"Fuck" is an English word that is considered vulgar. In its most literal meaning, it refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed and may also be used as an intensive.

"Fuck" can often be used as a verb, adverb, adjective, imperative, interjection, and noun. It has various metaphorical meanings. To be "fucked" can mean to be cheated (e.g., "I got fucked by a scam artist"), or to be broken or ruined (e.g., "my computer is fucked") as well as to be sexually penetrated. As a noun, "a fuck" or "a fucker" may describe a contemptible person. "A fuck" may mean an act of copulation. The word can be used as an interjection, and its participle is sometimes used as a strong (not necessarily negative) emphatic. The verb ''to fuck'' may be used transitively or intransitively, and it appears in compounds, including ''fuck off'', ''fuck you'', ''fuck up'', and ''fuck with''. In less explicit usages (but still regarded as vulgar), ''fuck'' or ''fuck with'' can mean to mess around, or to deal with unfairly or harshly. In a phrase such as "don't give a fuck", the word is the equivalent of "damn", in the sense of something having little value. In "what the fuck?!", it serves merely as an intensive. If something is very abnormal or annoying, "this is fucked up!" may be used.

Offensiveness

The word's use is considered obscene in social contexts, but may be common in informal and domestic situations. It is unclear whether the word has always been considered vulgar, and if not, when it first came to be used to describe (often in an extremely angry, hostile or belligerent manner) unpleasant circumstances or people in an intentionally offensive way, such as in the term ''motherfucker'', one of its more common usages in some parts of the English-speaking world. In the modern English-speaking world, the word ''fuck'' is often considered highly offensive. Most English-speaking countries censor it on television and radio. A study of the attitudes of the British public found that ''fuck'' was considered the third most severe profanity and its derivative ''motherfucker'' second. ''Cunt'' was considered the most severe (Hargrave, 2000). Some have argued that the prolific usage of the word ''fuck'' has de-vulgarized it, an example of the "dysphemism treadmill". Despite its offensive nature, the word is common in popular usage.

The highly profane term remains a taboo word to many people in English-speaking countries. The word also carries a sacrilegious connotation to some. Many religious people oppose the use of profane, vulgar, and "curse" words which they see as offensive to a deity. It is considered highly offensive to utter the word in the presence of children.

The Canadian Press now considers the word to be commonplace and has added usage advice to the ''Canadian Press Caps and Spelling'' guide.

Etymology

The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that the ultimate etymology is uncertain, but that the word is "probably cognate" with a number of native Germanic words with meanings involving striking, rubbing, and having sex.

Flen flyys and freris

The usually accepted first known occurrence is in code in a poem in a mixture of Latin and English composed some time before 1500. The poem, which satirizes the Carmelite friars of Cambridge, England, takes its title, "Flen flyys", from the first words of its opening line, ''Flen, flyys, and freris'' (= "Fleas, flies, and friars"). The line that contains ''fuck'' reads ''Non sunt in coeli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk''. Removing the substitution cipher (here, replacing each letter by the next letter in alphabetical order, as the English alphabet was then) on the phrase "''gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk''" yields ''non sunt in coeli, quia fvccant vvivys of heli'', which translated means, "They are not in heaven because they fuck wives of Ely". The phrase was coded likely because it accused some Church personnel of misbehaving; it is uncertain to what extent the word ''fuck'' was considered acceptable at the time. (The stem of ''fvccant'' is an English word used as Latin: English medieval Latin has many examples of writers using English words when they did not know the Latin word: "''workmannus''" is an example.) (In the Middle English of this poem, the term wife was still used generically for woman.)

John le Fucker

A man's name, "John le Fucker", is reported (first in Carl Buck's 1949 Indo-European dictionary) from an administrative record of 26 April 1278. An abstract of its contents is given in ''Calendar of the Close rolls preserved in the Public record office'', Edward I, AD 1272–1279, London 1900, p. 451: "''John le Fucker of Tythinge, imprisoned at Peterborough for the death of Walter de Leyghton and William de Leyghton, wherewith he is charged, has letters to the sheriff of Northampton to bail him.''"

There is a theory that this example of its usage is a spelling variant of "fulcher", meaning soldier.

A detailed discussion can be found in Allen Walker Read's ''Milestones in the History of English in America'' (Annual supplement to: ''American Speech''). Durham, NC: Published for the American Dialect Society by Duke University Press, 2002 ISBN 0-8223-6526-X'', PADS 86.''

Anglo-Saxon

An Anglo-Saxon charter granted by Offa, king of Mercia, dated AD 772, granting land at Bexhill, Sussex to a bishop, includes this text in a mixture of Anglo-Saxon language and Latin:

The placename ''Fuccerham'' may or may not be related to the verb "fuck", which in Anglo-Saxon would probably have been ''fucian'' = "to fuck", ''ic fucie'' = "I fuck".

Older etymology

Via Germanic

The word has probable cognates in other Germanic languages, such as German ''ficken'' (to fuck); Dutch ''fokken'' (to breed, to strike, to beget); dialectal Norwegian ''fukka'' (to copulate), and dialectal Swedish ''fokka'' (to strike, to copulate) and ''fock'' (penis). This points to a possible etymology where Common Germanic ''fuk–'' comes from an Indo-European root meaning "to strike", cognate with non-Germanic words such as Latin ''pugnus'' "fist". By reverse application of Grimm's law, this hypothetical root has the form *''pug–''. In early Proto-Germanic the word was likely used at first as a slang or euphemistic replacement for an older word for ''intercourse'', and then became the usual word for ''intercourse''.

Yet another possible etymology is from the Old High German word ''pfluog'', meaning "to plow, as in a field". This is supported in part by a book by Carl Jung, ''Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido'', in which he discusses the "primitive play of words" and the phallic representation of the plough, including its appearance on a vase found in an archaeological dig near Florence, Italy, which depicts six ithyphallic (erect-penised) men carrying a plow.

The original Indo-European root for ''to copulate'' is likely to be * ''h₃yeb^h–'' or *''h₃eyb^h–'', which is attested in Sanskrit यभति (''yabhati''), Russian ебать (''yebat' ''), Polish ''jebać'', and Serbian јебати (''jebati''), among others: compare the Greek verb οἴφω (''oíphō'') = "I have sex with", and the Greek noun Ζέφυρος (Zéphyros) (which references a Greek belief that the west wind Zephyrus caused pregnancy).

Via Latin or Greek

Other possible connections are to Latin futuere (almost exactly the same meaning as the English verb "to fuck"); but it would have to be explained how the word reached Scandinavia from Roman contact, and how the ''t'' became ''k''. From ''fūtuere'' came French ''foutre'', Catalan ''fotre'', Italian ''fottere'', Romanian ''futere'', vulgar peninsular Spanish ''follar'' and ''joder'', and Portuguese ''foder''. However, there is considerable doubt and no clear lineage for these derivations. These roots, even if cognates, are not the original Indo-European word for ''to copulate'', but Wayland Young (who agrees that these words are related) argues that they derive from the Indo-European *''b^hu–'' or *''b^hug–'' ("be", "become"), or as causative "create" [see Young, 1964]. A possible intermediate might be a Latin 4th-declension verbal noun *''fūtus'', with possible meanings including "act of (pro)creating". Greek ''phyō'' (φύω) has various meanings, including (of a man) "to beget", or (of a woman), "to give birth to". Its perfect ''pephyka'' (πέφυκα) can be likened to "fuck" and its equivalents in other Germanic languages.

False etymologies

One reason that the word ''fuck'' is so hard to trace etymologically is that it was used far more extensively in common speech than in easily traceable written forms. There are several urban-legend false etymologies postulating an acronymic origin for the word. None of these acronyms was ever recorded before the 1960s, according to the authoritative lexicographical work ''The F-Word'', and thus are backronyms. In any event, the word ''fuck'' has been in use far too long for some of these supposed origins to be possible. Some of these urban legends are that the word ''fuck'' came from Irish law. If a couple were caught committing adultery, they would be punished "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge In the Nude", with "FUCKIN" written on the stocks above them to denote the crime. A similar variant on this theory involves the recording by church clerks of the crime of Forbidden Use of Carnal Knowledge. Another theory is that of a royal permission. During the Black Death in the Middle Ages, towns were trying to control populations and their interactions. Since uncontaminated resources were scarce, many towns required permission to have children. Hence, the legend goes, that couples that were having children were required to first obtain royal permission (usually from a local magistrate or lord) and then place a sign somewhere visible from the road in their home that said "Fornicating Under Consent of King", which was later shortened to "FUCK". This story is hard to document, but has persisted in oral and literary traditions for many years; however, it has been demonstrated to be an urban legend.

Usage history

Early usage

Its first known use as a verb meaning to have sexual intercourse is in "Flen flyys", written around 1475.

William Dunbar's 1503 poem "Brash of Wowing" includes the lines: "Yit be his feiris he wald haue fukkit: / Ye brek my hairt, my bony ane" (ll. 13–14).

John Florio's 1598 Italian-English dictionary, ''A Worlde of Wordes'', included the term, along with several now-archaic, but then vulgar synonyms, in this definition:

Fottere: ''To jape, to sard, to fucke, to swive, to occupy.''

Of these, "occupy" and "jape" still survive as verbs, though with less profane meanings, while "sard" was a descendant of the Anglo-Saxon verb ''seordan'' (or ''seorðan'', <ON ''serða''), to copulate; and "swive" had derived from earlier ''swīfan'', to revolve i.e. to swivel (compare modern-day "screw").

While Shakespeare never used the term explicitly; he hinted at it in comic scenes in a few plays. ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' (IV.i) contains the expression ''focative case'' (see vocative case). In ''Henry V'' (IV.iv), Pistol threatens to ''firk'' (strike) a soldier, a euphemism for ''fuck''.

Rise of modern usage

Though it appeared in John Ash's 1775 ''A New and Complete Dictionary'', listed as "low" and "vulgar," and appearing with several definitions, ''fuck'' did not appear in any widely-consulted dictionary of the English language from 1795 to 1965. Its first appearance in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (along with the word ''cunt'') was in 1972. There is anecdotal evidence of its use during the American Civil War.

Modern usage

Most literally, to ''fuck'' is to ''copulate'', but it is also used as a more general expletive or intensifier. Some instances of the word can be taken at face value, such as "Let's fuck", "I would fuck her/him", or "He/she fucks". Other uses are dysphemistic: The sexual connotation, usually connected to masturbation (in the case of "go fuck yourself" or "go fuck your ass"), is invoked to incite additional disgust, or express anger or outrage. For example, "Fuck that!", "Fuck no!", "Fuck off", or "Fuck you!". By itself, ''fuck'' is usually used as an exclamation, indicating surprise, pain, fear, disgust, disappointment, anger, or a sense of extreme elation. In this usage, there is no connection to the sexual meaning of the word implied, and is used purely for its "strength" as a vulgarity. Additionally, other uses are similarly vacuous; ''fuck'' (or variations such as "the fuck" or "fucking") could be removed and leave a sentence of identical syntactical meaning. For example, rap music often uses the word ''fucking'' as an emphatic adjective ("I'm the fucking man") for the word's rhythmic properties.

Insertion of the trochaic word ''fucking'' can also be used as an exercise for diagnosing the cadence of an English-language word. This is the use of "fuck" or more specifically "fucking" as an infix, or more properly, a tmesis (see expletive infixation). For example, the word ''in-fucking-credible'' sounds acceptable to the English ear, and is in fairly common use, while ''incred-fucking-ible'' would sound very clumsy (though, depending on the context, this might be perceived as a humorous improvisation of the word). "Absofuckinglutely" and "motherfucking" are also common uses of "fuck" as an affix. While neither dysphemistic nor connected to the sexual connotations of the word, even the vacuous usages are considered offensive and gratuitous, and censored in some media. For example, "None of your fucking business!" or "Shut the fuck up!" A common insult is "Get fucked", which in a non-offensive context would translate as "get stuffed". The word is one of the few that has legitimate colloquial usage as a verb, adverb, adjective, command, conjunction, exclamatory, noun and pronoun.

In another usage, the word ''fucker'' is used as a term of endearment rather than antipathy. This usage is not uncommon; to say "you're one smart fucker" is often a term of affection. However, because of its ambiguity and vulgarity, the word ''fucker'' in reference to another person can easily be misinterpreted. Though ''fuck'' can serve as a noun, the ''fucker'' form is used in a context that refers to an individual. Normally in these cases, if ''fuck'' is used instead of ''fucker,'' the sentence refers to the sexual ability of the subject (for example, "He's a great fuck!"), although confusingly in a minority of occasions the word "fuck" can hold exactly the same meaning as "fucker" (e.g., when preceded by an adjective: "You're a pretty clever fuck.").

Related to ''fucker'' is the word ''motherfucker.'' Sometimes used as an extreme insult—an accusation of incest—this term is also occasionally used to connote respectful awe. For example, "He's a mean motherfucker" does not mean "He's abusive, filthy and copulates with his mother", but "He's someone to be afraid of." In this context, some gang members might even describe themselves as "motherfuckers." ''Motherfucker'' can be used as a rhythmic filler in hip hop, rap or dance music. The word "fuck" is used in many forms of music. An example of this is in The Crystal Method's song "Name of the Game". Perhaps ''motherfucker's'' rhythmic compatibility is due to its quadrisyllabic pronunciation, making it a natural fit for popular music that is written in 4/4 metre. Also contributing to its use in aggressive, high-energy music is the fact that it includes a hard "k" sound in its third syllable, making it easy to exclaim, particularly when pronounced as "mutha fucka". Despite these rhythmic qualities, ''motherfucker'' has not become as accepted in English usage as its root ''fuck''.

A more succinct example of the flexibility of the word is its use as almost every word in a sentence. In his book, ''Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War'', Paul Fussell, literary historian and professor emeritus of English literature at the University of Pennsylvania, recounted

Once, on a misty Scottish airfield, an airman was changing the magneto on the engine of a Wellington bomber. Suddenly his wrench slipped and he flung it on the grass and snarled, "Fuck! The fucking fucker's fucked." The bystanders were all quite well aware that he had stripped a bolt and skinned his knuckles.

The phrase "Fuck you, you fucking fuck!" is a memorable quote from the movie ''Blue Velvet'' from 1986, and is still used today as heard in Strapping Young Lad's "You Suck" from their 2006 album ''The New Black''. Another example is, "Fuck the fucking fuckers!" Because of its vulgar status, the word ''fuck'' is usually restricted in mass media and barred from titles in the United States. In 2002, when the controversial French film ''Baise-moi'' (2000) was released in the US, its title was changed to ''Rape Me'', rather than the literal ''Fuck Me,'' though this may have been for effect. Similarly, the Swedish film ''Fucking Åmål'' was retitled ''Show Me Love''.

Online forums and public blogs may censor the word by use of automatic filters. For example, Fark.com replaces the word ''fuck'' with ''fark''. Others replace the word with asterisks (''****'') to censor it (and other profanities) entirely. To avert these filters, many online posters will use the word ''fvck''. This particular alteration is in common usage at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where students use it in reference to the inscriptions on MIT's neoclassical buildings, in which the letter ''U'' is replaced by ''V.'' A typical coinage in this idiom would be "I'm fvcked by the Institvte." (Other less common spellings to cheat a censor are "fück" and "phuck".) Another way to bypass a word filter is to use leet (Fuck becomes F(_) c|< or |=(_)Ck to name a couple.)

The word ''fuck'' is a component of many acronyms, some of which—like ''SNAFU'' and ''FUBAR''—date as far back as World War II. Many more recent coinages, such as the shorthand "WTF?" for "what the fuck?," or "STFU" for "shut the fuck up", have been widely extant on the Internet, and may count as examples of memes. Many acronyms will also have an F or MF added to increase emphasis, for example OMG (Oh My God) becomes OMFG (Oh My Fucking God). Abbreviated versions of the word tend not to be considered as offensive. Despite the proclaimed vulgarity of the word, several comedians rely on ''fuck'' for comedic routines. George Carlin created several literary works based upon the word. Other comedians who use or used the word consistently in their routines include Billy Connolly, Denis Leary, Lewis Black, Andrew Dice Clay, Chris Rock, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, and Sam Kinison.

List of recent uses

In 1928, D. H. Lawrence's novel ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' gained notoriety for its frequent use of the words ''fuck'', ''fucked'', and ''fucking''.

Perhaps the earliest usage of the word in popular music was the 1938 Eddy Duchin release of the Louis Armstrong song "Ol' Man Mose". The words created a scandal at the time, resulting in sales of 170,000 copies during the Great Depression years when sales of 20,000 were considered blockbuster. The verse reads:

The liberal usage of the word (and other vulgarisms) by certain artists (such as James Joyce, Henry Miller, Lenny Bruce, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, in their Derek and Clive personas) has led to the banning of their works and criminal charges of obscenity. After Norman Mailer's publishers convinced him to bowdlerize ''fuck'' as ''fug'' in his work ''The Naked and the Dead'' (1948), Tallulah Bankhead supposedly greeted him with the quip, "So you're the young man who can't spell ''fuck''." In fact, according to Mailer, the quip was devised by Bankhead's PR man. He and Bankhead did not meet until 1966 and did not discuss the word then. The rock group The Fugs named themselves after the Mailer euphemism.

''The Catcher in the Rye'' by J. D. Salinger featured the use of ''fuck you'' in print. First published in the United States in 1951, the novel remains controversial to this day due to its use of the word, standing at number 13 for the most banned books from 1990–2000 according to the American Library Association. The book offers a blunt portrayal of the main character's reaction to the existence of the word, and all that it means.

The first documented use of the word ''fuck'' on live British television (probably on any television system) has been attributed to theatre critic Kenneth Tynan in 1965. Controversy also ensued in 1976 when ''Today'' host Bill Grundy interviewed the Sex Pistols, after guitarist Steve Jones called Grundy a 'dirty fucker' and a 'fucking rotter'. (see also EMI and the Grundy incident)

One of the earliest mainstream Hollywood movies to use the word ''fuck'' was director Robert Altman's irreverent antiwar film, ''MASH'', released in 1970 at the height of the Vietnam War. During the football game sequence about three-quarters of the way through the film, one of the MASH linemen says to an 8063rd offensive player, "All right, bud, your fuckin' head is coming right off." Also, former Beatle John Lennon's 1971 release "Working Class Hero" featured use of the word, which was rare in music at the time and caused it to, at most, be played only in segments on the radio.

Use in politics

''Fuck'' is not widely used in politics, and any use by notable politicians tends to produce controversy. Some events of this nature include: In 1965, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson said to the Greek ambassador Alexandros Matsas when he objected to American plans in Cyprus, "Fuck your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If these two fellows continue itching the elephant they may just get whacked by the elephant's trunk, whacked good." During the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago mayor Richard Daley became so enraged by a speech from Abraham A. Ribicoff that he shouted "Fuck you!" Daley would later claim that he was shouting "you fink, you" and calling Ribicoff a "faker". On the first night of this same convention, which was President Johnson's birthday, a huge crowd of thousands of yippies, hippies and anti Vietnam war protesters was famously filmed while simultaneously roaring "Fuck you, Lyndon Johnson!" During debate in February 1971 in the Canadian House of Commons, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau mouthed the words "fuck off" under his breath (perhaps almost silently) at Conservative MP John Lundrigan, while Lundrigan made some comments about unemployment. Afterward, when asked by a television reporter what he had been thinking, Mr. Trudeau famously replied "What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen, when you say 'fuddle duddle' or something like that?". "Fuddle duddle" consequently became a catchphrase in Canadian media associated with Trudeau. The first accepted modern use in the British House of Commons came in 1982 when Reg Race, Labour MP for Wood Green, referred to adverts placed in local newsagents by prostitutes which read "Phone them and fuck them". ''Hansard'', the full record of debates, printed "F*** them", but even this euphemism was deprecated by the Speaker, George Thomas. Shortly after Tony Blair was elected Leader of the Labour Party, the then left-wing Labour MP George Galloway told a public meeting "I don't give a fuck what Tony Blair thinks" when questioned about the party's move to the right.

A famous British usage of fuck comes from a 2001/2002 scandal at the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, while Stephen Byers was the Minister. His press officer, Jo Moore, sent an email after the September 11, 2001 attacks suggesting it would be "a good day to bury bad news". As the scandal unravelled, Permanent Secretary to the Department, Sir Richard Mottram was widely reported to have said "We're all fucked. I'm fucked. You're fucked. The whole department is fucked. It's the biggest cock-up ever and we're all completely fucked." To British ears this was particularly amusing coming from someone so senior in the civil service.

In late 2003, US presidential candidate Senator John Kerry used the word ''fuck'' in an interview with ''Rolling Stone''. Referring to his vote in favor of the resolution authorizing President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq, Senator John Kerry stated, "I voted for what I thought was best for the country. Did I expect Howard Dean to go off to the left and say, 'I'm against everything'? Sure. Did I expect George Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did." In June 2004, during a heated exchange on the U.S. Senate floor about Halliburton's role in the reconstruction of Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney told Democratic senator Patrick Leahy, "Go fuck yourself". Coincidentally, Cheney's outburst occurred on the same day that the Defense of Decency Act was passed in the Senate.

In February 2005, British media chief Alastair Campbell accidentally sent the email "Just spoke to trev. think tbwa shd give statement to newsnight saying party and agency work together well and nobody here has spoken to standard. Posters done by tbwa according to political brief. Now fuck off and cover something important you twats!" to the Newsnight journalist Andrew McFadyen, instead of a party official. Trev. refers to Trevor Beattie the boss of TBWA.

In February 2006 (Australia), New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma, while awaiting the start of a Council of Australian Governments media conference in Canberra, was chatting to Victorian Premier Steve Bracks. Not realizing cameras were operating he was recorded as saying "Today? This fuckwit who's the new CEO of the Cross City Tunnel has ... been saying what controversy? There is no controversy." The exchange referred to the newly appointed CEO of a recently-opened toll road within Sydney. On January 31, 2007, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer angrily retorted to Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, "Listen, I'm a fucking steamroller, and I'll roll over you and anybody else." According to ''The New York Post'', Spitzer confirmed the exchange the following day. In 2007, U.S. Senator John Cornyn objected to John McCain's perceived intrusion upon a Senate meeting on immigration, saying, "Wait a second here. I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line." McCain, known for his short temper, replied "Fuck you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room." In April 2007, New Zealand Education Minister Steve Maharey said "fuck you" to a fellow MP during parliamentary question time. He apologized shortly afterwards. In December 2008, recorded telephone conversations revealed Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich trying to "sell" an appointment to the Senate seat that Barack Obama resigned after being elected President. In the phone conversation, Blagojevich said in reference to his power to appoint a new Senator, "I've got this thing and it's fucking golden and I'm just not giving it up for fuckin' nothing." In the recorded conversations, Blagojevich also referred to Obama as a "motherfucker" and repeatedly said "fuck him". When speaking of the Obama administration's request that Valerie Jarrett be appointed as Obama's replacement, Blagojevich complained, "They're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them." Blagojevich also said Tribune Company ownership should be told to "fire those fuckers" in reference to ''Chicago Tribune'' editors critical of him. In December 2009 in Dáil Éireann, Paul Gogarty responded to heckles from Emmet Stagg with the outburst "With all due respect, in the most unparliamentary language, fuck you Deputy Stagg. Fuck you." Gogarty immediately withdrew the remarks and later made a personal statement of apology. Reportage of the outburst quickly spread by media and the internet. A subcommittee of the Dáil's standing committee on procedure and privilege produced a 28-page report on the incident. On March 23, 2010, U.S. vice president Joe Biden whispered into President Barack Obama's ear, "This is a big fucking deal" when referring to the U.S. health care reform bill. His words were picked up by microphones and video. On May 3, 2010, Canadian senator Nancy Ruth advised representatives of women's groups to "shut the fuck up on" access to abortion, in the run-up to the 36th G8 summit.

Censorship

The films ''Ulysses'' and ''I'll Never Forget What's'isname'' (both 1967) are contenders for being the first film to use the word 'fuck,' although the word 'fucking' is clearly mouthed silently in the film ''Sink the Bismarck!'' (1960), and the title character says it in the cartoon ''Bosko's Picture Show'' (1933). Since the U.S. adoption of the MPAA film rating system, use of the word has been accepted in R-rated movies, and under the older rules, use of the word in a sexual way would automatically cause the film to be given an R rating. Later changes could allow for a maximum of three, non-sexual, strictly exclamatory uses of the word in PG-13 movies, extreme example being the movies ''The American President'' and ''Nine Months'' (this is more of a guideline than a rule, however, since the MPAA states it has no strict rules on how a movie is rated).

In 1970, Beatle John Lennon successfully got the word past the censors on his song "Working Class Hero" with the lines "They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool, till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules" and "You think you're so clever and classless and free, but you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see."

Since the 1970s, the use of the word "fuck" in R-rated movies has become so commonplace in mainstream American movies that it is rarely noticed by most audiences. Nonetheless, a few movies have made exceptional use of the word, to the point where such films as ''Fuck'', ''Good Will Hunting'', ''Casino'', ''The Last Detail'', ''Menace II Society'', ''The Big Lebowski'', ''The Departed'', ''Scarface'' (1983), ''Pulp Fiction'', ''Blue Velvet'', ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', and ''Goodfellas'' as well as the HBO TV series ''The Sopranos'' are known for its extensive use. In the movie ''Meet the Parents'', and its sequels ''Meet the Fockers'' and ''Little Fockers'', the main character's last name of "Focker" is a running joke. In the popular comedy ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'', it is the chief word, repeatedly uttered, during the opening five minutes. In HBO's TV series ''The Wire'', Season 1, Episode 4, entitled "Old Cases," there is a long segment in which two homicide detectives, visiting a crime scene, communicate using only variations of the word "fuck". To many, one of the most humorous tirades demonstrating various usages of the word appears in the comedy, ''Planes, Trains & Automobiles'' (1987), where Steve Martin expresses his dissatisfaction in his treatment by a rental car agency. The movie ''Student Bodies'' inserted a scene in the middle of the film to explain to audiences that movies with an R rating are more popular than those carrying a PG rating, which the movie could easily have had. He ends his address with, " ... the producers of this motion picture have asked me to take this opportunity to say 'Fuck you'.", at which time the MPAA R-rating banner appeared.

In several PG-rated movies, however, the word is used, mainly because at the time there was no PG-13 rating and the MPAA did not want to give the films R ratings; for instance, ''All the President's Men'' (1976), where it is used seven times; ''The Kids Are Alright'' (1979), where it is used twice; and ''The Right Stuff'' (1983), where it is used five times. ''Spaceballs'' (1987) is one of at least four anomalies in that it was rated PG after the 1984 introduction of the PG-13 rating, yet it includes Dark Helmet's line, "'Out of order'?! Fuck! Even in the future nothing works!" The second is ''Big'' (1988) which has the character of Billy asking Tom Hanks' character, "Who the fuck do you think you are?" The third is ''Beetlejuice'' (1988) which has the character Betelgeuse kick over a fake tree and scream, "nice fucking model!" The fourth is 1988's Caddyshack II where Randy Quaid's character shouts out he is going to break down a door with a "fucking baseball bat."

In the 1999 film "Galaxy Quest," Sigourney Weaver's character Gwen DeMarco is edited from the line "Well, fuck that!" to "Well, screw that!" The change was made to avoid a PG-13 rating, and the original line is obvious when reading her lips.

Films edited for broadcast use matching euphemisms so that lip synching will not be thrown off. One televised version of Quentin Tarantino's ''Jackie Brown'', for instance, had the actors dub in the words ''frick'', ''Nubian'', and ''melon farmer'' for ''fuck'', ''nigger'', and ''motherfucker'', respectively. In similarly dubbed versions of ''Die Hard'' and ''Die Hard 2,'' Bruce Willis' catchphrase "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker" is replaced by "Yippee-ki-yay, Mister Falcon" or "Yippee-ki-yay, Kemo Sabe." Similarly, the TV broadcast edit of ''Snakes on a Plane'' has Samuel L. Jackson saying "I have had it with these monkey-fighting snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane", emending two occurrences of ''motherfucking''. In the film ''The Big Lebowski'', John Goodman's character repeatedly yells, "This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass" while trashing a car. It was infamously censored on television as "This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps." His character also repeatedly says to Steve Buscemi's character, "Shut the fuck up, Donny," or "Donny, shut the fuck up." In the television version, ''fuck'' is censored with ''hell.''

Many stand-up comedians who perform for adult audiences make liberal use of the word ''fuck''. While George Carlin's use of the word was an important part of his stage persona, other comedians (such as Andrew Dice Clay) have been accused of substituting vulgarity and offensiveness for genuine creativity through overuse of the word. Billy Connolly and Lenny Bruce were pioneers of the use of the word in their shows for general audiences.

Recently, the hip-hop group Black-Eyed Peas' hit song "Don't Phunk With My Heart" was censored on many radio stations to "Don't Mess With My Heart", establishing a new trend toward eliminating all euphemisms for "fuck" as well as the word itself. James Blunt's first major song, ''You're Beautiful'', featured the line "she could see from my face that I was fucking high" – this was censored to "flying high" for broadcasting purposes.

Use in marketing

In April 1997, clothing retailer French Connection began branding their clothes "fcuk" (usually written in lowercase). Though they insisted it was an acronym for French Connection United Kingdom, its similarity to the word "fuck" caused controversy. French Connection fully exploited this and produced an extremely popular range of t-shirts with messages such as "fcuk this", "hot as fcuk", "mile high fcuk", "fcuk me", "fcuk her", "too busy to fcuk", "fcuk football", "fcuk fashion", "fcuk fear", "fcuk on the beach", "the joy of fcuk", etc.

In 2009, the European Union's OHIM trade marks agency disallowed a German brewery to market a beer called "Fucking Hell". They sued, and on 26 March 2010 got permission to market the beer. They claim the beer is actually named after the Austrian village Fucking and the German term for light beer, hell.

Freedom of expression

In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the mere public display of ''fuck'' is protected under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and cannot be made a criminal offense. In 1968, Paul Robert Cohen had been convicted of "disturbing the peace" for wearing a jacket with "FUCK THE DRAFT" on it (in reference to conscription in the Vietnam War). The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals and overturned by the Supreme Court. ''Cohen v. California'', ''403 U.S. 15'' (1971).

In 1983, pornographer Larry Flynt, representing himself before the U.S. Supreme Court in a libel case, shouted, "Fuck this court!" during the proceedings, and then called the justices "nothing but eight assholes (referring to Justices Warren E. Burger, William J. Brennan, Jr., Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William Rehnquist, and John Paul Stevens) and a token cunt" (referring to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor). Chief Justice Warren E. Burger had him arrested for contempt of court, but the charge was later dismissed on a technicality.

Band names

The word "fuck" has been used in a number of band names, generally based on common compounds. Although most of these bands are in the aggressive, non-mainstream genres of punk and metal, others fall into the categories of more accessible forms of electronic rock and pop.

Holy fuck

"Holy fuck" is a widely used example of 'liturgical profanity' used interjectionally to express anger, contempt, disgust, or amazement. Usually vulgar. Noted by academics and used in literature, deriving its power from a combination of the sacred, holy, and the profane, fuck. An exclamation, similar to "holy shit!", but more offensive, also used informally for sex within a religious context.

Machine mistranslation

The word ''fuck'' occurs sometimes in Chinese/English bilingual public notices in China as a machine translation of the Simplified Chinese character 干 (干) or Traditional Chinese character 幹 (幹) which can also mean "dry" and "do", e.g., "spread to fuck the fruit" for "loose dried fruit", "fuck to adjust the area" for "dry seasonings section", "fuck the certain price of goods" for "dry foods price counter". The fault occurred in some versions of commonly-used Chinese to English machine translators, for example Jinshan (金山 = "Gold Mountain") by Kingsoft.

Common alternatives

In conversation or writing, reference to or use of the word "fuck" may be replaced by any of many alternative words or phrases, including "the F-word" or "the F-Bomb" (a play on A-Bomb / H-Bomb), or simply, "eff" (as in "What the ''eff!''" or "You ''eff-ing'' fool!"). Also, there are many commonly used substitutes, such as "flipping", "frigging", "fricking", "freaking", "feck", "fudge" or any of a number of similar sounding nonsense words. In print, there are alternatives such as, "F***", "F – – k", etc.; or a string of non-alphanumeric characters, for example, "@$#*%!" and similar (especially favored in comic books).

A common replacement word used mainly on the internet is "fsck", derived from the name of the Unix file system checking utility. In ''Battlestar Galactica'' the bowdlerized form 'Frack' (spelt 'Frak' in the reimagined 2003 version) was used as a substitute for fuck. The word is sometimes jokingly used as a curse by fans, but its use in unrelated media is growing. Similarly, the word "frell" is used as a substitute on the TV show Farscape, and Dr. Elliot Reid (played by Sarah Chalke) has frequently used the substitute "frick" on the TV show ''Scrubs''.

The phrase "feck" is a common substitute for "fuck" in Ireland, where it is considered to be less rude, though still not acceptable in many contexts. It has come into occasional use across the UK in the last 15 years as a result of its frequent use in the Father Ted comedy series. Although the word is considered to be equally as rude as "fuck", its appearance in Father Ted and in a Magner's Cider advert suggest the opposite.

The word "firetruck" is also used as an alternative, starting with "f" and ending with "-uck".

Using the phonetic alphabet, "foxtrot uniform charlie kilo" is sometimes used.

See also

Bleep censor

Censorship

Euphemism

''For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge''

fcuk, a brand of clothing

Four-letter word

Fucking, Austria (name of a village)

Harcourt interpolation

List of films that most frequently use the word "fuck"

Madonna on ''Late Show with David Letterman''

Profanity

* Profanity by language

* Profanity in American Sign Language

* Profanity in English language

* Profanity in science fiction

Seven dirty words

Sexual slang

''South Park''

References

Further reading

Hargrave, Andrea Millwood (2000). Delete Expletives? London: Advertising Standards Authority, British Broadcasting Corporation, Broadcasting Standards Commission, Independent Television Commission.

Jesse Sheidlower, ''The F Word'' (1999) ISBN 0-375-70634-8. Presents hundreds of uses of ''fuck'' and related words.

Michael Swan, ''Practical English Usage'', Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-431198-8.

Wayland Young, ''Eros Denied: Sex in Western Society''. Grove Press/Zebra Books, New York 1964.

Carl Jung, ''Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido''. Moffat, Yard and Company, New York 1916. Translated by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D., Neurological Dept. of Cornell University Medical School and of the New York Post Graduate Medical School.

Richard Dooling, ''Blue Streak: Swearing, Free Speech & Sexual Harassment,'' (1996) ISBN 0-679-44471-8. Chapters on famous swear words, including the f-word, and the laws pertaining to their use.

Fuck – documentary film by Steve Anderson (THINKFilm 2005)

External links

Re: the Cheney-Leahy incident, slate.com discusses how American newspapers decide whether or not to print ''fuck''.

"Online Etymology Dictionary." Some etymological research on the word ''fuck''.

Fuck, academic paper exploring the legal implications of the word, by Christopher M. Fairman, Ohio State University – Michael E. Moritz College of Law March 2006. Ohio State Public Law Working Paper No. 59.

Archive.org – Jack Wagner, "The Word Fuck".

Category:Profanity Category:Sexual slang Category:Interjections Category:Sex

ar:فاك (كلمة) da:Fuck de:Fuck fr:Fuck ko:Fuck io:Fuck id:Kentot he:Fuck ms:Kongkek nl:Fuck ja:ファック no:Fuck ro:Fuck ru:Fuck sl:Fuk th:Fuck zh:Fuck

name	Lily Allen
background	solo_singer
birth name	Lily Rose Beatrice Allen
birth date	May 02, 1985
birth place	Hammersmith, London, England
instrument	Guitar
genre	Pop
occupation	Musician, songwriter, presenter
years active	1988–present
label	London, Regal, Capitol
website	}}

Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper, better known as Lily Allen (born 2 May 1985), is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative. Allen abandoned school and concentrated on improving her performing and compositional skills. Afterwards, she created several demo songs and, near the end of 2005, she created a profile on MySpace where she made some of her recordings public.

A contract was signed with the label Regal Recordings, as the views on MySpace rose to tens of thousands. In 2006, she began to work on completing what would be her first studio album and its first mainstream single "Smile" reached the top position on the UK Singles Chart in July 2006. Her debut record, ''Alright, Still'', was well received on the international market, selling over 2.6 million copies and brought Allen a nomination at the Grammy Awards, BRIT Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. She then began hosting her own talk-show, ''Lily Allen and Friends'', on BBC Three.

Her second major album release, ''It's Not Me, It's You'', saw a genre shift for her, having more of an electropop feel, rather than the ska and reggae influences of the first one. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and the Australian ARIA Charts and was appreciated by the critics, noting the singer's musical evolution and maturity. It spawned the hit singles "The Fear" and "Fuck You", popular mostly in Europe. Allen and Amy Winehouse have been credited with starting a process that led to the media-proclaimed "year of the women" in 2009 that has seen five female artists making music of "experimentalism and fearlessness" long nominated for the Mercury Prize.

During the autumn of 2010, Allen opened a fashion rental shop "Lucy in Disguise" with her sister Sarah, followed by the 2011 launching of her own record label.

Life and career

Childhood and youth

Allen was born in Hammersmith, west London, daughter of Welsh-born comedian and actor Keith Allen and English, Portsmouth-born, film producer Alison Owen. She has an older sister, Sarah; a younger brother, Alfie Owen-Allen (who was the subject of her song "Alfie"); and a younger sister Rebecca. She has a number of half-siblings. At the age of three, Allen appeared on ''The Comic Strip Presents...'' episode "The Yob," which her father had co-written. When Allen was four years old, her father left the family. Allen grew up with her mother living on a council estate during her early childhood. Her family settled in the North London borough of Islington. Allen lived for a while with comedian Harry Enfield while her mother dated him. She is the god-daughter of Wild Colonials vocalist Angela McCluskey. The late Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer was close to Allen. Allen has fond memories of the week and a half they would spend together at Glastonbury Festival as part of a regular collective centred on Strummer and her father. Strummer's musical past would not come into focus for Allen until after his death.

She attended some of the UK's most expensive fee-paying public schools; Allen attended 13 schools in all, including Prince Charles's junior alma mater, Hill House School, Millfield, Bedales School and was expelled from several of them for drinking and smoking. When Allen was 11, former University of Victoria music student Rachel Santesso overheard Allen singing Wonderwall by Oasis in the school's playground; impressed, Santesso, who later became an award-winning soprano and composer, called Allen into her office the next day and started giving her lunchtime singing lessons. This would lead to Allen singing ''Baby Mine'' from Disney's Dumbo at a school concert. Allen would tell ''Loveline'' that the audience was "brought to tears at the sight of a troubled young girl doing something good". At that point Allen said she knew that music was something she needed to do either as a lifelong vocation or to get it out of her system. Allen played piano to grade 5 standard and achieved Grade 8 in singing. She also played violin, guitar and trumpet as well as being a member of a chamber choir. Her first solo was "In the Bleak Midwinter." Allen made an appearance as a lady-in-waiting in the 1998 film ''Elizabeth'', which was co-produced by her mother. She dropped out of school at age fifteen, not wanting to "spend a third of her life preparing to work for the next third of her life, to set herself up with a pension for the next third of her life."

2002-2005: Career beginnings

When her family went to Ibiza on holiday, Allen told her mother that she was staying with friends but remained in Sant Antoni de Portmany instead. She earned money by working at a Plastic Fantastic record store and dealing ecstasy. Allen met her first manager, George Lamb in Ibiza. She was rejected by several labels, which she attributed to her drinking and being the daughter of Keith Allen. However, she eventually used her father's connections to get signed to London Records in 2002. When the executive who had signed her left, the label lost interest and she left without releasing the folk songs many of which were written by her father. She then studied horticulture to become a florist, but changed her mind and returned to music. Allen began writing songs, while her manager introduced her to production duo Future Cut in 2004. They worked in a small studio in the basement of an office building.

In 2005, Allen was signed to Regal Recordings; they gave her £25,000 to produce an album, though they were unable to provide much support for it due to their preoccupation with other releases such as ''X&Y;'' (Coldplay) and ''Demon Days'' (Gorillaz). Allen then created an account on MySpace and began posting demos that she recorded in November 2005. The demos attracted thousands of listeners, and 500 limited edition 7" vinyl singles of "LDN" were rush-released, reselling for as much as £40. Allen also produced two mixtapes — ''My First Mixtape'' and ''My Second Mixtape'' — to promote her work. As she accumulated tens of thousands of MySpace friends, ''The Observer Music Monthly'' (OMM), a magazine published in ''The Observer'', took interest in March 2006. Few people outside of her label's A&R; department knew who she was, so the label was slow in responding to publications wanting to report about her. She received her first major mainstream coverage, appearing in the magazine's cover story two months later.

2006–08: ''Alright, Still'' and television

The success convinced her label to allow her more creative control over the album and to use some of the songs that she had written instead of forcing her to work with mainstream producers. Allen decided to work with producers Greg Kurstin and Mark Ronson, finishing the rest of the album in two weeks. Allen's debut album, ''Alright, Still'', was released in July 2006. Most of the tracks had been previewed on her MySpace page, including the singles "Smile", "LDN", "Knock 'Em Out", and "Alfie". In September 2006, "Smile" was made available on the United States version of iTunes Store. By December 2006, her music video for ''Smile'' had been played on various music channels as well as the song getting a little airplay. ''Entertainment Weekly'' named ''Alright, Still'' as one of the top 10 albums of 2006 despite the fact that it had not yet been released in the U.S. Allen also did several promotional ads for MTV as their ''Discover and Download'' artist of the month for January 2007. The album was released in the United States on 30 January 2007, landing at 20 on the ''Billboard'' Album Charts. By January 2009, the album had sold 960,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 520,000 copies in the United States.

In 2007, she played the newly launched Park Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, replacing M.I.A. who had cancelled. During the festival she reunited two members of The Specials an act that guitarist Lynval Golding claimed played a "massive part" in the group's 2009 reunion. She also sang the vocals on the top ten single, "Oh My God", a cover of the Kaiser Chiefs song by Mark Ronson. The single, "Littlest Things" from Allen's album produced by Ronson, helped earn him a "Producer of the Year – Non Classical" 2008 Grammy Award. She also provided background vocals to a couple of songs on the Kaiser Chief's third album in 2008. Allen won a 2008 BMI songwriting award for "Smile". Allen began dating musician Ed Simons of the Chemical Brothers in September 2007, and in December, Allen announced that she and Simons were expecting a child. Allen later suffered a miscarriage.

Due to her outspokenness, Allen was the subject of many controversies early in her career. Disparaging remarks about musicians Luke Pritchard of The Kooks, Bob Geldof, Amy Winehouse, Kylie Minogue, and Katy Perry have all garnered minor press attention. She later said that making fun of other pop stars was a result of a lack of confidence, saying "I felt like 'Oh God, I'm short, fat, ugly and I hate all these people who flaunt their beauty.'" On 28 June 2007, Allen was arrested in London for allegedly assaulting photographer Kevin Rush while she was leaving a nightclub in London's West End. Prior to this, she had expressed discomfort with attention from the paparazzi on her MySpace blog. By February 2009 she had stopped addressing controversies about herself on her blog because she found it "boring when people just pick stuff up and write about it. People get hurt, people get upset." In September 2009, she shut down her MySpace account and stopped social networking completely in December due to the abuse she was taking.

Allen signed a one series contract to present her own BBC Three TV show entitled ''Lily Allen and Friends'' based on the social networking phenomenon that helped to launch her music career. Guests included Mark Ronson, Joanna Page, James Corden, Lauren Laverne, Roisin Murphy, Louis Walsh, and Danny Dyer. The show received a 2% share of the total multi-channel audience share despite a high-profile nationwide marketing campaign. Allen was quoted in a British tabloid as rating the show "probably five out of 10" and said "I made a lot of money out of it". Citing Allen's rapid development as a TV host and her popularity among its target audience BBC Three announced it was renewing ''Lily Allen and Friends'' for a second season. BBC Three controller Danny Cohen later said that the show will not air in the Spring of 2009 as originally scheduled because of music commitments.

Allen performed at a benefit concert for War Child, an international child protection agency that works with children affected by war. Backed by Keane, Allen sang "Smile" and "Everybody’s Changing". Although the singer is a staunch supporter of the Labour Party, she has been credited with helping inspire a parliamentary rebellion against Prime Minister Gordon Brown when she wrote to all Members of Parliament asking them to back an amendment to an energy bill. She has since confirmed her support for the UK Labour Party and for Prime Minister Gordon Brown in particular.

2008–09: ''It's Not Me, It's You''

After the release of her first album, her parent record company, EMI, was taken over by Terra Firma. She also changed her management company from Empire Artist Management to Twenty-First Artists, although her core team remained in place. At the urging of her record company, Allen tried unsuccessfully to create the album with several writers and producers. Allen eventually returned to Greg Kurstin who had written three songs for ''Alright, Still.'' The album was produced by Kurstin at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles. Before returning to Kus, Allen co-wrote the songs for the album with Kurstin who played piano on it. This is a change from her earlier work in which she wrote lyrics for finished tracks. Allen released a statement saying "We decided to try and make bigger sounding, more ethereal songs, real songs ... I wanted to work with one person from start to finish to make it one body of work. I wanted it to feel like it had some sort of integrity. I think I've grown up a bit as a person and I hope it reflects that." She posted two new song demos on her MySpace page and planned to release a mixtape to give her fans an idea of what the new direction was.

Allen cancelled a scheduled appearance at the 2008 Isle of Wight Festival telling festival promoter John Giddings the reason for the cancellation was that her album was behind schedule. Giddings said that the reason given was not acceptable and possibly a lie. Giddings decided not to sue her. Photos of her drunk and topless in the Cannes Film Festival were also widely covered in the press. Her appearance at the 2008 ''Glamour'' Awards also generated criticism, as she showed up intoxicated wearing a dress covered in decapitated Bambi figures, and had an on-stage, expletive-laced exchange with Elton John. On 29 June 2008, Allen performed at the Glastonbury Festival alongside producer Mark Ronson. An emotional Allen dedicated her performance of "Littlest Things" to her grandmother who died the night before. ''It's Not Me, It's You'' was first scheduled for an early 2008 release, but her miscarriage and creative issues delayed the release date to the autumn. During autumn 2008, EMI was undergoing restructuring. Due to this environment, a decision was made to move the album's eventual release date. An online game, ''Escape the Fear,'' was created by Matmi as part of the viral marketing campaign targeted at people unaware of Allen or the album. Since its release, the game has topped the worldwide viral charts three times, including the week of Christmas—a highly contested time of the year. By 18 February 2009, the game had been played over two million times. The singer and The Clash guitarist Mick Jones performed The Clash’s song "Straight to Hell" on an album for the charity Heroes.

''It's Not Me, It's You'' was released in February 2009. It debuted at the number 1 position in the UK, Canada, and Australia and the number 5 position in the United States. The album has been certified platinum in the United Kingdom. The release of the album was a factor in EMI’s more than trebling its earnings. The first single from the album, "The Fear", was number 1 for the first four weeks in the UK after its release. The second single released from the album, "Not Fair", reached the number 9 position. She began her It's Not Me, It's You World Tour in March, touring throught the next two years until September 2010. Her work on this album with Greg Kurstin earned her the ''Songwriters of the Year'' at the 2010 Ivor Novello Awards. In addition, she won with Kurstin ''Best Song Musically and Lyrically'' and ''Most Performed Work'' for "The Fear". Allen appeared overwhelmed by this recognition from what she considered "real awards". In October 2010, Allen was awarded by the United States music licensing organization Broadcast Music Incorporated for extensive United States radio airplay of her song, "The Fear". Allen has been named the face of the National Portrait Gallery as part of the gallery's marketing campaign. The picture was photographed by Nadav Kander emblazoned with the words, "Vocalist, Lyricist, Florist" . Allen and Jamie Hince, guitarist for The Kills, raised £48,350 for the children’s charity The Hoping Foundation. The pair sang "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" at a karaoke auction fundraiser. Karl Lagerfeld, the head designer for Chanel personally hired and photographed Allen for a campaign to promote a luxury line of handbags due to launch in September 2009.

In May 2009, French football magazine ''So Foot'' published a fake interview in which Allen was quoted as making derogatory remarks about David and Victoria Beckham and Ashley and Cheryl Cole. Some of the material was reprinted in the British tabloid ''The Sun''. Both publications later apologized and paid damages to Allen.

2009–present: Marriage and musical hiatus

Allen began dating Sam Cooper, the owner of a building company, in the summer of 2009. In September 2009, Allen announced that she was considering a career in acting and that she would not renew her record contract. Allen additionally stated that she has "no plans" to make another record. After the British government's plans to implement a three strikes policy for file sharing copyright infringement, Lily Allen came out in strong support for disconnecting offenders. Creating a blog entitled ''"It’s Not Alright"'' against file sharing, it subsequently came to light that she had copied text directly from the Techdirt website of an interview with 50 Cent. This led to an exchange on the Internet, which culminated in accusations being made that Allen had infringed on other artists' copyrights by creating mix tapes early in her career, that she then made available via her website. A group of supporters of filesharing launched a denial of service attack dubbed Operation Payback that shut down Allen's website and targeted other critics. On 1 October 2009, Allen and several other musicians released the world's first digital musical petition aimed at pressuring world leaders attending the December 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen. The petition included a cover of the song "Beds are Burning" by Midnight Oil. She featured on the UK top five single, "Just Be Good to Green" by Professor Green in June 2010.

In August, she began a musical hiatus following a performance at the Big Chill Festival in Herefordshire, England. On 5 August 2010, Allen announced that she was pregnant with her and Cooper's first child, later confirmed to be a boy due early in 2011. Allen and her sister opened their own clothing store entitled "Lucy In Disguise" on 15 September 2010. Allen's pregnancy involved early complications, including "about a week and a half of really heavy bleeding." Six months into her pregnancy, Allen contracted a viral infection which caused her to suffer a pre-term delivery. On 6 November, Allen was rushed to the hospital, where she responded well to treatment for the blood poisoning condition septicaemia. Citing invasion of privacy and copyright infringement, in November 2010 Allen took legal action against Associated Newspapers, the parent company of the Daily Mail after the Daily Mail published photographs of Allen's home.

Allen and Cooper became engaged over the Christmas holidays in December 2010 while vacationing in Bali. In January 2011, Allen launched her own record label In the Name Of, financially backed by Sony Music. The first act signed to the label was New York noise pop duo Cults. In February 2011, Allen started penning songs for the musical version of Bridget Jones's Diary which is scheduled to open in London's West End in 2012. Allen and Cooper wed on 11 June 2011 at St. James church in Cranham, Gloucestershire, England. The designer of Allen's wedding dress confirmed she was pregnant.

Musical style

Allen's early released songs saw her take on a thick Cockney accent while singing against retro productions. Her music was used as part of an exhibition at the British Library tracing the history of Cockney English. Her songs also featured other elements, such as the ska influence on second single, "LDN". She was also noted for her liberal use of crude words in her lyrics. Allen has said she cringes now when listening to tracks from ''Alright, Still'', as it reminds her that she was a "sort of over-excitable teenager who desperately wanted attention" when she wrote it. Desiring to move on from the retro sound that many other artists had since adapted after her debut, on ''It's Not Me, It's You'' Allen ventured in a new direction sonically and lyrically, the first single from the album was an electropop track denouncing consumerism. While Allen admittedly did not set out to make a revolutionary record, her new music direction and willingness to write lyrics that tackled less common subjects were lauded by critics.

Discography

''Alright, Still'' (2006)

''It's Not Me, It's You'' (2009)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen

References

External links

Wilson, Beth. ''Smile: The Story of Lily Allen''. Omnibus Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1849380614

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:BBC people Category:BRIT Award winners Category:English television talk show hosts Category:Capitol Records artists Category:English environmentalists Category:English female singers Category:English feminists Category:English people of Welsh descent Category:English pop singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English songwriters Category:English television personalities Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:LGBT rights activists from England Category:Old Bedalians Category:Old Millfieldians Category:People from Hammersmith Category:People from Islington Category:Singers from London Category:Miscarriage victims Category:People educated at Millfield Preparatory School Category:People educated at Hill House School

ar:ليلي ألين be-x-old:Лілі Ален bg:Лили Алън cs:Lily Allenová cy:Lily Allen da:Lily Allen de:Lily Allen et:Lily Allen es:Lily Allen fa:لی‌لی آلن fr:Lily Allen ga:Lily Allen ko:릴리 앨런 hr:Lily Allen id:Lily Allen is:Lily Allen it:Lily Allen he:לילי אלן lv:Lilija Allena lt:Lily Allen hu:Lily Allen nl:Lily Allen ja:リリー・アレン no:Lily Allen pl:Lily Allen pt:Lily Allen ro:Lily Allen ru:Аллен, Лили sc:Lily Allen simple:Lily Allen sk:Lily Allen sr:Лили Ален sh:Lily Allen fi:Lily Allen sv:Lily Allen te:లిలీ అలెన్ th:ลิลี อัลเลน tr:Lily Allen uk:Лілі Аллен vi:Lily Allen zh:莉莉·艾倫

name	T-Pain
birth name	Faheem Rasheed Najm
born	September 30, 1985 Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
genre	R&B;, hip hop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, dancer, actor
instrument	Keyboard, vocals
years active	2000–present
label	Konvict MuzikJiveNappy BoyYoung Money Entertainment
associated acts	Akon, Tay Dizm, DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Pitbull, Kanye West, Young Cash, Travis McCoy
website	}}

Faheem Rasheed Najm (born September 30, 1985), better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor. He began his career as a rapper in the group Nappy Headz. In 2005, he became a singer and released his debut album ''Rappa Ternt Sanga''. Throughout his career as a singer, T-Pain has extensively used the Auto-Tune pitch correction effect. Pain is currently signed with Young Money Entertainment but will leave Konvict Muzik after the release of ''RevolveR''.

Since the release of his debut album, T-Pain has produced numerous hits of his own and for other rappers and R&B; singers. In 2008, he won a Grammy with rapper Kanye West for the single "Good Life". In 2010, he won another Grammy with Jamie Foxx for the single "Blame It". T-Pain is also the founder of the record label Nappy Boy Entertainment, established in 2005.

Early life

Najm was born in Tallahassee, Florida on September 30, 1985. His stage name is short for "Tallahassee Pain" and was chosen because of the hardships he experienced while living there. He is a Muslim. At age ten, Najm turned his bedroom into a music studio, using a keyboard, a beat machine and a four-track recorder.

Career

2004–2006: Early career and ''Rappa Ternt Sanga''

T-Pain joined the rap group Nappy Headz in 2004 and later recorded "I'm Fucked Up", a cover version of Akon's single "Locked Up". Akon heard the song and immediately signed T-Pain to Konvict Muzik, his label. After being discovered, T-Pain began singing instead of rapping. T-Pain subsequently recorded and released his debut album, ''Rappa Ternt Sanga'', on December 6, 2005. The album reached number thirty-three on the Billboard 200, and has since been certified Gold by the RIAA, for reaching sales of 500,000 units.

The album was preceded by the lead single, "I'm Sprung", which was released in August 2005 and reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The second single, "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)", featuring Mike Jones, was released in December 2005 and reached number five on the Hot 100 and number ten on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Talking with Hustler Magazine T-Pain said the inspiration behind "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)" was "I took a friend of mine in Florida to a strip club. It was his first time. So I got ahold of one of the girls and gave her some money and told her to stay on him. And he fell in love with her! The next day we went to the studio, and I wrote the song." The third and final single from the album, "Studio Luv", was released in October 2006 but failed to chart.

2007–2008: ''Epiphany''

In mid-2006, T-Pain began work on his second album, now with the Zomba Label Group as well as Konvict Muzik and Jive Records.

T-Pain's second album ''Epiphany'', was released on June 5, 2007. The album sold 171,000 records in its first week, reaching number one on the Billboard 200. The record has since sold 819,000 records in the United States.

The album was preceded by the lead single "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" featuring Yung Joc in February 2007. The single reached number one on both the Hot 100 and Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first single to top charts. The album's second single, "Bartender", featuring Akon was released in June 2007 and reached number five on the Hot 100 and number nine on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third and final single from the album, "Church", was released in October 2007 but failed to chart in the United States.

Speaking in May 2007 to noted UK R&B; writer Pete Lewis, of the award-winning Blues & Soul about his reason for naming his second album 'Epiphany', T-Pain stated: "One of the two dictionary meanings of epiphany is 'a sudden moment of insight or revelation'. And to me the title 'Epiphany' signifies the moment I realized that, to make the best music I can, I needed to just go in the studio and be myself, and not concentrate so hard on following other people's formulas."

While promoting his second album, T-Pain made guest appearances on multiple songs by other artists. T-Pain was featured on "I'm a Flirt" (remix) by R. Kelly with T.I., "Outta My System" by Bow Wow, "Baby Don't Go" by Fabolous, "I'm So Hood" by DJ Khaled with many other rappers, "Shawty" by Plies, "Kiss Kiss" by Chris Brown, "Low" by Flo Rida, and "Good Life" by Kanye West. In two weeks in late 2007, T-Pain was featured on four top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart

"Good Life" with Kanye West later won the BET Award for Best Collaboration and was nominated in several other categories. In 2008, the single won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song.

2007–2009: ''Thr33 Ringz''

In 2007, T-Pain began work on his third album with Rocco Valdes, Akon and Lil Wayne. The album was also his first under his Nappy Boy Entertainment.

T-Pain's third studio album, ''Thr33 Ringz'', was released on November 11, 2008. The album sold 168,000 records in its first week, reaching number four on the Billboard 200. A mixtape, ''Pr33 Ringz'', was released in early 2008 before the album.

The album was preceded by three singles. Its lead single, "Can't Believe It", featuring Lil Wayne, was released in July 2008. The single reached number seven on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album's second single, "Chopped 'N' Skrewed", featuring Ludacris, was released in September 2008. The single reached number twenty-seven on the Hot 100 and number three on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third and final single from the album, "Freeze", featuring Chris Brown, was released in October 2008 and reached number thirty-eight on the Hot 100 and number thirty-nine on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Guest appearances on ''Thr33 Ringz'' included T.I., Lil Wayne, Ludacris, DJ Khaled, Ciara, Chris Brown and Kanye West among others. ''Pr33 Ringz'' was the introduction mixtape for the album. In 2008, T-Pain continued to appear on numerous rap singles, such as "She Got It" by 2 Pistols, "Go Girl" by Ciara, "The Boss" by Rick Ross, "Cash Flow" by Ace Hood, "Shawty Get Loose" by Lil Mama, "One More Drink" by Ludacris, and "Go Hard" by DJ Khaled with Kanye West. T-Pain and Ludacris collaborated to perform "Chopped 'N' Skrewed" and "One More Drink" on American late-night television programs ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' on ABC in November 2008 and on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' in the same month. T-Pain appeared again on ''SNL'' in February 2009 (on the episode hosted by Bradley Cooper with musical guest TV on the Radio) in the ''SNL'' Digital Short. T-Pain also supported the album in 2009 with his ''Thr33 Ringz Tour'', which included sold out shows across North America. T-Pain and rapper Lil Wayne formed the duo T-Wayne in 2008. The duo released a self-titled mixtape in late 2008; it charted on the Billboard 200 in January 2009. Their debut album was going to be released in 2009, but never was.

2009–present: ''RevolveR''

In May 2009, T-Pain made an appearance on a live-action episode of ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' as Frylock, where he made his debut as an actor. He collaborated with country-pop singer Taylor Swift for the CMT Music Awards, and performed "Thug Story", a parody of Swift's hit single "Love Story". In an interview with MTV, T-Pain announced that he would release his fourth studio album in November 2009 and that its title was ''UBER''. He stated that although he originally wanted to release the album in the summer of 2010, his label had pushed the release forward. Regardless of these announcements, the album wasn't released in 2009. An iPhone application called "I Am T-Pain" features an auto tuner, allowing fans to record and modify their own voice to accompany an instrumental collection of T-Pain's music. It was released in September 2009. In July 2009, T-Pain endorsed the 2009 T-Pain Killa Cam-Pain, a grassroots effort to help him become elected as president of Florida State University.

In November 2009, T-Pain released the first single from his fourth studio album, "Take Your Shirt Off". The single only managed to reach number eighty on the Hot 100, and was later dubbed a promotional single. Later, in February 2010, he released the official lead single from his fourth studio album, "Reverse Cowgirl", featuring Young Jeezy. He later release an updated version of the song excluding Young Jeezy's verse and adding a new bridge. The single reached number seventy-five on the Hot 100 and number sixty-four on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a mild hit. The single has since been dubbed a promotional single. T-Pain was later featured on the "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" single in February 2010, which reached number two on the Hot 100. In the fall of 2009, T-Pain began work with Cartoon Network's Adult Swim to produce and star in a television animated musical special based on Freaknik. Freaknik: The Musical aired on March 7, 2010.

In June 2010, T-Pain confirmed that his fourth studio album ''RevolveR'' has been completed and mastered, but that it will not be released until album sales increase. He elaborated upon this in August 2010, stating that the album probably wouldn't be released until 2011. T-Pain's first feature film, ''Lottery Ticket'', was released on August 20, 2010. In October 2010, T-Pain release his third promotional single, Rap Song. The song charted poorly, peaking at 89 on the Hot 100.

T-Pain released a Nappy Boy mixtape called ''T-Pain Presents: Nappy Boy All Stars Vol.1'' which contained Nappy Boy remixes to "Every Girl", "All The Way Turnt Up" and "Forever". Later he announced a mixtape for his album ''rEVOLVEr'' called ''prEVOLVEr''. the mixtape released three songs, the first being "Hoes & Ladies" which featured Lil Wayne and Field Mob's Smoke. The other two songs released were contest songs. The contest songs where meant for anyone willing to get on the track and who ever lays down the best verse will feature on the track and the actual album. The first contest song was called "Motivated" which was a rap song and the second song was an R&B; song for the singer, called "Merry Christmas." B. Martin of Albany, NY won the competition and will be featured on the mixtape. "T-Mixes" were made, which are T-Pain's remixes to some 2010 hit songs. The released remixes were "No Hands", "Black & Yellow", "Loving You No More", "Make It Rain" and "Like a G6". Two out of the five T-Mixes were made into the official remixes. They were "Black & Yellow" by Wiz Khalifa and featured him with Snoop Dogg & Juicy J. The other T-Mix that was made into an official remix was "Loving You No More" by Dirty Money, which originally featured Drake, but the remix features T-Pain and rapper Gucci Mane.

T-Pain was featured on the hit single "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled, along with the remix. He featured on Wisin & Yandel's single "Imaginate" & Bun B's single "Trillionaire." In the last two quarters of 2010, he was featured on hit singles like Pitbull's "Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor)" and Nelly's "Move That Body." He was also featured on another single by Wisin & Yandel along with rapper 50 Cent called "No Dejemos Que Se Apague." The last two single's T-Pain were featured on in 2010 were the official Remixes to Black & Yellow by rapper Wiz Khalifa & Loving You No More.

T-Pain was featured on the first single by DJ Khaled called "Welcome To My Hood" off his new album ''We the Best Forever''. The song featured him along with Rick Ross, Plies, & Lil Wayne. He is also expected to be featured on albums such as Drake's ''Take Care,'' Lil Wayne's ''Tha Carter IV,'' Tech N9ne's ''All 6s and 7s'', and many more. A new toy called "iAm T-Pain Microphone" will make its way to stores everywhere in 2011, at the price of $39.99. T-Pain is featured on a single called Electroman which is by house artist Benny Benassi. In January, JRandall released a single, "Can't Sleep", featuring T-Pain. On March 22, 2011 the next single off ''RevolveR'' will be released titled "Best Love Song" and features American singer Chris Brown. On his Twitter he stated that he would release his prEVOLVEr mixtape when he gets 500,000 followers and release his album rEVOLVEr when he gets 1,000,000 followers.

Musical style

He has called his style of music "Hard & B". T-Pain uses Auto-Tune, a pitch-correcting audio processor, for his vocals. Music critic Andy Kellman compared T-Pain's singing style to that of Cher in her 1998 hit "Believe", in which Cher used voice enhancements. In response to Jay-Z's single "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", T-Pain stated that he would still use the method. T-Pain's use of Auto-Tune has been cited as an influence on other urban artists' works, including Snoop Dogg's single "Sexual Eruption", Lil Wayne's single "Lollipop", and Kanye West's album ''808s & Heartbreak''. In November 2008, T-Pain demanded credit from other artists who used Auto-Tune.

Personal life

Family

T-Pain has been married to Amber since 2003. His song "I'm Sprung" is dedicated to her. They have three children: daughter Lyriq and sons Muziq and Kaydnz Kodah (born May 2009).

Legal issues

thumb|Mug shot of T-Pain taken in November 2007. He had two incidents of legal problems in 2007:

When he refused to cut his set short at Radio One's Spring Fest Concert in Miami on the evening of April 28, 2007, police presence escalated backstage. He became agitated after concert officials stopped his performance of "Buy You a Drink". Police chased T-Pain and his entourage out of the premises and detained them.

After a June 2007 concert of T-Pain's, Tallahassee police issued a warrant for his arrest over a suspended driver's license. T-Pain turned himself into the Leon County Jail on November 2, 2007.

Golf cart accident

On March 27, 2009, T-Pain was involved in a golf cart accident, the same day he was due for a music video shoot for Lil' Kim's Download song. He suffered cuts, bruises, and four missing teeth and had emergency dental work done. He returned to performing on March 29, 2009. The accident was later referenced in the music video of Glasses Malone's song "Sun Come Up" (which also featured T-Pain).

Discography

''Rappa Ternt Sanga'' (2005)

''Epiphany'' (2007)

''Thr33 Ringz'' (2008)

''RevolveR'' (2011)

Mixtape

''Pr33 Ringz'' (2008)

''PrEVOLVEr'' (2011)

Soundtracks

''Freaknik: The Musical Soundtrack'' (2010)

Filmography

''Freaknik: The Musical'' (2010)

''Lottery Ticket'' (2010)

Awards and nominations

American Music Awards

2007, Favorite Male Artist [Nominated].

BET Awards

*2009, Best Male R&B; Artist (Nominated)

*2009, Best Collaboration ("Blame It") with Jamie Foxx (Won)

*2009, Viewer's Choice ("Can't Believe It") with Lil Wayne (Nominated)

2008, Best Collaboration ("Kiss Kiss") with Chris Brown (Nominated)

2008, Best Collaboration ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)

2008, Viewer's Choice ("Kiss Kiss") with Chris Brown (Nominated)

2008, Best Collaboration ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Won)

2008, Video of the Year ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Nominated)

BET Hip Hop Awards

*2009. Producer of the Year (Nominated)

*2008, Best Ringtone ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)

*2008, Best Hip-Hop Video ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Won)

*2008, Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)

*2008, Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Nominated)

*2008, Track of the Year ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Nominated)

BMI Urban Awards

* Song Writer Of The Year (Won)

* Producer Of The Year shared with J.R. Rotem & Kanye West (Won)

Grammy Awards

*2010, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("I'm on a Boat") with The Lonely Island [Nominated]

*2010, Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or a Group ("Blame It") with Jamie Foxx [Won]

*2010, Best R&B; Song ("Blame It") with Jamie Foxx [Nominated]

*2010, Best Contemporary Album ''Thr33 Ringz'' [Nominated]

*2009, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Got Money") with Lil Wayne (Nominated)

*2009, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)

*2009, Best Rap Song ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)

*2008, Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group ("Bartender") with Akon (Nominated)

*2008, Best Rap/Sung Rap Song ("Good Life") With Kanye West (Nominated)

*2008, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Kiss Kiss") with Chris Brown (Nominated)

2008, Best Rap Song ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Won)

Ozone Music Awards

*2008, TJ's DJ's Hustler of the Year (Nominated)

*2008, Club Banger of the Year ("I'm So Hood") with DJ Khaled, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross, & Plies (Nominated)

*2008, Club Banger of the Year ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)

*2008, Best Rap/R&B; Collaboration ("She Got It") with 2 Pistols & Tay Dizm (Nominated)

*2008, Best R&B; Artist (Nominated)

*2008, Best TJ's DJ's Tastemaker Award (Won)

*2007, Best Male R&B; Artist (Won)

*2007, Best Rap/R&B; Collaboration ("Shawty") with Plies (Won)

*2007: Best Rap/R&B; Collaboration ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')") with Yung Joc (Nominated)

*2006, Best Rap/R&B; Collaboration ("I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper) (Remix)" with Twista, Pimp C, Paul Wall, R. Kelly, MJG, and Too Short) (Won)

MTV Video Music Award

*2008, Best Hip-Hop Video ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)

*2008, Best Male Video ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)

*2007, Monster Single of the Year ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)"), featuring Yung Joc (Nominated)

People's Choice Awards

*2008, Favorite Hip-Hop Song, "Low" with Flo Rida [Won]

*2008, Favorite Hip-Hop Song, "Good Life" with Kanye West [Nominated]

Teen Choice Awards

*2008, Choice Hook-Up: Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain, "Low" (Nominated)

*2008, Choice Music: R&B; Artist – T-Pain (Nominated)

*2008, Choice Music: Rap/Hip-Hop Track – Lil Mama featuring Chris Brown and T-Pain, "Shawty Get Loose" (Won)

Vibe Awards

*2007, Best R&B; Artist (Nominated)

*2007, Best Collaboration ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)") with Yung Joc (Nominated)

*2007, Song of the Year ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)") with Yung Joc (Won)

References

External links

Official website

Nappy Boy Records

Strip Club Etiquette: T'Pain's Guide Hustler Magazine

Category:1985 births Category:African American singers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American male singers Category:American record producers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:African American Muslims Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:Jive Records artists Category:Living people Category:People from Tallahassee, Florida Category:Rappers from Florida

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Name	Hot Dollar
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Leon Gray
Alias	Hot Dolla
Origin	Chicago, USA
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	2004-present
Label	Dolla Figga/Island/Def Jam, So So Def
Associated acts	Guerilla Black
Website	Official Site @ Def Jam Records
Past members	}}

Hot Dollar (born Leon Gray) is a rapper from Compton, California. He is known for his hit single "Streetz on Lock", which samples Tupac's "All Eyes On Me". Rick Ross and Gucci Mane appear on the remix of "Streetz on Lock".

Biography

Hot Dollar is a multifaceted artist, bringing his well diverse background by means of Chicago, Mississippi, and Los Angeles, California. From these rich rooted surroundings Hot Dollar, caught the eye of several music executives. In 2007 after a bidding war with various major labels; Hot Dollar inked his first deal by signing a lucrative imprint deal with Island / Def Jam and Jermaine Dupri. The music mogul, Dupri had only been president of the Label for one month at which point he stated, “Hot Dollar’s talent was too good to pass up”. With his new found success of the radio smash “Streetz on Lock” Hot Dollar garnished the interest of the industry’s elite and of his peers, superstar artist’ Lil Wayne, Jay Z, Rick Ross, Trey Songs, Gucci Mane, Pit Bull, Snoop Dogg, Sean Kingston, Jagged Edge, Tyrese, Ice T, Nate Dogg, Mario Winans, Guerilla Zoe, Abraham McDonald, Young Berg, and his brother Guerilla Black. Hot Dollar has a unique sound and is no stranger to bringing the heat. He has worked with Multi-Platinum Producers such as Kanye West, Dr. Dre, DJ Toomp, Scott Storch, Rodney Jerkins, J.R. Rodem, Jazze Phae, Fred Wreck, Da Bizzness, Scoopdaville, Shorty Red, No ID, Devante Swang of Jodeci, LT Hutten, DJ Khalil, and Dwayne Da Rock, to name a few. Since Hot Dollar decided to part ways with Island/ Def Jam Records in early 2010 to pursue his own independent ventures, he hit the ground running. With the inception of his own independent label DF Elite; he released his last mixed tape “Back on the Throne”; which had sold over 30k physical and digital copies. He has a proven track record of sales and has established a strong audience base; which has made Hot Dollar a bigger commodity to his fans and the industry. Hot Dollar is currently in his Los Angeles based studio working on his up and coming “Well Anticipated” LP entitled “The Evolution” which is scheduled to release in late Fall 2011. With the chart climbing Hit Single “We Own the Night” and the launch of his new website www.iamhotdollar.com he has the industry on lock once again!

Discography

Albums

''Crack Head Mixtape'' (2006) (mixtape)

''Money Power And Techs'' (2007) (mixtape)

''100 Laws Of Power'' (2007) (mixtape)

''My Dreams...A Day In The Life'' (2008) Island

''The Crackhead Mixtape Volume 2'' (2008) (mixtape)

"Evolution" (2011) (mixtape)

Singles

2007: "Streetz On Lock"

2007: "Sidekick"

2007: "On The Block" (ft. Sean Kingston)

2008: "Upside Down" (Official 2nd Single)

2008: "Get Naked Boy"

2009: "Switch Ya Swag Up (feat. Lil Wayne)"

2009: "In The Building (feat. Mucho Dinero)"

2010: "Go Hard (produced by The Big Shots)"

Guest appearances

Recorded vocals on "On The Westside" by Hectic

Recorded vocals on "Por Vida" By Ditch

References

External links

www.iamhotdollar.com

Hot Dollar interview, ''DJBooth.net''

Reid, Nateiri (2007) "Hot Dollar: Streets On Lock", ''Baller Status''

http://www.undergroundgirlsofhiphop.com

Category:Rappers from California Category:African American rappers Category:Living people

name	Neon Hitch
background	solo_singer
birth name	Neon Hitch
origin	London, England, United Kingdom
instrument	Vocals
genre	Pop, Dance-pop, Electropop
years active	2007-present
label	The Beats, Warner Bros.
website	http://www.neonhitch.net
notable instruments	}}

Neon Hitch is a British singer and songwriter. She was signed to Mike Skinner's label, The Beats, before it closed down. She was later discovered on MySpace by Benny Blanco who flew her to New York to work with him. Their work together earned her a music publishing deal with EMI and a record deal with Warner Bros. Records.

Life and career

Childhood and youth

Hitch was born in the south England countryside in London. For a time being, she was resentful towards her parents for giving her the birth name, Neon, wanting to change her name to a more conventional name, such as Melanie. Her father was a lighting technician. Her mother bought a caravan to live in when their house burned down. They then began street performing, making and selling jewelry and clothing around Europe. As a result, she never attended school as they did not stay in one location for prolonged periods of time. By age four, she was traveling and performing with the Archaos circus. She trained as a trapeze artist, fire swinger and stilt walker and had performed all over Europe by the time she was a teen. Her family was featured in a BBC documentary. At age ten, she began writing poetry which led to her writing lyrics. Her boyfriend noticed that she could sing and encouraged her to hone her singing. She left home at sixteen to live in India for a few years before settling in London for her music career.

Career beginnings: 2007-2010

Through Neneh Cherry's daughter, Hitch met Cherry and her husband, Cameron. He told her to cut a demo, after discussing Hitch's interest in pursuing a music career. Hitch then found a producer in ''Stage'' magazine to record a demo, with which Cameron got Hitch signed to 679 Recordings, the label that The Streets was on. After singing on several tracks for Greensleeves Records, Hitch was signed to Mike Skinner's label The Beats, later going on tour with him. She also toured with Professor Green and opened for 50 Cent at the Nottingham Arena before The Beats closed in 2007. Soon after, Hitch was flown stateside by James Johnson, owner of Pilot Creative Services Inc, who asked her to go to New York to meet with him and his client, songwriter Benny Blanco, on MySpace. She was homeless at the time, occasionally checking her MySpace account at friends' houses, and could not afford the plane ticket to meet him. A little over a year later, she signed James and Pilot as her management and quickly landed a publishing deal with EMI. Within the next year she co-wrote and sang background vocals for pop punk band Friday Night Boys' song "Stupid Love Letter", Kesha's "Blah Blah Blah" and 3OH!3's "Follow Me Down" from the ''Almost Alice'' soundtrack. She was also featured on Benny Blanco's remix of Miike Snow's song "Burial". Another feature song is 'What's Urban' with WanCee. In early 2010, she was signed to Warner Bros. Records by Kara Dioguardi after a writing session between the two. Hitch later performed at Lollapalooza in the summer. She also co-wrote "Traces" by Sky Ferreira.

''Beg, Borrow and Steal'': 2011

Hitch began recording her debut album, ''Beg, Borrow and Steal'' in March 2010 with Blanco. She released promo single, "Get Over U", co-written by Sia, for free in January 2011. She also released a series of covers and mash-up covers of songs by other artists. Her official first single, "Bad Dog" was released in July.

Artistry

Hitch lists The Beatles, Sia, Kate Bush, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jay Thomas, Spice Girls, Daniel Johnston, Nelly Furtado, Miike Snow, Amadou & Mariam, Erykah Badu and The Police as influences.

Discography

Music videos

+List of music videos, showing year released and director	Title	Year	Director(s)	Artist
"Derek" (Streets Remix)	2007	Mike Skinner	Neon Hitch
"Get Over U"	2011	Jason Bergh	Neon Hitch

Other appearances

! Year	! Song	! Artist	! Album	! Credits	! Ref.
2009	"Stupid Love Letter"	Friday Night Boys		Co-write, background vocals
		Kesha featuring 3OH!3		Co-write, background vocals
"Follow Me Down"	3OH!3	''Almost Alice''	Co-write, vocals

References

http://pilot-creative.com/#/ARTISTS/NEON_HITCH

External links

Category:English female singers Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)