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Rico Love
Background information
Birth name	Richard Preston Butler, Jr.
Born	(1982-12-03) December 3, 1982 (age 29) New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Origin	Miami, Florida, United States
Genres	Hip hop, rap, R&B, pop, dance
Occupations	Record producer, singer-songwriter, rapper
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Division1 (label deal with Universal Motown)
Associated acts	Jim Jonsin, Nelly, Usher, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland
Website	www.division1.com

Richard Preston Butler, Jr. (born December 3, 1982), better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Love wrote and produced hit records such as Usher’s "There Goes My Baby" and "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)”, Nelly's "Just a Dream" and "Gone", Beyoncé Knowles' "Sweet Dreams".^[1][2][3] and has contributed to works which have gone on to win Grammys such as Beyoncé's 2009 Best Contemporary R&B album I Am... Sasha Fierce,^[4] Usher’s 2010 Best Contemporary R&B album Raymond v Raymond,^[5] and Usher's 2010 Best Male R&B Vocal Performance "There Goes My Baby".^[5] In addition Love has written and produced records for Kelly Rowland,^[6] Diddy Dirty Money,^[7] Chris Brown,^[8] Alexandra Burke, Keri Hilson,^[9] Fergie,^[10] and Fantasia.^[11] Love is also the CEO of Division1, a record label which partnered with Universal Motown in 2010.^[12] Love has appeared as a featured artist on record with T.I.,^[13] Usher,^[14] Jermaine Dupri,^[15] Jamie Foxx,^[16] Rich Boy,^[17] and Fat Joe.^[18]

Early life[link]

Love was born in New Orleans, LA and his parents divorced at early age.^[19] As a result of the divorce Love spent his childhood growing up in two different cities, in Milwaukee, WI with his Mother and Harlem, NY with his father.^[20] Love’s mother encouraged him as a child to write poetry.^[21] Love wrote his own poems and went on to joining the African American Children’s Theater where he recited Langston Hughes and acted.^[20][21] Love had already been writing his own poems before he was introduced to rap in his early teens.^[22] By the end of high school Love had decided to pursue a career in rap but would go to college simultaneously, ‘I’m [going] to go to school instead of just sitting on the block. If I hadn’t gone to college I would’ve been a drug dealer.’^[21] While in college at Florida A&M University Love stayed involved in his music by winning many rap battles and talent shows.^[21] On the weekends Love would leave for Atlanta, GA for the benefit of its studios and popular music scene.^[21] While visiting Atlanta Love met members of Jagged Edge who were an influence on Love’s songwriting development.^[21] Love eventually left college because of a paper work error made by the college’s administration’s office.^[21] Love went to live with some local Atlanta producers the Corna Boyz.^[21] This relationship provided Love the opportunity to rap on a remix the producers were creating for Usher.^[21] Usher liked Love’s work on the remix and eventually signed him to US Records/J Records. Usher requested Love compose lyrics for a song written by Just Blaze.^[21] This song eventually became “Throwback” and was featured on Usher’s diamond selling (10x platinum) Confessions album.^[21][23] Love next toured with Usher where he met and connected with many music industry players.^[21] Usher encouraged Love to become a songwriter and requests for Love’s compositions began coming from artists Chris Brown, Omarion, and Marques Houston.^[20][21]

Music career[link]

Solo Artist[link]

As an artist Love is both a vocalist and a rapper.^[24] Love was asked by Usher to contribute to the sound track to Usher’s film In The Mix.^[25] Love contributed “Settle Down”, “Sweat” featuring Usher, and “On The Grind” featuring Juelz Santana and Paul Wall.^[26] Love recorded a solo album in 2007 titled The 5th Element but ultimately decided to focus on his songwriting and not release the recordings.^[27] Though Love may not be recording as a solo artist he still contributes his vocals and rhymes to other artists. Love has appeared as a guest artist on songs by Fat Joe,^[18] Juvenile,^[28] Rich Boy,^[17] Jamie Foxx,^[16] T.I.,^[13] and his own artist, Young Chris.^[29]

Production/Songwriting[link]

Love wrote the song “Throwback” at the request of Usher which was a part of the 2004 Triple Grammy winning album Confessions.^[20][30] Love also wrote “Seduction” which was a bonus track on the Confessions Special Edition release.^[31] These were the first of several collaborations between the singer and the writer/producer. In September 2007 Love wrote and produced on the platinum single “Love Like This” by singer Natasha Bedingfield featuring Sean Kingston.^[32][33] This song was popular with mainstream audiences reaching No. 11 on Billboard’s Hot 100.^[33] The song was also a hit in dance clubs reaching number one on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Songs.^[33] In May 2008 “Energy” was released as Keri Hilson’s first single on her Gold album In a Perfect World....^[34][35] The song was co-written and co-produced by Love for the Grammy nominated artist.^[34] The song “Labels Or Love”, co-written and produced by Love and performed by Fergie was released in May 2008.^[36] The song was featured on the deluxe version of her triple Platinum album The Dutchess and also the Gold selling soundtrack to the film Sex and The City.^[10][37] Released in November of 2008, Beyoncé’s double Platinum^[38] and 5x Grammy winning album I Am... Sasha Fierce^[39] included four songs featuring Love’s songwriting and production.^[40] Love wrote and produced on the Platinum single “Sweet Dreams” which reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts.^[40] Love’s work was also featured on “Scared of Lonely”, “Radio”, and “Save the Hero”.^[40] By the end of 2008 in December another Love co-written and co-produced track was released as a single for the Grammy nominated artist Pleasure P.^[41][42] “Boyfriend#2” reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs.^[43] Love wrote and produced five songs on Mario’s D.N.A. album released in October 2009.^[44] The songs included the single “Thinkin’ About You” and “Hi”, “Ooh Baby”, “Soundtrack To My Broken Heart”, and “Get Out”.^[44] Love wrote and produced on his former mentor Usher’s Raymond v. Raymond album, released in March 2010.^[45] The platinum and Grammy winning album featured four of Love’s compositions including two of the album’s singles.^[5][46] The Love co-produced and co-written single “There Goes My Baby” was a hit and stayed at number one on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for four weeks and earned Usher a Grammy for his performance on the song.^[5][47] The other single featuring Love’s writing and producing was “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)” which rose to number two on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-hop songs.^[47] Love’s other contributions to the album included the songs “Making Love (Into the Night)” and “So Many Girls”.^[45] At the end of March 2010 Love’s penned the single “Hello Good Morning” by the group Diddy-Dirty Money was released.^[48] Diddy is one of Love’s mentors in the industry and he was honored to write for the performer/producer/mogul.^[20] The song went on to achieve Gold status and was performed by DDM and Rico Love on season nine of American Idol.^[48][49] Nelly’s 5.0 album, released in November 2010 contained eight works featuring Love’s songwriting and production skills.^[50] The first single, “Just A Dream”, co-written and co-produced by Love, went platinum and landed at number three on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.^[51][52] Love also worked on the single “Gone” featuring Kelly Rowland, a follow-up to the 2002 Nelly hit “Dilemma” also featuring Rowland.^[53] Love’s other work on the album were on the tracks "roke", "Making Movies", "Don't It Feel Good", "K.I.S.S.", "Nothing Without Her", and "Move That Body".^[50] Love wrote, produced, and appeared as an artist on Jamie Foxx’s Best Night of My Life album released December 2010.^[54] The album’s first single “Living Better Now” features Rick Ross and was co-written and co-produced by Love.^[55][56] Love wrote “Freak”, which also features his appearance as an artist, and “Sex On the Beach”.^[55][57][58] Love is managed by Made Communication, Miami, FL.^[3]

Division 1[link]

In November 2010 Love launched Division 1, a recording label in conjunction with Universal Motown.^[12] Love’s label venture has signed the artists Young Chris, Phat Rabbit, Cherlise and Teairra Mari to their roster.^[59] Love also has a production company of the same name to which he signed producers, Earl Hood, Eric Goudy, and Pierre Medor.^[20][60][61]

Awards and Nominations[link]

-2009 Grammy nomination Album of the Year – Beyoncé – I Am... Sasha Fierce^[62]

-2010 Billboard No. 9 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter of the Year^[63]

-2010 Billboard No. 6 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Producer of the Year^[64]

-2010 Billboard No. 26 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Publisher of the Year^[63]

-2010 Sesac Song Awards for Beyoncé’s “Sweet Dreams” and Pleasure P’s “Boyfriend #2”^[65]

Songwriter Credits[link]

Discography[link]

• Rico Love discography

Musical Influences/Techniques[link]

Love has cited various artists as influences such as Usher who originally signed Love, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Queen, Smokey Robinson, Elton John, and Miles Davis.^[20][21][66]

Love has explained when composing he does not write lyrics down or even spend many hours working on songs.^[3] He simply listens to a beat and then sings what comes to him.^[21] He was quoted as learning this technique from Jagged Edge.^[20][21] Love claims that his technique gives him the ability to write songs very quickly which affords him the opportunity to place more songs on any single album than what most writers could.^[20]

References[link]

• http://www.grammy.com/nominees
• http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1651341/young-chris-dj-drama-dj-don-cannon-give-philly-reintroduction.jhtml
• http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-11-04/music/rico-love-and-usher-at-the-division-1-label-launch-november-5/

External links[link]

Biography portal

• http://division1.com/
• http://twitter.com/iamricolove
• http://www.youtube.com/officialdivision1

David Guetta
David Guetta at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards
Background information
Birth name	Pierre David Guetta
Born	(1967-11-07) 7 November 1967 (age 44) Paris, France
Genres	House, electro house, hip house
Occupations	DJ, record producer, songwriter
Years active	1984–present
Labels	EMI Music France, Virgin, Positiva, Astralwerks, Jack Back Records
Website	DavidGuetta.com

Pierre David Guetta (7 November 1967), known professionally as David Guetta (French pronunciation: [daˌvid ɡɛˈta]), is a French house music producer and DJ.^[1] Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster (2004) and Pop Life (2007). His 2009 album One Love included the hit singles "When Love Takes Over" (featuring Kelly Rowland), "Gettin' Over You" (featuring Chris Willis, Fergie & LMFAO) and "Sexy Bitch" (featuring Akon), the last becoming a top five hit in the United States and all three reaching #1 in the United Kingdom, as well as another internationally known single called "Memories" featuring Kid Cudi which became a top five hit in many countries. Guetta has sold over three million albums and 15 million singles worldwide.^[2] He is currently one of the most sought-after music producers.^[3] As at 2012 David Guetta is the world's most popular DJ, claiming the #1 poll position of the DJ Mag 100 popularity poll.^[4]

Biography[link]

1984–2000: Early life and career[link]

At age 17, Guetta began DJing at the Broad Club in Paris.^[5] He first played popular songs, and he discovered house music when he heard a Farley master Funk track on French radio in 1987. The next year, he began hosting his own club nights.^[6] In 1990, he released "Nation Rap", a hip-hop collaboration with French rapper Sidney Duteil.^[7]

In the mid 1990s Guetta played in clubs including Le Centrale, the Rex, Le Boy, and Folies Pigalle.^[5][8] Released in 1994^[7] Guetta's second single, a collaboration with American house vocalist Robert Owens titled "Up & Away", was a minor club hit.^[6] In 1994, David Guetta became the manager of Le Palace nightclub and he continued to organise parties there and in other clubs, such as the "Scream" parties in Les Bains Douches.^[9]

[edit] 2001–2006: Just a Little More Love and Guetta Blaster

In 2001, David Guetta along with Joachim Garraud founded Gum Productions, and in the same year Guetta's first hit single, "Just a Little More Love", featuring American singer Chris Willis was released. Willis was vacationing in France when he met Guetta.^[6] Guetta's debut album Just a Little More Love was released in 2002 on Virgin Records and sold over 300,000 copies. The follow-up singles, ("Love Don't Let Me Go", "People Come People Go" and "Give Me Something"), were released in 2002. Guetta released a compilation, Fuck Me I'm Famous, in 2003, named after his party in Ibiza. It included "Just for One Day (Heroes)", a remix of David Bowie's song "Heroes".^[6] Later in his career, Guetta continued recording compilations under that title.

Guetta's second album, Guetta Blaster, was released in 2004. It released four singles: "Money" and "Stay" featuring Chris Willis and "The World Is Mine" and "In Love With Myself" featuring JD Davis. In 2006 the Just a Little More Love single "Love Don't Let Me Go" was re-released as a mash-up with the Tocadisco remix of "Walking Away" by The Egg. The mash-up single entitled "Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away)" was charted higher than the original release of the song.

[edit] 2007–2008: Pop Life

Guetta performing, May 2007

In 2007, Guetta's third album Pop Life was released. The album was successful in the UK and Ireland as well as in mainland Europe. According to EMI in 2010, the album has sold a total of 530,000 copies worldwide. The lead single "Love Is Gone" reached Number 1 on the American Dance Chart and charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

He played in many countries around the world to promote the album. He played in Mauritius in January 2008, accompanied by French rapper JoeyStarr. In the same year, he and his wife Cathy also planned a new event which took place in the Stade de France on 5 July 2008. The event was called "UNIGHTED", he performed with Tiësto, Carl Cox, Joachim Garraud and Martin Solveig in front of a crowd of 40,000.^[10]

In 2009, he was placed third in the "Top 100 DJs" poll by DJ Magazine,^[11] and was elected "Best House DJ" by DJ Awards in 2008. Since April 2009, Guetta had his own radio show on the internet radio station RauteMusik on Saturday evening. The show was afterwards moved into Radio 538, being aired every Friday evening after Tiësto's Club Life. Its name is DJ Mix. Guetta performs a one-hour set of house music, presenting mainly new talents inside.

[edit] 2009–2010: One Love and international breakthrough

David Guetta's fourth studio album, One Love, was released in August 2009. Its first single "When Love Takes Over", which featured Kelly Rowland, peaked at #1 on the UK Singles Chart and topped many other countries worldwide. His second single from the album, "Sexy Bitch" featuring Akon, became his second #1 in the UK. "One Love" featuring Estelle, "Memories" featuring Kid Cudi and "Gettin' Over You" featuring Chris Willis, Fergie and LMFAO followed. As of May 2011 the album had sold three million copies worldwide.^[12] Guetta's fourth studio album One Love was nominated as "Best Electronic/Dance Album" at the 52nd Grammy Awards.^[13] His song "When Love Takes Over" featuring American R&B singer Kelly Rowland received two nominations; Best Dance Recording and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical, and won the latter. After conflicts over whether or not an album re-issue should go ahead, One More Love was released on 29 November 2010. First single, titled "Who's That Chick?" featuring Rihanna was released a few weeks prior.^[14]

On 16 June 2009, The Black Eyed Peas released the David Guetta-produced "I Gotta Feeling" as their second single from their fifth studio album, The E.N.D.. It became a worldwide hit topping the charts in seventeen countries. It became the most downloaded song of all-time in the United States with almost 7.5 million downloads and in the United Kingdom selling more than 1 million copies.^[15][16] He was nominated twice for his work with The Black Eyed Peas at the 52nd Grammy Awards; in the category Record of the Year for "I Gotta Feeling" and Album of the Year for their album The E.N.D.. In 2010, David Guetta co-wrote and produced Kelly Rowland's "Commander" from her third album Here I Am. It peaked at number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the United States, and reached top ten positions in Belgium and the United Kingdom. Guetta has also co-produced "Forever and a Day", which was Kelly's next UK single from that album.^[17][18] Guetta also produced the singles "Acapella" and "Scream" for American singer-songwriter Kelis's fifth studio album, Flesh Tone, released on 14 May 2010. "Acapella" was released as the lead single on 23 February 2010 and topped the dance charts in the United Kingdom and United States. On 28 June 2010 American rapper Flo Rida released the single "Club Can't Handle Me" featuring David Guetta. The song is included on the soundtrack album to the American 3D dance film Step Up 3D.

Guetta on the One Love Tour, January 2010.

[edit] 2011–present: Nothing But the Beat

Guetta's fifth studio album, Nothing But the Beat was released on August 30, 2011. It was released as a double-disc album; one disc being vocal and the other being electronic.^[19] The French DJ was inspired by rock bands such as Kings of Leon and Coldplay to add rock influences to his dance productions.^[20] "Where Them Girls At" featuring Nicki Minaj and Flo Rida, the first single off the album, was released worldwide on May 2, 2011.^[21][22] "Little Bad Girl" featuring Ludacris and Taio Cruz, was released as the second single on June 28, 2011.^[19][23] The third single "Without You" featuring Usher was released on September 27, 2011. Guetta also released three promotional singles for Nothing But the Beat, "Titanium" featuring Sia, "Lunar" with Afrojack and "Night of Your Life" featuring Jennifer Hudson. The album also features the hit single "Sweat" with Snoop Dogg.

Guetta is also scheduled to perform alongside Nicky Romero and Nervo at London's Alexandra Palace on June 1, 2012.^[24]

Personal life[link]

Guetta and his wife Cathy in January 2012 at the NRJ Music Awards ceremony.

His father was a restaurateur of Moroccan Jewish descent,^[25] and his mother is of Belgian descent.^[26][27][28] He is married to socialite and night club manager Cathy Guetta; they have two children, Tim Elvis Eric (born 2004) and Angie (born 2007).^[29]

Discography[link]

• Just a Little More Love (2002)
• Guetta Blaster (2004)
• Pop Life (2007)
• One Love (2009)
• Nothing but the Beat (2011)

Awards and nominations[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• David Guetta on Myspace
• David Guetta on Twitter
• David Guetta's channel on YouTube
• David Guetta at the Internet Movie Database
• David Guetta official store
• David Guetta information at Ultra Records
• Review of 'Memories' on the Daily Music Guide
• David Jeffries. "David Guetta biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p572357. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
• David Guetta in PACHA NEWS
• David Guetta at Billboard.com
• Review of 'Gettin Over you' on the Daily Music Guide

French Montana (born November 9, 1984) is an American rapper and singer of Moroccan^[2][3] and Somali^[2][4] descent. He is the founder and CEO of Cocaine City Records, and in 2012, signed a joint venture recording deal with Maybach Music Group and Bad Boy Records. He is known for his frequent collaborations with Max B, and more recently with Rick Ross and with his group Coke Boys.

Early life[link]

French Montana was born Karim Kharbouch in 1984 in Rabat, Morocco,^[1][4] where he lived for the first 13 years of his life. Growing up in Rabat, he was consumed by playing soccer and rapping, describing them as his two favorite childhood hobbies.^[5] In 1996, French emigrated with his parents and two younger brothers to the Bronx in New York City.^[6] His father left the family when French was 17, and so he began to provide for his mother and younger brothers.

Music career[link]

Cocaine City[link]

In 2002, along with his friend Camz he created a series of street-flavoured DVD documentaries called 'Cocaine City' after drawing inspiration from the 'Smack' DVD series. Under the name Young French he used the DVDs as a means of showcasing his talent as an underground artist. To gain a broader fan base, French incorporated interviews with major artists, as well as some up and comers. The first edition in the series included Pee Wee Kirkland and Remy Ma alongside French himself among others. What started out as simply a medium for developing an audience quickly grew into one of the top-selling "street DVDs".^[3][6][7] The series ran for 8 years between 2002 and 2010, with a total of 14 editions being released.^[8]

2009-2010[link]

In 2009, French signed a deal with Akon's Konvict Muzik record label, but later left the label in 2011 due to album delays.^[9] Montana was subsequently reportedly close to signing a deal with Rick Ross's Maybach Music Group (MMG).^[10] There were also reports that he would join Kanye West's GOOD Music label.^[11]

Bad Boy Records/ Maybach Music Group[link]

In December 2011, Montana signed a record deal with P. Diddy's Bad Boy Records^[12] and Interscope Records.^[13] According to French, of the many major labels that were courting him, Maybach Music Group would have been his second choice had he not signed with Bad Boy.^[14] However on January 2, 2012 while in the studio with Rick Ross Montana announced that he had signed a joint venture deal with Bad Boy Records and Maybach Music Group with Rick Ross and Diddy set to executive produce his debut album.^[15] It was announced that his debut album Excuse My French would be released July 17, 2012. French was featured on XXL's Freshman Class of 2012 alongside Future, Kid Ink, Danny Brown, Macklemore, Don Trip, Hopsin, Iggy Azalea, Roscoe Dash and labelmate Machine Gun Kelly (rapper).^[16][17] However, he later revealed to Sway Calloway on RapFix Live that he almost turned down the cover opportunity, feeling he "deserved it two years ago" and that he had surpassed the current crop of rap rookies.^[18][7]

Influences[link]

According to French, the rappers Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B.I.G. and Wu-Tang Clan were among the hip hop artists that he listened to while growing up. He also considers himself a general music lover.^[19]

Personal life[link]

Between 2003 and 2004, French was shot in the head as he was exiting a recording studio in New York. He was rushed to the hospital after the incident and survived. Describing the shooting as a possible assassination attempt, the artist was subsequently involved in a murder trial in which he was eventually found not guilty. Rumors began to swirl that he had received settlement money from the case, which he then used to start his rap career. However, French later dismissed these claims as false in an interview.^[20]

Religion[link]

French Montana is Sunni Muslim, having been raised in Morocco under the Maliki madhab, or school of thought. In an interview for Vlad TV which took place on the first day of the Islamic holy month Ramadan, French revealed that he participates in fasting during the month.^[21]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Excuse My French (July 17, 2012)

Mixtapes[link]

• French Revolution Vol. 1 (Hosted by Cutmaster C) (2007)^[22]
• Live From Africa (Hosted by Cocaine City) (2008)^[23]
• Coke Wave (with Max B; Hosted by DJ Whoo Kid) (2008)^[24]
• Coke Wave 2 (with Max B; Hosted by Evil Empire) (2009)^[25]
• The Laundry Man (Hosted by Evil Empire & Big Mike) (2009)^[26]
• Mac Wit Da Cheese (Hosted by Big Mike) (2009)^[27]
• The Laundry Man 2 (Hosted by Evil Empire) (2009)^[28]
• Cocaine Konvicts: Gangsta Grillz (Hosted by DJ Drama) (2009)^[29]
• Mac & Cheese 2 (Hosted by Evil Empire, Self & Big Mike) (2010)^[30]
• Coke Boys (with Coke Boys; Hosted by DJ Lust, DJ Drama & DJ Diggz) (2010)^[31]
• Mister 16 (Casino Life) (Hosted by DJ Holiday) (2011)^[32]
• Coke Boys 2 (with Coke Boys) (Hosted by Evil Empire) (2011)^[33]
• Coke Boys Run NY (with Chinx Drugz; Hosted by ItsBizkit, Trapemasters Inc & Evil Empire) (2011)^[34]
• Lock Out (with Waka Flocka Flame; Presented by DJ Drama & DJ Green Lantern) (2011)^[35]
• Cocaine Mafia (with Juicy J and Project Pat; Hosted by Evil Empire) (2011)^[36]
• Coke Boys 3 (2012)^[37]
• Mac & Cheese 3 (Hosted by Evil Empire, Self & Big Mike) (TBA)

Other mixtapes

• Cocaine & Caviar (2010)
• Cocaine & Caviar 2 (2011)

Album appearances[link]