Mali

Coordinates: 17°N 4°W / 17°N 4°W / 17; -4

Mali (ⁱ/ˈmɑːli/; French: [maˈli]), officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali), is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi). The population of Mali is 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako. Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. The country's economy centers on agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt. About half the population lives below the international poverty line of $1.25 (U.S.) a day. A majority of the population (55%) are non-denominational Muslims.

Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (for which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, and art. At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, making it a part of French Sudan. French Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state.

Miley Cyrus

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Born and raised in Franklin, Tennessee, she held minor roles in the television series Doc and the film Big Fish in her childhood. Cyrus became a teen idol for her portrayal of the starring character Miley Stewart in the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana in 2006; her father Billy Ray Cyrus additionally starred in the show. Cyrus subsequently signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records; her debut studio album Meet Miley Cyrus (2007) was certified quadruple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for exceeding four million shipments. Cyrus released her second album Breakout and launched her film career as a voice actress in the animated film Bolt in 2008.

Cyrus starred in the feature film Hannah Montana: The Movie and began cultivating a maturing image with her EP The Time of Our Lives in 2009. In 2010, she released her third album Can't Be Tamed, which stands as the lowest-selling record of her career, and starred in the coming-of-age film The Last Song. During production of the movie, she began an on-again, off-again relationship with her co-star Liam Hemsworth. Cyrus focused on her acting career with several television and film appearances in 2011 and 2012. Her sexually explicit behavior generated widespread controversy while promoting her fourth album Bangerz (2013), her first under her recording contract with RCA Records. Cyrus' independently-released fifth studio album Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015) deviated from her traditional pop style for more psychedelic experimentation.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1969 or 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She rose to prominence after the release of the first single taken from her eponymous debut album in 1990, "Vision of Love". More than two decades later, Rolling Stone defined the song as an influence on "virtually every other female R&B singer since the nineties". Mariah Carey produced four chart-topping singles in the US and began what would become a string of commercially successful albums which solidified the singer as Columbia's highest selling act. Carey and Boyz II Men spent a record sixteen weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 with "One Sweet Day", which remains the longest-running number-one song in US chart history. Following a contemptuous divorce from Sony Music head Tommy Mottola, Carey adopted a new image and traversed towards R&B with the release of Butterfly (1997). In 1998, she was honored as the world's best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the World Music Awards and subsequently named the best-selling female artist of the millennium in 2000.

Wiz Khalifa

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American recording artist, songwriter and actor. He released his debut album, Show and Prove, in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His Eurodance-influenced single, "Say Yeah", received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008.

Khalifa parted with Warner Bros. and released his second album, Deal or No Deal, in November 2009. He released the mixtape Kush and Orange Juice as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records. He is also well known for his debut single for Atlantic, "Black and Yellow", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album for the label, Rolling Papers, was released on March 29, 2011. He followed that album with O.N.I.F.C. on December 4, 2012, which was backed by the singles "Work Hard, Play Hard" and "Remember You". Wiz released his fourth album Blacc Hollywood on August 18, 2014, backed by the lead single We Dem Boyz. In March 2015, he released "See You Again" for the soundtrack of the film Furious 7 and the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Cedric Gervais

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Cédric Gervais (born Cedric DePasquale on 7 June 1979 in Marseille) is a Grammy Award-winning French DJ and producer of house music currently living in Miami Beach, Florida.

Musical career

Gervais was the biggest resident DJ at Paris' Le Queen Club. In 1998, he moved to South Beach in Miami Beach. He was 19 years old when he left for Miami, and gained residencies at Crobar (now Cameo) and Nikki Beach, before taking over as DJ at the Club Space Terrace. His first single, "Burning", was released with Ultra Records through their sublabel You. In 2006, his debut album The Experiment, featured the single "Spirit in My Life", also on Ultra Records. His production credits include working with Lenny Kravitz, Deep Dish, Steve Lawler, and Rachel Star.

His single "Mauri’s Dream", from 2009, was Pete Tong’s Essential Tune of the Week three weeks in a row. In 2011, Gervais released his second album, titled Miamication.

Gervais also has had two record labels of his own, Sleaze (for digital releases) and Sleaze Industries (for physical releases). He operated the labels during the 2000s releasing progressive and tribal house music.