Auditorio de Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain)

An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.

Etymology[link]

The term is taken from Latin (from audītōrium, from audītōrius (“‘pertaining to hearing’”)); the concept is taken from the Greek auditorium, which had a series of semi-circular seating shelves in the theatre, divided by broad 'belts', called diazomata, with eleven rows of seats between each.

The auditorium of the Municipal Theatre, Regensburg, Germany

Modern examples[link]

The audience in a modern theatre are usually separated from the performers by the proscenium arch, although other types of stage are common.

The price charged for seats in each part of the auditorium (known in the industry as the house) usually varies according to the quality of the view of the stage. The seating areas can include some or all of the following:

• Stalls or arena: the lower flat area, usually below or at the same level as the stage.
• Balconies or galleries: one or more raised seating platforms towards the rear of the auditorium. In larger theatres, multiple levels are stacked vertically above or behind the stalls. The first level is usually called the dress circle or grand circle. The highest platform, or upper circle is sometimes known as the gods, especially in large opera houses, where the seats can be very high and a long distance from the stage.
• Boxes: typically placed immediately to the front, side and above the level of the stage. They are often separate rooms with an open viewing area which typically seat only a handful of people. These seats are typically considered the most prestigious of the house. A state box or royal box is sometimes provided for dignitaries.

See also[link]

• Auditorium Building
• List of concert halls
• Music venue
• Noise mitigation
• Smoking ban

External links[link]

• Concert hall acoustics on-line exhibition

Mos Def
Mos Def at YBCA in San Francisco on December 31, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Dante Terrell Smith
Also known as	Yasiin Bey
Born	(1973-12-11) December 11, 1973 (age 38) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genres	East Coast hip hop, alternative hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, actor, singer, activist
Years active	1996 – present
Labels	Rawkus, Priority, Geffen, Downtown, GOOD Music, DD172
Associated acts	Soulquarians, Black Star, Talib Kweli, Native Tongues Posse, Kanye West, Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Pharoahe Monch, Eminem, Blakroc, Robert Glasper Experiment

Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973) is an American actor and MC, known by the stage names Mos Def ( /ˌmoʊsˈdɛf/) and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which released the album Black Star in 1998. He was a major force in late 1990s underground hip hop while with Rawkus Records. As a solo artist he has released the albums Black on Both Sides in 1999, The New Danger in 2004, True Magic in 2006, and The Ecstatic in 2009.^[1]

Although he was initially recognized for his musical output, since the early 2000s, Mos Def's screen work has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who has garnered critical acclaim for his acting work. He is well known for his portrayal of Brother Sam in the American drama series Dexter. Mos Def has also been active in several social and political causes.

Early life[link]

He was born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdul Rahman.^[2] He was raised by his mother in Brooklyn; his father lived in New Jersey. While his father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later an active member in the community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into mainstream Islam from the Nation, Mos Def was not exposed to Islam until the age of 13. At 19, he took his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. He is friends with Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest.^[2]

Career[link]

Music[link]

In 1996, Mos Def emerged as a solo artist and worked with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees, before he released his own first single, "Universal Magnetic".

Mos Def in 1999

Mos Def signed with Rawkus Records and formed the group Black Star with Talib Kweli. They released an album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star, in 1998.^[3] Mostly produced by Hi-Tek, the album featured the hit singles, "Respiration" and "Definition", which would go on to be featured in VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip-Hop.^[4] Mos Def released his solo debut album Black on Both Sides in 1999, also through Rawkus.^[5] Around this time he also contributed to the Scritti Politti album Anomie & Bonhomie and Rawkus compilations Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing.

Def performing at Rock the Bells (New York).

After the collapse of Rawkus, he signed to Interscope/Geffen Records, which released his second solo album The New Danger in 2004.^[6] The New Danger contained a mix of several musical genres, including soul, blues, and rock and roll, performed with his rock band Black Jack Johnson, which contained members of the bands Bad Brains and Living Colour. The singles included "Sex, Love & Money" and the B-side "Ghetto Rock"; the latter went on to receive several Grammy Award nominations in 2004.

Mos Def's final solo album for Geffen Records, True Magic, was released in 2006.

The song "Crime & Medicine" is essentially a cover of GZA's 1995 single "Liquid Swords", though it contains different verses. Also, the track "Undeniable" samples a version of the Barrett Strong/Norman Whitfield composition "Message from a Black Man". The song "Dollar Day" uses the same beat as Juvenile's "Nolia Clap".^[7]

On November 7, 2007, Mos Def performed live in San Francisco at a venue called The Mezzanine. This performance was recorded for an upcoming "Live in Concert" DVD. During this performance Mos Def announced that he would be releasing a new album to be called The Ecstatic. He sang a number of new tracks; in later shows, Def previewed tracks produced by Madlib and was rumored to be going to Kanye West for new material. Producer and fellow Def Poet Al Be Back stated that he would be producing as well.^[8] The album was released on June 9, 2009; upon its release, only Madlib's production had made the cut, along with tracks by Preservation, The Neptunes, Mr. Flash, Madlib's brother Oh No, a song by J. Dilla, and Georgia Anne Muldrow.

Mos Def appears alongside Kanye West on the track "Two Words" from The College Dropout album, the track "Drunk And Hot Girls" and the bonus track "Good Night" off West's third major album, Graduation. In 2002, he released the 12" single Fine, which was featured in the Brown Sugar Motion Picture Soundtrack.^[9]

Mos Def also appears on the debut album from fellow New Yorkers Apollo Heights on a track titled, "Concern." In October, he signed a deal with Downtown Records and appeared on a remix to the song "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice.^[10] Mos Def appeared on Stephen Marley's debut album Mind Control on the song "Hey Baby." In 2009, Mos Def worked together with Somali rapper K'naan to produce the track "America" for K'naan's album Troubadour.^[11]

In April 2008 he appeared on the title track for a new album by The Roots entitled Rising Down. The new single, Life In Marvelous Times, was made officially available through iTunes on November 4, 2008, and is available for stream on the Roots' website Okayplayer.

April 2009 saw him traveling to South Africa for the first time where he performed accompanied by The Robert Glasper Experiment at the renowned Cape Town International Jazz Festival. He enticed his bemused African following with an encore introduced by his own rendition of John Coltrane's "Love Supreme" followed by a sneak preview of the track "M.D. (Doctor)", much to the delight of the fans.^[12]

Mos Def also designed two pairs of limited edition Converse shoes. The shoes were released to Foot Locker stores on August 1, 2009 in very limited amounts.^[13]

In late 2009, Mos Def created a brand of clothing line with UNDRCRWN called the "Mos Def Cut & Sew Collection." All clothing items will be sold in select stores located around the U.S. and almost exclusively on the UNDRCRWN website.^[14] 2009 also found Mos Def among the MCs collaborating with the Black Keys on the first Blakroc album, a project headed by the Black Keys and Damon Dash. Mos Def appeared with Jim Jones and the Black Keys on the Late Show with David Letterman to perform the Blakroc track "Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)".

In March 2010, Mos Def's song Quiet Dog Bite Hard was featured in Palm's "Life moves fast. Don't miss a thing." campaign.^[15]

Mos Def features on the first single, "Stylo", from the third Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach, alongside soul legend Bobby Womack. He also appears on the track titled "Sweepstakes".

In September 2010, after appearing on Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Friday track "Lord Lord Lord", Mos Def confirmed his signing with GOOD Music.^[16]

Mos Def has been an active contributor to the recovery of the oil spill in the Gulf, performing concerts and raising money towards the repair of the damages. In June 2010, he recorded a cover of the classic New Orleans song originally by Smokey Johnson, "It Ain't My Fault" with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Lenny Kravitz and Trombone Shorty.

In September 2011, Mos Def announced that he planned to use the name Yasiin instead of Mos Def beginning in 2012.^[17]

In January 2012, it was reported that Mos Def and Talib Kweli had begun "to resurrect" Black Star.^[18]

Acting[link]

He began his professional acting career at the age of fourteen, appearing in the TV movie God Bless the Child, starring Mare Winningham. He then played the oldest child in the short-lived family sitcom, You Take the Kids, starring Nell Carter and Roger E. Mosley. His most notable acting role before his music career was that of Bill Cosby's sidekick on the short-lived detective show, The Cosby Mysteries. He also starred in a 1996 Visa check card commercial featuring Deion Sanders. In 1997 he had a small role alongside Michael Jackson in his short film and music video "Ghosts".

After brief appearances in Bamboozled^[19] and Monster's Ball,^[20] Mos re-invigorated his acting career with his performance as a talented rapper who is reluctant to sign to a major label in Brown Sugar.^[21] He was nominated for an Image Award and a Teen Choice Award.^[22]

In 2001, he took a supporting role to Beyoncé Knowles and Mehki Phifer in the MTV movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera as Lt. Miller, a crooked cop.

In 2002, he played the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play. He and co-star Jeffrey Wright won a Special Award from the Outer Critics Circle Award for their joint performance.^[23] He also received positive notices as the quirky Left Ear in the blockbuster hit, The Italian Job in 2003.^[24] He also appeared in 2003 in the music video You Don't Know My Name of the song by Alicia Keys.

In television, Mos Def has appeared on NYPD Blue,^[25] on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show,^[26] and has hosted the award-winning HBO spoken word show, Def Poetry since its inception.^[27] The show's sixth season aired in 2007. He also appeared on the sitcom My Wife And Kids as the disabled friend of Michael Kyle (Damon Wayans).

Mos Def won Best Actor, Independent Movie at the 2005 Black Reel Awards for his portrayal of Detective Sgt. Lucas in The Woodsman.^[28] For his portrayal of Vivien Thomas in HBO's film Something the Lord Made,^[29] he was nominated for an Emmy Award^[30] and a Golden Globe, and won the Image Award. He also played a bandleader in HBO's Lackawanna Blues. He then landed the role of Ford Prefect in the 2005 movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.^[31]

Def and Bruce Willis on the set of 16 Blocks, filmed on location in Chinatown, Manhattan on Pell Street.

In 2006, Mos Def appeared in Dave Chappelle's Block Party alongside fellow Black Star companion Talib Kweli, while also contributing to the film's soundtrack.^[32] Also, Mos Def was featured as the black banjo player in the infamous "Pixie Sketch" from Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes. He was later edited out of it on the DVD. Additionally, Mos Def starred in the action film 16 Blocks alongside Bruce Willis and David Morse.^[33] He has a recurring guest role on Boondocks, starring as "Gangstalicious". He is also set to be in Toussaint, a film about Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, opposite Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. He made a cameo appearance — playing himself — in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.^[34]

In 2007, Mos Def narrated the PBS-broadcast documentary Prince Among Slaves.

In 2008, Mos Def starred in the Michel Gondry movie Be Kind Rewind, playing a video rental store employee whose best friend is played by co-star Jack Black.^[35] He also portrayed Chuck Berry in the film Cadillac Records,^[36] for which he was nominated for a Black Reel Award and an Image Award.

In 2009, he appeared in the House episode entitled "Locked In" as a patient suffering from locked-in syndrome. His performance was well-received, with E! saying that Mos Def "delivers an Emmy-worthy performance."^[37] He was also in the 2009 film Next Day Air.

In 2010, he appeared on the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba! as Super Mr. Superhero. He also appeared in A Free Man of Color, John Guare's play at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.^[38]

In 2011, he began a multi-episode appearance on the Showtime television series Dexter. He played Brother Sam, an ex-con who has supposedly found religion despite finding himself in violent situations.^[39]

Social and political views[link]

In 2000, Mos Def performed a benefit concert for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal.^[40]

In September 2005, Mos Def released the single "Katrina Clap," renamed "Dollar Day" for True Magic, (utilizing the instrumental for New Orleans rappers UTP's "Nolia Clap"). The song is a criticism of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. On the night of the MTV Video Music Awards, Mos Def pulled up in front of Radio City Music Hall on a flatbed truck and began performing the "Katrina Clap" single in front of a crowd that quickly gathered around him. He was subsequently arrested despite having a public performance permit in his possession.^[41]

On September 7, 2007, Mos Def appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher where he spoke about racism against African Americans, citing the government response to Hurricane Katrina, the Jena Six and the murder conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal. He appeared on Real Time again on March 27, 2009, and spoke about the risk of nuclear weapons.^[42] Mos Def said that he did not listen to any of Osama Bin Laden's messages because he did not trust the translations.^[43]

Personal life[link]

In 1996, Def married Maria Yepes. After having two daughters, Chandani and Jauhara Smith, he filed for divorce in 2005.^[44]

In October 2006 Mos Def appeared on 4Real, a documentary television series.^[45] Appearing in the episode "City of God," he and the 4Real crew traveled to City of God, a slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to meet Brazilian MC MV Bill and learn about the crime and social problems of the community.^[46]

Nominations[link]

• Black Movie Awards
  • 2006 Source Awards
• Black Reel Awards
  • 2008, Best Supporting Actor: Cadillac Records
  • 2003, Best Actor- Independent: Civil Brand
  • 2004, Best Supporting Actor: The Italian Job
  • 2005, Best Actor TV Movie/Mini-Series: Something the Lord Made
  • 2005, Best Indie Actor: The Woodsman (won)
• Emmy Award
  • 2004, Best Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Something the Lord Made
• Golden Globes
  • 2005, Best Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Something the Lord Made
• Grammy Awards
  • 2005, Best Urban/Alternative Performance: "Sex, Love & Money"
  • 2006, Best Urban/Alternative Performance: "Ghetto Rock"
  • 2007, Best Rap Solo Performance: "Undeniable"
  • 2010, Best Rap Solo Performance: "Casa Bey"
  • 2010, Best Rap Album: "The Ecstatic"
  • 2011, Best Short Form Music Video: "Stylo" (with Bobby Womack and Gorillaz)
• Image Awards
  • 2009, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Cadillac Records
  • 2003, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Brown Sugar
  • 2005, Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Something the Lord Made

Discography[link]

• Black on Both Sides (1999)
• The New Danger (2004)
• True Magic (2006)
• The Ecstatic (2009)
• Yasiin Bey Presents (TBA)^[47]

Collaborations

• Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star (1998) (with Talib Kweli as Black Star)
• Black Star Aretha (2012) (with Talib Kweli as Black Star)^[47]
• Cruel Summer (2012) (with GOOD Music)^[48]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mos Def

• Mos Def / Dante Smith discographies at Discogs.
• Mos Def at Geffen Records.
• Mos Def at MTV
• Mos Def at the Internet Movie Database
• Mos Def at Emmys.com

Slick Rick
Slick Rick performing at the 2009 Fresh Fest concert in Los Angeles, California
Background information
Birth name	Richard Walters
Born	(1965-01-14) 14 January 1965 (age 47) London, England
Origin	The Bronx, New York City
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, record producer
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Def Jam, Columbia, CBS Records, PolyGram, Universal
Associated acts	Doug E. Fresh, Nas, Prince Paul, Dana Dane

Richard Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known by his stage name Slick Rick, is a Grammy-nominated British American rapper. He has also been known as MC Ricky D and Rick the Ruler. He began his career in late 1983, in the hip hop genre, where he recorded a series of acclaimed recordings such as "La Di Da Di" and "Children's Story". Walters is best known for his storytelling innovations in this genre. His music has been frequently sampled and interpolated by other artists such as TLC, Black Star, The Notorious B.I.G. and Snoop Dogg, with many of these songs later becoming hit singles. Slick Rick rose to stardom in an era known to fans as the Golden age of hip hop.

Career[link]

Born and brought up in the south-west London suburb of Wimbledon, Walters later moved with his British Jamaican family to The Bronx in 1977 where he met Dana Dane with whom he later formed a hip hop duo known as the Kangol Crew. Walters received his characteristic eye patch after being blinded in the right eye by broken glass as an infant.^[1] Once he gained a degree of wealth, Walters earned a reputation for wearing the eye patch over his right eye, and a significant amount of gold and diamond jewelry.

He first gained success in the rap industry by joining Doug E. Fresh's Get Fresh Crew, using the stage name MC Ricky D. He was featured on the single "The Show" and its popular B-side "La Di Da Di". "La Di Da Di" featured Walters' rapping over Doug E. Fresh's beatbox. Both tracks gained some mainstream attention. In 1988 Walters' solo debut The Great Adventures of Slick Rick came out on Def Jam Records. The album was very successful, reaching the #1 spot on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop chart. It also featured three charting singles: "Children's Story", "Hey Young World", and "Teenage Love". These are now some of Walters' best known songs.

In 1990, Walters shot a bystander and his cousin whom he had hired as a bodyguard and who later admitted to having Walters shot outside a club. Walters was indicted on two counts of attempted murder and pled guilty to all charges, which included assault, use of a firearm, and criminal possession of a weapon. He spent five years in prison, two for the second degree attempted murder charges he received for the shooting, and three for his struggle with the Immigration and Naturalization Services over his residency in the US. He was bailed out by Russell Simmons, head of Def Jam Records. After being bailed out Walters recorded his second album, The Ruler's Back. The album got mixed reviews and wasn't as commercially successful as his debut. In the documentary film, The Show, Russell Simmons interviews Walters while he was imprisoned on Rikers Island.^[2]

Walters' third studio album Behind Bars was released while he was still incarcerated. It was met with lukewarm sales and reviews. After being released from prison in 1996, Walters remained with the Def Jam label and on May 25, 1999, released a fourth album entitled The Art of Storytelling. Generally considered the authentic follow up to his 1988 debut, The Art of Storytelling was an artistically successful comeback album that paired him with prolific MCs like Nas, OutKast, Raekwon, and Snoop Dogg among others. On October 6, 2008, Rick was honoured on the VH1 Hip Hop Honors show.

"La Di Da Di", "Mona Lisa" and "Children's Story" are among Walters most well known songs, with "La Di Da Di" being covered nearly word-for-word by Snoop Dogg on his 1993 album Doggystyle. Lines from "La Di Da Di" were borrowed by other multiple high profile artists. "Children's Story" was sampled by Montell Jordan for his 1995 hit, "This Is How We Do It", and rapper Everlast covered the song for his album Eat at Whitey's. Rapper Eminem also borrowed from the song extensively in his diss track "Can-I-Bitch". "Children's Story" was covered with similar lyrics by the MC duo Black Star on their 1998 album Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star, as well as by Tricky on the album Nearly God. It was also paid tribute to by A Tribe Called Quest on their song "8 Million Stories". With a similar backing and very similar lyrics, rapper The Game also made a similar song which was named "Compton Story". "Compton Story" was on the Mixtape BWS Radio 5 made in 2008. The chorus of Notorious B.I.G.'s song "Hypnotize" is also derived from "La Di Da Di". The opening track on Jay Z's Blueprint albumn is also a cover of Slick Rick's "The Rulers Back" and borrows heavily from the original lyrics.

Slick Rick and the Soul Rebels Brass Band are scheduled to collaborate on June 21, 2012 in Washington DC at the historic Howard Theatre which re-opened in April 2012.^[3]

Slick Rick has been referenced in numerous songs:

• The Nicki Minaj song "Super Bass": "...slicker than the guy with the thing on his eye"
• The D12 video from their mixtape, Return of the Dozen Volume 2, where Bizarre raps in the track "Outro": "...patch on my eye, I'm the new Slick Rick".
• In the Keri Hilson song Knock You Down, Kanye West raps: "Hey young world, I'm the new Slick Rick/They say I move too quick..."
• In the Amy Winehouse song "Me and Mr Jones", Winehouse sings: "You made me miss the Slick Rick gig..."
• In the R.A. the Rugged Man song "Supa", R.A. raps: "...specifically wordplay Slick Ricky I'm slicker than Slick Ricky"
• In the Junior M.A.F.I.A. song "Player's Anthem" B.I.G. raps: "This type of s*** happens everyday!"
• In the Kanye West song "Touch the Sky" Kanye West raps: "Back when Slick Rick got the shit to pop, "
• In the MC Ren song "Same Old Shit" sampled Slick Rick: "This type of shit happens everyday!"
• In the CunninLynguists song "Old School" Deacon the Villain raps: "Before [...] Slick Rick had his rings"
• The Insane Clown Posse song "Fearless" features the lyrics: "...I'll sneak up to Slick Rick, and snatch off his eyepatch..."
• The Gorillaz, Andre 3000, & James Murphy song "DoYaThing" where Andre repeats: "...Is you really Slick Rick? No, you Dana Dane."

Rapping style[link]

Slick Rick’s style is commended by music critics. Music journalist Peter Shapiro says, “'Children's Story' was important because of its narrative structure and Rick’s understanding of how crucial little sonic details—such as his use of a female voice and his yawning rap—were to hip hop style.”^[4]

He is largely known for his story raps, such as ‘Children’s Story’ and ‘La Di Da Di'. Shapiro writes that he "largely introduced the art of narrative into hip hop… none of the spinners of picaresque rhymes who followed did it with the same grace or humor.”^[5] Allmusic states that he has the “reputation as hip hop's greatest storyteller.”^[6] In the book Check the Technique, Slick Rick says, “I was never the type to say freestyle raps, I usually tell a story, and to do that well I’ve always had to work things out beforehand.”^[7] Kool Moe Dee comments, “Slick Rick raised the lost art of hip hop storytelling to a level never seen again.”^[8] Devin the Dude notes that Slick Rick’s ‘Indian Girl’ is a good example of the type of humor that existed in hip hop’s golden era,^[9] and Peter Shapiro says that “he was funnier than Rudy Ray Moore or Red Foxx.”^[4]

Slick Rick uses very clear enunciation and raps with the “Queen’s English”.^[4] O.C. states: “The Great Adventures of Slick Rick is one of the greatest albums ever… the stuff he was just saying on there, it was so clear… the [clear] syllable dude was Slick Rick for me”.^[10] He is also renowned for his unique “smooth, British-tinged flow”^[7] which contains distinct structures. In the book How to Rap, it is noted that on the song ‘I Own America’, he “puts a rest on almost every other 1 beat so that each set of two lines begins with a rest.”^[11] Kool Moe Dee stated that, “Rick accomplished being totally original at a time when most MCs were using very similar cadences.”^[12] He has what is described as “singsong cadences”;^[6] Andy Cat of Ugly Duckling mentions that Slick Rick uses a melodic delivery on the track ‘Hey Young World’.^[13] Slick Rick is also known to extensively use punch ins, especially in his story rhymes as different characters;^[14] Kool Moe Dee says Rick used “multi-voices to portray multiple characters.”^[8]

Personal life[link]

Rumours suggested that Walters planned to release a new album, "The Adventure Continues," in 2007. However, in a recent XXL Magazine interview, he denied the claim.^[15] Rick is supposedly "waiting for a market to open up for a mature audience."

Legal issues[link]

After performing on a Caribbean cruise ship in June 2001, Walters was arrested by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as he re-entered the United States through Florida. He was promptly told that he was being deported because he was a British citizen since he had been born in London and moved to the States as a child. Rick was continuously refused bail, but after 17 months in prison he was released on November 7, 2003.^[16][17] In October 2006, the Department of Homeland Security began a new attempt to deport Walters,^[18] moving the case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit based in New York to the more conservative Eleventh Circuit. The court is based in Atlanta, Georgia but the trial was expected to proceed in Florida, where immigration agents originally arrested Walters.

On May 23, 2008, New York Governor David Paterson granted Slick Rick a full and unconditional pardon on the attempted murder charges.^[19] The governor was pleased with his behavior since the mishap. Slick Rick has volunteered his time to mentor kids about violence.^[20]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
  • Released: November 3, 1988
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #31
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #1
  • Last RIAA Certification: Platinum^[21]
  • Singles: "Teenage Love", "Children's Story" & "Hey Young World"

• The Ruler's Back
  • Released: July 2, 1991
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #29
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #18
  • Last RIAA Certification: None
  • Singles: " A Woman in Love With Other Men", "It's A Boy" & "I Shouldn't Have Done It"

• Behind Bars
  • Released: November 22, 1994
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #51
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #11
  • Last RIAA Certification: None
  • Singles: "Behind Bars" & "Sittin' In My Car"

• The Art of Storytelling
  • Released: May 25, 1999
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #8
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #1
  • Last RIAA Certification: Platinum^[21]
  • Singles: "Street Talkin'"

Singles[link]

Featured singles[link]

Appearances[link]

• 1986: "The Show (Oh My God! Remix)" (from the Doug E Fresh album Oh My God!)
• 1989: "If I'm Not Your Lover (12" remix from the Al B. Sure! album In Effect Mode)
• 1991: "Get Bizzy" (from the Greyson & Jaysun album Livin Like a Troopa)
• 1994: "Let's All Get Down" (from the Nice & Smooth album Jewel of the Nile)
• 1994: "Move On..." (from the compilation The Show (Original Soundtrack))
• 1996: I Like (From the Montell Jordan album More)
• 1996: "Got To Give It Up" (from the Aaliyah album One in a Million)
• 1997: "Just Another Case" (from the CRU album Da Dirty 30)
• 1998: "Fresh" (from the Jermaine Dupri album Life In 1472)
• 1998: "Faces Of Def" (bonus track on Jayo Felony's Whatcha Gonna Do)
• 1998: "Unify" (from the Kid Capri album Soundtrack to the Streets)
• 1998: "Pimpin' Ain't Easy" (from WWF Aggression with Ice-T & Charles Wright)
• 1999: "If We Give You A Chance" (from the Warren G album I Want It All)
• 1999: "Your Moms House"
• 1999: "Night Riders" (from the Rahzel album Make The Music 2000)
• 1999: "So Fresh" (from the Will Smith album Willennium)
• 1999: "Don't Come My Way" (from the Whiteboys soundtrack with Common)
• 1999: "Da Art of Storytellin' (Pt. 1)" (from the OutKast album Aquemini)
• 2000: "Why Not" (from the Erick Sermon album Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis)
• 2001: "What We Do (For Love)" (from the De La Soul album AOI: Bionix)
• 2001: "Pie" (from WWF The Music, Vol. 5 with The Rock)
• 2001: "Girls, Girls, Girls" (from the Jay-Z album The Blueprint)
• 2001: "Guidance Counselor"(from the Little-T And One Track Mike album Fome Is Dape)
• 2001: "Hey Young World, Part 2" (from the Macy Gray album The Id)
• 2002: "Women Lose Weight" (from the Morcheeba album Charango)
• 2004: "The Return (Remix)" (from the Jay-Z/R. Kelly album Unfinished Business)
• 2005: Performs live for Vox Entertainment @ Club Strata NYC
• 2005: "The Sun" (from the Ghostface Killah album Put It on the Line)
• 2005: "Irresistible Delicious" (from the Missy Elliott album The Cookbook)
• 2006: "Vows" (from the Juggaknots album Use Your Confusion)
• 2007: "Hip Hop Police" (from the Chamillionaire album Ultimate Victory)
• 2008: "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" (Honoree)
• 2009: "Y.O.U." (from the Asher Roth album Asleep in the Bread Aisle - UK bonus track)
• 2009: "Auditorium" (from the Mos Def album The Ecstatic)
• 2009: "We Will Rob You" (from the Raekwon album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II)
• 2009: "Family Jewels" (from the Dynas album The Apartment)
• 2010: "Rock The Bells 2010" (from album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick)

Filmography[link]

• Backstage appearance on Jay-Z's Fade to Black DVD.
• Cameo in Ludacris's music video for the single, "Number One Spot".
• Cameo, wearing his excessive jewelry in the New York Shit music video (2:56) by Busta Rhymes featuring Swizz Beatz.
• Himself in the game Def Jam: Fight for NY.
• Drug kingpin in the 1999 movie Whiteboyz, co-starring fellow rappers Doug E. Fresh, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Fat Joe, Dead Prez and Mic Geronimo.
• Cameo in the film Brown Sugar, which starred Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan.
• Himself in the seminal Run DMC film Tougher Than Leather, performing the song "Treat Her Like a Prostitute".
• Interviewee in 1995 documentary The Show
• Opened Chris Rock's Apollo Theatre comedy Show Bigger & Blacker
• Featured in the 2011 film Rhyme and Punishment, which documented his time in prison.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Slick Rick on Myspace
• Slick Rick at the Internet Movie Database
• Slick Rick on Facebook

This biographical 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 2009)

Harald Lesch

Harald Lesch (born 28. July 1960 in Gießen, Hesse) is a German physicist, astronomer, natural philosopher, author, television presenter, professor of physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and professor of natural philosophy at the Munich University of Philosophy.

Education[link]

After completing secondary school in 1978 at the Theo-Koch-Schule in Grünberg, Hesse, Lesch studied physics at the University of Giessen, then at the University of Bonn, where he completed his doctoral degree in 1987 and worked at the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy. From 1988 to 1991 he was a research assistant at the state observatory at Heidelberg-Königstuhl. In 1992 he was a visiting professor at the University of Toronto. In 1994 he was habilitated at the University of Bonn.

Work/research[link]

Lesch during a public lecture in 2007

Since 1995 Lesch has been a professor of theoretical astrophysics at the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the LMU Munich.^[1] Additionally, he teaches natural philosophy at the University for Philosophy in Munich. His main areas of research are cosmic plasma physics, black holes, and neutron stars. He is the expert on astrophysics in the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (German Research Society) and a member of the Astronomische Gesellschaft (Astronomical Society). He is also a textbook author.

Lesch has made television appearances for the longstanding, self-presented production of the channel BR-alpha: alpha-Centauri, Lesch & Co., Denker des Abendlandes (Thinkers of the Western World), and Alpha bis Omega (From Alpha to Omega). He also presented shorter television series. His presentations attempt to make complex physical or philosophical issues more accessible to the public. In 2005 he was awarded the Communicator Prize by the DFG and the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Foundation for German Scholarship) for his television appearances and publications. To honor his work on making scientific findings understandable to the broad public, the Naturforschende Gesellschaft zu Emden (nature research society) awarded him an honorary membership on March 15, 2011.

Television appearances[link]

For many years, Lesch has presented a series of television series for the channel BR-alpha, beginning with alpha-Centauri, in which he is to be seen since 1998. In Lesch & Co. and Denker des Abendlandes, he converses with the philosophy professor Wilhelm Vossenkuhl about philosophical topics. Alpha bis Omega deals with contradiction and consistency of religion and natural science, through conversations between Lesch and the Catholic theologist Thomas Schwartz.

In celebration of the Year of Einstein 2005, BR-alpha aired the 8-part series The Physics of Albert Einstein, where in each episode, one single scientific finding of Einstein was introduced by Lesch, who explained its significance. Starting in August 2007, the 16-part program The 4 Elements was aired weekly, which deals with the structure of the world, and in addition to scientific aspects, also handles cultural-historical aspects. Furthermore, Lesch can also be seen in the series LeschZug (LeschTrain), which is filmed in an underground train and in which he declares his opinion on current topics.

For the Pay-TV channel Syfy he differentiates scientifically based and fictional components of Star Trek in the series Star Trek – Science vs. Fiction. From April to the end of 2007, Lesch moderated the weekly 5-minute program sci_xpert for this channel, which dealt with viewer questions, which mostly had to do with feasibility of science fiction concepts (such as "How realistic are the huge spaceships from Independence Day?"), but which also addressed purely scientific topics (for example "What is gravity?"), which were handled in the tradition of alpha-Centauri. There were a total of 35 episodes.

Since September 2008 Lesch has been presenting the ZDF scholarly magazine Abenteuer Forschung (Adventures in Research). His predecessor was Joachim Bublath, who presented the show for many years.

At the start of the "International Year of Astronomy 2009", Lesch moderated in ZDF the 2½ hour special “How Light Was Born: the Long Night with Harald Lesch”, in which he, between short documentary films, led conversations with the cabaret artist and hobby-philosopher Christoph Süß, the physics professor Günther Hasinger, and the theology professor Thomas Schwartz.

Since 2010, Lesch presents the show "Lesch's Kosmos", a 15 minute programme on the German documentary channel ZDFneo that deals with issues from various scientific fields. ^[2]

Awards[link]

• 1988 Otto-Hahn-Medallion from the Max-Planck-Society (for the dissertation “Nonlinear Plasma Processes in Active Galactic Cores)
• 1994 Bennigsen-Foerder-Prize from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (EUR 75,000): “Heating of Galactic High Speed Clouds through Magnetic Reconnection”
• 2004 Prize for Scientific Journalism from the Grüter-Foundation (EUR 10,000)
• 2005 Communicator-Prize (EUR 50,000)
• 2005 Medallion for Natural Science Journalism from the German Physical Society
• 2009 Medallion “Bene Merenti de Astronomia Norimbergensi” in Gold from the Nuremberg Astronomical Society.

Selected works[link]

Harald Lesch and Jörn Müller[link]

• Cosmology for Pedestrians. A Journey through the Universe.
• Big Bang, Act Two. On the Trail of Life in Space.
• Cosmology for Bright Heads. The Dark Side of the Universe.
• Do You Know How Many Stars There Are? How Light is Born.

Harald Lesch and the Quot-Team[link]

• Physics for the Vest Pocket
• Quantum Mechanics for the Vest Pocket

Harald Lesch and Harald Zaun[link]

• The Shortest History of all of Life

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011)

Oscar Niemeyer
Niemeyer in the 1950s
Born	(1907-12-15) December 15, 1907 (age 104) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Awards	1988 Pritzker Prize
Work
Buildings	Edifício Copan National Congress of Brazil
Projects	United Nations headquarters City of Brasília
Design	Cathedral of Brasília

Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (born December 15, 1907) is a Brazilian architect specializing in international modern architecture. In the 1940s, '50s and '60s "he established himself as one of Modernism's greatest luminaries," while he “reshaped Brazil’s identity in the popular imagination and mesmerized architects around the globe." ^[1] During the 1950s while Brasilia was starting to develop, Oscar Niemeyer made incredible amounts of contributions to the country by designing many important buildings in Brasilia. He is a pioneer in exploring the formal possibilities of reinforced concrete solely for their aesthetic impact. He is currently 104 years old and still working.

Niemeyer is most famous for his use of abstract forms and curves that specifically characterize every one of his works; he didn’t stick to traditional straight lines, for he is not attracted to straight angles or lines but rather he is captured by ”free-flowing, sensual curves… [like that] on the body of the beloved woman.”^[2] He was able to design and build curved architecture through his revolutionary useage of concrete. His designs are daring: mixing innovation and courage, plastic freedom and invention. His buildings are often characterized by being spacious and exposed, mixing volumes and empty space to create unconventional patterns and often propped up by piloti. His work with concrete is described as elegant and harmonious. Oscar Niemeyer was able to connect the baroque style with modern architecture leading to a new form of architecture, which had never been built in Brazil before.

Both lauded and criticized for being a "sculptor of monuments",^[3] he has been praised for being a great artist and one of the greatest architects of his generation by his supporters.^[4] He claims his architecture was strongly influenced by Le Corbusier, but in an interview conducted by Fritz Uteri, he assures that, “didn’t prevent [his] architecture from going in a different direction”.^[5] He is unique; he creates all of his designs in his mind and claims not to need to put his ideas on paper to imagine what he wants to achieve.

Some of his most famous works include the Cathedral in Brasilia, the National Congress of Brazil and the Modern Art Museum in Niteroi. His works include public buildings designed for the city of Brasília, and the United Nations Headquarters in New York City (with others). He has also designed private houses, private buildings, churches and buildings for education. Though Niemeyer hasn’t stopped there, he has also built monuments and designed furniture.