The Emotions are an American soul/R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time.
Maurice White was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
Next is an American R&B musical trio, popular during the late 1990s and early 2000s. They are best known for their Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit single "Too Close". They are also known for "Wifey", "Butta Love" and "I Still Love You", all of which still receive frequent airplay on Urban Adult Contemporary radio stations in the U.S. and internationally.
Confessions of Fire is the debut studio album by American rapper Cam'ron. It was released through Epic Records on July 21, 1998. Originally titled "Who Is Cam'ron?" The production on the album was mostly handled by Darrell "Digga" Branch, along with Swizz Beatz, Trackmasters, Jermaine Dupri, and among others. The album also features guest appearances by Mase, Usher, Kelly Price, Noreaga, and more.
"Wifey" is a song by American R&B trio Next. The song was written by Eddie Berkeley, Keir Gist, band member Robert "RL" Huggar, and singer Lil' Mo for the group's second studio album, Welcome II Nextasy (2000). The song was released as the album's lead single on May 8, 2000. "Wifey" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart while reaching number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. It also entered the top 20 in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In 2001, the song won an AWARD Rhythm & Soul Award for in the Award-Winning R&B/Hip-Hop Songs category.
American singer Usher has released nine studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 81 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive and RCA record labels. Usher has sold more than 33 million albums in the United States alone and over 65 million albums worldwide. With over 150 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 five-times platinum in the US for sales of 5 million copies. As of 2010, its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
"Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" is a song by Canadian recording artist Deborah Cox, released as the lead single from her second studio album, One Wish (1998). Written by Montell Jordan and its producer, Anthony "Shep" Crawford, the song was released on the same day as the album, on September 15, 1998, by Arista Records. It is Cox's most successful song, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and spending a then-record 14 weeks at number one on the Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart. In 2017, Billboard ranked the song at number five on its "Greatest of All Time Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs" chart.
A Rose Is Still a Rose is the thirty-fourth studio album by American recording artist Aretha Franklin. It was released on March 24, 1998, by Arista Records. Conceived after a longer hiatus and a complete departure from her previous studio album What You See Is What You Sweat (1991), the album includes influences of 1990s hip hop as well as modern-day contemporary R&B and soul music. Throughout the project, Franklin worked with many famed hip hop producers and rappers, such as Lauryn Hill, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Jermaine Dupri, and Daryl Simmons. With the latter acts producing most of the album, A Rose Is Still a Rose deviated from the adult contemporary sound of Franklin's older work.
Lil' Romeo is the self-titled debut studio album by American rapper, Lil' Romeo. It was released July 3, 2001, on No Limit Records, Soulja Music and Priority Records. The album has features production by Master P, Carlos Stephens and Sean "Barney" Thomas; the album also has guest appearances by Freequan, Silkk the Shocker, Lil' Zane, Allusion, Little D, 6 Piece and Afficial.
EV3 is the third studio album by American female vocal group En Vogue. It was released by East West Records on June 17, 1997, in the United States. Recorded after a lengthy break during which the group members became mothers or put out solo records, the album was En Vogue's first project to include a diverse roster of collaborators including credits from Babyface, David Foster, Diane Warren, Andrea Martin, Ivan Matias, and Organized Noize along with regular contributors Foster & McElroy. It marked their first album without Dawn Robinson, who decided to leave the group late into the recording of EV3 to focus on her solo career. Her absence meant much of the album had to be rerecorded to account for En Vogue's altered sound.
Total is the debut album by American female R&B trio Total. It was released by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records on January 30, 1996, in the United States. Chiefly produced by Bad Boy head Sean "Puffy" Combs, the album peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard 200 and reached the top five of the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Total was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and spawned the hit singles "Can't You See", "No One Else", "Kissin' You" and "Do You Think About Us"/"When Boy Meets Girl".
One Wish is the second album by Canadian singer-songwriter Deborah Cox. It was released by Arista Records on September 15, 1998, in the United States. As with her self-titled debut album, One Wish was once again executive-produced by Clive Davis, but features more uptempo, contemporary R&B, and a slew of new producers and personnel, including Montell Jordan, Anthony "Shep" Crawford, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, DJ Quik, Stevie J and David Foster. It also contains dance and club music. Diane Warren, Daryl Simmons and Lascelles Stephens also returned with contributions to the album.
Hot, Cool, & Vicious is the debut studio album by American hip hop trio Salt-N-Pepa. Released by Next Plateau Records on December 8, 1986, it was the first rap album by a female rap act to attain gold and platinum status in the US.
A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group, formed in 1985. They released six studio albums, five compilations, sixteen singles and two extended plays. The group was made up of rapper/main producer Q-Tip, the late rapper Phife Dawg and DJ/co-producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Phife Dawg was only persuaded to join when a fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, joined the group. In 1989 they signed a demo deal with Geffen Records, but not given a full-fledged recording contract. After receiving many offers, they opted for the Jive Records label, an independent rap label. In under a year, they managed to produce People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm to critical acclaim, but lukewarm sales, reaching #91 on the Billboard 200, though it did eventually achieve gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Ready is the third studio album by American R&B recording artist Trey Songz. It was released on August 31, 2009, by Troy Taylor's record label Songbook, distributed by Atlantic Records. The album serves as the sequel to Trey Day (2007). Production for the album took place from 2008 to 2009, which was contributed by Songz's longtime collaborator and his mentor Troy Taylor, along with Bryan-Michael Cox, StarGate and Los da Mystro, among others.
Greatest Hits: 1980–1994 is the RIAA Platinum-certified first greatest hits album released by American singer Aretha Franklin since she signed with Arista Records in 1980. It compiles her hits from 1980's Aretha through her most recent album at the time: 1991's What You See Is What You Sweat. The album was released in March 1994. Songs from her two albums Love All the Hurt Away (1981) and Through the Storm (1989) were not included on the greatest hits album.
"Feel So Good" is the debut single by American hip-hop artist Mase. It was released in October 1997 through Bad Boy Records and Arista Records as the lead single from his debut album, Harlem World, and it appeared on the Money Talks soundtrack. The song was produced by D-Dot and Sean "Puffy" Combs and featured vocals by R&B singer Kelly Price on the chorus. The single was the most successful of the three singles released from the album, having peaked at number 5 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number-one on the Hot Rap Singles chart. "Feel So Good" was certified gold just about a month after its release on November 12, 1997; it was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Chris Tucker, Mase and Sean appears in the music video, which was directed by Hype Williams. They drive around the city in a Mercedes-Benz and a group of female dancers are also shown dancing with them.
Raydio is the debut album by the band Raydio in 1978 on Arista Records. The album peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Top Soul LPs chart and No. 27 on the Billboard 200 chart. Raydio was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
"Anniversary" is a song by American R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!. It was released on September 14, 1993 by Mercury and Polygram, as the second single from their third studio album, Sons of Soul (1993). The song was produced by Tony! Toni! Toné! and written by group member Raphael Wiggins and keyboardist Carl Wheeler. It became a hit for Tony! Toni! Toné!, peaking at numbers ten and seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and number two on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. "Anniversary" was well received by music critics, including Robert Christgau, who named it the 13th best song of 1993. It earned the group Grammy Award nominations for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1994.
"Do You Mind" is a song by American musician DJ Khaled featuring Trinidadian musician Nicki Minaj and fellow American musicians Chris Brown, Jeremih, Future, August Alsina, and Rick Ross. It was released on July 28, 2016 by We the Best Music Group and Epic Records as the fourth single of the former's ninth studio album, Major Key. The song peaked at number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. It was eventually certified triple platinum by the RIAA.
