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Let Nas Down
"Let Nas Down" is a song by American hip hop recording artist J. Cole, taken from his second studio album ''Born Sinner'' (2013). The song was produced by Cole himself as a dedication to one of his idols, fellow American rapper Nas, with whom Cole was often compared to early in his career. He sampled the song "Gentleman" by Fela Kuti. The song peaked at #55 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Background Growing up J. Cole idolized American rapper Nas, even posting his rap verses on his wall. Once J. Cole had signed to Roc Nation in 2009, he began preparing his debut album '' Cole World: The Sideline Story''. On May 31, 2010 he released the first single " Who Dat" which failed to garner commercial success. After that Cole tried harder to find a good hit record for his record label. Through that long process, Cole had countless meetings with Jay-Z to discuss new songs he had made. Although Jay backed them as good songs, Roc Nation concluded that none of them were hits. Cole explained t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Born Sinner
''Born Sinner'' is the second studio album by American rapper and record producer J. Cole. It was released on June 18, 2013, by ByStorm Entertainment, Columbia Records, Dreamville Records and Roc Nation. The album serves as the follow-up to his debut album, '' Cole World: The Sideline Story'' (2011). The album features guest appearances from Miguel, Amber Coffman, Jhené Aiko, James Fauntleroy, Bas, TLC, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent. The album was also primarily produced by Cole himself, along with others such as Jake One, Syience, and Elite. ''Born Sinner'' was supported by four official singles; " Power Trip", "Crooked Smile", "Forbidden Fruit" and " She Knows", along with the promotional single "Miss America". The album received generally positive reviews from critics. It debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 297,000 copies in its first week of release. After two weeks of being at number two, ''Born Sinner'' climbed to number one in its third week. The albu ... [...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] |
Crooked Smile
"Crooked Smile" is a song by American hip hop recording artist and record producer J. Cole, released June 4, 2013, as the second official single from his second studio album, ''Born Sinner'' (2013). The song was produced by Cole himself, and Elite. The song samples Jennifer Hudson’s "No One Gonna Love You" and features guest vocals from R&B group TLC. The song peaked at number 27 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Background The single features the R&B group TLC who had not released a new single in over seven years since the release of their single " I Bet (feat. O'so Krispie)", which was released in 2005 as part of the digital version of their compilation '' Now and Forever: The Hits'', and as a promotional cut from their reality series ''R U the Girl''. An editor from ''Billboard'' commented on the song saying: "The ''Born Sinner ''track is an uplifting ode to all those who continue to hold their heads up, especially women, and the importance of inner beauty." The ori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
XXL (magazine)
''XXL'' is an American hip hop magazine, published by Townsquare Media, founded in 1997. History In August 1997, Harris Publications released the first issue of ''XXL''. It featured rappers Jay-Z and Master P on a double cover. In December 2006, ''XXL'' took over the struggling hip-hop producer and DJ magazine '' Scratch'' (another publication owned by Harris Publications), re-branding it as ''XXL Presents Scratch Magazine''. However ''Scratch'' shut down less than a year later in September 2007. Other titles with limited runs have been launched under the ''XXL'' brand, including ''Hip-Hop Soul'', ''Eye Candy'' and '' Shade45''. ''XXL'' has released many other special projects including tour programs, mixtapes and exclusive DVDs. ''XXL'' also maintains a popular website, which provides daily hip hop news, original content and content from the magazine. In 2014, Townsquare Media acquired ''XXL'', ''King'' and ''Antenna'' from Harris Publications. On October 14, 2014, Townsquar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Critic
''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of musical aesthetics. With the concurrent expansion of interest in music and information media over the past century, the term has come to acquire the conventional meaning of journalistic reporting on musical performances. Nature of music criticism The musicologist Winton Dean has suggested that "music is probably the most difficult of the arts to criticise." Unlike the plastic or literary arts, the 'language' of music does not specifically relate to human sensory experience – Dean's words, "the word 'love' is common coin in life and literature: the note C has nothing to do with breakfast or railway journeys or marital harmony." Like dramatic art, music is recreated at every performance, and criticism may, therefore, be directed both at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rakim
William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah or simply Rakim (), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled MCs of all time. Rakim is considered a transformational figure in hip hop for raising the bar for MC technique higher than it had ever been. Rakim helped to pioneer the use of internal rhymes and multisyllabic rhymes, and he was among the first to demonstrate the possibilities of sitting down to write intricately crafted lyrics packed with clever word choices and metaphors rather than the more improvisational styles and simpler rhyme patterns that predominated before him. Rakim is also credited with creating the overall shift from the more simplistic old school flows to more complex flows. Rapper Kool Moe Dee explained that before Rakim, the term 'flow' wasn't widely used – "Rakim is basically the inven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Brother (Kanye West Song)
"Big Brother" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, released as the closing track on his third studio album, ''Graduation'' (2007). West co-wrote the song with Toomp, who was the sole producer. It originally utilized Prince Phillip Mitchell's "It's Gonna Be Lonely" for the beat, until he refused to approve and a re-recording was done. The song was written by West as a tribute to his close friend and mentor Jay-Z, who has shown his appreciation for it. West first teased the song in August 2007 for the BBC Radio 1Xtra event "Audience with Kanye West". A hip hop song with synths, it features a varied pace of rapping from West. In the lyrics, West introspectively examines the complexities of his friendship with Jay-Z. "Big Brother" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who mostly lauded the theme. They often highlighted West's honesty and heavy detail, while some reviewers complimented the composition. Though not released as a single, the song peaked at number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing singles for several artists and developing the "chipmunk soul" sampling style. Intent on pursuing a solo career as a rapper, he released his debut studio album, '' The College Dropout'' (2004), to critical and commercial success. He founded the record label GOOD Music later that year. West explored diverse musical elements like orchestras, synthesizers, and autotune on the albums ''Late Registration'' (2005), '' Graduation'' (2007), and ''808s & Heartbreak'' (2008). His fifth and sixth albums '' My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' (2010) and '' Yeezus'' (2013) were also met with critical and commercial success. West further diversified his musical styles on ''The Life of Pablo'' (2016) and '' Ye'' (2018) and explored ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Rosenberg
Peter Elliot Rosenberg (born July 23, 1979)Chris Richards''Washington Post'', May 31, 2013. is an American radio disc jockey, television show host, and professional wrestling personality, who is signed to WWE where he is a one-time WWE 24/7 Champion. He is a co-host of two New York City radio programs: ''Ebro in the Morning'', the weekday morning show at hip hop radio station WQHT ("Hot 97"); and ''The Michael Kay Show'' on ESPN Radio affiliate WEPN-FM, which is also simulcast on the YES Network. Early life Rosenberg was born and raised in Chevy Chase, Maryland, to M.J. Rosenberg, a Capitol Hill staffer father and public school teacher mother, and he attended Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.Matthew Shaer"Hot 97’s Morning Jew,"''Tablet Magazine, Tablet'', May 28, 2013. He describes his upbringing as "a very Jewish, upper middle class, regular suburban life."http://podcastone.com/Steve-Austin-Show-Clean?showAllEpisodes=true He was introduced to hip hop by his older brother, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No ID
Ernest Dion Wilson (born June 23, 1971), professionally known as No I.D. (formerly Immenslope), is an American hip hop and R&B producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a disc jockey (DJ), music arranger and former rapper, having released an album ''Accept Your Own and Be Yourself (The Black Album)'', in 1997 under Relativity Records. He is perhaps best known for his early work with Chicago-based rapper Common. He has since become a heavily sought-out and high-profile producer, producing hit singles such as "Smile" by G-Unit, " Outta My System" and "Let Me Hold You" by Bow Wow, " Heartless" by Kanye West, "D.O.A." by Jay-Z, "My Last" by Big Sean, and "New Light" by John Mayer. Wilson, who has served as a musical mentor for several artists such as Kanye West and J. Cole, is considered "The Godfather of Chicago hip hop". Wilson was once president of West's GOOD Music record company, and although he would resign from that position, he stayed contracted as an in-house produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States. The weekly tracking period for sales was initially Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming, is readily available on a real-time basis, is also tracked on a Friday to Thursday cycle effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021 (previously Monday to Sunday and before July 2015, Wednesday to Tuesday). A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by ''Billboard'' on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday. The first number-one song of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 was " Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release strategies Artists often choose songs that are more up-tempo, yet representative of the album's sound, as lead singles. Such songs are often catchier and attract the attention of listeners. The subsequent single might then be slower in tempo, in order to demonstrate the range of the album. Female vocalists like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera often maintain a formula of an up-tempo first lead single with a slow ballad follow-up. For example, two singles were released by Miley Cyrus before her album ''Bangerz'' - an up-tempo track called, "We Can't Stop" was released as the first single, and a slow-ballad song, "Wrecking Ball" as the second. This was a successful practice of 1980s heavy metal bands. Girls Aloud chose to use " The Show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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