2. Brando is an Italo Disco project produced by Larry Pignagnoli, Alessandro Zanni and Stefano Cundari.
Singles: "Rainy Day", "He's Brando" and "What Now My Love".

3. BRANDO, the band, was originally formed in 1991 in the basement of some house on South Walnut Street in Bloomington, IN. It went through name changes. Drummers and bassists quit. Finally, in 1993 the core of band became Derek Richey (vocals and guitar), Nathan Bryant (guitar) and Dan Solero (percussion) and whatever bassist happened to live nearby (they went through four or five of them). The ability of the band to capture an instinctual sound on a 4-track kept improving as well. In Richey’s hands, the 4 track became a viable recording machine.

The band kept playing live up until 1997 with an assortment of players, friends, draftees and additions. The recording relationship between Seib and Richey blossomed and account for a good portion of the recordings presented on what would come to be the 2000 compilation release, 'The Adder' on Smokeylung. 'The Adder' documents a 3 year span of recording that accounted for around 200 songs, 14 of which were picked for the first album, “The Adder.” Many others fell on to self-released tapes that Richey made and passed out to friends, including the infamous 'Textiles on Labor' which set the tone for future official releases. The band continued to record together through to 2000, putting together another release, 'Peacocks on Linen' that was also released on Smokeylung in mid 2000. Peacocks marked the arrival of a clearer sound, and the recordings themselves (especially near the end of the album) forcasted a more powerful and rich recording result for the future.

'The Headless Horseman is a Preacher' released in 2001, however, changed everything for the band. It was this release that garnered them more radio play, and the kind of attention that turns heads. After years apart, it was time to put the live band back together. The next album, 'Single Crown Postcard', was released in 2002 on recordhead / mr. whiggs records. A softer, mild-mannered release, with lots of cloudy orchestration, “Postcards” was perfect for those lonely, whiskey-drinking nights, and would have been perfect for a movie-soundtrack. 2004’s “943 Recluse” dusts off the guitars, and puts the orchestra back in the closet. More rock and more gritty than its predecessor, “943 Recluse” features Richey collaborating with Kenny Childers as well as Whitlock and Touw on a a number of songs. A sign of more collaboration with the live version of the band to come, and a warning that the next Brando album (if things continue in the same direction) could be even a bigger rock.

4. Brandon Lackey, the artist formerly known as The Amazing Brando, ex-member of The Adventures of Duane & Brando, is now going by just Brando for his personal music. He is also still actively making music under Exit Mindbomb

Their record label is Zooland Records, which also houses stars like Cascada and Tune Up!. The musical style of Italobrothers is comparable with Italian dance acts like Bloom 06, Prezioso feat. Marvin, Floorfilla, Gigi D'Agostino or Gabry Ponte. Their Italian style music have made them famous in the Italian dance community.

Italobrothers' hits are currently not available on CD-singles, only being released on vinyl, as legal Internet downloads or on several German and Italian dance compilations. Besides their main work as producers and performers, Italobrothers is also active as a remixer for other bands such as Cascada and Floorfilla.

In May 2007 they released an EP on vinyl including the songs "Counting Down the Days", "Colours of the Rainbow" and "Moonlight Shadow".
They are releasing a CD in march 2011.

Thanks to heavy rotation on Norway’s largest and most important pop radio station, NRK P3. Their debut Album «Caught in a life» hit the stores 19th of October 2009 and was generally well received as well as selling platinum in Norway. Linnea Dale, a former finalist in the Norwegian Idol, is a guest singer on the first single, «Ambitions». Linnea left the group in 2010 and goes solo.

Trivia: Members of the legendary band The Who gave compliments to DonkeyBoy after they published the song «Somehow» on the english site IAC music.

Donkeyboy went home with 3 prizes from Norway`s biggest music award "Spellemannsprisen"
They got the prizes for: Best video , Best newcomer and This years hit "Ambitions" 06.03.2010!

Albums:

Caught in a life 19.10. 2009
Silver moon 02.03.2012

http://donkeyboy.no/
https://www.facebook.com/donkeyboymusic
http://www.myspace.com/donkeyboyofficial
http://www.youtube.com/user/donkeyboymusic

1. Platnum are a three-piece bassline vocal group from Manchester, UK, consisting of male vocalist Aaron Evers and female vocalists Mina Poli and Michelle McKenna. The group formed for a local talent show, Urban Superstars, in around 2004. They did not win the competition, but used their entry track, Over the Heartache, to showcase their talents to established members of the UK Bassline scene. The track proved popular, and a remix, by DJ Jamie Duggan, was awarded Bassline Heaven's Tune of the Year Award in 2006. Nocturnal records released the track, on vinyl, in the same year.
The trio are best known for providing the vocals on H "Two" O's 2008 single, "What's It Gonna Be", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in February 2008. Platnum, who formed around 2004, have worked with DJs Jamie Duggan and Q as well as producers Virgo, H "two" O and Nastee Boi.
The groups highly anticipated second single, "Love Shy (Thinking About You)" was released on 29 September 2008 and they have also started work on their debut album.

2. Miss Platnum, formerly known as Platnum, is a Romanian singer, songwriter and musician, currently signed to Four Music.

Platnum (Ruth Maria Renner) was born in Timişoara, Romania in 1981. At the age of eight her family relocated to Berlin where she went to school in Berlin-Lichterfelde. Later on she took lessons in singing with Jocelyn B. Smith and worked as a background singer for Moabeat.

After her minor successful debut album Rock Me which was released in January 31st 2005 on the Berlin-based Indie label Sonar Kollektiv Platnum released her second album Chefa in May 2007, under her new artist name Miss Platnum. Through a mixture of Hip-Hop, Soul, R&B, Pop and Romanian Musical elements it distinguished itself, it was produced by Die Krauts. Its lead single, “Give Me the Food” reached the top 20 of the Romanian single charts, and made her chart debut with a position of 63 on the German Media Control chart.

Nonetheless, Kwabs never had any notion of seriously pursuing music as a career until his unadorned YouTube cover of Corinne Bailey Rae's "Like a Star" became a massive viral hit, racking up 100,000 views. He was approached with a management contract, and decided to take music farther. He released a few original songs on YouTube, leading to his being hotly tipped by MTV and BBC radio and securing a deal with Atlantic. On his 2014 debut EP, Wrong or Right, he collaborated with London-born, Vienna-based producer Sohn. The melancholy songs on the EP set his smooth, powerful baritone voice to a minimalist, synthesized backing somewhat reminiscent of the Human League. The style was dubbed "Synth&B," and the collaboration drew comparisons to that between Seal and Adamski back in the '90s. A second EP, Pray for Love, and a more upbeat single, "Walk," followed. Kwabs also worked with Plan B and Dave Okumu on his debut album, which was expected to be released in 2015. ~ John D. Buchanan, Rovi

Ne-Yo was a beautiful song writer before he became a recording artist. He has written songs for a number of artists, including Mary J. Blige, Ruben Studdard, Marques Houston, Faith Evans, Christina Milian, B2K, Nivea, Tyrese, Jamie Foxx , Heather Headley,and Mario . After coming off a bad deal with Columbia Records, Ne-Yo originally decided to remain as a songwriter until a close friend introduced him to L.A. Reid who signed him to Def Jam Records on the spot.

The origin of the name Ne-Yo was given by a mutual friend in 1999 who called him Neo because he could 'see' music akin to the character Neo from The Matrix trilogy. He altered the '-yo' part as an homage to his hip hop roots.

Ne-Yo's debut album, In My Own Words, was released in early 2006, through Def Jam Recordings, and debuted at number one on Billboard 200, selling over 301,000 copies in the first week and certified platinum. During the same week, Ne-Yo's second single "So Sick" (produced by Stargate) reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Ne-Yo is as famous for his songwriting as for his singing, writing such songs as Rihanna's top ten hit "Unfaithful", Mario's "Let Me Love You", Mario Vazquez's "Gallery", Paula DeAnda's "Walk Away (Remember Me)", and Beyoncé's Billboard Hot 100 ten-week number-one hit "Irreplaceable".

His second album, Because of You, was released May 1, 2007. The first single from the platinum-selling album was "Because of You". He has also said that he has written songs for Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Corbin Bleu, and Enrique Iglesias for their upcoming albums. Smith also has stated that he will write songs for Craig David, Usher, Chris Brown, Jennifer Hudson, Leona Lewis, and he recently confirmed that he has been contacted by producer will.i.am to work on Michael Jackson's upcoming album.

Ne-Yo opened a recording studio called Carrington House and started his own label, Compound Entertainment, in 2007; Paula Campbell, Sixx John, and Shanell are now associated with Compound.

In December 2007, Ne-Yo and the Goo Goo Dolls performed at a fundraising concert for presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

He appeared in the song "Deewangi Deewangi" in the Hindi movie Om Shanti Om.

In February 2008 at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, Ne-Yo won Best Contemporary R&B Album for Because Of You.

The Lazy Love Songfacts reports that Ne-Yo's fifth studio album was originally titled 'The Cracks in Mr. Perfect' before Ne-Yo changed it to R.E.D, which stands for "Realising Every Dream".

He started practising a lot with production and deejaying and quickly developed a sound of his own. His sound, deep house with jazz and soul influences, started to get a lot of attention in this short time. He went from being an ordinary student with no musical network at all to a producer with labels and agencies knocking on his door. In september Bakermat singed a contract with agency Soulmax, knowing that they will bring him to the next level.

His sets are filled with joy and happines, and always melodic. Saxophones, flutes, trumpets, Bakermat tries to use them a lot because it’s the combination of these jazz instruments with deep house music that make Bakermat’s style unique. Still growing as an artist, Bakermat had a release in August on Delicieuse Records where he released the “Vandaag EP” consisting of the tracks Vandaag and Zomer (DM mix). Some other tracks that are received succesfully are “Uitzicht”, “Black Cat John Brown” and “Strandfeest”. He is currently working on productions with other artists as well like Arjuna Schiks, Tonique etc. A lot of work in progress is ready to be released and the gigs are lined up, growth is what matters!

He represented the Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal with the song "Lie to Me", and finished in sixth place, the best result for the Czech Republic in Eurovision history.

Josef and his family later established their own independent record label, Vivienne Records. "Acapella", released in May 2019, was his first release under this label, which achieved success in Czech Republic (his first chart-topper in the country) and in Poland, where it was certified gold in February 2021. In November 2019, he released "Colorado". In December 2019, he embarked on his Closer to You Tour in the Czech Republic. In October 2020, he released "Lalalalalalalalalala", In March 2023, he released "Boys Don't Cry".

In March 22, 2024, Josef released his first studio album, "One".

Producing first for other artists in the early & mid 90’s, he joined the parisian label 20000ST in 2001 (which was responsible for the hit single of Demon “You Are My High”) to release one of his first hit singles “The Soul Of My Love
”, which features vocals performed by the NYC originated black icon Mandel Turner.

Massively playlisted by DJs like Alex Gopher and supported by the parisian radio FG, “The Soul Of
” become in a few month the classic summer 2002 club anthem reaching place n°5 in the french dance charts.

A few months later, the single Black Chess (The Cult EP A-side), a dark but dancefloor track, was choosen by Thomas Bangalter, Philippe Zdar & DJ Falcon for the famous Toghether 2002 Tour as their first record played in each gig, and became an anthem.

Remixing for artists or labels like Annie, Belle, OT Quartet, Headbangers Rec., Demon or Sebastien Leger, helped Laurent to establish his trademark thru a very special kind of sound. His meeting with the german producer Christophe Hoeffel in winter 2004, ended up by the now famous track Discopolis: simply one of the biggest underground selling anthem of 2005/2006.

The track, picked up by Alan Braxe (one of the three guys that was behind the huge hit – Stardust “Music Sounds Better With You”) on his label Vulture, is now re-released on Defected with video support from Seb Janiak (Daft Punk “Burnin”) and new remixes Alan braxe, Chris Lake, and Kerri Chandler

DECIDE is the second studio album from Djo and is the follow-up to his 2019 album “Twenty Twenty”. The album’s first single “Change” was released June 22, 2022, its second single “Gloom” was released on July 25, 2022, along with its third single "Figure You Out," released August 26, 2022, and lastly "Half Life" was released September 9, 2022, before DECIDE was released on September 16, 2022.

As the follow-up to his previous album DECIDE, Keery produced The Crux with his frequent collaborators Adam Thein and Wesley Toledo at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Three singles—" Basic Being Basic", released on January 24, 2025, "Delete Ya", February 27, 2025, and "Potion", April 2nd 2025 —preceded the album. To promote The Crux, Djo is embarking on the Back on You World Tour 2025 with Post Animal. On August 1st, 2025, Djo played at Chicago's Lollapalooza for his second time– first time being earlier in 2022. Later in 2026 he will also play at the South America Lollapalooza dates.

On September 8, 2025, Djo surprise-released Carry The Name and posted an Instagram story asking if he should release more music. Over the next two days, September 9 and 10, he released It's Over and Awake, once again sharing Instagram stories that included the message “More?”. On September 11, Djo announced that something would be released at midnight on September 12, though he mistakenly wrote “pm” instead of “am,” later joking in another story that he didn’t know how to write the time.

Finally, on September 12, 2025, the deluxe edition of The Crux was released, featuring 12 additional tracks, making it Djo’s first album to have a deluxe version. Likely in support of the deluxe edition, on May 2, 2025, Djo announced an extension called the “Another Bite Tour,” which would begin on September 24, 2025 with shows like All Things Go and Los Angeles' Greek Theatre later in October.

The group's original musical style was a mixture of Dirty South and G-Funk. Since then funk, soul, pop, electronic music, rock, spoken word poetry, jazz, and blues have been added to the group's musical palette. The duo consists of Atlanta native André "Andre 3000" Benjamin (formerly known as Dré) and Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is one of only four hip-hop albums to be certified Diamond in the U.S. for shipping over 10 million units. Along with Outkast's commercial success, they have maintained an experimental approach in their music and are widely praised for their originality and artistic content.

Benjamin and Patton met while attending Tri-Cities High School, a Visual and Performing Arts School. Benjamin's parents were divorced and he was living with his father. Meanwhile, Patton had to move with his four brothers and six sisters from Savannah to Atlanta. Benjamin and Patton eventually teamed up and were pursued by Organized Noize, a group of local producers who would later make hits for TLC. The duo initially wanted to be called "2 Shades Deep" or "The Misfits", but because those names were already taken they later decided to use "OutKast" based on finding "outcast" as synonym for "misfit" in a dictionary. OutKast, Organized Noize, and schoolmates Goodie Mob formed the nucleus of the Dungeon Family organization.

OutKast signed to LaFace Records in 1992, becoming the label's first hip hop act and making their first appearance on the remix of label mate TLC's "What About Your Friends". In 1993, they released their first single, "Player's Ball". The song's funky style, much of it accomplished with live instrumentation, was a hit with audiences. "Player's Ball" hit number-one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.

Their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, was issued on April 26th, 1994. This initial effort is credited with laying the foundation for southern hip hop and is considered a classic by many hip hop aficionados. Every track on Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was produced by Organized Noize and featured other members of the Dungeon Family. Follow-up singles included the title track and "Git Up Git Out", a politically charged collaboration with Goodie Mob that was later sampled by Macy Gray for her 1999 hit "Do Something." On this early material, both André and Big Boi contrast lyrical content reflecting the lifestyles of pimps and gangsters with politically conscious material commenting on the status of African Americans in the South. OutKast won Best New Rap Group at the Source Awards in 1995. In the same year, the group contributed "Benz or a Beamer" to the popular New Jersey Drive soundtrack.

ATLiens was OutKast's second album, released on August 27th, 1996. The album exhibited more self-consciousness, and further solidified OutKast as the flagship representatives of the 1st generation Dungeon Family and the Southern hip hop movement. The album helped the group earn more recognition among East Coast hip hop fans in the East and West coasts.

For this album, OutKast joined with partner David "Mr. DJ" Sheats to form the Earthtone III production company, which allowed the group to produce some of their own tracks. "ATLiens" was the group's second Top 40 single (following "Player's Ball" from their first album), and reflected the beginning of André's increasingly sober lifestyle: "No drugs or alcohol/so I can get the signal clear," he rhymes about himself. "Elevators (Me & You)," OutKast's first self-produced single, became the group's first Top 20 hit the same year.

OutKast's third album Aquemini was released on September 29, 1998 and also reached the number-two position on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States; its title was a combination of the zodiac signs of Big Boi (an Aquarius) and André (a Gemini). The album was widely praised as possibly the group's best material to date: when reviewed by popular hip-hop publication The Source, it received the much-coveted "5 Mics" (out of five) rating.

Producing more material themselves, both Big Boi and André explored more eclectic subject matter, delving into sounds inspired by soul, trip hop, and electro music. The album featured production by Organized Noize and collaborations with Raekwon, funk pioneer and musical forebear George Clinton, and Goodie Mob.

In 1999, OutKast and LaFace Records were sued by Rosa Parks over the album's most successful radio single, which bore Parks' name as its title. The lawsuit alleged that the song misappropriated Parks' name, and also objected to some of the song's obscene language.

The song's lyrics were largely unrelated to Parks, save for a line in the chorus: "Ah ha, hush that fuss / Everybody move to the back of the bus". The song, which OutKast maintained was intended partly as homage, only refers to Parks as a metaphor: the purpose of the song's chorus is to imply that OutKast is overturning hip hop's old order, that people should make way for a new style and sound. The initial lawsuit was dismissed. Parks' representation hired lawyer Johnnie Cochran to appeal the decision in 2001, but the appeal was denied on First Amendment grounds. In 2003, the Supreme Court allowed Parks' lawyers to proceed with the lawsuit.

In 2004, the judge in the case appointed an impartial representative for Parks after her family expressed concerns that her caretakers and her lawyers were pursuing the case based on their own financial interest. Later that same year, the members of OutKast were dropped as co-defendants, and Parks' lawyers continued to seek action against LaFace and parent company BMG. In 2003 André told UK journalist Angus Batey that, following a Detroit concert in the midst of the legal battle, relatives of Parks had approached him and implied that the case was less to do with Rosa than with the lawyers. The suit was finally settled on April 14, 2005, with neither OutKast nor their label having to admit any wrongdoing. The group did, however, have to agree to perform some sort of tribute to Parks.

Originally titled "Sandbox", the pair's fourth album, "Stankonia", was released in October 2000 to excellent reviews. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., and would eventually be certified quadruple-platinum. Stankonia's first single was "B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)", a high-tempo jungle-influenced record. The second single, "Ms. Jackson," combined a pop hook with lyrics about divorce and relationship breakups, particularly André's breakup with singer Erykah Badu; the titular "Ms. Jackson" character being a doppelgänger for Badu's mother. It was at this time that André changed his stage name to the current "André 3000".

The single became their first pop hit, landing the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the number-two position on the UK Singles Chart. The album's final single was the Organized Noize-produced "So Fresh, So Clean", featuring a credited guest appearance from regular guest vocalist and Organized Noize-member Sleepy Brown and garnered a remix featuring Snoop Dogg. All three singles' videos had heavy MTV2 airplay, and Outkast won two 2001 Grammy Awards, one for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Ms. Jackson", and another for Stankonia as Best Rap Album.

During the recording of Stankonia, OutKast and Mr. DJ began producing tracks for the artists on their Aquemini Records imprint through Columbia, including Slimm Cutta Calhoun and Killer Mike, who made his debut on Stankonia's "Snappin' & Trappin."

Webzine Pitchforkmedia.com named Stankonia the 4th greatest album released between 2000 and 2004 in its 2005 feature. In 2009, B.O.B. was chosen as the number one song of the decade.

In December 2001, OutKast released a greatest hits album, Big Boi and Dre Present…OutKast, which also contained three new tracks. One of these new tracks was the single "The Whole World," which won a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Killer Mike also was featured on the song, gaining some exposure among areas outside of his native Atlanta. The other two new songs were called "Funkin' Around" and "Movin' Cool (The After Party)"

The same year OutKast participated in the only Dungeon Family group album, Even in Darkness, along with Goodie Mob, Killer Mike, Sleepy Brown, Witchdoctor, and Backbone among others, and featuring Bubba Sparxxx, Shuga Luv and Mello. In 2002, the group and Killer Mike contributed the lead single "Land of a Million Drums" to the Scooby Doo soundtrack.

In September 2003, OutKast released a double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. It is essentially two solo albums, one by each member, packaged as a single release under the OutKast banner; the two members also appear on each others' discs for a few songs apiece. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is largely a funk and Dirty South blended party record; André 3000's The Love Below features only brief instances of hip hop, presenting instead elements found in funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and R&B.

The album is also OutKast's biggest commercial success yet, having debuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart at number-one and stayed there for several weeks. The album eventually sold over five million copies, and, as double-album sales count double for Recording Industry Association of America certification, the album was certified diamond for 10 million units shipped in December 2004. Its latest certification, in May 2006, reaches 11 million copies in shipping.

The first two singles from the album(s), which were released nearly simultaneously, were Big Boi's "The Way You Move" and André 3000's "Hey Ya!" The video for "Hey Ya!" is based on The Beatles' landmark appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The video's storyline has "The Love Below"—a fictional band with all members, through the use of special effects, played by André—performing in London. "Hey Ya!" was the number one song on the very final weekend of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem. It was also number one a week later on the very first weekend of American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest. The singles spent ten weeks at number one on the Hot 100 singles chart, with "Hey Ya!" spending nineteen weeks and "The Way You Move" briefly taking over in February 2004. These singles were seen as a breakthrough for the hip-hop industry, being among the first hip-hop songs to be widely played on adult contemporary radio stations.

OutKast's next official single was not released until the summer of 2004. "Roses", a track featuring both members from The Love Below half of the album, did not meet the level of success as either of its predecessors, but it became a modest-sized hit on urban radio and the American music video networks. The video for "Roses" is loosely based on the musical West Side Story and Grease. It featured sparring 1950s-style gangs, one representing Speakerboxxx, and one representing The Love Below, parodying the widespread arguing among critics and fans as to which half of the album was better and that the two members were estranged. The final singles were André 3000's "Prototype", which was paired with a science fiction-themed video about alien visitors, and Speakerboxxx's "Ghettomusick," which featured both members of OutKast and a sample from a song by Patti LaBelle, who also makes an appearance in the video.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won the Grammy Award for the 2004 Album of the Year, becoming only the second rap album to ever receive the honor (the first being The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill in 1999). OutKast was one of the headlining acts at the show, and gave two performances: Big Boi performed "The Way You Move" during a medley with George Clinton & P-Funk and Robert Randolph and the Family Band, while André 3000 performed "Hey Ya!" as the show closed. In February 2004, André 3000's performance, which featured female dancers moving wildly around a green teepee in war paint and feathered headdresses, was criticized by the Native American Cultural Center, who called for a boycott of OutKast, Arista Records, NARAS, and of CBS, the broadcaster of the awards show. CBS later apologized.

Between OutKast albums, Big Boi and André 3000 ventured into film projects. André co-starred in John Singleton's action film Four Brothers and also had a part in Be Cool, while Big Boi took a featured role in the T.I. movie ATL. Both members also began working on a joint film, Idlewild, directed by OutKast music video director Bryan Barber. Idlewild, a Prohibition-era musical film set to a blues-influenced hip-hop soundtrack, was released on August 25, 2006 by Universal Pictures. The Idlewild soundtrack was released August 22, 2006. Its lead single, "Mighty 'O'", features both OutKast members, and was briefly played exclusively on local Atlanta radio stations before being issued as a single in May 2006. They released and shot the video for "Morris Brown" instead. A video for "Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry About Me)" soon followed.

Aquemini Records folded in 2004, and Big Boi founded a new record label, Purple Ribbon Entertainment, to be distributed by Virgin Records. Among its first signees were Sleepy Brown, Bubba Sparxxx, and Killer Mike, Big Boi has released a group album/compilation, titled Big Boi Presents… The Purple Ribbon All-Stars - Got Purp? Vol. 2.

One album remains on the band's LaFace contract. It was originally planned as a ten-track release called 10 The Hard Way; shortly after Idlewild was released, the duo confirmed the album is still in the works, though both have begun new projects without releasing any new information on the album. Due to both Big Boi and André's interest in separate projects such as movies, TV (André's Class of 3000) and solo albums, rumors of a split have turned up frequently in the media. André denied those rumors in a phone interview with MTV News, stating that even though they do not feel like performing on stage together, OutKast is "still tight". In an August, 2006, interview with UK journalist Craig McLean, after emphasizing that they would not split, the pair looked beyond music and film careers, Big Boi suggesting he may consider running for the job of Mayor of Atlanta in the future.

In 2007, Andre 3000 confirmed a new OutKast album would be released, but said that he and Big Boi released solo records first, stating the group album is still possibly two years away. Big Boi's solo album will be released first in June/July of 2009, with the first single, "Royal Flush" (also featuring Andre 3000, essentially making it an OutKast song), planned to have been released on December 31, 2007, but was not released on the announced date. Big Boi announced on his MySpace that the release date for Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty is now sometime in the summer of 2009.

On Nov 14, 2008, the Guardian reported that OutKast will release their follow-up to Idlewild in 2009 after Big Boi and Andre 3000 release their solo albums in the same year. As of August 2009, the albums have not yet been released.

In the spring of 2005, a 17-year-old Carlsson auditioned for the second series of phenomenally popular Swedish singing competition Idol in Göteborg, singing "Varje Gång Jag Ser Dig" by Lisa Nilsson. The four judges were all hugely impressed by the strong power of her voice and she successfully passed through to the theatre rounds of the contest. Her vocals continued to impress, and she made it to the semi-finals. To the dismay of the judges, Carlsson did not get a place in the final eleven contestants, and when she again failed to grab a place through the special 'wildcard' round, they decided to pass her through to the finals as the judges' choice contestant. Despite this setback, Carlsson wowed both the judges and the public during every week of the finals, and after making it to the grand finale nine weeks later, she defeated runner-up Sebastian Karlsson and was crowned as the second Swedish Idol. Throughout the finals, Carlsson had never landed in the bottom 2 or 3, and she is currently one of only 4 wildcard contestants to win an Idol competition anywhere in the world. She was preceded in 2004 by Canada's Ryan Malcolm and Kazakhstan's Almas Kishkenbayev, and followed in 2007 by Australia's Natalie Gauci.

Immediately after winning Idol, Carlsson signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and her debut single, "Right Here Right Now" was released. A week later, the song debuted at number one on the Swedish singles chart, a position it held for six weeks. It was quickly certified double platinum for the sale of 40,000 copies in Sweden. Just one week later, on December 19, 2005, her debut album Agnes was released to positive reviews and massive opening week sales. It shot into the albums chart a week later at number one, a position it held for two consecutive weeks.

In March 2006, whilst touring in support of her debut album, Carlsson released her second single, "Stranded". Although it received positive critical reviews, the single did not gain commercial success and stalled in the singles chart at number twenty-seven. Despite this however, Carlsson's debut album continued to enjoy huge sales success, selling over 90,000 copies in Sweden alone. It was certified double platinum and to date holds the record for being the highest-selling album by any Idol contestant.

On August 22, 2006, only eight months after her Idol win, Carlsson's third single "Kick Back Relax" premiered on the TV-show "Sommarkrysset". The song, which would serve as the lead single from her much anticipated sophomore album, was released on September 7 and narrowly missed the top spot on the Swedish singles chart, peaking at number two. Her second album, Stronger was released on October 11, less than a year after the release of her debut. Like its predecessor, Stronger debuted at number one on the albums chart, and went on to sell 50,000 copies, certifying it platinum. One of the album's tracks, "Love Is All Around" has since been covered by numerous singers in three continents, the most notable being by Australian Idol alumni Ricki Lee Coulter, which peaked at number two in Australia and became one of the country's biggest hits in 2007.

On November 15, Carlsson released "Champion", the second single from her sophomore album. The song peaked at number nineteen, seemingly setting a pattern of high-low chart positions for Carlsson, which had also occurred with the two singles from her first album. In early 2007, Carlsson embarked upon her second national tour in just over one year. In December, Carlsson and her former Idol fellow contestant Måns Zelmerlöw joined forces for a huge Christmas campaign for clothing store MQ. In order to promote the company, they released a cover of the Mariah Carey song "All I Want For Christmas Is You", which peaked at number three on the Swedish singles chart.

In early 2008, it was announced that Carlsson had parted ways with her record label Sony BMG, citing creative differences as the reason behind the split. She quickly signed to record company Roxy Records, who stated that after taking a short break from the music industry, Carlsson would return with her third studio album, the first with her new label. On August 11, Carlsson's fifth single "On And On" was passed to radio stations and released as a digital download. Geared towards the dance and club genre, the single was a clear change of artistic direction for Carlsson's music, which had previously consisted of pop and RnB. The first public performance of the single was on August 16 during the Swedeish TV-show "Sommarkrysset". The single debuted at number twenty-seven, but following its physical release it surged up the chart and spent three weeks at its peak of number 8, as well as charting at the top spot of the dance and club charts.

On September 13, Kaj Kindvall, the host of the radioshow "Tracks" announced that Carlsson's highly anticipated third studio album would be called "Dance Love Pop" and then went on to explain the reason behind the record's name: "Dance Love Pop covers the three things that the music is all about on this album; dance-music that has a twist of pop and is about love". Roxy Records confirmed the album's title four days later, and also stated that the release date of the album would be October 29, 2008.

In an interview with Swedish radio channel P3 the song "Love Me Senseless" was played, and although it was confirmed as a track on Carlsson's third album, it was not confirmed whether it would be released as the second single. The album Dance! Love! Pop! was released on October 28 and debuted on the Swedish albums chart at number 5 with sales of 10,000 copies. On November 24, "Release Me" was released as the second single from the album. It debuted on the Swedish singles chart at number 60 based on digital downloads alone, whilst the album was certified gold for the sale of 20,000 copies since its release.