Calabria

Calabria (Italian pronunciation: [kaˈlaːbrja]; Calàbbria in Calabrian, Calavría in Calabrian Greek, Καλαβρία in Greek, Kalavrì in Arbëresh), known in antiquity as Bruttium or formerly as Italia, is a region in Southern Italy, forming the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula.

The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro, while its most populated city and the seat of the Calabrian Regional Council is Reggio.

It is bordered to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the Ionian Sea. The region covers 15,080 km² (5,822 sq mi) and has a population of just under 2 million. The demonym of Calabria in English is Calabrian.

In ancient times Calabria was referred to as "Italy". The Romans later extended the name to cover Southern Italy and then the entire peninsula. Whereas the name Calabria was used to refer to the peninsula of Salento (also known as the "heel" of Italy).

Geography

The region is a long and narrow peninsula which stretches from north to south for 248 km (154 mi), with a maximum width of 110 km (68 mi). Some 42% of Calabria's area, corresponding to 15,080 km², is mountainous, 49% is hilly, while plains occupy only 9% of the region's territory. It is surrounded by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. It is separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina, where the narrowest point between Capo Peloro in Sicily and Punta Pezzo in Calabria is only 3.2 km (2 mi).

Alex Gaudino

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Alessandro Alfonso Fortunato Gaudino (born 23 January 1970), better known by his stage name Alex Gaudino, is an Italian DJ and record producer.

Life and career

Early career (1993–2006)

Alessandro Alfonso Fortunato Gaudino was born in Salerno, Italy. He first began his music career working for Flying Records and UMM.

In 1998, with the support of the well-known Italian record company TIME, Alex founded his own label, RISE Records, which quickly produced a string of hit records by artists such as The Tamperer, Black Legend and Robbie Rivera's "Bang", which earned him a nomination for Best European A&R at the 2000 European Music Awards, held in London.

Alex Gaudino is also well known for being a member of the trio Lil' Love with Jerma and Sharon May Linn.

In 2005, Lil' Love's track "Little Love" was exclusively played by Pete Tong at Nikki Beach in Miami during WMC 2005. The record produced by Jerma was released on Positiva in the UK and reached the top of the UK Dance Chart. In 2006, Alex remixed with Jerma for Pete Tong & Chris Cox, Moussu T and James Kakande. Later in 2006 Gaudino signed a record deal with Ministry of Sound label in the UK. He later released "Reaction", and "Head over Heels" on the label.

Lil Jon

Jonathan Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, DJ and actor. He was the frontman of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, which he formed in 1997, and they released several albums until 2004. He then went solo and released a new album in 2010 titled Crunk Rock. He was also featured on Celebrity Apprentice during its 11th and 13th seasons.

Life and career

Beginnings

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Smith graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta. After working as a DJ for Atlanta night clubs, he started working for So So Def Recordings between 1993 and 2000.

Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz

Smith took the stage name Lil Jon and formed musical group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz with rappers Big Sam (born Sammie Dernard Norris) and Lil' Bo (born Wendell Maurice Neal). The group signed to the Atlanta-based Mirror Image Records and were distributed by Ichiban Records. In 1997, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz debuted with Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album. It included singles "Who U Wit?" and "Shawty Freak a Lil' Sumthin'", the latter of which came out in 1998. Both singles charted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at No. 70 and No. 62 respectively. In 2000, Jon took part in starting up his own label BME Recordings and signed a distribution agreement with Norcross, Georgia-based Southern Music Distribution. There he released his breakthrough album titled We Still Crunk!. Among the tracks on that project was the hit single "I Like Those Girls", which reached No. 55 on the R&B chart and No. 3 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart.