Reminiscing the memories of my life by just listening to the songs that had been a piece of me.It brings back the old memories that we had.I can take my eyes of you - lauryn hill
killing me softly - lauryn hill
Showing posts with label soul music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soul music. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
"Songs brings memories & make an impact in our lives"
Reminiscing the memories of my life by just listening to the songs that had been a piece of me.It brings back the old memories that we had.I can take my eyes of you - lauryn hill
killing me softly - lauryn hill
Monday, February 9, 2009
" Unbelievable " by craig david
c r a i g d a v i d
Craig David - Biography
R&B sensation Craig David was barely out of his teens when he took a hold of the U.K. pop circuit, twisted it around, and threw it back on its bum during fall 2000. This fresh-faced native of Southampton, England, was merely playing into his love of funkadelic hip-hop and crooning urban stylings when he started writing songs as a teenager. His love for Terence Trent D'Arby, Sisqo, and Donnell Jones allowed him to put his creative love for art, culture, and history into a musical beat all his own. And the new millennium belonged to him and garage had been redefined.
Born Craig Ashley David on May 5, 1981, David was slicing and dicing ragga and R&B on the local station PCRS 106.5FM and found himself playing club gigs prior to rubbing elbows with some of music's finest. It was during this time he hooked with Artful Dodger's Mark Hill. After winning a national writing competition, Craig was more than ready to start producing with Hill. His big break came when he put his own additives on Damage's "I'm Ready," a B-side to "Wonderful Tonight." Soon thereafter he remixed his own version of Human League's "Human" and started himself a regular spot in area clubs during the weekends. "Rewind" was another underground smash, specifically a definitive move for David. His respect for Stevie Wonder, Faith Evans, and R. Kelly was most apparent, however his own vocal talent was beginning to shine. He and Hill's specialty show on Capital Radio provided another outlet for David to shape his musical work of genius. "Fill Me In" proved yet another hit, shooting straight to number one in summer 2000. David was now the youngest British male solo artist to have a number one single. He was 19-years-old.
A deal with Wildstar Records in the U.K. sparked toward the end of the summer as "Re-Rewind" and "7 Days" gained praise in late November. A stateside agreement with Atlantic also led to more global hype. He had sold 3.5 million records worldwide and garage was finally becoming massive overseas and it was David's debut Born to Do It that was at the head.
But not all were pulling for this R&B prodigy. Aside from winning three awards at the MOBO's in October, Craig David walked away empty handed at the 2000 Brit Awards in February 2001. He was up for six nominations, including Best British Male Solo Artist, Best British Newcomer, and Best British Single for "7 Days," but industry politics fell into operation. Many mainstream stars came to David's defense, artists such as Elton John, U2, and Robbie Williams, professing their disgust for the ill recognition for David and his musical efforts in the past year. Death threats soon followed for the superstar in spring 2001 as he took the stage in a show in London. An anonymous caller claimed a soldier would injure David with tear gas and hand grenades. Still, his record sales continued to soar in the U.K. with sales of Born to Do It increasing over 100 percent after his dismal beginning months of 2001. He bombared American Shores with a deal with Atlantic and released Born to Do It stateside in summer 2001. Mainstream radio flocked to him immediately. Missy Elliott, Beyoncé Knowles, and Usher called themselves fans.
The next year, things didn't simmer down for the now international pop star. Craig David returned with a sophomore effort Slicker Than Your Average in November 2002. This particular album saw a much grittier side from David. Debut single "What's Your Flava?" also became one of the year's hottest singles.
Friday, February 6, 2009
" The Undesputed J Lo"
J e n n i f e r L o p e z
Jennifer Lopez - Biography Lopez was born and raised in the Castle Hill neighborhood in the Bronx, New York City, New York to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez and David Lopez. Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools. She also financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of nineteen. After leaving a one-semester career at Baruch College, Lopez divided her time between working in a legal office, dance classes, and dance performances in Manhattan clubs at night.
After months of auditioning for dance roles, Lopez was selected as a dancer for various rap artists' music videos, and was given a guest spot at the American Music Awards as a backup dancer for the New Kids on the Block and their performance of their song "Games" in 1991. After being rejected twice, Lopez gained her first regular high-profile job as a "Fly Girl" dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1991.
Soon after, Lopez became a backup dancer for famed singer Janet Jackson and made an appearance in her 1993 video "That's the Way Love Goes". Lopez's debut album On the 6, a reference to the 6 subway line she used to take growing up in Castle Hill, was released on June 1, 1999, and reached the top ten of the Billboard 200. The album featured the multi-week Billboard Hot 100 number-one lead single, "If You Had My Love", as well as the top ten hit "Waiting for Tonight". It also contained the Spanish-language, Latin-flavored duet "No Me Ames" with Marc Anthony. Though "No Me Ames" never had a commercial release, it reached number one on the U.S. Hot Latin Tracks.
Despite this, the music video for "No Me Ames" received moderate airplay on the music channels VH1 (United States) and The Box (United Kingdom). On the 6 also featured guest artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe on the track "Feelin' So Good", which failed to make the top fifty of the Billboard Hot 100. "Let's Get Loud", the final single, earned Lopez a Grammy Award nomination in the "Best Dance Recording" category in 2001. "Waiting for Tonight" was nominated for the same category the previous year. "No Me Ames" received two nominations at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards — "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" and "Best Music Video". Lopez's second album, J. Lo, was released on January 23, 2001 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The lead single, "Love Don't Cost a Thing", was her first number-one single in the United Kingdom and took her into the top five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. She followed it up with "Play" which gave her another top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number three in the UK.
Her next two singles were "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny" which were quickly rising up the charts. To capitalize on this, Lopez asked The Inc. Records (then known as Murder Inc.) to remix both songs, which featured rap artists Ja Rule (on both) and Caddillac Tah (on the "Ain't It Funny" remix). Both remixes reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks.
She re-released J. Lo on her thirty-second birthday with the remix of "I'm Real" as a bonus track. Following the success of the re-release of J. Lo, Lopez decided to devote an entire album to the remixing effort, releasing J to tha L-O!: The Remixes, on February 5, 2002. This album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first remix album in history to debut at the top on the chart.[7] Featured artists on J to tha L-O!: The Remixes included P. Diddy, Fat Joe, and Nas, and the album also included rare dance and hip-hop remixes of past singles. It is still one of the most successful remix albums ever. On November 26, 2002, Lopez released her third studio album, This Is Me... Then, which reached number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned four singles: "Jenny from the Block" (featuring Jadakiss and Styles P), which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100; "All I Have" (featuring LL Cool J), which spent multiple weeks at number one; "I'm Glad"; and "Baby I Love U!".
The album included a cover of Carly Simon's 1978 "You Belong to Me". It performed well on the charts, selling 2.5 million copies in the United States alone. After a year away from the music scene, Lopez released her fourth studio album, Rebirth, on March 1, 2005. Although debuting and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, the album quickly fell off the charts. It spawned one hit in "Get Right", which reached the top fifteen in the U.S. and became her second Platinum hit (after "If You Had My Love"). "Get Right" was also successful in the UK, becoming her second number-one single there. The second single, "Hold You Down", which featured Fat Joe, reached number sixty-four on the U.S. Hot 100; it peaked at number six in the UK and ascended to the top twenty in Australia. Another song, "Cherry Pie", was slated for a fall release, but the plans to make a video were cancelled as the album sales were definitely too weak and the promotion budget exceeded. It was released to radio stations in Spain.
Rebirth was certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. Nevertheless, Lopez was featured on LL Cool J's single "Control Myself", which was released on February 1, 2006. It reached number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was Lopez's first U.S. top ten hit in three years. Lopez is also working on her fifth English studio album, in which she is mainly working with producer Swizz Beatz. "It's coming out incredible", he said. "We're putting together some great things, and not what everyone's expecting. Think a little Jamiroquai, a little Sade. It's real feel-good music". Other rumored producers are Timbaland, Cory Rooney, Jermaine Dupri, and newcomer Peter Wade. It has been confirmed to be released in September, 2007 and that Jonathan "J.R." Rotem is working on some tracks as well.[8] On March 27, 2007, Jennifer appeared on MTV's TRL and stated that the album's first single would be released to radio in June with album confirmed to be released in September, 2007. She said that she's choosing between 4 uptempo songs for the 1st single. She also stated she will finally be going on tour in late 2007 with a mix of her English and Spanish music.
" Alluring Mariah Carey "
m a r i a h
Mariah Carey - Biography Born and raised in New York by her mother, a former opera singer with the New York City Opera and a vocal coach, Mariah Carey began singing at age four. By the time she was in junior high school, she had begun to write songs. After her high school graduation, she got her first big break, singing backup for friend Brenda K. Starr, a break that led to her signing with Columbia Records.
http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--202144604
http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--157438911
http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--57641798
http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--60099879
Mariah's 1990 eponymous debut album launched an unparalleled unbroken string of successes. Mariah Carey has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide, was certified 8x RIAA-platinum, and yielded a record-setting four consecutive #1 singles: "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time," "Someday," and "I Don't Wanna Cry." The title track of 1992's quadruple-platinum Emotions generated her fifth consecutive #1 single, placing Mariah Carey in the Top Ten All-Time achievers of Most Consecutive #1 Hits.
Emotions earned Mariah two Grammy® nominations ("Best Pop Vocal, Female" and, with Walter Afanasieff, "Best Producer") and an American Music Award ("Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B"). On March 17, 1992, Mariah appeared on MTV Unplugged, leading to the release of Mariah's sixth #1 single ("I'll Be There") as well as an EP which has been certified triple platinum in the U.S. and has sold more than five million copies worldwide. In 1993, Mariah released Music Box, an album which has sold more than 24 million copies worldwide, has been certified ten times RIAA platinum, and generated her seventh and eighth #1 singles "Dreamlover" and "Hero" as well as the Top 10 hit "Without You."
Mariah followed up with her holiday album, Merry Christmas, which sold eight million copies worldwide shortly after its release in November 1994 and has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA. Mariah's 1995 album, Daydream, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart; generated three consecutive #1 singles -- "Fantasy," "One Sweet Day" (her duet with Boyz II Men which, having spent 16 weeks at #1, still holds the record as the longest-running #1 single in history), and "Always Be My Baby" (Mariah's ninth, tenth, and eleventh #1's) -- and has been certified 10x platinum.
With Daydream, she became the first female artist in history to have three studio albums to each sell in excess of eight million copies. Mariah's 1997 album, Butterfly, a heady sensuous mix of contemporary R&B and pop, generated the #1 hits "Honey" (featuring Ma$e & The Lox) and "My All" (her twelfth and thirteenth #1's).
Butterfly has been certified quadruple platinum. In November 1998, Mariah released her #1's album, a collection of 13 of her chart-topping megahits as well as four brand-new bonus recordings: "When You Believe (from The Prince Of Egypt)," a duet with Whitney Houston; "Whenever You Call," a duet with Brian McKnight; "I Still Believe"; and "Sweetheart." #1's has achieved RIAA triple platinum status. Her 1999 release, Rainbow, featured Mariah's 14th #1 Hot 100 single, "Heartbreaker," which also became her 6th chart-topping R&B single. Maria Carey has had more #1 singles than any female artist, surpassing both the Supremes (12) and Madonna (11), and more #1's than any currently active recording artist.
She has had more #1 singles (14) than any artist during the 1990s and seen more singles (3) debut at #1 than any artist in history. With more #1 albums (4) than any female artist in the 1990's, Mariah was the first female artist to see two of her albums (Music Box and Daydream) reach the 10 million mark in sales and is the only female artist to have eight albums certified triple-platinum or better (in Mariah's case, her entire album catalog has achieved RIAA multi-platinum status). In fact, Mariah Carey is the only artist to have had a #1 single for every year of the 1990's.
The last decade to have an artist hit #1 every single year was the 1920's when Paul Whiteman & his Orchestra hit the top slot each year. (By the end of the 1920's, Whiteman had become a Columbia Records artist.) With the exception of Merry Christmas (from which there was no single release) and #1's (a collection of her first 13 chart-toppers), Mariah has hit #1 with the debut single from every one of her albums. With the exception of her cover version of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There," Mariah has cowritten all of her #1's, including "Heartbreaker." With the exceptions of "I Don't Wanna Cry," "Someday," "Love Takes Time," and "Vision Of Love," Mariah has co-produced all of her chart-topping singles.
Mariah received 1990 Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Female ("Vision of Love"). The same year, Mariah picked up three Soul Train Awards: Best New Artist, Best Album (Mariah Carey) and Best Single, Female ("Vision of Love"). A perennial favorite at the American Music Awards, Mariah won Favorite Female Artist/R&B in 1992; Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Album, Adult Contemporary in 1993; Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock in 1995; and Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B in 1996. Mariah picked up her first Billboard Awards in 1991 for Top Adult Contemporary Artist, Top Pop Artist, Top Album Artist, Top Pop Singles Artist, and Top Pop Singles Artist/Female.
In 1996, she won a Billboard Award for Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year and, with Boyz II Men, a Special Hot 100 Singles Award for "One Sweet Day." At the 1998 World Music Awards ceremony, Mariah won an award for Best Selling R&B Artist and the Legend Award for World's Best Selling Recording Artist of the 1990's. She won her first World Music Awards - World's Best Selling Pop Artist, World's Best American Recording Artist, and World's Overall Best Performing Artist - in 1995.
The following year, she was presented with trophies for World's Best Selling R&B Female Artist of the Year, World's Best Selling Overall Recording Female Artist of the Year, World's Best Selling Pop Artist of the Year, and World's Best Selling American Female Artist of the Year. Mariah was presented with the Aretha Franklin Entertainer Award and named Entertainer of the Year at the 1998 Lady Of Soul Awards. As of September 1999, Mariah Carey had sold more than 120 million albums and singles worldwide and earned an astounding 84 RIAA gold, platinum, and multi-platinum certifications for her singles, albums, and videos.
As one of the most popular recording artists of the 1990s, Mariah has provided an ongoing soundtrack to the decade. In 2001, Mariah signed with Virgin Records, which released Glitter, the soundtrack album to the film of the same name, with Mariah in her first lead acting role. She has also been featured in the films The Bachelor (1999) and Wisegirls (2002). In May 2002, Mariah signed an exclusive recording contract with the Universal Music Group's Island Records.
In addition, Carey has formed her own label, MonarC Music. Mariah's Charmbracelet features the songstress writing and co-producing with such a-list names as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Jermaine Dupri among others. The album, which is lyrically very personal, showcases Mariah's stunning voice, prolific songwriting and incredible versatility. This is fully evident on the first single, the sweeping epic ballad, "Through The Rain" which is a perfect example of what Mariah does best.
Carey's ninth studio album The Emancipation of Mimi was released in 2005 and contained contributions from producers such as The Neptunes, Kanye West and Carey's longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri. Carey said it was "very much like a party record ... the process of putting on makeup and getting ready to go out ... I wanted to make a record that was reflective of that." Mimi became the year's best-selling album in the U.S. with over five million copies (5xPlatinum) sold, won three Grammy Awards (including "Best Contemporary R&B Album") and received some of Carey's most favourable reviews in some time.
The second single "We Belong Together" held the Hot 100's number-one position for fourteen weeks (her longest run at the top as a solo artist) and was the biggest hit of 2005 in the U.S., while "Shake It Off" made Carey the only female artist to occupy the top two positions on the Hot 100 simultaneously. "Don't Forget about Us" became her seventeenth number-one in the U.S., which tied her with Elvis Presley for the most number-ones by a solo act according to Billboard magazine's revised methodology. By this count Carey is behind only The Beatles, who have twenty number-ones. The album became certified 6x platinum after her Grammy wins.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
" Bright Light " by billy crawford
b i l l y c r a w f o r d
|
| Billy Crawford | |
|---|---|
 Billy Crawford | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Billy Joe Crawford |
| Also known as | Billy Crawford |
| Born | May 16, 1982 Manila, Philippines |
| Origin | New York City, New York, United States Manila, Philippines |
| Genre(s) | R&B, Pop, Soul, OPM |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-Songwriter, Record Producer, Dancer, Actor, TV Presenter |
| Years active | 1998 – Present |
| Label(s) | V2 (1998 – 2004) Universal (2004 – 2006) MCA (2007 – Present) |
| Website | TheRealBillyCrawford |
Billy Crawford (born Billy Joe Crawford on May 16, 1982)[1] is an Filipino-American musician and actor with musical influences from R&B, pop, and soul. Crawford became known in Europe and Asia with song titles such as "When You Think About Me", "Never My Love", "Steamy Nights"[2] and "Bright Lights". Crawford is multilingual, being fluent in two Philippine languages, his native Tagalog as well as Cebuano. His second language is American English and he is conversational in French. Crawford has lived in New York City, USA, and in Paris for five years and for one year in London. He currently resides in Los Angeles as of 2007. In 2008, he went to Manila to host Pinoy Dream Academy's uberture. He has also hosted the prestigious Miss Earth 2008 held in the Philippines.
Biography
He is currently in a relationship with Nikki Gil.
[edit] Early life
Crawford was born in Manila, Philippines, to a Filipina mother who is half Spanish named Mayette and an American father named Jack. He has two half-brothers. Crawford was discovered at an early age of 3 years, singing at a bowling alley that his mother visited often. He became a series regular on an afternoon GMA Network television show called That's Entertainment under the name Billy Joe. He attended International Christian Academy in the Philippines until his departure for the US when he was 11 and balanced both his professional acting and academic repertory obligations. He acted in a few movies before he moved to the United States where he started a music career, performing mostly in the United Kingdom and France, as well as in Asia. His pre-career started in Dallas, Texas, USA, where he lived and performed his singing and then moved to New York City. During this time, he legally changed his name to Billy Crawford. He went to a school in New York City which lots of other famous people such as Mandy Moore and Nina Sky attended. In 1996, he danced with Michael Jackson onstage when he was 14 years old and appeared as one of his back-up dancers at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. He dated Mandy Moore for almost a year when he was 15 and she was 14.
[edit] Billy Crawford (1999)
He recorded his first album called Billy Crawford (which included hits such as "Urgently In Love" and "Mary Lopez") when he was 15 years old. It went straight into the charts in the Philippines and Europe. His foreign career did not last too long. After a year, everyone began to forget who he was. He took a small break at first and had a few accidents during that time and he was in the hospital. When he was released from hospital, he fainted and fell down the stairs in front of it, and returned to hospital the same day with a broken jaw, which healed successfully. His quiet break lasted more than a year.
[edit] "Trackin" (2001)
Crawford was a success as a singer in France with the first single from his album Ride called "Trackin'". In 2001, it put Crawford at the top of the French charts. "Trackin'" has sold 750,000 copies and was certified platinum; it reached a #1 position on sales charts and was #1 in the club charts. The song also made #1 in the Netherlands, #2 in Belgium, #3 in Switzerland and #20 in Germany. It had a great success in Germany and became #1 on the radio and club chart. His second single "When You Think About Me", was also a huge success, and many other successes followed.
[edit] Ride (2001)
By April 2002, Crawford was back on the scene with his second album, Ride. This was certified gold in France (making 100,000 copies) within just a few weeks and gold in Switzerland. The album went on to achieve platinum status in the French market (making 300,000 copies) and a total of 600,000 copies has been sold to date. As for singles, following the success of the second track, "When You Think About Me" (over 250,000 copies sold in France), Crawford returned in September 2002 with a third single from the Ride album, "You Didn't Expect That", which went directly into the Top 5 and was certified gold in December, having sold more than 250,000 copies in just a few weeks. After this grand success, he returned in 2003 with two versions of a previously unreleased track: the English version of "Someone Like You" and a special Franco-English version for France, "Me Passer de Toi", which stayed in the singles charts for some weeks.
[edit] Big City (2004)
The album Big City was produced by some of the best producers in the American music industry such as Kovas (Ghettobeat Production), J Que (from "The Clutch"), Tricky Stewart and Laney Stewart (RedZone Entertainment), The CornaBoyz, Pale Face, Desmond Child and Stargate. He left his old company, V2 records, wanting to expand his career into something bigger.
[edit] Big City Tour Live (2005)
Big City Tour Live is the live release DVD album from Crawford. The DVD was released in 2005 at France. It was directed by Michel Jankielewicz, produced by Yves El-Baze and distributed by UMG (2005) (worldwide) (DVD). The budget of this album was €150,000 (estimated).
[edit] It's Time (2008)
| | This article or section needs to be updated. Please update the article to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished. |
It's Time is the fourth studio album by Crawford. The album is confirmed to be released in fall 2007. There are 12 songs known so far.
[edit] Music career
Crawford had major chart success in France and other parts of Europe, but did not repeat this success in the United Kingdom and the United States, although his single "You Didn't Expect That" did make the lower reaches of the UK Top 40, peaking at number 35. He also contributed a remix of the Pokémon anime theme song for Pokémon: The First Movie in the series. Crawford also appeared at a popular Filipino American event called "Fiesta Filipina" in 2001 held in San Francisco, California, and American people have become more aware of his name.
Crawford's album Big City was released in 2004 in France and Asia only. The single "Bright Lights" was unable to break into the any Top 10 charts. The second single "Steamy Nights", fared better making Top 40, and was featured on 7 compilations across Europe and was the first single in Germany. Crawford's music video for "Steamy Nights" was shot in Los Angeles, California, and was produced with the same people who worked on the Destiny's Child single "Lose My Breath". Actress Jenna Dewan, who was one of the main characters in the popular 2006 movie Step Up, was featured as one of Crawford's main dance partners.
Another song from Candy Store was leaked from the album and received airplay on London radio. Thought to be a duet with Ginuwine, it is featured on the Big City album. After doing the first ever online reality show "the MSN Dance Show", his third single from Big City, "3 Wishes", was canceled by his label. Crawford felt it was time for something new and decided not to re-sign his contract with V2 records. He is writing and producing songs for other artists.
In 2006, Crawford began recording a new album which was expected to be released in 2007. In 2006, he toured during the summer with the L5 in France and in November he was scheduled to return to his home country to shoot a film.
In 2007, he returned to the Philippines for a new dance reality show M.O.V.E for GMA Network. The show searched for six back-up dancers for his Araneta Coliseum concert. After the successful concert, he returned to the United States to work on projects and fulfill several commitments.
Upon his return to the Philippines, Crawford decided to sign with ABS-CBN as an exclusive artist instead of returning to GMA. He became a regular on the Sunday variety show ASAP and later hosted the 2nd season of Pinoy Dream Academy.
[edit] Personal life
Crawford did not receive significant media attention after the Big City Tour 2005, mostly being mentioned in a few magazines for his break-up with Lorie, and found a new relationship with Maryss (also known as Maryss from Paris), a dancer he met when she auditioned for the Big City tour. Recently, Maryss has only referred to Crawford as a good friend and Crawford has admitted that he is too busy to find any relationships at the moment.
He is also close friends with the singers from Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake as well as *NSYNC, and Matt Pokora a popular French singer.
Amidst his looming career in the international music scene, most especially in Europe, he decided to reside in the Philippines. His stay in the Philippines for his Move TV show gave Billy friendly connections with many other Filipino actors and singers such as Rochelle Pangilinan, Ruffa Mae Quinto, Marian Rivera, Gary Valenciano and Jay-R, as well as with many other famous actors and singers.
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