James Smith (record Executive)
James L. Smith (also referred to as James Prince, J. Prince, or Lil J.) (born October 31, 1965) is an American music executive, promoter and manager. He is the CEO and co-founder of the Houston based record label Rap-A-Lot. Smith and his son Jas are known for introducing Canadian rapper Drake to Lil Wayne and helping Drake sign to Young Money Entertainment in 2009. He has also managed prolific boxers such as Andre Ward, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Shakur Stevenson. Prince is known as one of the 'godfather's of the rap music industry', and inspired other southern hip hop label executives including Birdman of Cash Money Records and Master P of No Limit Records. Artists that have had careers shaped by him included Scarface, Geto Boys and Bun B. Early life Prince was born to 16 year old mother Sharon Johnson with an older sister Zenia and younger half-brother Thelton. They grew up in Fifth Ward, Houston's 'Bloody Nickel' apartments which were known for cocaine use and poverty. He ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Music Executive
A music executive or record executive is a person within a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can oversee one, or many, aspects of a record label, including A&R, contracts, management, publishing, production, manufacture, marketing/promotion, distribution, copyright, and touring. Although music executives work in senior management, a number of music executives have gone on to establish their own record labels as owners themselves, sometimes being involved in the music industry initially as artists, A&Rs, or producers for a number of years and building a strong reputation. Music executives work in a variety of settings for major record labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, or Warner Music Group. However, many choose to work with, or start their own independent record labels such as Sub Pop, Block Starz Music, Ironworks, Jagjaguwar, Perry Mus ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Big Mike (rapper)
Michael Barnett, better known by his stage name Big Mike (born September 27, 1971) is an American rapper from the southern United States. Native of New Orleans, Louisiana – he was partially raised in both New Orleans and Houston, Texas. Discography Studio albums *'' Somethin' Serious'' (1994) #40 Billboard 200; #4 R&B/Hip Hop *'' Still Serious'' (1997) #16 Billboard 200; #3 R&B/ Hip Hop *'' Hard to Hit'' (1999)#63 Billboard 200; #13 R&B/ Hip Hop *''Nawlins Phats'' (2005) *''Keep It Playa'' (2006) *''Serious as Can Be'' (2009) *''Ridah Music Vol.1 (The Invitation)'' (2009) *''The Reintroduction'' (2010) *''Bayou Classic – Love.Faith.Honor.Loyalty'' (2011) *''Fast Boy Music'' (2013) *''O.G. Big Mike'' (2017) *''Finish The Job'' (2020) Collaboration albums *''Convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", whi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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No Limit Records
No Limit Records is an American record company founded by Master P. The label's albums were distributed by Priority Records, Universal and Koch Records. The label included artists such as Snoop Dogg, Mercedes, Silkk the Shocker, Mystikal, Mia X, Mac, C-Murder, Magic, Romeo Miller, Fiend, Kane & Abel, and Soulja Slim. Anthony Boswell, head of Bout It Bout It Management, served as the vice president of operations as well as head of management for the label. In the late nineties, No Limit Records enjoyed mainstream success with releases such as Master P's "Ghetto D", T.R.U.'s "Tru 2 da Game", and Snoop Dogg's "Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told". No Limit was known for quickly producing lengthy albums consisting of up to twenty tracks, numerous cameo appearances by the label's other artists, cheap packaging of its CDs in cardboard cases, and garish Pen & Pixel-designed album covers. History 1991–1995: Beginnings Percy "Master P" Miller began his career distributing his re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Master P
Percy Robert Miller Sr. (born April 29, 1967), known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record executive, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as New No Limit Records through Universal Records and Koch Records, and again as Guttar Music Entertainment, and currently, No Limit Forever Records. He is also the founder and CEO of P. Miller Enterprises and Better Black Television, which was a short-lived online television network. Miller gained fame in the mid-1990s with the success of his hip hop group TRU as well as his fifth solo rap album '' Ice Cream Man'', which contained his first single " Mr. Ice Cream Man". Miller's popularity grew in 1997 after the success of his Platinum single "Make 'Em Say Uhh!". In total, Miller has released 15 studio albums. Early life Percy Robert Miller was born and raised in Central City in the Third Ward of Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana in the Ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cash Money Records
Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. Distributed by Republic, formerly known as Universal Republic, the label has been home to a roster of mostly hip hop artists, including Juvenile, Lil Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj, and is regarded as the most successful record label in hip-hop history. Artists signed to Cash Money Records have achieved a combined 12 number one albums on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and 7 number one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart ( Juvenile's "Slow Motion", Lil Wayne's "Lollipop", Jay Sean's " Down" and Drake's "One Dance", "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". The label's name alludes to the Cash Money Brothers, drug kingpin Nino Brown's gang from the 1991 crime film ''New Jack City''. History 1991–97: Beginnings Bryan Williams told some of his close friends the motivation for starting the label: I was hoping it would get us ou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Birdman (rapper)
Bryan Christopher Williams ( Brooks; February 15, 1969), better known by his stage name Birdman (also known as Baby), is an American rapper and record executive. He is the co-founder and public face of Cash Money Records which he founded with his older brother Ronald "Slim" Williams in 1992. Birdman released his Birdman (album), debut album in 2002, and has gone on to release four solo studio albums in total. Aside from his solo career, he is also a member of the hip-hop duo Big Tymers, along with producer Mannie Fresh. Along with his solo work and numerous releases with the Big Tymers, Birdman has released a collaboration album and numerous tracks with fellow rapper and protégé Lil Wayne, whom he discovered and took under his wing at age twelve. Birdman has also made his name by contributing to the making of YMCMB (Young Money Cash Money Billionaires), a combination of the former's "Cash Money" and Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, formerly an imprint under the label. Bi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Southern Hip Hop
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. The music was a reaction to the 1980s flow of hip hop culture from New York City and the Los Angeles area and can be considered the third major American hip hop scene, alongside East Coast hip hop and West Coast hip hop. Many early Southern rap artists released their music independently or on mixtapes after encountering difficulty securing record-label contracts in the 1990s.allmusic/ref> By the early 2000s, many Southern artists had attained success, and as the decade went on, both mainstream and underground varieties of Southern hip hop became among the most popular and influential of the entire genre. History Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the American ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shakur Stevenson
Ash-Shakur Stevenson (born June 28, 1997) is an American professional boxer. He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO featherweight title from 2019 to 2020, the WBO super featherweight title from 2021 to 2022, and the WBC and ''The Ring'' super featherweight titles in 2022. As an amateur, he represented the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in the bantamweight division. As of June 2022, he is ranked as the world's best active super featherweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, BoxRec and ESPN. Amateur career Stevenson had a very successful career at the Youth Level, winning the 2014 AIBA Youth World Championships and 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. In 2015 he won the Senior U.S. Olympic Trials, thus qualifying for the U.S. boxing team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. In Rio, Stevenson won a silver medal, losing to Robeisy Ramírez of Cuba in the gold medal match. He was the highest ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Floyd Mayweather Jr
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. ('' né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed between 1996 and 2017, retiring with an undefeated record and winning 15 major world championships from super featherweight to light middleweight. This includes the ''Ring'' magazine title in five weight classes and the lineal championship in four weight classes (twice at welterweight). As an amateur boxer, he won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics, three U.S. Golden Gloves championships (at light flyweight, flyweight, and featherweight), and the U.S. national championship at featherweight. Mayweather was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2010s by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), a two-time winner of ''The Ring'' magazine's Fighter of the Year award (1998 and 2007), a three-ti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andre Ward
Andre Michael Ward (born February 23, 1984) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and held multiple world titles in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super), WBC, ''Ring'' magazine, and lineal super middleweight titles between 2009 and 2015; and the unified WBA (Undisputed), IBF, WBO, and ''Ring'' light heavyweight titles between 2016 and 2017. During his reign as light heavyweight champion, Ward was ranked as the world's best active boxer, pound for pound, by ''The Ring'' magazine and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB), as well as the world's best active boxer in the division by ''The Ring'', the TBRB, and BoxRec. As of January 2022, BoxRec ranks Ward as the twelfth greatest fighter of all time, pound for pound. As an amateur, Ward won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 2004 Olympics and turned professional later that year. He rose to worldwide promine ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Young Money Entertainment
Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. Young Money's president is Lil Wayne's lifelong friend and fellow rapper Mack Maine. The label was an imprint of Cash Money Records and is distributed by Republic Records. The label has released fifteen US albums that reached number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart: ''Tha Carter III'', ''I Am Not a Human Being'', ''Tha Carter IV'', ''Tha Carter V'', and ''Funeral'' by Lil Wayne, ''Thank Me Later'', '' Take Care'', ''Nothing Was the Same'', ''If You're Reading This It's Too Late'', ''What a Time to Be Alive'' (along with Epic Records artist Future), ''Views'', ''More Life'', and ''Scorpion'' by Drake, and ''Pink Friday'' and '' Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'' by Nicki Minaj. Current artists include Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Mack Maine, Lil Twist, and Cory Gunz, among others. The label has released three compilation albums — ''We Are Young Money'' (2009), ''Rich Gang'' (2013; with Cash Money Reco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |