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From Where
''From Where???'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop artist Mad Skillz. It was released on February 13, 1996, via Big Beat/Atlantic Records. It was produced by Mad Skillz, Buckwild, Shawn J. Period, J Dilla, DJ Clark Kent, EZ Elpee, Large Professor, Nick Wiz, and the Beatnuts, with Rob "Reef" Tewlow serving as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Kalonji the Immortal, Dr. Mindbenda, Javon the Medieval, Large Professor, Lil' Roc, Lonnie B and Q-Tip. The album peaked at number 154 on the ''Billboard'' 200, number 18 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 5 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in the United States. The album was praised for its strong lyrical content and production, however, suffered from low sales, possibly due to being released the same day as 2Pac's '' All Eyez on Me'' and the Fugees's ''The Score''. The singles "The Nod Factor" and "Move Ya Body" received moderate radio and video airplay. Track listing ;Sample credits *Track 3 co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skillz (rapper)
Donnie Shaquan Lewis (born June 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Skillz (or Mad Skillz), is an American rapper. He first became known for his debut album '' From Where???'' (1996), titularly in reference to his origins in Virginia, contrary of the prototypical New York City- or Los Angeles-based rapper at the time. He is also known for his yearly "Rap Ups," which he has done annually since 2002 (except in 2013). Skillz is also the creator of the web series "Hip Hop Confessions", a series of shows that gathers hip hop purists and hip hop lovers alike where they reveal something hip hop related that they have never told anyone. The show has featured Q-Tip, Peanut Butter Wolf, Kwamé and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Skillz earned a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album nomination for the album ''The Seven Number Ones.'' Early life Lewis was born June 2, 1974, in Detroit, Michigan, and after spending his early childhood in Fayetteville, North Carolina he then moved t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, 1965, in an effort by the magazine to further expand into the field of rhythm and blues music. It then went through several name changes, being known as Soul LPs in the 1970s and Top Black Albums in the 1980s, before returning to the R&B identification in 1990 and affixing a hip hop designation in 1999 to reflect the latter's growing sales and relationship to R&B during the decade. From 1965 through 2009, the chart was compiled based on reported sales at a core panel of stores with a "higher-than-average volume" of R&B and/or hip-hop album sales to monitor buying trends of the African-American community. This panel included more independent and smaller chain stores compared to the high percentage of mass merchants that account for overal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Eastmond
Barry James Eastmond (born January 11, 1959) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and record producer. Eastmond is an adjunct professor at New York University Steinhardt Performing Arts Department in songwriting and is part of the NYU Summer Songwriting Workshop. Biography Eastmond was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 11, 1959. He is the youngest of three children of Wilfred and Eileen Eastmond. He is married to songwriter Maria Eastmond and they have two children, Melodie and Barry Jr. Eastmond started his musical career as pianist at the age of four. Between the ages of seven and ten, he received classical music training at the Juilliard School of Music's preparatory school. While in high school, Eastmond began playing in local top 40 and wedding bands in Brooklyn. Soon, he became a touring pianist and keyboardist for female R&B singers such as Melba Moore, Phyllis Hyman, Angela Bofill, and Chaka Khan, eventually becoming Moore, Hyman, and Bofill's musical dir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeffrey Osborne
Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D. (band), L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. Biography Early life and family Osborne was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Born the youngest of twelve children which consisted of six brothers and six sisters, Osborne's family was musically inclined. Some of Osborne's siblings went on to have music careers as well; his brother Billy Osborne was his band-mate in L.T.D. Osborne's father, Clarence "Legs" Osborne, was a popular trumpeter who played with Lionel Hampton, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Osborne's father died in 1961 when Osborne was thirteen. L.T.D. Osborne began his music career in 1970 becoming a member of the American soul band "Love Men Ltd.", who would later become known as L.T.D. The band recorded hit singles such as "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again" (1977 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Ayers
Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped to pioneer jazz-funk. He was a key figure in the acid jazz movement, and has been described as "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He was best known for his compositions " Everybody Loves the Sunshine", "Running Away", and "Freaky Deaky" and others that charted in the 1970s. At one time, Ayers was listed among the performers whose music was most often sampled by rappers. Early life Roy Edward Ayers Jr. was born in Los Angeles on September 10, 1940. He grew up in a family of musicians, where his father played trombone and his mother played piano. At the age of five, he was given his first pair of vibraphone mallets by Lionel Hampton. The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reynaldo Rey
Reynaldo Rey (born Harry Reynolds; January 27, 1940 – May 28, 2015) was an American actor, comedian and television personality. Career Rey moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he taught for seven years and became a member of the Karamu House Theatre, world-renowned for its development of top-notch actors, directors and producers. There, he launched his career in comedy, going on the road with the O'Jays. He then moved to New York City, where he was invited to join the Harlem Theater Group. While a member of the group, he appeared in his first movie. From there he performed in Europe, Asia and Africa for two years. Rey has appeared in 52 movies, including ''Friday'', ''House Party 3'', ''White Men Can't Jump'', '' A Rage in Harlem'', and ''Harlem Nights'', where he appeared with the likes of Redd Foxx (his mentor, for whom he often opened shows), Della Reese, Richard Pryor, Arsenio Hall, and Eddie Murphy. He also has 32 television shows to his credit, including BET's '' Comic View'', 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny "Guitar" Watson
John Watson Jr. (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996), often known professionally as Johnny "Guitar" Watson, was an American musician. A flamboyant showman and electric guitarist in the style of T-Bone Walker, his recording career spanned 40 years, and encompassed rhythm and blues, funk and soul music. Watson recorded throughout the 1950s and 1960s with some success. His 1954 instrumental single "Space Guitar" was the first of his recordings to showcase his electric guitar playing. His creative self-reinvention in the 1970s, with funk overtones, saw Watson have hits with "Ain't That a Bitch" and "Superman Lover". His highest charting single was 1977's "A Real Mother for Ya". Early life Watson was born in Houston, Texas. His father John Sr. was a pianist, and taught his son the instrument. But young Watson was immediately attracted to the sound of the guitar, in particular the electric guitar as played by T-Bone Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. His grandfather, a preacher, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psycho Les
The Beatnuts is an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 14, 1968) is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernandez on April 10, 1970) is a Colombian American from Jackson Heights, Queens. Although only peripheral members, they are routinely acknowledged by Q-Tip as being members of Native Tongues. The Beatnuts were originally a trio before Fashion (born Berntony Smalls on January 13, 1970), now known as Al' Tariq, left the group to start a solo career. V.I.C. (Groove Merchantz, Ghetto Pros) was also a member of The Beatnuts' production team for a while. History Origins JuJu and Psycho Les grew up in different communities in Queens, New York City. Psycho Les started producing beats and DJing at age 15 under aliases including DJ Les Jams and DJ Incredible. At a high school in Flushing, Queens, a friend DJ Loco Moe introduced Les to fellow producer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jay Dee
James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan, as a member of the group Slum Village. He was also a member of the Soulquarians, a musical collective active during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He additionally collaborated with Madlib as Jaylib, releasing the album ''Champion Sound''. Yancey's final album was ''Donuts (album), Donuts'', which was released three days before his death. He was also known for producing The Pharcyde album ''Labcabincalifornia''. Yancey died at the age of 32 from a combination of Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, TTP and lupus. Although his life was short, he is considered to be one of the most influential producers in hip hop and popular music. J Dilla's music raised the artistic level of hip-hop production in Detroit. According to ''The Guardian'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mad Skillz
Donnie Shaquan Lewis (born June 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Skillz (or Mad Skillz), is an American rapper. He first became known for his debut album '' From Where???'' (1996), titularly in reference to his origins in Virginia, contrary of the prototypical New York City- or Los Angeles-based rapper at the time. He is also known for his yearly "Rap Ups," which he has done annually since 2002 (except in 2013). Skillz is also the creator of the web series "Hip Hop Confessions", a series of shows that gathers hip hop purists and hip hop lovers alike where they reveal something hip hop related that they have never told anyone. The show has featured Q-Tip, Peanut Butter Wolf, Kwamé and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Skillz earned a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album nomination for the album ''The Seven Number Ones.'' Early life Lewis was born June 2, 1974, in Detroit, Michigan, and after spending his early childhood in Fayetteville, North Carolina he then moved t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Score (Fugees Album)
''The Score'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Fugees, released worldwide on February 13, 1996, by Columbia Records. The album features a wide range of samples and instrumentation, with many aspects of alternative hip-hop that would come to dominate the hip-hop music scene in the mid- to late-1990s. Primarily, ''The Score''s production was handled by the Fugees themselves, Jerry Duplessis and Warren Riker, with additional production from Salaam Remi, John Forté, Diamond D, and Shawn King. The album's guest verses are from Outsidaz members Rah Digga, Young Zee, and Pacewon, as well as John Forté, and Diamond D. Most versions of the album feature four bonus tracks, including three remixes of "Fu-Gee-La", and a short acoustic Wyclef Jean solo track entitled "Mista Mista". Upon its release, ''The Score'' was a commercial success, peaking atop the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200. It also topped the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart for eight weeks, becoming the longest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fugees
The Fugees () are an American hip hop group formed in South Orange, New Jersey, in 1990. The trio of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill was known for their fusion of hip hop, reggae, R&B, and funk; their socially conscious lyrics; and use of live instrumentation during their performances. Their sound stood apart during the gangsta rap-dominated era, as they became one of the most significant alternative hip hop acts. Their name, derived from "refugees", referenced Jean's immigrant background, Michel's Haitian heritage, and themes of resilience in their music, which occasionally incorporated Haitian Creole. After signing with Ruffhouse Records, an imprint of Columbia Records, in 1993, the Fugees released their debut album '' Blunted on Reality'' (1994). Initially met with modest sales, it gained traction as they built a reputation in local clubs and talent shows. Producer Salaam Remi remixed their songs " Nappy Heads" and " Vocab", with the former charting on the ''B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
