Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She started her career as a backing singer on Uptown Records in 1989. She has released 13 studio albums, eight of which have achieved multi-platinum worldwide sales. Blige has sold over 80 million records, has won nine Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards and has also received three Golden Globe Award nominations, including one for her supporting role in the film Mudbound (2017) and another for its second original song "Mighty River" for Mudbound; she also received a nomination for the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song, becoming the first person nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year.
Joseph Lewis Thomas is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Raised in Opelika, Alabama, Joe later relocated to New Jersey. In 1992 he signed a record deal with Polygram Records. He 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".
Ciara Princess Harris is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and model. Born in Austin, Texas, she traveled around the world during her childhood, eventually moving to Atlanta, Georgia where she joined the girl group Hearsay. She later signed a publishing deal, and befriended producer Jazze Pha, who recorded demos that would appear on her debut album. With his help, Ciara signed a record deal with LaFace Records.
My Love Is Your Love is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Whitney Houston, released worldwide on November 17, 1998. It was Houston's first studio album in eight years, following I'm Your Baby Tonight, although she had released several movie soundtracks in that time. My Love Is Your Love is composed of mid-tempo R&B, hip hop soul, pop, reggae, and torch songs, produced by musicians such as Rodney Jerkins, Soulshock & Karlin, Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, David Foster, and Babyface. It is notable for introducing elements of hip hop into Houston's work, only sparingly used in her previous material.
Big Tymers was an American duo that was active from 1993 to 2005 and again in 2018 from New Orleans, Louisiana. Big Tymers consist of Cash Money Records co-founder Birdman and former Cash Money in-house producer Mannie Fresh. Baby later changed his stage name to Birdman after the duo had dissolved in 2005. The Big Tymers released their debut album in 1997 titled How You Luv That, and a re-release version of their debut album, How You Luv That Vol. 2 which gave them an abundant amount of publicity afterwards. In 2018, the duo reunited for a song called "Designer Caskets" on the Cash Money soundtrack album "Before Anythang".
Donell Quinn Jones is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is most notable for the hits "U Know What's Up," "Where I Wanna Be," and his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet." Jones' first studio album My Heart, was released in 1996, but he is best known for his late 1990s release of his second album Where I Wanna Be.
"Hit the Freeway" is a song by the American recording artist Toni Braxton, released as the lead-single from her fourth studio album, More Than a Woman (2002). The song, which features American rapper Loon, was written by Pharrell Williams and Loon himself, while production was handled by Pharrell's production duo The Neptunes. It is an R&B and hip-hop song, with lyrics about an ex trying to rekindle with Braxton, but Braxton claims she's not interested in him anymore.
Now That's What I Call Music! 16 was released on July 27, 2004. The album is the 16th edition of the (U.S.) Now! series. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 to become the fifth number-one album in the series and the first since Now! 9. It became the fourth album in the series to crossover to the R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, peaking at number two.
American singer Usher has released nine studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 74 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive, and RCA record labels. 23 million of his albums have been shipped in the United States with 75 million total records sold worldwide, making him one of the best selling music artists. 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 8 million copies, becoming his breakthrough album. It was certified six-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". It has sold more than 4.7 million copies and has been certified four-times platinum in the US. Its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
Now That's What I Call Music! 7 was released on July 31, 2001. The album is the seventh edition of the (U.S.) Now! series. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 621,000 copies in its first week, the highest opening week of sales for any U.S. Now! album to date. It is the third number-one album in the series and has been certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA. Now! 7 is the first in the series to also crossover onto the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, peaking at number three.
Now That's What I Call Music! 12 is the 12th edition of the Now! series in the United States, released on March 25, 2003. It debuted and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and has been certified Platinum. With an increased number of hip hop and R&B tracks on this volume, it reached No. 10 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Now That's What I Call Music! 14 was released on November 4, 2003. The album is the 14th edition of the (US) Now! series. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and number eleven on the R&B/Hip-Hop albums charts. It has been certified 3× Platinum. The album spent a record 13 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, the most for any multi-artist compilation album since 1963.
American singer Ciara has released six studio albums, one extended play, one DVD, one promotional single, twenty-seven singles, including seven as a featured artist, and twenty-eight music videos, including seven as a featured artist. She made her debut in 2004 with her debut album Goodies which debuted at three in the US and charted within the top forty in several international markets. The album's title track peaked at number-one in the United States for seven weeks and gave the singer the title of "The First Lady of Crunk&B," while singles "1, 2 Step" and "Oh" reached the top three in the US. All three singles reached the top ten in many international markets, with "Goodies" topping charts in the UK. Goodies was certified triple-Platinum in the United States, Platinum in Canada, and sold over five million copies worldwide. Ciara also participated in a number of successful collaborations, including US top five hits "Lose Control" with Missy Elliott, and "Like You" with rapper Bow Wow, as well as the US top ten "So What" with group Field Mob.
Now That's What I Call Music! 23 was released on November 7, 2006. The album is the 23rd edition of the (U.S.) Now! series. It sold over 337,000 copies in its opening week to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the tenth chart topper in the series. It also reached number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
The discography of Akon, a Senegalese American singer, songwriter, rapper and music producer, consists of three studio albums, four mixtapes, one hundred and six singles, four promotional singles and ninety-two music videos. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Akon lived in Senegal with his family until the age of seven, when they returned to the United States to live in New Jersey. A three-year prison sentence inspired Akon to begin recording songs in his home studio: Universal Records signed him after becoming aware of his music, and his debut album Trouble was released in June 2004. Two of its singles – "Locked Up" and "Lonely" – reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100, with the latter topping numerous singles charts worldwide and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Trouble also included the singles "Gunshot ", "Ghetto", "Belly Dancer (Bananza)" and "Pot of Gold", and was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA and by the British Phonographic Industry in the United Kingdom, where it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.
The discography of American R&B and gospel singer Fantasia Barrino, who performs under the mononym Fantasia, consists of five studio albums, fourteen singles, two of which she performs as the featured artist, and eight music videos. At the age of nineteen, she won the third season of American Idol, earning a record deal with 19 Entertainment and J Records. The season's coronation song, "I Believe", debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It also peaked at number one in Canada, in addition to reaching numbers four and twenty in Australia and New Zealand, respectively.
American singer-rapper Chris Brown has released eight studio albums, nine mixtapes, one hundred and eight singles and ten promotional singles. According to Billboard, Brown has the seventh most Hot 100 entries on the chart with 90. As of August 2017, he has achieved 42 top 40 entries on the Hot 100. Brown is the singer with the fifth-most consecutive weeks on the Hot 100 chart. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), he is the tenth-best-selling digital single artist in the United States with sales of 50 million.
The discography of Outkast, an American hip hop duo consisting of rappers André 3000 and Big Boi, consists of five studio albums, one compilation album, one soundtrack album, one video album, thirty-two singles, three promotional singles and twenty-one music videos. In 1992, Outkast became the first hip hop act to be signed to the label LaFace Records; with their first studio album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994) that debuted at number 20 on the US Billboard 200. Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik spawned the commercially successful single "Player's Ball" that has reached at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Their following two albums, ATLiens (1996) and Aquemini (1998), were commercially successful in the United States; both albums peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, and were certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Three singles were solicited from each album; all three from ATLiens charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Elevators " peaking at number 12, making it the most successful. The lead single from Aquemini, "Rosa Parks", peaked at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100: two more singles, "Skew It on the Bar-B" and "Da Art of Storytellin' ", were released from the album. In 1998, Outkast collaborated with hip hop group Goodie Mob on the single "Black Ice " and rapper Cool Breeze on the single "Watch for the Hook"; both singles peaked at numbers 50 and 73 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.
Raymond v. Raymond is the sixth studio album by American singer Usher, released on March 26, 2010, by LaFace Records. Production for the album took place in 2009 and was handled by several producers, including Jermaine Dupri, The Runners, Ester Dean, Polow da Don, RedOne, Jim Jonsin, Danja, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Bangladesh, Zaytoven, and Tricky Stewart.
Canadian rapper Drake has released five studio albums, two extended plays, six mixtapes, one hundred thirty-one singles, five promotional singles and eighty-four music videos. His music has been released on record labels Universal Motown Records and Universal Republic Records, along with subsidiaries Aspire Music Group, Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records. He has the most number one singles on the US Hot Rap Songs chart with fifteen, and the most number one singles on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with nineteen.
