What More Can they Say

This past year was great for many artists in the industry and here at Patchwerk Recording Studio we had the honor of hearing the music that was being put together for the world to rock to. From number 1 spots to setting and breaking chart records, these artists definitely know what it takes to be number 1 and remain at the top. Andre “3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton both from the Atlanta area make up the infamous group we all know as Outkast. This year one of the most successful hip hop groups of all time, this year having put out an album and film both titled “Idlewild”, With singles “Morris Brown” and “Idlewild Blues” to drop first, the group added another monster album to their list. They have sold over 20 million copies of their eight releases, including Speakerboxx/The Love Below which is only one of four hip hop albums to be certified Diamond in the US. Despite rumors of an Outkast split, Big Boi addresses the media’s coverage of the rumor on “Hollywood Divorce”, a track off the new Idlewild soundtrack that also features verses from Andre 3000, Lil’ Wayne and Snoop Dogg. Outkast will go on and remain infamous throughout music history. Cherish had a great year with their summer hit “Do It To It” which featured Sean Paul of the YoungBloodz. Their debut album ‘Unappreciated’ also the title of their second single was a great balled to follow off from their party hit. “Do It To It” hit the Billboard Hot 100 at number 12. Their debut album was released by Capitol Records and debuted on the chart at number 4, selling 91,000 copies and making it one of the only R&B girl group projects to hit the top 5 on the Billboard 200 in almost a year. With their album going certified gold so far, these females definitely deserve the acknowledgement, writing almost their entire album and getting hit producers Jermaine Dupri and Jazze Pha to add to their own creativity. 16-year-old Jibbs, born Jovan Campbell from St. Louis, Missouri, signed to Geffen Records and became very popular with his hit song “Chain Hang Low”. Jibbs once stated that “he does not use profanity in his records” and with that being said he climbed into the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart before the album hit stores. Jibb won the next-to-blow award at the Ozone Awards with his debut album ‘Jibbs Feat. Jibbs’. Akon, also know as “Konvict” began writing and recording tracks from his home studio and found his way to Universal, which released his debut LP ‘Trouble’ in June of 2004. His debut album, which included singles “Locked Up”, “Lonely” and “Ghetto”, reached the top 10 in the US. He gained more popularity after being featured on the song “Soul Survivor” with rapper Young Jeezy. Akon also has his own label, called Konvict Muzik. Akon’s sophomore album, entitled ‘Konvicted’ was released this year in November and included collaborations from Snoop Dogg to Styles P. The album debuted at number 2 on the billboard album charts with smash singles “Smack That” and “I Wanna Love You”. Akon broke a record broke on the Hot 100, as he achieved the largest climb in the chart’s 48 year history with “Smack That” featuring Eminem and “I Wanna Love You” featuring Snoop Dogg. He is number 1 on billboard 100 which makes Akon a happy man! T.I. from the streets of Bankhead in Atlanta and made his stamp on hip hop. He is also known to go by \\\"Rubberband Man\\\" and the self-proclaimed \\\"King of the South.\\\" He formed Grand Hustle Records and released several mixtapes with the assistance of DJ Drama, which created his underground buzz. His sophmore album ‘Trap Muzik’ was a success with singles \\\"24s\\\", \\\"Be Easy\\\", \\\"Rubber Band Man\\\", and \\\"Let\\\'s Get Away\\\". His latest album, ‘King’ debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart selling over 520,000 copies in its first week. T.I. also launched his own film production company called Grand Hustle Films. On a recent MTV interview, T.I. has stated that in early 2007, after the sequel to his movie ATL hits theatres, his next studio album: ‘T.I. vs. T.I.P.’, will quickly hit afterwards. Rick Ross, who during the early to mid-2000s, became popular and well known locally by touring with Trick Daddy and guest-appearing on a few Slip-N-Slide releases, but didn\\\'t release any solo material until 2006. \\\"Hustlin\\\'\\\" caught the ear of Def Jam president and veteran rapper Jay-Z and signed Ross to a multi-million-dollar deal. The Miami anthem \\\"Hustlin\\\'\\\" went on to receive gold status from RIAA in May 2006 and sold over a million ringtone units before the physical release of his debut album, ‘Port of Miami’, released in August 2006. His sophomore album titled \\\"Thriller\\\" is due out sometime in 2007, along with his group album, Carol City Cartel. Both singles “Push It” and “Hustlin” from debut album are both in heavy rotation. Young Dro signed with Grand Hustle, T.I.\\\'s record label for his major label debut, ‘Best Thang Smokin\\\'.’ Among the tracks featured on the album, \\\"Shoulder Lean\\\" was chosen to be the lead single. Through the summer of 2006, the track gained momentum through in the South, and then nationally, as it was well-received among the hip-hop community. It received a decent amount of airplay on BET, and managed to climb to the #3 spot in the U.S. Rap chart. Young Dro reached the #1 spot on both the Billboard Urban Monitor chart as well as the R&B Urban Mainstream chart. Simultanouesly, the video hit #1 during the previous week\\\'s \\\"106 & Park\\\" countdown on BET, in addition to securing the top spot on MTV2 where it\\\'s currently in the \\\"ELITE 8\\\". On top of that, Warner Music Group announced that the ringtone for Dro\\\'s single \\\'Shoulder Lean\\\' had sold over 500,000 units. Dro will release his currently untitled sophomore album in late 2007. The first single is entitled \\\"3 Young Niggaz\\\", featuring Young Jeezy & Sean Paul of The YoungBloodz. Letoya Luckett, is a two-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer. She is an original member of R&B group Destiny\\\'s Child and has since pursued a successful solo career. With her RIAA Gold Certified debut CD, topped the Billboard 200 albums chart in its first week. The first single, \\\"Torn\\\", is a ballad that has reached number two on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Song chart and thirty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her second single “She Don’t” is currently the song everybody is jamming to. It was confirmed that \\\"Obvious\\\" will be the third single from her debut. Young Jeezy was born in Columbia, South Carolina, and moved to Macon, Georgia. Formerly signed to Bad Boy Records as a member of the hip-hop qroup Boyz N Da Hood, Jeezy now works as a solo artist for Def Jam Records and his own record label, Corporate Thugz Entertainment. Boyz N Da Hood\\\'s self-titled album was released and peaked at #50 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Young Jeezy also released a solo album around this time, which was his major label debut with Def Jam Records. Let\\\'s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 was released and debuted at #2, selling 172,000 copies in its first week. Young Jeezy was featured in several popular hip-hop songs including Gucci Mane’s \\\"Icy\\\" and Boyz N Da Hood\\\'s \\\"Dem Boyz\\\". He was also featured in Christina Milian\\\'s single \\\"Say I\\\". Jeezy\\\'s second major label album is The Inspiration, which features T.I., Keyshia Cole, R Kelly, Young Buck, Ludacris, Akon, Bloodraw and Slick Pulla. Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 went 2x Platinum #6 U.S. Field Mob from Albany, Georgia signed with Ludacris and his Disturbing Tha Peace record label. Their single, \\\"So What\\\", was produced by Jazze Pha and guest stars R&B singer, Ciara.. Their first album on Geffen ‘Light Poles and Pine Trees’ went to #7 and the single \\\"Georgia\\\" (with Ludacris and Jamie Foxx) was #39 in the US. Field Mob has done their best to represent the country and they get the respect in the industry for doing it their way. Here at Pacthwerk Recording Studio we witnessed the making of the top sellers and album breakers this year. Though these artists and albums were only a small part in all the music and chart topping albums that were made here at Patchwerk, we give congratulations to gold and platinum albums, along with respect and gratitude to all the artist that came through these doors just to please their fans. - Alexis Day