Lance "Un" Rivera is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter, record producer, and music executive.
Career
Lance Rivera began his music career when he met a neighborhood rapper named Christopher Wallace, who rhymed under the name,
The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...
After hearing him perform, Rivera offered to finance his musical career.
Undeas Recordings and Untertainment
In 1994, when Undeas Recordings was created in partnership with
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
, Rivera was put in charge of its roster, which included
The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...
's protégé group
Junior M.A.F.I.A.
Junior M.A.F.I.A. was an American hip hop group from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City. The backronym M.A.F.I.A. stands for Masters At Finding Intelligent Attitudes. They were formed and mentored by New York rapper The Notorious B.I.G ...
, including its core member,
Lil' Kim
Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include:
*
*
*
*
* better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of he ...
. Junior M.A.F.I.A. released only one album under Undeas/Atlantic, 1995's
''Conspiracy'', which went gold in under a month and sustained two singles: "
Player's Anthem
"Player's Anthem" is the first single released from the Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s debut album ''Conspiracy''. Produced by Clark Kent, the song contains a sample of The New Birth's song "You Are What I'm All About". Featuring a chorus by the Notorious ...
" and "
Get Money
"Get Money" is a song by the American rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A., released as the third and final single from their debut album ''Conspiracy'' (1995). "Get Money," whose instrumental is fundamentally a sample of R&B singer Sylvia Striplin's 198 ...
"; both of which gained way for Lil' Kim's breakout solo career. That following year, on November 12, 1996, Undeas released Kim's debut solo album,
''Hard Core'', which included the singles, "
No Time", "
Crush on You" and "
Not Tonight". All of which became top-ten Billboard hits and helped the album reached the top fifteen of the
''Billboard'' 200 at number eleven.
In 1997,
Rivera launched another label called Untertainment Records. The label's roster included Harlem rapper
Cam'ron
Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper, record executive, and actor from Harlem, New York City. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed to Lance "Un" ...
and
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
rappers Dutch and Spade of
Major Figgas
Major Figgas was an American hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
History
Major Figgas was founded in the Erie Ave area of Philadelphia by Gillie da Kid, Wallo, and Abliva, who were friends from the neighborhood. They knew Bump J, Dutc ...
and
Charli Baltimore
Tiffany Lane (born August 16, 1974), better known as Charli Baltimore, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Her stage name is taken from Geena Davis's character in the film ''The Long Kiss Goodnight''.
Career
Charli Balti ...
; Cam'ron and Charli Baltimore were signed through
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
while Dutch and Spade were signed to
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
. The label's first release was the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
to the 1998 comedy film,
''Woo''. Only Cam'ron released two albums under that label: 1998's ''
Confessions of Fire
''Confessions of Fire'' is the debut studio album by the Harlem rapper Cam'ron, released in 1998. Its singles were " Horse & Carriage," featuring Mase, "357" and "Feels Good" featuring Usher. Originally titled "Who Is Cam'ron?"—the album was ce ...
'' and 2000's ''
S.D.E.
''S.D.E. (Sports, Drugs & Entertainment)'' is the second studio album by Harlem rapper Cam'ron. The album was originally titled "The Rough, Rough, Rough Album" and was set for a 1999 release, however the project was pushed back to 2000 and man ...
''. In July 1999, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member
Lil' Cease
James Lloyd (born August 20, 1977), better known by his stage name Lil' Cease, is an American rapper and former member of hip hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A.
Early life, family and education
James Lloyd was born in New York City.
Career
As pa ...
released a solo album under Undeas, ''
The Wonderful World of Cease A Leo
''The Wonderful World of Cease A Leo'' is the only solo album by rapper and Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease. It was released on July 13, 1999 through Atlantic Records and was mainly produced by members of The Hitmen. The album proved successf ...
''. Eventually, vice versa, fellow Junior M.A.F.I.A. affiliate Lil' Kim released her sophomore solo album, ''
The Notorious K.I.M.
''The Notorious K.I.M.'' is the second studio album by American rapper Lil' Kim. It was released on June 27, 2000, by Atlantic Records and was her first album on her new label Queen Bee Entertainment. It debuted at number four on the US ''Billb ...
'', almost a year later in June 2000 (also under Undeas). Despite ''the Notorious K.I.M.'' being the final album released under Undeas and it going platinum in under two months, Rivera was in no way involved in this project. After losing Untertainment artist Charli Baltimore, Rivera attempted a comeback in the music business with the release of Major Figgas' Dutch and Spade's collaborative single, "If You Want It". However, after the single failed to chart, the duo's album, ''For My Family'', originally planned for a November 2001 release, was shelved.
Movie career
Rivera transitioned from music to doing movies. He teamed up with
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...
and her
Flavor Unit
The Flavor Unit is a crew of emcees and DJs from New York City and Northern New Jersey. It is now known as the Unit. The original version of the crew centered on producer the 45 King. It was Mark's connections to radio personalities DJ Red Alert ...
partner, Shakim Compere, to establish Crossover Media, a marketing advertising company. He went on to make his feature film directorial debut with ''
The Cookout
''The Cookout'' is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Lance Rivera, written by Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere. The film introduces Quran Pender (credited as "Storm P") as Todd Anderson and stars Ja Rule, Tim Meadows, Jenifer Lewis, Meagan ...
'' (2004), starring Queen Latifah, as well as
Tim Meadows
Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy ...
,
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with ''Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single "Holla Holla". Durin ...
,
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
,
Jenifer Lewis
Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films ''Beaches'' (1988) and ''Sister Act'' (1992). Le ...
,
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films include ...
and Storm P in an all-star cast. The film opened on 1,303 screens, and opened at number eight in the box office with a gross of $5,000,900. After seven weeks, it ended with a domestic gross of $11,814,019 and made $195,051 from foreign countries, for a total of $12,009,070 worldwide.
His second film, ''
The Perfect Holiday
''The Perfect Holiday'' is a 2007 comedy film directed by Lance Rivera, starring Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, Charlie Murphy (actor), Charlie Murphy, and Terrence Howard, and is produced by Academy Award-nominated actress Queen Latifah, who al ...
'', released in November 2007 and also starring Queen Latifah (alongside
Morris Chestnut
Morris Lamont Chestnut (born January 1, 1969) is an American actor. He first came to prominence for his role as Ricky in the 1991 film ''Boyz n the Hood''. He has appeared in feature films and on television series, including the starring role of ...
,
Charlie Murphy, and
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films ''She's All That' ...
) opened at number six with $2.2 million; The film grossed $5.8 million domestically.
In early 2014, Rivera reunited with Cam'ron (who co-wrote the screenplay) for the production of the direct-to-media film, ''Percentage'', which also co-starred
Omar Gooding
Omar Miles Gooding Sr., also known by his stage name, Big O[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 ...](_blank)
at the release party for
Q-Tip's album ''
Amplified'' at the now-closed Kit Kat Club in
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
. The incident arose over the alleged bootlegging of Jay-Z's album ''
Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter'' before its release on December 28. In October 2001, Jay-Z pleaded guilty to a second-degree assault charge and was sentenced to three years of probation.
Filmography
References
External links
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*
The Cookout Box Office
Lance Rivera Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Lance
Film producers from New York (state)
American male screenwriters
American music video directors
Record producers from New York (state)
Film directors from New York City
Living people
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Brooklyn
People from Harlem