Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' (commonly referred to as the ''Purple Tape'') is the debut studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, released on August 1, 1995, by Loud Records and RCA Records. The album was loosely composed to play like a film with Raekwon as the "star", fellow Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah as the "guest-star", and producer RZA as the "director".Ma, David''Cuban Linx'' Revisited (page 1) ''Wax Poetics''. Retrieved 2010-07-27. It features appearances from every member of the Wu-Tang Clan. The album also features debut appearances from affiliates Cappadonna and Blue Raspberry, and an acclaimed guest appearance from rapper Nas, which marked the first collaboration with a non-affiliated artist on a Wu-Tang related album. Upon its release, ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' debuted at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, while selling 130,000 copies in its opening week. The album was cert ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Raekwon
Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of their debut album, ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)'', in 1993. Raekwon would subsequently pursue a solo career, releasing his first solo album, entitled ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'', in 1995. The album received critical acclaim, and is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, as well as a staple of 1990s rap. Whereas his next two albums, ''Immobilarity'' in 1999 and then ''The Lex Diamond Story'' in 2003, drew mixed reviews, his fourth album, long delayed, ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II'', released in September 2009, was likened to ''The Godfather Part II, The Godfather 2''. Recognized for his "street epics" that are "straightforward yet linguistically rich," Raekwo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cappadonna
Darryl Hill (born September 18, 1969), better known by his stage name Cappadonna, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan and is a member of the hip hop group Theodore Unit together with Ghostface Killah. Career Cappadonna (also known as Cappachino) was known to the future members of the Wu-Tang Clan, and had been U-God's mentor. However, Cappadonna went to prison and was replaced in the group by Method Man. Cappadonna made his recording debut as an affiliate of the Wu-Tang Clan on Raekwon's 1995 single "Ice Cream" on '' Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...''. He was also a guest star, along with Raekwon, on Ghostface Killah's solo debut album, '' Ironman''. He made his first appearance on a Wu-Tang Clan album in 1997 on ''Wu-Tang Forever'' on the single " Triumph". Following his appearance on ''Forever'', he contributed significantly to the group's third studio album, '' The W'', at which point his appearances were no longer marked with "Featuring ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Notorious B
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun '' the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Reasonable Doubt (album)
''Reasonable Doubt'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was released on June 25, 1996, by his own record label Roc-A-Fella Records and distributed by Priority Records. The album features production provided by DJ Premier, Ski, Knobody and Clark Kent, and also includes guest appearances from Memphis Bleek, Mary J. Blige, Jaz-O, and the Notorious B.I.G., among others. The album features mafioso rap themes and gritty lyrics about the "hustler" lifestyle and material obsessions. ''Reasonable Doubt'' debuted at number 23 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, on which it charted for 18 weeks. It was promoted with four singles; including " Ain't No Nigga" and " Can't Knock the Hustle". ''Reasonable Doubt'' was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and, as of 2006, has sold 1.5 million copies in the United States. A critical success, it has been ranked on several publications' lists of hip-hop's greatest albums, while many hip hop ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the greatest rapper of all time by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' and ''Vibe (magazine), Vibe'' in 2023. Known for his complex lyrical ability—which often uses double entendres and word play—and Braggadocio (rap), braggadocio, his music is built upon a rags to riches narrative. He served as president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007, and founded the entertainment company Roc Nation the following year. A protégé of fellow New York City-based rapper Jaz-O, Jay-Z began his musical career in the late 1980s; he co-founded the record label Roc-A-Fella Records in 1994 to release his first two studio albums ''Reasonable Doubt (album), Reasonable Doubt'' (1996) and ''In My Lifetime, Vol. 1'' (1997), both o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Organized Crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a form of illegal business, some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, terrorist groups, rebel groups, and Separatism, separatists, are politically motivated. Many criminal organizations rely on fear or terror to achieve their goals or aims as well as to maintain control within the organization and may adopt tactics commonly used by authoritarianism, authoritarian regimes to maintain power. Some forms of organized crime simply exist to cater towards demand of illegal goods in a state or to facilitate trade of goods and services that may have been banned by a state (such as illegal drugs or firearms). Sometimes, criminal organizations force people to do business with them, such as when a gang extorts protection racket, protec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Mafia
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to these US-based organizations, as well as the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy, or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. These organizations are often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra (, "Our Thing" or "This Thing of Ours") and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN). The organization's name is derived from the original ''Mafia'' or ''Cosa Nostra'', the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia groups from Sicily operating in the United States. The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished List of Italian-American neighborhoods, Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York's East Harlem (or "Italian Harlem"), the Lower East Si ... [...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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Nielsen Soundscan
Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intelligence (formerly TVtracker). In December 2019, Eldridge Industries' MRC (company), Valence Media, then parent company of ''Billboard'', acquired Nielsen's music data business, reuniting it with ''Billboard'' for the first time since its spin-off to Prometheus Global Media, E5 Global Media from Nielsen Business Media. It was renamed MRC Data in 2020 after Eldridge Industries merged Valence with the film and television studio MRC (company), MRC. and was then brought under its PMRC joint venture with Penske Media Corporation as P-MRC Data. It was renamed once more to Luminate Data in March 2022. In August 2022, the MRC merger was unwound, with Eldridge Industries taking sole ownership of its stake in PMRC. Nielsen Music Nielsen Music, origin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Recording Industry Association Of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legally sold recorded music in the United States". RIAA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. RIAA was formed in 1952. Its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the RIAA equalization curve, the format of the stereophonic record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3, 45, and 78 rpm records. RIAA says its current mission includes: #to protect intellectual property rights and the First Amendment rights of artists #to perform research about the music industry #to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations, and policies Between 2001 and 2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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RIAA Certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) operates an awards program based on the certified number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets.RIAA certification criteria Retrieved on September 11, 2006 Other countries have similar awards (see ). Certification is not automatic; for an award to be made, the must first request certification. The audit is conducted against net shi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in New York City. Its newspaper is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. The paper's dynamic design influenced the style of local, regional, and national newspapers worldwide through its use of concise reports, colorized images, informational graphics, and inclusion of popular culture stories, among other distinct features. As of 2023, ''USA Today'' has the fifth largest print circulation in the United States, with 132,640 print subscribers. It has two million digital subscribers, the fourth-largest online circulation of any U.S. newspaper. ''USA Today'' is distributed in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and an international edition is distributed in Asia, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |