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American Gangster (album)
''American Gangster'' is the tenth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was conceived as a concept album—inspired by the 2007 film of the same name—and was released on November 6 of that year through Roc-A-Fella Records. The album features production from Diddy & the Hitmen, Just Blaze, and the Neptunes, among others. It also includes guest appearances by Beanie Sigel, Lil Wayne, Pharrell, and Nas. The album's production is built around 1970s soul and funk, with instruments featured on the album played by professional musicians including, horns, string arrangements, drummers, and unconventional percussion created with bottles. The album's theme is based around the gangster lifestyle, the American Dream, and Jay-Z's memories of growing up in Brooklyn, New York's Marcy. ''American Gangster'' received widespread critical acclaim and was viewed by music critics as a return to Jay-Z's best form following the critical disappointment of ''Kingdom Come'' (2006). It wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of the most influential hip-hop artists. He was the CEO of Def Jam Recordings and he has been central to the creative and commercial success of artists including Kanye West, Rihanna, and J. Cole. Born and raised in New York City, Jay-Z first began his musical career in the late 1980s; he co-founded the record label Roc-A-Fella Records in 1995 and released his debut studio album ''Reasonable Doubt (album), Reasonable Doubt'' in 1996. The album was released to widespread critical success, and solidified his standing in the music industry. He went on to release twelve additional albums, including the acclaimed albums ''The Blueprint'' (2001), ''The Black Album (Jay-Z album), The Black Album'' (2003), American Gangster (album), ''American Gangs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blueprint 3
''The Blueprint 3'' is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released September 8, 2009, on Roc Nation, through distribution from Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. It is the third album in the ''Blueprint'' series, preceded by ''The Blueprint'' (2001) and '' The Blueprint2: The Gift & The Curse'' (2002). Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2009 at several recording studios and was handled by Kanye West, No I.D., The Neptunes, Jeff Bhasker, Al Shux, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, The Inkredibles, Swizz Beatz, and Timbaland. The album also features guest appearances by Kanye West, Rihanna, Drake, Kid Cudi, Young Jeezy, J. Cole and Alicia Keys among others. ''The Blueprint 3'' produced six singles: "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", "Run This Town", " "Empire State of Mind", "On to the Next One", "Young Forever" and " A Star Is Born". All singles achieved chart success excluding the latter. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horn (instrument)
A horn is any of a family of musical instruments made of a tube, usually made of metal and often curved in various ways, with one narrow end into which the musician blows, and a wide end from which sound emerges. In horns, unlike some other brass instruments such as the trumpet, the bore gradually increases in width through most of its length—that is to say, it is conical rather than cylindrical. In jazz and popular-music contexts, the word may be used loosely to refer to any wind instrument, and a section of brass or woodwind instruments, or a mixture of the two, is called a horn section in these contexts. Types Variations include: *Lur (prehistoric) *Shofar *Roman horns: ** Cornu **Buccina * Dung chen *Dord * Sringa * Nyele *Wazza *Alphorn *Cornett *Serpent * Ophicleide *Natural horn **Bugle **Post horn *French horn *Vienna horn *Wagner tuba *Saxhorns, including: **Alto horn (UK: tenor horn), pitched in E ** Baritone horn, pitched in B * Valved bugles, including ** c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mid-20th century. It de-emphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a percussionist, often at slower tempos than other popular music. Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a "hypnotic" and "danceable" feel. Funk uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths. Funk originated in the mid-1960s, with James Brown's development of a signature groove that emphasized the downbeat—with a heavy emphasis on the first bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soul Music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening, where U.S. record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa. It also had a resurgence with artists like Erykah Badu under the genre neo-soul. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the lead vocalist and the chorus and an especially tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls, and auxiliary sounds. Soul music reflects the African-American identity, and it stresses the importance of an African-Ameri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has produced songs for various recording artists. In 1999, he became lead vocalist of the band N.E.R.D., which he formed with Hugo and drummer Shay Haley. Williams has been widely referred to as one of the most influential and successful music producers of the 21st century, having had a significant impact on the sound of modern popular music. Williams released his debut solo album, '' In My Mind'', in 2006. In 2013, he produced and was featured alongside T.I. on the song " Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and his song " Happy" was the lead single for the soundtrack of the film ''Despicable Me 2''. In the same year, he was featured on Daft Punk's single " Get Lucky", which won Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), Birdman, joining Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label. From then on, Wayne was the flagship artist of Cash Money Records before ending his association with the company in June 2018. Regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation by ''XXL (magazine), XXL'', he has often been cited as one of the greatest rappers of all time. In 1995, Wayne was put in a duo with label-mate B.G. (rapper), B.G. (at the time known as Lil Doogie) and they recorded an album, True Story (The B.G.'z album), ''True Story'', released that year, although Wayne (at the time known as Baby D) only appeared on three tracks. Wayne and B.G. soon joined the southern hip hop group Hot Boys, with Cash Money label-mates Juvenile (ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beanie Sigel
Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first became known for his association with Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records, releasing his debut studio album ''The Truth'' through Roc-A-Fella in February 2000 to critical and commercial success. Sigel's second studio album, '' The Reason'', saw similar commercial success, but received mixed reviews from critics. His third album, '' The B. Coming'', was critically acclaimed and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200. After a short break from music, Sigel returned to Roc-A-Fella in 2007 and released his fourth studio album '' The Solution'' in December 2007 to positive reviews. After leaving Roc-A-Fella once again, Sigel's fifth and sixth studio albums, ''The Broad Street Bully'' and '' This Time'' were released independently in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Sigel is also known for his numerous legal issues, including a trial for at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guest Appearance
In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other performing group. In music, such an outside performer is often referred to as a guest artist. In performance art, the terms guest role or guest star are also common, the latter term specifically indicating the guest appearance of a celebrity. The latter is often also credited as special guest star or special musical guest star by some production companies. In pop music and hip-hop, such guests are often referred to as featured artists or featured guests. Such a performer may be annotated in credits or even in song titles by the abbreviation ''feat.'' or further abbreviation ''ft.''; or by the word ''with'' or abbreviation ''w/''. In a TV series, a guest star is an actor who appears in one or a few episodes (sometimes a story arc). In some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Neptunes
The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, while Hugo tends to stay behind the scenes. The Neptunes have produced hit songs for a multitude of artists, including N.O.R.E., Clipse, Britney Spears, Jay-Z, Mystikal, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Usher, Nelly, Gwen Stefani, and Snoop Dogg. In 2009, '' Billboard'' ranked the Neptunes number one on their list of the top 10 producers of the decade. In January 2020, the Neptunes were announced to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as a part of the 2020 class, and in May 2021, Hugo and Williams received Honorary Doctorates from Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee. History Williams and Hugo met at a summer camp for the school of the Gifted and Talented in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where Williams pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Gangster (film)
''American Gangster'' is a 2007 American biographical crime film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zaillian. The film is fictionally based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by detective Richie Roberts. The film stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe with co-stars Ted Levine, John Ortiz, Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ruby Dee, Lymari Nadal and Cuba Gooding Jr. Development for the film initially began in 2000, when Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment purchased the rights to a ''New York'' magazine story about the rise and fall of Lucas. Two years later, screenwriter Steven Zaillian introduced a 170-page scriptment to Scott. Original production plans were to commence in Toronto for budget purposes; however, production eventually relocated permanently t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concept Album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Sometimes the term is applied to albums considered to be of "uniform excellence" rather than an LP with an explicit musical or lyrical motif. There is no consensus among music critics as to the specific criteria for what a "concept album" is. The format originates with folk singer Woody Guthrie's ''Dust Bowl Ballads'' (1940) and was subsequently popularized by traditional pop/jazz singer Frank Sinatra's 1940s–50s string of albums, although the term is more often associated with rock music. In the 1960s several well-regarded concept albums were released by various rock bands, which eventually led to the invention of progressive rock and rock opera. Since then, many concept albums have been released across numerous musical genres. Definiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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