1.
Funk
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Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid- 1960s when African American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues. Like much of African-inspired music, funk typically consists of a groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves. Funk uses the same richly-colored extended chords found in jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths. Other musical groups, including Sly and the Family Stone and Parliament-Funkadelic, soon began to adopt, Funk samples have been used extensively in genres including hip hop, house music, and drum and bass. It is also the influence of go-go, a subgenre associated with funk. The word funk initially referred to a strong odor and it is originally derived from Latin fumigare via Old French fungiere and, in this sense, it was first documented in English in 1620. In 1784 funky meaning musty was first documented, which, in turn, in early jam sessions, musicians would encourage one another to get down by telling one another, Now, put some stank on it. At least as early as 1907, jazz songs carried titles such as Funky, as late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when funk and funky were used increasingly in the context of jazz music, the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company. According to one source, New Orleans-born drummer Earl Palmer was the first to use the word funky to explain to other musicians that their music should be made more syncopated, the style later evolved into a rather hard-driving, insistent rhythm, implying a more carnal quality. This early form of the set the pattern for later musicians. The music was identified as slow, sexy, loose, riff-oriented, a great deal of funk is rhythmically based on a two-celled onbeat/offbeat structure, which originated in sub-Saharan African music traditions. New Orleans appropriated the bifurcated structure from the Afro-Cuban mambo and conga in the late 1940s, New Orleans funk, as it was called, gained international acclaim largely because James Browns rhythm section used it to great effect. Funk creates an intense groove by using strong guitar riffs and bass lines, like Motown recordings, funk songs used bass lines as the centerpiece of songs. Slap basss mixture of thumb-slapped low notes and finger popped high notes allowed the bass to have a rhythmic role. In funk bands, guitarists typically play in a style, often using the wah-wah sound effect. Guitarist Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers and Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic were notably influenced by Jimi Hendrixs improvised solos, Eddie Hazel, who worked with George Clinton, is one of the most notable guitar soloists in funk. Ernie Isley was tutored at an age by Jimi Hendrix himself. Jimmy Nolen and Phelps Collins are famous funk rhythm guitarists who both worked with James Brown, on Browns Give It Up or Turnit a Loose, Jimmy Nolens guitar part has a bare bones tonal structure
2.
Gangsta rap
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Gangsta rap or gangster rap is a subgenre of hip hop music with themes and lyrics that generally emphasize the gangsta lifestyle. After the national attention that Ice-T and N. W. A attracted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Many gangsta rap artists openly boast of their associations with various street gangs as part of their artistic image, with the Bloods. Gangsta rap is closely related to other indigenous gang and crime-oriented forms of music, the subject matter inherent in gangsta rap has caused a great deal of controversy. The White House administrations of both George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton criticized the genre, many gangsta rappers argue that in the world of their genre exists the emotions and perspectives of a people whose suffering is too often overlooked and belittled by society. Gangsta rap, some argue, was an effect of the various wrongdoings perpetrated against African-Americans in underprivileged neighborhoods. The various riots sparked by the Rodney King beating and the acquittal of the officers responsible for the beating sparked anger. Gangsta rap acted as an outlet so such people could express themselves angrily and they often used gangsta rap to tell the stories of their lives, which sometimes included strong violence, hypersexuality, and drug abuse. The 1973 album Hustlers Convention by Lightnin Rod and Jaren Clark featured lyrics that deal with life, including pimping. Many rappers, such as Ice-T and Mac Dre, have credited pimp, rudy Ray Moores stand-up comedy and films based on his Dolemite hustler-pimp alter ego also influenced gangsta rap and are still a popular source for samples. Finally, blaxploitation films of the 1970s, with their depictions of black underworld figures, were a major inspiration as well. Tracy Ice-T Morrow, was born in Newark, New Jersey, as a teenager, he moved to Los Angeles where he rose to prominence in the West Coast hip hop scene. In 1986, Ice-T released 6 in the Mornin, which is regarded as among the first gangsta rap songs. In an interview with PROPS magazine, Ice-T said, Heres the exact order of what really went down. Then the syncopation of that rap was used by me when I made 6 in the Mornin, the vocal delivery was the same. P. S. K. is makin that green. six in the morning, police at my door. When I heard that record I was like Oh @#. *%, and call it a bite or what you will but I dug that record. My record didnt sound like P. S. K, but I liked the way he was flowing with it. P. S. K. was talking about Park Side Killers and that was the only difference, when Schoolly did it, it was. one by one, Im knockin em out
3.
P-Funk
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P-Funk is the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed. The term is known as an abbreviation of Parliament-Funkadelic, psychedelic funk, pure funk. The P-Funk groups had their heyday in the 1970s and continue to attract new fans thanks both to the legacy of samples they bequeathed to hip hop and the shows that the bands continue to perform. Their music was very aspirational, which is symbolized by their Mothership that has since acquired by the Smithsonian. Notable P-Funk albums include Funkadelics Maggot Brain and Parliaments Mothership Connection, the differing styles of these albums showcase the wide range of P-Funks music. Maggot Brain was a record of Jimi Hendrix inspired rock while Mothership Connection was an album of science-fiction funk. While this rock/funk differentiation is what normally separated Funkadelic from Parliament, hence, the two groups are often described under the one moniker Parliament-Funkadelic. The etymology of the term P-Funk is subject to multiple interpretations and it has been identified alternately as an abbreviation of Parliament-Funkadelic, pure funk or Plainfield Funk, referring to Plainfield, New Jersey, the hometown of the bands original line-up. The liner notes of CD versions of the Motor Booty Affair album suggest that the P stands for Pure, the breakout popularity of Parliament-Funkadelic elevated the status of P-Funk to describe what is now considered to be a genre of music in its own right
4.
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
5.
West Coast hip hop
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West Coast hip hop is a hip hop music subgenre that encompasses any artists or music that originates in the West Coast region of the United States. The culture is believed to have been a mutual creation which evolved from interaction between people who identified with elements from their respective coasts. A number of laid the foundations for West Coast hip hop, long before the emergence of West Coast rappers such as DJ Flash & The Rappers Rapp Group, Eazy-E, Ice T. According to geniusrap. com, a cataclysmic event helped give rise to it out West, in 1967, Bud Schulberg founded a creative space entitled Watts Writers Workshop, intended to help the people of the Watts neighborhood and provide a place for them to express themselves freely. Out of this background the Watts Prophets formed, its members having moved to the West Coast from southern states such as Texas and Louisiana. The West Coast hip-hop scene started in earnest in 1978 with the founding of Unique Entertainment, a group influenced by Prince, East Coast hip hop, Kraftwerk, Parliament-Funkadelic and others. In 1984, Uncle Jamms Army released their first single, Dial-a-Freak, and in the same year Egyptian Lover released his On the Nile album, which includes the popular 12 single Egypt Egypt. Another early landmark occurred in 1981, when Duffy Hooks launched the first West Coast rap label, Rappers Rapp Records and its first act was the duo of Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp, whose debut single was Gigolo Rapp or Gigolo Groove. Later, in 1983, Captain Rapp would create the classic West Coast song Bad Times, in the mid-1980s, Mixmaster Spade defined an early form of gangsta rap with his Compton Posse. From this group, Spade mentored future rap stars of the West Coast, including Toddy Tee, in the same period, the Compton-based former locking dancer Alonzo Williams formed World Class Wreckin Cru, which included future N. W. A members Dr. Dre and DJ Yella. Williams also founded Kru-Cut Records and established a studio in the back of his nightclub Eves After Dark. During this period, one of the greatest factors in the spread of West Coast hip-hop was the radio station 1580 KDAY, in 1988, N. W. As landmark album Straight Outta Compton was released. As well as establishing a basis for the popularity of gangsta rap, in particular, the controversial Fuck tha Police and the ensuing censorship attracted substantial media coverage and public attention. Following the dissolution of N. W. A. due to in-fighting, the early 1990s was a period in which hip hop went from strength to strength. Tupac Shakurs debut album 2Pacalypse Now was released in 1991, demonstrating an awareness, with attacks on social injustice, poverty. Shakurs music and philosophy was rooted in various philosophies and approaches, including the Black Panther Party, Black nationalism, egalitarianism, and liberty. Also in 1991, Suge Knight founded Death Row Records using money he had extorted from the pop-rapper Vanilla Ice - the West Coast saw the debut of arguably its most influential and popular rapper. Other Death Row releases such as Snoop Doggy Doggs Doggystyle and 2Pacs All Eyez on Me became huge sellers and were critically acclaimed
6.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
7.
Turntablism
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The mixer is plugged into a PA system for live events and/or broadcasting equipment (if the DJ is performing on radio, TV or Internet radio, so that a wider audience can hear the turntablists music. Turntablists typically use two or more turntables and headphones to cue up desired start points on different records, the word turntablist was originated by Luis DJ Disk Quintanilla. The new term coincided with the resurgence of hip-hop DJing in the 1990s, some turntablists use turntable techniques like beat mixing/matching, scratching, and beat juggling. Some turntablists seek to have recognized as traditional musicians capable of interacting and improvising with other performers. The use of the turntable as an instrument has its roots dating back to the 1930s, 1940s. Experimental composers used them to sample and create music that was produced by the turntable. Cages Imaginary Landscape No.1 is composed for two variable speed turntables, frequency recordings, muted piano and cymbal, edgard Varèse experimented with turntables even earlier in 1930, though he never formally produced any works using them. Examples of turntable effects can also be found on popular records produced in the 1960s and 1970s, creedence Clearwater Revivals 1968 self-titled debut album features a backspin effect in the song Walk on the Water. However, turntablism as it is known today did not surface until the development of hip hop in the late 1970s, Turntablism as a modern art form and musical practice has its roots within African-American inner city hip hop and hip hop culture of the late 1970s. Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash are widely credited for having cemented the now established role of DJ as hip hops foremost instrumentalist. Kool Hercs invention of break-beat DJing is generally regarded as the development in hip hop history. His influence on the concept of DJ as turntablist is equally profound, to understand the significance of this achievement, it is important to first define the break. Briefly, the break of a song is a musical fragment only seconds in length, Kool Herc introduced the break-beat technique as a way of extending the break indefinitely. This is done by buying two of the record, finding the break on each record, and switching from one to the other using the DJ mixer. Using that idea, Grandmaster Flash elaborated on Kool Hercs invention of break-beat DJing and came up with the quick-mix theory and he described it as being. like cutting, the backspin, and the double-back. Kool Hercs revolutionary techniques set the course for the development of turntablism as an art form in significant ways, most important, however, he developed a new form of DJing that did not consist of just playing and mixing records one after the other. The type of DJ that specializes in mixing a set is well respected for his/her own set of unique skills, the DJ would be examined critically by the crowd on both a technical and entertainment level. Grand Wizzard Theodore, an apprentice of Flash, who isolated the most recognizable technique of turntablism, [ Eshun
8.
Synthesizer
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A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates electric signals that are converted to sound through instrument amplifiers and loudspeakers or headphones. Synthesizers may either imitate instruments like piano, Hammond organ, flute, vocals, natural sounds like ocean waves, etc. or generate new electronic timbres. Synthesizers without built-in controllers are called sound modules, and are controlled via USB, MIDI or CV/gate using a controller device. Synthesizers use various methods to generate electronic signals, synthesizers were first used in pop music in the 1960s. In the 1970s, synths were used in disco, especially in the late 1970s, in the 1980s, the invention of the relatively inexpensive, mass market Yamaha DX7 synth made synthesizers widely available. 1980s pop and dance music often made use of synthesizers. In the 2010s, synthesizers are used in genres of pop, rock. Contemporary classical music composers from the 20th and 21st century write compositions for synthesizer, the beginnings of the synthesizer are difficult to trace, as it is difficult to draw a distinction between synthesizers and some early electric or electronic musical instruments. One of the earliest electric musical instruments, the telegraph, was invented in 1876 by American electrical engineer Elisha Gray. He accidentally discovered the sound generation from a self-vibrating electromechanical circuit and this musical telegraph used steel reeds with oscillations created by electromagnets transmitted over a telegraph line. Gray also built a simple loudspeaker device into later models, consisting of a diaphragm in a magnetic field. This instrument was a remote electromechanical musical instrument that used telegraphy, though it lacked an arbitrary sound-synthesis function, some have erroneously called it the first synthesizer. In 1897, Thaddeus Cahill invented the Teleharmonium, which used dynamos, and was capable of additive synthesis like the Hammond organ, however, Cahills business was unsuccessful for various reasons, and similar but more compact instruments were subsequently developed, such as electronic and tonewheel organs. In 1906, American engineer, Lee De Forest ushered in the electronics age and he invented the first amplifying vacuum tube, called the Audion tube. This led to new entertainment technologies, including radio and sound films, ondes Martenot and Trautonium were continuously developed for several decades, finally developing qualities similar to later synthesizers. In the 1920s, Arseny Avraamov developed various systems of graphic sonic art, in 1938, USSR engineer Yevgeny Murzin designed a compositional tool called ANS, one of the earliest real-time additive synthesizers using optoelectronics. The earliest polyphonic synthesizers were developed in Germany and the United States, during the three years that Hammond manufactured this model,1,069 units were shipped, but production was discontinued at the start of World War II. Both instruments were the forerunners of the electronic organs and polyphonic synthesizers
9.
Woodwind instrument
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Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the more general category of wind instruments. There are two types of woodwind instruments, flutes and reed instruments. What differentiates these instruments from other instruments is the way in which they produce their sound. Examples are a saxophone, a bassoon and a piccolo, flutes produce sound by directing a focused stream of air below the edge of a hole in a cylindrical tube. The flute family can be divided into two sub-families, open flutes and closed flutes, to produce a sound with an open flute, the player is required to blow a stream of air across a sharp edge that then splits the airstream. This split airstream then acts upon the air contained within the flutes hollow causing it to vibrate. Examples of open flutes are the flute, panpipes and shakuhachi. Ancient flutes of this variety were often made from sections of plants such as grasses, reeds. Later, flutes were made of such as tin, copper. Modern concert flutes are made of high-grade metal alloys, usually containing nickel, silver, copper. To produce a sound with a flute, the player is required to blow air into a duct. This duct acts as a channel bringing the air to a sharp edge, as with the open flutes, the air is then split, this causes the column of air within the closed flute to vibrate and produce sound. Examples of this type of include the recorder, ocarina. Reed instruments produce sound by focusing air into a mouthpiece which then causes a reed, or reeds, similar to flutes, Reed pipes are also further divided into two types, single reed and double reed. Single-reed woodwinds produce sound by placing a reed onto the opening of a mouthpiece, when air is forced between the reed and the mouthpiece, the reed causes the air column in the instrument to vibrate and produce its unique sound. Single reed instruments include the clarinet, saxophone, and others such as the chalumeau, double-reed instruments use two precisely cut, small pieces of cane bound together at the base. This form of production has been estimated to have originated in the middle to late Neolithic period. The finished, bound reed is inserted into the instrument and vibrates as air is forced between the two pieces and this family of reed pipes is subdivided further into another two sub-families, exposed double reed, and capped double reed instruments
10.
Keyboard instrument
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A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various keyboards, including synthesizers. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, today, the term keyboard often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers. Another important use of the keyboard is in historical musicology. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the piano were in competition. Hence in a phrase like Mozart excelled as a player the word keyboard is usefully noncommittal. The earliest known keyboard instrument was the Ancient Greek hydraulis, a type of pipe organ, the keys were likely balanced and could be played with a light touch, as is clear from the reference in a Latin poem by Claudian, who says magna levi detrudens murmura tactu. Intent, that is “let him thunder forth as he presses out mighty roarings with a light touch”, from its invention until the fourteenth century, the organ remained the only keyboard instrument. Often, the organ did not feature a keyboard at all, almost every keyboard until the fifteenth century had seven naturals to each octave. The clavichord and the harpsichord appeared during the 14th century—the clavichord probably being earlier, the harpsichord and clavichord were both common until widespread adoption of the piano in the 18th century, after which their popularity decreased. The piano was revolutionary, because a pianist could vary the volume of the sound by varying the vigor with which each key was struck. The pianos full name is gravicèmbalo con piano e forte meaning harpsichord with soft and loud but can be shortened to piano-forte, which means soft-loud in Italian. In its current form, the piano is a product of the late 19th century, in fact, the modern piano is significantly different from even the 19th-century pianos used by Liszt, Chopin, and Brahms. See Piano history and musical performance, keyboard instruments were further developed in the early twentieth century. Early electromechanical instruments, such as the Ondes Martenot, appeared early in the century and this was a very important contribution to the keyboards history. Much effort has gone into creating an instrument that sounds like the piano but lacks its size, the electric piano and electronic piano were early efforts that, while useful instruments in their own right, did not convincingly reproduce the timbre of the piano. Electric and electronic organs were developed during the same period, more recent electronic keyboard designs strive to emulate the sound of specific make and model pianos using digital samples and computer models. Concerns celebrated keyboard players and the various instruments used over the centuries
11.
Drum machine
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A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums, cymbals, other percussion instruments, and often basslines. Drum machines are most commonly associated with electronic music such as house music. They are usually used when session drummers are not available or if the production cannot afford the cost of a drummer. Also, many modern drum machines can also produce sounds, as well as allowing the user to compose unique drum beats. In the 2010s, most modern machines are sequencers with a sample playback or synthesizer component that specializes in the reproduction of drum timbres. The invention could produce sixteen different rhythms, each associated with a pitch, either individually or in any combination, including en masse. Received with considerable interest when it was introduced in 1932. The next generation of rhythm machines played only pre-programmed rhythms such as mambo, tango, Chamberlin Rhythmate In 1957 Californian Harry Chamberlin constructed a tape loop-based drum machine called the Chamberlin Rhythmate. It had 14 tape loops with a head that allowed playback of different tracks on each piece of tape. It contained a volume and a control and also had a separate amplifier with bass, treble, and volume controls. The tape loops were of real acoustic jazz drum kits playing different style beats, with additions to tracks such as bongos, clave, castanets. First commercial product – Wurlitzer Side Man In 1959 Wurlitzer released a drum machine called the Side Man. The Side Man was intended as an accompaniment for the Wurlitzer organ range. The Side Man offered a choice of 12 electronically generated, predefined rhythm patterns with variable tempos, the sound source was a series of vacuum tubes which created 10 preset electronic drum sounds. Combinations of these different sets of rhythms and drum sounds created popular rhythmic patterns of the day, e. g. waltzes and these combinations were selected by a rotary knob on the top of the Side Man box. The tempo of the patterns was controlled by a slider that increased the speed of rotation of the wiper arm, the Side Man had a panel of 10 buttons for manually triggering drum sounds, and a remote player to control the machine while playing from an organ keyboard. The Side Man was housed in a cabinet that contained the sound-generating circuitry. Raymond Scott In 1960, Raymond Scott constructed the Rhythm Synthesizer and, in 1963, scotts machines were used for recording his album Soothing Sounds for Baby series
12.
String instrument
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String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when the performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum—and others by hitting the strings with a wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow. In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord or piano, with bowed instruments, the player rubs the strings with a horsehair bow, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, the musician operates a wheel that rubs the strings. Bowed instruments include the string instruments of the Classical music orchestra. All of the string instruments can also be plucked with the fingers. Some types of string instrument are mainly plucked, such as the harp, in the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, string instruments are called chordophones. Other examples include the sitar, rebab, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, in most string instruments, the vibrations are transmitted to the body of the instrument, which often incorporates some sort of hollow or enclosed area. The body of the instrument also vibrates, along with the air inside it, the vibration of the body of the instrument and the enclosed hollow or chamber make the vibration of the string more audible to the performer and audience. The body of most string instruments is hollow, some, however—such as electric guitar and other instruments that rely on electronic amplification—may have a solid wood body. Archaeological digs have identified some of the earliest stringed instruments in Ancient Mesopotamian sites, like the lyres of Ur, the development of lyre instruments required the technology to create a tuning mechanism to tighten and loosen the string tension. During the medieval era, instrument development varied from country to country, Middle Eastern rebecs represented breakthroughs in terms of shape and strings, with a half a pear shape using three strings. Early versions of the violin and fiddle, by comparison, emerged in Europe through instruments such as the gittern, a four stringed precursor to the guitar and these instruments typically used catgut and other materials, including silk, for their strings. String instrument design refined during the Renaissance and into the Baroque period of musical history, violins and guitars became more consistent in design, and were roughly similar to what we use in the 2000s. At the same time, the 19th century guitar became more associated with six string models. In big bands of the 1920s, the guitar played backing chords. The development of guitar amplifiers, which contained a power amplifier, the development of the electric guitar provided guitarists with an instrument that was built to connect to guitar amplifiers. Electric guitars have magnetic pickups, volume control knobs and an output jack, in the 1960s, larger, more powerful guitar amplifiers were developed, called stacks
13.
Rapping
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The components of rapping include content, flow, and delivery. Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that rap is performed in time to a beat. Rapping is often associated with and an ingredient of hip-hop music. Rapping is also used in Kwaito music, a genre originated in Johannesburg, South Africa. Another form of rap that predates hip hop was boxer Muhammad Alis rhythmic poetry used to taunt his opponents in the 1960s and 1970s, rapping can be delivered over a beat, typically provided by a DJ, turntablist or Beatboxer, or without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies an area between speech, prose, poetry, and singing. The word, as used to describe quick speech or repartee, the word had been used in British English since the 16th century. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning to converse, today, the terms rap and rapping are so closely associated with hip-hop music that many writers use the terms interchangeably. The English verb rap has various meanings, such as to strike, especially with a quick, smart, or light blow, as well to utter sharply or vigorously, to rap out a command. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives a date of 1541 for the first recorded use of the word with the meaning to utter sharply, vigorously and it is these meanings from which the musical form of rapping derives, and this definition may be from a shortening of repartee. A rapper refers to a performer who raps, by the late 1960s, when Hubert G. Brown changed his name to H. Rap was used to describe talking on records as early as 1971, on Isaac Hayes album Black Moses with track names such as Ikes Rap, Ikes Rap II, Ikes Rap III, Hayes husky-voiced sexy spoken raps became key components in his signature sound. Del the Funky Homosapien similarly states that rap was used to refer to talking in a manner in the early 1970s. Back then what rapping meant, basically, was you trying to convey something—youre trying to convince somebody, thats what rapping is, its in the way you talk. Rapping can be traced back to its African roots, centuries before hip-hop music existed, the griots of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, over drums and sparse instrumentation. Such connections have been acknowledged by modern artists, modern day griots, spoken word artists, mainstream news sources. Grammy-winning blues musician/historian Elijah Wald and others have argued that the blues were being rapped as early as the 1920s, Wald went so far as to call hip hop the living blues. A notable recorded example of rapping in blues music was the 1950 song Gotta Let You Go by Joe Hill Louis, not just jazz music and lyrics but also jazz poetry
14.
Vocal harmony
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Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies have been an important part of Western art music since the Renaissance-era introduction of Mass melodies harmonized in sweet thirds, with the rise of the Lutheran churchs chorale hymn singing style, congregations sang hymns arranged with four or five-part vocal harmony. In the Romantic era of music during the 1800s, vocal harmonization became more complex, operas and choral music from the Romantic era used tense-sounding vocal harmonies with augmented and diminished intervals as an important tool for underscoring the drama of the music. As well, the rhythm of the harmony parts has to be in time with the lead singer. In more vocally oriented bands, backup singers may have to sing complex parts which demand a vocal agility and sensitivity equal to that of the vocal line. Usually, pop and rock bands use harmony vocals while the rest of the band is playing, however, as an effect, some rock and pop harmony vocals are done a cappella, without instrumental accompaniment. In many rock and metal bands, the musicians doing backup vocals also play instruments, such as keyboards, in Latin or Afro-Cuban groups, backup singers may play percussion instruments or shakers while singing. In some pop and hip-hop groups and in theater, the backup singers may be required to perform elaborately choreographed dance routines while they sing through headset microphones. One of the more complex styles of vocal harmony is the barbershop quartet style, the melody is not usually sung by the tenor or bass. Barbershop quartets are more likely to use dissonant and tense-sounding dominant seventh chords than pop or rock bands and it used smooth, consonant vocal harmonies, with a number of singers imitating instruments while singing nonsense syllables. For example, in The Ravens song Count Every Star, the singers imitate the doomph, doomph plucking-sound of a double bass, well-known hits include In the Still of the Night by The Five Satins and Get a Job by The Silhouettes, a hit in 1958. Doo-wop remained popular until just before the British Invasion of 1964, a cappella Backup singer Barbershop arranging Doo-wop
15.
Talk box
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Typically, a talk box directs sound from the instrument into the musicians mouth by means of a plastic tube adjacent to their vocal microphone. The musician controls the modification of the sound by changing the shape of the mouth. The speaker is generally in the form of a compression driver, the box has connectors for the connection to the speaker output of an instrument amplifier and a connection to a normal instrument speaker. A foot-operated switch on the box directs the sound either to the talk box speaker or to the normal speaker, the switch is usually a push-on/push-off type. The other end of the tube is taped to the side of a microphone, when activated, the sound from the amplifier is reproduced by the speaker in the talk box and directed through the tube into the performers mouth. The shape of the filters the sound, with the modified sound being picked up by the microphone. The shape of the changes the harmonic content of the sound in the same way it affects the harmonic content generated by the vocal folds when speaking. The performer can vary the shape of the mouth and position of the tongue, the performer can mouth words, with the resulting effect sounding as though the instrument is speaking. This shaped sound exits the performers mouth, and when it enters a microphone, the sound can be that of any musical instrument, but the effect is most commonly associated with the guitar. The rich harmonics of a guitar are shaped by the mouth, producing a sound very similar to voice. The effect produced by talk boxes and vocoders are often conflated by listeners, however, they have radically different mechanisms for achieving the effect. Talk boxes send the signal into the singers mouth, where it is then modulated by the singer themselves. On the other hand, vocoders process both the carrier and the modulator signal integrally, producing the output as an electric signal. In 1939, Alvino Rey, amateur radio operator W6UK, used a carbon throat microphone wired in such a way as to modulate his electric guitar sound. The mic, originally developed for military communications, was placed on the throat of Reys wife Luise King. The novel-sounding combination was called Singing Guitar, and employed on stage and in the movie Jam Session, as a novelty attraction, Rey also created a somewhat similar talking effect by manipulating the tone controls of his Fender electric guitar, but the vocal effect was less pronounced. Another early voice effect using the principle of the throat as a filter was the Sonovox. Instead of a throat microphone modulating a signal, it used small transducers attached to the performers throat to pick up voice sounds
16.
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
17.
Parliament-Funkadelic
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Parliament-Funkadelic is an American funk, soul and rock music collective headed by George Clinton. Their style has been dubbed P-Funk and they influenced numerous post-disco and post-punk music groups of the 1980s and 1990s. The collectives origins date back to the group the Parliaments, formed in the late 1950s in Plainfield. The name Parliament-Funkadelic became the term for the multiple bands in Clintons stable. By the late 1970s the collective had grown to dozens of musicians recording and touring under many different group names. Overall, the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits. By the early 1980s, Clinton consolidated the collectives projects and continued touring under the names George Clinton. Some former members of Parliament perform under the name Original P, sixteen members of Parliament-Funkadelic were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. The etymology of the term P-Funk is subject to multiple interpretations and it has been identified typically as an abbreviation of Parliament-Funkadelic. Another suggested definition is Plainfield Funk, referring to Plainfield, New Jersey, the liner notes of CD versions of the 1978 Parliament album Motor Booty Affair suggest that the P stands for Pure. It has also suggested that it is an abbreviation of Psychedelic Funk. The breakout popularity of Parliament-Funkadelic led to use of the term P-Funk to describe what is now considered to be a genre of music in its own right. The P-Funk story began in 1956 in Plainfield, New Jersey and this was The Parliaments, a name inspired by Parliament cigarettes. By the early 1960s, the group had solidified into the lineup of Clinton, Ray Stingray Davis, Clarence Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon. Later, the group rehearsed in a partially owned by Clinton. The Parliaments finally achieved a hit single in 1967 with Testify while Clinton began commuting to Detroit as a songwriter and producer for Motown Records, after a contractual dispute in which Clinton temporarily lost the rights to the name The Parliaments, Clinton brought the backing musicians forward. When the band relocated to Detroit, their guitar-based, raw sound, with its heavy psychedelic rock influences, inspired Billy Bass Nelson. Clinton signed Funkadelic to Westbound Records, and the five Parliaments singers were credited as guests while the five musicians were listed as the group members
18.
Portamento
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In music, portamento is a pitch sliding from one note to another. It is also applied to one type of glissando as well as to the function of synthesizers. In the first example, Rodolfos first aria in La Sonnambula, the second example, Judits first line in Duke Bluebeards Castle, employs a short, straight line between the fourth and fifth notes to indicate a steady rise in pitch. If the composer desired the pitches to be, variously, raised and lowered between two notes, the wavy line would additionally be curvy, conveying an approximation of the pitches intended. Portamento may, of course, also be used for descending intervals, in the performance of Italian bel canto music, the concept of the musical slur and that of the true portamento have not always been held to mean the same thing. This is explained simply by Nicola Vaccai in his Practical Method of Italian Singing, originally published 1832, whose opinion in the matter holds some authority. In the sense described by Vaccai, the portamento is not a slur but an ornamental accentuation of the legato linking two distinct notes, without any slide or glide through the intervening notes. He adds, In phrases requiring much grace and expression, it produces a good effect. However Manuel García, a pedagogue of immense renown, in his New Compendious Treatise of the Art of Singing, Part 1, Chapter VII, On Vocalization or Agility. Writing of the means by which the voice is conducted from one note to another, to slur is to conduct the voice from one note to another through all the intermediate sounds. This dragging of the notes will assist in equalizing the registers, timbres and he warned that learners should not acquire the bad habit of attacking a note with a slur, a prevailing fault in bad singers. As with the sounds, the air must be subjected to a regular and continuous pressure. It reflected not merely a distinction of terminology but divergent understandings of an aspect of singing technique. This is not valid criticism of a performer when portamento is explicitly specified in the score or is otherwise appropriate, however, when there is no such specification, the singer is expected to be able to move crisply from note to note without any slurring or scooping. Glissando List of ornaments Nonchord tone#Portamento Pitch wheel Portato, also rarely called portamento, the Craft of Modal Counterpoint, A Practical Approach, second edition. Ecole de García, Traité Complet de lArt du Chant par Manuel García fils, mainz and Paris, Schott 1840,1847. Garcías New Treatise on the Art of Singing, a Compendious Method of Instruction, with Examples and Exercises for the Cultivation of the Voice, OCLC224044902 Read at Archive. org Gauldin, Robert. A Practical Approach to Sixteenth-Century Counterpoint, englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall
19.
Cadence (music)
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In Western musical theory, a cadence is a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of resolution. A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music, a rhythmic cadence is a characteristic rhythmic pattern that indicates the end of a phrase. A cadence is labeled more or less weak or strong depending on its sense of finality, harmonic rhythm plays an important part in determining where a cadence occurs. Cadences are strong indicators of the tonic or central pitch of a passage or piece, edward Lowinsky proposed that the cadence was the cradle of tonality. In music of the common practice period, cadences are divided into four types according to their progression, authentic, plagal, half. Typically, phrases end on authentic or half cadences, and the terms plagal, each cadence can be described using the Roman numeral system of naming chords, Authentic cadence, V to I. A seventh above the root is added to create V7. The The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians says, This cadence is a microcosm of the tonal system and it is virtually obligatory as the final structural cadence of a tonal work. A perfect cadence is a progression from V to I in major keys and this is generally the strongest type of cadence and often found at structurally defining moments. This strong cadence achieves complete harmonic and melodic closure and it has to be noted that Beethoven in particular gets so much mileage out of this cadence as for it to become one of his most characteristic and recognizable musical thumbprints. The Diabelli Variations and the C major climax of the movement of the Opus 132 String Quartet - even though it is described as being in Lydian mode on F - are two powerful examples. Imperfect authentic cadence, best divided into three categories,1. Root position IAC, similar to a PAC, but the highest voice is not the tonic, inverted IAC, similar to a PAC, but one or both chords is inverted. Leading tone IAC, the V chord is replaced with the viio/subV chord, evaded cadence, V42 to I6. Because the seventh must fall step wise, it forces the cadence to resolve to the less stable first inversion chord, usually to achieve this a root position V changes to a V42 right before resolution, thereby evading the cadence. Half cadence, any cadence ending on V, whether preceded by II, ii, vi, IV, with the addition of motion in the upper part to the sixth degree, it becomes the Landini cadence. Lydian cadence, The Lydian half-cadence is similar to the Phrygian-half, involving iv6-V in the minor, the difference is that in the Lydian-half, the whole iv6 is raised by a half-step. In other words, the Phrygian-half begins with the first chord built on scale degree P4, Burgundian cadences, Became popular in Burgundian music
20.
EPMD
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EPMD is an American hip hop group from Brentwood, New York. The groups name is a concatenation of the members names E and PMD or an acronym for Erick and Parrish Making Dollars, referencing its members, emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith. He also stated that they dropped the two Es because N. W. A. s Eric Wright was already using Eazy-E as his stage name, the group has been active for 31 years, and is one of the most prominent acts in east coast hip hop. Diamond J and DJ K La Boss were DJs for the group, every album also has a track with Jane in the title. Many critics cite this first album as the groups most influential, the groups brand of funk-fueled sample-heavy hip-hop proved to be a major force in the genre. Youre a Customer combined snippets of Steve Millers Fly Like an Eagle, Kool & the Gangs Jungle Boogie, the bass line from ZZ Tops Cheap Sunglasses and drum beat. Jane, about a romantic rendezvous gone bad, would be revisited on no less than five sequels, a first for hip-hop and you Gots to Chill used 1980s funk band Zapps More Bounce to the Ounce, which has become one of the most enduring sample sources for hip-hop. EPMD later appeared on the single Everybody by Zapp frontman Roger Troutman on his last solo album, Bridging The Gap, im Housin was covered some 12 years later by Rage Against the Machine. Managed early on by Russell Simmons RUSH Management, the group toured with such luminaries as Run-DMC, Public Enemy. Propelled by several singles, the album was eventually certified gold, selling over 500,000 copies, as did 1989s follow-up. Financial frustrations followed when Sleeping Bag went under in 1992, the two EPMD albums and Nice & Smooths debut album were acquired by Priority/EMI Records before the label was sold to Warlock Records. The duos Sleeping Bag contract was acquired by Def Jam, EPMD returned in 1990 with Business As Usual and Business Never Personal two years later. By 1992, the group presided over an extended family dubbed the Hit Squad, which included Redman, K-Solo, Das EFX, Hurricane G, and Knucklehedz. In 1992, EPMD had a hit with its song Crossover, ironically, the song became a hit itself peaking at No.42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in doing so becoming their biggest hit to date. EPMD called it quits in 1993, under controversial circumstances, according to interviews in The Source and Rap Pages, in late 1991, Smiths house was burglarized by armed intruders. According to Smith, in the police investigation, one of the apprehended culprits supposedly gave up Sermons name as having allegedly paid them to do it. Sermon was arrested and briefly detained for questioning, but no charges were filed, still, it led to lingering tensions, and by the time of the break-up, Sermon alleged financial impropriety on Smiths part. The duo found itself as solo artists by default, Sermon debuted in 1993 with No Pressure, followed by Double or Nothing, Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis, Music, Smith made his statements on 1994s Shade Business, followed by Business is Business in 1996
21.
Dr. Dre
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Andre Romelle Young, better known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, Dre was previously the co-owner of, and an artist on, Death Row Records. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers, including 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, Knoc-turnal,50 Cent, The Game and Kendrick Lamar. He is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, in 1996, he left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. He produced an album titled Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath in 1996. During the 2000s, he focused on production for other artists, Dr. Dre signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002 to his record label respectively, while contributing production on their albums. He has won six Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Dr. Dre has also had acting roles in movies such as Set It Off, The Wash and Training Day. Rolling Stone ranked Dre at 56 on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time, Young was born in Compton, California, the first child of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name, Romelle, is derived from his fathers amateur R&B singing group and his parents married in 1964, separated in 1968, and divorced in 1972. His mother later remarried and had three children, sons Jerome and Tyree and daughter Shameka, in 1976, Young began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due to gang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School. Young is the cousin of producer Sir Jinx and he attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles due to poor grades. Young attempted to enroll in a program at Northrop Aviation Company. Thereafter, he focused on his life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years. Young fathered a son with Cassandra Joy Greene named Curtis, Curtis was brought up by his mother and first met his father 20 years later, when Curtis became rapper Hood Surgeon. Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, he attended a club called Eve After Dark to watch many DJs. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name Dr. J, based on the nickname of Julius Erving, at the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N. W. A. Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, Eve After Dark had a back room with a small four-track studio. In this studio, Dre and Yella recorded several demos, in their first recording session, they recorded a song entitled Surgery, with the lyrics calling Dr. Dre to surgery serving as the chorus to the song
22.
San Francisco Bay Area
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The San Francisco Bay Area is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses the cities and metropolitan areas of San Jose, San Francisco. The Bay Areas nine counties are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. The combined statistical area of the region is the second-largest in California, the fifth-largest in the United States, the Bay Area has the second-most Fortune 500 Companies in the United States, and is known for its natural beauty, liberal politics, entrepreneurship, and diversity. The eastern side of the bay, consisting of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is known locally as the East Bay, the inner East Bay is more densely populated, with generally older buildings, and a more ethnically diverse population. The word Lamorinda was coined by combining the names of the cities it includes, Lafayette, Moraga, walnut Creek is situated east of Lamorinda and north of the San Ramon Valley and, together with Concord, Martinez, and Pleasant Hill comprises Central Contra Costa County. The cities of Antioch, Pittsburg, Brentwood, Oakley and the areas surrounding them comprise East Contra Costa County. The Tri-Valley consists of the Amador, the Livermore, and the San Ramon Valleys, dublin and Pleasanton comprise the Amador Valley, Livermore lies in the Livermore Valley, and the San Ramon Valley consists of Alamo, Danville, Diablo and its namesake, San Ramon. The outer East Bay is connected to the inner East Bay by BART, Interstate 580 to the south, and State Routes State Route 4 to the north, the outer East Bays infrastructure was mostly built up after World War II. This area remains largely white demographically, although the Hispanic and Filipino populations have grown significantly over the past 2–3 decades, the region north of the Golden Gate Bridge is known locally as the North Bay. This area encompasses Marin County, Sonoma County, Napa County, the city of Fairfield, being part of Solano County, is often considered the easternmost city of the North Bay. With few exceptions, this region is affluent, Marin County is ranked as the wealthiest in the state. The North Bay is relatively rural compared to the remainder of the Bay Area, with areas of undeveloped open space, farmland. Santa Rosa in Sonoma County is the North Bays largest city, with a population of 167,815 and a Metropolitan Statistical Area population of 466,891, making it the fifth-largest city in the Bay Area. The North Bay is the section of the Bay Area that is not currently served by a commuter rail service. The area from San Francisco to the Silicon Valley, geographically part of the San Francisco Peninsula, is known locally as The Peninsula, many of these families are of foreign background and have significantly contributed to the diversity of the area. Whereas the term peninsula technically refers to the entire geographical San Franciscan Peninsula, in local terms, San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides, the north, east, and west. The city squeezes roughly 870,000 people in under 47 square miles, on any given day, there can be as many as 1 million people in the city because of the commuting population and tourism
23.
Too Short
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Todd Anthony Shaw, better known by the stage name Too Short, is an American rapper, producer, and actor. He is best known for his hit songs like The Ghetto, Too Short is one of the very few musicians to have been able to collaborate with both 2Pac and The Notorious B. I. G. during the height of their careers. Too Short is credited as being one of the rappers of West Coast hip hop. His rap lyrics are primarily about pimping, drug use, Shaw was born and grew up in South Central Los Angeles, California. In the early 1980s, Shaw and his moved to Oakland. He was a drummer in the band at Fremont High School in Oakland, in the mid 1980s, Shaw produced custom songs for people with his high school friend, Freddy B. In 1985, Too Short had his first release, Dont Stop Rappin which, along with the following three releases, featured raw, simple drum beats from a LinnDrum drum machine. This was also one of the first hip hop records to use the word bitch - a word which one of the rappers trademarks and was the focus of subsequent raps such as Aint nothing. In the early 1990s his beats came from mostly a TR-808 and from mid-to-late 2000s, in 1985, Too Short and Freddie B. formed the label Dangerous Music to regionally distribute his music and with others formed rap group The Dangerous Crew. Dangerous Music became Short Records, and then Up All Nite Records, with his 1989 release, Life Is. Too Short, he began using replayed established funk riffs with his beats. Subsequent work was collaborative, including work with Tupac Shakur. One of his notable collaborations during this period was on the track The World Is Filled. on the classic Notorious B. I. G, album Life After Death, he comes in on the third verse after Diddy and Biggie. Being featured on the album introduced him to an audience as well. He also appeared on TWDYs hit single Players Holiday from their 1999 debut album Derty Werk as well as the Priority Records compilation Nuthin, after these appearances, he began working on his eighth album, Cant Stay Away. The album included guest appearances by 8Ball & MJG, Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Sean Combs, E-40, Daz Dillinger, Lil Jon, Soopafly, Scarface and B-Legit. Too Short relocated to Atlanta in 1994, but he did not begin working with a diverse variety of Southern artists until 2000. However, he didnt totally give up on his trademark funk grooves or sexually explicit style, new albums released 2000-2003 were You Nasty, Chase the Cat, Whats My Favorite Word. and Married to the Game. These albums all charted well, as they all were in the top 71 of the Billboard 200
24.
E-40
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Earl Stevens better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and investor from Vallejo, California. He is a member of the rap group The Click. He has released studio albums to date, appeared on numerous movie soundtracks. Initially an underground artist, his 1995 solo album In a Major Way opened him up to a wider audience, beginning in 1998, he began collaborating with more mainstream rappers outside of the Bay Area. He rose to even higher popularity in 2006 with his single Tell Me When to Go which was produced by Lil Jon. Earl E-40 Stevens graduated from Dr. James J. Hogan Senior High School in Vallejo, E-40 made his rap debut in 1986, with the EP Lets Side as a member of The Click. The EP was co-produced by Mike Mosley and Al Eaton and was released on Sick Wid It Records, in 1992 they released second album, Down and Dirty, and in 1993 E-40 made his solo album debut. Federal, a nine-track LP/14-track CD produced by Studio Ton and released by Sick Wid It Records in association with SMG, after a talent show at Grambling State University, the emcee and his cousin B-Legit decided to attempt a career in rap. Together, and with his sister Suga-T, they released their 1993 mainstream radio hit Captain Save a Hoe and they moved back to Vallejo and teamed up with D-Shot, E-40s brother, to form the group MVP or Most Valuable Players. E-40s gospel singing uncle helped them put out the record, Suga-T was then added to the group to form The Click. Thus, six solo albums were to follow, beginning with In a Major Way in 1995 as well as remastered versions of E-40s independent Sick Wid It recordings from previous years. In a Major Way was regionally well-received, with guest spots by such rappers as Tupac Shakur and Mac Mall, as well as his son Droop-E. His collaboration with southern rappers continued in 1998, when he was given guest appearances on albums by Southern rappers, including Lost by Eightball, in 2003, E-40 began hosting E-Feezy Radio, a weekly program San Francisco hip-hop radio station KMEL that showcased Bay Area hip hop. KMEL regularly broadcast the program until 2008, after completing a deal with Jive Records he signed with Lil Jons BME Recordings and Warner Bros. After the signing, he appeared on Lil Jons single Snap Yo Fingers, also featuring Sean P of YoungBloodz, which became a hit reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Afterwards, his single Tell Me When To Go, featuring Oakland rapper Keak Da Sneak, became popular throughout the United States, publicity for E-40 was achieved through the MTV special My Block, The Bay. He later released U And Dat in April 2006, featuring T-Pain and Kandi Girl and his album My Ghetto Report Card debuted at #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 200 on March 14,2006. Released through Sick Wid It/BME/Warner Bros, Records, the album was produced by Lil Jon, Rick Rock, and E-40s son, Droop-E
25.
Snoop Dogg
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Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. known professionally as Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper and actor from Long Beach, California. His music career began in 1992 when he was discovered by Dr. Dre of N. W. A and he has since sold over twenty-three million albums in the United States and thirty-five million albums worldwide. Snoops debut album, Doggystyle, was released in 1993 under Death Row Records, Selling almost a million copies in the first week of its release, Doggystyle became certified 4× platinum in 1994 and spawned several hit singles, including Whats My Name. and Gin & Juice. In 1994 Snoop released a soundtrack on Death Row Records for the short film Murder Was The Case and his second album Tha Doggfather, also debuted at number one on both charts with Snoops Upside Ya Head, as the lead single. The album was certified platinum in 1997. After leaving Death Row Records, Snoop signed with No Limit Records, Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told, No Limit Top Dogg, and Tha Last Meal. Snoop then signed with Priority/Capitol/EMI Records in 2002, where he released Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss and he then signed with Geffen Records in 2004 for his next three albums R&G, The Masterpiece, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, and Ego Trippin. Malice n Wonderland, and Doggumentary, were released on Priority, Snoop Dogg has starred in motion pictures and hosted several television shows, including Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, Snoop Doggs Father Hood, and Dogg After Dark. He also coaches a youth league and high school football team. In September 2009, Snoop was hired by EMI as the chairman of a reactivated Priority Records, in 2012, after a trip to Jamaica, Snoop announced a conversion to the Rastafari movement and a new alias, Snoop Lion. Under the new moniker, he released an album, Reincarnated. His fourteenth solo album, Coolaid, was released in July 2016. Snoop Dogg holds the distinction of having seventeen Grammy nominations without a win. Snoop Dogg was born Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. in Long Beach, California and he was named after his stepfather, Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Sr. His father, Vernell Varnado, was a Vietnam veteran, singer, as a boy, his parents nicknamed him Snoopy because of his appearance, but they usually addressed him as Calvin at home. His mother and stepfather divorced in 1975, when he was very young, Broadus began singing and playing piano at the Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church. In sixth grade, he began rapping, as a teenager, Snoop Dogg frequently ran into trouble with the law. He was a member of the Rollin 20 Crips gang in the Eastside of Long Beach, shortly after graduating from high school, he was arrested for possession of cocaine, and for the following three years, was frequently in and out of prison
26.
The Chronic
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The Chronic is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist Dr. Dre. It was released on December 15,1992, by his own record label Death Row Records, Recording sessions for the album took place in June 1992 at Death Row Studios in Los Angeles and at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood. The album is named after a term for high-grade cannabis. It was Dr. Dres first solo album after he had departed from hip hop group N. W. A, on The Chronic, he included both subtle and direct insults at Ruthless and its owner, former N. W. A member Eazy-E. Although a solo album, it features appearances by Snoop Dogg. Dr. Dres production has been noted for popularizing the G-funk subgenre within gangsta rap, the Chronic was ranked at #138 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The production on The Chronic was seen as innovative and ground-breaking, unlike other hip hop acts that sampled heavily, Dr. Dre only utilized one or few samples per song. Its the benchmark you measure your album against if youre serious, in between are wide-open spaces that hold just a rhythm guitar, sparse keyboard chords. Pareles observed that the songs were smoother and simpler than East Coast rap, until this point, mainstream hip hop had been primarily party music or angry and politically charged, and had consisted almost entirely of samples and breakbeats. Dr. Dre ushered in a new style and lyrics for hip hop. The beats were slower and mellower, samples from late 1970s, by mixing these early influences with original live instrumentation, a distinctive genre known as G-funk was created. The albums lyrics caused controversy, as the subject matter included sexism. It was noted that the album was an amalgam of inner-city street gangs that includes misogynist sexual politics. All the N. W. A members were addressed on the album, Eazy-E and Ice Cube were dissed on the second single Fuck Wit Dre Day, Dr. Touré of The New York Times remarks that While Snoop delivers rhymes delicately, the content is anything but. Growing up poor, often surrounded by violence, and having served six months in the Wayside County jail outside of Los Angeles gave Snoop Dogg experiences upon which he draws. Snoop Dogg later commented on the reality of his lyrics, stating My raps are incidents where either I saw it happen to one of my close homies or I know about it from just being in the ghetto, I cant rap about something I dont know. Youll never hear me rapping about no bachelors degree and its only what I know and thats that street life. Three singles were released from the album, Nuthin but a G Thang, Fuck wit Dre Day, Nuthin but a G Thang was released as the first single on January 19,1993
27.
Death Row Records
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Death Row Records is a record company founded in 1991 by Dr. Dre, The D. O. C. Nate Dogg, and the rap group Tha Dogg Pound consisting of rappers Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, Soopafly, Death Row Records was making $100 million a year and by 1996 most of the aforementioned artists departed from the label after the death of Tupac. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and on January 15,2009, was auctioned to entertainment development company WIDEawake Entertainment Group, Inc. for $18 million. In the late 1980s, producer Andre Dr. Dre Young was a member of rap group N. W. A. After the departure of Ice Cube over financial disagreements with manager Jerry Heller, Suge Knight and artist, convinced that Heller was dishonest, they approached Young about forming a label with them, away from Heller and Eazy-E. Allegedly using strong-arm tactics, Knight was able to procure contracts from Eazy for The D. O. C. After consulting with Alex Roberts, who sources suggest was Suge Knights connection to the underworld, Knight, after shoving Van Winkles bodyguards aside, Knight and his own bodyguards sat down in front of Van Winkle, staring at him before finally asking How you doin. At one time, Death Row Records was located at the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. Knight was seen on several occasions leaving Alex Roberts home in Malibu. Knight approached Michael Harry-O Harris, a businessman incarcerated on drug, through David Kenner, an attorney handling Harriss appeal, Harry-O set up Godfather Entertainment, a parent company for the newly christened Death Row Records. With the help of Kenner, Knight began signing young inner-city California artists and arranged for Death Row to handle the soundtrack for the 1992 Laurence Fishburne/Jeff Goldblum film, the single, Deep Cover, established Dre as a solo artist and a young Snoop Doggy Dogg as his protege. Work soon began on The Chronic, Dres solo album, which heavily featured Snoop and its singles, Fuck Wit Dre Day and Nuthin but a G Thang, saw Dre and Snoop dissing Eazy-E and other artists at Ruthless. The album went on to three million records, establishing the west coast in hip-hop and popularizing the distinctive style of g-funk. Continuing to release songs on albums that dissed Dre, Eazy-E claimed the success of the album, after finding solo success, Dre began crafting Snoop Doggs debut album Doggystyle, the process took two years. Snoops debut was released in 1993 due to public demand. Though unfinished, it outdid The Chronic at four times platinum, soon after the release of the album, controversy began to hit the label, Snoop was charged with murder, fueling the debate that politicians C. They used the music and video images of Death Row Records as examples, by 1995, the label began to flood with Knights cronies—friends and gang members fresh out of jail, as well as off-duty LAPD officers later implicated in the Rampart scandal working as security. Soon Knight signed rapper Tupac Shakur, incarcerated on a sexual abuse conviction, Tupac immediately began work on his Death Row album, kicking off his tenure by insulting Notorious B. I. G. Junior M. A. F. I. A. and Puff Daddy, the video, set in New York City, was also heightened when the set was fired upon in a driveby
28.
Ruthless Records
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Ruthless is an American record label, founded by Jerry Heller and gangsta rapper Eazy-E. The record label was founded in Torrance, California in 1986. The labels acts over the years have earned RIAA certifications of Platinum or higher on 15 of its albums, including releases by N. W. A, Eazy-E, MC Ren. It also put out singles by underground California acts such as Frost, Fad, but the labels first full-length release was N. W. As Straight Outta Compton, which was eventually certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA. Immediately following this was the release of Eazys solo debut, Eazy-Duz-It, as the six members went on tour in support of their project, some began to voice their displeasure with the financial situation at Ruthless. According to group member MC Ren, it was an opinion that N. W. A manager and Ruthless co-founder Jerry Heller was the one receiving their due. We were the making the records, traveling in vans. You do all those fucking shows trying to get known, then you go to his house, and this motherfucker lives in a mansion. There’s gold leaf trimmings all in the bathroom and all kinds of other shit, the label also experienced outside pressure due to the group. The success of their song Fuck tha Police led to a threatening F. B. I. letter to distributor Priority Records, after coming off tour, group member Ice Cube voiced his opinions on the groups finances. Nineteen eighty-eight also saw the release of J. J, above the Laws Livin Like Hustlers was also released during this period. In 1989, Eazy signed hip-hops first white female rapper Tairrie B to Ruthless new Comptown label subsidiary and she released her debut album The Power of a Woman in 1990 featuring the single and video for Murder She Wrote which Eazy and Philadelphia rapper Schoolly D appeared in. The album also featured guest vocals by Dr. Dre, D. O. C. and future House of Pain frontman Everlast, Suge became such a problem for the label-heads that at one point Eazy-E allegedly suggested killing him, a move vetoed by Heller. Eventually, Suge succeeded in procuring Dre, D. O. C. now short of his main producer, Eazy-E signed various other acts that would assist him in a subsequent rivalry with Death Row. Knocc Out were among the most vocal of these rappers, with DJ Yella, while MC Ren stayed neutral, he remained with Ruthless, releasing several albums. Eazy-E released several high-profile albums dissing Dr. Dre, including most famously Its On 187um Killa, ya know, it was fucked up. Like Eazy came to me one night and he said “Man, shit is fucked up, Eazy-E allegedly fired Jerry Heller, shortly before his death. In February 1995, Eazy-E was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, around this time he was beginning to work on his third album Money + Sex = Eazy
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Warren G
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Warren Griffin III better known by his stage name Warren G, is an American West Coast rapper and hip hop producer. In the early 1990s, Warren G was a member of the Long Beach, the group also featured Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg. After the solo success of the former with Death Row Records, the two followed this up in 1994 with their own single, the smash hit Regulate which appeared on the Above the Rim soundtrack. The track was featured on Warren Gs solo debut album. G Funk Era, which, due to the success of Regulate, debuted at #2 on the US Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and went on to sell over 3 million copies. Warren Gs second album, Take a Look Over Your Shoulder, released in 1997, featured the hits I Shot the Sheriff, the album was certified gold in America. Warren G would release four albums between 1999 and 2009. From June to September 2013, Warren G toured on the West Coast Fest tour and he was a guest star on the Warner Bros. television sitcom Newsreaders with Louis La Fonda on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim, playing OG Hemingway. On July 13,2015, Warren G released the first single My House for his upcoming EP Regulate, G Funk Era, Pt. II which also features Nate Dogg. The EP was released on August 6,2015, Warren G is the stepbrother of rapper and producer Dr. Dre. He assisted with production on Dres 1992 solo debut The Chronic by providing samples, as of 2016, he has a net worth of $10 million. He is the 99th richest rapper above rap duo Mobb Deep, the Mayor of Long Beach, California dedicated the week of August 1-6,2005 as the Warren G Week, because he donated time to the community. His album Regulate. G Funk Era is widely considered a classic of West Coast rap, Regulate. G Funk Era Take a Look Over Your Shoulder I Want It All The Return of the Regulator In the Mid-Nite Hour The G Files The Hard Way Regulate
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Doggystyle
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Doggystyle is the debut studio album by American West Coast hip hop artist Snoop Doggy Dogg, released by Death Row Records and Interscope Records on November 23,1993. The album was recorded following the release of Dr. Dres landmark debut album The Chronic. The style he developed for Dres album was continued on Doggystyle, critics have praised Snoop Doggy Dogg for the lyrical realism he delivers on the album and for his distinctive vocal flow. Doggystyle is included in The Source magazines list of the 100 Best Rap Albums, about. com placed the album in number 17 of the greatest hip hop/rap albums of all time. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. By November 2015, the album had sold 7 million copies in the United States, Snoop Doggy Dogg came to attention of the music industry in 1992, through his vocal contributions on Dr. Dres The Chronic. That album is considered to have transformed the sound of West Coast rap by its development of what later became known as the G-funk sound. The Chronic expanded gangsta rap with profanity, anti-authoritarian lyrics and multi-layered samples taken from 1970s P-Funk records, Snoop Doggy Dogg contributed vocals to Dres solo single, Deep Cover, which led to a high degree of anticipation among hip hop for the release of his own solo album. Doggystyle and The Chronic are associated with each other mainly because each prominently featured Snoop Dogg, in addition, the two albums are each viewed by critics as early G-funk classics, and have been described as joined at the hip. Doggystyle also marked the debut of Death Row vocalist, Nanci Fletcher - the daughter of jazz legend Sam Fletcher, Gangsta rap has been criticized for its extreme lyrics, which are often accused of glamorizing gang violence and black-on-black crime. The Gangsta rappers responded that they were describing the realities of life in places such as Compton, California. Describing Doggystyle in 1993, Snoop Doggy Dogg likewise points to the realism. He said, I cant rap about something I dont know, youll never hear me rapping about no bachelors degree. Its only what I know and thats that street life, explaining his intentions, Snoop Doggy Dogg claims he feels he is a role model to many young black men, and that his songs are designed to relate to their concerns. For little kids growing up in the ghettos, he said, its easy to get into the types of things. Ive seen what that was like, and I dont glorify it, I bring it to them rather than have them go find out about it for themselves. He further explained the dream that he would pursue after making the album, ill be on a mission for peace. I know I have a lot of power, I know if I say, Dont kill, niggas wont kill
31.
N.W.A
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N. W. A was an American hip hop group from Compton, California. The group was banned from many mainstream American radio stations. In spite of this, the group has sold over 10 million units in the United States alone, the group was also known for their deep hatred of the police system, which sparked much controversy over the years. The original lineup formed in 1986 consisted of Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Dr. Dre would later become platinum-selling solo artists in the 1990s. Rolling Stone ranked N. W. A number 83 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, in 2016, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, following three previous nominations. The group was assembled by Compton-based Eazy-E, who co-founded Ruthless Records with Jerry Heller, Eazy-E sought an introduction to Steve Yano. Although initially rebuffed, Yano was impressed by Eazy-Es persistence and arranged a meeting with Dr. Dre, initially, N. W. A consisted of Eazy-E and Dr. Dre. Together with fellow producer Arabian Prince, Ice Cube was added to the roster after he had started out as a rapper for the group C. I. A, Dre would later bring DJ Yella on board as well. Dre and Yella were both members of the World Class Wreckin Cru as DJs and producers. Ruthless released the single Panic Zone in 1987 with Macola Records, which was included on the compilation album N. W. A. Mexican rapper Krazy-Dee co-wrote Panic Zone, which was originally called Hispanic Zone, also included was Eazy-Es solo track Boyz-n-the-Hood. N. W. A released their studio album, Straight Outta Compton. With its famous opening salvo of three tracks, the reflected the rising anger of the urban youth. The opening song Straight Outta Compton introduced the group, Fuck tha Police protested police brutality and racial profiling, while the group was later credited with pioneering the burgeoning subgenre of gangsta rap, N. W. A referred to their music as reality rap. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, as HighPowered Productions, composed the beats for each song, with Dre making occasional rapping appearances. Ice Cube, and MC Ren wrote most of the lyrics, including Fuck tha Police, perhaps the groups most notorious song. This letter can still be seen at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, policemen refused to provide security for the groups concerts, hurting their plans to tour. Nonetheless, the FBIs letter only served to more publicity to the group
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Alwayz into Somethin'
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Alwayz Into Somethin is a 1991 single by American hip hop group N. W. A, performed by Dr. Dre and MC Ren featuring Admiral D from their second full-length studio album, Niggaz4Life. The song also appeared on the N. W. As Greatest Hits album and The Best of N. W. A, the song is an early example of G-funk produced by Dr. Dre. His commercially successful debut, The Chronic, further developed the subgenre with beats, samples. The song was featured in Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas, on the West Coast gangsta rap station, Radio Los Santos. In a part of the lyrics, N. W. A disses OShea Ice Cube Jackson in the line, Dre I was speakin to your bitch OShea, the video depicts scenes of murder and gang violence. The D. O. C. makes a cameo appearance
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Niggaz4Life
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Niggaz4Life is the second and final studio album by gangsta rap group N. W. A, released in 1991. Niggaz4Life debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, selling over 954,000 copies in the first week, in 1992, several months after the release of the album, N. W. In 2002, the CD was re-released in two formats, both had the EP100 Miles and Runnin appended to the end of the original track listing, but one was available with a DVD copy of Niggaz4Life, The Only Home Video. In comparison to its predecessor, the album was heavier on misogyny. The second week it climbed up to number 1, making it the first hardcore rap album ever to do so, as of 1991 the album has sold 2.1 million copies in the US alone. Songwriting credits are adapted from the CD liner notes, all songs produced by Dr. Dre and DJ Yella
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N.W.A. and the Posse
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N. W. A. and the Posse is a 1987 Macola Records release that compiled various Dr. Dre-produced tracks and was marketed as an album by N. W. A. It includes previously released tracks by N. W. A, Eazy-E, the Fila Fresh Crew, the cover photo is the same as N. W. As Panic Zone single and features people who do not appear on the record. The album peaked at #39 on Billboard magazines Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, on the album cover, their group name has a period at the end, while in later albums, it does not. N. W. A. and the Posse was re-released the same year by Ruthless Records, the album was certified gold by the RIAA
35.
Quik Is the Name
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Quik Is the Name is the debut studio album by American hip hop artist and producer DJ Quik, released by Profile Records on January 15,1991. Production was mainly handled by DJ Quik along with his executive producers Courtney Branch, Recording sessions took place throughout 1990 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a production budget of $30,000. The album debuted at number twenty-nine on the US Billboard 200 chart, the album was certified Gold four months after its release on May 30,1991 and Platinum four years later on July 26,1995. To date the album has sold over 1,068,203 copies in United States, DJ Quik was signed by Profile Records in the summer of 1990, after they heard his 1987 mixtape The Red Tape. He was the most expensive signee that Profile had ever acquired and was also the first artist to have got a six figure deal on the label. Quik revealed to Vibe that Quik is the Name was originally supposed to be a mixtape that I was going to sell in the ‘hood, I recorded it on a Tascam four-track. I did all the over-dubs, all the blending, and mixed it down on one of those Maxwell metal tapes they used to sell, but along comes Dave from Profile Records looking for me like, ‘Hey dude, I heard your cassette, man. Come sign with us. ’ There was a war between Fred Munao at Select Records and Cory Robbins and Profile. Cory ultimately ended up beating Fred out and I signed with Profile, in an interview Quik revealed, that Profile Records gave him a $30,000 budget to mix the record over. He said, If you do the math, a $1000 a-day studio…if we get Quik is the Name done in less than a month, so we got it done in 17 days. We recorded some of the album at Westlake Recording Studios in Santa Monica and it was a trip being in there mixing ‘Tonite’ on those big boards knowing that Michael was coming in and out of there. The Tonite synth was programmed by LA Dream Teams former member and producer, the albums lead single, Born and Raised In Compton, was released on December 4,1990. It peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the albums second single, Tonite was released on June 10,1991. It peaked at number 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the song became his most successful and highest charting single to date. The albums third and final single, Quik Is the Name, was released on November 11,1991, the single did not manage to chart. Alex Henning of Rhapsody wrote that Quiks debut set the groundwork for the G-funk era, much like Warren G, Quik focuses less on violence and more on mind-altering substances, ladies and cold chillin. The optimistic Born and Raised In Compton offers a remedy to the life in the ghetto. Alex Henderson of Allmusic rated the album with 4/5 stars and wrote in 1991 begged the question, lyrically, the former gang member doesnt provide any major insights
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Eazy-E
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Eric Lynn Wright, better known by his stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper who performed solo and in the hip hop group N. W. A. Wright is affectionately called The Godfather of Gangsta Rap and he was born to Richard and Kathie Wright in Compton, California. After dropping out of school in the tenth grade, he supported himself primarily by selling drugs before founding Ruthless Records. Arabian Prince, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube formed N. W. A, after DJ Yella and MC Ren joined the group, N. W. A released their debut single Panic Zone. In 1988, they released their most controversial album, Straight Outta Compton, the group released two more albums and then disbanded after Eazy released Dr. Dre from his contract. Eazys main influences included 1970s funk groups, contemporary rappers, over-the-top lyrics, and undeniable charisma made him a star. Eric Wright was born to Richard and Kathie Wright on September 7,1964, in Compton, California and his father was a postal worker and his mother was a grade school administrator. Wright dropped out of school in the tenth grade. Wright supported himself primarily by selling drugs, introduced to the occupation by his cousin, Wrights friend Jerry Heller admits that he witnessed Wright selling marijuana, but says that he never saw him sell cocaine. As Heller noted in his book Ruthless, A Memoir, Wrights dope dealer label was part of his self-forged armor, Wright was also labeled as a thug. Heller explains, The hood where he grew up was a dangerous place, thug was a role that was widely understood on the street, it gave you a certain level of protection in the sense that people hesitated to fuck with you. Likewise, dope dealer was a role that accorded you certain privileges, in 1986, at the age of 22, Wright had allegedly earned as much as US$250,000 from dealing drugs. However, after his cousin was shot and killed, he decided that he could make a living in the Los Angeles hip hop scene. He started recording songs during the mid-1980s in his parents garage, the original idea for Ruthless Records came when Wright asked Heller to go into business with him. Wright suggested a company, but it was later decided that Wright would get eighty percent of the companys income. According to Heller, he told Wright, Every dollar comes into Ruthless, thats industry standard for a manager of my caliber. I take twenty, you take eighty percent, I am responsible for my expenses, and youre responsible for yours. Along with Heller, Wright invested much of his money into Ruthless Records, Heller claims that he invested the first $250,000, and would eventually put up to $1,000,000 into the company
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Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
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Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is an American hip hop group from Cleveland, Ohio. It consists of rappers Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Flesh-N-Bone. American West Coast rapper Eazy-E, former member of rap group N. W. A, signed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony to Ruthless Records in late 1993, the EP included their breakout hit single Thuggish Ruggish Bone. In 1995, the group released its album, E.1999 Eternal. A tribute to then-recently deceased Eazy-E, titled Tha Crossroads, won a Grammy award in 1997, the Art of War, the groups third album, was also released in 1997. Bone Thugs is the group that has worked with all four deceased artists 2Pac. Eazy-E and Big Pun while they were still alive, the editors of About. com ranked them #12 on their list of the 25 Best Rap Groups of All Time, and MTV called them the most melodic hip-hop group of all time. In 2000, BTNHResurrection reached platinum in one month, while 2002s Thug World Order received more moderate sales and promotion, going gold, after that album, the group went on hiatus from their label and released their sixth studio album, Thug Stories, independently in 2006. In 2007 they had another release, Strength & Loyalty. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony officially returned with their 2010 album Uni5, The Worlds Enemy, released by their own label, BTNH Worldwide. Due to conflicts within the group, longtime members Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone officially left the group in April 2011 to work with their independent label and they would later return, officially re-unifying the group. In August 2013, however, Layzie Bone announced that he would be stepping aside to work more on his solo career, in the same month, BTNH signed with eOne Entertainment, who they had previously partnered with to release 2006s Thug Stories. Layzie Bone has since reformed with the group and they announced they would be conducting a 20-country world tour beginning in December 2014, formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1991, the group was originally called The Band-Aid Boys. Like so many aspiring rappers around the country, they put in calls to executives at record companies, in hopes of securing a record deal, the group was given an audition over the phone, receiving an unfulfilled promise from rapper Eazy-E to call them back. Determined to reach him, they scrounged together the money for bus tickets to Los Angeles. They left for a three-day Greyhound trek and spent four months on the city streets, nothing came of their search except the news that Eazy-E was, in fact, on his way to Cleveland for a show. The quartet returned to Ohio, where Diego Blak, a marketer and promoter who had been producer of Faces Of Death. There, on November 2,1993, they auditioned for Eazy in his room, Krayzie performed his verse of Flow Motion from the Faces of Death album
