Earth, Wind & Fire is an American band whose music spans the genres of 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.
Crunk is a subgenre of southern hip hop that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the early to mid 2000s. Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hop's more nightclub-oriented subgenres. Distinguishing itself with other Southern hip hop subgenres, crunk is marked and characterized by its energetic accelerated musical tempo, club appeal, recurrent chants frequently executed in a call and response manner, multilayered synths, its pronounced reliance on resounding 808 basslines, and rudimentary musical arrangement. An archetypal crunk track frequently uses a dominant groove composed of a nuanced utilization of intricately multilayered keyboard synthesizers organized in a recurring pattern, seamlessly shifting from a lower to a higher pitch that encompasses the song's primary central rhythm, both in terms of its harmonic and melodic aspects. The main groove is then wrapped up with looped, stripped-down, and crisp 808 dance claps and manipulated snare rolls coupled and accompanied by a bassline of thumping 808 kick drums. The term "crunk" was also used throughout the 2000s as a blanket term to denote any style of Southern hip hop, a side effect of the genre's breakthrough to the mainstream. The word derives from its African-American Vernacular English past-participle form, "crunk", of the verb "to crank". It refers to being excited or high on drugs.
Bad is the seventh studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987, by Epic Records. Written and recorded between 1985 and 1987, Bad was Jackson's third and final collaboration with the producer Quincy Jones. Jackson co-produced and composed all but two tracks, and adopted an edgier image and sound, departing from his signature groove-based style and falsetto. Bad incorporates pop, rock, funk, R&B, dance, soul, and hard rock styles, and incorporated new recording technology, including digital synthesizers. The lyrical themes include media bias, paranoia, racial profiling, romance, self-improvement, and world peace. The album features appearances from Siedah Garrett and Stevie Wonder.
"Stand by Me" is a song originally performed in 1961 by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called "Stand by Me Father," recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead.
Jonathan H. Smith, better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American DJ, record producer, and rapper. He was instrumental in the commercial breakthrough of the hip hop subgenre crunk in the early 2000s, and is often credited as a progenitor of the genre. He was the frontman of the crunk group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, with whom he has released five albums. In addition, Lil Jon served as a record producer for most recordings by artists of whom popularized the genre; these include Miami-based rapper Pitbull, Bay Area-based rappers Too Short and E-40, and fellow Atlanta-based artists Ludacris, Ciara, and Usher.
"Love Hangover" is a song by the Motown singer Diana Ross, recorded in 1975 and released as a single on March 16, 1976. It rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot-Selling Soul Singles. It also hit number one on the Record World disco charts.
Grand Champ is the fifth studio album by American rapper DMX. It was released on September 16, 2003 by Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings. The album was produced by multiple producers, including Swizz Beatz, Dame Grease, Kanye West, and No I.D. It features guest appearances from 50 Cent, Cam'ron, Eve, Styles P, Monica, and Jadakiss, among others.
Robin Alan Thicke is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single "Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, he received nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Christopher Maurice Brown is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He is regarded as one of the most prominent artists in R&B music, being credited as an evolver of the genre, and often being referred to by contemporaries as the "King of R&B". His R&B has been characterized by several influences from other genres, mainly pop music and hip hop. His lyrics develop predominantly over emotional and hedonistic themes. Brown has had wide comparisons to Michael Jackson for his singing and dancing abilities, as well as for his stage presence.
Kiss of Death is the second album by American rapper Jadakiss. It is the follow-up to his 2001 Platinum-RIAA selling debut album Kiss tha Game Goodbye. The album was released in the US on the June 22, 2004 and debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.
American singer Usher has released nine studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 81 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive and RCA record labels. Usher has sold more than 33 million albums in the United States alone and over 65 million albums worldwide. With over 150 million total records sold worldwide, he is one of the best selling music artists of all time. He has nine Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and 18 Hot 100 top-ten singles. In 1994, Usher released his self-titled debut album in North America, producing three singles that had moderate chart success, and the album sold more than 500,000 copies. His follow-up 1997 album My Way sold over 8 million copies worldwide, becoming his breakthrough album. It is certified seven-times platinum in the US, and spawned three successful singles, including his first UK number-one "You Make Me Wanna..." and first US Hot 100 number-one song "Nice & Slow". Usher's success continued in 2001 with his third studio album 8701. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The album produced two number-one singles—"U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". In 2002, the album was certified five-times platinum in the US for sales of 5 million copies. As of 2010, its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
King, is the fourth studio album by American rapper T.I., released on March 28, 2006, through Grand Hustle Records and Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took one and a half years to complete in late 2005 according to T.I. in an interview with MTV News. Production was handled by several high-profile record producers, including DJ Toomp, Just Blaze, Mannie Fresh, Swizz Beatz, Keith Mack, Travis Barker, The Neptunes, Kevin "Khao" Cates, Nick "Fury" Loftin, and Tony Galvin, among others. The album also serves as the soundtrack to T.I.’s feature film debut, ATL.
Emily King is an American singer and songwriter. She started her career in 2004 and her first album East Side Story was released in August 2007. In December 2007, King was listed as a Grammy nominee for Best Contemporary R&B Album. In 2019 Emily King was nominated for Best R&B Song for the 62nd Grammy Awards and her album Scenery was nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. In 2020 Emily King was nominated again, this time for the category of Best R&B Performance for her song "See Me".
"Big Shit Poppin' (Do It)" (edited for radio as "Big Things Poppin' (Do It)") is a song by American hip hop recording artist T.I., released on May 29, 2007, as the lead single from his fifth album T.I. vs. T.I.P. (2007). The song was produced by Mannie Fresh. The song was listed as No. 66 on Rolling Stone's "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" list.
American R&B singer-songwriter Chris Brown has released 11 studio albums, 1 collaborative album, 1 extended play, 9 mixtapes, 61 singles and 26 promotional singles.
American rapper Gucci Mane has released 16 studio albums, 3 collaborative albums, 10 compilation albums, one soundtrack, 8 extended plays (EPs), 79 mixtapes and 100 singles and 16 promotional singles.
"Forever" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake and American rappers Kanye West, Lil Wayne, & Eminem. Written alongside producer Boi-1da, the song was originally released as the third single from the soundtrack to LeBron James's More than a Game documentary and was placed on the Refill re-release of Eminem's album Relapse. Eminem performed his verse of the song at the American Music Awards of 2009. Drake performed the song with Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Travis Barker at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. A demo version of the song was leaked in mid-2008.
American singer Keyshia Cole has released seven studio albums, one extended play, two mixtapes, 24 singles and 31 music videos. Cole's debut single, "Never", peaked at number 71 on the United States Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and became Cole's first entry on a national record chart. She was later featured on "Let's Get Blown", a 2004 single by American West Coast hip hop rapper Snoop Dogg – it peaked at number 54 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Cole released her debut album The Way It Is on June 21, 2005, through A&M Records. The album debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 89,000 copies. The Way It Is was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It produced the four singles "I Changed My Mind", "(I Just Want It) To Be Over", "I Should Have Cheated", and "Love", of two of which reached the top ten of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
"6 Inch" is a song by American singer Beyoncé featuring Canadian singer the Weeknd from the former's sixth studio album Lemonade (2016). The song's original portions were written by the artists alongside DannyBoyStyles, Ben Billions, The-Dream, Belly, and Boots. Also credited as songwriters are Burt Bacharach and Hal David and Avey Tare, Panda Bear, and Geologist of neo-psychedelic band Animal Collective. The song's music video is part of a one-hour film with the same title as its parent album, originally aired on HBO.
Scenery is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Emily King. It was released by ATO Records on February 1, 2019, making it her first on the label. Following 2015's The Switch, King reunited with producer Jeremy Most to work on the album. Scenery peaked at number six on the US Billboard Heatseekers Albums. The song "Look at Me Now" gained a nomination for Best R&B Song and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
