Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and musician. Morissette began her music career in Canada in the early 1990s, releasing two dance-pop albums. She achieved global success with her alternative rock album, Jagged Little Pill (1995), which sold over 33 million copies and won Morissette four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year. It produced the singles "You Oughta Know", "You Learn", "Hand in My Pocket", "Ironic", and "Head over Feet". Jagged Little Pill propelled her to become a cultural phenomenon and has been included on several all-time lists.
Natalie Renée McIntyre, known professionally as Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday.
Curtis James Jackson III, known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in South Jamaica, a neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, he recorded his debut album Power of the Dollar for Columbia Records; however, he was struck by nine bullets during a shooting in May 2000, causing its release to be cancelled and Jackson to be dropped from the label. His 2002 mixtape, Guess Who's Back? was discovered by Detroit rapper Eminem, who signed Jackson to his label Shady Records, an imprint of Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records that same year.
The Blueprint is the sixth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released on September 11, 2001, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. Its release was set a week earlier than initially planned in order to combat bootlegging. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2001 at Manhattan Center Studios and Baseline Studios in New York City. Contrasting the radio-friendly sound of Jay-Z's previous work, The Blueprint features soul-based sampling and production handled primarily by Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Bink, as well as Timbaland, Trackmasters, and Eminem, who also contributes the album's sole guest feature.
Jeffrey Marshall Foxworthy is an American comedian, actor, author, radio and television host, and writer. He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, with Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall, and formerly Ron White. Known for his "You might be a redneck" one-liners, Foxworthy has released six major-label comedy albums. His first two albums were each certified triple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. He has written several books based on his redneck jokes, as well as an autobiography entitled No Shirt, No Shoes... No Problem!
Jayceon Terrell Taylor, better known by his stage name the Game or simply Game, is an American rapper. Born in Compton, California, he initially released a series of mixtapes under the wing of fellow West Coast rapper JT the Bigga Figga. After releasing his debut album Untold Story independently in 2004, he was discovered by record producer Dr. Dre and signed to his Aftermath Records label imprint. The Game rose to fame in 2005 following the release of his major-label debut album The Documentary, which peaked the Billboard 200 along with its 2006 follow-up, Doctor's Advocate. The former album received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and two Grammy Award nominations—Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for its single, "Hate It or Love It".
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single "Gloria", stayed on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking at No. 2. It also reached number one in Australia and Canada. Branigan's "Gloria" was a cover of a song written by Italian singer-songwriters Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi. In 1984, she reached number one in Canada and Germany and No. 4 in the U.S. with "Self Control" a cover of Italian singer and songwriter Raf from the same year. Both "Gloria" and "Self Control" were successful in the United Kingdom, making the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005, returning as a judge beginning with the twenty-third season. Underwood's single "Inside Your Heaven" (2005) made her the first country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Bolstered by further crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), became the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo female country artist, was ranked by Billboard the top country album of the 2000s, and earned Underwood three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. She followed it with Carnival Ride (2007), which sold over half a million copies in its first week and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, Play On (2009), yielded the chart-topping single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100.
DeAndre Cortez Way, known professionally as Soulja Boy, is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with his self-released 2007 debut single, "Crank That ", which peaked the Billboard Hot 100 for seven non-consecutive weeks. After its commercial re-release by Collipark Music, an imprint of Interscope Records, the song and its follow-up, "Soulja Girl", both preceded the release of his debut studio album, Souljaboytellem.com (2007). Despite unfavorable critical reception, it peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "Yahhh!"
Joel Thomas Zimmerman, known professionally as deadmau5, is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. Zimmerman has received seven Grammy Award nominations for his songs. He mainly produces progressive house and electro house music, though he also produces and DJs other genres of electronic music, including techno under the alias Testpilot. Zimmerman is well known for wearing custom helmets for performances and appearances, similar to Daft Punk and later inspiring Marshmello.
Interplay is a 1963 album by jazz musician Bill Evans. It was recorded in July 1962 in New York City for Riverside Records. The Interplay Sessions is a 1982 Milestone album that includes the entirety of this album, and tracks recorded for Riverside on August 21 and 22 of the same year with a different lineup . The Interplay Sessions peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Jazz Albums charts in 1983. The CD reissue Interplay adds another take of "I'll Never Smile Again" as a bonus track. At the Grammy Awards of 1984, Orrin Keepnews won the Grammy Award for Best Album Notes for the reissue.
Choi Seung-hyun, known professionally as T.O.P, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He performed as an underground rapper before joining the record label YG Entertainment and debuted as the lead rapper of the boy band BigBang in 2006. The group became one of the best-selling groups of all time in Asia and one of the best-selling boy bands in the world. In 2010, while the group was on hiatus, T.O.P and G-Dragon collaborated to release the album, GD & TOP. As a solo rapper, he has released two digital singles, "Turn It Up" (2010) and "Doom Dada" (2013), that have peaked at number two and four, respectively, on the Gaon Digital Chart. He was convicted of marijuana use in 2017, which led to a surge of anti-fans among South Koreans.
The Game is the eighth studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 30 June 1980 by EMI Records in the UK and by Elektra Records in the US. The Game features a different sound from its predecessor, Jazz (1978). The Game was the first Queen album to use a synthesizer.
Pejman Azarmina is an Iranian-American scholar, entrepreneur, musician and thinkocrat. After 15 years of pursuing a career in the pharmaceutical industry, he joined UCLA as a faculty member to establish the Office of Physician-Scientist Career Development within the David Geffen School of Medicine. Earlier in his career, his interest in leadership development led to the formation of multiple tools, projects and initiatives aiming to develop the next generation of holistic leaders and systems thinkers under the umbrella term of Thinkocrats.
Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji, known professionally as KSI, is an English influencer, professional boxer, and musician. He is a co-founding member of YouTube group the Sidemen, the CEO of Misfits Boxing, and the co-owner of several businesses, including Prime Hydration and Lunchly.
Durk Devontay Banks, known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip hop subgenre drill music, he has been noted as one of the subgenre's most commericially successful rappers. He initially garnered local success with the release of his Signed to the Streets mixtape series (2013–2014), which led to him to sign with Def Jam Recordings. The label released his debut studio album, Remember My Name (2015), and its follow-up, Lil Durk 2X (2016), to moderate commercial reception before parting ways with the rapper in 2018.
Brandon Paak Anderson, known professionally as Anderson .Paak, is an American singer, rapper, and record producer. He released his debut mixtape, O.B.E. Vol. 1, in 2012 and went on to release his debut album Venice in 2014. In 2016, he followed up with his second album, Malibu, which received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album, followed by his third album, Oxnard (2018). At the 61st Grammy Awards, Paak won his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance with his 2018 non-album single "Bubblin". In 2020, he won two additional Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album with his fourth album Ventura, while a song from the album won Best R&B Performance with "Come Home".
Austin Richard Post, known professionally as Post Malone, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, and guitarist. He has gained distinction and acclaim for his blending of various genres including hip-hop, pop, R&B, trap, and country. His stage name was derived from inputting his birth name into a rap name generator.
Starbomb is an American musical comedy group composed of Dan Avidan and Brian Wecht of musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party together with Flash animator and Internet personality Arin Hanson and "space rock masters" TWRP, a Canadian music group known for collaborations with NSP. The songs of Starbomb consist of video game parodies; Avidan provides sung vocals, Hanson provides rapping vocals, and Wecht performs instruments. All three are also known as a part of YouTube Let's Play web series Game Grumps.
Let's Play the Music of Thad Jones is an album by pianist Tommy Flanagan featuring compositions by Thad Jones recorded in 1993 for the Enja label.
