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Benny Medina
Benny Medina (born January 24, 1958) is an American record executive, talent manager, and television producer. Early life and education Medina was born in East Los Angeles, California, into a poor family. The death of his mother and abandonment by his father resulted in him being placed into a number of foster homes, which he repeatedly ran away from before he and his siblings were taken in by his aunt. In his early teenage years, Medina dealt cannabis and amphetamines. He befriended a wealthy white teenager, whose family in Beverly Hills allowed him to live in a refurbished garage behind their property. Medina then attended Beverly Hills High where he met Kerry Gordy and was a successful student. Medina's experiences of transferring to this wealthy environment is the loose basis for ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air''. Career Medina started his career with the group Apollo, who released their self-titled debut on Gordy/Motown in 1979. He was the lead singer. Other members inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Los Angeles, California
East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes. The most recent data from the 2020 United States census, 2020 census reports a population of 118,786, reflecting a 6.1% decrease compared to the 2010 United States Census, 2010 population of 126,496. The List of U.S. cities with large Hispanic populations, concentration of Hispanic/Latino Americans is 95.16 percent, the highest of any large city or census-designated place in the United States outside of Puerto Rico. History Original East Los Angeles Historically, when it was founded in 1873, the neighborhood northeast of downtown known today as Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, Lincoln Heights was originally named East Los Angeles, but in 1917, reside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his teenage years. He was in various bands before entering the U.S. Naval Reserve to avoid being drafted into the Army. In 1964, James moved to Toronto, Canada, where he formed the rock band The Mynah Birds, who eventually signed a recording deal with Motown, Motown Records in 1966. James's career with the group halted after military authorities discovered his whereabouts and eventually convicted him of desertion related charges. He served several months in jail. After being released, James moved to California, where he started a variety of Rock music, rock and funk groups in the late 1960s and early 1970s. After forming the locally popular Stone City Band in his hometown of Buffalo in 1977, James finally found success as a recording artist aft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De La Soul
De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres. Kelvin Mercer, Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer, David Jolicoeur, David "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur, and Vincent Mason, Vincent "Maseo" Mason formed the group in high school and caught the attention of producer Prince Paul (producer), Prince Paul with a demo tape of the song "Plug Tunin'". With its playful wordplay, innovative sampling, and witty skits, the group's debut album, ''3 Feet High and Rising'' (1989), has been called "a hip hop masterpiece". It remains their biggest commercial success, though subsequent albums have continued to receive acclaim. De La Soul is the second-longest-standing Native Tongues group, after the Jungle Brothers. In 2006, the group won a Grammy Award, Grammy for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two NAACP Image Awards, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. In 2006, she became the first hip hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At age 19, Latifah released her debut album '' All Hail the Queen'' (1989), featuring the hit single "Ladies First". Her second album '' Nature of a Sista''' (1991), was produced by Tommy Boy Records. Her third album, '' Black Reign'' (1993), became the first album by a solo female rapper to receive a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned the single " U.N.I.T.Y.", which was influential in raising awareness of violence against women and the objectification of Black female sexualit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassist, John McVie, who have remained with the band throughout its many line-up changes. Fleetwood Mac have sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the List of best-selling music artists, world's best-selling bands. Primarily a British blues band in their early years, Fleetwood Mac achieved a UK number one single in 1968 with the instrumental "Albatross (instrumental), Albatross" and had other UK top ten hits with "Man of the World (song), Man of the World", "Oh Well (song), Oh Well" (both 1969), and "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (1970). Green left the band in May 1970 and McVie's wife, Christine McVie, joined as an official member on vocals and keyboards two months later, having previously contribute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Simon & Garfunkel. Their blend of folk and rock, including hits such as "The Sound of Silence" (1965), "Mrs. Robinson" (1968), "America (Simon & Garfunkel song), America" (1968), and "The Boxer" (1969), served as a soundtrack to the Counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture. Their final album, ''Bridge over Troubled Water'' (1970), is among List of best-selling albums, the best-selling of all time. As a solo artist, Simon has explored genres including gospel music, gospel, reggae, and soul music, soul. His albums ''Paul Simon (album), Paul Simon'' (1972), ''There Goes Rhymin' Simon'' (1973), and ''Still Crazy After All These Years'' (1975) kept him in the public eye and drew acclaim, producing the hits "Mother and Child Reunion" (1972 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting and visual presentation. Madonna's works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A cultural icon spanning both the 20th and 21st centuries, Madonna has become the subject of various scholarly, literary and artistic works, as well as a mini academic sub-discipline called Madonna studies. Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy & the Emmys, she rose to solo stardom with her 1983 eponymous debut album. Madonna has earned a total of 18 multi-platinum albums, including '' Like a Virgin'' (1984), '' True Blue'' (1986), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaka Khan
Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. With the band she recorded the notable hits " Tell Me Something Good," " Sweet Thing," " Do You Love What You Feel," and the platinum-certified " Ain't Nobody." Her debut solo album featured the number-one R&B hit " I'm Every Woman" (which became a pop hit for Whitney Houston). Khan scored another R&B charts hit with " What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" before becoming the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with her 1984 cover of Prince's " I Feel for You." More of Khan's hits include " Through the Fire" and a 1986 collaboration with Steve Winwood that produced a number-one hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, " Higher Love." Khan has won ten Grammy Awards. With Rufus, she achieved three gold single ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958April 21, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation, Prince was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona, wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams, as well as his skill as a multi-instrumentalist, often preferring to play all or most of the instruments on his recordings. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, disco, Rhythm and blues, R&B, Rock music, rock, New wave music, new wave, soul music, soul, synth-pop, Pop music, pop, jazz, blues, and hip hop music, hip hop. Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis sound. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Prince signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records at the age of 18, soon releasing the studio albums ''For You (Prince album), For You'' (1978) and ''Prince (album), Prince'' (1979). He went on to achieve critical succe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babyface (musician)
Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced 26 number-one Contemporary R&B, R&B hits and won 13 Grammy Awards. He was ranked number 20 on ''NME'' 50 of The Greatest Producers Ever list. Early life Edmonds was born on April 10, 1959, in Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, to Marvin and Barbara Edmonds. Barbara was a production operator at a pharmaceutical plant. Edmonds, who is the fifth of six brothers (including future After 7 band members Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, the latter of whom went on to have a modestly successful solo career), attended North Central High School (Indianapolis, Indiana), North Central High School in Indianapolis, and as a shy youth, wrote songs to express his emotions. When he was in eighth grade, Edmonds' father died of lung cancer, leaving his mother to raise her sons alone. Music career Edmonds later met funk performer Bootsy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius". Among friends and fellow musicians, he preferred being called "Brother Ray". Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to glaucoma. Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining elements of blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and Gospel music, gospel into his music during his time with Atlantic Records. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two ''Modern Sounds'' albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company. Charles' 1960s hit "Georgia on My Mind" was the first of his three career No. 1 hits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
