Reginald Noble, better known by his stage name Redman, is an American rapper, DJ, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame in the early 1990s as an artist on the Def Jam label.
EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith. During an interview on college radio station WHOV in 1987, Parrish Smith stated that the name evolved from the original: "We were originally known as "EEPMD", but chose to go with EPMD because it was easier to say." He also stated that they dropped the two "E's" because N.W.A.'s Eric Wright was already using "Eazy-E" as his stage name. The group has been active for 35 years.
Meech Wells is an American record producer. He works primarily on hip hop music, and has produced or co-produced for Snoop Dogg and Shaquille O'Neal.
"Come Close" is a single by rapper Common featuring guest vocals by Mary J. Blige. The song is produced by Chad Hugo and Pharrell's production team, the Neptunes. Peaking at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Come Close" is the only song from Common's 2002 album Electric Circus to make an appearance on the national music chart. It was released in conjunction with a promo video directed by Sanaa Hamri and Questlove of the Roots. The song's lyrics are a loving marriage proposition to Common's then girlfriend Erykah Badu. Jack LV Isles of Allmusic describes it as a "slow-paced dialogue [...] that borders on typical," but will inevitably be a commercial success. Mark Anthony Neal of Pop Matters comments on its mainstream sound saying that it's not a "sell-out" track, just a "fly love song" in which the Neptunes "brought their A-game."
"Victory" is a song recorded by American hip hop recording artist Puff Daddy. The song was originally written by The Notorious B.I.G., Jason Phillips and Steven Jordan for his debut studio album No Way Out (1997). It features heavy use of mafioso-style lyrics, as was popular at the time. It features The Notorious B.I.G., who raps two verses, and Busta Rhymes, who raps the song's chorus. The song also heavily sampled the Bill Conti song "Going the Distance", which featured on the soundtrack to the movie Rocky making it a darker start to a rap album that featured many club-standard singles. The song was released as a single in 1998, peaking at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song featured the last verses recorded by The Notorious B.I.G. before his 1997 death as these verses were recorded a day before his shooting. The song was used for the EA Sports video game, Fight Night 2004, and the 2K Sports video game, NBA 2K13 by Puff Daddy and the Family featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes. This was re-used for the soundtrack of NBA 2K18. It was also used on professional wrestling, for Masahiro Chono's Team 2000 faction in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Shaq Diesel is the debut album by American professional basketball player and rapper Shaquille O'Neal, released on October 26, 1993 through Jive Records. The album features production from Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Def Jef, Erick Sermon, K-Cut and Meech Wells, and guest appearances from Def Jef, Phife Dawg and Fu-Schnickens.
"That's How I Beat Shaq" is a single from Aaron Carter's second album, Aaron's Party . Released in 2001, the single was released with the permission of Shaquille O'Neal. The song was used in the trailer for Hey Arnold!: The Movie.
Shaq Fu: Da Return is the second studio album by American basketball player and rapper Shaquille O'Neal. It was released on November 8, 1994, for Jive Records and featured production from Redman, Erick Sermon, Def Jef and Warren G. The album, while not as successful as his previous album, still found decent success, peaking at number 67 on the Billboard 200 and number 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
"Tonite's tha Night" is a song by American rap duo Kris Kross, released as the first single from their third and final album, Young, Rich & Dangerous (1996). It features background vocals from Trey Lorenz and has a remix that features Redman. The single was certified gold on January 17, 1996.
The Best of Shaquille O'Neal is the first compilation and third overall album by NBA player/rapper, Shaquille O'Neal. The album was released on November 12, 1996, just days before his third studio album, You Can't Stop the Reign, and was his last for Jive Records. Due to its release date, the album only featured songs from his first two albums, Shaq Diesel and Shaq-Fu: Da Return, as well as the Fu-Schnickens song, "What Up Doc? " from their album Nervous Breakdown.
The discography of former professional basketball player and rapper Shaquille O'Neal consists of four studio albums, two compilation albums, two soundtracks, one unreleased album, and nine singles. O'Neal played in the NBA from 1992 until 2011. Around 1993, O'Neal was signed to Jive Records where he released his debut album, Shaq Diesel, in that year. The album peaked at number 25 on the Billboard 200, number 10 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Shaq Diesel produced four singles. The first, "What's Up Doc? ", peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 56 on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, number 22 on Rap Songs, and was certified gold by the RIAA. The second, "(I Know I Got) Skillz", peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 20 on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, number 3 on Rap Songs, and was certified gold by the RIAA. It also peaked at number 34 on the New Zealand Singles Chart. The third, "I'm Outstanding", peaked at number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 29 on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 6 on Rap Songs. Internationally, it peaked at number 43 on the New Zealand Singles Chart and number 70 on the UK Singles Chart. The fourth, "Shoot Pass Slam", did not chart.
"Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" is a 1980 single by jazz trumpeter Tom Browne. The single—a memoir of the Jamaica neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens where Browne was born and raised—is from his second solo album, Love Approach. Browne got the idea for the song while he was at his parents' home. The vocals for the single were performed by Toni Smith, who also helped compose the song. The song hit number one on the US Billboard R&B chart for a month. "Funkin' for Jamaica" peaked at number nine on the dance chart and made the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, but it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
"I'm Outstanding" is the second single released from former professional basketball player Shaquille O'Neal's debut album, Shaq Diesel (1993). Produced by Erick Sermon, the single was a minor success, making it to 47 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Biological Didn't Bother" is the first single released from Shaquille O'Neal's second album, Shaq Fu: Da Return. It was released on October 17, 1994 with production from the LG Experience and Warren G. The single was a minor success, making it to number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is dedicated to Shaq's stepfather, Phillip A. Harrison and samples "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" by Pete Rock & CL Smooth.
"You Can't Stop the Reign" is the first single released from Shaquille O'Neal's third album, You Can't Stop the Reign. The song was moderately successful, making it to 54 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. Three versions of the song were released, the single version featuring three verses from Shaq, the album version, which featured 2 verses from The Notorious B.I.G. and a remix that was made by DJ Quik. The Notorious B.I.G.'s verse would later be posthumously re-used on "Unbreakable", the opening track of Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible. The song contains a sample of 1987 hit "You Can't Stop the Rain" by Loose Ends.
"Deeper" is the first single released from Boss' debut album, Born Gangstaz. Produced by Def Jef, "Deeper" was the most successful single Boss would release during her short career, becoming a #1 hit on the Hot Rap Singles and was her only single to reach the Billboard Hot 100.
"Head Banger", also "Headbanger", is the second single released from EPMD's fourth album, Business Never Personal.
"What's Up Doc? " is the lead single from Fu-Schnickens' second studio album, Nervous Breakdown. The song featured NBA star Shaquille O'Neal and was produced by Main Source member K-Cut. The song was a top-40 hit in 1993 and was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies.
"Man's Not Hot" is a novelty song by British comedian Michael Dapaah, released under the name Big Shaq. It samples an instrumental by GottiOnEm and Mazza, which was first used on 86's "Lurk" and later on "Let's Lurk" by 67 featuring Giggs. The song saw commercial success, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart. The song has been certified platinum in the United Kingdom by the BPI, indicating 600,000 combined sales and streams. The music video has also gained over 400 million views on YouTube.
Chylow Parker, known by the stage name Chyskillz, was an American record producer, beatmaker, DJ, hardcore rapper, and a member of multi-platinum hardcore rap group Onyx.
