Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter and businesswoman. Dubbed as "Queen Bey" and a prominent cultural figure of the 21st century, she has been recognized for her artistry and performances, with Rolling Stone naming her one of the greatest vocalists of all time.
LeToya Nicole Luckett is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. As a member of Destiny's Child, she achieved four US Top 10 hit singles, "No, No, No", "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Say My Name" and "Jumpin', Jumpin'", and won two Grammy Awards. In the 2000s, she began her solo career after leaving the group and signing a record deal with Capitol Records. Her solo debut album, LeToya (2006), debuted at number-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA, that same year.
Robyn Rihanna Fenty is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. Signed with Def Jam Recordings in 2005, she gained mainstream recognition following the release of her first two studio albums, Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006), influenced by Caribbean music, both peaking in the top ten on the US Billboard 200 chart. Her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), incorporated elements of dance-pop and established her as a major icon in the music industry. Its lead single "Umbrella" peaked the US Billboard Hot 100, and won her first Grammy Award.
Melina Matsoukas is an American music video, film, commercial and television director. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner and four-time MTV Video Music Awards winner for her "We Found Love" and "Formation" music videos. She was honored with the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal by the American Film Institute in 2019. Her directorial debut in film was Queen & Slim, starring Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya, and written by Lena Waithe. She then worked as executive producer and director for television series Insecure, being nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2020.
Ledisi Anibade Young, better known simply as Ledisi, is an American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter, music producer, author and actress. Her name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba.
Jazmine Marie Sullivan is an American R&B and soul singer. She has won two Grammy Awards, a Billboard Women in Music Award, and two BET Awards over the course of her career. In 2022, Time placed her on their list of the 100 Most Influential People.
"Talk That Talk" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for her 2011 studio album of the same name. It features a rap verse by American rapper Jay-Z, who had previously collaborated with Rihanna on her song "Umbrella" in 2007 and "Run This Town" in 2009. The song was written by Jay-Z, Ester Dean, together with the Norwegian production duo Stargate. Def Jam Recordings serviced the track to urban contemporary radio in the United States on January 17, 2012, as the third single from Talk That Talk. It was released in France as a CD single on March 26. "Talk That Talk" is a hip hop song with R&B beats, rough drums and unrefined synths, and has a similar style to Rihanna's 2010 single "Rude Boy". It contains a brief sample of "I Got a Story to Tell" by the Notorious B.I.G. Therefore, the Buckwild, Sean Combs, Chucky Thompson, and the Notorious B.I.G. are credited as songwriters despite the Notorious B.I.G's death in 1997.
Courtney Michaela "Coco" Jones is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Raised in Lebanon, Tennessee, she began auditioning in Nashville as a child to pursue a career in entertainment. She was first featured on the competition series Radio Disney's Next Big Thing (2010–11), which led to her being cast in other Disney properties such as the film Let It Shine (2012) and the sitcom Good Luck Charlie (2012–13).
"Diamonds" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for her seventh studio album,Unapologetic (2012). It was written by Sia together with its producers, Benny Blanco and Stargate. The song premiered on September 26, 2012, during the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show and was digitally released the following day as the lead single from Unapologetic. "Diamonds" is a mid-tempo pop, electronic and R&B ballad that features heavy synthesizers, orchestral sounds and electronic rhythms. The song's lyrics serve as a departure from the themes of unhealthy relationships that were on Rihanna's previous singles contrasted to the song's portrayal of lovers as "diamonds in the sky".
"What Now" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for her seventh studio album, Unapologetic (2012). It was written by Olivia Waithe, Parker Ighile, Maestro The Baker and Nathan Cassells alongside Rihanna, with production handled by Maestro The Baker, Ighile and Cassells. A remix collection was released exclusively to Beatport on August 29, 2013 and later via iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play on September 17, 2013. The single was serviced to US rhythmic radio on September 24, 2013, before impacting mainstream radio on October 1, 2013 as the fifth single from Unapologetic. Another remix collection was released to Beatport on October 29, 2013. The song is a mid-tempo piano ballad which incorporates sounds which resemble "sonic bombs" during the chorus and "crashing" drums.
Normani Kordei Hamilton, known mononymously as Normani, is an American singer and dancer. She first rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. While in Fifth Harmony, she competed in Dancing with the Stars (2017). She embarked on a solo career with her 2018 debut single "Love Lies", which peaked within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified 5× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Blue Ivy Carter is an American singer. She is the first-born daughter of musicians Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Two days after her birth, Time dubbed Carter "the most famous baby in the world." That same day, her vocals were featured on the song "Glory", by her father Jay-Z, which earned her a Guinness World Record for being the youngest person to have a charted song on any Billboard chart. She has been the subject of depictions in media, including impersonations on Saturday Night Live and RuPaul's Drag Race.
Courtney Shanade Salter, known professionally as Ari Lennox, is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C. She is the first female artist to be signed to J. Cole's record label, Dreamville Records. She began gaining recognition after the release of her first EP Pho (2016) on the label. That same year, she made an uncredited guest appearance on J. Cole's song "Change". Lennox's debut studio album Shea Butter Baby followed in 2019.
Chloe x Halle are an American duo composed of sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey. At a young age, the sisters performed in minor acting roles before moving from their hometown of Mableton, Georgia to Los Angeles in 2012. The two began posting music covers to YouTube and were acknowledged by Beyoncé, who became their mentor and later signed them to her label, Parkwood Entertainment. They subsequently released the EP Sugar Symphony (2016) and the mixtape The Two of Us (2017).
Chinsea Linda Lee, known professionally as Shenseea, is a Jamaican singer and songwriter. She is best known for her guest appearance alongside Roddy Ricch on Kanye West's 2021 song "Pure Souls," which entered the Billboard Hot 100. Through its parent album Donda, she received a Grammy Award nomination Album of the Year at the 64th Grammy Awards. She signed with Interscope Records to release her debut studio album Alpha (2022), which peaked at number two on the Top Reggae Albums chart and number three on the Heatseekers charts. Her other accolades include a NAACP Image Award and MOBO Award.
Summer Marjani Walker is an American R&B singer. She signed with the Atlanta-based record label Love Renaissance, an imprint of Interscope Records in late 2017. The following year, she released her debut commercial mixtape Last Day of Summer (2018), supported by its lead single, "Girls Need Love." The song became her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and spawned a remix featuring Canadian rapper Drake. Her debut studio album, Over It (2019) was met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 chart—briefly breaking the record for the biggest debut streaming week for a female R&B artist—and receiving double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The 51st NAACP Image Awards, presented by the NAACP, honored outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music, and literature during the 2019 calendar year. The ceremony took place on February 22, 2020, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and was broadcast for the first time on BET - as well as simulcast on several of its sister ViacomCBS networks, moving to the former after broadcasts on TV One in previous years.
Jared Johnson, best known by the stage name Jaida Essence Hall, is an American drag queen and reality television personality best known for winning the twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, and later returning to compete on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, an all-winners season. Since her season aired in 2020, Hall has been a staple of several domestic and international tours that feature Drag Race contestants, including Werq the World, A Drag Queen Christmas, and Drive 'N Drag. In October 2020, Johnson was a featured performer in Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Fashion Show Vol. 2.
Temilade Openiyi, known professionally as Tems, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer. She rose to prominence after being featured on Wizkid's 2020 single "Essence", which peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart following the release of the remix version with Justin Bieber. The song earned her a Grammy Award nomination. That same year, she was featured on the song "Fountains" by Drake.
Ebhoni Jade Cato-O’Garro, known by her stage name SadBoi and formerly known as Ebhoni, is a Canadian musician and model of Antiguan, Jamaican, and Indigenous descent. She released her debut EP Mood Ring (2017), at the age of 17. Her EP X was released on February 18, 2021.
