Trevor George Smith Jr., known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes. He has received 12 Grammy Award nominations for his work, making him one of the most-nominated artists without winning.
The Native Tongues were a collective of late 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop artists known for their positive-minded, good-natured Afrocentric lyrics, and for pioneering the use of eclectic sampling and jazz-influenced beats. Its principal members were the Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Monie Love, and Queen Latifah. The collective was also closely tied to the Universal Zulu Nation. Rolling Stone cites the track "Doin' Our Own Dang" as "the definitive Native Tongues posse cut".
Harold "Hype" Williams is an American music video and film director, film producer, and screenwriter.
Late Registration is the second studio album by the American rapper and record producer Kanye West. It was released on August 30, 2005, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. West recorded the album over the course of a year during sessions held at studios in Hollywood and New York City, in collaboration with Jon Brion. The album features guest appearances from Adam Levine, Jamie Foxx, Common, Brandy, Jay-Z, and Nas, among others.
Dexter Raymond Mills Jr., better known by his stage name Consequence, is an American rapper from Queens, New York City, New York. He is best known for his collaborative work with A Tribe Called Quest and Kanye West. He later squashed his feud with rapper Pusha T in 2016.
Samuel Lindley, better known by his stage name The Legendary Traxster, is an American songwriter, rapper and record producer. He is best known as a producer for hip-hop artists Twista, Do or Die, and Ludacris. He is the owner of Traxster Inc. and Co-CEO of CWAL Records. In 2017, he launched Nothing But Dope, an imprint distributed through Priority Records. He is also one half of the Hip Hop duo House Lindley, which is composed of him and his wife Tia London.
Hurricane Katrina was a devastating and deadly Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused 1,836 fatalities and damages estimated between $97.4 billion to $145.5 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. At the time, it was the costliest tropical cyclone on record, later tied by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Katrina was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States, gauged by barometric pressure.
Criticism of the government response to Hurricane Katrina was a major political dispute in the United States in 2005 that consisted primarily of condemnations of mismanagement and lack of preparation in the relief effort in response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Specifically, there was a delayed response to the flooding of New Orleans, Louisiana.
A Concert for Hurricane Relief was an hour-long, celebrity-driven benefit concert broadcast live on September 2, 2005. Sponsored by the NBC Universal Television Group, its purpose was to raise money, relief, and awareness in response to the loss of life and human suffering that resulted from Hurricane Katrina in five southeastern states in the United States in 2005. Hosted by Matt Lauer, it was simulcast from the New York studios of NBC located in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, and i: Independent Television. Controversy was sparked during Kanye West's segment of the show after he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
"Gold Digger" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, featuring singer Jamie Foxx, from West's second studio album, Late Registration (2005). The song includes additional vocals from Plain Pat and Don C. West created the beat in Atlanta. He and Jon Brion produced the song. It was originally set to be recorded for Shawnna's debut studio album, Worth Tha Weight (2004), but the song was later passed on to West. On July 5, 2005, it was released to American rhythmic contemporary radio stations by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam as the second single from West's album. The song set a record for the most digital downloads in a week, selling over 80,000.
"Hell No We Ain't All Right!" is a protest song released by hip hop group Public Enemy within weeks of Hurricane Katrina, criticizing President George W. Bush and his administration for his response to the catastrophe, and for wider administration policies. The song specifically links the poor response to the hurricane to the commitment of resources to the war in Iraq, and to the social status of most victims of the disaster. The song was reportedly written by Chuck D on September 2, 2005, and reunited Flavor Flav with Public Enemy for its recording over Labor Day weekend. The premier public performance was on the Morning Sedition radio show, on September 16, 2005.
"Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" is the eighth episode in the ninth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 133rd episode overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 19, 2005.
American Edit is a mashup album released by Party Ben and Team9 under the shared alias Dean Gray. Its primary basis is the Green Day album American Idiot—the name "Dean Gray" is a spoonerism of "Green Day".
Bob Cronin, better known by the stage name dj BC, is an American disc jockey and mashup producer.
"Slow Jamz" is a song by American rapper Twista featuring fellow American rapper and producer Kanye West and American singer Jamie Foxx. Produced by the latter, it was released in November 2003 through Atlantic and Roc-A-Fella Records, as the lead single from Twista's fourth studio album Kamikaze (2004), and the second single from West's debut studio album The College Dropout (2004). The song was written by Twista and West, with additional writing credits going to Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the sampling of Luther Vandross' cover of Dionne Warwick's 1964 song "A House Is Not a Home". Containing genres of hip hop, pop rap, R&B, and soul, the song's lyrics reference slow jam artists and describes the role of lovermen.
"Wouldn't Get Far" is the third single from The Game's second album Doctor's Advocate. The song, produced by and featuring Kanye West, is about The Game mentioning and criticizing, by both name and alias, up-and-coming and established video vixens, models and actresses. The song peaked at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached numbers 11 and 26 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts respectively.
"Encore" is a hip-hop song from Jay-Z's The Black Album. It features guest vocals by John Legend, Don Crawley, GLC and Kanye West. The song was released by Roc-A-Fella Records and produced by West for Konman Productions.
Hip hop music, developed in the South Bronx in the early 1970s, has long been tied to social injustice in the United States, particularly that of the African American experience. Hip hop artists have spoken out in their lyrics against perceived social injustices such as police brutality, poverty, mass incarceration, and the war on drugs. The relationship between hip hop music and social injustice can be seen most clearly in two subgenres of hip hop, gangsta rap and conscious rap.
