Slip-n-Slide Records is an American record label, founded in 1994 by, Ted Lucas.

History[link]

Ted Lucas founded the label in 1994.^[1][2] Slip-n-Slide signed local rapper Trick Daddy Dollars in its early years; he debuted in 1997 with the locally popular album Based on a True Story and broke into mainstream success the next year with www.thug.com having dropped "Dollars" from his stage name. Trick Daddy's second album included hit single "Nann Nigga", featuring the new rapper Trina. He released some more albums under Slip-n-Slide and scored another top hit in 2004 with "Let's Go" featuring Twista and Lil Jon. His last Slip-n-Slide album was Back By Thug Demand in 2006.^[3] In 2008, Trick Daddy left Slip-n-Slide for his own label Dunk Ryders Records.^[4] Other rappers signed to Slip-n-Slide include Trina, Rick Ross, and Plies.

Rick Ross signed to Slip-n-Slide in the early 2000s. During his early years under the label, he did guest performances on some releases; he released two albums under the label, Port of Miami in 2006 and Trilla in 2008.^[5] Ross left Slip-n-Slide in 2009.^[6]

On June 26, 2001, Renee Perkins of District Heights, Maryland sued Slip-n-Slide for failing to edit the expletive "dick" from Trick Daddy's Thugs Are Us album. Perkins bought the edited version of the album for her 11-year-old son to play at a party.^[7] TVT Records was ordered in court to pay Slip-n-Slide $2.3 million in compensatory damages and $6.8 million in punitive damages for blocking the release of Welcome to the 305, an unreleased album that rapper Pitbull recorded with Slip-n-Slide before he signed to TVT.^[8]

Lucas started a division of Slip-n-Slide devoted to rock music and signed pop singer Qwote and R&B singer Shonie in 2008.^[9] In 2009, Slip-n-Slide signed Jagged Edge, an R&B group that had been previously signed to Def Jam. Previously, Slip-n-Slide focused on developing new artists from the South Florida area.^[10]

Artists[link]

• Atiba^[11]
• Mike Bless^[11]
• Camar^[11]
• Jagged Edge^[10]
• Plies
• Qwote^[9]
• Shonie^[9]
• Drew Sidora^[11]
• Swazy Baby^[11]
• Skilz/Mr.Fantastik
• J-Ca$h
• Adrian Holland

Former artists[link]

• Trick Daddy
• Trina
• Rick Ross

References[link]

• Phil Da Funk

External links[link]

• Slip-N-Slide official website
• Slip-N-Slide World

William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), better known by his stage name Rick Ross (often stylized as RICK RO$$), is an American rapper. He derived his stage name from the drug trafficker "Freeway" Ricky Ross, to whom he has no connection. Ross founded the record label Maybach Music Group, on which he released his studio albums Deeper Than Rap and Teflon Don, Ross was also the first artist signed to Diddy's management company Ciroc Entertainment. In early 2012, MTV named Ross as the Hottest MC In The Game.^[3]

Early life[link]

William Leonard Roberts II was born in Coahoma County, Mississippi.^[1] and raised in Carol City, Florida, near Miami.^[2] After graduating from Carol City Senior High School, he later attended the historically black college Albany State University on a football scholarship.^[4]

Music career[link]

After being signed to Suave House Records, former label for rap duo 8Ball & MJG, he eventually signed a deal with Slip-n-Slide Records, which has been under the Def Jam umbrella since 2006. While signed to Slip-n-Slide, Ross toured with fellow rapper Trick Daddy and made guest performances on other Slip-n-Slide albums.^[2]

[edit] Port of Miami (2006)

His debut album Port of Miami was released in August 2006 and debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, with sales at 187,000 units after its first week.^[5][6] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone magazine predicted that it would be "the summer's biggest rap record".^[7] The second single was "Push It", which samples "Scarface (Push It to the Limit)", the theme song off the gangster film Scarface.^[8] The music video for "Push It" was modeled after the film.^[9] During that time, Ross made guest performances on two singles from DJ Khaled's debut Listennn... the Album: "Born-N-Raised" and "Holla at Me". Port of Miami received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on November 8, 2006.

[edit] Trilla (2008)

In March 2008, his second album Trilla was released and, as its predecessor Port of Miami had, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.^[10] Its lead single "Speedin'" featuring R. Kelly peaked at #121 on the Billboard Hot 100; the next one, "The Boss" featuring T-Pain peaked at #17 on the Hot 100. The third single "Here I Am" featured Nelly and Avery Storm.^[11] MTV News ranked Ross on the fourth spot in its 2008 "Hottest MCs In The Game" list among ten rappers.^[12] The fourth single "This Is The Life" featured Trey Songz and was released in July.

[edit] Deeper Than Rap (2009)

"I look at the game and the business and all different aspects, it's a lot of great lyricists on the corner that will never properly understand the business and know how to market themselves and get in a position where they can gain capital. I look at all the strategies people use and what made them successful. What made Birdman just as relevant today after selling 50 million records? That intrigues me. To see the class of Jay-Z, his accomplishments and see how he sits backs and accurately makes his moves."^[13]

A track from the album called "Valley of Death" was what stood out to MTV reporters. In the song, Ross speaks briefly on his controversial stint as a prison guard. "Keep it trilla, nigga, never had a gun and badge," which he stresses, leaving the word that he was indeed an officer of the law. "Kept a nice watch, smoking on a hundred sack/ Back in the day I sold crack for some nice kicks/ Skippin' school, I saw my friend stabbed with an ice pick/ Can't criticize niggas trying to get jobs/ Better get smart, young brother, live yours." Later, he implies that while he was working as a corrections officer, he was on the streets. "Only lived once and I got two kids/ And for me to feed them, I'll get two gigs," he raps. "I'll shovel shit, I'll C.O./ So we can bow our heads and pray over the meatloaf." Although, he still provided no explanation for lying about being a C.O. to begin with, nor did he explain why he failed to pay child support for his children.^[14][15]

The cover of the May 2009 issue of XXL magazine, titled "Rick Ross Up in Smoke", featured Ross wearing a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses. After publication, a spokesperson for the luxury-goods maker contacted XXL to inform them that Ross was sporting fake sunglasses in the cover image.^[16] It was later revealed that the rapper was wearing authentic Louis Vuitton sunglasses which were altered by Jacob Bernstein, known as "The Sunglass Pimp". Bernstein defended his customizations despite Louis Vuitton's insistence that such modification and resale of trademarked property is not legal.^[17]

[edit] Teflon Don and other works (2010)

Rick Ross released his fourth studio album entitled Teflon Don, which was released on July 6, 2010. The lead is "Super High" featuring Ne-Yo. Actress Stacey Dash made an appearance in the music video. A second official single was released titled "Live Fast, Die Young" which features and is produced by Kanye West. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling 176,000 copies in its first week.

In November 2010, rapper and frequent collabourator, Diddy, who in 2009 signed Ross to a management deal with his Ciroc Entertainment, announced from his YouTube account, that him and Ross are working on an EP together, which is going to be released in 2011.^{[dated info]} A single has been released for the project, called "Another One".^[18]

[edit] God Forgives, I Don't (2011 - present)

Rick Ross had also announced the release of his next album, "God Forgives, I Don't", for December 13, 2011, however it was confirmed on November 17, 2011 it has been pushed back for release in 2012.^[19][20]

Rick Ross premiered two songs from his new album "God Forgives, I Don't", titled "You The Boss" and "I Love My Bitches".^[21]

Along with his music projects, Rick Ross was nominated by The Source as its "Man of the Year".^[22]

Rick Ross performed at BET Awards 2011, which aired on June 26, 2011.^[23] He also received a nomination for Best Male Hip Hop Artist.^[24] In early 2012, Ross was named the Hottest MC In The Game.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Correctional officer photos[link]

In July 2008, The Smoking Gun produced details linking Ross' social security number to an eighteen month stint as a correctional officer at the South Florida Reception Center, along with a photograph purporting to be Ross in his correctional officer uniform.^[25] Ross initially denied that the photograph was of him;^[26] after overwhelming evidence of his past came into the public's eye, Ross later admitted that he did work as a correctional officer in Florida during the early 1990s.^[27] In a 2008 interview with AllHipHop.com,^[28] "Freeway" Ricky Ross, claimed offense that Roberts used his name and identity when he learned that The Smoking Gun posted documents revealing Roberts' previous employment as a Florida correctional officer.^[29]

Legal issues[link]

Mugshot of Rick Ross taken in 2008.

In January 2008, Ross was arrested on gun and marijuana charges. During a deposition of Officer Rey Hernandez, a Miami Beach cop who arrested Ross, Ross's lawyer, Allan Zamren, asked Hernandez why Ross’s case was assigned to the gang task force. The officer stated that it was because Ross claimed affiliation with Carol City Cartel and other known gang members. Zamren then pressed Hernandez for a personal link between Ross and the gang members, but ultimately one could not be established.^[30]

In August 2008, YouTube entertainer DJ Vlad filed a lawsuit against Ross for assault and battery. Vlad claimed Ross organized an ambush on him at the 2008 Ozone Awards in Houston, Texas for asking questions about his past as a correctional officer.^[31]

On June 18, 2010, Freeway Ricky Ross sued Rick Ross for using his name,^[32] filing a copyright infringement lawsuit in a California Federal Court.^[32] Jay-Z had been called to testify in the lawsuit, as he was CEO of Def Jam when Ross/Roberts was signed.^[32] The reformed drug kingpin was looking for 10 million dollars in the lawsuit.^[32] Also, the release of his album, Teflon Don, was threatened to be blocked by Freeway Ricky Ross. A week after the filing of the lawsuit, Rick Ross responded to the charges: "It’s like owning a restaurant, you’re gonna have a few slip and falls. You get lawsuits, you deal with them, and get them out your way…sometimes you lose."^[33] He then denied rumors that he would change his name to "Ricky Rozay" as a consequence of the lawsuit. The lawsuit was thrown out of court on July 3, 2010^[34] and his album, Teflon Don, was released on July 20 as scheduled.

On March 26, 2011, Ross was arrested in Shreveport for possession of marijuana. According to the police records, a strong odor of marijuana was detected from his room at the Hilton in Downtown Shreveport.^[35]

Religion[link]

Rick Ross is a Christian,^[36] and in an interview with Corey "Coco Brother" Condrey on Lift Every Voice, he indicated that "I had told myself at one point no matter what I go through, I never question God."^[37] In addition, Ross indicated that he prays every time he goes on stage to perform.^[38]

Seizures[link]

On October 14, 2011 Rick Ross suffered two seizures in the same day, once in the morning and once again early evening. Following the morning seizure, he was unconscious and CPR was being performed. He did, however, post a video to his Twitter account later in the day saying that he was OK.^{[citation needed]} Ross boarded another plane later in the day and suffered another seizure. On October 14, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital confirmed that Ross had been admitted to the emergency room. TMZ, who first reported the seizure, updated their story originally posted at 4:45 PST, stating that Ross was in stable condition.^{[citation needed]}

Feud with 50 Cent[link]

In January 2009, Ross started a feud with rapper 50 Cent because he supposedly looked at him the wrong way at the BET Awards. 50 Cent told news sources that he did not remember seeing Ross there.^[39] In late January, "Mafia Music", by Ross, leaked onto the Internet. There were several lines that seemed to diss 50 Cent. Days later, 50 Cent released "Officer Ricky (Go Head, Try Me)" in response to Ross's disparaging remarks on his "Mafia Music" song.

Before going to Venezuela, 50 Cent uploaded a video entitled "Warning Shot," wherein he stated: "Rick Ross- I'mma fuck your life up for fun." In addition, 50 Cent released the first of a series of "Officer Ricky" cartoons. Early in February, 50 Cent once again made a video which he uploaded to YouTube in which he interviewed "Tia", the mother of one of Ross's children. She verifies that he was a correctional officer and claims his whole persona is fake and fraudulent.^[40] On Thursday, February 5, 2009, Game, who 50 Cent has a long-standing "beef" with, called up Seattle R&B station KUBE. When asked about the beef between 50 Cent and Ross, Game sided with 50 Cent and said that things are not looking good for Ross. He offered to help, stating, "Rick Ross, holla at your boy, man," and, "50 eating you, boy."^[41] On his album Deeper Than Rap, Ross references 50 Cent in the song "In Cold Blood". A video for the song was released that portrayed 50 Cent's mock funeral. Upon release, Ross stated that he has ended 50 Cent's career.^[42] That same day Ross released a new diss track called "Push 'Em Over The Edge". The next day 50 Cent released the controversial video "A Psychic Told Me", dissing DJ Khaled. On February 12, 50 Cent responded with "Tia Told Me", along with Lloyd Banks' response "Officer Down" and Tony Yayo's "Somebody Snitched".

In an interview, 50 Cent said Ross is "Albert From CB4. You ever seen the movie? He's Albert," he added. "It never gets worse than this. You get a guy that was a correctional officer come out and base his entire career on writing material from a drug dealer's perspective."^[43]

Discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

• 2006: Port of Miami
• 2008: Trilla
• 2009: Deeper Than Rap
• 2010: Teflon Don
• 2012: God Forgives, I Don't ^[20]

Maybach Music Group Albums[link]

• 2011: Self Made Vol. 1 (with Maybach Music Group)
• 2012: Self Made Vol. 2 (with Maybach Music Group)^[44]

Collaboration albums[link]

• 2009: Custom Cars & Cycles (with Triple C's)
• TBA: Bugatti Boyz (with Diddy)^[45][46]

Compilation albums[link]

• 2007: Rise to Power

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rick Ross

• Rick Ross Official Def Jam Website
• Rick Ross at the Internet Movie Database

Drumma Boy
Drumma Boy at the 2011 BET Awards in Los Angeles
Background information
Birth name	Christopher James Gholson
Origin	Memphis, Tennessee [1]
Genres	Hip hop, R&B
Occupations	Producer, Rapper
Instruments	Roland TR-808, Akai MPC-4000, Apple GarageBand, Korg Triton, Vocals
Years active	2002-Present
Labels	Drum Squad
Associated acts	Young Buck, Young Jeezy, T.I., Pastor Troy, Rick Ross, Gorilla Zoe, Plies, Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti, Waka Flocka Flame, Gangsta Boo, Wiz Khalifa, Tity Boi, Bow Wow, Ace Hood, Chris Brown
Website	drum-squad.com

Christopher James Gholson, better known by his stage name Drumma Boy, is a multi-platinum award winning record producer and rapper from Memphis, Tennessee.

Early life[link]

Born in Memphis, TN and raised in Cordova, Tennessee, Drumma Boy was exposed to musicianship at a young age. His mother was a professional opera singer and his father, a professional clarinetist and music professor at the University of Memphis, was the first African-American male to hold the 1st chair position in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, where he is still an active member.^[2] The rest of his extended family including grandmothers and aunts were also musicians and taught music in the schools. Drumma Boy says he had a recorder in his hand at age 3 and a clarinet at age 5.^[3] His father was instrumental in teaching him about traditional music but it was his mother that introduced him to Curtis Mayfield and 70’s oldies. Gholson is the younger brother of producer Ensayne Wayne.

Drumma Boy attended the University of Memphis as a Music Business Major. In between attending classes, he would shop his homemade beats to Memphis rappers such as Gangsta Boo and Tela, as well as travel to Texas to work on projects for Scarface and Bun B of UGK.^[4]

Career[link]

Drumma Boy relocated to Atlanta in 2004 and founded Drum Squad, an umbrella company that encompasses Drum Squad Productions which represents producers and songwriters, as well as Drum Squad Records.^[5] Citing Quincy Jones, Raphael Saadiq and The Funk Brothers as production inspirations his musical influences range from German composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach to Jazz icons Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis all the way to Academy Award winning Three 6 Mafia and Scarface.^[6] He is known to combine classical chords with urban street sounds. He has worked with a host of hip hop acts that include Young Buck, Young Jeezy, T.I., Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Nelly, T-Pain, Usher, Ciara, Wiz Khalifa, Wale, Waka Flocka Flame, Gorilla Zoe, Tinie Tempah, Drake, Gucci Mane, Ludacris, Plies, Young Joc, Fabolous, Roscoe Dash, Rick Ross, E-40, Monica, Goapele, Stephen & Damien Marley, Rocko, Paul Wall, Lil Jon, Ben G, Travis Porter, and Chris Brown.^[7]

In January 2009 he starred alongside Jazze Pha and Def Jam Recording Artist Vawn in BET's reality series "Welcome to Dreamland".^[8] He appeared on a segment of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" while making beats for cast member Kandi Burruss as well as appearing in the studio during an episode of Monica’s BET reality series “Still Standing.” ^[9] In November 2009 Drumma Boy released his music video “Dis Girl” shot by Mr. Boomtown, the first single off his mixtape Welcome II My City, which went on to receive millions of hits on Worldstarhiphop.^[10] He has appeared on FOX Good Day Atlanta, Good Morning Memphis, CBS News Channel 9, BET and MTV.^[11][12][13]

In 2008 Vibe Magazine named him one of the Top 5 Producers "making noise" in the music industry and in December 2009 he was named by The New York Times as one of the 4 hottest producers “driving the city” in Atlanta, describing his sound as “a busy bee swarm of synths overlaid with brash bass injections that’s equal parts Memphis and Atlanta."^[14] He was quoted in the January 2010 issue of Rolling Stone surrounding his production work for controversial recording artist Gucci Mane’s #1 Rap Album The State vs. Radric Davis.

Drumma Boy's signature drop on his beats is a voice saying "listen to the track, bitch". He is also known for the origination of extending sounds at the end of a verse."Yea Girl" or "Yea Boy" is another signature. There is another signature before the beat drops there is a voice saying "Drumma Boy".

Awards[link]

Drumma Boy won “Best Indie Producer of the Year” consecutively at the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Southern Entertainment Awards.^[15][16] He received a nomination for “Producer of the Year” at the 2008 Ozone Awards ^[17] and at the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards. His beats assisted with two nominations during the 2009 Grammy Awards including his work on T.I’s Paper trail (Best Rap Album) and “Put On” by Young Jeezy & Kanye West (Best Performance by a Rap Duo.).^[18] In 2011 his hit single “No Hands” wrote by welch for Waka Flocka, Roscoe Dash and Wale received a nomination for “Best Collaboration” at the 2011 BET Awards and picked up the accolade for “Best Club Banger” at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards.^[19]

Discography[link]

• Welcome II My City - Mixtape (Drum Squad Records 2009)
• The Birth Of D-Boy Fresh - Mixtape (Drum Squad Records 2011)

Production credits[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Drumma Boy on Myspace^{[dead link]}
• Official Beatbuggy site^{[dead link]}

This article should be divided into sections by topic, to make it more accessible. Please help by adding section headings in accordance with Wikipedia's Manual of Style. (May 2012)

Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street is an American video game designer, currently employed by Blizzard Entertainment as Lead Systems Designer on the award-winning MMORPG World of Warcraft. Street is also known by his screen name "Ghostcrawler" on the World of Warcraft message boards. Prior to being employed by Blizzard, Street worked as a marine biologist, eventually moving into the game design field. He also worked with Ensemble Studios on the Age of Empires series of real-time strategy games, during which period he was also known by the screen name "Deathshrimp".^[1]

Career[link]

Street graduated from McDaniel College in 1991 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Biology and Philosophy, later earning a PhD in marine science. Between 1996 and 1998, Street worked as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina.^[2] Street has said his work was only enjoyable to him "for the first several years or so…As I moved up the ranks, however, I was spending more and more of my time writing grant proposals, filling out paperwork and playing departmental politics." Street found that his profession involved "a lot of doing the same thing over and over again."^[1]

Ensemble Studios, the team behind the real-time strategy series Age of Empires, employed Street as a designer in 1998.^[2] With no education or experience in the game industry, Street suspects he was accepted due to his "writing and teaching experience, historical breadth, personal hygiene, gudd speling [sic], creativity, [and] my talent at capturing live alligators", as well as the user-created scenario for Age of Empires he submitted with his application, which later appeared in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. Street helped develop every Age of Empires game from Rise of Rome on, until his departure from the company. At first he designed in-game scenarios and maps, and later graduated to being the team's lead designer.^[3]

Street was hired by Blizzard Entertainment in February 2008, and is currently the lead systems designer on the MMORPG World of Warcraft.^[2] On the World of Warcraft message boards, he is known by his user name "Ghostcrawler". Street works in a similar capacity with Blizzard as he did with Ensemble as a designer. "Game designers are not artists or programmers, but we use the tools developed by the programmers and the assets created by the artists to get content into the game. Programmers make the game run, artists make it beautiful, but it is the designer's job to make it fun."^[4] Street became well-known in the World of Warcraft community during the public beta test for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, during which he was frequently communicating with beta testers on the message boards. He is often on the message boards announcing changes to the game or discussing them with players.^[5] Because "game balance is one of the most controversial aspects of any multiplayer game... I benefit from being able to engage the community directly."^[4] Street enjoys particular popularity as "Ghostcrawler" on the popular World of Warcraft fan site MMO-Champion, although there is frequent critique.

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, a rare crab named "Ghostcrawler" was added to the game, in reference to Street's screen name on the World of Warcraft message boards, as well as the avatar depicting a crab he uses.^[6]

References[link]