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Roc Boys
"Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..." is the second single from Jay-Z's tenth studio album, '' American Gangster''. The song is produced by Skyz Muzik, Diddy and two of his producers known as LV and Sean C from his production team, The Hitmen. It features additional vocals by Beyoncé, Kanye West and Cassie. The song samples " Make the Road by Walking" by The Menahan Street Band. On December 11, 2007, ''Rolling Stone'' named it the best song of 2007. Music video The music video was directed by Chris Robinson and costume designed by June Ambrose. The video was shot in New York City in Jay-Z's The 40/40 Club.Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Liz Hernandez (November 8, 2007Jay-Z Parties It Up With Mariah Carey, Nas, Diddy At 'Roc Boys' Video Shoot ''MTV''. Accessed November 25, 2007. The intro of the video contains the chorus from Hello Brooklyn 2.0. The video features cameo appearances by Nas, Rick Ross, Memphis Bleek, Diddy, Freeway, Terrence J, Tru Life, Young Gunz, Jadakiss, Y ... [...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] |
Menahan Street Band
Menahan Street Band is a Brooklyn, New York-based instrumental band formed in 2007, that plays funk and soul music. The band features musicians from Antibalas, El Michels Affair, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and the Budos Band. The group was founded by Thomas Brenneck while living in an apartment on Menahan Street in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. Their debut album, ''Make the Road by Walking'', was released in 2008 on Dunham, a sublabel of Daptone Records. Various songs from ''Make the Road by Walking'' have been sampled by hip hop artists, including the title track, which was sampled by Jay-Z on the track " Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)...", "Going The Distance", which was sampled by Kid Cudi on his song "Solo Dolo Pt.II" featuring Kendrick Lamar on Cudi's third studio album Indicud, and "The Traitor," sampled by 50 Cent on his mixtape ''War Angel LP'' and by Cudi on his debut album '' Man on the Moon: The End of Day''. In addition, the song "Tired of Fighting" is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swizz Beatz
Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the age of 18, he started to gain recognition in the hip hop industry through his family's record label, Ruff Ryders, as well as his friendship and work with East Coast rapper DMX. Working with DMX as his producer, DJ and hype man, helped Dean gain prominence as a high-profile personality in hip hop. Dean later found a protégé in Philadelphia-based rapper Cassidy, whose success helped the launch of his own label imprint, Full Surface, in 2001. He went on to sign multiple artists to the label, including Eve, Mashonda and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, among others. Dean went on to release two albums under the label; the first was a compilation, titled '' Swizz Beatz Presents G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories'', released in 2002, and later his debut studio album, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yaya DaCosta
Camara DaCosta Johnson (born November 15, 1982), better known as Yaya DaCosta, is an American actress and model. She was the runner-up in Cycle 3 of ''America's Next Top Model''. DaCosta eventually went to star in ABC's daytime drama series ''All My Children'' (2008), ABC's comedy-drama ''Ugly Betty'' (2009), and NBC's medical drama ''Chicago Med'' (2015–2022)''.'' DaCosta starred in the Lifetime television film ''Whitney'' (2015) as singer Whitney Houston and received praise for her performance. Early life and education DaCosta was born on November 15, 1982, in New York City and is of Brazilian and Black-American descent. She was raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. In addition to English, she speaks Portuguese, French, Spanish and conversational Japanese. She attended the elite Northfield Mount Hermon School during high school before attending Brown University, where she majored in Africana studies and international relations. Career After finishing second o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jadakiss
Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy. After leaving the label in 1999, they signed a joint venture deal between Interscope and Ruff Ryders. He is currently signed to Def Jam Recordings, Def Jam and D-Block. Jadakiss' debut solo album, ''Kiss Tha Game Goodbye'', was released in 2001. He has released three more solo studio albums, another album with the Lox, and an album with fellow rapper Fabolous. In 2007, Jadakiss signed with Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam, which, with Ruff Ryders, co-released his 2009 album ''The Last Kiss (album), The Last Kiss''. Altogether, he has released five studio albums, most recently ''Ignatius (album), Ignatius'' in 2020. Early life Jadakiss was born on May 27, 1975, in Yonkers, New York, Yonkers, New York (state), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Young Gunz
Young Gunz is an American hip hop duo from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, composed of rappers Young Chris (born Chris Ries in 1983) and Neef Buck (born Hanif Muhammad in 1983). The group is part of Beanie Sigel's State Property collective and was signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. Young Gunz' debut single, " Can't Stop, Won't Stop", made the top 15 on the Billboard charts in 2003. History State Property Ries and Muhammad had been friends since they were youths on the block(C-Ave). On "Takeover", a track from his 2001 album ''The Blueprint'', Jay-Z announced the duo as "Chris & Neef". In 2002, the duo performed on the ''State Property'' soundtrack album. Chris and Neef starred in the titular movie. Also during this period of their career, Young Chris appeared throughout Dame Dash's ''Dream Team'' compilation, and Beanie Sigel's '' The Reason''. The duo performed together on guest appearances for albums like Jay-Z's ''The Blueprint 2'', Freeway's ''Philadelphia Freeway'', State Prope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tru Life
Roberto Guzmán Rosado, Jr. (born March 19, 1976), better known by his stage name Tru Life, is an American rapper. He was signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records briefly but was incarcerated soon after. Before signing he had spent time with various other labels, featured on numerous songs and had already generated quite a buzz due to prominent beefs, appearances on mixtapes and Smack DVD. He was released from prison in 2016. He has since actively protested his innocence, and stated that he pleaded guilty to a criminal charge only because of the situation being effectively stacked against him in such a way that he felt he could not win a trial, despite the fact that he didn't participate in any crime. In his eyes, it was a better choice to plead guilty and accept the sentence than to risk a trial, which would have not only put him at risk of being convicted of a more serious crime but also at risk of a much longer sentence. He has also indicated since his release that he is a change ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terrence J
Terrence Jenkins (born April 21, 1982) is an American actor, television presenter, model and entertainment reporter best known as the host of BET's popular music video countdown show '' 106 & Park'' from 2006 until 2012.MacCash, Doug. "Back in town: Rocsi Diaz comes home to tape her hit BET show '106 & Park'", ''The Times-Picayune'', 2007-07-06, p. 12. He was the co-anchor of ''E! News'' from 2012 until 2015. Early life Jenkins was born in Queens, New York, and grew up mostly in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.Decwikiel-Kane, Dawn. "A&T grad chases his dreams, is TV host", ''Greensboro News & Record'', 2006-10-20, p. D1. He attended Northern Nash High in Rocky Mount. During this time, Jenkins worked at WRSV Soul 92.1 as a DJ until he graduated from high school. He spent his college years at North Carolina A&T State University;Coleman, Chrisena. "The Hottest 'Nerd' on TV: Star from Queens Seen by Millions Around the World", ''New York Daily News'', 2008-04-15. he also lived in Gree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freeway (rapper)
Leslie Edward Pridgen (born August 6, 1978), better known by his stage name Freeway, is an American rapper from North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is best known as a member of the rap group State Property, during his time with Roc-A-Fella Records alongside Jay-Z. In 2009, Freeway was briefly signed to Cash Money Records, but returned to work again with Jay-Z at the mogul's entertainment organization and record label, Roc Nation, with his 2018 album ''Think Free''. Life and career Early life and career beginnings Freeway was born Leslie Pridgen on August 6, 1978. He adopted his moniker from the name of the infamous drug trafficker "Freeway" Rick Ross as he found no one wanted to listen to a rapper named Leslie. Freeway began his career by participating in freestyle battles in his high school and met fellow Philadelphia native Beanie Sigel, while rapping on stage at a hometown nightclub. Not long after being signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, Sigel put in a word for Freeway, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Memphis Bleek
Malik Deshawn Cox (born June 23, 1978), known by his stage name Memphis Bleek, is an American rapper who was a protégé of fellow New York rapper Jay-Z. Cox started his own labels: Get Low Records in 1998, and #Warehouse Music Group, Warehouse Music Group in 2016. He has released four albums, the first two certified Gold. Music career Memphis Bleek was one of the first artists signed to Roc-A-Fella, as a protégé of Jay-Z. He grew up in Brooklyn's Marcy Houses, Marcy Projects, located in Bedford–Stuyvesant, the same neighborhood as Jay-Z. He appears on the Jay-Z albums: ''Reasonable Doubt (album), Reasonable Doubt'', ''Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life'', ''Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter'', ''The Dynasty: Roc La Familia'', and ''The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse''. Bleek's first official appearance was "Coming of Age" from ''Reasonable Doubt''. After the huge success of ''Hard Knock Life'' and the exposure of the Roc-A-Fella camp, (a Memphis Bleek track off the aforemention ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rick Ross (rapper)
William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment and Irv Gotti's Murder Inc., until signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Jay-Z on Def Jam Recordings. Ross released his debut album ''Port of Miami'' through the label later that year, debuting at the top spot on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, with sales of 187,000 units during the first week. Ross released his second studio album, ''Trilla'', in 2008, once again debuting atop the ''Billboard'' 200. Outside of his solo career, Ross was a lead member of the hip hop group Triple C's, alongside fellow Florida rappers Gunplay and Torch, in 2005. Ross founded the record label Maybach Music Group in 2009, on which he released his studio albums ''Deeper Than Rap'' (2009), '' Teflon Don'' (2010), ''God Forgives, I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The 40/40 Club
The 40/40 Club is a chain of sports bars and lounges owned by Jay-Z. The name is borrowed from the baseball term for the exclusive group of Major League Baseball players who have achieved the rare individual feat of 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season.40-40 Club Description , Restaurant.com Overview The first 40/40 Club opened in New York City in 2003; this was followed by locations in in 2005, in in 2007,[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
