The burh wall at Wallingford

A Burh is an Old English name for a fortified town or other defended site, sometimes centred upon a hill fort though always intended as a place of permanent settlement, its origin was in military defence; "it represented only a stage, though a vitally important one, in the evolution of the medieval English borough and of the medieval town", H. R. Loyn asserted.^[1] The boundaries of ancient burhs can often still be traced to modern urban borough limits. Most of these were founded by Alfred the Great in a consciously planned policy that was continued under his son Edward the Elder and his daughter, Æthelflaed, "Lady of the Mercians" and her husband Æthelred, Ealdorman of Mercia; the Mercian Register tells of the building of ten burhs by Aethelflaed, some as important as Tamworth and Stafford, others now unidentifiable.^[2] Some were based on pre-existing Roman structures, some newly built, though some may have been built later. Athelstan granted these burhs the right to mint coinage, and in the tenth and eleventh centuries the firm rule was that no coin was to be struck outside a burh.^[3]

A 10th century document called the Burghal Hidage cites 30 burhs in Wessex and three in Mercia (then under the domination of the West Saxon kings), built to defend the region against Viking raids.

Only eight of the burhs achieved municipal status in the Middle Age: Chester, Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford, Hertford, Warwick, Buckingham and Maldon.^[4], The largest were at Winchester, Wallingford and Warwick, whilst Wallingford and Wareham are the best preserved examples, with substantial ditches and banks still visible. It has been estimated that construction of Wallingford's 9,000 feet of bank would have taken more than 120,000 man hours. Burh towns also usually had regular street layouts, some of which are also preserved.

See also[link]

• Burgh
• Borough
• Ancient borough

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

• 33 Burhs listed in the Burghal Hidage

This article related to the history of England is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Judd Winick
Winick in San Francisco, January 2011
Born	(1970-02-12) February 12, 1970 (age 42) Long Island, New York
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Cartoonist, Writer, Penciller, Inker, Letterer
Spouse	Pam Ling
Official website

Judd Winick (born February 12, 1970) is an American comic book, comic strip and television writer/artist and former reality television personality. Winick first gained fame for his 1994 stint on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco, before earning success for his work on comic books as Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Pedro and Me, his autobiographical graphic novel about his friendship with Real World castmate and AIDS educator Pedro Zamora. He also created the animated TV series The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, which ran for three seasons on Cartoon Network.

Early life and career[link]

Winick was born February 12, 1970,^[1] and grew up in Dix Hills, New York.^[2] He graduated from high school in 1988 and entered the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor's School of Art, intending to emulate his cartoonist heroes, Garry Trudeau and Berkeley Breathed. His comic strip, "Nuts and Bolts", began running in the school’s newspaper, the Michigan Daily, in his freshman year, and he was selected to speak at graduation. U of M also published a small print-run of a collection of his strips called Watching the Spin-Cycle: The Nuts & Bolts Collection. In his senior year, Universal Press Syndicate, which syndicates strips such as Doonesbury and Calvin & Hobbes, offered Winick a development contract. After graduation, Winick lived in an apartment in Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, with fellow writer Brad Meltzer, struggling to develop Nuts and Bolts for UPS, while working at a bookstore. On January 1, 1993, UPS decided not to renew Winick’s strip for syndication, feeling it could not compete in the current market. Winick was unable to secure syndication with another company, and was forced to move back in with his parents by the middle of 1993, doing unfulfilling T-shirt work for beer companies.^[3][4] Winick also had Nuts & Bolts in development with the children’s television network Nickelodeon as an animated series, even turning the human characters into mice, and proposing new titles like Young Urban Mice and Rat Race, but nothing came of it.^[5]

[edit] The Real World: San Francisco

Winick applied to be on MTV network’s reality TV show, The Real World: San Francisco, hoping for fame and a career boost. During the casting process, the producers of the show conducted an in-person, videotaped interview with Winick. When asked how he would feel about living with someone who was HIV-positive, Winick gave what he thought was an enthusiastic, politically correct answer, despite reservations. Winick was accepted as a cast member on the show in January 1994. The producers informed the housemates that they would be living with someone who was HIV-positive, but they did not reveal who it was.^[6] Winick and his six castmates (Mohammed Bilal, Rachel Campos, Pam Ling, Cory Murphy, David "Puck" Rainey, and Pedro Zamora) moved into the house at 953 Lombard Street on Russian Hill on February 12. Winick became roommates with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora, who informed Winick that he was an AIDS educator, and showing his scrapbook to Winick and the other housemates.^[7]

Winick's Nuts and Bolts strip began running in the San Francisco Examiner in March of that year.

Winick, who is Jewish, was offended at David "Puck" Rainey's wearing of a T-shirt depicting four guns arranged in the shape of a swastika, and by Rainey's refusal to accede to Winick's request not to wear it.^[8]

After filming of the season ended, Winick and Ling moved to Los Angeles to continue their relationship.

By August 1994, Zamora's health began to decline. After being hospitalized, he asked Winick to substitute for him at a national AIDS education lecture. When Zamora died on November 11, 1994, Winick and Ling were at his bedside. Winick would continue Zamora's educational work for some time after that.^[9]

Writing and art career[link]

Comics[link]

Winick at Midtown Comics East in New York City, June 24, 2004.

Winick designed illustrations for The Complete Idiot's Guide to... series of books,^[10] and has done over 300 of them, including that series’ computer-oriented line. A collection of the computer-related titles' cartoons was published in 1997 as Terminal Madness, The Complete Idiot's Guide Computer Cartoon Collection.^[5]

While working on Pedro and Me, Winick also began working on comic books, beginning with a one-page Frumpy the Clown cartoon in Oni Press’ anthology series, Oni Double Feature #4, in 1998, before going on to do longer stories, like the two-part Road Trip, which was published in issues #9 and 10 of the same book. Road Trip went on to become an Eisner Award nominee for Best Sequential Story.

Winick followed up with a three-issue miniseries, The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius, about a cynical, profane grade school whizz kid, who invents a myriad of futuristic devices that no one other than his best friend knows about. Barry Ween was published by Image Comics from March through May 1999, with two subsequent miniseries, The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius 2.0 and The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Monkey Tales (Retitled The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius 3 or The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Gorilla Warfare in the collected editions), published by Oni Press, which also published trade paperback collections of all three miniseries. Barry Ween was also optioned by Platinum Studios to be adapted into an animated series, but to date, nothing has come of this.

Winick’s graphic novel, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned, was published in September 2000. It was awarded six American Library Association awards, was nominated for an Eisner Award, won Winick his first GLAAD award, has been praised by creators such as Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, and Armistead Maupin, and has been incorporated into school curricula across the country. Among its other awards are:

• 2000 Publishers Weekly Best Book
• 2000 Bay Area Book Reviewers Award for Best in Children's Literature
• 2000 Eisner Nomination for Best Original Graphic Novel
• 2001 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor Award
• 2001 American Library Association Notable Children's Book citation
• 2001 American Library Association Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Roundtable Nonfiction Honor book
• YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
• YALSA Notable Graphic Novels
• Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
• America's Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature Highly Recommended List (Award sponsored by the National Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs—CLASP).^[11]

Winick’s work in mainstream superhero comics has received attention for storylines in which he explores gay or AIDS-oriented themes. In his first regular writing assignment on a monthly superhero book, DC Comics' Green Lantern, Winick wrote a storyline in which Terry Berg, an assistant of the title character, emerged as a gay character in Green Lantern #137 (June 2001) and in Green Lantern #154 (November 2001) the story entitled "Hate Crime" gained media recognition when Terry was brutally beaten in a homophobic attack. Winick was interviewed on Phil Donahue's show on MSNBC for that storyline on August 15, 2002,^[12] and received two more GLAAD awards for his Green Lantern work.

In 2003, Judd Winick left Green Lantern for another DC book, Green Arrow, beginning with issue #26 of that title (July 2003). He gained more media recognition for Green Arrow #43 (December 2004) in which he revealed that Green Arrow's 17-year-old ward, a former runaway-turned prostitute named Mia Dearden, was HIV-positive. In issue #45 (February 2005), Winick had Dearden take on the identity of Speedy, the second such Green Arrow sidekick to bear that name, making her the most prominent HIV-positive superhero to star in an ongoing comic book, a decision for which Winick was interviewed on CNN.^[13]

Winick’s other comic book work includes Batman, The Outsiders, and Marvel's Exiles. Winick was also responsible for bringing Jason Todd, the second character known as Batman’s sidekick Robin, back from the dead, and making him the new Red Hood, the second such Batman villain by that name. Winick also wrote a five-issue miniseries for DC’s Vertigo imprint called Blood & Water, about a young man with terminal illness whose two friends reveal to him that they are vampires, and that they wish to save his life by turning him into a vampire himself. Between September 2005 and March 2006, Winick wrote the four-issue Captain Marvel/Superman limited series, Superman/Shazam: First Thunder with art by Josh Middleton. Winick continued his work with the Marvel Family in a 12-issue limited series called The Trials Of Shazam!, and continued his Green Arrow work with 2007's Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special, which led to the ongoing series Green Arrow and Black Canary, the first 14 issues of which Winick wrote. He is currently the writer of Titans. In November 2007, DC also released a Teen Titans East special (a prequel for Titans), which was also scripted by Winick. Following the "Battle for the Cowl" storyline, Winick took over the writing on Batman for four issues.^[14][15][16] He co-wrote a 26-issue biweekly Justice League: Generation Lost with Keith Giffen, a title which alternated with Brightest Day.^[17] In addition he was a regular writer on the monthly Power Girl series.^{[citation needed]}

Starting in September 2011, under DC Comics' "New 52" relaunch, Winick began writing new Catwoman and Batwing ongoing series.^[18]

Television work[link]

Winick created an animated TV show named The Life and Times of Juniper Lee in 2005, which ran for three seasons on the Cartoon Network. Winick wrote the screenplay for Batman: Under the Red Hood the direct to DVD animated feature for Warner Premiere in 2010. It was based on the 1988-89 story arc "Batman: A Death in the Family" and the 2005 "Batman: Under the Hood" story arc that ran in the monthly Batman comic book series by DC Comics, the latter of which Winick had written.

Personal life[link]

Winick proposed to Ling with a cartoon he made for the occasion, and which he presented to her while wearing a gorilla suit. The cartoon presented Ling with two choices to answer his proposal. After she accepted his proposal, he summoned three singing Elvises.^[19] Winick and Ling married in a civil ceremony on August 26, 2001. Writer Armistead Maupin spoke at their ceremony.^[2] As of 2008, they have two children.^[20][21]

In popular culture[link]

In Pedro, Nick Oceano's 2008 film dramatizing Pedro Zamora's life, Winick is portrayed by Hale Appleman.^[22][23] Winick and his wife Pam can be seen in a cameo in a scene in which Jenn Liu and Alex Loynaz, as Ling and Zamora, are meeting up on a set of stairs.

Winick is also mentioned in Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.^[24]

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Judd Winick talks Juniper Lee m Newsarama
• Juniper Lee Community at LiveJournal
• Cartoon Network: Juniper Lee

Bruce Walter Timm (born on February 8, 1961) is an American character designer, animator and producer. He is also a writer and artist working in comics, and is known for his contributions building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, the DC animated universe.

Career[link]

Animation[link]

Timm's early career in animation was varied; he started at Filmation, working on the layout of Blackstar, Flash Gordon, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and its spin-off She-Ra: Princess of Power, and The Lone Ranger (Timm also did background work on G.I. Joe). He also worked for numerous other employers, including Ralph Bakshi, Don Bluth Productions, and attempted to find work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics, but without luck. In 1989, Timm joined Warner Bros. At Warner, Timm worked on Tiny Toon Adventures.

However, Timm is best known for his subsequent work on the animated series based on various DC Comics superheroes, popularly referred to as the "DCAU" (DC animated universe). Along with his Tiny Toons partner Eric Radomski, Timm co-created and produced Batman: The Animated Series, which premiered on September 5, 1992, and went on to co-create and produce Superman: The Animated Series (premiered in September 1996), The New Batman Adventures (premiered in September 1997), and Batman Beyond (premiered in January 1999). He also served as producer on the feature-length Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker before taking the helm as creator and producer of the animated version of Justice League, which debuted in November 2001. This series continued in the form of Justice League Unlimited. Timm actually had very little to do with the production of the Teen Titans animated series, though because of a mistake in the first season end credits he is often mistaken for an executive producer. Timm was also the producer and co-director of the direct-to-video Superman Doomsday.

Although he shared character designer duties on Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League with James Tucker, Timm did virtually all the original character designs for Batman: The Animated Series himself (with the exceptions of Mr. Freeze and the Riddler, who were designed by Mike Mignola and the characters Man Bat and the Mad Hatter, who were designed by Kevin Nowlan).

DC universe animated series, including Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Batman Beyond, and other DC-set works associated with Timm (and his collaborators') art styles are often referred to by fans as "The Timmverse" of DC comics, relating to those series' distillation of popular storylines from the comic book versions or the outright introduction of new characters or relationships (such as Harley Quinn, alterations to The Question's personality and background, or Batman and Wonder Woman's romantic fling).

His 2008 project Batman: Gotham Knight is a departure from the "Timmverse" style, with Timm in a producer role collaborating with Japanese animators on a direct-to-DVD anthology that takes place between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

Acting[link]

Though Timm does not usually work as an actor, he has played several characters in the animated series he has been involved in. His cameos include the episode of Batman: The Animated Series, "Beware the Gray Ghost", playing the toy shop owner, as himself in the episode of The New Batman Adventures, "Holiday Knights", and also as the leader of the Jokerz gang in Batman Beyond, which he joked he did under duress and also joked was 'Emmy-Award Winning material'. More recently, he appeared in an animated form in Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode Legends of the Dark Mite in a comic book convention parody scene, where he was wearing Joker's costume, along with Paul Dini wearing Harley Quinn's costume. Prior to that he was animated in The Batman, appearing as a mental patient in Arkham. He has also played a guard in the direct-to-video animated film, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

Timm made a cameo appearance in the 2009 film Green Lantern: First Flight as Bug Boy, and played The Riddler in the 2010 film Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Comics[link]

While Timm is known primarily for his work in animation, his first ambition was to become a comic-book artist. Although this dream did not materialize, leading him to a life in animation, Timm nevertheless produced several one-shots and miniseries, mostly for DC Comics.

in the 80´s he made some Mini-Comics of Masters Of The Universe.

In 1994, Timm and writer Paul Dini won the Eisner Award for Best Single Story for Batman Adventures: Mad Love. Timm won the same prize the next year as well, for Batman Adventures Holiday Special, (a one-shot with several Christmas-themed stories) with Dini, Ronnie del Carmen and others. Later, Timm was involved with Batman Adventures and has also worked on Avengers and Vampirella. He is also a popular cover and pin-up artist.

In 2000, he did the art for an issue of DC's Vertigo imprint horror title, Flinch.

Bruce Timm co-created Harley Quinn, (with writer Paul Dini) working from Dini's original design. Harley's popularity on television led to her inclusion in the mainstream DC Universe. In 2004, Timm and Dini (assisted by Shane Glines as inker) released a three-issue Harley and Ivy miniseries, which was in the works for years.

Timm also drew the 1999 Avengers 1½ special for Marvel Comics, written by Roger Stern.

In 2005, Timm contributed artwork for two comics. One was a short story in Conan #18, titled "Conan's Favorite Joke". The other was a Black Canary short story in Birds of Prey #86.

In 2008, he provided the art work for a short 2 page Harley Quinn origin story for Paul Dini's countdown.

Timm was featured in "Conan Gets Animated", a skit in the December 9, 2010 episode of the TBS late night talk show Conan, in which host Conan O'Brien enlisted his help in designing a new superhero, based on O'Brien's specifications. The superhero, whose was designed to resemble O'Brien, included a typically muscular superhero body and costume with chest insignia, as well as idiosyncrasies such as an oven mitt, a jai alai glove, golf shoes, sock garters and fishnet stockings.^[1] One month later, O'Brien aired a clip on his show in which the character, named "The Flaming C", appears in Young Justice.^[2]

Drawing style and influences[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. (December 2010)

Timm's minimalist, angular style is heavily based in his love of 1950s and 1960s-era comics and art deco architecture style. He is also completely self-taught, having never received any formal art schooling. He lists his artistic influences as Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, Jim Steranko, John Buscema, Wally Wood, Frank Frazetta, Dan DeCarlo, and Alex Toth.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Nolen-Weathington, Eric & Timm, Bruce (2004). Modern Masters Volume 3: Bruce Timm. TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 1-893905-30-6.

External links[link]

• Bruce Timm at the Internet Movie Database
• The Bruce Timm Gallery
• An interview with Bruce Timm primarily discussing the (then yet-to-be-aired) second season of Justice League

Too $hort
Too $hort at Martin Luther's Rebel Soul Fest at DNA Lounge in San Francisco, July 2008
Background information
Birth name	Todd Anthony Shaw
Born	(1966-04-28) April 28, 1966 (age 46) Los Angeles, California, U.S.}[1][2]
Origin	East Oakland, Oakland, California, U.S.[1][2]
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, songwriter, actor, producer
Years active	1980-present
Labels	Jive, Up All Nite
Associated acts	Biz Markie,Slick Rick,Kool Moe Dee,De La Soul,Snoop Dogg,Busta Rhymes,Bushwick Bill,Geto Boys,Ant Banks, MC Breed, Rappin' 4-Tay, Lil' Jon, E-40, Travis Porter, Git Fresh, Snow, George Clinton, Wiz Khalifa, Jay-Z, Cee Lo Green, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., 50 Cent, Layzie Bone,Scarface (rapper),Wu-Tang Clan

Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966),^[1][2] better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper, producer, and actor who started his career at the age of fourteen in Oakland, California.^[1][2]

Career[link]

In the early 1980s, Shaw produced custom songs (called "special requests") for people with his high school friend, Freddy B. In 1985, Too Short had his first release, Don't Stop Rappin' which, along with the following three releases, featured raw, simple drum beats from a LinnDrum drum machine. In the early 1990s his beats came from mostly a TR-808 and from mid-to-late 2000s, a TR-909 was used. In 2005, Too Short and Freddie B. formed the label Dangerous Music to regionally distribute his music.^[3] Dangerous Music became Short Records, and then Up All Nite Records. With his 1989 release, Life Is...Too Short, he began used replayed established funk riffs (rather than samples) with his beats.

Subsequent work was primarily collaborative, including work with Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., and Scarface. One of his noticeable collaborations during this period was on the track "The World Is Filled..." on the classic Notorious B.I.G. album Life After Death; he comes in on the third verse after Diddy and Biggie. Being featured on the album introduced him to a wider audience as well, due to his typical style contrasting greatly with the Mafioso theme of the album. He also appeared on TWDY's hit single "Player's Holiday" from their 1999 debut album Derty Werk^[4] as well as the Priority Records compilation Nuthin but a Gangsta Party.^[5] After these appearances, he began working on his eleventh album, Can't Stay Away. The album included guest appearances by 8Ball & MJG, Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Sean Combs, E-40, Daz Dillinger, Lil' Jon, Soopafly, Scarface and B-Legit.^[6] Too Short relocated to Atlanta in 1994, but he did not begin working with a more diverse variety of Southern artists until 2000, when he collaborated with Lil Jon. With the 1999 release of Can't Stay Away, Too Short fully came out of retirement and released a number of new albums within the next few years, most of them taking on a crunk or Dirty South type sound, as he had become involved in the Southern rap scene. However, he didn't totally give up on his trademark funk grooves or sexually explicit style. New albums released 2000-2003 were You Nasty (2000), Chase the Cat (2001), What's My Favorite Word? (2002), and Married to the Game (2003). These albums all charted fairly well, as they all were in the top 71 of the Billboard 200, but they didn't do quite as well as Too Short's earlier 1990s releases as none of them reached the top 10.^[7]

In 2004, his earlier 1990 single "The Ghetto" appeared on popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on West Coast hip hop radio station Radio Los Santos. Given that this was an incredibly popular game at the time, the featuring was acclaimed as a success for Too $hort, both in publicity and in the fame generated by the song.

For his next album, 2006's Blow the Whistle, Too Short now took advantage of the new hyphy rap music that was emerging out of his original home base in Oakland. This saw somewhat of a resurgence for Too Short as it peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200, much better than each of his previous three releases.^[7] However, his subsequent releases, such as 2007's Get Off the Stage, have not been as successful. On October 7, 2008 Too Short was honored by VH1 at the fifth annual "Hip-Hop Honors" along with Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick and Naughty By Nature.^[7][7]

In 2009, Too Short recorded for Daz Dillinger, Lil' Jon, Soopafly, Scarface and B-Legit.^[6] In 2011, the rapper was featured on Wiz Khalifa's song "On My Level". He also collaborated in Snoop Dogg's 2011 album, Doggumentary in the song "Take U Home".

Up All Nite Records[link]

Too Short runs his own record label—Up All Nite Records. Artists on the label include The Pack,^[8] Dolla Will, Boo Ski, Eyob Fantay and Li'l J & Boi Payton, FX. In addition to creating Up All Nite Records, Too Short has been a mentor at Youth UpRising, a group serving at-risk youths for several years.

Too Short in film[link]

Too Short played the role of Lew-Loc in the film Menace II Society.

Too Short has also worked in the adult film industry, with the 2003 film Get In Where You Fit In.^[9]

Too Short was an interviewee in American Pimp.

Too Short starred in and performed the music for America's Sexiest Girls 2003.

Too Short has also appeared in an episode of The Game.^[10]

Too Short made a cameo appearance in Jay-z's video for the hit single Big Pimpin'.

Too Short was in VH1's Rock Doc, "Planet Rock"

2012 Controversy[link]

On February 10, 2012, a video by Too Short was posted on XXLMag.com, a hip-hop website published by Dennis Page. In the video, Too Short gives "Fatherly Advice" to late middle-school and high-school boys. Specifically, he offers "a couple of tricks" for "when you start feeling a certain way about the girls." The video caused immediate outcry ^[11] and was soon taken down by XXL, which issued an apology^[12]. Too Short also Tweeted statements in response to the criticism.

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• 1983: Don't Stop Rappin'
• 1985: Players
• 1986: Raw, Uncut, and X-Rated
• 1987: Born to Mack
• 1989: Life Is... Too Short
• 1990: Short Dog's in the House
• 1992: Shorty The Pimp
• 1993: Get in Where You Fit In
• 1995: Cocktails
• 1996: Gettin' It
• 1999: Can't Stay Away
• 2000: You Nasty
• 2001: Chase the Cat
• 2002: What's My Favorite Word?
• 2003: Married to the Game
• 2006: Blow the Whistle
• 2007: Get off the Stage
• 2010: Still Blowin'
• 2012: No Trespassing

EPs

• 2010: Respect the Pimpin'

Collaboration albums

• 2012: The History Channel (with E-40)^[13]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Too Short on Myspace
• Too Short interview
• Too Short interview with GSlaps.com
• Two XXL Staffers Suspended Over Explicit Too $hort Video

Travis Porter is an American hip hop act from Decatur, Georgia. Ali and Quez are step brothers; the two met Strap while attending the same middle school. The three grew up together and in 2006 began exploring music.^[1] The group’s biggest hits are "Go Shorty Go","Bananas", "Ayy Ladies", "Bring It Back" and "Make It Rain" produced by F-K-I. Travis Porter released a biographical film titled Proud to be a Problem on May 18, 2010.^[2] Travis Porter has a YouTube channel with over 100 million views and a Twitter page.^[3] In November 2010 the trio signed with Jive Records.^[4]

Appearances[link]

Besides performing throughout the USA, Travis Porter has performed internationally. In 2008 the trio took a tour through , Kaiserslautern, Germany and Bamberg, Germany.^[5][6] They appeared in one of Atlanta’s biggest concerts, Birthday Bash, during the summer of 2010^[7] and on the The Mo'Nique Show.^[8] They performed with Canada’s own Drake at BMI’s Unsigned Artist showcase in Atlanta.^[9]

Label and recognition[link]

Travis Porter now belongs to Jive Music and Porter House music. They also recently joined the BMI family. The trio was honored in the Underground Music Awards 2010 in New York City with other well-known underground artist like J. Cole with the “Most Dynamic Rap Group Duo” award.^[10] Though when they were unsigned they still worked with notable signed artist such as Roscoe Dash, Fast Life Yungstaz and Waka Flocka Flame.^[11] Travis Porter was also featured on MTV Jams Feb 5.^[12] The group also received Myspace’s #1 unsigned group title.^[13] Their single “Go Shorty Go” made it on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Chart and in fall 2010, their track “Make it Rain” hit number 50 on the urban radio charts and debuted on the charts at number 97 then climbed to number 46.^[14] Gucci Mane reportedly announced interest in signing Travis Porter to 1017 Brick Squad Records, saying "Just give me 12-15 songs. I don't know about that other stuff. Handle your business".^[15] The group ended up signing a record deal with Jive Records. On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, the group (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release their future material on the RCA Records brand. ^[16][17] In 2012, their single "Ayy Ladies" with Young Money rapper Tyga peaked at #56 on the Hot 100 and topped the Heatseekers Songs chart, becoming Porter's most successful song to date.^[18] Their debut studio album, From Day 1, was released on May 29, 2012 on RCA Records and Porter House Music.^[19]

Musical career[link]

The group started out as the “Hard Hitters”, but changed their name to Travis Porter in late 2008 to be more marketable.^[20] Four of their biggest hits “Black Boy White Boy” "Uh Huh (Produced by 706HITZ)" "Go Shorty Go (Produced by Spinz n Fresh) "All the Way Turnt Up" also turned out to be huge controversy in their career. “All the Way Turnt Up” caused controversy with Roscoe Dash. After Roscoe Dash came up with the song and asked Travis Porter to be featured on it Travis Porter added the song to their mixtape causing fans to believe it was not Roscoe Dash’s song, but Travis Porters’. Soon Roscoe Dash released another version of the song through his label Interscope Records featuring Soulja Boy.^[21] The song “Black Boy White Boy” caused a bit of controversy with Young Dro because he and label-mate Yung L.A. say that the song title was initially theirs. There has also been rumors that Travis Porter has a feud with fellow Atlanta group Cloud 9 who has the underground hit single "Shawty Shake Yo Ass". Cloud 9 confirmed that this was a rumor in a recent interview and on Twitter.^[22]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 2012: From Day 1 (May 29th)^[19]

Mixtapes[link]

• 2009: Who Is Travis Porter?
• 2009: I'm A Differenter (Hosted By DJ Teknikz)
• 2009: I'm A Differenter 2 (Hosted By DJ Teknikz)
• 2009: Streets R Us (With Waka Flocka Flame) (Hosted By DJ Teknikz)
• 2010: Proud 2 Be A Problem (Hosted By DJ Teknikz)
• 2010: I Am Travis Porter (Hosted By DJ Pretty Boy Tank & DJ Spinz)
• 2010: Differenter Gang (With MGK & FKi) (Hosted By DJ Teknikz)
• 2011: Music Money Magnums (Hosted By DJ Teknikz, DJ Scream, & DJ Drama)
• 2011: Differenter 3 (Hosted By DJ Teknikz, DJ Pretty Boy Tank, & DJ Spinz)

Singles[link]

Other charted songs[link]

References[link]