Azalea
Rhododendron 'Hinodegiri'
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicot
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Rhododendron
Subgenus:	Pentanthera  and Tsutsuji

Azaleas ( /əˈzeɪliə/) are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Tsutsuji (evergreen) and Pentanthera (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks. Shade tolerant, they prefer living near or under trees.

Differences[link]

Azaleas differ from rhododendrons in being generally smaller and having one blossom per stem rather than blossom clusters.They have more seeds in the flower^{[citation needed]}

Cultivation[link]

Fifty-year-old Azalea

Plant enthusiasts have selectively bred azaleas for hundreds of years. This human selection has produced over 10,000 different cultivars which are propagated by cuttings.^{[citation needed]} Azalea seeds can also be collected and germinated.

Azaleas are generally slow-growing and do best in well-drained acidic soil (4.5–6.0 pH).^[1] Fertilizer needs are low; some species need regular pruning.

Azaleas are native to several continents including Asia, Europe and North America. They are planted abundantly as ornamentals in the southeastern US.

Disease[link]

Azalea leafy gall can be particularly destructive to azalea leaves during the early spring. Hand picking infected leaves is the recommended method of control.^{[citation needed]}

They can also be subject to phytophthora root rot in moist, hot conditions.^[2]

Cultural significance and symbolism[link]

In Chinese culture, the azalea is known as "thinking of home bush" (siangish shu) and is immortalized in the poetry of Tu Fu and is used to rich effect in contemporary stories such as by Taiwanese author Pai, Hsien-Yung.

The azalea is also one of the symbols of the city of São Paulo, in Brazil.^[3]

In addition to being renowned for its beauty, the Azalea is also highly toxic--it contains andromedotoxins in both its leaves and nectar, including honey from the nectar. ^[4] The Azalea and Rhododendron were once so infamous for their toxicity that to receive a bouquet of their flowers in a black vase was a well-known death threat.

Azalea festivals[link]

Azalea Festival at Nezu Jinja

Japan[link]

Motoyama, Kochi also has a flower festival in which the blooming of Tsutsuji is celebrated and Tatebayashi, Gunma is famous for its Azalea Hill Park, Tsutsuji-ga-oka. Nezu Shrine in Bunkyo, Tokyo, holds a Tsutsuji Matsuri from early April until early May.

Korea[link]

Sobaeksan, one of the 12 well-known Sobaek Mountains, lying on the border between Chungbuk Province and Gyeongbuk has a Royal Azalea (Rhododendron schlippenbachii) Festival held on May every year. Sobaeksan has an azalea colony dotted around Biro mountaintop, Gukmang and Yonwha early in May. When Royal azaleas have turned pink in the end of May, it looks like Sobaeksan wears a pink Jeogori(Korean traditional jacket). (Information from Dpt. of Culture & Tourism, Danyang-gun County Office)

United States[link]

Many cities in the United States have festivals in the spring celebrating the blooms of the azalea, including Norfolk, Virginia;^[5] Wilmington, North Carolina (North Carolina Azalea Festival);^[6] Valdosta, Georgia;^[7] Palatka, Florida (Florida Azalea Festival);^[8] Pickens, South Carolina;.^[9] and Brookings, Oregon.

The Azalea Trail is a designated path, planted with azaleas in private gardens, through Mobile, Alabama.^[10] The Azalea Trail Run is an annual road running event held there in late March. Mobile, Alabama is also home to the Azalea Trail Maids, fifty women chosen to serve as ambassadors of the city while wearing antebellum dresses, who originally participated in a three-day festival, but now operate throughout the year.

See also[link]

• List of plants poisonous to equines

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Azalea

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Azalea.

• Azalea Society of America
• Azalea Collection of the U.S. National Arboretum

Steve Aoki
Steve Aoki playing a set at the HiFi Nightclub in Calgary, Canada.
Background information
Birth name	Steve Hiroyuki Aoki parent = Richard Aoki
Born	(1977-11-30) November 30, 1977 (age 34) Miami, Florida
Origin	Newport Beach, California, United States
Genres	Electro house, Electronic
Labels	Dim Mak Records, Ministry of Sound Australia, Deckstar
Website	http://steveaoki.com/

Steve Hiroyuki Aoki (born November 30, 1977) is an American electro house musician, record producer and the founder of Dim Mak Records.^[1]

Biography[link]

Steve Hiroyuki Aoki was born in Miami and grew up in Newport Beach, California. He graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1995; he was a star player on the varsity badminton team. He is the third child of Rocky Aoki and Chizuru Kobayashi.^[2] His father was a former Japanese Olympic wrestler who also founded the restaurant chain Benihana. He has two older siblings, sister Kana (who is sometimes called by her middle name "Grace"), and brother Kevin (owner of Doraku Sushi restaurant). He also has three half-siblings, all of whom are younger: half-brother Kyle and half-sisters Echo, and Devon, the supermodel and actress. As a child, Steve lived with his grandfather,^{[citation needed]} his mother, and his two older siblings.

Aoki attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with two B.A.s; one in Women's Studies and the other in Sociology. In college, he produced do-it-yourself records and ran underground concerts out of his Biko room in the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative, which was located in Isla Vista, a section of residential land adjacent to UCSB. As a concert venue, the apartment became known as The Pickle Patch.^[3][4] By his early 20s, Aoki had built his own record label, which he named Dim Mak after his childhood hero, Bruce Lee.^[5] He has also been in numerous bands, including This Machine Kills, which released an album on Ebullition Records, Esperanza, and The Fire Next Time.

Musical career[link]

Aoki founded his own label, Dim Mak Records, in 1996. The label has released music by other electro house artists such as MSTRKRFT, The Bloody Beetroots, Felix Cartal and Mustard Pimp, as well as by Klaxons, Scanners, Whitey, and Mystery Jets. Aoki is also a club promoter and DJ. He has also teamed up with Blake Miller of the LA-based band Moving Units to produce remixes. The duo of Miller and Aoki work under the moniker Weird Science.

Aoki's debut mix album, Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles was released in January 2008.^[6] He also had an Essential Mix that aired on BBC Radio 1 on August 2, 2008.¹⁰

Aoki's latest solo album, "Wonderland" was released January 2012 and features guest vocalists and musicians LMFAO, Kid Cudi, Travis Barker, will.i.am aka Zuper Blahq, Wynter Gordon, Rivers Cuomo, Lil Jon, Chiddy Bang, Lovefoxxx of CSS, Big John Duncan former guitarist of the punk band The Exploited, and others.

Aoki has also been busy in the studio collaborating with other fellow producer friends and thus far has released singles with The Bloody Beetroots, Armand Van Helden of Duck Sauce, Afrojack, Laidback Luke, Tai, Sidney Samson, Tiesto. In his interviews, Twitter feed or from his YouTube channel, he has shown teasers or has discussed doing future collaborations with Diplo, Knife Party, Datsik, Chris Lake, Rune, Iggy Azalea, Angger Dimas, and Dirtyphonics.

He has remixed many artists and bands, including Jackson 5, Drake, Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Mike Posner, Girls Generation, All American Rejects, Refused, The Killers, Bassnectar, Lenny Kravitz, Bloc Party, Snoop Dogg, Robin Thicke, S.P.A., Kid Cudi, Fërnando Oviedo,Chester French and Peaches.

He remixed the track "When The Wind Blows" that features on the UK edition of The All-American Rejects' 2008 album When The World Comes Down.

On November 10, 2009 he released a remix for Drake's song "Forever". The song features Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. The track made it to the top of Hype Machine's chart in December 2009.^[7]

Through relentless touring he gained huge support from colleges. Performing an average of 250 shows a year, he has recently started touring with production via bus tours like the spring 2012 Deadmeat Tour he headlined over 55 cities in 60 dates across the United States and Canada.

In March 2010 Aoki released "I'm In The House", a collaboration with Zuper Blahq—alter-ego of The Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am. The song charted at #29 in the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release.

Producer-songwriter Lucas Secon confirmed in a May 2010 interview with HitQuarters that he and Rivers Cuomo had recently worked with Aoki on a single.^[8]

In May 2006, Aoki became a board member for MC5 bassist Michael Davis' Music Is Revolution Foundation,^[9] a non-profit organization that provides music education support within public schools.^[10]

Business ventures[link]

The Dim Mak Collection^[11] clothing line was launched in 2006.^[12] A new fashion range designed by Steve and his sister Devon Aoki will be coming out in the future.

In 2007, Aoki and friend Greger, the owner of WeSC, came up with the idea together to do the "Aoki headphones." They used different shades of green, because that was Aoki's favorite color at the time.^[13] Each season for 3 years, Aoki designed new headphones for WeSC. He is currently working closely with Sol Republic and is a founding partner in the headphone company. Aoki also is endorsed by Supra Footwear, where he has helped develop and design shoes under his name.

Following somewhat in his father's footsteps, Aoki is a co-owner in two restaurants in Los Angeles and one in New York City. Eveleigh on Sunset Boulevard & Kitchen 24 on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. The Little Ruby's on Orchard St in New York City opened in spring 2012.

He co-owns a management company called DECKSTAR.^[14] with DJ AM along with their manager Lawrence Vavra, Matt Colon and Paul Rosenberg. The roster boasts artists such as Blink 182, Holy Ghost!, Infected Mushroom, and Rancid.

He has co-founded and is now developing a website that attracts college students to sell, buy, share books, rent rooms, post events called PILLOWFACE.^[15] It's function is similar to Craiglist but that it targets and is exclusively for college students. When he went on his Dead Meat Tour across the United States and Canada in January through March 2012 he was promoting the website to all the colleges across the country.

In November 2009, Aoki created his own magazine titled "Aoki" through a celebrity magazine publishing company called MYMAG.^[16]

Guest appearances[link]

He was featured in the video games NBA 2K8 and NBA 2K9 as a special celebrity player, even though he admits to being terrible at basketball. He makes cameos in the videos for Cobra Starship's 2007 single "Send My Love to the Dancefloor, I'll See You in Hell (Hey Mister DJ)" and The Sounds' single "Tony The Beat".

On January 2012, Steve Aoki released new tracks on Turntable.fm in conjunction with SOL REPUBLIC Headphones^[17] making him the first established artist to fully orchestrate a listening session using the platform.^[18]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Mix albums[link]

Singles[link]

As featured artist[link]

Promotional singles[link]

Remixes[link]

• Michael Jackson – "Dancin' Machine" (Universal Motown)
• Autoerotique – "Gladiator" (Steve Aoki x DJ AM) (Dim Mak)
• NASA – "Gifted" (feat. Kanye West, Lykke Li, Santigold) (Anti)
• Chris Cornell – "Part of Me" (feat. Timbaland) (Interscope)
• Chester French – "She Loves Everybody" (Star Trak)
• The Killers – "Spaceman" (Steve Aoki & The Bloody Beetroots) (Polydor)
• Fact – "Rise" (Avex)
• All American Rejects – "The Wind Blows" (Interscope)
• Good Charlotte – "Misery" (Epic)
• S.P.A. – "Pets Dance" (Dim Mak)
• Lenny Kravitz – "Dancin' Til Dawn" (Virgin)
• Robin Thicke – "Magic" (Interscope)
• Duran Duran – "Skin Divers" (feat. Timbaland) (Interscope)
• Drake – "Forever" (feat. Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem)^[7]
• Weezer – "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"
• Kid Cudi – "Pursuit of Happiness" (feat. MGMT & Ratatat)
• Klaxons – "Echoes"
• Bassnectar - "Red Step"
• Girls' Generation – "MR. TAXI"
• Mike Posner - "She Looks Like Sex"

Weird Science production[link]

Steve Aoki and Blake Miller's production group

• Haus of Cards – "Original" (Dim Mak)
• Snoop Dogg – "Sensual Seduction" (Geffen)
• Teddybears – "Cobrastyle" (Atlantic)
• Bloc Party – "Helicopter" (Dim Mak)
• The Rakes – "Work Work Work" (Dim Mak)
• Metro Station – "Control" (Columbia)
• Younglove – "Discotech" (Island)
• Peaches – "Boys Wanna Be Her" (XL)
• Under the Influence of Giants – "Mama's Room" (Island)
• The Fashion – "Like Knives & Solo Impala" (Columbia)

Featurings[link]

• The Bloody Beetroots – "Warp 1977" (feat. Steve Aoki & Bobberman) (Dim Mak)
• The Bloody Beetroots – "Warp 1.9" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)
• The Bloody Beetroots – "Warp 7.7" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)
• Junkie XL – "1967 Poem" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Nettwerk)
• Motor – "Kick It" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)
• Tai – "Paradise Poltergeist" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)
• Travis Barker – "Misfits" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)

Collaborations[link]

• Steve Aoki & Armand Van Helden – "Brrrat"
• Steve Aoki – "I'm In The House" (feat. Zuper Blahq)
• Steve Aoki & Laidback Luke & Lil Jon – "Turbulence"
• Steve Aoki & Afrojack – " No Beef"
• Steve Aoki & Sidney Samson – "Wake Up Call"
• Steve Aoki & Atari Teenage Riot – "Codebreaker"
• Steve Aoki & Tiësto – "Tornado"
• Steve Aoki & Travis Barker – "Misfits"
• Nervo, Afrojack & Steve Aoki – "We're All No One"
• Steve Aoki feat. LMFAO and Nervo - "Livin' My Love"
• Steve Aoki, Kid Cudi & Travis Barker - "Cudi The Kid"
• Steve Aoki & Knife Party - Currently Untitled Track

Awards[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. (March 2011)

• Best DJ of the Year – Paper Magazine (2007)
• Best Set of the Season – Ibiza Awards (2007)
• Best Party Rocker DJ – BPM Magazine (2007)
• Best Mix Album of the Year – Billboard (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• The LA Times article
• Dim Mak Records website
• Steve Aoki on Myspace
• Weird Science on Myspace
• UCSB Student Interview with Steve Aoki
• The Santa Barbara Independent article
• Interview with Steve Aoki, Submerge Magazine, Dec. 2008
• Interview by Maximalminimal, April 2009
• Interview by Clubplanet, May 2010
• Steve Aoki on RCRD LBL

Kimberly Cole (b. Orange County, California^[1]) is an American pop singer. Cole's album Bad Girls Club was released on iTunes in 2010, promoting Oxygen Network's The Bad Girls Club with her single "Smack You." The official music video features Natalie Nunn.^[1] Cole earned a degree for theater^[2] at UCLA.^[1] Cole's performances had led her to soundtrack albums on Sony Pictures, Brothers in Arms and Maverick Records Country General.^[1] Cole has appeared in Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Rubbermaid, Sony, and Sketchers commercials, as well as performing with Lenny Kravitz, Jessica Simpson, Will Smith, Mýa, and Sugar Ray.^[1] She is signed with The William Morris Agency interviewing celebrities, bands, and other recording artists for the X Music Network.^[1]

Cole's Twitter account reached one million followers on March 25, 2009.^[3]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

This article about a United States singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Mac Miller
Mac Miller performing at the Governor's Ball in 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Malcolm McCormick
Also known as	Easy Mac
Born	(1992-01-19) January 19, 1992 (age 20) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, producer, actor, songwriter
Years active	2007 – present
Labels	Rostrum Records, Most Dope Entertainment
Associated acts	Wiz Khalifa, Beedie, The Ill Spoken, I.D. Labs, Big Jerm
Website	www.macmillerofficial.com

Malcolm McCormick (born January 19, 1992),^[1] known by his stage name Mac Miller (previously Easy Mac), is an American rapper from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is signed to Rostrum Records and released his debut album Blue Slide Park on November 8, 2011.^[2]

Early life[link]

Malcolm McCormick was born on January 19, 1992, the son of an architect and a photographer, and raised in the Point Breeze part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[1][3] His father is Christian and his mother is Jewish; Miller was raised Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah.^[4][5][6] Before attending Taylor Allderdice High School, Miller attended Winchester Thurston School.^[7] In high school, Miller decided to focus on his hip-hop career, later noting, "Once I hit 15, I got real serious about it and it changed my life completely ... I used to be into sports, play all the sports, go to all the high school parties. But once I found out hip-hop is almost like a job, that's all I did."^[1] Miller, a self-taught musician, plays piano, guitar, drums, and bass.^[1][8]

Career[link]

Before embarking on a solo career, Miller was part of rap group The Ill Spoken together with fellow Pittsburgh rapper, Beedie. The Ill Spoken released the mixtape How High in 2008. Prior to changing his name to Mac Miller, he was known as EZ Mac and released the mixtape But My Mackin Ain't Easy in 2007 at 15 years old. In 2009 Mac Miller released two mixtapes The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown and The High Life before getting signed to Rostrum Records.

In early 2010, Miller signed with Rostrum Records.^[9] Rostrum president Benjy Grinberg met Miller while recording with Wiz Khalifa at ID Labs.^[10] Although Grinberg started giving Miller advice, he didn't show any interest in getting involved with his career until the artist began work on the K.I.D.S. mixtape, when, as he later told HitQuarters, Grinberg "noticed a maturation in his sound and approach to his music."^[10] By that point Miller had started attracting interest from different record companies but chose Rostrum due to its location in his hometown and association with Wiz Khalifia.^[10] K.I.D.S. was released by the label in August 2010.^[1] The mixtape was inspired by the movie Kids. A significant breakthrough came in late 2010 when Miller embarked on his first "Incredibly Dope Tour", selling out at every location on the tour.^[10]

Miller's 5th^[when?] release was a mixtape titled Best Day Ever. The mixtape features his single "Donald Trump" and the hit songs "Wear My Hat", "BDE Bonus" and "All Around The World." The mixtape featured mainstream producers such as Just Blaze, 9th Wonder, and Chuck Inglish. On November 22, 2010 his first single "Knock Knock" premiered its video on YouTube.^[11]

On March 29, 2011, he released an EP called On And On And Beyond. The six-track work was produced by Rostrum Records.

On July 5, 2011, Miller announced the title of his first album Blue Slide Park on his YouTube channel, set for a Fall release.^[12] In September 2011 it was revealed that Miller would release a mixtape titled 92 Til Infinity hosted by DJ Jazzy Jeff prior to the release of Blue Slide Park.^[13] However, the release did not happen, and it was since then left in planning.

Prior to his 2011 national Blue Slide Park tour, Miller traveled Europe on his "Incredibly Dope Tour" visiting cities such as London, Manchester, and Amsterdam.

On October 14, 2011, Mac Miller released a 13 song mixtape called I Love Life, Thank You for reaching 1,000,000 followers on Twitter. It had features from Sir Michael Rocks of The Cool Kids, Talib Kweli, and Bun B.

On November 2011, Blue Slide Park debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 144,000 copies.^[14]

On March 23, 2012, Mac Miller released his seventh mixtape called Macadelic. He released "Loud" as a single off the mixtape as well as filiming a music video. Miller also released a video for "Thoughts From A Balcony".

Awards and honors[link]

In 2009 at age 17, he made it to the final four in Rhyme Calisthenics, the MC competition at Shadow Lounge.^[15] In 2010, he won two awards at the Pittsburgh hip-hop awards.^[16] His video "Live Free" won video of the year and he also won Best Artist Under 21. In September 2011 Maroon 5 announced that Mac Miller will be featured on their remix of their top chart song "Moves Like Jagger".^[17] In 2011 Miller was one of eleven rappers featured in XXL magazine's Freshman Class of 2011.^[18] The video for the first single released from this mixtape, "Donald Trump", has reached over 53 million views on YouTube^[19] and Donald Trump himself, who is referenced on the song, acknowledged the video on the social networking site Twitter when it reached 20 million views stating "Who wouldn't be flattered?". He declared that Miller was the “new Eminem,” and stated “I am very proud of him.”^[20] Endorsements by Donald Trump helped Miller become increasingly more popular. The song also charted on iTunes debuting at #73 and peaking at #40,^[21] before Miller was signed to a major label. In 2011, his first TV appearance took place in the VH1 show Single Ladies; he played a fictionalized version of himself that succeeded in selling one of his mixtapes to one of the main characters. Also in 2011, he was a part of MTV Jams Fab Five artists.^[22]

Musical philosophy[link]

Mac Miller includes Big L, Lauryn Hill, The Beastie Boys, Outkast, and A Tribe Called Quest among his influences.^[8] He also has a close relationship with fellow Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa, saying "Wiz has been a big brother to me with this music thing so far. Our relationship is beyond music. He really is just my homie, whether I will be making music or not."^[23]

As an artist, Mac Miller has performed in a number of different styles. His classic musical style contains lyrics focused on marijuana, women, and "a dream". However, Miller has lately been experimenting with new styles in his music, such as in his 2012 mixtape Macadelic. Most songs have a heavy psychedelic influence, and include lyrics with deeper meaning. Also, older artists and music performers are praised on some of Mac's new works (the beginning of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles is used as an interlude for the song "Loud").

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Blue Slide Park (2011)

Extended plays

• On and On and Beyond (2011)

Mixtapes

• But My Mackin' Ain't Easy (2007)
• The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown (2009)
• The High Life (2009)
• K.I.D.S. (2010)
• Best Day Ever (2011)
• I Love Life, Thank You (2011)
• Macadelic (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Mac Miller Website