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Twista

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Twista

Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista, is an American rapper. Mitchell debuted as Tung Twista in 1992 with Runnin' Off at da Mouth and dropped "Tung" from his stage name in 1996. He once held the title of fastest rapper in the world: according to the Guinness World Records in 1992, being able to pronounce 11.2 syllables per second. In 1997, after appearing on Do or Die's hit "Po Pimp", Twista was signed to Atlantic Records and debuted under that label with Adrenaline Rush and formed the group Speedknot Mobstaz in 1998. His 2004 album Kamikaze went to number-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart after the success of his number-one Billboard Hot 100 single "Slow Jamz."

Early life

Mitchell grew up on the west side of Chicago, a place he described as rampant with gang-related violence.[1]

Career

He released his debut album Runnin' Off at da Mouth in 1992. At that time, he performed under the name Tung Twista.[1] He became known in the hip-hop community for being the world's fastest rapper, and was listed in the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records for his fast rapping.[2] Despite his notoriety from this the album did not sell particularly well, and Twista was dropped from the Loud Records label.

His second album, titled Resurrection, was set to be released in 1994, but due to problems with record labels and marketing issues involving fellow Chicago rapper Common's album of the same name, the album was only released in the city of Chicago and thus got very little national attention.

In 1996 he teamed with fellow Chicago act Do or Die on the track "Po Pimp", which became a hit single. This led to a contract with Atlantic Records, which released Adrenaline Rush in 1997.[3] Twista had by then dropped the "Tung" from his stage name.[1] Adrenaline Rush became Twista's first charting album, as it peaked at #77 on the Billboard Hot 200. The album also spawned a Billboard Hot 100 hit in "Get It Wet", which peaked at #96.

In 1998 Twista teamed with other Chicago area rappers to form the Speedknot Mobstaz. They released their first album, Mobstability, in 1998. Twista then formed his own Legit Ballin' label, which released two compilation albums: Legit Ballin' in 1999 and Legit Ballin' Vol. 2: Street Scriptures in 2001.[1] The label later released Respect The Game, Vol. 3 in 2002 and Volume 4: Tha Truth in 2006. In 2000, Twista collaborated with Ruff Ryders and Drag-On on the Ruff Ryders: Ryde or Die Vol. 2 album, on the track "Twisted Heat."

Beginning in 2002, Twista began recording his album Kamikaze with rappers like Kanye West and Ludacris. Kamikaze came out in 2004 and debuted at the top spot of the American Billboard 200 album chart at #1.[4] Its first single "Slow Jamz" (also featured on Kanye West's debut album The College Dropout), featured West and Jamie Foxx and became a number-one hit in the US.[3] Other singles included "Overnight Celebrity" and "So Sexy" (featuring R. Kelly); the album sold around two million copies.[1] The remix of the song "Jook Gal" by Elephant Man featured Twista and the YoungBloodZ. The Kamikaze album and its singles gave Twista a new level of success and rose his profile significantly within the rap community.

Twista's album The Day After was released in 2005. It featured the hit singles "Girl Tonite" featuring Trey Songz, "Hit the Floor" featuring Pitbull, and "So Lonely" featuring Mariah Carey. His next album, Adrenaline Rush 2007 came out in 2007. Its singles were "Give it Up" featuring Pharrell and "Creep Fast" featuring T-Pain. This album sold poorly compared to Twista's earlier albums.[citation needed] Twista appeared on the single "Hell No (Leave Home)" from Monica's album fall 2006 The Makings of Me.

In 2008, Twista launched a new record label, Get Money Gang Entertainment.[5]

He is currently working on his eighth studio album, The Perfect Storm. The first single from the album, "Make a Movie", featuring Chris Brown, was released on August 24, 2010 and produced by Travisty.[6] He also released "Heat" produced by Chicago producers NO I.D. and Traxster.

In other media

A documentary film is currently in production about Twista's life and music in Chicago. It is being directed by Vlad Yudin and is set to be released by EMI in 2010.[7]

Discography

Main article: Twista discography

Solo albums

Albums with Speedknot Mobstaz

Albums with Legit Ballaz

  • 1999: Legit Ballin Vol 1: The Album
  • 2001: Legit Ballin Vol 2: The New Testament 2K (Street Scriptures Compilation)
  • 2001: Tailwinds
  • 2002: Legit Ballin Vol 3: Respect The Game
  • 2006: Legit Ballin Vol.4: Tha Truth
  • 2006: TailWinds Vol.2:

Other albums

  • 2000: Adrenaline Rush 2000: Twista's Greatest Hits
  • 2001: Ball til' I Fall
  • 2005: 2 for 10 (EP)
  • 2008: Soft Buck Vol. 1

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Twista". Atlantic Records. 2005. Archived from the original on February 4, 2007.
  2. ^ Reid, Shaheem (2004-02-12). "Twista: Fast Talk, Slow Climb". MTV News.
  3. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2007). "Twista > Biography". allmusic. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  4. ^ D'Angelo, Joe (2004-02-04). "Twista Blows Straight To Top Of Billboard Albums Chart". MTV News. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  5. ^ Ford, Tracey (2008-01-15). "Twista Launches Get Money Gang Record Label". The Boombox. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  6. ^ Make a Movie (feat. Chris Brown) - EP
  7. ^ http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2010/08/30/22354808.aspx
  8. ^ http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.11976/title.tuesday-rap-release-dates-jim-jones-camu-tao-skillz-lil-boosie
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