Hand
Palmar and Dorsal aspects of human right hand
X-ray of human hand
Vein	dorsal venous network of hand
Nerve	ulnar nerve, median nerve, radial nerve
MeSH	Hand

A hand (med./lat.: manus, pl. manūs) is a prehensile, multi-fingered extremity located at the end of an arm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "hand" and fingerprints remarkably similar to human fingerprints) are often described as having either "hands" or "paws" on their front limbs.

Hands are the main structures for physically manipulating the environment, used for both gross motor skills (such as grasping a large object) and fine motor skills (such as picking up a small pebble). The fingertips contain some of the densest areas of nerve endings on the body, are the richest source of tactile feedback, and have the greatest positioning capability of the body; thus the sense of touch is intimately associated with hands. Like other paired organs (eyes, feet, legs), each hand is dominantly controlled by the opposing brain hemisphere, so that handedness, or the preferred hand choice for single-handed activities such as writing with a pen, reflects individual brain functioning.

Some evolutionary anatomists use the term hand to refer to the appendage of digits on the forelimb more generally — for example, in the context of whether the three digits of the bird hand involved the same homologous loss of two digits as in the dinosaur hand.^[1]

The human hand has 27 bones, 14 of which are the phalanges (proximal, medial, and distal) of the fingers. The metacarpal is the bone that connects the fingers and the wrist. Each human hand has 5 metacarpals.^[2]

Definitions[link]

Many mammals and other animals have grasping appendages similar in form to a hand such as paws, claws, and talons, but these are not scientifically considered to be grasping hands. The scientific use of the term hand in this sense to distinguish the terminations of the front paws from the hind ones is an example of anthropomorphism. The only true grasping hands appear in the mammalian order of primates. Hands must also have opposable thumbs, as described later in the text.

Humans have two hands located at the distal end of each arm. Apes and monkeys are sometimes described as having four hands, because the toes are long and the hallux is opposable and looks more like a thumb, thus enabling the feet to be used as hands. Also, some apes have toes that are longer than human fingers.^[3]

The word "hand" is sometimes used by evolutionary anatomists to refer to the appendage of digits on the forelimb such as when researching the homology between the three digits of the bird hand and the dinosaur hand.^[1]

Human anatomy[link]

The human hand consists of a broad palm (metacarpus) with 5 digits, attached to the forearm by a joint called the wrist (carpus).^[4][5] The back of the hand is formally called the opisthenar.

Digits[link]

The digits of the human hand

The four fingers on the hand are used for the outermost performance; these four digits can be folded over the palm which allows the grasping of objects. Each finger, starting with the one closest to the thumb, has a colloquial name to distinguish it from the others:

• index finger, pointer finger, or forefinger
• middle finger or long finger
• ring finger
• little finger, pinky finger, or small finger

The thumb (connected to the trapezium) is located on one of the sides, parallel to the arm. A reliable way of identifying true hands is from the presence of opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs are identified by the ability to be brought opposite to the fingers, a muscle action known as opposition.

Bones[link]

Bones of the human hand

The skeleton of the human hand consists of 27 bones:^[6] the eight short bones of the wrist or carpus organized into a proximal row (scaphoid, lunate, triquetral and pisiform), which articulates with the skeleton of the forearm, and a distal row (trapezium, trapezoid, capitate and hamate), which articulates with the bases of the metacarpal bones (i.e. the bones of the palm or "hand proper"). Together with the fourteen phalanx bones of the fingers these metacarpal bones form five rays or poly-articulated chains.

Because supination and pronation (rotation about the axis of the forearm) are added to the two axes of movements of the wrist, the ulna and radius are sometimes considered part of the skeleton of the hand.

There are numerous sesamoid bones in the hand, small ossified nodes embedded in tendons; the exact number varies between different people:^[7] whereas a pair of sesamoid bones are found at virtually all thumb metacarpophalangeal joints, sesamoid bones are also common at the interphalangeal joint of the thumb (72.9%) and at the metacarpophalangeal joints of the little finger (82.5%) and the index finger (48%). In rare cases, sesamoid bones have been found in all the metacarpophalangeal joints and all distal interphalangeal joints except that of the long finger.

Articulations[link]

The articulations are:

• interphalangeal articulations of hand (the hinge joints between the finger bones)
• metacarpophalangeal joints (where the fingers meet the palm)
• intercarpal articulations (where the palm meets the wrist)
• wrist (may also be viewed as belonging to the forearm.)

Arches[link]

The fixed and mobile parts of the hand adapt to various everyday tasks by forming bony arches: longitudinal arches (the rays formed by the finger bones and their associated metacarpal bones), transverse arches (formed by the carpal bones and distal ends of the metacarpal bones), and oblique arches (between the thumb and four fingers):

Of the longitudinal arches or rays of the hand, that of the thumb is the most mobile (and the least longitudinal). While the ray formed by the little finger and its associated metacarpal bone still offers some mobility, the remaining rays are firmly rigid. The phalangeal joints of the index finger, however, offer some independence to its finger, due to the arrangement of its flexor and extension tendons.^[8]

The carpal bones form two transversal rows, each forming an arch concave on the palmar side. Because the proximal arch simultaneously has to adapt to the articular surface of the radius and to the distal carpal row, it is by necessity flexible. In contrast, the capitate, the "keystone" of the distal arch, moves together with the metacarpal bones and the distal arch is therefore rigid. The stability of these arches is more dependent of the ligaments and capsules of the wrist than of the interlocking shapes of the carpal bones, and the wrist is therefore more stable in flexion than in extension.^[8] The distal carpal arch affects the function of the CMC joints and the hands, but not the function of the wrist or the proximal carpal arch. The ligaments that maintain the distal carpal arches are the transverse carpal ligament (part of the flexor retinaculum) and the intercarpal ligaments (also oriented transversally). These ligaments also form the carpal tunnel and contribute to the palmar arches. Several muscle tendons attaching to the TCL and the distal carpals also contribute to maintaining the carpal arch. ^[9]

Compared to the carpal arches, the arch formed by the distal ends of the metacarpal bones is flexible due to the mobility of the peripheral metacarpals (thumb and little finger). As these two metacarpal approach each other, the palmar gutter deepens. The central-most metacarpal (index finger) is the most rigid, and it and its two neighbours are untied to the carpus by the interlocking shapes of the metacrapal bones. The thumb metacarpal only articulates with the trapezium and is therefore completely independent, while the fifth metacarpal (little finger) is semi-independent with the fourth metacarpal (ring finger) forms a transitional element to the fifth metacarpal.^[8]

Together with the thumb, the four ulnar fingers form four oblique arches, of which the arch of the index finger functionally is the most important, especially for precision grip, while the arch of the little finger contribute an important locking mechanism for power grip. The thumb is undoubtedly the "master digit" of the hand, giving value to all the other fingers. Together with the index and middle finger, it forms the dynamic tridactyl configuration responsible for most grips not requiring force. The ring and little fingers are more static, a reserve ready to interact with the palm when great force is needed. ^[8]

Muscles[link]

Muscles and other structures of wrist and palm

The muscles acting on the hand can be subdivided into two groups: the extrinsic and intrinsic muscle groups. The extrinsic muscle groups are the long flexors and extensors. They are called extrinsic because the muscle belly is located on the forearm.

Intrinsic[link]

The intrinsic muscle groups are the thenar (thumb) and hypothenar (little finger) muscles; the interossei muscles (four dorsally and three volarly) originating between the metacarpal bones; and the lumbrical muscles arising from the deep flexor (and are special because they have no bony origin) to insert on the dorsal extensor hood mechanism.^[10]

Extrinsic[link]

Extensor compartments of wrist (back of hand)

The fingers have two long flexors, located on the underside of the forearm. They insert by tendons to the phalanges of the fingers. The deep flexor attaches to the distal phalanx, and the superficial flexor attaches to the middle phalanx. The flexors allow for the actual bending of the fingers. The thumb has one long flexor and a short flexor in the thenar muscle group. The human thumb also has other muscles in the thenar group (opponens and abductor brevis muscle), moving the thumb in opposition, making grasping possible.

The extensors are located on the back of the forearm and are connected in a more complex way than the flexors to the dorsum of the fingers. The tendons unite with the interosseous and lumbrical muscles to form the extensorhood mechanism. The primary function of the extensors is to straighten out the digits. The thumb has two extensors in the forearm; the tendons of these form the anatomical snuff box. Also, the index finger and the little finger have an extra extensor, used for instance for pointing. The extensors are situated within 6 separate compartments.

The first four compartments are located in the grooves present on the dorsum of inferior side of radius while the 5th compartment is in between radius and ulna. The 6th compartment is in the groove on the dorsum of inferior side of ulna.

Sexual dimorphism[link]

The average length of an adult male hand is 189 mm, while the average length of an adult female hand is 172 mm. The average hand breadth for adult males and females is 84 and 74 mm respectively.^[11]

Disorders and diseases[link]

• Polydactyly, more than the usual number of fingers or toes. Having more than the typical number of metacarpal bones may be caused by genetic disorders like Catel-Manzke syndrome.
• Syndactyly, fusion of fingers or toes.
• Hand infection
• Hand surgery
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Dupuytren's contracture
• Claw hand, paralysis of intrinsic muscles of hand.

Fractures of the hand include:

• Scaphoid fracture
• Rolando fracture - a comminuted intra-articular fracture through the base of the first metacarpal bone
• Bennett's fracture - a fracture of the base of the first metacarpal bone which extends into the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint.^[12]
• Boxer's fracture - a fracture at the neck of a metacarpal

Evolution[link]

"Hands" of a Javanese tree shrew and a human

The prehensile hands and feet of primates evolved from the mobile hands of semi-arboreal tree shrews that lived about a 100 million years ago. This development has been accompanied by important changes in the brain and the relocation of the eyes to the front of the face, together allowing the muscle control and stereoscopic vision necessary for controlled grasping. This grasping, also known as power grip, is supplemented by the precision grip between the thumb and the distal finger pads made possible by the opposable thumbs. Hominidae (great apes including humans) acquired an erect bipedal posture about 3 million years ago, which freed the hands from the task of locomotion and paved the way for the precision and range of motion in human hands.^[13] Functional analyses of the features unique to the hand of modern humans have shown that they are consistent with the stresses and requirements associated with the effective use of paleolithic stone tools. It is possible that the refinement of the bipedal posture in the earliest hominids evolved to facilitate the use of the trunk as leverage in accelerating the hand.^[14]

While the human hand has unique anatomical features, including a longer thumb and fingers that can be controlled individually to a higher degree, the hands of other primates are anatomically similar and the dexterity of the human hand can not be explained solely on anatomical factors. The neural machinery underlying hand movements is a major contributing factor; primates have evolved direct connections between neurons in cortical motor areas and spinal motoneurons, giving the cerebral cortex monosynaptic control over the motoneurons of the hand muscles; placing the hands "closer" to the brain.^[15] The recent evolution of the human hand is thus a direct result of the development of the central nervous system, and the hand, therefore, is a direct tool of our consciousness — the main source of differentiated tactile sensations — and a precise working organ enabling gestures — the expressions of our personalities.^[16]

A gorilla, a large primate with small thumbs, and the hand skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, a small Pliocene primate with human-like thumbs

There are nevertheless several primitive features left in the human hand, including pentadactyly (having five fingers), the hairless skin of the palm and fingers, and the os centrale found in human embryos, prosimians, and apes. Furthermore, the precursors of the intrinsic muscles of the hand are present in the earliest fishes, reflecting that the hand evolved from the pectoral fin and thus is much older than the arm in evolutionary terms.^[13]

The proportions of the human hand are plesiomorphic (shared by both ancestors and extant primate species); the elongated thumbs and short hands more closely resemble the hand proportions of Miocene apes than those of extant primates.^[17] Humans did not evolve from knuckle-walking apes, ^[18] and chimpanzees and gorillas independently acquired elongated metacarpals as part of their adaptation to their modes of locomotion.^[19] Several of primitive hand features most likely present in the chimpanzee-human last common ancestor (CHLCA) and absent in modern humans are still present in the hands of Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo floresiensis. This suggests that the derived changes in modern humans and Neanderthals did not evolve until 2.5 to 1.5 million years ago or after the appearance of the earliest Acheulian stone tools and that these changes are associated with tool-related tasks beyond those observed in other hominins.^[20] The thumbs of Ardipithecus ramidus, a CHLCA candidate, are robust like in humans, and thus a primitive trait, while the palms of other extant higher primates are elongated to the extent that some of the thumb's original function has been lost (most notably in highly arboreal primates such as the spider monkey). In humans, the big toe is thus more derived than the thumb.^[19]

Additional images[link]

Static adult human physical characteristics of the hand. Static adult human physical characteristics of the hand.   X-ray of a child's hand   Hands clenched in fists. Hands clenched in fists.   Cutaneous innervation of the upper limbs and hands.   Dissection of hand

See also[link]

• Dermatoglyphics
• Hand strength
• Hand walking
• Handanalysis
• Handstand
• Knuckle-walking

References[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Hand on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Hand anatomy (eMedicine)
• Watch the National Film Board of Canada documentary Faces of the Hand (Requires Adobe Flash)
• American Society for Surgery of the Hand
• The Common Hand article in the May 2012 National Geographic

v t e Human regional anatomy (TA A01.1) Head Forehead · Ear · Jaw · Face (Cheek, Eye, Nose, Mouth, Chin) · Occiput · Scalp · Temple Neck Throat · Adam's apple Trunk Chest (Breast) · Abdomen (Navel) · Back · Pelvis (Sex organs) Limbs Upper limb Shoulder · Axilla · Arm Elbow · Forearm Wrist · Hand · Finger (Thumb · Index · Middle · Ring · Little) Lower limb/ (see also leg) Hip · Buttocks · Thigh Knee · Calf · Crus Ankle · Heel · Foot · Toe (Hallux · Long  • Third  • Fourth  • Fifth) · Sole General anatomy: systems and organs, regional anatomy, planes and lines, superficial axial anatomy, superficial anatomy of limbs

Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986),^[3] better known by his stage name ScHoolboy Q, is an American hip hop recording artist signed to Top Dawg Entertainment and Interscope Records. Hanley is a member of Black Hippy along with Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul. In a 2011 interview when asked about what encouraged him to start rapping, Hanley explained that it was something he was "born to do": "I was just chillin’ man, but rapping’s just something I was born to do. I don’t know when I started rapping. I don’t know how I started rapping, but I know I wrote a verse and I was stuck ever since," he explained.^[4]

Preceded by two mixtapes, his first independent album Setbacks, reached #100 on the US Billboard 200 chart in 2011, selling close to 1,000 digital copies in the first week.^[5] On January 14, 2012, he released his second independent album Habits & Contradictions. The album debuted at #111 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 3,900 digital copies in the United States.^[6]

Biography[link]

1986-2009: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Hanley was born October 26, 1986, on a military base in Frankfurt, Germany. While there, his parents decided they were no longer staying together, therefore his mother chose a last name for him at random. That is why no one else in his family shares his surname. His father remained in the Army, but his mother took Hanley to Texas for a couple years, before going to California.^[1] He grew up in Los Angeles, California on 51st Street, neighboring Figueroa and Hoover Street. He claims to have been playing football since the age of six years old until he was 21. He played receiver, cornerback, and tailback, however in college he just played receiver and returner. After graduating Crenshaw High School, Hanley went on to attend Glendale Community College, Los Angeles City College, Southwest College and West Los Angeles College where he played football for the West Los Angeles Oilers: "I went to West L.A. college, I went to Southwest college, LACC, and Glendale. I didn’t really get the school like that. I would go to practice and go home. I wasn’t really paying attention in class. I was just in there making sure I did enough work so I could still be eligible. I wasn’t really trying to pass the class. I was just trying to be eligible to play football." As to how he came up with his stage name: "When I was in school, all the homies called me Schoolboy. I wore glasses and I had a 3.3 in high school, before fucking up my senior year gang-banging. My name’s Quincy, so I just stick to Schoolboy Q."^[7]

Growing up on Hoover Street he joined a street gang, the 52 Hoover Crips: "I was gang-banging at 12. I was a Hoover Crip. My homies were doing it and I wanted to do it. I can’t really explain that. I didn’t get into it with another hood or anything like that. I was just following the leader." Before turning to music Hanley became a drug dealer selling Oxycontin, and for a short time crack and marijuana: "I was selling Oxycontin. I sold crack a little bit, but I didn’t make a whole lot of money selling crack or weed or any of that. I made a lot of money selling Oxycontin. I used to go out of town and get it. You just sit back, your homie tell you about this person, and that person spread the word. And then they come to you. You don’t need to get that hype. So I was selling all types of shit. Got beat up, beat shit up."^[8] In 2007, he was arrested for a crime he won't disclose and says he was sent to jail for six months, half of which he finished on house arrest: "When I was 21 I got arrested and went to jail. I got a felony charge and they gave me a strike too. I don’t be putting out what my charge was but it wasn’t a sexual thing."^[1][8]

He claims to have written his first verse when he was 16, but wasn't serious about music until he was 21. Music became his way of expressing himself: "I wrote my first verse when I was 16. I wasn’t really rapping, but you know everybody wrote a verse before. I wrote the verse but I wasn’t really fucking with it. By 21, I started to really get into it and gained a passion for it. You got to let your aggression out, so you got to get in the booth and let it out. I was really working on my craft, studying music, and I became Q. I did all of it, school and the streets. I was just lost; I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was just trying to do something. Then I found music and it was just over after that. I made my first little bit of money doing music, after that I wanted to get used to doing it, and I kept rapping. Then it became something that I had to do."^[9]

In 2006 he began to work with Top Dawg Entertainment, recording at their studio "House of Pain" and collaborating with their artists. His first time at the studio he worked with his soon to be Black Hippy cohorts Jay Rock and Ab-Soul: "I walked in and the beat was playing. Ali told them that I rap. Punch told me to jump on the beat. It was a record that Jay Rock and Ab-Soul were writing to, so then I wrote it. Punch liked it and he told me to come back through. I kept coming back, kept getting better, and eventually they signed me to TDE." On July 29, 2008, Hanley released his first mixtape titled Schoolboy Turned Hustla. After the release of Schoolboy Turned Hustla, he signed a deal with Top Dawg Entertainment in 2009, where he formed Black Hippy with fellow label mates and frequent collaborators, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul.^[10][11]

In 2009 Hanley was involved in a short "beef" with fellow west-coast rapper 40 Glocc. Hanley released a diss track titled "Ezell (40 Glocc Killa)" where he questions 40 Glocc's gang-banging. Hanley has went on record as to why they were "beefing": "He made some false statements about my boy, Tyga, that's my little brother. He did a lot of fake stuff with Wayne, a lot of lies, rumors and childish shit that I really didn't like, and I really felt disrespected by this clown saying all this shit so I just had to like air it out". He went on to say "It's over with, I did what I did, I said what I said and I won't diss him no more, because it's obvious he ain't on my level...so why categorize myself with a loser?".^[12] He released Gangsta & Soul, his second mixtape on May 14, 2009, which included the diss track.

2010–present: Independent albums and Black Hippy[link]

Although Hanley did not release a project, 2010 had him touring, doing guest appearances and had him in the studio working with the rest of Black Hippy and on his then-upcoming project Setbacks. On January 11, 2011, exclusively through iTunes he released Setbacks, his first independent album under Top Dawg Entertainment to critical acclaim.^[13] The album reached number one-hundred on the Billboard 200 selling 787 units it's first week.^[14] Two weeks after the album's release Hanely took to Twitter and gave the album away for free.^[15] By the time Q's first album, SetBacks, was released in early 2011, he'd quit gangbanging altogether.^[16] Setbacks propelled Hanley into the spotlight and allowed him to earn a large internet following: "The concept behind Setbacks was [to talk about] all the shit that’s the reason why I can’t rap. The reason I can’t accomplish what I want to accomplish is because I’m doing all this dumb shit. I put it all together on the album. Like, ‘Druggys With Hoes,’ I’m out here drugging and I’m not even trying to fuck with hoes. ‘Kamikaze,’ I’m not even trying to rap—keep going broke. Different shit like that, I sum it up all in one album. My life did a whole 180 after that dropped. A lot of people still didn’t know the name though, but a lot of people did. It was weird. It just took me to the right spot. I made some fucking money off the project, it helped me see that I needed to do more positive shit in life, and it made me into the person I am now. All I do now is just chill. I’d rather just chill, work on my music, be with my two-year-old daughter, and smoke weed and shit."^[17]

Hanely headlined his first show on March 11, 2011, at the Key Club in West Hollywood, California.^[18] In March 2011 Hanley was arrested at the 2011 South by Southwest music festival and explained that he was ultimately jailed because of marijuana possession: "I got sent to jail for some weed. That was all bad. And I was the one that broke up the fight," said Schoolboy Q. "And then my manager Dave he thought he was Tupac Shakur, ‘Don’t touch my artist! Don’t touch my artist! Don’t touch my artist!’ I’m cool. I’m his artist. I’m like whatever. I’m straight then he kept going crazy. My ass went to the pen…Yea, I got away and then everybody walked out like Tupac in MGM. Police was like ‘Aww, there they go.’ Of course I’m the only one with all the weed."^[19]

On September 22, through his Twitter feed, Hanley announced the title of his second full length project to be Habits & Contradictions. He described the album as a "prequel to Setbacks".^[20] On September 26, 2011, he released the first offering off of Habits & Contradictions, a song titled "Druggys Wit Hoes Again" featuring Ab-Soul. On October 19, 2011, he leaked "There He Go", followed by "Oxy Music" on October 28. On October 31, he was featured on ASAP Rocky's critically acclaimed mixtape LiveLoveA$AP, on a song titled "Brand New Guy", which was well received by the public. To keep promoting Habits & Contradictions he released "My Hatin’ Joint" on November 15, 2011. On November 29, 2011, a music video for "To tha Beat (F'd Up)" from Setbacks was leaked,^[21][22] later that same day Hanley officially released a music for a track titled "Sacrilegious" for Habits & Contradictions.^[23] On January 2, 2012, Hanley released another song, "Blessed" featuring Kendrick Lamar and announced the album's release date to be January 14, 2012.^[24]

On January 6, 2012, via Twitter, Hanley announced guest appearances on the album would include ASAP Rocky, Currensy and Dom Kennedy.^[25][26][27] On January 6, Hanley also released a public service announcement for Habits & Contradictions, shot and edited by Dwayne LaFleur.^[28] Hanley sat down with freeOnSmash, for an interview and spoke on some of the tracks from his Habits & Contradictions, the interview was released on January 9, 2012. OnSmash claims "The 17 track project, due out January 14, is a look into Q’s life, with tales of pill selling, life struggle, partying, religious hypocrites, his block and everything in between."^[29] The album was released exclusively on iTunes, with only a few hard copies being sold and signed by Schoolboy Q in L.A.. In early hours of release, the album moved up to iTunes Top 10 Albums chart and stayed over within days after release. The album debuted at #111 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 3,900 digital copies in the United States.^[6] With only two days at retail the Top Dawg Entertainment release scanned nearly 4,000 units to crack the Top 100, without any marketing or advertising.^[6] The album also debuted on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums at number twenty-five, Top Rap Albums at number sixteen, Top Independent Albums at number seventeen and at number three on the Top Heatseekers album chart respectively. Music videos for "Hands on the Wheel" with ASAP Rocky and "Nightmare on Figg St." were later released.

In March 2012, MTV announced that Top Dawg Entertainment, the independent record label Schoolboy Q is signed to, have closed a joint venture deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, marking the end of his career as an independent artist. Under the new deal, Black Hippy cohort, Kendrick Lamar's debut studio album, Good Kid in a Mad City will be jointly released via Top Dawg/Interscope/Aftermath while releases from the rest of Black Hippy (Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and ScHoolboy Q) will be distributed via Top Dawg/Interscope.^[2] On March 24, Schoolboy Q announced #TheGroovyTour; a month long tour with Ab-Soul accompanying him the entire way. The tour kicks off on April 20 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California.^[30] On April 3, 2012, Interscope Records released "Hands on the Wheel" as a single via iTunes^[31] and began promoting the song at Urban and Rhythmic radio formats in North America.

Musical style[link]

Influences[link]

Schoolboy Q cites Nas, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Mobb Deep, Kurupt, 2Pac, Biggie, Kanye West, Beanie Sigel and Wu-Tang Clan as rappers who influenced him: "But Biggie, Nas and 50 Cent [are my biggest influences]".^[32]

In several interviews Schoolboy Q has stated 50 Cent is the biggest reason he started to take rapping and his music career seriously, even going as far as saying 50 Cent probably saved his life: "We got the same shit going on. Everything he talk about is the same shit I did. I relate to Fifty… I can listen to 50 Cent and tell he really mean what he’s saying. He’s one of them niggas that got away with confidence. Fifty ain’t got the best bars, he ain’t got Jay-Z bars but his confidence on a record…you can’t deny it. I seen where he was doing an interview about Ja Rule during the beef shit, he was saying that any nigga that just getting out of jail that don’t know what to do with himself is getting into the rap game. Recently when I just got out of jail I didn’t know what to do I wasn’t going to try and finish playing football. That’s when I was fucking around with rapping, I wasn’t really rapping but when I heard that I was like fuck it…I really went hard at it. Fifty probably saved my life on some real shit."^[33]

Rapping technique[link]

In an interview with Complex magazine, he says he got his "rhyme-style" from Jay-Z: "I got [my rhyme style] from Jay-Z though. If you really listen to Jay-Z, he has a new sound every time he raps. It’s never the same. He might use a little swag, but it’s always like a different flow. So that’s all I try to do."^[32]

Schoolboy Q has been called very versatile with rapping as proven on his albums Setbacks and Habits & Contradictions. LA Weekly noted on Setbacks: "His style had begun to take shape, with his penchant for stretching vowels like Silly Putty or slurring a word and then snapping back into double time."^[16] As stated he never tries to stick with the same flow: "But at the same time, its just a feeling I can’t really explain. You got to be wiser to stay on the track, but there’s no rules. When you start rapping with rules, it’s when you start sounding boring. You may hear me fuck with my voice, you may hear me do a two-bar pause, you may hear me do an odd 33 bars instead of 30. Give you 14 bars instead of 16."^[32]

Discography[link]

Independent albums[link]

Mixtapes[link]

Promotional singles[link]

Guest appearances[link]

Music videos[link]

As main artist[link]

As featured artist[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Schoolboy Q on Myspace
• ScHoolboy Q at Allmusic

Maher Zain ماهر زين
Background information
Born	(1981-03-16) March 16, 1981 (age 31) Tripoli, Lebanon
Origin	Sweden
Genres	R&B, Soul music, Pop music, World music, Acoustic music, Nasheed
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician, composer, music producer
Instruments	Guitar, piano, keyboard, percussion, synthesizers
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Awakening Records Sony Music
Associated acts	Irfan Makki Mesut Kurtis

Maher Zain (Arabic: ماهر زين‎ ; born March 16, 1981 in Tripoli, Lebanon) is a Muslim Swedish R&B singer, songwriter and music producer of Lebanese origin. His debut album Thank You Allah, an internationally successful album with strong Muslim religious influences, was released in 2009. He released his follow-up album Forgive Me on April 2, 2012.

Career[link]

Beginnings[link]

Maher Zain and his family moved to Sweden when he was eight years old. He completed his schooling there gaining a Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering. After university he entered the music industry in Sweden and linked up with RedOne, the Moroccan-born Swedish producer.^[1]

When RedOne moved to New York in 2006 Maher Zain followed soon after to continue his music industry career in the USA producing for artists such as Kat DeLuna.^[2] On a visit home to Sweden he became engaged once more with his Islamic faith and decided to move away from a career as a music producer to become a singer/songwriter of contemporary R&B music with a strong Muslim religious influence.^[3]

[edit] Breakthrough success and Thank You Allah

In January 2009, Maher Zain began working on an album with Awakening Records. His debut album was Thank You Allah, with 13 songs and two bonus tracks was released on 1 November 2009 with percussion versions and French versions of some tracks released shortly afterwards.^[4]

Zain and Awakening Records successfully used new media such as Facebook, YouTube^[5] and iTunes to promote tracks from the album.^[6][7] In early 2010 his music very quickly gathered a huge online following in Arabic speaking and Islamic countries as well as among young Muslims in western countries.^[8] By the end of 2010 he was the most Googled celebrity in Malaysia for that year.^[7] Malaysia is also the country where he has had the most commercial success. The album Thank You Allah received 8 Platinum awards from Warner Music Malaysia as the highest selling album of 2010.^[9] In 2011, Thank You Allah earned a double platinum award from Sony Music Indonesia.^[1]

Zain sings mainly in English but has released some of his most popular songs in other languages. The song "Insha Allah", for example, is now available in English, French, Arabic, Turkish, Malay and Indonesian versions. Another song, “Allahi Allah Kiya Karo” (“Continuously Saying Allah”), is sung in Urdu and features the Pakistan born Canadian singer Irfan Makki.^[6]

In March 2011, Maher Zain released "Freedom",^[6] a song inspired by the events and the actions of the people taking part in the Arab Spring. In July 2011 he featured on the cover of the UK Muslim lifestyle magazine Emel.^[10]

Zain was featured on Irfan Makki's track "I Believe" from his debut studio album of the same name.^[11] He was also featured on Mesut Kurtis' album, Beloved, in the track named "Never Forget".^{[citation needed]}

Awards[link]

• In January 2010, Maher Zain won Best Religious Song for 'Ya Nabi Salam Alayka', on Nujoom FM, a major Middle East mainstream music station, beating other prominent singers including Hussein Al-Jismi, Mohammed Mounir and Sami Yusuf.^[12]

• Maher Zain was chosen as a Muslim Star of 2011 in a competition organized by Onislam.net.^[13]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

• 2010: "Insha Allah"

Videography[link]

• 2009: "Palestine Will Be Free"
• 2010: "Insha Allah"
• 2010: "The Chosen One"
• 2011: "Freedom"
• 2011: "Ya Nabi Salam Alayka"
• 2011: "For the Rest of My Life"
• 2012: "Number One For Me"
• 2012: "So Soon"

Featured in

• 2011: "I Believe" (Irfan Makki feat. Maher Zain) (in Irfan Makki's album I Believe)
• 2011: "Never Forget" (Mesut Kurtis feat. Maher Zain) (in Mesut Kurtis' album Beloved)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Maher Zain Facebook
• Maher Zain on IslamicLyrics.net
• Awakening Music
• Last.fm: Maher Zain page