Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and actress. Often referred to as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, and ten Billboard Music Awards. She has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, including one for her supporting role in the film Mudbound (2017) and another for its original song "Mighty River", becoming the first person nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year.
Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band.
Purple Rain is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Prince, released on June 25, 1984, by Warner Bros. Records and the soundtrack to the 1984 film of the same name. Purple Rain was musically denser than Prince's previous albums, emphasizing full band performances, and multiple layers of guitars, keyboards, electronic synthesizer effects, drum machines, and other instruments.
Sheena Shirley Easton is a Scottish singer and actress. She is a dual British-American citizen. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme The Big Time: Pop Singer, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.
Lisa Jane Stansfield is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition Search for a Star. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first singles, Stansfield, along with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, formed Blue Zone in 1986. The band released several singles and one album, but after the success of Coldcut's "People Hold On" in 1989, on which Stansfield was featured, the focus was placed on her solo career.
Five Star are a British pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy Pearson. Between 1985 and 1988, Five Star had four top 20 albums and 15 top 40 singles in the UK, including the top 10 hits "System Addict" (1986), "Can't Wait Another Minute" (1986), "Find the Time" (1986), "Rain or Shine" (1986), "Stay Out of My Life" (1987) and "The Slightest Touch" (1987). They won the 1987 Brit Award for Best British Group.
Denise Lisa Maria Pearson, sometimes credited as Deniece Pearson, is an English singer-songwriter. She was the lead vocalist with the British pop/R&B group Five Star, which comprised herself and her four siblings. The group was created and managed by their father, Buster Pearson, in 1983. The group officially disbanded in 2001, though partial reunions have occurred since.
"Family Affair" is a 1971 number-one hit single recorded by Sly and the Family Stone for the Epic Records label. Their first new material since the double a-sided single "Thank You "/ "Everybody Is a Star" nearly two years prior, "Family Affair" became the third and final number-one pop single for the band. In 2021, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song 57th on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The cover version by John Legend, Joss Stone, and Van Hunt, won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at 49th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Let Me Ride" is a 1993 single by rapper and producer Dr. Dre, and the third single from his debut studio album, The Chronic. It experienced moderate success on the charts, until it became a massive hit when Dre won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for the song during the Grammy Awards of 1994. The chorus is sung by Ruben and Jewell, and Snoop Dogg raps the line "Rollin' in my 6-4" and appears in some background vocals.
"Kick, Push" is the first single released from Lupe Fiasco's debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. It was written by Lupe Fiasco and Soundtrakk, who also produced the song. It describes a love story between a male and a female misfit skateboarders. It has been referred to as "a needle in hip hop's haystack of complacent songs."
"System Addict" is a 1985 single by the British pop group Five Star. It was the group's first Top 10 hit, reaching #3 in 1986. It is also their second biggest-selling single, being certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 250,000 copies. It was the seventh and final UK single from their debut album Luxury of Life.
"Dangerous" is a hip hop song written by Lawrence Dermer, Trevor Smith, Rashad Smith, Henry Stone and Freddy Stonewall for Busta Rhymes second album When Disaster Strikes. The song is the album's fifteenth track, and was released as its second single, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 41st Grammy Awards in 1999, but lost to "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" by Will Smith. The video was directed by Hype Williams.
"Rise" is an instrumental written by Andy Armer and Randy 'Badazz' Alpert, and first recorded by trumpeter Herb Alpert. The instrumental track was included on Alpert's solo album Rise and released as a single in 1979. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in October of that year and remained in the top position for two weeks. Herb Alpert thus became the second artist to reach the top of the Hot 100 with a vocal performance as well as an instrumental performance. "Rise" was also successful on other charts, peaking at number four on the R&B chart, number 17 on the disco chart and spending one week atop the adult contemporary chart. The recording also received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. Songwriters Andy Armer and Randy 'Badazz' Alpert were both nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition.
"Strong as Steel" is the name of a 1987 hit single by British pop group Five Star, the second release from their third album, Between the Lines. The single peaked at No. 16 in the UK.
"Let Me Be The One" is the name of a 1985 hit single by British pop group Five Star, and was the fourth release from their debut album Luxury Of Life, released in the summer of 1985. "Let Me Be The One" was the group's second UK Top 20 single of the year, reaching #18. It also reached #2 on the U.S. R&B Billboard chart.
Luxury of Life is the debut album by the British pop group Five Star. Though not a great success when it was first released in the summer of 1985, the album eventually peaked at number 12 in early 1986, and spent a total of 70 weeks in the UK Albums Chart. It was certified Platinum in October 1986 for sales of over 300,000 copies in the UK. It also charted in the United States, peaking at number 57 on the Billboard 200 and 14 on the R&B Albums chart.
Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In 2011, Kuk Harrell and partner Tricky Stewart joined the ranks of Fox's American Idol along with music mogul Jimmy Iovine, producing many of the songs performed on television by the contestants and released via iTunes. 2011 marked the highly anticipated return of Jennifer Lopez and her album LOVE? in which Kuk served as Album Vocal Producer. Earning his fourth Grammy for the vocal production of Rihanna's No. 1 Billboard Single "Only Girl ", Harrell is also the vocal producer and co-writer of Rihanna's Grammy-winning single "Umbrella". A composer and engineer on Beyoncé's chart topping "Single Ladies " from the album I Am... Sasha Fierce, he is also vocal producer and engineer of the Diane Warren-penned "I Was Here" from Beyoncé's 2011 album 4. He also produced the majority of the vocals on Mary J. Blige's Platinum album Growing Pains, which won the 2008 Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. The first single from Growing Pains, "Just Fine", earned a Grammy nomination for best R&B vocal performance in 2007.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the movie of the same name, starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. The album was originally released in 1985 on the Capitol Records label and reissued numerous times on different labels.
"Get Up" is a song by Mary Mary, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album The Sound. The single was written and produced by both Mary Mary and producer Warryn Campbell, husband of member Erica Campbell. The song is known as "the movement anthem". According to the group, the song was written and produced to appeal to young generations with a mainstream sound that still captures the message of the gospel. The group's goal was achieved when the song received moderate success in dance clubs worldwide, while holding the #1 spot on the U.S.'s Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song was also used on the syndicated morning show Get Up Mornings with Erica Campbell hosted by Campbell herself.
"M.A.A.D City" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, from his second studio album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012). The song, which appears as the eighth track on the album, features a guest appearance from fellow Compton native and West Coast rapper MC Eiht. The song was produced by Top Dawg in-house producers THC and Sounwave for the first part of the instrumental, and Terrace Martin for the second part. The song peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.
