1.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
2.
Illinois
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Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also said to mean tribe of superior men. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Disc jockey
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A disc jockey is a person who mixes different sources of pre-existing recorded music as it is playing, usually for a live audience in a nightclub or dance club or via broadcasting. DJs typically perform for an audience in a nightclub or dance club or a TV, radio broadcast audience, or in the 2010s. DJs also create mixes, remixes and tracks that are recorded for later sale, in hip hop music, DJs may create beats, using percussion breaks, basslines and other musical content sampled from pre-existing records. In hip hop, rappers and MCs use these beats to rap over, DJs use equipment that can play at least two sources of recorded music simultaneously and mix them together. This allows the DJ to create seamless transitions between recordings and develop unique mixes of songs, DJ equipment, notably the specialized DJ mixer, a small audio mixer with a crossfader and cue functions. The crossfader enables the DJ to blend or transition from one song to another, the cue knobs or switches allow the DJ to preview a source of recorded music in headphones before playing it for the live club or broadcast audience. Previewing the music in headphones helps the DJ pick the track they want to play. DJs may also use a microphone to speak to the audience, effects such as reverb to create sound effects, drum machines. The title DJ is also used by DJs in front of their real names or adopted pseudonyms or stage names as a title to denote their profession. Some DJs focus on creating a mix of songs for the club dancers or radio audience. Other DJs use turntablism techniques such as scratching, in which the DJ or turntablist manipulates the record player turntable to create new sounds. In many types of DJing, including club DJing and radio/TV DJing, there are several types of disc jockey. Radio DJs or radio personalities introduce and play music that is broadcast on AM, FM, club DJs select and play music in bars, nightclubs or discothèques, or at parties, raves, or even in stadiums. Mobile DJs travel with portable sound systems and play recorded music at a variety of events. Some mobile DJs also serve as the master of ceremonies at weddings or other events, directing the attention of attendees, there are also many competitions for DJs that specialize in different turntablism techniques, such as mixing, hip hop music-style scratching or other kinds of techniques. Other types of DJ use musical performance techniques that allow them to be categorized as performing musicians, hip hop DJs and are also often songwriters or music producers who use turntablism and sampling to create backing instrumentals for new tracks. In reggae, the DJ is a vocalist who raps, toasts, chants or chats over pre-recorded rhythm tracks, the individual who helps the DJ by selecting tracks or records to be played is called the selector. Many electronica artists and producers who work as DJs often perform music by combining turntablism with keyboards, digital musical instruments
7.
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
8.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
9.
Songwriter
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A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
10.
Sampler (musical instrument)
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The samples are loaded or recorded by the user or by a manufacturer. These sounds are played back by means of the sampler program itself. Because these samples are stored in digital memory, the information can be quickly accessed. A single sample may often be pitch-shifted to different pitches to produce musical scales, often samplers offer filters, effects units, modulation via low frequency oscillation and other synthesizer-like processes that allow the original sound to be modified in many different ways. Most samplers have polyphonic capabilities – they are able to more than one note at the same time. Many are also multitimbral – they can play back different sounds simultaneously, prior to computer memory-based samplers, musicians used tape replay keyboards, which store recordings on analog tape. When a key is pressed the tape head contacts the moving tape, to change sounds a new set of tapes had to be installed in the instrument. The emergence of the sampler made sampling far more practical. Bruce Haack built a digital sampler which he demonstrated on Mister Rogers Neighborhood in 1967, the home made synthesizer device included a built-in sampler which recorded, stored, played back and looped sounds controlled by switches, light sensors and human skin contact. EMS Musys system, developed by Peter Grogono, David Cockerell, the system ran on two mini-computers, Digital Equipment PDP-8s. These had 12,000 bytes of memory, backed up by a hard drive of 32k. EMS equipment was used to control the worlds first digital studio, the E-mu SP-1200 percussion sampler progressed Hip-Hop away from the drum machine sound upon its release in August 1987, ushering in the sample-based sound of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Akai pioneered many processing techniques, such as crossfade looping and time stretch to shorten or lengthen samples without affecting pitch, during the 1980s, hybrid synthesizers began to utilize short samples along with digital synthesis to create more realistic imitations of instruments than had previously been possible. Examples are the Korg M1, Roland U-110, Yamahas SY series, samplers, together with traditional Foley artists, are the mainstay of modern sound effects production. Using digital techniques various effects can be pitch-shifted and otherwise altered in ways that would have required many hours when done with tape, usually a sampler is controlled by an attached music keyboard or other external MIDI controller or source. Each note-message received by the sampler accesses a particular sample, often multiple samples are arranged across the keyboard, each assigned to a note or group of notes. Keyboard tracking allows samples to be shifted in pitch by an appropriate amount, each group of notes to which a single sample has been assigned is often called a keyzone, and the resultant set of zones is called a keymap. For example, in Fig 1, a keymap has been created four different samples
11.
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
12.
Bass guitar
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The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb, by plucking, slapping, popping, strumming, tapping, thumping, or picking with a plectrum, often known as a pick. The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to a guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length. The four-string bass, by far the most common, is tuned the same as the double bass. The bass guitar is an instrument, as it is notated in bass clef an octave higher than it sounds to avoid excessive ledger lines. Like the electric guitar, the guitar has pickups and it is plugged into an amplifier and speaker on stage, or into a larger PA system using a DI unit. Since the 1960s, the guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music as the bass instrument in the rhythm section. While types of basslines vary widely from one style of music to another, many styles of music utilise the bass guitar, including rock, heavy metal, pop, punk rock, country, reggae, gospel, blues, symphonic rock, and jazz. It is often a solo instrument in jazz, jazz fusion, Latin, funk, progressive rock and other rock, the adoption of a guitar form made the instrument easier to hold and transport than any of the existing stringed bass instruments. The addition of frets enabled bassists to play in more easily than on acoustic or electric upright basses. Around 100 of these instruments were made during this period, around 1947, Tutmarcs son, Bud, began marketing a similar bass under the Serenader brand name, prominently advertised in the nationally distributed L. D. Heater Music Company wholesale jobber catalogue of 1948, however, the Tutmarc family inventions did not achieve market success. In the 1950s, Leo Fender, with the help of his employee George Fullerton and his Fender Precision Bass, which began production in October 1951, became a widely copied industry standard. This split pickup, introduced in 1957, appears to have been two mandolin pickups, the pole pieces and leads of the coils were reversed with respect to each other, producing a humbucking effect. Humbucking is a design that electrically cancels the effect of any AC hum, the Fender Bass was a revolutionary new instrument, which could be easily transported, and which was less prone to feedback when amplified than acoustic bass instruments. Monk Montgomery was the first bass player to tour with the Fender bass guitar, roy Johnson, and Shifty Henry with Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, were other early Fender bass pioneers. Bill Black, playing with Elvis Presley, switched from bass to the Fender Precision Bass around 1957. The bass guitar was intended to appeal to guitarists as well as upright bass players, following Fenders lead, in 1953, Gibson released the first short scale violin-shaped electric bass with extendable end pin, allowing it to be played upright or horizontally. In 1959 these were followed by the more conventional-looking EB-0 Bass, the EB-0 was very similar to a Gibson SG in appearance
13.
Relativity Records
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Relativity Records, often self-identified as Relativity, was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his company, Important Record Distributors in metro New York. Early on, as a label, Relativity released music in a variety of styles, including dance, jazz, punk. As it grew and became associated with Sony Music Entertainment, it more known for its popular metal. Although it was established in 1985, there is evidence that the brand began c.1982 as an in-house IRD label. In the 1980s, Relativity was mostly focused on music, including heavy metal. Releases in this genre were split among Relativity and its sister labels Combat and In-Effect Records, around 1992, the label went under restructuring and did limited partnership deals with two regional independent hip hop record labels, Suave Records and Ruthless Records in 1995. Ed. IRD became Relativity Entertainment Distribution at some point and this company was renamed RED Distribution when acquired by Sony in 2007. List of record labels Bessman, Jim
14.
So So Def Recordings
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So So Def Recordings is a record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by producer Jermaine Dupri, specializing in Southern hip hop, R&B, and bass music. So So Def Recordings has managed such as Lil Bow Wow, Kris Kross, TLC, Usher. The label So So Def was established in 1993 as a spin-off of Dupris production company of the moniker, through a joint venture with Sony Music. Its first act was the female R&B group Xscape, whose album was released in the fall of the same year and went platinum—as did their second and third albums. In 1994, the released the debut album of Da Brat. In 1996, Kandi Burruss brought the singing group Jagged Edge to the attention of the label, their debut album, so So Def later released the triple platinum debut album by Bow Wow in 2000. Other acts on the label have included, Dem Franchise Boyz, Maestro Harrell, The Ghost Town DJs, INOJ, J-Kwon, Trina Broussard, R. O. C. and Anthony Hamilton. Da Brat Dondria Jagged Edge Jermaine Dupri Mani Nova In 2002, the following year, Dupri moved So So Def to Arista Records, where he was appointed president of Black Music. While many of So So Defs acts moved with the label to Arista, Bow Wow and Jagged Edge were forced to remain at Columbia, due to their contracts having been with that company primarily. In 2004, per the reconsolidation of labels caused by the merger of its former Sony Music parent and BMG, So So Def was shifted from Arista to its sister label, Zomba Label Group. So So Def, meanwhile, was able to retain J-Kwon and Anthony Hamilton, in 2006, Dupri had a falling out with Virgin, resulting in his leaving his post at the company. Intermittent, he was appointed President of urban music at Universal Music Groups Island Records, in 2009, it was reported that Dupri had been terminated from his post at Island Records. Later in the year, it was rumored that So So Def had moved back to Sony Music. In 2010, Mississippi-based independent label Malaco Records distributed So So Defs release of the Why Did I Get Married Too, in 2014, So So Def Recordings partnered with Primary Wave Music for the release of Jagged Edges album J. E. Heartbreak 2. In June 2016, So So Def Recordings partnered with Epic Records for current distribution
15.
GOOD Music
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GOOD Music, Inc. is an American record label founded in 2004, by hip hop artist and record producer Kanye West. The label has housed several successful recording artists throughout the years, such as Big Sean, Pusha T, Common, John Legend, Tyga, Kid Cudi, Desiigner, Teyana Taylor and Mos Def, among others. Their roster of producers include Travis Scott, Southside, Hit-Boy, Hudson Mohawke, Q-Tip, Jeff Bhasker. The label has released 10 albums certified gold or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America, Kanye West founded GOOD Music in 2004, in conjunction with Sony BMG, shortly after releasing his debut album, The College Dropout. John Legend, Common, and West were the labels inaugural artists, legends Get Lifted was the labels first album release - this received eight nominations and three wins at the 2006 Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Best R&B Album. In October 2006, Legend released his album, Once Again. Commons Be, the second release, was the recipient of four Grammy Award nominations. The label later added GLC, Really Doe, Malik Yusef, Tony Williams, Wests second studio album, Late Registration, included featured guest appearances by every artist signed to GOOD Musics roster at the time of its release in August 2005. In May 2007, Detroit rapper Big Sean signed to the label, in 2008, West signed British singer-songwriter Mr Hudson, after hearing A Tale of Two Cities. He also signed then up-and-coming rapper Kid Cudi, after hearing his work from producer and manager Plain Pat. Kid Cudis debut album, Man on the Moon, The End of Day was released under GOOD Music on September 15,2009, the album earned three Grammy nominations and was certified Gold by the RIAA. A month later Mr Hudsons solo debut, Straight No Chaser, was released, the label held a cypher for the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards in June, that featured West, Common, Big Sean and new signee Cyhi the Prynce. In late 2010, West released several tracks featuring himself, and others members of the GOOD Music roster, in a free weekly giveaway known as, G. O. O. D. In September 2010, West signed Brooklyn rapper Mos Def to GOOD Music. and shortly afterwards Consequence released a diss track, the following month Pusha T announced his signing. Late in 2010, Kid Cudi released his studio album Man on the Moon II, The Legend of Mr. Rager. In April 2011, West signed American rapper and producer Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, Kanye West also signed producer Hit-Boy, to Very G. O. O. D. In 2011, West signed Nigerian artists Dbanj and Don Jazzy, in June 2011, GOOD Music signed their first distribution agreement, with Def Jam Recordings. Big Seans debut Finally Famous was the first album released by GOOD Music with distribution by Def Jam, in late 2011, plans were announced for a release of a compilation album, later entitled Cruel Summer
16.
Roc Nation
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Roc Nation, LLC is an American entertainment company founded by Jay Z & Jay Brown in 2008. The company has offices in New York City, London, Nashville, Austin, the company also has partnerships with global management companies Three Six Zero Urban Media Global Network Collective and Philymack. Rj Entertainment World Wide based in Austin, Texas In 2008, the firm has a multi-year partnership with live event company Live Nation. In June 2009, Roc Nation signed a 4-year distribution deal with Sony Music, in 2010, Roc Nation partnered with London-based entertainment company Three Six Zero Group. In February 2013, Roc Nation signed a music publishing administration deal with Warner/Chappell Music. In April 2013, Roc Nation formed a new sports management division, Roc Nation Sports, shortly thereafter, Roc Nation Sports also launched a boxing promotion division. After the Sony deal expired, in April 2013, Roc Nation signed a partnership with Universal Music. In February 2015, Roc Nation and Three Six Zero Group announced the formation of Three Six Zero Entertainment, a division representing clients in film, television and the literary arts. In November 2016, the administrator of Princes estate authorized a copyright lawsuit against Roc Nation for putting 15 Prince albums up on the streaming service Tidal. In beginning of March 2017, Roc Nation announced the formation of Arrive, jahlil Beats Lab Ox Ludwig Göransson L1 Stress Roc Nation albums discography Roc Nation singles discography RocNation. com
17.
No I.D.
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Ernest Dion Wilson, professionally known as No I. D. is an American hip hop and R&B music producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a jockey, music arranger and rapper, having released an album in 1997, titled Accept Your Own and Be Yourself. He is perhaps best known for his work with Chicago-based rapper Common. Wilson, who has served as a mentor for several artists. Wilson was once president of Wests GOOD Music record company and although he would resign from that position, in June 2011, Wilson announced he formed the supergroup Cocaine 80s, alongside Common and several other artists. In August 2011, Wilson became the Executive Vice President of A&R for Def Jam Recordings and he subsequently launched his own record label imprint, ARTium Recordings. He is currently the Executive Vice President and Head of Creative at Def Jam Recordings, in 1996, Wilson released an album under the pseudonym No I. D. titled Accept Your Own and Be Yourself. The moniker No I. D. is a half-palindrome of his birth name and he also released a beat tape, titled Invisible Beats. In Wilsons early career he was working as a co-producer for Jermaine Dupri, Wilson also introduced Chicago-based rapper Kanye West to hip hop production, inviting him to his sessions with Common, when West was only beginning. West cites Wilson as his mentor on Last Call, the outro to his acclaimed debut album The College Dropout. West also referenced Wilsons mentorship on songs such as Big Brother, Wilsons second official release was with Dug Infinite, a two-album package titled The Sampler, vol. In 2007, he was the focus of perhaps the most attention of his career for producing two songs from Jay-Zs album American Gangster. At the time he worked with such as Jay-Z, Rhymefest, Plies, Big Sean, Killer Mike, Rick Ross, Drake, and Kanye West, Young Jeezy. Wilson produced D. O. A. the first single for Jay-Zs eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3, as well as the second single Run This Town, which features Kanye West and Rihanna. He once again teamed up with Common for the first time since 1997, after resigning as President of Kanye West GOOD Music record company, in August 2011, it was announced No I. D. was appointed Executive Vice President of A&R for Def Jam Recordings. In addition, Def Jam has signed a joint venture label deal for No I. D. s Artium Recordings. In 2013, Wilson served as the producer of GOOD Music recording artist Big Seans second album Hall of Fame. In an August 2013 interview with Complex, Wilson said he was working on Jhene Aiko
18.
Def Jam Recordings
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Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused predominantly on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group. In the UK, the takes on the name Def Jam UK and is operated through Virgin EMI, while in Japan. The label distributes various record labels, including Kanye Wests GOOD Music, Ludacris Disturbing Tha Peace, Def Jam was founded by Rick Rubin in his dormitory in Weinstein Hall at New York University and its first release was a single by his punk-rock group Hose. Russell Simmons joined Rubin shortly after they were introduced to other, according to one story. Another cites DJ Jazzy Jay as their connector, Rubin has said he met Simmons on the TV show, Graffiti Rock and recognized him then as the face of hip hop, He was five years older than me, and he was already established in the music business. And I had no experience whatsoever, the first single released with the Def Jam Recordings logo was T La Rock & Jazzy Jays Its Yours. The first releases with Def Jam Recordings catalog numbers were LL Cool Js I Need a Beat, the singles sold well, eventually leading to a distribution deal with CBS Records through Columbia Records the following year. A few years later, Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen started a label called Rush Associated Labels to handle Def Jam. RAL became the home to Nice & Smooth and EPMD after both acts were acquired due to the folding of their former label Sleeping Bag Records, other acts under the RAL umbrella included Redman, Onyx, Flatlinerz, Domino, Warren G and Jayo Felony. As the decade drew to a close, the label signed Public Enemy, Lyor Cohen became president of Def Jam/RAL in 1988, after winning a power struggle with Rubin, who would shortly thereafter leave the company to form Def American Recordings. Rubin would take Slayer with him to Def American in its initial stages, by 1992, despite recent multi-platinum selling releases from Public Enemy, and EPMD, Def Jam ran into severe financial troubles and was faced with folding. However, in 1994, PolyGram purchased Sonys 50% stake in Def Jam Recordings — subsequently bringing the label into its fold, following PolyGrams purchase, Def Jam distributed the Violator Records-signed artist Warren Gs Regulate. G Funk Era album, which went triple platinum and brought much-needed revenue to Def Jam through its distribution deal with Violator, PolyGram acquired an additional 10% in Def Jam Recordings in 1996, further strengthening its ownership of Def Jam. Shortly thereafter, Rush Associated Labels was renamed Def Jam Music Group, the label remained profitable as its veteran star LL Cool J released his successful album Mr. Smith in 1995. The label later signed Foxy Brown, whose debut album Ill Na Na became a seller in 1997. In 1998, PolyGram was purchased by Seagram and merged with the MCA family of labels and it then purchased the remaining interest of Def Jam Recordings from Russell Simmons for a reported $100 million. UMG merged 14+ record labels including, Def Jam, Island Records, despite the formation of IDJMG, the Def Jam, Mercury, and Island labels continued to operate as separate imprints underneath the bigger umbrella. Lyor Cohen was appointed co-president of IDJMG, and Kevin Liles succeeded him as president of Def Jam, Def Soul also issued recordings by Musiq, Montell Jordan, Case,112, Patti LaBelle, and Christina Milian
19.
Capitol Music Group
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Capitol Music Group is an American front line umbrella label owned by the Universal Music Group. It oversees handling of record labels assigned to UMGs Capitol Records division and were inherited from its acquisition of EMIs catalog and it is one of five umbrella labels owned by UMG, with the other four being Interscope Geffen A&M, Island Records, Def Jam Recordings and Republic Records. Capitol Music Group was formed in February 2007 as a merger of Capitol Records and Virgin Records America in an effort by EMI to restructure, both Virgin Records and Capitol Records, however, remain imprints of the label. Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom was named the head of the division, as the head of the label, Flom reports directly to EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli. A total of 283 artists signed to Capitol Music Group, including Mims, LeToya Luckett, J. Holiday, Royal Bliss, Mack 10, Faith Evans, Fat Joe and since 2007, Katy Perry, Ferras, and Rucka Rucka Ali. In 2014 both Morrissey and Neil Diamond were confirmed to have signed with Capitol Records, Morrissey having signed a two album deal, however, the latter was given to Parlophone as a result of that labels sale to Warner Music. In November 2012, it was announced that Steve Barnett would become Chairman, with EMIs absorption into Universal Music Group complete, the Capitol Music Group is now part of UMGs five label units in the UK. The Beatles have been confirmed to appear on Capitol UK, in April 2013, Robbie McIntosh was named head of Capitols international operations
20.
Kanye West
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Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. Intent on pursuing a career as a rapper, West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004 to widespread critical and commercial success. He went on to pursue a variety of different styles on subsequent albums Late Registration, Graduation, and 808s & Heartbreak. In 2010, he released his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to rave reviews from critics, West released his abrasive sixth album, Yeezus, to further critical praise in 2013. His seventh album, The Life of Pablo, was released in 2016, Wests outspoken views and life outside of music have received significant mainstream attention. He has been a frequent source of controversy for his conduct at award shows, on social media and he is the founder and head of the creative content company DONDA. His 2014 marriage to television personality Kim Kardashian has also been subject to media coverage. He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all time, three of his albums have been included and ranked on Rolling Stones 2012 update of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. He has also included in a number of Forbes annual lists. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015, West was born on June 8,1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents divorced when he was three years old, after the divorce, he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ray West, is a former Black Panther and was one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ray West was later a Christian counselor, and in 2006, opened the Good Water Store and Café in Lexington Park, Maryland with startup capital from his son. West, was a professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, West was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. At the age of 10, West moved with his mother to Nanjing, China, according to his mother, West was the only foreigner in his class, but settled in well and quickly picked up the language, although he has since forgotten most of it. When asked about his grades in school, West replied, I got As. West demonstrated an affinity for the arts at an early age and his mother recalled that she first took notice of Wests passion for drawing and music when he was in the third grade. Growing up in Chicago, West became deeply involved in its hip hop scene and he started rapping in the third grade and began making musical compositions in the seventh grade, eventually selling them to other artists
21.
Jay-Z
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Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as Jay Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and investor. He is one of the musicians of all time, having sold more than 100 million records. MTV ranked him the Greatest MC of all time in 2006, Rolling Stone ranked three of his albums—Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album —among the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2014, Forbes estimated his net worth at nearly $520 million, Jay Z co-owns the New York 40/40 Club sports bar, and is the co-creator of the clothing line Rocawear. He is the president of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. He also founded the sports agency Roc Nation Sports and is a certified NBA, as an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with 13. He has also had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, in 2009, he was ranked the tenth-most successful artist of the 2000s by Billboard as well as the fifth top solo male artist and fourth top rapper behind Eminem, Nelly, and 50 Cent. He was also ranked the 88th-greatest artist of all time by Rolling Stone, Jay Z married Singer-Songwriter Beyoncé in 2008. Shawn Carter was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Marcy Houses and he and his three siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter after their father, Adness Reeves abandoned the family. Reeves would later meet and reconcile with Jay Z before dying from liver failure in 2003, Jay Z claims in his lyrics that in 1982, at the age of 12, he shot his older brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. Along with future rapper AZ, Carter attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn until it was closed down, according to his interviews and lyrics, during this period he sold crack cocaine and was shot at three times. According to his mother, Carter used to wake up his siblings at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table and she bought him a boom box for his birthday, sparking his interest in music. He began freestyling and writing lyrics, known as Jazzy around the neighborhood, Carter later adopted the showbiz/stage name Jay-Z in homage to his mentor Jaz-O. He would drop the hyphen in 2013, Jay Z can be briefly heard on several of Jaz-Os early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including The Originators and Hawaiian Sophie. Jay Z became embroiled in several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 1990s and he first became known to a wide audience on the posse cut Show and Prove on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddys Home. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage. The young Jay Z appeared on a song by Big L, Da Graveyard, and on Mic Geronimos Time to Build. His first official rap single was called In My Lifetime, for which he released a music video, an unreleased music video was also produced for the B-side I Cant Get with That
22.
Big Sean
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Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Sean signed with Kanye Wests GOOD Music in 2007, Def Jam Recordings in 2008, after releasing a number of mixtapes, Sean released his debut studio album, Finally Famous, in 2011. He released his studio album, Hall of Fame, on August 27,2013. Seans third studio album Dark Sky Paradise was released in 2015, Sean Michael Leonard Anderson was born on March 25,1988 in Santa Monica, California to Myra and James Anderson. When he was 3 months old, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he was raised by his mother, a school teacher and he attended the Detroit Waldorf School and graduated from Cass Technical High School with a 3.7 GPA. Big Sean is often heard saying west side in his songs, he is referring to the west side of his hometown Detroit, in 2005, Kanye West was doing a radio interview at 102.7 FM. Hearing about this, Sean headed over to the station to meet West, initially West was reluctant to hear him, however he gave Sean 16 bars to rap for him. According to Big Sean, West enjoyed his freestyle, As we get to the entrance of the radio station and we stopped in the middle of the doorway. He starts looking at me and bobbing his head, after the freestyle, Sean left West his demo tape. Two years later, West signed Big Sean to GOOD Music, on September 30,2007, Big Sean released his first official mixtape Finally Famous, The Mixtape. His hit single, Getcha Some, produced by WrighTrax, attained media attention and led to articles in The Source and he also recorded a music video for Getcha Some, which was directed by Hype Williams. Sean released a mixtape hosted by Mick Boogie on April 16,2009. It featured the songs Million Dollars, Getcha Some and Supa Dupa, an unauthorized leak of his collaboration with Drake, called Made made its way onto the internet on April 30,2010. In an interview with TheHipHopUpdate. com on May 1, Big Sean expressed his disappointment over the leak, Big Seans official Facebook page confirmed that his debut album Finally Famous & Consequences Cons TV would be released on September 14,2010. On August 31, Big Sean tweeted that the album was not coming out on that day, the albums lead single, My Last, features vocals from Chris Brown and was produced by No I. D. According to Amazon. com, Big Seans Finally Famous was delayed by a week, Big Sean has revealed the cover art for his G. O. O. D. Music debut and explained that the one-week pushback was to be blamed on sample, the official track list was revealed on June 7. Finally Famous, Seans debut studio album, was released June 28,2011, and spawned three hit singles, My Last, Marvin & Chardonnay and Dance
23.
Common (rapper)
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Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. better known by his stage name Common, is an American rapper, actor, film producer and poet from Chicago, Illinois. Common debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar, and maintained a significant underground following into the late 1990s, after which he gained notable mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. Commons first major-label album, Like Water for Chocolate, received critical acclaim. His first Grammy Award was in 2003, winning Best R&B Song for Love of My Life and its popularity was matched by May 2005s Be, which was nominated for Best Rap Album, at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Common was awarded his second Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for Southside and his best-of album, Thisisme Then, The Best of Common, was released on November 27,2007. He also narrated the award-winning documentary Bouncing Cats, about one mans efforts to improve the lives of children in Uganda through hip-hop/b-boy culture and he starred as Elam Ferguson on the AMC western television series Hell on Wheels. Common was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois and he was raised in the Calumet Heights neighborhood. He is the son of educator Dr. Mahalia Ann Hines and they divorced when he was six years old, resulting in his fathers moving to Denver, Colorado. This left Common to be raised by his mother, but his father remained active in his life, while a student at Luther High School South in Chicago, Lynn with his friends, record producer and Corey Crawley formed C. D. R. A rap trio that opened for acts that included N. W. A, Common attended Florida A&M University for two years under a scholarship and majored in business administration. After being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine, Lynn debuted in 1992 with the single Take It EZ, with the 1994 release of Resurrection, Common achieved a much larger degree of critical acclaim, which extended beyond Chicago natives. The album sold well and received a strong positive reaction among alternative. Resurrection was Commons last album produced almost entirely by his production partner. In 1996, Common appeared on the Red Hot Organizations compilation CD, America Is Dying Slowly, alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, the CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as a masterpiece by The Source magazine. He would later contribute to the Red Hot Organizations Fela Kuti tribute album. He collaborated with Djelimady Tounkara on a remake of Kutis track, Years of Tears, the song I Used to Love H. E. R. from Resurrection ignited a feud with West Coast rap group Westside Connection. The lyrics of the song criticized the hip hop music was taking and was interpreted by some as directing blame towards the popularity of West Coast Gangsta rap. Westside Connection first responded with the 1995 song Westside Slaughterhouse, with the lyrics Used to love H. E. R, Westside Connection recorded tracks venting their issues with rival East Coast rappers
24.
J. Cole
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Jermaine Lamarr Cole, better known by his stage name J. Cole, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer. Raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a following the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up. Intent on further pursuing a career as a rapper, he went on to release two additional mixtapes after signing to Jay Zs Roc Nation imprint in 2009. Cole released his studio album, Cole World, The Sideline Story. It debuted at one on the U. S. Billboard 200. His next two releases, 2013s Born Sinner and 2014s 2014 Forest Hills Drive, received positive reviews from critics. The latter earned him his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album, in 2016 Cole released his fourth studio album 4 Your Eyez Only, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. He has also developed other ventures, including Dreamville Records, as well as non-profit organization the Dreamville Foundation, Jermaine Lamarr Cole was born on January 28,1985 at a United States Army base in Frankfurt, West Germany. His father is an African-American former soldier for the U. S. Army, Coles father later abandoned the family during his youth, prompting his mother to relocate Cole and his brother, Zach Cole to Fayetteville, North Carolina. But at the end of the day, never felt white, I can identify but never have I felt like Im one of them. I identify more with what I look like, because thats how I got treated not necessarily in a negative way, during his youth, Cole expressed an affinity for basketball and music, and served as a first-chair violinist for the Terry Sanford Orchestra until 2003. Cole began rapping at 12, and saw it as a profession in 2000. During this period, Cole heightened emphasis on improving his production skills, Cole later collaborated with local group Bomm Sheltuh, rapping and producing while a member of the group. Upon graduating high school with a 4.2 GPA, Cole decided that his chances of securing a contract would be better in New York City. He relocated there and accepted a scholarship to St. Johns University, initially majoring in computer science, Cole later switched to communication and business after witnessing the life of a lonely computer science professor. While a student at the college, Cole was the president of Haraya, by 14, Cole had various notebooks filled with song ideas, however, was unable to produce beats further than sampling. Coles mother later purchased him the Roland TR-808 drum machine in order to further Coles understanding of production, over the next three years, he began posting songs on various internet forums under the moniker Blaza, but later switched to the name Therapist. Cole waited for three hours, before being dismissed by Jay Z. Cole later used the CD as the backdrop for his debut mixtape
25.
Jermaine Dupri
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Jermaine Dupri Mauldin, known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American hip hop recording artist, record producer, songwriter and rapper. He was born in Asheville, NC and was raised in Atlanta, Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23,1972, son of Tina and Michael Mauldin, a Columbia Records executive. Durpris promising musical career began before he was ten years old. His father, also an Atlanta talent manager, had coordinated a Diana Ross show in 1982, to the delight of concert-goers, Dupri managed to get on-stage, Dupri got his start as a dancer for the hip hop group Whodini when he was twelve. He made an appearance in their video for the song Freaks Come Out At Night. He began performing around the country, appearing with Herbie Hancock and Cameo before he opened the New York Fresh Festival, in 1990, he produced his first act- the female hip hop trio Silk Tymes Leather. He later formed the teen duo Kris Kross after meeting the boys at a mall in 1991. The groups first album, Totally Krossed Out, was released in 1992 and went multi-platinum due to their singles Jump and he established his own record label called So So Def Recordings in 1993. Shortly after, he discovered female R&B group Xscape at a festival in Atlanta and their first album, Hummin Comin at Cha, went platinum. During the same year, on Yo, MTV Raps he met Da Brat through Kris Kross, signed her to his label So So Def Recordings, and released her debut Funkdafied which went platinum. So So Def Recordings entered into a partnership with Columbia Records in 1993. In 1995, he collaborated with Mariah Carey for the first time on the one hit single Always Be My Baby. He contributed to Lil Kims 1996 album, Hard Core on the track Not Tonight, in 1997 Jermaine Dupri co-wrote and produced several tracks on Ushers second album, My Way. The lead single, You Make Me Wanna, reached number-one on the Rhythmic Top 40, the follow up single Nice & Slow went to number-one on the Billboard 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and the last single, My Way peaked at number-two on Billboard 100. All three singles have been certified Platinum by Recording Industry Association of America, in 1998, Jermaine Dupri was involved in the release of Destinys Childs eponymous debut album. Dupri renewed the focus on his own career and released The Party Continues. Also that year he met Lil Bow Wow and signed him to So So Def Recordings, the two would later part ways but continued to collaborate on later projects. The deal with Columbia was terminated in 2002 and in 2003 Dupri switched to Arista Records, Jermaine worked on Mariah Careys Christmas album, Merry Christmas II You, as well as with Weezer and Lil Wayne on the song Cant Stop Partying
26.
Nas
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Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones, better known by his stage name Nas /ˈnɑːz/, is an American rapper, record producer, actor and entrepreneur. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and has sold over 25 million records worldwide. He is also an entrepreneur through his own label, he serves as associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and is the owner of a Fila sneaker store. He is currently signed to Mass Appeal Records and his musical career began in 1991 as featured artist on Main Sources Live at the Barbeque. His debut album Illmatic received universal acclaim from critics and the hip hop community and is frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. Nas follow-up It Was Written debuted at one on the Billboard 200, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks. From 2001 to 2005, Nas was involved in a publicized feud with rapper Jay Z. Nas signed to Def Jam in 2006. In 2010, he released Distant Relatives, an album with reggae artist Damian Marley. His eleventh studio album, Life Is Good was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, Nas is often named as one of the greatest hip hop artists. MTV ranked him at number 5 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, in 2012, The Source ranked him number two on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. In 2013, Nas was ranked fourth on MTVs Hottest MCs in the Game list. About. com ranked him first on their list of the 50 Greatest MCs of All Time in 2014, nasir bin Olu Dara Jones was born September 14,1973, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Olu Dara, is a jazz and blues musician and his mother, Fannie Ann Jones, was a Postal Service worker from North Carolina. He has one sibling, a brother named Jabari Fret who is best known as Jungle and his father took his name Olu Dara from the Yoruba people. His African DNA indicates he has roots in countries with high Yoruba populations Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana – as well as Mali, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Congo, and Senegal. His matrilineal DNA haplogroup is of African origin, found among the Yoruba and he also found that his Y-DNA traces directly back to Scandinavia, through which he is a descendant of the Vikings. As a young child, Nas and his family relocated to the Queensbridge Houses in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and his neighbor, Willy Ill Will Graham, influenced Nass interest in hip hop by playing him records. His parents divorced in 1985, and he dropped out of school after the eighth grade and he educated himself about African culture through the Five Percent Nation and the Nuwaubian Nation
27.
Vince Staples
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Vincent Jamal Vince Staples is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is part of the hip hop trio Cutthroat Boyz alongside fellow Californian rappers A$ton Matthews, Staples was once a close associate of Odd Future, in particular Mike G and Earl Sweatshirt. He is currently signed to Blacksmith Records, ARTium Recordings and Def Jam Recordings, Staples rose to prominence with appearances on albums by Odd Future members and his collaborative mixtape titled Stolen Youth with Mac Miller, who produced the project. In October 2014, he released his debut EP Hell Can Wait and his debut album, Summertime 06, was released on June 30,2015, to critical acclaim. He was also featured as a part of the XXL2015 Freshman Class, vincent Staples was born on July 2,1993, in the Ramona Park neighborhood in Northside, Long Beach, California. Staples was introduced to music by Dijon LaVish Samo, Chuck Wun, LaVish brought Staples on a trip to LA, where he befriended Odd Future collective members Syd tha Kyd, Mike G, and Earl Sweatshirt. Although he had not intended to be a rapper, he featured on some of their songs, following this, he decided to pursue a career in rap and released his debut mixtape Shyne Coldchain Vol.1 on December 30,2011 via applebird. com. In October 2012, he released a mixtape entitled Winter In Prague, the mixtape features guest appearances from Mac Miller, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Da$H, Hardo, and Staples Cutthroat Boyz co-member, Joey Fatts. Following Stolen Youths release, he toured as an act on Mac Millers The Space Migration Tour. On March 13,2014, he released his fourth mixtape, on March 2,2014, Staples began touring the US with Schoolboy Q and Isaiah Rashad on the Oxymoron World Tour, to support the release of Schoolboy Qs album Oxymoron. On August 15,2014, Staples released a video for Blue Suede. The track was made available on iTunes. On September 9,2014, Vince released another new song titled Hands Up via iTunes and he released the EP Hell Can Wait on October 7,2014. Prior to the EPs release Staples revealed during an interview with XXL Magazine that it would include guest appearances from A$ton Matthews and Teyana Taylor, along with productions from No I. D. On May 4,2015, Staples released Señorita as the first single from his album titled Summertime 06. On June 15, Staples released the single off the album. On June 22, he released the single Norf Norf, on February 23,2016, Staples was announced as part of the line up for the 2016 Osheaga Music Festival. On August 25,2016, Staples released the seven-track EP Prima Donna, featuring guest appearances by A$AP Rocky and Kilo Kish, on January 31,2017, he announced the single Bagbak would be released on February 3,2017
28.
Logic (musician)
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Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, known by his stage name Logic, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Logic expressed an interest in music as a teenager and he would then sign with Visionary Music Group, before releasing two more mixtapes over two years, which amassed Logic nationwide attention by 2012. Logic went on to release his fourth mixtape Young Sinatra, Welcome to Forever in 2013 to critical acclaim, the single Under Pressure preceded the album, and the album debuted at number four on the U. S. Billboard 200 chart. It was later confirmed by the Recording Industry Association of America to have more than 171,000 copies. It was later confirmed to have sold over 185,000 copies in the United States, Logic soon released Bobby Tarantino in 2016. It is his mixtape and the first since Young Sinatra. Sir Robert Bryson Hall II was born on January 22,1990, in Gaithersburg, Maryland to Robert Bryson Hall, an African-American Maryland native, and a Caucasian mother. Logic spent much of his youth in the West Deer Park neighborhood of the city, both of Logics parents suffered from cocaine addiction and alcoholism. Despite his father initially being absent in his childhood, Logic was able to reconnect with Hall due to his rap career. During his early adolescent years, Logic witnessed his brothers produce and distribute crack cocaine to all over the block. Logic maintains that he knows how to manufacture and produce crack cocaine following these experiences. He attended neighboring Gaithersburg High School, however, he did not graduate and was soon expelled after he began skipping classes in the 10th grade. Logic would comment on the expulsion, stating I started doing badly and failed every class but English, so they kicked me out of school, at the age of 13, Logic met Solomon Taylor, who would soon become his mentor. Logic first became interested in rap and hip hop after watching the movie Kill Bill, Volume 1, directed by Quentin Tarantino, the films score was completed by RZA, a member of the rap group Wu-Tang Clan. Following this, Logic began listening to the group, and soon expressed a deep affection for hip hop, Logic bought The Roots album Do You Want More. Later that year, which prompted Taylor to bring Logic a large number of CDs containing instrumental beats, in 2009, Logic performed under the stage name Psychological with Logic describing the name as one name that really stuck. I just loved this word because it was about the mind and I knew thats what I wanted my music to consist of and he released an unofficial mixtape titled Psychological – Logic, The Mixtape under his original stage name. The mixtape allowed Logic to serve as the act for artists like Pitbull, EPMD, Method Man, Redman
29.
Vic Mensa
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Victor Kwesi Mensah, better known by his stage name Vic Mensa, is a Grammy-nominated American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He is currently signed to Roc Nation and was a member of the group Kids These Days and he released his first solo mixtape Innanetape. Mensa is also founder of the hip-hop collective Savemoney which includes frequent collaborator Chance the Rapper and his debut single Down on My Luck was released in June 2014 by Virgin EMI. Victor Kwesi Mensahs father is from Ghana and his mother is white American, Vic grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. He attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School and while a freshman, when announcing a tour for 2015, Mensa said that he has plans to collaborate with Albarn sometimes in the near future. On September 18,2013, it was announced, that Mensa would be joining J. Cole and Wale on the What Dreams May Come Tour. Following the end of the tour, he toured Europe with Danny Brown, for the beginning of February 21,2014, to cap off his rise to stardom, Mensa was chosen to be on the cover of XXL for the Freshman Class of 2014. On May 12,2014, his first official single Down on My Luck was serviced to contemporary radio in the United Kingdom. On the same day, the video for the song was released. Down on My Luck was then released for download in international markets on June 6,2014. It was released as his first single from his debut EP, on February 12,2016, Kanye West debuted a track, titled Wolves from his upcoming album, The Life of Pablo. The song featured Vic Mensa, along with Sia at his adidas Originals showcase, Mensa later performed Wolves alongside West and Sia on Saturday Night Lives 40th Anniversary Celebration on February 15,2015. On April 10,2015, Vic Mensa released another collaboration with Kanye West, the song is said out to be his second single for his upcoming debut album, titled Traffic. On April 21,2015, Roc Nation announced that Vic had signed to its label, Jay also tweeted an iTunes link to Mensas new Kanye-featured single in the process. He has stated, that the album is around 80-90% done, in July 2015, Mensa released a new song, titled No Chill onto Apple Music. It was produced by Skrillex and Jahlil Beats, on the same month, he released a remix of Codeine Crazy, by Future, titled Codeine Crazy on SoundCloud. On August 14,2015, Mensa released a new song, in 2015, Mensa received a nomination for Best Rap Song at the 58th Grammy Awards as a songwriter for co-writing Kanye Wests single All Day. On February 8,2016 it was announced that Mensa, along with Travis Scott and iLoveMakonnen, on May 17,2016, Mensa was revealed to have teamed up in the studio with British virtual band Gorillaz to collaborate for a track on the groups upcoming studio album
30.
John Mayer
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John Clayton Mayer is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and raised in nearby Fairfield and he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but disenrolled and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with Clay Cook. Together, they formed a short-lived two-man band called Lo-Fi Masters, after their split, Mayer continued to play local clubs—refining his skills and gaining a following. After his appearance at the 2001 South by Southwest Festival, he was signed to Aware Records, and then Columbia Records and his following two full-length albums—Room for Squares and Heavier Things —did well commercially, achieving multi-platinum status. In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the single Your Body Is a Wonderland, though Mayer started his career mainly performing acoustic rock, he began moving towards the blues genre that had originally influenced him as a musician. By 2005, he was collaborating with artists such as B. B. King, Buddy Guy, and Eric Clapton, forming the John Mayer Trio, he released a live album in 2005 called Try. and his third studio album Continuum in 2006. Both albums received critical acclaim, and Continuum earned Mayer a 2007 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. He also won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Waiting on the World to Change and that album was followed by Battle Studies in 2009, a return to pop, with a number-one grossing tour. However, the discovery of a granuloma on his vocal cords delayed the release of the album until May 2012, even so, the album enjoyed a generally favorable reception, though was less commercially successful than his previous work. After extensive treatments for his vocal problems—and a two-year hiatus—Mayer began performing as a singer again in January 2013, the album is named for where he lives in Montana and features country music influences. By 2014, he had sold a total of over 20 million albums worldwide, after developing an interest in the Grateful Dead and connecting with Bob Weir, Mayer formed Dead & Company with three former Grateful Dead musicians. After two well-received tours in the fall of 2015 and summer of 2016, the band has committed to another tour for the summer of 2017. Mayers secondary career pursuits extend to television hosting, comedy, and writing and he supports various causes and has performed at charity benefits. He is an aficionado, and has been on the jury at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. His latest song is Love on the Weekend, John Clayton Mayer was born on October 16,1977 in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Richard and Margaret Mayer. He grew up in nearby Fairfield, the middle child between older brother Carl and younger brother Ben and his father is Jewish, and Mayer has said that he relates to Judaism. As a middle school student, Mayer became close friends with tennis star James Blake
31.
Accept Your Own and Be Yourself (The Black Album)
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Accept Your Own and Be Yourself is the only full-length album released under producer No I. D. s name. It was put out by Relativity Records in 1997, production is done entirely by him, except Original Man, Skys the Limit and Skys the Limit. He raps on most of the tracks, Dug Infinite is also featured on most of them, common and Syndicate also make appearances
32.
G-Unit
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G-Unit is an American hip hop group originating from South Jamaica, Queens, New York, formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. The group released their debut album Beg for Mercy, in 2003, in 2008, the group released their second album T·O·S. During Tony Yayos imprisonment, the group recruited Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck, in late 2004, The Game was also added to the group, a proposition made by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, to promote the Aftermath/Interscope newcomer. However, due to The Games disloyalty in the eyes of 50 Cent, in April 2008,50 Cent revealed Young Buck was no longer a part of the group due to his excessive spending and inconsistent behavior. G-Unit Records rapper Kidd Kidd, was added to the group upon its reformation. In 2017. The groups founding members,50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo all grew up in the same neighborhood rapping together,50 Cent signed to Interscope Records. Due to the success of his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin. This was when G-Unit Records was created, the group continued to work hard and released several mixtape series which earned them a lot of attention in the rap industry. The most prominent of these being 50 Cent Is the Future, Gods Plan, No Mercy, No Fear, G-Unit has also started a mixtape series with their DJ, DJ Whoo Kid, called G-Unit Radio. G-Unit gained more popularity when a remix to 50 Cents P. I. M. P. was released, featuring Snoop Dogg and G-Unit. But before the group had a chance to record its debut album, during Tony Yayos prison sentence,50 Cent signed Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck to G-Unit Records and subsequently added him to the group. In 2003, the debut album Beg for Mercy, was released. However, while the album was being recorded, Tony Yayo was sentenced to jail on charges of gun possession, therefore, he only makes two appearances, both were pre-recorded tracks. His face is seen on the wall of the album cover because he could not be photographed on account of his jail sentence. Beg for Mercy went on to sell 2.3 million copies in the US and 4 million copies worldwide, the only guest appearances on the album were R&B singers Joe and Butch Cassidy. The albums production was handled by producers such as Hi-Tek, Dr. Dre and Scott Storch. 50 Cent also served as the executive producer. West Coast rapper The Game was originally placed into G-Unit by Dr. Dre and their plan was to market The Game as a devotee, or a card-carrying member of 50 Cents camp
33.
Outta My System
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Outta My System is a song by American rapper Bow Wow. Its the second and final single off his fifth studio album The Price of Fame and it features singers T-Pain and Johntá Austin. The song peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, his eighth top 40 hit and it also peaked at number 2 and 12 on the Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts respectively and number 7 in New Zealand. The video premiered on Valentines Day on BETs Access Granted, in this song, Bow Wow is thought to be addressing his breakup with Ciara, his former girlfriend. This was confirmed by Bow Wow himself when he mentioned her name during a performance of the song on 106 & Park. This song is thought to be a song about their break-up, the song uses a sample of Rick James Hollywood. Outta My System debuted at number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of March 10,2007, ten weeks later, it peaked at number 22 the week of May 26,2007. It stayed on the chart for twenty weeks, the single was certified platinum by the RIAA with over 1,000,000 copies shipped in the United States alone. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
34.
Let Me Hold You
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Let Me Hold You is a song by American rapper Bow Wow. It was the first single off his album, Wanted. Released on March 11,2005, the song features American R&B singer Omarion and it was co-written and co-produced by frequent producer Jermaine Dupri and No I. D. and uses a sample of Luther Vandross 1985 version of Brenda Russells If Only for One Night. The song received positive reviews from critics, Let Me Hold You peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, making this the first top 10 hit for both Bow Wow and for Omarion as a solo artist. It also became a hit for both artists on the Hot Rap Songs chart and stayed there for seven weeks. The song also peaked at numbers 2 and 10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Mainstream Top 40 charts respectively, and reached the top 40 in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK. The song was certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over 1,000,000 copies, a music video, directed by Bryan Barber, was made to promote the single and featured Bow Wow and Omarion hanging out at a house party. This is what I want to do for you as a man and these are the things Im capable of doing for you if you get with me. Im just really talking to the ladies, the song is really special to me, and I love that song. The collaboration began when Bow Wow was talking with producer Jermaine Dupri about the song and he played him the Luther Vandross sample and was hesitant about his initial reaction at first before thinking it over and seeing its potential as a smash hit. Let Me Hold You was co-written and co-produced by Jermaine Dupri and it features a sample of Luther Vandross version of If Only for One Night, written and originally performed by Brenda Russell. The song is in 4/4 time and in the key of E♭ minor, the song received positive reviews from music critics. David Jeffries of AllMusic put it alongside Like You as the highlights that work on a more adult level. Steve Flash Juon of RapReviews praised the production by Dupri and No ID for their take on the sample, Bow Wows lyrics. Angie Romero of Vibe praised the hook for making the track undeniably catchy. Let Me Hold You debuted at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of May 21,2005, three weeks later, it moved twenty-two spots from number 73 to 51 for the week of June 11,2005. It moved eleven spots from number 28 to 17 for the week of July 2,2005 and it moved four spots from number 15 to 11 for the week of July 16,2005. It reached the top ten for the week of July 23,2005 at number 8 and it reached its peak at number 4 and held that spot for three weeks and spent a total of twenty-four weeks on the chart
35.
Bow Wow (rapper)
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Shad Gregory Moss, better known by his stage name Bow Wow, is an American rapper, actor and television host. As Lil Bow Wow, he released his first album, Beware of Dog in 2000 at age 13, in 2003, Bow Wow released his third album Unleashed, which was the first album released without using Lil in his name. As of September 27,2015, Bow Wow had officially signed to a new label, Bad Boy Records. Bow Wow made his first movie appearance in All About the Benjamins, in the same year, Bow Wow made his debut as the lead role in Like Mike. He later began to lead roles in movies, such as Johnson Family Vacation in 2004. He also played a role in the film The Fast. Bow Wow also appeared in five episodes of the television series Entourage and he is currently working on his new album entitled Underrated and starred as Brody Nelson in CSI, Cyber until the shows cancellation in 2016. Bow Wow was born Shad Gregory Moss in Columbus, Ohio, at age three, he became interested in rap. Under the moniker Kid Gangsta, he began rapping recreationally at age six, in 1993, he performed at a concert in Los Angeles, and was noticed by rapper Snoop Dogg, who subsequently gave him a stage name, Lil Bow Wow. In 1998, at the age of eleven, Bow Wow met record producer Jermaine Dupri, in 1999, the soundtrack to the movie Wild Wild West featured his song The Stick Up with his mentor Jermaine Dupri. At the age of 13, in 2000 he debuted with Beware of Dog under the stage name Lil Bow Wow and its debut single was Bounce with Me, which featured R&B girl group Xscape. The album also included Bow Wow featuring Snoop Dogg, which topped the rap chart, Puppy Love, the Recording Industry Association of America certified Beware of Dog double platinum on March 5,2001, signifying sales of two million copies. In a 2009 interview, the claimed that the album had sold over 3 million copies since its release. Doggy Bag peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart and was certified platinum. Lil Bow Wow performed the track Basketball for the soundtrack of his film Like Mike, Bow Wow dropped the Lil from his stage name in April 2002, he told MTV News, I changed my name because Im getting older now and its too many Lils. All these Lil rappers, Im just kind of getting real irritated by it, besides, Im growing up, Im not little anymore. Its all these Lil cats, forget it, everything is just Bow Wow, no Lil Bow Wow. The first album released under his new name was Unleashed in 2003 and its first single was Lets Get Down featuring Birdman, the founder of Cash Money Records, which reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #6 on the Hot Rap Tracks charts
36.
Heartless (Kanye West song)
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Heartless is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released on November 4,2008 digitally as the second single for his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. It debuted at the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at number two and reached number-one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks and U. S. Heartless is one of the best selling singles of all time, on his fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak and in the pop song Heartless, Kanye West utilized the voice audio processor device known as Auto-Tune. West had previously experimented with the technology on his album, The College Dropout, for the background vocals of Jesus Walks. The voice altering device created a unique sound helping West express his feelings of his break up with fiancée Alexis Phifer months after the untimely passing of his mother. The pipe-organ sound was sampled from The Alan Parsons Project song Ammonia Avenue, the single fluctuated in and out of the top ten for two months before reaching number three in mid-January, and rose to its peak at number two on the chart issue dated February 21. In early March it also reached number four on the Pop 100 chart and it is Wests second consecutive top five hit on the Hot 100, and his second consecutive song to debut in the top five there. This makes 808s & Heartbreak the first West album to contain two Hot 100 top five hits, on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, it peaked at four. It debuted at eleven on the Hot Rap Tracks and has managed to reach number-one in late January. As of September 2012, the song has sold over 4 million paid downloads in the United States, becoming Wests second song to reach that mark. In Canada, it made a Hot Shot Debut at #8 on the Canadian Hot 100. On 1 December 2008, the song debuted at #63 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and it reached #6 on the New Zealand RIANZ chart. On the UK Singles Chart, the song debuted at number #45, the official digital release date for the single was 12 January 2009. On the Irish Singles Chart the song has peaked at #10, directed by Hype Williams, the animated music video for Heartless pays tribute to Ralph Bakshis 1981 film American Pop. It features use of rotoscoped animation, in which people were filmed and had their every move drawn over. The video portrays West wandering through a city alone at night, the video also takes place in Wests actual apartment den, where the Jetsons portraits are located. West stands by the Astro portrait in five scenes of the video and it was the first animated video directed by Williams. The song was performed for the first time in Denver, Colorado, the song was also performed at a T. I. concert at Key Club in Los Angeles
37.
D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)
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D. O. A. is a song written by American rapper Jay Z. It was produced by No I. D, the song was released as a digital download on June 23,2009, and as the first single from Jay Zs 11th studio album, The Blueprint 3. The song made its premiere on the New York radio station Hot 97 on June 5. Its lyrics address the overusage of Auto-Tune in the music industry, the song samples In the Space by French composer Janko Nilović. The bridge is inspired by Steams Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye and interpolates lyrics from Kanye Wests Big Brother, the song won Jay Z his eighth Grammy Award, and his second for Best Rap Solo Performance. Kanye West and Jay Z had recorded an Auto-Tune song, however, Kanye heard the instrumental by No I. D. and thought about making an anti-Auto-Tune song. They then removed all the songs that contained Auto-Tune from The Blueprint 3 to further their point, one of the partial inspirations for Jay Z to write the song was hearing Auto-Tune being used in an advertisement for Wendys fast-food chain. It made him feel that what was once a trend had become a gimmick, the title is also a reference to the medical term D. O. A. or Dead on Arrival. The song makes a reference to The Notorious B. I. G, Jay Z sampled a portion of The Notorious B. I. G. s freestyle Wake Up Show Freestyle. On June 27,2009, a trailer for the video was released, actor Harvey Keitel cameos in the video as a card player in the kitchen of New Yorks exclusive restaurant, Raos. Basketball player LeBron James also makes a cameo appearance, the video was nominated for Best Male Video and Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. It did not win either of the categories, losing to T. I. s Live Your Life, the video ranked at #17 on BETs Notarized, Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown. On June 9, R&B artist Trey Songz released a remix of the song on his blog. Renamed Death of Autotune Kellz, it was directed at artist R. Kelly for using the effect on a previous mixtape, rappers AZ and Jay Rock have also both recorded remixes. Royce da 59 has released two remixes of it, one by himself and one with fellow Slaughterhouse members Joe Budden, Crooked I, singer Avery Storm has also made a remix using the songs instrumental supporting the death of auto-tune. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have also made a remix to the song featuring all five members. O. A and it was released officially on their MySpace page. The song includes the 5 united members singing separate verses along with Jay Z singing the original chorus, the song has also been remixed by rappers such as Lil Wayne and Asher Roth. The song was ranked best song of the year 2009 by MTV, time magazine ranked it number 8 on their list of the best songs of 2009
38.
My Last
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My Last is the first single by American rapper Big Sean from his debut album Finally Famous. The song features R&B singer Chris Brown, the song is produced by No I. D. Brown has also done a freestyle over the track, the songs instrumental was described by Rap-Up as a bouncy piano-laced beat. DJBooth. net described the beat as soft keyboard chords that transition well into the hook where a low bass, Sean revealed he originally rejected the beat but gave it a chance after pressurings by the songs producer No I. D. The songs melody is sampled from the 1988 New Edition hit Can You Stand the Rain, Sean described the song as a real great party song. The music video was shot in West Hollywood, California on March 18,2011, the music video is directed by TAJ Stansberry and features cameos by former GOOD Music artist Kid Cudi and current GOOD Music artist Teyana Taylor. It debuted on VEVO on March 24,2011, Chris Brown has also released a music video to his freestyle. Critical reception of the song has mostly positive with praise going to the chorus. Chicago Now described the song as featuring a chorus, memorable verses. DJBooth. net also praised Seans lyrical abilities, lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
39.
Chicago hip hop
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The hip hop scene in Chicago, Illinois, has produced many artists of various styles. Famous rappers in Chicago include Chance the Rapper, Da Brat, Chicago hip hop artists have never coalesced around an easily defined style or sound. Instead, Chicago hip hop artists took inspiration from a variety of regional influences – initially the East Coast, with its jazz and soul based sampling, at the same time, other Chicago artists embraced West Coast production, with its funky, synth-driven instrumentation. Choppers, or rappers with incredibly fast flow, originated primarily in the Midwest and in the 1990s, with the scene in Chicago becoming the citys first cohesive hip hop style. The most significant rappers and groups to come out of Chicago during this time included Do or Die, Crucial Conflict, and Twista, who at one point was considered the worlds fastest rapper. A new sound that has gotten very popular in Chicago is a new style of hip hop called drill music that formed on Chicagos South Side. In 2016, a number of artists from Chicago released albums, notable examples are Chance The Rappers Coloring Book, Kanye Wests The Life of Pablo and Nonames Telefone. Harmanis is a Greek rapper and producer born and raised in Chicago and he is a member of the first gangsta rap group in Greece, Zontanoi Nekroi whom first LP in 1998 named O Protos Tomos became one of the most emblematic CDs that ever been released in Greece. Although he can rap with more comfort in English, he can also rap very well in Greek, Crucial Conflict is a Chicago hip hop group best known for its 1996 single Hay and Scummy. The members of Crucial Conflict are Coldhard, Wildstyle, Kilo and they frequently collaborate with fellow Chicago rappers Do or Die and Twista. They recently finished their album Planet Crucon, with their newest single, Crucial Conflict, with the help of Do or Die, made the Chicago rap community more visible. With fast-paced raps, the band was compared to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, when the smash hit Hay was released, it improved the sales of the bands album The Final Tic. They have collaborated and worked with artists as Three 6 Mafia, Do or Die, Twista, R. Kelly, 2Pac, Warren G, The Outlawz, George Clinton, Project Pat, Da Brat, Busta Rhymes. Crucial Conflict has also recorded tracks for soundtracks such as Def Jams How to Be a Player, Rhyme & Reason, Belly. They also made a cameo appearance in the 1998 Hype Williams movie Belly. Commons success as a rapper in the nineties was the first time that significant attention was paid to Chicago hip hop as a separate entity. The singles from his first album reached the top ten in the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks and this opened the door for other blossoming MCs from Chicago in the mid-nineties, but Chicago hip hop was still vastly overshadowed by the West and East Coast hip hop scene. Still, Common has found success in the 21st century with Grammy winning albums like Finding Forever and Be
40.
My Boo (Usher and Alicia Keys song)
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My Boo is a duet between American R&B singers Usher and Alicia Keys, written by Usher, Keys, Jermaine Dupri, Adonis Shropshire, and Manuel Seal, Jr. The song was released as the fourth single in 2004. Set over a hip hop-style track, it was produced by Dupri and it was included on the re-release of Ushers fourth studio album, Confessions. The song received positive reviews critics, and has garnered awards. The single stayed on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks, making it the third single from the album after Yeah. and Burn. It was also ranked as the 36th biggest song of the 2000–2009 decade in the US, Usher and Alicia Keys had previously collaborated with the remix of Keys 2004 single If I Aint Got You, which was released in the United Kingdom. During the production of Ushers fourth studio album, Confessions, they thought of various singers to pair him with on the song. Usher and Kortney Kaycee Leveringstons rare demo version can be floating on the Internet. Although it was and still is believed that it was Beyoncé. However, Jermaine Dupri, who co-wrote the song including Ushers number-one hits Yeah, Burn, and Confessions Part II, felt that he had established good relationship with Keys since she had worked with him and Usher. The song is written from the perspectives of Keys and Usher, for him, Usher and Keys talk about how they used to be in love and how those feelings are still lingering despite the two not being involved anymore. For Keys, The song is talking about the first person you really had feelings for. Even though you move on and meet new people, you remember that first person. My Boo was among the songs that were not included in the track listing of Confessions, including Red Light and songs recorded Usher recorded with P. Diddy. My Boo and Red Light were leaked to the internet, along with records that were not included during the first release. The song was included in the version of Confessions, alongside Red Light. Dupri thought of releasing My Boo as the single from Confessions once Confessions Part II would be leaving the charts. LaFace Records sent My Boo to US contemporary hit radio on August 29,2004, the single was released in the United States as a 12 single on September 21,2004
41.
Usher (musician)
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Usher Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. Born in Dallas, Texas but raised and lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee until moving to Atlanta, at the age of 12, his mother put him in local singing competitions, before catching the attention of a music A&R from LaFace Records. In 1994 he released his debut album, Usher. 8701 produced the number-one singles U Remind Me and U Got It Bad and it sold 8 million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 2002 and 2003. Confessions established him as one of the musical artists of the 2000s decade. Bolstered by its four consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, Burn, Confessions Part II, and My Boo, it has been certified Diamond by the RIAA. Here I Stand and Raymond v. Raymond, debuted atop of the Billboard 200, the EP, Versus, also produced the Hot 100 top-five single DJ Got Us Fallin in Love. Looking 4 Myself, also debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, Raymond v. Raymond and Looking 4 Myself received Grammy Awards for R&B singles There Goes My Baby and Climax. Hard II Love peaked at five of the Billboard 200 albums chart. Usher has sold 23.8 million albums and 38.2 million digital songs in the United States, to date, his worldwide sales stand at 43 million albums and 75 million records overall, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Usher has won awards and accolades including 18 Billboard Music Awards and 8 Grammy Awards. Billboard also placed him at number 6 on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years, Usher has attained 9 US Hot 100 number-one singles. Considered an icon and sex symbol, he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, in 2008, he started his own record label Raymond-Braun Media Group, a joint venture with talent manager Scooter Braun that includes Canadian singer Justin Bieber. Usher was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of Jonetta Patton, from Tennessee, Usher spent the majority of his young life in Chattanooga, his father left the family when Usher was a year old. Usher grew up with his mother, then-stepfather, and half-brother, while in Atlanta, Usher attended North Springs High School. At age 10, Usher joined an R&B local quintet called the NuBeginnings, Usher recorded 10 songs with the group in 1991, and the ensuing album, Nubeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV, was only made available regionally and by mail order. However, Patton took him out because, according to her, the album was re-released nationally in April 2002 by Hip-O Records. At age 13, Usher would meet A. J, alexander at local talent show in Atlanta
42.
Alicia Keys
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Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, pianist and actress. Keys released her album with J Records, having had previous record deals first with Columbia. Keys debut album, Songs in A Minor was released in 2001, producing her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single Fallin, the album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002. Her sophomore album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003, spawning successful singles You Dont Know My Name, If I Aint Got You and Diary, the duet song My Boo with Usher scored her a second number-one single in 2004. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards in 2005, later that year, she released her first live album, Unplugged, becoming the first woman to have an MTV Unplugged album debut at number one. As I Am was released in 2007, producing the Hot 100 number-one single No One, selling 5 million copies worldwide, the Element of Freedom was released in 2009, becoming her first chart-topping album in the UK, and selling 4 million copies worldwide. Keys additionally collaborated with Jay Z on Empire State of Mind as her fourth number-one single, Girl on Fire was released in 2012 as her fifth Billboard 200 topping album, spawning the successful title track. Her second live album, VH1 Storytellers was released in 2013, Here was released in 2016, becoming her seventh R&B/Hip-Hop chart topping album. Keys made her first television appearance on The Cosby Show in 1985 as a four year old child and she made her film debut in Smokin Aces and later in The Nanny Diaries in 2007. Keys then had a NAACP Image Award nominated appearance in The Secret Life of Bees in 2008, Keys also made an appearance on season 2 of Empire in 2015. She is currently a coach on The Voice as of 2016, Keys has won numerous awards such as 15 Grammy Awards and 17 NAACP Image Awards. She has sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide, considered a pop icon, Billboard magazine named her the top R&B artist of the 2000s decade and placed her number 10 on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. Time named her in their 100 list of most influential people in 2005, Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25,1981, in the Hells Kitchen area of Manhattan, New York City. She is the child of Teresa, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook. Keys father is African American and her mother is of Italian, Scottish, Keys has expressed that she was comfortable with her multiracial heritage because she felt she was able to relate to different cultures. Her parents separated when she was two and she was raised by her mother during her formative years in Hells Kitchen. Keys has 2 younger half brothers, Clay Cook and Cole Cook, in 1985, Keys made an appearance on The Cosby Show at the age of four, where she and a group of girls played the parts of Rudy Huxtables sleepover guests in the episode Slumber Party. Throughout her childhood, Keys was sent to music and dance classes by her mother and she graduated in four years as valedictorian at the age of 16
43.
Omarion
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Omari Ishmael Grandberry, better known as Omarion, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and dancer. He is best known as being the singer of the American R&B boy band B2K, the group achieved success with singles like Bump, Bump, Bump. His second solo album,21, contained his single to date, Ice Box. His third solo album, Ollusion, was released on January 12,2010, with the lead single, I Get It In. His fourth solo album, Sex Playlist, spawned the single, Post to Be, Omarion also ventured into acting, with appearances in films such as You Got Served, Fat Albert, Somebody Help Me and The Proud Family Movie. Born in Inglewood, California, to Leslie Burrell and Trent Grandberry, at school he played on the football team and was also known for his quirky dance moves. Although he dropped out of school midway, Omarion began to perform at age five, before he made it into the music business, he was in commercials for Kelloggs Corn Pops and McDonalds. He also made cameos in the R&B girl group Before Darks music videos, the smooth harmony singing that formed an integral part of the band B2K, helped him establish a solo career. His younger brother ORyan is also a singer, in early 2004, Omarion appeared in several films, most notably You Got Served in which he starred alongside Marques Houston, as well as his former B2K band mates. The movie centered on a group of friends in a hip hop dance crew who take part in dance competitions. That same year, he played the role of the school bully Reggie in the comedy Fat Albert, based on the animated series Fat Albert, on February 22,2005, Omarion released his debut solo album O. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, the first single from the album was O. The single peaked at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the second single Touch, peaked at #94 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album received a third and final release with, Im Tryna, O has sold over 758,000 copies in the United States since its release. Omarion received a Grammy nomination for the album at the 48th Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary R&B Album, on December 26,2006 Omarion released his second album 21. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, the first single from the album was Entourage. The second single Ice Box, produced by Timbaland, peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is Omarions most successful single to date. 21 has sold over 390,000 copies in the United States since its release, towards the end of 2007, he displayed his acting skills in the thriller Somebody Help Me
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I Used to Love H.E.R.
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I Used to Love H. E. R. is a hip hop song by the Chicago-born rapper Common. Released on the 1994 album Resurrection, I Used to Love H. E. R. has since become one of Commons best known songs and its jazzy beat samples The Changing World by George Benson. A video directed by Chris Halliburton was made for this song, the song is also found on Commons greatest hits album, Thisisme Then. The song uses a metaphor, using a woman to represent hip hop music. The acronym H. E. R means Hip-Hop in its Essence is Real The song speaks on the direction that hip hop music took during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It specifically refers to the fall of conscious and Afrocentric rap, as well as the popularity of West Coast hip hop. In the song, Common makes an analogy comparing the degradation of a woman with the deterioration of hip hop music after its commercial success forced it into the mainstream and it is often regarded as one of the greatest hip hop recordings ever. Tiffany Hamilton of AllHipHop. com describes it as a ode to Hip-Hop that established Common as one of the pioneers in conscious Hip-Hop. Vukile Simelane of RapReviews. com claims it to have one of the fattest beat ever constructed, alex Henderson of Allmusic considers it to be the standout track on Resurrection. Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal considers it to be Commons best single ever, andrea Duncan-Mao of XXL considers it to be a bittersweet ode to hip-hop and a classic track. Pitchfork Medias Ryan Dombal considers it to be a classic hip-hop parable, in 2008, it was ranked number 69 on VH1s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. It was ranked #1 on About. coms Greatest Rap Songs Of All Time, in 1999, I Used to Love H. E. R. was featured on the Chuck D hosted compilation album Louder Than a Bomb. In 2005, Jin released a single named Top 5, where he mentions Common, at the same time Common said he used to love her. The song inspired both the title and the premise of Danny. s album And I Love H. E. R, original Motion Picture Soundtrack and its third track I Want H. E. R. In 2007, The Teriyaki Boyz released a song titled I Still Love H. E. R, featuring Kanye West In 2008, on the underground track Who Killed Hip Hop Joe Budden references the track stating But I still love H. E. R. The way Common used to The Game references the song in Angel, saying, So I start Hip-Hop and I understand why Common used to love H. E. R. In 2009, Brooklyn emcee Israel The ILLa Real stated his debut albums title I Fell In Love With H. E. R. was inspired by I Used To Love H. E. R. The opening lines of I Used To Love H. E. R. are also used as the lines to Kanye Wests song Homecoming
