Sept.6th – N.O.R.E. a.k.a. Noreaga was born Victor Santiago Jr. in Queens , New York , on this day in 1976.

N.O.R.E. was 1st introduced to the hip-hop world as Noreaga in 1996 with his partner in rhyme Capone as Capone-N-Noreaga. He took his name from former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noreaga.

Capone-N-Noreaga or CNN for short , released their debut album “The War Report” on Penalty Records in 1997. “The War Report” contained the hit-singles ; “Capone Bone” , “Closer” , “T.O.N.Y.”(Top Of New York) , “Illegal Life” and the controversial “L.A. , L.A.”. The album was produced by Tragedy Khadafi , who also was the architect behind the concept of the group.

In 1998 , Noreaga released his Self-Entitled debut solo album ,changing his stage name to N.O.R.E. in the process. The album was hugely successful, spawning the hit “Superthug” , produced by The Neptunes.

In 1999 , calling himself Noreaga again , he released is 2nd solo album called “Melvin Flynt – Da Hustler”. Melvin Flynt , an alter-ego for Noreaga , was a combination of Hustler Magazine founder Larry Flynt and the Oscar-winning Jack Nicholson character ; Melvin Udall in the 1997 Tri-Star Pictures film “As Good as It Gets”.

In 1999 , Capone-N-Noreaga released their sophomore album as a duo called “The Reunion” on Tommy Boy Records.

In 2002 , Noreaga released another solo album , this time on Def Jam Records called “God’s Favorite” , which contained the smash-hit “Nothin’”.

In 2006 N.O.R.E. released the album “N.O.R.E. Y La Familia…Ya Tu Sabe” , which included the huge reggaeton hit “Oye Mi Canto”.

Since then N.O.R.E. released 2 more solo albums ; 2007’s “Noreality” and 2009’s “S.O.R.E.” as well as 2 more CNN albums ; 2009’s “Channel 10” and 2010’s “The War Report 2”.