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Cuban Hip Hop
Hip hop music arrived in Cuba via radio and TV broadcasts from Miami. During the 1980s hip hop culture in Cuba was mainly centered on breakdancing. But by the 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the onset of the Special Period, young ''raperos,'' exposed to foreign tourists whose wealth highlighted their struggle, turned to rapping to affirm their ''cubanidad'' and advocate for further revolutionary reforms. Early days: Importation The importation of Cuban rap is debated, but many argue that it was brought from Miami. Rap hit Cuba approximately a quarter century ago, gaining popularity in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union.International Reporting Project – Fellows' Stories However ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Banner
Lavell William Crump (born April 11, 1974), better known by his stage name David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Banner's family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was raised. Banner graduated from Southern University with a bachelor's degree, then attended University of Maryland Eastern Shore to pursue a master's. He started his music career as a member of the rap duo, Crooked Lettaz, before going solo in 2000 with the release titled '' Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1''. In 2003, Banner signed to Universal Records, where he released four albums: '' Mississippi: The Album'' (2003), '' MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water'' (2003), ''Certified'' (2005), and ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (2008). Banner is also a noted producer, having produced music for himself, Trick Daddy, T.I., Lil Boosie and Lil Wayne among others. Early life Lavell William Crump was born in Brookhaven and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, the elder so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with solo success including collaborations with producers and rappers Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Pharrell Williams. His most recent album, ''Gotham'', was released in 2020. In 2011, Kweli founded his own record label, Javotti Media. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Kweli grew up in a household in Brooklyn's Park Slope. His mother, Brenda Greene, is an English professor at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, and his father is an administrator at Adelphi University. His younger brother, Jamal Greene, is a professor of constitutional law at Columbia Law School and a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, and former clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court. As a you ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mos Def
Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the short-lived rap group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD), after which they appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. He formed the duo Black Star, alongside fellow Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli, and in 1998 they released their debut album ''Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star'', featuring the singles " Definition" and "Respiration". He was featured on the roster of Rawkus Records and in 1999 released his solo debut, ''Black on Both Sides''. His debut was followed by ''The New Danger'' (2004), ''True Magic'' (2006), and ''The Ecstatic'' (2009). About.com listed him 14th on its "50 Greatest Rappers of All Time". His hits include " Oh No", "Ms. Fat Booty", and "Mathematics". He was a child actor in television films, sitcoms, and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Thought
Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded as "one of the most skilled, incisive, and prolific rappers of his time",Black Thought – Biography AllMusic. Accessed on August 28, 2020.Interview of Jamal Greene, brother of Talib Kweli Conversation with Tyler. Accessed on June 2nd 2022. he is widely lauded for his live performance skills, continuous [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Touch
Joseph Anthony Hernandez (born July 2, 1969), professionally known as Tony Touch, is an American hip hop break dancer, rapper, record producer and DJ of Puerto Rican descent. Career Tony Touch began as a B-boy during the rap music renaissance era of the early 1980s. Heavily influenced by pioneers like Crazy Legs and the Rock Steady Crew, Grandmaster Flash, Red Alert, Little Louie Vega and Jam Master Jay, he quickly shifted his interests towards the turntables. Tony is known for his mixtapes the 50 MC's. His mixtapes have featured guest appearances from Boot Camp Clik, Eminem, KRS-One, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Wyclef Jean, M.O.P., Big L, and Mos Def. In 2000, Tony released his debut album ''The Piece Maker'' on Tommy Boy Records. It sold 400,000 units worldwide and featured guest appearances from Big Pun, Cypress Hill, Wu-Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes, Eminem, and Gang Starr. In 2000 the single "I Wonder Why" featuring Total was released. The music video featured cameos from Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of production during the third season. After a hiatus, Chappelle returned to performing stand-up comedy across the U.S. By 2006, Chappelle was called the "comic genius of America" by '' Esquire'' and, in 2013, "the best" by a '' Billboard'' writer. In 2017, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked him No. 9 in their "50 Best Stand Up Comics of All Time". Chappelle has appeared in several films, including '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' (1993), ''The Nutty Professor'' (1996), ''Con Air'' (1997), ''You've Got Mail'' (1998), ''Blue Streak'' (1999), ''Undercover Brother'' (2002), ''Dave Chappelle's Block Party'' (2005), ''Chi-Raq'' (2015), and '' A Star Is Born'' (2018). His first lead role was in the 1998 comedy film ''Half Baked'', which he co-wrote. Chappelle a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson (musician), Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul music, soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. His own term for himself was "bluesologist", which he defined as "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues".Onstage at the Black Wax Club in Washington, D.C. in 1982, Scott-Heron cited Harlem Renaissance writers Langston Hughes, Sterling Allen Brown, Sterling Brown, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay as among those who had "taken the blues as a poetry form" in the 1920s and "fine-tuned it" into a "remarkable art form".Gil Scott-Heron in a live performance in 1982 wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped create politically and socially conscious hip hop music in the mid-1980s. ''The Source'' ranked him at No. 12 on its list of the Top 50 Hip-Hop Lyricists of All Time. Early life Ridenhour was born on August 1, 1960 on Long Island, New York. When he was a child, his mother played Motown and showtunes in the home and his father belonged to the Columbia Record Club. He began writing lyrics after the New York City blackout of 1977. He attended W. Tresper Clarke High School, where he was offered no formal education in music. He then went to Adelphi University on Long Island to study graphic design, where he met William Drayton (Flavor Flav). He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Adelphi in 1984 and later received an honorary doctorate from Adelph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Nubians
Les Nubians is a French musical duo, composed of sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart from Paris, France. In 1985, the sisters moved with their parents to Chad. Seven years later, they returned to Bordeaux, France, and began singing a cappella, producing poetry slams in Bordeaux and Paris, and singing background vocals for various artists worldwide. The duo's debut album '' Princesses Nubiennes'' was released by Virgin Records, France, in 1998. They have become one of the most successful French-language musical groups in the U.S., best known for their Billboard R&B Single "Makeda" from their Grammy nominated album ''Princesses Nubiennes''. Les Nubians were the 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards winners for Best New Artist, Group or Duo and received two NAACP Image Awards nominations in 2000. In May 2020, the sisters were featured in the Visual Collaborative Polaris catalog. In a series titled ''TwentyEightyFour'' released during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, their interview ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Grae
Tsidi Ibrahim (born November 26, 1976), known professionally as Jean Grae (formerly What? What?), is an American rapper from Manhattan, New York City. Jean rose in the underground hip hop scene in New York City and has built an international fanbase. Grae's unique music and lyrical style have earned the artist recognition as a favorite emcee by many rap artists such as Talib Kweli, Jay-Z, and Black Thought of the Roots. Early life Jean Grae was born Tsidi Ibrahim, in Cape Town, South Africa on November 26, 1976. The child of South African jazz musicians Sathima Bea Benjamin and Abdullah Ibrahim, Jean was raised in New York City, where the family moved after Jean's birth. Grae studied Vocal Performance at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, before studying a Major in Music Business at New York University; dropping out after three weeks of class. Musical career 1996–1998: Career beginnings In 1995, Jean was discovered by George Rithm Martinez when he recruited the artist for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Roots
The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'', having served in the same role on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' from 2009 to 2014. The Roots are known for a jazzy and eclectic approach to hip hop featuring live musical instruments and the group's work has consistently been met with critical acclaim. ThoughtCo ranked the band #7 on its list of the 25 Best Hip-Hop Groups of All-Time, calling them "Hip-hop's first legitimate band." In addition to the band's music, several members of the Roots are involved in side projects, including record production, acting, and regularly serving as guests on other musicians' albums and live shows. Band history 1987–1993: Early years The Roots originated in Philadelphia with Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
