1.
Fairfax, Virginia
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Fairfax, colloquially Central Fairfax, Downtown Fairfax, Fairfax City, Historic Fairfax, or the City of Fairfax, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census the population was 22,565, the city is 17 miles west of Washington, D. C. The Washington Metros Orange Line serves Fairfax through its Vienna station, CUE Bus and Metrobus operate in Fairfax. Virginia Railway Expresss Burke Centre station is situated three miles southeast of the citys boundaries, Virginias largest public educational institution with 33,917 students in 2013 is George Mason University, which is located in unincorporated Fairfax County, along the citys southern border. The city derives its name from Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, the area that the city now encompasses was settled in the early 18th century by farmers from Virginias Tidewater region. The town of Providence was established on the site by an act of the legislature in 1805. The town was the scene of the first land battle of the Civil War, on June 1,1861, a Union scouting party clashed with the local militia, though neither side gained an advantage. A second battle was waged two years later on June 27,1863, at the Battle of Fairfax Court House, Union troops were defeated. However, the battle delayed the movements of Confederate cavalry chief Jeb Stuart, Fairfax was officially renamed the Town of Fairfax in 1859. It was incorporated as a town 1874 and it was incorporated as a city in 1961 by court order. Under Virginia law the city was separated from Fairfax County, in 1904, a trolley line was built connecting Fairfax with Washington, D. C. The former Fairfax County Courthouse is the oldest and most historic building in Fairfax, the first Fairfax courthouse was established in 1742 near present-day Tysons Corner, and is the namesake for Old Courthouse Road. It intersects with Gallows Road, which today is a commuter route. In 1752, the courthouse was moved to Alexandria, which offered to build the new courthouse at their own expense, the courthouse operated there until 1790, when Virginia ceded the land where the courthouse was located for the creation of Washington, DC. The courthouse changed hands repeatedly during the Civil War, and the first officer casualty, John Quincy Marr and its design was used as a prototype for many Virginia courthouses built between 1800 and 1850. The first meeting of the Fairfax Court was held April 21,1800, during the Civil War the courthouse was used by Union forces as a military headquarters, which resulted in the damage or loss of several records. The original Fairfax County Courthouse was used as the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court until 2009, the oldest two-story building in the city, built in 1873, the Fairfax Public School or Old Fairfax Elementary School Annex for $2,750. In addition to school use the building has also housed special education, adult education
2.
Christian hip hop
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Christian hip hop is hip hop music characterized by a Christian worldview, with the general purposes of evangelization, edifying some members of the church and/or simply entertaining. It emphasizes the use of positive and uplifting messages to promote faith, Christian hip hop, blending rhythmic music and faith-based lyrics, first emerged on record in 1982 with a track entitled Jesus Christ by Queens, New York artist McSweet. The first full-length, Christian hip hop album, Bible Break, other early Christian hip recording artists from the mid-1980s included P. I. D. who recorded to funky rock rhythms, as well as JC & the Boys and Michael Peace. The first notable full album released was Stephen Wileys Bible Break, written by Wiley, in the same year by David Guzman founded JC & The Boyz. Some of Americas premiere Christian rappers, such as, Michael Peace, SFC, Dynamic Twins, MC Peace, a more commercially successful crew known as P. I. D. Michael Peace is an American rapper and one of Christian raps first solo artists, in the late 1980s, other crews emerged, including dc Talk, E. T. W. and S. F. C. ETW was led by producer/artist Mike Hill who went on to one of the largest inner city youth groups in the country out of Tulsa Oklahoma. S. F. C. was led by Chris Cooper who originally rapped as Super C and later became Sup the Chemist, Christian emcee Danny D-Boy Rodriguez was another well-known early Gospel rap artist, but was murdered in 1990 in Texas. She would go on to release an album in 1991. The 1990s saw the trend of funky rap artists blending faith and rap, such as D. O. C. who emerged from Oklahoma as well as the Gospel Gangstaz from Compton. In 1991, JC Crew emerged featuring Maximillian and T-Bone, other Christian rap artists include Dynamic Twins, Freedom of Soul, IDOL King, Apocalypse, 12th Tribe, and Holy Alliance. 12th Tribe and Holy Alliance were produced by Scott Blackwell of MYX Records, S. F. C. s 1992 album Phase III was DJed and produced by DJ Dove, whose credits also include the Gang Affiliated, Gospel Gangstas 1993 debut album. Around the same time as Phase III, Dynamic Twins came out with their 1993 album No Room To Breathe, Freedom of Soul followed with their second album, The Second Coming, also their last album as a group. The label was among the first to market the Contemporary Christian music market through distribution at Christian bookstores and playing on Christian radio. This trend continued with other such as Tooth & Nails Uprok Records and others that gave an outlet to hip hop artists who identified themselves as Christian. Recently, a number of artists and labels such as Reach Records, Grace and Peace Records, Kirk Franklin joined with the 1 Nation Crew in the album Kirk Franklin Presents 1NC. In September 2009, the Higherground Record Pool and One Accord DJ Alliance held their first Gospel DJ Conference at the Crowne Plaza, Queens, the first known Gospel DJs were honored at the event. Kingdom Affiliates Record Pool also was represented at the conference, most recently Christian rap artists like Lecrae and his label-mates from Reach Records have been setting records with sales and award-winning albums
3.
Gospel music
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Gospel music is a music genre in Christian music. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music varies according to culture. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, Gospel music usually has dominant vocals with Christian lyrics. Gospel music can be traced to the early 17th century, with roots in the oral tradition. Hymns and sacred songs were repeated in a call and response fashion, most of the churches relied on hand clapping and foot stomping as rhythmic accompaniment. Most of the singing was done a cappella, the first published use of the term Gospel Song probably appeared in 1874. The original gospel songs were written and composed by such as George F. Root, Philip Bliss, Charles H. Gabriel, William Howard Doane. The advent of radio in the 1920s greatly increased the audience for gospel music, following World War II, gospel music moved into major auditoriums, and gospel music concerts became quite elaborate. Gospel blues is a form of gospel music. Southern gospel used all male, tenor-lead-baritone-bass quartet make-up, progressive Southern gospel is an American music genre that has grown out of Southern gospel over the past couple of decades. Christian country music, sometimes referred to as gospel music, is a subgenre of gospel music with a country flair. It peaked in popularity in the mid-1990s, bluegrass gospel music is rooted in American mountain music. Celtic gospel music infuses gospel music with a Celtic flair, and is popular in countries such as Ireland. British black gospel refers to Gospel music of the African diaspora, some proponents of standard hymns generally dislike gospel music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, with distance, there is a greater acceptance of such gospel songs into official denominational hymnals. Gospel music in general is characterized by dominant vocals referencing lyrics of a Christian nature, subgenres include contemporary gospel, urban contemporary gospel, Southern gospel, and modern gospel music. Several forms of gospel music utilize choirs, use piano or Hammond organ, tambourines, drums, bass guitar and, increasingly, electric guitar. In comparison with hymns, which are generally of a statelier measure, several attempts have been made to describe the style of late 19th and early 20th century gospel songs in general
4.
Capitol Christian Music Group
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Capitol Christian Music Group is an American music group that, since 2013, is under the ownership of Universal Music Group. It is based in Brentwood, Tennessee, Capitol CMG is the leader in the Christian Gospel music industry. Capitol CMG is a company whose assets include such labels as Sparrow and ForeFront Records as well as the distribution company. Capitol CMG features artists such as Chris Tomlin, TobyMac, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, CeCe Winans, the music group was founded by Billy Ray Hearn in February 1976 as Sparrow Records. Sparrow was acquired by EMI in 1992, formerly known as EMI Christian Music Group, Capitol CMG is a division of Capitol Music Group, which is now a Universal Music Group company. The companys roster features top names in the Christian and gospel communities, among them Amy Grant, Jeremy Camp, Michael W
5.
DC Talk
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DC Talk is a Christian rap and rock trio. The group was formed at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait and they released five major studio albums together, DC Talk, Nu Thang, Free at Last, Jesus Freak, and Supernatural. In 2002, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music called DC Talk the most popular overtly Christian act of all time, in 2000, the group released an EP titled Solo, which contained two solo songs from each member. Since that time, DC Talk has been on an hiatus. They performed and recorded individual songs together several times during the 2000s, the groups musical style evolved significantly throughout its career. Its first two releases, DC Talk and Nu Thang, were of the hip hop genre, DC Talks third album, Free at Last, also mainly took influence from the hip hop style, although the groups music began taking on a rock sound. The trios last two albums, Jesus Freak and Supernatural, were predominantly pop rock, DC Talk was a nickname that Toby Michael McKeehan, later TobyMac, who was born in Falls Church, Virginia, was given for being from the Washington D. C. area. While attending Liberty University, McKeehan met Michael DeWayne Tait, Tait had been featured singing on Jerry Falwell’s The Old Time Gospel Hour and recorded with the Falwell Singers. He also performed solo, what TobyMac later described his kind of an R&B / church-oriented music, the two joined forces to record a song that McKeehan had written, Heavenbound. They performed the song before an audience of 8,000 Liberty students with McKeehan rapping, the song was well received, selling out the approximately 3,000 copies of their demo tape, Christian Rhymes to a Rhythm. The tape included Heavenbound and was distributed by the group in the Washington D. C. area, the group’s demo tape eventually led to a recording contract with Forefront Records in 1988. Kevin Max Smith, later Kevin Max, came from a rock band to join the group, and the trio called themselves DC Talk. The name was simplified to DC Talk, which came to stand for decent Christian talk. After signing the contract with ForeFront the label released their self-titled debut album, DC Talk, in 1989 with Mike Valliere. The music video for their first single, Heavenbound, received airplay on the BET network, the album became the best selling debut by a Christian artist, but has since been surpassed. Their follow-up release, Nu Thang, and a Christmas EP titled Yo, Yo Ho Ho had three songs — the title track, Reason for the Season and The King, which was also on DC Talks first album. Nu Thang had two singles, I Luv Rap Music and Can I Get a Witness. Apart from dealing strictly with Christian themes, the band incorporated songs addressing social issues, such as racism in the song Walls and abortion in Children Can Live Without It
6.
Kevin Max
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Cotes dArmor is an album by Kevin Max, released on August 24,2010. On July 27,2010, a download was made available for those who pre-ordered the album. On September 14,2010, an edition was released in digital format. The expanded release contained 12 new remixes and demos of tracks appearing on the album and removed 2099, walking Through Walls We Love Dangerous
7.
Michael Tait
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Michael DeWayne Tait is a contemporary Christian music artist. Michael Tait met Toby McKeehan in 1984 when he was in high school, Tait is the current lead singer of Newsboys, and one third of Christian rock group DC Talk. Tait also has had success in his career, founding a band called Tait in 1997. He toured as an act until 2007. He became lead singer of the Christian pop rock band Newsboys in 2009, aside from singing, Tait is also a self-taught guitar player. Tait also has a sister Lynda Randle, who is a Southern Gospel singer, Michael Tait met Toby McKeehan in 1984 while he was in high school in the Washington DC area, and together they began creating some music. Michael Tait and Toby McKeehan both met Kevin Max while attending Liberty University in the mid 1980s, together, all three formed the four-time Grammy winning band DC Talk and released 5 acclaimed studio albums. In 2000, the band announced a hiatus with the release of Intermission, the band has not toured together since 2001. The band also recorded a song entitled Lets Roll following the September 11,2001 attacks, after DC Talks hiatus was announced, Tait dedicated more time to his band Tait. Tait had partially formed this band around 1997, one of the original members was guitarist Pete Stewart, who is featured on the first album, but absent from the second one due to his departing the band to work on his own solo projects. In 2006, Tait announced that they were working on an album titled Loveology, though Michael is now touring as frontman for the Newsboys, he still has plans to release Loveology. In an interview with John Dibiase of Jesusfreakhideout. com, he stated that Loveology is still in the works, in the interview Michael said, Loveology is going to become something were going to be writing about very soon. I cant tell you now, but its a project with the boys and I and Ben Moody, an official statement was released on March 9,2009 that announced Michael Tait as the new lead singer of Newsboys. Coincidentally, Taits former group, DC Talk toured with Newsboys in the 1990s, on March 7,2009, Tait surprised the crowd by performing as Newsboys lead singer for the first time and announcing that he would be the bands new lead singer. In the official statement released on March 9, Tait said, For years dc Talk and Newsboys have been family, when I received the initial call from Newsboys to consider joining the band as lead singer, I was speechless. I immediately sought wise counsel and flooded the heavens with endless prayers for insight and vision, last weekend, I had the opportunity to perform my first show as Newsboys frontman to an audience of 12,000 people. I was completely wrapped in love and support by Newsboys fans, now I know this is exactly where I belong in this new and wonderful moment in my lifes history. This is a highlight of my career and for my 20+ years of walking with Jesus
8.
GRITS
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GRITS, also known as G. R. I. T. S. is a Christian hip hop group from Nashville, Tennessee. Their name is an acronym, which stands for Grammatical Revolution In The Spirit, GRITS is made up of Stacey Coffee Jones and Teron Bonafide Carter, both of whom were DC Talk dancers. Their song Ooh Ahh has appeared on the MTV show My Super Sweet 16 and it is also used as the theme song of The Buried Life and on the soundtracks to The Fast and the Furious, Tokyo Drift and Big Mommas House 2. Their song Tennessee Bwoys was used on the television show Pimp My Ride. GRITS were also involved in. Hero The Rock Opera. GRITS recorded a remix of professional wrestler A. J, styles entrance music and performed it on the May 28,2009, episode of TNA Impact. The Christian hip hop duo began in 1995, with Teron David Bonafide Carter, GRITS is an acronym with a meaning of Grammatical Revolution in the Spirit. They both credited the inspiration for their rapping to hearing DC Talk, when the two first encountered each other in 1990. This is the reason the duo signed with Gotee Records, a label founded by former DC Talk member, tobyMac and they explained it was like graduating from school by leaving Gotee Records, and founding their own label. They were one of the first acts signed to Gotee Records, in 2014, Gotee Records announced that the GRITS song Ooh Ahh was RIAA Digital Gold Certified, having surpassed 500,000 downloads. They have appeared at Cornerstone Festival and Rock the Universe, in addition their song Bobbin Bouncin was added to the track list in the video-game Project Gotham Racing 4. With or Without You - In The Name Of Love, Artists United For Africa Wedding Celebration -. S and their first award was for a song about plagiarism. For this, they received the best Rap/Hip Hop Song award, the next year they took the same award for They All Fall Down, from Grammatical Revolution. In 2003 The Art Of Translation won the award for Rap/Hip Hop Album, and they also shared in the Special Event Album that year, for their contribution to. Hero The Rock Opera. They were nominated for Rap/Hip Hop Performer of the Year at the 2009 Visionary Awards Show, however, instead, the award went to the Christian rap duo Word of Mouth Grits Exclusive Interview November 2006 Revolution Art Website
9.
Mandisa
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Mandisa Lynn Hundley, known professionally as Mandisa, is an American gospel and contemporary Christian recording artist. Her career began as a contestant in the season of American Idol. She is the fifth American Idol alumna to win a Grammy Award for her album Overcomer in the Best Contemporary Christian Music Album, Mandisa Hundley was born and raised in Citrus Heights, California. After graduating from El Camino Fundamental High School, she attended American River College in Sacramento where she studied Vocal Jazz, then she studied at Fisk University in Tennessee and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in vocal performance. Mandisa auditioned for the United States talent competition show American Idol in Chicago and she referred to herself as just Mandisa, thus was billed simply as Mandisa on the show. She stated that her musical influences run the gamut from Whitney Houston to Def Leppard, Idol judge Simon Cowell made several comments about Mandisas weight after her successful audition. He first quipped, Do we have a stage this year. Then, when Paula Abdul commented that Mandisa had a Frenchie growl to her voice and these were among comments that drew the ire of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, and would be one of the reasons Mandisa would entitle her 2007 album True Beauty. But I want you to know that Ive forgiven you and that you dont need someone to apologize in order to forgive somebody, I figure that if Jesus could die so that all of my wrongs could be forgiven, I can certainly extend that same grace to you. Cowell told Mandisa that he was humbled and apologized to her immediately, on the March 7,2006, Idol show, she stated in her pre-performance video that she sucked her thumb until she was 24 years old. She performed a rendition of Chaka Khans Im Every Woman which drew praise from all three judges and she was among the 12 contestants chosen on March 9,2006, as a finalist in Idols fifth season. Mandisa was eliminated from American Idol on April 5,2006, in the top nine and she, like most eliminated contestants, appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno one day later. On July 27, 2007—after being eliminated from American Idol—Mandisa performed the song I Dont Hurt Anymore on the TV talk show, Live with Regis and Kelly. She also joined Gladys Knight and others at the Apollo Theater for the benefit concert Back to Harlem, Mandisa collaborated with tobyMac and Kirk Franklin on tobyMacs album, Portable Sounds. Mandisas first full-length album True Beauty was released on July 31,2007, the album debuted at No.1 on the Top Christian Albums charts, making it the first time a new female artist has debuted at No.1 in the charts 27-year history. It also debuted at No.43 on the Billboard 200 and it also garnered a Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album nomination. Mandisa also spent personal time with the writers before the songwriting process began, sharing her vision for the project. Her first single, Only the World, was released on May 22,2007, the song had a successful debut on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart, which tracks commercial single sales, debuting at No.2 and reached No.1 the following week
10.
Jamie Grace
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Jamie Grace Harper is an American contemporary Christian musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. In 2010, TobyMac found her songs on YouTube and signed her to his label Gotee Records for two albums and she released the song Hold Me in 2011 which landed her a nomination at the 2012 Grammys and won the 2012 Dove Award for New Artist of the Year. Grace was born Jamie Grace Harper and is the youngest daughter to James and she grew up singing and playing instruments in both church and at home with her older sister Morgan. She was home-schooled with her sister, Morgan Harper Nichols, on July 16,2006, she created a YouTube account and began posting videos of her songs online. In 2010 she was discovered by TobyMac and signed to his record label Gotee Records later that year, in August 2016, Jamie Grace and her sister, fellow artist Morgan Harper Nichols, announced her departure from Gotee Records. Graces debut EP, Hold Me, was released by the label on February 22,2011, Jamie Grace released the title track to the album at the same time and it was one of the most added singles to Christian Hit Radio stations. Her debut album, One Song at a Time, was released in stores September 20,2011 and her second EP, Christmas Together, was released November 29,2011. Grace was featured as a main artist and speaker in the Revolve Tour by Women of Faith alongside artists such as Britt Nicole, Group 1 Crew, and Hawk Nelson. On May 4,2011, Jesus Freak Hideout announced that Hold Me and her second studio album, Ready to Fly, produced by Christopher Stevens and David Garcia, was released January 28,2014. The first single was Beautiful Day, the second single available was Fighter, an inspiring song about those who have struggled but dont give up. She was a part of the Winter Jam Tour 2015 West Coast, in February 2017, Grace announced that her third album, The Happy Song, would be delayed to allow Grace to address issues around her mothers health. In a somewhat unusual style, Jamie Grace combines elements of hip hop, folk and she occasionally uses elements of guest vocalists, such as TobyMac in Hold Me and GabeReal from DiverseCity in One Song at a Time on Hold Me. Grace graduated from Point University with a degree in childrens ministry. She has Tourette syndrome and obsessive–compulsive disorder, in 2016, she was called up onto the stage at an Adele concert. She then sang a cover of I Cant Help Falling in Love With You — originally sung by Elvis —, — denotes releases that did not chart
11.
Shonlock
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Deshon Terrell Bullock, better known by his stage name Shonlock, is a Christian hip hop artist from Atlanta, Georgia by way of Chicago, Illinois. He first made a debut in 2001 and is part of the TobyMac road band The Diverse City Band and he signed with Arrow-Records/Universal and released Where Never Begins on November 9,2010. The single Something in Your Eyes reached No.1 on the Billboard Radio Chart for seven weeks straight. The album, Neveroddoreven, was released on June 21,2011, on Arrow Records. Rose I Have a Dream - Manafest Official website Arrow Records press release Holy Hip Hop DataBASE
12.
DJ Maj
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Michael Joseph Mike Allen, professionally known as DJ Maj, is a Christian music DJ, contributing to Gospel music albums released by tobyMac, GRITS, Ill Harmonics, Carman, dc Talk, and the Newsboys. DJ Maj has released mixtapes, as well as three solo albums, BoogiRoot, Speckled Goats and Speckled Goats II. His friends gave him the name DJ Magic after watching him play on turntables, Mike only learned to deejay because his friend who was a DJ moved away from Louisiana so he felt he had to learn it all for himself. He later changed his name to DJ Maj to reflect that, as a Christian and he continued to DJ as a way of paying his way through technical college and soon perfected the art, using it as a means of bringing holy hip-hop to the mainstream audience. He signed a contract with Gotee Records and in 1999, released his debut mixtape album, Wax Museum. The success of this led to him collaborating with several Christian music stars in his following mixtapes and his debut album in 2005. In 2002, Maj moved to the center of Christian Music, Nashville and he started a radio show to raise awareness of Christian urban music. In 2007, Maj released his album, Speckled Goats II. In 2009, Maj produced the Gotee Hip Hope Hits Compilation and he has also done work for Christian rapper T-Bone. He is included in the listing of the Diverse City Band crew and he was also the DJ who made the cuts on. Hero
13.
Blanca (musician)
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Blanca Elaine Callahan, who goes by the stage name Blanca, is a Puerto Rican-born American Contemporary Christian musician. Until 2013, she was a member of Group 1 Crew and she is now a solo artist. She released her debut EP on January 13,2015, Who I Am EP, with Word Records and her first studio album, Blanca, Blanca was born Blanca Elaine Reyes, in Puerto Rico on February 10,1986. Blanca was a member in Group 1 Crew from its inception until her departure in 2013 to start her solo career, blancas self-titled debut album, Blanca, was released on May 4,2015 with Word Records. Her first single as a solo artist, Who I Am and her second release as a solo artist, Who I Am EP, was released on January 13,2015, also through Word Records, and charted on two Billboard charts, US & US Christian. On January 21,2013, Blanca announced that she and her husband were expecting their first child and she had a son, London Rey Callahan, on July 25,2013
14.
Britt Nicole
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Brittany Nicole Waddell, better known by her stage name Britt Nicole, is an American vocalist, songwriter and recording artist. She has mainly charted as a Christian pop artist, but in 2012 found her debut single, Gold, the album was nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 55th Grammy Awards. She is signed to Sparrow and Capitol Records, Britt Nicole was born on August 2,1984. Nicole began singing at the age of three in her church, Truth Temple of Kannapolis, North Carolina and she, along with her brother and cousin, eventually became involved with the churchs daily program on Charlotte TV station WAXN. She was a dancer, taking ballet, jazz, hip hop. At South Rowan High School, she was a member of the schools advanced choir group, Nicole was also a member of Duke Universitys Brightleaf Music Workshop. Nicole turned down a scholarship from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and she felt that God was telling her to concentrate on singing instead of going to college. In January 10,2003 released her album, Follow the Call. In 2004, she signed a management deal with Vertical Entertainment, also in 2004 she released her debut extended play, Brittany Waddell. She was featured on Christian hip-hop group GRITS2006 album, Redemption, on the songs Right Back and Soul Cry, on May 22,2007 she released her debut album Say It. It peaked at No.40 on Billboards Christian Albums chart, the debut single from the album, You, was released on March 27,2007. It hit the Top 10 on the R&R magazine chart and it was the 12th most played song on Christian Hit Radio stations in 2007, according to R&R magazine. It also peaked at No.6 on Billboards Hot Christian Songs, Nicole was the opening act on the 2007 Winter Jam Tour with Sanctus Real, Hawk Nelson, Jeremy Camp, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Newsong. Nicoles song Sunshine Girl was featured on MTVs teen reality show Newport Harbor, Nicoles first music video, for the song Believe, premiered on the Gospel Music Channel on September 22,2007. The song was released as the albums second single on October 30,2007. It was the 21st most-played song of 2008 on Christian Pop radio stations according to R&R magazines Christian CHR chart, on November 20,2007, Nicole released her first EP titled Holiday Trio. The EP was Christmas-themed and was released digitally. It featured her song Holiday, plus two never before released songs, one is an original titled Come What May, and the other is a song of the holiday hit Last Christmas
15.
Contemporary Christian music
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Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith. Today, the term is used to refer to pop, rock. Top-selling CCM artists will also appear on the Billboard 200, in the iTunes Store, the genre is represented as part of the Christian and gospel genre. The growing popularity in the styles of Rock n Roll music in the 1950s was initially dismissed by the church because it was believed to encourage sinfulness. Yet as evangelical churches adapted to appeal to people, the musical styles used in worship changed as well by adopting the sounds of this popular style. The genre became known as contemporary Christian music as a result of the Jesus movement revival in the latter 1960s and early 1970s, about that time, many young people from the sixties counterculture professed to believe in Jesus. Convinced of the bareness of a lifestyle based on drugs, free sex, however, there were people who felt that Jesus was another trip. It was during the 1970s Jesus movement that Christian music started to become an industry within itself, Jesus Music started by playing instruments and singing songs about love and peace, which then translated into love of God. Paul Wohlegemuth, who wrote the book Rethinking Church Music, said 1970s will see a marked acceptance of rock-influenced music in all levels of church music. The rock style will become familiar to all people, its rhythmic excesses will become refined. Larry Norman is often remembered as the father of Christian rock and he is remembered as the artist who first combined rock n roll with Christian lyrics in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Unlike traditional or southern gospel music, this new Jesus music was birthed out of rock, pioneers of this movement also included Keith Green, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Barry McGuire, Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, Evie, Benny Hester, and The Imperials, among others. The small Jesus music culture had expanded into an industry by the 1980s. Many CCM artists such as Benny Hester, Amy Grant, DC Talk, Michael W. Smith, Stryper, the genre emerged and became prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s. Beginning in July 1978, CCM Magazine began covering Contemporary Christian Music artists and it has certain themes and messages behind the songs and their lyrics including Praise and worship, faith, encouragement, and prayer. These songs also focus on themes of devotion, inspiration, redemption, reconciliation, many people listen to contemporary Christian music for comfort through tough times. The lyrics and messages conveyed in CCM songs are aimed to evangelize, one of the earliest goals of CCM was to spread the news of Jesus to non-Christians. In addition, contemporary Christian music also strengthens the faith of believers, Contemporary Christian music has influences from folk, gospel, pop and rock music
16.
Momentum (TobyMac album)
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Momentum is the debut studio album from American recording artist TobyMac. It was released on November 6,2001, through ForeFront Records, the album was well received and was nominated for a Grammy. It contains a message of tolerance and diversity in society, musically it has an urban pop sound which HM commented contains shadows of early DC Talk material. In 2003, Re, Mix Momentum was released, in the later months of 2000, DC Talk, announced plans to take a hiatus. In November an album, Intermission, The Greatest Hits, was released to commemorate the split, the next album, Solo, released on April 24,2001, indicated that solo careers were impending. The first two releases were, Empty, released July 3 by Tait, and Stereotype Be released August 28 by Kevin Max. Momentums release was pushed due to the September 11 attacks. Jesus Freak Hideouts John DiBiase claimed Momentum does in fact live up to its title and it has, slamming the listener with truthful lyrics, an honest message, and infectious rhythms and rhymes. Ashleigh Kittle of AllMusic stated Momentum, an album reminiscent of DC Talks early work and it is intricately detailed with layers of musical depth, combined with strong social messages such as racial reconciliation. And so it is with this release that tobyMac continues to reveal that he is indeed a modern day Renaissance man, the mixture of so many styles on this project made it tricky to place it under a category — perhaps rock would have been just as apt. But dont let that put you off, as the production and lyrical quality is suburb, with talented contributions coming from the likes of DJ Form, DJ Maj, Pete Stewart, Mooki, a great album for group playing and personal listening as there is something for everyone
17.
Welcome to Diverse City
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Welcome to Diverse City is the second full-length studio album released by Christian singer TobyMac. The songs on this deal with racial tolerance in society. Several other Christian artists appear on this CD, including Bootsy Collins, Coffee from GRITS, DJ Maj, Papa San, Paul Wright, Superchick, TobyMac also reunites dc Talk on vocals in a remix of his song Atmosphere, the last track of the album. Guest appearances Coffee from GRITS Truett McKeehan AKA Tru-Dog dc Talk M. O. C, Papa San Superchic Bootsy Collins On 2005, the album won a Dove Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards. Songs from Welcome to Diverse City, particularly The Slam, featured many mainstream appearances, the Slam is the lead track for the opening episode of Prison Break Season One. The Slam was also used in the movies Into the Blue, Crank, the Slam was also used by wrestler Matt Cappotelli as an entrance theme while in OVW, a WWE developmental territory. Catchafire appeared in the 2005 Usher film In the Mix, gone appeared on the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of The Bible Game, released in 2005. Diverse City appears on the Xbox dance game Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 4, Diverse City also appears on the show Veronica Mars in the episode The Wrath of Con. The song can be heard in the background at the party that Veronica. Additionally, songs from Welcome to Diverse City were published on four consecutive WOW Hits albums, phenomenon appeared on WOW Hits 2004. Gone appeared on WOW Hits 2005, Atmosphere, featuring dc Talk, appeared on WOW Hits 2006. A Shortwave Radio Mix of Burn for You appeared on WOW Hits 2007
18.
Portable Sounds
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Portable Sounds is the third full-length studio album from Christian pop rock and hip hop artist tobyMac. It was released on February 20,2007, and debuted at No.10 on the Billboard 200, the album includes the singles Lose My Soul, Made to Love, Boomin, Im for You, and One World. This album took a different direction than tobyMacs previous hip hop efforts. When it was released on iTunes, users were able to download a behind-the-scenes making of the video, a digital booklet. Portable Sounds was released on February 20,2007 through ForeFront Records and it debuted at No.10 on the Billboard 200, tobyMacs highest chart position as a solo artist, selling 51,000 copies in its first week. In its second week on the Billboard 200, Portable Sounds fell to No,38, in its third week to No. 47, and in its fourth week it fell to No.63, a Deluxe Edition of Portable Sounds was released on October 23,2007. The Deluxe Edition includes the original CD, plus a DVD containing all five videos, behind-the-scenes footage. On November 14,2008 the album was certified Gold by the RIAA, the tracks Feelin So Fly and Im For You were featured in the video game Thrillville, Off the Rails. After the album was put out Toby went on tour and he did the tour with Thousand Foot Krutch and BarlowGirl. On their show in Cypress, Texas, they recorded their Grammy Award winning album, Alive, Made to Love reached No.1 on Billboards Hot Christian Songs chart. It was also No.1 for 9 consecutive weeks on R&Rs Christian Hit Radio Chart and was the second most played song on Christian CHR radio stations in 2007 and it reached No.3 on R&Rs Christian AC Chart. Boomin was the single to have an official music video. This video won a GMA Dove Award, on radio it charted only on the lower half of R&Rs Christian Rock Radio chart. Im for You reached No.2 on Billboards Hot Christian Songs chart and it also was No.1 for 8 consecutive weeks on R&Rs Christian Hit Radio Chart and was the third most played song on Christian CHR radio stations in 2007. It reached No.10 on R&Rs Christian AC Chart and it also appeared in the soundtrack of Thrillville, Off The Rails One World reached No.10 on Billboards Hot Christian Songs chart. It was also No.1 for 3 non consecutive weeks on R&Rs Christian Hit Radio Chart and it was the seventh most-played song on R&R magazines Christian CHR chart for 2008. A remix of One World appears on the Hip Hope Hits 2009 compilation, Lose My Soul reached No.2 on Billboards Hot Christian Songs chart, and No.9 on iTunes
19.
Tonight (TobyMac album)
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Tonight is the fourth full-length solo album by Christian hip hop artist TobyMac. It is the album to his 2007 release Portable Sounds. The Deluxe Version of the album contain a DVD containing interviews with Toby about the songs on the record, the making of this record. The album debuted at No.6 on the Billboard 200, as of early November 2010, the album has sold over 315,000 copies. I have a lot of passion when it comes to my records, I dont know if its good or bad, but theres this range of emotions that come with making a record. Music is something that can actually open people’s minds to who God is, Music will never change the world, but God can choose to use music, and thats what I count on. I want my songs to be said in a way that anyone can relate to them, City on Our Knees was released as the lead single from the album on August 14,2009. It peaked at No.1 on Billboards Hot Christian Songs chart, on January 26,2010, Get Back Up was released as the albums second single. The song also peaked at No.1 on Billboards Hot Christian Songs chart and he donated 100% of his artist royalties from first week sales of the single to relief efforts for Haiti after the earthquake that devastated the country. The third single from the album, Hold On, was released on October 19,2010, Tonight was released as the fourth single on March 21,2011. It was used as the theme for MLB Networks spring training team preview show,30 Clubs in 30 Days, a music video for the song was released on February 8,2010. Both Start Somewhere and Changed Forever impacted Christian radio as the fifth and sixth singles from the album on October 10,2011, Showstopper was used as a part of the NFL Thursday Night Football promotional material, and the 2009 World Series. It also has been the theme song for the WWE Fatal 4-Way Pay-Per View event. Showstopper and Funky Jesus Music were both premiered at the Winter Wonder Slam 09 Tour, the album won a Dove Award for Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year at the 42nd GMA Dove Awards. The songs Get Back Up, Tonight and Showstopper were also nominated
20.
Eye on It
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Eye on It is the sixth solo studio album by TobyMac, released on August 28,2012. A deluxe version of the album was also released, the album experiments more with electronic music, primarily dubstep. Me Without You was released as the first single from the album on June 12,2012, the album won Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards. Eye on It received mostly positive reviews from critics, kim Jones of About. com rated the album four out of five stars, praising TobyMacs ability to provide fresh new music while staying true to his Christian base. Also, AllMusics James Christopher Monger rated the album four out of five, in addition, Matt Conner of CCM Magazine gave it the same rating, with saying that TobyMac keeps things fun and light, summery vibe throughout. Likewise, Jono Davies of Louder Than the Music gave the album the same rating, and told that With this album you will find yourself dancing, thinking, crying and dreaming, but especially dancing. Tyler Hess of Christian Music Zine gave the album a 4. 25-out-of-a-five, finally, George Welsted of Christian Music Review gave the album a perfect five and called it Masterfully Composed and Fresh. However, some critics were less favorable, indie Vision Musics Jonathan Andre rated the album three out of five, but praised TobyMacs ability to continually reinvent himself and speak to young people everywhere. Calvin Moore of The Christian Manifesto, however, was highly negative, with a few exceptions, this endeavor is wholly forgettable. Moore did find reason to praise Lose Myself, feeling that it is the one track showcases Toby Mac doing what he does well, the album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart selling 69,000 copies in total. Out of these,35,000 were digital downloads and this was TobyMacs first No.1 and only the third Christian album to open at that position. It also was No.1 on the Christian Albums charts, according to Billboard, this was the first time a Christian album opened in the top spot on the 200 chart since LeAnn Rimes You Light Up My Life, Inspirational Songs in 1997. The album beat out the hip-hop group Slaughterhouses album Welcome to, in its second week of release, the album fell to No.8 selling 26,000 copies, bringing the total to 95,000 copies. The album has sold 266,000 copies in the US as of June 2015, TobyMac discusses Eye On It Eye On It Lyrics
21.
This Is Not a Test (album)
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Toby McKeehan, better known by his stage name TobyMac, is a Christian hip hop recording artist, music producer, hip-hop and pop artist, songwriter and author. TobyMac has charted 20 solo singles on Billboards Christian Songs list and he was first known for being a member of the Christian vocal trio DC Talk, staying with them from 1987 until their announced hiatus in 2000. He now has a remix album titled Eyem All Mixed Up. He also has a full-length Christmas album Christmas in Diverse City, TobyMac became only the third Christian artist to have a No.1 debut on Billboard 200 chart with Eye on It. Between DC Talk and his own career, he has sold more than 10 million albums. TobyMac has had six No.1 hit CHR singles including Gone, Made to Love and Lose My Soul. Five singles have gone to No.1 on Billboards Christian Songs chart and his live concert CD+DVD combo album, Alive and Transported, was released in 2008 and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album at the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009. His fifth studio album, Eye on It, was released on August 28,2012, toby formed DC Talk with Michael Tait in 1987, at Liberty University. He and Tait released Christian Rhymes to a Rhythm in 1988, while they recruited classmate, the three set out on tour after they released their first album in 1989, DC Talk. In 1990, they released their first gold album, Nu Thang, after the Nu Thang tour, they recorded their first platinum album, Free at Last. The Free at Last Tour was a success and they were invited to play on The Jay Leno Show and The Arsenio Hall Show, getting mainstream attention. They released their first single for their album, which immediately became a hit single. The album went multi-platinum and the best Christian album in the face of CCM music, Jesus Freak, the album led to the extremely popular Jesus Freak World Tour. They eventually released the tour CD, Welcome to the Freakshow, in 1996, Between You and Me reached No.29 on the Hot 100. The tour ended in success in time for Supernatural, which would be their last album and they then went solo in 2001. The band has not toured together since 2001, the last album with the group was Solo. In 2001, TobyMac released his first solo album titled Momentum, McKeehan composed and recorded the song Extreme Days for the 2001 Truth Builder Productions film Extreme Days, which was featured on the Momentum album. Momentum, debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in the Nov.24 issue, the song Extreme Days was also used in the movie Hangmans Curse, based on the popular book by Frank Peretti
22.
Renovating Diverse City
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Renovating→Diverse City is the fourth album released by Christian recording artist tobyMac. All the tracks are remixes of songs from tobyMacs previous CD, Welcome to Diverse City, some remixes include new or revised pieces of the original song. Several other Christian artists make appearances on this CD, including DJ Maj, Paul Wright, Tricia Brock of Superchick, and Tobys son Truett as truDog. The Catchafire remix was once in the Top 5 songs on Christian-HipHop. net and, since it became as popular as it did, is often mistaken for the original mix of Catchafire
23.
Dubbed and Freq'd: A Remix Project
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Dubbed and Freqd, A Remix Project is the ninth album released by Christian recording artist tobyMac. It was released by ForeFront Records on March 23,2012, the album contains remix versions of songs from tobyMacs albums Portable Sounds and Tonight. The album art is a mixture of the waves from the Portable Sounds album cover mixed with the buildings on the Tonight album cover. Notes Tracks 6 and 10 are on the edition of Tonight. Tracks 8 and 11 are on the iTunes Store version of Portable Sounds
24.
Christmas in Diverse City
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Christmas in Diverse City is TobyMacs first full-length Christmas album and fifth full-length studio album. It was released on October 4,2011, Christmas in Diverse City garnered a positive reception from music critics. At CCM Magazine, Grace S. Aspinwall rated the album four stars, lins Honeyman of Cross Rhythms rated the album seven out of ten and said that the release was undeniably accomplished, noting that some listeners may not like the part-time performance by the artist. Sarah Fine of New Release Tuesday rated the release four-and-a-half stars, at Christian Music Zine, Tyler Hess rated the album the same as Fine, writing that even though the artist steps back on the project the release is still a worthy one. At The Christian Manifesto, Calvin Moore rated the album three-and-a-half stars, jamie Lee Rake of The Phantom Tollbooth rated the album the same as Moore, and felt that the effort doesnt disappoint. However, Ryan Barbee and Roger Gelwicks of Jesus Freak Hideout were mixed toward the album, Gelwicks stated that Pairing Christmas spirit and TobyMacs musical genius could have been a classic combination, but the outcome seems to prove otherwise
25.
Made to Love
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Made to Love is a song by contemporary Christian singer tobyMac from his third album, Portable Sounds. It was released as the lead single on December 26,2006. This was also included on the album, WOW Hits 2008. Made to Love is generally considered a Christian worship song, both musically and lyrically and it has been labeled as having a laidback groove with a neo soul sound. Toby has said it was meant to be released on the Welcome to Diverse City album, the idea of the song and chorus existed for over 4–5 years prior to the actual release. He has said it was barely done in time for Portable Sounds as well, Made to Love was released on December 26,2006, in both the digital download and CD formats, and includes a musical mayhem remix by Matt Bronleewe. The song quickly began to climb on R&Rs contemporary hit radio chart at the start of 2007, at the end of 2007, it placed as the second top-played song on R&Rs Christian CHR chart for the year, and the seventh most played song on Christian AC radio. That year the song received a total of more than 23,800 plays on the Christian CHR format, the song was received relatively well by music critics. Allmusic reviewer Rick Anderson said that the song felt perfectly natural — though he does sound a bit too much like a Sting imitator during the reggae interlude near the end of Made to Love. Kim Jones of About. com considered it to be tobyMacs best song of his solo career, in 2008, the song was nominated for a Dove Award for Song of the Year at the 39th GMA Dove Awards. The song also received a Grammy nomination in 2008 for Best Gospel Song, all tracks written by Toby McKeehan, Cary Barlowe, Jamie Moore & Aaron Rice. Made to Love lyrics at MTV. com Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
26.
Third Day
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Third Day is a Christian rock band formed in Marietta, Georgia during the 1990s. The band was founded by lead singer Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee, drummer David Carr is a current band member. The bands name is a reference to the accounts of Jesus rising from the dead on the third day following his crucifixion. The band was inducted in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on September 19,2009 and they have sold over 7 million albums in the United States and had 28 number one radio hits. Their fans are known as Gomers after a song on their second album about Gomer, in 1991, high-schoolers Mac Powell and Mark Lee formed Third Day as a Christian music group with pianist Billy Wilkins and guitarist August McCoy. McCoy left the year to pursue tertiary education. At a 1992 event at Lees Church, Third Day performed alongside a band called the Bullard Family Singers, Third Day invited Carr and Anderson to join them shortly after. In 1993, the band started playing frequently in the Atlanta region in order to save money to record an album. Wilkins left the group in order to pursue his teaching career, Third Day recorded at Furies Studios in Atlanta and with the production help of Carr, Long Time Forgotten was released in 1994, producing and selling 2,000 copies. In 1995, the band started looking for a second guitarist, upon hearing Brad Avery play with singer Chris Carder, Avery was asked to audition. After playing Consuming Fire during the first rehearsal, Avery was officially asked to join the band, the bands second album, Contagious, was self-financed for $3,000 and recorded at Furies Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. 1,000 CDs and cassette copies of the demo were released, while playing in Marietta, at the Strand Theatre, the owners offered the band a contract to sign with new independent record label Gray Dot Records. The band released the album Third Day, which sold 20,000 copies, shortly after, Reunion Records bought out their Grey Dot contract and signed the band to a multi-album deal. Reunion Records released the now official version of Third Day, which has sold over 300,000 copies and was received by critics. The album also yielded their only mainstream rock hit in the U. S. Nothing at All, which peaked at No.34 on the Billboard rock charts, later in 1995, Christian music headliner Newsboys asked Third Day to open for them at five West Coast shows. The band also launched their own 65-city tour with All Star United, in 1996, the band was nominated for a Dove Award in the category of New Artist of the Year and their video for Consuming Fire won a Billboard Music Award in the category of Best Christian Video. In 1997, the band started working on their second album, the album was produced by Sam Taylor, who had previously worked with Kings X and other Christian bands
27.
Alive and Transported
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Alive and Transported is a live album by Christian hip hop artist tobyMac. It was released on May 27,2008 and debuted at No.112 on the Billboard 200 and it is currently sold as a CD/DVD combo. The live show recorded for the album was played on Monday, June 9,2008. The film was filmed at the Richard E. Berry Educational Support Center in Cypress, at the 51st Grammy Awards of February 2009, Alive and Transported won the Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album award. TobyMac said, Its an honor to win my first Grammy as a solo artist, I still cant believe it, its truly humbling. My band and I worked hard on this project and it really is the culmination of diverse people collaborating
28.
51st Annual Grammy Awards
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The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8,2009. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, Krauss became the sixth female solo artist to have won 5 awards in one night joining Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Beyoncé Knowles, and Amy Winehouse. Lil Wayne received the most nominations with eight, the awards broadcast won a 2009 Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special. LL Cool J Duffy Whitney Houston T-Pain Al Green Natalie Cole Kanye West Herbie Hancock Green Day Blink-182 Sean Combs Morgan Freeman Charlie Haden Estelle Jack Black Zooey Deschanel will. i. I. A, blige Back of My Lac - J. Holiday First Love - Karina Year of the Gentleman - Ne-Yo Fearless - Jazmine Sullivan Best Rap Solo Performance A Milli – Lil Wayne Roc Boys, – Jay-Z Paris, Tokyo – Lupe Fiasco N. I. *. *. E. R. Best Latin Pop Album La Vida, the artists who won five before her are Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Beyoncé Knowles, and Amy Winehouse. However, at the next year, Beyoncé surpassed the record by gaining six such awards. M. The four Grammys Lil Wayne won were the first ever Grammy Award wins in his Career, after a four-year hiatus, pop-punk band Blink-182 announced their reunion before giving the award for rock album of the year to alternative rock band Coldplay. Official Site Winners NARAS CBS GRAMMY Site
29.
September 11 attacks
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The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11,2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia and it was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed respectively. Suspicion for the attack fell on al-Qaeda. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded the powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent terrorist attacks. Although al-Qaedas leader, Osama bin Laden, initially denied any involvement, al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U. S. support of Israel, the presence of U. S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. Having evaded capture for almost a decade, bin Laden was located and killed by SEAL Team Six of the U. S. Navy in May 2011. S. many closings, evacuations, and cancellations followed, out of respect or fear of further attacks. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, on November 18,2006, construction of One World Trade Center began at the World Trade Center site. The building was opened on November 3,2014. The origins of al-Qaeda can be traced to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan and helped organize Arab mujahideen to resist the Soviets. Under the guidance of Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden became more radical, in 1996, bin Laden issued his first fatwā, calling for American soldiers to leave Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden used Islamic texts to exhort Muslims to attack Americans until the stated grievances are reversed, Muslim legal scholars have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries, according to bin Laden. Bin Laden, who orchestrated the attacks, initially denied but later admitted involvement, in November 2001, U. S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. In the video, bin Laden is seen talking to Khaled al-Harbi, on December 27,2001, a second bin Laden video was released. In the video, he said, It has become clear that the West in general and it is the hatred of crusaders. Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to stop its support for Israel, the transcript refers several times to the United States specifically targeting Muslims. He said that the attacks were carried out because, we are free, and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours, Bin Laden said he had personally directed his followers to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
30.
Extreme Days
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Extreme Days is a 2001 Christian-based comedy romance film about four boys on a roadtrip that they have been planning their whole lives. Their dreams are to participate in extreme sports, but they are stopped short due to many circumstances. Four childhood friends, Will, Brian, Corey, and Matt, have been saying that since they were kids their dream is to surf, skate, and snowboard across California. After graduating from college, it is now their time. Never having so much freedom in their lives, they decide to go to Mexico where they surf the fierce, unexpectedly, Corey receives a phone call and is told of the death of his grandfather, Grandpa G. His stepdad Frank tells him that his grandpa left him a bunch of money and his car, so Corey has to travel up to Yakima, Washington to get it. The friends, all being very close to Grandpa G. decide they will all go, counting on the fact that once they get there, theyll have more than enough money to get back. While taking care of unfinished business, the group runs into Matts beautiful cousin Jessie. Brian is immediately infatuated with her, but, not wanting to make things easy for him, Jessie avoids Brian, making him all the more determined to get to her. Corey then makes a bet with Brian that by the end of the trip, as the trip continues, through a series of paintball fights and late night phone calls, Jessie and Brian get closer and closer. Having been hurt in the past, Jessie has a hard time trusting Brian and she knew all along about the bet, but because of her convictions and some harsh words on Brians part, she decides she has to leave, however much it would hurt. Cold, wet, and heartbroken, the cross the Washington border and arrive at the home of Grandma G. Coreys stepdad turns out to be a nightmare, as the only inheritance Corey was left with was a junked-out car, with no way of getting home, the only option they have is to sell the car and hope they get enough money for the trip home. While looking through a paper and eating some of Grandpa Gs snake meat, with the help of Grandma G, they sell the car left by Grandpa G online for $1,500. Only one thing can make this a good ending, having Jessie back, Brian knows he messed up with Jessie and is truly sorry for what hes done. In a last attempt to get her back, Brian and the head to the University of Washington where she is giving a freshman orientation. Brian apologizes for what he did, telling Jessie that hes never known anyone like her — she woke him up and he asks her to come with them, but she tearfully says that she cant just get up and go. Matt gives her her plane ticket before the four friends leave, with hope, Brian waits at the airport for Jessie, but she does not come
31.
Roswell (TV series)
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Roswell is an American science fiction television series developed, produced, and co-written by Jason Katims. The series debuted on October 6,1999 on The WB and moved to UPN for the third season, in the United Kingdom, the show aired as both Roswell High and Roswell. The series is based on the Roswell High young adult series, written by Melinda Metz and edited by Laura J. Burns. The pilot episode was filmed in 12 days with a budget of $2,000,000, the Morning After, the second episode of the series, was the first episode with the full title sequence utilizing the theme song, Here With Me by Dido. Roswell was filmed in locations around California. The series premiered on October 6,1999 on The WB Television Network in the United States to generally favorable reviews, moore was brought in to join Katims as an executive producer and showrunner and to further develop the science fiction elements of the show. 20th Century Fox was able to persuade UPN to pick it up for a season as a package deal when UPN outbid The WB for one of its popular flagship series. This eventually resulted in the cancellation from UPN as well. The pilot is set in 1999 and we are introduced to Liz Parker, Maria DeLuca, and Alex Whitman, high school students and best friends residing in the small town of Roswell, New Mexico, site of the famed Roswell UFO incident. Liz Parkers parents own the Crashdown Café, which serves alien-themed dishes, at the beginning of the pilot, Liz is waitressing in her parents restaurant when a disagreement between two customers breaks out. A gun goes off, and Liz is accidentally shot and we are now introduced to a character named Max Evans, a seemingly normal high school student, who rushes to Lizs aid and heals the gunshot wound by placing his hand over it, saving her life. The healing leaves a hand print on her stomach. In order to hide what he has done, Max pours ketchup on Liz before fleeing the scene with his friend Michael Guerin, the shooting acts as a catalyst for the rest of the series action. Liz is presented as a curious character, obtaining a sample of Maxs saliva, analyzes. When she confronts, him, Max admits that he, his sister Isabel, in dialogue between other characters we learn that Max, Isabel, and Michael had a pattern of isolating themselves from other students. A love triangle begins between Max, Liz, and Kyle Valenti, though sworn to tell no one, Liz does divulge Maxs secret to Maria in the pilot. Eventually Alex also learns about the alien, secrecy and the tension that surrounds secrets become major themes of the series, important to character development relationships, and plot. Two romances develop between human and alien characters, Liz and Maxs romance is portrayed as a tender and sweet, Michael and Marias as passionate and often explosive
32.
Xbox 360
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The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the console in the Xbox series. The Xbox 360 competed with Sonys PlayStation 3 and Nintendos Wii as part of the generation of video game consoles. The Xbox 360 was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12,2005, with detailed launch, the Xbox 360 features an online service, Xbox Live, which was expanded from its previous iteration on the original Xbox and received regular updates during the consoles lifetime. In addition to multimedia features, the Xbox 360 allows users to stream media from local PCs. Several peripherals have been released, including controllers, expanded hard drive storage. The release of additional services and peripherals helped the Xbox brand grow from gaming-only to encompassing all multimedia. Launched worldwide across 2005–2006, the Xbox 360 was initially in short supply in many regions, including North America, the earliest versions of the console suffered from a high failure rate, indicated by the so-called Red Ring of Death, necessitating an extension of the devices warranty period. Microsoft released two redesigned models of the console, the Xbox 360 S in 2010, and the Xbox 360 E in 2013. As of June 2014,84 million Xbox 360 consoles have sold worldwide, making it the sixth-highest-selling video game console in history. The Xbox 360s successor, the Xbox One, was released on November 22,2013, on April 20,2016, Microsoft announced that it would end the production of new Xbox 360 hardware, although the company will continue to support the platform. Known during development as Xbox Next, Xenon, Xbox 2, Xbox FS or NextBox, in February 2003, planning for the Xenon software platform began, and was headed by Microsofts Vice President J Allard. That month, Microsoft held an event for 400 developers in Bellevue, also that month, Peter Moore, former president of Sega of America, joined Microsoft. On August 12,2003, ATI signed on to produce the graphic processing unit for the new console, before the launch of the Xbox 360, several Alpha development kits were spotted using Apples Power Mac G5 hardware. This was because the systems PowerPC970 processor running the same PowerPC architecture that the Xbox 360 would eventually run under IBMs Xenon processor, the cores of the Xenon processor were developed using a slightly modified version of the PlayStation 3s Cell Processor PPE architecture. According to David Shippy and Mickie Phipps, the IBM employees were hiding their work from Sony and Toshiba, jeff Minter created the music visualization program Neon which is included with the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 was released on November 22,2005, in the United States and Canada, December 2,2005, in Europe and December 10,2005, in Japan. It was later launched in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and Russia
33.
Crackdown
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Crackdown is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Realtime Worlds and distributed by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America on February 20,2007, Crackdown was conceived by Realtime Worlds founder, David Jones, who also created Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings. Set in the fictional Pacific City, the controls a biologically enhanced Agent. The Agents abilities improve by defeating both crime lords and their supporters, as well as by completing activities, such as street races. The gameplay is nonlinear, instead of following a rigid mission sequence, players are free to select the approach to completing their missions, the game features a two-player cooperative play mode via Xbox Live. Crackdown, initially planned for release on the original Xbox console, was envisioned as a vast world in which players could experiment, Microsoft Game Studios bundled specifically marked copies of Crackdown with an access code to the multiplayer test version of the much-anticipated Halo 3 Beta. The game sold 1.5 million copies in its first six months of release and it received critical acclaim and has garnered several awards for its innovative gameplay. A sequel, Crackdown 2, was released in July 2010 by Ruffian Games without Jones input, Crackdown takes place in the fictional metropolis of Pacific City, whose several districts and areas are divided among four islands. The city is controlled by three organizations, Los Muertos, of Central American origin, an Eastern European gang, the Volk. Normally, an organization called the Peacekeepers kept the city under control, their forces. The Agency is based out of a hotel in the very centre of the city. The player takes on the role of one of their Agents, the Agents actions are continuously monitored by the Agency, and its Director provides continuous reports to him of his progress. Throughout the game, the player roams Pacific City, systematically eliminating the leaders, upon defeating the gangs Kingpins and generals, the Agent must put down a final riot by the remaining gang members in the area which after completion will cause that city to be almost crime free. The Agency Directors comments suggest that the Agency will replicate this plan in other cities across the globe to create a New World Order, Crackdown is a third-person shooter set in a sandbox environment, akin to Mercenaries, Playground of Destruction. It is at the discretion whether to kill the Generals or skip them entirely before facing the Kingpin. However, the gangs cannot be eradicated from the city without tracking down and killing all Generals. Crackdown features a series of character-based skills that can be upgraded to increase specific traits that can be used in combat, driving, crackdowns skills make few concessions to realism, character abilities are similar to those of comic book superheroes or cartoon characters. This concept is further highlighted by the ink-like outlines drawn around in-game characters, skills are usually improved by gaining experience orbs, which are released from defeated enemies
34.
Impact Wrestling
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Impact Wrestling is a privately held American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee and founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002. The promotion was known as NWA, Total Nonstop Action and was associated with the National Wrestling Alliance. After the agreement ended in 2007, the company created its own TNA World Heavyweight and it is the only major American promotion to predominantly make use of a six-sided wrestling ring. The concept of TNA originated shortly after World Championship Wrestling ended in 2001, bob Ryder, Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett went on a fishing trip and contemplated their futures in the professional wrestling business. Only one wrestling product remained on United States national television, the World Wrestling Federation, the Jarretts found the financial backing they needed and the company put on its first show on June 19,2002. That night, however, in a match just before they went on the air. The estimated repair time was 30–60 minutes, which they did not have because the schedule called for them to go live in a few minutes, whether the ring was ready or not. Backstage, the producers shuffled the schedule so that some non-wrestling segments went first to give the crew some more time. The ring crew fixed the rope with the help of Ron and Don Harris, initially, TNAs weekly pay-per-view show operated as the companys main source of revenue, in place of monthly pay-per-view events used by other promotions. These shows took place mostly at the Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, after 27 months and 111 pay-per-view events, TNA began holding a weekly television show and monthly three-hour pay-per-views. The last weekly pay-per-view took place on September 8,2004, Xplosion launched on November 27,2002 as TNAs first regular cable show and featured exclusive matches from the TNA Asylum as well as exclusive interviews with TNA wrestlers. On November 18,2004, the became a recap show of the previous weeks Impact. in light of alterations in the taping schedule. Xplosion resumed airing exclusive matches once more on October 7,2005 in addition to recapping Impact, the Xplosion Xclusives also aired on the now-ceased TNA Global Impact. Airing of Xplosion in the United States ceased at the end of 2006, in May 2004, TNA introduced a television program, Impact. produced at Soundstage 21 at Universal Studios Florida and broadcast on Fox Sports. In November 2004, TNA held the first of these pay-per-views, Victory Road, the television contract with Fox Sports expired in May 2005 and was not renegotiated, leaving TNA without television exposure. This prompted TNA to air Impact, via webcasts – originally made available via BitTorrent and eventually via RealPlayer – and on Urban America Television replacing Xplosion. During this time, TNA continued pursuing a television deal for regular broadcasting, would later secured a deal with Spike TV. In October 2006, TNA began holding select pay-per-views outside of its filming location
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Sting (wrestler)
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Steve Borden, better known by the ring name Sting, is an American retired professional wrestler, actor, author and former bodybuilder signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Borden is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Stings 14-year tenure with WCW and its predecessor, Jim Crockett Promotions, began in 1987. Sting has been described as the WCW counterpart to the WWFs Hulk Hogan, against Hogan, upon the acquisition of WCW by the WWF in March 2001, Sting and his long-term rival Ric Flair were chosen to perform in the main event of the final episode of Nitro. He is the man to hold the NWA, WCW. His last ever bout, at Night of Champions in 2015, marked his sole pay-per-view main event, Sting headlined the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2016 on April 2, where he announced his retirement. His induction renders him the first performer to be inducted into both the WWE and TNA Hall of Fame, as well as the man to be inducted while an active WWE wrestler, after Ric Flair. Sting held 25 total championships throughout his career, including 21 between WCW and TNA, readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him Most Popular Wrestler of the Year on four occasions, a record he shares with John Cena. In 2016, Sting was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, sports wrote that he holds a lofty level of prestige that few will ever touch. Steve Borden was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Southern California and he played competitive football and basketball in high school, and later embarked on a career in bodybuilding, once co-owning a Golds Gym health club. Borden is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, Borden, originally wrestling under the ring name Flash, teamed with Jim Justice Hellwig as two members of Power Team USA in independent All-California Championship Wrestling. Power Team USA was a unit also featuring Garland Glory Donahoe and Mark Commando Miller. Hellwig and Borden later moved to the Continental Wrestling Association, a company based in Memphis, Tennessee. Fans were slow to respond to the hulks, so the team turned heel. The Freedom Fighters left the CWA after a run, the highlight of which was an angle in which they broke the leg of veteran wrestler Phil Hickerson. The duo surfaced in the Universal Wrestling Federation, a run by Bill Watts and based in Shreveport. Borden changed his name from Flash to Sting, while Hellwig became known as Rock. They soon joined Hotstuff & Hyatt International, a stable headed by Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert. Together with Russian wrestler Kortsia Korchenko, the Blade Runners became henchmen in Gilberts on-screen feud with Watts, Hellwig, who would later become The Ultimate Warrior in the World Wrestling Federation, left the promotion in mid-1986, leaving Sting without a partner
