Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo the Neptunes, which he formed with Chad Hugo in 1992. 15 of The Neptunes production discography, their productions have peaked within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100, which includes four songs that peaked atop the chart. The two also formed the Rock music, rock and hip-hop band N.E.R.D. with Shay Haley in 1999, for which Williams served as lead vocalist. He has been regarded as one of the most influential producers in modern popular music. He also contributed on all the ''Despicable Me (franchise), Despicable Me'' films as a musical contributor. Williams co-founded the record label Star Trak Entertainment with Hugo in 2001, as an imprint of Arista Records. Williams' 2003 debut single, "Frontin'" (featuring Jay-Z ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic and the 42nd-most populous city in the U.S. with a population of 459,470 at the 2020 census. Virginia Beach is a principal city in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, which has more than 1.8 million inhabitants and is the 37th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Virginia Beach is a resort city with miles of beaches and hundreds of hotels, motels, and restaurants along its oceanfront. Near the point where the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean meet, Cape Henry was the site of the first landing of the English colonists who eventually settled in Jamestown; modern Virginia Beach was established in 1906. It is home to several state parks, protected beaches, and military bases. Virginia Wesleyan University, Regent ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Star Trak Entertainment
Star Trak Entertainment was an American record label, founded by the Neptunes and Rob Walker in 2001. It was launched as an imprint of Arista Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment from its formation until 2003, after which it operated under Virgin Records, a subsidiary of EMI, and ultimately Interscope Geffen A&M Records, following EMI's merger with Universal Music Group. The label ceased operations in 2015. Its name is a reference to the 1960s TV program ''Star Trek''. History Beginnings Star Trak was formed in 2001 by the Neptunes. The label was partially funded by Arista Records (from Bertelsmann Music Group) in a joint-venture. Pharrell Williams would sign longtime friends, Clipse. Their debut album, ''Lord Willin''', was released in 2002 led by the hits, " Grindin'", " When the Last Time", and " Ma, I Don't Love Her" After the success of the album, the label would sign Kelis, Vanessa Marquez, Fam-Lay, N.E.R.D and pop rock band Spymob, who provided backing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frontin'
"Frontin'" is the debut single by American musician Pharrell Williams featuring American rapper Jay-Z. It was written by the artists alongside Chad Hugo, who produced it with Williams as the Neptunes. At the time of its release, Williams insisted the single was a one-off, and that he was purely a producer and not an artist in his own right. However, he released his own solo studio album, '' In My Mind'', in 2006. The song's title refers to putting up a facade (or false 'front'), typically to impress peers. The drum beat was heavily influenced by the Beatles' 1965 track "In My Life", and the bass during the bridge by Stevie Wonder. Pharrell had initially written the song for Prince. It was the 34th best-selling song of 2003 in the U.S., according to ''Billboard'' magazine. It was also featured on the Neptunes' 2003 compilation album '' The Neptunes Present... Clones'', which debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 in August 2003. In 2024, the song appeared on Williams' s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Despicable Me (franchise)
''Despicable Me'' is an American media franchise created by Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It centers on a supervillain turned secret agent named Gru, his adoptive daughters, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, and his yellow-colored Minions (Despicable Me), Minions. The franchise is produced by Illumination (company), Illumination and distributed by its parent company Universal Pictures. The franchise began with the 2010 Despicable Me (film), film of the same name, which was followed by three sequels, ''Despicable Me 2'' (2013), ''Despicable Me 3'' (2017), and ''Despicable Me 4'' (2024) and two spin-off prequels, ''Minions (film), Minions'' (2015) and ''Minions: The Rise of Gru'' (2022). The franchise also includes many short films, a television special, several video games, and a theme park attraction. Feature films Main series ''Despicable Me'' (2010) Longtime supervillain Gru formulates a plan to steal the moon after his rival Vector steals the Great Pyramid of Giza. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized in letter case, lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to the music industry. Its Billboard charts, music charts include the Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100, the Billboard 200, 200, and the Billboard Global 200, Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in various music genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm and operates several television shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Popular Music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia'' As a kind of popular art, it stands in contrast to art music. Art music was historically disseminated through the performances of written music, although since the beginning of the recording industry, it is also disseminated through sound recording, recordings. Traditional music forms such as early blues songs or hymns were passed along orally, or to smaller, local audiences. The original application of the term is to music of the 1880s Tin Pan Alley period in the United States. Although popular music sometimes is known as "pop music", the two terms are not interchangeable. Popular music is a generic term for a wide variety of genres of music that appeal to the tastes of a large segment of the populati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shay Haley
Sheldon "Shay" Haley (born December 18, 1975), also known as Shade, is an American musician. He is a member of the rock and hip-hop band N.E.R.D., alongside Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. His role in the band is often questioned, but in a 2010 interview, Williams stated that Haley is "the root of the band" and " aleykeeps everyone grounded and together." Personal life In November 2010, he married Jackie Garcia, the former girlfriend of murdered NFL safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ... Sean Taylor and niece of actor Andy García. References External links N*E*R*D official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Haley, Shae 1975 births Living people African-American drummers N.E.R.D. members 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 21st-century ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hip-hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip-hop includes rapping often enough that the terms can be used synonymously. However, "hip-hop" more properly denotes an entire subculture. Other key markers of the genre are the disc jockey, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks. Cultural interchange has always been central to the hip-hop genre. It simultaneously borrows from its social environment while commenting on it. The hip-hop genre and culture emerged from block parties in ethnic minority neighborhoods of New York City, particularly Bronx. DJs began expanding the instrumental breaks of popular records when they noticed how excited it would make the crowds. The extended instrumental breaks provided a platform for break dancers and rappers. These br ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rock Music
Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew from the black musical genres of blues and rhythm and blues, as well as from country music. Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk music, folk, and incorporated influences from jazz and other styles. Rock is typically centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar, drum kit, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a Time signature, time signature and using a verse–chorus form; however, the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock was the most p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), online streaming, and radio airplay in the U.S. A new chart is compiled and released online to the public by ''Billboard''s website on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday, when the printed magazine first reaches newsstands. The weekly tracking period for sales is currently Friday–Thursday, after being changed in July 2015. It was initially Monday–Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991. This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. Radio airplay is readily available on a real-time basis, unlike sales figures and streaming, but is also tracked on the same Friday–Thursday cycle, effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021. Previously, radio was tracked Monday–Sunday and, before Ju ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony Music Group, which is itself owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. The company was formed as Sony/ATV in 1995 by the merger of the original incarnation of Sony Music Publishing and ATV Music, which was owned by late entertainer Michael Jackson. Jackson had purchased ATV Music, which included the Lennon–McCartney song catalog, in 1985. In 2012, an investor consortium led by Sony/ATV Music Publishing acquired EMI Music Publishing to become the largest music publishing administrator in the world, with a library of over three million songs. In April 2019, Jon Platt became CEO/Chairman of Sony/ATV Music Publishing after the contract of longtime CEO/Chairman Martin Bandier expired. In August 2019, management of Sony/ATV ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chad Hugo
Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American musician and record producer. Alongside childhood friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in 1992, with whom he has produced numerous hit records for various artists. He was also a member of the band N.E.R.D., alongside Williams and Shay Haley, and co-founded the record label Star Trak Entertainment with Williams in 2001. In contrast to Williams, Hugo does not perform vocals on records. Early life Hugo was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, to a Filipino-American family. His mother was a lab technician and his father served in the United States Navy. His exploration of music included recording mixtapes in his home using a boombox, and writing a paper about Robert Moog after learning about synthesizers from the news, which sparked an interest in electronic musical equipment. He later joined his school band, playing the saxophone, through which he met Pharrell Williams, with whom he began producin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |