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King Kunta
"King Kunta" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kendrick Lamar, taken from his third album, ''To Pimp a Butterfly'' (2015). It was released as the album's third single on March 24, 2015. Lamar co-wrote the song with Thundercat, while Terrace Martin, Michael Kuhle, and Sounwave served as producers. The song features interpolations and references to lyrics written by Michael Jackson, James Brown, Fred Wesley, John Starks, Ahmad, Redfoo, and Johnny Burns, who are all credited as songwriters. Writing and composition "King Kunta" is a reference to the archetypal rebellious slave Kunta Kinte, the basis of the main character from the Alex Haley novel, ''Roots: The Saga of an American Family''. The song also contains references to Chinua Achebe's novel ''Things Fall Apart'' and Ralph Ellison’s novel ''Invisible Man''. The song contains an interpolation of "Get Nekkid" (2000), written by Johnny Burns (a.k.a. Mausberg), performed by Mausberg, and produced by DJ Quik; r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation. Born and raised in Compton, California, Lamar began his career as a teenager performing under the stage name K.Dot. He quickly garnered local attention which led to him signing a recording contract with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005. After becoming a founding member of the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy, Lamar dropped his stage name and started using his first and middle names professionally. In 2011, he released his debut studio album '' Section.80'', a conscious hip hop record. The album was met with positive reviews and included his debut single " HiiiiPower". In 2012, Lamar secured a record deal with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment, under the aegis of Interscope Records, and released his second studio album '' Good ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sounwave
Mark Anthony Spears, known professionally as Sounwave, is an American hip-hop producer and songwriter from Compton, California, and an original member of the Californian hip-hop label Top Dawg Entertainment. Sounwave has worked on every Kendrick Lamar studio album since Lamar's 2009 self-titled EP, including the Grammy Award-nominated album '' Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'', Grammy Award winning ''To Pimp a Butterfly'', and the multi-Grammy and Pulitzer Prize–winning album ''Damn''. He has received two Grammy Awards: Best Rap Song (2015) for " Alright", and Best Rap Album (2017) for ''Damn''. Early life Hailing from Compton, Sounwave credits " Up Jumps da Boogie" by Timbaland as the first hip hop instrumental he ever listened to. From the age of ten, he started using a Korg drum machine to make simple drum beats. From there, he graduated to a 4-track machine and then to the MTV Music Generator for PlayStation. After using that for a while, he hooked up with rapper Bishop Lamon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Payback (song)
"The Payback" is a funk song by James Brown, the title track from his 1973 album of the same name. The song's lyrics, originally written by trombonist and bandleader Fred Wesley but heavily revised by Brown himself soon before it was recorded, concern the revenge he plans to take against a man who betrayed him. The song is notable for its sparse, open arrangement and its use of wah-wah guitar – a relative rarity in Brown's previous funk recordings. Released as a two-part single (featuring a radio announcer at the beginning of part one) in February 1974, it was the first in an unbroken succession of three singles by Brown to reach #1 on the R&B charts that year – the last chart-toppers of his career. It also peaked at number 26 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was his second, and final, single to be certified gold by the RIAA. Background The song and the album of the same name were originally recorded by Brown as the accompanying soundtrack to the blaxploitation film '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smooth Criminal
"Smooth Criminal" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on November 14, 1988, as the seventh single from his seventh album, ''Bad'' (1987). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. The lyrics address a woman who has been attacked in her apartment by a "smooth criminal". The refrain "Annie, are you OK?" was inspired by Resusci Anne, a dummy used in CPR training. The music video for "Smooth Criminal", which premiered on MTV on October 13, 1988, is the centerpiece of the 1988 film '' Moonwalker''. The 1930s setting and Jackson's white suit and fedora pay tribute to the Fred Astaire musical comedy film '' The Band Wagon''. In the video, Jackson and the dancers perform an apparently physically impossible "anti-gravity lean". "Smooth Criminal" reached number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the sixth top-10 single from ''Bad''. It reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot Black Singles chart. It was certified doubl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invisible Man
''Invisible Man'' is a novel by Ralph Ellison, published by Random House in 1952. It addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African Americans in the early twentieth century, including black nationalism, the relationship between black identity and Marxism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity. ''Invisible Man'' won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953, making Ellison the first African American writer to win the award. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked ''Invisible Man'' 19th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. ''Time'' magazine included the novel in its 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005 list, calling it "the quintessential American picaresque of the 20th century," rather than a "race novel, or even a ''bildungsroman''." Malcolm Bradbury and Richard Ruland recognize an existential vision with a "Kafka-like absu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel '' Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote '' Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collection of political, social, and critical essays, and ''Going to the Territory'' (1986). ''The New York Times'' dubbed him "among the gods of America's literary Parnassus." A posthumous novel, '' Juneteenth'', was published after being assembled from voluminous notes he left upon his death. Early life Ralph Waldo Ellison, named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, was born at 407 NE 1st Street in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Lewis Alfred Ellison and Ida Millsap, on March 1, 1913. Oklahoma City's 407 East First Street buzzed with excitement as Ida Ellison, whom close friends called “Brownie,” neared term in early 1913. She and her husband Lewis lived in an apartment in a large rooming house owned by J. D. Randolph and his family. He was the se ... |
