Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo (popularly known as D'banj, born June 9, 1980), is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and harmonica player. He has won several music awards including the awards for Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007,^[1] Artist of the Year at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2009.^[2] and BET Awards of 2011 for Best International Act; Africa. He adopted the stage name D'banj, a combination of his first name Dapo and his surname Oyebanjo.^[1]. D'banj is currently best known internationally for his 2012 summer hit Oliver Twist, an uptempo dance fusion of Afro-Beats, R&B and electronic dance music that topped the African charts 2011 and was a top 10 hit in the UK singles chart in 2012 reaching #2 on the UK R&B chart.

Childhood[link]

D'banj was born in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria to a military officer who commanded an artillery regiment and a church dignitary mother who hailed from Shagamu in Ogun State. Due to his father's profession he moved several times within Nigeria and later moved to England. D'banj was expected to follow his father's military career and was enrolled to the Nigerian Military School at age eleven. However, D'banj resisted the system and disenrolled from the school after three years. While at the Military school he was a member of the elite drum corp of the Nigerian Army. From the Nigerian Military School he proceeded to another military owned institution Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Ibara, Abeokuta where he completed his secondary school education.^[3]

Musical beginning[link]

D'banj was introduced to the harmonica by his late older brother, Femi Oyebanjo, who died in a plane crash at age seventeen.^[3] With D'banj's love for music being greater than his parents' military aspirations, he struggled for his parents' approval; this can be best heard through an album track, All Da Way from his debut album.^[1]

BET Interview[link]

In April, 2011, D'banj was interviewed by BET's April Woodard. The interview titled 'Welcome to America'^[4] was a platform for D'banj to introduce himself to the American Music Industry and audience which he stated he was going to get into. In the interview, D'banj spoke on a wide range of topics including his music, artists he'd like to work with, his parents, Mo'Hits Records, his love life, and his role models: Kanye West, Usher, Jay-Z, R. Kelly, and others. The interview lasted 125 minutes.

Music career[link]

As a tribute to his mentor Fela, D'banj brings Afrobeat to life and into the 21st century with breathless enthusiasm as well as a good dose of humour. His songs are based on his life, often hilarious but with a deeper meaning which documents the struggle of a young African trying to achieve his dreams. He performs in Yoruba, English and Pidgin English. All his albums are solely produced by Don Jazzy and himself.

[edit] 2005: No Long Thing

D'banj's debut album, No Long Thing, was released in 2005, yielding several singles, with Tongolo as the lead single. This proved to be his breakthrough single and a hit. It also provided his Koko Master persona, with the term, koko, taking on a variety of meanings. D'banj's debut success led to collaborations with other artists, this includes Dare Art-Alade's album track, Escalade Part 2 and Ikechukwu's album

[edit] 2006: Rundown Funk U Up

D'banj's second album, Rundown Funk U Up, which was released in 2006, yielded several singles including the club single, Tongolo (Remix) and the lead single, Why Me?. This proved to be another hit.

[edit] 2007-2008: Curriculum Vitae & The Entertainer

D'banj, as an artist of Mo' Hits Records, is also a member of its collective group, Mo' Hits Allstars (includes artists Dr SID, Wande Coal, k-Switch and D'prince). He has once been spotted with one of Nigeria's most talented singers, "Smile Lasisi". The collective's debut album, Curriculum Vitae, was released in December 2007. It included hit singles, "Be Close To You", "Booty Call" and "Move Your Body", which was the lead single. D'banj was featured in Ikechukwu's 2008 hit, "Wind Am Well".

July 2008 saw the release of D'banj's third album, The Entertainer,^[5] with the singles "Gbono Feli Feli", "Kimon", "Olorun Maje" and "Entertainer".

Mo'Hits/ G.O.O.D. Music[link]

In June 2011, D'banj along with his producer Don Jazzy of the Nigerian record label, MoHits Records, were both signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D Music record label as artiste and producer respectively. On June 9, 2011, D'banj wrote on his twitter account, @iamdbanj, "Just like yesterday, myself and my brother did Tongolo. 7 years later, Mo'Hits signs with GOOD Music. Best Birthday gift ever. God thank you."^[6]

Live performances[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. (August 2010)

D'banj is an energetic,cool.brave hardworking charismatic and infectious live performer. He is a regular performer for the annual ThisDay Africa Rising Music Festival. He has performed at Femi Kuti’s new Afrikan Shrine in Lagos as well as the Shrine Synchro System’s regular London Night at Cargo. He performed at the Black President Concert in memory of Fela’s art and legacy at the Barbican in London, and also alongside many international artists in Nigeria like Kelly Rowland at the 1st Edition of the MTV Africa Music Awards 2008 in Abuja, Nigeria. He was involved in one of the most anticipated events of the season ‘Koko Concert‘. This concert consisted of D’Banj, Don Jazzy, Dr. SID, Wande Coal, D’Prince, new Mo Hits recruit Ikechukwu plus a few guest appearances including May7ven and comedian Tunde Ednut. The stage was set for a thrilling night – the Koko effect is definitely LIVE in London as fans of D’Banj and Mo’ Hits filled the O2 arena to capacity. As expected, the hits just kept coming and the momentum was sustained with on-stage antics from all the artists. In December, 2010, the Mo' Hits All Stars brought Koko Concert to Lagos^[7] and D'banj kept belting out energetic performances that kept the audience screaming till they were hoarse. Colleagues like M.I, eLDee, Jesse Jags, Wizkid also joined up on stage. There was also a global premiere of the highly anticipated Mr Endowed remix ft Snoop Dogg.

Humanitarian work[link]

D'banj is a founder of Koko Foundation for Youth and Peace Development. He is also Nigeria's first United Nations Youth Ambassador for Peace.^[8]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Featured singles[link]

Awards[link]

Won

• Most Promising Male Artist (KORA All African Awards 2005)^[10]
• Hip Hop World Revelation (HIP HOP WORLD AWARDS 2006 hosted by Hip Hop World Magazine)^[11]
• Artist of the year (Nigerian Music Awards (NMA) 2006)^[12]
• Best Newcomer - Tongolo (fizz Awards 2006)^[13]
• Best African Act (MTV Europe Music Awards 2007)
• Hottest Single of the year "Why me" (NEA Awards 2007)^[14]
• 2007 Channel O Music Video Awards - Best Special Effects (“Why Me”)^[15]
• Artist of the Year (MTV Africa Music Awards 2008)^[16]
• Best Male (MTV Africa Music Awards 2008)^[16]
• Listeners Choice (MTV Africa Music Awards 2008)
• Artist of the Year (MTV Africa Music Awards 2009)^[17]
• Best International Act:Africa (BET Awards 2011)^[18]

Nominated

• Best Newcomer - Tongolo (Channel O African Music Video Awards 2006)^[19]
• Best West African - Tongolo (Channel O African Music Video Awards 2006)^[19]
• Best African Act - MOBO Awards 2007
• Best African Act - MOBO Awards 2008
• Best Live Performer - MTV Africa Music Awards 2009^[20]
• Best Male (MTV Africa Music Awards 2009)^[21]
• Best Performer (MTV Africa Music Awards 2009)^[21]

See also[link]

• African hip hop
• Nigerian hip hop
• BET Awards of 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Official Myspace Profile
• Bio

Naetochukwu Chikwe (born 17 December 1982), stage name Naeto C, is a Nigerian rapper, Afrobeat artist and record producer. He was born in Houston, Texas and is of Nigerian origin.^{[citation needed]}

Early life[link]

Naeto C's parents are [of the Igbo ethnic group in Owerri, Nigeria], Nigerian Ambassador to Ireland, Doctor Mrs. Kema Chikwe and Chief Herbert Chikwe. He spent his early years in that city, in a household very influenced by music. His fondness for music grew fast and was articulated into other creative art forms, most specifically poetry, which took him to various competitions and earned him accolades as a young poet. He attended the prestigious Atlantic Hall secondary school in Epe, Lagos.

University education[link]

After finishing his secondary education in Nigeria at Atlantic Hall, Lagos, he moved to the United States for higher education both in SUNY Old Westbury and a year later, George Washington University. It was at this time that he met Uzikwendu and his brother, Ikechukwu, who was then an aspiring hip-hop artist out of Washington Heights, New York. The trio went on to form the World Famous Akademy, a brotherhood of musicians. They planned to grow into an independent record label but could not get their hands on the proper funds. Naeto C graduated in 2004 from the George Washington University with a B Sc. in Biology, intending to go study further and become a medical doctor. After some deep self-searching he changed his mind and decided to pursue his dream and develop his talent as a musician. He graduated from the University of Dundee with a masters degree in Energy Studies, specializing in Energy Economics. ref>Dundee student's double life as international rap star revealed STV News, 7 June 2010</ref>

Music career[link]

Storm Records, (a record company based in Lagos, Nigeria) had been trying to sign the World Famous Akademy for some time, and since Naeto had decided to pursue his career as a musician he agreed along with the rest of the WFA. But they did not return to Nigeria until early 2006, when Ikechukwu released his debut album, Son Of the Soil. That album laid the grounds for Naeto C and the WFA. Working as an in-house producer with his newly discovered production team “ET-Quake” (consisting of TY Mix and VC Perez), Naeto was able to display his production skills working with Storm artists like Sasha, Dare Art-Alade, GT the Guitarman, Disconnect, Saro-Wiwa and Nkiru. Within a year of working with the aforementioned artists, Naeto had successfully recorded over 60 songs including his most recent album material (a bulk of which he co-produced with ET-Quake).

A notable production achievement is the "I Believe" song Naeto wrote and co-produced with VC Perez (member of ET-Quake), which features himself, an up and coming R&B/Gospel artist, Sheun and Hugh Masekela from South Africa. Within the same year Naeto garnered a lot of experience performing, from Ikechukwu’s album launch to Chanel O awards to the I Believe Tour to Always promo tour with Sasha and many more gigs, in preparation for the phenomenal MTN Homecoming Concert, headlined by a popular friend, Nigerian pop sensation, D’banj.

"Naeto C" has recorded over 50 songs for his debut with production that transcends today’s hip hop sound MO HIT RECORD, May 2008 From the Fela inspired “Lagos City Hustla” the most articulate reflection of Hip-Hop/Afro-beat till date to the down-south-melody-stricken first single “Sitting on Top”, Naeto C has broken all boundaries and surpassed more limits than any up and coming artist, lyrically and production wise according to MO HIT RECORD. His debut album You Know My "P" was released in May 2008.

CONTROVERSY

Nigerian rapper Naeto C went hard at a fan for criticising his performance on the 2011 BET Cypher of the BET Hip Hop Awards held at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center, USA, on October 1st 2011

Nigeria took its turn at the 2011 BET Cypher of the Black Entertainment (BET) Hip Hop Awards when it was aired on BET international over the weekend.

Discography[link]

• 2008: U Know My "P"

• 2011: Super C Season

Awards and nominations[link]

Won - Best New Musician (MTV Africa Music Awards 2008) "Won" - Video Of The Year (Channel O Music Video Awards 2009)

Won- Best New Artist (MTV Africa Music Awards 2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Naeto C Supporters MySpace
• Storm 360 - The Entertainment Company

Minute Maid Park
The Juice Box
150px
Former names	The Ballpark at Union Station (2000) Enron Field (2000–2002) Astros Field (February–July 2002)
Location	501 Crawford Street Houston, Texas 77002
Coordinates	29°45′25″N 95°21′20″W / 29.75694°N 95.35556°W / 29.75694; -95.35556Coordinates: 29°45′25″N 95°21′20″W / 29.75694°N 95.35556°W / 29.75694; -95.35556
Broke ground	November 1, 1997
Opened	March 30, 2000 (Exhibition) April 7, 2000 (Regular Season)
Renovated	2010 (Off season)[1]
Owner	Harris County-Houston Sports Authority
Operator	Harris County-Houston Sports Authority
Surface	Platinum TE Paspalum[2]
Scoreboard	54 feet (16 m) feet tall by 124 feet (38 m) feet wide
Construction cost	$250 million ($337 million in 2012 dollars[3])
Architect	HOK Sport (Populous since 2009) Molina & Associates
Project Manager	Schindewolfe and Associates[4]
Structural engineer	Walter P Moore[4]
Services engineer	M-E Engineers, Inc. (Bowl)[5] Uni-Systems, Inc. (Roof)[4]
General Contractor	Brown & Root/Barton Malow/Empire Joint Venture[4]
Capacity	40,981 (2012-present)[6] 40,963 (2011)[7] 40,976 (2006-2010)[8] 40,950 (2000-2005)
Record attendance	43,836 April 5, 2010[9]
Field dimensions	Left Field - 315 feet (96 m) Left-Center - 362 feet (110 m) Left-Center (deep) - 404 feet (123 m) Center Field - 436 feet (133 m) Right-Center - 373 feet (114 m) Right Field - 326 feet (99 m) Backstop - 49 feet (15 m)
Tenants
Houston Astros (MLB) (2000–present)

Minute Maid Park (also The Ballpark at Union Station, Enron Field, and Astros Field) is a ballpark in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Major League Baseball Houston Astros.

The ballpark was Houston's first retractable-roofed stadium, protecting fans and athletes from Houston's notoriously humid weather as did its predecessor, the Astrodome, but also allowing fans to enjoy outdoor baseball during favorable weather. The ballpark also features a grass field, compared to the Astrodome's artificial AstroTurf, which was generally disliked by professional baseball players. The largest entrance to the park is inside what was once Houston's Union Station, and the left-field side of the stadium features a train as homage to the site's history. The train moves along a track on top of the length of the exterior wall beyond left field whenever an Astros player hits a home run, or when the Astros win a game. The engine's tender, traditionally used to carry coal, is filled with giant oranges in tribute to Coca Cola's Minute Maid's most famous product, orange juice. The ballpark has 5,095 club seats and 63 luxury suites.

Previous names[link]

Exterior of Minute Maid Park

The ballpark was first christened as Enron Field on April 7, 2000, with naming rights sold to the Houston energy and financial trading company in a 30 year, $100 million deal. Astros management faced a public relations nightmare when the energy corporation went bankrupt in the midst of one of the biggest corporate scandals in American history in 2001, and they bought back the remainder of Enron's thirty years of naming rights for $2.1 million, rechristening the ballpark as Astros Field on February 7, 2002.^[10] The field was unofficially known as "The Field Formerly Known As Enron" by fans and critics alike, in wake of the Enron scandal. On June 5, 2002, Houston-based Minute Maid, the fruit-juice subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, acquired the naming rights to the stadium for 28 years at an estimated price of $170 million.^[11]

Based on its downtown location next to the old Union Station buildings, one of the suggested names (and nicknames) is the Ballpark at Union Station, or the BUS. During its days as Enron Field, it was also dubbed "Ten-Run" or "Home Run" Field due to its cozy left-field dimensions. In keeping with this theme while paying homage to its current sponsor, the nickname "The Juice Box" is colloquially used today.^[12] The dubbing of the park as an extreme hitter-friendly park has been called into question in recent years. In fact, the 2009 season saw the park ranked 24th out of 30 Major League parks in terms of runs scored in the park, meaning only six other stadiums saw fewer runs scored during the season, and ten other ballparks saw more home runs hit.^[13] The extremely deep center-field and left-center-field dimensions help to balance out the park significantly, and Minute Maid's Batting park factor is consistently very near average.

Features[link]

Union Station Lobby is the main entrance to Minute Maid Park, and the former concourse of Houston's original Union Station built in 1911

In dramatic contrast to the Astrodome, the most pitching-oriented stadium in Major League Baseball for most of its existence, Minute Maid Park is known for being particularly hitter-friendly down the lines, especially in left field where it is only 315 ft (96 m) to the Crawford Boxes, though the wall there is 19 feet (5.8 m) tall. In a challenge to home run hitters, Drayton McLane's office windows, located in the old Union Station and directly above the Crawford Boxes, are made of glass and a sign below his window is marked 422 ft (135 m) from home plate.

In contrast to the ease of hitting a home run to the Crawford Boxes, it is quite difficult to hit a ball out in center field, as the dead-center wall is 436 ft (133 m) from home plate. Fielding is a challenge there as well, due to the 90-foot (27 m) wide center field incline known as Tal's Hill, for team president Tal Smith, an element taken from Crosley Field and other historic ballparks (in a bit of gallows humor, the hill is also known as the "Grassy Knoll"), and the flagpole in play, an element taken from Yankee Stadium before its remodeling in the mid-'70s and Tiger Stadium among others. Milwaukee Brewers player Richie Sexson once hit a ball off the flagpole. There was a mark there until the 2011 season, when the pole was repainted.

An illustration of Union Station, 1913

While Crosley Field's infamous left field terrace, which was half as steep (only 15 degrees) as Tal's Hill (30 degrees), was a natural feature of the site on which the park was located, Tal's Hill is purely decorative. Both structures have been held in equal disdain by the respective outfielders who have had to patrol those areas. This hill has caused some of the most replayed catches in recent baseball history, and plenty of controversy as well. Lance Berkman said, "If the ball rolls onto the hill, it's not steep enough to roll back, so you have to go get it. Then there's the chance of running into the flagpole that's on it and getting hurt.” Fans started an online petition to remove the hill and flagpole, though the petition has since been discontinued.

The ballpark features 19,201 seats on the lower level^[14], 7,132 seats on the second level^[14], 880 seats on the suite level^[14], and 13,750 seats on the upper level^[14].

A concourse above Tal's Hill features the "Conoco Home Run Porch" in left-center field that is actually over the field of play, and features a classic gasoline pump that displays the total number of Astros home runs hit since the park opened.

The electrification of Minute Maid Park's retractable roof was developed by VAHLE, Inc.^[15]

The stadium can also be fully air-conditioned when required.

2004[link]

In 2004, the Astros launched Wi-Fi throughout the ballpark, allowing fans to use the Internet while attending a game for a fee^[16]. In addition, the ballpark is the first major sports facility to have a closed captioning board for the hearing impaired^[17].

The visiting team's bullpen is housed entirely in the exterior left field wall, next to the Crawford Boxes, making it one of the few bullpens in Major League ballparks to be completely indoors. Although windows in the outfield fence offer a view into and from the bullpen, its entrance is actually built into the side of the Crawford Boxes.

2006[link]

In 2006, the Chick-fil-A cows were unveiled on the foul poles, saying EAT MOR FOWL, and the cows have Astros caps on. Anytime an Astros player hits the pole, the fans in attendance get a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. Hunter Pence is the first and second Astro to hit the left field "Fowl Pole" when he did it twice in the 2007 season. Ty Wigginton became the third Astro to hit the left field pole on September 16, 2007. Kazuo Matsui hit the right field foul pole on August 3, 2009 with a 2 run homer in the 6th inning to beat the Giants. Carlos Lee hit the left field pole on July 28, 2010, giving the Astros a 8-1 win against the Cubs. 2 days later, Jeff Keppinger hit the Left Field pole to help the Astros win 5-0 against the Brewers.

2008[link]

After the 2008 season, the Astros' groundskeepers began installing 2.3 acres (9,300 m²) of a new turfgrass playing surface at Minute Maid Park. The new sod is called Platinum TE Paspalum. The Astros are the first sports organization in the world to use the product.^[18] The Astros also became one of the first to use the new Chemgrass, later known as AstroTurf after its first well-publicized use at the Houston Astrodome in 1966.

2011[link]

For the 2011 season, the park added a large HD screen nicknamed "El Grande" replacing the original one in center field. At 54 feet high and 124 feet wide, it is the second largest scoreboard in Major League Baseball, behind Kaufmann Stadium (home of the Kansas City Royals). The old screen was taken out and replaced by billboards. Additionally they added a smaller HD screen on the far left field wall. The ring of advertisement screens around the park have also been replaced in favor of HD ribbon boards.^[7]

Major events[link]

• On July 13, 2004, Minute Maid Park hosted the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which the American League won 9–4.
• On October 9, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the longest postseason game in Major League Baseball history, both in terms of time and number of innings. The Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves 7–6 in a game lasting eighteen innings, which took 5 hours and 50 minutes to play.^[19]
• On October 25, 2005, Minute Maid Park hosted the first World Series game ever played in Texas, and the longest World Series game ever played, which the Astros lost to the eventual World Series champion Chicago White Sox 7–5 in 14 innings; this game lasted 5 hours and 41 minutes.^[20] The following night, the White Sox won the World Series—first in 88 years—at Minute Maid Park.
• On June 28, 2007, Craig Biggio hit his 3000th career hit, the first Astro to do so. The hit was a 2-out RBI-single against the Colorado Rockies.^[21]
• On September 30, 2007, in Craig Biggio's last game of his career, Minute Maid Park hit the highest attendance in its eight-year history by selling 43,823 tickets, 107% of its capacity.^[22]
• On April 5, 2010, Opening Day of 2010, Minute Maid Park surpassed its highest attendance total once again by selling 43,836 tickets, 13 more tickets than its previous record.^[9]

Ballpark firsts[link]

Events other than baseball[link]

While primarily a baseball venue, Minute Maid Park can adequately host sports such as American football, soccer, and both codes of rugby. The venue can also play host to large-scale rock concerts.

Its debut as a soccer venue happened during the 2006 edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The stadium hosted the first leg of the quarterfinal between Portmore United of Jamaica (the "home" team) and Club América of Mexico. Portmore United effectively sold the rights to their home leg (Portmore's usual home stadium is the 2,000 seat Ferdi Neita Sports Complex in Portmore, Jamaica) to an American sports marketing company who placed the tie in Houston hoping to attract Mexican-Americans to the match. 12,988 (a "home" record for Portmore) saw America run out 2-1 winners with goals from Christian Gimenez, and Aaron Padilla after Remeel Wolfe had given the CFU side a shock lead^[23].

The stadium also is the host of the Houston College Classic college baseball, part of the winter fan festival held in February. The tournament features local schools the University of Houston and Rice University every year, a pair of Big 12 schools, alternating between the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Tech University, and Texas A&M University and Baylor University, as well as two other teams from around the country.

Madonna performed a concert as part of her Sticky & Sweet Tour on November 16, 2008, marking her first Texas appearance in 18 years. The attendance for the concert was 41,498^[24].

The nationally syndicated TV talk show Rachael Ray held a mass wedding at the park following Hurricane Ike for 40 couples who were unable to get married after a company they paid to hold the weddings went bankrupt. Comedian Jeffrey Ross served as best man for all 40 couples. The ceremony was aired as part of a special episode of the talk show on November 21, 2008^[25].

On November 5, 2011 Taylor Swift held her Houston gig of the Speak Now World Tour at Minute Maid Park. There was a record breaking number of attendance of 42,905^[26].

Gallery[link]

• 

  Panoramic interior view of the baseball park.

• 

  The Conoco Home Run Porch

• 

  Interior view of Minute Maid Park

• 

  View of Crawford Boxes, Tal's hill, Train, and Downtown Houston.

• 

  View of the infield from Center Field

• 

  Left field Union Station interior edifice and train.

References[link]

• Minute Maid Park: Facts and Figures. Accessed May 24, 2006.
• Ballpark Digest Visit to Minute Maid Park
• Ryan, Jeff (July 21, 2003). "Dangers of the diamond: TSN picks the nine biggest ballpark obstacles—from the brightest lights to the most unusual landscaping—in the majors - Baseball". The Sporting News. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_29_227/ai_105556749. Retrieved February 28, 2007. 
• Astros Daily - Your best source for news and information on the Houston Astros

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Minute Maid Park

	Houston portal
	Baseball portal

• Stadium site on astros.com
• Levine, Zachary. "Astros looking at the bigger picture." Houston Chronicle. October 8, 2010.

Terrence Thornton (born May 14, 1977)^[1] better known by his stage name Pusha T is an American recording artist, occasional actor and one half of the critically acclaimed hip hop duo Clipse. Along with No Malice, his brother and fellow member of Clipse, he released the album Hell Hath No Fury, which was praised by critics, many of whom consider it to be a cornerstone in Hip-Hop and one of the best rap albums ever made. He is also the co-founder and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Re-Up Records along with his aforementioned brother. In September 2010 he announced his signing to Kanye West's GOOD Music label and on March 21, 2011, released his first solo project, a mixtape titled Fear of God.^[2][3]

Biography[link]

1977-2009: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Pusha T was born Terrence Thornton on May 13, 1977, in The Bronx borough of New York City. Thornton and his family soon relocated to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he and his brother, Gene 'No Malice' Thornton, grew up. In 1992 Terrence and his brother Gene formed the duo now internationally known as Clipse. With help from Pharell Williams the group eventually signed to Elektra Records in 1997 and released Exclusive Audio Footage, their only album under that label. Of the two brothers, Terrence was more open to features, appearing on Kelis' 1999 single "Good Stuff" and Nivea's 2001 single "Run Away (I Wanna Be with U)", respectively. In 2004, he and his brother launched their record label, Re-Up Records and formed hip hop group Re-Up Gang along with rappers Ab-Liva and Sandman. After four albums as the Clipse, under various record labels both Malice and Pusha T announced that they were taking time off from the duo to focus on their own respective solo projects.^[4]

[edit] 2010-2011: Solo career, GOOD Music and Fear of God

Following his signing to GOOD Music in September 2010, Thornton was featured on a number of fellow label mates' projects such as Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy appearing on his hit "Runaway" and premiering the song with him at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. He was also featured on many G.O.O.D. Friday tracks along with appearing on Swizz Beatz's "Bang Bang" for his Monster Mondays series, Lloyd Banks' H.F.M. 2 (Hunger for More 2) and tabi Bonney's Fresh respectively. On the week of December 16, 2010, Thornton signed exclusively with NUE Agency.^[5]

On February 11th, 2011 Funkmaster Flex debuted Thornton's first solo offering on New York City's Hot 97.^[6] The track, titled "My God", was produced by Hit-Boy and was generally well received by the public. Soon after, the song leaked onto the internet but was not officially released through iTunes and Amazon until August 24th, 2011.^[7] On March 21, 2011 Thornton released his first solo project, a mixtape titled Fear of God to critical acclaim. Soon after he began working on his EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray, which initially included four songs from the mixtape and five original ones. The EP was originally set to released on June 21st, 2011,^[8] it was than pushed back to August 23rd, and for a while September 27th, 2011 was believed to be the date, however on October 6th, 2011 Thornton announced the EP is set to drop November 8th. In addition it was revealed he added four more songs to the EP making it twelve tracks rather than just the nine tracks that were previously announced.^[9] On July 8th, 2011, the first single off Fear of God II: Let Us Pray leaked onto the internet. The song, titled "Trouble on My Mind" features Odd Future frontman, Tyler, The Creator. The second single, "Amen" was released September 13th, 2011. The song, originally meant for Young Jeezy, was produced by Shawty Redd and features verses from Kanye West and Young Jeezy respectively. After the EP's release on November 8th, the project debuted at number sixty-six on the Billboard 200 with 8,900 copies sold in its first week released.^[10][11] It also entered at number ten on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, at number eight on Billboard's Top Rap Albums, and at number twenty-five on its Digital Albums chart. ^[12][13] In 2011 Thornton appeared on the second season of the HBO series How to Make It in America.^[14] He played the role of a henchman for Urban Caribbean League.

He is currently working on his solo debut album, yet to be titled, which is being executive produced by Kanye West and includes production from The Neptunes, Bangladesh, Ryan Leslie and Alex da Kid.^[15][16][17] Thornton has stated that after his solo album and the Re-Up Gang mixtape, Long Live the Cane, he and his brother Malice will release another album as the Clipse.^[18][19] On August 31st, 2011 it was announced Thornton signed a solo record deal with Def Jam.^[20] English pop singer Pixie Lott released "What Do You Take Me For?", the second single off her second studio album Young Foolish Happy which featured Pusha T.^[21] The song was a hit single in the U.K., peaking at number ten on the charts.

2012-present: GOOD Music Compilation and Solo Album[link]

On October 19, 2011, Kanye West announced on his Twitter plans for a Spring 2012 GOOD Music album release.^[22] On April 6, 2012, "Mercy", the lead single from the GOOD Music compilation album, Cruel Summer, was released.^[23] The song, produced by newly-signed in-house producer Lifted, features Pusha T along with Kanye West, Big Sean and southern rapper 2 Chainz.^[24] On May 24, Pusha released a diss track, "Exodus 23:1". It is speculated that the track was aimed at Drake, or Young Money in general. Lil Wayne responded with a diss track "Ghoulish", which debuted on Funkmaster Flex's show.

Controversy[link]

Consequence[link]

After releasing "My God", the first offering off his solo mixtape, former GOOD Music label mate Consequence took to Twitter and claimed Pusha T stole his flow and lyrics from a song of his that Pusha T was supposed to appear on titled "The Last Supper".^[25][26] On July 22, 2011 Consequence released a song titled "The Plagurist Society" where he takes shots and questions Pusha T’s coke-dealing raps. Towards the end of the record the Queens native promises to take aim at Kanye West next saying "You're nothing but a body shield, for that coward from the mid-west/ so yes you can bet, that your boss is next". Pusha T responded to the diss when he appeared on Chicago’s 107.5 WGCI’s The Morning Riot and said nobody is looking for Consequence, as for if he will respond on a record he went on to say "At the end of the day I am an artist and this whole rap thing is fun to me, so I can't say you won't hear nothing, but to go back and forth with him, it's not right, I won't get anything out of it."^[27] Later that day, Consequence called in to Chicago’s WGCI’s The Morning Riot in retaliation to the remarks Pusha T made about him. He also premiered a song titled "Everybody Told Me 2 (Straighten It Out)" where he disses West, Pusha T and GOOD Music in general.^[28][29] Since then Pusha T has responded to Consequence on a record. The song was the remix to Ace Hood's "Go 'N' Get It" which also featured Beanie Sigel, Busta Rhymes and Styles P. In the song Pusha raps "Consequence, nigga, talk is cheap You don't want a problem? Off the beef Before I off his ass with his awful teeth". On August 19, Consequence released Movies on Demand 3 and continued to diss his former label and Pusha T on songs such as "Career Killer" and "Mr.RapFix (Hot Water)". On September 15, 2011 Consequence appeared on MTV's Rap Fix and announced his feud with Kanye West and GOOD Music are over.^[30] While out in Chicago in October 2011, Pusha T appeared on WGCI radio for a second time, and confirmed that the "beef" was indeed over, that it had died out and they have moved on.^[31]

Drake & Lil Wayne[link]

Pusha T released a track titled "Exodus 23:1" as part of GOOD Music's GOOD Fridays dissing Drake and Lil' Wayne. Lil' Wayne responded on Twitter and later recorded a diss "Goulish".

Discography[link]

Albums

• TBA (2012)

Extended plays

• Fear of God II: Let Us Pray (2011)

References[link]