Coordinates: 48°50′52″N 2°26′21″E / 48.8478°N 2.4392°E / 48.8478; 2.4392

Vincennes (French pronunciation: [vɛ̃sɛn]) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.7 km (4.2 mi) from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.

The Marquis de Sade was imprisoned in Vincennes fortress in 1777, where he remained (mainly: he escaped for a little over a month in 1778), until February 1784, when Vincennes fortress was closed and de Sade was transferred to the Bastille. In 1929, the commune of Vincennes lost about half of its territory when the city of Paris annexed the Bois de Vincennes, a large part of which belonged to the commune of Vincennes.

In 1849, a test was conducted on Claude-Étienne Minié's invention the Minié ball which would prove successful and years later be adopted by the French army. Vincennes was also the site of some famous European colonial expositions in the 20th century in which fairs were held to showcase artifacts from former European colonies.

Gilles Deleuze (French pronunciation: [ʒil dəløz]), (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus (1972) and A Thousand Plateaus (1980), both co-written with Félix Guattari. His metaphysical treatise Difference and Repetition (1968) is considered by some scholars to be his magnum opus.

Deleuze was born into a middle-class family in Paris and lived there for most of his life. His initial schooling was undertaken during World War II, during which time he attended the Lycée Carnot. He also spent a year in khâgne at the Lycée Henri IV. During the Nazi occupation of France, Deleuze's older brother, Georges, was arrested for his participation in the French Resistance, and died while in transit to a concentration camp. In 1944, Deleuze went to study at the Sorbonne. His teachers there included several noted specialists in the history of philosophy, such as Georges Canguilhem, Jean Hyppolite, Ferdinand Alquié, and Maurice de Gandillac, and Deleuze's lifelong interest in the canonical figures of modern philosophy owed much to these teachers. Nonetheless, Deleuze also found the work of non-academic thinkers such as Jean-Paul Sartre strongly attractive. He agrégated in philosophy in 1948.

Laurent Voulzy (born Lucien Gerville-Reache on 18 December 1948 in Paris, France) is a French singer and composer.

Voulzy originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénus before joining Pascal Danel as guitarist from 1969 to 1974. However, he is best known for his collaborative songwriting efforts with singer/songwriter Alain Souchon and his solo singing career, which spanned several successful albums.

Voulzy had an international hit with the song Rockollection. The French lyrics were interspersed with some lines from classic rock hits after the chorus. His major French hits also include 'Le Soleil Donne' – sung in French, English and Spanish – and 'Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde' ('Nights without Kim Wilde'), inspired by the chart-topping English singer.

After a huge hit with his N°1 album La Septième Vague in 2006, Voulzy recorded in 2007 a duet with famous French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel on his hit album Guitar Connection 2. The song hit the French charts at #7 in 2008. For his 2011 album Lys and Love, Voulzy recorded a duet on the song "Ma seule amour" with English singer Roger Daltrey of The Who.

Pharrell Williams (born April 5, 1973), commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music. He is also the lead vocalist and drummer of hip-hop band N.E.R.D, which he formed with Hugo and childhood friend Shay Haley. He released his first single "Frontin'" in 2003 and followed up with his first album In My Mind in 2006.

As part of The Neptunes, Williams has produced numerous hit singles for various musicians. The two have earned three Grammy Awards amongst ten nominations. He is also the co-founder of the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Clothing. He is a member of the supergroup V.A. Playaz with Fam-Lay, Clipse, Skillz, Missy Elliott, and Timbaland & Magoo.

Pharrell Williams was born on April 5, 1973, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the eldest of three sons of Carolyn, a teacher, and Pharaoh Williams, a handyman. He met Chad Hugo in a seventh-grade summer band camp where Williams played the keyboards and drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. They were also both members of a marching band; Williams played the snare drum while Chad was student conductor. With Hugo, Williams attended Princess Anne High School where they played in the school band; there he got the name Skateboard P.