Too Hard to Swallow

Too Hard to Swallow is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo UGK. It was released on November 10, 1992, by Jive Records.

Track listing

Chart positions

Underground Kingz

Underground Kingz is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo UGK. The album was released on August 7, 2007, by Jive Records. The album includes collaborations with Z-RO, T.I., Talib Kweli, Rick Ross, Jazze Pha, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Slim Thug, Dizzee Rascal, Too Short, Charlie Wilson, Middle Fingaz, OutKast, Three 6 Mafia, and many more. Production mainly came from Pimp C, N.O. Joe, Lil Jon, Jazze Pha, Swizz Beatz, DJ Paul & Juicy J, Scarface and Marley Marl.

The first single was believed to be "Stop-N-Go," but it was confirmed that the first single was "The Game Belongs To Me", produced by N.O. Joe.

The second single was "International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)" featuring OutKast, and the video was released on 106 and Park, June 16, 2007. The track is a remix of "Players Anthem" featuring Three 6 Mafia (both versions were produced by DJ Paul and Juicy J). The video was awarded Video of the Year at the 2008 annual BET Hip-Hop awards. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. This song was #10 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007, and reached #70 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their only song to chart there.

Hard to Swallow (album)

Hard to Swallow is the third studio album by American rapper Vanilla Ice. Released by Republic Records in 1998, the album was the first album the performer recorded after a four-year hiatus following the 1994 release of Mind Blowin. Vanilla Ice intended the new musical direction found on the album as an attempt to move away from hip hop music and discard his former pop image. Hard to Swallow instead featured what he described as "skate rock", a fusion of heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop. The album features appearances from Amen vocalist Casey Chaos, Bloodhound Gang vocalist Jimmy Pop, and Insane Poetry front man Cyco. Session musicians included drummer Shannon Larkin, keyboardist Scott Borland, and Snot guitarist Sonny Mayo.

Vanilla Ice took an interest in the musical style found on Hard to Swallow while performing as a member of a Miami grunge band, and was able to develop this sound through a friendship with producer Ross Robinson, with whom he shared an interest in motocross racing. Robinson produced the album after being advised against working with Vanilla Ice. The album's darker lyrical subject matter developed from conversations, in which Robinson encouraged him to write about his past. Subjects included Vanilla Ice's abusive childhood, drug addiction and struggles with fame. Although Republic Records believed that the album would revive Vanilla Ice's career, it received largely negative reviews and did not chart.

Hold Me Down

Hold Me Down is the second studio album by English rock band You Me at Six, released on January 11, 2010 through Virgin Records as the follow-up to 2008's Take Off Your Colours. It is the band's first release on the major label Virgin Records. Like their debut album, the album was once again produced and engineered by Matt O'Grady and mixed by David Bendeth. The promotional single titled "The Consequence" was made available for free digital download before the first official lead single, "Underdog" preceded the album's release. Despite receiving mixed reviews, Hold Me Down was a commercial success and debuted at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart and is certified Gold in the UK for 100,000 shipments of copies.

Background, writing and recording

On 11 November 2009, Josh Franceschi announced via his Twitter account that their second album was completed, and would be released in early 2010.AbsolutePunk.net later announced the album would be titled Hold Me Down and would be released through Virgin Records on 11 January 2010. In interviews leading up to the album's release Josh Franceschi stated the recording process took around 6–7 weeks, as opposed to the 2 weeks of its predecessor, Take Off Your Colours.