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Arriving on the heels of big sister/R&B star Brandy, rapper Ray J parlayed his success on television into a music career at the age of 14. Inspired by Brandy's early successes, he signed with Elektra in 1995, recording Everything You Want the following year. When he stepped back into the studio he called on the Neptunes, Rodney Jerkins, and several other hitmaking producers for This Ain't a Game, a pop-oriented record that featured more of his singing than his debut, but it wasn't the breakthrough success it seemed designed to be. He resurfaced with Raydiation (2005) and All I Feel (2008). Follow @RayJ on twitter! http://www.rayj.com/ http://www.myspace.com/rayj http://www.facebook.com/rayj Download Clean Download Intro Clean Download Ross Up Clean Download Intro Ross Up Clean

Rihanna established her dance-pop credentials in summer 2005 with her debut smash hit, "Pon de Replay," and continued to demonstrate hit potential in subsequent years (e.g., "S.O.S." in 2006; "Umbrella" in 2007; "Disturbia" in 2008). However, it was the singer's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, that made her a full-fledged international pop star with a regular presence atop the charts. Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados, she exhibited a certain star quality as a young child, often winning beauty and talent contests. Because she lived on the fairly remote island of Barbados in the West Indies, however, she never foresaw the sort of stardom that would later befall her.That stardom came courtesy of a fateful meeting with Evan Rogers. The New Yorker was vacationing in Barbados with his wife, a native of the island, when he was introduced to Rihanna. Rogers had spent years producing pop hits for such superstars as *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Laura Pausini, and Rod Stewart, and he offered the talented Rihanna a chance to record. Along with Rogers' production partner, Carl Sturken (the other half of Syndicated Rhythm Productions), Rihanna recorded several demos that sparked the interest of the Carter Administration that is, the newly appointed Def Jam president Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. This led to an audition, and Rihanna both received and accepted an on-the-spot offer to sign with Def Jam.Come summer 2005, Def Jam rolled out "Pon de Replay," the lively leadoff single from Music of the Sun. Produced almost entirely by Rogers and Sturken, the song synthesized Caribbean rhythms with urban-pop songwriting. "Pon de Replay" caught fire almost immediately, climbing all the way to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and contesting the half-summer reign of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" atop the chart. The debut album spawned one other hit, "If It's Lovin' That You Want," which also broke the Top 40. Rihanna's follow-up effort, A Girl Like Me, saw even greater success and spawned three sizable singles: a chart-topper ("S.O.S.") and two Top Ten hits ("Unfaithful," "Break It Off").Rihanna's third album, 2007's Good Girl Gone Bad, continued her success while signaling a change of direction. Whereas her past two albums had been imbalanced often weighed down by faceless balladry and canned Caribbean-isms Good Girl Gone Bad was a first-rate dance-pop album, stacked with several chart-topping singles and boasting collaborations with Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Timbaland, and StarGate. The lead single, "Umbrella," shot to number one, as did "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia." Its success turned Rihanna into one of the planet's biggest pop stars.Rated R was released in 2009 during the wake of a physical altercation with romantic interest Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to felony assault. The album's lead single, "Russian Roulette" written with Ne-Yo was one of the year's most controversial singles, and it set the tone for the singer's new, dark direction. Rated R peaked within the Top Five of the Billboard 200, while another one of its singles, "Rude Boy," topped the Hot 100. Rated R: Remixed was released in the spring of 2010 and featured ten tracks from the album revamped for the dancefloor by Chew Fu. Loud, Rihanna's fifth studio album, followed in November and was led by the StarGate-produced "Only Girl (In the World)." Follow @RIHANNA on twitter! VIDEO: http://rihannanow.com/ http://www.myspace.com/rihanna http://www.facebook.com/rihanna http://www.youtube.com/user/RihannaVEVO Download Clean Download Dirty Download Intro Clean Download Intro Dirty Download Instrumental

A favorite on the New York mixtape circuit, Brooklyn rapper Maino, born Jermaine Coleman, grew up in the borough's Bedford-Stuyvesant section in a household with two drug-addicted parents. Lacking parental guidance, Coleman kept to the streets and involved himself in petty crime, which landed him in prison in the early '90s. There he learned to rap so that he could deal with boredom and isolation. In 2003, after about ten years, he was released from prison and wasted no time setting up his new imprint, Hustle Hard. Maino enjoyed his first airplay on N.Y.C. radio via Hot 97's DJ Kay Slay and began making several mixtape appearances during the following years. From his own mixtapes, street singles like "Rumors" and "Take It Like a Man" got his name buzzing among major labels, including Universal, who signed him in 2005. However, the deal eventually fell through, since his intended debut album, Death Before Dishonor, was permanently shelved. Nonetheless, Atlantic picked up Maino and his Hustle Hard imprint in 2007, and the Brooklyn native quickly issued street single "My Life Is Like a Movie" that year. Another track, "Hi Hater," surfaced the following year, prefacing his major-label debut, If Tomorrow Comes... (2009) Follow @mainohustlehard on twitter! VIDEO: http://www.mainohustlehard.com/ http://www.myspace.com/maino Download Clean Download Dirty Download Instrumental

Before she could utilize her talents for her own solo endeavors, R&B singer, vocal arranger, and songwriter Keri Hilson wrote a slew of songs, many of them chart-toppers, for several popular artists in the mid-2000s as part of the five-person production/songwriting team known as the Clutch. The dynamic songwriter was born in Decatur, GA, only a few miles outside of Atlanta. Addicted to TV talent shows like Star Search and Showtime at the Apollo, she was already plotting out her career in music at age 12. Even though her mother hired a piano teacher to encourage those talents, she mainly wanted to sing; therefore, Hilson converted those sessions into vocal lessons, accompanying the teacher on piano. In her mid- to late teens, she jump-started her career as a songwriter and background vocalist, working under producer Anthony Dent (Destiny's Child, Diddy). Born out of that relationship were two failed girl groups (named Pretty Toni and D'Sign) and, more importantly, a host of connections within the industry for whom she wrote or did backup vocals, including Usher, Ludacris, Kelly Rowland, Ciara, and up-and-coming Southern rap producer Polow da Don.After Hilson graduated from high school, she managed to continue juggling all these tasks when she enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta. She eventually moved on from Dent and began working more with Polow da Don. Attending school while actively advancing her music career put a great demand on her, especially from being a member of the extremely versatile Clutch team. But as luck would have it, Polow introduced her to superproducer Timbaland, who wasted no time in signing the multi-talented songbird to his growing Mosley Music imprint in 2006. Over the next couple years, Hilson's songwriting was practically ubiquitous, responsible for numerous hit singles, including Mary J. Blige's "Take Me as I Am," Omarion's "Ice Box," the Pussycat Dolls' "Wait a Minute," and Britney Spears' "Gimme More." She was also featured prominently on Timbaland Presents Shock Value, including the number three Billboard Hot 100 hit "The Way I Are."With Timbaland and Polow in her corner, Hilson relied on the vast pool of recording artists and producers who needed (and wanted) to return the favor for her Mosley Music/Interscope debut. After a couple pre-release singles and numerous delays, In a Perfect World... was issued in March 2009, shortly after one of its tracks, "Turnin' Me On," had reached the Top 20 of the Hot 100. The album eventually reached gold status, selling over 500,000 copies, and earned Hilson a pair of Grammy nominations. She made another string of guest appearances � on Nas' "Hero," Trina's "Million Dollar Girl," and T.I.'s "Got Your Back," to name only a few of many prior to issuing her second album, No Boys Allowed, before the end of 2010. Follow @MissKeriBaby on twitter! VIDEO: http://www.kerihilson.com/ http://www.myspace.com/kerihilson http://www.facebook.com/kerihilson Download Clean

Dancehall superstar Sean Paul began scoring hit singles in Jamaica starting in 1996 and thereafter steadily began attracting international attention, eventual breaking into the pop mainstream in 2002 with Dutty Rock. Born Sean Paul Henriques on January 8, 1973, the multi-ethnic Paul (his parents had Portuguese, Chinese, and Jamaican blood) grew up comfortably in St. Andrew, Jamaica, his mother a renowned painter. He was a skilled athlete, excelling in swimming and especially water polo, playing for the Jamaican national team in the latter. Although his education was enough to land a prosperous career, dancehall music remained Paul's first love, particularly crafting rhythm tracks. He became a DJ after he began writing his own songs, patterning his style largely after Super Cat and finding a mentor in Don Yute; he also found contacts in several members of the reggae-pop band Third World in 1993, which helped open up business connections.Paul released his debut single, "Baby Girl," with producer Jeremy Harding in 1996; it proved a significant success, leading to further Jamaican hits like "Nah Get No Bly (One More Try)," "Deport Them," "Excite Me," "Infiltrate," and "Hackle Mi." In 1999, Sean Paul started to make inroads to American audiences; he was first commissioned to collaborate with fellow dancehall hitmaker Mr. Vegas on a production for rapper DMX; titled "Here Comes the Boom," the song was included in director Hype Williams' film Belly. Also that year, Paul scored a Top Ten hit on the Billboard rap charts with "Hot Gal Today." Unfortunately, Paul had a very public falling out with Mr. Vegas over the packaging of the latter's remix of "Hot Gal Today"; still, it didn't slow Paul's career momentum, as he played the Summer Jam 2000 in New York City, the center of his American popularity. That fall, Paul released his first album on VP Records; the sprawling Stage One collected many of Paul's previous hit singles and compilation cuts, plus a few brand-new tracks. 2002's Dutty Rock and 2005's The Trinity were extremely successful. Both albums peaked in the Top Ten of the album chart and featured a handful of mainstream smashes. Follow @DUTTYPAUL on twitter! http://www.allseanpaul.com/ http://www.facebook.com/seanpaul http://www.myspace.com/seanpaul Download Clean Download Intro Clean

In an era saturated with upstart MCs all vying for the coveted status of “next big thing”, the story of 24-year old North Carolina native J. Cole (born Jermaine Cole) is a refreshing exception to the quick route for fame and success. The first artist signed to Jay-Z’s new Roc Nation label, Cole made himself notable through a scholarly approach to the game – no small feat considering his Magna Cum Laude distinction upon graduating from St. John’s University.If his sudden christening by JAY-Z shocked the haters, their doubts were quickly refuted when J. Cole dropped his recent mixtape The Warm Up, as well as a coveted guest verse on JAY-Z’s Blueprint 3 with “A Star is Born”. Soulful and strong, J. Cole’s lyrics touch on everything from his upbringing in North Carolina to the poverty and hopelessness that affect his community. The mixtape encapsulates not just who J. Cole is as a rapper, but who he is as an artist and a person.Taking from his favorite artists a love for powerful storytelling with an intense inner-strength, J. Cole advanced to writing his own lyrics at 15, soon amassing stacks of notebooks filled with rhymes and observations. Without a DJ or producer to provide a beat, he industriously started creating his own using a beat machine given as a present by his mother. From then on J. Cole was constantly creating new music and lyrics leading to his current and flow. Follow @JCOLEnc on twitter! http://www.jcolemusic.com/us/home http://www.facebook.com/JColeMusic http://www.myspace.com/JCole http://www.youtube.com/user/jcolemusic Download Clean Download Dirty Download Intro Clean Download Intro Dirty Download Instrumental This post has been promoted to an article

Follow @1future on twitter! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Future-A1FreeBandz-Official-Page/185878808123178 http://www.Freebandz.com Download Clean Download Dirty Contact: New Era Talent Agency aonebookings@gmail.com / 404-917-1270 or 404-784-1600

A game-changing artist and an impervious celebrity, Lil Wayne began as his career as a near-novelty — a preteen delivering hardcore hip-hop — but through years of maturation and reinventing the mixtape game, he developed into a million-selling rapper with a massive body of work, one so inventive and cunning that it makes his famous claim of being the "best rapper alive" worth considering. Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. and raised in the infamous New Orleans neighborhood of Hollygrove, he was a straight-A student but never felt his true intelligence was expressed through any kind of report card. He found music was the best way to express himself, and after taking the name Gangsta D he began writing rhymes. Combining a strong work ethic with aggressive self-promotion, the 11-year-old convinced the Cash Money label to take him on, even if it was just of odd jobs around the office. A year later, in-house producer Mannie Fresh partnered him with the 14-year-old B.G. and dubbed the duo the B.G.'z. Although only B.G.'s name appeared on the cover, the 1995 album True Story has since been accepted as the B.G.'z debut album both by fans and the Cash Money label. The 1997 album Chopper City was supposed to be the follow-up, but when Wayne accidentally shot himself in the chest with a .44, it became a solo B.G. release.That same year, he officially took the moniker Lil Wayne, dropping the "D" from his first name in order to separate himself from an absent father. He joined B.G., Juvenile, and Young Turk for another Fresh project, the teen hardcore rap group the Hot Boys, who released their debut album, Get It How U Live!, in 1997. Two years later, Cash Money would sign a distribution deal with the major-label Universal. Mainstream distribution would help that year's Hot Boys album Guerrilla Warfare to reach the number one spot on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 1998, Lil Wayne would appear on Juvenile's hit single "Back That Thing Up," or "Back That Azz Up" as it appeared on Juvie's album 400 Degreez. Wayne would launch his solo career a year later with the album Tha Block Is Hot, featuring the hit single title track. It went double platinum but the rapper was still unknown to Middle America, since his hardcore rhymes and the rough Cash Money sound had not yet crossed over. His second album, Lights Out (2000), failed to match the success of its predecessor but it did go gold, and with an appearance on the Big Tymers' hit single "#1 Stunna," his audience was certainly growing. While Fresh was primarily responsible for launching his career, Wayne was now much closer to Fresh's fellow Big Tymer and Cash Money CEO Birdman. When Juvenile left the label, Wayne — or "Birdman Jr." as he was calling himself — showed his allegiance to his CEO by releasing an album with a title much hotter than Juvie's breakthrough effort. 500 Degreez landed in 2002 and while it went gold, rumors began flying about Cash Money's financial troubles and possible demise. The rest of the Hot Boys had defected and Wayne's planned 2003 album was scrapped, coming out instead as an underground mixtape called Da Drought.Wayne became enamored with the mixtape world after Da Drought drew so much attention from the hip-hop press. He used these underground releases to drum up anticipation for his next official album, the breakthrough effort Tha Carter. Released in 2004, the album seemed familiar on one hand with Mannie Fresh's production, but the Wayne on the cover was a dreadlocked surprise, and the rhymes he laid on the tracks showed significant growth. His marketing skills had become sharper, too, and it was no mistake that the album's hit single, "Go DJ," mentioned hip-hop's greatest tastemakers right in the title. It reached number five on the singles chart, and with a guest shot on Destiny's Child's number three single, "Soldier," Wayne had officially crossed over. On the flip side, his street cred was supported by a slew of mixtapes released in 2005, including the popular titles Dedication with DJ Drama and Tha Suffix with DJ Khaled. Cash Money's future was no longer in doubt and traditional music business rules no longer seemed to apply, as tracks would be leaked onto the Internet and various DJs' mixtapes. "Get Something" was another bold move, as a Universal-funded video was made without the track ever seeing official release.With his alternative marketing scheme working in overdrive, the 2005 landing of Tha Carter II was a major event, selling over a quarter-million copies the week of its release. "Fireman" and "Shooter" with Robin Thicke were released as singles, while the album — which for the first time featured no Mannie Fresh productions — went platinum. It also introduced his Young Money posse, with appearances from Curren$y and Nicki Minaj, and initially came with a bonus disc featuring Wayne's greatest hits screwed and chopped by Swishahouse DJ Michael "5000" Watts. A year later he collaborated with Birdman for the Like Father, Like Son album, featuring the hit single "Stuntin' Like My Daddy." His mixtapes were still flooding the underground, including the stunning Dedication 2, which came with an iconic image of the rapper on the cover plus the much talked-about track "Georgia...Bush," a venomous response to President George W. Bush's handling of the Katrina disaster. With no official follow-up to Tha Carter II in sight, numerous collaborative tracks kept the rapper in the mainstream with "Gimme That" by Chris Brown, "Make It Rain" by Fat Joe, and "Duffle Bag Boy" by Playaz Circle becoming three of the biggest hits.Tha Carter III was promised for 2007 but didn't arrive until a year later, setting off Wayne's infamous reputation of delayed releases. Part of the problem became unauthorized leaks of the album's tracks, something combated by the official, downloadable EP The Leak released that same year. Preceded by the number one hit "Lollipop," Tha Carter III arrived in May of 2008, selling more than a million copies in its first week of release. An appearance on Saturday Night Live and four Grammy awards — including Best Rap Album — spoke to Wayne's mainstream acceptance. He also performed at that year's Country Music Awards with Kid Rock, but rather than rap, he played guitar. The guitar playing was part of Wayne's new involvement with rock music, including his help in signing Kevin Rudolf to Cash Money plus an appearance on Rudolf's massive hit "Let It Rock." His planned rock album was previewed with the 2009 single "Prom Queen," but when the album failed to meet its promised April release, the music press began to portray the rapper as the king of missed street dates. Unconcerned, Wayne forged ahead with his Young Money crew, releasing the underground mixtape Young Money Is the Army, Better Yet the Navy, the aboveground single "Every Girl," plus the official album We Are Young Money that same year. His rock album, Rebirth, would finally appear in early 2010, which coincided with Wayne being sentenced to a nine-month prison term for criminal possession of a weapon. The rapper may have been behind bars on Riker’s Island, but that didn’t stop his ten-song EP I Am Not a Human Being from seeing the light of day in September that same year. Follow @LilTuneChi on twitter! http://www.lilwayne-online.com/ http://www.myspace.com/lilwayne http://www.facebook.com/LilWayne Download Clean Download Dirty

Raw, gritty and talented describe the lyrical talents of Rapper Meek Mill. His skills are so natural that he has a flow like no other. Born May 6, 1987 under the astrological sign of Taurus, Robert Rahmeek Williams adopted the rap name “Meek Mill” after family and friends from his neighborhood kept referencing him by his middle name. Meek is coined as the latest rap phenomenon to come out of the city of Philadelphia.Raised in the North Philadelphia section of the city with his sister and inspired by his mother and father; who died when he was five, Meek Mill began taking the rap game seriously at the age of 12 after losing a street battle to neighboring rappers. He says his desire to rap grew after watching his uncle Philly hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Nell. While hanging out in his neighborhood, Meek met three guys and formed the group, “BloodHoundz,” which consisted of Mel Love, Dat Nigga Lil and Young Pooh. The group lasted for fives years and Meek ventured on his own. With a solo career in tow, Meek became one of Philadelphia’s hottest underground rap artists on an independent label. In 2007, Meek debuted his Flamerz series, which stands for hottest songs and released his first mix tape, Flamerz 1, which featured the hit single, “In My Bag.”In 2008, Meek debuted the highly anticipated Flamerz 2 –“Hottest In The City,” which showcased more of his lyrical abilities with the singles, “I'm So Fly,” “Prolli,” and “Hottest In The City.” Upon release of Flamerz 2, it caught the attention of founder and President of 215Aphillyated Records, Charlie Mack. Mack was immediately impressed with Meek that he signed him to his management company. During the same year, he met the founder and owner of Grand Hustle, TI. TI was impressed with his lyrical ability that he offered him an opportunity to travel to Los Angeles to meet with him along with the Warner Brothers Records, within one week both record companies offered him a deal. Meek was overwhelmed by the offers; however, he felt collaborating with TI was an opportunity of a lifetime and chose his label. An ecstatic Meek was on top of the world; a record deal and the chance to work with one of hip hop’s greatest rappers and then a set back occurred. He was arrested, charged with a crime and order to serve seven months in jail.Meek pre-released three singles from his third mix tape Flamerz 2.5 – “The Preview” in August of 2009, which featured the chart topping hits, “Make ‘Em Say,” “Imma Da Ish,” featuring Ms. Jade and “Starting Something,” in honor Michael Jackson. Within the first two weeks of its release, Clear Channel added it to their play list, which is an anomaly in the music business. In June of 2009, Meek began immediately working on his freshman album – Flamerz 3, “Hottest In America – Gangster Grill Edition,” hosted by DJ Drama and featuring the songs: “Baby Girl,” “Hottest In America,” and “I’m Killin em.” The highly anticipated cd is set to be released on January 19, 2010. Despite his stint in jail, Meek’s fans remained loyal, he currently boasts of 13 million hits on MySpace and 20 million viewers on You Tube.In the future, Meek plans to establish the Meek Mill Foundation, which will mentor young males between the ages of 12-24 on the importance of “Education over Incarceration.” He also plans to collaborate with United Community Action Network and the Lifers of Graterford Prison to address the violence plaguing our cities. Follow @MeekMill on twitter! VIDEO: http://www.MySpace.com/MeekMill http://www.facebook.com/meekmill Download Clean Download Dirty Download Intro Clean Download Intro Dirty Download Instrumental Contact: MEEKMILLBOOKING@GMAIL.COM This post has been promoted to an article

Follow @diggy_simmons on twitter! VIDEO: http://www.diggyworld.com/ http://www.digslifeofthejetsetter.blogspot.com/ http://www.youtube.com/user/diggysimmons Download Main Download Intro Main Download Instrumental This post has been promoted to an article

There’s something about the way he composes a song, arranges a melody, works with instruments, showcases an artist’s vocal talent and adds that final detail that even those who share his profession are forced to admire his innate gift. Christopher “Drumma Boy” Gholson is a musician’s producer- a skill that was designed by destiny. Born and bred in Memphis, Tennessee, Drumma Boy discovered his passion for music before he could barely walk. The byproduct of a mother who was an opera singer and a father who was a professional clarinetist and music professor at the University of Memphis, the first African-American man to hold the 1st chair position in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Drumma Boy was a child prodigy. “My dad taught me everything I know about traditional music and had me playing the clarinet at age 5 but it was my mom that introduced me to Curtis Mayfied and 70s oldie, so my style now is a reflection of all of that- classical, soul and street music.”Now in his mid-twenties, Drumma Boy merges his unique musical influences ranging from German composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach to Jazz icons Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, all the way to Academy Award winning Three 6 Mafia and Scarface, combining classical chords with urban street sounds to create an ingenuity worthy enough of receiving a nomination for “Producer of the Year” at the 2008 Ozone Awards. After becoming one of the most sought after beat bangers in Tennessee, he followed in the footsteps of Memphis native and super-producer Jazze Pha (Ciara, Nelly, Ludacris, T.I) by relocating to Atlanta in 2003The musical mastermind who sites producers Quincy Jones, Raphael Saadiq and The Funk Brothers as his inspirations, skillfully adds crispy, hard-hitting 808 bass lines with gentle touches of rhythmic change and chord progression to each crafted beat. He composes thick and textured sounds that take some producers years to perfect. It takes a special kind of artist to rock with him, which explains his impressive roster of Hip-Hop acts that include Young Jeezy, T.I, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Nelly, Gorilla Zoe, Ludacris, Plies, Young Joc, Rick Ross, E-40, Rocko, Paul Wall and Lil Jon. Drumma Boy is fresh, as in innovative and expressive but more importantly, he’s admirably great at pushing boundaries; taking the art form into new realms of abstraction. Drumma Boy’s discography reads like a Who’s Who list in music. He has been at the helm of the most buzzed-about songs from the most buzzed about artists within the past two years including Young Jeezy (“Put On” f/Kanye West), Rocko (“Umma Do Me”, “Tomorrow”), Plies (“Shawty”, “Plenty Money”), T.I. (“What Up”), Rick Ross (“Here I Am”) and Gorilla Zoe (“Lost” f/Lil Wayne), to name just a few. With his name attached to the current radio mainstay “Money To Blow” (Birdman f/Drake and Lil Wayne) and more in the pipeline from artists such as Gucci Mane, Kandi Burruss, Sean Garrett, Usher, Plies, Lupe Fiasco, Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana and DJ Khaled, Drumma Boy has built his brand on anticipating trends while staying true to the bare bones of quality music.Drumma Boy’s venture into new territory is an important theme in his life, as he’s stepped out of his comfort zone of being a producer to a CEO. His first foray into unfamiliar business, such as founding Drum Squad, an umbrella company that encompasses Drum Squad Records and Entertainment, whet his appetite for television. The astute musician-turned-businessman-turned-media personality starred in the highly-rated CW reality show Welcome to Dreamland, which lead to guest stints on The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo) and Monica (BET), as well as being a celebrity judge on BET’s 106 & Park. His musicianship is incredible, having the ability to pour passion and conviction into whatever he does. And part of that passion is giving back to his community. Drumma Boy provided the team uniforms for the basketball players at Cordova High, his former high school in Memphis. Additionally, he participated in Atlanta Stand Up, a celebrity bowling tournament hosted by Jermaine Dupri and Nelly that helped to aid victims affected by the September 2009 Atlanta flood. His combination of multi-talent is one of many factors that separate him from the mainstream. His soul is soaked in the eccentricity of vintage Rhythm & Blues and P-Funk. He plays with this dichotomy of yesteryear classics and current trends to concoct sophisticated arrangements that fuse the arrogance of Hip-Hop with the slickness of R&B. Drumma Boy is well-known for making diverse beats that range from Rap, Rock, Classical and Pop to soulful R&B ballads and Gospel-inspired jams. The talented musician and businessman on the rise has not only fostered relationships with top notch artists but understands the importance of connecting with equally gifted writers, instrumentalists and producers like Johnta Austin, Bryan Michael-Cox and Jazze Pha. He is as authentic as a creative artist can be, reading music with an educated ear while possessing the ability to instantly recognize the correct key. In addition to a learned knowledge, there is that burning desire he inherently possesses to win and maintain respect.. Follow @iamdrumma on twitter! http://www.myspace.com/iamdrumma http://drum-squad.com/ http://www.itsbeenofficial.com/ http://www.youtube.com/user/drumsquadTV http://www.facebook.com/drummaboy Download Clean Download Dirty

No matter what is being supplied, a hustler is only as good as his word. With Atlanta serving up some of the hottest product in the rap game, native son Young Jeezy stands as one of the most exciting merchants of cool to emerge in years. Thanks to underground testimonials like “Air Forces” and “Chuuch,” Jeezy’s street swagger and authentic style has quickly made believers out of some the biggest players in the game, from Fabolous to P. Diddy. In his native Atlanta, and throughout the south, Young Jeezy has created nothing short of a movement. Like many hustlers on the mic, rapping wasn’t in Jeezy’s original game plan. As CEO of Corporate Thug Entertainment, Jeezy was content to stack his paper from the background. “Basically, I’m a real nigga so I can relate more to a lot of cats,” Jeezy says of his appeal. “ I don’t just do music for the clubs, I do music for the struggle. I do music for everyday niggas, the kids who ain’t got no sense of direction. I’m trying to restore some of the morals back into the game, as far as the street.” What sets Young Jeezy’s music apart is his ability to bring color and flash to a story that has been told so many times before. He’s a true digital age artist who doesn’t need 16 bars to develop a picture in your head. When he snaps off a verse the image is simple enough for everyone to feel it instantly. Follow @OFFICIALTM103 on twitter! http://www.myspace.com/youngjeezy http://www.facebook.com/YoungJeezy http://www.youtube.com/user/YoungJeezyVEVO Download Clean Download Dirty Download Intro Clean Download Intro Dirty Download Instrumental This post has been promoted to an article

Born in California but raised in Detroit, rapper Big Sean made big news in 2007 when he signed with Kanye West’s recently formed label, G.O.O.D. Music. Sean had met West through a hip-hop radio station in Detroit. He was just trying to impress the superstar by displaying his freestyle skills, but after Sean’s in-studio performance, West offered him a recording contract and helped set up his debut mixtape, Finally Famous Vol. 1, released in 2007. A second volume arrived in 2009 with a third following in 2010. Follow @BigSean on twitter! http://www.myspace.com/uknowbigsean http://www.youtube.com/user/BigSeanVEVO http://www.uknowbigsean.com http://www.avalonatlanta.com/bigsean.zip Download Clean Download Dirty This post has been promoted to an article

Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian actor, rapper and singer. He is best known for playing Jimmy Brooks, the physically disabled character on Degrassi: The Next Generation. As a rapper, he performs under the mononym Drake, and is often billed as the new version of The Fresh Prince. After rumours of signing with Young Money Entertainment, it was later confirmed that Drake is only affiliated with the label, and he is currently signed to Cash Money and Universal Motown Records. He is managed by Hip Hop Since 1978.Drake was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Dennis Graham, a drummer who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis; his uncle is musician Teenie Hodges. His father is African American (a native of Memphis, Tennessee) and his mother is a white Jewish Canadian. His parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised by his mother in Toronto’s wealthy Forest Hill neighbourhood,[9] attending elementary school at Forest Hill Public School, and high school at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he began acting. He also spent many summers with his father in Memphis.In 2001, Graham began his acting career, playing the role of Jimmy Brooks, the physically disabled character on Degrassi: The Next GenerationIn February 2006, Drake released his first mixtape Room For Improvement. It was made available via his website and official MySpace page. From the success of his first mixtape, he later began releasing more, capitalizing from the buzz.In 2007, he released Comeback Season. In 2008, he released Heartbreak Drake. None of which were as successful as his most recent mixtape, So Far Gone, which included Drake’s mentor Lil Wayne, and members of Young Money.Drake’s first single “Best I Ever Had” is currently number 25 (as of Billboard issue date: 2009-05-23) on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.While working on his mixtapes, Drake has worked with Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Robin Thicke and Little Brother. Drake has also written for Jazz Cartier, Bishop Brigante,Keshia Chante and Dr. Dre. He is currently working on his debut album, Thank Me Later. Follow @drakkardnoir on twitter! http://www.myspace.com/thisisdrake http://www.drakeofficial.com/ http://www.youtube.com/drakevevo http://www.facebook.com/Drake Download Clean Download Dirty Download Instrumental This post has been promoted to an article

Before Jamie Foxx even started his new album, he had an album title. “I’ve always lived my life trying to understand what women are all about, from the hood to the White House,” he says. “So with the album ’Intuition,’ I tried to sing about what women really want—they want to have fun, they want to drink the right drink, eat the right food, be talked to a certain way. In thinking like that over the whole album, hopefully we captured what women want to hear.”Foxx doesn’t seem to have trouble giving people what they want. When his last album, Unpredictable, reached the top spot on the US pop charts in 2006, he became only the fourth person in history to win an Academy Award for acting (for his masterful performance as Ray Charles in 2004’s Ray) and release a Number One album. The other three? No less than the incomparable entertainment legends Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Barbra Streisand.But with Intuition, Foxx is striving to go even farther—to create a state-of-the-art R&B album that will solidify his place among music’s elite. Work on the new album started almost immediately after finishing Unpredictable. “We stayed diligent and just kept harvesting records,” says Foxx. “I have a studio at my house, so I could work any time, and I would descend on people’s sessions. I’d get a call—‘T-Pain’s in the studio, come down now!’ That Ne-Yo remix of ‘She Got Her Own,’ we really just gangstered that session. That’s been the fun part of it.” The album features an astonishing list of guest stars, truly the biggest names in urban music—Lil’ Wayne, Kanye West, T-Pain, T.I. (who spices up the album’s first single, “Just Like Me”), plus production by such hit machines as Tricky and The Dream, Timbaland, and Just Blaze. “We were trying to be like the Yankees, trying to get the best,” says Foxx.Unifying all those different flavors is Foxx’s full, supple voice, which he pushes into new territory. His primary personal goal for Intuition, he says, was attaining a new level of vocal diversity.“On a lot of albums, after four or five songs with the same voice you start to feel like it’s the same old thing,” he says. “But when Timbaland brought me ‘I Don’t Need It,’ he said, ‘You gotta sing this like a character.’ When Rico Love brought ‘Weekend Lover,’ he said, ‘You gotta have the right swagger on this.’ That sort of freshens up the record. I wanted to sing every song its own way, so it doesn’t get mundane.”Finding the right way into a song, of course, is what got Jamie Foxx’s music into the spotlight. The one-time music student at San Diego’s United States International University released his debut album, Peep This, in 1994. But it was his 2004 guest spot alongside Kanye West on Twista’s “Slow Jamz” that took him to the top of the charts. His follow-up collaboration with West, the unforgettable (and inescapable) “Gold Digger,” held the Number One spot on the Billboard Top 100 for ten weeks.Those singles built up the anticipation for Unpredictable, which went double-platinum and earned Foxx an American Music Awards for Favorite R&B/Soul Male Artist, as well as four Grammy nominations. Foxx also turned up on records by Ludacris, Plies, The Game—even country superstars Rascal Flatts.Despite this success, though, Jamie Foxx knows that making hits never gets easy. Asked what changed in music since the release of his last album, Foxx immediately says, “Everything changed! The tempo changed—you sit at the piano trying to croon and you get blasted out right now. I’m a Tank dude, Babyface, Brian McKnight baby, I can listen to that soft voice thing all day. But for me to do a record like ‘Number One’ with Lil Wayne, I’m taking a chance on that. People could say it’s wack or it’s something brilliant—but at least we took a chance to stretch out.”“You’ve got to be courageous and reinvent,” he adds, and points out that his acting experience, rather than being a distraction, actually offers him a creative advantage. “I’m able to get away with certain things that other guys can’t. The Timbaland record is like a comical church record, where I play the preacher with the sideburns and he plays the gospel choir leader and we’re hitting on all the girls in the choir. But you’ve got to do each record like it’s supposed to be done—when it’s a ballad, change it up. Whatever you do, you need to give it its credence.”Foxx says that his approach in the studio is to stay humble, ask questions, and listen to advice, especially from the new generation. “You have to let the young heads, the young girls and guys, lead you in the direction you need to go. I try to go in like a starving artist.”The last time Foxx released an album, he was coming off of one of the most acclaimed performances in recent years, connecting him to both a musical genius and a whole new audience. “When we went on tour,” he says, “there were people out in the audience 60, 70 years old, who came just so they could hear the Ray Charles performance. But with this record, the music has to stand by itself. I don’t have any props, any outside influences, it’s just the music and we have to get out and do it.”Though his focus is on Intuition right now, of course 2009 will also see Foxx returning to movie screens—The Soloist, in which he co-stars with Robert Downey, Jr., will be out in April, and in January, he begins filming the thriller Law-Abiding Citizen. Watching him bounce back and forth between two kinds of stardom, you can’t help but think of the great multiple-threat entertainers of the past.“When you look at the Rat Pack, they were doing music and movies together, so this is really a throwback to people like Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr,” says Jamie Foxx. “Not comparing myself to them, but you look at those greats and try to make the new version of that.“It’s tough to be successful in the music business,” he concludes, “but as long as I’ve got the piano and I can sit down and get my point across, it’s worth doing. I don’t think I’ll ever stop having the passion for it.” Follow @iamjamiefoxx on twitter! http://www.facebook.com/jamiefoxx http://www.myspace.com/jamiefoxx http://www.youtube.com/user/jamiefoxxVEVO#p/u Download Clean Download Intro Quick Hit Clean Hit Download Intro Clean Download Instrumental

With an easy Caribbean accent and throwback “Gumby” haircut, singer/songwriter/producer Maurice “Verse” Simmonds is an unusual figure in American R&B. Sure, he’s as laid-back and charming as your average nightclub crooner. And his debut album, Stories of a Bachelor, is full of typical rhythm and blues sensuality. But Verse is somewhat of an anomaly to the R&B genre.That’s because he’s created his own musical lane: “Island B,” a mix of R&B, Hip-Hop and Caribbean sounds that embody Verse’s musical philosophy. “I came up with the name ‘Island B’ after people would ask me to describe my style,” he explains. “I don’t feel like it’s true R&B, since I’m more inclined to sing a song the way Bob Marley would as opposed to Marvin Gaye.”Born in Puerto Rico but raised in St. Thomas, Verse was first introduced to music through the radio. “I remember being 3 or 4 years old in the back of a car singing along to Ralph Tresvant’s ‘Sensitivity,’” recalls Simmonds, who would steal his mom’s mixtapes and bring them to pre-school for show-and-tell. “In the Virgin Islands, only Top 40 songs make it on the airwaves, so as a kid, I was influenced by some of the biggest songs in the world. To me, music always felt natural.”In high school, Verse would perform in local talent shows with a group of fellow singers – his friends Iggy, Pressure, and Theron. They called themselves 2 Xtreme and would sing for hire for Valentine’s Day lovers or at special events. “Basically, anywhere we could touch a mic,” says Verse.After graduating from high school, Verse moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where he met a young producer/songwriter/engineer named Shama Joseph. The two hit it off immediately and formed the production team, the Jugganauts. In 2003, they moved to Los Angeles to work on several major label projects. A few years later, a phone call from childhood friend Theron Thomas and his brother Timothy Thomas – a.k.a. the singing/songwriting duo, “Rock City” – convinced the Jugganauts to relocate to Atlanta, where they began working with the likes of Akon and super-producer Rodney Jerkins.“Most of the male records that we would write, I found myself recording the demo for those particular records, and when we played them, people would ask, ‘Who’s the artist?’” says Verse. “Theron and Sham would always jokingly say, ‘That’s Verse, and we’re working on his solo project next.’”However, Verse began taking the idea of a singing career seriously. He started recording his own songs and performing around Atlanta. Jerkins caught wind of Verse’s music and, after attending one of his shows, approached Verse about signing him to his Darkchild Records imprint. A meeting with Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine was set up, and after playing a few songs for the label exec, Verse had a record deal.Now, Verse is proud to unveil, Stories of a Bachelor, a collection of “based on a true story” scenarios penned almost entirely by the real-life bachelor himself. “Pretty much every song has a story that you can visualize and relate to when you hear it,” he explains. “Of course, some of the lyrics are from my personal experiences, and at times, it’s a little edgier than regular R&B. But I wanted the album to have a storyline…sort of like a movie.”The first single off the album is “Buy You A Round (Up & Down),” a carefree, radio-friendly party anthem. “Money In My Pocket,” a harder Hip-Hop boast, is a noticeable departure from Verse’s usually relaxed demeanor. “People might not expect this song from me, but I don’t want to be an artist locked into one thing,” he says. “I try to be as versatile as I can.”“That Girl” is a contagious Soca romp, while the RedOne-produced “Boomerang” mixes island-boy style with the electricity of Euro-pop. Then, on “Substitute Lover,” Verse’s striking falsetto issues a warning to fellas everywhere: “If you are not tending to your girl, someone else gladly will.”Perhaps the most compelling song on Stories of a Bachelor is the remorseful yet sexy ballad, “I’m Sorry.” “It’s a timeless record,” Verse says. “It’s for all the f&*k up days that men have. They can play the song and their women will forgive them instantly!”Verse captures a range of emotions on Stories of a Bachelor – from lust to longing, hubris to heartache – but still keeps the music fresh. Indeed, he may be unusual to R&B, but Verse Simmonds stands out among the competition just by being himself. Follow @VerseSimmonds on twitter! http://www.versesimmonds.com/ http://www.myspace.com/versesimmonds http://www.facebook.com/pages/Verse-Simmonds/94532772898 http://www.youtube.com/versesimmonds Download Clean Download Dirty Contact: Biddy Barnes biddy@sprint.blackberry.net or David Melhado verse.business@gmail.com This post has been promoted to an article

Follow @LloydBanks on twitter! http://www.facebook.com/LloydBanks http://www.lloydbanks.com/ http://www.myspace.com/lloydbanks http://www.youtube.com/user/LloydBanksVEVO Download Clean Download Dirty

ALL LINKS ARE WORKING

sorry about that. the link fixed big dawg

this will be updated later on today

Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian actor, rapper and singer. He is best known for playing Jimmy Brooks, the physically disabled character on Degrassi: The Next Generation. As a rapper, he performs under the mononym Drake, and is often billed as the new version of The Fresh Prince. After rumours of signing with Young Money Entertainment, it was later confirmed that Drake is only affiliated with the label, and he is currently signed to Cash Money and Universal Motown Records. He is managed by Hip Hop Since 1978.Drake was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Dennis Graham, a drummer who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis; his uncle is musician Teenie Hodges. His father is African American (a native of Memphis, Tennessee) and his mother is a white Jewish Canadian. His parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised by his mother in Toronto’s wealthy Forest Hill neighbourhood,[9] attending elementary school at Forest Hill Public School, and high school at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he began acting. He also spent many summers with his father in Memphis.In 2001, Graham began his acting career, playing the role of Jimmy Brooks, the physically disabled character on Degrassi: The Next GenerationIn February 2006, Drake released his first mixtape Room For Improvement. It was made available via his website and official MySpace page. From the success of his first mixtape, he later began releasing more, capitalizing from the buzz.In 2007, he released Comeback Season. In 2008, he released Heartbreak Drake. None of which were as successful as his most recent mixtape, So Far Gone, which included Drake’s mentor Lil Wayne, and members of Young Money.Drake’s first single “Best I Ever Had” is currently number 25 (as of Billboard issue date: 2009-05-23) on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.While working on his mixtapes, Drake has worked with Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Robin Thicke and Little Brother. Drake has also written for Jazz Cartier, Bishop Brigante,Keshia Chante and Dr. Dre. He is currently working on his debut album, Thank Me Later. Follow @drakkardnoir on twitter! VIDEO: http://www.myspace.com/thisisdrake http://www.drakeofficial.com/ http://www.youtube.com/drakevevo http://www.facebook.com/Drake Download Clean Download Dirty Download Intro Clean Download Intro Dirty This post has been promoted to an article

In this day and age, creativity and innovation are rare commodities, especially in pop culture. Yet that particular element is exactly what has made the Aphilliates’ own DJ Drama one of the nation’s premier DJs and what has led him to the type of success that has eluded many in his field. DJ Drama has not only made a name for himself as a mixtape and tour DJ, he has also changed the mixtape game in the South and Southeast, helping the region move in on a market once cornered by New York City. That may sound like a heavy burden to carry, but the 27-year-old, who began his career in his native Philadelphia in the early 90s, balances being an award-winning DJ, father, businessman and producer with ease.It is no surprise that DJ Drama has come to gain the national recognition he now enjoys. After hosting and spinning at some of Atlanta’s biggest events for the likes of Diddy, Allen Iverson, Lil’ Jon and Jermaine Dupri, DJ Drama became well known amongst industry tastemakers as one who’s soulful, eclectic style and ear for new talent could provide entertainment outside of the mainstream. The reputation he gained from his accomplishments in the Atlanta markets ha led to a national and international fan base which allows him to travel and perform at venues, events and universities across the globe. And thanks to an almost non-stop schedule as a tour DJ for a wide cross-section of artists – from Bahamadia and Slum Village to BME recording artist Lil’ Scrappy, he has been able to continue to build on that fan base. DJ Drama currently serves as the official DJ for Grand Hustle/Atlantic recording artist T.I., which placed him on two of the most successful Hip-Hop tours of 2004/2005: the Jay-Z and Friends Tour and Nelly’s Sweat/Suit Tour.But DJ Drama may be best known for his Gangsta Grillz mixtape series. With over twenty editions in the books, sixteen of which were released in 2005 alone, the series has become a coveted promotional opportunity for any artist seeking to strengthen their fan base in the streets and is recognized by the entertainment industry as one of the premier sources for the South’s best new talent. The series is responsible for Young Jeezy’s now legendary Trap or Die mixtape, along with three volumes hosted by T.I. & P$C – Gangsta Grillz Meets In The Streets – which redefined the concept of the Mixtape Album in the South; Gangsta Grillz: Down With The King, which introduced the group to new audiences, and Gangsta Grillz: The Indictment, which helped promote their Atlantic Records debut. Stat Quo, Rich Boy, Slick Pulla, Smitty, and Webbie also received the Gangsta Grillz seal of approval, allowing them to sustain a buzz while working on their major label debuts. But the series has also been co-signed by some of the biggest names in the game. DJ Drama has collaborated with such established figures as 8Ball & MJG, Bun B, Dame Dash, David Banner, Diddy, Lil’ Wayne, Paul Wall and Slim Thug. Gangsta Grillz is so well respected in the South that multi-platinum, Grammy award-winner Big Boi chose Gangsta Grillz X as his first mixtape hosting experience. Gangsta Grillz was named Vibe Magazine’s “Mixtape Series of the Year” in 2005; and Trap or Die has been recognized as XXL’s 2005 “Official Bootleg of the Year.” DJ Drama’s other mixtape series, Automatic Relaxtion, known for its creative blend of Neo-Soul and smooth Hip-Hop, has also been heralded by fans and critics alike.The success of his mixtape series kicked DJ Drama’s entrepreneurial spirit into overdrive. In addition to being distributed in 31 markets nationally, in Germany, and through countless internet sites, Grangsta Grillz has now become a brand. DJ Drama is currently preparing for the release of the Gangsta Grillz DVD Documentary entitled Respect The Game, produced by Gorrilla Flix; and recently inked a deal with Atlantic Records to release Gangsta Grillz The Album. And each and every Saturday night, the Aphilliates take over Radio-One’s WHTA Hot 107.9 in Atlanta with Gangsta Grillz Radio, which takes a new approach to the traditional radio format. This is the Aphilliates second radio show, joining their Sirius Satellite Radio program, Streetz Iz Watchin’, which airs on Shade 45 on Friday nights.With so many accomplishments, of course has come a bevy of media and industry accolades. DJ Drama was named “Best Mixtape DJ” by Hot 107.9; nominated for Justo’s Mixtape Awards’ “Best South DJ” in 2004 and 2005; and 2005’s “Mixtape DJ of the Year” at the MixShow Power Summit. In addition has been featured on BET’s 106 & Park and Rap City, MTV’s Spring Bling and Wildin’ Out, FOX’ The O.C. and MTV.com’s Mixtape Mondays. He has also graced the pages of Vibe, XXL. King, The Source, Rhime, Ozone, Spin, Urb, The Village Voice, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to name a few.The Aphilliates consists of six Atlanta-based turntablists who have taken the industry by storm. Founded in April 2003 by DJs DJ Drama, Sense and Don Cannon this marketing savvy unit has rapidly become an alliance by which all similar associations should be measured. Follow @DJDRAMA on twitter! http://www.facebook.com/djdrama http://www.myspace.com/djdrama Download Clean Download Dirty Download Instrumental Download Intro Clean Download Intro Dirty

The Miami-based DJ/producer DJ Khaled — a Palestinian-American born Khaled Khaled — is a member of Fat Joe's Terror Squad and released Listennn: The Album on Koch in June 2006. He utilized his connections to snare the likes of Beanie Sigel, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Paul Wall, Young Jeezy, Slim Thug, Trick Daddy, and Clipse for guest appearances. Many were back for his 2007 effort We the Best and in 2008 for We Global. The thematic Victory followed in 2010. Follow @TheRealDJKhaled on twitter! VIDEO: http://youtu.be/4yFta5GBNHU http://www.djkhaled.org/ http://www.myspace.com/djkhaled Download Clean Download Dirty This post has been promoted to an article

A game-changing artist and an impervious celebrity, Lil Wayne began as his career as a near-novelty — a preteen delivering hardcore hip-hop — but through years of maturation and reinventing the mixtape game, he developed into a million-selling rapper with a massive body of work, one so inventive and cunning that it makes his famous claim of being the "best rapper alive" worth considering. Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. and raised in the infamous New Orleans neighborhood of Hollygrove, he was a straight-A student but never felt his true intelligence was expressed through any kind of report card. He found music was the best way to express himself, and after taking the name Gangsta D he began writing rhymes. Combining a strong work ethic with aggressive self-promotion, the 11-year-old convinced the Cash Money label to take him on, even if it was just of odd jobs around the office. A year later, in-house producer Mannie Fresh partnered him with the 14-year-old B.G. and dubbed the duo the B.G.'z. Although only B.G.'s name appeared on the cover, the 1995 album True Story has since been accepted as the B.G.'z debut album both by fans and the Cash Money label. The 1997 album Chopper City was supposed to be the follow-up, but when Wayne accidentally shot himself in the chest with a .44, it became a solo B.G. release.That same year, he officially took the moniker Lil Wayne, dropping the "D" from his first name in order to separate himself from an absent father. He joined B.G., Juvenile, and Young Turk for another Fresh project, the teen hardcore rap group the Hot Boys, who released their debut album, Get It How U Live!, in 1997. Two years later, Cash Money would sign a distribution deal with the major-label Universal. Mainstream distribution would help that year's Hot Boys album Guerrilla Warfare to reach the number one spot on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 1998, Lil Wayne would appear on Juvenile's hit single "Back That Thing Up," or "Back That Azz Up" as it appeared on Juvie's album 400 Degreez. Wayne would launch his solo career a year later with the album Tha Block Is Hot, featuring the hit single title track. It went double platinum but the rapper was still unknown to Middle America, since his hardcore rhymes and the rough Cash Money sound had not yet crossed over. His second album, Lights Out (2000), failed to match the success of its predecessor but it did go gold, and with an appearance on the Big Tymers' hit single "#1 Stunna," his audience was certainly growing. While Fresh was primarily responsible for launching his career, Wayne was now much closer to Fresh's fellow Big Tymer and Cash Money CEO Birdman. When Juvenile left the label, Wayne — or "Birdman Jr." as he was calling himself — showed his allegiance to his CEO by releasing an album with a title much hotter than Juvie's breakthrough effort. 500 Degreez landed in 2002 and while it went gold, rumors began flying about Cash Money's financial troubles and possible demise. The rest of the Hot Boys had defected and Wayne's planned 2003 album was scrapped, coming out instead as an underground mixtape called Da Drought.Wayne became enamored with the mixtape world after Da Drought drew so much attention from the hip-hop press. He used these underground releases to drum up anticipation for his next official album, the breakthrough effort Tha Carter. Released in 2004, the album seemed familiar on one hand with Mannie Fresh's production, but the Wayne on the cover was a dreadlocked surprise, and the rhymes he laid on the tracks showed significant growth. His marketing skills had become sharper, too, and it was no mistake that the album's hit single, "Go DJ," mentioned hip-hop's greatest tastemakers right in the title. It reached number five on the singles chart, and with a guest shot on Destiny's Child's number three single, "Soldier," Wayne had officially crossed over. On the flip side, his street cred was supported by a slew of mixtapes released in 2005, including the popular titles Dedication with DJ Drama and Tha Suffix with DJ Khaled. Cash Money's future was no longer in doubt and traditional music business rules no longer seemed to apply, as tracks would be leaked onto the Internet and various DJs' mixtapes. "Get Something" was another bold move, as a Universal-funded video was made without the track ever seeing official release.With his alternative marketing scheme working in overdrive, the 2005 landing of Tha Carter II was a major event, selling over a quarter-million copies the week of its release. "Fireman" and "Shooter" with Robin Thicke were released as singles, while the album — which for the first time featured no Mannie Fresh productions — went platinum. It also introduced his Young Money posse, with appearances from Curren$y and Nicki Minaj, and initially came with a bonus disc featuring Wayne's greatest hits screwed and chopped by Swishahouse DJ Michael "5000" Watts. A year later he collaborated with Birdman for the Like Father, Like Son album, featuring the hit single "Stuntin' Like My Daddy." His mixtapes were still flooding the underground, including the stunning Dedication 2, which came with an iconic image of the rapper on the cover plus the much talked-about track "Georgia...Bush," a venomous response to President George W. Bush's handling of the Katrina disaster. With no official follow-up to Tha Carter II in sight, numerous collaborative tracks kept the rapper in the mainstream with "Gimme That" by Chris Brown, "Make It Rain" by Fat Joe, and "Duffle Bag Boy" by Playaz Circle becoming three of the biggest hits.Tha Carter III was promised for 2007 but didn't arrive until a year later, setting off Wayne's infamous reputation of delayed releases. Part of the problem became unauthorized leaks of the album's tracks, something combated by the official, downloadable EP The Leak released that same year. Preceded by the number one hit "Lollipop," Tha Carter III arrived in May of 2008, selling more than a million copies in its first week of release. An appearance on Saturday Night Live and four Grammy awards — including Best Rap Album — spoke to Wayne's mainstream acceptance. He also performed at that year's Country Music Awards with Kid Rock, but rather than rap, he played guitar. The guitar playing was part of Wayne's new involvement with rock music, including his help in signing Kevin Rudolf to Cash Money plus an appearance on Rudolf's massive hit "Let It Rock." His planned rock album was previewed with the 2009 single "Prom Queen," but when the album failed to meet its promised April release, the music press began to portray the rapper as the king of missed street dates. Unconcerned, Wayne forged ahead with his Young Money crew, releasing the underground mixtape Young Money Is the Army, Better Yet the Navy, the aboveground single "Every Girl," plus the official album We Are Young Money that same year. His rock album, Rebirth, would finally appear in early 2010, which coincided with Wayne being sentenced to a nine-month prison term for criminal possession of a weapon. The rapper may have been behind bars on Riker’s Island, but that didn’t stop his ten-song EP I Am Not a Human Being from seeing the light of day in September that same year. 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Cherish it - because again, not only is it from Monica, the Grammy Award winning singer and actress who's sold more than 10 million copies of her previous three albums, but it is what she declares "a real representation of who I am and what my life is like now. It reflects the last 11 years inside and outside of the industry. It allows people to know me. Finally."Let’s start with her foundation.Remember, she is from the A - Born, raised and never lived anywhere else but Atlanta.So the Jermaine Dupri-produced first single "Everytime Tha Beat Drop" should really come as no surprise." 'Beat Drop', for me, is a real good representation of where I'm from," Monica says of the call to the dancefloor she crafted with Atlanta's snap music pioneers, Dem Franchize Boyz. "Plus I really liked having a record that kids can enjoy. My music has always had a message. I guess it's been just a personality thing - I've always been extremely mature for my age. Always been kind of deep. But sometimes that goes right over the kids' heads. And we all just want to dance and have fun. This is what I live. What I dance to. What I listen to when I'm in my car. So I thought, 'Why wouldn't I sing over it?' "On this foundation, Monica has built quite the reputation for brutal honesty — from “Don’t Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)” to “First Night” to “Knock Knock” and “U Should’ve Known Better.”“My audience respects my honesty,” she reminds us. “They trust that what comes out of my mouth truly comes from my heart.”And falling right in the disc changer with those singles is "Sideline Ho."In the Underdogs-produced dagger, she asks: "Ain't you tired of spending all the holidays alone?"And then comes back and digs deeper with: "It don't matter if he spends the night, his home's somewhere else...If you don't make his breakfast, you's a 'Sideline Ho!'"Myself, Damon [Thomas], Harvey [Mason Jr.] and Tank came up with that. I was telling Tank about a situation where an ex of mine blatantly, openly cheated - as if people didn't know who his girlfriend was! And just the sound of her name would make my flesh crawl. So he was like, 'Well what did you call her?' I said, 'She has no name. She has no importance.' And Tank walked back into the room and said, 'The name of this song is 'Sideline Ho.'"Why Her," also produced by Monica's longtime musical associate Jermaine Dupri, is what she calls her post-'Sideline Ho' song. "After the anger of being cheated on, instead of healing and moving forward, we get mired in all of these questions. At that point in my situation I was like, 'What was it? I don't see anything visually any better. I don't know anything any better about her. She's struggling to work on video sets. And I'm in disarray."I don't care what people say, people always look at themselves, ask themselves those kinds of questions once somebody cheats. That's just how love works. It doesn't cut off at the sight of a mistake. We're all like, 'Does he live with her now? Do you think they're going to have kids?' Just vulnerable."Now that's an adjective rarely used to describe Monica in her decade-plus in the business. Not the 24-year-old who was introduced to the world in 1995 on an album titled "Miss Thang." "People assume nothing affects me," she concedes. "And I am extremely strong-natured. I stand with both feet planted firmly and don't bend. But I know now sometimes I need to bend. 'Hell No' (produced by the Grammy-nominated Bryan-Michael Cox) shows that side of me that's a lot more sensitive. And vulnerable."And may we add, adaptable. Not only does the rapper so fast he's in the Guinness Book of World Records appear on "Hell No." But Monica matches Twista - zip for zip."I never thought I would be able to pick up his flow in any shape, form or fashion," she recalls. "But he said the same thing Missy's always saying to me - 'You're a slick talker. You never run out of words.' So he wrote my verse and he rapped it in spaces, in little bite-sized chunks. And I would rap it back, until I learned it. It took about two hours but I'm so glad I did it. It was a good experience, an example of why my mom always taught us not to use the word 'can't.' At 24 I am still learning lessons." But look at how she’s already applied those lessons, and what she’s become thus far: Her loveliness can be heard in one of her fourth CD's vocal standouts: "Get Away." The spare, dramatic force begins: "I started out as a little girl. Singing songs changed my world." And before you know, Monica's sharing her life with you - inside and out:"I give so much of me/When is time for me to receive? "It's not as easy as it seems/And to think, this was my dream." "Jermaine always knows exactly how I feel about things," Monica says. "And I felt this way most when my first love died. Him committing suicide changed my life in a lot of ways. It brought me closer to what I was raised with, which is a Christian family. It brought me closer to God, which is where I need to be. And it made me wish for the first time in my entire life that I was a normal person, with a normal job, who could take time off to grieve. I had to learn to live with my situation in front of the public's eye. But in the recording of this song, I was to myself. In the 11 years I've been in this industry I didn't think such a place existed. And physically I don't think it does. But mentally it's there, in this song." Loving pulses through "Doin' Me Right," her Missy Elliott-produced tribute to a guy who makes seven figures, talks slicker and is an, a-hem, tongue-flicker."That kind of song is a bit different for me," Monica says playfully. "But if you haven't heard, I have a son. And he didn't get here like Jesus. Some things have taken place. And I think the song is a nice way of saying how I certainly feel." "Dozen Roses," however, is exactly how she feels. She's in love. "I be losing my mind every time I look at you," she says in another Missy production, made even dreamier by a sample of Curtis Mayfield’s “The Makings of You.” "You've got style just like a Bentley coupe.... You're just like my rims, you shine." "Like I said, 'Dozen Roses' personifies where I am right now," Monica says. "Who I am right now."And to think, much of The Makings of Monica happened right before our eyes: The three million-selling debut and the hit singles - "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" and "Before You Walk Out of My Life" - that made her the youngest female artist ever to have two back-to-back No. 1 hits on Billboard's R&B singles chart. (Both of which also topped its Hot 100 pop charts and earned a million in sales.) The million-selling contribution to the 1997 "Space Jam" soundtrack "For You I Will." Then came her 1998 CD "The Boy Is Mine," which not only had three consecutive No. 1 Billboard pop singles (the title track, "Angel of Mine" and "First Night"), but the title track with Brandy spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts, and 8 at No. 1 on the R&B listing. Not to mention the duet earned Monica a Grammy to add to her American Music, Soul Train and Billboard Awards. Then there was her last million-selling CD "After the Storm." All of which she managed while acting in the MTV movie "Love Song," the Miramax movie "Boys and Girls" and most recently, Warner Bros/Overbrook’s "ATL."The Makings of Me is the least Monica could give you for so much support over so many projects.Then again, The Makings of Me is ALL Monica is. Follow @MonicaBrown on twitter! http://www.monica.com/ http://www.myspace.com/monicamusic http://www.facebook.com/monica Download Clean Download Dirty Download Intro Clean Download Intro Dirty Download Instrumental This post has been promoted to an article