Kurtis Walker, professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record/film producer, b-boy, DJ, public speaker and minister. He is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label. "The Breaks", a single from his 1980 self-titled debut album, is the first certified gold record rap song. Throughout his career he has released 17 albums and is currently an ordained minister.
"Mayday" is a song by Christian hip hop recording artist Lecrae, featuring guest vocals from fellow American rapper Big K.R.I.T. and American Idol finalist Ashthon Jones. Released on August 30, 2012, it is the fourth single off the album Gravity, which was released on September 4, 2012. The song's lyrics focus on religion, spirituality, and the role of grandmothers in developing faith and stability. It features a confession by Big K.R.I.T in which he expresses frustration with Christian hypocrisy. The song has been well received by critics and is considered one of the best songs off the album, with the lush instrumental production by DJ Khalil and the vocals by Ashthon Jones attracting particular praise. Stylistically, "Mayday" is described as having both a very "raw" and "organic" sound and R&B flow, with "chaotic" and "funky" production.
Uzoamaka Nwanneka "Uzo" Aduba is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2015, and two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014 and 2015. She is one of only two actors to win an Emmy Award in both the comedy and drama categories for the same role.
The first season of the American comedy-drama television series Orange Is the New Black premiered on Netflix on July 11, 2013, at 12:00 am PST in multiple countries. It consists of thirteen episodes, each between 51–60 minutes. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison (2010), about her experiences at FCI Danbury, a minimum-security federal prison. Created and adapted for television by Jenji Kohan. In July 2011, Netflix was in negotiations with Lionsgate for a 13-episode TV adaptation of Kerman's memoirs. The series began filming in the old Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center in Rockland County, New York, on March 7, 2013. The title sequence features photos of real former female prisoners including Kerman herself.
Edwina Findley, also known as Edwina Findley Dickerson, is an American actress. Findley played the recurring roles in the HBO television dramas The Wire (2003–04) and Treme (2010–13), and from 2014 to 2020 starred as Kelly Isaacs, one of the lead characters in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, If Loving You Is Wrong.
Miles Ahead is a 2015 American biographical-drama film directed by Don Cheadle in his feature directorial debut, which Cheadle co-wrote with Steven Baigelman, Stephen J. Rivele, and Christopher Wilkinson, which interprets the life and compositions of jazz musician Miles Davis. The film stars Cheadle, Emayatzy Corinealdi, and Ewan McGregor, and closed the New York Film Festival on October 11, 2015. The film takes its title from Davis's 1957 album.
Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren is a fictional character played by Uzo Aduba on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. Warren is portrayed as intelligent, but lacking in social skills, and prone to spiral into emotional outbursts and delusions when agitated due to mental illness. She is a recurring character in season one and a regular character beginning with season two.
Seandrea Sledge, better known by her stage name Dreezy, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She signed with Interscope Records in 2014 where she released the studio albums No Hard Feelings (2016) and Big Dreez (2019). In 2020, she split from the label and released Hitgirl (2022), a collaboration album with Hit-Boy.
The Get Down is an American musical drama television series created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis. The series debuted on Netflix on August 12, 2016, and was cancelled after one season.
Yaneisha Franklin, better known by her stage name Sasha Go Hard, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois.
David Lawrence Brewster Jr., known professionally as Dave East, is an American rapper. East began his career in 2010, and gained attention in 2014 from his eighth mixtape, Black Rose. Its release garnered the attention of fellow New York rapper Nas, who signed East to his record label Mass Appeal Records, later in a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings.
No Hard Feelings is the debut studio album by American recording artist Dreezy. It was released on July 15, 2016, by Interscope Records. The nineteen-track project solely features guest appearances from rappers Gucci Mane and Wale, alongside these fellow American recording artists Jeremih and T-Pain.
"Family Feud" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z featuring American singer Beyoncé. It is taken from Jay-Z's thirteenth studio album 4:44 (2017) and was produced by No I.D. The song was released to British contemporary hit radio on January 26, 2018, as the album's third single.
Mrs. America is an American historical drama television miniseries produced by FX and originally aired on the sister streaming service FX on Hulu. Created and co-written by Davhi Waller and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Amma Asante, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, and Janicza Bravo, the series details the unsuccessful political movement to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and the unexpected backlash led by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly in the 1970s. It features a large ensemble cast led by Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Elizabeth Banks, Margo Martindale, John Slattery, Tracey Ullman, and Sarah Paulson.
Candyman is a 2021 supernatural slasher film directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, and DaCosta. The film is a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name and the fourth film in the Candyman film series, based on the short story "The Forbidden" by Clive Barker. The film stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and Colman Domingo with Vanessa Williams, Virginia Madsen, and Tony Todd reprising their roles from the original film.
Dayvon Daquan Bennett, known professionally as King Von, was an American drill rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He is largely considered one of the most influential figures who represent the drill genre.
Miss Virginia is an 2019 American drama film directed by R.J. Daniel Hanna and starring Uzo Aduba in a title role as a struggling inner-city mother who sacrifices everything to give her son a good education. Supporting cast include Matthew Modine, Niles Fitch, Amirah Vann, Adina Porter, Aunjanue Ellis, and Vanessa Williams. The film is based on a true story.
Painkiller is an American drama limited series made for Netflix and created by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. The six-episode series, which is based on Patrick Radden Keefe's New Yorker article "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain" and Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier, focuses on the birth of the opioid crisis, with an emphasis on Purdue Pharma, a company owned by Richard Sackler and his family that was the manufacturer of OxyContin. The Sackler family has been described as the "most evil family in America", and "the worst drug dealers in history".
The fifth season of Cobra Kai, also known as Cobra Kai V, was released to Netflix on September 9, 2022, and consisted of 10 episodes. The series is a direct sequel to the original four films in The Karate Kid franchise, focusing on the characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence over 30 years after the original film. This is the third season to be released to Netflix.
Khalil Everage is an American actor. He portrayed August Monroe opposite Anthony Anderson in the 2019 Netflix film Beats (2019). He also played Sian Cotton in Shooting Stars (2023). He also played Sean in the 2023 film The Crusades opposite Rudy Pankow and Indiana Massara. On television, he is known for playing Chris in Cobra Kai.
