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| + | <b>Nelly</b>, true name Cornell Iral Hayes, Jr., is a rap artist. Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Nelly grew up in the suburbs of University City where he attempted to break into the music industry with a rap group. Dubbed the St. Lunatics, the group was unsuccessful at landing a recording contract; however, Nelly was able to secure a record agreement through Universal for his first album [[Discography/Country Grammar|<em>Country Grammar</em>]]. Since the release of this album in 2000, Nelly has been a rap phenomenon with dozens of awards and increasing popularity. | ||
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| + | Riding on the success of <em>Country Grammar</em>, which won a Grammy for Best Male Rap Solo Performance, Nelly pursued collaborations with other rap and R&B artists. Accompanying his win in 2003 for Best Male Rap Solo Performance, Nelly won another Grammy for his collaboration with Kelly Rowland on the single "Dilemma." The next year, Nelly won another Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for the single "Shake Ya Tailfeather." | ||
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| + | Aside from critical success, Nelly's rap artistry has garned commercial success as well. His first five albums have all surpassed platinum certification, with <em>Country Grammar</em> certified at nine times platinum. Nelly's most recent release, [[Discography/Sweatsuit|<em>Sweatsuit</em>]], has already been certified gold despite only being a repackaging of his previous two albums, [[Discography/Suit|<em>Suit</em>]] and [[Discography/Sweat|<em>Sweat</em>]]. | ||
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| + | In his personal life, Nelly is extremely focused on family, In 2003, he founded Jes Us 4 Jackie, a campaign to search for bone marrow donors for his leukemia-stricken sister Jacqueline Donahue. Nelly also has two young children, Chanel and Cornell Haynes III, 12 and 7 respectively. | ||
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| <b>[[Filmography]]</b><ul><li>[[Filmography/Snipes|<em>Snipes</em> (2002)]] | <b>[[Filmography]]</b><ul><li>[[Filmography/Snipes|<em>Snipes</em> (2002)]] | ||
| <li>[[Filmography/The Longest Yard|<em>The Longest Yard</em> (2002)]]</ul> | <li>[[Filmography/The Longest Yard|<em>The Longest Yard</em> (2002)]]</ul> | ||
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| <li>[[Discography/Suit|<em>Suit</em> (2004)]] | <li>[[Discography/Suit|<em>Suit</em> (2004)]] | ||
| <li>[[Discography/Sweat|<em>Sweat</em> (2004)]] | <li>[[Discography/Sweat|<em>Sweat</em> (2004)]] | ||
| - | <li>[[Discography/Suit-Sweat|<em>Suit/Sweat</em> (2005)]] | + | <li>[[Discography/Sweatsuit|<em>Sweatsuit</em> (2005)]]</ul> |
| - | <li>[[Discography/Sweatsuit|<em>Sweatsuit</em> (2006)]]</ul> | + | |
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| + | <b>50 Cent</b>, true name Curtis James Jackson III, is a rap artist. Born into poverty in Queens, New York City, 50 Cent was raised by his grandparents after the murder of his mother in a drug deal at age 8. His exposure to drugs at this early age led him to pursue work in the drug trade. In 1994, 50 Cent was incarcerated for drug charges. | ||
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| + | 50 Cent began his rap career in 1997 when he signed on with Columbia Records. His first album, [[Discography/Power of the Dollar|<em>Power of the Dollar</em>]], was a hit in New York City. Tracks such as "How to Rob" and "Ghetto Qu'ran" incited not only popularity but angered local drug lords and rappers. As a result, 50 Cent left Columbia in 2000 after having been shot. | ||
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| + | After leaving Columbia, 50 Cent was signed onto Interscope and partnered with fellow rap artist Eminem and Dr. Dre for a new album. [[Discography/Get Rich or Die Tryin|<em>Get Rich or Die Tryin'</em>]] proved to be a success, eventually certified six times platinum. With the money earned from the album's runaway success, 50 Cent started his own recording label, G-Unit Records. His first album under his own label, [[Discography/The Massacre|<em>The Massacre</em>]] has performed exceedingly well, hitting number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States and United Kingdom. | ||
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| + | 50 Cent is an extremely controversial figure, not only for his explicit music, but also due to his violent behavior. The rapper has been involved in numerous feuds with other rap artists and has been caught in the middle of several gun fights. Boycotts against 50 Cent's music, as well as merchandise bearing his endorsement have been ample and moderately successful. [[Filmography/Get Rich or Die Tryin|<em>Get Rich or Die Tryin'</em>]], a semi-autobiographical film about 50 Cent's life caused considerable furor, but its poor reception critically and commerically quickly doused the controversy. The release of a video game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox entitled <em>50 Cent: Bulletproof</em> capitalizes on the rapper's violent persona; a release on PlayStation Portable is anticipated at the end of 2006. | ||
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| <b>[[Discography]]</b><ul><li>[[Discography/Power of the Dollar|<em>Power of the Dollar</em> (2000)]] | <b>[[Discography]]</b><ul><li>[[Discography/Power of the Dollar|<em>Power of the Dollar</em> (2000)]] | ||
| <li>[[Discography/Guess Whos Back|<em>Guess Who's Back?</em> (2002)]] | <li>[[Discography/Guess Whos Back|<em>Guess Who's Back?</em> (2002)]] | ||
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