Apollinaire's calligramme (1918)

The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong of Song; fan mounted as album leaf on silk, four columns in cursive script

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary greatly in different cultures and time periods.^[1] Throughout each civilization and language, poets have used various styles that have changed through the course of literary history, resulting in a history of poets as diverse as the literature they have produced.

The English word "poet" is derived from the French poète, itself descended from the Latin first-declension masculine noun poeta, meaning "poet". The word "poetry" derives from the Latin feminine noun poetria, meaning not "poetry" but "poetess".

French poet Arthur Rimbaud summarized the "poet" by writing,

A poet makes himself a visionary through a long, boundless, and systematized disorganization of all the senses. All forms of love, of suffering, of madness; he searches himself, he exhausts within himself all poisons, and preserves their quintessences. Unspeakable torment, where he will need the greatest faith, a superhuman strength, where he becomes all men: the great invalid, the great criminal, the great accursed—and the Supreme Scientist! For he attains the unknown! Because he has cultivated his soul, already rich, more than anyone! He attains the unknown, and, if demented, he finally loses the understanding of his visions, he will at least have seen them! So what if he is destroyed in his ecstatic flight through things unheard of, unnameable: other horrible workers will come; they will begin at the horizons where the first one has fallen!

Although that is only one opinion of many on a poet's definition.^[2]

William Wordsworth once described the poet's task as to

make A present joy the matter of a song, Pour forth that day my soul in measured strains That would not be forgotten and are here Recorded

(The Prelude Book 1)

Marianne Moore famously described the poet's job as creating 'imaginary gardens with real toads in them'.(Poetry)

Many poets such as Virgil in the Aeneid and John Milton in Paradise Lost invoke the aid of a Muse to help them in their tasks.

See also[link]

Poetry portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Poets

Look up poet in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: poets

• Bard
• List of poets
• Lyricist
• Poet Laureate
• Writer

References[link]

Sean Paul
Sean Paul at the International Reggae and World Music Awards.
Background information
Birth name	Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques
Born	(1973-01-09) January 9, 1973 (age 39) Kingston, Jamaica
Genres	Dancehall, reggae, R&B, ragga
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, producer, actor
Years active	1996–present
Labels	VP, Atlantic
Website	allseanpaul.com

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques^[1] (born January 9, 1973),^[1][2] who performs under stage name Sean Paul, is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae artist.

Life and career[link]

1973–96: Early life[link]

Sean Paul was born in Kingston and spent his early years in Upper Andrew Parish, a few miles north of Kingston.^[2] His parents, Garth and Frances, were both talented athletes, and his mother is a well-known painter.^[3] His paternal grandfather was a Sephardic Jew whose family emigrated from Portugal, and his paternal grandmother was Afro-Caribbean; his mother is of English and Chinese Jamaican descent.^[4][5] Sean Paul was raised as a Catholic.^[6] Many members of his family are swimmers. His grandfather was on the first Jamaican men's national water polo team. His father also played water polo for the team in the 1960s, and competed in long-distance swimming, while Sean Paul's mother was a backstroke swimmer. Sean Paul played for the national water polo team from the age of thirteen to twenty-one, when he gave up the sport in order to launch his musical career. He attended the Wolmers High School for Boys, Belair School, Hillel Academy High School, and the College of Arts, Science, and Technology, now known as the University of Technology, where he was trained in commerce with a view to pursuing an occupation in hotel management.

[edit] 1998–2000: Stage One

Sean Paul's manager and producer Jeremy Harding first heard about the singer when his brother told him about seeing someone at a small open mic event in Kingston who sounded a lot like the popular dancehall DJ and toaster Super Cat.^[7] Harding eventually met the singer when Sean Paul came by his studio to ask for some advice. During the meeting Paul recorded a vocal over Harding's rhythm track and in the process created the song "Baby Girl".^[7] Sean Paul began hanging out at the studio every day, and the pair collaborated on several more tracks. When they recorded "Infiltrate" they decided they had something good enough to get on the radio. As Sean Paul started to attract local attention, Harding began looking after his affairs. He later told HitQuarters that his support of Paul's fledgling career initially led him assuming the roles of "DJ, manager, road manager and security guard."^[7] Sean Paul made a quick cameo appearance in the 1998 film Belly on stage performing. He made a very successful collaboration with DMX & Mr. Vegas (Top Shotter) as a soundtrack of the film. In 2000, Sean Paul released his debut album, Stage One with VP Records.

[edit] 2001–02: Dutty Rock

In 2002, he began working extensively with a team of producers and choreographers from Toronto, namely Jae Blaze and Blaze Entertainment and announced the release of his second album, Dutty Rock. Pushed by the success of the singles "Gimme the Light" and the Billboard Hot 100 topper, "Get Busy", the album was a worldwide success, eventually selling over six million copies. Simultaneously, Sean Paul was heard on Beyoncé's U.S. #1 single "Baby Boy" and Blu Cantrell's "Breathe", a chart hit in Europe. Both helped to push his reputation further still in the United States. He appeared on Punk'd, 106 & Park, Sean Paul Respect, Making the Video ("Get Busy", "Gimme the Light", and "Like Glue") and his music videos have been broadcast on MTV and BET. Paul's biggest hits included "Get Busy", "Like Glue", "Gimme the Light", "Baby Boy", and "I'm Still in Love with You".

[edit] 2003–05: The Trinity

Sean Paul in September 2005.

Sean Paul's third album The Trinity was released in on September 27, 2005. The album produced five big hits, "We Be Burnin'", "Ever Blazin'", "Give It Up to Me", "Never Gonna Be The Same" and the U.S. chart-topping smash hit "Temperature". The video of "Give It Up to Me" (featuring Keyshia Cole) was also featured in the movie Step Up in 2006. He was nominated for four awards at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, including male artist of the year, rap artist of the year, hot 100 single of the year, and pop single of the year for his hit "Temperature".^[8] He also won an American Music Award for "(When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me" beating Kanye West and Nick Lachey who were also nominated for the award. His song "Send It On" from "The Trinity" featured on the 2005 Vauxhall Corsa advert. Sean Paul often contributes his songs to various Riddim Driven albums (by VP Records). In March 2007, he returned to his native Jamaica to perform at the Cricket World Cup 2007 opening ceremony. Sean Paul appears on the game Def Jam: Fight for NY as part of Snoop Dogg's crew and again in the game's sequel, Def Jam Icon.

[edit] 2006–10: Imperial Blaze

The newest Sean Paul album entitled "Imperial Blaze" was released on August 18, 2009. The lead single, “So Fine”, which was produced by Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor, premiered on Sean Paul's official website on April 26, 2009.^{[9][dead link][10]} Speaking to Pete Lewis of 'Blues & Soul' magazine in August 2009, Sean Paul stated that 'Imperial Blaze' "Actually signifies 'The King's Fire'. It's that thing inside of you that gives you the desire to do whatever you do, and be the best in the world at it."^[11] The new album consists of 20 tracks including "So Fine", "Press it Up", "She Want Me", "Private Party" which are party tracks and also love songs such as "Hold My Hand" (feat Keri Hilson), "Lately", "Now That I've Got Your Love" among others. Producers on the album include Don Corleone, Jeremy Harding, and Sean's brother Jason 'Jigzagula' Henriques.^[11] All the full songs of the album have been added to Sean Paul's Myspace page^[12] on the day of release of the album.

Up until now there have been eight music videos: "Always On My Mind (with Da'Ville)", "Give It To You (with Eve)", "Watch Them Roll", "Back It Up" (with Left Side/Mr. Evil), "(I Wanna See You) Push It Baby" (with Pretty Ricky), "Hit 'Em" (with Fahrenheit and his brother Jason "Jigzagula" Henriques), "Come Over" with Estelle,^[13] and also the video of his first single, "So Fine" from the new album. He has recently been featured in Shaggy's video, "Save A Life", which also includes appearances from Elephant Man and Da'Ville, among others. In an effort to raise money for a children's hospital, Shaggy, Sean Paul and others will be having a benefit concert. All proceeds will go towards getting new equipment and technology 'For Aid to the Bustamante Hospital for Children'. In an interview in 2009 he says he is planning to release a new album in 2011. During the premiere for MNET's Big Brother Africa 5: All-Stars on July 18, 2010, he performed his songs "Temperature", "Hold My Hand", and "So Fine".

[edit] 2011–present: Tomahawk Technique

The first single Got 2 Luv U features vocals from American singer Alexis Jordan. It was released on the July 19, 2011 by Atlantic Records. The song was written by Sean Paul, Ryan Tedder and Stargate, and it was produced by Stargate.^[14][15][16]

She Doesn't Mind is the second single from the album. It was written by Sean Paul, Shellback and Benny Blanco and was produced by Shellback and Benny Blanco. It was released on the September 29, 2011 on NRJ & Skyrock (French radios), and to iTunes on October 31.^[17] Like its proceeder, "Got 2 Luv U", featuring Alexis Jordan, it topped the charts in Switzerland, but it debuted at that spot. Sean appeared on the Never Mind the Buzzcocks episode which aired on November 21, 2011.

Sean Paul is featured in the music video for the Simple Plan song Summer Paradise.

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Stage One (2000)
• Dutty Rock (2002)
• The Trinity (2005)
• Imperial Blaze (2009)
• Tomahawk Technique (2012)

Mixtapes

• The Odyssey Mixtape (2009)

Filmography[link]

Panjabi MC
Panjabi MC at London Mela in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Rajinder Singh Rai
Origin	Coventry, England
Genres	Turntablism, Bhangra, Hip-hop, Downtempo, Asian Underground
Occupations	Musician
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Superstar Recordings (Germany) Urban Records PMC Records (UK) Universal (India)
Associated acts	Jay-Z, Twista, Snap!, Labh Janjua
Website	Official website

Rajinder Singh Rai (Punjabi: ਰਜਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ; born in Coventry, England), better known by his stage name Panjabi MC is a British Indian musician. He is best known for the worldwide bhangra hit "Mundian To Bach Ke" (1998).

Career[link]

Rajinder Singh adopted his stage name from the Punjabi language he used in the music he plays and raps.^[1] "One of [his] main goals is to fuse the two worlds [of bhangra and hip-hop]."^[2]

Nachural Records signed Panjabi MC following a remix of Kuldeep Manak's "Ghariah Milan De". Although the single was taken off the market, Panjabi MC continued making records. Another successful release was "Mundian To Bach Ke" ("Beware of the Boys") (1998; it first appeared on the album Legalised) which mixed the theme of the TV series Knight Rider with bhangra. An underground hit on the internet, it was picked up by the German record label Superstar Recordings, and became a hit in Germany and across Europe, including the UK. A version of this recording in 2003 featured American rapper Jay-Z named "Beware of the Boys".

His work, particularly the early singles and the "Mundian To Bach Ke" remix with Jay-Z, brought bhangra to a global audience via the BBC. He continues to produce music and is ever popular as a collaborator and remixer. In 2004 he made music called Mirza and mixed this song with Turkish singer Mustafa Sandal's Isyankar, but they did not release the mixed version.^[3]

His album Indian Timing was released in 2008.

His music video "Snake Charmer" was screened at Deejay Ra's music video night in Toronto at the FILMI festival, North America's longest running South Asian film festival.

Sampling[link]

On "Indian Timing", Panjabi MC uses vocal samples from Ofra Haza's "Im Nin'Alu". He used "Planet Rock" ("Pyar Wich (Planet Rock Remix)" on Legalised) before Afrika Bambaataa recorded "Indian Planet Rock". On “Jatt Ho Giya Sharabee”, Panjabi MC uses the theme music from the TV show Magnum, P.I. "Mundian To Bach Ke" (along with the subsequent remix version featuring Jay-Z, "Beware of the Boys") uses the bassline from the television show Knight Rider.^[2]

Television work[link]

In 2001, Panjabi MC made his Canadian premiere at the Payal Banquet Hall in Mississauga (Ontario). Deejay Ra hosted a TV special covering the event entitled "The Bhangramentary", which was aired on the Asian Television Network (ATN). His single, "Jatt Ho Giya Sharabee", from Beware, was featured on the television show Heroes (episode 2, Don't Look Back, which aired October 2, 2006). The single "Mundian To Bach Ke" was featured in an episode of Queer as Folk and in the 2002 movie Bend It Like Beckham. The song "Yaaran Kollon Sikh Kuriye" was featured in the show Wild Boyz as a music video. Panjabi MC has appeared on Top of the Pops, from which the video to "Mundian To Bach Ke" began to appear on music channels across the globe.

Together with Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasthi, Panjabi MC remixed the popular song "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from the Bollywood film, Dil Se... This song was used as the background during opening credits for the Hollywood movie Inside Man. Their song "Land of Five Rivers", used as a theme song for the WWE wrestler The Great Khali,^[4] features on Voices: WWE The Music, Vol. 9.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Rootz
• Souled Out (1993, Nachural Records)
• Another Sell Out (1994, Nachural Records)
• 100% Proof (1995, Nachural Records)
• Grass Roots (1996, Nachural Records)
• Magic Desi (1996)
• Legalised (1998, Nachural Records)
• Dhol Jageroo Da (2001, Moviebox)
• Desi (2002, Moviebox)
• Indian Breaks (2003, Compagnia Nuove Indye)
• Mundian To Bach Ke (2003, Compagnia Nuove Indye)
• The Album (German version: Superstar/Warner; Germany) (French version: Scorpio; France) (UK Version: Instant Karma) (2003)
• Beware (U.S. version of the album) (2003, Sequence)
• Steel Bangle (2005, Moviebox)
• Indian Timing (2008, PMC Records)
• The Raj (2010, PMC Records)
• 56 Districts (2012, PMC Records)

Compilation albums[link]

• Illegal with the support from manpreet singh (2006, Nupur Audio)

EPs[link]

• Jatt Ho Gya Sharabi (1996, Nachural Records)
• Mirza Part Two (1997, Nachural Records)
• Switchin' (2000, Moviebox)

Singles[link]

• "Dhol Jageero Da" (2001)
• "Backstabbers" (with Mark Morrison and Daz Dillinger) (2002)
• "Mundian To Bach Ke" (2002) - UK #5^[5]
• "Jogi" (2003) - UK #25^[5]
• "Jatt Ho Giya Sharabee" (2005)
• "Jugga Jugga Jugga Jugga Jugga Jugga" (2006)
• "Snake Charmer" (2009)
• "Panjaban" (2009)
• "Jodi - Big Day Party" (featuring Kuldeep Manak)(2010)
• "Moorni" (featuring Ashok Gill)(2010)
• "Akh Da Eshara" (featuring Lehmber Hussainpuri)(2010)
• "Jatti" (featuring Jelly Manjitpuri)(2011)
• "Bari Barsi (12 months)" (featuring Ashok Gill)(2012)

Awards[link]

• 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards - Best Dance Act^{[citation needed]}
• 2003 MOBO Awards - Best UK Act^{[citation needed]}
• 2003 UK Asian Music Awards - Best Single Bhangra - "Mundian To Bach Ke"^[6]
• 2003 World Music Awards - World's Best Indian Artist
• 2011 Punjabi Music Awards - Best Sound Recording - "Moorni"

References[link]

External links[link]

• BBC Asian Network - Video and interview about 'Indian Timing'
• www.panjabi-mc.com
• MTV Artist profile
• www.cnimusic.it/panjabimc.htm
• CNN Interview
• BBC Interview
• YouTube Interview
• 'The Raj New Album Information'
• Interview with Panjabi MC on 10th May 2012 on All FM on the Ravi Apnabeat and Gorilla Chilla radio show

This article includes inline citations, but they are not properly formatted. Please improve this article by correcting them. (January 2012)

Frank Mills (born June 27, 1942 in Toronto, Ontario), is a Canadian pianist and recording artist, best known for his solo instrumental hit "Music Box Dancer".

Mills grew up in Verdun, Quebec^[1] and started playing piano at age 3. He attended McGill University^[1] for five years. He started in Engineering, switched to a B.Sc. programme, then Arts and finally with the Department of Music. He entertained his fraternity brothers (Delta Upsilon) with songs from ragtime to a new artist Bob Dylan. The fraternity piano had thumbtacks on every hammer and produced a unique sound. In the late 1960s Mills became a member of The Bells. He left the band in 1971 just before it had international success with the single "Stay Awhile."

Mills worked as a pianist for CBC-TV^[1] and recorded his first solo album, Seven Of My Songs, which produced the hit single "Love Me, Love Me Love." The song made its debut on the Canadian charts in October 1971 and early the following year peaked at #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart^[2] His followup single, a cover of Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" made Top 25 in Canada but stalled at #106 in the U.S.

Mills released an album in 1974 that featured "Music Box Dancer", but it was not a hit initially. When he re-signed with Polydor Records Canada in 1978, the label released a new song as a single, with "Music Box Dancer" on the B-side. The single was sent to easy listening stations in Canada, but a copy was sent in error to CFRA-AM, a pop station in Ottawa. The program director played the A-side and couldn't figure out why it had been sent to his station, so he played the B-side to see if the record was mistakenly marked. He liked "Music Box Dancer" and added it to his station's playlist, turning the record into a Canadian hit. Iconic Ottawa Valley radio personality Dave "50,000" Watts gave the record extensive airplay on the station.^[3] The album went gold in Canada, which prompted Polydor in the US to release the album and single.

In Nashville, news producer Bob Parker at WNGE-TV began playing the song over the closing credits of the newscast. Nashville DJs quickly latched on and both the single and album were hits. The million-selling Gold-certified single reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1979 as well as #4 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart,^[4] while the album reached #21 on the Billboard Top Album chart ^[5] and also went gold. Polydor awarded a gold record to TV station WNGE for breaking the single in the U.S.

It was Mills' only U.S. Top 40 pop hit; the follow-up, another piano instrumental titled "Peter Piper", peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 although it was a popular Top 10 hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.^[6] Mills managed one final Adult Contemporary chart entry, "Happy Song", which peaked at #41 at the beginning of 1981.^[7]

Mills won two Juno Awards in 1980 for "Peter Piper", one for Composer of the Year and one for Instrumental Artist of the Year. He again won in the latter category in 1981.

He continued to release albums until the early 1990s, and in 2010 announced a Christmas tour with Canadian singer Rita MacNeil.

Sheet music[link]

Music Box Dancer[link]

The sheet music version of "Music Box Dancer" has sold in excess of 3 million copies.^{[citation needed]} It is published by Music Box Dancer Publications which is a subsidiary of Mayfair Montgomery Publishing.^{[citation needed]}

Other[link]

• Somewhere a Child Is Sleeping: A Christmas Song (SATB with Piano)

Film and television appearances[link]

"Music Box Dancer" was for a while, the theme song of the local Los Angeles CBS half hour TV documentary show "2 on the Town" back in 1979 through the early 1980s.

"Music Box Dancer" has been heard on an episode of The Simpsons and in the Kill Bill movies. It was used as the theme tune to the BBC2 golf programme, A Round with Alliss.

There is a song in the musical Hair called Frank Mills, although the number has nothing to do with this artist.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site