mtvU is a division of Viacom's MTV Networks which produces a 24-hour television channel that is available on more than 750 college and university campuses across the United States, as well as several digital cable packages. It provides a more targeted alternative to MTV, and gives advertisers and music promotion companies access to college-age viewers, access that universities offer in an attempt to attract students to on-campus housing.^[1] The music played on the station is primarily indie rock, pop punk and hip-hop.

History[link]

This section requires expansion.

MTV Network's proposal for a channel targeting college students, tentatively called MTV University, became public in February 2002.^[1] According to The New York Times, the channel was seeking to compete with Burly Bear Network, which was on 450 campuses and attracting nearly a million viewers a week, along with College Television Network (CTN) and the most recent entrant at the time, Zilo.^[1] CTN began as a venture that installed video jukeboxes on campuses.^{[citation needed]}

Seven months later, after CTN was in financial trouble and National Lampoon had just acquired the defunct Burly Bear, MTV Networks acquired CTN for $15 million.^[2]

In February 2008, MTV Networks discontinued VH1 Uno, a sparsely-viewed Spanish music video channel, and it replaced that channel with mtvU, to expand the channel's distribution further into regular cable homes.^[3][4]

Programming[link]

According to its promotional materials, mtvU broadcasts exclusive content dedicated to aspects of college life, including music, news, and on-campus events. The channel was the first MTV network to stream all of its content online. On-campus events include the Campus Invasion tour, featuring up-and-coming bands; the GAME0Rz Ball tour, which brings new video games to campus; and Tailgate Tour, which provides mtvU with a presence at campus tailgates. mtvU shows include Dean's List,^[5] the mtvU Awards, and mtvU Spring Break.

mtvU plays a mix of music with an emphasis on emerging artists. (mtvU VIDEO PREMIERES) Each hour, mtvU broadcasts news updates from ABC News (formerly CBS News, changed in late 2006 in the wake of the Viacom/CBS separation), including international news and college-related news. Twice an hour, MTV News airs stories on subjects such as music downloading, and musical artists under promotion by mtvU.

Additionally, mtvU airs several original programs produced by and featuring college students. The Freshmen features three rotating student panelists discussing new music videos and is hosted by Kim Stolz; Stand-In brings celebrities and intellectuals into college classrooms to teach for a day, and has featured people as diverse as Nobel Laureates Elie Wiesel and Shimon Peres; Madonna; John McCain; Marilyn Manson; and Jhumpa Lahiri.

It has also started a social networking site "Meet or Delete" along with Hewlett Packard.

Awards[link]

Woodie Awards[link]

mtvU has its own annual awards show, the Woodie Awards, which they say recognizes "the music voted best by college students." Previous winners have included 2005's Death Cab for Cutie, Motion City Soundtrack, and The Afters; 2006 winners include 30 Seconds to Mars, Plain White T's, mewithoutYou, The Subways and Gnarls Barkley. The 2006 ceremony was also notable for Jared Leto's altercation with Elijah Wood and Scott from the music blog Stereogum.^[6] The 2008 awards had a huge fan voting for the Best Music On Campus award, where The Bride Wore Black won the award and Chasing Arrows came in right behind.^[7] Winners at the 2008 Woodie Awards included Paramore and There for Tomorrow. Winners at the 2009 Woodie Awards included Green Day, Kings of Leon, Matt & Kim, NeverShoutNever, Tech N9ne and Hotel of the Laughing Tree.^[8]

Awards for students[link]

The online game Darfur Is Dying was developed as part of an mtvU contest, and other Sudan genocide coverage won mtvU two Emmys, including the 2006 Governors Award. mtvU also provides grants for student activists, giving away $1000 a week to various student groups. Currently, mtvU is also cosponsoring the ecomagination Challenge with GE, which aims to empower college students to solve environmental problems on campuses. mtvU also sponsored the Film Your Issue competition, a competition designed to encourage college-age filmmakers to make short political pieces, and aired the winners.

Other opportunities mtvU provides for college students include Digital Incubator grants, which award students who are pioneering the future of broadband content, and the Student Filmmaker Award, which provides the winner with the chance to receive a development deal with mtvU and collect the award at the MTV Movie Awards. Besides these competitions, mtvU makes efforts to use student work through its programming.

List of mtvU VJs[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Carly Henderson (current)
• Kim Stolz
• Dana-Sky Faison
• Gardner Loulan
• Josh McCutcheon
• Sarah Messer
• Sara Baiyu Chen (former)
• Taiwan Brown (former) [1]
• Michelle Yu (former) (now a TVG Network Reporter)*[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• mtvU.com
• mtvU Woodie Awards
• mtvU VIDEO PREMIERES

v t e Viacom Inc. Corporate directors George S. Abrams · Philippe Dauman (CEO) · Thomas E. Dooley · Ellen V. Futter · Robert Kraft · Alan C. Greenberg · Charles Phillips · Sumner Redstone (Chairman) · Shari Redstone · Frederic Salerno · William Schwartz MTV Networks MTV Networks Company, Inc. MTV · VH1 · Nickelodeon · Comedy Central · CMT · Spike · more... BET Networks BET · BET Gospel · BET Hip-Hop · Centric · BET UK Paramount Motion Pictures Group Paramount Pictures Corporation: Paramount Pictures · Paramount Vantage · Paramount Classics · Republic Pictures · United International Pictures (50% with NBCUniversal's Universal Studios) MTV branded labels: MTV Films · Nickelodeon Movies Other units: EPIX (co-owned with Lions Gate Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) Television stations KGBS-CA (Tr3́s) · KHMM-CA (Tr3́s) · KMMK-LP / KMUM-CA / KMMW-LP (Nick Jr) · KZMM-CA (Tr3́s) Viacom Music Group Comedy Central Records · Nick Records Miscellaneous assets Viacom International · Viacom 18 (India)  · Viacom Entertainment Store  · Bellator Fighting Championships  · MovieTickets.com  · URGE See also Template:MTV Networks Europe · Viacom (1971–2005) · National Amusements · Gulf+Western Annual Revenue: $17.3 billion USD ( 10% 3Q 2005) · Employees: 38,310 · Stock Symbol: NASDAQ: VIA, NASDAQ: VIAB · Website: viacom.com

Yak Ballz, born Yashar Zadeh is an American independent hip hop artist, who was brought up in Flushing, Queens, New York. He is one of the original members of The Weathermen. He is also a member of Cardboard City.

Early life[link]

In his youth, Yak spent a lot of his time using his imagination and creativity to draw and paint. He became enamored with the rebel art of graffiti. He was inspired by Cost, Revs, Uend, and his TCK (True City Killers) brethren. Yak turned to writing as an outlet for expression and a form of therapy due to his mother being overprotective about their neighborhood in Queens at the time. Thanks to his best friend’s older brother, Vaz (of 89.9-FM WKCR’s legendary “Night Train” hip-hop show), while in high school Yak landed a gig interning at Bobbito Garcia’s Footwork store in downtown Manhattan where he saw a myriad of flyers promoting Hip Hop shows all over the city. At the age of 16 he entered the Braggin’ Rites MC battle; he took second place and was the youngest person in the competition. Yak would go on to achieve first runner-up honors two more times after that, but more importantly, the aspiring MC grabbed the attention of several interested people in attendance, including Armando “Mondee” Torres and Brett Scott, who approached Vaz about getting Yak to appear on their new mixtape.^[1] At the urging of Vaz, the MC agreed to work with Mondee. This would lead to a lasting music relationship.

Breaking Out[link]

Bobbito Garcia, world renown radio personality known for breaking records and introducing new talent in New York City during the Indie Hip Hop boom in the mid to late 90’s, liked Yak’s demo, Flossin’, so much that he put it in rotation on his CM Famalam show on 89.9-FM WKCR in New York. He later invited Yak to appear on the show in 1998. After a few impressive appearances on WKCR, and Flossin’ gaining regular rotation, Bobbito approached Yak about some new original music. Yak's lyrics caught the attention of Cage, who was impressed enough to reach out to him; making him an original member of The Weathermen.

Followup Releases[link]

Soon after, Yak released his first 12-inch, Homepiss in 2000, courtesy of Bobbito and his Fondle’em label. His 4-song EP was released featuring Flossin', The Plague, Nasty or Nice, and Homepiss.^[2]

The Freakshow[link]

In 2001, Yak followed up the EP with a stand-out 3 song vinyl 12-inch, The Freakshow,^[3] which was one of the first ever 12-inch releases by the indie Hip Hop label Definitive Jux.Vinyl specialty stores and Web sites quickly sold out of the three-song 12-inch that featured cover art by TCK brother Ewok One 5MH.^{[citation needed]} El-P even included The Freak Show on 2002’s Definitive Jux Presents 2 compilation album.

While You Where Sleeping[link]

In 2003, he released While You Were Sleeping b/w The Drill 12-inch with Traffic Entertainment. Once Eastern Conference Records, then home to fellow Weathermen; Cage and Tame One, heard of this single they moved to sign Yak to an album deal. After working on The Weathermen’s Conspiracy mixtape (2003)^[4] Yak Ballz released his first album, My Claim^[5] in 2004 with guest appearances from both Cage and Tame One. He worked with producer Mondee for production and engineer Joe Raia. His lyrical content on My Claim was fueled by his Queens life and college experiences. After leaving Eastern Conference, Yak put out a mixtape in 2005, The Missing Cassettes consisting of rare and unreleased material.

Scifentology[link]

In 2006 he released Scifentology, a mixtape put out by Yak himself and Scifen clothing company which features cover art by Ewok One 5MH.^[6] Yak’s lyrics became more introspective and the beats changed on Scifentology by relying more on rock and synthesized instrumentation^{[citation needed]}. The mixtape started as an innocent idea and promotional tool to help cross-market Yak with the Scifen clothing brand, but it quickly became one of the most talked-about mixtapes of the year within the indie Hip Hop world in ‘06^{[citation needed]}.

Scifentology II[link]

January 2008, Yak released his sophomore effort, Scifentology II^[7] on FloSpot Records in conjunction with Scifen Clothing. Scifentology II features production from the likes of Aesop Rock, the late Camu Tao, Mondee, Chapter 7, Adept, and Chris Maestro TCK. It also has guest appearances from Cage, Tame One and Slow Suicide Stimulus. The album is packed tight with cathartic rhymes of grit, wit, shuddering images, and has received critical acclaim^{[citation needed]}. Ewok One 5MH, premier urban artist and senior designer for Scifen clothing, also designed Scifentology II's full-color cover. Feb 2009, “Dirt Empire,” produced by Aesop Rock, won the MTVu Best Freshman Video with over 40,000 views.^[8]

Current Work and Education[link]

Currently, Yak is working on a extended play called 'Gas Galaxy', due out on Definitive Jux sometime in fall of 2009. Yak has performed the title song in support of Cage's Depart From Me tour. Yak is a graduate from New Paltz State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.^[1]

Selected discography[link]

Albums[link]

• My Claim (Eastern Conference Records/Caroline - 2004)+
• Scifentology I (Scifen Records - 2006)
• Scifentology II (FloSpot Records- 2008)
• "onomatopoeia" featuring Johnny 5

12 Inch Releases[link]

• "Homepiss" / "Nasty or Nice" b/w "The Plague" / "Flossin" (Fondle'em Records - 2000)
• "The Freakshow" b/w "For the Critics"/ "Reign" (Definitive Jux Records - 2001)
• "The Drill" b/w "While You Were Sleeping" (Jersey Roots Entertainment/Traffic - 2003)

Compilations[link]

• “Flossin” - Farewell Fondle'em (Definitive Jux Records - 2001)
• "The Freakshow" Definitive Jux Presents II (Definitive Jux Records – 2002)
• "5 Left In the Clip" with The Weathermen - Eastern Conference Allstars III (Eastern Conference Records - 2003)
• "Let the Games Begin" feat. Vast Aire - Eastern Conference Allstars IV (Eastern Conference Records - 2004)

Appears On[link]

• 2003: "5 Left in The Clip" b/w "5 Left in The Clip Remix" 12-inch from The Weathermen album (Eastern Conference Records)
• 2004: "Got Wet?" from the Leak Bros (Cage and Tame One) album Waterworld (Eastern Conference Records)
• 2004: "High Fidelity" from the Tame One album "O.G. Bobby Johnson" (Eastern Conference Records)
• 2005: "Get Da Duh" 12-Inch with Kosha Dillz (Matza 4 Yo’ Mouf Records)
• 2005: "Left It To Us" from the Cage album Hell's Winter feat. The Weathermen (Aesop Rock, El-P, Tame One, Cage, Yak Ballz) (Definitive Jux Records)
• 2006: "Antidote" from the Slow Suicide Stimulus album Slow Suicide Stimulus (FloSpot Records)
• 2006: "Say Cheese" from the Slow Suicide Stimulus album Slow Suicide Stimulus (FloSpot Records)
• 2009: “The Baskervilles (AmpLive Die Hard Remix)” from the Fight Night Round 4 Soundtrack feat Aesop Rock and Yak Ballz
• 2009: "Corruption As Usual" and "Chromatics (CCM)" from the Chapter 7 album "The Color Scheme"

Mix CD's[link]

• 2005: The Missing Cassettes
• 2006: Scifentology: The Mixtape

Notes and references[link]

External links[link]

• YakBallz.net
• Yak Ballz Myspace
• Yak Ballz Tv - youtube
• Yak Ballz IMEEM

Paolo Nutini
Paolo Nutini performing in 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Paolo Giovanni Nutini
Born	(1987-01-09) 9 January 1987 (age 25)
Origin	Paisley, Scotland
Genres	Pop rock, Blue eyed soul, folk, blues, Easy Listening,
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Atlantic
Website	paolonutini.com

Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987^[1]) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley.

Paolo Nutini's debut album, These Streets, was released by Atlantic Records in the United Kingdom in July 2006 and included the singles "Last Request", "Jenny Don't Be Hasty", "Rewind" and "New Shoes". "Last Request", the most successful, reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. The album peaked at number three on the UK Album Chart and was certified 4× platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).^[2] It has been in the album charts for a record-breaking 196 weeks.

In May 2009 Nutini released his second album, Sunny Side Up, which debuted at number one in the UK and has produced four singles; "Candy", "Coming Up Easy", "Pencil Full of Lead" and "10/10". It has so far been certified 4x platinum by the BPI.^[2] On 19 February 2010, it scooped "Best International Album" at the 2010 Meteor Awards.

Life and career[link]

Early life and breakthrough (1987–2006)[link]

Nutini's father is of Italian descent, from Barga, Tuscany, although both his parents are third-generation Scottish.

Paolo Nutini was expecting to follow his father into the family fish and chip shop business. He was first encouraged to sing by his music-loving grandfather, Jackie, and a teacher at his school, St Andrews Academy, who recognised his talent. He left school to work as a roadie and to sell t-shirts for Speedway. He spent three years learning the music business and performing live. He later worked as a studio hand at Glasgow's Park Lane Studio.

His big chance came when he attended a concert staged by 102.5 Clyde 1 for David Sneddon's return to his home town of Paisley at the beginning of 2003. Sneddon was delayed, and as the winner of an impromptu pop quiz, Nutini was given the chance to perform a couple of songs on stage during the wait. The favourable reaction of the crowd impressed another member of the audience, Brendan Moon, who offered to become his manager. Brendan and his business partner Mike Bawden continue to manage Paolo. Only 17, Nutini moved to London and performed regularly at The Bedford pub in Balham. Other radio and live appearances followed, including two live acoustic spots on Radio London, The Hard Rock Cafe, and support slots for The Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse and KT Tunstall.

When Nutini was young he was a member of PACE Youth Theatre

[edit] These Streets and mainstream breakthrough (2006–2009)

Nutini performing in September 2006.

Throughout 2006 Nutini played a number of sold-out concerts in the UK and performed at a wide variety of venues worldwide, including King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, a TV appearance on Later with Jools Holland, Carnegie Hall in New York, The Montreux Jazz Festival, The Wireless Festival, Oxegen and T in the Park. He supported the Rolling Stones in Vienna and was invited to appear with them again at the Don Valley Stadium in August 2006. He was also booked to appear at the V Festival and The Austin City Limits Music Festival, Texas later in 2006, with a European tour in the autumn. In May 2006, he also played at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Dundee.

On Hogmanay 2006, Nutini appeared on BBC Scotland's Hogmanay Live celebrations, after the official celebrations in Princes Street Gardens were cancelled at short notice due to abysmal weather. He performed several songs in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle for the TV audience with little or no rehearsal. On Wednesday 11 April 2007, Nutini performed in a concert that was streamed live via MSN Music.

Nutini performed at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2007 on the famous Pyramid Stage on the second day of the event. Nutini also performed at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium on 7 July 2007, with his set including a cover of "What A Wonderful World", a classic pop tune by Bob Thiele, George David Weiss, and George Douglas. He performed the following day at T in the Park, in Scotland.^[3] He performed at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert on 10 December 2007, an event that drew enormous international attention as it was the first full live concert performance by Led Zeppelin in 27 years. Scottish independent TV company Volt MediaFix made a one-off documentary of Nutini's US tour. The programme, for the BBC, was scheduled for broadcast on BBC2, on Thursday 7 June throughout Scotland and on Sky channel 990 throughout the rest of the UK.

Nutini's songs have infiltrated American TV shows as well. "Last Request" featured at the end of the Scrubs episode "My Words of Wisdom" from Season 6, the first-ever episode of "Gavin and Stacey," and the One Tree Hill Season-4 episode "The Birth and Death of the Day." "Million Faces" could be heard at the end of the Grey's Anatomy episode "Testing 1–2–3" from Season 3 and is on the Volume 3 Soundtrack. "Rewind" was played at the end of CSI: Miami Season-5 episode "Broken Home." "Jenny, Don't Be Hasty" was also featured on another member of the CSI franchise when it played on CSI: NY's Season-3-finale, "Snow Day". "New Shoes" featured in The Jane Austen Book Club and in a TV ad for Puma AG during summer 2008. On 24 July 2007, Nutini was awarded The Golden St. Christopher medal by the city of Barga in Italy, the highest honour the city can give, to celebrate his extraordinary contributions to Barga and its people.^[4] On 17 September, Nutini performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno performing "Last Request". In September 2007, Nutini recorded a short radio show with imeem.com where he listed his top 10 favourite tracks and the reasons behind his choices.^[5] In October 2007, Nutini performed for the annual Voodoo Fest held in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2008, Nutini's music was featured in a movie adaptation of Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance. On New Year's Eve 2008–09, Nutini performed at the Hogmanay street parties in both Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, becoming the first act to play both locations on the same day for the event. In The View's 2009 album Which Bitch?, he is featured singing on the song "Covers."

[edit] Sunny Side Up and continued musical success (2009–present)

On 1 June 2009, Nutini released his second studio album Sunny Side Up, which debuted at number one. The first single from the album "Candy" was released on 25 May. In July, he appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, performing "Coming Up Easy". This was released as the second single to the album on 10 August and it debuted at number 62 in the UK Singles Chart on 16 August 2009.^[6] On 10 September 2009, Nutini performed "Coming Up Easy" on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. The third single from the album was "Pencil Full of Lead".

The album received a mixed critical reception. Allmusic's Thom Jurek noted the move away from the sound of the debut album: "Nutini has taken huge chunks of America's (and Scotland's) pop and folk pasts and reshaped them in his own image," going on to describe it as "wise beyond this songwriter's years".^[7] Andy Gill of The Independent commented on Nutini's progress since his debut, saying the album "sees the singer making giant strides in several directions", and going on to say "don't be surprised if, come December, this is one of the year's biggest-selling albums."^[8] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph was also positive, stating "his joyous second album organically blends soul, country, folk and the brash, horny energy of ragtime swing."^[9]

Some reviewers were less impressed. It was described by The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan as "not bad", with opening track "10/10" described as "jaunty enough to make you retch".^[10] Graeme Thompson of The Observer saw the album as an attempt by Nutini at "rebranding himself as a mongrel hybrid of John Martyn, Otis Redding and Bob Marley".^[11]

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with sales of over 60,000 copies, fighting off strong competition from Love & War, the debut album of fellow male solo artist Daniel Merriweather. The album performed similarly well on the Irish Albums Chart, debuting at number two behind Eminem's new album before rising to the top of the charts the week after.

The album has been one of the best UK album sales of the year. On the UK Albums Chart on the Week of Monday 19 Oct, the album move from number 31 to number 5, making the album sell more than The Saturdays' second album.^[12] On 3 January 2010 Sunny Side Up topped the UK Album Charts for a second time, making the album the first Number one album in the United Kingdom of 2010 and the decade.^{[13][14][15][16][17]}

On 19 February 2010, Colin Farrell presented Nutini with "Best International Album" for Sunny Side Up at the 2010 Meteor Awards.^[18]

Paolo Nutini embarked on a world tour with his Sunny Side Up album. The band consisted of, in addition to Paolo: Donny Little-Guitars, Vocals Seamus Simon-Drums Michael McDaid-Bass, Keyboard Dave Nelson-Guitars, Keyboard, Vocals, Percussion Gavin Fitzjohn-Trumpet, Saxophone Ben Edwards - trumpet & flugelhorn, and Tom Pinder - trombone & sousaphone. The brass section are collectively known as the "Horns of Thunder" (a name formed by Paolo himself)

Legacy[link]

Recording history[link]

Paolo Nutini performing in 2008.

Nutini made his first demo which saw him signed to Atlantic Records in May 2005, shortly after his 18th birthday. He released his first single "These Streets" as a free download in May 2006; this was then followed by his next single "Last Request" which was released on 4 July 2006 and charted at number 5 in the official UK charts. In the video for "Last Request", Nutini plays the part of a robber – though this is not revealed until the end. Nutini's third single, "Jenny Don't Be Hasty", was released on 25 September 2006 and got to number 20 on the UK Singles Chart. "Rewind" was Nutini's fourth single. It was released on 4 December 2006, and reached number 27 in the UK.

His debut album These Streets, produced by Ken Nelson (who has also worked with Coldplay and Gomez), was released on 17 July 2006 and immediately entered the UK album charts at number three. Many of the songs on the album, including "Last Request" and "Rewind", were inspired by a turbulent relationship with his girlfriend Teri Brogan, and "Jenny Don't Be Hasty" is a true story about encounters with an older woman. These Streets, as Paolo himself puts it on his official website, he states, "The album is a little glimpse of some of the experiences I have been through in the last three years". In late 2007 he covered Labi Siffre's "It Must Be Love" for BBC Radio 1's Radio 1 Established 1967 album.

His self-produced second album Sunny Side Up was released on 1 June 2009.^[19]

As of February 2011, Paolo Nutini was in the studio working on new material.^[20]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• These Streets (2006)
• Sunny Side Up (2009)

Awards and nominations[link]

External links[link]

• Official Paolo Nutini website
• "Singer Paulo Nutini headlined the Hogmanay bash..." eveningtimes.co.uk,^[29] 1–1–09.

References[link]

Skylar Grey
Skylar Grey singing at the Tibet Talk For World Peace in July 2011
Background information
Birth name	Holly Brook Hafermann[1]
Also known as	Holly Brook[2]
Born	(1986-02-23) February 23, 1986 (age 26)
Origin	Mazomanie, Wisconsin, United States
Genres	Pop, soul, folk rock, rock, hip hop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar
Years active	2004–present
Labels	KIDinaKORNER, Interscope, Machine Shop
Website	www.skylargreymusic.com

Holly Brook Hafermann (born February 23, 1986) better known by her stage name Skylar Grey, is an five-time Grammy-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Grey was signed to Machine Shop Recordings under the name Holly Brook. She released her debut album as Holly Brook, Like Blood Like Honey, in 2006. She co-wrote the three versions of "Love the Way You Lie" (for Eminem and Rihanna) with Alex da Kid, who signed her to his Wonderland Music label. She was featured as a guest vocalist on Fort Minor's "Where'd You Go" and "Be Somebody", Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home", Dr. Dre's "I Need a Doctor", Lupe Fiasco's "Words I Never Said" and Kaskade's "Room for Happiness".

Life and career[link]

2001–2010: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Grey performed professionally as a child in a folk duo with her mother called Generations.^[3] Together, (with producer/engineer Randy Green) they independently produced three albums, Dream Maker, Lift Me, and Millennial Child/Waiting For You. Grey started her first band at the age of fifteen after 'sneaking' into bars, working with jazz musicians including Jeff Eckles, Tim Whalen and Leo Sidran in Madison, Wisconsin.

In 2003, Grey moved to Los Angeles and recorded a demo as Holly Brook, which would be her stage name for several years. This demo led to her being signed in the fall of 2004 by Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson to the band's vanity label, Machine Shop Recordings; she was 18 years old. Her voice is featured on the Fort Minor songs "Where'd You Go" and "Be Somebody". Working with producer Jonathan Ingoldsby, Brook released her debut album, Like Blood Like Honey, on June 6, 2006. She landed opening spots for tours with Jamie Cullum, KD Lang, Daniel Powter, Teddy Geiger and Duncan Sheik.

In 2010, Brook lent both her song "It's Raining Again" and her image to a promotional campaign for Ciao Water.^[4] Prior to this, she has appeared on albums by other artists, including Brie Larson's Finally Out of P.E. and Fort Minor's The Rising Tied. Brook has toured with as part of Duncan Sheik's band, and appears heavily on his 2009 album Whisper House. At the beginning in 2010 she also performed in the theatrical version of "Whisper House," playing one of the two lead ghost vocalists along with David Poe.^[5] Also in 2010, she self-released the seven-song O’Dark:Thirty EP, produced by Duncan Sheik and Jon Ingoldsby.^[6] In 2009, Brook appeared as a backing vocalist on Eurovision contestant, Yohanna's debut album, Butterflies and Elvis.

[edit] 2011: Invinsible

Brook later changed her name to Skylar Grey. She explained that “it represents the unknowns in life. People seem to be afraid of the unknowns, but I’m the complete opposite. I dive into the unknown because I feel like that’s where all your possibilities come from.”^[7] She explained to Beatweek that she chose "grey" with an e rather than an a because “I like to do things the original way" and because "it’s more masculine. I’m not a very feminine person."^[8]

She was still living in Oregon and had no recognition as Skylar Grey. Grey went to New York to meet her publisher, Jennifer Blakeman, who played Grey the song "Airplanes" by B.O.B and Hayley Williams and produced by Alex da Kid; Grey liked what she heard so Blakeman introduced her and Alex da Kid via e-mail. Alex da Kid sent Grey a few tracks he had been working on and the first song she wrote was "Love The Way You Lie".

Alex da Kid signed her to a production deal on his KIDinaKORNER imprint.^[9] She wrote the hook to all three versions of "Love the Way You Lie" by rapper Eminem and Rihanna as well as all of the lyrics and melody to versions II and III of the song. She can be heard performing the demo for all versions of the song. Grey earned a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year for her writing contributions to "Love the Way You Lie".^[10] She also co-wrote Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home",^[11] along with "Castle Walls" by T.I. and Christina Aguilera.^[12] On March 10, 2011, Diddy-Dirty Money performed the single "Coming Home" with Grey and Dirty Money vocalists, Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper, live on American Idol.^[13]

She is also a writer and featured guest on "I Need a Doctor".^[14] Grey is also featured on Lupe Fiasco's third studio album Lasers, on the second single, "Words I Never Said" and was also featured in the live performance of the song, with Lupe, on The Colbert Report on May 9, 2011. Grey made her live performance debut under her new alias during the 53rd Grammy Awards, performing "I Need a Doctor" alongside Eminem and Dr. Dre. She is currently working on her solo studio album Invinsible with Alex Da Kid. She has signed to Interscope Records through Da Kid's KIDinaKORNER,^[15] and her first promotional buzz single "Dance Without You"^[16] was released on June 6, 2011, with the official music video being released on July 5.^[17] The first official single "Invisible" was released to radio on June 16. On July 9, 2011, Grey performed live at the World Peace Event in Washington, DC, appearing along with the 14th Dalai Lama.^[18][19] On 6 August, she performed at the 20th Lollapalooza festival as both a solo artist and with Eminem during the song "I Need A Doctor". The next day, while passing by the area where YouTube sensation Karmin was recording their cover of "I Need A Doctor," Grey joined the duo for an impromptu performance.^[20] She performed alongside rapper Eli Porter on the September 20, 2011 episode of Tosh.0.

Grey also featured on Kaskade's 2011 album Fire & Ice, writing and singing on two versions of the song "Room for Happiness", which became the album's third single.

It was also reported that Grey would be contributing to The Band Perry's sophomore album, which is set to be released in 2012.^[21][22]

On April 1, 2012 Grey performed the hit song Invinsible with Machine Gun Kelly at Wrestlemania XXVIII before John Cena's entrance at the main event against Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Influences[link]

Grey has listed Garbage, Joni Mitchell, Marilyn Manson, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Sarah McLachlan and Death Cab for Cutie as her influences.^[23][24]

Discography[link]

• Like Blood Like Honey (2006)
• Invinsible (2012)

EP

• Holly Brook EP (2005)
• Sony CONNECT Sets (2005)
• O'Dark:Thirty EP (2010)
• The Buried Sessions of Skylar Grey (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• skylargrey's channel on YouTube
• Skylar Grey on Facebook
• Skylar Grey on Twitter