 2 pac
Tupac Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in Brooklyn, NY in 1971. While still a small child, his mother changed his name to Tupac Amaru after an Inca Indian
revolutionary, "Tupac Amaru", meaning "Shining Serpent". "Shakur" means "Thankful To God" in Arabic.
From childhood, everyone called him the "Black Prince." Formisbehaving, he had to read an entire edition of The New York Times. When he was two, his sister, Sekyiwa, was born. This child's father, Mutulu, was a BlackPanther who, a few months before her birth, had been sentenced to sixty years for a fatal armored car robbery.
By the age of twelve, Tupac had discovered his loves for acting, writing love songs and poetry. As a young teen, his family moved to Baltimore , MD, where he attended The Baltimore School for the Performing Arts studying acting and ballet. At this school, Tupac left a lasting impression on his teachers and was showing tremendous potential. Unfortunately, Tupac was unable to continue his training. He moved to Oakland, California with the rest of his family. That's when Tupac began to, as he called it, "Hang with the wrong crowd."
At age fifteen, he fell into rap; he started writing lyrics, walking with a swagger, and milking his background in New York for all it was worth. People in small towns feared the Big Apple's reputation; he called himself MC New York and made people think he was a tough guy.
By the time he was twenty, Tupac had been arrested eight times, even serving eight months in prison after being convicted of sexual abuse. In addition, he was the subject of two wrongful-death lawsuits, one involving a six-year-old boy who was killed after getting caught in gang-war crossfire between Shakur's gang and a rival group.
Not held back by his lack of formal education, Tupac joined the Rap group Digital Underground as a dancer. Not long before the group achieved award winning success, Tupac released his own album "2Pacalypse Now", which was also a success. The hit single "Brenda's Got A Baby" launched Tupac's career like a rocket. His stunning talent also got him a role in the motion picture, "Juice". Tupac eventually released a second album "Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z.," which was an even bigger success and introduced Tupac's music onto the pop charts.
In November of 1994, he was shot five times during a robbery in which thieves made off with ,000 worth of his jewelry. Shakur miraculously recovered from his injuries to produce his most impressive artistic accomplishments, including 1995's Me Against the World
The highlight of Tupac's acting career came when he appeared in "Poetic Justice" besides Janet Jackson. The role made Tupac a household name and showed the world that music may not be Tupac's #1 attribute. In the midst of a role in the movie"Above the Rim" and a Platinum album "Me against the world," Tupac's rising career was snagged. He was brought up on sexual assault charges by a woman he met at a nightclub. Hours before Tupac would be found guilty, Tupac was robbed at gun point by men whose intent and purpose is still uncertain. Tupac was eventually released at over $1 Million in bail. After his release, Tupac answered his critics by releasing his best album, "All Eyes On Me." "All Eyes On Me" has currently sold over 6 million copies, which is revolutionary for a double CD, especially in Hip Hop music. Tupac also had costarring roles in three other films, "Gridlock'd", "Bullet", and "Gang Related."
On September 7th, Tupac Shakur was shot by unknown gunmen and died on September 13, 1996. Much of what happened on this night remains a mystery to this very day.
There was many sides of the ever controversial Tupac Shakur. From the young child born into poverty to the rich icon he became. From the compassionate poet who performed Dear Mama to the street thug who wrote Hit Em Up. Tupac's many sides contradict the feelings in us all as individuals and as a society. We felt his pain and his struggle. We related to him. He spoke for those of us without a voice. He spoke the truth whether people wanted to hear it or not and we respected him for it. Love him or hate him, Tupac reflected the world which reflects us all.
50 CENT
Once snubbed of his breakthrough opportunity, Queens rapper 50 Cent retreated to the mix-tape circuit for a brief moment before a major-label bidding war ensued in 2002. The grimy, street-level rapper's career underwent many ups and downs over the years. In the late '90s, after he united with the Trackmasters and Sony/Columbia Records, his breakthrough seemed ensured. But on the eve of his release date in 1999, he was shot. Even worse, Columbia pulled his album, Power of the Dollar, claiming that it had been too heavily bootlegged for release. Rather than sulk, 50 Cent began recording dozens of tracks for release in the underground. A buzz ensued, and Eminem offered him a million dollar-plus contract in 2002. Once again, three years after his first breakthrough opportunity, 50 Cent's breakthrough seemed ensured.
Born Curtis Jackson, the one-time boxer first stood on the brink of national success in the late '90s. Columbia -- or, more specifically, Columbia-affiliated rap production team the Trackmasters -- hooked up with 50 Cent in 1999. The young and mostly unknown Queens rapper recorded the song "How to Rob" with the accomplished production duo. Throughout "How to Rob," 50 Cent detailed how he would rob famous rap artists like Master P and Timbaland. The song became a kind of novelty hit, and the Trackmasters teamed with 50 Cent to record a debut album for Columbia, Power of the Dollar, and a prospective breakthrough single with Destiny's Child, "Thug Love." An unfortunate string of events then ruined 50 Cent's chance to break through: heavy bootlegging soured Columbia's attitude toward the album and, then, on May 24, 2000, the rapper suffered from multiple gunshots, one to the jaw and several in the legs. Though Columbia had already released "Thug Love" as a single along with promos of the album to the press, it pulled Power of the Dollar from the market and dropped the injured rapper from his contract.
In the years following his fallout with Columbia, 50 Cent made dozens of underground tracks with producer Money XL. These recordings circulated quickly through New York on mix tapes and were compiled on black-market CDs. The rapper created quite a street-level buzz for himself and his G-Unit clique. The buzz eventually became so pervasive that a major-label bidding war ensued between such labels as J, Universal, and Jive, according to rumors. Eminem ended up signing 50 Cent to his Shady/Aftermath label, reportedly offering over a million dollars. But it was the track record of Eminem and Dr. Dre that swooned the Queens rapper, not money. Following the signing, 50 Cent entered the studio with Eminem and Dre to record songs for his upcoming release.
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 Aaliyah
Aaliyah, an angel fallen from heaven yet returned home too soon. She was true to style. Ever since defining the look and sound of street-but-sweet over 7 years ago, Aaliyah personified originality with her enigmatic, smooth vocal delivery, sophisticated musical sensibilities, and a masterful sense of independence. The New York-born singer's 1994 debut album, "AGE AIN'T NOTHING BUT A NUMBER," went platinum and spawned a pair of gold singles: "Back & Forth" and "At Your Best (You Are Love)". "I still remember how nervous I was right before 'Back & Forth' came out," says the charismatic vocalist, who recorded her debut album at age fourteen. "It was my first single, and I kept wondering if people would accept it. When it went gold, I had my answer, and it was just such an incredibly satisfying feeling." She spent much of a whirlwind '94-'95 on the road, with tours that took her across Europe, Japan, and as far as South Africa.
Ali
As the unofficial leader of the platinum-plus selling unit St. Lunatics (which includes the 9-time platinum solo rapper Nelly), Ali is somewhat of a soothsayer. In the mid-90's the St. Louis native conceived the group, pulled the group together and even predicted that the crew's 1996 independently-released single, "Gimme What You Got" would be a regional hit, spending weeks at #1 in St. Louis. Soon after achieving local success, the St. Lunatics joined the Universal Records roster, both as a group and as solo artists. In early 2000, when Nelly finished recording his award-winning debut Country Grammar, Ali (a.k.a. Big Lee) made another correct prediction--that they would sell 7 million records. Coming on the heels of the St. Lunatics' platinum-certified Free City, Heavy Starch is Ali's debut solo project. Mostly produced by Jason "Jay E" Epperson, the track maven responsible for Country Grammar and Free City, Heavy Starch contains the heavy bass knocks, rollicking grooves and free-floating instrumentation that have come to signify the new face of St. Louis. Ali was born and raised in St. Louis to a Muslim father and a Catholic mother. A self-described Renaissance man, Ali had written his first rap at 8 years old. In 1993, Ali went to a Catholic prep school in St. Louis on a basketball scholarship. He then attended Morris Brown College in Atlanta, where his dreadlock-wearing, blunt-smoking roommate from New York introduced him to influential albums like De La Soul's De La Soul Is Dead and A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory. Returning home to St. Louis, Ali spread his exposure to underground East Coast hip-hop to his crew. He gathered his friends--Nelly and Kyjuan, who used to rearrange lyrics to popular rap songs to fit their needs, along with Slo-Down, Nelly's brother City Spud and a young rapscallion named Murphy Lee--and suggested that they form a rap crew. The rest, as they say, is history, and Heavy Starch is the latest chapter in the ongoing success story. In his spare time, Ali DJ's his own 4-hour radio show every week on St. Louis' WFUN
Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys' classically - trained touch on piano and soulful vocal stylings have earned her comparison to Roberta Flack; like that '70s soul sensation, Keys filters her take on contemporary R&B through a musical sensibility steeped in jazz and blues.
Keys has been involved in music from an early age. A native New Yorker, she majored in choir at the Performance Arts School of Manhattan and kept up her piano lessons throughout her childhood and into her teens. After graduating high school at the early age of 16, she went on to attend Columbia University, but the attraction of a career in music proved too great. Soon thereafter, she dropped out and signed with Arista Records in 1998.
When Arista head Clive Davis left the label in 1999, Keys went with him to join the roster at his new imprint, J Records. Keys' debut album, Songs In A Minor - released in 2001 when Keys was just 19 - was a huge success, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Amerie
Blessed with keen intelligence and stunning good looks, Amerie could have chosen any number of career paths. Yet from an early age, the 22-year-old R&B chanteuse knew what her future held. "It sounds like a clich," she says, "but I always knew I was going to sing. I always knew that music was what I was going to do." You can hear that desire in Amerie's voice. It's a voice that's sweet, sassy, and sultry, with a hint of bad girl edge. Amerie's brand of soul is both infectious and intoxicating, and it's evident throughout All I Have, her sizzling Columbia debut.
Asked to describe All I Have, Amerie offers, "The music and the lyrics really put you into a zone. When (producer/songwriter) Rich Harrison and I began creating the record, we knew that fusing beautiful melodies with hard, hip-hop beats would move people. I think we've accomplished that."
The proof can be heard in Amerie's 12-inch single, "Why Don't We Fall In Love." Leaked to radio in the spring of 2002, "Why Don't We Fall in Love" exploded, creating a strong buzz and heavy anticipation for Amerie's album. It's no wonder why the public and the programmers responded so enthusiastically. Laced with a sultry undercurrent, fueled by an uplifting message about finding your soulmate and being in love with your dreams, meanwhile propelled by Amerie's rock steady vocals, "Why Don't We Fall In Love" is more than a hot track; it's the opening salvo from a singer who has elevated the stakes for hip-hop soul.
What's remarkable about Amerie's rise is how fast it's occurred. She and Rich (whose previous credits include Mary J. Blige) began laying down the foundation for the album just two years ago, and now All I Have is showing the world just how much Amerie has got to give. "It's been pretty amazing," she admits. "We really worked hard on those songs and just let our creativity go. I guess this is what happens when you're focused, have good people around you, and trust your heart and your instincts."
Amerie's mother is from Korea and her dad is an African-American from North Philly. Amerie was raised in a military family, so the family moved often; she lived on bases from Alaska to Germany. The traveling stopped when the family moved to Virginia, and Amerie to Washington DC, which she has called home for several years.
Through her mother, who is a painter, singer, and classical pianist, Amerie was exposed to the arts. Bolstered by those influences, Amerie began gravitating towards pop and R&B, getting into Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton and Whitney Houston. Along with a healthy dose of divas and classical composers, Amerie dipped into her father's old soul collection. As she puts it, "My taste was pretty well-rounded."
With the love of music and the desire to perform driving her, Amerie started studying dance, and in the 3rd grade, began to enter talent shows, which she continued to do throughout high school. After high school graduation, Amerie's family moved from Alaska to the East Coast, and once she had settled into her new hometown, Amerie decided to take her dreams to the next level; she began looking for an opportunity to get into the music business. "Being in DC offered me more opportunities for singing and meeting other musicians," Amerie explains. Not only was she trying to break into the industry, but Amerie was also attending prestigious Georgetown University, where she graduated with a degree in English and Fine Arts.
Through a friend, Amerie was introduced to DC native Rich, whose production skills had already caught the ears of noted industry heavyweights Jeff Burroughs and Darryl Williams of Rise Entertainment and Edwin Holmes of EHM. Rich and Amerie got together, meeting for the first time in a McDonald's parking lot. "Not too glamorous, huh?" Amerie laughs. After Amerie heard Rich's tracks, and Rich heard her sing, the work began. Quickly she and Rich realized that they not only had common goals, but great creative chemistry as well. "We would just sit and brainstorm and it just flowed from there," she remembers. One song became two, two became three, and three grew to five, becoming a demo. Within months, that demo made its way to Columbia Records, where Amerie was immediately offered a deal. Soon, she was not only recording her own album, but also working on collaborations with labelmates Nas and Royce da 5' 9". "Writing on those songs, along with recording them, was a great experience for me," she says. "It really felt good to work with such respected artists."
From the moment Amerie entered the studio to record All I Have, she knew that she wanted to unleash a sound that was gritty, yet melodic. Pretty, yet tough. Something different, yet something familiar enough to entice listeners. Together, they married Rich's hard-edged beats and well-crafted melodies to Amerie's soaring vocals. You can hear the result in songs like the single, "Talkin' To Me." With its slinky steely guitars, an insistent groove, and Amerie's lilting vocal style, "Talkin' To Me" is a song that Amerie modestly describes as "'infectious.' It's about that chemistry you have with someone without even speaking." Then she adds, "There's a fresh feel to it; it's very cool and laid-back." The album offers smooth and jazzy love ballads like "Nothin' Like Loving You," while keeping the emotional level high with tracks like the edgy "I Just Died," which, as Amerie tells it, "is about a passion that is like no other."
Through all of this, Amerie makes sure to thank the One who made this all possible: "I wrote the outro, 'I'm Reminded,' as a thank-you to God for leading me to all of this. Through all the ups and downs and uncertainties, He was always in control. I was very passionate about my dreams, but I believe my parents' prayers really contributed to everything."
It's clear that passion is something that Amerie knows well. You can hear the passion and commitment to singing that has lead her to this point in her life and the making of this album. Now, she's getting the chance to live her dreams and bring her talent to the world. Ask Amerie what she wants fans to hear when they check out All I Have and her response is considered and thoughtful: "I'd like them to hear that this is real music. You can feel it. This music has substance, and in All I Have, you get a glimpse into Rich's life and mine as well."
Ashanti
With hitmaker Irv Gotti at the helm, Ashanti blasted into the urban music scene in 2002, topping the charts with multiple singles at once. She quickly became a sensation, gracing the covers of magazines and dominating urban radio. Ashanti built her repuation with duets, where she would complement an already-popular rapper â Ja Rule ("Always on Time"), Fat Joe ("What's Luv?"), the Notorious B.I.G. ("Unfoolish") â contrasting the tough-guy male perspective with her own. It didn't take the young vocalist long to make a name for herself though: her debut album, Foolish, topped the Billboard album chart just as her debut solo single, the album's title track, was topping the Hot 100 chart. Her presence was inescapable.
Ashanti's overnight jump to superstardom followed that of Ja Rule, a similar urban music sensation helmed by Gotti. The New York producer took notice of Ashanti initially beause of her beauty, dancing, and acting. She trained as a dancer at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, learning a number of dance styles. She danced most notably in Disney's Polly, which starred Phylicia Rashad, and also appeared in a number of big-name music videos, in addition to other dance work. As an actress, she made a name for herself with roles in Spike Lee's Malcolm X and Who's da Man before that. The multi-talented vocalist was causing quite a stir, and Gotti did what he could to bring her into his Murder Inc fold. After showcasing her swooning voice on Big Pun's "How We Roll" and the Fast and Furious soundtrack â both in 2001 â Gotti put Ashanti to work on her debut album, which he produced.
Success came quickly. A duet with Ja Rule, "Always on Time," hit number one on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in early 2002 just as a duet with Fat Joe, "What's Luv?," was creeping toward the same number one position. These two airplay-heavy singles, of course, set the stage perfectly for Ashanti's self-titled debut release. The album's lead single, "Foolish," raced up the Hot 100 chart, entering the Top Ten in March alongside "Always on Time" and "What's Luv?," giving her three Top Ten songs in the same week, including the number one and two positions â a quite spectacular feat. And then Ashanti's album debuted at number one on the album chart, selling an astounding 500,000-plus copies in its first week. With all this chart-topping, Ashanti set some sales records and her success continued. Gotti readied a remix of "Foolish," titled "Unfoolish," that featured the Notorious B.I.G. and again overtook urban radio, where no artist was more omnipresent throughout 2002 than Ashanti.
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