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It Takes A Thief (album)
''It Takes a Thief'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Coolio. It was released on July 19, 1994, on Warner Bros. Records. The album received praise for bringing a humorous and lighthearted perspective to the often violent and profane themes of typical gangsta rap. "Fantastic Voyage," a hit from the early 1980s, returned to the charts after Coolio released a song of the same name from this album. The song received regular airplay on MTV and became his breakout hit, peaking at No. 3 in the US. Songs "Smokin Stix," "Can-o-Corn," and "Sticky Fingers" first appeared in the film ''Poetic Justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, henc ...''. Track listing Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts References External links * 1994 debut albums Cooli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coolio
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known professionally as Coolio, was an American rapper. First rising to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, Coolio achieved mainstream success as a solo artist in the mid-to-late 1990s with his albums '' It Takes a Thief'' (1994), ''Gangsta's Paradise'' (1995), and '' My Soul'' (1997). He is best known for his 1995 Grammy Award–winning hit single "Gangsta's Paradise", as well as other singles "Fantastic Voyage" (1994), "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" (1996), and "C U When U Get There" (1997). From 1996 on, Coolio released albums independently, and provided the opening track "Aw, Here It Goes!" for the 1996 Nickelodeon television series ''Kenan & Kel''. He created the web series ''Cookin' with Coolio'' and released a cookbook. Early life Artis Leon Ivey Jr. was born on August 1, 1963, in Los Angeles, California, and was raised mostly in Compton. His mother was a factory worker who divorced h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernie Isley
Ernest Isley (born March 7, 1952) is an American musician, best known as a member of the musical ensemble The Isley Brothers, and also the splinter group Isley-Jasper-Isley. Biography Ernie was born in Cincinnati, where his older brothers formed The Isley Brothers, first as a gospel group, then as a secular singing group. In 1960, his family moved to Englewood/Teaneck, New Jersey. He attended Dwight Morrow High School. He resides in St. Louis, Missouri. Ernie started playing drums at 12. His first live gig as a member of his brothers' band was as a drummer in 1966 at the age of 14. Ernie was influenced by José Feliciano's version of "Light My Fire" and in 1968 got his first guitar. He is a self-taught musician. In 1968 he did his first professional recording, playing bass on the Isley Brothers' breakthrough funk smash "It's Your Thing", released in 1969. He played electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and drums on the group's early 1970s albums '' Get Into Something'', '' Givin' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathleen Wakefield
Kathleen Wakefield (also Kathy Wakefield) is an American songwriter, singer and fiction author known for co-writing The Supremes' hit single " Nathan Jones" that was released by Motown and used as a soundtrack for the film ''Rain Man'' and for co-writing the Grammy-winning song " One Hundred Ways." Personal life and education Wakefield grew up in the Seattle area and attended the University of Washington. She splits her time between Los Angeles and Seattle after living part-time in London. Career She began her musical career singing in the 1960s with Dotty Harmony, performing as Dotty and Kathy. They released the pop single "The Prince of My Dreams," which was written by David Gates. Her first song, "Stand Tall," was co-written with Dotty Harmony and recorded by The O'Jays. Prior to her career in music, she was a showgirl at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1970, Wakefield co-wrote the song "Feelin' Kinda Sunday" with Nino Tempo and Annette Tucker, which was re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Nyx Jr
James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (other), various kings named James * Saint James (other) * James (musician) * James, brother of Jesus Places Canada * James Bay, a large body of water * James, Ontario United Kingdom * James College, a college of the University of York United States * James, Georgia, an unincorporated community * James, Iowa, an unincorporated community * James City, North Carolina * James City County, Virginia ** James City (Virginia Company) ** James City Shire * James City, Pennsylvania * St. James City, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * ''James'' (2005 film), a Bollywood film * ''James'' (2008 film), an Irish short film * ''James'' (2022 film), an Indian Kannada-language film * James the Red Engine, a character in ''Thomas the Tank En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Wilson (musician)
Frank Edward Wilson (December 5, 1940 – September 27, 2012) was an American songwriter, singer and record producer for Motown Records. Biography In 1965, Berry Gordy asked the producers Hal Davis and Marc Gordon to set up an office of Motown in Los Angeles. Wilson accepted an offer to join the team. In December 1965, "Stevie" by Patrice Holloway (V.I.P. 25001) was the first single released from the West Coast operation and featured Wilson in the songwriting credits. Asked by Gordy to re-locate to Detroit, Wilson went on to write and produce hit records for Brenda Holloway, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Miracles, the Four Tops, the Temptations, Eddie Kendricks, and more. He became particularly important after Holland-Dozier-Holland left the company. Additionally, after leaving Motown, Wilson produced a gold disc earning album by Lenny Williams, former lead singer for Tower of Power, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr, former members of the Fifth Dimension, Alton McClain & Desti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph MacDonald
Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian American, Trinbagonian-American percussionist, songwriter, musical arranger, record producer, steelpan virtuoso and philanthropist. His compositions include "Where Is the Love (Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song), Where Is the Love", a Grammy Award winner for the duet of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway; "Just the Two of Us (Grover Washington Jr. song), Just the Two of Us", recorded by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr.; and "Mister Magic" recorded by Grover Washington Jr. Career Growing up in Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, under the close mentorship of his Trinbagonian father, Patrick MacDonald (a calypsonian and bandleader originally from Trinidad and Tobago who used the stage name "Macbeth the Great"), MacDonald began showing his musical talent, particularly with the steelpan, and when he was 17 years old started playing pan for the Harry Belafonte show. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WC (rapper)
William LaShawn Calhoun Jr. (born February 3, 1970), better known by his stage name WC (pronounced "dub-c"), is an American rapper and actor. He originally was a rapper in the group Low Profile and later formed his group WC and the Maad Circle, who first succeeded with the single "Ain't A Damn Thang Changed". He later started a solo career and has released four solo albums. He is also well known for being a member of the rap supergroup Westside Connection with West Coast rappers Ice Cube and Mack 10. Early life William Calhoun, Jr. was born in Houston, Texas on February 3, 1970. He moved to South Los Angeles, South Central, Los Angeles as a child. Calhoun, Jr is still an active member of the Crips Gang Set under the hood NHC or Neighborhood Crip. He has a cousin in Denver, Colorado Earnest G. Campbell of Denver's Eastside Gangster Crips. Music career Early career A longtime staple of the West Coast Music scene, WC began his career pairing with DJ Aladdin in the group Low Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allan Felder
Allan Wayne Felder (May 26, 1943 – November 7, 1999) was an American songwriter. He had many successes with songs created during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s – frequently collaborating with Norman Harris, Bunny Sigler, and Ronnie Baker. His sister is Nadine Felder of Honey And The Bees Honey & the Bees were a girl group from Philadelphia who had a hit in 1971 with "It's Gonna Take A Miracle". Two of the members of the group would later become part of The Ritchie Family. Background According to one source, the group began as Th .... Since 2015, the publishing interest of Allan Felder’s catalog has been represented by Reservoir Media Management. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Felder, Allan 1943 births 1999 deaths American male songwriters Musicians from Philadelphia Songwriters from Pennsylvania 20th-century male musicians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Perren
Frederick James Perren (May 15, 1943 – December 16, 2004) was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, and "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches & Herb. Biography Early life Perren was born on May 15, 1943, in Englewood, New Jersey, and graduated from Englewood's Dwight Morrow High School with future songwriting partner Alphonse Mizell in 1961. Perren attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. graduating in 1966. It was here he met future Capitol Records R&B A&R executive Larkin Arnold. He met Christine Yarian in 1967, and they married in 1970. They remained married until his death. She also co-wrote some songs with him. Motown and The Jackson 5 Shortly after moving to California from Washington, D.C., in 1968, Perren and bassist Alphonzo Mizell met guitarist Deke Richards. They started writing songs together. In 1969 Motown presid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Junior Walker
Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr. (June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995), known professionally as Junior Walker, was an American multi-instrumentalist (primarily saxophonist and vocalist) who recorded for Motown during the 1960s. He also performed as a session and live-performing saxophonist with the band Foreigner during the 1980s. Early life Walker was born Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr. on June 14, 1931, in Blytheville, Arkansas, but grew up in South Bend, Indiana. He began playing saxophone while in high school, and his saxophone style was the anchor for the sound of the bands he later played in. Career His career started when he developed his own band in the mid-1950s as the Jumping Jacks. His longtime friend and drummer Billy Nicks (1935–2017) formed his own group, the Rhythm Rockers. Periodically, Nicks would sit in on Jumping Jack's shows, and Walker would sit in on the Rhythm Rockers shows. Nicks obtained a permanent gig at a local TV station in South Bend, Indiana, and asked Walker t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Ayers
Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk. He is a key figure in the acid jazz movement, and has been dubbed "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He is best known for his compositions "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", "Searchin", and "Running Away". At one time, he was said to have more sampled hits by rappers than any other artist. Biography Early life Ayers was born on September 10, 1940, in Los Angeles. He grew up in a musical family, where his father played trombone and his mother played piano. At the age of five, he was given his first pair of vibraphone mallets by Lionel Hampton. The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in, South Park (later known as South Central) was at the center of the Southern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudolph Isley
Rudolph Bernard Isley (born April 1, 1939 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American singer-songwriter and is one of the founding members of The Isley Brothers. Life and career Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Rudy began singing in church at a young age. By his teen years, he was singing as member of The Isley Brothers with Kelly, Ronnie and Vernon. In 1957, following Vernon's death, the remaining three elder Isleys moved to New York to seek a recording deal, later recording for smaller labels until landing a deal with RCA Records in 1959 where they wrote, recorded and released their first significant recording, " Shout". By the summer of that year, the Isley family had moved from Cincinnati to a home in Englewood, New Jersey. Following "Shout", the brothers recorded for other labels with modest success with exceptions including the top 40 hit, "Twist & Shout" and the Motown hit, "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)". In the 1960s, Rudy and his brothers founded the T-Neck Reco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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