New Zealand hip hop derives from the wider hip hop cultural movement originating amongst African Americans in the United States. Like the parent movement, New Zealand hip hop consists of four parts: rapping, DJing, graffiti art and breakdancing. The first element of hip hop to reach New Zealand was breakdancing, which gained notoriety after the release of the 1979 movie The Warriors. The first hip hop hit single, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang, became a hit in New Zealand when it was released there in 1980, a year after it was released in the United States. By the middle of the 1980s, breakdancing and graffiti art were established in urban areas like Wellington and Christchurch. By the early 1990s hip hop became a part of mainstream New Zealand culture.
Teairra Marí Thomas is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress. At the age of 16, Jay-Z signed her to Def Jam and she released her first album, Roc-A-Fella Records Presents Teairra Marí. After disappointing sales, she was let go from her recording contract in the middle of production for her second album Second Round. In 2008, she returned to the music scene with the Pleasure P-assisted single "Hunt 4 U". After constant leaks, she re-recorded a second attempt at her second album titled At That Point, which was later shelved. In 2010, she starred in the film Lottery Ticket alongside rappers Bow Wow and Ice Cube. Since 2010, she has released several mixtapes including features from Nicki Minaj, Soulja Boy, and Gucci Mane.
"Jam" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson, released as the fourth single from his eight album, Dangerous (1991), where it is the opening track. It also appears as the second track on his 2009 This Is It compilation album. The single was re-released in 2006 as part of Jackson's Visionary: The Video Singles collection campaign, and it was remixed to the Cirque du Soleil's Immortal World Tour, releasing that remix on the soundtrack album. "Jam" is a new jack swing song whose bridge features a rap verse performed by Heavy D, though no credit to him appears on the album. The music video of the song featured NBA basketball legend Michael Jordan. The song was also featured on the Chicago Bulls 's 1992 NBA Championship video "Untouchabulls" and was also used in many promotional ads of the NBA in the said season. The single peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2006, reaching number 22.
Caveman was a British hip hop group originally from High Wycombe, England, consisting of MCM, the Principal, and Diamond J. They were the first British hip hop group to be signed to a major U.S. record label, Profile Records.
Dodge City Productions (DCP) were a British hip hop/acid jazz group based in London formed by IG Culture and DJ Dodge. They were one of the leaders of the acid jazz movement, and also received acclaim and success for their remixes, usually done as "City Lick". The group split in the early 1990s, and both members went to have further success in the music industry as solo artists.
"Bump n' Grind" is a song written, produced, and performed by American singer-songwriter R. Kelly. It was released on January 28, 1994, as the second single from his debut solo studio album, 12 Play (1993). The track became a number one single on the US Billboard Hot 100, and it also spent twelve weeks at number one on the US Hot R&B Songs chart as Kelly's third number-one R&B hit, becoming the longest-running number-one of 1994 in the US, and the longest-running R&B single at that time. The song also reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart, following the massive success of his previous single, "She's Got That Vibe".
"I Wonder If I Take You Home" is a song recorded by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force in 1984. Record Producer Kenny Beck discovered the song in a "discard bin" at Personal Records while looking for songs to include on his debut album with the label. He was so impressed that he created a compilation break-dancing album, CBS/SuzyQ, just to include the song. He released the album in Europe on CBS Records, and it immediately gained popularity as a dance hit with club DJs there. Soon American DJs began playing the song in the United States on Columbia Records. After the song received heavy play from these DJs, "I Wonder If I Take You Home" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for one week in June 1985. On other US charts, it peaked at No. 6 on the R&B chart and reached No. 34 on the Hot 100. In 1991, the single was certified as gold in the U.S. by the RIAA. Overseas, it charted at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and #41 in the Netherlands.
"Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" is the debut single by American girl group TLC, from their debut album, Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip (1992). It was released by LaFace Records on November 22, 1991 (promo) and late January 1992 (retail). The song would ultimately peak at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number two on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. The single also reached the top 20 in the UK Singles Chart. The song describes the group explaining that they don't mind begging for attention from their significant others. Songwriters Dallas Austin and Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes received a nomination for the 1993 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. The song appeared in video games Dance Central 3 and the 2022 reboot of Saints Row.
"Never Ever" is a song performed by R&B singer Ciara. It is the first single released from her third studio album, Fantasy Ride. The song features rapper Young Jeezy, was produced by Polow da Don, and was co-written by Ciara and Elvis "BlacElvis" Williams, who both produced and co-wrote Ciara's single, "Promise", from her second album, Ciara: The Evolution.
Jahmaal Noel Fyffe, better known by his stage name Chip, is a British rapper and songwriter from Tottenham, North London. In the past 14 years he has collaborated with the likes of Skepta, T.I., Meek Mill, Young Adz and many others. In 2009, he released his debut album, I Am Chipmunk, featuring four songs which peaked in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, including the chart-topping "Oopsy Daisy". In 2011, Chipmunk released his follow-up album, the American hip hop-influenced Transition. It included the single "Champion" featuring Chris Brown, which peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Slam" is a song by American hip hop group Onyx. It was released on May 11, 1993 by JMJ Records and Rush Associated Labels as the second single from Onyx's debut album, Bacdafucup. The song introduced slamdancing into hip-hop.
"No Bullshit", also stylized as "No BS" is a song by American recording artist Chris Brown, released as the second single from his second official mixtape Fan of a Fan (2010). The song was originally recorded for and included on Brown's previous mixtape In My Zone (2010), and was later included on his fourth studio album F.A.M.E. (2011). Musically, the song is about Brown encouraging a woman to come back to his apartment in the hope that she will "do it all night". It was written by Brown, Kevin McCall and Tha Bizness.
The Gospel: The Missing Gems of MCM Caveman (1994–2011) is the first solo studio album release by veteran UK Hip-Hop artist MCM, real name Mark Layman. MCM originally was the front man for 1990s UK Hip-Hop group Caveman.
"Conceptual Love" was the debut single by singer Bada Badoo and was the first official single release by any featured performer from X-Factor, UK series 7. Bada Badoo, real name Baddar Chowdhry gained notoriety for his initial stage performance on the X-Factor (UK) TV Series. Bada Badoo entered the competition at the Cardiff, Wales auditions and reached the latter stages of Boot camp. With a geek persona his televised performance of the Tom Jones version of ‘I Who Have Nothing’ coined a Cheryl Cole soundbyte ‘Don’t Judge a book by its cover’. The geek persona was later carried forward in to the promotion campaign for the Conceptual Love Single released by I-innovate (UK).
"The Wah Wah Collective" were a British, initially a London-based neo-soul underground music group, who released vinyl-only EPs and singles in the mid 2000s. The music group gained notoriety for their mixture of neo-soul, nu-jazz, Latin grooves with alternative dance. In more recent years the band have described their music as 'Eclectic Soul'. The Wah Wah Collective founding members were George Eyo and Najero Okenabirhire. The Wah Wah Collective were on the Greasy Geezers imprint label distributed by Kudos Records, Discograpgh (France), Goya and Pinnacle. The Greasy Geezers label was the creation of Najero Okenabirhie who previously worked with Sanctuary Music Management. The sister arm of the Wah Wah Collective were a Latin /acoustic based group called Gafanhoto Lingo an additional project created by The Wah Wah Collective founding members. Gafanhoto Lingo were accompanied by songwriter/ guitarist Mathieu Karsenti.
"Greasy Geezers" are a dance production unit based in East London whose production portfolio covers commercial urban/pop, electro dance, hip-hop and go-go (DC) remakes. The group is composed of producers and songwriters whose backgrounds include working with Sanctuary Music Management, Trinity Records and Sacred Records.
"Greasy Geezer’s Revival Jubilee" is a dance revival UK Garage, Electro re-release from the dance production unit ‘Greasy Geezers’. The ep was released 16 April 2012 on I-innovate (UK) and featured various artists.
Gospel Reprise: A Few More Gems is an EP by rapper MCM, former front man for UK hip hop group Caveman. The EP was digitally released on 23 April 2012 to support the previous MCM album The Gospel: The Missing Gems of MCM Caveman (1994-2011). It features several unreleased songs from the 1990s era not found on the 2011 album.
"Tell Me Why" is a song by British eclectic soul group The Wah Wah Collective. The original version was a vinyl only release in March 2004 on the Greasy Geezers label. A new remastered radio edit version of the song was circulated in late 2013 by I-innovate (UK) to support The Wah Wah Collective debut album Cry Baby Soul released 24 February 2014. To accompany the release of Cry Baby Soul, re-issued 12" vinyl versions of "Tell Me Why" were redistributed. The album Cry Baby Soul features the full length version.
Dancing Shadows is the fifth studio album from American singer and songwriter Mario, released on October 5, 2018. The release of the album marks the first under the singer's own imprint New Citizen Music, in partnership with EMPIRE Distribution. Dancing Shadows is the first project by the singer that features his own songwriting on every track.
