Chad

Coordinates: 15°N 19°E / 15°N 19°E / 15; 19

Chad (ⁱ/tʃæd/; Arabic: تشاد‎ Tshād; French: Tchad), officially the Republic of Chad (Arabic: جمهورية تشاد‎ Jumhūrīyat Tshād; French: République du Tchad), is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest and Niger to the west. It is the fifth largest country in Africa in terms of area.

Chad has several regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanian Savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second-largest in Africa. N'Djamena, the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. Arabic and French are the official languages. Islam and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions.

Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979, the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby. Since 2003, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad.

Chad Butler

Chad Matthew Butler (born 24 March 1974, Amsterdam, Netherlands) is the drummer for the band Switchfoot which he co-founded along with Jon and Tim Foreman in 1996. Butler lived in Amsterdam for a few years, but he and his family later moved to San Diego, California where he now lives with his wife Tina (whom he married in 1999), his three children, Evan (born in 2001) and Dylan, and his daughter, Charlotte (born in summer of 2007).

As a kid, Butler dreamed of being a doctor but in Junior High, he developed an interest in drumming when he received his first drum set. He met future bandmate Jon Foreman on their high school water polo team and the two became friends.

Butler is a '97 UCSD Alumnus and earned a History of Science degree. Chad played in a variety of local bands throughout college, before joining with Jon and Tim Foreman to form the band Chin Up, later to be known as Switchfoot.

Butler cites Stevie Wonder, Foo Fighters, The Beatles, The Police, and U2 as some of his larger musical influences. He also endorses Tama Drums, currently playing their white Starclassic B/B set with chrome hardware. Butler is also endorsed by Paiste cymbals and pro-mark drumsticks.

Pimp C

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Chad Lamont Butler (December 29, 1973 – December 4, 2007), better known by his stage name Pimp C, was an American hip hop recording artist and producer. He was best known for his work with Bun B as a founding member of the Underground Kingz (UGK).

Music career

UGK

Butler formed the rap group Underground Kingz (colloquially known as UGK) with best friend Bernard "Bun B" Freeman in 1987 in Port Arthur, Texas. In 1991, Jive Records signed UGK and released Too Hard to Swallow, followed by the critically acclaimed Super Tight. The group's third album, Ridin' Dirty, reached #2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and their momentum was continued with features on the popular singles "Big Pimpin'" with Jay-Z and "Sippin' on Some Syrup" by Three 6 Mafia. UGK's fourth album, Dirty Money, was distributed in 2001. Due to Butler's incarceration in 2002, UGK would not release another studio album until 2007's Underground Kingz, which included the hit "International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)", featuring Outkast.

Bun B

Bernard Freeman (born March 19, 1973), professionally known by his stage name Bun B, is an American rapper and was one half of the southern rap duo UGK (UnderGround Kingz). He is also a guest lecturer at Rice University, located in Houston, Texas. He released his third official solo album, Trill OG, on August 3, 2010, which received a 5 Mic "Classic" rating in The Source magazine - the first album in over five years to receive the honor.

Life and career

UGK

In the late 1980s, Pimp C started the rap duo UGK. He first released a demo tape titled "Underground King" which didn't feature Bun B on the track. Instead, it featured Pimp C's friend Mitchell Queen. Bun B and friend Jalon Jackson had their own group called P.A. Militia. Both groups joined forces and formed the group 4 Black Ministers. Queen and Jackson later left the group leaving Pimp C and Bun B so they decided to revert to UGK. The demo Pimp C recorded with Mitchell Queen, Underground King, caught the attention of an independent label in Houston called Bigtyme Records. They then released an extended play titled The Southern Way. The release of this record caught the attention of Jive Records. While recording their debut album, Too Hard to Swallow, many of the songs had content too explicit for the album, so Bigtyme Records released an extended play titled Banned before the album was released, including all the songs that were too explicit for Too Hard to Swallow. The song "Pocket Full of Stones" became the first UGK song to get major airplay throughout the United States. Their second album, Super Tight..., followed in 1994. Their third album, Ridin' Dirty, peaked at number 2 on the R&B Charts in 1996, and at number 15 on the Billboard 200. After releasing their fourth studio album, Dirty Money, Pimp C got sentenced to jail.