHResurrection because he felt that Ruthless Records owed him money. He dropped a million-dollar lawsuit he filed against Sony Music and Loud Records in exchange for a termination of his Sony contract.^[7] Three members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony released solo albums in 2001: Bizzy Bone with The Gift, Layzie Bone with Thug by Nature, and Krayzie Bone with Thug on da Line.^[8]

[edit] Thug World Order

In 2002, the group released Thug World Order. The album, made up of supposedly overly-violent and political songs, saw a drastic change in subject matter and tone for the group. The lyrics were almost completely void of any violence, while a larger number of tracks focused on the group itself. In contrast, several songs originally intended to be included on the album that were leaked after its release portray a much different album. The album debuted at #12 on the Billboard 200.^[3] The first single released from the album was "Get Up & Get It", featuring 3LW. The second single "Home" that featured Phil Collins performing part of his song "Take Me Home" peaked at #33 on the Rhythmic Top 40 impacting the charts in a number of countries, most notably the United Kingdom.^[4] Bizzy Bone was expelled from the group in January 2003 thus leaving only 3 active members Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone & Wish Bone.^[9]

After Ruthless[link]

[edit] Thug Stories

Thug Stories, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's sixth album was recorded on Koch Records and released on September 19, 2006. It marked the first time Bone Thugs-n-Harmony recorded as a trio after they released an internet-only EP album called '"Bone 4 Life" in September 2005. The album featured a slightly more mature style and the group leaned heavily towards its harmonic roots than its "thug" origins. Thug Stories sold 38,000 in its first week and peaked at #25 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Independent Album Chart.

[edit] Strength & Loyalty

Originally to be called The Bone Thugs Story, Strength & Loyalty was released on May 8, 2007 on Interscope Records imprint Full Surface Records. Being their first major album after an absence of nearly five years, the album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on iTunes and the Billboard Urban Music charts. The album contains guest appearances by Mariah Carey, The Game, will.i.am, Akon, Twista, Bow Wow, Yolanda Adams, and Felecia.

Producers on the album included Swizz Beatz, Akon, Pretty Boy & Bradd Young, DJ Toomp, Jermaine Dupri, will.i.am, and others. The executive producer of the album was Swizz Beatz. The first single was "I Tried", which was their first top 10 hit in 10 years, having peaked at number 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The second single was "Lil Love", which failed to reach the success of their first single. The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA.^{[10][dead link]}. The group also released a movie called "I Tried" that same year.

[edit] T.H.U.G.S.

T.H.U.G.S. is an album featuring previously unreleased, largely remixed Bone Thugs-n-Harmony songs that didn't make the final cut of BTNHResurrection and Thug World Order albums. It was released on November 13, 2007 by their former record label, Ruthless Records. Although the album embodies old tracks, there are some new notable changes: new beats, distorted production, voice manipulation, and new song titles. The sole single off the album was "Young Thugs", which was accompanied by a newly-filmed music video featuring Krayzie, Layzie, Bizzy and Wish.

Reunion[link]

In November 2007, Layzie Bone confirmed that he had completed the Bone Brothers III album with Bizzy Bone, spurring speculation of a full Bone reunion. In a video interview,^[11] Krayzie Bone stated that they all wanted to reunite but that record label issues may prevent an official reunion. Bizzy Bone had attended a Bone Thugs performance during the time and he and the three then-standing members had a "good conversation".

After nearly a decade of incarceration, Flesh-n-Bone was released from prison on July 13, 2008. In an interview, Bizzy confirmed his return to the group, after them all getting together by the time of Flesh's release.^[12]

[edit] Uni5: The World's Enemy

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony five members officially returned with their new album Uni-5: The World's Enemy, released in 2010 by their own record label, BTNH Worldwide, with distribution by Warner Bros. Uni5 also marks the return of long-time collaborator, DJ U-Neek, who was absent from 2007's Strength & Loyalty and has produced for the group throughout their career, including hits such as "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "Tha Crossroads." This studio effort leans toward radio-friendly numbers and proper grown-man tracks, with the core four members offering life lessons as Bizzy gives his Biblical perspective. They released the singles "See Me Shine" featuring Jay Rush and Lyfe Jennings and "Rebirth" featuring Thin-C.^[13] A third single, "Meet Me in the Sky", was released on March 22. Uni-5: The World's Enemy was released on May 4, 2010.

Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone Departure[link]

On the 14th of April 2011, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony member Krayzie Bone announced he left the group after 20 years citing uncontrollable circumstances along with Wish Bone to pursue their solo careers further and release records on their label, The Life Entertainment.^[14] Flesh-n-Bone stated that him leaving the group was a serious disrespect mark towards Eazy-E and says "He might as well say fuck Eazy!" and that he (Krayzie) knows where home is if he wants to come back to the group. Due to Flesh being angered, his retaliation led him towards the idea of an album titled "Majority Rules" but Bizzy Bone dismissed this claiming it was just Flesh-n-Bone's anger towards Krayzie leaving. In more recent interviews it seems Krayzie Bone has made amends to the rest of Bone Thugs (since he was featured on Flesh-n-Bone's new album for example) and is still planning things with the rest of the group, but he needed his time and space to do his own thing, but he'll always be 'Bone'^{[citation needed]}.

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony announced on their blog over the summer that they're planning a new album for 2012 and it will be the last album with all 5 members of the group. They reiterated those facts in a November interview. Krayzie Bone has also stated that he will again be a part of the group for touring purposes only, after announcing his departure this past April.

Future Projects[link]

Krayzie Bone, Bizzy Bone and Layzie Bone more recently have spoken of many new projects coming in 2012. Those projects include an anniversary album featuring all 5 members, a Bizzy & Krayzie duet album, and unreleased compilation albums of unreleased Bone Thugs-n-Harmony material from the mid to late 90's.

Discography[link]

1993: Faces of Death 1994: Creepin on ah Come Up (EP) 1995: E. 1999 Eternal 1997: The Art of War 2000: BTNHResurrection 2002: Thug World Order 2006: Thug Stories 2007: Strength & Loyalty 2007: T.H.U.G.S. 2010: Uni5: The World's Enemy Awards[link] Award Category Song/Album Year Result Grammy Awards "Best Rap Album" E. 1999 Eternal 1996 Nominated "Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group" 1st of tha Month Nominated Tha Crossroads 1997 Won American Music Awards "Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist" Bone Thugs-n-Harmony 1996 Nominated 1997 Nominated 1998 Won "Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Band, Duo or Group" 2007 Won MTV Video Music Awards "Best Special Effects" Tha Crossroads 1996 Nominated "Viewer's Choice" Nominated "Video of the Year" Nominated "Best Group Video" Nominated References[link] ↑ "Krayzie Bone - Audition To Eazy E". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDXJZ7yz9Gc.  ↑ "Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Biography". Interscope Records. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080822005656/http://www.bonethugsnharmony.com/bio/default.aspx.  ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Bone Thugs-n-Harmony: Charts & Awards: Billboard Albums". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p44741. Retrieved January 17, 2010.  ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: Charts & Awards: Billboard Singles". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p44741. Retrieved January 17, 2010.  ↑ Basham, David (June 16, 2000). "Flesh-N-Bone Convicted On Assault, Weapons Charges". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1426320/20000616/bone_thugs_n_harmony.jhtml. Retrieved January 17, 2010.  ↑ Johnson, Tina (September 22, 2000). "UPDATE: Flesh-N-Bone Gets 11 Years In Assault Case". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1426317/20000922/bone_thugs_n_harmony.jhtml. Retrieved January 17, 2010.  ↑ Baker, Soren (March 22, 2001). "Bizzy Bone Has A Gift For Negotiation". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1441984/20010321/bizzy_bone.jhtml. Retrieved January 17, 2010.  ↑ Baker, Soren (March 13, 2001). "Three Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Members Dropping Solo LPs". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1441484/20010312/bone_thugs_n_harmony.jhtml. Retrieved January 17, 2010.  ↑ Reid, Shaheem (January 31, 2003). "Bone Thugs Say Bizzy Is Out For Good This Time". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1459799/20030131/bone_thugs_n_harmony.jhtml. Retrieved January 17, 2010.  ↑ "Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: News: "Strength & Loyalty" Certified Gold". http://www.bonethugsnharmony.com/news/default.aspx?nid=9429.  ↑ "ThugLine TV- Krayzie Bone speaks on reunion". YouTube. 2008-06-12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-25OrAQ_gM. Retrieved 2012-03-29.  ↑ Jasarevic, Mina (2008-08-01). "Bizzy Bone: Thicker Than Water | Rappers Talk Hip Hop Beef & Old School Hip Hop". HipHop DX. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1185/title.bizzy-bone-thicker-than-water/p.all. Retrieved 2012-03-29.  ↑ "See Me Shine [feat. Lyfe Jennings, Phaedra & J Rush] [Explicit]: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002U1HKB4. Retrieved 2012-03-29.  ↑ Burgess, Omar (2011-04-14). "Krayzie Bone Splits From Bone Thugs-N-Harmony | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.14757/title.krayzie-bone-splits-from-bone-thugs-n-harmony. Retrieved 2012-03-29.  External links[link] Book: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. Official website Official Myspace page Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's ArtistDirect page Exclusive Interview in Complex magazine I Tried Movie Bone Thugs-n-Harmony at Allmusic v t e Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Bizzy Bone Layzie Bone Flesh-n-Bone Wish Bone Krayzie Bone Studio albums Faces of Death Creepin on ah Come Up E 1999 Eternal The Art of War BTNHResurrection Thug World Order Thug Stories Strength & Loyalty Uni5: The World's Enemy Compilations The Collection, Volume 1 The Collection, Volume 2 Greatest Hits Greatest Hits (Chopped & Screwed) T.H.U.G.S. Thug Smoke Fest Thuggish II Singles "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" "Foe tha Love of $" "1st of tha Month" "East 1999" "Tha Crossroads" "Days of Our Livez" "Look into My Eyes" "If I Could Teach the World" "War" "Resurrection (Paper, Paper)" "Change the World" "Money, Money" "Home" "Take the Lead (Wanna Ride)" "I Tried" "Lil' L.O.V.E." Related articles Discography Bone Brothers Mo Thugs ThugLine Records Ruthless Records BTNH Worldwide Book:Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa in Brooklyn, New York in August 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Cameron Jibril Thomaz
Born	(1987-09-08) September 8, 1987 (age 24) Minot, North Dakota, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, singer, songwriter, actor
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Rostrum, Taylor Gang, Warner Bros., Atlantic
Associated acts	Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Curren$y, Big Sean, Chevy Woods, Mac Miller, Juicy J, Tinie Tempah, Yelawolf, Maroon 5, Big K.R.I.T.
Website	wizkhalifa.com

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by the stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper. He released his debut album, Show and Prove, in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His Eurodance-influenced single, "Say Yeah", received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008.^[1] Khalifa parted with Warner Bros. and released his second album, Deal or No Deal, in November 2009. He released the mixtape Kush and Orange Juice as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records.^[2] He is also well known for his debut single for Atlantic, "Black and Yellow", which peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album for the label, Rolling Papers, was released on March 29, 2011.^[3]

Early life[link]

Khalifa was born on September 8, 1987 to a mother and a father serving in the military.^[1][4] His parents divorced when Khalifa was about three years old. His parents' military service caused him to move regularly: Khalifa lived in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan before settling in Pittsburgh where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School.^[1][4]

His stage name is derived from khalifa, an Arabic word meaning "successor", and wisdom, which was shortened to Wiz when Khalifa was a young boy .^[5] Khalifa stated to spinner.com that the name also came from being called "young Wiz 'cause I was good at everything I did, and my granddad is Muslim, so he gave me that name; he felt like that's what I was doing with my music." He got his stage name tattooed on his 17th birthday.^[6][7] He includes Jimi Hendrix, Camp Lo, The Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony among his influences.^[8]

Career[link]

[edit] 2005–08: Early mixtapes and Show and Prove

Rostrum Records president Benjy Grinberg first heard about Wiz Khalifa in 2004 when the rapper's contribution to a mixtape of various new Pittsburgh artists attracted his interest.^[9] When Grinberg finally met the 16-year-old artist, he immediately decided he wanted to work with him, later telling HitQuarters: "Even though he wasn’t all the way developed you could just tell that he was a diamond in the rough, and that with some polishing, guidance and backing he could become something special."^[9] Khalifa signed to the label shortly after and began a seven year period of artist development.^[9]

Khalifa released his first mixtape, Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, in 2005. The mixtape paved the way for his first full length album entitled Show and Prove in 2006. Khalifa was declared an "artist to watch" that year in Rolling Stone magazine.^[10][11]

In 2007, Khalifa signed to Warner Bros. Records and released two mixtapes through Rostrum Records: Grow Season, hosted by DJ Green Lantern and released on July 4, 2007, and Prince of the City 2, released on November 20, 2007. His debut Warner Bros. single "Say Yeah" reached number 25 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 music chart and number 20 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks. The song samples "Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay. Khalifa's vocals from "Say Yeah" appear near the end of Pittsburgh mash up producer Girl Talk's 2008 album, Feed the Animals, over music from Underworld's "Born Slippy", Usher's "Love in This Club", and the Cure's "In Between Days".^[12] Khalifa appeared with The Game, David Banner and Play-n-Skillz at U92's Summer Jam at the USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah on August 2, 2008.^[13] Khalifa released the mixtapes Star Power in September 2008, and Flight School in April 2009 on Rostrum Records.

Khalifa parted ways with Warner Bros. Records in July 2009 after numerous delays in releasing his planned debut album for the label, First Flight. Khalifa stated to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that, "I learned a lot during my time there and matured as an artist during the process. I'm happy to be moving on with all of my material and having the chance to be in control of my next moves".^[14] Khalifa appeared with Girl Talk, Modey Lemon, Donora, Grand Buffet, and Don Caballero at the Amphitheatre at Station Square in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2009, where he announced that his relationship with Warner Bros. was over.^[15]

Wiz Khalifa performing at Columbia University in New York City in April 2010.

[edit] 2009–10: Deal or No Deal

Continuing his association with Rostrum Records, Khalifa released the single "Teach U to Fly", and the mixtape How Fly, a collaboration with New Orleans rapper Curren$y, on August 9, 2009.^[14] Khalifa introduced a more melodic style on the mixtape, alternating between singing and rapping. He opened for Wu-Tang Clan member U-God at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon in New York City.^[16] Khalifa released the mixtape Burn After Rolling on November 2, 2009, where he raps over familiar beats from other artists, including the songs "If I Were A Boy" and "Diva" by Beyoncé, "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun, "Luchini AKA This Is It" by Camp Lo, and "Best I Ever Had" by Drake.^[17] Khalifa released his second album, Deal or No Deal, on November 24, 2009.^[18]

Khalifa performed at Emo's in Austin, Texas in March 2010 as part of the 2010 South by Southwest Music Festival.^[19] He appeared on the cover of XXL magazine that same month, for the magazine's annual list of Top 10 Freshman, which included Donnis, J. Cole, Pill, Freddie Gibbs, and Fashawn. Wiz Khalifa was named 2010 "Rookie Of The Year" by "The Source", with alongside Rick Ross, "The Man Of The Year".^[20] He toured with rapper Yelawolf on a 20-date tour, the Deal Or No Deal Tour.^[21] Khalifa released the free mixtape Kush and Orange Juice for download on April 14, 2010. Due to Khalifa's devoted grassroots fan base, the mixtape became the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter with the hash tag #kushandorangejuice, and "Kush and Orange Juice download” ranked No. 1 on Google’s hot search trends.^[22]

2010: Signing with Atlantic Records[link]

Citing music industry insiders, New York magazine wrote that Khalifa signed with Atlantic Records in April 2010, although the rapper did not confirm it.^[23] He stated to AllHipHop in June 2010 that he was working on a new album, but was weighing his options and had not yet decided on a label to distribute it.^[24] Khalifa confirmed to MTV on July 30 that he was signing an Atlantic Records deal.^[25]

Wiz Khalifa on stage in Boston in August 2010.

Khalifa was featured in a remix and video for the 2010 Rick Ross single "Super High", alongside Curren$y.^[26] He guested on the mixtape Grey Goose, Head Phones, and Thirsty Women by St. Louis rapper M.C,^[27] and was featured on the track "The Breeze (Cool)" on rapper Wale's August 2010 mixtape More About Nothing.^[28] Khalifa was named MTV's Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2010, winning with nearly 70,000 votes, and beating out finalists Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Travis Porter, and Diggy Simmons.^[29]

Khalifa appeared at the Soundset 2010 festival in May 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, alongside Method Man & Redman, Del the Funky Homosapien and Hieroglyphics, Atmosphere, Murs, Cage, and others.^[30] He also performed at the 2010 Rock the Bells festival, along with hip hop veterans Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, KRS-One, Jedi Mind Tricks and Slick Rick.^[31] Khalifa declined an invitation to tour with rapper Drake and launched his own "Waken Baken" tour, a 50-city national tour with rapper Yelawolf. The tour, scheduled to last from September to November 2010, has, as of October, sold out every venue.^[8] On November 2010, during his "Waken Baken" tour at East Carolina University, Wiz Khalifa was arrested for possession and trafficking of marijuana. He was then released the next morning after a $300K bail, and resumed his tour. Khalifa performed in a cypher during the 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards. He recited his verse from the song, "The Check Point", from his mixtape with Curren$y, How Fly.^[32]

[edit] 2010–11: Mainstream success and Rolling Papers

Wiz Khalifa at SXSW in 2010

Khalifa released "Black and Yellow", his first single for Rostrum/Atlantic, produced by Stargate, which has received radio airplay.^[8][33] The single was peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; the title of the song refers to the colours of the City of Pittsburgh.^[34] Khalifa released his debut album with Atlantic Records in 2011.^[35] He appeared with Curren$y on the track "Scaling the Building" on producer Ski Beatz' 2010 album, 24 Hour Karate School.^[36] Khalifa's record label is Taylor Gang Records, named after his love of Chuck Taylor All-Stars^[8], and Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, PA, where he graduated from.

On March 29, 2011, Khalifa released his first studio album, Rolling Papers. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 197,000 copies in the United States.^[37] Shortly afterward on March 31, 2011 Wiz Khalifa performed at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the school's annual Dooley's Weekend.^[38] On June 26, 2011, Khalifa was nominated and won Best New Artist at the BET Awards of 2011.^[39] Khalifa collaborated with British rapper Tinie Tempah whom Tinie announced in an interview with Rolling Stone that his next single is to be called "Till I'm Gone" and would feature Wiz Khalifa and is to be produced by Stargate.^[40][41] The single and the video song were released at the end of June 2011.^[42]

Personal life[link]

Thomaz proposed to model Amber Rose on March 1, 2012 showing off the ring on Twitter.^[43] He is personal friends with Snoop Dogg, Juicy J, Yelawolf, and fellow Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller.^[44]

In March 2012, Thomaz purchased a 2.8 private wooded acres with a 3,891-square-foot residence in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, a small community southwest of Pittsburgh. The residence includes 5-bedroom, 4-bath eco-friendly, Brazilian Koa floors, stainless steel appliances, a separate guest house, and a lavish master suite with high ceilings.^[45] He currently resides there with his fiancée Amber Rose.

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• 2006: Show and Prove
• 2009: Deal or No Deal
• 2011: Rolling Papers
• 2012: O.N.I.F.C. ^[11][46][47]

Collaborative albums

• 2011: Mac & Devin Go to High School (with Snoop Dogg)
• 2012: TBA (with Taylor Gang)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wiz Khalifa

• Official website
• Wiz Khalifa on Facebook
• Wiz Khalifa on Myspace
• Wiz Khalifa on Twitter
• Wiz Khalifa at MTV
• Non-commercial Wiz Khalifa mixtapes

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012)

HM: The Hard Music Magazine is an American monthly, digital-only publication focusing on both Christianity and hard rock. Articles include news, album and festival reviews, posters, artists to watch, indie artist reviews, devotionals and interviews with Christian artists. The recurring "So and So Says" interviews focus on artists who often are not Christians and play in secular bands, in order to discuss their music, upcoming tours, albums, and to determine their views on Jesus Christ and other spiritual matters.

History[link]

This section is written like a magazine article; it does not use the direct, balanced tone expected of an encyclopedia. Please discuss this issue on the talk page. Editing help is available. (November 2008)

In 1985, Doug Van Pelt started Heaven's Metal as a fanzine. The classified ad Van Pelt's friend placed in Kerrang! happened to be in the British rock magazine's 100th issue—an issue with 100,000 extra copies. This affected on the number of people ordering subscriptions. During that time many Christian record labels became interested in Christian metal, and they advertised the newly signed metal bands on their roster on Heaven's Metal since it was the only publication exclusively covering the movement. Soon Heaven's Metal achieved more popularity and became an official, professional publication, with five full-time journalists working for the magazine. Heaven's Metal achieved a regular flock of 15,000 readers.^[1]

The name was changed to HM Magazine in 1995, where the HM can also represent "Hard Music". Despite name and format changes over its history, the magazine's spiritual focus remains identifiably Christian, as it follows both the Christian rock and the Christian metal movement. Bands' sales usually rose when the ensembles were covered on the magazine. For example, during the mid-1990s, HM was the only magazine that covered P.O.D. The band's label appreciated HM for this and eventually Atlantic Records bestowed upon Van Pelt the gold P.O.D. plaque. Gold records are given to industry figures that impact sales. During the 1990s, HM sealed a distribution deal with a major magazine wholesaler that immediately increased its print-run from 13,000 to 22,000 copies and allowed Van Pelt and his co-workers to double ad rates, making HM a stable business enterprise.^[1]

Two specific articles greatly bolstered HM's popularity. The first was the band King's X's vocalist Doug Pinnick revealing his homosexuality. The second was Alice Cooper's interview in 2002 when he, for the first time in public, admitted being a Christian, though he had avoided becoming a "Celebrity Christian," since other news portals in the world quickly noted this interview.^[1][2]

On October 2004, Van Pelt brought back the Heaven's Metal name by starting a new fanzine under that title. Christianity and hard music are also themes of this venture, but produced in a smaller, less formal format. The Heaven's Metal fanzine also focuses on the more traditional styles of heavy metal and bands that are not as mainstream as those featured in the HM Magazine. The Heaven's Metal fanzine is released between issues of the primary HM Magazine.

HM has expanded to include acts other than those that would fit into the hard rock or metal category. It is not unusual to find an article on a softer rock band like Deas Vail or a synthpop group like Owl City.

Van Pelt currently remains the editor and publisher of both the HM Magazine and Heaven's Metal Fanzine.

In an attempt to get out of debt, HM has launched a "Save HM Magazine campaign" through their website to raise funds in order to continue printing the publication. As a thanks to donors, they are offering a collection of songs available for download. After more than 26 years of publishing as a print magazine, with simultaneous digital editions starting to run in May 2007, the publication went exclusively digital starting with the December 2011 Issue #151 and changed to a monthly format. The digital editions are password-protected.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Austin Chronicle: HM Editor/Publisher Doug Van Pelt's Hard-Rocking Christian Empire 7 August 2000
• Phantom Tollbooth: Heaven's Metal Re-launches As A Fanzine 4 October 2004