Darryl McDaniels or “DMC” as most of the world knows him, first made his start in the music business as one third of the ground breaking rap group Run-DMC and quickly became the most popular in terms of fans and influence. He has been in the public eye for the past 20 years, since forming the now legendary, defunct group, RUN-D.M.C with Joseph (Rev. Run) Simmons and the late, great Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell. Also one of the founding members of this multi-platinum music group, selling over 30 million singles and albums worldwide, it would be hard to overstate his influence on popular culture. He helped transform Rap and Hip Hop into the most popular music in the world, while building a fan base that rivals the biggest acts in Rock ‘n’ Roll.
As the first and greatest of Hip Hop’s superstars, Run-DMC succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams – their own included – by embodying for the world endlessly creative subculture of young black New York. They were the first rappers to earn a gold album, the first to earn a platinum album, the first to go multi-platinum, the first to have their videos played on MTV, the first to appear on American Bandstand and Saturday Night Live, and the first rap band to grace the cover of Rolling Stone and Spin.
DMC has recently added another list of firsts to his life – his first book entitled “King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility and My Life with Run-DMC” (St. Martins). The book, written by DMC with Bruce Haring with the forward by rapper/actor Will Smith, offers a flavored tale of his rise within the music business while stressing the importance of respect and responsibility in today’s society. It has received rave reviews nationwide. Entertainment weekly called it “strangely compelling, bravely honest… plenty of entertaining anecdotes about life back in the day to keep you turning the pages. Like Will Smith, McDaniels is a born charmer.” Publisher’s Weekly says the book is “hard hitting yet sensitive… he (McDaniiels) argues astutely that ‘very few of the rappers will admit they’re creating a fictional character,’ and thereby create problems for themselves.”
In addition to the new book, DMC released his own musical project entitled Checks, Thugs, Rock-N-Roll.
Darryl McDaniels or “DMC” as most of the world knows him, first made his start in the music business as one third of the ground breaking rap group Run-DMC and quickly became the most popular in terms of fans and influence. He has been in the public eye for the past 20 years, since forming the now legendary, defunct group, RUN-D.M.C with Joseph (Rev. Run) Simmons and the late, great Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell. Also one of the founding members of this multi-platinum music group, selling over 30 million singles and albums worldwide, it would be hard to overstate his influence on popular culture. He helped transform Rap and Hip Hop into the most popular music in the world, while building a fan base that rivals the biggest acts in Rock ‘n’ Roll.
As the first and greatest of Hip Hop’s superstars, Run-DMC succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams – their own included – by embodying for the world endlessly creative subculture of young black New York. They were the first rappers to earn a gold album, the first to earn a platinum album, the first to go multi-platinum, the first to have their videos played on MTV, the first to appear on American Bandstand and Saturday Night Live, and the first rap band to grace the cover of Rolling Stone and Spin.
DMC has recently added another list of firsts to his life – his first book entitled “King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility and My Life with Run-DMC” (St. Martins). The book, written by DMC with Bruce Haring with the forward by rapper/actor Will Smith, offers a flavored tale of his rise within the music business while stressing the importance of respect and responsibility in today’s society. It has received rave reviews nationwide. Entertainment weekly called it “strangely compelling, bravely honest… plenty of entertaining anecdotes about life back in the day to keep you turning the pages. Like Will Smith, McDaniels is a born charmer.” Publisher’s Weekly says the book is “hard hitting yet sensitive… he (McDaniiels) argues astutely that ‘very few of the rappers will admit they’re creating a fictional character,’ and thereby create problems for themselves.”
In addition to the new book, DMC released his own musical project entitled Checks, Thugs, Rock-N-Roll.
Darryl McDaniels or “DMC” as most of the world knows him, first made his start in the music business as one third of the ground breaking rap group Run-DMC and quickly became the most popular in terms of fans and influence. He has been in the public eye for the past 20 years, since forming the now legendary, defunct group, RUN-D.M.C with Joseph (Rev. Run) Simmons and the late, great Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell. Also one of the founding members of this multi-platinum music group, selling over 30 million singles and albums worldwide, it would be hard to overstate his influence on popular culture. He helped transform Rap and Hip Hop into the most popular music in the world, while building a fan base that rivals the biggest acts in Rock ‘n’ Roll.
As the first and greatest of Hip Hop’s superstars, Run-DMC succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams – their own included – by embodying for the world endlessly creative subculture of young black New York. They were the first rappers to earn a gold album, the first to earn a platinum album, the first to go multi-platinum, the first to have their videos played on MTV, the first to appear on American Bandstand and Saturday Night Live, and the first rap band to grace the cover of Rolling Stone and Spin.
DMC has recently added another list of firsts to his life – his first book entitled “King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility and My Life with Run-DMC” (St. Martins). The book, written by DMC with Bruce Haring with the forward by rapper/actor Will Smith, offers a flavored tale of his rise within the music business while stressing the importance of respect and responsibility in today’s society. It has received rave reviews nationwide. Entertainment weekly called it “strangely compelling, bravely honest… plenty of entertaining anecdotes about life back in the day to keep you turning the pages. Like Will Smith, McDaniels is a born charmer.” Publisher’s Weekly says the book is “hard hitting yet sensitive… he (McDaniiels) argues astutely that ‘very few of the rappers will admit they’re creating a fictional character,’ and thereby create problems for themselves.”
In addition to the new book, DMC released his own musical project entitled Checks, Thugs, Rock-N-Roll.
Darryl McDaniels or “DMC” as most of the world knows him, first made his start in the music business as one third of the ground breaking rap group Run-DMC and quickly became the most popular in terms of fans and influence. He has been in the public eye for the past 20 years, since forming the now legendary, defunct group, RUN-D.M.C with Joseph (Rev. Run) Simmons and the late, great Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell. Also one of the founding members of this multi-platinum music group, selling over 30 million singles and albums worldwide, it would be hard to overstate his influence on popular culture. He helped transform Rap and Hip Hop into the most popular music in the world, while building a fan base that rivals the biggest acts in Rock ‘n’ Roll.
As the first and greatest of Hip Hop’s superstars, Run-DMC succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams – their own included – by embodying for the world endlessly creative subculture of young black New York. They were the first rappers to earn a gold album, the first to earn a platinum album, the first to go multi-platinum, the first to have their videos played on MTV, the first to appear on American Bandstand and Saturday Night Live, and the first rap band to grace the cover of Rolling Stone and Spin.
DMC has recently added another list of firsts to his life – his first book entitled “King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility and My Life with Run-DMC” (St. Martins). The book, written by DMC with Bruce Haring with the forward by rapper/actor Will Smith, offers a flavored tale of his rise within the music business while stressing the importance of respect and responsibility in today’s society. It has received rave reviews nationwide. Entertainment weekly called it “strangely compelling, bravely honest… plenty of entertaining anecdotes about life back in the day to keep you turning the pages. Like Will Smith, McDaniels is a born charmer.” Publisher’s Weekly says the book is “hard hitting yet sensitive… he (McDaniiels) argues astutely that ‘very few of the rappers will admit they’re creating a fictional character,’ and thereby create problems for themselves.”
In addition to the new book, DMC released his own musical project entitled Checks, Thugs, Rock-N-Roll.
Among American listeners, Candi Staton is remembered for a group of classic 1970s recordings in the disco genre. Staton is one of the powerful female vocalists who defined the term “disco diva” and established the contrast between virtuoso vocals and impersonal electronics as a central principle of dance music. For Europeans, who have a track record of spotting the most significant trends in black American music several years before Americans do, she is even more well-known. “Candi Staton has a voice that has tracked the times, that has followed us from Sixties soul to acid house and out again the other side,” observed the British web site Slice.
She was born Canzata Maria Staton in rural Hanceville, Alabama, in the early 1940s, and grew up picking cotton and helping raise farm animals. Staton’s father was an alcoholic who abused her mother, and Staton herself would struggle through abusive relationships at several points in her own life. She began singing in church at the age of four, and a year later had already been selected to participate in a quartet with three other girls. Early on, Staton learned the power her singing could have over an audience. “The crowds would get very emotional,” she was quoted as saying on the Divastation website. “At the time, I didn’t even know why they were crying. Once, I remember, the audience got so emotional, throwing their pocket books at my feet and so on, that I got really scared and ran off to my mother.”
Staton’s parents eventually divorced, and at the age of eleven or twelve she was sent, along with her sister, Maggie, to the Jewel Christian Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. Again her vocal abilities quickly set her apart from the crowd; the school’s pastor teamed the two sisters with a third girl to form the Jewel Gospel Trio. For Staton, the result was a fabulous musical education. The trio toured with such gospel legends as the Soul Stirrers, the Staple Singers, and the young Aretha Franklin. They recorded several singles on their own for the legendary gospel labels Nashboro and Savoy.
After six years in Nashville and on the road, Staton grew restless in her late teens and left the Jewel trio. She fell into a brief relationship with singer Lou Rawls, and after that ended, she married Joe Williams, by whom she had four children. That marriage, like the marriage of Staton’s mother, turned abusive and ended in divorce, leaving Staton with four mouths to feed and a tough job in a nursing home. Aware of the success other gospel performers had found after turning to pop, Staton, who had been out of the music business for seven years, began appearing in nightclubs.
She recorded a few singles for obscure southern labels, but went nowhere until she entered a talent contest, on a dare from her brother, at a Birmingham, Alabama club in 1968. Her rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman” impressed soul star Clarence Carter, who put Staton in touch with his producer, Rick Hall. Hall was the owner of the Fame record label and studios in nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and was a dominant force in southern soul at the time, rivaled only by Memphis’s Stax operation. Carter and Staton married and Staton was signed to Fame. Her career took off in 1969 with a humorous Carter-penned number entitled “I’d Rather Be an Old Man’s Sweetheart (Than a Young Man’s Fool).” Read more…..www.answers.com
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Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
Darryl McDaniels or “DMC” as most of the world knows him, first made his start in the music business as one third of the ground breaking rap group Run-DMC and quickly became the most popular in terms of fans and influence. He has been in the public eye for the past 20 years, since forming the now legendary, defunct group, RUN-D.M.C with Joseph (Rev. Run) Simmons and the late, great Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell. Also one of the founding members of this multi-platinum music group, selling over 30 million singles and albums worldwide, it would be hard to overstate his influence on popular culture. He helped transform Rap and Hip Hop into the most popular music in the world, while building a fan base that rivals the biggest acts in Rock ‘n’ Roll.
As the first and greatest of Hip Hop’s superstars, Run-DMC succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams – their own included – by embodying for the world endlessly creative subculture of young black New York. They were the first rappers to earn a gold album, the first to earn a platinum album, the first to go multi-platinum, the first to have their videos played on MTV, the first to appear on American Bandstand and Saturday Night Live, and the first rap band to grace the cover of Rolling Stone and Spin.
DMC has recently added another list of firsts to his life – his first book entitled “King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility and My Life with Run-DMC” (St. Martins). The book, written by DMC with Bruce Haring with the forward by rapper/actor Will Smith, offers a flavored tale of his rise within the music business while stressing the importance of respect and responsibility in today’s society. It has received rave reviews nationwide. Entertainment weekly called it “strangely compelling, bravely honest… plenty of entertaining anecdotes about life back in the day to keep you turning the pages. Like Will Smith, McDaniels is a born charmer.” Publisher’s Weekly says the book is “hard hitting yet sensitive… he (McDaniiels) argues astutely that ‘very few of the rappers will admit they’re creating a fictional character,’ and thereby create problems for themselves.”
In addition to the new book, DMC released his own musical project entitled Checks, Thugs, Rock-N-Roll.
Havana Brown always planned on being a singer – it’s just becoming a world-famous DJ kind of got in the way.
The Melbourne glamour has just released her sizzling debut single ‘We Run The Night’, but she first started singing at the modest age of six. Admittedly though, her ‘performances’ back then were a little different…
“I’d put together shows at family dinners and drag along my poor cousins, who didn’t know how to dance or sing. I don’t know how entertained everyone was,” Brown recalls with a laugh. “I was really into R&B, like Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and Bobby Brown.”
After countless years of singing lessons, performing in dance troupes and cheerleading for her hometown Aussie Rules and basketball teams, Brown got serious about making her own music right after leaving high school.
She started working with Panos Liassi, a Melbourne-based London DJ/producer and one half of R&B/reggae partystarters, Supafly Inc. Such was their musical connection, she ended up following him to the UK to form a Fugees-style group called Fishbowl with two other members. They got signed to the Polydor UK label almost instantly, but sadly, in-fighting saw the act split before they even got to release a single.
“When I look back, it was a pretty dark time,” says Brown. “Getting signed is a big deal for a new artist. You think, woah, this is it! But it wasn’t…”
Like anyone suffering a break up, Brown threw herself into the party scene and one night, she had a dancefloor epiphany of her own: the DJ had the best job in the room and she wanted in.
After learning the basics from Panos, she scraped together enough money from her four-quid-an-hour job to buy her first pair of decks and started hitting up bars with her demo.
Her persistence finally paid off when she scored her first residency at London’s exclusive Kabaret nightclub. “I told the promoters I’d play my first gig for free and they could throw me off after the first song. I don’t think they even thought I’d turn up the next night. When I did, they were like ‘oh, you were serious?’ I ended up playing for an hour and they loved it.”
Arriving back in Australia at the end of 2006, Brown – in her own words – “worked her little tush off” to keep her DJ dream alive. After working the club circuit, she became the first female DJ in Australia to sign a major label record deal with Universal Music in 2008, released her first mix CD, Crave, and topped the year off opening for the Pussycat Dolls on their promo tour.
The Dolls’ management were so impressed with her DJ-with-dancers show, they asked her back for their full tour in 2009. And as word spread, Brown found herself supporting the cream of the pop crop, including Rihanna, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, with the latter inviting her on her European tour a year later.
Since then, Brown’s star has only gotten brighter. These days, she boasts weekly radio mixup shows in Australia and abroad (on the popular Radio FG France dance network), has sold over 150,000 copies of her Crave series (now up to Volume 5) and played events as dazzling and diverse as the official Grammy’s After Party and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix alongside Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas. Along the way, she’s also clocked up more than 100,000 loyal Facebook fans.
Now, twenty years since that first giddy singing lesson, she’s ready to retake the mic and launch that long-overdue singing career. And she’s not afraid to say she’s a little bit nervous…
“It’s exciting, nerve-wracking and intimidating all at the same time,” she says. “I’ve been working on this for a while and I didn’t want to release anything until I was completely satisfied with it. I can’t wait for people to hear this song.”
Written and produced by dance duo More Mega, first single ‘We Run The Night’ is the perfect introduction to the talents and tastes of Havana Brown. A certified dancefloor detonator, the song’s as epic as it is euphoric with an insanely infectious breakdown that’s guaranteed to throw the crowd into overdrive.
“It’s created for both the clubs and the radio,” she reveals. “That was really important for me and it was very difficult to pull off. As for the track, it’s about how music makes me feel.”
Brown says her vast experience as a DJ playing other people’s tunes has also had a huge impact on how she approaches her own.
“In the past, I wasn’t quite sure what type of artist I want to be. But now, after DJing and Fishbowl falling apart, which has been a blessing in disguise, now I’m very confident about what I want.”
At the same time, she realises that some people can be just as dismissive of female pop singers as they are of female DJs. But that, she says, only motivates her more.
“It actually drives me more when people say bad things,” she confesses. “It doesn’t make me angry, it’s more ‘I’m just going to annoy you even more by going out there even harder.’”
“I know I’m putting myself out there in a different way,” she adds. “Originally I was behind the console playing other people’s music but now I’m up front performing my own. I’m revealing myself – it’s like being naked.”
So far, Havana’s career as a jet-setting DJ has been nothing short of dazzling, but now she’s ready to shine in a whole new light. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Havana Brown the artist.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
Havana Brown always planned on being a singer – it’s just becoming a world-famous DJ kind of got in the way.
The Melbourne glamour has just released her sizzling debut single ‘We Run The Night’, but she first started singing at the modest age of six. Admittedly though, her ‘performances’ back then were a little different…
“I’d put together shows at family dinners and drag along my poor cousins, who didn’t know how to dance or sing. I don’t know how entertained everyone was,” Brown recalls with a laugh. “I was really into R&B, like Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and Bobby Brown.”
After countless years of singing lessons, performing in dance troupes and cheerleading for her hometown Aussie Rules and basketball teams, Brown got serious about making her own music right after leaving high school.
She started working with Panos Liassi, a Melbourne-based London DJ/producer and one half of R&B/reggae partystarters, Supafly Inc. Such was their musical connection, she ended up following him to the UK to form a Fugees-style group called Fishbowl with two other members. They got signed to the Polydor UK label almost instantly, but sadly, in-fighting saw the act split before they even got to release a single.
“When I look back, it was a pretty dark time,” says Brown. “Getting signed is a big deal for a new artist. You think, woah, this is it! But it wasn’t…”
Like anyone suffering a break up, Brown threw herself into the party scene and one night, she had a dancefloor epiphany of her own: the DJ had the best job in the room and she wanted in.
After learning the basics from Panos, she scraped together enough money from her four-quid-an-hour job to buy her first pair of decks and started hitting up bars with her demo.
Her persistence finally paid off when she scored her first residency at London’s exclusive Kabaret nightclub. “I told the promoters I’d play my first gig for free and they could throw me off after the first song. I don’t think they even thought I’d turn up the next night. When I did, they were like ‘oh, you were serious?’ I ended up playing for an hour and they loved it.”
Arriving back in Australia at the end of 2006, Brown – in her own words – “worked her little tush off” to keep her DJ dream alive. After working the club circuit, she became the first female DJ in Australia to sign a major label record deal with Universal Music in 2008, released her first mix CD, Crave, and topped the year off opening for the Pussycat Dolls on their promo tour.
The Dolls’ management were so impressed with her DJ-with-dancers show, they asked her back for their full tour in 2009. And as word spread, Brown found herself supporting the cream of the pop crop, including Rihanna, Chris Brown, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, with the latter inviting her on her European tour a year later.
Since then, Brown’s star has only gotten brighter. These days, she boasts weekly radio mixup shows in Australia and abroad (on the popular Radio FG France dance network), has sold over 150,000 copies of her Crave series (now up to Volume 5) and played events as dazzling and diverse as the official Grammy’s After Party and the Singapore F1 Grand Prix alongside Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas. Along the way, she’s also clocked up more than 100,000 loyal Facebook fans.
Now, twenty years since that first giddy singing lesson, she’s ready to retake the mic and launch that long-overdue singing career. And she’s not afraid to say she’s a little bit nervous…
“It’s exciting, nerve-wracking and intimidating all at the same time,” she says. “I’ve been working on this for a while and I didn’t want to release anything until I was completely satisfied with it. I can’t wait for people to hear this song.”
Written and produced by dance duo More Mega, first single ‘We Run The Night’ is the perfect introduction to the talents and tastes of Havana Brown. A certified dancefloor detonator, the song’s as epic as it is euphoric with an insanely infectious breakdown that’s guaranteed to throw the crowd into overdrive.
“It’s created for both the clubs and the radio,” she reveals. “That was really important for me and it was very difficult to pull off. As for the track, it’s about how music makes me feel.”
Brown says her vast experience as a DJ playing other people’s tunes has also had a huge impact on how she approaches her own.
“In the past, I wasn’t quite sure what type of artist I want to be. But now, after DJing and Fishbowl falling apart, which has been a blessing in disguise, now I’m very confident about what I want.”
At the same time, she realises that some people can be just as dismissive of female pop singers as they are of female DJs. But that, she says, only motivates her more.
“It actually drives me more when people say bad things,” she confesses. “It doesn’t make me angry, it’s more ‘I’m just going to annoy you even more by going out there even harder.’”
“I know I’m putting myself out there in a different way,” she adds. “Originally I was behind the console playing other people’s music but now I’m up front performing my own. I’m revealing myself – it’s like being naked.”
So far, Havana’s career as a jet-setting DJ has been nothing short of dazzling, but now she’s ready to shine in a whole new light. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Havana Brown the artist.
Got a request?
Want a song dedicated to you?
PleaseContact Us with the song and artist you like, the name you want published and we will do our best to find it.
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please.
