Nicki Minaj

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1984), better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj (pronounced [miˈnaʒ]), is a hip hop and R&Brecording artist and songwriter who was born in Trinidad and who grew up in Queens, New York.^[1][2][3][4] She first saw fame when she signed a record deal with Young Money Entertainment and then later Cash Money Records. She has successfully released her debut album, which charted at number-one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

In August 2009, Minaj signed to Young Money Entertainment with distribution from Universal Motown.^[5] In Minaj's early career, she released three mixtapes, Playtime Is Over, Sucka Free, and Beam Me Up Scotty.^[6][7] Minaj was discovered by fellow American rapper Lil Wayneand, after the three mixtapes, Minaj signed a deal with Young Money Entertainment.^[8] After signing the deal, Minaj began working on her debut album, titled Pink Friday, which charted at number-two on the US Billboard 200, kept off the top spot by Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.^[9] Minaj became the first artist ever to have seven songs within the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time.^[10] Her second single, "Your Love", reached number-one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002.^[11] Minaj became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List.^[12] One month after the release of Pink Friday, Minaj's album gained a Platinum certification in the United States.^[13] Minaj is known for collaborating with numerous artists and guest raps on many popular singles.

Early life

Minaj was born in 1984^[1] in Saint James,^[2][15][16] (a suburb of Trinidad and Tobago's capital city Port of Spain). Her parents were of Indianand Afro-Trinidadian ancestry^[17][18] and she lived in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago^[2] with her grandmother until age five, because her parents were looking for a place to live in the Queens borough of New York City at the time. Her mother would occasionally visit, and one day, when Minaj was five, her mother picked her up to move to Queens.^[1] According to Minaj, her father drank alcohol, took drugs, and once tried to kill her mother by setting the house on fire.^[19]

She attended Elizabeth Blackwell Middle School 210, where she played the clarinet.^[1] She graduated from LaGuardia High School.^[20][21] At LaGuardia, a school specializing in music and the visual and performing arts, Minaj participated in the drama program.^[20] She had initially planned to sing at LaGuardia, but lost her voice on the day of the audition.^[20]

Music career

2007–09: Career beginnings and mixtapes

Nicki Minaj released her first mixtape in 2007, after releasing, Playtime Is Over with Dirty Money Records. She later released another mixtape on July 7, 2008, titled Sucka Free, under the label of Be. On April 18, 2009, Minaj released a third mixtape and appeared in XXL magazine.^[5] In 2008 she won the Female Artist of the Year award at the Underground Music Awards.^[22] Minaj released Beam Me Up Scotty, another mixtape, in April 2009 under the label of Trapaholics Records. Beam Me Up Scotty received positive coverage on both BET andMTV. ^[23][24]

2010–present: Pink Friday

After a major record label bidding war, Young Money Entertainment announced on August 31, 2009 that Minaj had been released a 360 deal with the label in which she retains and owns all of her 360 rights – including merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, touring and publishing.^[25] In an interview with 95.8 Capital FM, Rihanna stated that after the two collaborated on "Raining Men" from her album Loud that the duo would be teaming up together for a possible second collaboration on Minaj's Pink Friday.^[26] Hip-hop rap artist and producer Kanye West was also confirmed for the album.^[27]

On August 3, 2010 Minaj revealed on a Ustream.tv channel for her fans that the albums name would be Pink Friday stating, “To carry on a great tradition of Black Friday, we are going to switch it up this year in honor of the Nicki Minaj album and call that day Pink Friday, and call my album Pink Friday,!”^[28] A deluxe edition of the album was also released after the standard addition.^[29] Nicki Minaj released the artwork for her album cover on Friday, October 15, 2010.^[30]

Minaj's debut album, Pink Friday was released on November 19, 2010.^[31] A buzz single, "Massive Attack", was released in April.^[32] In August, Minaj released "Your Love" as the first official single from her debut album. The single peaked at 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, 7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and topped the Rap Songs chart. Minaj became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List^[12] and the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002.^[33] In October 2010, Minaj became the first artist to have seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously.^[10] Minaj released a joint single with The Black Eyed Peas front man, will.i.am titled, "Check It Out", which is Minaj's most successful single to-date around Europe. "Right thru Me" was released September 24, 2010. Written by Stephen Hacker, Joe Satriani, Andrew Thielk, B.Evans and Minaj herself. The music video was released in late October, which featured Minaj in a boy-and-girl relationship drama. "Moment 4 Life" followed "Right thru Me" and was released as the fourth overall single. The track featured Canadian rapper, Drake, which was released on December 7, 2010, which is proving to be as successful in the Billboard Hot 100, as it is climbing each week and currently at number 22. The single has so far peaked at number 5 on the Hot Rap Songs.^[34] Minaj's album gained a Platinum certification in the United States a month after the release.^[13]

On Saturday, January 29, 2011, Minaj appeared on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest. She performed her hit songs "Right Thru Me" and "Moment 4 Life". On February 9, 2011, it was announced that Pink Friday had reached number one on the Billboard 200 in its eleventh week on the chart.^[35] It was hinted by Simon Cowell that Minaj would join the judging panel of the American version of the The X Factor.^[36]

Musical style and image

Image

In an interview with Vibe Minaj discussed her sexual image stating, "[w]hen I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly. The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot... and I thought that to have the success they got, I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn’t have to represent the same thing."^[37] In an interview with Interview, Minaj commented on her sexual image again stating, "I made a conscious decision to try to tone down the sexiness, I want people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal. You’ve got to have something else to go with that.”^[38] Minaj has a tattoo of the traditional Chinese characters "上帝與你常在" (shangdi yu ni chang zai)^[39] on her left arm, meaning, "God, you are always with me."^[40]

Alter egos

While growing up Minaj was surrounded by constant trouble and fighting between her parents.^[41] To escape her real life problems she would create characters and live her life through them.^[41] In an interview with New York she stated, “[t]o get away from all their fighting, I would imagine being a new person. "Cookie" was my first identity—that stayed with me for a while. I went on to "Harajuku Barbie", then "Nicki Minaj". Fantasy was my reality.”^[41]

For her debut album, Minaj created another alter-ego named "Roman Zolanski".^[42] She stated that in songs like "Bottoms Up" with Trey Songz it is not Minaj rapping, but instead Roman Zolanski, and claims that Roman is her "twin sister". She claims that she was born inside her, out of rage, and becomes her when she is angry. She has also said 'She is a demon inside her'. Roman has been compared to Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady, and on the song "Roman's Revenge" from Pink Friday, Minaj and Eminem collaborate, using these alter egos.^[43] Roman also has a "mother" called "Martha Zolanski",^[44] who also appeared on the song Roman's Revenge, with a British accent.^[45] Martha appears in the video for "Moment 4 Life" where she appears to be Minaj's magical Godmother. In songs such as "All I Do Is Win (Remix)" it is Minaj rapping.^[42] Minaj stated that on her debut album, fans will get to "meet" Nicki, Roman and Onika.^[42]

On November 18, 2010 Minaj assumed a different alter-ego named "Nicki Teresa".^[46] Wearing a colorful scarf around her head, she went around as the "healer to her fans" as she visited them at The Garden of Dreams Foundation at Fuse studios in New York City.^[46] Minaj made an appearance on Lopez Tonight on December 6, 2010 and presented a different alter-ego for the Spanish-inspired occasion, named "Rosa" (pronounced Rrrrrosa).^[47]

Influences

Minaj has stated that artists who have influenced her musical style include Lil Wayne, Lauryn Hill, Jadakiss, Natasha Bedingfield, Foxy Brown, and Missy Elliott.^[48][49]

Personal life

While some songs and interviews have implied that Minaj is bisexual,^[50][51] she has said that she does not date nor have sex with women,^[52] but added in an interview with Outmagazine, "I don’t date men either."^[53] In an interview with Vibe she commented, "I just embrace all people of all lifestyles and I don’t tell them they are bad people. And I say girls are beautiful and girls are sexy and they need to be told that, and if they don’t have anyone to tell them that and mean it, I’m gonna tell them that. But I feel like people always wanna define me and I don’t wanna be defined."^[54] She reiterated her dislike of being labeled in an interview with OUT, saying: "The point is, everyone is not black and white. There are so many shades in the middle, and you’ve got to let people feel comfortable with saying what they want to say when they want to say it."^[53]

During an interview in the May 2010 issue of Details, Minaj was asked if she felt hip-hop was becoming more gay-friendly. She responded, "I think the world is getting more gay-friendly, so hip-hop is too. But it's harder to imagine an openly gay male rapper being embraced, people view gay men as having no street credibility. But I think we'll see one in my lifetime."^[51]

Read more »

The Eagle

The Eagle is a 2011 historical epic film directed by Kevin Macdonald, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, and Donald Sutherland. Adapted by Jeremy Brock from Rosemary Sutcliff's historical adventure novel The Eagle of the Ninth (1954), the film tells the story of a young Roman officer searching to recover the lost Roman eagle standard of his father's legion in the northern part of Great Britain. The story is based on the Ninth Spanish Legion's supposed disappearance in Britain.

The film, a British-American co-production, was released in the U.S. and Canada on 11 February 2011, and was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 25 March 2011.

Plot

Set in the year 140 AD , twenty years after the Ninth Legion disappeared in the north of Britain, Marcus Flavius Aquila, a young Romancenturion, arrives in Britain to serve at his first post as a garrison commander. Aquila's father was the last to hold the eagle standard of the ill-fated legion, and Aquila hopes to redeem his family's honor by bravely serving in Britain. Shortly afterwards, only Aquila's bravery saves the garrison from being overrun by Celtic tribesman. He is decorated for his bravery but honorably discharged due to a severe leg injury.

Living at his uncle's estate near Calleva in southern Britain, Aquila has to cope with his military career having been cut short and his father's name still being held in disrepute. Heeding rumors that the eagle standard has been seen in the north of Britain, Aquila decides to recover it. Despite the warnings of his uncle and his fellow Romans, who believe that no Roman can survive north of Hadrian's Wall, Aquila travels north into the territory of the Picts, accompanied only by his British slave Esca. Esca, the son of a Brigantes chieftain, detests Rome and what it stands for, but also considers himself bound to his master, who saved his life during an amphitheater show.

After several weeks of traveling through the northern wilderness, Esca and Aquila encounter Guern, one of the survivors of the Ninth Legion, who attributes his survival on the hospitality of the Selgovae tribe. Guern recalls that all but a small number of deserters were killed in an ambush by the northern tribes — including Esca's Brigantes — and that the eagle standard was taken away by the Seal People, the most vicious of the tribes. The two travel further north until they are found by the Seal People. Identifying as a chieftain's son fleeing Roman rule and claiming Aquila as his slave, Esca is welcomed by the tribe. After allowing the Seal People to mistreat Aquila, Esca eventually reveals that his actions were a ploy and helps his master to find the eagle. As they retrieve it, they are ambushed by several warriors, including the Seal Prince's father, but Marcus and Esca manage to kill them and escape with the eagle standard. With the aid of the Seal Prince's young son, Esca and Marcus manage to escape the Seal People's village.

The two flee south to reach Hadrian's Wall, with the Seal People in hot pursuit. Aquila, slowed by his old battle wound, orders Esca to take the eagle back to Roman territory and even grants the reluctant slave his freedom. Freed, Esca still refuses to abandon his friend and instead heads out to look for help. He returns with the survivors of the Ninth legion just as the Seal People catch up with them. The legionaries, wishing to redeem themselves, accept Aquila as their commander and prepare to defend the eagle standard. As an example to those who would betray their people, the Seal Prince kills his son in front of Esca, Marcus, and the legionaries, then orders his warriors to attack. A battle ensues, in which the Seal Prince and all his warriors are killed, but most of the Ninth Legion soldiers are also killed. After burying the fallen legionaries — including Guern — Aquila, Esca, and the few survivors of the Ninth return to Roman territory, where Aquila delivers the eagle to the astonished governor in Londinium. There is talk of the Ninth legion being reformed with Aquila as its commander. Aquila and Esca then wonder what they will do next, and Aquila leaves the decision to his former slave.

Read more »

Dubai

Dubai (Arabic: دبيّ‎ Dubayy English pronunciation: /duːˈbaɪ/ doo-BYE) is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi.^[4] Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the country's legislature.^[5]

The earliest recorded mention of Dubai is in 1095, and the earliest settlement known as Dubai town dates from 1799. Dubai was formally established in the early 19th century by the Al Abu Falasa clan of Bani Yas, and it remained under clan control when the United Kingdom assumed the protection of Dubai in 1892. Its geographical location made it an important trading hub and by the beginning of the 20th century, it was an important port. In 1966, the year oil was discovered, Dubai and the emirate of Qatar set up a new monetary unit to replace the Gulf Rupee. The oil economy led to a massive influx of foreign workers, quickly expanding the city by 300% and bringing in international oil interests. The modern emirate of Dubai was created after the UK left the area in 1971. At this time Dubai, together with Abu Dhabi and four other emirates, formed the United Arab Emirates. The following year Ras al Khaimah joined the federation while Qatar and Bahrain chose to remain independent nations. In 1973, the monetary union with Qatar was dissolved and the UAE Dirham introduced throughout the UAE. A free trade zone was built around the Jebel Ali port in 1979, allowing foreign companies unrestricted import of labour and export capital. The Gulf War of 1990 had a negative financial effect on the city, as depositors withdrew their money and traders withdrew their trade, but subsequently the city recovered in a changing political climate and thrived.

Today, Dubai has emerged as a global city and a business hub.^[6] Although Dubai's economy was built on the oil industry, currently the emirate's model of business, similar to that of Western countries, drives its economy, with the effect that its main revenues are now from tourism, real estate, and financial services.^[7][8][9] Dubai has recently attracted world attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. This increased attention has highlighted labour rights and human rights issues concerning its largely South Asian workforce.^[10] Dubai's property market experienced a major deterioration in 2008 and 2009 as a result of the worldwide economic downturn following the Financial crisis of 2007–2010.^[11]

Read more »

Christina Grimmie

YouTube recognition

Grimmie is best known for her video with Sam Tsui, doing a version of Nelly's Just a Dream,which has had over 20 million views. She now has over 14 million views on her channel as well as over 100 million upload views. She has 700,000 subscribers at the beginning of April 2011, which makes her the 11th most subscribed musician on YouTube of all time.^[2]

Career

Grimmie had the opportunity to perform in the UNICEF charity concert,^[3][4] and has also performed backup vocals for Selena Gomez & the Scene. She has appeared on the Billboard Social 50.^[5] She also opened for Selena Gomez & The Scene, AllStar Weekend and The Jonas Brothers during the Concert of Hope.

She now has the opportunity to tour with Selena Gomez & the Scene in the Summer 2011.

References

1. ^ Fanlala. "Christina Grimmie Is the Next YouTube Sensation." Fanlala.com. 11 Feb. 2011. [1]
2. ^ Gould, Chloe, and Sydney Patterson. "Mix Tape: Five YouTube Artists We're Obsessing about This Week." The Daily Gamecock. 26 Jan. 2011. <http://www.dailygamecock.com/mix/item/342-mix-tape-five-youtube-artists-were-obsessing-about-this-week>.
3. ^ Peel, Sarah. "Christina Grimmie UNICEF Performance – Selena Gomez Introduction." BSCkids. 30 Oct. 2011. [2].
4. ^ Fanlala. "Christina Grimmie Opens for Selena Gomez Tonight!" Fanlala.com. 26 Oct. 2010. [3].
5. ^ Pietroluongo, Silvio, and Keith Caulfield. "A Canoodling Justin Bieber Bullets to No. 1 on Social 50 Chart; Snoop's 'Wet' Rise; Christina Grimmie YouTube Phenom | Billboard.biz." Billboard Hot 100. Billboard.com, 13 Jan. 2011. [4].

Real Facebook and Grimmie Tweeter

www.facebook.com/christinagrimmie

twitter.com/therealgrimmie

Read more »

Jonah Hex

Jonah Woodson Hex is a Western comic book antihero created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga and published by DC Comics. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is horribly scarred on the right side. Despite his poor reputation and personality, Hex is bound by a personal code of honor to protect and avenge the innocent. The character is portrayed by Josh Brolin in the 2010 film adaptation of the same name. Thomas Jane provided his voice in a DC Animated short film.

Publication history

The character first appeared in a full-page in-house ad for All-Star Western #10 which was published in various Nov/Dec 1971-dated DC comics, including a few of DC's war comics line, as well as a half-page version of the same house ad in Batman #237. This house ad contains the first published images of Jonah Hex, as well as two dialogue-filled comic strip panels not used in his first "full-story appearance".

His first full-story appearance was published a few weeks later in volume two of All-Star Western #10 (February–March 1972),^[1] which was renamed Weird Western Tales with its twelfth issue. Jonah Hex all but dominated the new title right up until issue #38, at which point Scalphunter took over the spotlight while Jonah Hex moved into his own self-titled series in 1977. The series lasted for 92 issues with Michael Fleisher as the main writer.

Jonah Hex was canceled during Crisis on Infinite Earths (in which Jonah also appeared along with Scalphunter and other western heroes in issue #3, 1985), but in the same year Jonah moved to a new eighteen-issue series titled Hex, also penned by Michael Fleisher. In a bizarre turn of events, Hex found that he had been transported to the 21st century and became somewhat of a post-apocalyptic warrior, reminiscent of Mad Max. The series had mediocre success in the United States but was critically acclaimed and well received in Great Britain, Italy, Spain, and Japan.^[2]

Three Jonah Hex miniseries have been published under DC's Vertigo imprint. These series, written by Joe R. Lansdale and drawn by Tim Truman, fit more into the western-horror genre, as Hex interacts with zombies ("Two-Gun Mojo" #1-5, 1993), a Cthulhoid monster ("Riders of the Worm and Such" #1-5, 1995), and spirit people ("Shadows West" #1-3, 1999).

In November 2005, DC began a new monthly Jonah Hex series written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti with interior art by varying (and occasionally recurring) artists. In assorted postings on their message board,^[3] Grey and Palmiotti have stated their intent to depict various adventures from across the full length of Hex's life and career. The main artistic difference is that the series is published without the external restraints of the Comics Code Authority which allows for harder edged stories without having to keep with the Vertigo imprint's dark fantasy themes. Tony DeZuniga, the original Hex artist, has pencilled two issues of the book (#5 and #9) and may do more in the future. John Higgins drew issue #28^[4] and J. H. Williams III provided the art for Jonah Hex #35,^[5] expressing an interest in doing more: "I certainly want to do more issues myself or even a graphic novel if the opportunity and schedule presented itself."^[6]

To coincide with the release of the film Gray and Palmiotti wrote an original graphic novel, No Way Back (ISBN 1401225500), that was illustrated by Tony DeZuniga.^[7

Read more »

war of the worlds and the dilemma of grease

Bear with me on this...

I've got a set of Ronal R8s from an Audi 200 Quattro, ET45, the centre bore of which I've had machined out to clear the front grease caps... but not right through, so that the wheels' original centre caps will also fit.

So far, so good. However, having had a closer look at the grease caps today and after some time wielding my tape measure, it's obvious that I've got a problem. In order for the hub grease caps to fit under the lip of the wheel's centre hole (so that the centre cap will still fit) the distance from wheel/hub interface to the end of the grease cap must be 40mm or less. Currently the distance from hub flange to end of grease cap is 60mm. So that'd mean a spacer of 20mm, which would reduce the effective ET to 25... which is a bad thing, right?

Originally I thought that I could reduce the depth of the grease caps a bit, but they're 35mm from lip to end and I really can't see any way of reducing that dimension by more than a millimetre or so, which hardly seems worth the effort.

So I seem to have two options: screw up the ET of the front wheels, or have the centres bored out completely, forget the idea of running the original centre caps and live with the grease caps poking out through the middle of the wheel.

Opinions? Advice? All suggestions gratefully received!

Read more »

The Vault

The Vault is our new electronic reading room, containing more than 2,000 documents that have been scanned from paper into digital copies so you can read them in the comfort of your home or office.

Included here are more than 25 new files that have been released to the public but never added to this website; dozens of records previously posted on our site but removed as requests diminished; and files from our previous electronic reading room.

The Vault includes several new tools and resources for your convenience:

• Searching for Topics: You can browse or search for specific topics or persons (like Al Capone or Marilyn Monroe) by viewing our alphabetical listing, by using the search tool in the upper right of this site, or by checking the different category lists that can be found in the menu on the right side of this page. In the search results, click on the folder to see all of the files for that particular topic.
• Searching for Key Words: Thanks to new technology we have developed, you can now search for key words or phrases within some individual files. You can search across all of our electronic files by using the search tool in the upper right of this site, or you can search for key words within a specific document by typing in terms in the search box in the upper right hand of the file after it has been opened and loaded. Note: since many of the files include handwritten notes or are not always in optimal condition due to age, this search feature does not always work perfectly.
• Viewing the Files: We are now using an open source web document viewer, so you no longer need your own file software to view our records. When you click on a file, it loads in a reader that enables you to view one or two pages at a time, search for key words, shrink or enlarge the size ofthe text, use different scroll features, and more. In many cases, the quality and clarity of theindividual files has also been improved.
• Requesting a Status Update: Use our new Check the Status of Your FOI/PA Request tool to determine where your request stands in our process. Status information is updated weekly. Note: You need your FOI/PA request number to use this feature.

Please note: the content of the files in the Vault encompasses all time periods of Bureau history and do not always reflect the current views, policies, and priorities of the FBI.

New files will be added on a regular basis, so please check back often.

Read more »