The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland and a member of the AFC North Division in the National Football League.

The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1996 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his intention to relocate the team to Baltimore. Modell's team was named the "Baltimore Ravens" after a fan contest and began play in the 1996 season.

The Ravens triumphed over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV at the conclusion of the 2000 season. The Ravens are currently one of four teams to win in their lone Super Bowl appearance, along with the New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A 2012 poll on NFL.com rated the 2000 team as one of the two greatest NFL teams of the Super Bowl Era.

The Ravens have experienced great success in their brief history, making the playoffs eight times since 2000, and winning the AFC North three times (2003, 2006, and 2011). The team's history has also featured the careers of Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed.

Baltimore ( /ˈbɒltɨmɔr/, colloquially /ˈbɔl.mɔr/) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is located in the central area of the state along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. The independent city is often referred to as Baltimore City to distinguish it from surrounding Baltimore County.

Founded in 1729, Baltimore is the largest seaport in the Mid-Atlantic United States and is situated closer to Midwestern markets than any other major seaport on the East Coast. Baltimore's Inner Harbor was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States and a major manufacturing center. After a decline in manufacturing, Baltimore shifted to a service-oriented economy.

At 620,961 residents in 2010, Baltimore's population has decreased by one-third since its peak in 1950. The Baltimore Metropolitan Area has grown steadily to approximately 2.7 million residents in 2010; the 20th largest in the country. Baltimore is also a principal city in the larger Baltimore–Washington combined statistical area of approximately 8.4 million residents.

Barack Hussein Obama II (ⁱ/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. In January 2005, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in the state of Illinois. He would hold this office until November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.

Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.

Ray Anthony Lewis (born May 15, 1975) is an American football linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Drafted by the Ravens in 1996, he has played his entire career for the team, and is the last player remaining from the Ravens' inaugural season. He has been selected to thirteen Pro Bowls and been named an Associated Press All-Pro ten times. He won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2000 and 2003; he was the sixth player to win the award multiple times. He was also the second linebacker to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award and the first linebacker to win the award on the winning Super Bowl team. Widely considered to be one of the best linebackers of all time, he played college football at the University of Miami.

Lewis was born in Bartow, Florida. He is the older brother of former University of Maryland running back Keon Lattimore. Lewis was an All-American linebacker and wrestling star at Kathleen High School in Lakeland.

As a freshman at the University of Miami, Ray Lewis was an immediate contributor and became a starter for the Hurricanes' final five games. He compiled 81 tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, and four pass deflections en route to being named to the freshman All-American team.

Joe Budden (born August 31, 1980) is an American rapper from Jersey City, New Jersey.

In the year 2003, Budden released his debut solo studio album, Joe Budden. It included Budden's 2003 Grammy-nominated summer hit "Pump It Up", and was also featured in the soundtrack for the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious and the video games Def Jam Vendetta, Def Jam Fight for NY, and Madden NFL 2004. The song "Focus" was also featured in the game and Joe Budden was also a character. Its second single was "Fire" featuring Busta Rhymes, which was in the movie Mean Girls. The song "Drop Drop" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Cradle 2 the Grave. Joe has hinted in many songs that he was a recovering drug addict and has reaffirmed his position several times through multiple outlets.

After his debut album, Budden's sophomore release titled ‘The Growth’ was hampered due to the label's problems with Joe and his Def Jam seniors not happy with the direction of his music. The production of the album appeared to end up in a development hell and was ultimately not released. Continued disagreements between Budden and Def Jam forced the two sides to part ways. However, Budden managed to release the first and second installments of his Mood Muzik mixtape series while on Def Jam, and the series has been met with critical acclaim.