Mario Mendell Winans is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from South Carolina, and an extended member of the musical family The Winans. He is best known for his 2004 song "I Don't Wanna Know", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in Germany and the United Kingdom. Winans also co-wrote CeCe Winans's song "Pray" in 2005, which won a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance.
Alan Daniel Maman, professionally known as The Alchemist, is an American hip hop producer, DJ, and rapper. He began his music career in 1991 in the hip hop duo the Whooliganz under the moniker Mudfoot, along with now-actor Scott Caan. He has produced music since the 1990s.
Lloyd Polite Jr. is an American R&B singer. Born in New Orleans and raised in Decatur, he initially began his musical career as a member of the preteen-boy band N-Toon. The band disbanded in 2001 and Polite embarked on a solo career in 2003. He subsequently signed a record deal with American music executive Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, under the aegis of Def Jam Recordings. In 2004, Polite released his solo debut single "Southside", the title-track from his debut album, Southside (2004). The single quickly charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, and became a top 40 hit. His second album Street Love, was released in 2007 and featured the top 20 hits "You" and "Get It Shawty".
"Drop It Like It's Hot" is a song by American rapper Snoop Dogg featuring fellow American musician Pharrell Williams. It was released on September 27, 2004, as the lead single from Snoop Dogg's seventh studio album, R&G : The Masterpiece (2005). The song was produced by the Neptunes. It is regarded as an iconic song, with Snoop performing the chorus and the second and third verses while Pharrell performs the first verse.
American singer Usher has released eight studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 80 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive and RCA record labels. Usher has sold more than 23 million albums in the United States alone and over 65 million albums worldwide. With over 100 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 four-times platinum in the US for sales of 4 million copies. As of 2010, its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
The Team is a hip hop group from Bay Area and Oakland, California. The group consists of four emcees: Clyde Carson, Mayne Mannish, and Kaz Kyzah and also one affiliated member named Jungle. They are associated with West Coast hip hop music, and have a unique sound that showcases the diversity of hyphy music. The group is best known for their local hits "It's Gettin' Hot" (2004) and "Hyphy Juice " (2006). The Team re-gained popularity in late 2005 after dropping the singles "Just Go" and "Bottles Up" to promote their new album, World Premiere, which peaked at number 95 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and number 50 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums. They are known for their song "Slow Down", which was featured in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V.
"Slow Jamz" is a song by American rapper Twista featuring fellow American musicians Jamie Foxx and Kanye West. Produced by the latter, it was released in November 2003 through Atlantic and Roc-A-Fella Records, as the lead single from Twista's fourth studio album Kamikaze (2004), and the second single from West's debut studio album The College Dropout (2004). The song was written by Twista and West, with additional writing credits going to Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the sampling of Luther Vandross' cover of Dionne Warwick's 1964 song "A House Is Not a Home". Containing genres of hip hop, pop rap, R&B, and soul, the song's lyrics reference slow jam artists and describes the role of lovermen.
"Until the End of Time" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake from his second studio album, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), written and produced by Timberlake, Timbaland, and Nate "Danja" Hills. The song was later re-recorded as a duet featuring American singer Beyoncé, which was released as a single on November 13, 2007 and included on the Deluxe Edition of the album. It reached the top 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100, being the sixth single from the album to do so, with Timberlake becoming the only male artist in the decade to achieve this. During the concert tour FutureSex/LoveShow, Timberlake performed the song as a piano solo.
The discography of American singer-songwriter The-Dream consists of six studio albums, most of which on Def Jam Recordings. His career also includes a number of singles, guest appearances, and various writing/production credits. In the summer of 2015, it was announced that he had left Capitol Records leaving future releases on hold.
Melvin Lewis Calhoun Jr., better known by his stage name Kutt Calhoun, is an American rapper and business executive from Kansas City, Missouri. After getting his start in the late 1990s underground rap scene of Kansas City, he subsequently signed to Strange Music when the label was founded in 1999. Calhoun released his debut album B.L.E.V.E. in 2004, and his 2007 sophomore album Feature Presentation debuted at number 60 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Calhoun's third album, Raw and Un-Kutt, made its debut at number 162 on the Billboard 200 chart in its first week of release, as well as charting at No. 19 on the Top Heatseekers chart.
Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years later, Jonsin and Simmons signed a joint venture recording contract with fellow Georgia rapper T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records, an imprint of Atlantic Records. Following his major-label deal, Simmons quickly achieved commercial success when his debut single "Nothin' on You", reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2009, and earned a Grammy Award for Record of the Year nomination.
Versus is the first EP by American singer Usher. It was released on July 20, 2010 on LaFace Records and Jive Records in conjunction with the deluxe edition of his sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond. Several producers contributed to the production of the EP, including Polow da Don, Jim Jonsin, Rico Love, Drumma Boy, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Max Martin. Versus is marked as "the last chapter of Raymond v. Raymond", and follows the theme of Usher exploring around the subjects of being newly single and a father.
American rapper J. Cole has released six studio albums, one live album, four compilation albums, three extended plays, three mixtapes, 58 singles, two promotional singles and twenty one music videos. J. Cole first took up rapping in his teens, collaborating with the local Fayetteville hip hop duo Bomm Sheltuh. The Come Up, his debut mixtape, was released on May 4, 2007, to positive reception. Following the release of The Come Up, J. Cole was contacted by American rapper Jay Z and subsequently signed to his record label Roc Nation. Cole released his second mixtape The Warm Up on June 15, 2009. "Lights Please", the first single from The Warm Up, peaked at number nine on the United States Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart and became Cole's first entry on a national record chart. He was later featured on "All I Want Is You", a 2010 single by American R&B singer Miguel – it peaked at number 58 on the US Billboard Hot 100. J. Cole's third mixtape Friday Night Lights was released on November 12, 2010.
Brian Todd Collins, known professionally as Kid Ink, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. He independently released his debut studio album Up & Away in 2012, which peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200. He then signed with RCA Records to release his debut extended play Almost Home (2013), followed by his second album and first on a major label, My Own Lane the following year. The latter peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and spawned the singles "Show Me", "Iz U Down", and "Main Chick". His third studio album Full Speed (2015), spawned the singles "Body Language", "Hotel", and "Be Real".
The discography of American rapper and songwriter Earl Sweatshirt consists of four studio albums, two mixtapes, two extended plays, and 20 singles.
Jahron Anthony Brathwaite, known professionally as PartyNextDoor, is a Canadian R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was the first artist signed to Drake's record label OVO Sound, an imprint of Warner Records in 2013. Braithwaite released his debut self-titled extended play in July that year to positive reception.
Christian Walcott Webster, better known by his stage name Chris Webby, is an American rapper from Norwalk, Connecticut. Chris Webby has released many mixtapes such as the DJ Drama-hosted Bars On Me (2012) and his EP There Goes the Neighborhood (2011), which peaked at number 101 on the Billboard 200. He has worked with various artists such as Freeway, Mac Miller, Joell Ortiz, Big K.R.I.T., Method Man, Apathy, Prodigy, Bun B, Tech N9ne, Jarren Benton, and Kid Ink. In 2013 he and his label, Homegrown Music, signed a deal with E1 Music. He then released Homegrown, another EP, in November 2012. Webster released his debut studio album Chemically Imbalanced on October 27, 2014.
Nyle Kalin Parrish, better known by the stage name Clyde Carson, is an American rapper from Oakland, California. He was originally known as a member of the hip hop group The Team. After the group went on hiatus, he was the one member of the group to break out as a solo artist. He was signed to rapper The Game's The Black Wall Street Records and Capitol Records in 2006. While signed there he released the EP Doin' That. However, he wasn't signed to them for long, before deciding to go back to releasing music independently via Moe Doe Entertainment. After returning to just that label, he has released two EPs: Bass Rock and Playboy. He also released the song "Slow Down", which was featured on the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V.
EarthGang is an American hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia, composed of Olu and WowGr8. They are co-founders of the musical collective Spillage Village, with JID, Hollywood JB, JordxnBryant, 6lack, Mereba, and Benji.
Micah Omega Crosby, is an American rapper, producer, and songwriter from Modesto, California. By 2012 Omega Crosby was releasing his own singles and music videos, and his first mixtape, Urban Muzik Vol.1, came out in early 2013. Currently signed to Empire Distribution, he has collaborated with hip hop artists such as Clyde Carson, Adrian Marcel, Mayne Mannish and Chingy. He has also completed production for members of the group The Team. He was nominated for Best Hip Hop Artist in late October 2015 for the Modesto Area Music Awards. In 2015 he released a mixtape titled "Modesto". A digital exclusive mixtape called "2016" was released January 1, 2016 by Bay Area based company Thizzler and Swisha House CEO, DJ Michael "5000" Watts. On January 20, 2016 he released his first independent album titled "Kalifornia".
