Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Awards, twelve NAACP Image Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards, including the Billboard Icon Award. She has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, including one for her supporting role in the film Mudbound (2017) and another for its original song "Mighty River", becoming the first person nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year.
Luther Roderick Campbell, also known as Luke Skyywalker, Uncle Luke and simply Luke, is an American rapper, promoter, record executive, actor, and former leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew. He is known for having helped create the Miami bass genre, for establishing one of the first rap groups and rap labels in Southern hip hop, and his sexually crude call and response lyrics which were unique for the time period. He also starred in a short-lived show on VH1, Luke's Parental Advisory.
New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, new jack swing was most popular from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
Shawn Moltke better known by his stage name MC Shan, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer.
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. Raised in Atlanta as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music production at the age of nine. He discovered the teen hip hop duo Kris Kross in 1991. Dupri wrote and produced their 1992 single "Jump," which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 and was named the 23rd most successful song of that decade. He established his own record label, So So Def Recordings in a joint venture with Columbia the following year.
Amerie Mi Marie Nicholson is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and writer. She has released four studio albums to date: All I Have (2002), Touch (2005), Because I Love It (2007), In Love & War (2009). She is best known for her 2005 single "1 Thing".
Joseph Lewis Thomas, known mononymously as Joe, is an American R&B singer. He signed to Polygram Records in 1992, and rose to prominence after releasing his debut album Everything the following year. He followed it with a series of successful albums under Jive Records, including All That I Am (1997), the international bestseller My Name Is Joe (2000) as well as the multi-certified albums Better Days (2001) and And Then... (2003). Several songs from these albums became hit singles on the pop and R&B record charts, including the number-one hit "Stutter", the top ten entries "All the Things ", "Don't Wanna Be a Player", and "I Wanna Know" as well as his collaborations "Faded Pictures", "Thank God I Found You" and "Still Not a Player".
Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by onetime rapper Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip hop.
Lloyd Polite Jr. is an American R&B singer. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and raised in Decatur, Georgia, he began his musical career as a member of the preteen-boy band N-Toon, which was formed by Joyce Irby in 1996. The group disbanded in 2001, and Polite signed with record executive Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2003 to pursue a solo career. His 2004 debut single, "Southside" peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and led his debut studio album of the same name (2004), which entered the Billboard 200 at number 11. His second album, Street Love (2007) debuted at number two on the chart and was supported by the Billboard Hot 100-top 20 singles "You" and "Get It Shawty".
Luke Boyd, better known by his stage name Classified, is a Canadian rapper and record producer from Enfield, Nova Scotia.
I Gotta Make It is the debut studio album by American R&B recording artist Trey Songz. It was released on July 26, 2005, by Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from 2004 to 2005, with Songz' then mentor Troy Taylor overseeing most of the production. Additional producers include Warryn Campbell, Scott Storch, J.R. Rotem, Bei Maejor, and Organized Noize. Guest vocalists include American rappers Twista, Juvenile and T.I. as well as R&B singer Aretha Franklin.
Chrisette Michele Payne is an American R&B and soul singer. She won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her song "Be OK".
Edward Ferrell is an American record producer, DJ, songwriter, and record executive. With business partner Heavy D, he formed the new jack swing group Heavy D and the Boyz in 1985, for which he served as the de facto producer and DJ. The group signed with the New York City-based record label Uptown Records and released seven studio albums to commercial success. He served as Vice President of A&R for LaFace Records from to 1993 to 1995, as well as for Motown from 1995 to 1997, and Executive Consultant for Def Jam Recordings from 2005 to 2007. In 1989, he founded the record label Untouchables Entertainment, through which he discovered and signed R&B singer Donell Jones.
Doin' What I Gotta Do is the third album by Doug E. Fresh. It was released May 5, 1992, on Bust It Records, a sub-label of Capitol Records set up by MC Hammer, and was produced by Doug E. Fresh. Compared to his previous two albums, both of which are considered hip-hop classics, Doin’ What I Gotta Do was neither a critical nor a commercial success, peaking at only #47 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The single "Bustin Out " made it to #28 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. It samples the 1979 Rick James single "Bustin’ Out."
Johnny Lee Jackson was a Mexican-American multi-platinum songwriter, music producer and rapper best known for his early career with Death Row Records, and for his work with 2Pac on Me Against the World and All Eyez on Me, as well as 2Pac's posthumously released albums. He was born in Juárez, Mexico, in 1969 and raised in South Los Angeles. Johnny "J" was co-owner and CEO of Klock Work Entertainment Corp.
Teyon Isiah Winfree, better known by his stage name Vado, is an American rapper from New York. He formed the hip hop duo U.N. with hometown native Cam'ron in 2009, with whom he has released two collaborative albums—Heat in Here Vol. 1 (2010) and Gunz n' Butta (2011)—and the Boss of All Bosses mixtape series. As a solo act, Vado signed with DJ Khaled's We the Best Music Group, an imprint of Cash Money and Republic Records in 2013 to release his debut commercial single, "My Bae" the following year. Despite failing to chart, Vado made notable guest appearances on Khaled's studio albums We the Best Forever (2011), Suffering from Success (2013), and I Changed a Lot (2015); he continued releasing mixtapes for the regional New York audience until departing We the Best by 2020.
Dreamville Records is an American record label founded by American rapper J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim Hamad. The label is currently distributed through Interscope Records, a unit of Universal Music Group. The roster includes Bas, Ari Lennox, Cozz, Omen, Lute, JID, EarthGang, and Cole himself. Dreamville also houses American record producers Elite, Ron Gilmore, and Cedric Brown.
Black Sheep is an American hip hop duo from Queens, New York, United States, composed of Andres "Dres" Vargas Titus and William "Mista Lawnge" McLean. The duo was from New York but met as teenagers in Sanford, North Carolina, where both of their families relocated. The group was part of the Native Tongues collective, which included the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul. After getting together in 1989, Black Sheep debuted in 1991 with the hit song "Flavor of the Month" and later released its first album, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, which gained them praise and recognition in the hip-hop community for the album's unique rhythms and intelligent, often humorous lyrics. After six years together, Black Sheep disbanded in 1995, citing creative differences.
Richard Anthony Jones, better known by his stage name Fiend, is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. His debut studio album, I Won't Be Denied (1995) was released by local record label Big Boy Records, although he signed with its regional competitor, Master P's No Limit Records to release its follow-up, There's One in Every Family (1998). The latter peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200 and was followed by his third album, Street Life (1999) which peaked at number 15 on the chart and served as his final release with No Limit.
"Johnny P's Caddy" is a song by American rappers Benny the Butcher and J. Cole. It was released on January 28, 2022 as the lead single from the former's third studio album Tana Talk 4. The song was produced by The Alchemist, and is Benny the Butcher's first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. On April 13, 2023 the single was certified GOLD marking the first RIAA certification for both Benny & the Griselda Records label. The song is known as one of the most acknowledged features by J. Cole and is widely considered to be his best feature.
