History
The group was formed in December 1995 in the K-Town studios in Kaiserslautern. The members were American rapper Joe Thompson, who served in the U.S. Army during Operation Desert Storm and had a friendship with Rod. D from Fun Factory, as well as singer and fellow American Darren Tucker. The first single "Don't Look Any Further", a hip-hop version of the song of the same name of the M People received no attention; the second song "Vision of Life", however, became a hit in several European countries in the middle of 1996.
Shortly after the publication of "Vision of Life", Tucker had to leave the group due to disputes with his manager. He was replaced by Mike Dalien. The album Visions and the singles "Murder" over the case of O. J. Simpson, "Potion" and "Lovething/We Do It Like That" followed soon. Together with Flip Da Scrip, the group produced the song "Nothing Like Viva" as a hymn on the German music-television channel VIVA under the project name Hip Hop Alliance.
A second album, It Ain't Over, followed at the end of 1997. The song "Johnny B.", a cover version of The Hooters, became the group's largest hit and climbed to number four in the German single charts. Radio NRJ distinguished Down Low as the best rap act in 1997.
In the spring of 1998, the group created Rapper Against Racism in order to promote talented new singers and rappers (La Mazz, Trooper Da Don, Jay Supreme and others) and point a spot on racism still present in Germany at that time. In the autumn of 1998 the group released the album Third Dimension. The single "Once Upon A Time" could tie to past successes; the probably saddest song of the group contained elements from the music by Ennio Morricone for the epic spaghetti-Western film Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). With the song "H.I.V.", one drew the attention of the dangers of the AIDS virus.
After the publication of a greatest-hits album, the group took a break for 1+1⁄2 years. In 2001, the fourth album, The 4th Level, which was clearly an R&B-album, was released. Dalien left the group because of musical differences in 2001 at the beginning of the work on The 4th Level. His successor became Erick "Rick" Lamont Smith, who had already co-operated in the past with the group and had published some singles under the name La Mazz and Dressman. Since the German public had lost the interest in European rap in the meantime, the group could celebrate no further success in Germany. In 2002, the record company published a remix of Murder with samples of the rapper Warren G.
In 2003, the group released a DVD, Visions – The Singles 1997–2003. Shortly thereafter, Mike Dalien left the group and was replaced by Eric Lamont Smith. In the autumn of 2003, the single "Living in the Ghetto" appeared. The publication was, however, a single-handed attempt of the record company; the artists experienced only later of it, and for the lack of promotion the song found no commercial attention, but nevertheless became a club hit. Thompson accused SHIFT Music later of cannibalizing the group from money scarcities.
For 2004, an album, Down Low V / Adrenaline, was announced. But since the new style of the group did not please the record company, the album was not published. For a while it looked like as if the artists would possibly close a contract with a new label in the United States, for legal reasons probably under a new project name. However, in April 2005 Thompson announced that the group had settled the controversy with SHIFT and would work on new material again. The first song "Every Day (MMMM)" of the album Return of The Trendsetter was released 27 October 2006.
In June 2010, Dalien rejoined the group and Eric Smith left.
On 23 May 2014, Down Low released their comeback single "Friday Night". [3]
"Candy Shop" is the second single by rapper 50 Cent from his second commercial album, The Massacre (2005). It features Olivia and was written by 50 Cent and the song's producer, Scott Storch. The single was released through Interscope Records, Eminem's Shady Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records.
Bad Meets Evil is an American hip hop duo composed of Detroit-based rappers Royce da 5'9" (Bad) and Eminem (Evil). Formed in 1998, the duo's name comes from the namesake song from Eminem's The Slim Shady LP (1999), which featured Royce da 5'9". They debuted the same year with the release of the double single, "Nuttin' to Do" and "Scary Movies", the latter of which for the soundtrack to the 2000 horror comedy parody film Scary Movie. A decade later, the duo reunited to release an extended play (EP) to critical and commercial success.
D4L was an American hip hop group formed in 2003, composed of Atlanta-based rappers Fabo, Mook-B, Stoney, and Shawty Lo. They are best known for their 2005 hit single "Laffy Taffy", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2006.
American singer Usher has released nine studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 81 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive and RCA record labels. Usher has sold more than 33 million albums in the United States alone and over 65 million albums worldwide. With over 100 million total records sold worldwide, he is one of the best selling music artists of all time. He has nine Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and 18 Hot 100 top-ten singles. In 1994, Usher released his self-titled debut album in North America, producing three singles that had moderate chart success, and the album sold more than 500,000 copies. His follow-up 1997 album My Way sold over 8 million copies worldwide, becoming his breakthrough album. It is certified seven-times platinum in the US, and spawned three successful singles, including his first UK number-one "You Make Me Wanna..." and first US Hot 100 number-one song "Nice & Slow". Usher's success continued in 2001 with his third studio album 8701. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The album produced two number-one singles—"U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". In 2002, the album was certified five-times platinum in the US for sales of 5 million copies. As of 2010, its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
The discography of Ludacris, an American rapper, consists of nine studio albums, two compilation albums, one extended play (EP), six mixtapes, 89 singles and nine promotional singles. Thirty-five of those singles have charted in the Top 40 of the US Hot 100 chart.
American singer Kelly Rowland has released four studio albums, two compilation albums and a box set, four extended plays, three video albums and DVDs, 45 official, featuring, charity and promotional singles, and 55 music videos. She began her career in 1997 with one of the best-selling girl groups, Destiny's Child, who have sold around 60 million records worldwide.
American rapper Young Buck has released two studio albums, three independent albums, 6 collaborative albums, 32 mixtapes, 20 singles, and 27 music videos.
The discography of American rapper Juelz Santana consists of two studio albums, one compilation album, seven mixtapes, and 22 singles.
The discography of American rapper Sean Combs consists of five studio albums, two collaborative albums, one remix album and seventy-two singles – including thirty-three as a lead artist and thirty-nine as a featured artist.
American rapper Bow Wow has released six studio albums, twenty-six singles, fifty-one music videos, and eight mixtapes.
The discography of Fabolous, an American rapper, consists of seven studio albums, two extended plays, 58 singles, and eleven mixtapes, and amongst various other recordings. Throughout his career, he’s been primarily known as a flagship artist for Def Jam Recordings and Desert Storm Records, however, his first of three studio albums were released through Elektra and Atlantic Records.
This is the discography of Tony Yayo, an American rapper.
The discography of American rapper Eve consists of four studio albums, 37 singles, 5 promotional singles and 30 music videos.
This is the discography of R&B singer-songwriter Ray J.
The discography of Beastie Boys, an American hip hop group, consists of eight studio albums, four compilation albums, five video albums, seven extended plays, 40 singles and 44 music videos.
American singer Erykah Badu has released five studio albums, one live album, one compilation album, one mixtape, 31 singles, three promotional singles and 20 music videos. Badu's career began after opening a show for D'Angelo in 1994 in her hometown; record label executive Kedar Massenburg was highly impressed with her performance and signed her to Kedar Records. Her debut album, Baduizm, was released on February 11, 1997. It spawned three singles: "On & On", "Next Lifetime", and "Otherside of the Game". The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Badu's first live album, Live, was released on November 18, 1997, and was certified double Platinum by the RIAA.
The discography of American R&B singer Keri Hilson consists of two studio albums, 29 singles, and 31 music videos. Hilson began her career as a songwriter, penning tracks for several artists in the mid-2000s as part of the five-person production and songwriting team The Clutch. Together, they co-wrote songs for artists including Mary J. Blige, Omarion, The Pussycat Dolls and Britney Spears. Hilson's solo discography began when she was featured on "Hey Now ", a 2004 single by American rapper Xzibit, which reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom. In 2006, Hilson signed to Mosley Music Group, a record label created by American record producer and rapper Timbaland.
The discography of the Fugees, an American hip hop trio consisting of rapper/singer Lauryn Hill and rappers Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean, consists of two studio albums, three compilation albums, one remix album and nine singles and nine music videos. After the group formed in the 1980s under the name Tranzlator Crew, they signed to Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records in 1993; they then changed their name to Fugees – an abbreviation of "refugees", also a reference to Haitian immigrants.
The discography of American rapper and recording artist Killer Mike consists of six studio albums, three collaborative albums, five mixtapes and eleven singles.
The discography of American rapper Sage the Gemini consists of released one studio album, one extended play (EP), one mixtape and 33 singles.
