Lance Rivera | |
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Born | Lance Rivera New York City, U.S. [1] |
Other names | Un |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1994–2014 |
Labels |
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Musical career |
Lance "Un" Rivera is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter, record producer, and music executive. [2]
Lance Rivera began his musical career when he met neighborhood rapper Christopher Wallace, who performed under the name Biggie Smalls. After hearing him perform, Rivera offered to finance his musical career. [2]
In 1994, Rivera received a cash advance of US$200,000 from Atlantic Records to launch his company, Undeas Recordings. An eighth of the budget was allocated towards the debut studio album of Junior M.A.F.I.A., which was formed the year prior. [3] [4] [5] Junior M.A.F.I.A. released their only album under Undeas/Atlantic, Conspiracy in 1995. [6] The album received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America in less than a month and spawned two singles: "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money"; both of which gained way for the breakout solo career of its core member, Lil' Kim. The following year, on November 12, 1996, Undeas released Kim's debut solo album Hard Core, which included the singles, "No Time", "Crush on You" and "Not Tonight". Both became Billboard Hot 100 top ten hits and helped the album peak at number 11 on the Billboard 200.
In 1997, [2] [7] Rivera launched his successor label, Untertainment Records. [8] The label's roster included Harlem rapper Cam'ron, Philadelphia rappers Dutch and Spade of Major Figgas, and Charli Baltimore; Cam'ron and Charli Baltimore were signed through Epic Records while Dutch and Spade were signed to Interscope Records. The label's first release was the soundtrack to the 1998 comedy film, Woo. Only Cam'ron released two albums under the label: 1998's Confessions of Fire and 2000's S.D.E. . In July 1999, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease released a solo album under Undeas, The Wonderful World of Cease A Leo . Fellow Junior M.A.F.I.A. affiliate Lil' Kim released her second album, The Notorious K.I.M. (2000) the following year in June—also under Undeas. Despite the album being her final album released under Undeas and receiving platinum certification in less than two months, [9] Rivera was in no way involved in the project. After losing Untertainment artist Charli Baltimore, Rivera attempted a comeback in the music business with the release of Major Figgas' Dutch and Spade's collaborative single, "If You Want It". [10] However, after the single failed to chart, and the duo's For My Family album, originally planned for a November 2001 release, was shelved.[ citation needed ]
Rivera transitioned from music to working in film. He teamed up with Queen Latifah and her Flavor Unit partner, Shakim Compere, to establish Crossover Media, a marketing advertising company. He went on to make his feature film directorial debut with The Cookout (2004), starring Queen Latifah, as well as Tim Meadows, Ja Rule, Eve, Jenifer Lewis, Danny Glover and Storm P in an all-star cast. The film opened on 1,303 screens, and opened at number eight in the box office with a gross of $5,000,900. After seven weeks, it ended with a domestic gross of $11,814,019 and made $195,051 from foreign countries, for a total of $12,009,070 worldwide. [11]
His second film, The Perfect Holiday , released in November 2007 and also starring Queen Latifah (alongside Morris Chestnut, Charlie Murphy, and Gabrielle Union) [12] opened at number six with $2.2 million; The film grossed $5.8 million domestically. [13]
In early 2014, Rivera reunited with Cam'ron (who co-wrote the screenplay) for the production of the direct-to-media film, Percentage, which also co-starred Omar Gooding. [14]
On December 2, 1999, Rivera was stabbed by hip-hop entrepreneur Jay-Z at the release party for Q-Tip's album Amplified at the now-closed Kit Kat Club in Times Square. [15] [16] The incident arose over the alleged bootlegging of Jay-Z's album Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter before its release on December 28. [17] [18] In October 2001, Jay-Z pleaded guilty to a third-degree assault charge [19] and was sentenced to three years probation. [20]
In an early 2023 interview with DJ Vlad, Rivera claimed that Jay-Z falsely took responsibility for the stabbing, clarifying that the rapper did not commit the crime towards him. [21] [22]
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
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2004 | The Cookout | Yes | No | No | Directorial debut |
2007 | Life Support | No | No | Yes | |
The Perfect Holiday | Yes | Yes | No | ||
2008 | The Angie Martinez Show | No | No | Yes | |
2009 | Broke & Famous | No | No | Yes | |
2010 | Charlie Murphy: I Will Not Apologize | Yes | No | No | |
2011 | The Cookout 2 | Yes | No | No | |
2012 | Katt Williams: Kattpacalypse | No | No | Yes | |
2014 | Percentage | No | No | Yes |
Christopher George Latore Wallace, better known by his stage names The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta rap, he is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wallace became known for his distinctive laid-back lyrical delivery, offsetting the lyrics' often grim content.
Shawn Corey Carter, known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. Known for his involvement in the success of other artists, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by Billboard and Vibe in 2023. He is the founder and chairman of entertainment company Roc Nation, and was the president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007.
Cameron Ezike Giles, better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance "Un" Rivera's Untertainment, an imprint of Epic Records to release his first two studio albums Confessions of Fire (1998) and S.D.E. (2000); the former received gold certification by the RIAA. After leaving Epic, Giles signed with Roc-A-Fella Records in 2001 to release his third studio album Come Home with Me the following year. It received platinum certification by the RIAA and contained his highest-charting singles to date: "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma", which peaked at numbers four and three respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. His fourth studio album, Purple Haze was released in 2004 to continued success, receiving gold certification by the RIAA.
LaRon Louis James, better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of East Coast hip hop group the Diplomats. He is best known for his appearances on Cam'ron's 2002 singles "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma," which peaked at numbers four and three respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. His appearance on Chris Brown's 2005 single, "Run It!" peaked atop the chart for five weeks and received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As a lead artist, he is known for his 2003 single "There It Go ," which peaked at number six on the chart and received platinum certification by the RIAA.
Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. Carter issued his debut album, Reasonable Doubt (1996) as the label's first release, in a joint venture with Priority Records. The label has signed and released albums for acts including Kanye West, Cam'ron, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Juelz Santana, Freeway, Jadakiss, Teairra Marí, State Property, and The Diplomats before its dissolution in 2013.
Joseph Guillermo Jones II, better known by his stage name Jim Jones, is an American rapper and record executive. He is a founding member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats alongside longtime friend and fellow New York City native Cam'ron.
S.D.E. is the second studio album by Harlem rapper Cam'ron. The album was originally titled "The Rough, Rough, Rough Album" and was set for a 1999 release, however the project was pushed back to 2000 and many new songs were recorded. The album was finally released on September 19, 2000, by Epic Records. It features guest appearances from Destiny's Child, Noreaga, Dutch & Spade, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Prodigy, Freekey Zekey, Juelz Santana, and Jim Jones. The album debuted and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200, selling 73,000 copies in its first week.
Diplomat Records is an American hip hop record label co-founded by Harlem rappers Jim Jones and Cam'ron.
Children of the Corn was an American hip-hop group formed in 1993, consisting of neighborhood friends and fellow Harlem rappers, and producers Big L, Cam'ron, Ma$e, Herb McGruff, Bloodshed, Six Figga Digga, and DukeDaGod. The group's name is a play on words; it is short for Children of the Corner, and also references Stephen King's 1984 film of the same name.
Killa Season is the fifth studio album by Harlem rapper Cam'ron. The album was released on May 16, 2006, by Diplomat Records, Asylum Records, and Atlantic Records. Cam'ron was also the executive producer of the album. The album received positive reviews but critics found the production and content lesser compared to Purple Haze. Killa Season sold 114,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200.
James Lloyd, better known by his stage name Lil' Cease, is an American rapper and former member of hip hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A.
"Oh Boy" is a 2002 Grammy-nominated hip hop single by Cam'ron from his album Come Home with Me, and features Juelz Santana. The single was released through Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records and Cam'ron's Diplomats Records.
"Guilty Until Proven Innocent" is the third and final single from rapper Jay-Z's 2000 album The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. It features production by Rockwilder and a chorus sung by R. Kelly. The song's title flips the legal declaration "innocent until proven guilty" and its lyrics follow suit. Jay-Z's lyrics deal with how the press villainized Jay-Z by accusing him of stabbing his once business partner Lance Rivera on December 2, 1999. Jay-Z later pled guilty to stabbing Rivera and was sentenced to 3 years probation for the incident. "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" is also one of the first collaborations between Jay-Z and R. Kelly before they released two albums together.
This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2009.
"Get Money" is a song by the American rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A., released as the third and final single from their debut album Conspiracy (1995). "Get Money," whose instrumental is fundamentally a sample of R&B singer Sylvia Striplin's 1981 song "You Can't Turn Me Away," was produced by EZ Elpee, rapped by the Notorious B.I.G. and Lil' Kim, and received a music video. B.I.G., formally, was featured, but at times was deemed, like Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease, a Junior M.A.F.I.A. member.
Teyon Isiah Winfree, better known by his stage name Vado, is an American rapper from New York. He formed the hip hop duo U.N. with hometown native Cam'ron in 2009, releasing two regionally acclaimed collaborative albums: Heat in Here Vol. 1 (2010) and Gunz n' Butta (2011), as well as the mixtape series, Boss of All Bosses. Vado then signed a solo recording contract with DJ Khaled's We the Best Music Group, an imprint of Cash Money and Republic Records in 2013 to release his debut commercial single, "My Bae" the following year. Although failing to chart, Vado made notable guest appearances on Khaled's studio albums We the Best Forever (2011), Suffering from Success (2013), and I Changed a Lot (2015); he continued releasing mixtapes for the New York audience until departing We the Best by 2020.
"Horse & Carriage" is the lead single from Cam'ron's debut album, Confessions of Fire. It was released through Untertainment and Epic Records. The song was produced by Trackmasters and Cam'ron's childhood friend Mase was featured on the song's hook.
"Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake from his third studio album Nothing Was the Same released in 2013. The track consists of two songs, "Pound Cake" featuring a guest appearance by Jay-Z, and "Paris Morton Music 2", a sequel to "Paris Morton Music". The track serves as the outro to the standard edition of Nothing Was the Same.
Jacques "Haitian Jack" Agnant is a Haitian-born music executive and promoter in the rap music industry as well as a convicted felon and accused rapist. He has worked with several popular artists including Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Justin Rose, and Wyclef Jean. In 2007, he was deported from the United States.
"One for Peedi Crakk" is the debut single by American rapper Peedi Crakk, released in 2002. It features American rappers Freeway, Young Chris and Beanie Sigel, and was produced by Megahertz. The song is from the soundtrack to the 2002 film Paid in Full.