The Vengi (Telugu: వేంగి) kingdom extended from the Godavari River in the north to Mount Mahendragiri in the southeast and to just south of the banks of River Krishna in the south of India. This area was part of Kalinga until that kingdom was conquered by Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire in the mid 3rd century BC. After the Mauryan Empire collapsed in 185 BC, the region was dominated by the Satavahanas, who were succeeded in Vengi by the Andhra Ikshvakus. Around 300 AD the Andhra Ikshvakus were replaced by the Salankayanas, who were vassals of the Pallavas of Southern India. In the late 5th century the Salankayanas were annexed by the Vishnukundinas.

King Pulakesin II of the Chalukya conquered Vengi from the Vishnukundinas in the early 7th century CE and installed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana as the viceroy. He eventually established the Eastern Chalukya dynasty. The Eastern Chalukyas were first conquered by the Cholas under Raja Raja Chola I (985-1014) and subsequently became very closely aligned to the Chola empire through marital alliance between the Cholas and the Eastern Chalukyas. This insulated the Eastern Chalukyas from the interference of the Western Chalukyas who sought to make the Eastern Chalukyas as their subordinates. During the reign of the Kulothunga Chola I the Vengi kingdom got absorbed into the Chola empire.

Satavahana period[link]

The Vengi territory was part of Asoka's empire and Satavahanas were the Mauryan feudatories administering the area. Following Asoka's death and the decline of the Mauryas, Satavahana Simuka established the Satavahana dynasty, which came to include even the Magadha and Bengal at its height.The Satavahanas lasted for the next four hundred years after which the local chieftains like Pallavas and Eastern Chalukyas took control of the kingdom.

Vengi Chalukyas[link]

The Eastern Chalukyas of the 7th and 8th century, were a branch of the Chalukyas of Badami. Pulakesin II, the renowned ruler of Chalukyas conquered Vengi (at a battle near Eluru) in 624 CE from Vishnukundinas and installed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana (624- 641 CE) as its ruler. His dynasty, known as the Eastern Chalukyas, ruled for a century. Vishnuvardhana extended his dominions up to Srikakulam in the north and Nellore in the south. They had faced many wars for the next three centuries from Rashtrakutas and others. The Western Chalukya king Satyasraya tried to amalgamate the two dynasties, but was not successful due to the constant battles with the Paramaras and the Cholas.

To counter the interference of the Western Chalukyas, Rajaraja supported Saktivarman I, an Eastern Chalukya prince who was in exile in the Chola country. He invaded Vengi in 999 C.E. to restore Saktivarman to the Eastern Chalukya throne. Saktivarman finally got his throne back in 1002 C.E. and consented to recognise the Rajaraja overlordship.

[edit] Later Cholas

Vengi was part of kingdom of Later Cholas during the 12th century. The Western Chalukyas under the king Vikramaditya VI occupied Vengi in 1118, but the Cholas under Vikrama Chola regained Vengi from Chalukya monarch Somesvara III in 1126-27 AD with the help of the Velanati Chodas of Tsandavolu.

Later kingdoms[link]

Between 1135 and 1206 C.E., several other minor kingdoms ruled over parts of Andhra Pradesh accepting the authority of the Velanati Cholas. By 1208 C.E., Vengi was part of Kakatiya Empire and later became part of the Vijayanagara Empire in 14th century C.E.

Literature[link]

Vengi has occupied a prominent place in the history of Andhra Pradesh since the time of Eastern Chalukyas. They patronised Telugu. Since the time of the Eastern Chalukya Gunaga Vijayaditya, inscriptions show Telugu prose and poetry, culminating in the production of literary works. Later on, in the 11th century under the patronage of the then Vengi king, Rajaraja Narendra, the great epic, Mahabharata was translated partly by his court poet, Nannaya.

References[link]

• K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, A History of South India (Madras, 1976).
• K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, An Advanced History of India (1980)

Pepe Kalle (November 30, 1951 – November 28, 1998) was a soukous singer, musician and bandleader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Pepe Kalle was born Kabasele Yampanya in Kinshasa (then Léopoldville), but later assumed the name of his mentor, Grand Kalle.

With a multi-octave vocal range and a dynamic stage presence, the 190 cm (6 feet 3 inches) and 136 kg (300 pound) vocalist recorded more than three hundred songs and twenty albums during his two decade-long career. Known affectionately as "the elephant of African music" and "La Bombe Atomique", Kalle entertained audiences with his robust performances.

His musical career started with African Jazz, the band of Grand Kalle. He later become the lead singer of Lipua Lipua, where he sung alongside Nyboma Mwandido. In 1972, Kalle along with Dilu Dilumona and Papy Tex, left Lipua Lipua to form their own band named Empire Bakuba. Empire Bakuba took its name from a Congolese warrior tribe, and it pointedly incorporated rootsy rhythms from the interior, sounds that had long been sidelined by popular rumba. The band was an instant hit, and together with Zaiko Langa Langa they became Kinshasa's most popular youth band. With hits such as Pepe Kalle's Dadou and Papy Tex's Sango ya mawa, the band was a constant fixture on the charts. They also created a new dance, the kwassa kwassa.

On their tenth anniversary in 1982, the band was voted Zaire's top group. Throughout the early 1980s, Empire Bakuba continued to tour extensively while releasing no less than four albums a year. By the mid eighties, they had a large following throughout Francophone Central and West Africa. His 1986 collaboration with Nyboma labelled Zouke zouke was one of the years top selling albums. But it was his second collaboration with Nyboma, Moyibi (1988), which launched his popularity throughout Africa.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kalle fused elements of the fast paced version of soukous produced in Paris studios. His 1990 album, Roger Milla, a tribute to the exploits of the great Camerounian footballer, is a classic example of this arrangement.

In 1992 the band faced its first major calamity when Emoro, the band's dancing dwarf, died while on tour in Botswana. Despite this setback, Pepe Kalle's popularity continued to soar in the nineties as he released albums like Gigantafrique, Larger than life and Cocktail. He also collaborated with other legends like Lutumba Simaro and Nyoka Longo.

Pepe Kalle died of a heart attack in November 1998.

External links[link]

• Pepe Kalle at Africa Music Centre
• Pepe Kalle at Afropop

The Hit Squad was a 1990s hip hop collective of East coast hip hop artists formed by Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith better known as EPMD. The collective separated when EPMD broke up for the first time in 1993, later reforming as Def Squad.

Career[link]

After the success of their debut album Strictly Business, EPMD sought to mentor new artists. The first artist to make a guest appearance on an EPMD album was K-Solo. Solo was featured on their second album Unfinished Business on the song "Knick Knack Patty Wack". The first mention of "Hit Squad" appeared on EPMD's third album Business as Usual on the track "Hit Squad Heist". The lyrics mention Redman, K-Solo and Tom J of Knucklehedz.^[1] Redman is also featured on two tracks of that album.

In 1993, EPMD released the single "Headbanger" from their fourth album Business Never Personal. The single featured K-Solo and Redman and the music video features appearances by most of the Hit Squad.^[2] The single reached #11 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart.^[3] The single's success made "Head Banger" the Squad's "signature song".^[4] The album also features Das EFX on the track "Cummin' At Cha".

Breakup[link]

In late-1992, tensions grew within the Hit Squad. According an article in The Source, Squad members alleged financial impropriety by Smith who owned their management company. Smith's home was invaded by armed intruders believed to have been hired by Squad members. While Smith declined to publically give details on who was behind the invasion, Sermon was arrested and briefly detained for questioning, but no charges were filed.^[2] EPMD officially broke up in January 1993. Redman and Hurricane G continued to collaborate with Sermon while Das EFX and DJ Scratch remained under Smith's management. K-Solo pursued separate endeavors.^[2] The debut album by Knucklehedz became lost in the shuffle in the midst of the breakup and was shelved.^[5]

Sermon later formed the Def Squad with Redman and another protege Keith Murray. Smith continued to mention the name "Hit Squad" on his subsequent solo albums and on EPMD's reunion albums, but it remained unclear who the members the new Squad were. Smith appeared alongside rap unknowns Blast, Poogi and L The Pro on the classic 1997 Tony Touch mixtape Power Cypha 2, credited as "PMD & The Hit Squad". In 2004, Smith released an album titled Hit Squad: Zero Tolerance using previously unreleased verses by the original members combined with his latest new artists.

As of the 2006 EPMD reunion, most of the former Hit Squad members also reunited along with Def Squad rapper Keith Murray.^[4] A new album for the Hit Squad/Def Squad is planned.

Another reunion was staged in 2012.^[6][7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Hit Squad on Myspace
• Hit Squad at Allmusic
• Hit Squad at Discogs
• 1995 Redman interview