Belly was a rock band formed in 1991 by former Throwing Muses members Tanya Donelly (who was also in The Breeders with Kim Deal) and Fred Abong. The band was based in Boston, Massachusetts, though all the original members grew up in Newport, Rhode Island. The band consisted of Donelly on lead vocals and guitar, Abong on bass guitar, Tom Gorman on guitar, and Chris Gorman on drums. Tom and Chris, who were brothers, were childhood friends of Donelly's; they had previously played in the hardcore punk band Verbal Assault.
"Belly" (real name Ahmad Balshe) is a rapper who was born April 7 1984 in Jenin, Palestine. He currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Belly is the first Canadian rapper to ever debut at No. 1 in Canadian rap and hip hop charts. Belly has just won the Best Rap Video Awards at the annual 2007 Much Music Video Awards, sharing honours and stage with Avril Lavigne, Fergie, and Billy Talent, among many others. He will be released in 18 territories in the Middle East in November through Universal Music. The album will be released though Fontana/Universal in the US in March 08. He also had airplay for “Pressure” and “Don't Be Shy” and he is launching in Latin America, starting in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela. A license deal is being finalized in Germany to be released under Universal. Presently, Belly has airplay for “Pressure” in the United Kingdom. A major world tour is being negotiated.
In early 2003, he was launched on the Canadian music scene by appearing on, then label-mate Massari's third single "Rush the Floor". After his debut, he began to work on his solo effort.
In January 2007, Belly's first single "Pressure" featuring Ginuwine premiered on music stations around the country. He later performed "Pressure" with Ginuwine on the 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards, where Belly was nominated for 4 awards, and took home the award for "Best Rap Video Award" for the same video.
In April 2007, Belly released the video for his second single "Don't Be Shy" featuring Nina Sky, as well as the video for "History of Violence" which remains his most controversial record to date. In "History Of Violence", Belly explains his views on the Palestine-Israel conflict, and the War in Iraq.
On June 5, 2007 Belly's debut album, the two-disc album "The Revolution" was released in Canada.
Shortly after, "I'm The Man" featuring Kurupt was released and it was premiered as the "Big One" on MuchMusic. He also released a video for "Smell Like Money" on myspace in early October.
In late October 2007, his third single featuring Mario Winans entitled "Ridin'" was released. The video features Mario Winans, model KD Aubert, who plays Belly's lead-girl and Dr. Benjamin Chavis.
