Amerie is the stage name of Amerie Mi Marie Rogers. She was born on January 12, 1980 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. After her high-school graduation, her family settled down in Virginia while she began to attend Georgetown University, from which she later graduated with a degree in English and fine arts. While living in Washington, D.C., she met producer Rich Harrison, who worked with such performers as Mary J. Blige, and began developing demos with him. This led to a deal with Rise Entertainment and, in turn, Columbia Records. In the spring of 2002, Columbia Records released Amerie’s debut single, "Why Don’t We Fall in Love." The song created a nice buzz for the album "All I Have," which was certified gold by the RIAA and produced another moderate hit for Amerie with "Talkin’ To Me." On April 26, 2005, Amerie released her second album, Touch. As with All I Have, the album was primarily produced by mentor Rich Harrison, who contributed seven (new) tracks to the record; additional productions came from Lil Jon, Bryce Wilson, Red Spyda, and Dre & Vidal. Unlike on her first album, Amerie co-wrote every track but one, "Come with Me", which Harrison wrote. Touch debuted and peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and it was certifed gold by the RIAA in August that year. It received two Grammy Award nominations in 2006: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for its lead single, "1 Thing", and Best Contemporary R&B Album. Amerie has since released two more albums, Because I Love It in 2007 and In Love & War in 2009.
|
Chingy is the stage name of Howard Bailey, Jr. He was born on March 9, 1980 in St. Louis, Missouri. Chingy grew up in the historic Walnut Park section of St. Louis, a neighborhood known for it’s gangs and drugs. The middle child with two older brothers and two younger sisters, Chingy became a music fan at an early age citing Run-DMC and Ice Cube as his early rap heroes. Following in the footsteps of his heroes, Chingy began writing lyrics at age nine and was recording raps at age ten. He originally considered the stage names H. Thugzy and H Thugs, before settling on Chingy, a slang term for money. With the quick release of the party rap track "Right Thurr," Chingy became an overnight sensation. The track gained immediate popularity in the clubs, especially throughout the South, and quickly infiltrated urban radio in the midst of summer while simultaneously climbing to the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number four. On July 15, 2003, he released his debut album Jackpot. Fronted by the smash single "Right Thurr", this album also spawned two other top 3 hits, "Holidae In" featuring Ludacris & Snoop Dogg, and "One Call Away" featuring J-Weav. Chingy has since released four more albums.
|
Baby Bash is the stage name of professional rapper Ronnie Ray Bryant. He was born on October 18, 1975 in Vallejo, California. Bash’s debut album entitled Savage Dreams was released on the independent label Dope House Records in 2001. It soon caught the attention of Universal Records, who signed him later that year. In 2003, Baby Bash released his first album on a major label, Tha Smokin’ Nephew, and Super Saucy in 2005. In 2007 he released the album Cyclone. Singles released from the album include "Cyclone" featuring T-Pain, "What Is It" featuring Sean Kingston, and "Don’t Stop" featuring Keith Sweat. The month of the album release, Baby Bash became Myspace’s number one Latin artist and the single Cyclone had over 750,000 digital and ringtone sales prior to the album’s release. On December 31, 2007, Baby Bash performed at the halftime show of the Brut Sun Bowl game between South Florida and Oregon. Baby Bash continues to write lyrics for singers such as Paula DeAnda, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson and Frankie J. Baby Bash has also worked with Australian artist Kate Alexa, who on March 3, 2008 released the song "Teardrops," which is a cover of Womack & Womack’s song.
|
Ciara who’s birth name is Ciara Princess Harris was born on October 25, 1985 in Austin, Texas. She is the only child of Jackie Smith and Carlton Clay Harris. She grew up on Army bases in Germany, New York, Utah and California, since her father was in the United States Army. During her teens, Ciara and her family settled in Atlanta. In 2003 Ciara became friends with Jazze Pha, who helped get her a record deal with LaFace Records. Goodies was Ciara’s debut album and was released on September 28, 2004. Goodies debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and has been certified three times platinum by the RIAA. In 2006 she released Ciara: The Evolution. This album debuted at the number one spot on the Billboard 200 and sold over 338,000 copies in its first week. This album produced the U.S. top ten single "Get Up". The third studio album she released was entitled Fantasy Ride and was released in 2009. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, with sales of just under 81,000. The album fell to number ten in its second week, selling 26,000 copies. So far the album has sold almost 150,000 copies.
|
Lil Jon is the stage name of Jonathan Mortimer Smith, American composer, producer, promoter, and rapper. He was born on January 27, 1971 in Atlanta, Georgia. Lil Jon has released several albums with the East Side boyz. Their discography includes Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album in 1997, Certified Crunk in 1999, We Still Crunk!! in 2000, Put Yo Hood Up in 2001, Kings of Crunk in 2002, Part II in 2003 and Crunk Juice in 2004. In 2009, Lil Jon is scheduled to release his debut solo album entitled Crunk Rock. Crunk Rock features the hit single "Snap Yo Fingers", featuring E-40 and Sean Paul of the YoungBloodZ. The second single is called "Act a Fool", featuring Three 6 Mafia. Numerous artists were "lined up" to guest on the album, including P.O.D., Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, Kid Rock, Ciara, Ice Cube, 50 Cent, R. Kelly, Remy Ma, Lil Wayne, T.I., The Game, Gucci Mane, Fabo from D4L, Three 6 Mafia, and T-Pain. Over the course of his career, Lil Jon has starred in various televison shows and movies which include Soul Plane, Hip-Hop Honeys: Las Vegas, Date Movie, Smoke And Mirrors and Scary Movie 4.
|
30 Seconds to Mars is a rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1998. It’s fronted by Jared Leto and includes Shannon Leto and Tomo Milicevic. On August 27, 2002 they released their self titled debut album through Virgin Records. The album produced two singles, "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" and "Edge of the Earth." Of the two, only the former charted, peaking at #31 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. The album achieved a moderate success and sold around one hundred thousand copies. On August 30, 2005, they released their second album "A Beautiful Lie". The album produced four singles, "Attack," "The Kill (Bury Me)," "From Yesterday," and "A Beautiful Lie"; three of the four songs managed to chart within the top thirty on the U.S. Modern Rock chart, with "The Kill" and "From Yesterday" both entering the top ten. It has since gone platinum. On August 31, 2006, the band won the MTV2 Award for "The Kill" at the MTV Video Music Awards. in August 2008, Virgin Records filed a $30 million lawsuit, claiming the band refused to deliver three albums as required by its contract. According to the lawsuit, the band "repudiated" a 1999 contract in July. On April 28th, they returned from EMI Records and the lawsuit was annulled.
|
Pharrell is the stage name of Pharrell Williams. He was born April 5, 1973 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was born eldest of three sons to Carolyn, a teacher, and Pharoah Williams, a handyman. He met Chad Hugo in a seventh grade summer band camp where Pharrell played the keyboards and drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. They were also both members of a marching band; Pharrell played the snare drum while Chad took the role of student conductor. In the 1990s, Hugo and Williams formed a 4-piece "R&B type" group along with friends Shay Haley and Mike Etheridge, which they named The Neptunes. They later entered a high school talent show where they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio is next to Princess Anne High School. After graduating from high school, they signed with Riley as a group. In 2006, Pharrell released his debut album, In My Mind. The album debuted at #3 and sold 142,000 copies in the first week. Pharrell met Nigo, a Japanese record producer and creator of the clothing line A Bathing Ape, in Japan and bonded through similar interests, where they began working together on their fashion lines. Williams later co-founded the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Footwear.
|
Former American Idol season 5 fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry stated that he would form a new band after turning down Fuel’s offer to make him their lead singer. On July 10, 2006 it was announced that Chris had signed with 19 Entertainment and RCA Records. Chris himself didn’t have much of a hand in picking who would be in his new band. Instead, his label held auditions for the band Daughtry and chose four members for the band: Jeremy Brady on guitar, Josh Steely on lead guitar, Josh Paul on bass and Joey Barnes on drums. With their lineup complete, Daughtry went to work in the studio and in 2006 their self titled debut album was released. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and is one of the fastest selling debut albums in history. The first single released from the album is "It’s Not Over". On December 6, 2007, the song was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. Daughtry is currently working on their second studio album, Leave This Town which is slated to start shipping in July of 2009.
|
Lloyd Banks is the stage name of Christopher Charles Lloyd. He is a rapper that was born on April 30, 1982 in Queens, New York. His father spent most of Lloyd’s childhood in prison, leaving his mother to raise her children alone. Lloyd Banks attended August Martin High School but dropped out at age 16. For his stage name, he took his great, great grandfather’s name, "Banks", which was passed on by his uncles who also shared it. In 2004, Lloyd Banks released his debut album, The Hunger for More. The singles from this album include "On Fire", "I’m So Fly", and "Karma". Featured artist from this album include 50 Cent, Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Avant, and former G-Unit member The Game. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 charts with 433,000 copies sold in the first week. The album has since sold over 4 million copies worldwide and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. Llloyd Banks sophomore album, Rotten Apple, was released on October 10, 2006. It sold almost one hundred and fifty thousand copies it’s first week. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. Llloyd Banks is currently working on his latest album titled, The Famine. It’s set to be released sometime in 2009.
|
Flo Rida is the stage name of Tramar Dillard born on December 16, 1979 in Miami Gardens, Florida. As a teenager, Dillard worked with local rap group 2 Live Crew and formed his own amateur group with some friends called the sugar hill gang. His work with 2 Live Crew member Fresh Kid Ice attracted attention of DeVante Swing, a member of the band Jodeci. However, he was rejected by several of the major labels, so he sought many other jobs outside of music. After graduating from high school in 1998, he studied international business management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for two years and attended Barry University for two months. Flo Rida justified dropping out of college by pursuing a music career. He returned to his home state of Florida to continue pursuing his music career after receiving a phone call from a representative of the independent label Poe Boy Entertainment. Dillard signed with Poe Boy in 2007 and released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. It spawned 3 singles, "Elevator", "In the Ayer" and "Roll". Flo Rida followed it up with the release of his sophomore album, R.O.O.T.S. in 2009. The album’s lead single, "Right Round", sold 636,000 digital copies in a single week, the biggest first-week sales in digital history, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for six straight weeks.
|
