1.
Maroon 5
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Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band that originated in Los Angeles, California. The band, which self-released an album called We Like Digging, then signed to Reprise Records and released the album The Fourth World in 1997. After the album garnered a tepid response, the band parted ways with the record label, in 2001, the band changed its image by adding guitarist James Valentine and pursuing a different direction under the name Maroon 5. At this point, Carmichael switched to playing keyboards, which has become his main instrument in the band. After these changes, Maroon 5 signed with a subsidiary of J Records, Octone Records, the albums lead single, Harder to Breathe, received heavy airplay, which helped the album to debut at number six on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2004, the album went platinum and has dubbed the sleeper hit of the millennium. The band won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2005, for the next few years, Maroon 5 toured extensively worldwide in support of Songs About Jane and produced two live recordings, 2004s 1.22.03. Acoustic and 2005s Live – Friday the 13th. In 2006, Dusick officially left Maroon 5 after suffering from serious wrist, the band then recorded their second album, It Wont Be Soon Before Long and released it in May 2007. The album reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, in September 2010, Maroon 5 released their third studio album Hands All Over, which was re-released in 2011 to include the single Moves like Jagger featuring Christina Aguilera. While the original version of the album received mixed reviews, Moves like Jagger reached the one position on the Billboard Hot 100. The band released their album, Overexposed, on June 26,2012. All four singles of the album were successful on the Billboard Hot 100, including second single One More Night. Keyboardist PJ Morton became a member of the band in 2012. The addition of PJ Morton meant that for the first time, in 2014, the band signed with Interscope Records and released their fifth studio album, V. Maroon 5 has sold more than 20 million albums and 70 million singles worldwide, Adam Levine was introduced to Ryan Dusick by a mutual friend and guitarist, Adam Salzman. Levine was 15 years old and Dusick was 16, three of the five members of the band started playing together at age 12. The four original members of the band met while attending Brentwood EMH School in Los Angeles, while attending Brentwood EMH School, Adam Levine and Jesse Carmichael joined up with Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick to form Karas Flowers, a rock band. The name was taken from a girl went to their high school that the band had a collective crush on
2.
Hip hop music
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It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements, MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, while often used to refer solely to rapping, hip hop more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. Hip hops early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum machines became available and affordable. Turntablist techniques such as scratching and beatmatching developed along with the breaks and Jamaican toasting, rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks or chants along rhythmically with an instrumental or synthesized beat. The Sugarhill Gangs 1979 song Rappers Delight is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles, prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began to spread to scenes in dozens of countries. New school hip hop was the wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D. M. C. The Golden age hip hop period was a period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include the Juice Crew, Public Enemy, & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One, EPMD, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles, in the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. I. G. In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging, such as Southern rap, at the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, examples being Neo soul and nu metal. Hip hop became a pop music genre in the mid-1990s. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop, the United States also saw the success of regional styles such as crunk, a Southern genre that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane, during the mid-2000s, alternative hip hop secured a place in the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West. Creation of the hip hop is often credited to Keith Cowboy, rapper with Grandmaster Flash. However, Lovebug Starski, Keith Cowboy, and DJ Hollywood used the term when the music was known as disco rap. Cowboy later worked the hip hop cadence into a part of his stage performance, the first use of the term in print was in The Village Voice, by Steven Hager, later author of a 1984 history of hip hop
3.
Contemporary R&B
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Contemporary R&B, also known as simply R&B, is a music genre that combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance. The genre features a record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, an occasional saxophone-laced beat to give a jazz feel. Electronic influences are becoming a trend and the use of hip hop or dance-inspired beats are typical, although the roughness. Contemporary R&B vocalists are often known for their use of melisma, popularized by such as Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Craig David, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston. That same year, Teddy Riley began producing R&B recordings that included hip hop influences and this combination of R&B style and hip hop rhythms was termed new jack swing and was applied to artists such as Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat, Al B. Guy, Jodeci and Bell Biv DeVoe, the style became less popular by the end of the 1990s, but later experienced a resurgence. In 1990 Mariah Carey released Vision of Love as her debut single and it was immensely popular peaking at number 1 in many worldwide charts including the Billboard Hot 100, and it propelled Mariahs carrier. The song is said to have popularized the use of melisma. During the mid-1990s, Whitney Houstons The Bodyguard, Original Soundtrack Album sold over 40 million copies becoming the best-selling soundtrack of all time. Janet Jacksons self-titled fifth studio album janet. which came after her historic multimillion-dollar contract with Virgin Records, sold over twenty million copies worldwide. Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey recorded several Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hits, including One Sweet Day, Carey also released a remix of her 1995 single Fantasy, with Ol Dirty Bastard as a feature, a collaboration format that was unheard of at this point. Carey, Boyz II Men and TLC released albums in 1994 and 1995—Daydream, II and CrazySexyCool. In the late 1990s, neo soul, which added 1970s soul influences to the hip hop soul blend, arose, led by such as DAngelo, Erykah Badu. Hill and Missy Elliott further blurred the line between R&B and hip hop by recording both styles, beginning in 1995, the Grammy Awards enacted the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, with II by Boyz II Men becoming the first recipient. The award was received by TLC for CrazySexyCool in 1996, Tony Rich for Words in 1997, Erykah Badu for Baduizm in 1998. At the end of 1999, Billboard magazine ranked Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson as the first, simultaneously, in the second half of the 1990s, The Neptunes and Timbaland set influential precedence on contemporary R&B and hip hop music. R&B acts such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Usher, in 2001, Alicia Keys released Fallin as her debut single. It peaking at one on the Billboard Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40
4.
A&M Octone Records
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A&M Octone Records was an American record label. It was a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Octone Records, the label represented a merger of Interscope-Geffen-A&Ms A&M Records defunct label with Octone Records. A full-service artist development label, A&M/Octone operated music publishing, merchandising and touring entities – in addition to specializing in recorded music, launched in 2000, Octone Records was founded by CEO/President James Diener and distributed through Sony BMG. After successful signing, release, marketing and promotion on Octone, artists were given the option of upstreaming to RCA Music Group, upon launch, Diener and Octone Records were also well known in the music industry for their entrepreneurial private-equity financing model. The existing Octone roster was transferred to the A&M/Octone label and all new artist signings were made under the A&M/Octone joint venture, the legal name of the A&M/Octone label was OctoScope Music, LLC, the name derives from the merger of the labels Octone and Interscope. OctoScope Music, LLC was the holder on all A&M/Octone releases. A&M/Octone Records operated from 2007 until 2014
5.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
6.
Sam Farrar
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Sam Farrar is American musician and producer. He is known as the guitar player for the American rock band Phantom Planet, as well as a long-time collaborator. Farrar is the guitar player for the American rock band Phantom Planet. He also joined a band called Operation Aloha with members of Gomez and he and his wife, Stephanie, have started their own music project, called Bubble and Strife. On August 31,2012 - during a show in Argentina on the Overexposed World Tour - Farrar filled-in for Mickey Madden on the guitar for the very first time. He subsequently filled-in for Madden on the few shows of the tour. His mother, Pat Carroll, was a successful Australian pop singer in the 1960s, sam is married to Stephanie Eitel, formerly a member of the band Agent Sparks. Their daughter Vesper Pearl Farrar was born on August 6,2009 and their son Flynn Roscoe Farrar was born on January 14,2014
7.
Swizz Beatz
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Kasseem Dean, better known by his stage name Swizz Beatz, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer from New York City, New York. Born and raised in The Bronx, he began his career as a disc jockey and has since added rapper, producer, record executive, creative director and fashion designer. At the age of 16, he gained recognition in the hip hop industry, through his friendship and work with East Coast rapper DMX, Dean later found a protégé in Philadelphia-based rapper Cassidy, whose success helped the launch of his own label imprint, Full Surface Records. He went on to multiple artists to the label, including Eve and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Dean also went on to two albums under the label, the first was a compilation, titled Swizz Beatz Presents G. H. E. T. T. O. Stories, released in 2002, in conjunction with DreamWorks Records and he later released his debut studio album, One Man Band Man, in 2007. Swizz Beatz has produced hit singles for several prominent artists throughout various music genres, such as hip hop, pop, soul. His catalog includes Ruff Ryders Anthem, Banned from T. V, gotta Man, Jigga My Nigga, Party Up, Check on It, Ring the Alarm, Good Times, Bring Em Out, Hotel, Im a Hustla, Touch It and much more. Swizz Beatz was named the first Producer in Residence at New York University, about. com ranked him number 27 on its list of the Top 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Producers, while The Source placed him on its list of the 20 greatest producers in the magazines 20-year history. Fellow American rapper and music producer Kanye West has also praised Dean, Dean is married to American singer Alicia Keys, with whom he has two children. Due to his parents separation in his life, Dean did not see much of his father. He spent much of his childhood raised by his mother in the North East Bronx, after obtaining the necessary equipment from his stepfather and uncles, he began deejaying as a teenager and enjoyed a modicum of success. In his early work, he chose not to sample, instead using the Korg Trinity and Triton keyboards. With his uncles Dee and Waah, as well as his aunt Chivon Dean, all involved with the Ruff Ryders Entertainment record label, a year later he sold his first beat to Ruff Ryders artist DMX, which became his chart-topping single Ruff Ryders Anthem. Swizz Beatz then began producing major hip-hop songs released in 1998 such as Banned from T. V. by Noreaga, Money, Cash, Hoes by Jay-Z and more. The following year, he produced most of the songs of the Ruff Ryders compilation album Ryde or Die Vol.1, as well as the bulk of Eves debut album. In 2001, in a joint venture with Clive Davis, Swizz Beatz established his own label, Full Surface Records. The first artist signed was Philadelphia-based rapper Cassidy, when Swizz Beatz released his first compilation album Swizz Beatz Presents G. H. E. T. T. O
8.
Mark Ronson
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Mark Daniel Ronson is an English musician, DJ, singer, songwriter and record producer. Although his debut album Here Comes the Fuzz failed to make an impact on the charts and this earned him a Brit Award for Best British Male Solo Artist in 2008. His third studio album, Record Collection, was released on 27 September 2010, in 2014, Ronson achieved his first UK and US number one single with Uptown Funk, which featured vocals from Bruno Mars. The song earned Ronson the 2015 Brit Award for British Single of the Year, and his fourth studio album, Uptown Special, was released in January 2015, and became his first UK number one album and also peaked at number 5 in the US. Ronson produced Cold Shoulder on Adeles first album,19 and he has won Record of the Year twice, in 2008 as a producer and in 2016 as a performing artist. One of the most successful musicians in contemporary British popular culture, Ronson was born at the Wellington Hospital, St Johns Wood, London, to Jewish parents, Laurence Ronson, a real-estate speculator and music manager, and Ann Dexter. His ancestors immigrated from Austria, Russia, and Lithuania, Ronson was brought up in Masorti Judaism and had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. The family name was originally Aaronson, and was shortened by Marks grandfather Henry and he is the nephew of businessman Gerald Ronson. Through his mother, he is related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Lord Brittan. He is not related to the late English guitarist Mick Ronson, after his parents divorced, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, which contributed to a childhood surrounded by music. Ronson has twin sisters who are two younger, Charlotte Ronson, a fashion designer, and Samantha Ronson, a singer. Ronson also has five younger half-siblings, Alexander and Annabelle, from his mothers marriage to Mick Jones, and Henrietta, David, Ronson – along with his mother, step-father and twin sisters – moved to New York City when he was eight years of age. Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon – son of John Lennon, Ronson attended high school at the private Collegiate School in Manhattan before attending Vassar College and then New York University. While attending New York University, Ronson became a regular at downtown hip hop spots and made his name as a DJ on the New York club scene in 1993 and he soon became known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection. Influenced by funk, the hip hop scene of New York and he was soon a popular and sought after DJ in New York City, frequently booked for high-profile events and private parties. In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the studio for an ad campaign for the company. Mark made the leap from DJ to producer after Nikka Costas manager heard one of his sets, Ronson produced Costas song Everybody Got Their Something, and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records. He had already produced tracks for Hilfiger ads and, in 2001, Ronsons debut album, Here Comes the Fuzz, was released in 2003
9.
Questlove
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Ahmir Khalib Thompson, known professionally as Questlove, is an American percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, music journalist, record producer, and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer and joint frontman for the Grammy Award-winning band The Roots and he is also one of the producers of the Broadway musical Hamilton. He is the cofounder of Okayplayer and Okayafrica, additionally, he is an adjunct instructor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University. He has produced recordings for artists including Elvis Costello, Common, DAngelo, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Jay-Z, Nikka Costa, and more recently, Al Green, Amy Winehouse, and John Legend. He is a member of the teams the Soulquarians, The Randy Watson Experience, The Soultronics, The Beat Biters. Ahmir Khalib Thompson was born in Philadelphia on January 20,1971 and his father was Lee Andrews of Lee Andrews & the Hearts, a 50s doo-wop group. His mother, Jacquelin Thompson, together with his father, was part of the Philadelphia-based soul group Congress Alley. His parents did not want to leave him with babysitters, so took him on tour with them. He grew up in backstages of doo-wop shows, by the age of seven, Thompson began drumming on stage at shows, and by 13, had become a musical director. Questloves parents then enrolled him at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative, by the time he graduated, he had founded a band called The Square Roots with his friend Tariq Trotter. He attended senior prom with Larrieux, after graduating from high school, he took jazz and composition classes at Settlement Music School. Thompson began performing on South Street in Philadelphia using drums, while Tariq rhymed over his beats, Thompson and Jay Lonick, a childhood friend, were known for improvisational call and response percussion battles with plastic buckets, crates, and shopping carts. This style translated into Thompsons usual drumset arrangement, with most drums and cymbals positioned at waist level, the Roots lineup was soon completed, with Questlove on percussion, Tariq Trotter and Malik B on vocals, Josh Abrams on bass, and Scott Storch on keyboards. While the group was performing a show in Germany, they recorded an album entitled Organix, the group continued recording, releasing two critically acclaimed records in 1995 and 1996, Do You Want More. and Illadelph Halflife, respectively. In 1999, The Roots had mainstream success with You Got Me, the song helped fuel the success of their Things Fall Apart album, which has since been hailed as a classic, eventually selling platinum. He also served as producer for DAngelos 2000 album Voodoo, Slum Villages album Fantastic, Vol.2 and Commons albums Like Water for Chocolate. He played drums on Christina Aguileras song Loving Me 4 Me for her 2002 album Stripped, in 2002, he and The Roots released the critically acclaimed Phrenology, which went gold. In 2003, he played drums on John Mayers song Clarity from his second album Heavier Things and he also arranged and drummed on Joss Stones cover of the White Stripes Fell in Love with a Girl
10.
Cut Copy
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Cut Copy are an Australian electronic music band formed in 2001 by DJ Dan Whitford. Initially a home-recording project, the band now includes Tim Hoey, Ben Browning, so far they have released four studio albums, an EP and a number of singles and remixes, all on Modular Recordings. They achieved breakthrough success in 2008 with their album, In Ghost Colours. Some of their most well-known singles include Lights & Music, Hearts on Fire, Cut Copy was established in 2001 in Melbourne, Australia as the solo project of Dan Whitford, a DJ and graphic designer. Whitford was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne and studied design at Monash University. During his studies he became interested in music and began DJing while hosting a radio-show. Around this time he bought a sampler and keyboards to experiment with, musically he was inspired by indie low-fi stuff as much as dance. Upon graduating Whitford co-founded the design-agency Alter, who continue to produce all of the material for the band. Whitford began producing music at his home-studio and submitted a demo-tape to Modular Recordings and he enlisted the help of veteran guitarist Harry Howard to record the debut single 1981, which was released on vinyl only. At the time it felt like a fairly abstract choice but now it feels very tied in with what we do, the name is often displayed as one word with a forward slash in between, Cut/Copy. With Howard filling in on guitar, Whitford asked his childhood friend Bennett Foddy to join on bass with the view to release an EP, the band was assisted by Robbie Chater of The Avalanches who produced the seven largely instrumental tracks that were leaning heavily on samples. I Thought of Numbers was released in September 2001 and spurred a number of remixes on vinyl, the following year saw Whitford remould the band with a view to take to the stage. Their live debut at the 2003 Livid festival was described by Foddy as our first show was in front of 5,000 people at a festival, which was sort of terrifying. In 2003, Howard was replaced by Tim Hoey, a student at the Victoria College of Art after he, prior to Hoey and Scott joining, a Cut Copy performance was essentially Whitford together with Joel McKenzie doing a DJ set that included sampling their own material. Throughout their career, the band has continued to do DJ sets, Whitford began working on the bands debut album in early 2003 and had written half a dozen songs when during a DJ gig, one of their samplers broke down. Together with Hoey, Scott and Foddy he began reinterpreting the material, in April 2004, Cut Copy released their debut LP, Bright Like Neon Love to moderate success and supported by the singles Saturdays and Future. The four-piece began rehearsing for a tour and began to play a band version of the material. At this stage Foddy left the group to study for his Ph. D, by playing a large number of shows their fan-base grew and three members became more proficient in their instruments
11.
Pharrell Williams
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Pharrell Lanscilo Williams is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and film producer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the production duo The Neptunes, producing soul, hip hop. He is the lead vocalist and drummer of the rock-funk-hip hop band N*E*R*D and he released his first single, Frontin, in 2003 and followed up with his debut solo album, In My Mind in 2006. His second album, Girl, was released on March 3,2014 and this album was preceded by the commercially successful single, Happy. As part of the Neptunes, Williams has produced hit singles for various recording artists. Williams has earned ten Grammy Awards including two with the Neptunes and he is also a two-time Academy Award nominee, receiving a 2014 Best Original Song nomination from Happy and a 2017 Best Picture nomination as one of the producers of Hidden Figures. Williams was born on April 5,1973, in Virginia Beach, Virginia and his roots extend for generations in Virginia and North Carolina, and one of his ancestors journeyed to West Africa in 1831, prompting other relatives to emigrate from America to Liberia in 1832. He met Chad Hugo in a summer band camp where Williams played the keyboards and drums. They were also members of a marching band, Williams played the snare drum while Hugo was drum major. Williams and Hugo attended Princess Anne High School where he played in the school band, in the MTV show When I Was 17, Pharrell stated that he was a nerd and often did things that made him stand out from most of his peers. In the early 1990s, Hugo and Williams formed a four-piece R&B-type group and they later entered a high school talent show where they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was next to Princess Anne High School. After graduating from school, the group signed with Riley. Through working with Riley, Williams went on to write a verse and that same year, he also performed a small rap solo on SWVs second hit, Right Here. Williams and Hugo met rap duo Clipse in Virginia Beach in 1993, in 1994, Hugo and Williams had established themselves as a production duo under their old name The Neptunes, and assistant-produced Tonights The Night from Blackstreets self-titled album. Over the next three years continued to produce occasionally, and some of the results had little resemblance to the Neptunes sound later. In 1999, a friend introduced Williams to Kelis. At this point the Neptunes were gaining a fanbase and audience. In 2000, they produced the song I Just Wanna Love U for Jay Zs album The Dynasty, Roc La Familia, the songs sound and success sparked the interest of maturing pop artist Britney Spears
12.
David Banner
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Lavell William Crump, better known by his alias David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, occasional actor and activist. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Banners family moved to Jackson, Banner graduated from Southern University and pursued a masters of education at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He started his career as a member of the rap duo, Crooked Lettaz, before going solo in 2000 with the release titled Them Firewater Boyz. In 2003, Banner signed to Universal Records releasing four albums, Mississippi, The Album, MTA2, Baptized in Dirty Water, Certified, lavell William Crump was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, the son of Zeno and Carolyn Crump. He graduated from Provine High School in Jackson in 1992 and then attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at Southern University, Crump served as president of the Student Government Association and received a bachelors degree in business. He later attended the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to pursue a degree in education. His father Zeno died on June 17,2007, crumps stage name David Banner is taken from the lead character of the television series, The Incredible Hulk. With several of his friends, Banner sent some tapes to Jackson, Mississippi radio station. In 1999, Banner and rapper Kamikaze as the duo, Crooked Lettaz, in 2000, Banner released his solo debut album, Them Firewater Boyz, Vol.1. Released on the independent label, Big Face Records, the album sold around 7,000 copies, when the albums single, Like a Pimp, became a radio hit, Banner began to attract major label interest. In 2003, Banner produced T. I. s single, Rubberband Man, which reached #30 on the Hot 100, #15 on the R&B chart, in 2003, Banner released his first major label album, Mississippi, The Album. Mississippi included the hit single, Like a Pimp, featuring Lil Flip, like a Pimp peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and #10 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. He released the album the same year titled MTA2, Baptized in Dirty Water which yielded the hit, Crank It Up. In 2005, Banner released his major label album, Certified. The third single, Touching, featured Jazze Pha and reached #54 on the R&B chart, in 2006, Banner appeared on Seein Thangs, a song about Hurricane Katrina featured on DJ Shadows album The Outsider. A remix featuring Bay Area hyphy rappers Nump and Gold also was made, Banner played the part of Tehronne in Black Snake Moan. He has worked on the Adult Swim cartoon show That Crookd Sipp and his single Play was used as the background music in the pilots first television promo. In 2007, he played the character of Mo, in the film This Christmas, Banner also starred as Jay, a gang leader from the hood in Stomp the Yard 2, Homecoming
13.
The Cool Kids
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The Cool Kids is an American alternative hip hop duo composed of rappers Antoine Sir Michael Rocks Reed and Evan Chuck Inglish Ingersoll. The Cool Kids music had been released primarily to the independent Chocolate Industries via their own label C. A. K. E, Recordings, but as of 2010 are no longer with Chocolate Industries. Cool Kids are also members of the hip-hop collective All City Chess Club founded in 2010, Reed, Hernandez, and Ingersoll first exchanged conversations in 2005 when Reed found a beat on MySpace that Ingersoll had produced. The three met to discuss terms of the sale, and eventually ended up recording for two hours. They were inspired by golden age hip hop and artists like LL Cool J, Ingersoll began promoting the new duos material, and it was eventually booked by Josh Young of Flosstradamus for a DJ performance. They also received an offer from the DJ A-Trak to sign to his Fools Gold Records label, which they did, eventually, The Cool Kids signed to Chocolate Industries, another independent label. The group has revealed on its MySpace page that The Cool Kids debut album, When Fish Ride Bicycles, will be released in 2008, Ingersoll has been the producer for tracks released thus far, but both work in rapping and production. The duo uses music software program Reason from Propellerhead Software to produce their music and they have been on tour, opening for M. I. A. and they also joined the bill of the 2008 Rock the Bells hip hop festival on select dates. The group toured across Australia in February 2008 and also appeared at the Laneway Festival, the group also appeared at SUNY Purchases Culture Shock event in April 2009. One of the singles, Black Mags, was featured in a late 2007 Rhapsody TV commercial. In the same year, the group collaborated with Lil Wayne and DJ Benzi through the Internet on a track entitled Gettin It and they were listed in Rolling Stones Ten Artists to Watch in 2008. According to Rolling Stone, since Black Mags debuted, the Cool Kids have gone from an underground sensation in their native Chicago to the hottest ticket at New Yorks CMJ festival. The duo has been endorsed by Mountain Dew for their single, Delivery Man, to which commercials, the groups song Bassment Party was featured in the September 21,2008 episode of the HBO hit comedy Entourage. They also recorded a track, 2K Pennies, for the soundtrack of NBA 2K9. The Cool Kids have said in an interview that their success has been gradual and they will also be headlining the NBA 2K Bounce Tour along with Q-Tip. The Cool Kids also performed at the 2009 Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, producer Don Cannon said in an interview with XXL, that he will be working with The Cool Kids for their new album. The groups second official mixtape, Gone Fishing was released on May 5,2009 and their debut album, When Fish Ride Bicycles, was released July 12,2011. Their song A Little Bit Cooler was used in a Most Valuable Puppets commercial from Nike with LeBron James, a new mixtape called Tacklebox came out on May 31,2010
14.
Bloodshy & Avant
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Bloodshy & Avant are a Swedish songwriting and production duo of Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg. In addition to their work, Karlsson and Winnberg are also members of the synthpop group Miike Snow. Also, Christian is one half of the dance music duo Galantis. Bloodshy and Avant scored their first success working with American singer/songwriter Christina Milian for her début album, the collaboration resulted in two hit singles, AM to PM, and When You Look at Me, both of which hit number three on the UK Singles Chart. They were then commissioned to work with UK hip-hop singer/rapper, Ms. Dynamite, the collaboration with Ms. Dynamite resulted in several tracks which appeared on her début album, A Little Deeper, including her hit début single, It Takes More. They also produced tracks for her 2005 second release, Judgement Days, Bloodshy and Avant co-wrote and produced two songs which appeared on Britney Spears 2003 album In the Zone, the hit single, Toxic, that merited a Grammy award, and Showdown. They also produced all the three new songs on her 2004 Greatest Hits, My Prerogative album and the song for Britney & Kevin. Bloodshy alone co-produced two songs for Britney Spears 7th studio album Femme Fatale, How I Roll and Trip to Your Heart, the duo co-wrote and co-produced two tracks with Madonna, How High and Like It or Not, for her 2005 Confessions on a Dance Floor album. In 2007, for Kylie Minogues 10th studio album X, Bloodshy and Avant co-wrote and produced Speakerphone, Nu-di-ty and Cherry Bomb, in 2008, Bloodshy and Avant produced few songs for BoAs English début BoA. A year later they produced Chocolate Love for South Korean girl groups Girls Generation, in 2010 Bloodshy signed Sky Ferreira and produced songs like One,17 and Haters Anonymous Bloodshy & Avant have also gained fame by remixes. They have remixed songs from Britney Spears including a remix for Piece of Me which charted number one on the US Billboard Hot Club Play chart, also other remixes for Toxic and Me Against the Music have topped the US Billboard charts. Outside of being Bloodshy and Avant, Christian and Pontus are in a band together with Andrew Wyatt called Miike Snow. They also run a label called Ändersson with signed artists and musicians including Little Majorette, Sky Ferreira and Meadow (a project with their friends Sebastian Ingrosso and they are also working on the music for a videogame with EA Games/Dice to be released in 2010. Winnberg is a member of a band called Amason together with Gustav Ejstes, Idiot Wind, Nils Törnqvist, Karlsson and Linus Eklöw comprise the band Galantis. Wyatt and Winnberg were among 13 founding members of Swedish artist collective, Bloodshy and Avant own a studio based in a 150-year-old fire station in the middle of Söder, Stockholm
15.
Of Montreal
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Of Montreal is an American experimental band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a romance between Barnes and a woman of Montreal. The band is identified as part of the Elephant 6 collective, throughout its existence, of Montreals musical style has evolved considerably and drawn inspiration from numerous 1960s psychedelic pop acts. Kevin Barnes founded of Montreal, allegedly naming it for a romance with a woman from Montreal. Barnes was the member of the group prior to his relocation to Athens. There, he met Derek Almstead and Bryan Poole, who performs as The Late B. P. Together, they recorded their album, Cherry Peel, and subsequent releases The Bird Who Ate the Rabbits Flower and The Bedside Drama. After production on The Gay Parade, the third album, began in 1998. Barnes then recruited James Husband and Dottie Alexander, who had been performing together as Lightning Bug vs. Firefly, Derek moved from drums to bass, and Marshmallow Coasts Andy Gonzales joined soon after. Prior to the release of The Gay Parade in 1999, of Montreal released a number of singles and a re-release of The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbits Flower. Following the release of The Gay Parade, the signed with Kindercore Records, and in 2001. Kindercore Records would fold shortly after the release of Aldhils Arboretum, Barnes took to writing and performing their 2004 album Satanic Panic in the Attic mostly by himself. Released by Polyvinyl Records, it one of their more successful efforts until that point. During the tour for Satanic, the Late B. P, in 2003, Kevin was married to Nina Grøttland, who would also play some bass for the tour. The album marked a shift to a bass, with drum machines. This style would continue to evolve into 2005s The Sunlandic Twins, recorded in Athens, with the exception of one track recorded in Norway, it was a much more pronounced electronic album. The album became a success, mostly due to the singles So Begins Our Alabee, the band released several collections of singles in early 2006. Kevin Barnes recorded most of the bands 2007 release, Hissing Fauna, by himself while living in Norway and Athens, Georgia
16.
Deerhoof
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Deerhoof is an American experimental rock band whose erratic style veers between noise pop, punk rock, and avant-garde. The bands live shows are known for their gear, maximal volume. Since their formation in 1994 in San Francisco they have self-produced their records, the bands current line-up consists of John Dieterich, Satomi Matsuzaki, Ed Rodriguez and Greg Saunier. Rob Fisk and Greg Saunier founded Deerhoof in San Francisco in 1994 as a duo of bass. They were signed to record a single for Kill Rock Stars after owner Slim Moon witnessed their performance at the 1994 Yoyo A Go Go festival and their early singles, recorded on four-track cassette, combined punk, grunge, noise, and ballads. The cover art of a cow and a rabbit on a unicycle. Many of Deerhoofs most enduring traits were already in place, the lyrics, gestural playing style, low-budget recording techniques, concept-album format. In 1997 they started recording new songs for Halfbird, but abandoned it in favor of a change in style. Kelly Goode joined on Casio VL-1 and Matsuzaki taught herself to play the bass, from 1997 to 1999, Deerhoof toured the U. S. with Sleater-Kinney, Lightning Bolt, Unwound, and Sonic Youth. Their 1999 album Holdypaws removed all traces of noise, improvisation, the unpredictable change in style between albums remains a Deerhoof hallmark. In fall 1999, Fisk and Goode quit the band, Halfbird was completed by Saunier and Matsuzaki and released in 2001, with artwork by Fisk. In late 1999, they asked Gorge Trio guitarist John Dieterich to join the band, thus most of 2003s Apple O was recorded live in one nine-hour session with Jay Pellicci engineering. The album received praise, notably in The New York Times. It was later listed by Pitchfork Media as one of the top albums of the 2000s, Saunier, drummer Zach Hill, and harpist Joanna Newsom released Nervous Cop in 2003. Dieterich, Cohen, and Jay Pellicci formed a trio called Natural Dreamers that released one album in 2004. For Deerhoofs next record they took their inspiration a Japanese cartoon character created by artist Ken Kagami, 2004s critically acclaimed Milk Man the album featured a lavish, Broadway-inspired sound. In 2006 this album was adapted to a childrens ballet, Deerhoofs next release was their first to be sung in Matsuzakis native language. 2005s Green Cosmos combined an orchestral sound with music styles of various eras
17.
Ali Shaheed Muhammad
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Ali Shaheed Muhammad is an American hip hop DJ, record producer, and rapper, best known as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. With Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, the group released six albums from 1990 to 2016. Together with Jay Dee and Q-Tip, he formed the production collective The Ummah. After the group disbanded, Muhammad formed the R&B supergroup Lucy Pearl with Dawn Robinson, formerly of En Vogue and Raphael Saadiq, on October 12,2004 he released his debut solo album, Shaheedullah and Stereotypes. He is currently the co-host of NPRs Microphone Check radio show, in 2016, Muhammad co-produced the soundtrack to the Luke Cage TV series with Adrian Younge
18.
Paul Oakenfold
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Paul Mark Oakenfold /ˈoʊkənfoʊld/ is an English record producer and trance DJ. He is a two time Grammy Award and two time World Music Awards nominee and he was voted the No.1 DJ in the World twice in 1998 and 1999 by DJ Magazine. Later 21-year-old Oakenfold and Ian Paul moved to 254 West 54th Street, studio 54s Steve Rubell ran the place and only allowed popular people inside. Oakenfolds musical career began in the late 1970s, when he started playing soul in a Covent Garden wine bar, here, he met Trevor Fung as well as Rumours in London where he played Earth, Wind and Fire and popular British bands. In 1984, he spent several months in New York Citys West Harlem, during this time hip-hop was the most popular sound in the area. He began breaking into the mainstream as he was working as an A&R man for Champion Records, at that time, he signed DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, as well as Salt-n-Pepa. Oakenfold appeared on the Blue Peter BBC programme for children with a breakdancing crew and he became a promoter and British agent for the Beastie Boys and Run-D. M. C. Since then, he appeared at The Project in Streatham playing soul, in 1987, Oakenfold travelled to the island of Ibiza for a week to celebrate his birthday. Trevor Fung, Nicky Holloway, Ian Saint Paul, Danny Rampling, Oakenfold convinced the owner of a venue in England to host an Ibiza Reunion party after-hours. He had previously made an attempt, but it failed as the crowd was not prepared for the house style until 1987 when the party was successful. After that, the became a classic and became one of the UKs major acid house nights. Spectrum became popular in The Sanctuary, as a bigger space was required, it turned into the Heaven club, which was run by Oakenfold and Paul. The party was best known for the Theatre of Madness, as more than 1,500 people were present on Monday nights, until it went down, with the financial issues it changed its name to the Land of Oz. Artists like Alex Paterson DJd in the VIP chillout area known as the White Room, which gave Oakenfold more free time, members included Nick Divaris, John Johnny Rocca and Micky. Also in 1988 he decided to create a place where new artists could develop their careers, at that moment, Perfecto Records was born. He collaborated with his friend Steve Osborne on various projects, in 1990, he worked with Terry Farley, Andrew Weatherall and Osborne on two remixes for Happy Mondays. The remixes of Rave On and Hallelujah were released on the Madchester Rave On EP, as well as Step On, the song reached the Top 5 position in the UK. He was invited as a guest DJ to Spike Island, a gig with The Stone Roses, pleased with the last single, the Happy Mondays gave Oakenfold and Osborne the opportunity to produce their third studio album, Pills n Thrills and Bellyaches
19.
Hands All Over (album)
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Hands All Over is the third studio album by the American rock band Maroon 5. Produced by veteran producer Robert John Mutt Lange, the album was released by A&M/Octone Records on August 18,2010, on July 12,2011, the band re-released the album to include their summer hit Moves like Jagger. The lead single, Misery, was released in June 2010, Give a Little More followed as the second single in August 2010, Never Gonna Leave This Bed as the third single in January 2011, and Moves like Jagger as the fourth and final single in June 2011. The album received mixed reviews from music critics, though many of them praised it for its production. Some critics have noted that the features a more soulful style than Maroon 5s previous works. Maroon 5 went on tour to promote the album in the summer of 2011, the band began writing the songs from the third album, after winding down from a world tour in support of their second album It Wont Be Soon Before Long. Several months later, the received a phone call from Robert John Mutt Lange, who had heard the band were beginning to write a new album. In a press release on their website, the album is described as a killer hybrid of rock, pop, funk. Lead singer Adam Levine, spoke about the experience of working with Lange, He worked me harder than ever has, I would come in with a finished song. Now strip it down to the drums and start over, the coolest thing about him is that not only has he been a huge, legendary producer, but he also is a legit, serious writer. Rolling Stone has said that the disc is the bands brightest-sounding and poppiest yet. Levine has also said about the album, Our first record was a reflection of my love for Stevie Wonder, with the second I kept going back and forth between Prince and The Police. But there was no one on my mind for this album, in a separate interview, however, Levine said that the album was influenced by Tupac Shakur and Marvin Gaye. The album artwork was revealed on July 1,2010, the cover photo for the album was taken by 19-year-old photographer Rosie Hardy, who also serves as the model in the photo. Hardy took the photo herself, in just under an hour, in the second week, it dropped to #9. In November 2010 the album was certified Gold by RIAA, denoting a sales of at least 500,000 copies in the United States. Of course we could have liked it to have done better so far, Valentine told Billboard, the lack of response to the latest record has the band thinking about recording another album sooner than they originally planned, but according to Valentine that may not be a bad thing. The album was certified platinum in January 9,2012. in April 2011, the album was certified as gold album in Japan for having more than 100,000 copies shipped to stores
20.
Songs About Jane
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Songs About Jane is the debut studio album by American rock band Maroon 5. It was released on June 25,2002 by Octone and J Records, the album became a sleeper hit with the help of five singles that attained chart success, including the Billboard hit Harder to Breathe and international hits This Love and She Will Be Loved. Songs About Jane was re-released on October 14,2003 becoming an international success. It topped the charts in Australia, France, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. At the end of 2004, the reached the top 10 of the US Billboard 200 chart. It had sold nearly 2.7 million copies by the end of 2004 and it has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2015. All but one member of the band had been members of a previous Los Angeles band called Karas Flowers which released an album called The Fourth World in mid-1997 on Reprise Records with little success. Karas Flowers left Reprise Records in 1999 and with the addition of guitarist James Valentine became Maroon 5, the band played showcase gigs in New York City and Los Angeles. Singer and guitarist Adam Levine credited the interim with influencing the new style in an interview with VH1. During the time between our record deals, I spent a lot of time in New York where I was exposed to an urban and it turned me on to an entirely new genre of music which has had a profound impact on my song writing. The band signed with Octone Records, a New York independent label with distribution through BMG, the band recorded Songs About Jane at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angeles with producer Matt Wallace, who had also produced with Train, Faith No More, and O. A. R. Production was handled primarily by Wallace, with Mark Endert mixing with additional production for This Love, All the songs on the album were either written or co-written by Levine while he was living in New York. Much of the lyrics for the album are inspired by Levines relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Levine notes, I saw this girl at a gas station, and I fell in love with her, he says. I wrote a song about her and played it in the store where she worked, but she found out about this relatively psychotic boy. She was my muse for years, and then it kind of faded away. Levine also confirmed this, saying there was at least one line in song about her. The album has released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions. After the release of the album in mid-2002, the band toured with Michelle Branch and they also toured with Matchbox Twenty and Sugar Ray during some of their shows in 2003
21.
It Won't Be Soon Before Long
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It Wont Be Soon Before Long is the second studio album by the American rock band Maroon 5. It was released in May 2007 as the follow-up to their debut album Songs About Jane, the name was inspired by a phrase the band adopted to keep themselves motivated while on their tour. The album debuted at one on the U. S. Billboard 200, selling around 430,000 copies in its first week and, as of 2011. It is the first Maroon 5 studio release to feature drummer Matt Flynn, the bands former drummer, percussionist and background vocalist - Ryan Dusick, who officially left Maroon 5 in 2006 due to serious wrist and shoulder injuries, was credited as the Musical Director. It Wont Be Soon Before Long has 12 songs, plus 6 bonus tracks, the band stated in interviews that the album has a different feel to it from their 2002 debut album Songs About Jane. A review written prior to the release described the songs as having a very retro feel. Adam Levine explained that this record is a little more self-confident and powerful lyrically. you can dance to it, according to Levine, working with other artists had influences on the album, Kanye West and Alicia Keys are amazing talents, in totally different ways. Just seeing such amazing people working in the studio, I definitely took things away from them. The song has featured in a trailer for the movie Definitely. Initial critical response to It Wont Be Soon Before Long was positive, at Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 66, based on 14 reviews. Allmusic rated the album 4.5 stars out of 5 and this album was #32 on Rolling Stones list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007. Makes Me Wonder was released as the single from the album on March 27,2007. The second single, Wake Up Call, was released on July 17,2007, Wont Go Home Without You was released as the third single on November 19,2007. The music video for the fifth and final single, Goodnight Goodnight, was released on August 21,2008, on November 3,2008, the single was released in Brazil. Maroon 5 performed a small club tour in June. They hit small venues in Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Miami, March 31 - Maroon 5 introduced their first single Makes Me Wonder at the 2007 Kids Choice Awards where they performed it live, although edited for younger audiences. May 16 – Maroon 5 performed on American Idol Semi-finals Result Show, may 18 – Maroon 5 performed at the Nassau Coliseum. May 19 – Maroon 5 performed on Saturday Night Live and they performed Makes Me Wonder and Wont Go Home Without You
22.
Dance Club Songs
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The Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U. S. dance clubs. It is compiled by Billboard exclusively from playlists submitted by nightclub disc jockeys who must apply, the current number-one song on the Dance Club Songs chart for the issue dated April 15,2017, is Lick Me Up by Tony Moran and Dani Toro featuring Zhana Roiya. Dance Club Songs has undergone several incarnations since its inception in 1974, originally a top-ten list of tracks that garnered the largest audience response in New York City discothèques, the chart began on October 26,1974 under the title Disco Action. The chart went on to feature playlists from various cities around the country from week to week, Billboard continued to run regional and city-specific charts throughout 1975 and 1976 until the issue dated August 28,1976, when a thirty-position National Disco Action Top 30 premiered. During the first half of the 1980s the chart maintained eighty slots until March 16,1985 when the Disco charts were splintered and renamed, two charts appeared, Hot Dance/Disco, which ranked club play, and Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, which ranked 12-inch single sales. Only Hot Dance Club Songs still exists today and these stations are also a part of the electronically monitored panel that encompasses the Hot 100. Radio airplay is not limited to that counted on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, during this time, Billboard rival publication Record World was the first to compile a dance chart which incorporated club play on a national level. Noted Billboard statistician Joel Whitburn has since adopted Record Worlds chart data from the weeks between March 29,1975 and August 21,1976 into Billboards club play history. For the sake of continuity, Record Worlds national chart is incorporated into both Whitburns Dance/Disco publication as well as the 1975 and 1976 number-ones lists, with the issue dated August 28,1976, Billboard premiered its own national chart and their data is used from this date forward. For the full list of all 100 All Time Top Dance Club Artists, both Enrique Iglesias and Dave Aude are tied with 14 number-ones on the chart, the most among male artists. Iglesias, however, is the male vocalist to accomplish this feat, while Aude is the only producer to achieve this milestone. Four acts have attained thirteen number-one songs, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, Yoko Ono, Kylie Minogue became the first act to have two songs in the top three on March 5,2011. Her song Better than Today was number-one while Higher, a song by Taio Cruz on which Minogue features, was number three, the first 12-inch single made commercially available to the public was Ten Percent by Double Exposure in 1976. The first number one on Billboards Disco Action chart was Never Can Say Goodbye by Gloria Gaynor in 1974, the first number one on Billboards National Disco Action Top 30 was You Should Be Dancing by the Bee Gees in 1976. Beginning with the February 23,1991 issue, the dance chart became song specific, in all scenarios this was due to the tracks being included in film soundtrack albums. In 1978, four tracks from Thank God Its Friday, in 1980, madonna holds the record for the most chart hits, the most top-twenty hits, the most top-ten hits and the most total weeks at number one. The Trammps are the act to replace themselves at number one. The longest running number-ones on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart are Bad Luck by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes2 in 1975, both entries spent eleven weeks in the top spot
23.
If I Never See Your Face Again
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If I Never See Your Face Again is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5 from the June 2008 re-release of the groups second studio album, It Wont Be Soon Before Long. It was also included on the June 2008 re-release of Rihannas album Good Girl Gone Bad, the song was originally included on the standard version of the album without the inclusion of Rihanna. It was written by band members Adam Levine and James Valentine, with production of the song helmed by Christopher Tricky Stewart, Mike Elizondo, Mark Endert, Mark Spike Stent and Maroon 5. It was released as an Extended Play in Australia on May 22,2007, If I Never See Your Face Again was originally intended to be a duet with Janet Jackson and appear on her Discipline album, although label problems interfered. The collaboration with Rihanna later came to fruition when Levine asked her to add her vocal to the remix version, If I Never See Your Face Again is a pop and R&B song featuring instrumentation provided by synthesizers and a guitar. The song received a response from music critics, who praised the songs composition but criticized Levine. The songs accompanying video was directed by Anthony Mandler and shot on an indoor soundstage in Castaic. The concept for the video was high-end erotica, If I Never See Your Face Again was written by Adam Levine and James Valentine, two of the five band members from Maroon 5. Production of the song was helmed by Mike Elizondo, Mike Endert, Mike Spike Stent, Christopher Tricky Stewart and it was recorded by Spike Stent at Conway Studios, Hollywood, CA, Glenwood Place Studios, Burbank, CA and Phantom Studios, Westlake Village, CA. The song was intended to be a duet with Janet Jackson and appear on her Discipline album. The singer continued, saying that he asked Rihanna to do some bits and pieces in the recording studio, Levine stated that if there is magic between two artists, then you dont even have to think about it. If I Never See Your Face Again was released as a single in the United States on May 2,2008, If I Never See Your Face Again is a pop and R&B song, which lasts for 3,18. The song was composed using common time in the key of A minor, instrumentation is provided by synths, and a guitar. A reviewer for IGN noted that If I Never See Your Face Again is complete with slinky synth insinuations, whilst Jerome Blakeney for BBC wrote that it is a guitar drenched, alex Fletcher for Digital Spy commented that the song incorporated a jagged use of synthesizers. For the most part of the song, Levine sings in his falsetto register, upon the release of It Wont Be Soon Before Long, music critics commented on the original version of the song, which does not include guest vocals by Rihanna. A reviewer for IGN was complimentary of If I Never See Your Face Again, sal Cinquemani was critical of the song, labeling it as nasty. Alex Fletcher for Digital Spy disapproved of the collaboration between the band and Rihanna, with thoughts on Levine and Rihannas pairing. Fletcher was critical of their performance, writing that their voices clashed with one another
24.
Wake Up Call (Maroon 5 song)
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Wake Up Call is the second single by Maroon 5 from their second studio album, It Wont Be Soon Before Long. It had been rumored as the single, and the band confirmed this on the May 22 episode of TRL. The band also said that they are excited to do the video for the song. FMQB confirmed that the single would be released to radio on July 17 and it leaked online shortly before May 1,2007 as part of a four track sampler from It Wont Be Soon Before Long. They performed the song on 45th at Night, which included a special guest Eve, the remix was never officially recorded. Another remix was with Mary J. Blige making a special guest appearance for this song, before the release of Wake Up Call, the band promoted by performing it a half-step lower. The song was heard playing in the background in a club scene on the HBO hit. The song was BBC Radio 1 playlisted for the playlist week beginning July 18,2007 and it was also featured as downloadable content for the music video game Rock Band. As of June 2014, the song has sold 1,821,000 copies in the US, the music video for Wake Up Call is directed by Jonas Åkerlund and filming took place on July 7–9,2007. The video is presented as a trailer for an imaginary NC-17-rated movie, as the video progresses, Levine arrives home, kicking down the door upon hearing noises coming from the bedroom and catches his girlfriend cheating on him with the other man. As his girlfriend tries to break up the fight between both men attempting to explain the reason of her infidelity to her boyfriend, Levine immediately shoots him in the chest. While his girlfriend watched in horror as her lover dies from the gunshot, Levine covers up the body. The rest of the video centers around Maroon 5 and Adams girlfriend going through a plan to cover up the murder. Mark Ronson recorded a remix of Wake Up Call which has released on November 13,2007 as a digital download. The song features vocals from Mary J. Blige, the track is also on the International Tour edition of It Wont Be Soon Before Long. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
25.
Mary J. Blige
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Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, model, record producer and actress. My Life, in particular, is considered among the greatest albums ever recorded according to Rolling Stone, Time, for her part in combining hip hop and soul in the early 1990s and its subsequent commercial success, Blige received the Legends Award at the World Music Awards. Blige made Time magazines Time 100 list of individuals around the world in 2007. As of 2013, Blige has sold more than 50 million albums and 25 million singles worldwide, Billboard ranked Blige as the most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years. The magazine also lists her 2006 song Be Without You as the top R&B song of the 2000s, in 2011, VH1 ranked Blige as the 80th greatest artist of all time. Moreover, she is ranked number 100 on the list of 100 greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, in 2012, VH1 ranked Blige at number 9 in The 100 Greatest Women in Music. Blige also earned high remarks for her work in film and she starred in the 2009 Tyler Perry box-office hit I Can Do Bad All By Myself and played a role in the film Rock of Ages. She received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her contribution to the film The Help. In partnership with the Home Shopping Network and Carols Daughter, Blige released her My Life perfume, the perfume broke HSN records by selling 65,000 bottles during its premiere. The scent went on to win two FiFi Awards, including the Fragrance Sales Breakthrough award, in 2017, she stars in the period drama film Mudbound directed by Dee Rees. Blige spent her years in Richmond Hill, Georgia, where she sang in a Pentecostal church. Blige later moved to Schlobohm Houses in Yonkers, New York, immediately north of New York City, Blige dropped out of high school in her junior year. Pursuing a musical career, Blige spent a period of time in a Yonkers band named Pride with band drummer Eddie DAprile. In early 1988, she recorded a cover of Anita Bakers Caught Up in the Rapture at a recording booth in the Galleria Mall in White Plains. Her mothers boyfriend at the later played the cassette for Jeff Redd. Redd sent it to the president and CEO of the label, Harrell met with Blige and in 1989 she was signed to the label, becoming the companys youngest and first female artist. After being signed to Uptown Records, Blige began working with record producer Puff Daddy and he became the executive producer and produced a majority of the album. Derived from Bliges past occupation as a 4-1-1 operator, it was also an indication by Blige of being the real deal, the music was described as revelatory on a frequent basis
26.
Sunday Morning (Maroon 5 song)
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Sunday Morning is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5. It was released on December 2,2004 as the single from their debut studio album. Released in 2004, the peaked at number 31 in the United States becoming Maroon 5s fourth Top 40 single, it also peaked at number 27 in the United Kingdom. The music video was filmed at Abbey Road Studios in London and it features Maroon 5 performing the song, interspersed with scenes of numerous people singing it at a karaoke bar. Billboard called the single another cant-miss romp from Americas hottest pop-rock band, adam Levine says the idea for the video struck the band when they were in Japan and noticed a few of their songs on the karaoke list at a Japanese bar. The song has also featured on the soundtracks of Somethings Gotta Give and Love Actually. Additionally, it is featured on the Xbox 360 karaoke game Lips, andrew Garcia covered the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show after his 2010 elimination from American Idol. The acoustic version of the song is featured in the 2005 film Cheaper by the Dozen 2, the song was also used in the South Korean television commercial of GM Chevrolet Malibu, as well as Jollibee brand of quick service restaurants in the Philippines. On season 4 of the American singing competition The Voice, Josiah Hawley performed a rendition of Sunday Morning, lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
27.
Makes Me Wonder
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Makes Me Wonder is the first single released from Maroon 5s second album, It Wont Be Soon Before Long. It premiered on the Las Vegas radio station KMXB, and became an instant hit worldwide, upon release, the song set a record for the biggest jump to number-one in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, rising from number 64 to number-one. However, the record was broken by Kelly Clarksons 2009 single. Makes Me Wonder also became the bands first number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 50th Grammy Awards, their second song to win the award. The song was among the most successful of 2007, and was their biggest hit until the release of Moves like Jagger by the band in 2011, despite the songs commercial success, critical reception was mixed. It was ranked No.49 on Rolling Stones list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007, Maroon 5 performed the song in May 2007 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. This song was used in Rock Band games as DLC. Levine began writing parts of Makes Me Wonder years before its release in 2007, Maroon 5 recorded a demo of it, which was one of their firsts while on the road. The band however put the track aside, and years later revisited it for Wont Be Soon Before Long, Levine recalled that the song kept coming up because the label loved it. There, they rethought a couple of songs and we went back, reworking the song for their new album, Maroon 5 struggled to finish Makes Me Wonder. The band could not formulate a chorus that would match with the rest of Makes Me Wonders music, at one point, it had the band deciding to venture into a songwriting trip to somewhere without distractions. While working on another song when they went to a Las Vegas studio, Levine recalls, It was actually great because we were distracted just enough that we didnt think about it too much, and then we wrote this part that wound up being the chorus. Prior to Makes Me Wonder, producer Mark Endert had contributed to the debut album, Songs About Jane, in which he provided additional production to. Having worked on a song called Wake Up Call for the new album, Maroon 5, having re-examined the song, asked Endert to assist them on a track which they did not like. To Endert, the band did not feel like they had realized its potential, however, They were open to new ideas, so I had the freedom to go and look for a new approach. Working on the new material, Endert produced a mockup for the tracks arrangement, using his Logic system at Scream Studios, he programmed the keyboards, bass, guitars on an old 80s Roland. When done, Endert flew to Los Angeles to present to the band the track, Endert and the band went to the Sunset Sound studio where they added track and replaced any parts in Logic that were considered band instruments, resulting to it sounding like Maroon 5s. According to producer Mark Endert, the idea was to make the music contemporary. Meanwhile, they wanted to render it classic by making references to 70s and its music changed from a more rock n roll feel to a 70s funk vibe
28.
This Love (Maroon 5 song)
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This Love is a song by the American pop rock band Maroon 5. The song was written by frontman Adam Levine and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael for their debut album, the track is built around a piano-led strut, which is immediately followed by synth percussion, and a repeating guitar sound. The songs lyrics are based on Levines break-up with an ex-girlfriend and he revealed that the song was written in the most emotionally trying time in his life. He has also described that the lyrics of song as being extremely erotic. This Love was critically acclaimed by critics, who noted the tracks musicscape. It was released on January 27,2004, as the single from Songs About Jane. The single entered the top ten on most charts, topping several of Billboard magazines component charts, the music video was met with controversy, regarding extended intimate scenes between Levine and his then-girlfriend. This Love helped Maroon 5 win the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist and was the third most played song of 2004. The song won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2006 Grammy Awards and this Love was the second single from Maroon 5s 2002 debut album, Songs About Jane. In an interview with MTV News in August 2002, Maroon 5 vocalist Adam Levine revealed that he wrote the song the day his girlfriend moved away when they broke up. In another interview, Levine revealed that the song was written in the most emotionally trying time in his life. He also added, I was in a relationship that was ending and she was literally leaving town within days of me writing the lyrics to This Love, so I was in prime emotional condition to write a song with that kind of conflict. During development of This Love, the stated that the song was influenced by musician Stevie Wonder. The piece was written in the key of C minor, the metre is set in time. The introduction of This Love features a piano-led strut, Maroon 5 has called This Love a prime pop-rock song. The music featured in the song has a lot more rock-guitar crunch, according to Johnny Loftus of Allmusic, the music featured in the song has a slick channeling of vintage R&B rhythms into punchy pop dynamics. Loftus also noted that the band has a charge with the lyrics. The Boston Globes Steve Morse described the sounds as a rocking yet soulful tale about the breakup of a relationship
29.
Tricky Stewart
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Christopher Alan Tricky Stewart is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, executive producer, recording industry executive and recording studio owner. He is also a president of A&R at Epic Records. In a career spanning over 20 years, Stewart, at the helm of his company RedZone Entertainment, is responsible for over 25 million records sold and he is noted for producing many hip hop, R&B and pop chart topping singles, often with The-Dream. In 2012, he was included in Billboards 40 Under 40, Stewart was born in Markham, Illinois. Raised in a family, he was playing guitar, playing keyboards. Before graduating high school, Stewart had placements with artists such as Aaron Hall, rhythm and blues trio IMx, Stewart credits his work with Moore with opening many doors for him in his burgeoning music career. In 1994, Stewart produced Treat U Right for Blackgirl, around this time, Stewart met record producer and songwriter L. A. Reid, who offered him a deal to move his production company to Atlanta. Stewarts career and reputation continued to grow, achieving a breakthrough in 1999 when he co-wrote the single Who Dat for JT Money. Who Dat was a No.1 rap single, ASCAPs Song of the Year, as a talent scout and manager, Stewart and RedZone helped grow the careers of such artists as Solé and Sam Salter. In 2000, Tricky co-wrote and produced Interscope artist Mýas breakthrough single Case of the Ex and it peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2000, and stayed in the Top 10 for three months. Around this time, Stewart discovered and signed Blu Cantrell, and it peaked at No.8 on the Billboard 200 album chart and spawned the No.2 hit Hit em Up Style. In 2002, Tricky co-produced and co-wrote B2Ks debut single, Uh Huh and it was No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks. In 2003, Blu Cantrells second album, Bittersweet, was released,2007 was a breakthrough year for Stewart and RedZone Entertainment. Rihannas single Umbrella, co-written with The-Dream and Kuk Harrell, garnered two Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and a Grammy for Best Rap/Song Collaboration and that was until he heard her on the record. The song also broke the music stores record for biggest debut ever. This writing and production team, composed of Tricky, The-Dream, Stewart executive produced The-Dreams debut album Love Hate, which included the hit single Shawty Is a 10, peaking at No.6 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Stewart also co-wrote and produced Dreams, Falsetto and I Luv Your Girl. The single Touch My Body off Mariah Careys album E=MC², produced by Stewart, the achievement was attributed to a record-breaking digital sales debut, as 286,000 copies were sold in its first week of availability
30.
She Will Be Loved
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She Will Be Loved is a song by the American pop rock band Maroon 5. The song was written by frontman Adam Levine and lead guitarist James Valentine and it was released as the third single from Maroon 5s debut album, Songs About Jane. The single peaked at #5 in the United States, and by December 2012 had sold more than 2,722,000 digital downloads and it peaked at #4 in the United Kingdom. In Australia, it reached #1, a position it held for 5 non-consecutive weeks, the single is noted for its music video starring Kelly Preston in a mother-daughter love triangle with lead singer Adam Levine. The video is also in Sepia and these stations continued to play Harder to Breathe and This Love, but Maroon 5s newer hits were played only on pop and adult contemporary stations. As of June 2014, the song has sold over 3,000,000 copies in the US and she Will Be Loved entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #50 as the Hot Shot debut of the week on July 24,2004. The song rose to #20 on August 21,2004, giving Maroon 5 their third consecutive top-twenty hit on the chart. She Will Be Loved continued to gain in performance and rose to #9 on September 11,2004, the song reached its peak position at #5 on September 25,2004, matching the peak position of This Love from earlier that year. It fell to #6 a week later and stayed in position for three weeks, before rising back up to #5 on October 23,2004 for two more consecutive weeks. She Will Be Loved was certified platinum on April 18,2011 by the Recording Industry Association of America and has sold 3,197,000 copies in the US as of June 15,2014. The video is commonly compared to the film The Graduate as it has similarities with the storyline between the daughter, the boyfriend and the mother. It should be noted that the version of the used in the music video is the radio mix version found on the 10th Anniversary Edition of Songs About Jane. As of February 2017, the song has accumulated over 360 million views on YouTube, the video starts with Levine standing in front of a swimming pool. Levine front-flips into the pool and is submerged underwater, completely unaware of whats to happen to him in falling in love that summer. Flashbacks show the two women walking side by side in the city as someone watches them from his/her car, after which, the young man and his girlfriend visit her home and dive into a swimming pool kissing. After they resurface from swimming, the man looks to his girlfriend as shes being cared for by another woman who is revealed to be the girlfriends mother. The mother helps her daughter dry from swimming and glances in the mans direction. One night while walking down the stairs, the man comes to find someone lying unconscious in the room
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Harder to Breathe
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Harder to Breathe is a song by American band Maroon 5. The song was written by frontman Adam Levine for the debut album. The song expresses tension, having been written quickly under trying circumstances and it tells the story about a former relationship Levine was involved in. Harder to Breathe was met with positive reception by music critics and it was released in 2002 as the lead single of Songs About Jane. The song peaked at six on Airplay Monitor. It also appeared on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart at number 31, internationally, the single charted at number 13 in the United Kingdom. Harder to Breathe also appeared in the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, the song also appears in Maroon 5s 2004 EP1.22.03. Acoustic in an acoustic version and the live album Live – Friday the 13th. Harder to Breathe was featured in One Tree Hill, ER, Birds of Prey, the band thought they had enough material for a release, but when the label told them to keep writing, Levine wrote this song in frustration at the pressure. That song comes sheerly from wanting to throw something and it was the 11th hour, and the label wanted more songs. I wanted to make a record and the label was applying a lot of pressure, Harder to Breathe tells the story of a relationship Levine had with a woman named Jane, who, according to Levine was the muse in the bands album. MacKenzie Wilson of AllMusic described the song as a soulful disposition, meghan Bard of The Daily Campus described the single featuring a great up-tempo number with gritty guitar riffs and powerful vocals from Levine. Bard noted that the theme in the song was about recovering from heartbreak, angus Batey of The Times compared Harder to Breathe sounding as Zeppelin-esque. The song received positive reception from critics, in the Rolling Stone review of the album, critic Christian Hoard called Harder to Breathe a strong single. Spencer Beggs of The Observer wrote, The two singles are the most popular songs on the album, showing off Maroon 5s characteristic clean, crisp and upbeat sound. Sam Beresky of the Daily Lobo, who was enthusiastic about the album, complimented Maroon 5 on Harder to Breathe, in which he said. There are some aspects of mellow, soulful rockers like Train, the track has a good rock meets R&B sound and is predictable enough to get radio play. In October 2003, Levine told USA Today, regarding the success of the song, I didnt love or hate the song and we have a lot of pop songs on our record, and the idea was to start out with something different. Why come out of the gate with another pop song by pop band
32.
DJ Premier
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For its 20th-anniversary issue in 2008, The Source selected DJ Premier for its list of the 20 greatest producers in the magazines history. He also made the finals in Vibe magazines 2010 search for the greatest hip hop producer of all time—he finished second after Dr. Dre received 62 percent of the votes. DJ Premier hosts a weekly show, Live From HeadQCourterz. DJ Premier served as one of the three curators for the soundtrack to the video game NBA 2K16, alongside DJ Khaled and DJ Mustard. DJ Premier was born in Houston, Texas, and was raised in Prairie View, Texas, before moving to Brooklyn, New York. He attended Prairie View A&M University, where he honed his skills as the campus DJ. Premier is known for producing all of Gang Starrs songs as well as many of those composed by the Gang Starr Foundation, AZ, Big L, Big Daddy Kane, Bun B, Canibus, Common, DAngelo, D. I. T. C. Dr. Dre, Game, Joey Bada$$, KRS-One, Lord Finesse, Ludacris, mos Def, Nas, Papoose, Rakim, Royce da 59, Snoop Dogg, The LOX, The Notorious B. I. G. Vinnie Paz, Ill Bill, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Immortal Technique, Xzibit, nu metal band Limp Bizkit and Busta Rhymes. Premier collaborated with MC Jeru the Damaja on the album The Sun Rises in the East, released in 1994, as well as the 1996 follow-up, Wrath of the Math. Premier produced and supervised Livin Proof by Group Home, also from the Gang Starr Foundation, although overlooked at the time of its 1995 release, in 2006, pop/R&B singer Christina Aguilera recruited Premier to produce her album Back to Basics. Premier explained the reservations he heard from people regarding the collaboration, When Christina had me work with her, people were like, Oh no. Then when they heard Ain’t No Other Man, Back In The Day, I was worried, but you totally sound like what we love about you. Until you hear it, don’t say a word, I never want to be just attached to hip hop. I want to be attached to music – country, rap, soul, jazz, blues, it doesn’t matter, in 2008, appear in Grand Theft Auto IV as himself radio station The Classics 104.1. Premier produced the majority of Blaq Poets Tha Blaqprint, which was released in mid-2009, Premier contributed a song on Games 2011 album, The R. E. D. Also in 2011, Premier appeared on the song Gangster, on Bushidos album Jenseits von Gut und Böse, Premier was one of the artists followed in the 2012 documentary, Re, GENERATION. The film followed his production of the song Regeneration, for which he used a performance of his work by the Berklee Symphony Orchestra
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Rihanna
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Robyn Rihanna Fenty is a Barbadian singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, she first entered the industry by recording demo tapes under the direction of record producer Evan Rogers in 2003. She ultimately signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for its then-president. She assumed creative control for her studio album Good Girl Gone Bad. Its successful lead single Umbrella became a breakthrough in her career. After releasing four consecutive platinum albums, including the Grammy Award winner Unapologetic. Her eighth studio album Anti and its lead single Work reached number-one on the Billboard 200, with sales exceeding 230 million records worldwide, Rihanna is one of the best-selling artists of all time. Widely recognized for reinventing her style, she received the Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2014. Forbes ranked Rihanna the fourth most powerful celebrity of 2012, and was named one of Times 100 Most Influential People in the World later that year, Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20,1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados. Her mother, Monica, is an accountant of African American background. Rihanna has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and two half-sisters and a half-brother from her fathers side, each born to different mothers from his previous relationships. She grew up in a bungalow in Bridgetown and sold clothes with her father in a stall on the street. Rihannas childhood was affected by her fathers addiction to crack cocaine. As a child, she went through a lot of CT scans for the excruciating headaches she suffered, even thought it was a tumor, by the time she was fourteen, Rihanna’s parents had divorced and her health began to improve. Rihanna grew up listening to music and began singing at around the age of seven. She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and Combermere High School, Rihanna was an army cadet in a sub-military programme, the singer-songwriter Shontelle was her drill sergeant. Although she initially wanted to graduate high school, she chose to pursue a musical career instead. In 2003, Rihanna formed a trio with two of her classmates
34.
AllMusic
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AllMusic is an online music guide service website. It was launched in 1991 by All Media Guide which later became All Media Network, AllMusic was launched in 1991 by Michael Erlewine of All Media Guide. The aim was to discographic information on every artist whos made a record since Enrico Caruso gave the industry its first big boost and its first reference book was published the following year. When first released onto the Internet, AMG predated the World Wide Web and was first available as a Gopher site, the AMG consumer web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in July 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. All Media Network, LLC. was formed by the founders of SideReel. com. The following are contributors to AllMusic, as of this date, All Media Network also produced the AllMusic guide series that includes the AllMusic Guide to Rock, the All Music Guide to Jazz and the All Music Guide to the Blues. Vladimir Bogdanov is the president of the series, in August 2007, PC Magazine included AllMusic in its Top 100 Classic Websites list. All Media Network AllGame AllMovie SideReel All Music Guide to the Blues All Music Guide to Jazz Stephen Thomas Erlewine Official website
35.
Billboard (magazine)
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Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events and it is also known for its music charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular singles and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows, Billboard was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegens interest in 1900 for $500, in the 1900s, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows. It also created a service for travelling entertainers. Billboard began focusing more on the industry as the jukebox, phonograph. Many topics it covered were spun-off into different magazines, including Amusement Business in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment so that it could focus on music. After Donaldson died in 1925, Billboard was passed down to his children and Hennegans children, until it was sold to investors in 1985. The first issue of Billboard was published in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 1,1894 by William Donaldson, initially, it covered the advertising and bill posting industry and was called Billboard Advertising. At the time, billboards, posters and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the means of advertising. Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co. managed magazine production, the first issues were just eight pages long. The paper had columns like The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable, a department for agricultural fairs was established in 1896. The title was changed to The Billboard in 1897, after a brief departure over editorial differences, Donaldson purchased Hennegans interest in the business in 1900 for $500, to save it from bankruptcy. That May, Donaldson changed it from a monthly to a paper with a greater emphasis on breaking news. He improved editorial quality and opened new offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London and he also re-focused the magazine on outdoor entertainment like fairs, carnivals, circuses, vaudeville and burlesque shows. A section devoted to circuses was introduced in 1900, followed by more prominent coverage of events in 1901. Billboard also covered topics including regulation, a lack of professionalism, economics and it had a stage gossip column covering the private lives of entertainers, a tent show section covering traveling shows and a sub-section called Freaks to order. According to The Seattle Times, Donaldson also published articles attacking censorship, praising productions exhibiting good taste
36.
Entertainment Weekly
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Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by Time Inc. that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. Different from celebrity-focused publications like Us Weekly, People, and In Touch Weekly, EW primarily concentrates on entertainment media news, however, unlike Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, which are aimed at industry insiders, EW targets a more general audience. The first issue was published on February 16,1990, the cover price was $1.95 The title word entertainment was not capitalized on the cover until mid-1992 and has remained so since. By 2003, the weekly circulation averaged 1.7 million copies per week. In March 2006, managing editor Rick Tetzeli oversaw an overhaul of EWs graphics, Entertainment Weekly follows a typical magazine format by featuring a letters to the editor and table of contents in the first few pages, while also featuring advertisements. While many advertisements are unrelated to the entertainment industry, the majority of ads are typically related to up-and-coming television and these beginning articles open the magazine and as a rule focus on current events in pop culture. First Look, subtitled An early peek at some of Hollywoods coolest projects, is a spread with behind-the-scenes or publicity stills of upcoming movies. The Hit List, written each week by critic Scott Brown, highlights ten major events, Typically, there will be some continuity to the commentaries. This column was written by Jim Mullen and featured twenty events each week. The Hollywood Insider is a section that reports breaking news in entertainment. It gives details, in the columns, on the most-current news in television, movie. The Style Report is a section devoted to celebrity style. Because its focus is on celebrity fashion or lifestyle, it is rich in nature. Recently, the converted to a new format, five pictures of celebrity fashions for the week. A spin-off section, Style Hunter, which finds reader-requested articles of clothing or accessories that have appeared in pop culture recently, appears frequently. The Monitor is a two-page spread devoted to events in celebrity lives with small paragraphs highlighting events such as weddings, illnesses, arrests, court appearances. Deaths of major celebrities are typically detailed in a one-half- or full-page obituary titled Legacy and this feature is nearly identical to sister publication Peoples Passages feature. Harris column focuses on analyzing current popular-culture events, and is generally the most serious of the columns, harris has written about the writers strike and the 2008 presidential election, among other topics
37.
Rolling Stone
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Rolling Stone is an American biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the publisher. It was first known for its coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors. In recent years, it has resumed its traditional mix of content, Rolling Stone magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and Ralph Gleason. To get it off the ground, Wenner borrowed $7,500 from his own family and from the parents of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim. The first issue carried a date of November 9,1967. Some authors have attributed the name solely to Dylans hit single, At Gleasons suggestion, Rolling Stone initially identified with and reported the hippie counterculture of the era. In the very first edition, Wenner wrote that Rolling Stone is not just about the music, in the 1970s, Rolling Stone began to make a mark with its political coverage, with the likes of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson writing for the magazines political section. Thompson first published his most famous work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas within the pages of Rolling Stone, where he remained a contributing editor until his death in 2005. In the 1970s, the magazine also helped launch the careers of prominent authors, including Cameron Crowe, Lester Bangs, Joe Klein, Joe Eszterhas, Patti Smith. It was at point that the magazine ran some of its most famous stories. One interviewer, speaking for a number of his peers, said that he bought his first copy of the magazine upon initial arrival on his college campus. In 1977, the magazine moved its headquarters from San Francisco to New York City, editor Jann Wenner said San Francisco had become a cultural backwater. During the 1980s, the magazine began to shift towards being an entertainment magazine. Music was still a dominant topic, but there was increasing coverage of celebrities in television, films, the magazine also initiated its annual Hot Issue during this time. Rolling Stone was initially known for its coverage and for Thompsons political reporting. In the 1990s, the changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors
38.
Billboard 200
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The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists, often, a recording act will be remembered by its number ones, those of their albums that outperformed all others during at least one week. The chart is based mostly on sales of albums in the United States, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but since July 2015, tracking week begins on Friday and ends on Thursday. A new chart is published the following Tuesday with an issue post-dated to the Saturday of the following week, the charts streaming schedule is also tracked from Friday to Thursday. Example, Friday January 1 – sales tracking week begins Thursday January 7 – sales tracking week ends Tuesday January 12 – new chart published, New product is released to the American market on Fridays. Digital downloads of albums are included in Billboard 200 tabulation. Albums that are not licensed for sale in the United States are not eligible to chart. As of the issue dated April 15,2017, the album on the Billboard 200 is More Life by Drake. Billboard began an album chart in 1945, initially only five positions long, the album chart was not published on a weekly basis, sometimes three to seven weeks passing before it was updated. A biweekly, 15-position Best-Selling Popular Albums chart appeared in 1955, the position count varied anywhere from 10 to 30 albums. The first number-one album on the new weekly list was Belafonte by Harry Belafonte, the chart was renamed to Best-Selling Pop Albums later in 1956, and then to Best-Selling Pop LPs in 1957. Beginning on May 25,1959, Billboard split the ranking into two charts Best-Selling Stereophonic LPs for stereo albums and Best-Selling Monophonic LPs for mono albums and these were renamed to Stereo Action Charts and Mono Action Charts in 1960. In January 1961, they became Action Albums—Stereophonic and Action Albums—Monophonic, three months later, they became Top LPs—Stereo and Top LPs—Monaural. On August 17,1963 the stereo and mono charts were combined into a 150-position chart called Top LPs, on April 1,1967, the chart was expanded to 175 positions, then finally to 200 positions on May 13,1967. In 1960, Billboard began concurrently publishing album charts which ranked sales of older or mid-priced titles and these Essential Inventory charts were divided by stereo and mono albums, and featured titles that had already appeared on the main stereo and mono album charts. In January 1961, the Action Charts became Action Albums—Monophonic, Albums appeared on either chart for up to nine weeks, then were moved to an Essential Inventory list of approximately 200 titles, with no numerical ranking. This list continued to be published until the consolidated Top LPs chart debuted in 1963, in 1982, Billboard began publishing a Midline Albums chart which ranked older or mid-priced titles. The chart held 50 positions and was published on a bi-weekly basis, on May 25,1991, Billboard premiered the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart
39.
Adam Levine
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Adam Noah Levine is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist for the pop rock band Maroon 5, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Levine began his musical career in 1994, when he co-founded the alternative rock band Karas Flowers, of which he was the lead vocalist and guitarist. The band split up after their album, The Fourth World. In 2001, the group was reformed – with guitarist James Valentine joining the line-up – and began a new musical chapter, in 2002, the band released their first album, Songs About Jane, which went multi-platinum in the US. Since then, they have released four albums, It Wont Be Soon Before Long, Hands All Over, Overexposed. He also has released two singles Dont Wanna Know and Cold, as part of Maroon 5, Levine has received three Grammy Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award and a World Music Award. Since 2011, Levine has served as a coach on NBCs reality talent show The Voice, the winners of the first, fifth and ninth seasons, Javier Colon, Tessanne Chin and Jordan Smith, were on his team. In 2012, he made his debut as a recurring character in the horror television show American Horror Story. He also starred in the film Begin Again, as an entrepreneur, Levine launched his own eponymous fragrance line in 2013. The same year, he collaborated with K-Mart and ShopYourWay. com to develop his menswear collection and he also owns a record label,222 Records. In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that sources familiar with his business dealings estimated Levine would earn more than $35 million that year. Adam Noah Levine was born in Los Angeles on March 18,1979 to Fred Levine, the founder of retail chain M. Fredric, and Patsy Levine and he has two brothers, Michael and Sam, and two sisters, Liza Levine and Julia Milne Levine. Levines father and maternal grandfather are both Jewish, while his grandmother was a Protestant of Scottish and German descent. Levine considers himself Jewish, though according to an interview with The Jewish Chronicle, he has rejected formal religious practice for a more generalized, spiritual way of life. He chose not to have a Bar Mitzvah as a child, explaining, I just dont think its the most respectful way to deal with God and beliefs and years and years and years of cultural heritage. Levine is a nephew of journalist and author Timothy Noah, television producer and writer Peter Noah and his parents divorced when he was seven. Growing up, Levine spent weekdays with his mother and weekends with his father and he underwent therapy for his parents divorce, but called it a waste of time explaining that his parents could not accept the fact that I might have been OK with it. I cried my eyes out and kicked and screamed and said, Why. a few days later I was fine but I still had to go to therapy
