Lil Wayne

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American hip hop recording artist from New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1991, at the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo The B.G.'z, alongside fellow New Orleans-based rapper Lil' Doogie. In 1996, Lil Wayne formed the southern hip hop group Hot Boys, with his Cash Money label-mates Juvenile, Young Turk and Lil' Doogie (who now goes by B.G.). Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live!, that same year. Most of the group's success came with their platinum-selling album Guerrilla Warfare (1999) and the 1999 single "Bling Bling". Along with being the flagship artist of Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of his own label imprint, Young Money Entertainment, which he founded in 2005.

Lil Wayne's solo debut album Tha Block Is Hot (1999), was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His subsequent albums, Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002), went on to be certified gold. Wayne reached higher popularity with his fourth album Tha Carter (2004), which was led by the single "Go D.J." and his appearance on Destiny's Child's Top 10 single "Soldier", that same year. The album was followed by Tha Carter II (2005), as well as several mixtapes and collaborations throughout 2006 and 2007. Wayne gained more prominence with his sixth album Tha Carter III (2008), which became his most successful album to date, with first-week sales of over one million copies in the United States. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and includes the hit singles "Lollipop", "A Milli" and "Got Money".

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.

Purple Reign (mixtape)

Purple Reign is a mixtape by American rapper Future, hosted and executive-produced by DJ Esco and Metro Boomin. It was released on January 17, 2016 with an 11-hour notice via LiveMixtapes and DatPiff. It is Future's first non-commercial mixtape since the mixtape trilogy; Monster (2014), Beast Mode and 56 Nights (2015).Purple Reign follows the commercial collaborative mixtape What a Time to Be Alive with Canadian rapper Drake. The mixtape features production from frequent collaborators Metro Boomin, Southside, Zaytoven and Nard & B, among others.

Track listing

References

Migos

Migos is a hip hop trio based in Atlanta, Georgia. The group consists of Quavo (born Quavious Marshall), Takeoff (born Kirshnik Ball) and Offset (born Kiari Cephus). Quavo is Takeoff's uncle and Offset is Quavo's cousin. The group are best known for their singles, including "Versace" (released in 2013), "Fight Night" (released in 2014) and "One Time" (released in 2015).

They are managed by Coach K, the former manager of Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane, and are frequently collaborating with producer Zaytoven.

History

2013: Rise to fame and Young Rich Niggas

In 2013, their single "Versace", which was produced by Zaytoven, went viral by peaking at number 99 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also inspired a fellow rapper Drake, to join the official remix on this song, would later perform the song at the 2013 iHeartRadio Music Festival. On June 13, Migos released their mixtape Y.R.N. (Young Rich Niggas), to critical acclaim. Brandon Soderberg of Spin gave it 8 out of 10 stars, commenting that it "is a super-cut of Dirty South vibes" and compared the three members to Gucci Mane, Soulja Boy and Future. On June 15, 2013, the group performed at rap radio station Hot 107.9's Birthday Bash. In October 2013, the group were featured in XXL's section Show & Prove.

Kid Ink

Brian Todd Collins (born April 1, 1986), better known by his stage name Kid Ink, is an American hip hop and R&B recording artist. He is signed to RCA Records. He released the independent album Up & Away, an EP titled Almost Home, and his second studio album My Own Lane. The latter spawned the singles "Show Me", "Iz U Down", and "Main Chick". On February 3, 2015, he released his third studio album Full Speed, which spawned the singles "Body Language", "Hotel", and "Be Real".

Career

2005–09: Career beginnings and record production

As a teenager, Kid Ink started his music career by doing some of the after-school music programs, making beats and producing some songs. He was inspired by record producers, such as Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Swizz Beatz. He said: "These were artists and producers who were writing for other people in all types of genres. It just gave me an open ear for all different types of music and that's how I approached it." Following years of working as a record producer, Ink then began pursuing his career, as a rapper full-time at the age of 22.