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Davey Boy Smith

David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Boy Smith and The British Bulldog.

Smith won titles within the WWF in three decades, from the 1980s to the 2000s. Though he was never a world champion, Smith nevertheless headlined multiple pay-per-view events in the WWF and WCW, in which he challenged for the WWF and WCW World Heavyweight championships. He defeated Bret Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship in the main event of SummerSlam 1992 at London's original Wembley Stadium; he also has the distinction of being the inaugural and longest reigning WWF European Champion in a total of 206 days, and to have held the title on the sole occasion where a match for that championship headlined a pay-per-view event, at One Night Only in 1997. Prior to finding singles success, Smith achieved stardom as one half of The British Bulldogs tag team, alongside the Dynamite Kid. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020.

Early life
Smith was born in Golborne, where he grew up with his father Sid, mother Joyce, brother Terrence, and sisters Joanne and Tracy. Joyce's nephew was Tom Billington, also known as the Dynamite Kid, who was Smith's frequent tag-team partner. He was born with measles in his eyes, which led to him often being the subject of bullying at his school, but he got laser surgery in his 30s. Smith enjoyed cricket, football and diving as hobbies.

Early career (1978–1984)
Smith started his training with Ted Betley at 13 after his grandfather and father noticed he needed to be involved in a positive activity. He started competing on ITV's World of Sport in 1978 when he was only 15, wrestling under the name Young David against 18 year old "Wonderboy" Bernie Wright, uncle of future WCW wrestler Alex Wright. Smith filled a spot in the promotion left by his slightly older cousin the Dynamite Kid, who had recently departed to wrestle in Calgary. Mentored by the Dynamite Kid's friend Alan Dennison, in 1979, Smith appeared to have won the British Welterweight championship from Jim Breaks (as the Dynamite Kid had done two years prior) only for the win to be disallowed due to Dennison distracting Breaks. Smith then held Breaks to a 1–1 draw, as a result of which Dennison himself challenged and defeated Breaks for the belt. Smith was then spotted by Bruce Hart, who was scouting talent in the UK, and like the Dynamite Kid before him, he travelled to Canada to wrestle for Stu Hart. Hart and Roy Wood trained Smith further in Hart's "Dungeon" and Smith became a key wrestler in Hart's Stampede Wrestling.

During his time in Stampede, he began a feud with the Dynamite Kid, and on 9 July 1982, Smith won his first title when he defeated the Dynamite Kid for the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship. In 1983, Smith debuted in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he became involved in a three-way feud with Dynamite Kid and The Cobra (George Takano) over the NWA Junior Heavyweight title. On 7 February 1984, a three-way, one-night tournament was held, and Smith lost to the Dynamite Kid via count-out. After the tournament, Smith and Dynamite Kid formed a tag team in both New Japan and in Stampede Wrestling known as The British Bulldogs. In 1984, the Bulldogs made a shocking move by jumping to New Japan's rival, All Japan Pro Wrestling just before the start of All Japan's annual Tag Team tournament.

Smith made occasional return visits to the UK, appearing on World Of Sport in 1982 where he lost to Dave Finlay in an eliminator match for a shot at the British Heavy Middleweight Championship and 1983 where, as a complaining heel he defeated Bernie Wright in a rematch from the 1978 match.

World Wrestling Federation (1984–1988)
The Bulldogs, along with Smith's brothers-in-law Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart were brought in to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) after Vince McMahon bought out Stampede Wrestling. At first, the Bulldogs were able to tour both WWF and All Japan, but eventually McMahon gained exclusive rights to the Bulldogs. Managed by Lou Albano, the Bulldogs began a long running feud with Hart and Neidhart, who were now known as The Hart Foundation. The Bulldogs also feuded with the Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake), and on 7 April 1986 at WrestleMania 2, with Albano and Ozzy Osbourne in their corner, the Bulldogs defeated the Dream Team for the Tag Team Championship.

The Bulldogs held the titles for nearly nine months, feuding with the Dream Team and Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik, but the Hart Foundation bested the Bulldogs to win the titles on 26 January 1987. After losing the titles, the Bulldogs gained a mascot, an actual bulldog who went by the name Matilda, and feuded with the likes of The Islanders (who in kayfabe dog-napped Matilda), Demolition, and the Rougeau Brothers. At Survivor Series on 26 November, The British Bulldogs and other face teams won a 10-on-10 Survivor Series tag team match. The following Survivor Series on 24 November 1988 produced the same result.

Later in 1988, The Bulldogs left the WWF, in part due to backstage problems, specifically between the Dynamite Kid and the Rougeau Brothers. The Bulldogs had allegedly pulled a number of ribs (pranks) on the Rougeaus. Curt Hennig also pranked the duo, who, assuming that the Bulldogs were behind that prank as well, retaliated: Jacques Rougeau knocked out four of Dynamite Kid's teeth with a fist filled with a roll of quarters. Though there are various accounts of this situation, many suggest that Billington drew first blood by bullying Rougeau (among many others including The Honky Tonk Man, whom Dynamite brought to tears) in Miami. No disciplinary action was taken against Jacques. Billington shortly afterwards quit the WWF over a dispute with WWF management over the issuance of complimentary plane tickets, over which he resigned from the company, and Smith followed suit.

Stampede Wrestling; All Japan Pro Wrestling (1988–1990)
After leaving the WWF, the Bulldogs returned to Stampede Wrestling, and also to All Japan Pro Wrestling. Stampede officials were hopeful that the return of the Bulldogs would revive a struggling promotion, but they were unsuccessful. Eventually in May 1989, the decision was made to split up the Bulldogs, which caused some problems with All Japan owner Shohei Baba, who was still promoting the Bulldogs as a tag team. On 4 July 1989, Smith, along with fellow wrestlers Chris Benoit, Ross Hart, and Jason the Terrible, was involved in a serious automobile accident. Smith, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time, needed 135 stitches after slamming his head through the windscreen and being thrown 25 feet onto the pavement. He recovered, and the Bulldogs continued teaming in All Japan against teams such as Joe and Dean Malenko, Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, and The Nasty Boys. Personal problems began to surface between Smith and Billington, and Smith later left All Japan to return to the WWF.

British sensation (1990–1992)
Smith returned to the WWF in 1990, where he was pushed as the same character from the British Bulldogs' original WWF run, but this time as a singles star under the name "The British Bulldog", which he had trademarked during his earlier tag team run in the WWF, thus preventing his former partner Dynamite Kid from using the name. Smith returned to the WWF at a live event on 6 October, where he defeated Haku. Smith made his televised in-ring return on 27 October episode of Superstars, where he defeated the Brooklyn Brawler.

Over the next two years, Smith was a mid-carder and engaged in a long-running feud with The Warlord, in which he was victorious. He was a fairly popular performer in the United States, but was a huge attraction to fans in the United Kingdom, due in part to the WWF becoming a ratings hit on Sky Sports, as well as the promotion touring the country holding supercards such as UK Rampage. Smith competed in a 20-man battle royal at the Albert Hall on 3 October 1991, which he won by eliminating Typhoon. After entering as the first man in the 1992 Royal Rumble on 19 January, he eliminated Ted DiBiase, Jerry Sags and Haku before being eliminated by the eventual winner Ric Flair.

Intercontinental Champion (1992)
In 1992, due to Smith's newfound popularity in the United Kingdom, the WWF decided to hold its annual SummerSlam pay-per-view in Wembley Stadium in London. The show was main-evented by Smith (led to the ring by the then British, Commonwealth & European Heavyweight Boxing champion Lennox Lewis) and Bret Hart in a match for Hart's Intercontinental Championship. On 29 August at SummerSlam, in front of 80,355 of his homeland fans, Smith won the title in a match which is regarded by many wrestling experts as the finest in his career. Smith lost the title to Shawn Michaels on 14 November at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI, and was later released by the WWF. According to Bret Hart's book, the reason for Smith's release was that WWF owner Vince McMahon was made aware that Smith and The Ultimate Warrior were receiving illegal shipments of human growth hormone (HGH) from a crooked pharmacist in England. Due to McMahon being investigated for illegally distributing steroids to WWF wrestlers, Smith and Warrior were released.

Eastern Championship Wrestling later known as Extreme Championship Wrestling (1992–1993)
Shortly after leaving the World Wrestling Federation, Smith debuted in Eastern Championship Wrestling in December 1992, defeating Jimmy Snuka.

World Championship Wrestling and All Japan (1993)
In January 1993, Smith signed with World Championship Wrestling, debuting at SuperBrawl III on 21 February, defeating "Wild" Bill Irwin. Over the following weeks, he scored a series of wins on WCW WorldWide, WCW Main Event, and WCW Saturday Night, defeating a series of jobbers. In late March, Smith returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling for its Champion Carnival tournament. He scored a total of six points, defeating Danny Kroffat, Doug Furnas, and Johnny Ace but losing to Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, The Patriot, Stan Hansen, Steve Williams, Terry Gordy, and Toshiaki Kawada.

Upon returning from Japan, Smith formed an alliance with top protagonist Sting, and engaged in feuds with top antagonists Sid Vicious and Big Van Vader. At Slamboree on 23 May, Smith wrestled World Heavyweight Champion Vader, winning their title match via disqualification, but since titles do not change hands by disqualification, Vader retained the title. The feud continued afterwards, and culminated when Smith seemingly won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Vader on a tour of England in October, though the decision was reversed. In July, Smith was reportedly involved in an altercation with a man at a bar who was making advances towards his wife. As a result of the ensuing legal issues that followed, WCW released Smith from his contract in December. His final pay-per-view appearance for WCW during this period came at Battlebowl on 20 November, the month prior, where he was teamed with Kole in the first round of the Lethal Lottery; they lost to Road Warrior Hawk and Rip Rogers.

Return to England (1994)
In January 1994, Smith returned home to the United Kingdom and wrestled for Ring Wrestling Stars (formerly Joint Promotions). He was brought into the company by Max Crabtree to be his next top star after Big Daddy retired in December 1993 after suffering a stroke. During his time in RWS, Smith wrestled the likes of Jimmy Ocean, Ricky Knight, Drew McDonald, Karl Krammer, Kamikazi, Black Bart, Johnny Angel, Dale Preston, and Iron Duke Lynch, while primarily teaming with Tony Stewart.

Allied Powers (1994–1995)
Smith returned to the WWF at SummerSlam on August 29, 1994, where he immediately became involved in an ongoing family feud between Bret Hart and his brother, Owen Hart. Smith then teamed up with Bret against Owen and Jim Neidhart in a series of tag team matches, most notably in a victory on Monday Night Raw. On November 23, Smith appeared at Survivor Series in a 10-man elimination match; his partners were Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid, and The Headshrinkers. They faced WWF Tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels and Diesel, Owen Hart, Jeff Jarrett, and Jim Neidhart, but Smith was eventually counted out. Smith again played a key part in the match at Survivor Series featuring his brothers-in-law Bret and Owen Hart, in which he supported Bret against Owen's benefactor; Bob Backlund. Smith would be knocked unconscious by Owen, allowing Owen to take advantage of his brother's situation. Owen manipulated Bret's mother to surrender to Backlund on Bret's behalf, thus costing Bret to lose the match and the WWF Championship.

After entering the Royal Rumble as the second entrant on January 22, 1995, Smith and Shawn Michaels (who was the first entrant) were the final two remaining participants at the end. Smith tossed Michaels over the ropes and celebrated on the second turnbuckle. However, only one of Michaels feet hit the floor and he was able to re-enter the ring and eliminate Smith from behind. Soon after, Smith began teaming with Lex Luger as the Allied Powers. On 2 April at WrestleMania XI, they defeated The Blu Brothers. At In Your House 2 on 23 July, they failed to win the Tag Team Championship from Owen Hart and Yokozuna. Afterwards, the team briefly began feuding with Men on a Mission. On an August episode of Monday Night Raw, the Allied Powers were supposed to face Men on a Mission but Luger (kayfabe) no-showed the match; Smith found a replacement in the WWF Champion Diesel. During the match, Smith unexpectedly attacked Diesel and turned heel for the first time in his WWF career, helping Men on a Mission beat up Diesel and aligning himself with Jim Cornette's stable with Owen Hart and Yokozuna, who had been his adversaries just a month earlier, thus disbanding the Allied Powers.

Camp Cornette, teaming with Owen Hart (1995–1997)
On 22 October at In Your House 4 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Smith received a WWF Championship shot against Diesel, winning by disqualification after Bret Hart interfered. At Survivor Series on 19 November, Smith participated in the Wild Card eight-man elimination match, teaming with Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, and Sycho Sid and facing WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, Dean Douglas, Owen Hart, and Yokozuna, which they won. On 17 December at In Your House 5, Smith was granted a title shot against new WWF Champion Bret Hart, but was unsuccessful in winning. A notable incident from this match was that Hart bled during the match, which was controversial because WWF outlawed bleeding at the time. Smith entered the Royal Rumble on January 21, 1996, where he made it to the final four before being eliminated by Michaels. On 18 February at In Your House 6, he lost to Yokozuna by disqualification after Vader interfered. At WrestleMania XII on 31 March, he teamed with Vader and Owen Hart to defeat Yokozuna, Ahmed Johnson, and Jake Roberts.

In 1996, after Shawn Michaels became WWF Champion, Smith was put in a feud with the new champion. The feud was supposedly based on Smith's wife, Diana, accusing Michaels of hitting on her, which angered Smith and made him determined to take the title from Michaels. The two were the main-event of the In Your House 8: Beware of Dog pay-per-view on 26 May, and their match ended in a draw, leading to a rematch on 23 June at King of the Ring, where Smith failed to win the title. Afterwards, Smith formed a tag team with his brother-in-law, Owen Hart, and the two soon won the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Smokin' Gunns. The team defended their titles against teams such as Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon, Vader and Mankind, and The Legion of Doom. In 1997, the WWF created the WWF European Championship, and Smith became the first ever holder of the title, winning a tournament which culminated in him defeating his own tag team partner, Owen Hart, in the finals on 26 February.

Hart Foundation (1997)
Hart and Smith later joined forces with Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Brian Pillman to form a new form of the Hart Foundation, a heel faction which feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin and other American wrestlers. This created an interesting rift between American fans, where the Hart Foundation were vilified, and Canadian fans, who revered the Hart Foundation. Smith and Owen dropped the WWF Tag Team Championship to Austin and Michaels, and lost the final match in a tournament for the vacant WWF Tag Team Championship to Austin and Dude Love. Smith lost the European Championship to Shawn Michaels on 20 September at One Night Only. Smith was booked in the main event to defend the belt against Michaels. However, Michaels convinced Vince McMahon that he should win, as it would create build-up not only for his impending rematch with Bret Hart, but also for a rematch against Smith at the next British pay-per-view. Smith reluctantly agreed, and fans at the event, who gave Smith an ovation, voiced their displeasure by viciously booing Michaels and littering the ring with garbage. On 9 November at Survivor Series in Montreal, Smith was part of Team Canada (alongside Jim Neidhart, Doug Furnas and Philip Lafon), defeating Team USA (Vader, Goldust, Marc Mero and the debuting Steve Blackman). The event became infamous for the "Montreal Screwjob", in which Vince McMahon manipulated the finish of Bret Hart's match and had him lose the WWF Championship to Michaels, despite Hart not submitting when placed in a Sharpshooter. Smith then paid money to leave the WWF for WCW, along with Bret Hart and Neidhart, soon afterward.

Return to World Championship Wrestling (1997–1998)
Smith rejoined WCW in late 1997, and began a feud with Steve McMichael, who was complaining about all the wrestlers coming from "Up North". Smith and Neidhart later formed a tag team, but were only featured sparingly on WCW Thunder. They challenged for the World Tag Team Championship on several occasions, but failed to win the titles. He suffered a knee injury in April 1998 that sidelined him for a month. He suffered another, much more serious injury on 13 September 1998 at Fall Brawl during his match with Neidhart against The Dancing Fools, Disco Inferno and Alex Wright. During the match, while taking bumps, Smith twice landed awkwardly on a trapdoor that had been set up underneath the ring canvas to enable The Warrior to make a dramatic entrance in the night's main event. The result was a spinal infection that nearly paralysed Smith, hospitalising him for six months. However, while recuperating, Smith's WCW contract was terminated due to his inability to perform.

World Wrestling Federation (1999–2000)
Smith returned to the WWF in September 1999. In keeping with the company's new "Attitude Era", Smith began wrestling in jeans instead of his usual Union Flag-adorned tights and his theme music was to a remix of his previous theme "Rule, Britannia!" and later to rock music (with the sounds of a dog barking as the song began). On 9 September episode of SmackDown! in Albany, New York, Smith defeated the Big Boss Man for the WWF Hardcore Championship. Smith forfeited the title later that evening, giving the belt back to Al Snow, because Boss Man had previously (kayfabe) dog-napped Snow's dog Pepper to win the title from him, and driving him insane in the process. Smith then began pursuing the WWF Championship, eventually turning heel and beginning a feud with The Rock. Smith headlined Unforgiven on 26 September as part of a six-man WWF Championship match that was won by Triple H. On 2 October, Smith returned to England as a heel at Rebellion, defeating X-Pac.

Smith defeated D'Lo Brown for the WWF European Championship on SmackDown! on 26 October. He lost the title to Val Venis in a triple threat match on 12 December at Armageddon. On 6 May 2000 in London, Smith defeated Crash Holly for the Hardcore Championship. Holly regained the title from Smith in New Haven, Connecticut on 11 May episode of SmackDown!. Smith's last televised match with the WWF was on Sunday Night Heat, when he burst into Eddie Guerrero and Chyna's locker room, accusing Guerrero (who was the European Champion at the time) of not treating the belt with the respect it deserved. This led to a European Championship title match on that Heat, in which both men were disqualified. After Heat, WWF announced that Smith had again left the WWF on 15 May 2000. Smith would take a hiatus from wrestling.

Late career (2002)
Before his death on 18 May 2002, Smith had been training with the intent of resuming his career and came out of retirement wrestling in three tag-team matches with his son, Harry Smith the previous weekend in Manitoba, Canada. He had also considered another return to the WWF.

Professional wrestling style and persona
Due to his training in Stu Hart's Dungeon, Smith was renowned for both his technical skill along with his power moves, frequently performing multiple gorilla press slam variations and a delayed vertical suplex, where he would often hold the opponent in the air for an extended length of time to emphasize his strength. His finishing manoeuvre was a Running powerslam.

Personal life
Some writers have claimed that Smith's middle name was actually "Boy", supposedly as the result of one of his parents mistaking the middle name field on Smith's birth certificate for the gender field. This story is undoubtedly apocryphal - not only was "Davey Boy" a common nickname in England during Smith's youth for boys named David,  but British birth certificates are completed by a registrar for the General Register Office, not the child's parents.

Smith married his wife Diana at the Hart house in October 1984. They had two children, Harry (born 2 August 1985 in Calgary) and Georgia (born 26 September 1987, also in Calgary). In early January 2000, Smith and Diana divorced, with Diana ultimately gaining custody of their son. Shortly after his release from the WWF in 2000, Smith entered an Atlanta drug rehabilitation clinic to treat his addiction to prescription opiate painkillers, including morphine, upon which he had become dependent following a 1998 back injury suffered while in WCW. 2000 would also see Smith arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Diana and her sister Ellie. This would not be Smith's last interaction with the law: following an altercation at "The Back Alley," a Calgary bar, Smith was charged with aggravated assault against 19-year-old wrestler Kody Light after a dispute regarding how Light had spoken to Diana. The charges were later dropped. Andrea Redding, Smith's girlfriend from 2000 to his death, stated that they were planning to get married shortly before his death.

Death
Smith died on 18 May 2002 after suffering a heart attack while on vacation in Invermere, British Columbia, with his girlfriend Andrea Redding, who was Bruce Hart's estranged wife. He was 39 years old. Forensic scientist Julie Evans stated that although she had found steroids and painkillers in Smith's system, they were not at a life-threatening level. She instead concluded that Smith had died from natural causes associated with an enlarged heart. Bruce Hart claimed "Davey paid the price with steroid cocktails and human-growth hormones." Two funeral services were held, one by Andrea and the other by the Hart family. Bret Hart attended both.

Video games
On March 24 2024, Smith was the subject of the Biography: WWE Legends.

Championships and accomplishments

 * All Japan Pro Wrestling
 * 2 January Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal Winner in 1989
 * World's Strongest Tag Determination League Fighting Spirit Award (1984, 1985) – with Dynamite Kid
 * World's Strongest Tag Determination League Skills Award (1989) – with Dynamite Kid

 * Canadian Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame
 * Class of 2024 – with Owen Hart

 * Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame
 * Individually
 * With the Hart family

 * Independent Wrestling Association
 * IWA Heavyweight Champion (1 time)

 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * Match of the Year (1992) vs. Bret Hart at SummerSlam
 * Ranked No. 15 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1993
 * Ranked No. 53 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
 * Ranked No. 5 and No. 84 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" with the Dynamite Kid and Owen Hart, respectively, in 2003

 * Stampede Wrestling
 * Stampede International Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bruce Hart
 * Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with the Dynamite Kid
 * Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)

 * World Wide Wrestling Alliance
 * WWWA Intercontinental Champion (1 time)

 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 * Best Wrestling Maneuver (1984) Power clean dropkick
 * Feud of the Year (1997) with The Hart Foundation vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
 * Most Unimproved (1991)
 * Tag Team of the Year (1985) with the Dynamite Kid

 * World Wrestling Federation
 * WWF European Championship (2 times, inaugural)
 * WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
 * WWF Hardcore Championship (2 times)
 * WWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with the Dynamite Kid (1) and Owen Hart (1)
 * Battle Royal at the Albert Hall (1991)
 * WWF European Championship tournament (1997)
 * WWF World Tag Team Championship Tournament (1997) – with Owen Hart
 * WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2020)

title: Davey Boy Smith


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User talk:Fg2

Farewell
May you rest in peace. You were a constant positive influence to the project in countless ways, and you earned the respect of many. Your presence will be missed, but your many valuable contributions here will live on. Bendono (talk) 05:17, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

 * "You've got me thoroughly confused." I'm honoured to have gotten the chance.  Thank you.  Farewell.  user: J  aka justen (talk) 05:33, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

 * 寂しい. Thank you. May you rest in peace. Oda Mari (talk) 05:51, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

 * Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences with the world. Rest in peace, and my condolences.--Eloquence* 00:09, 10 October 2009 (UTC)
 * May you rest in peace. --  Tinu  Cherian  - 04:56, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

 * You were a powerful presence here, and you shall be sorely missed, but your work will live on, through your photos and your text contributions, as well as of course all the wonderful things you did "in real life" as they say, all the good you did in the real world beyond these virtual walls. Rest in peace, sir. LordAmeth (talk) 18:06, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

My wiki tis of thee, sweet web community, of thee I sing. May you rest in peace, fellow editor, member of the great Wikipedia project. Wikipedians, SALUTE! --Ipatrol (talk) 23:29, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

 * What I miss about Fg2 is not his (considerable) knowledge. Plenty of that in my books. What I miss is his common sense, his wisdom and his kindness (a rare combination). He could always see better the available options than I did, and that's why I miss him so much. Often I wish I could ask his opinion about something, and I can't. Urashima Tarō (talk) 03:52, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

 * Goodbye, Fg2. You were a wonderful contributor to the Japan project. WhisperToMe (talk) 04:15, 15 October 2009 (UTC)
 * To see the world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in wild flower; hold infinite in the palm of your hand. And eternity in an hour" --Sooo Kawaii!!! ^__^ (talk) 21:15, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

 * Thank you, Fg2--san. You follow up/supported me with silence several times. I really miss you in English edition Wikipedia. Please have good and peacefull rest in heaven. With Japanese style 合掌--Namazu-tron (talk) 17:38, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

 * Though I may have not known you, I am simply shocked to hear the loss of another Wikipedian. Thank you for thy contributions to Wikipedia. This is a truly, sad and shocking tragedy. :(--Berlin Approach | Lufthansa 533 at FLT230 14:54, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Finished
The work we started together is at last completed.-Frank (Urashima Tarō) (talk) 01:34, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

Still missed
Just a line, FG2, to let you know I still miss you. Frank — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.138.236.126 (talk) 20:45, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

Good article reassessment for Fujiwara no Teika
Fujiwara no Teika has been nominated for a good article reassessment. If you are interested in the discussion, please participate by adding your comments to the reassessment page. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status may be removed from the article. Z1720 (talk) 15:06, 17 September 2023 (UTC)

Good article reassessment for Sakurajima
Sakurajima has been nominated for a good article reassessment. If you are interested in the discussion, please participate by adding your comments to the reassessment page. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status may be removed from the article. Z1720 (talk) 01:26, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Fg2


text:
Baptism (Lenny Kravitz album)

Baptism is the seventh studio album by American rock musician Lenny Kravitz, released on May 17, 2004, by Virgin Records. The album produced five singles and reached number 14 on the Billboard 200 and number 74 on the UK Albums Chart.

Production
Lenny Kravitz originally intended this album to be a 1970s style funk album, simply titled The Funk Album. However, he changed his mind when he picked up an acoustic guitar to write the songs for the album. Having stated that songs started pouring out of him, Kravitz decided that his special project could wait. Instead, Kravitz recorded a more straightforward rock album similar to his 1989 album Let Love Rule. The album was recorded at Hotel Edison studios in Miami, Florida, and also features a contribution from rapper Jay-Z on the song "Storm". "Storm" was originally titled "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" and was originally recorded with Michael Jackson. Kravitz had previously played guitar on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse. Kravitz had mentioned in an interview that at the time of the album's production, he was in dispute with his record label, who did not agree with his decisions to alter his project, saying that the album featured some darker material representing his stage of depression and other problems he was going through at that time.

Promotion
For the promotion of the album, Kravitz kicked off the Baptism tour in April of that year across North America. In 2005, Kravitz embarked on yet another tour called The Electric Church Tour: One Night Only in select cities. Kravitz also had a prominent role in the Gap campaign of 2004–2005 as he modelled for the brand and his image was used in stores across North America as a major celebrity seal. Kravitz's single "Lady" was used very heavily in the company's "How Do You Wear It?" campaign and also filmed two commercials with Gap spokesmodel Sarah Jessica Parker playing the song to and dancing with Parker.

Reception
Initial critical response to Baptism ranged from average to negative. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 43, based on 10 reviews.

Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine wrote "His highly stylized brand of retro rock has always been a guilty pleasure, even though it's been largely hit or miss, but with Baptism, Kravitz's seventh album, it's become sad and limp, like a wet, leftover noodle or a stash gone bad. He should just do a cover album and be done with it". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote "While these are fine individual moments, they wind up being a bit dispiriting since they're surrounded by lazy, exhausted retreads where it sounds as if the act of making music is a chore to Kravitz—something that he nearly admits in his lyrics. It's a shame and embarrassment, and hopefully it will be a temporary slump like Circus—unless he really does want to quit this business called show, since it would be better for him to stop making records than to crank out depressing sludge like this."

Ryan Lenz of Today added "Some have speculated that Kravitz is intent on cementing a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the fans, Baptism seems more intent on giving them something to worship." Kevin Forest Moreau of ShakingThrough.net wrote "Lenny Kravitz became a star by peddling familiar wares in a flashy package: If there was always an element of "Been there, heard that" in his rock, soul and funk classicism, Kravitz's craftsmanship and charisma were usually enough to carry the day. But those elements are critically missing from Baptism." Caroline Bansal of musicOMH added "The production is in fact what lets this album down. The mix is all wrong, with the drums far too high and the guitars way too low."

Personnel
Musicians
 * Lenny Kravitz – vocals, electric guitar (tracks 1–3, 5–13), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13), guitar solo (tracks 3, 6, 7), bass guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4–12), drums (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 8–12), piano (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 10, 11), hand claps (tracks 5, 8, 12), Moog synthesizer and Mellotron (track 1), timpani (track 4), Hammond organ and wood block (track 11), synthesizer (track 12), string arrangement (tracks 4, 10, 11)
 * Tawatha Agee – background vocals (track 8)
 * Tyra Alston – handclaps (track 8)
 * David Baron – baritone saxophone (track 3), string arrangement (track 4)
 * Henry Hirsch – bass guitar (track 3), piano (track 7)
 * Jay-Z – rap (track 11)
 * Denine LaBat – handclaps (track 8)
 * Norma Rodgers – handclaps (track 8)
 * Craig Ross – electric guitar (tracks 3, 6, 7, 10, 12), guitar solo (track 9), drums (tracks 3, 7), piano (track 3), tambourine (track 7)
 * David Sanborn – saxophone (tracks 9, 10, 12)
 * The Uncle Clappers (Uncle Bruce, Uncle Hans, Uncle Craig) – handclaps (track 6)
 * David Whyko – handclaps (track 8)

Production
 * Lenny Kravitz – producer, mixing
 * Henry Hirsch – engineer, mixing
 * Cyrille Taillandier – assistant engineer, Pro Tools engineer
 * Ted Jensen – mastering

title: Baptism (Lenny Kravitz album)


text:
Emirates of the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates consists of seven emirates (إمارات ʾimārāt; singular: إمارة ʾimārah), which were historically known as the Trucial States. There are no internal barriers hindering movement between the emirates.

title: Emirates of the United Arab Emirates


text:
The Coming Global Superstorm

The Coming Global Superstorm (ISBN 0-671-04190-8) is a 1999 book by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, which warns that global warming might produce sudden and catastrophic climate change.

Thesis
First, the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic drift would generate a cordon of warm water around the North Pole, which in turn holds in a frozen mass of Arctic air. Second, if the North Atlantic drift were to shut down, that barrier would fail, releasing a flood of frozen air into the Northern Hemisphere, causing a sudden and drastic temperature shift.

The book discusses a possible cause of the failure of the Gulf Stream: the melting of the polar ice caps could drastically affect the ocean salinity of the North Atlantic drift by dumping a large quantity of freshwater into the world's oceans.

Bell and Strieber contend that such  destabilizations have occurred before, and cite seemingly impossible engineering feats by ancient civilizations which must have been catastrophically destroyed since they do not appear in the historical record. Among their examples are the archaeological ruins of Nan Madol, which the book claims were built with exacting tolerances and extremely heavy basalt materials, necessitating a high degree of technical competency. Since no such society exists in the modern record, or even in legend, the society must have been destroyed by dramatic means.

While other explanations besides a global meteorological event are possible, a correlating evidence set is presented in the woolly mammoth. Strieber and Bell assert that since mammoths have been found preserved with food still in their mouths and undigested in their stomachs, these animals must have been killed quickly, in otherwise normal conditions. They were preserved so well by quick freezing, which is taken as evidence of a rapid onset of a global blizzard or similar event.

In popular culture
Interspersed with the analytical parts of the book are a series of interlinked short fictional scenarios, written in italics, describing what might transpire today if a destabilization of the North Atlantic Current were to occur. The fictional accounts of "current events" as the meteorological situation deteriorates provided background for, and is the source material of, the 2004 science fiction film The Day After Tomorrow. Indeed, some events from the book are portrayed in the film with little modification, such as the failure of the Gulf Stream which freezes over large portions of the northern hemisphere including New York City.

title: The Coming Global Superstorm


text:
Korean hip hop

Korean hip-hop, also known as K-hip-hop or K-rap, is a subgenre of the South Korean popular music.

It is widely considered to have originated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and has since become increasingly popular, both in South Korea and abroad.

While South Korea's hip-hop culture includes various elements such as rap, graffiti, DJing, turntablism, and b-boying, rapping makes up a significant part of the culture. The term "hip-hop" is largely recognized and understood as "rap" in Korea.

Linguistic hybridization
The interplay between the Korean language and English has been used as a technical and aesthetic device in Korean hip-hop. Many Korean hip-hop songs contain syllabic similarities that could be interpreted in either languages. The bilingual aspect of this music is one distinguishing factor between Korean hip-hop and American hip-hop.

As early-stage Korean hip-hop was heavily influenced by African-American hip-hop, Korean hip-hop artists began using AAVE in their lyrics. The dominance of Korean-Americans in the Korean hip-hop scene also contributed to the use of mixed languages in Korean hip-hop. English-speaking Korean diaspora artists such as Drunken Tiger, Epik High's Tablo, Swings, Jay Park, and San E have included English lyrics in their raps.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were debates on the authenticity of lyrics written in English, and some artists deliberately refrained from using English in their lyrics. Garion was widely known for only using the Korean language in their lyrics. The word, Garion, a Korean word referring to a mythical white horse with a black mane, also reflects the group's identity. Today, the movement has weakened as Korean rap is now believed to have fully established in terms of linguistic and rhythmic making using the Korean language.

Subject matter
Although Korean hip-hop adopted American hip-hop music, the difference in culture naturally led to the difference in lyrical content. For example, in the early stages of Korean hip-hop music, many Korean rappers referenced Confucian values and idioms. Bill Stax (formerly known as Vasco), a Korean rapper, explains, “While American hip-hop mainly dealt with themes of women, money, and drugs, there are no drugs in Korea. We need to tell stories that our friends can relate to and enjoy.” Themes that are most often dealt with in Korean hip-hop music are everyday life, personal stories and social issues specific to Korean culture in the case of underground hip-hop, and love in the case of mainstream hip-hop.

Musical elements
While differences in sound were deemed small in distinguishing Korean hip-hop music from American hip-hop music, there has been a consistent effort to incorporate Korean traditional sound into hip-hop music. Seo Taiji and Boys, the first Korean musician to adopt hip-hop elements in music, added a short solo playing of the traditional Korean conical oboe (taepyeongso) in their song "Hayeoga" (1993). MC Sniper, an underground rapper and the founder of the hip-hop crew Buddha Baby, is known for his early use of traditional musical and religious elements including the 12-stringed zither (gayageum) and the transverse bamboo flute (daegeum) and the Buddhist wooden percussion (moktak) in his productions. Ones, a first-generation Korean hip-hop musician, is known for his cross-over experiments between hip-hop and Korean traditional music. In April 2016, "Eung Freestyle" produced by DPR crew which mainly used the Korean instrument gayageum attracted global popularity after being released on YouTube.

Korean hiphop music also often shows musical influences from Korean ballads and trot, such as melodies based on Korean traditional pentatonic scales, so-called "gugak scales", and "bbongki", a bounciness closely associated with trot music.

There has been criticism for such a movement. Some musicians noted that Korean hip-hop should not have a unique sound, but follow or use a recognizable global hip-hop sound. For example, Code Kunst, a Korean hip-hop producer, noted that “I do not think Korea needs a unique sound of its own. People who are not Korean can sample ‘Korean’ sounds as well.”

Virtual and local scenes
Unlike American hip-hop, Korean hip-hop started in the rooms and personal computer spaces of hip-hop fans and then moved to the streets and performance spaces of Hongdae.

Web-based communities
Early stage Korean hip-hop was closely linked to the web-based communities created on web servers. Servers such as Chollian, HiTel, Daum, Nate, and Naver provided free web-based emails, messaging services, and forums. PC communities created in these servers such as BLEX, Dope Soundz, and Show N Prove (SNP) worked as a place to share Korean translations of English lyrics, swap imported cassette tapes and CDs, and discuss the meaning of hip-hop in their lives. First generation artists such as Verbal Jint, P-Type, Defconn (SNP), and Garion (BLEX) actively participated in these online communities. Web server-based communities diminished when people stopped using web servers in the early 2000s, and the communities moved onto webzines and online sites. These webzines not only published articles but also facilitated communications in the hip-hop scene. Some online sites such as Hiphopplaya (since 2000), Rhythmer (since 2001) HiphopLE (since 2010) are still actively used as an online community for hip-hop discussions as of 2019. Many of these online community users started holding a monthly offline meeting called jeongmo to discuss hip-hop music and perform their works, leading to the development of local scenes.

In early 2017, the very first Korean hip-hop Awards was presented by two of the largest Korean hip-hop webzines, HipHopLE and Hiphopplaya. Some of the awards included Rookie of the Year, Producer of the Year, hip-hop Track of the Year, hip-hop Album of the Year, and Artist of the Year. The winners being JUSTHIS, Groovy Room, BeWhy's “Forever”, Nucksal's The God of Small Things, and Jay Park respectively. In addition, the awards included a category showing which artists to look out for, such as Live and Mac Kidd.

Hongdae as a local scene
Since the mid-1990s, Hongdae became the physical center of the Korean hip-hop scene. Hongdae, a northwestern part of Seoul, is named after a nearby Hongik University in the area. Widely known for its prestigious art/music college and liberal atmosphere, Hongik University contributed to the emergence of youth culture including hip-hop music in the area. From the late 1990s, many clubs began to emerge in Hongdae where various types of music such as rock, techno, and hip-hop were played. Master Plan (MP), originally an indie rock club located in the greater Hongdae area, is often regarded as the birthplace of underground Korean hip-hop. MP worked as a site for consuming, performing, and sharing hip-hop music. Street hip-hop events such as Everyone's Mic hosted by Hiphopplaya also took place in Hongdae. Everyone's Mic is a weekly open rap competition for underground musicians where participants perform freestyle rap based on the beat played by the DJ. Hongdae not only functioned as a tangible place for production and consumption but also became a symbolic place for underground hip-hop music and imaginary gohyang (hometown) for musicians to build their identities.

Relations with the media
The media has played a huge role in forming the Korean hip-hop scene. The TV program Show Me the Money (SMTM) gained massive popularity and enabled hip-hop music to be mainstream music in Korea. However, criticism against the authenticity of the TV show resulted in the emergence of independent YouTube channels operated by hip-hop labels and musicians.

Hip-hop TV shows
Starting in 2012, hip-hop audition programs such as Show Me the Money, Unpretty Rapstar, and High School Rapper became widely popular in Korea. SMTM is an audition program for amateur and professional rappers in which the top 16 rappers divide into 4 teams and compete to be the final winner. Unpretty Rapstar is a female counterpart of SMTM and High School Rapper is a high school version of SMTM. As of November 2022, SMTM has had eleven seasons. Unpretty Rapstar has had 3 seasons since 2015 and High School Rapper has had 3 seasons since 2017. These reality competition shows are produced by Mnet, South Korea's largest cable music channel operated under CJ Entertainment & Media (CJ E&M), an entertainment and media conglomerate.

These TV shows changed the notion of underground and overground hip-hop music in South Korea. Before the show, musicians who signed with major labels and frequently appeared on TV were considered overground rappers while ones who performed on small stages and worked independently were recognized as underground rappers. However, as hip-hop TV shows made hip-hop music mainstream, even the underground rappers who were critical of overground rappers gained visibility through TV and started working with pop artists. Also, with the success of SMTM, underground rappers who negatively thought of signing with labels started considering the idea due to the promise of rising profits in the genre. For example, Deepflow of VMC who criticized overground rappers for commercializing the hip-hop scene, actively participated in several hip-hop TV shows as a producer from 2017. Nafla and Loopy of Mkit Rain who criticized overground rappers for joining SMTM eventually joined SMTM season 7 as participants as well. Rather than being a stage for only the overground rappers, media and TV shows are now viewed as an opportunity for all types of new rappers to gain visibility and rise to the stardom. This transition has eventually blurred the distinction between underground and overground musicians.

Social media and YouTube
Social media platforms such as YouTube and SoundCloud has been one of the main channels Korean hip-hop artists present their works and communicate with its fans. Mic Swagger, a YouTube-based freestyle rapping content that invites different hip-hop musicians as guests each episode, became a huge success throughout its four seasons since 2009 and contributed to the popularization of freestyle rap. Also, in response to the criticism against the mainstream hip-hop media like Mnet, hip-hop artists started creating independent channels to express their thoughts and present their music to the public. Label H1ghr Music partnered with Dingo, an online media content creator, to promote new songs independent from the mainstream media. In 2018, rapper Mommy Son released a song named “Mommy Jump” through his YouTube channel after being eliminated from SMTM season 7. The song, which directly condemned Mnet and SMTM, became a massive hit and was nominated the hip-hop song of the year with 38 million YouTube views (as of June 2019).

Rappers and idols also use social media apps as a way of connecting to their fans, creating a sense of friendship with their fans. The use of music streaming apps such as SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify can help in exposure for Korean artists, as many of these apps, especially SoundCloud, are used by young kids around the world to discover these artists. Much of the music on these apps provide a similar sound to American rap music, which is popular not only for American teenagers but teenagers abroad as well. There is also room for more experimentation on music platforms such as SoundCloud because artists can upload their work and express their creativity in a way they could not in the Korean idol system and form a deeper connection with their audiences with their work, as well as promote their solo work.

The emergence of bilingual Korean rappers also helps bridge the gap between Korean and American hip-hop music along with social media. They can communicate with American fans in a way most non-English-speaking Korean rappers cannot. DPR Live explained his newfound presence in the US with his first-ever concert, by saying “I always thought, you know, me being bilingual, just looking at the quality of both music, it's both up to par. But Korean music has just as nice flavor and amazing qualities. [It's] just the world doesn't know yet. And obviously, America is everywhere. Everyone knows. And I'm just excited to close the gap a little more.”

Overlap with the K-pop industry
In its early days, most Korean hip-hop fell into a category called "rap dance", where artists mixed rapping with pop music. Many K-pop artists incorporated rap into their music, from Seo Taiji and Jinusean in the 1990s to Big Bang and Block B in the 2010s. However, rap in K-pop music was not considered serious hip-hop music and some hip-hop musicians criticized K-pop music for commercializing hip-hop. For example, rapper Olltii criticized K-pop idol rappers in his Show Me the Money performance against Bobby for being unskilled and manufactured by large entertainment agencies.

As hip-hop music gained popularity and became part of Korean mainstream music, many idol rappers began to interact with the hip-hop scene. Jay Park, former leader of 2PM, went on to be the founder and CEO of two of the biggest Korean hip-hop labels, AOMG and H1GHR Music. Park has expressed that he doesn't consider himself a K-pop artist anymore as he feels distant from the K-pop industry nowadays. Zico, who was active as an underground rapper before officially debuting with Block B, gained the scene's respect for his rapping and producing skills and maintained a close relationship with the K-hiphop scene throughout his career. However, there is discourse about whether idol rappers are real rappers. During BTS' rookie days, the group's rap line which consists of RM, Suga, and j-hope, received criticism from hip-hop artist B Free for "quitting" being rappers and continued saying idol rappers are not real rappers. iKon's Bobby won the third season of Show Me the Money. Song Mino of Winner was active as an underground rapper alongside Zico from Block B and was the runner-up of the fourth season of SMTM. Ravi of Vixx founded the hiphop label GROOVL1N, which is home to prominent rappers such as Nafla and JUSTHIS. BTS' RM collaborated and performed with rappers such as Zico and Changmo before joining the group, and has since then collaborated with several artists from the scene.

In addition, Korean hip-hop artists started collaborating with K-pop artists. Successful collaborations include "Some," a 2014 song by Soyou of girl group Sistar, R&B singer Junggigo, and rapper Lil Boi, that was Billboard's K-pop Hot 100's longest running #1 hit of 2014; "A Midsummer Night's Sweetness," a 2014 collaboration of After School's Raina and rapper San E, that topped ten Korean music charts shortly after its debut and went on to win several major year-end awards;   and "I," a 2015 song by Girls' Generation's Taeyeon featuring rapper Verbal Jint, that topped eight Korean music charts after its release.

Late 1980s–early 1990s: Origins of Korean hip-hop
Korean hip-hop first emerged in South Korea in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Hip-hop culture itself was first introduced to South Korea through cultural diffusion from American soldiers stationed at the Yongsan Base during the war. Specifically, the clubs in Itaewon served as a hub for American soldiers, and later in the mid-1980s, opened up to Korean citizens and they shared a space for hip-hop beats and dance on the dance floor. Following the end of authoritarian military rule in Korea, the loosening of state censorship of popular music in the late 1980s and the arrival of 1988 Seoul Olympics brought global musical styles like hip-hop, rap, and rhythm and blues through the Korean diaspora. Rock musician Hong Seo-beom's 1989 song about a 19th-century Korean poet, "Kim Sat-gat," is credited as being the first Korean pop song to contain rapping.

Hyun Jin-young, a rapper who debuted the following year with the album, New Dance, is considered to be the first Korean hip-hop artist.

The debut of Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 with the song, "Nan Arayo" (난 알아요, "I Know") marked a revolution in Korean popular music. The group incorporated American-style hip-hop and R&B into their music, a move that was so influential that they are considered the originators of modern K-pop, and their explosive popularity paved the way for both pop and hip-hop artists in Korea.

Other popular groups who helped spread hip-hop into the Korean mainstream in the early 1990s include Deux and DJ DOC.

Late 1990s–2010s: Growing popularity and underground development
The Korean hip-hop scene grew considerably in the late 1990s and early 2000s due largely to a growing hip-hop club scene and the influence of the internet. While K-pop groups continued to incorporate rap into their songs, this period also saw the emergence of pure hip-hop groups, notably Drunken Tiger, "the first commercially successful true hip-hop group" in Korea. The group's single, "Good Life" topped Korean charts in 2001, although the group was considered controversial due to the explicit nature of their songs. hip-hop duo Jinusean, who were signed to former Seo Taiji and Boys member Yang Hyun-suk's new label YG Entertainment, also found mainstream success during this period with their songs "Tell Me" and "A-Yo," among others.

In 2001, then-underground rapper Verbal Jint released his first mini-album, Modern Rhymes, which introduced an innovation to Korean hip-hop: rhyming. Before this, Korean hip-hop lacked rhyming because it was seen as too difficult due to the grammatical structure of the Korean language. Verbal Jint's method for creating rhymes was widely adopted by other artists. Rap duo Garion also made an impact on the underground Korean hip-hop community with their 2004 self-titled debut album, notable for being entirely in Korean.

More Korean hip-hop artists experienced mainstream popularity and success in the 2000s and 2010s. Dynamic Duo's 2004 album, Taxi Driver, sold over half a million copies, making it the best-selling Korean hip-hop album ever at the time. Epik High topped music charts in both Korea and Japan in the mid-2000s and reached the #1 spot on the Billboard World Albums Chart with their 2014 album, Shoebox.  Rap duo Leessang's album, Asura Balbalta, topped Korean charts just one hour after it was released in 2011, with every song from the album simultaneously charting in the top ten on several real-time music charts.

2010s–present: Mainstream popularity with Show Me the Money and growth of independent labels
Korean hip-hop's profile was again heightened in 2012 with the debut of the TV reality series, Show Me the Money. The show, which features both underground and mainstream rappers, is credited with increasing the popularity of hip-hop in South Korea. Viewer ratings for SMTM seasons 4,5 and 6 continued to exceed 2%, which is exceptionally high for a cable TV channel program. During August 2015, July 2016, August 2017 and October 2018 when SMTM was aired, hip-hop was the most popular genre in Mnet Top 100 Korean music chart. SMTM worked as a publicity opportunity for previously unknown rappers such as C Jamm, Black Nut, Bewhy and Woo Won-jae. In SMTM 11, Rapper Lee Young-ji became the first female rapper to win the competition.

In August 2013, the Korean hip-hop scene became a ground for fierce diss battles. Influenced by Kendrick Lamar's hip-hop track “Control” which called out a handful of the new rappers in the U.S. music industry, Korean artists started sending disses in every direction with harsh lyrics. The “control diss war” began when Swings, the founder and member of Just Music, called out many other rappers by releasing his version of “Control” titled “King Swings” and “Hwang Jung-min (King Swings Part 2)". The flame flew in every direction and many rappers started dissing each other. One of the main events was when E-Sens, formerly of the hip-hop duo Supreme Team, released his single, “You Can't Control Me” to blatantly lash out at his former management company Amoeba Culture and former label mate Gaeko of Dynamic Duo. One day later, Gaeko responded to the rapper's challenge by releasing his track titled "I Can Control You". Eventually, more than 20 rappers including Simon Dominic, Ugly Duck, and Deep Flow participated in the “control diss war” before it ended within one week.

In 2015, Unpretty Rapstar aired as a spin-off of Show Me the Money. This music competition focused on female rappers including Season 1 runner-up Jessi, who the following year starred in KBS 2TV's Sister's Slam Dunk. It also featured Tymee who is known to be the fastest female rapper in Korea. In 2017, High School Rapper launched its first season and became a huge success, bringing many young amateur rappers to stardom. Many of the successful participants in High School Rapper signed with major hip-hop labels exemplified by Haon of h1gher Music, Ash Island of Ambition Musik and Young B of Indigo Music. Unpretty Rapstar and High School Rapper enabled hip-hop music to become one of the most popular music genres in Korea, especially among the younger generation.

In 2016, the Korea Foundation cited Korean hip-hop as a new trend in the Korean wave, the term commonly used to refer to the recent spread of Korean pop culture throughout the world.

Starting in 2016, major hip-hop labels in South Korea started creating their sub-labels, mostly to nurture young hip-hop musicians also referred to as the fourth generation rappers. Illionaire Records established Ambition Musik in 2016 by signing 3 artists who gained popularity through SMTM (Hash Swan, Keemhyoeun, ZENE THE ZILLA). Just Music followed up with its new label Indigo music, mostly bringing in teenage rappers who performed in High School Rapper season 1 including Osshun Gum, Young B, and Noel. Jay Park of AOMG founded H1GHR Music in joint with Seattle-based producer Cha Cha Malone and signed with young musicians such as Sik-K, Groovy Room and Haon. As these hip-hop labels and sub-labels were getting bigger, they were continuously making their voices louder against the large K-pop agencies that have been dominating the Korean music industry since the 2000s.

Localization
Korean hip-hop started from and was highly influenced by American hip-hop, yet evolved to have local characteristics as it adapted to the cultural context of Korean society. Since the 1990s, American hip-hop was brought into and spread through South Korea in several channels: tangible forms of music like cassette tapes and CDs from America to South Korea, individual bodies to/from America and within South Korea, and virtual communities of hip-hop listeners. Korean Americans especially played a significant role in localizing American hip-hop with their English-speaking ability and access to American culture. Tiger JK of Drunken Tiger and his wife Yoon Mi-rae, then a member of a Korean-American hip-hop/R&B group called Uptown, formed the Movement Crew, the influential hip-hop community that gave rise to groups like Dynamic Duo, Leessang, and Epik High, who collectively planted the localized hip-hop firmly in the mainstream pop music in South Korea. In Korea today, American hip-hop and Korean hip-hop exist as separate categories in almost every music chart and sales: oeguk hipap meaning foreign hip-hop and gungnae hipap meaning domestic hip-hop.

There are parallels between Korean hip-hop and American hip-hop, in that they follow a lot of trends from American hip-hop while adding their own elements to them, creating their sound from sounds widely popularised from American music. Korean hip-hop was also founded in many ways to give voice to Koreans who felt a need to subvert from the norms of their country and found that way through Korean hip-hop, in seeing the success of American rappers.

Globalization
Since 2010, Korean hip-hop music started to gain international popularity. Epik High is credited as the first Korean hip-hop musician to succeed in the international market. In 2014, with their album Shoebox, Epik High reached the #1 spot on the Billboard World Albums Chart. Epik High also held a North American tour and played in U.S. music and film festival SXSW in 2015 before becoming the first major Korean group to play at U.S. music festival Coachella in 2016. Epik High became one of the most talked about artists with #EpikHigh as one of the most used hashtags at the festival. Tablo in an interview with NBC News explains why hip-hop and rap are resonating with a lot of people nowadays stating, “…rap is an art form that is very welcoming of youth culture and youth idea.” After finishing their contract with YG Entertainment in 2018, Epik High started another North American tour in 2019.

The interest in SMTM has also spread abroad, with rappers who participated in the show's fourth season performing in the United States in 2015. The show also held auditions for its fifth season in Los Angeles in 2016. Although critical questions were posed, SMTM started self-positioning itself as a “global hip-hop battle” since season 5. The popularity of SMTM led to other Korean hip-hop artists, including the rosters of popular record labels Illionaire Records, AOMG, and Amoeba Culture, to tour around the world. AOMG toured China and the United States in 2016, South East Asia in 2017, and North America and Europe in 2019. Amoeba Culture and Illionaire Records also toured the United States in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

The incorporation of trap music in Korean hip-hop has become a major factor to its growing success overseas. Though less popular in his native South Korea, rapper Keith Ape became a viral sensation in 2015 with his song, "It G Ma." The song is credited with helping expand Korean hip-hop's audience abroad. He has stated in a Complex interview, “It's important to me to be acknowledged by the birthplace of hip-hop culture and I'm thankful for everything that's happened. Many Western people who don't speak Korean now know the phrase ‘It G Ma’.” The following year, Eung Freestyle (응프리스타일) performed by DPR Live, Sik-K, Punchnello, Owen Ovadoz, and Flowsik gained attention with the help of Youtube's Music's Ad Campaign.

Korean hip-hop artists are continuously making a deliberate effort to expand their presence in the global market, especially in the North American Market. On July 20, 2017, Jay Park officially became part of Jay-Z's record label Roc Nation. He posted on his Instagram account stating, “This is a win for the Town, this is a win for Korea, this is a win for Asian Americans…” In 2019, MBC launched a new program titled Target: Billboard – Kill Bill. The show enlisted renowned hip-hop artists to compete for a chance to collaborate with DJ Khaled. In doing so, the program's ultimate goal is for Korean hip-hop artists to "kill the Billboard" charts.

Criticism
While most artists label their music as “Korean hip-hop” in their lyrics or interviews; some musicians consciously move away from it by calling their music just “hip-hop.” Some artists confessed their discomfort in labeling their music as “Korean” hip-hop claiming that they would rather have their music be heard as hip-hop. These artists wanted their music to be placed within global hip-hop and alongside what is currently being produced in America. Dok2, one of the most recognized figures in the Korean hip-hop scene, once mentioned, "We are sharing a global trend. It is not a Korean musician copying an American song, but rather sharing a musical trend as one of the many hip-hop musicians in the world. I simply think of my music like this: Can I imagine this song being released in America and not just in Korea? Will people like it? Does it not drift away from the bigger picture? If we listen to it alongside what is topping the iTunes hip-hop chart, does it fit there? If I look at other Korean rappers’ music, it does not fit at all. Of course, there is a trend that is uniquely Korean, but that is gayo. That is K-pop and not hip-hop."

B-boying scene
B-boying, also known as break dancing, was introduced to South Korea in the 1980s by dance clubs in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul, which was frequented by U.S. military personnel and other foreigners. There are different opinions on what truly counts as the first group that started the trend of incorporating elements of break dance into korean music, but the earliest example is the group UCDC (United College Dance Club) formed by Lee Sung Moon. Dance crew called "Rhythm touch" was initially influential,as they were back dancers for singers Insooni and Kim Wan-sun. In 1983, Lee also founded the breaking dance group "Spark", which is also cited as the first Korean breaking dance group. One of the most famous venues these early dance groups learned thesr skills from was a club called Moonnight in Itaewon, which was originally a foreigners only club. However, it wasn't until 2001 that Korean b-boys received international recognition when the dance crew Visual Shock won "best show" and fourth place at Battle of the Year, the biggest b-boy competition in the world. Korean crews went on to win either first or second place at the competition for the next several years.

In 2007, the Korean Tourism Organization founded an international b-boying competition called R-16 Korea. The event, which draws tens of thousands of spectators to Seoul each year, is also highly profitable for the South Korean government. South Korean hip-hop artists, including Jay Park, Yoon Mi-rae, and Drunken Tiger's Tiger JK, have performed at R-16.

B-boying has also experienced popularity in South Korean theater, including, notably, the musical, Ballerina Who Loved a B-Boy, which premiered in South Korea in 2005 with performances in other countries, including Singapore, Japan, China, Guam, Colombia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The show was still staged daily in South Korea as of 2013.

Fashion
Fashion-wise, many South Korean youths prefer hip-hop taste. hip-hop urban wear or streetwear usually goes hand in hand with the K-hip-hop scene, now becoming mainstream. YG Entertainment, one of the biggest hip-hop promoters in South Korea, does a few sponsorship deals in clothing. YG artist, Jinusean's Sean started his own clothing company called MF (Majah Flavah). On June 28, 2012, YG agreed with Cheil Industries to launch their fashion brand catering not only to Korean teens but also to the global fashion market. The first NONAGON store opened in September and sold out within 3 days. YG artists Bobby and B.I. also promoted the brand by wearing the clothing to SMTM3.

title: Korean hip hop


text:
Talk:Bombardier Inc.

Bombardier Inc page needs updated
This Wiki article seems to need updated. Bombardier has undergone quite a few changes in the past several years alone. The lead section is lacking and the history looks as if its just copied from BRP's page. I'm pretty new to copy editing, and this is probably beyond my ability to do well. Any editors that are fans of Bombardier willing to take this on? I love their aircraft and am very interested how such a once diverse and large company has become so specialized and only builds business jets now. KittyHawkFlyer (talk) 16:55, 22 July 2022 (UTC)

Net income is not EBIT
In June 2023 an unregistered user added a net income of US$ 535 million for 2022 in the infobox. That amount was not the net income, but the EBIT which is not the same. That needs to be taken care of in the future. WikiPate (talk) 19:25, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Bombardier Inc.


text:
CityLine

CityLine is a Canadian talk show and lifestyle television program hosted by Tracy Moore that aired from February 1984 until May 3, 2024, produced for the Citytv network at its Toronto flagship station CITY-DT. Each show had a theme that changed daily. These included "Around the House", "Family Day", "Home Day", and "Fashion Friday". It was Canada's longest running daytime show specifically targeted to women. The show also aired in the United States on the Dabl digital multicast network and was syndicated on local television stations.

History
CityLine debuted in February 1984, originally hosted by Dini Petty. The show was hosted by Marilyn Denis between September 1989 and May 23, 2008. Subsequent to Denis's departure to host The Marilyn Denis Show for CTV, a series of guest hosts were used, including Jessica Holmes, Jennifer Valentyne, Jody Vance, Liz West, Dina Pugliese, Christine Cardoso, Tracy Moore, Catherine Marion and Nalini Sharma. Moore was named the new permanent host in 2008.

Prior to fall 2008, Cityline was aired live. However, from 2008 to 2024 Cityline was taped in advance and then aired two weeks from the date it was recorded. There was a live audience at every show when the taping takes place. CityLine aired on all Citytv stations across Canada, and formerly also aired on the A-Channel network as well as BCTV and ATV, which was co-owned with Citytv until it was sold. It was managed by Rogers Communications Inc. under their Rogers Media brand following Rogers' acquisition of Citytv.

In 2024, Citytv announced the cancellation of CityLine; the show's final episode aired on May 3. In its place, Moore will host a new, similarly-themed lifestyles segment on Breakfast Television.

Personalities
In addition to host Tracy Moore, Cityline revolved around regular lifestyle experts from chefs, to design, to decor, including:
 * Massimo Capra
 * Christian Dare
 * Randy Feltis
 * Frank Ferragine
 * Mairlyn Smith
 * Brian Gluckstein
 * Leigh Ann Allaire Perrault
 * Shoana Jensen
 * Janice Meredith
 * Devan Rajkumar
 * Bill Rowley
 * Karen Sealy

Toronto's Next Top Model
Toronto's Next Top Model was broadcast as a segment on Cityline ' s Fashion Fridays in May 2005. Ten aspiring models were selected from over 1,000 applicants and judged on live television. To promote the connection to America's Next Top Model, Cityline invited ANTM stylist Jay Manuel as a guest on the final episode.

The winner was decided by three high-profile fashion industry professionals, and influenced by an online vote open to the Canadian public. The judges were Elmer Olsen, head of Elmer Olsen Models, Ceri Marsh, editor of Fashion magazine, and Lisa Rogers, one of Canada's first top international models and now a consultant on Cityline.

The winner, Lisa Caroline Leung, of Toronto, walked away with a modeling contract from Elmer Olsen Models, the chance to model on Cityline, a fashion shoot with fashion photographer Gabor Jurina and a spread in the 2005 summer issue of Fashion magazine. Leung was the first multiracial person to ever win any of the Top Model competitions or competition spin-offs.

title: CityLine