A greatest hits album, sometimes called a best of album or a catalog album, is a compilation of songs by a particular artist or band. Most often the track list contains previously released recordings with a high degree of notability. However to increase the appeal, especially to people who already own the original release, it is common to include remixes and/or alternate takes of popular songs; even new material (previously unreleased). At times a greatest hits compilation is the original release for songs that have themselves been released as a single and charted successfully.

Notable compilations[link]

Madonna's The Immaculate Collection is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a solo artist; all of the songs on it are presented in different versions than the original hit versions.^[1] The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a group and also one of the ten best selling albums in history. Johnny Mathis's Johnny's Greatest Hits (1958) is generally considered the first greatest hits album.^[2] It was popular, remaining on the Billboard Top Albums Chart for a then record-breaking 490 continuous weeks.^[2] Greatest hits albums are typically produced after an artist has had enough successful songs to fill out an album release. Some artists, such as Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Kenny Rogers, Aerosmith, Kiss, U2, Los Tigres del Norte, Queen and Billy Joel, have released multiple greatest hits albums through their careers. Some greatest hits albums are released only at the end of the artist or group's career. Creed released a greatest hits album after they disbanded.

In British pop music, when a band releases a greatest hits album, in most cases after three or four studio albums, it is usually taken as a sign that the band are about to split up.^{[citation needed]} Examples include greatest hits albums by Atomic Kitten, Steps, S Club 7, Blue and Take That, although the latter band would reform nine years later. Recent exceptions to this "rule" include Westlife, Girls Aloud, McFly, Feeder and Sugababes, who have released new material after their greatest hits collections.

Some bands refuse to release a greatest hits album, notably AC/DC and Metallica, (AC/DC, however, has released two compilation albums in the past: Who Made Who and Iron Man 2, which are both movie soundtracks). Manic Street Preachers initially refused to do a greatest hits, but in the end Forever Delayed was released. Radiohead also refused to do such a compilation, but upon their departure from Parlophone Records, Radiohead: The Best of was released without their cooperation.^[3] This was initially to be the case with Oasis, but upon realization that the release was inevitable, the band took direct involvement, selecting the tracklisting, track order, and the artwork. The country music star Garth Brooks long opposed the release of a greatest hits collection, but agreed to it in 1994^[4] but only for a limited time^[5] (his release, The Hits was quickly deleted, but not until selling well over ten million copies). Joni Mitchell also resisted releasing a greatest hits album for many years, reportedly fearing that the availability of a greatest hits compilation would lead her record label to take her actual studio albums out of print, but she agreed to release Hits in 1996 along with a second album titled Misses, which compiled non-hit songs that Mitchell personally selected as being representative of her work.

Greatest hits collections can also boost a falling music career. The Beautiful South's first greatest hits album, Carry on up the Charts, was originally strongly opposed by the band. However, upon release it became one of the fastest selling albums in chart history.^[6]

Often, a Greatest Hits VHS or DVD collection can be released, which features the music videos to the hits. These are often released concurrently with a Greatest Hits album (a more recent example being the Oasis release Time Flies... 1994-2009). Although sometimes, a Greatest Hits VHS or DVD can be released as a solo release without a companion album (a good example being the Guns N' Roses VHS/DVD Welcome to the Videos, released in 1998. Guns N' Roses would eventually release a greatest hits album in 2004). Another example of a video greatest hits without a companion audio album would be Positive Mental Octopus by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, released in 1990.

Radio stations are now emerging that only play Greatest Hits albums as their source material.^[7]

Criticism and popularity[link]

Another criticism has been including one or two new songs with a package of hits. This trend started in the early 1980s, and made it necessary for collectors to purchase the "greatest hits" album if they wished to have the complete catalog of an artist's songs, even if those collectors owned all the albums containing the pre-existing hits.^{[citation needed]} However, with online music stores now available, people can just download the new songs. The Paperboys released Tenure in 2002, which, out of its eighteen tracks, contains six new songs.

Some greatest hits albums are ridiculed^{[by whom?]} as premature releases by young artists. Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, for example, issued Greatest Hits in 1971, three years after their first top 40 pop hit. Jason Donovan had a hits album out in 1991, only two years after he debuted; Ol' Dirty Bastard released The Dirty Story: The Best of ODB after two albums and three singles. Hilary Duff, 'N Sync, and Mandy Moore released greatest hits albums though they might have had only a handful of hit singles in their short careers.^[8] The Jackson 5 Greatest Hits was released only two years after the band released their debut album.

The quality of a greatest hits package released early in an artist's career depends upon the artist. Elvis Presley released Elvis' Golden Records in 1958, which only covered 1956–1958, although this album still sells today, remaining in print on Compact Disc, despite the countless Presley hits collections issued since. The Bee Gees released Best of Bee Gees in 1969, only two years after their international debut, yet nine of the twelve tracks were hit singles in America. Sly and the Family Stone released their Greatest Hits album in 1970, after only three years. Ringo Starr's Blast From Your Past and John Lennon's Shaved Fish came out in 1975, after five-year solo careers (both had been in The Beatles). All of these compilations were well received and continue to garner critical kudos.^{[9][10][11][12]}

In Japan, it is common for artists to have "greatest hits" compilations released early in their career. Many acts release a compilation after three albums, which commonly means after only three years of career in the music market. Ayumi Hamasaki, Mai Kuraki, Hikaru Utada, Glay and Greeeen are a few examples (the band McFly, from England, also released a greatest hits album after three albums and three active years). Many times, the decision of having a greatest hits released is due to the popularity of the artist at the moment, which results in bigger sales. It is also common for the Japanese artists to have many compilations throughout their careers.

Gaming and television[link]

A recent trend is for television shows to release compilation DVD's of their most well-regarded and highest-rated episodes to drive new viewers to watch a program. Two examples of this are the Family Guy's Freakin' Sweet Collection and South Park: The Hits. Several video game companies have game rereleases after they have sold a certain number; Sony's PlayStation has a "Greatest Hits" banner; Nintendo has the Player's Choice label; and Microsoft has the Xbox Platinum Hits label. The European title (and original North American title) for Guitar Hero: Smash Hits was Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits. The Simpsons released Greatest Hits on VHS in 1998.

See also[link]

• List of greatest hits albums
• Grandes Éxitos (disambiguation) - The Spanish language equivalent of the concept
• The Best Of (disambiguation) - another title
• Compilation album

References[link]

Dominick Wickliffe, better known by his stage name Crooked I, is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is a member of the hip hop supergroup, Slaughterhouse with other members Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5'9. Slaughterhouse is currently signed to Shady Records. Crooked I is currently CEO of his own record labels, Dynasty Entertainment and C.O.B. Digital^[1] as well as Senior Vice President of Treacherous Records.^[2] Before starting his own label, he was also signed to Virgin Records and Death Row Records.

Career[link]

19th Street Era[link]

Around the age of seventeen, Crooked I started an independent record company called Muscle Records with professional football players also from Long Beach, Chucky Miller and Leonard Russell. It's not known how many songs were recorded, and the music recorded during this period still remains unreleased. This is when he caught the attention of Noo Trybe/Virgin Records, and landed his first record deal in 1995.^[3]

Crooked I originally got his start appearing on compilations released by Big C-Style's record label, 19th Street Records, such as 19th Street LBC Compilation and Straight Outta Cali. He also appeared on the soundtracks to movies such as Ride and Caught Up, where he collaborated with Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tha Eastsidaz, and The Luniz. At the time, Crooked I was still signed under Noo Trybe/Virgin Records, who handled distribution for 19th Street Records. Business was going good, but for unknown reasons, Virgin Records decided to get rid of their urban division, otherwise known as Noo Trybe, and Crooked I was out of a record deal.^[3]

Wickliffe was later contacted by Big C-Style and Daz Dillinger to form DPG Records, which was originally going to be a sub-label under Death Row Records at the time. Crooked was going to be 20% owner of the label, and the first act released as well.^[4] Daz left Death Row Records to run DPG Records independently, but rather than go with Daz, Crooked was trying to figure out his options.

Crooked I also had talks of signing to Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint, but Dre wanted to release Chronic 2001 and Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP before releasing Crooked.^[5] He also had talks with other major record labels who wanted to sign him, but they too were waiting for Dr. Dre's Chronic 2001 album to be released before they would consider signing another West Coast MC.^[6] It was around this time that Crooked I re-negotiated the original deal he had with DPG Records/Death Row Records as a solo artist deal with just Death Row Records.

Death Row's Second Dynasty[link]

While on Death Row, Crooked I appeared on a number of compilations, such as Too Gangsta For Radio and Dysfunktional Family, and appeared on various releases, such as Tha Dogg Pound's 2002, Ja Rule's The Last Temptation, and 2Pac's Nu-Mixx Klazzics.^[5] He also recorded two albums, Untouchable and Say Hi To The Bad Guy, both of which were unreleased due to various label issues and industry politics. He did manage to release a mixtape along with Death Row's then in-house producer, Darren Vegas, called Westcoasanostra Vol. 1 in the Spring of 2003.^[5]

The Start of a New Dynasty[link]

By 2004, Crooked I's album had not been released, Suge Knight was constantly in and out of jail, and Crooked I's contract had expired by November 2003.^[7][8] He left Death Row in early 2004 to start his own label, Dynasty Entertainment.^[8][9] It was not long after that when Crooked I signed a distribution deal with Treacherous Records/Universal,^[8] but more legal trouble from Death Row surfaced, and Crooked I had to stop production for his then titled album, Mama's Boy, which was actually going to be the name of Crooked's second release under Death Row Records. Later on the title of the album changed to Mama's Boy Got a Loaded Gun.^[8] In the meantime, Crooked I released the online mixtape, Young Boss Vol. 1 through his official website. The mixtape received critical acclaim throughout the underground Hip-Hop circuit, garnering an impressive "XL" rating by the Hip-Hop publication, XXL Magazine.^[8]

After the legal matters settled, Crooked began recording again, and prepping the release of his documentary Life After Death Row.^[9] He appeared on compilations such as Yukmouth's United Ghettos of America Vol. 2, Sway & King Tech's Back 2 Basics, and on fellow Treacherous Records label mate K. Young's debut album, Learn How To Love.^[7] In 2005, the name of Crooked's debut album changed to Boss Music, and he created a buzz with the song, "Boom Boom Clap" in the summer of 2005.^[7] He also recorded two songs with producer Scott Storch, "Cali Boyz" and "You're So Bad".^[7] In 2006, he released his heavily anticipated mixtape, Young Boss Vol. 2 hosted by DJ Skee,^[9] and his DVD, Life After Death Row, followed later that Fall.^[9]

Hip-Hop Weekly era[link]

Crooked I started the Hip-Hop Weekly series via the internet.^[10] Every seven days he released a new track over various hip-hop beats of old and new instrumentals. His ability to personally connect with his fans through his Hip-Hop Weekly series is evident since he would fulfill beat selection requests as well as give shout-outs over any given track to fans who requested it via his MySpace page.^[10] The Hip-Hop Weekly series began on April 4, 2007 and ended on April 3, 2008.^[2][10] Wickliffe generated so much of a buzz with the Hip-Hop Weekly series that he was featured on the cover of the December/2007 issue of XXL (magazine) for a second time, this time as part of XXL's Freshmen 10.^[11]

Crooked I, along with DJ Felli Fel and DJ Nik Bean, released St. Valentine's Day Bossacre on February 14, 2008. Although it's called a mixtape, it consists of all new tracks by Crooked I, much like Young Boss Vol. 2, and boasts guest appearances by Royce Da 5'9", and Roscoe Umali, with production from DJ Felli Fel, Rick Rock, Komplex, and MG. The February 2008 issue of Ozone West reviewed St. Valentine's Day Bossacre and rated it 4 slaps out of 5.^[12]

Another mixtape and an EP was released in 2008 by Crooked I, The Block Obama: Hood Politics^[13] and Block Obama II.^[14] The Block Obama: Hood Politics was originally going to be hosted by DJ Whoo Kid and DJ Strong, but ended up being released un-tagged without a DJ, and for free download on the internet.^[13] Block Obama II was released on the day of the 2008 Presidential election, originally as a digital album for sale through iTunes, Amazon, Napster, Rhapsody, and other online retailers.^[14] Physical CD's of Block Obama II were later made, and sold through CDBaby. The EP also boasts guest appearances from Dynasty Entertainment artists Horse Shoe G.A.N.G. and Sauce The Boss, in addition to Knoc-turn'al and production by Jim Gettum, Komplex, and Rick Rock.^[14]

The Slaughterhouse era[link]

Joe Budden reached out to Crooked I, Royce Da 5'9", Joell Ortiz, and Nino Bless for a track titled "Slaughterhouse" on his digital release, Halfway House.^[11] Based on the reception of the track, they decided to form a super-group, minus Nino Bless, and named it after this song.^[11] They released numerous songs throughout early 2009, building a buzz for their self-titled album, which was released through E1 on August 11, 2009.^[15] The album features production from Alchemist, DJ Khalil, Mr. Porter, Streetrunner, and guest appearances from Pharoahe Monch, K. Young, and The New Royales.^[16]

On February 27, 2009 in Long Beach, California, Crooked I was allegedly shot at during a conversation with a fan. The conflicting early media reports on the incident in the following hours initially left people worried and uncertain on his condition, but he has since confirmed to MTV News and other media that he's alive and, while mentally distracted, physically well. Crooked I has declined to further elaborate on the incident, citing where he's from its against the code of the streets.^[17]

On November 10, 2009, Crooked I released a digital-only solo EP, Mr. Pig Face Weapon Waist.^[18] “It’s a spin off of my Slaughterhouse alter ego,” he said of the odd title, “cause I come out on stage with a pig mask and a Dickie suit on.”^[19] The EP also boasts guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, K. Young, M.O.P., The Horseshoe G.A.N.G., and of course fellow Slaughterhouse members, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, and Royce Da 5'9".^[18] In addition to production from Komplex, Scram Jones, Streetrunner, Frequency, and P. Silva.^[18]

After briefly considering plans to release a full length Mr. Pig Face Weapon Waist LP in January 2010, Crooked I revised his priorities and announced Million Dollar Story, to be released in 2010. Production for the album is to include contributions from DJ Khalil, The Alchemist, and newcomer Quest. In addition, Crooked I stated his intentions to get DJ Premier beats for the album.^[20]

The new owners of Death Row Records, WIDEawake Entertainment, released a Crooked I album called Hood Star on June 15, 2010. It has 15 songs Wickliffe recorded while signed to the label, with guest appearances from Juvenile, Too Short, Kurupt, Danny Boy, Ray J, Sisqo, and others.^[21]

On August 17, 2010, Crooked I released yet another EP, titled Planet C.O.B. Vol. 1, which features production from Rick Rock, Komplex, and more.^[22]

On December 1, 2010, the first single for Crooked I's official debut solo album, Million Dollar Story was released on iTunes titled "Villain", which features Gracie Productions recording artist Sally Anthony.^[23]

On January 12, 2011, after months of speculation, Slaughterhouse officially signed to Shady Records, along with artist Yelawolf.^[24]

On March 21, 2011, Crooked I released the Million Dollar Story EP, available for purchase through iTunes, to tie fans over until the album is released. It features two brand new songs and two previously released tracks.^[25]

On July 12, 2011, the compilation Planet C.O.B. Vol. 2 was released digitally, and for a limited time was available on CD through Crooked I's official website.^[26] Unlike the previous installment, which was an EP by Crooked I, this album features songs by all of the C.O.B. affiliates, such as Horseshoe G.A.N.G., Sauce Tha Boss, Coniyac, and more. To keep the momentum up for the C.O.B. movement, Crooked I brought his official clothing line to the internet.^[27]

On November 17, 2011, Crooked I announced a new digital EP titled In None We Trust - The Prelude, is set to be released on December 13th and will include guest appearances from Jay Rock, Glasses Malone, Mistah F.A.B., Horseshoe G.A.N.G., Coniyac and K. Young. ^[28] On November 22, 2011, the first single from the EP titled "No Competition" was released to the internet. ^[29]

Artists under C.O.B. Records[link]

• Crooked I ^[30]
• The Horseshoe G.A.N.G. (Members: Demitrius Capone, Julius Luciano, Kenny Siegel, and Andrew "Dice" Dinero) ^[30]
• Iceman ^[30]
• Coniyac Da XO ^[30]
• Karelezz ^[30]
• PWT ^[30]
• Sauce Da Boss ^[30]

Discography[link]

Studio Albums[link]

• 2000: Untouchable (un-released)
• 2002: Say Hi To The Bad Guy (un-released)

Collaboration albums[link]

• 2009: Slaughterhouse (with Slaughterhouse)
• 2011: Slaughterhouse EP (with Slaughterhouse)
• 2012: Welcome to: Our House (with Slaughterhouse)

EP's[link]

• 2008: Block Obama II
• 2009: Mr. Pigface Weapon Waist
• 2010: Planet C.O.B. Vol. 1^[22]
• 2011: Million Dollar $tory EP
• 2011: In None We Trust - The Prelude EP^[31]

Mixtapes[link]

• 2003: Westcoasanostra Vol. 1
• 2004: Young Boss Vol. 1
• 2006: Young Boss Vol. 2
• 2008: St. Valentine's Day Bossacre
• 2008: The Block Obama: Hood Politics
• 2012: Psalm 82:6

Compilations[link]

• 2010: Hood Star
• 2011: Planet C.O.B. Vol. 2^[26]

Selected Guest appearances[link]

Filmography[link]

• 2004: Bank Brothers^[32]
• 2005: Slumber Party^[33]
• 2006: Life After Death Row
• 2009: Platinum Illusions

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dynasty Entertainment Group
• The B.O.S.S. Board
• WestCoastDynasty
• Crooked I Discography
• Crooked I at Discogs
• Crooked I at the Internet Movie Database
• Crooked I on Myspace