John David Jackson, better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper and singer. He first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive DJ Clue's radio show, then on Hot 97. Jackson subsequently signed to DJ Clue's Desert Storm imprint, and later secured a distribution deal with Elektra Records. Jackson gained prominence with his first release, Ghetto Fabolous (2001), which spawned the hit singles "Can't Deny It" and "Young'n ". His second release was 2003's Street Dreams, which was supported by two US top 10 singles, "Can't Let You Go" and "Into You".
Mýa Marie Harrison, known by her stage name Mýa, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born into a musical family, she studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance as a child. Initially, Mýa began her career as a VJ and dance posse member on BET's Teen Summit. During her stint at BET, she developed an interest in music which lead to independent deal from the guidance of CEO Haqq Islam. Signed in 1996 to Interscope Records, she released her eponymous debut album in April 1998. A critical and commercial success, the album produced her first top ten single "It's All About Me". Subsequent singles, "Ghetto Supastar " and "Take Me There", continued to raise her profile and attained chart success worldwide, with the former garnering her first Grammy nomination. Fear of Flying, her second album, was released in April 2000 and became a worldwide success, boosted by the success of its singles "Case of the Ex" and "Free". Harrison continued her rise to prominence in 2002 when she won her first Grammy Award in the category for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for her rendition of Labelle's 1975 hit "Lady Marmalade" along with Pink, Christina Aguilera and Lil' Kim, which topped the charts globally.
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 2001. The band's original line-up was composed of Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy, Bob Hardy, and Paul Thomson. Julian Corrie and Dino Bardot joined the band in 2017 after McCarthy left during the previous year, and Audrey Tait (drums) joined the band after Thomson left in 2021. The band is one of the more popular post-punk revival bands, garnering multiple UK top 20 hits. They have been nominated for several Grammy Awards and have received two Brit Awards – winning one for Best British Group – as well as one NME Award.
Ciara Princess Wilson is an American singer. Born in Fort Hood, Texas, her family eventually settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where she joined the girl group Hearsay. She later signed a publishing deal and befriended producer Jazze Pha, who recorded demos that would appear on her debut album. With his help, Ciara signed a record deal with LaFace Records.
The Big Bang is the seventh studio album by American rapper Busta Rhymes. It was released on June 13, 2006, by Aftermath Entertainment, Flipmode Records and Interscope Records. Production for the album took place during 2005 to 2006 at several recording studios and was handled by Dr. Dre, Swizz Beatz, Mark Batson, DJ Scratch, J Dilla, Timbaland, Mr. Porter, will.i.am, Sha Money XL, JellyRoll, Black Jeruz, Nisan Stewart and DJ Green Lantern. The official cover artwork was revealed on May 7, 2006. The tracklisting was released on the 15th.
Webster Gradney, Jr. who performs under the mononym Webbie, is an American rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He's been signed to the independent Trill Entertainment label since 2003. In 2005 he came into the hip hop scene with "Gimme That" featuring Bun B. His songs "Bad Bitch" and "Swerve" were featured on Gangsta Musik, his 2003 group album with Lil Boosie, and in the 2005 movie Hustle & Flow. Webbie's second album, Savage Life 2, was released in early 2008 with the hit single "Independent" featuring Lil Boosie and Lil Phat.
The Mitchell Brothers were a Ghanaian British rap duo from London, England. They consisted of cousins Owura "Tony" Nyanin from Manor Park and Kofi "Teddy" Hanson from Stockwell. They were the first signing to Mike Skinner's The Beats imprint and are sometimes known as the "geezers with skills".
Simon Harris is a DJ, producer, remixer and electronic musician predominantly known as the founder of the record label Music of Life and producer of most of its catalogue of songs.
"Seven Whole Days" is a song performed by American singer Toni Braxton. It serves as the third single from her self-titled debut album (1993). It was released on October 8, 1993 by LaFace and Arista Records. Written and produced by Kenneth Edmonds, Antonio Reid and Daryl Simmons, the track describes a romance that was fading. As the single was not commercially released in the United States, it was ineligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and only managed to chart on the Hot 100 Airplay at number forty-eight in early March 1994. Nevertheless, it successfully topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay in late January 1994.
Michael Geoffrey Skinner is an English rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. Best known for the music project The Streets, Skinner has also released music as a solo artist, as part of The D.O.T with frequent collaborator Rob Harvey, and under the pseudonym The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light.
Adam Richard Wiles, known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. After focusing on self-sung projects, in 2012, Harris released his third studio album, 18 Months, involving various vocalists and more EDM into it—first establishing Harris internationally. The album included the 2011 Rihanna's record "We Found Love".
Ode to the Ghetto is the debut solo studio album by American rapper Guilty Simpson from the Almighty Dreadnaughtz. It was released on March 25, 2008 via Stones Throw Records. Production of the album was handled by seven record producers, including Madlib, Mr. Porter, Oh No, J Dilla, Black Milk, DJ Babu, Konphlict, and Peanut Butter Wolf, who served as executive producer. It also features guest appearances from Black Milk, Sean Price, MED, Kon Artis, and Simpson's A.D. groupmates Konnie Ross, Kriz Steel, Supa Emcee.
"Good Life" is a song by American rapper Kanye West released on October 2, 2007 as the third single for his third studio album Graduation (2007). The song features vocals by singer T-Pain and was produced by West and DJ Toomp. It is a hip hop song that contains a sample of the keyboard outro to "P.Y.T. " performed by Michael Jackson. The song features additional drum programming by Timbaland and additional production by Mike Dean, as well as background vocals by John Legend and Ne-Yo.
Freedom is the third studio album by American singer and record producer Akon. The album was originally named Acquitted; however, Akon changed it before it was released. It was released as a download on December 1, 2008, and in stores December 2, 2008. The album debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200 with 110,600 copies sold in its first week.
Outkast was an American hip hop duo formed in 1992 in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta-based rappers "Big Boi" Patton and André "3000" Benjamin. Outkast is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential hip hop acts of all time. The duo achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, helping to popularize Southern hip hop with their intricate lyricism, memorable melodies and positive messages, while experimenting with diverse genres such as funk, psychedelia, jazz, and techno.
Statlanta is the debut studio album by Atlanta rapper Stat Quo. First recorded and set to be released in 2003, under Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records with mentors Eminem and Dr. Dre as executive producers, it was reworked in seven years not featuring any of the original material recordings, and was released on July 13, 2010 under Sha Money XL's Dream Big Ventures label after many push-backs.
"Fall Again" is a song written for Michael Jackson by Walter Afanasieff and Robin Thicke with some lyrics written by Jackson. He recorded a demo of the song in 1999, with a leaked video which was released in 2004. In 2010, a version by Kenny G with Robin Thicke on vocals became a hit. The song has been performed by many artists. Jackson recorded a demo of the song in 1999 during the sessions for his album Invincible, but the song was never finished. Songwriter Afanasieff confirmed in January 2000, "We worked to the point that we were three-fourths of the way finished, then the incident happened when his son (Prince) got very sick. We’re going to have to reserve a little spot to finish the song." The demo was released on November 16, 2004, as an album track of Jackson's limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection.
Michael Len Williams II, known professionally as Mike Will Made It or simply Mike Will, is an American record producer, rapper, songwriter and DJ. He is best known for producing trap beats for several Southern hip hop and pop artists on various commercially successful singles, including "Black Beatles" and "Powerglide" by Rae Sremmurd, "Mercy" by Kanye West, "No Lie" by 2 Chainz, "Bandz a Make Her Dance" by Juicy J, "Pour It Up" by Rihanna, "Love Me" by Lil Wayne, "Body Party" by Ciara, "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus, "Formation" by Beyoncé, and "Humble" by Kendrick Lamar. He has released six mixtapes and one studio album, Ransom 2.
Xscape is the second posthumous album by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson, composed of previously unreleased tracks that were recorded between 1983 and 2001. It was released on May 9, 2014, by Epic Records, MJJ Music and Sony Music Entertainment, and is the tenth release by Sony and/or Motown since Jackson's death on June 25, 2009. L.A. Reid, chairman of Epic Records, curated and served as executive producer for the album enlisting Timbaland to lead a team of record producers, including StarGate, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, John McClain, and Rodney Jerkins, to remix and contemporize the eight selected tracks. The album was #1 in its first week in worldwide sales.
"Love Never Felt So Good" is a song by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, released posthumously on May 2, 2014. The song, reworked from a 1983 demo track originally composed by Jackson and Canadian singer-songwriter Paul Anka, was the first single released from Jackson's second posthumous album, Xscape.
