Kurtis Blow

Kurt Walker (born August 9, 1959), professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is a Dj, Bboy American rapper and film/tv and record producer. He is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label. "The Breaks", a single from his 1980 debut album, is the first certified gold record rap song. Throughout his career he has released 15 albums and is currently an ordained minister.

Life and career

Originally from Harlem, Walker began DJ'ing under the name Kool DJ Kurt. In 1979, aged twenty, Kurtis Blow became the first rapper to be signed by a major label, Mercury, which released "Christmas Rappin'". It sold over 500,000 copies. Its follow-up, "The Breaks", also sold over half a million copies. He was also the first rapper to perform overseas. He released ten albums over the next eleven years. His first album was Kurtis Blow, while his second was the Top 50 pop album Deuce. Party Time featured a fusion of rap and go-go. Ego Trip included the hits: "8 Million Stories", "AJ Scratch", and "Basketball". His 1985 album, America, garnered praise for its title track's music video. From this album, the song "If I Ruled the World" became a Top 5 hit on Billboard's R&B chart. Besides his own work, Kurtis has been responsible for hits by The Fat Boys and Run DMC. Run began his career billed as 'The Son of Kurtis Blow'. Lovebug Starski, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Full Force, Russell Simmons and Wyclef Jean all have been produced by, or collaborated with, Walker. Former label mates René & Angela had their R&B chart topping debut "Save Your Love (For #1)" was produced by him. Along with Dexter Scott King, Walker co-ordinated "King Holiday", a song to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday, released in January 1986.

Kurtis Blow (album)

The album Kurtis Blow is rapper Kurtis Blow's self-titled debut, which was released in 1980. It includes the famous song "The Breaks", which was often sampled later in hip-hop records, mainly for its introduction made by Blow's a cappella vocal, and for the drum break, giving a wordplay dimension to the title. "Rappin' Blow, Pt. 2" was issued as a single, that had a do-it-yourself B-side, the instrumental version. "Takin' Care of Business" is one of the first hip hop and rock ’n’ roll crossover attempts.

Track listing

Side one

Side two

CD bonus tracks

If I Ruled the World

"If I Ruled the World" is a popular song, composed by Leslie Bricusse and Cyril Ornadel, which was originally from the 1963 West End musical Pickwick (based on Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers). In the context of the stage musical, the song is sung by Samuel Pickwick, when he is mistaken for an election candidate and called on by the crowd to give his manifesto. Ornadel and Bricusse received the 1963 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

The song is usually associated with Sir Harry Secombe, who got the song to No 18 in the UK charts in 1963, but has been performed by other singers, notably Tony Bennett, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Tom Jones and Regina Belle. Bennett originally recorded the song in 1965, and had a number 34 hit with it on the U.S. pop singles charts. Bennett, with Celine Dion, returned to the song on his Grammy-winning 2006 album Duets: An American Classic.

Andy Hallett – the actor best known for playing the part of Lorne ('The Host') in the television series Angel – sang a cover version of the song in that series' final episode. The politician-spoofing BBC panel show If I Ruled the World was named after the song.

If I Ruled the World (game show)

If I Ruled the World is a television show aired in the United Kingdom in 1998 and 1999. It was a comedy panel game show, similar to Have I Got News for You but focused on parodying the behaviour of politicians. Rounds included answering questions without using the words 'Yes' or 'No', and finding reasons to disagree with policies proposed by the other team, no matter how sensible. The winning team was chosen each week by a vote of the studio audience. The show was named after the 1960s theatre song "If I Ruled the World".

The show was presented by Clive Anderson. Team captains Graeme Garden and Jeremy Hardy were the Blue and Red Party Leaders, with Anderson quipping that there was no more of an official political difference between these two teams than existed between Britain's major parties of the time. "I was supposed to be a Labour politician, and Graeme was supposed to be a Tory, but we didn't have to stay completely in character if we wanted to sort of shamelessly do gags," recounts Hardy, who affected the far more absurdly right-wing of the two characters, a extremely wealthy aristocrat disdainful toward the voters and infrequently heard to advocate a coup.

If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)

"If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" is a 1996 hit hip hop single by Nas featuring Lauryn Hill of The Fugees. It is based on the 1985 hit of the same name by rapper Kurtis Blow and samples the beat of "Friends" by Whodini. The single was Nas's first Top 20 R&B hit, and was also nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Lauryn Hill's verse interpolates the song "Walk Right Up To The Sun" by The Delfonics. The song's lyrics feature Nas discussing the various things he would do if he "ruled the world and everything in it". It is considered one of the best rap songs ever by many publications. Including being ranked 88 on XXL's Best Songs of the 90's.

"If I Ruled the World", bolstered by a high-budget music video directed by Hype Williams, became Nas's first single to gain mainstream notice. The single reached number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 17 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, and number 15 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.

The World (archipelago)

The World or The World Islands (Arabic: Juzur al-Alam) is an artificial archipelago of various small islands constructed in the rough shape of a world map, located in the waters of the Persian Gulf, 4.0 kilometres (2.5 mi) off the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The World islands are composed mainly of sand dredged from Dubai's shallow coastal waters, and are one of several artificial island developments in Dubai. The World's developer is Nakheel Properties, and the project was originally conceived by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.

Construction of the 300 islands began in 2003, only to halt due to the 2008 financial crisis. Though 60 percent of the islands had been sold off to private contractors back in 2008, development on most of these islands has failed to initiate. As of late 2013, only two of the islands had been developed. In January, 2014, Kleindienst Group announced the launch of "The Heart of Europe" project; by February, 2014, one of Kleindienst Group's brands - JK Properties' announced in their monthly newsletter that the project was "well underway". The first of these series of islands will be Europe, Sweden and Germany with development led by Kleindienst Group, the Developer for The Heart of Europe project.

The World (radio program)

PRI's The World is a global news radio, audio and multi-platform program created by Public Radio International based on the program's congruence with PRI's mission, and in order to fulfill the critical need for more original global news created for and provided to Americans. This was partly a response to declining investments by commercial media in international news. The program is co-produced by the BBC World Service of the United Kingdom, and Public Radio International and WGBH of the United States. The program's goal is to bring international journalism/news that illuminates the world specifically for US listeners.

The World was PRI's first co-production—the company now has a number of productions. It was also the first news co-production of the BBC World Service. For the BBC, The World was conceived as stand-alone program and also as a template for future co-productions which might serve to expand the reach of BBC World Service resources. At its launch, it was the first program dedicated to focusing on providing global news and making the global-local connection for Americans on a daily basis.