Biography

Born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. in New Orleans, LA, on September 27, 1982, Lil Wayne’s musical career began at age 11. Derived from the streets of New Orleans Ward 17, he was first recruited by Cash Money owners Bryan “Baby” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams.

Cash was clearly influenced the style of Lil Wayne, rearing him with other artists like Pimp Daddy and UNLV. Since the beginning, Lil Wayne shines as a true rap talent show, thrown a solo career. His freestyling abilities is a breath of fresh air compared with the rapper of the past. Earlier in his career, Wayne did not rap about his childhood experiences, unlike a lot of time rapper. Instead, he focused on clean rhythms and rhymes in the name of his mother.

In the spring of 1997, Wayne helped formed the Hot Boys along with Juvenile, BG and Turk. As a member of this group popular and successful solo artist in his own right, Lil Wayne easily became a platinum-selling superstars. With his distinctive high-pitched voice and hot beats, he has no problem looking for a legion of loyal fans.

Lil Wayne soon launched a solo career and immediately had two hit songs under his belt, “The Block Is Hot” and “Lights Out.” The first album of his success, “Tha Carter II”, which featured the murder, “The Fireman” was listed on The Billboard Hot 100 and Wayne received national recognition for his work. But recently, the album, “Like Father Like Son” has outsold all previous sales records and has the clubs jamming from coast to coast. Songs partnership between Wayne and his mentor Birdman titled “Stuntin Like My Daddy” has turned this album into gold hip hop.

Personal Interests

Wayne tattoos have become a hot topic among his fan base grew. The main discussion has been a tattoo on his face and eyelids. There was confusion about the meaning of the two tears under the eyes which can represent several things. It has been argued that the tears defines a killing or lose a close friend to violence. Since he has been under both eyes, may also be associated with both situations.

In addition, it has been rumored that Lil Wayne and female rapper Trina were in a serious relationship. He even stated that Wayne was “one of the sweetest person she ever met!” However, at this moment, they both admitted that they are good friends who understand each other goals.

So what does “innovation” look like to one of the greatest emcees of all time?

Pretty much the same ol’ shit, except with more synthesizers.

In hip hop, “that next level shit” is almost always based around how the music sounds—crazy flow patterns, weird time signatures, funny voices/accents, new instruments or samples, etc. Very rarely do artists try to innovate by actually saying something new, by digging deeper into themselves or telling new stories or trying new approaches to writing or whatever.

Jay is a prime example of this. Yes, The Blueprint 3 has some unique production, some wild rhyme patterns and an overall futuristic vibe. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still just Jay-Z rapping about how great Jay-Z is… like he’s been doing for thirteen years. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if you enjoy listening to Jay-Z be Jay-Z (I generally do). But for an album completely based around the idea that it’s something mind-blowingly new and innovative, the whole experience is rather hollow.

That being said, The Blueprint 3 is still a Jay-Z album and Jay is still a brilliant technical emcee. He sounds hungry here, especially on the album’s opener, “What We Talkin’ About.” Throughout the album, his flow is hypnotic; where some good rappers have air-tight flows you can just zone out to, Jay commands your attention using his words, the negative space between them and even his ad libs. The hooks, unfortunately, are all pretty terrible (especially on “Thank You,” “Venus vs. Mars” and “Reminder,” which is probably the album’s worst track), but the verses more or less make up for that. Jay might not be saying anything new, but the new ways in which he says everything is always compelling.

The production will definitely be controversial. This isn’t Kanye’s old chipmunk soul or traditional East Coast boom-bap or even the old Neptunes stuff Jay sounded so great over. This is the kind of glossy, vaguely-European club music that Beyoncé sing/raps over, and most of it is produced by Kanye West. It’s heavy on bombastic synths and orchestras, light on those hard drums hip hop heads usually prefer and overall just kind of weird. The No I.D.-produced “D.O.A.” made waves as the “oh snap Jay is back” song, but it’s really just a fluke; it’s the most traditional sounding rap song on the album. While No I.D., Swizz Beats and the Neptunes make appearances, the album is really driven by Kanye and Timbaland in full-on futurist mode.

And the production works, for the most part. It’s definitely not DJ Premier, but it meshes well with Jay’s style and really does, on some level, capture what hip hop is probably going to sound like for the next few years (for better or worse). Coupled with appearances by flavors-of-the-moment Drake, J.Cole, Kid Cudi and Mr. Hudson, it’s easy to see how Jay is positioning himself to be anything but an old man going quietly into the night, trying to recapture previous glories. He’s got a legacy in mind, and it’s more about pushing forward than remaking Reasonable Doubt.

But when you’re one of the best ever, you get held to higher standards. Jedi Mind Tricks can rap about the same stuff for a thousand albums, but Jay-Z should be able to do better than that. The Blueprint 3 is a perfectly solid album (well, a perfectly solid album with lots of bad hooks). It does some interesting things sonically, and Jay-Z is still a great emcee, but all the synthesizers in the world can’t mask the fact that the album is decidedly retro in its subject matter and approach. And when you’ve put in as much work as Jay has, “decidedly retro” can become “boring as hell” pretty quickly.

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Following a pair of vocal showcase albums that involved classy yet fun spins on the likes of Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, Nina Simone, and Billy Strayhorn, Queen Latifah enlists producers Cool & Dre to help concoct a willfully schizophrenic set of pop-oriented material. As anyone familiar with her recent screen and studio work would expect, Latifah’s shifts from character to character are not rocky. “What’s the Plan” is an obvious Cheryl Lynn circa-”Encore” impersonation, albeit one streaked with Dre’s vocal effect-driven gibberish. “Cue the Rain” works a rocking backdrop — not unlike a fist-pumping cut off a mid-’80s soundtrack — with quotes from Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.” One of the more contemporary tracks, the sleek and flirty “Take Me Away (With You),” features Marsha Ambrosius and is surprisingly effective. Just about all of it is enjoyable. Few vocalists who can sing and rap can display such versatility on one album. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

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R.O.O.T.S. (an acronym for “Route of Overcoming the Struggle”) is the second studio album by American rapper Flo Rida. It was released on March 31, 2009.

American rapper Flo Rida became a global success with his debut album ‘Mail On Sunday‘ in 2008. The follow-up, ‘R.O.O.T.S’, has already produced a download record breaking single in ‘Right Round‘, for the most sales in one week. He also held the previous record, with ‘Low’. This time around Flo Rida provides more of an insight into his life, the mood of the music varying to mirror his experiences, making for a well-rounded collection of songs.

As on the previous collection, ‘R.O.O.T.S.’ sees Flo Rida joining forces with an extraordinary array of A-list collaborators, featuring artists like Nelly Furtado, Ne-Yo, and Pleasure P, and including production from Jim Jonson, Dr. Luke, Eric Hudson, Mike Caren, and DJ Montay, who produced ‘Low.’

Flo Rida has said that “there’s definitely something for everybody on this album” in an interview with Billboard, and this is undoubtedly true.
The single ‘Right Round’ is good enough to encourage buying this album but frankly the entire album is good. Much more personal than ‘Mail on Sunday’, many tracks seem to speak more directly to his early days/life.

Flo Rida – R.O.O.T.S. Track Listing

1. “Finally Here” – 4:02
2. “Jump” feat Nelly Furtado – 3:28
3. “Gotta Get It (Dancer)” – 4:44
4. “Shone” feat Pleasure P – 4:23
5. “Right Round” feat Kesha – 3:22
6. “R.O.O.T.S.” – 3:45
7. “Be on You” feat Ne-Yo – 4:03
8. “Mind on My Money” – 3:31
9. “Available” feat Akon, will.i.am – 4:24
10. “Touch Me” feat Kesha – 3:10
11. “Never” feat Keri Hilson – 4:21
12. “Sugar” feat Wynter Gordon – 4:12
13. “Rewind” feat Wyclef Jean -4 :29
14. “Ha” feat Brisco & 4Mill – 3:55 (iTunes bonus track)

“Right Round” was released as the album’s lead single, and became Flo Rida’s second #1 smash hit. Released on January 25, 2009, the song debuted at #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 18, 2009. The song jumped to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 topping the one million mark in paid downloads in just two weeks and becoming the fastest million-selling download ever in the US. It has remained #1 on the US Hot 100 for over a month.

“Shone“, was released as a promotional single on February 24, 2009 and peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Sugar” is the album’s second single. It was released on March 17. In its first week on the Billboard Hot 100 chart it debuted at the number 25 spot, making it Flo Rida’s highest debut to date.

The possessor behind arguably one of the hip-hop world’s best aliases, Tramar Dillard has been making club music for years since his teenage days with 2 Live Crew, but it was only until last year’s Mail on Sunday and the titanic single “Low” that Flo Rida became a household name. A little over a year later and now we have Routes of Overcoming The Struggle, or R.O.O.T.S., a record with a heavy name that is hardly reflective of its party nature.
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By now you and everyone else in the country has heard first single “Right Round,” which swipes the melody from the notorious Dead or Alive song, and it is these kind of club bangers that make R.O.O.T.S. a worthy record for a few spins on the dance floor, if nothing else.

Album Information

Released March 31, 2009 (North America), April 3, 2009 (Australia)
Recorded 2008–2009
Genre Hip hop, Electro-hop, Pop rap
Length 51:54
Label Atlantic, Poe Boy
Producer Kane Beatz, Dr. Luke, will.i.am, DJ Montay[1], Danja, Drumma Boy, Jim Jonsin

source: amazon.com and wikipedia.org

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The album often harks back to some of his 1990s material, blending comedy with remarkable lyrical flow. Meanwhile, fans also are treated to the reflective, emotional content that has given Eminem’s music its depth over the years. Buy it and enjoy it, it will be a classic in years to come.

Eminem – Relapse Track Listing

1. “Dr. West” (skit) – 1:29
2. “3am” – 5:19
3. “My Mom” – 5:20
4. “Insane” – 3:01
5. “Bagpipes from Baghdad” – 4:43
6. “Hello” – 4:08
7. “Tonya” (skit) – 0:43
8. “Same Song & Dance” – 4:08
9. “We Made You” – 4:30
10. “Medicine Ball” – 3:57
11. “Paul” (skit) – 0:19
12. “Stay Wide Awake” – 5:20
13. “Old Time’s Sake (featuring Dr. Dre)” – 4:35
14. “Must Be the Ganja” – 4:03
15. “Mr. Mathers” (skit) – 0:42
16. “Déjà Vu” – 4:43
17. “Beautiful” – 6:32
18. “Crack a Bottle (featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent)” – 4:58
19. “Steve Berman” (skit) – 1:29
20. “Underground” – 6:11

“Crack a Bottle” was released as digital download as a promotional single on February 2, 2009 it reached the number one position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, according Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg, a music video for the song was produced and directed by Syndrome, but has not been released thus far.
The music video of the single “We Made You” was aired on April 7, and became available for purchase a week later on April 13. The video was directed by Joseph Kahn.
On April 28, the third overall single for the album, “3am“, was released once again for paid music download. The music video for “3am” was directed by Syndrome and filmed in Detroit.
Two more singles were distributed prior to the album’s release, as “Old Time’s Sake” and “Beautiful” went on sale on the iTunes Store on May 5 and May 12 respectively.

Album Information

Released May 15, 2009
Recorded 2007–2009 at Effigy Studio in Ferndale, Michigan and in Miami
Genre Hip hop
Length 76:05
Label Aftermath, Goliath, Interscope, Shady, Web
Producer Dr. Dre (exec.), Mark Batson, Doc Ish, Eminem, Trevor Lawrence, Dawaun Parker

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