Fugees is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with its second album, The Score (1996), one of the best-selling albums of all time. The group is often cited as being one of the most significant alternative hip hop groups of the 1990s.
Bad Boy Entertainment is an American record label founded in 1993 by rapper Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. It operates as an imprint of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. It has been home to many artists, including Craig Mack, The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, 112, Total, The LOX, Ma$e, Shyne and Carl Thomas.
Ye is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists and producers.
Young Gunz is an American hip hop duo from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, composed of rappers Young Chris and Neef Buck. The group is part of Beanie Sigel's State Property collective and was signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. Young Gunz' debut single, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", made the top 15 on the Billboard charts in 2003.
"The New Workout Plan" is a song from Kanye West's debut album, The College Dropout. Released in late 2004, the single peaked at #59 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The music video was released in 2004, with cameos from John Legend, Miri Ben-Ari, Anna Nicole Smith, Fonzworth Bentley, Tracee Ellis Ross, Vida Guerra and GLC. "Work Out" by J. Cole samples the song.
Sa-Ra is an American musical group based in Los Angeles, California, also known by its full name, The Sa-Ra Creative Partners. The group is composed of Om'Mas Keith, Taz Arnold, and Shafiq Husayn. The name translates roughly to "the children of God." The group's name, style and creativity are allusions to the similarly named jazz composer Sun Ra. Their music has been described as progressive soul, neo funk, and alternative hip hop.
"International Players Anthem " is a song by American hip hop duo UGK, released on June 6, 2007, as the second single from their fifth studio album Underground Kingz (2007). The song, produced by DJ Paul and Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia, features verses from fellow Southern hip hop duo Outkast.
The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2006 to June 2007, took place on September 9, in Las Vegas at The Palms. The 2007 VMAs were the smallest VMAs ever held in MTV history, eliminating 13 awards, and renaming many of the remaining awards. The 2008 awards restored most of the categories.
"Roc Boys ..." is the second single from Jay-Z's tenth studio album, American Gangster. The song is produced by Skyz Muzik, Diddy and two of his producers known as LV and Sean C from his production team, The Hitmen. It features additional vocals by Beyoncé, Kanye West and Cassie. The song samples "Make the Road by Walking" by The Menahan Street Band. On December 11, 2007, Rolling Stone named it the best song of 2007.
The first season of the MTV reality television series From G's to Gents featured 14 misdirected young men willing to change their lives and become gentlemen. The show is hosted by Fonzworth Bentley, and premiered on MTV on July 15, 2008. The objective of the show is to make the transformation from a roughneck to a sophisticated gentleman within the given time. In the end, Thaddeus aka Creepa was decided upon to be the most transformed and refined gentleman, winning the cash prize of $100,000 and membership in The Gentleman's Club.
Malik Yusef El Shabazz Jones is an American spoken word artist, poet, rapper, writer, composer, producer and director based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
From G's to Gents is an American reality television series aired on MTV, which features misdirected young men willing to change their lives and become gentlemen. The show is hosted by Fonzworth Bentley, and premiered on MTV on July 15, 2008. The objective of the show is to make the transformation from a roughneck to a sophisticated gentleman within the given time. The second season premiered on February 10, 2009.
We Were Once a Fairytale is a 2009 drama short film directed by Spike Jonze and starring American rapper Kanye West. It is the second collaboration between Jonze and West, since they co-directed the music video for West's single "Flashing Lights" in 2008.
"We Are the World 25 for Haiti" is a charity single recorded by the supergroup Artists for Haiti in 2010. It is a remake of the song "We Are the World", which was written by American musicians Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and was recorded by USA for Africa in 1985 to benefit famine relief in Africa. Initially, in late 2009, it had been suggested to Richie and Quincy Jones—producer of the original "We Are the World"—that a re-cut version of the song be re-released under the title "Live 25". Following the magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake in Haiti in early 2010, which devastated most of the country and killed thousands of people, it was agreed that the song would be re-recorded by new artists, in the hope that it would reach a new generation and help benefit the people of Haiti.
"Hello Good Morning" is a song by American rapper and producer Diddy and his group Dirty Money, from their debut album, Last Train to Paris. It was released from March 30, 2010 as the album's third single. The electronic dance song incorporates an acid squelch section in the middle 8, ad was written by Marcella Araica, Richard Butler, Clifford "T.I." Harris and Nathaniel "Danja" Hills who also produced the song. T.I. has a featured rap on the song. The song's musical composition was inspired by Diddy's experiences in Ibiza night clubs; its lyrics focus around sex and money. Three official remixes were released alongside the main single: the Official Remix with Rick Ross & Nicki Minaj, the "Grime Remix" with Skepta, and a "Team UK remix" with Tinchy Stryder and Tinie Tempah. Critics noted the track as one of the better songs from Last Train to Paris, particularly for Danja's production, but criticized the lyrics for being superficial and for lacking substance.
"Bad Boy for Life" is a song by American rappers P. Diddy, Black Rob and Mark Curry, featured on Diddy's 2001 third album The Saga Continues.... Produced by Megahertz, it was released as the second single from the album in July 2001 and reached number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Waves" is a song by American rapper and producer Kanye West from his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo (2016). The song features vocals from American recording artists Chris Brown and Kid Cudi. Music critics positively received the song. West performed the track on multiple occasions during the Saint Pablo Tour. It charted in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Ireland and Canada in 2016. A music video was recorded for it in April 2016, but West chose to never release it. The song, although not released as a single, was commercially successful, being certified 2× Platinum and Silver in the United States and United Kingdom respectively.
"Ultralight Beam" is a song by American recording artist Kanye West from his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo (2016). The song features vocals by R&B singers The-Dream and Kelly Price, rapper Chance the Rapper, gospel singer Kirk Franklin and a ten-piece choir, with additional vocals by Natalie Green and Samoria Green. It was first performed live on Saturday Night Live in February 2016.
"Champions" is a collaborative song by American rappers Kanye West, Gucci Mane, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, Yo Gotti, Quavo and Desiigner. It was originally intended to be released as the lead single from the scrapped GOOD Music compilation album Cruel Winter. The song was produced by West himself, alongside Low Pros and Mike Dean, with co-production from Derek Watkins and Charlie Heat, and additional production from Noah Goldstein. A freestyle video was released by Teyana Taylor in September 2016.
American hip hop musician, songwriter and record producer Kanye West has released four video albums and been featured in various music videos. He has also made cameo appearances in films and appeared in several television programs.
