Curated playlist
Songwriters from New York (state)
- FabolousFabolous got his name by misspelling "Fabulous." The Brooklyn rapper freestyled on Hot 97 as a teenager.
- Jay-ZNo major label would sign Jay-Z, so he sold burned CDs out of his car.
- Mel BrooksMel Brooks was 14 years old when he climbed onto a diving board at the Butler Lodge, a second-rate hotel in the Borscht Belt. He worked there as a pool-side tummler, an entertainer hired to keep the guests amused. On this day he wore a…
- George GershwinGeorge Gershwin's last words were "Fred Astaire." He collapsed at age 38 while working on a film score.
- Miles DavisMiles Davis called jazz dead near the end of his life. He had spent five decades helping define it.
- Sean CombsSean Combs founded Bad Boy Records, which launched the Notorious B.I.G. He was later sentenced to four years in prison.
- Phil SpectorPhil Spector's first number one song came from his father's gravestone.
- Cardi BCardi B reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated the 25th of September 2017, with a song called "Bodak Yellow." No solo female rapper had topped that chart since Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998. The woman behind…
- 50 Cent50 Cent was shot nine times in 2000, then blacklisted by the music industry. He built his comeback on mixtapes.
- NasNas was born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, and every piece of that name carries a meaning. Nasir is an Arabic name for a helper and protector, and bin means son of. The American rapper, entrepreneur and record producer first recorded in 1989…
- LL Cool JLL Cool J became the first rapper to receive the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017.
- Jimmy WalkerNew York's mayor Jimmy Walker resigned in 1932 after taking money from businessmen seeking city contracts.
- Marc AnthonyMarc Anthony sang at the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Citi Field, and the loudest reaction online had nothing to do with his voice. Some viewers wrongly decided the singer was Mexican, and a small social media controversy…
- Sylvia RobinsonSylvia Robinson pushed Grandmaster Flash's group to record "The Message" in 1982.