Posted by scxrl3t on Jun 10, 2011 in
Artist,
Skank

Skank is a Brazilian rock/reggae band, begun in 1991, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. As of 2004, they had sold approximately 5,200,000 copies of their albums. Initially intending to mix dancehall with traditional Brazilian styles, later the band changed its sonority to music closer to Britpop and local movement Clube da Esquina.
Tags: alternative rock, indie rock, reggae
Posted by scxrl3t on Jun 10, 2011 in
Artist,
Cee Lo Green

Cee Lo Green is an American singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer. He originally came to prominence as a member of the southern hip hop group Goodie Mob, later launching a critically acclaimed solo career and forming Gnarls Barkley with DJ/producer Danger Mouse.
Internationally, Cee Lo is best known for his hip hop work and Gnarls Barkley 2006 worldwide hit "Crazy", which reached number one in various singles charts worldwide, including the UK. In the United States, "Crazy" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Parent album St. Elsewhere was also a hit, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart and number four on the US Billboard 200 album charts. Gnarls Barkley's second album, internationally less successful, The Odd Couple (2008) missed the top ten in both the UK and US, where it charted at number twelve in the US, and eighteen in the UK.
Cee Lo, taking a break from recording with Gnarls Barkley, released the single "Forget You/Fuck You!" on August 19, 2010 as a solo recording artist. The song was an instant hit, reaching the top spot in the UK and the Netherlands and charted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. The parent album, The Lady Killer (2010) saw similar success, peaking within the top five of the UK Album Charts and debuting within the top ten on the Billboard 200 album charts, and received a Gold certification from the BPI in the UK shortly after its release. His second single "It's OK" was a hit in Europe and the third single, "Bright Lights Bigger City" has also seen similar charting success. Cee Lo is currently a vocal coach on the NBC reality talent show The Voice with Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton.
Tags: funk, Neo soul, pop, R&B
Posted by scxrl3t on Jun 10, 2011 in
Artist,
Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Mars is from a family of musicians and began making music at a young age. After performing in various musical venues in his hometown throughout his childhood, he decided to pursue a musical career and moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school. Mars began producing songs for other artists, joining production team The Smeezingtons.
After an unsuccessful stint with Motown Records, Mars signed with Atlantic Records in 2009. He became recognized as a solo artist after lending his vocals and co-writing the hooks for the songs "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B, and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy. He also co-wrote the hits "Right Round" by Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha, "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan, and "Fuck You!" by Cee Lo Green. In October 2010, he released his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. Anchored by the worldwide number one singles "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade", the album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. He was nominated for seven Grammys at the 53rd Grammy Awards, winning Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Just the Way You Are".
Mars' music is noted for displaying a wide variety of styles and influences, and contains elements of many different musical genres. He has worked with an assortment of artists from different genres; Mars acknowledges the influences that his collaborations have had on his own music. As a child, he was highly influenced by artists such as Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson and would often impersonate these artists from a young age. Mars also incorporates reggae and Motown inspired sounds into his work. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times referred to Mars as "one of the most versatile and accessible singers in pop."
Tags: alternative hip hop, contemporary, pop, R&B, reggae fusion, soul
Posted by scxrl3t on Jun 10, 2011 in
Artist,
OneRepublic

OneRepublic is an American rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Formed in 2002 by Ryan Tedder and Zach Filkins, the band achieved massive success on MySpace, becoming the most prominent unsigned act on the website then. They signed onto Mosley Music Group in 2006, and released their debut album, Dreaming Out Loud in 2007.
OneRepublic made radio history when with their first single, "Apologize", received the largest amount of airplay in history with 10,331 plays in one week, the record only being broken again by "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis, a song Tedder also co-wrote. The remix version, featured on Timbaland's album Shock Value was a smash hit internationally, reaching number-one in sixteen countries and gaining 10 million downloads (the largest number of digital downloads for any song to date) subsequently earning them a Grammy Award nomination. The band also achieved national success with their second single, "Stop and Stare". Dreaming Out Loud was certified gold in the United States, Austria, Australia and Canada.
The band's second album, Waking Up, was released on November 17, 2009. The lead single from the album, "All the Right Moves", charted in the top ten in Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and in the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Tags: alternative rock, Cumbia, Mariachi, pop rock, Tejano
Posted by scxrl3t on Jun 9, 2011 in
Akon,
Artist

Akon is a Senegalese American R&B recording artist and songwriter.
According to Forbes, Akon grossed $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first single from his debut album Trouble. His second album, Konvicted, earned him a Grammy Award nomination of the single "Smack That". He has since founded two record labels, Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution.
Akon often sings hooks for other artists and is currently credited with over 300 guest appearances and 45 Billboard Hot 100 songs. He has worked with numerous performers such as Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Quincy Jones, Eminem and Whitney Houston. He is the first solo artist to hold both the number one and two spots simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 charts twice. He has had six Grammy Awards nominations and has produced many hits for artists such as Lady Gaga, Colby O'Donis and Leona Lewis. Lady Gaga and T-Pain are two artists who were given their chance at fame by Akon. Akon is betting on his new signed artist Jeffree Star on being the next biggest pop star.
Tags: hip hop, pop, R&B
Posted by scxrl3t on Jun 9, 2011 in
Artist,
Rain

Rain is a South Korean pop and R&B singer, dancer, model, actor, businessman, and designer.
Rain's musical career includes seven albums (six Korean, one Japanese), 19 singles and numerous concert tours around the world. His acting career began in 2003, when he won the KBS Best New Actor award for his role in the drama Sang Doo! Let's Go To School. In 2004, Rain won the KBS Excellence in Acting award for his role in the drama Full House. After starring in A Love To Kill, he acted in his first Korean film, I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006), which won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. Rain has acted in the American films Speed Racer (2008) and Ninja Assassin (2009), the latter of which made him the first Korean to win an MTV award.
In 2007, Rain left the management of JYP Entertainment and started his own company, J. Tune Entertainment.
Tags: hip hop, pop, R&B
Posted by scxrl3t on Jun 9, 2011 in
Artist,
Vanessa Carlton

Vanessa Lee Carlton is an American pop and rock singer, songwriter and pianist from Milford, Pennsylvania.
Three Grammy nominations, three studio albums, and a collection of hit songs has been the result of a fruitful career thus far for Vanessa Carlton, who first exploded onto the scene in 2002 with her stunning debut Be Not Nobody, and world-wide hit single “A Thousand Miles.”
Vanessa Carlton first began playing the piano as a toddler, continuing on an artistic road with her attendance at the School of American Ballet in New York, a path she would eventually abandon in favor of songwriting. She re-embraced the piano and began performing in bars and clubs across Manhattan. While studying at Columbia University, Carlton was signed to Interscope Records, but made her formal debut on A&M under veteran producer Ron Fair.
Her debut album in April 2002, Be Not Nobody, resonated with audiences of all ages world-wide, especially the hit piano single “A Thousand Miles,” which reached the Top 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart, #1 in Australia, and Top 10 in the UK. Carlton went on to earn 2003 Grammy nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist (“A Thousand Miles”). The album witnessed global success, reaching Gold status in over 10 countries, and Platinum status in Asian territories, such as Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
Her second album Harmonium (2004), which yielded the single “White Houses,” continued to inspire an increasingly loyal global fan base and garnered some the best reviews of her career.
Her record release in 2007, Heroes & Thieves “might be my first thematic record,” Carlton says, adding that the songs reveal themselves like chapters in a book, one that fans can crack open (Vanessa has often explained during her live shows that the second single from “Heroes & Thieves” entitled “Hands On Me” is the second chapter to the album). Paying homage to the area of Manhattan where most of its songs were written, the first single off of the 2007 record, appropriately dubbed “Nolita Fairytale,” is a syncopated, upbeat piece that paints a dramatic musical landscape. “That song is really about finding joy in unexpected environments. How sometimes losing things makes you realize what you have, which is like a quasi fairytale,” says Carlton. Heroes & Thieves was recorded in the San Francisco studio of Third Eye Blind founder Stephan Jenkins and the Los Angeles studio of producer/songwriter Linda Perry.
Most recently, Vanessa has completed material for her fourth studio album, titled Rabbits on the Run, which is scheduled for a June 21st, 2011 release. Material for this album was produced by Steve Osborne and was recorded in the UK at Peter Gabriel’s well-renowned Real World Studios.
Tags: Piano pop, pop rock, soft rock