Earth, Wind & Fire is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.
Usher Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He is recognized as an influential figure in contemporary R&B and pop music. In 1994, Usher first released his self-titled debut album at the age of 15 and rose to fame in the late 1990s following the release of his second album, My Way (1997). It spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow", and the top-two singles: the title track and "You Make Me Wanna...". His third album, 8701 (2001), saw continued success and contained two number-one singles, "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as the top-three single, "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance consecutively in 2002 and 2003.
Maurice White was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
The Diary of Alicia Keys is the second studio album by American singer Alicia Keys. It was released on December 2, 2003, by J Records. The album was recorded at several recording studios, and production was handled primarily by Keys with contributions from Kanye West and Kerry Brothers Jr., who described it as "an R&B album".
"I Feel for You" is a song written by American musician Prince that originally appeared on his 1979 self-titled album. The most successful and best-known version was recorded by R&B singer Chaka Khan and appeared on her 1984 album of the same name. It became the recipient of two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for Khan.
Suit is the fourth studio album by American rapper Nelly. It was intended to be released on August 17, 2004, before being delayed and released on September 13, 2004, by Universal Records. Production for the album was handled by several producers, including the Neptunes, Jazze Pha, Doe, AHM, Jayson "Koko" Bridges, Kuya Productions, Soulshock and Karlin, Ryan Bowser, Big Boi and Beat Bullies. Released in conjunction with Sweat, Nelly intended to release a single album before conceptualizing and releasing two albums simultaneously, both of which would contrast each other's themes. Nelly characterized Sweat as "more up-tempo" and "energetic" while describing Suit as more of "a grown-up and sexy vibe [...] it's more melodic".
"Yeah!" is a song by American singer Usher featuring American rappers Lil Jon and Ludacris. The song is written by the featured artists alongside Sean Garrett, Patrick "J. Que" Smith, Robert McDowell, and LRoc, and is produced by Lil Jon. The song incorporates crunk and R&B—which Lil Jon coined as crunk&B—in the song's production. The song was released as the lead single from Usher's fourth studio album Confessions (2004) on January 10, 2004, after Usher was told by Arista Records, his label at the time, to record more tracks for the album.
Case Woodard is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for the 1990s hits "Touch Me, Tease Me", "Happily Ever After" and "The Best Man I Can Be" with Ginuwine, R.L. and Tyrese, as well as the early 2000s hits "Missing You" and "Livin' It Up" with Ja Rule. The latter two earned him two Grammy Award nominations.
"Proud Mary" is a song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, written by vocalist and lead guitarist John Fogerty. It was released as a single in January 1969 by Fantasy Records and on the band's second studio album, Bayou Country. The song became a major hit in the United States, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1969, the first of five singles to peak at No. 2 for the group.
"If I Ain't Got You" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). Inspired by the 2001 death of singer Aaliyah, the September 11 attacks, and other events in the world and in Keys' life, the song is about "how material things don't feed the soul". It was released as the second single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on February 17, 2004, by J Records. The single cover depicts Keys similarly to the subject of Man Ray's 1924 photograph Le Violon d'Ingres.
"Overnight Celebrity" is the second single from Twista's 2004 album Kamikaze. The song was produced and features uncredited vocals by Kanye West and violin by Miri Ben-Ari. It contains a sample of the 1978 song "Cause I Love You" By Lenny Williams. The song reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 11, 2004. The song received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart in the United States.
"My Boo" is a duet between American R&B singers Usher and Alicia Keys, written by the artists alongside Adonis Shropshire, Manuel Seal, and Jermaine Dupri, the latter of whom produced it with No I.D.—who is uncredited. It was included on the re-release of Usher's fourth studio album, Confessions (2004). The song was released as the album's fourth single on August 29, 2004. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it was released as a double A-side with "Confessions Part II".
"Never Too Much" is the debut song written, composed, produced, and performed by Luther Vandross. The R&B song was released in 1981, as the lead single from Vandross's debut album of the same name. The title track hit number one on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number four on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. It peaked at #27 in Cash Box and #33 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Dance with My Father" is a song by Luther Vandross and the title track to his thirteenth studio album. It was released in May 2003 as the album's lead single. With Richard Marx, Vandross wrote the song based on his personal experience. The lyrics recall childhood memories with Vandross's father, who used to dance with him and his mother.
"Charlene" is an R&B–soul song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Anthony Hamilton, released by So So Def Recordings and Arista Records on August 3, 2004 as the second and final single from Hamilton's second studio album, Comin' from Where I'm From (2003).
"Best of My Love" is a song by American band The Emotions from their fourth studio album Rejoice (1977). It was composed by Maurice White and Al McKay of Earth, Wind & Fire, and produced by White and Clarence McDonald.
Priscilla Renea Hamilton, known professionally as Muni Long, is an American singer and songwriter from Gifford, Florida. Under her birth name, she signed with Capitol Records to release her debut studio album Jukebox (2009), which was met with positive critical reception despite failing to chart. She then spent the following decade co-writing songs for other artists, namely the singles "Promise This" by Cheryl, "California King Bed" by Rihanna, "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony, "Love So Soft" by Kelly Clarkson, "Imagine" by Ariana Grande, "Who Says" by Selena Gomez & the Scene, and the global hit "Timber" by Pitbull.
Ella Mai Howell is an English R&B singer-songwriter. Her musical career began at London's British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2014, during which time she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of The X Factor. In 2015, she released her debut four-track solo extended play (EP), Troubled in October of that year. The EP and her performances on social media were discovered by American record producer DJ Mustard, who signed Mai to his record label 10 Summers Records, an imprint of Interscope Records.
Nova Wav is a record production and songwriting duo composed of Brittany "Chi" Coney and Denisia "Blu June" Andrews. Over the course of their career, Nova Wav has written and produced on tracks and albums for artists including Beyoncé, Rihanna, DJ Khaled, Ariana Grande, Jay-Z, Saweetie, Nicki Minaj, Teyana Taylor, Kehlani and more. They were signed to Warner Chappell Music by Ryan Press and "Big Jon" Platt. They were named Billboards 2018 R&B/Hip-Hop 100 Power Players and listed on Revolt's Top 9 producers of 2019 that demanded the sound of Hip Hop and R&B.
