Singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado heavily credits her ethnic background and childhood for spawning her creativity as a female and as an inspiring musician. Born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Furtado's working-class parents, who are of Portuguese descent, instilled a hardcore work ethic during her upbringing. She spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her housekeeping mother, quickly realizing what it meant to work for a living.

When Furtado started cutting loose at a local Toronto club during the week, her musical aspirations began to swirl. Brian West and Gerald Eaton, of Canadian funk-pop group the Philosopher Kings, were instantly impressed by her strong sense of performing and asked to produce her demo. During those sessions, Furtado created some of the moving work that landed on her debut for Dreamworks, Whoa, Nelly!, released in fall 2000. A headlining tour of the U.S. in spring 2001 sparked more interest from fans and critics, and a spot on Moby's Area:One summer tour allowed singles "I'm Like a Bird" and "Turn Off the Light" to receive bigger praise. Furtado's greatest achievement followed a year later when she earned four Grammy nods, including Song of the Year for "I'm Like a Bird."

It all happened so quickly. Or so it seems. One day Sheed, Meany and Fat were grease monkeys at a makeshift garage in their Bowen Homes neighborhood, the next they were swiftly-rising hip-hop stars, progenitors of a growing musical movement they call ‘‘hood rock.’

But like most overnight successes, Shop Boyz’s rise to fame took many years. Cousins Demetrius “Meany” Hardin and Richard “Fat” Stephens grew up with best friend Rasheed “Sheed” Hightower in the notorious Bankhead area of Atlanta, the stomping ground of some of the city’s most successful hip-hop artists (T.I. and D4L, among them). They worked on cars, hustled, did whatever they could to make ends meet and when their work was done for the day, they turned to their true passion: making music. Their unique, groundbreaking style didn’t go unnoticed. It wasn’t long before a local producer named Richard “Fire” Harris stepped up and offered to make beats for the group -- free of charge. Fresh on his heels was an ear-to-the-street businessman named Brian “Bingo” Ward who took the guys under his wing, put them in his studio and recorded a bevy of songs on them, among them the group’s hit single “Party Like A Rockstar,” a clever, hook-driven joint that is as much about living life with fervor as it is getting your party on.

Check out Grant's biographical information from his professional career through college years. Read about his off-the-court Community Involvement and the organizations that he has worked with.

Don't forget to check out the profiles of Grant's wife, mother and father below!

Fiedler attended Oceanside High School in Oceanside, New York, and won varsity letters as a quarterback in football, a point guard in basketball, and as decathlete in track and field. He was influenced greatly by football coach Frank Luisi, who is also an English teacher at Oceanside High School. Fiedler told ESPN Magazine that his hero growing up was “my coach at Oceanside High School, Frank Luisi," who “would do anything for us. Coach kept me focused. He still calls after every game.”

College Career

He is an alumnus of Dartmouth College, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and Dragon Senior Society.

Fiedler led Dartmouth to a 22-7-1 record from 1991-93, Ivy titles in 1991 (6-0-1) and 1992 (6-1-0), and second place in 1993. He was the Ivy player-of-the-year, All-Ivy League first team, and third team All-America in 1992. In 1993 he engineered comeback victories in four of the Green's last five games, and repeated as All-Ivy League first team quarterback. During three seasons, Fiedler set Dartmouth records for touchdown passes (58), passing yards (6,684) and total offense (7,249 yards).

Jay was named Co-Offensive Player of the Game in the 1994 East-West Shrine Game. He received a Scholar-Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, and received his degree in Mechanical Engineering.

PM is a unique combination of rapper and song writer with a distinctive approach to hip-hop music that balances the southern energy, lyric-ism and a mainstream sensibility. His music is a universal brand of hip hop accessible to urban and pop audiences alike. PM is at a cross roads, he has created a loud buzz regionally capturing the attention of Kanye West, Missy, DJ Khaled and number of other establish artists. He contributed music to Kanye's latest mixtapes (Can't Tell Me Nothing-Hater Family) and was featured on DJ Khaled first album ( LISTENNN -Future of Dade County). PM also have diverse features on R&B songstress Tamia (Too Grown) and reggae sensation Richie Spice's singles. In addition he is currently featured on Rob Dinero's new radio sampler (No Samples Cleared)