Belly (rapper)
Belly | |
|---|---|
| File:Belly Profile.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ahmad Balshe |
| Also known as | Rebellyus, BellyBoy, Dablo |
| Born | April 7, 1984 Jenin, Palestine |
| Origin | Canada |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, songwriter, Producer |
| Years active | 2001–Present |
| Labels | Roc Nation (present)[1] SAL&CO XO |
| Website | http://www.bellyisdead.com |
Ahmad Balshe (Arabic: أحمد بلشي) (born April 7, 1984), better known by his stage name Belly, is a Palestinian Canadian Juno Award-winning rapper.
Born in Jenin, Palestine, his musical career has been based in Ottawa, Ontario. In addition to a Juno, he has won three MuchMusic Video Awards and has twice attained a top chart position in the national Much Music Countdown. Belly has written many #1 and platinum gold/hits for other artists. His stage name of Belly/Rebellyus was derived from the term "rebellious."
Career
Over the past several years, Belly has quickly made a name for himself as one of the most exciting and promising rising artists. Belly is a recording artist and songwriter/producer whose discography outside of his own projects includes penned records for a wide variety of A-list musical acts (notably, fellow Canadian, The Weeknd). Most recently, Belly co-wrote Beyoncé’s “6 Inch” featuring The Weeknd. The song is taken from her critically lauded visual album Lemonade, which was recently nominated for four Emmy awards.[2] Belly himself was just honored with the “Songwriter of The Year” award at the 2016 SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) Awards for his significant and outstanding contributions to popular music over the past year. [3] The Canadian native is also set to a new mixtape and full length album later this year under Roc Nation.
His first single "Pressure" featuring Ginuwine peaked at the #10 position on Canadian CHR radio charts, and #1 on MuchMusic's Video chart. In April 2007, Belly released the video for his second single "Don't Be Shy" featuring Nina Sky, as well as the video for "History of Violence" Directed by Martin Verigin and Jeffrey Hagerman. The video remains his most controversial record to date. In "History of Violence," Belly explains his views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the War in Iraq.[4] During the 2007 NHL Playoffs, as the Ottawa Senators were competing, Belly released a single entitled "Bandwagon" (produced by Hussain). When the Senators made the Stanley Cup Finals, Belly released a second version of the song which featured goaltender Ray Emery.[5]
2007: The Revolution
His debut album, The Revolution, was released on June 5, 2007. This double disc album was divided into two sections: "The People" and "The System." "The People" contained more in depth songs, such as "History of Violence" (produced by Whosane?), "Follow Me," and "Revolutionary," where he challenges his listeners to discover the facts regarding the Middle-East situation. Other songs on this disc include "People Change" (produced by Whosane?), "Leave Me Alone" where he talks about his longtime friends and the memories that he kept from them. "The System" contained his hit singles "Don't Be Shy", "Ridin'", and "Pressure"
The Revolution achieved Gold sales in Canada and won the 2008 Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year.[6] Singles from The Revolution won two MuchMusic Video Awards for Best Rap Video; "Pressure" in 2007 and "Ridin'" in 2008.
2009-2012: Mixtapes
Belly also released a body of work that was a compilation of songs he had worked on with Dogg Pound rapper Kurupt some time after his first album The Revolution. Some songs were unreleased with a few that had seen release dates on previous mixtapes. This mixtape was called Belly & Kurupt The Lost Tapes 2008 hosted yet again by DJ Ill Will. In 2011, Belly released another new mixtape titled The Greatest Dream I Never Had which he has said will have no features.[7] In 2012, Belly released his highly anticipated mixtape Sleepless Nights 1.5. The first single "Hot Girl"[8] featuring Snoop Dogg was released on September 8, 2009.
2014
Belly co-wrote the hit single "Love Me Harder" by American singer Ariana Grande which featured The Weeknd from Grande's second studio album, My Everything.
2015: Signing to Roc Nation
In May 2015, Belly released his newest mixtape, entitled Up For Days.[9] It featured 10 tracks, including four collaborations with Travis Scott, Juelz Santana, French Montana, and XO-label head, The Weeknd in addition to six solo tracks. On November 24 of the same year, it was announced that he had signed with Jay Z's Roc Nation label.[10]
Belly was also prominently featured on The Weeknd's 2015 album, Beauty Behind the Madness, earning 6 writing credits.
In February 2016, he released the song Zanzibar featuring American rapper Juicy J.[11]
Personal life
Belly is a Muslim.[12][13][14][15][16] In May 2016, Belly and The Weeknd cancelled an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show due to Donald Trump being present.[17]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Information | Canada | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Revolution
|
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| 2015 | Up For Days
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| 2016 | Another Day In Paradise
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Mixtapes
- 2005: DJ Kool Kid Presents: Death Before Dishonor: Vol. 1
- 2006: DJ Kay Slay Presents: Death Before Dishonor: Vol. 2
- 2007: Big Mike Presents: Death Before Dishonor: Vol. 3
- 2009: DJ Smallz Presents: Back for the First Time Vol. 1
- 2011: DJ Ill Will Presents: Sleepless Nights
- 2011: DJ Ill Will Presents: Belly & Kurupt The Lost Tapes 2008
- 2011: DJ Drama Presents: The Greatest Dream I Never Had
- 2015: Up For Days
- 2016: Another Day in Paradise
Singles
As lead artist
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | US | |||
| 2007 | "Pressure" (featuring Ginuwine) | 10 | — | The Revolution |
| "I'm the Man" (featuring Kurupt) | — | — | ||
| "Ridin'" (featuring Mario Winans) | 80 | — | ||
| 2009 | "Hot Girl" (featuring Snoop Dogg) | 58 | — | Back for the First Time Vol. 1 / Sleepless Nights 1.5 |
| 2011 | "Back Against the Wall" (featuring Kobe) | — | — | Sleepless Nights 1.5 |
| "I Drink I Smoke" (featuring Snoop Dogg) | — | — | ||
| "Purple Drugs" | — | — | ||
| "Num8ers" | — | — | ||
| "Hartwin Cole" (featuring Faber Drive) | — | — | ||
| 2012 | "1200" (featuring Juicy J) | — | — | Non-album single |
| 2015 | "Might Not" (featuring The Weeknd) | 28 | 68 | Up for Days |
| "No Option" | — | — | ||
| 2016 | "Zanzibar" (featuring Juicy J) | — | — | Another Day In Paradise |
See also
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ {{cite web|title=Beyonce's 'Lemonade' Picks Up Four Emmy Nominations|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7438880/beyonce-lemonade-four-emmy-nominations-how%7Cwebsite=Billboard.com}
- ^ "SOCAN Awards 2016 celebrate great Canadian songwriters, composers, film scorers, music publishers". SOCAN.
- ^ "Belly shoots from the gut". Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved June 2007.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Champions, baby". Retrieved May 18, 2007.
- ^ CP Records Releases New Belly and Keshia Chante single "Get To Know You"
- ^ [2]
- ^ Music video for "Hot Girl"
- ^ http://www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/34118/belly-up-for-days.html
- ^ http://exclaim.ca/music/article/belly_signs_with_roc_nation_for_new_lp
- ^ [3]
- ^ "Belly on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ "Belly on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ "Belly on iTunes". iTunes. Apple. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ "Belly on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ "Belly on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ Goldstein, Jessica. "Trump Inspires The Weeknd To Cancel Jimmy Kimmel Performance". Thinkprogress. CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS ACTION FUND. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
- ^ http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/2007/06/13/
- ^ http://musiccanada.com/gold-platinum/?fwp_gp_search=belly&fwp_gp_canadian=y
External links
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
