Long ton (weight ton or imperial ton) is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries. One long ton is equal to 2,240 pounds (1,016 kg), 1.12 times as much as a short ton, or 35 cubic feet (0.9911 m³) of salt water with a density of 64 lb/ft³ (1.025 g/ml).^[1] It has some limited use in the United States, most commonly in measuring the displacement of ships, and was the unit prescribed for warships by the Washington Naval Treaty 1922—for example battleships were limited to a mass of 35,000 long tons (36,000 t; 39,000 short tons).

Unit definition[link]

A long ton is defined as exactly 2,240 pounds.
A pound is defined as exactly 453.59237 grams.
So a long ton is defined as exactly 1,016,046.9088 grams, which is approximately 1,016 kg.

See also[link]

• Short ton: 2,000 lb (907.2 kg).
• Ton
• Tonnage: volume measurement used in maritime shipping. Originally based on 100 cubic feet (2.83 m³).
• Tonne, also known as a metric ton (t): 1,000 kg (2,205 lb).

References[link]

Look up long in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Long may refer to:

• Length, the long dimension of any object
• Lóng, the Chinese dragon
• Long (surname), a common surname
• Long (finance), a position in finance, especially stock markets
• Long (Bloody Roar), a fictional character in the video-game series Bloody Roar
• Long integer, a computer data type denoted by long in many programming languages
• Long, a fielding term in cricket

In geography

• Long, People's Republic of China, Gansu Province
• The Yangtze River of China, known in Chinese as Changjiang (literally, "Long River")
• The Long River, or Longjiang (literally, "Dragong River"), one of several rivers in China
• Long District, Phrae, Thailand
• Longitude (Long.), a geographic coordinate

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Long"
• 龍 (disambiguation), Chinese character for "dragon"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up ton in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.

It is derived from the tun, the term applied to a barrel of the largest size. This could contain a volume between 210 and 256 gallons (800 to 1000 L), which could weigh around 2,000 pounds (900 kg) and occupy some 60 cubic feet (1.7 m³) of space.^[1]

In the United Kingdom the ton is defined as 2,240 pounds (1,016 kg) (avoirdupois pounds).^[2]. From 1965 the UK embarked upon a programme of metrication and gradually introduced metric units, including the tonne (metric ton), a non-SI metric unit defined as 1000 kg. The UK Weights and Measures Act 1985 explicitly excluded from use for trade many units and terms, including the ton and the term "metric ton" for "tonne"^[3].

In the United States and Canada^[4] a ton is defined to be 2,000 pounds (907 kg).

Where confusion is possible, the 2240 lb ton is called "long ton" and the 2000 lb ton "short ton"; the tonne is distinguished by its spelling, but usually pronounced the same as ton, hence the US term "metric ton". In the UK the final "e" of "tonne" is pronounced (/ˈtʌnɪ/)^[5], or "metric ton" when it is necessary to make the distinction.

Where accuracy is required the correct term must be used, but for many purposes this is not necessary: the metric and long tons differ by only 1.6%, and the short ton is within 10% of both. The ton is the heaviest unit of weight referred to in colloquial speech.

The term "ton" is also used to refer to a number of units of volume, ranging from 35 to 100 cubic feet (0.99 to 2.8 m³) in capacity.

It can also be used as a unit of energy, expressed as an equivalent of coal burnt, TNT detonated, or in refrigeration, ice melted.

In Britain ton is used in slang in several contexts to mean "100". As a cost or a speed, a ton is widely understood to be £100 or 100 mph^[6].

Units of mass/weight[link]

There are several similar units of mass or volume called the ton:

Others[link]

• The long ton is used for petroleum products such as aviation fuel.
• Deadweight ton (abbreviation 'DWT' or 'dwt') is a measure of a ship's carrying capacity, including bunker oil, fresh water, ballast water, crew and provisions. It is expressed in tonnes (1000 kg) or long tons (2240 pounds, about 1016 kg). This measurement is also used in the U.S. tonnage of naval ships.
• Increasingly, tonnes are being used rather than long tons in measuring the displacement of ships. See tonnage.
• Harbour ton used in South Africa in the 20th century, 2000 pounds or one short ton.

Both the long ton and the short ton are 20 hundredweight, being 112 and 100 pounds respectively. Before the twentieth century there were several definitions. Prior to the 15th century in England, the ton was 20 hundredweight, each of 108 lb, giving a ton of 2,160 pounds (980 kg).^{[citation needed]} In the nineteenth century in different parts of Britain, definitions of 2240, 2352, and 2400 lb were used, with 2000 lb for explosives; the legal ton was usually [sic] 2240 lb^[12].

Assay ton (abbreviation 'AT') is not a unit of measurement, but a standard quantity used in assaying ores of precious metals; it is 29 ¹⁄₆ grams (short assay ton) or 32 ²⁄₃ grams (long assay ton), the amount which bears the same ratio to a milligram as a short or long ton bears to a troy ounce. In other words, the number of milligrams of a particular metal found in a sample of this size gives the number of troy ounces contained in a short or long ton of ore.

In documents that predate 1960 the word ton is sometimes spelled tonne, but in more recent documents tonne refers exclusively to the metric ton.

In nuclear power plants tHM and MTHM mean tonnes of heavy metals, and MTU means tonnes of uranium. In the steel industry, the abbreviation THM means 'tons/tonnes hot metal', which refers to the amount of liquid iron or steel that is produced, particularly in the context of blast furnace production or specific consumption.

A dry ton or dry tonne has the same mass value, but the material (sludge, slurries, compost, and similar mixtures in which solid material is soaked with or suspended in water) has been dried to a relatively low, consistent moisture level (dry weight). If the material is in its natural, wet state, it is called a wet ton or wet tonne.

Units of volume[link]

The displacement, essentially the weight, of a ship is traditionally expressed in long tons. To simplify measurement it is determined by measuring the volume, rather than weight, of water displaced, and calculating the weight from the volume and density.^[13] For practical purposes the displacement ton (DT) is a unit of volume, 35 cubic feet (0.9911 m³), the approximate volume occupied by one ton of seawater (the actual volume varies with salinity and temperature)^[14]. It is slightly less than the 224 imperial gallons (1.018 m³) of the water ton (based on distilled water).

One measurement ton or freight ton is equal to 40 cubic feet (1.133 m³), but historically it has had several informal definitions. It is sometimes abbreviated as "MTON".^{[15][16][17][18]} The freight ton represents the volume of a truck, train or other freight carrier. In the past it has been used for a cargo ship but the register ton is now preferred. It is correctly abbreviated as "FT"^{[citation needed]} but some users are now using freight ton to represent a weight of 1 tonne (1,000 kg; 2,205 lb), thus the more common abbreviations are now M/T, MT, or MTON (for measurement ton), which still cause it to be confused with the tonne, or even the megatonne.

The register ton is a unit of volume used for the cargo capacity of a ship, defined as 100 cubic feet (2.832 m³). It is often abbreviated RT or GRT for gross registered ton (The former providing confusion with the refrigeration ton). It is known as a tonneau de mer in Belgium, but, in France, a tonneau de mer is 1.44 cubic metres (50.85 cu ft).

The Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) is based on net tonnage, modified for Panama Canal billing purposes. PC/UMS is based on a mathematical formula to calculate a vessel's total volume; a PC/UMS net ton is equivalent to 100 cubic feet of capacity.^[19]

The water ton is used chiefly in Great Britain, in statistics dealing with petroleum products, and is defined as 224 imperial gallons (35.96 cu ft; 1.018 m³)^[20], the volume occupied by 1 long ton (2,240 lb; 1,016 kg) of water under the conditions that define the imperial gallon.

Units of energy and power[link]

Ton of TNT[link]

• A ton of TNT or tonne of TNT is a unit of energy equal to 10⁹ (thermochemical) calories, also known as a gigacalorie (Gcal), equal to 4.184 gigajoules (GJ).
• A kiloton of TNT or kilotonne of TNT is a unit of energy equal to 10¹² calories, also known as a teracalorie (Tcal), equal to 4.184 terajoules (TJ).
• A megaton of TNT (1,000,000 metric tonnes) or megatonne of TNT is a unit of energy equal to 10¹⁵ calories, also known (infrequently) as a petacalorie (Pcal), equal to 4.184 petajoules (PJ).

Note that these are small calories (cal). The dietary calorie (Cal) is distinct and equal to one kilocalorie (Kcal), and is gradually being replaced by the latter correct term.

Early values for the explosive energy released by trinitrotoluene (TNT) ranged from 900 to 1100 calories per gram. In order to standardise the use of the term TNT as a unit of energy, an arbitrary value was assigned based on 1000 calories (1 kcal or 4.184 kJ) per gram. Thus there is no longer a direct connection to the chemical TNT itself. It is now merely a unit of energy that happens to be expressed using words normally associated with mass (e.g., kilogram, tonne, pound).^[21][22] The definition applies for both spellings: ton of TNT and tonne of TNT.

Measurements in tons of TNT have been used primarily to express nuclear weapon yields, though they have also been used since in seismology as well.

Ton of oil equivalent[link]

A ton of oil equivalent (TOE) is a conventional value, based on the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil, of 41.868 GJ, 11.63 MWh, 1.28 TCE, 39.68 million BTU, or 6.6 - 8.0 actual barrels of oil (depending on actual specific gravity). ^[23]

Ton of coal equivalent[link]

A ton of coal equivalent or tonne of coal equivalent (TCE) is a conventional value of 7 Gcal (IT) = 29.3076 GJ.

Refrigeration[link]

The unit ton is used in refrigeration and air conditioning to measure heat absorption. Prior to the introduction of mechanical refrigeration, cooling was accomplished by delivering ice. Installing one ton of refrigeration replaced the daily delivery of one ton of ice.

• In North America, a standard ton of refrigeration is 12,000 BTU/h (3,517 W). "The heat absorption per day is approximately the heat of fusion of 1 ton of ice at 32 °F (0 °C)."^[24] This is approximately the power required to melt one short ton (2,000 lb or 907 kg) of ice at 0 °C (32 °F) in 24 hours, thus representing the delivery of 1 ton of ice per day.
• A less common usage is the power required to cool 1 long ton (2,240 lb or 1,016 kg) of water by 1 °F (0.556 °C) every 10 minutes = 13,440 BTU/h ≈ 3939 W.^[25][26]

A refrigeration ton should be regarded as power produced by a chiller when operating in standard AHRI conditions, which are typically 44 °F (7 °C) for chilled water unit, and 95 °F (35 °C) air entering the condenser. This is commonly referred to as "true ton". Manufacturers can also provide tables for chillers operating at other chilled water temperature conditions (as 65 °F or 18 °C) which can show more favorable data, which are not valid when making performance comparisons among units unless conversion rates are applied.^{[citation needed]}

The refrigeration ton is commonly abbreviated as RT.

Informal tons[link]

• Ton is also used informally, often as slang, to mean a large amount of something (material or not), for example, "Man, I just ate a ton of french fries back there".
• In Britain, a ton is colloquially used to refer to 100 of a given unit. Ton can thus refer to a speed of 100 miles per hour, and is prefixed by an indefinite article, e.g. "Lee was doing a ton down the motorway"; to money e.g. "How much did you pay for that?" "A ton" (£100); to 100 points in a game e.g. "Eric just threw a ton in our darts game" (in some games, e.g. cricket, more commonly called a century); or to a hundred of pretty much anything else.^[27][28]

See also[link]

References[link]

Kuldeep Manak (Punjabi: ਕੁਲਦੀਪ ਮਾਣਕ‌) was a noted Punjabi singer^[3][4] from Indian Punjab. He was best known for singing a rare genre of Punjabi music, Kali,^[5] known by its plural from kalian or kaliyan.^[1][6]

Early life[link]

Manak was born as Latif Muhammad (Urdu: لطیف محمد) on 15 November 1951, to father Nikka Khan, in the village of Jalal^[1] in Bathinda district of East Punjab. He completed his matriculation from the village school, where he was a keen field hockey player. He had an inclination towards singing from a very young age and was persuaded by his teachers to sing and perform on stage.

Family[link]

Manak's father, Nikka Khan, was a singer himself. Manak had two brothers: Siddqui, a devotional singer, and Rafiq, a tantric, who was also briefly noted. Kuldeep Manak's ancestors were the Hazoori Raagis (designated cantors) of Kirtan for Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha.

He was married to Sarabjeet and had two children, a son named Yudhvir Manak and a daughter named Shakti.^[3] They both are married. Yudhvir is following in his father's footsteps as a singer.^[3][7]

Career[link]

Manak learned music under Ustad Khushi Muhammad Qawwal^[8] of Firozpur^[5] He left Bathinda and went to Ludhiana to pursue his career as a singer and started singing with the duo Harcharan Grewal and Seema.^[1] When they came to Delhi, a music company official spotted Manak and asked him to record the song jija akhian na maar ve main kall di kurhi (written by Babu Singh Maan Mararawala) with Seema. In 1968, at the age of 17,^[6] he was given the chance to record the song with Seema. His first record features this song along with laung karaa mittra, machhli paunge maape (written by Gurdev Singh Maan).^[1] This record was a runaway success.

Later, he started an office at Bathinda along with writer Dilip Singh Sidhu of Kanakwal, but did not stay there for long and returned to Ludhiana. The first folk song sung by Manak was maa Mirze di boldi, followed by ohne maut ne 'waajan maarian.^{[citation needed]}

The writer Hardev Dilgir (also known as Dev Tharikewala) spotted Manak at one of his live performances and penned many Lok Gathavan (English: old folk stories) for him.^[6]

His first EP, Teri Khatar Heere,^[2] was released by HMV in the 1970s which included the 4 songs Jaimal Phatta, Teri Khatar Heere (Kali), Raja Rasaloo and Dulla Bhatti (Dulleya ve tokra chukayeen aanke). In 1976 his first LP, Ik Tara, was released including the kali Tere Tille Ton,^[8][2] Chheti Kar Sarwan Bachcha and Garh Mughlane Dian Naaran and more. His further album released as a Super-7 vinyl was called 'Punjab Diyan Lok Gathavan', and contained Gorakh da Tilla. Further albums included 'Sahiban Da Tarla' (1978), 'Sahiban Bani Bharaawan Di' (1978), 'Maa Hundhi Ae Maa' (1980), 'Akhan ch Najaiz Vikdi', 'Ichhran Dhaahan Maardi', 'Jugni Yaaran Di' (1983) and 'Do Gabhru Punjab De'. Manak's voice was versatile as within one album he sang in many different pitches and tones to reflect a song's meaning. For example in the album 'Sahiban da Tarla' the songs Sahiban da Tarla, Yaari Yaaran di and Teri aan ma Teri Ranjha are all sang with different pitches.^{[citation needed]}

In 2012, Manak was featured in an album by Kalikwest, released on February 10, 2012, along with Bhinda Jatt, Sukhwinder Panchhi, Manjeet Pappu, Sukhdev Sukha, Inder Kooner, and Harleen Kaur. ^[9]

In films[link]

He also acted and sung in many Punjabi films like 'Saidan Jogan' (1979) with the song, sathon naee majhin chaar hundian, 'Lambardaarni' (1980) with yaaran da truck balliye (song), and Balbiro Bhabi (1981) as actor, singer and composer. He also sung a song, "ajj dhee ik raje di", in the 1983 film Sassi Punnu.^[10]

Manak also took part in the parliament elections of 1996 as an independent member from Bathinda^[11] but did not win.

Death[link]

Manak was battling a kidney disease for quite a long time. He died on 30 November 2011 due to Pneumonia lung infection, at the DMC Hospital in Ludhiana. He was 62 years old.His buriel took place at village Jalal in Bathinda.^[12]His Last album was Maharajas in which he sang 2 songs with both Jazzy B and Yudhveer Manak and 4 songs only with Jazzy B.

See also[link]

• Surinder Kaur
• Didar Sandhu
• Asa Singh Mastana
• List of Punjabi singers

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kuldeep Manak Bio - Bhangra.org
• Kuldeep Manak video Interview DESIblitz.com

Taio Cruz
Background information
Birth name	Jacob Taio Cruz
Born	(1983-04-23) 23 April 1983 (age 29) London, England, UK
Genres	Pop, dance
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, rapper, entrepreneur
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Rokstarr Entertainment Division, Island, Republic, Mercury (U.S.)
Associated acts	Kesha, Kylie Minogue, Ludacris, David Guetta, Cheryl Cole, McFly, Travie McCoy, Flo Rida
Website	TaioCruzMusic.co.uk

Jacob Taio Cruz (born 23 April 1983) known professionally as Taio Cruz^[1] (Portuguese: [ˈtaj.ju ˈkɾujʃ]) is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, occasional rapper, and entrepreneur.^[2] In 2008, he released his debut album Departure, which Cruz wrote, arranged and produced himself. It achieved initial success in the United Kingdom and earned him a MOBO Award nomination. In June 2010, Cruz released his follow-up album Rokstarr, which includes the number one singles "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite". Cruz has collaborated with Kesha and Fabolous on the single "Dirty Picture", as well as Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy on his single "Higher". Additionally, Cruz penned and recorded the song "Telling the World" as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2011 animated film Rio.

Biography[link]

Early life and career beginnings[link]

Cruz was born in London, to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother called Beatriz Vitoria Olivera Bennati^[2], from Rio de Janeiro.^[3] He attended Bilton Grange, a private prep school in Rugby, Warwickshire.^[4]

Cruz began writing songs when he was 12. His songwriting career began at age 19 as part of Tricky Stewart's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment.^[5] Cruz achieved notability in 2005 when he was awarded a BRIT Award for co-writing Will Young's 2004 single, "Your Game".^[6] Cruz is the founder and chief executive of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single "I Just Wanna Know". The single attracted significant attention from radio, and also from music industry insiders, who were already well aware of the artist's potential; manager Jamie Binns, who began representing Cruz at this time, later told HitQuarters: "He was a guy that everyone had earmarked to do damage in the future."^[7] Although the single received a reasonable amount of radio airplay, it did not perform as well as expected in either territory.^[7] However, rather than lose faith in Cruz, the labels were eager to negotiate an album deal, as by this time they had listened to his other songs and were ever more convinced by his capability.^[7]

Cruz's admirers included Island Records's Darcus Beese and \sex Monte Lipman, who, according to Binns, "both believed 'I Just Wanna Know' fitted the format on both sides of the Atlantic."^[7] In 2006, Cruz signed a split single deal with Universal Music Group companies, Republic Records and the UK branch of Island Records.

[edit] 2006–2008: Departure

Taio Cruz released his second single "Moving On" in September 2007 haö

which made the top 30 in the UK. In March 2008 his next single, "Come On Girl," featuring Luciana, peaked at No. 5 on the UK charts. The related album Departure appeared on 17 March and peaked at No. 17.[8][9] This was followed by the single "I Can Be," which reached No. 18 in May. On 18 August, "She's Like a Star" was released, which was a remix of the previous single and featured American rapper Busta Rhymes and girl-group Sugababes. The remix later appeared on the Sugababes studio album Catfights & Spotlights, which peaked at No. 20. It was later revealed that Cruz narrowly missed out on the chance to record the song "Umbrella" which was eventually recorded by Rihanna and ended up topping charts around the world.[5]

[edit] 2009–2011: Rokstarr, international breakthrough and The Rokstarr Collection

Cruz was featured on Tinchy Stryder's breakout single "Take Me Back" which peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. According to Cruz's official Myspace blog, as of 1 January 2009, Rokstarr Music London officially changed its name to Rokstarr Entertainment Division and abbreviated to R.E.D Inc.^{[citation needed]} During 2009, he worked on his follow-up album entitled Rokstarr.^[10] It was released on 12 October through R.E.D Inc/Island Records and is entirely written and produced by Cruz, with co-writes and co-productions predominantly with UK producer Fraser T. Smith. The album's lead single "Break Your Heart" was released on 14 September and reached number one in the UK, where it stayed for three weeks.^[8] The success of the song attracted the attention of David Massey and Daniel Werner from Mercury/Island Def Jam who were excited and aggressive about releasing "Break Your Heart" in the US on their label.^[7] According to Cruz's manager Jamie Binns, the relationship with Monte Lipman at Universal Republic had "gone a bit quiet" by this point and as Taio wanted to be with the label that was most enthusiastic about his music, a move from Universal Republic to Mercury/Island Def Jam was engineered.^[7]

The single reached the top spot in the U.S. for one week on the Billboard charts.^[11] In an interview with The Guardian, it was stated that "Cruz was clever to have hooked up with a US rapper Ludacris on his breakthrough hit".^[12] In order to introduce Cruz into the US market, David Massey had suggested that the single feature an American rapper with chart credibility.^[7] The album spawned two other UK singles, "No Other One", and the top-ten hit "Dirty Picture" featuring American electropop singer Kesha. The album's fourth single (second in the US) titled "Dynamite" debuted at 26 ^[11] and despite peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Dynamite" peaked at number 1 on U.S. top 40 earning Cruz his second US number 1 record.

Rokstarr was followed by the compilation album The Rokstarr Collection which includes songs both from Departure and the international version of Rokstarr.^[13] Cruz later released four versions of his single "Higher" - one featuring Kylie Minogue, one featuring Travie McCoy, one featuring both, and one with just himself. Cruz has also been featured on the soundtrack of American reality TV series Jersey Shore.^[14]

[edit] 2011-present: TY.O

In March 2011, Cruz premiered an all-new song, entitled "Telling the World", which was written by Cruz and Alan Kasiyre for the Rio soundtrack. The track was not featured on any of Cruz's prior studio albums.^[15] On 23 May 2011, Cruz received his first billboard award in the United States, and announced live on stage that his third album would be released in the fourth quarter of 2011, and would be entitled Black and Leather.^[16] In June 2011, Cruz released a collaborative single, "Little Bad Girl", with French DJ David Guetta and American rapper Ludacris. The song was a worldwide smash, topping singles charts across the world.^[17] During July and August 2011, a series of unreleased songs, recorded during the album sessions, were leaked to YouTube. in an interview, Cruz promised a "fun" and "energetic" album, and claimed that due to the leak, none of the tracks posted on YouTube would be included on the album. Cruz claimed, "It's a shame really, because one person has spoilt it for all the fans. They could have had an album packed with 17, 18 tracks, and now, they're only getting eleven because of one stupid act of tomfooolery."^[18] During the interview, Cruz also claimed that the title of the album had been changed, and the album was now entitled Troublemaker, after one of the tracks included on the album. On 4 October 2011, the single "Hangover" was officially released in Germany and the United States, and it was rumoured that a solo version of the song, that features on the physical release, would be included as a bonus track on the album. However, these rumours were later quashed.^[19]. Around October 2011, the album was made available for pre-order, and as such, the album's final title, TY.O, was revealed. Cruz, via his Twitter account, made the decision to name the album TY.O after he expressed his annoyance at people constantly pronouncing his name wrong. The album was first released in Germany on December 2, 2011. It will be released in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2012. It was going to release in the US on May 17, 2012, but, now it has yet to be released.

Writing and production[link]

Cruz has written songs on albums by Cheryl Cole, JLS, The Saturdays, The Wanted and David Guetta. Cruz wrote and featured on Tinchy Stryder's hit single "Take Me Back". Pop rock band McFly recorded "Shine a Light" which not only features, but was also penned and produced by Cruz for their fifth studio album.^[20] 2011 will see him writing for Justin Bieber's next album.^[21] Jennifer Lopez's 2011 single "I'm Into You", featuring Lil Wayne, is also penned by Cruz. He also contributed significantly to David Guetta's fifth album Nothing but the Beat, penning two of his hit singles "Without You", featuring Usher and "Little Bad Girl", featuring Cruz himself and Ludacris.

Other ventures[link]

Rokstarr brand[link]

On 1 September 2009, Cruz launched the brand Rokstarr; the fashion and accessories brand has a focus on sunglasses. Musicians & Artists such as Kanye West, Shontelle, Keri Hilson, Steves Peeps and Kelly Rowland have been seen wearing them. Speaking in October to R&B writer Pete Lewis, Cruz stated: "There's a load of US celebrities that are all rocking the sunglasses already – Kid Cudi, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West... Then in the UK we have The Saturdays, JLS, Daniel Merriweather – who've all been twittering and writing on their blogs how much they love them. So yeah, it's definitely my new album 'Rokstarr' and the fashion brand that are my two main focuses at the moment."^[22]

Meanwhile, speaking again to Lewis in April 2010, Cruz revealed: "We're currently looking to expand the brand and possibly go into things like watches. I've also got a new subsidiary of Rokstarr called 'Rok By Rokstarr'. And we've just started doing things like jeans and T-shirts, and stuff that more of the fans of Taio Cruz can buy. Because with Rokstarr in itself being so expensive, a lot of the kids out there who want to buy Rokstarr things can't. So we're bringing in stuff that's a little bit more High Street and more affordable."^[23]

Discography[link]

• Departure (2008)
• Rokstarr (2009)
• TY.O (2011)

Awards and nominations[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Taio Cruz at the Internet Movie Database
• [1]
• Taio Cruz on justRHYMES.com
• Taio Cruz 'Blues & Soul' interview by Pete Lewis February 2008
• Taio Cruz at Billboard.com