Make It Hot
''Make It Hot'' is the debut studio album by American singer Nicole Wray. The album was released in August 1998 through Missy Elliott's Elektra-distributed vanity label, The Goldmind. The album was produced by Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Some editions of the release credit Nicole as ''Nicole Ray'', an artist name she only used here and on her single "I Can't See". Critical reception Michael Gallucci from AllMusic gave ''Make It Hot'' "is virtually a textbook primer on Elliott's stylistic touch and influence on end-of-the-millennium hip-hop (she raps on, writes songs for, produces, and executive produces ''Make It Hot'' – and it's on her custom label). Along with pal Timbaland, Elliott transforms young Nicole's somewhat standard bow into a stuttering slab of post-rap R&B that's as sleekly modern as it is customarily cold." ''Entertainment Weekly'' journalist Rob Brunner gave the album a B rating and concluded: "Even if the distinctive Missy-Timbaland sound is getting a li ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nicole Wray
Nicole Monique Wray (born May 2, 1979), also known as Lady Wray, is an American singer and songwriter. Her 1998 debut single "Make It Hot" was certified gold. Early life Nicole Monique Wray was born on May 2, 1979, in Salinas, California, to Debra Wray (née Murphy) and Kenneth Wray. Her older brother Kenny Wray is also a singer and she has younger sister Myrtis Wray. At a young age, Wray relocated to Portsmouth, Virginia.Biographyat Allmusic. She became one of her church's star choir members and also participated in local fashion shows. During her teenage years, Wray was introduced to then-upcoming rapper Missy Elliott, who was looking for a female singer to sign to her own recording label The Goldmind Inc. Wray impressed Elliott by performing SWV's song " Weak" and became the first recording artist on Elliott's label as well as securing a distribution deal with Elektra Records. Career 1997–2002: ''Make It Hot'' and split from The Goldmind Inc./Elektra In 1997, Wray ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, 1965 in an effort by the magazine to further expand into the field of rhythm and blues music. It then went through several name changes, being known as Soul LPs in the 1970s and Top Black Albums in the 1980s, before returning to the R&B identification in 1990 and affixing a hip hop designation in 1999 to reflect the latter's growing sales and relationship to R&B during the decade. From 1965 through 2009, the chart was compiled based on reported sales at a core panel of stores with a "higher-than-average volume" of R&B and/or hip-hop album sales to monitor buying trends of the African-American community. This panel included more independent and smaller chain stores compared to the high percentage of mass merchants that account fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flipmode Squad
Flipmode Squad is a hip hop collective founded and fronted by rapper Busta Rhymes. The first Flipmode album debuted in 1998 with ''The Imperial'', Rampage and Rah Digga went on to record solo efforts. In the move to J Records in 2000, Lord Have Mercy left Flipmode Squad in preference of a solo career in 2000, feeling that Busta was holding him down. The original line up also included Serious, who after quickly leaving would later produce for artists on No Limit Records, and later acts like Show Money and M. Dollars who were signed to the label as independent artists. Underground MC Roc Marciano would also be signed to the label for a number of years before going the independent route. A second Flipmode Squad release, ''Rulership Movement'', was set for release in 2003 on J Records, but because of the label change to Aftermath it was never released. It was announced that the album might be released sometime in 2009,J-MOE was in the group until he went solo. The founding member, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Clipse
Clipse, also known as The Clipse, is an American hip hop duo, chiefly active from 1994 to 2010. It consists of brothers Gene "No Malice" and Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during the group's early years, while No Malice was originally known as Malicious, then changed his stage name to Malice soon after the group's formation, before changing it again to No Malice in 2012 following a conversion to Christianity. The duo were based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and were heavily affiliated with producer and fellow Virginia Beach native, Pharrell Williams, who convinced the two in 1992 to be a rap duo instead of solo artists. Williams would go on to serve as their label head, main producer (via the production duo The Neptunes) and frequent guest artist through most of their career. The duo frequently rapped about the drug dealing they had done in their youth. Clipse was integral in establishing Virginia as one of the East Coast's strongholds in hip hop. In 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stephen Garrett
Stephen Ellis Garrett (November 11, 1974 – February 25, 2008), known professionally as Static Major (and previously as Static), was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Louisville, Kentucky. He was a member of the R&B trio Playa. He was also a songwriter for several artists, including Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Pretty Ricky, and Destiny's Child. Career Garrett started his producing career when he signed Swing Mob. He made a breakthrough working with R&B singer Ginuwine, writing and co-producing the song "Pony" which became a major hit and a milestone in both Garrett and Timbaland's careers. Garrett later became a member of the Def Jam group Playa, who were most known for their hit single " Cheers 2 U". Playa released an album of the same name in 1998. After working with Ginuwine, Garrett assisted in producing songs for Nicole Wray for her 1998 debut album, ''Make It Hot''. He would eventually become the lead songwriter for Aaliyah. His songwriting collabo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tim Mosley
Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinctive "stuttering" rhythmic style. In 2007, ''Entertainment Weekly'' stated that "just about every current pop trend can be traced back to him — from sultry, urban-edged R&B songstresses ... to the art of incorporating avant-garde sounds into No. 1 hits." Timbaland's first full credit production work was in 1996 on '' Ginuwine...the Bachelor'' for R&B singer Ginuwine. Further work on Aaliyah's second studio album '' One in a Million'' (1996) and Missy Elliott's debut studio album ''Supa Dupa Fly'' (1997) made him a prominent producer for R&B and hip hop artists. As a rapper he initially released several albums with fellow rapper Magoo, followed by his debut solo album '' Tim's Bio'' in 1998. In 2002, Timbaland produced the hit single ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lil' Mo
Cynthia Karen Loving (born November 19, 1978), known professionally as Lil' Mo, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, television and radio personality. She is best known for her 2001 single " Superwoman Pt. II", featuring then-unknown rapper Fabolous, which has been credited as launching his career. She first gained recognition as Missy Elliott's protégé, having been featured on her record-breaking hit single " Hot Boyz", as well as through her collaborations with Ja Rule, with whom she penned the Grammy-nominated " Put It on Me" and "I Cry". Early life Mo was born into a military family. Her father, Bishop Jacob D. Loving, and her mother, First-Lady Cynthia Loving Sr., raised her primarily in Long Island, New York, but moved regularly due to her father's military assignments. The family lived in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina before settling in Baltimore, Maryland. As an adult, Mo moved to New York City's Manhattan borough to pursue her music career. Career Beginnings ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eyes Better Not Wander
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). In higher organisms, the eye is a complex optical system which collects light from the surrounding environment, regulates its intensity through a diaphragm, focuses it through an adjustable assembly of lenses to form an image, converts this image into a set of electrical signals, and transmits these signals to the brain through complex neural pathways that connect the eye via the optic nerve to the visual cortex and other areas of the brain. Eyes with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system. Image-resolving eyes are present in molluscs, chordates and arthropods. The most simple eyes, pit eyes, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses hard rock or country in its airplay, but it may occasionally use a reggae, Latin, reggaeton, or a urban contemporary gospel hit. Essentially, the format is a cross between mainstream radio and urban contemporary radio formats. Format history Although some top-40 stations such as CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, made their mark by integrating a large amount of R&B and soul product into their predominantly pop playlists as early as 1967, such stations were still considered mainstream top 40 (a cycle that continues to dominate the current Top 40/CHR chart). It was not until the disco era of the late 1970s that such stations came to be considered as a format of their own as opposed to top-40 or soul. This development was largely spurred by the high ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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I Can't See
''Make It Hot'' is the debut studio album by American singer Nicole Wray. The album was released in August 1998 through Missy Elliott's Elektra-distributed vanity label, The Goldmind. The album was produced by Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Some editions of the release credit Nicole as ''Nicole Ray'', an artist name she only used here and on her single "I Can't See". Critical reception Michael Gallucci from AllMusic gave ''Make It Hot'' "is virtually a textbook primer on Elliott's stylistic touch and influence on end-of-the-millennium hip-hop (she raps on, writes songs for, produces, and executive produces ''Make It Hot'' – and it's on her custom label). Along with pal Timbaland, Elliott transforms young Nicole's somewhat standard bow into a stuttering slab of post-rap R&B that's as sleekly modern as it is customarily cold." ''Entertainment Weekly'' journalist Rob Brunner gave the album a B rating and concluded: "Even if the distinctive Missy-Timbaland sound is getting a li ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Music Recording Sales Certification
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see List of music recording certifications). Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories, which are named after precious materials (gold, platinum and diamond). The threshold required for these awards depends upon the population of the territory where the recording is released. Typically, they are awarded only to international releases and are awarded individually for each country where the album is sold. Different sales levels, some perhaps 10 times greater than others, may exist for different music media (for example: videos versus albums, singles, or music download). History The original gold and silver record awards were presented to artists by their own record companies to publicize their sales achi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 positions but was shortened to 50 positions in October 2012. The chart is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, rock and roll, soul, and funk, it is today dominated by contemporary R&B and hip hop. Since its inception, the chart has changed its name many times in order to accurately reflect the industry at the time. History Beginning in 1942, ''Billboard'' published a chart of bestselling black music, first as the Harlem Hit Parade, then as Race Records. Then in 1949, ''Billboard'' began publishing a Rhythm and Blues chart, which entered "R&B" into mainstream lexicon. These three charts were consolid ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |