Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.
The music of Barbados includes distinctive national styles of folk and popular music, including elements of Western classical and religious music. The culture of Barbados is a syncretic mix of African and British elements, and the island's music reflects this mix through song types and styles, instrumentation, dances, and aesthetic principles.
The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by Universal Music Group. It consists of labels created under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordings. On April 1, 2014, Universal Music Group publicly announced the disbandment of the Island Def Jam Music Group, leaving IDJMG and its affiliated subsidiaries as separate sister labels.
Music of the Sun is the debut studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on August 29, 2005, by Def Jam Recordings. Prior to signing with Def Jam, Rihanna was discovered by record producer Evan Rogers in Barbados, who helped Rihanna record demo tapes to send out to several record labels. Jay-Z, the former chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Def Jam, was given Rihanna's demo by Jay Brown, his A&R at Def Jam, and invited her to audition for the label after hearing the song that would become her first single, "Pon de Replay". She auditioned for Jay-Z and L.A. Reid, the former CEO and president of record label group The Island Def Jam Music Group, and was signed on the spot to prevent her from signing with another record label.
SRC was an American record label created by former Loud Records CEO Steve Rifkind. It was a subsidiary of Universal Music Group and was distributed through Republic Records.
Barbadians, more commonly known as Bajans are people who are identified with the country of Barbados, by being citizens or their descendants in the Bajan diaspora. The connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Bajans, several of those connections exist and are collectively the source of their identity. Bajans are a multi-ethnic and multicultural society of various ethnic, religious and national origins; therefore Bajans do not necessarily equate their ethnicity with their Bajan nationality.
Combermere School is a school in Barbados, notable as one of the oldest schools in the Caribbean, established in 1695. Its alumni include several leading cricketers, David Thompson, sixth prime minister of Barbados and other politicians, several authors and the singer Rihanna. In its first 75 years, the school "provided the Barbadian community with the vast bulk of its business leaders and civil servants" and it is "perhaps the first school anywhere to offer secondary education to black children".
Shontelle Delia Layne, known mononymously as Shontelle, is a Barbadian singer and songwriter. She released her debut album Shontelligence in 2008. Her second album, No Gravity, was released in 2010. Her singles "T-Shirt" and "Impossible" achieved international success. In 2020, Shontelle released "Remember Me".
Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers are New York–based songwriters and record producers. They have produced hits for Ruben Studdard, Wild Orchid, Christina Aguilera and Evelyn Champagne King and helped build the career of Rihanna. In addition to being principals of Rihanna's production company SRP Music Group, they have achieved more than twenty top 40 hits, twelve top 5 hits and six BMI Awards. Their songs have sold more than 60 million albums around the world.
Barbadian British people, Bajan Brits or British Barbadians, are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ethnic origins lie fully or partially in the Caribbean island of Barbados. The UK is home to the second largest Barbadian-born migrant population out of all the OECD countries, with the 2001 Census recording 21,601 UK residents born on the Caribbean island, compared to the 53,785 Barbadian-born residents of the United States.
"T-Shirt" is the first solo single released by Barbadian singer Shontelle from her album Shontelligence (2008). It is her second official single following the release of 2007's "Roll It" which was released only in select European countries. A remix, featuring The-Dream, is included on her second album, No Gravity (2010). The single peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and number 41 on the Canadian Hot 100 in Canada. Outside of North America, "T-Shirt" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Belgium and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, "T-Shirt" was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry.
Shontelligence is the debut studio album of Barbadian R&B/pop singer Shontelle. It was released on November 18, 2008. The album was re-released featuring the new single "Stuck with Each Other", on March 10, 2009.
Leah Janine Marville is a Barbadian TV Host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Barbados World 2009.
Vita Chambers is a Barbadian-Canadian singer and songwriter. She is best known for her hit single "Like Boom" in 2010.
No Gravity is the second and most recent studio album by Barbadian recording artist Shontelle, released on September 21, 2010 by SRC Records in the United States. The album was later released on October 18, 2010 in the United Kingdom. Initially scheduled for an August 2010 release the album had been in production since August 2009 and was pushed back by one month to include additional recording sessions with Rodney Jerkins.
Ringbang is a Caribbean fusion of music genres propounded by Eddy Grant in 1994.
Trendsetter Media and Marketing is a music video promotion and production with offices in both New Jersey and Los Angeles. Founded by Roy LaManna in 2008, Trendsetter has worked with clients such as: Justin Bieber, Big Time Rush, Train, Bo Burnham, MTV, and Coca-Cola. In 2009, the company expanded into management with Cara Salimando.
"Phresh Out the Runway" is a song recorded by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna for her seventh studio album Unapologetic (2012). It was co-written by Rihanna with French disc-jockey David Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort and Terius Nash. It is the first time that Rihanna and Guetta had collaborated since "Who's That Chick?", released in November 2010. "Phresh Out the Runway" is a hip hop and rave song that contains heavy synthesizers and bass. Lyrically, Rihanna explains how if any of her crew does not respect her, they should no longer remain with her.
"X" is a song by American recording artist Chris Brown, taken from his sixth homonym studio album X (2014), and was released as an instant-gratification track alongside the album pre-order on iTunes on August 25, 2014. It was written by Brown, Diplo, Djemba Djemba, RoccStar, Dewain Whitmore and Sevyn Streeter. Musically, "X" is a song that unites R&B and soul vocals with a dance beat. The song contains lyrics about Brown forgetting a failed relationship with a woman. "X" received critical praise from music critics, which praised the maturity of the lyrics and his production. Following the release of X, as a result of the strong digital downloads, the song charted on multiple charts worldwide; it peaked at number 98 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 26 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, number 63 on the French Singles Chart, number 12 on the UK Singles R&B Chart, number 81 on the UK Singles Chart and number 75 on the Australian Singles Chart.
