Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known by his stage name Common, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. He has received three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, and gained wider critical acclaim with its follow-ups, Resurrection (1994) and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997). He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s, and achieved his first mainstream success through his work with the black music collective, Soulquarians.
Patrick Denard Douthit, better known as 9th Wonder, is a hip hop record producer, record executive, and DJ from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who is also teaching faculty at North Carolina Central University and Duke University, where he collaborates with Professor Mark Anthony Neal.
Smif-N-Wessun, also known as Cocoa Brovaz and Tek-N-Steele, is an American hip hop duo from Brooklyn, New York City. It is composed of rappers Tekomin "Tek" Williams from Bedford–Stuyvesant and Darrell "Steele" Yates from Brownsville. The duo comprise one quarter of supergroup Boot Camp Clik, together with Buckshot, Heltah Skeltah and Originoo Gunn Clappaz. Both members are known for their Jamaican Patois during their raps, which was more evident during the earlier stages of their career.
Karriem Riggins is a multi-talented American musician who has made a name for himself as a Jazz drummer, Hip Hop producer, DJ and songwriter. With a career spanning over two decades, Riggins has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Kanye West, Common, and Diana Krall. His unique style and versatility have earned him critical acclaim and a loyal fan base.
Welcome 2 Detroit is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist J Dilla, released on February 26, 2001. The album followed his group Slum Village's critically acclaimed Fantastic, Vol. 2, and kicked off BBE's "Beat Generation" series.
The Shining is the third studio album by American hip hop producer and rapper J Dilla, who died on February 10, 2006. The Shining was incomplete at the time of J Dilla's passing and was posthumously completed by producer Karriem Riggins. Discounting the instrumental album Donuts, The Shining was the first full-length solo release by J Dilla since Welcome 2 Detroit five years earlier, and as such was highly anticipated. It was released on August 22, 2006, through BBE Records. An instrumental version of the album followed its release shortly afterward.
Robert Andre Glasper is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and musical arranger. His music embodies numerous musical genres, primarily centered around jazz. To date, Glasper has won five Grammy Awards and received eleven nominations across eight categories.
Terrace Jamahl Martin is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, the Game, Busta Rhymes, Stevie Wonder, Charlie Wilson, Raphael Saadiq and YG, among others. Martin is a multi-instrumentalist whose music production embodies funk, jazz, classical and soul. Martin released his sixth studio album, Velvet Portraits, on his label, Sounds of Crenshaw Records, through Ropeadope Records.
Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip hop duo composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut studio album as a free download in 2013 and have since released the follow-up albums Run the Jewels 2 (2014), Run the Jewels 3 (2016), and RTJ4 (2020), all of which have been released for free and received critical acclaim.
Denzel Rae Don Curry is an American rapper. Born and raised in Miami Gardens, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape in 2011, which was influenced by underground Florida rapper SpaceGhostPurrp. The mixtape was later featured on SpaceGhostPurrp's social media, giving Curry attention in the local music scene and resulting in him joining the former’s hip-hop collective Raider Klan.
Julien Rose Baker is an American indie rock singer and guitarist. Her music is noted for its moody quality and confessional lyrical style, as well as frank explorations of topics including Christianity, addiction, mental illness, and human nature.
99.9% is the debut studio album by Canadian electronic music producer Kaytranada, released May 6, 2016, through XL Recordings worldwide and Ultra Records in Canada. The 15-track album features guest contributions from by Anderson .Paak, Vic Mensa, Little Dragon, Syd, Craig David, AlunaGeorge, and BadBadNotGood amongst others. 99.9% was supported by five singles: "Leave Me Alone" featuring Shay Lia, "Drive Me Crazy" featuring Vic Mensa, the Karriem Riggins and River Tiber-assisted instrumental "Bus Ride", "Glowed Up" featuring Anderson .Paak, and "Lite Spots".
Covered: Recorded Live at Capitol Studios is the seventh album by American musician Robert Glasper. It was released on June 16, 2015, via Blue Note Records. Recording sessions took place at Capitol Studios in Hollywood on the 2nd and 3rd December 2014. Production was handled by Robert Glasper himself, with Don Was and Nicole Hegeman serving as executive producers. It features song covers of artists like John Legend, Radiohead and Joni Mitchell with a few original tracks mixed in. Harry Belafonte, Iskinder "Skindoo" Adefris-Yaxley, Josiah Xavier Brown, Musiq Soulchild, Ralphie "Hoop" Richardson, Riley Kirkland Glasper and Samuel Josef Brown have provided special guest appearances on the project.
Black America Again is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Common. It was released on November 4, 2016, by ARTium Recordings and Def Jam Recordings.
August Greene is a collaborative studio album by American rapper Common and record producers Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins, recording as a supergroup of the same name, self-released on March 9, 2018. Recording sessions took place at Electric Lady Studios, Red Bull Studios and Brooklyn Recording in New York, and at Henson Recording Studios and NRG Studios in Los Angeles. It features contributions from Samora Pinderhughes, Brandy, Bilal, Estelle, Jeremiah Abiah and James Hall Worship & Praise Choir on vocals, Burniss Travis on bass, Patrick Warren on keyboards and strings, Elena Pinderhughes on flute and Roy Hargrove on trumpet.
Dinner Party is a self titled EP by American jazz supergroup Dinner Party. It was released on July 10, 2020, via Sounds Of Crenshaw and Empire. The group, consisting of musicians Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, and 9th Wonder recorded the project at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles at the end of 2019. It features guest appearances from Chicago-based musician Phoelix. On April 14, 2023 a follow-up LP titled Enigmatic Society was made available to stream on all major platforms.
Alexandra Isley is an American singer-songwriter and producer. She released her debut EP The Love/Art Memoirs in 2012. Isley has worked with artists including Scarface, Terrace Martin, Masego, 9th Wonder, Tank and the Bangas, and Lucky Daye. Isley has been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 1 is the thirteenth studio album by American rapper Common. It was released on October 30, 2020 through Loma Vista Recordings, making it his second project released for the label. Production was handled by Karriem Riggins, Burniss Travis and Robert Glasper. It features guest appearances from PJ, Black Thought, Chuck D, Jessica Care Moore, Lenny Kravitz, Morgan Parker and Stevie Wonder.
Mikey Freedom Hart is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He has worked with Bleachers, Taylor Swift, Empress Of, Dev Hynes a.k.a. Blood Orange, ASAP Rocky, Lana Del Rey, Tei Shi, and The Chicks. He has received two Grammy nominations, of which he received one win.
Elena Pinderhughes is an American jazz flutist, singer, and composer. She has toured extensively with jazz trumpeter Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah and has also performed with Herbie Hancock, Common, Esperanza Spalding, Vijay Iyer, Lionel Loueke, Carlos Santana, and Josh Groban.
