Roy Ayers is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and record producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk. He is a key figure in the acid jazz movement, and has been dubbed "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He is best known for his compositions "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", "Searchin", and "Running Away". At one time, he was said to have more sampled hits by rappers than any other artist.
Live is a live concert album by American singer Erykah Badu, released in 1997. Released in the fall of 1997, with her debut album Baduizm released earlier that year, Live quickly went double platinum with the radio hit "Tyrone".
Genius Loves Company is the final studio album by rhythm and blues and soul musician Ray Charles, posthumously released August 31, 2004, on Concord Records. Recording sessions for the album took place between June 2003 and March 2004. The album consists of rhythm and blues, soul, country, blues, jazz and pop standards performed by Charles and several guest musicians, such as Natalie Cole, Elton John, James Taylor, Norah Jones, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Diana Krall, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson and Bonnie Raitt. Genius Loves Company was the last album recorded and completed by Charles before his death in June 2004.
"Hate It or Love It" is a song by American rapper the Game featuring fellow American rapper 50 Cent. It was released as the third single from the former's debut studio album The Documentary (2005). The song was produced by Cool & Dre with additional production from Dr. Dre. The song features a music sample of "Rubber Band" by the Trammps from their album The Legendary Zing Album (1975).
Andwele Gardner, mononymously known as Dwele, is an American R&B singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer from Detroit, Michigan.
Unplugged is the first live album by American singer Alicia Keys. It was released on October 7, 2005 by J Records. Recorded as part of the television program MTV Unplugged on July 4, 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the album includes songs from her first two studio albums Songs in A Minor (2001) and The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003).
Michael Woodrow Jackson, known professionally as Oh No, is an American rapper and record producer who has released several albums on Stones Throw Records. He is half of the hip hop duo Gangrene along with The Alchemist. He is also half of the hip-hop duo The Professionals with his brother Madlib.
Vadim Alexandrovich Peare, known professionally as DJ Vadim, is a Russian-English DJ and record producer. Born in Saint Petersburg and raised in London, Peare is additionally a promoter, record collector, radio presenter, occasional painter and writer, whose music combines hip hop, soul, reggae and electronica. He previously ran Jazz Fudge.
The Foreign Exchange is an R&B/electronica/hip hop duo consisting of the American rapper/singer Phonte and the Dutch record producer Nicolay.
Phonte Lyshod Coleman, known mononymously as Phonte, is an American rapper, singer, and producer. He is also a member of Team Supreme, that co-hosts the Questlove Supreme podcast.
Richard Preston Butler Jr., better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American record producer, songwriter, singer, and rapper. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and New York City's Harlem neighborhood. He attended Florida A&M and, while visiting Atlanta, Georgia, worked his way into the music industry through connections with singer Usher, who would become one of Butler's frequent collaborators.
Barely Breaking Even (BBE) is a British record label started by two DJs, Peter Adarkwah and Ben Jolly. The name BBE comes from The Universal Robot Band's 1982 track "Barely Breaking Even". It has two sublabels: Deep Funk, and Urban Theory. BBE is also notable for its Beat Generation series of LPs.
Connected is the first studio album by the Foreign Exchange, a hip hop group consisting of American rapper Phonte from Little Brother and Dutch producer Nicolay. It was released on BBE on August 24, 2004.
Pete Philly & Perquisite is a hip hop duo from Amsterdam, Netherlands consisting of Pedro Philip Monzón as the MC/vocalist and Pieter "Perquisite" Perquin as the cellist, producer and composer of all the music. Their music is best described as hip hop with influences from jazz, broken beat and soul. They usually performed live together with DJ PCM, Remco Keijzer on saxophone, EWI and flute, Kasper Kalf on double-bass and Ruben Hein on keys.
Rob Wilson, better known by his stage name Fresh I.E., is a Christian rap artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Leave It All Behind is the second studio album by the Foreign Exchange, released in 2008. At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, "Daykeeper" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
The Justus League was a hip hop collective from North Carolina founded in 1999. The collective consists of a total of 15 members (8 emcees, 5 producers, 1 DJ, and 1 consultant aka "Minister of Opinion". The emcees are: Cesar Comanche, Chaundon, Phonte, Rapper Big Pooh, Median, L.E.G.A.C.Y., Sean Boog, and Edgar Allen Floe. The producers are: 9th Wonder, Khrysis, Son of Yorel, Eccentric, and Big Dho. The DJ is DJ Flash Gordon, and the Consultant/Minister of Opinion is Mike Burvick. Although material isn't released as a collective, each member works actively in the music scene releasing solo albums, running their own record labels, along with other business endeavors.
Get Rich or Die Tryin': Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 2005 film of the same name, released on November 8, 2005, on Interscope Records and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. It features artists on the G-Unit label such as 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Olivia, and Mobb Deep. The album sold 320,000 copies in the first week, debuting behind country singer Kenny Chesney's The Road and the Radio. In December 2005, the RIAA certified the album Platinum. To date, the album has sold over three million copies worldwide.
Kendrick Lamar is the eponymous debut extended play (EP) by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on December 31, 2009, through Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), as a free digital download. It is Lamar's first project to be released under his birth name; he previously released music under the stage name K.Dot from 2003 to late 2009.
Wayne K. Garfield was an American composer, collaborating songwriter, vocalist, social entrepreneur, community activist, and producer, who was born in 1952 in New York City. He co-founded of the music collective Change, which launched the career of Luther Vandross with the hit song "The Glow of Love" which became #1 on the Billboard Dance/Disco Chart in the summer of 1980.In addition, Garfield’s songs appear on Platinum-Plus recordings by Luther Vandross, J. Cole, Now! 7, and Janet Jackson. Garfield was an active participant in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and internationally as a player representative. Among his successful clients were NBA Summer League standout, Chedney Gray and Jimmy Baxter, who in 2006 was the recipient of the France basketball league’s Sixth Man of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
