1.
Crowley, Louisiana
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Crowley is a city in and the parish seat of Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 13,265 at the 2010 census but 14,225 in 2000 and it is 63.8 percent Non-Hispanic White. Crowley is noted for its annual International Rice Festival, Crowley has the nickname of Rice Capital of America, because at one time it was a major center for rice harvesting and milling. Today, Crowley still has a number of mills and rice is the main crop of many local farmers. In addition, in recent years, crawfish farming has become increasingly popular, the Crowley High School Fighting Gents were State Division 3A Champs in the 1989 football season and had an 8-2 regular season. Crowley is also the home of Notre Dame High School, Notre Dame is a parish-wide Catholic school whose football program has won 5 state championships and numerous District Champion titles. Crowley is the city of the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is also part of the larger Lafayette–Acadiana Combined Statistical Area, the town is named after Pat Crowley. Crowley is located at 30°12′49″N 92°22′25″W and has an elevation of 20 feet, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.9 square miles, all land. Crowley was founded in 1886 by C. C, Duson, General Manager of Southwest Louisiana Land Company, plotted and developed Crowley. Dusons daughter, Maime Duson, married Percy Lee Lawrence, who founded the First National Bank of Crowley, the 7-story building was once the tallest building between Houston and New Orleans. They lived with their three children, P. L. Jr. Pattee, and Jack at 219 East 2nd Street, the house is now on the historic register. The town was named after Pat Crowley, an Irish railroad man who brought the depot to W. W. Duson, continue to live in Crowley, as of the census of 2000, there were 14,225 people,5,294 households, and 3,668 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,895.1 people per square mile, there were 5,904 housing units at an average density of 1,201.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 67. 83% White,30. 98% African American,0. 15% Native American,0. 29% Asian,0. 01% Pacific Islander,0. 23% from other races, and 0. 51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 10% of the population,26. 5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the family size was 3.13
2.
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
3.
West Hollywood, California
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West Hollywood, occasionally referred to locally as WeHo, is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip, as of the 2010 census, its population was 34,399. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages in the United States, the citys irregular boundary is featured in its logo, it was largely formed from the unincorporated Los Angeles County area that had not become part of the surrounding cities. West Hollywood benefits from a dense, compact urban form with small lots, mixed land use. According to Walkscore, a website that ranks cities based on walkability, commercial corridors include the nightlife and dining focused on the Sunset Strip, along Santa Monica Boulevard, and the Avenues of Art & Design along Robertson, Melrose, and Beverly Boulevard. Major intersecting streets typically provide amenities within walking distance of adjacent neighborhoods, West Hollywood has a Subtropical-semi-arid climate with year-round warm weather. The record high temperature of 111 °F was recorded September 26,1963, snow is rare in West Hollywood, with the last accumulation occurring in 1949. Rainfall is sparse, and falls mainly during winter months, around 5,000 of the indigenous inhabitants from the Tongva Indian tribe canoed out to greet Juan Cabrillo. The Tongva tribe was a nation of hunter-gatherers known for their reverence of dance, by 1771, these native people had been severely ravaged by diseases brought in by the Europeans from across wide oceans. The Spanish mission system changed the name to Gabrielinos, in reference to the Mission de San Gabriel. The Gabrielinos are believed to have burned the pitch for fuel, by 1780, what became the Sunset Strip was the major connecting road for El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and all ranches westward to the Pacific Ocean. This land passed through the hands of owners during the next one hundred years. Most of this area was part of the Rancho La Brea, Sherman became the location of the railroads main shops, railroad yards, and car barns. Many working-class employees of the railroad settled in this town and it was during this time that the city began to earn its reputation as a loosely regulated, liquor-friendly place for eccentric people wary of government interference. Despite several annexation attempts, the town elected not to part of the City of Los Angeles. For many years, the area that is now the city of West Hollywood was an area in the midst of Los Angeles. Because gambling was illegal in the city of Los Angeles, but still legal in Los Angeles County and these businesses were immune from the sometimes heavy-handed law-enforcement of the L. A. Some people connected with movie-making were attracted to this area of the County
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.
Atlantic Records
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Atlantic Recording Corporation is an American major record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. In 2004, Atlantic Records and its sister label Elektra Records merged into Atlantic Records Group, craig Kallman is currently the chairman of Atlantic Records. Ahmet Ertegün served as founding chairman until his death on December 14,2006, the brothers had become ardent fans of jazz and rhythm & blues music, amassing a collection of over 15,00078 RPM records. He convinced the family dentist, Dr Vahdi Sabit, to invest $10,000 and recruited Herb Abramson, Abramson had worked as a part-time A&R manager/producer for the jazz label National Records, signing Big Joe Turner and Billy Eckstine. He founded Jubilee Records in 1946, but had no interest in its most successful artists, so, in September 1947, he sold his share in Jubilee to his partner, Jerry Blaine, and invested $2500 in the new Atlantic label. When interviewed in 2009 she attributed her reputation to the companys chronic cash-flow shortage, most of the problems we had with artists were that they wanted advances, and that was very difficult for us. We were undercapitalized for a long time, the labels original office in the Ritz Hotel, Manhattan proved too expensive so they relocated to an $85 per month room in the Hotel Jefferson. In its early years Atlantic focused principally on modern jazz although it released some country and western and spoken word recordings. The union action forced Atlantic to use almost all its capital to cut and stockpile enough recordings to last through the ban, Ertegun and Abramson spent much of the late 1940s and early 1950s scouring nightclubs in search of talent. Ertegun composed many songs under the alias A, in early 1949 a New Orleans distributor phoned Ertegun trying to obtain Stick McGhees Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee, which was unavailable due to the closure of McGhees previous label. Ertegun knew Sticks younger brother Brownie McGhee, with whom Stick happened to be staying, so he contacted the McGhee brothers, Ertegun asked about artists royalties, which he paid, which surprised Columbia executives, who did not, which scuttled the deal. On the recommendation of broadcaster Willis Conover, Ertegun and Abramson went to see Ruth Brown at the Crystal Caverns club in Washington and she was badly injured in a car accident en route to New York but Atlantic supported her for nine months and then signed her. Her first release for the label So Long, cut at her second Atlantic session on May 25,1949 with the Eddie Condon band, was a major hit, reaching #6 on the R&B chart. Brown went on to more than eighty songs for the label, becoming the most prolific. So significant was Browns success to Atlantics fortunes that the label became known colloquially as The House That Ruth Built. The Clovers Dont You Know I Love You became the labels first R&B #1 in September 1951 and she hit #1 again in March–April 1952 with 5-10-15 Hours. After she left the label in 1961 Browns fortunes declined rapidly - within a few years was reduced to working as a cleaner and bus-driver to support her children. Brown eventually received a payment of $20,000 and founded a charity
6.
Rap-A-Lot Records
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Rap-A-Lot Records is a Houston hip hop record label that was created in 1986. The label was founded by James Prince in the mid-1980s and, with its most famous act the Geto Boys, since then, it has maintained its success and focus on gangsta and southern rap. Rap-A-Lot was first distributed by A&M Records for a time with the release of Raheems 1988 debut The Vigilante. The label was distributed through the 1990s by the EMI labels Priority Records, Noo Trybe Records. During the rest of the 2000s, it was distributed by WEAs Asylum Records, on August 22,2013, Rap-A-Lot Records announced that it recently signed a distribution deal with RED Distribution. Artists currently on its roster include Z-Ro and Bun B among others, Bun B Turk Z-Ro 1987 Ghetto Boys - Car Freak Ghetto Boys - You Aint Nothing / I Run This 2 Bad Brothers 1988 Raheem - The Vigilante Ghetto Boys - Making Trouble Royal Flush - Uh Oh. Def IV - Nice and Hard 1989 Geto Boys - Grip It, on That Other Level Willie D - Controversy 1990 Choice - The Big Payback Geto Boys - The Geto Boys 1991 O. G. Style - I Know How to Play Em Convicts - Convicts Geto Boys - We Cant Be Stopped Scarface - Mr. N. D. S. Pimp C - The Naked Soul Of Sweet Jones Various Artists - Sex, Money, & Drugs Various Artists - Street Life Various Artists - Swagger Check Various Artists - Crazy & Psychotic Vol. com
7.
Asylum Records
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Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylum Records, after various incarnations, today it is geared primarily towards hip-hop, along with rock and alternative metal. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and is distributed through Atlantic Records. Asylum was founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. They had previously founded their own management company, Geffen was unable to get a recording contract for their client Jackson Browne. While pitching Browne to Ahmet Ertegun, Geffen said, Youll make a lot of money, Ertegun replied, You know what, David, I have a lot of money. Why dont you start a company and then youll have a lot of money. They agreed immediately that Ertegun would put up the funds, Atlantic Records would distribute Asylum Records. Although they knew they would sign Browne, the first act that Geffen asked to join the label was his close friend Laura Nyro, Nyro agreed, but without Geffens knowledge she changed her mind and re-signed with Columbia Records. Geffen said it was the biggest betrayal of his life up to that point, Asylums early releases were distributed by Atlantic Records. His seventh and final album for the label, Heartattack and Vine, was released in 1980, former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty signed with the label in 1974. The biggest coup for Asylum was signing Bob Dylan, who had been with Columbia Records since the early 1960s but who, Dylan recorded two albums, Planet Waves and the live Before the Flood, for Asylum before returning to Columbia. Columbia reissued Dylans two Asylum albums in 1981, Asylum was taken over by Warner Communications in 1973, and merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylum Records. David Geffen and Elliot Roberts each received $2 million in cash and $5 million in Warner Communications stock, Geffen served as president and chairman of Elektra/Asylum Records until 1975, when he crossed over to film and was named vice-chairman of Warner Bros. By the middle of the decade, the company was calling itself Elektra Records. By this time Asylums remaining acts had been shifted to the Elektra roster, although catalog recordings, Asylum was reformatted into a Country music label, still operated by Elektra, in 1992. Under the new format, Asylum scored successful recordings by acts as Emmylou Harris, Brother Phelps, Thrasher Shiver, Kevin Sharp, Bryan White. They also produced many critically acclaimed albums by such as Mandy Barnett, Guy Clark, The Cox Family, Bob Woodruff, John Douglas Myers
8.
UGK
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UGK was an American hip hop duo from Port Arthur, Texas, formed in 1987, by Chad Pimp C Butler and Bernard Bun B Freeman. The duo has also featured on hit singles by several other artists, such as on Big Pimpin by Jay-Z. Pimp C founded UGK Records in late 2005, on December 4,2007, Pimp C was found dead in a West Hollywood, California hotel room. In 1992, UGK was signed to Jive Records under a five-album contract, while it featured several new recordings, it also featured several songs that had been culled from The Southern Way. However, several songs that had been intended to be included on the album were excised at the last minute, apparently due to their overly explicit content. Five of these songs would surface two months before the release of Too Hard to Swallow, on an EP distributed by Bigtyme Recordz, appropriately enough, a popular song from the album Pocket Full of Stones was also included on the Menace II Society soundtrack in 1993. Their second album, Super Tight, was released two later, on August 30. Unlike their previous album, Super Tight managed to break into the Billboard Hot 200 and ultimately peaked at #95, their album, Ridin Dirty. Ridin Dirty would also be UGKs last album for the time being, the year 2000 became a breakthrough year for the group. UGK made a high-profile guest appearance on Jay-Zs smash hit Big Pimpin, both of these collaborations greatly increased their reputation, and helped fuel anticipation for their next project. Jive Records failed to capitalize on this new-found interest in the duo, as their album, 2001s Dirty Money, came. Further problems arose when Pimp C was incarcerated for a gun assault charge in 2002. Many of UGKs peers did the same, and mentioned Pimp C in their own songs with or without Bun B, during this period, Jive Records released a Best of UGK album, as well as a Chopped & Screwed remix album. As a result of Pimp Cs incarceration, both members of UGK began solo careers out of necessity, rap-A-Lot Records released Pimp Cs solo debut, Sweet James Jones Stories, on March 1,2005. Bun B later released his own solo foray, Trill, on October 18,2005 and it opened at #6 on the Billboard Hot 200, and also peaked at #1 on Billboards Top R&B/Hip-hop Album chart. On December 30,2005, Pimp C was released from prison and was to be on parole until December 2009 and he released his first post-incarceration album, titled Pimpalation, on July 25,2006. On August 7,2007, the released their fifth studio album. It was an album, containing 26 tracks and spanning two discs
9.
Chamillionaire
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Hakeem Seriki, better known by his stage name Chamillionaire, is an American musician, rapper, entrepreneur, and investor from Houston, Texas. He is the CEO of Chamillitary Entertainment, Chamillionaire was also the founder and an original member of the Color Changin Click until the group split in 2005. He began his career independently with local releases in 2002, including collaboration album Get Ya Mind Correct with fellow Houston rapper and he signed to Universal Records in 2005 and released The Sound of Revenge under Universal. It included hit singles Turn It Up featuring Lil Flip and the number-one, Ultimate Victory followed in 2007, which was notable for not containing any profanity. Chamillionaire is also known for his most anticipated Mixtape Messiah series, in early 2011, he left Universal Records, which led to his would-be third album, Venom, going unreleased. Chamillionaire released his first independent extended play Ammunition in March 2012 and was noted as his first major release since he left the label, another EP, Elevate, was released on February 17,2013. He said it is going to be one of several to be released before his studio album. He is working on his studio album, Poison. Chamillionaire joined Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Upfront Ventures in early 2015, Watts, who himself was convinced to rap on the record, enjoyed the freestyle so much that he put the verses on one of his mixtapes. Soon, Seriki and Paul Wall became regular staples on Houstons mixtape circuit, appeared on several of Wattss mixtapes, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall soon started their own group, The Color Changin Click. In 2002, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall collaborated for the album Get Ya Mind Correct, the Source magazine nominated the album for independent album of the year in 2002. Chamillionaire and the Color Changin Click, dubbed Houstons answer to 50 Cent and his G-Unit posse, Chamillionaires first major solo release The Sound of Revenge was released through Chamillitary Entertainment and Universal Records on November 22,2005. The album debuted and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States and its video also was named Best Rap Video at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. In 2007, he won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for Ridin and he was at that time signed with Michael 5000 Watts Swishahouse label. Comedic performer Weird Al Yankovic made a parody of the song entitled White & Nerdy, the third single from the album was Grown and Sexy. Additionally, the bonus track Grind Time was featured in the video game NBA Live 06, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA, and a chopped and screwed version, screwed by OG Ron C, was released in February 2006. Guest appearances for the album included Lil Flip, Natalie, Krayzie Bone, Bun B, Lil Wayne, Pastor Troy, Killer Mike, Scarface, singer Billy Cook, and his brother Rasaq. Chamillionaire won the Best New Artist award for the 2006 BET Awards The second installment to the Mixtape Messiah series, Mixtape Messiah 2, was released January 5,2006
