Lasers (album)

Lasers is the third studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on March 7, 2011 by Atlantic Records. Production for the album took place between 2008 and 2010. Lasers features production by The Audibles, The Neptunes, Needlz, Alex da Kid, Syience, and long-time collaborator Soundtrakk, among others. Trey Songz, John Legend, Skylar Grey, Sway, Matt Mahaffey, MDMA, Eric Turner and Sarah Green contribute vocals to the album.

Lasers was preceded by the lead single "The Show Goes On" and its follow-up "Words I Never Said" featuring Skylar Grey. The former became Fiasco's highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified double platinum in the US. The latter, however, only achieved moderate success on the Hot 100.

The album has received "mixed or average reviews" from most major music critics, having a score of 57 out of 100 at the review aggregator Metacritic. It fared better commercially however, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of over 200,000 copies sold, making the album Fiasco's second top ten album as well as his highest entry on the chart.

Red

Red is the color at the end of the spectrum of visible light next to orange and opposite violet. Red color has a predominant light wavelength of roughly 620–740 nanometres. Red is one of the additive primary colors of visible light, along with green and blue, which in Red Green Blue (RGB) color systems are combined to create all the colors on a computer monitor or television screen. Red is also one of the subtractive primary colors, along with yellow and blue, of the RYB color space and traditional color wheel used by painters and artists.

Reds can vary in shade from very light pink to very dark maroon or burgundy; and in hue from the bright orange-red scarlet or vermilion to the bluish-red crimson.

Red was widely used in prehistoric cave art, made with red hematite or iron oxide, or red ochre. Early civilizations in China, the Middle East and Europe made red dyes from the madder plant or from a tiny insect called Kermes vermilio. Civilizations in the Americas made brilliant reds from another scale insect, the cochineal; ancient Chinese artists during the Han Dynasty used dye from the madder plant to color silk and pigments from lead oxide to color pottery.

Product Red

Product Red, styled as (PRODUCT)^RED, is a licensed brand that seeks to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in Africa. It is licensed to partner companies including Nike, American Express (UK), Apple Inc., The Coca-Cola Company, Starbucks, Converse, Electronic Arts, Head, Bugaboo, Penguin Classics (UK & International), Gap, Armani, Hallmark (US), SAP and Beats Electronics (Beats by Dr. Dre). The concept was founded in 2006 by U2 frontman and activist, Bono, together with Bobby Shriver of the ONE/DATA. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a recipient of (RED) money.

As part of a new business model, each partner company creates a product with the Product Red logo. In return for the opportunity to increase revenue through the Product Red license, a 50 percent of the profit gained by each partner is donated to the Global Fund. As Product Red is a private company, a portion of the contributions received from the partner brands is assigned as profit. Such an amalgamation of humanitarian aid and for-profit businesses is one example of "ethical consumerism."

Red (T'Pau album)

Red is the fourth studio album by British pop/rock group T'Pau. It was released in 1998, and was the first album since The Promise from 1991.

The group originally gained success in the late 1980s and split in the early 1990s. In 1997 original lead singer Carol Decker reformed the band with a completely new line-up and released a brand new version of their original hit "Heart and Soul". The new line-up started playing gigs and recorded this album in 1998. The album was released on Decker's own Gnatfish label, and would be released in America during late 1999 with a bonus CD featuring three extra tracks (including the 1997 version of "Heart and Soul"). In 2007, the album was officially released for download. It would be Decker's last album/single release until the 2007 solo single "Just Dream".

Background

After the original split of T'Pau, Decker attempted a solo career. In 1993, she contributed a track to the soundtrack of the film Dirty Weekend, and the following year a small number of live performances followed. In 1995 she released the single "One Heart" - as the official anthem for the Halifax World Cup Rugby League Centenary '95. It peaked at #130 in the UK. She performed the song at Wembley Stadium during the opening and closing ceremonies. By 1997 though, Decker had taken the decision to build a 'new' T'Pau around her, and get back on the road after assembling a massive amount of new material. Although she considered continuing as a solo artist, it was advised that it would be easier if the band name was rekindled. The newly reformed band featured none of the original members aside from Decker. A brand new version of the band's original hit "Heart and Soul" was released as "Heart and Soul '97" (featuring the future Red album track "Make Love to Me"), and the band went onto Cilla Black's Surprise Surprise TV show to perform the song. However it was not a commercial success.