hip hop

Jay Park (박재범; born April 25, 1987) is an American hip hop recording artist, dancer, record producer, model, choreographer, entrepreneur and actor. In his early high school years, he joined the local b-boy crew, Art of Movement (AOM). It wasn't until 2004 when he auditioned for JYP Entertainment that he caught the eye of Park Jinyoung and was brought to Korea to receive further training in dancing, rapping, singing, and the Korean language.

Park first appeared through MNET's Hot Blood, a documentary-style reality program that showed the future members of idol groups 2AM and 2PM in training, with Park finishing at the top spot with the most fan votes, and as 2PM's leader. On September 4, 2008, 2PM debuted with their song “10 Point Out of 10 Points” (10점 만점에 10점) on music program M! Countdown after the release of their first mini-album Hottest Time of the Day a few days prior. However, it was their promotions for “Again and Again” that catapulted the group’s status in Korean music, and earned them first place awards for a capped 3 successive weeks in music programs, SBS’s Inkigayo and Mnet’s M! Countdown in May of 2009.

On September 4, 2009, unfavorable comments towards Korea were found on Park’s personal Myspace account from 2005. The comments, written in English to a friend, were misinterpreted and mistranslated by Korean media, quickly spreading across hundreds of news articles. In what has been termed a show of “explosive nationalism”, netizens displayed overwhelming rage over the posts with many demanding for his expulsion from Korea and a petition signed by three thousand calling for his suicide. Park expressed deep remorse and shame over his past, forgotten words and issued an official apology. Despite this, on February 25, 2010, JYPE announced that they had permanently terminated Park’s contract with collective agreement among the other 6 members of 2PM.

On March 15, 2010, Park created his own YouTube channel, where he decided to revitalize his career and began uploading cover songs for his fans and officially marked his return to music after a long hiatus.

Since then, he has gone solo and has had activities both in America and South Korea, and has a mixtape and four studio albums; the latest being "Worldwide". His most recent single is "The Truth Is".

Jay Park has also starred in the movie "Hype Nation" and "Mr. Idol". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Hilltop Hoods are an Australian a hip hop group, formed in 1991, from Adelaide, South Australia. Their name refers to Hilltop Road In Blackwood, an Adelaide suburb in which they lived as children, and a part of Adelaide known by all the local B-Boys as The Hilltop. One day, another local rapper, Flak from the Cross Bred Mongrels, said that's what they should call themselves, and the name stuck.

The group formed when MCs Suffa and Pressure met at high school. When they later hooked up with DJ Debris through a mutual friend, the trio was complete.

They were inspired by American hip hop artists such as KRS-One, Gang Starr and Pete Rock, who encouraged them to spread this style of music in Australia.

The Hilltop Hoods have released eight successful recordings - Back Once Again (EP - 1997), A Matter of Time (LP - 1999), Left Foot, Right Foot (LP - 2001), The Calling (LP - 2003), The Hard Road (LP - 2006), The Hard Road: Restrung (LP-2007) ,State Of The Art (LP - 2009) and Drinking From The Sun (LP - 2012). The Calling achieved gold status in Australia (35,000+ copies sold), the first hip-hop album to do so. Two tracks (The Nosebleed Section and Dumb Enough) received places in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2003, at 9th and 44th respectively. The Nosebleed Section also came in at number 17 in the Triple J Hottest Hundred Of All Time, making it the highest ranked Australian song on the list, and the only hip-hop track to make the cut. LP The Hard Road also topped the Australian charts, another first for Australian Hip-Hop.

Aside from their own albums, they have featured on a number of highly respected compilation albums, including Obesecity and Culture of Kings Vol. 1 & 2, and have collaborated with most of the main players of the Australian hip hop scene including Koolism, Mass MC, Pegz, Muphin, Layla, Hyjak and Bonez.

They have played many large Australian music festivals, including the Big Day Out, Splendour in the Grass and Falls Festivals. They have received nominations for the Best Hip Hop Act in 2001 and 2002 at the 3D World Dance Music Awards, won the APRA award for best up-coming group as well as receiving number one positions in independent charts all around Australia.

Origin Adelaide
Country Australia
Years active 1991–present
Genres Australian Hip-Hop
Labels Obese Records, Golden Era Records (State of the Art)
Members Suffa, Pressure, DJ Debris
Past members DJ Next Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.