Coordinates: 45°20′14″N 4°44′40″E / 45.3372°N 4.7444°E / 45.3372; 4.7444

Charnas is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.

Dan Charnas is an American author, radio host and record company executive. He is considered to have played a role in the creation of hip-hop journalism. In 2010 he wrote the book The Big Payback about the history of the hip-hop business.

As a radio personality, Charnas hosted a segment on KPWR on the first hip-hop show in Los Angeles. As a journalist he was a writer for the hip-hop magazine The Source. He became a talent scout for Profile Records and later ran the rap division of American Recordings in a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records.

Charnas was born and raised in New York City.

Suzy McKee Charnas (born 1939 in New York City) is an American novelist and short story writer, writing primarily in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. She has won several awards for her fiction, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. A selection of her short fiction was collected in Stagestruck Vampires and Other Phantasms in 2004. She lives in New Mexico.

Kurt Walker (born August 9, 1959), professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label. "The Breaks", a single from his 1980 debut album, is the first certified gold record rap song.

In 1979, aged twenty, Kurtis Blow became the first rapper to be signed by a major label, Mercury, which released "Christmas Rappin'". It sold over 400,000 copies. Its follow-up, "The Breaks", sold over half a million copies. He was also the first rapper to perform overseas. He released ten albums over the next eleven years. His first album was Kurtis Blow, while his second was the Top 50 pop album Deuce. Party Time featured a fusion of rap and go-go. Ego Trip included the hits: "8 Million Stories," "AJ Scratch," and "Basketball". His 1985 album, America, garnered praise for its title track's music video. From this album, the song "If I Ruled the World" became a Top 5 hit on Billboard's R&B chart. In 1996, fellow rapper Nas debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a cover version of the song.

Derek Keith Barbosa, better known by his stage name Chino XL, is an American hip hop lyricist, battle rapper, and actor of Puerto Rican and African American descent. Chino is known for his technically accomplished style, consisting of self-consciously over-the-top punchlines, exaggerated egotism, complex rhyme schemes, and use of multiple similes, puns, metaphors, and word play. He is a member of the intellectual collective MENSA and has collaborated on various projects with some of the most well known in Hip Hop. Chino is also an avid bodybuilder. Chino started rhyming in 1986, as said in his song "Don't Say A Word".

Aside from music, under the guidance of Hollywood talent manager Stacey Castro, Chino also forged a career in acting, appearing in several films and making guest appearances on the Comedy Central series Reno 911! and the CBS series CSI: Miami. He has starred in films alongside Kate Hudson, Luke Wilson, and Rob Reiner and had a solo project debut at Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival.