Sexting

Sexting is sending and receiving sexually explicit messages, primarily between mobile phones. The term was first popularized in the early 21st century, and is a portmanteau of sex and texting, where the latter is meant in the wide sense of sending a text possibly with images. In August 2012, the word sexting was listed for the first time in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

Background

The first published use of the term sexting was in a 2005 article in the Australian Sunday Telegraph Magazine. The Pew Research Center commissioned a study on sexting, which divides the practice into three types:

Sexting has become more common with the rise in camera phones and smartphones with internet access, that can be used to send explicit photographs as well as messages. While sexting is used by married couples, most media coverage fixates on negative aspects of adolescent usage. While film cameras often required a dark room to process negatives, modern camera phones can record sexually explicit images and videos in privacy. Young adults use the medium of the text message much more than any other new media to transmit messages of a sexual nature. Teenagers who have unlimited text messaging plans are also more likely to receive sexually suggestive texts.

Chris Brown

Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, dancer, rapper and actor. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, he was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows from a young age. Having signed with Jive Records in 2004, Brown released his self-titled debut studio album the following year. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was later certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). With his first single "Run It!" peaking atop the US Billboard Hot 100, Brown became the first male artist as a lead since Diddy in 1997 to have his debut single top the chart. His second album Exclusive (2007) spawned his second Hot 100 number one "Kiss Kiss", in addition to "With You" and "Forever". The album was also certified double platinum by the RIAA.

In 2009, Brown received much media attention after pleading guilty to felony assault of his then girlfriend, singer Rihanna; he was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community service. His third album Graffiti was released later that year, and included the top-twenty single "I Can Transform Ya". Brown's fourth album F.A.M.E. (2011) became his first to top the Billboard 200; it spawned the successful singles "Yeah 3x", "Look at Me Now", and "Beautiful People". F.A.M.E. earned Brown his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 54th Grammy Awards. His fifth album Fortune was released in 2012. However, after the release of Exclusive, Brown's albums have not been well received commercially or by music critics, with the exception of X, which received a normalized rating of 63. Brown's seventh studio album Royalty was released on December 18, 2015.

August Alsina

August Anthony Alsina, Jr. (born September 3, 1992) is an American recording artist from New Orleans signed to Def Jam Recordings. He is best known for his single "I Luv This Shit" with Trinidad James. His debut studio album Testimony was released on April 15, 2014.

Early life

Alsina was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He attended middle school in New Orleans. Although no one in his family was musically inclined, he was inspired to sing by Lauryn Hill in Sister Act 2. Alsina first uploaded videos to YouTube in 2007 at age 14, starting with a cover of "Hypothetically" by Lyfe Jennings.

With both his father and stepfather battling crack cocaine addiction, Alsina's mother moved him to Houston, Texas in search of a fresh start after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Then, Alsina's father died. Alsina had disagreements with his mother at some point and was "kicked out." After his older brother, Melvin La'Branch III, was shot and killed on August 31, 2010, he became more committed to his music, and relocated to Atlanta in 2011.