When it came time to choose an album title for the follow-up to Three Days Graces 2006s platinum-certified One-X, the four band members thought the phrase life starts now summed things up pretty well. The new album is basically a commentary on the last couple years of our lives, says drummer Neil Sanderson. Things have been fairly traumatic for more than one of us. We've all had to confront death on a few different levels, and we've had family go through some health-related things, so, for us, Life Starts Now reflects that feeling of redefining what life is and what it means to be alive after you hit rock bottom.

The events of the past few years have made us more aware of what life really can be, says lead vocalist/guitarist Adam Gontier. So the album is about taking the situation that youre in, no matter how bad it feels, and making the best of it. Lyrically, most of the songs are based around that idea.

Several tracks address powerful feelings of loss whether through betrayal, on Bitter Taste and Last To Know, or death, on World So Cold and Without You songs that bassist Brad Walst says really hit close to home. Bully tackles the impact of bullying, something Sanderson describes as a massive problem that can actually change someones life and affect who they are as a person. The band switches things up on the more upbeat The Good Life, which asks: If you were to live a different life, what would you want to get out of it? Gontier explains. Then theres the fiery first single Break, which Gontier says explores not being controlled by your surroundings or environment. Its about breaking away from being told what to do and living the life that you want to live.

A sense of adventure permeates Life Starts Now, which the Toronto-based band began writing after coming off the road for One-X in April 2008. Though the album doesnt skimp on Gontiers trademark anguished vocals, Barry Stocks urgent riffs, or Sanderson and Walsts thunderous rhythm section, the band knew that they had evolved as musicians, thanks to hundreds of live shows, and wanted to capture it in their sound. While touring behind One-X, wed try new things at soundchecks and experiment a bit, recalls Walst, but we had a bigger vision for this record. We wanted to do something a little different.

We had talked about how so many contemporary rock records have that formulaic, heavily layered, mechanical, shiny sound to them, Sanderson says. They start sounding generic and fake. So we wanted to go the opposite route and freshen things up by making a record that was really open and raw and live. Thats how we approached itwe went for that big, boomy sound. To get it, Three Days Grace recorded Life Starts Now at The Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, where everyone from AC/DC to Bon Jovi to Nine Inch Nails have recorded, and which Sanderson describes as having one the best open drum rooms in the world.

They also prepped themselves in advance. Before we went into the studio, wed listen to classic rock records by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, just to remember the sounds that we loved while we were growing up, Gontier says. We wanted to make our album sound very real, raw, and larger-than-life, like those old records do. Adds lead guitarist Barry Stock, Everybody seemed to feel a little freer to expand and do something beyond the regular cookie-cutter thing, so we all just stepped it up. There are some great solos, some great drum parts, and great vocal moments. Were inspired by classic rock bands more than anything because they have this really great organic feel, but they sound huge, and we wanted to achieve that.

To help them reach their goals, Three Days Grace reunited with producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Motorhead, Papa Roach, P.O.D), who produced One-X. He really saw our vision and let us experiment to get the sounds and parts we needed to make the best record we could, Walst says. One of the great things about Howard is that he recognizes what kind of band we are, Sanderson adds. He really complements what we do and is definitely a great guy to bounce ideas off of.

The result is an album that brims with confidence, musicality, and accessibility, while retaining what has made Three Days Grace so beloved by their fans: their authenticity. I think people relate to our music on such a deep level because were real, says Gontier. We write about real things and I think people know that. Our fans know that were not trying to be something that were not. Adds Sanderson: People can connect what we write about to their own lives because its real. Weve been dealt hands that have been difficult, but I think these days, people want something real more than ever, and theyre especially sensitive to what is contrived and what isnt.

Its that genuineness, along with emotional themes underscored by their explosive sound and that has led Three Days Grace to rock stardom. Their 2003 self-titled debut spawned three hit singles, I Hate Everything About You, which reached #2 on the Mediabase Modern Rock chart and went Top 5 on the Mediabase Mainstream Rock chart. Just Like You climbed to #1 on both the Mediabase Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts, while Home peaked at #2 on the Mediabase Mainstream Rock chart. One-X debuted on the Billboard album chart at #5 and produced three #1 Mediabase Mainstream Rock singles: Animal Ive Become, Pain and Never Too Late. In 2007, Mediabase ranked the band as the #1 artist in airplay across all rock formats (Modern Rock, Active Rock, Mainstream Rock). Also that year, R&R/Billboard ranked Three Days Grace as the #1 Active Rock Artist of the Year, #1 Rock Artist of the Year, and #2 Modern Rock/Alternative Artist of the Year. Both Three Days Grace and One-X have been certified platinum by the RIAA and the band has sold more than six million albums worldwide. In 2008, they wrapped up more than two years of touring in the U.S., where they shared stages with fellow rockers Nickelback, Staind, Seether, and Breaking Benjamin.

Now Three Days Grace are looking forward to following up those successes with Life Starts Now, which was released by Jive Records on September 22, 2009. Im curious to see how people respond to it and what songs they relate to, Gontier says. Music is emotion for us, adds Walst. Were just trying to trust our own gut. If the four of us feel something while were playing it, then we hope our fans relate and feel the same.

Even though we wanted this album to be different, theres a lot that hasnt changed, says Sanderson. We still use music as a way to release emotion. The other thing that hasnt changed is the best part of it all: getting up on stage and killing it in front of 20,000 people!

As the flagship artist for producer Irv Gotti's Def Jam-affiliated Murder Inc. label, Ja Rule became one of the rap industry's most commercially successful artists during the early 2000s, working closely with the hitmaking producer and his stable of talent. Born Jeffrey Atkins on February 29, 1976, in Queens, New York, Ja Rule established himself with Venni Vetti Vecci (1999), a hardcore debut album similar in style to the rugged thug rap then popularized by DMX and the Ruff Ryder collective. On his second album, Rule 3:36 (2000), he began collaborating with female R&B singers, and a string of radio-friendly hits resulted ("Between Me and You," "Put It on Me," "I Cry"). Pain Is Love (2001) followed the same template, serving up a few rap-R&B hybrids for the singles ("I'm Real," "Livin' It Up," "Always on Time," "Down Ass Chick") and filling out the album with hardcore rap.
The Last Temptation Throughout the summer of 2002, Ja Rule was at his most popular, featured on not only his own hits but also as a featured guest on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Mary J. Blige's "Rainy Dayz." Near the end of the year, he released his fourth album, The Last Temptation (2002), which again paired him with R&B vocalists for its singles, this time with Bobby Brown ("Thug Lovin'") and Ashanti ("Mesmerize"). Ja Rule began to be mocked by 50 Cent around this time, and beefs ensued between the two rappers' camps; for instance, over the beat of 2Pac's "Hail Mary," 50 Cent teamed up with his associates Eminem and Busta Rhymes for a stinging mixtape freestyle dissing Ja Rule and Irv Gotti. Increasingly susceptible to the criticism as his music fell out of public favor, Ja Rule returned with as much vengeance as he could muster for Blood in My Eye (2003) and R.U.L.E. (2004). Though the latter spawned a Top Five hit single, "Wonderful," a rap-R&B hybrid featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti, both albums were met with general indifference, becoming the first of Ja Rule's albums to fall short of platinum certification.
ExodusExodus (2005), a best-of collection, brought Ja Rule's tenure with Def Jam to a close. From 2005-2007, as Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. operation fell into shambles, Ja Rule was quiet; he charted no songs on the Billboard Hot 100 during this time period. Toward the end of 2007, he attempted a comeback, first with "Uh-Ohhh!"; featuring Lil Wayne, who was perhaps the hottest rapper of the moment, the song nonetheless stalled at number 106 on the Billboard 200. A couple other singles ("Body," "Sunset") also failed to garner significant airplay, and the planned November 2007 release of The Mirror was pushed back and then canceled. That same year he would be arrested on gun and drug possession charges, which in 2010 would turn into a two-year sentence in jail. A year later, 28 months were added for tax evasion, but it didn't stop his 2012 album Pain Is Love, Vol. 2 from landing on his new label M-Pire.

In the year 2014 a small doll like creature emerged from Youtube.com.

Is she a human? Android? Cross breed?

Will we ever know? 

Thanks to her video titled "I'M POPPY” (that has now been viewed over 10 million times) we know one thing is for sure, She’s Poppy!

With several hundred videos under her belt (this year) and hundreds of millions of views on YouTube, Poppy prepares to release her debut album on October 6, 2017.

If the internet Gods have blessed you with Poppy’s presence, you have probably felt like you were transported into another dimension or perhaps another state of mind? Directed by Titanic Sinclair, Poppy’s videos are a daily morphine drip for a social media addicted generation.

Who knew watching a small blonde girl recite the obvious, question existence, or just eat something could make you feel so perplexed. Wired Magazine says “The magic of Poppy is that, to understand Poppy, you have to keep watching Poppy. And soon you find yourself watching her everywhere: YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. Before long, you’re swimming in a sea of Poppy. The water is cool and pink but eventually you wonder if Titanic will start turning up the heat and that, before you know it, you’ll be boiled alive or choke on the Pepto-Bismol taste and drown. You dive deeper anyway."