Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots are an American rock band from San Diego, that consisted of Scott Weiland, brothers Dean DeLeo and Robert DeLeo, Eric Kretz. From the band's formation in 1989, its line-up remained unchanged until the firing of Weiland in February 2013. Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington joined the band in May 2013. In November 2015, Bennington left the band to focus on Linkin Park. On December 3, 2015, Weiland was found dead on his tour bus before a performance with his band The Wildabouts. In 2016, the band launched an online audition for a new lead vocalist. On November 14, 2017, Jeff Gutt became the new singer of the band. After forming in 1989 under the name Mighty Joe Young, the band signed with Atlantic Records and changed its name to Stone Temple Pilots; the band's debut album, was a commercial success, they went on to become one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s, selling more than 18 million albums in the United States and 40 million worldwide. The band released four more studio albums: Purple, Tiny Music...
Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, No. 4, Shangri-La Dee Da, before separating in 2002, after which the band members partook in various projects. The band reconvened in 2008 for a reunion tour, released a new self-titled album in 2010, toured until Chester Bennington's departure; the band's only material with Bennington was the EP High Rise in 2013. The band released its seventh studio album titled Stone Temple Pilots, on March 16, 2018. While rising to fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, further releases from the band expressed a variety of influences, including psychedelic rock, bossa nova and classic rock; the band's evolution throughout the 1990s and early 2000s involved periods of commercial highs and lows, brought about in part by Weiland's well-publicized struggles with drug addiction. Two conflicting stories of how frontman Scott Weiland and bassist Robert DeLeo met have been described by the band, they began only to realize they were dating the same woman. However, instead of letting this come between them, they developed a bond and formed a band after they each subsequently broke it off with the girl.
Weiland presented a different version of meeting Robert in his autobiography, stating that Weiland and his friends—guitarist Corey Hicock and drummer David Allin—pursued Robert after witnessing him play live with him sitting in during sets at various gigs with their band Soi Disant. However, after a few years Allin went his separate way pursuing other interests; the remaining members witnessed drummer Eric Kretz play in a Long Beach club and convinced him to join the band. Guitarist Hicock left the band in 1989. At the time, Dean was a successful businessman who had left behind his previous career as a musician, but still played guitar as a hobby; the band managed to convince Dean to play guitar for completing the original STP lineup. Dean refused to continue playing in a band called "Swing," and shortly afterwards the band became Mighty Joe Young; the band recorded a demo tape, completed around 1990. The Mighty Joe Young demo features tracks that would go on to be re-recorded for the band's first studio album, as well as some musical styles that would not be featured on any of STP's studio albums, such as funk and yodeling.
Mighty Joe Young played several gigs in the San Diego area. Their first show was supporting Henry Rollins at the Whisky a Go Go; the group began to work on their debut album with Brendan O'Brien. During the recording, they received a call from their lawyer who informed them that there was a bluesman who had claimed the name Mighty Joe Young. Inspired by the STP Motor Oil stickers that the band members were fans of in their youth, various ideas on the initials "STP" were shared by the band, including "Shirley Temple's Pussy" and Stereo Temple Pirates, they settled on the name "Stone Temple Pilots." Stone Temple Pilots developed a fan base in San Diego clubs. In 1992, Stone Temple Pilots signed with Atlantic Records, their first album, was released on September 29, 1992, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Albums Chart. Core was a big success, producing hits "Sex Type Thing," "Plush," "Creep", "Wicked Garden." While the album was a major commercial success, some in the music press criticized the band as "grunge imitators."
The same year, Scott Weiland and Dean DeLeo played an acoustic version of "Plush" on the MTV show "Headbanger's Ball." This is considered one of Weiland's greatest vocal performances. Despite negative reviews from some critics, Stone Temple Pilots continued to gain fans, they toured for four weeks, opening for bands such as Rage Against Megadeth. 1993 brought continued success on the road, with the band headlining a two-and-a-half-month American tour. In 1993, the band filmed an episode of MTV Unplugged, where they debuted the song "Big Empty." In a January 1994 Rolling Stone poll, the band was voted Best New Band by Rolling Stone's readers and Worst New Band by the magazine's music critics. The following month the group won Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and Heavy Metal/Hard Rock New Artist at the American Music Awards. In March 1994, the group won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Plush". In the spring of 1994, Stone Temple Pilots returned to the studio to work on their
Cleveland
Cleveland is a major city in the U. S. state of Ohio, the county seat of Cuyahoga County. The city proper has a population of 385,525, making it the 51st-largest city in the United States, the second-largest city in Ohio. Greater Cleveland is ranked as the 32nd-largest metropolitan area in the U. S. with 2,055,612 people in 2016. The city anchors the Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area, which had a population of 3,515,646 in 2010 and is ranked 15th in the United States; the city is located on the southern shore of Lake Erie 60 miles west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania state border. It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, it became a manufacturing center due to its location on both the river and the lake shore, as well as being connected to numerous canals and railroad lines. Cleveland's economy relies on diversified sectors such as manufacturing, financial services and biomedicals. Cleveland is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cleveland residents are called "Clevelanders".
The city has many nicknames, the oldest of which in contemporary use being "The Forest City". Cleveland was named on July 22, 1796, when surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company laid out Connecticut's Western Reserve into townships and a capital city, they named it "Cleaveland" after General Moses Cleaveland. Cleaveland oversaw design of the plan for what would become the modern downtown area, centered on Public Square, before returning home, never again to visit Ohio; the first settler in Cleaveland was Lorenzo Carter, who built a cabin on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. The Village of Cleaveland was incorporated on December 23, 1814. In spite of the nearby swampy lowlands and harsh winters, its waterfront location proved to be an advantage, giving access to Great Lakes trade; the area began rapid growth after the 1832 completion of the Erie Canal. This key link between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes connected the city to the Atlantic Ocean via the Erie Canal and Hudson River, via the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Its products could reach markets on the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Growth continued with added railroad links. Cleveland incorporated as a city in 1836. In 1836, the city located only on the eastern banks of the Cuyahoga River, nearly erupted into open warfare with neighboring Ohio City over a bridge connecting the two. Ohio City remained an independent municipality until its annexation by Cleveland in 1854; the city's prime geographic location as a transportation hub on the Great Lakes has played an important role in its development as a commercial center. Cleveland serves as a destination for iron ore shipped from Minnesota, along with coal transported by rail. In 1870, John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in Cleveland. In 1885, he moved its headquarters to New York City, which had become a center of finance and business. Cleveland emerged in the early 20th century as an important American manufacturing center, its businesses included automotive companies such as Peerless, People's, Jordan and Winton, maker of the first car driven across the U.
S. Other manufacturers located in Cleveland produced steam-powered cars, which included White and Gaeth, as well as the electric car company Baker; because of its significant growth, Cleveland was known as the "Sixth City" of the US during this period. By 1920, due in large part to the city's economic prosperity, Cleveland became the nation's fifth-largest city; the city counted Progressive Era politicians such as the populist Mayor Tom L. Johnson among its leaders, its industrial jobs had attracted waves of European immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, as well as both black and white migrants from the rural South. In commemoration of the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city, the Great Lakes Exposition debuted in June 1936 along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. Conceived as a way to energize the city after the Great Depression, it drew four million visitors in its first season, seven million by the end of its second and final season in September 1937; the exposition was housed on grounds that are now used by the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Burke Lakefront Airport, among others.
Following World War II, Cleveland continued to enjoy a prosperous economy. In sports, the Indians won the 1948 World Series, the hockey team, the Barons, became champions of the American Hockey League, the Browns dominated professional football in the 1950s; as a result, along with track and boxing champions produced, Cleveland was dubbed "City of Champions" in sports at this time. Businesses proclaimed that Cleveland was the "best location in the nation". In 1940, non-Hispanic whites represented 90.2% of Cleveland's population. Wealthy patrons supported development of the city's cultural institutions, such as the art museum and orchestra; the city's population reached its peak of 914,808, in 1949 Cleveland was named an All-America City for the first time. By the 1960s, the economy slowed, residents sought new housing in the suburbs, reflecting the national trends of suburban growth following the subsidized highways. In the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans worked in numerous cities to gain constitutional rights and relief from racial discrimination.
As change lagged despite federal laws to enforce rights and racial unrest occurred in Cleveland and numerous other industrial cities. In Cleveland, the Hough Riots erupted from July 18 to 23, 1966; the Glenville Shootout took place from July 23 to 25, 1968. In November 1967, Cleveland became the first major American city to elect a black mayor, Carl Stokes. Industrial restructuring in the railroad and steel industries, resulted in the loss of numerous
Metalcore
Metalcore is a fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. The word is a portmanteau of the two genres. Among other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of breakdowns, which are slow, intense passages conducive to moshing. Pioneering metalcore bands—such as Integrity, Earth Crisis and All Out War —are described as leaning more toward hardcore, with their style sometimes being called metallic hardcore, whereas bands—such as Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, Trivium, As I Lay Dying, Bullet for My Valentine, Parkway Drive—are described as leaning more towards metal. Pantera and Sepultura have been influential to the development of metalcore in the 2000s, which saw many bands in the genre achieve commercial success. Black Flag and Bad Brains, among the originators of hardcore and emulated Black Sabbath. British punk rock groups such as Discharge and the Exploited took inspiration from heavy metal; the Misfits put out the Earth A.
D. album. Nonetheless and metal cultures and music remained separate through the first half of the 1980s. Cross-pollination between metal and hardcore birthed the crossover thrash scene, which gestated at a Berkeley club called Ruthie's, in 1984; the term "metalcore" was used to refer to these crossover groups. Hardcore punk groups Corrosion of Conformity, D. R. I. and Suicidal Tendencies played alongside thrash metal groups like Slayer. This scene influenced the skinhead wing of New York hardcore, which began in 1984, included groups such as Cro-Mags, Murphy's Law, Agnostic Front and Warzone; the Cro-Mags were among the most influential of these bands, drawing from Bad Brains, Motörhead and Black Sabbath. Cro-Mags embraced straight edge and Krishna consciousness. Another New York metal-influenced straight edge group of this time period is the Crumbsuckers. 1985 saw the development of the hardcore breakdown, an amalgamation of Bad Brains' reggae and metal backgrounds, which encouraged moshing. Agnostic Front's 1986 album Cause for Alarm, a collaboration with Peter Steele, was a watershed in the intertwining of hardcore and metal.
Between 1984 and 1995, a wave of metallic hardcore bands emerged, including Hogan's Heroes, Earth Crisis, Shai Hulud, Strife, Vision of Disorder Hatebreed, Disembodied. Integrity drew influence from the hardcore band G. I. S. M. and the thrash metal band Slayer, with others like Septic Death, Motörhead and Joy Division. Earth Crisis and Hatebreed borrowed from hardcore punk and death metal. Earth Crisis's albums Firestorm, Destroy the Machines and Gomorrah's Season Ends were influential to the development of the genre. Biohazard and Overcast were important early metalcore groups. Journalist Lars Gotrich wrote, "Along with key records by The Dillinger Escape Plan and Botch, Give Them Rope is an underground milestone that helped what was soon called'metalcore'. At the risk of sounding too reductive—metalcore was the natural progression where extreme metal and hardcore met, but with spiraling time signatures that somehow felt more aggressive." Shai Hulud's 1997 album Hearts Once Nourished with Hope and Compassion became influential in the latter part of the decade.
In the early 2000s, metalcore started to gain more prominence, with several independent metal labels, including Century Media and Metal Blade, signing metalcore bands. A new subgenre, melodic metalcore influenced by Swedish melodic death metal, has formed and came to the forefront of metalcore's rise to popularity. By 2002, Killswitch Engage's Alive or Just Breathing, was the prominent album that thrust metalcore into the spotlight. In 2004 into Shadows Fall's The War Within, Atreyu's The Curse debuted at numbers 21, 20, 36 on the Billboard album chart. In 2006, Atreyu's third studio album, A Death-Grip on Yesterday debuted at Number 9 on the Billboard 200, only to be followed up by 2007's Lead Sails Paper Anchor, which debuted at Number 8. All That Remains' single "Two Weeks" peaked at number 9 at the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the U. S; the song peaked on the Modern Rock Tracks chart at number 38. In 2007, the songs "Nothing Left" by As I Lay Dying and "Redemption" by Shadows Fall were nominated for a Grammy award in the "Best Metal Performance" category.
An Ocean Between Us itself was a commercial success, debuting at number 8 on the "Billboard 200". In 2008 Welsh metalcore band Bullet for My Valentine's second album, Scream Aim Fire, went straight to number 4 on the Billboard 200, surpassed in 2010 by their third album Fever, which debuted at number 3 selling more than 71,000 copies in its first week in the United States and more than 21,000 in the United Kingdom. Bullet for My Valentine's 2006 album The Poison was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Underoath's fifth album Define the Great Line, released in 2006, peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 98,000 copies in its first week. Trivium have met with success, making the top 25 positions on charts in several countries, including the United States, top 10 positions in both Australia and the United Kingdom. Hatebreed, God Forbid, As I Lay Dying have charted; the Devil Wears Prada achieved some commercial success with their album, With Roots Above and Branches Below, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard 200 upon its release.
Underoath's album Lost in the Sound of Separation rea
Indianapolis
Indianapolis shortened to Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U. S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to 2017 estimates from the U. S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion County was 872,680; the "balance" population, which excludes semi-autonomous municipalities in Marion County, was 863,002. It is the 16th most populous city in the U. S; the Indianapolis metropolitan area is the 34th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U. S. with 2,028,614 residents. Its combined statistical area ranks 27th, with a population of 2,411,086. Indianapolis covers 368 square miles, making it the 16th largest city by land area in the U. S. Indigenous peoples inhabited the area dating to 2000 BC. In 1818, the Delaware relinquished their tribal lands in the Treaty of St. Mary's. In 1821, Indianapolis was founded as a planned city for the new seat of Indiana's state government; the city was platted by Alexander Ralston and Elias Pym Fordham on a 1 square mile grid next to the White River.
Completion of the National and Michigan roads and arrival of rail solidified the city's position as a manufacturing and transportation hub. Two of the city's nicknames reflect its historical ties to transportation—the "Crossroads of America" and "Railroad City". Since the 1970 city-county consolidation, known as Unigov, local government administration operates under the direction of an elected 25-member city-county council headed by the mayor. Indianapolis anchors the 27th largest economic region in the U. S. based on the sectors of finance and insurance, manufacturing and business services and health care and wholesale trade. The city has notable niche markets in auto racing; the Fortune 500 companies of Anthem, Eli Lilly and Company and Simon Property Group are headquartered in Indianapolis. The city has hosted international multi-sport events, such as the 1987 Pan American Games and 2001 World Police and Fire Games, but is best known for annually hosting the world's largest single-day sporting event, the Indianapolis 500.
Indianapolis is home to two major league sports clubs, the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. It is home to a number of educational institutions, such as the University of Indianapolis, Butler University, Marian University, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis; the city's robust philanthropic community has supported several cultural assets, including the world's largest children's museum, one of the nation's largest funded zoos, historic buildings and sites, public art. The city is home to the largest collection of monuments dedicated to veterans and war casualties in the U. S. outside of Washington, D. C; the name Indianapolis is derived from the state's name and polis, the Greek word for city. Jeremiah Sullivan, justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, is credited with coining the name. Other names considered were Concord and Tecumseh. In 1816, the year Indiana gained statehood, the U. S. Congress donated four sections of federal land to establish a permanent seat of state government.
Two years under the Treaty of St. Mary's, the Delaware relinquished title to their tribal lands in central Indiana, agreeing to leave the area by 1821; this tract of land, called the New Purchase, included the site selected for the new state capital in 1820. The availability of new federal lands for purchase in central Indiana attracted settlers, many of them descendants of families from northwestern Europe. Although many of these first European and American settlers were Protestants, a large proportion of the early Irish and German immigrants were Catholics. Few African Americans lived in central Indiana before 1840; the first European Americans to permanently settle in the area that became Indianapolis were either the McCormick or Pogue families. The McCormicks are considered to be the first permanent settlers. Other historians have argued as early as 1822 that John Wesley McCormick, his family, employees became the area's first European American settlers, settling near the White River in February 1820.
On January 11, 1820, the Indiana General Assembly authorized a committee to select a site in central Indiana for the new state capital. The state legislature approved the site, adopting the name Indianapolis on January 6, 1821. In April, Alexander Ralston and Elias Pym Fordham were appointed to survey and design a town plan for the new settlement. Indianapolis became a seat of county government on December 31, 1821, when Marion County, was established. A combined county and town government continued until 1832. Indianapolis became an incorporated city effective March 30, 1847. Samuel Henderson, the city's first mayor, led the new city government, which included a seven-member city council. In 1853, voters approved a new city charter that provided for an elected mayor and a fourteen-member city council; the city charter continued to be revised. Effective January 1, 1825, the seat of state government moved to Indianapolis from Indiana. In addition to state government offices, a U. S. district court was established at Indianapolis in 1825.
Growth occurred with the opening of the National Road through the town in 1827, the first major federally funded highway in the United States. A small segment of the failed Indiana Central
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been applied to a broad constellation of groups. Post-hardcore began in the 1980s with bands like Hüsker Dü, Black Flag, Minutemen; the genre expanded in the 1980s and 1990s with releases by bands from cities that had established hardcore scenes, such as Fugazi from Washington, D. C. as well as groups such as Big Black and Jawbox that stuck closer to post-hardcore's noise rock roots. In the 2000s, post-hardcore achieved mainstream success with the popularity of bands like My Chemical Romance, AFI, Hawthorne Heights, The Used, At the Drive-In and Senses Fail. In the 2010s, post-hardcore bands like Sleeping With Sirens and Pierce the Veil achieved success and bands like Title Fight and La Dispute experienced underground popularity. Hardcore punk features fast tempos, loud volume, heavy bass levels, as well as a "do-it-yourself" ethic.
Music database AllMusic stated "these newer bands, termed post-hardcore found complex and dynamic ways of blowing off steam that went outside the strict hardcore realm of'loud fast rules'. Additionally, many of these bands' vocalists were just as to deliver their lyrics with a whispered croon as they were a maniacal yelp." Allmusic claims that post-hardcore bands find creative ways to build and release tension rather than "airing their dirty laundry in short, frenetic bursts". Jeff Terich of Treblezine stated, "Instead of sticking to hardcore's rigid constraints, these artists expanded beyond power chords and gang vocals, incorporating more creative outlets for punk rock energy." British post-punk of the late 1970s and early 1980s has been seen as influential on the musical development of post-hardcore bands. As the genre progressed, some of these groups experimented with a wide array of influences, including soul, funk and dance-punk, it has been noted that since some post-hardcore bands included members that were rooted in the beginnings of hardcore punk, some of them were able to expand their sound as they became more skilled musicians.
Groups such as Saccharine Trust, Naked Raygun, The Effigies, which were active around the early 1980s, are considered to be forerunners to the post-hardcore genre. Chicago's Naked Raygun, formed in 1981, has been seen as merging post-punk influences of bands such as Wire and Gang of Four with hardcore punk, while author Steven Blush notes the band's use of "oblique lyrics and stark post-punk melodies"; the Effigies, who hailed from the Chicago scene, released music influenced by the hardcore of Minor Threat and the British post-punk of bands like The Stranglers, Killing Joke, The Ruts. During the early to mid-1980s, the desire to experiment with hardcore's basic template expanded to many musicians, associated with the genre or had strong roots in it. Many of these groups took inspiration from the 1980s noise rock scene pioneered by Sonic Youth; some bands signed to the independent label Homestead Records, including Squirrel Bait and Steve Albini's Big Black are associated with post-hardcore.
Big Black, which featured former Naked Raygun guitarist Santiago Durango, made themselves known for their strict DIY ethic, related to practices such as paying for their own recordings, booking their own shows, handling their own management and publicity, remaining "stubbornly independent at a time when many independent bands were eagerly reaching out for the major-label brass ring". The band's music, punctuated by the use of a drum machine, has been seen as influential to industrial rock, while Blush has described the Albini-fronted project as "an angst-ridden response to the rigid English post-punk of Gang of Four". After the issuing of the "Il Duce" single, Big Black left Homestead for Touch and Go Records, which would reissue not only their entire discography, but would be responsible for the release of the complete works of Scratch Acid, an act from Austin, Texas described as post-hardcore, according to Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "laid the groundwork for much of the distorted, grinding alternative punk rockers of the'90s".
According to Ryan Cooper of About.com and author Doyle Greene, 1980s hardcore punk band Black Flag is one of the pioneers of post-hardcore for the experimental style the band started playing on in the 1980s. Post-hardcore bands Minutemen and Hüsker Dü are prominent 1980s post-hardcore bands. Hüsker Dü's 1984 album; when Zen Arcade was first released, the album received positive critical reception from The New York Times and Rolling Stone. Outside the United States, post-hardcore would take shape in the works of the Canadian group Nomeansno, related with Jello Biafra and his independently run label Alternative Tentacles, and, active since 1979; the magazine Dusted noted that the group's 1989's release Wrong was "one of the most aggressive and powerful opuses in post-hardcore made". During the years 1984 and 1985 in the "harDCore" scene, a new movement had "swept over"; this movement was led by bands associated with the D. C. independent record label Dischord Records, home in the early 1980s to seminal hardcore bands such as Minor Threat, State of Alert and Government Issue.
According to the Dischord website: "The violence and nihilism that had become identified with punk rock by the media, had begun to take hold in DC and many of the older pun
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Bruce Atkins, better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer and actor from Queens, New York. Born in Hollis, Queens, he debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla". From 1999 to 2005, Ja Rule had multiple hits that made the top 20 of the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, including "Between Me and You" with Christina Milian, "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny" with Jennifer Lopez, which both topped the US Billboard Hot 100, the Grammy-nominated #1 hit "Always on Time" with Ashanti, "Mesmerize" with Ashanti, "Wonderful" with R. Kelly and Ashanti. During the 2000s, Ja Rule was signed to Murder Inc. Records known as The Inc. Records and led by Irv Gotti. Due to his hits with his collaborators, Ja Rule has earned four Grammy nominations, has had six top-ten albums, two of which, Rule 3:36 and Pain Is Love, topped the US Billboard 200. Ja Rule was born Jeffrey Bruce Atkins on February 29, 1976, to Debra and William Atkins in Hollis, a section of the Queens borough of New York City.
Jeffrey's father left the family when he was young. Atkins was raised as an only child, as his younger sister, died in the womb when Atkins was 5, his mother, was a healthcare worker, due to the amount of time she spent working, Atkins was raised by his grandparents as a Jehovah's Witness. Atkins' mother left the Jehovah's Witness religion when he was 12. Soon after, Atkins began selling drugs in Hollis. Atkins began his rap career in 1993 with the hip hop group Cash Money Click alongside members Chris Black and O-1, he took the stage name "Ja Rule", telling MTV News that the name came from a friend who addressed him by that name. Together they worked with producer DJ Irv to produce a number of songs, releasing their debut single "Get Tha Fortune" independently in 1994. After the group signed with TVT Records, the song was re-released through the label that year as the B-side to their second single, "4 My Click". "4 My Click" featured Mic Geronimo and became popular on pirate radio receiving airplay on Yo!
MTV Raps. Plans for the release of the group's eponymous debut studio album were bought to a halt in 1995 after Chris Black was sentenced to five years in prison and the group was dropped from TVT, which led to their third single "She Swallowed It" never being released, however it was bootlegged. With no label, the group disbanded shortly after being dropped. After being dropped from TVT, Ja Rule maintained a close relationship with DJ Irv, working as an executive producer for Def Jam at the time. DJ Irv, now known as Irv Gotti, was hired as an A&R for the label and was able to get Ja Rule a contract with Def Jam. In 1995, he made his first solo appearance on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build" alongside Jay-Z and DMX, who were in their early stages of their careers, he appeared on the song "Usual Suspects" from Mic Geronimo's second album Vendetta in 1997, alongside The Lox, DMX and Tragedy Khadafi. He had a brief cameo in the video for "Walk In New York" by Queens hardcore rap group Onyx. In 1997, Irv Gotti was granted his own imprint from Def Jam, known as Murder Inc.
Records. Ja Rule was promoted as the label's flagship artist, he continued to make guest appearances on songs by other artists, including Method Man, Nas, DMX, LL Cool J and Dru Hill, he appeared on Jay-Z's 1998 hit single "Can I Get A...", for which he wrote the hook. It was planned to be Ja Rule's debut single until Jay-Z heard the track and requested it for himself. During this time, he rapped under the modified stage name Jah. Returning to the Ja Rule name, his debut single, Holla Holla was released in March 1999 and became a hit, peaking at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. Fueled by the success of Holla Holla, Ja Rule's debut album, Venni Vetti Vecci, was released in 1999, peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200 with 184,000 copies sold in its first week, it reached platinum status in the US due to the popularity of "Holla Holla". A remix of "Holla Holla" was released, featuring Jay-Z, Cadillac Tah, Black Child, Memphis Bleek and Busta Rhymes. Ja Rule's second single, "Between Me and You", featuring Christina Milian, was released in June 2000 as the first single from his second studio album and became his first major crossover hit, earning Top 40 airplay and reaching #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The album's next single, "Put It on Me", featuring Vita and Lil' Mo, was released in December 2000 and became one of the biggest hits of 2001, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the first top 10 hit for both Ja Rule and Vita. The video for "Put It on Me" topped the MTV Video Countdown for a week, became the first music video to be retired on BET's 106 & Park after spending more than 60 days on the countdown; the video ranked #1 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2001. Ja Rule's second album, Rule 3:36, was released on October 10, 2000, took a much different artistic direction to Ja Rule's previous work, including Venni Vetti Vecci, eschewing the hardcore hip-hop style he had become known for in favour of a mainstream-oriented pop-rap sound to greater success, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 276,000 copies sold in its first week, making it Ja Rule's first number one album; the album went on to be certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The success of Rule 3:36 promoted Ja Rule to international status, made Murder Inc. one of the biggest labels in the United States. The same success followed with his third album, which spawned three top 10 singles, two of them reaching #1; the first, "Livin' It Up", featuring Case, was released in July 2001
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal music and industrial music employing repeating metal guitar riffs, synthesizer or sequencer lines, distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Godflesh, KMFDM and Nine Inch Nails. Industrial metal developed in the late 1980s, as industrial and metal began to fuse into a common genre. In the early years of the 21st century, groups from the black metal scene began to incorporate elements of industrial music. Industrial metal did well in the early 1990s in North America, with the success of groups such as Nine Inch Nails; the industrial metal movement began to fade in the latter half of the 1990s. Though electric guitars had been used by industrial artists since the early days of the genre, archetypal industrial groups such as Throbbing Gristle displayed a strong anti-rock stance. British post-punk band Killing Joke pioneered the crossing over between styles, was an influence on major acts associated with industrial metal such as Ministry and Nine Inch Nails.
Another pioneer industrial rock group, Big Black impacted some groups. By the late 1980s industrial and heavy metal began to fuse into a common genre, with Godflesh's self-titled EP and Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey at the forefront. Godflesh was founded by former Napalm Death guitarist Justin Broadrick. Drawing from a wide array of influences—power electronics forefathers Whitehouse, noise rock band Swans, ambient music creator Brian Eno and fellow Birmingham hard rockers Black Sabbath—the Godflesh sound was once described as "Pornography-era Cure on Quaaludes". Though not a top-seller, Godflesh nonetheless became an influential act, their name mentioned by Korn, Danzig, Faith No More, Fear Factory. Ministry emerged from the scene surrounding Wax Trax! Records, a Chicago label dedicated to industrial music. Ministry's initial foray into guitar rock happened during a recording session of The Land of Rape and Honey on Southern Studios, in London; the band's frontman, the Cuban-born Al Jourgensen, explained this transition: Rediscovering the guitar on this record was like the first day I got my Fairlight.
The possibilities just seemed endless on something. That's funny. I started out as a guitarist, but I hadn't touched a guitar in five years. I heard that first feedback come out of the Marshall stack and all of a sudden it was like there was a whole new parameter within guitar playing itself – in combination with sounds that you get out of a keyboard. Jourgensen seemed fond of thrash metal. After the release of Land, he recruited guitarist Mike Scaccia from Texas thrashers Rigor Mortis. On one occasion, Jourgensen told the press, he expressed the desire to produce a Metallica album. Jourgensen's interest in dance-oriented electronic music did not fade, however. German band KMFDM was another seminal industrial metal group. Although not a metal fan, KMFDM leader Sascha Konietzko's "infatuation with ripping off metal licks" stemmed from his experiments with E-mu's Emax sampler in late 1986, he told Guitar World that, It was just interesting to use it as a kind of white noise reinforcement for our music.
All of a sudden heavy metal was free from all those tempo changes and boring attitudes it always had. What I always hated most about heavy metal was that the best riffs came only once and were never repeated. So the fascination was to sample a great riff, loop it, play it over and over again. A Swiss trio, The Young Gods, brushed with the style on L'Eau Rouge. Prior to its release, singer Franz Treichler declared: We just wanted to hear guitars. We missed the attack of'Envoyé'. That's, pure power. A metal sound that isn't revivalist, isn't biker style, speed metal style, any style, just WHAP! Canadian thrash metal band Malhavoc became another early pioneer of the genre when they began to mix thrash metal with industrial music in the late 1980sPigface, formed by Martin Atkins and including Ministry drummer Bill Rieflin, emerged as an industrial metal collective of sorts, participating with many figures from the noise rock and industrial worlds. Nine Inch Nails, the "one-man-band" formed by Trent Reznor, brought the genre to mainstream audiences with albums such as the Grammy-winning Broken and the best-selling The Downward Spiral, accompanied by their groundbreaking performance at Woodstock'94.
The rivethead subculture developed at this time, along with the so-called "coldwave" subgenre, which encompassed Chemlab, 16 Volt, Acumen Nation. Some electro-industrial groups adopted industrial metal techniques in this period, including Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly. British band Pitchshifter, formed in 1989 by brothers Jon and Mark Clayden started as an industrial metal band; the band included elements of drum and bass. Frontman JS mentions: In the early days we were inspired by bands like Head of David and Swans and the like... coming out of punk into the weird, total noise, kind of pre-industrial music. It gets called industrial but I don't know if it is. Industrial metal's popularity led a number of successful thrash metal groups, including Megadeth and Anthrax, to request remixes by "industrial" artists; some musicians emerging from the death metal scene, such as Fear Factory, Nailbomb and Meathook Seed began to experiment with industrial. Fear Factory, from Los Angeles, were influenced by the Earache roster (namely Godflesh
