Ruff Ryders
Ruff Ryders Entertainment is an American hip hop record label and management company founded by siblings and record executives Joaquin "Waah", Darrin "Dee" and Chivon Dean in 1988. It operated as a subsidiary of Universal, and distributed by Interscope Records, with Def Jam Recordings serving as the distributor for DMX albums. The label went on to launch the careers of several successful artists such as DMX, Eve, The LOX (Jadakiss, Sheek Louch and Styles P), Drag-On, MC Jin, producers Dame Grease and the Deans' nephew, Swizz Beatz among others. The Ruff Ryders namesake also referred to a loose-knit hip hop collective composed of the core signees of the label. Ruff Ryders and its main studio Powerhouse Studios are headquartered at 33 South Broadway in Yonkers, New York. History 1988–1999: Rise and success Joaquin "Waah" Dean was a hustler trying to transition to entertainment, Puff Daddy and Waah knew each other from both being raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Waah aske ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands, and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the " Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The French Bolloré family still owns 28 percent of UMG (18 percent directly, and ten percent through Vivendi, the Bolloré family's investment company). The company went public on 21 September 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion. As of April 202 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Dame Grease
Damon J. Blackman (born August 9, 1974), better known by his stage name Dame Grease or simply Grease, is an American record producer from New York City. In 1996, he gained recognition in the hip hop industry through his production work with Bad Boy and The LOX, while also establishing the sound of DMX and Ruff Ryders. Music career 1996–2006: Career beginnings and Vacant Lot Grease has produced several artists throughout his career. He has worked extensively with East Coast hip hop group, The LOX. Their use of Grease's sounds helped them acquire the street buzz that landed them their deal on Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records in 1996. Grease produced several songs on LOX's debut album, '' Money, Power & Respect'', including the hit '' We'll Always Love Big Poppa''. He was a producer on fellow Bad Boy artist Mase's quadruple platinum album ''Harlem World'' (1997). This led to Grease's work as the primary music producer on DMX's debut ''It's Dark and Hell Is Hot'' (1998), prod ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
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]   |
|
Money, Power & Respect
''Money, Power & Respect'' is the debut album by hip hop group The Lox. It was released on January 13, 1998, through Sean "Puffy" Combs's Bad Boy Records and Arista Records. The album featured production from the Hitmen, Dame Grease and Swizz Beatz. The album found huge success, peaking at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and spawned two charting singles, " Money, Power & Respect" and " If You Think I'm Jiggy". In 2008, the title track was ranked number 53 on Vh1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. Commercial performance ''Money, Power & Respect'' debuted and peaked at number 3 on the ''Billboard 200'', selling over 110,000 copies in the first week. The album has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping and selling over 1,000,000 copies in America. To date, it is The LOX's best selling album. Track listing Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. (co.) Co-produc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Akai MPC60
The Akai MPC (originally MIDI Production Center, now Music Production Center) is a series of music workstations produced by Akai from 1988 onwards. MPCs combine sampling and sequencing functions, allowing users to record portions of sound, modify them and play them back as sequences. The first MPCs were designed by the American engineer Roger Linn, who had designed the successful LM-1 and LinnDrum drum machines in the 1980s. Linn aimed to create an intuitive instrument, with a grid of pads that can be played similarly to a traditional instrument such as a keyboard or drum kit. Rhythms can be created using samples of any sound. The MPC had a major influence on the development of electronic and hip-hop music. It led to new sampling techniques, with users pushing its technical limits to creative effect. It had a democratizing effect on music production, allowing artists to create elaborate tracks without traditional instruments or recording studios. Its pad interface was adopt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Source (magazine)
''The Source'' is an American music magazine and website specializing in hip-hop and entertainment. Founded in August 1988 by Harvard University students David Mays and Jonathan Shecter, it began as a black-and-white, one-page newspaper promoting their college radio show. Within months, it evolved into a professionally designed, full-color magazine. Dubbed "the bible of hip-hop," primarily focused on hip-hop music and culture while also covering politics and fashion. Its music reviews held great significance in the hip-hop community, with the "five mics" rating considered a prestigious honor and a significant achievement. The ratings often sparked heated debates among both artists and fans. At its height in the late 1990s, ''The Source'' was the highest-selling magazine on the newsstands in the United States. It launched its own compilation album series and an award show. The 1995 Source Awards were noted for their effect on the hip-hop landscape, particularly in escalating ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Music Demo
A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed format, such as cassette tape, compact disc, or digital audio files, and to thereby pass along those ideas to record labels, producers, or other artists. Musicians often use demos as quick sketches to share with bandmates or arrangers, or simply for personal reference during the songwriting process; in other cases, a songwriter might make a demo to send to artists in hopes of having the song professionally recorded, or a publisher may need a simple recording for publishing or copyright purposes. Background Demos are typically recorded on relatively crude equipment such as "boom box" cassette recorders, small four- or eight-track machines, or on personal computers with audio recording software. Songwriters' and publishers' demos are recorde ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ruff Ryders
Ruff Ryders Entertainment is an American hip hop record label and management company founded by siblings and record executives Joaquin "Waah", Darrin "Dee" and Chivon Dean in 1988. It operated as a subsidiary of Universal, and distributed by Interscope Records, with Def Jam Recordings serving as the distributor for DMX albums. The label went on to launch the careers of several successful artists such as DMX, Eve, The LOX (Jadakiss, Sheek Louch and Styles P), Drag-On, MC Jin, producers Dame Grease and the Deans' nephew, Swizz Beatz among others. The Ruff Ryders namesake also referred to a loose-knit hip hop collective composed of the core signees of the label. Ruff Ryders and its main studio Powerhouse Studios are headquartered at 33 South Broadway in Yonkers, New York. History 1988–1999: Rise and success Joaquin "Waah" Dean was a hustler trying to transition to entertainment, Puff Daddy and Waah knew each other from both being raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Waah aske ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Yonkers
Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally located municipality within the New York metropolitan area, Yonkers had a population of 211,569 at the 2020 United States census. Yonkers is classified as an inner suburb of New York City, immediately north of the Bronx and approximately north of Marble Hill, Manhattan, Marble Hill (the Upper Manhattan, northernmost point in Manhattan). Downtown Yonkers is centered around Getty Square, where the municipal government is located. The downtown area, which also houses local businesses and nonprofit organizations, is a retail hub for the city and the northwest Bronx. Major shopping areas are in Getty Square on South Broadway, at the Cross County Shopping Center and the Ridge Hill Mall, and along New York State Route 100, Central Park Avenue. The ci ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Irv Gotti
Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025), professionally known as Irv Gotti or DJ Irv, was an American record producer and music executive. Gotti started off as a New York hip-hop DJ in the 1980s, then becoming an A&R talent scout for TVT Records in 1995 and moved to Def Jam Recordings in 1997. He co-founded the record label Murder Inc. Records with his brother Chris in 1999, which was an imprint of Def Jam. Gotti is credited with having helped discover or sign rappers Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule, as well as singers Ashanti and Lloyd. Gotti executive produced the debut albums for DMX (''It's Dark and Hell Is Hot''), Ja Rule ('' Venni Vetti Vecci''), Ashanti ('' Ashanti'') and Lloyd ('' Southside''). He received production credits for most of the recordings by artists signed to the label—including Ja Rule ('' Rule 3:36'', '' Pain Is Love'', '' The Last Temptation'', '' R.U.L.E.''), The Inc. ('' Irv Gotti Presents: The Inc.''), Ashanti ('' Chapter II'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Chad Elliott
Chad James Elliott, also known by his stage name Dr. Ceuss, is an American songwriter, record producer, and audio engineer. He is best known for co-writing and co-producing Destiny's Child's 2000 single "Jumpin', Jumpin'", as well as Salt-N-Pepa's " Gitty Up", Marc Nelson's "15 Minutes", and 702's " Steelo", among others. Career Early career In 1988, while on a promotional tour for rapper Jaz-O, Elliott met fellow record producer Irv Gotti. Elliott later introduced Gotti to DMX and the founders of Ruff Ryders Entertainment, the Dean brothers. In 1989, Gotti and Elliott produced the beat ''Born Loser'' for rapper DMX, which was one of DMX's earliest demos. Elliott became a member of Swing Mob, a prolific collective of artists, songwriters, instrumentalists, and producers that converged in Teaneck, New Jersey and Rochester, New York during the mid-1990s, and was reportedly an early mentor of producer Jermaine Dupri. Elliott became a producer and instrumentalist for American ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Mount Vernon had a population of 73,893, making it the 24th-largest municipality in the state and List of U.S. communities with African-American majority populations in 2020#New York, largest African-American majority city in the state. Mount Vernon has 12,898 Jamaicans with Afro-Jamaicans, African and Indo-Jamaicans, Indian descent that had immigrated from their homeland of Jamaica after the country gained its independence from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Britain on August 6, 1962. Mount Vernon has two major sections. South-side Mount Vernon is more urban, while north-side Mount Vernon is more residential. Mount Vernon's downtown business district is on the city's south side, which includes City Hall, Mount Vernon's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |