T-Pain
T-Pain at the E3 Gaming Expo, Los Angeles, CA in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Faheem Rasheed Najm
Born	(1985-09-30) September 30, 1985 (age 26) Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop, R&B
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, dancer, actor
Instruments	Keyboard, vocals
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Jive (2003-2011) Nappy Boy (2005-present) Konvict (2003-present) RCA (2011-present)
Associated acts	Akon, Tay Dizm, DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Pitbull, Kanye West, Young Cash, Travis McCoy
Website	t-pain.net

Faheem Rasheed Najm (born September 30, 1985), who goes by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor. His debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, was released in 2005. In 2007, T-Pain released his second studio album Epiphany, which reached number one on the Billboard 200. His third studio album,Thr33 Ringz, was released in 2008. T-Pain has earned two Grammy Awards alongside artists Kanye West and Jamie Foxx.

T-Pain is the founder of the record label Nappy Boy Entertainment, established in 2005. Throughout his career as a singer, T-Pain has extensively used the Auto-Tune pitch correction effect.

Early life[link]

Najm was born in Tallahassee, Florida on September 30, 1985.^[1] His stage name is short for "Tallahassee Pain" and was chosen because of the hardships he experienced while living there. He is a Muslim.^[2] At just three years old he got his first taste of the music business. A friend of the family, gospel jazz artist/producer Ben Tankard allowed him to hang out and "twist the knobs" at his recording studio. At age ten, Najm turned his bedroom into a music studio, using a keyboard, a beat machine and a four-track recorder.^[3][4]

Career[link]

[edit] 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". Recording artist 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.^[1] 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. The third and final single from the album, "Studio Luv", was released in October 2006 but failed to chart.

[edit] 2007–2008: Epiphany

T-Pain performing at the 2007 Hot 97 Summer Jam concert.

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. The album, titled Epiphany, was released on June 5, 2007. The album sold 171,000 records in its first week, reaching number one on the Billboard 200.^[5] The record has since sold 819,000 records in the United States.^[6]

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."^[7]

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.^[8] In two weeks in late 2007, T-Pain was featured on four top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart^[9]

"Good Life" with Kanye West later won the BET Award for Best Collaboration and was nominated in several other categories.^[10][11] In 2008, the single won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song.^[12]

[edit] 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.^[13] 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.^[14] Pr33 Ringz was the introduction mixtape for the album.

T-Pain at General Motors Place concert in Vancouver in January 2009.

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.^[15] The duo released a self-titled mixtape in late 2008; it charted on the Billboard 200 in January 2009.^[16] Their debut album was going to be released in 2009, but never was.^[17]

[edit] 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.^[18] 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".^[19] 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.^[20] 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.^[21] 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.^[22]

In November 2009, T-Pain released the first single from his fourth studio album, "Take Your Shirt Off".^[23] 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.^[24] 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.^[25]

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.^[26] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 from RevolveR will be released titled "Best Love Song" and features American singer Chris Brown.^[27] 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.^[28]

On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, T-Pain (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release his future material (including RevolveЯ) on the RCA Records brand. ^[29][30]

On October 27, 2011 T-Pain performed at the Georgia Tech Homecoming concert.^[31]

The album 'rEVOLVEr' was eventually released in December 2011, alongside the transatlantic Top 10 single '5 O'Clock', which samples UK songstress Lily Allen and features US rapper Wiz Khalifa.^[32]

Musical style[link]

He has called his style of music "Hard & B".^[33] 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.^[34] In response to Jay-Z's single "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", T-Pain stated that he would still use the method.^[20] 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",^[35] Lil Wayne's single "Lollipop",^[36] and Kanye West's album 808s & Heartbreak.^[37] In November 2008, T-Pain demanded credit from other artists who used Auto-Tune.^[38]

Personal life[link]

T-Pain has been married to Amber Najm since 2003. They have three children: daughter Lyriq and sons Muziq and Kaydnz Kodah (born May 2009).^[39][40]

Legal issues[link]

Mug shot of T-Pain taken in November 2007.

On April 28, 2007, T-Pain refused to cut his set short at Radio One's Spring Fest Concert in Miami, which caused police presence to escalate backstage. He became agitated after concert officials stopped his performance of "Buy You a Drink". Police chased him and his entourage out of the premises and detained them.^[41] After a June 2007 concert of T-Pain's, Tallahassee police issued a warrant for his arrest over a suspended driver's license. He subsequently turned himself into the Leon County Jail on November 2, 2007.^[42]

Golf cart accident[link]

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.^[43] The accident was later referenced in the music video of Glasses Malone's song "Sun Come Up" (which also featured T-Pain).

Discography[link]

• Rappa Ternt Sanga (2005)
• Epiphany (2007)
• Thr33 Ringz (2008)
• RevolveR (2011)

Mixtape[link]

• Pr33 Ringz (2008)
• PrEVOLVEr (2011)

Soundtracks[link]

• Freaknik: The Musical Soundtrack (2010)

Filmography[link]

• Freaknik: The Musical (2010)
• Lottery Ticket (2010)

Awards and nominations[link]

• American Music Awards
  • 2007, Favorite Male Artist [Nominated].^[44]
• 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)^[11]
  • 2008, Best Collaboration ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)^[11]
  • 2008, Viewer's Choice ("Kiss Kiss") with Chris Brown (Nominated)^[11]
  • 2008, Best Collaboration ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Won)^[10]
  • 2008, Video of the Year ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Nominated)^[11]
• BET Hip Hop Awards^{[citation needed]}
  • 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^{[citation needed]}
  • 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)^[12]
• Ozone Music Awards^{[citation needed]}
  • 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[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: T-Pain

• Official website
• Nappy Boy Records
• Strip Club Etiquette: T'Pain's Guide Hustler Magazine
• Faheem Najm at the Internet Movie Database

Yung Joc
Background information
Birth name	Jasiel Robinson
Born	(1983-04-02) April 2, 1983 (age 29) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper
Years active	2004–present
Labels	J Records, RCA Records, Swagg Team (CEO), Polo Grounds Music
Website	www.myspace.com/yungjoc

Jasiel Robinson (born April 2, 1983), better known by his stage name Yung Joc, is an American rapper.

Early life[link]

Robinson's father, Stanley Tucker, owned a hair-care products company and helped him get an opportunity to write a jingle for Revlon; Robinson founded his own label to release his music. In 2001 he married his high school sweetheart Alexandria Robinson and together they have three children, Ja'Kori, Amir, and Chase Robinson. (Jasiel has an older son Amoni from a previous relationship)^[1]

Music career[link]

New Joc City (2005-2006)[link]

Yung Joc met Atlanta producer Nitti Beatz and the two recorded the hit "It's Goin Down" in the spring of 2006. After Teaming with Russell "Block" Spencer, founder of the Block Enterprises label. Spencer signed Joc to Sean Combs's Bad Boy Records for a multi-million dollar deal, and Bad Boy released Joc's debut New Joc City that year. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 selling nearly 150,000 copies in the first week^{[citation needed]}. The second week it fell to #7. It has since been certified gold by the RIAA selling over 500,000 copies.

^[1] Yung Joc was also featured on the songs "Show Stopper" by Danity Kane (from Diddy's Making The Band 4) & Cassie's album track Call U Out. Yung Joc is on 2006 "Forbes' Richest Rappers List", ranking at #20, having grossed approximately $10 million in 2006.^[2] "It's Goin' Down" reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. The next single, "I Know U See It", reached #17 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the Hot Rap Tracks.

Hustlenomics & Grind Flu (2007-2009)[link]

Joc's next album, Hustlenomics, was released in 2007, with the singles "Coffee Shop" and "Bottle Poppin'". Hustlenomics sold 69,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200.^[3] As of April 2009, it has sold approximately 197,000 copies according to Nielsen Soundscan. In 2007 Yung Joc was featured on his new artist Hotstylz single "Lookin Boy". During 2008 Yung Joc was featured in the hit singles on "Get Like Me, "So Fly" & "Beep". Then in 2009 he was featured on Day26 single Imma Put It on Her. Yung Joc released an independent album entitled Grind Flu for free on his label website Swagg Team Entertainment on August 11, 2009.^[4][5]

Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood (2010-present)[link]

Yung Joc recently released his first single from the album Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood entitled "Yeah Boy". They have also recently shot & released the music video for the single. Yung Joc has also stated in a December 26 interview, that he would love to work with New York based producer DJ Premier for a couple of tracks. The second single has been confirmed as "I Know What She Like" that features Yo Gotti.

On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, Joc (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release his future material (including Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood) on the RCA Records brand. His favorite NFL team is the Chicago Bears and his guardian angel is Brandon Fulton. ^{[6] [7]}

Other ventures[link]

Swagg Team Entertainment[link]

Joc has been said to have a new record label through Jive Records, called Swagg Team Entertainment. The label was formed after a widely-publicized lawsuit with Block Entertainment and Bad Boy Records. Joc spoke about the lawsuit and his relationship with Diddy in a recent interview.^[8]

Swagg Team Entertainment saw their debut from Chicago rap group Hotstylz; with their first single "Lookin Boy".^[9] It also saw the debut from Dallas rap group GS Boyz; their first single being "Stanky Legg."

Current artists

• Hotstylz (Krazee, Meatball & Raydio G)
• GS Boyz (Marc D, Slizz & DK)
• Swagg Team Mafia (To Green, Doe Shun, Dunte, Cheeze, Tuck & Jon Boi)
• Avery J.
• C MON3Y (Dolla Dolla Bill)
• J-DAM (Deployin Tha Love)
• Mr. Serious
• Concrete BoyZ

^[10]

Former artists

• Soufside
• Prince Charming

Discography[link]

• New Joc City (2006)
• Hustlenomics (2007)
• Jocin (2012)

Awards[link]

• BET Hip-Hop Awards
  • 2008, Hip-Hop Video of the Year ("Get Like Me") with David Banner & Chris Brown [Nominated]
  • 2006, Hip-Hop Video of the Year ("It's Goin' Down") [Nominated]
  • 2006, Hip-Hop Track of the Year ("It's Goin' Down") [Won]
  • 2006, Rookie of the Year [Nominated]
  • 2006, Hip-Hop MVP of the Year [Nominated]
  • 2006, Best Live Performance [Nominated]
  • 2006, Best Hip Hop Dance [Nominated]
• Grammy Awards
  • 2007, Best Rap Song ("It's Goin' Down") [Nominated]
• MTV Video Music Awards
  • 2006, Best Rap Video ("It's Goin' Down") [Nominated]
• Ozone Awards
  • 2007, Best Rap/R&B Collaboration ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')") with T-Pain [Nominated]
• Vibe Awards
  • 2007, Best Collaboration ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')") with T-Pain [Nominated]
  • 2007, Song of the Year ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')") with T-Pain [Won]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Yung Joc on Myspace
• Yung Joc on Twitter
• Yung Joc on Facebook
• Yung Joc at the Internet Movie Database
• Yung Joc Albums

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

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

Early life[link]

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

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

Career[link]

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

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

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

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

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

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

[edit] 2009–10: Deal or No Deal

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

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

2010: Signing with Atlantic Records[link]

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

Wiz Khalifa on stage in Boston in August 2010.

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

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

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

Wiz Khalifa at SXSW in 2010

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

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

Personal life[link]

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

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

Discography[link]

Studio albums

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

Collaborative albums

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

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wiz Khalifa

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

Lily Allen
Background information
Birth name	Lily Rose Beatrice Allen
Born	(1985-05-02) 2 May 1985 (age 27) Hammersmith, London, England
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, presenter, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar[1]
Years active	2002–present
Labels	London, Regal, Capitol
Website	lilyallenmusic.com

Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper^[2] (born 2 May 1985), better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist, actress 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.^[3] 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" nominated for the Mercury Prize.^[4]

During the autumn of 2010, Allen opened a fashion rental shop "Lucy in Disguise" with her sister Sarah,^[5][6] followed by the 2011 launching of her own record label.^[7]

Life and career[link]

Childhood and youth[link]

Allen was born in Hammersmith, west London, daughter of Welsh-born comedian and actor Keith Allen and English, Portsmouth-born, film producer Alison Owen.^[8] 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.^{[citation needed]} She has a number of half-siblings. At the age of three, Allen appeared on The Comic Strip Presents... episode "The Yob",^[9] which her father had co-written.^[10] When Allen was four years old, her father left the family.^[11] Allen grew up with her mother living on a council estate during her early childhood.^[12][13] 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.^[14] 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.^[15]

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^[11] and was expelled from several of them for drinking and smoking.^[13][16] 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.^[17] 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."^[15] Allen made an appearance as a lady-in-waiting in the 1998 film Elizabeth, which was co-produced by her mother.^[18] 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."^[19]

2002–05: Career beginnings[link]

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.^[19] Allen met her first manager, George Lamb in Ibiza.^[19][20] She was rejected by several labels, which she attributed to her drinking and being the daughter of Keith Allen.^[20] However, she eventually used her father's connections to get signed to London Records in 2002.^[21] When the executive who had signed her left, the label lost interest and she left without releasing the folk songs^[which?] many of which were written by her father.^[15][21][22] 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.^[22]

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).^[23] Allen then created an account on MySpace and began posting demos that she recorded in November 2005.^[23] The demos attracted thousands of listeners, and 500 limited edition 7" vinyl singles of "LDN" were rush-released, reselling for as much as £40.^[19][23] 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.^[19] 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.^[23] She received her first major mainstream coverage, appearing in the magazine's cover story two months later.

[edit] 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.^[23] Allen's debut album, Alright, Still, was released in July 2006. Most of the tracks had been previewed on her MySpace page,^[24] 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.^[25] By January 2009, the album had sold 960,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 520,000 copies in the United States.^[26]

Performing at "Solidays" on 7 July 2007

In 2007, she played the newly launched Park Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, replacing M.I.A. who had cancelled.^[27] 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.^[28] 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.^[29] 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".^[30] 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.^[31] Allen suffered a miscarriage in January 2008.^[32]

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,^[33] Amy Winehouse,^[34] Kylie Minogue,^[35] and Katy Perry^[36] 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.'"^[37] 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.^[38] 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."^[39] In September 2009, she shut down her MySpace account and stopped social networking completely in December due to the abuse she was taking.^[40]

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.^[41][42][43] Guests included Mark Ronson, Joanna Page, James Corden, Lauren Laverne, Roisin Murphy, Louis Walsh, and Danny Dyer.^[44][45] The show received a 2% share of the total multi-channel audience share despite a high-profile nationwide marketing campaign.^[46] 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".^[47] 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.^[48] 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.^[49]

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".^[50] Although the singer is a staunch supporter of the Labour Party,^[51] 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.^[52] She has since confirmed her support for the UK Labour Party and for Prime Minister Gordon Brown in particular.^[53]

[edit] 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.^[54] 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.^[15] The album was produced by Kurstin at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles.^[55] 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.^[56] 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."^[55] 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.^{[57][58][59][60][61][62]}

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.^[63] Photos of her drunk and topless in the Cannes Film Festival were also widely covered in the press.^[64][65] 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.^[66][67][68] 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.^[69] 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.^[26][70] 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.^[71] 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.^[72] The singer and The Clash guitarist Mick Jones performed The Clash’s song "Straight to Hell" on an album for the charity Heroes.^[73]

Performing at the INmusic festival in Zagreb, Croatia, 24 June 2009

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.^{[74][75][55][76][77]} The album has been certified platinum in the United Kingdom.^[78] The release of the album was a factor in EMI’s more than trebling its earnings.^[79] The first single from the album, "The Fear", was number 1 for the first four weeks in the UK after its release.^[80][81] The second single released from the album, "Not Fair", reached the number 9 position.^[82] She began her It's Not Me, It's You World Tour in March, touring throughout 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".^[83] In October 2010, Allen won her second BMI Pop Song Award by the United States music licensing organization Broadcast Music Incorporated for extensive United States radio airplay of her song, "The Fear".^[84][85] Allen has been named the face of the National Portrait Gallery as part of the gallery's marketing campaign.^[86] The picture was photographed by Nadav Kander emblazoned with the words, "Vocalist, Lyricist, Florist" .^[87] 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.^[88] 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.^[89][90]