The 41st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1999, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1998. Lauryn Hill received the most nominations with 10, setting a record for the most nominations for female artist in one night. During the ceremony, Hill became the first woman to receive 5 Grammy Awards in a single night, and the first woman rapper to take home Best New Artist. Her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill became the first hip hop album to win the award for Album of the Year. Hill's Grammys sweep is widely considered as one of the biggest moments in hip hop history.
Monica Denise Arnold is an American singer, rapper and actress. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, she began performing as a child and joined a traveling gospel choir by the age of ten. Monica signed with record producer Dallas Austin through his label Rowdy Records in 1993, and gained prominence following the release of her debut studio album, Miss Thang (1995). Her follow up releases were met with further commercial success; her second, The Boy Is Mine (1998) remains her best-selling album and spawned three singles that peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100: "The Boy Is Mine", "The First Night" and "Angel of Mine".
Rodney Roy Jerkins, also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists.
Keyshia Myeshia Cole is an American singer, songwriter, television personality and actress. Born and raised in Oakland, California, she began her career as a backing vocalist for MC Hammer before signing with A&M Records to release her debut studio album, The Way It Is (2005). It received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top 20 single "Love," and earned two nominations at the 2006 Soul Train Music Awards. Established by the album's success, Cole filmed a reality television series for BET documenting her career, family and personal life titled Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is; the show ran for three seasons, and became one of the most-watched programs in the network's history.
Fred Jerkins III, also known as Uncle Freddie, is an American songwriter and record producer who is best known for his work with his brother Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Jerkins has co-written several hit songs with Rodney Jerkins and LaShawn Daniels, among them "The Boy Is Mine" by Brandy and Monica, "Say My Name" and "Lose My Breath" by Destiny's Child, "It's Not Right but It's Okay" by Whitney Houston, "He Wasn't Man Enough" by Toni Braxton, and multiple tracks from Michael Jackson's album Invincible. He has also produced a number of songs under the Darkchild imprint for artists such as Brandy, Shola Ama, Men of Vizion, Keith Washington, and JoJo.
"Full Moon" is a song recorded by American singer Brandy for her third studio album of the same title (2002). A breakaway from Rodney Jerkins' dominating influence on the album, it was written and produced by Mike City, one of the few producers Norwood worked with on Full Moon apart from Jerkins and his production and songwriting crew. Described by Norwood as "ghetto", the track is an R&B and pop song with a simple, piano-led production. Lyrically, the song follows Norwood as she experiences love at first sight in a nightclub, whose circumstances she attributes to a full moon night.
Megan Rochell is an American contemporary R&B singer, who was formerly signed to Def Jam Records. After parting ways with the label, she signed a production deal with producer Rodney Jerkins of Darkchild Productions. Rochell also inked a publishing deal with EMI/Blackwood publishing within the same time frame.
The Essence Festival, known as "the party with a purpose", is an annual music festival which started in 1995 as a one-time event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Essence, a magazine aimed primarily towards African-American women. It became the largest African-American culture and music event in the United States. Locally referred to as the Essence Fest, it has been held in New Orleans, Louisiana, since 1995 except in 2006, when it was held in Houston, Texas, due to Hurricane Katrina's effect on New Orleans and 2020 when it was cancelled. A spinoff iteration of the festival was also held in Durban, South Africa, in November 2016. The festival features artists simultaneously performing on a main stage as well as four standing-room only superlounge stages.
Human is the fifth studio album by American singer Brandy. It was released on December 5, 2008 by Epic Records, Knockout Entertainment and Koch Records. The album was Norwood's debut Epic Records release, following her split with Atlantic Records in 2005, and her reunion with longtime collaborator and mentor Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who executively produced and wrote most of the album with his songwriting collective.
Harvey Jay Mason Jr. is an American record producer, songwriter, film producer, and current CEO of The Recording Academy. He is known for having written and produced songs for artists including Aretha Franklin, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, Ariana Grande, Elton John, Britney Spears, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Justin Timberlake, Whitney Houston, and Chris Brown. In addition, he has produced music for television and films, including Dreamgirls, Sparkle, Pitch Perfect, Sing, Straight Outta Compton, and The Wiz Live!. He was elected as the chairman of The Recording Academy in June 2019, became its interim president and CEO on January 16, 2020, and then assumed the permanent role of CEO on May 13, 2021. He also played college basketball with several post season appearances, including appearing with the 1987–88 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team in the 1988 Men's Final Four.
Charles T. Harmon, better known as Chuck Harmony, is an American music producer, musician, songwriter and entrepreneur, based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a three-time Grammy Award nominee, and won a 2011 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song for Fantasia’s "Bittersweet".
Paul Dawson, best known as Ghost Kid, formally known as Hot Sauce or Hollywood Hot Sauce, is an American music producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. In short, Paul has written, produced and/or co-produced singles including Rihanna's "As Real As You and Me", Ariana Grande's "Hands on Me", Young Jeezy's "Shady Life", Robin Thicke's "Sex Therapy", New Boyz's "Spot Right There", and Usher's "Hot Tottie".
Kenneth Karlin or just Karlin is a Danish songwriter and producer who is best known for his work with Carsten Schack, better known as Soulshock, forming the Los Angeles-based producer duo Soulshock & Karlin. They have worked with artists including Whitney Houston, Backstreet Boys, 2Pac, Mary J. Blige, and JoJo.
Woman to Woman is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Keyshia Cole. It was released on November 19, 2012, through Geffen Records and Interscope Records. Recording sessions took place between early 2011 and mid-late 2012. Cole enlisted a variety of producers, such as Darhyl Camper, Harmony Samuels, Rodney Jerkins, T-Minus, Vidal, and Wonda. Musically, the album is an R&B record, that features guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, Ashanti, Elijah Blake, and Robin Thicke.
Kyle Townsend is an American record producer, songwriter, and composer. He has produced songs for such acclaimed recording artists as 5-time GRAMMY Award winner Celine Dion, 10-time Academy Award-nominated songwriter Diane Warren, as well as Mary J Blige, Lady Gaga, Jessie J, Andra Day, and Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson. He has produced 3 Academy Award nominated songs, and his work has earned an additional 3 Grammy Award Nominations. He scored the Emmy Award nominated Showtime documentary "The One and Only Dick Gregory."
Never Say Never is the second studio album by American singer Brandy. It was released on June 9, 1998, by Atlantic Records. Atlantic consulted David Foster, as well as producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and his team to work with Norwood on the record; Jerkins went on to craft the majority of the album and would evolve as Norwood's mentor and head producer on her succeeding projects.
Victoria Monét McCants is an American singer-songwriter. First gaining recognition for her songwriting work, Monét pursued a recording career with the release of a series of extended plays (EPs) before releasing her fifth EP, Jaguar (2020) to critical acclaim. Her debut studio album, Jaguar II (2023) became her commercial breakthrough and was supported by the hit single, "On My Mama", which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year. She received seven nominations at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in 2024, winning for Best New Artist, Best R&B Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Bizkit & Butta is a multi-Grammy nominated, platinum selling record production duo consisting of Keith "Butta" Justice and Allen "BizKit" Arthur. Currently located in Los Angeles, the two were previously part of the Philadelphia-based production team known as "Phatboiz", along with colleague Clayton "Gravy" Riley.
Thomas LeRoy Organ, Jr., known professionally as Tommy Organ or Tommy "O", is an American musician, songwriter and producer.
Al Sherrod Lambert, sometimes known as simply A-Rod, is a Grammy Award winning American producer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He has won recognition as a gospel, pop, hip hop and R&B producer. He is signed to Kobalt Music Group and is a registered BMI songwriter.
