Dallas ( /ˈdæləs/) is the third-largest city in the state of Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Divided between Collin, Dallas, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties, the city had a population of 1,197,816 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau.

The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area (the DFW MSA) that according to the March 2010 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of 6,371,773. The metroplex economy is the sixth largest in the United States, with a 2010 gross metropolitan product of $374 billion.

Dallas was founded in 1841 and was formally incorporated as a city in February 1856. The city's economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, computer technology, energy, healthcare and medical research, transportation and logistics. The city is home to the third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the nation. Located in North Texas and a major city in the American South, Dallas is the main core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States that lacks any navigable link to the sea.

Dallas Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of his most notable clients include Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Pink, Monica, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Stacie Orrico, Another Bad Creation, Fishbone, Sugababes, Anastacia, Namie Amuro, Kim Zolciak from the Real Housewives of Atlanta and McFly.

Austin was a member of Highland Place Mobsters on the influential hip hop label LaFace in the early 1990s before embarking on a career as a full-time producer. Highland Place Mobsters, a derivative of MCA Records 80's group "Glasswurk", contributed to the soundtracks for the movies White Men Can't Jump and Boomerang.^{[citation needed]}

As a producer and songwriter, Austin was first noticed in the mid 80's when his childhood manager, producer/drummer William "Vybe Chyle" Burke introduced him to Joyce Irby ('80s all-girl band Klymaxx) who signed him to Diva One Music. Since then Austin has crafted hits for LaFace and TLC (with which he won two Grammys for co-producing CrazySexyCool and FanMail), including the hit singles "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", "What About Your Friends", "Creep", "Silly Ho" and "Unpretty". As a teenager, Irby took Austin to Sylvia Rhone, Motown head Jheryl Busby, L.A. Reid, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, asking them to give him a shot as a producer. Other credits of Austin's include the number-two single "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" recorded by Blu Cantrell, "Don't Let Me Get Me" and "Just Like a Pill" by Pink, and the hit "Secret" by Madonna. In more recent times, Austin's work has returned him to the charts, writing and producing the successful "Trick Me" for Kelis as well as "Left Outside Alone" and "Sick and Tired" for Anastacia.^{[citation needed]}