Mr. Del

Last updated

Mr. Del
Birth nameDelmar H. Lawrence III
Also known asMr. Del, Del Lawrence, The Hope Dealer
Born (1978-06-10) June 10, 1978 (age 45)
Memphis, Tennessee
Genres Christian hip hop, Southern hip hop, [1] crunk, [2] dirty rap (early), [3] hardcore hip hop (early), [4] gangsta rap (early) [5]
Occupation(s)Rapper, record producer, President of Dedicated Music Group (DMG)
LabelsDedicated Music Group(DMG)/Universal Music Group
Website mrdel.com

Mr. Del (born Delmar H. Lawrence III; [6] June 10, [7] 1978) [8] is an American Christian rapper and music producer. He is president of the independent record label Dedicated Music Group (DMG)/Universal Records. [9] [10] [11] He received a Grammy award nomination for Best Rock Gospel Album of the year [12] and 2010 GMA Dove Award nomination for Rap/Hip Hop Album of the year. [13] [14] [15] His first solo album, The Future (EMI Gospel), was released in 2005 and debuted at No. 15 on Billboard’s Gospel Chart. Hope Dealer, was released in 2007 and peaked at No. 47 on Billboard’s Gospel Chart and featured American jazz musician Kirk Whalum. Thrilla (DMG/Universal Records), was released in 2009 and debuted at No. 2 on the Christian R&B/Hip Hop Chart. [16]

Contents

Early life and career

Mr. Del was born Delmar Lawrence in Memphis, Tennessee. He began his music career recording a song with the rap group Three 6 Mafia. After becoming a Christian in 2000, he left the secular rap genre to begin his own ministry and record label. [17]

Discography

Related Research Articles

Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memphis, and Miami—five cities which constitute the "Southern Network" in rap music.

Christian hip hop is a cross-genre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United States during the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three 6 Mafia</span> American hip-hop group

Three 6 Mafia is an American hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album Mystic Stylez became an influential cult classic. They have released music on independent labels such as Prophet Entertainment and their own Hypnotize Minds label, as well as Relativity, Loud, and Columbia Records.

Crunk is a subgenre of southern hip hop that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the early to mid 2000s. Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hop's more nightclub-oriented subgenres. Distinguishing itself with other Southern hip hop subgenres, crunk is marked and characterized by its energetic accelerated musical tempo, club appeal, recurrent chants frequently executed in a call and response manner, multilayered synths, its pronounced reliance on resounding 808 basslines, and rudimentary musical arrangement. An archetypal crunk track frequently uses a dominant groove composed of a nuanced utilization of intricately multilayered keyboard synthesizers organized in a recurring pattern, seamlessly shifting from a lower to a higher pitch that encompasses the song's primary central rhythm, both in terms of its harmonic and melodic aspects. The main groove is then wrapped up with looped, stripped-down, and crisp 808 dance claps and manipulated snare rolls coupled and accompanied by a bassline of thumping 808 kick drums. The term "crunk" was also used throughout the 2000s as a blanket term to denote any style of Southern hip hop, a side effect of the genre's breakthrough to the mainstream. The word derives from its African-American Vernacular English past-participle form, "crunk", of the verb "to crank". It refers to being excited or high on drugs.

Moses Barrett III, known by the stage name Petey Pablo, is an American rapper, singer and record producer from Greenville, North Carolina. He is best known for his 2003 crunk single "Freek-a-Leek," which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and received platinum certification by the RIAA. Prior, he signed with Jive Records to release his 2001 single "Raise Up, which served as a tribute to his native Greenville and peaked at number 25 on the chart. The label released his first two albums: Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry (2001) and Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry (2004); the former received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album while the latter peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. His subsequent releases failed to reach any further commercial response.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lil Jon</span> American DJ, record producer, and rapper (born 1972)

Jonathan H. Smith, better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American DJ, record producer, and rapper. He was instrumental in the commercial breakthrough of the hip hop subgenre crunk in the early 2000s, and is often credited as a progenitor of the genre. He was the frontman of the crunk group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, with whom he has released five albums. In addition, Lil Jon served as a record producer for most recordings by artists of whom popularized the genre; these include Miami-based rapper Pitbull, Bay Area-based rappers Too Short and E-40, and fellow Atlanta-based artists Ludacris, Ciara, and Usher.

<i>Crunk Juice</i> 2004 studio album by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz

Crunk Juice is the fifth and final studio album by American Southern hip hop group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. It was released on November 16, 2004, under BME Recordings and TVT Records. The production was primarily handled by Lil Jon himself, who also collaborated in the executive production, alongside Bryan Leach, Rob McDowell, Emperor Searcy, Vince Phillips, the Neptunes and Rick Rubin. The album includes guest appearances from rappers and singers, like R. Kelly, Ludacris, Ice Cube, Usher, Bun B from UGK, Jadakiss, Nas, T.I., the Ying Yang Twins and Pharrell.

<i>Goodies</i> (Ciara album) 2004 studio album by Ciara

Goodies is the debut studio album by American singer Ciara. It was released on September 28, 2004, via Jazze Pha's Sho'nuff Records and LaFace Records. After writing songs for several established acts, Ciara's talents were noticed by Jazze Pha, and she began to work on what became Goodies. The album's conception came through the title track, produced by Lil Jon and created as a female crunk counterpart to other singles produced by Lil Jon such as Usher's "Yeah!" and Petey Pablo's "Freek-a-Leek". Ciara worked with additional writers and producers on the album, including Jazze Pha, Bangladesh, R. Kelly, Johntá Austin, Sean Garrett, and Keri Hilson, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yo Gotti</span> American rapper (born 1981)

Mario Sentell Giden Mims, known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper. In 1996, he released his debut album Youngsta's On a Come Up under the alias Lil Yo. He went on to release From Da Dope Game 2 Da Rap Game (2000), Self-Explanatory (2001), Life (2003), Back 2 da Basics (2006), Live from the Kitchen (2012), I Am (2013), The Art of Hustle (2016), I Still Am (2017), Untrapped (2020), and CM10: Free Game (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lecrae</span> American rapper, record producer, and actor from Texas

Lecrae Devaughn Moore is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur.

<i>Crunk Rock</i> 2010 studio album by Lil Jon

Crunk Rock is the only solo album and sixth overall album by American crunk rapper Lil Jon, released on June 8, 2010 by BME and Universal Republic. The characters at the bottom of the album's cover are Japanese katakana characters, which read "Kurunku Rokku", an approximation of the Japanese transliteration of the album's title. The album predominantly consists of guest appearances from artists including Ice Cube, Pitbull, the Ying Yang Twins, Waka Flocka Flame, the Game, Travis Porter, Damian Marley, Soulja Boy, R. Kelly and Whole Wheat Bread; the latter of whom assisted with its production alongside Drumma Boy, Benny Blanco, Dr. Luke, Steve Aoki, R. City and Shawty Redd, among others. Crunk Rock received mixed reviews and peaked within the top 50 of the Billboard 200.

Hip-hop or hip hop, also known as rap, and formerly known as disco rap, is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s by African Americans and Caribbean immigrants in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre consisting of stylized rhythmic music that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech. According to the professor Asante of African American studies at Temple University, "hip hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own". The music developed as part of the broader hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, breakdancing, and graffiti art. While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lecrae discography</span> Christian hip hop recording artist discography

The discography of Lecrae, an American Christian hip hop artist, consists of 11 studio albums, two of which were collaborative; four mixtapes; two extended plays, one of which was collaborative; 114 singles, including 63 as a featured performer; 67 music videos, including 31 as a featured performer; and 86 guest and other appearances. Lecrae debuted with Real Talk in 2004 through Reach Records; the album was re-issued the following year by Cross Movement Records. After the Music Stops followed in 2006 and his third solo album, Rebel, was released in 2008 and reached No. 1 on the Gospel chart, the first Christian hip hop album to do so. Rehab, his fourth solo album, was released in 2010 and reached No. 1 on the Gospel, Christian, and Independent charts, and garnered a nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards. Rehab: The Overdose, was released on January 11, 2011, and peaked at No. 1 on the Christian and Gospel charts. Lecrae began garnering mainstream attention when he performed at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher and was featured on the Statik Selektah song "Live and Let Live" from his Population Control album.

<i>Thrilla</i> (album) 2009 studio album by Mr. Del

Thrilla is an album from Christian hip-hop artist Mr. Del. It was released on June 30, 2009.

The Cross Movement was a Christian hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Derek Johnson, Jr., better known by his stage name Derek Minor and former stage name PRo, is an American Christian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, actor, and screenwriter. He co-founded the hip-hop record label Reflection Music Group (RMG) with Doc Watson, and signed to Reach Records in a joint venture between the two labels in 2011. In 2012, Johnson announced that he had changed his stage name from Pro to Derek Minor. In 2014, he announced that as his two-album contract with Reach was complete, he would no longer be publishing releases through that label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emcee N.I.C.E.</span> American Christian hip-hop artist

Aulsondro "Novelist" Hamilton, better known by his stage name Emcee N.I.C.E., is an American Christian hip hop recording artist, rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, inventor, entrepreneur and former lead vocalist/rapper of the duo KansasCali. He is the co-creator of the animated music series Da Jammies, The co-founder of The Stellar Award winning radio station God’s House of Hip Hop Radio powered by Dash Radio, A Best Selling Author for his book “Music Release University”. He is president of two non-profit organizations, The iTL Foundation of Los Angeles and Urbanomics 101, the Managing Editor for RYZE Magazine, a christian hip hop lifestyle magazine and an American Inventor. He is the co-producer of 2 Pac's Thugz Mansion acoustic, the first single released from the certified triple platinum album Better Dayz and the Nas acoustic Thugz Mansion (N.Y.), off of the certified platinum album God's Son

Seed of 6ix is a Memphis, Tennessee rap group composed of Locodunit and Lil Infamous, who are the nephews of the co-founder of hip hop group Three 6 Mafia, DJ Paul. Lil Infamous is also the son of former co-founder Lord Infamous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GloRilla</span> American rapper

Gloria Hallelujah Woods, known professionally as GloRilla, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. She rose to prominence after releasing her 2022 song "F.N.F. ", which was nominated for Best Rap Performance at 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Her single "Tomorrow 2" reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Her single "Blessed" from her EP Anyways, Life's Great, was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2023, she collaborated with Moneybagg Yo on the single "On Wat U On".

References

  1. ↑ "Mr. Del and Holy South at ShoutLife.com". Archived from the original on December 1, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Mr. Del to deliver gospel rap at Cafe Soul". Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Mr Del: Holy South Rap: Mr Del is a powerful minister of the gospel". Archived from the original on June 16, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Mr. Del making raps to God - EURweb". April 8, 2010. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search".
  6. ↑ Broadcast Music, Inc. "Songwriter/Composer: LAWRENCE DELMAR H". Broadcast Music, Inc. Retrieved March 19, 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ Mr. Del (@mrdel) (June 10, 2010). "HAPPY BDAY TO ME!!! THANK YOU GOD!!!". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  8. ↑ Intelius. "Delmar Lawrence in Memphis, TN". Intelius . Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Three 6 Mafia Gangsta Rapper Now Preaching Christ & Him Crucified - BCNN1". Blackchristiannews.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Mr. Del to release new album". Rapzilla. June 26, 2007. Archived from the original on January 7, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  11. ↑ Nolan Strong (March 5, 2010). "Former Three 6 Member Mr. Del Lands Gospel Album Nomination". AllHipHop.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  12. ↑ American Music Channel. . Retrieved 21 Aug 2012.
  13. ↑ "43rd Annual GMA Dove Awards on gmc". Doveawards.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Music Award Nominations: Christian Music News". Cbn.com. Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Memphis-connected musicians nominated for Dove Awards". GoMemphis.com. February 26, 2010. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  16. ↑ Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/artist/mr.-del/chart-history/gospel-albums Retrieved July 31, 2012
  17. ↑ "News - Holy Hip Hop Rapper Mr Del Releases 'Thrilla'". Louder Than The Music. June 15, 2009. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.