- published: 23 Nov 2015
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Anthony Frank "Tony" Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed "The Birdman" is an American professional skateboarder and actor. Hawk gained significant fame for completing the first 900 as well as his licensed video game titles distributed by Activision. He is widely considered one of the most successful and influential pioneers of modern vertical skateboarding.
Raised in San Diego, California, Hawk was described as being "hyperactive" as a child. His parents supported his skateboarding because it served as an outlet for his excessive energy, and as Hawk's skills developed, he became a professional skateboarder at age fourteen. In 1999, he became the first skater to land a 900. In 2002, he created the Boom Boom HuckJam, an extreme sports exhibition and tour which launched in Las Vegas.
Throughout his career, Hawk has made numerous appearances in films and other media, as well as his own series of video games. He has also been involved in various philanthropic activities including his own Tony Hawk Foundation which helps build skateparks in underprivileged areas, and also including collaborations with other athletes in the charity Athletes for Hope.
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, abbreviated to THAW, is a video game that was released for the Nintendo GameCube, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and PC on October 18, 2005. Part of the Tony Hawk series, the game was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision.
The PC version of the game was ported and published by Aspyr. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is the first Tony Hawk game to support Xbox Live; online play was previously limited to the PlayStation 2 and PC. The Nintendo DS version of this game, Tony Hawk's American Sk8land, features Wi-Fi capabilities. It is the first third-party DS game to have online support. A Game Boy Advance version of the game was released as well under the same name.
The opening song of the game is California Über Alles.
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is the first game in the Tony Hawk franchise that allowed players to play in one large level without loading times in between. In the September 2005 edition of Game Informer, a map was shown displaying THAW's Los Angeles with an insert of an overhead view of the Boston stage from Tony Hawk's Underground 2 for comparison. The Boston level appeared to be about three quarters the size of one THAW area, with the exception of the "Vans Skatepark" and "Casino" areas.
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Young Turk. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live! that year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album Guerrilla Warfare, released in 1999. Also in 1999, Lil Wayne released his Platinum debut album Tha Block Is Hot, selling over one million copies in the U.S.
Although his next two albums Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002) were not as successful (only reaching Gold status), Lil Wayne reached higher popularity in 2004 with Tha Carter, which included the single "Go D.J." Wayne also appeared on the Destiny's Child top ten single "Soldier" that year. In 2005, the sequel to Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, was released. In 2006 and 2007, Lil Wayne released several mixtapes and appeared on several popular rap and R&B singles. His most successful album, Tha Carter III, was released in 2008 and sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. its first week of release. It included the number-one single "Lollipop" featuring Static Major. It also includes the singles "A Milli" and "Got Money" featuring T-Pain and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.