Stevland Hardaway Morris, known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. One of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the 20th century, he is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of contemporary R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.
Boyz II Men is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanyá Morris and Shawn Stockman since 2003. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men was a quartet with bass singer, Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to health issues that were diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s.
Manitoba has produced much Canadian music, especially since the early 1960s.
India Arie Simpson is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Acoustic Soul, was released in 2001, and she has since released six more studio albums. Arie has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide, and has won four Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album.
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a vocalist for the R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with his brother D'Wayne and cousin Timothy Christian Riley in 1986. Along with his groupwork and solo career, he has produced and written songs for other R&B artists, including Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Total, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, En Vogue, Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend.
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.
Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production, recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson.
Barrett Strong Jr. was an American singer and songwriter known for his recording of "Money ", which was the first hit single for the Motown record label. He is also known for his songwriting work in association with producer Norman Whitfield; together, they penned such songs as "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "War", "Just My Imagination ", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".
Anthony Cornelius Hamilton, is an American singer and songwriter. Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, he signed with Uptown Records, an imprint of MCA Records to record his debut studio album XTC; scheduled for release in 1996, it was ultimately shelved due to its singles failing to chart. He then gained recognition for his guest performance on Nappy Roots' 2002 single "Po' Folks," which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and led him to sign with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings, an imprint of Arista Records.
The Way I Feel is the only studio album by Canadian R&B musician Remy Shand. The album was released in 2001 in Shand's native Canada, UK & Europe via Universal Records and on March 12, 2002 in the United States via Motown Records. Three singles were released from the album: "Take a Message", "The Way I Feel", and "Rocksteady". "Take a Message" was the only song from the album to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #89. Shand wrote and produced all of the album's tracks.
Richard Preston Butler Jr., better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American songwriter, record producer, 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 became one of Butler's frequent collaborators.
McMaster & James is a Canadian soul/pop "boy band" music duo from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The Renaissance is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Q-Tip, released November 4, 2008, on Universal Motown Records. The follow-up to his solo debut album, Amplified (1999), it was recorded after Q-Tip's Kamaal the Abstract (2009) was initially shelved in 2002 by his former label Arista Records and his proposed effort Open was shelved by Universal Motown, both deemed commercially inadequate by the labels. The Renaissance was produced primarily by Q-Tip and features guest contributions by D'Angelo, Norah Jones, Amanda Diva, and Raphael Saadiq.
Melanie Fiona Hallim is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. She began her career in 2002 as part of a Canadian R&B trio X-Quisite, who was nominated for a Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for their self-titled album (2004). She went on to form the duo The Renaissance with hometown native Drake, although they released no albums.
"Love That Girl" is a song by American recording artist Raphael Saadiq, released as a single on August 5, 2008, by Columbia Records. It was the lead single for Saadiq's 2008 album The Way I See It. The song was written by Saadiq and co-producer Bobby Ozuna. "Love That Girl" is a Motown-inspired soul song with sweet-natured, innocent lyrics about affection.
X-Quisite was an R&B Canadian girl group. The trio made up of Nicole Holness, Melanie Fiona Hallim, Andreena Mill and later in 2003 new members, Terri Oliver & Nirvana Savoury were signed to Linus Entertainment soon after the group was established in 2002. The group released their self-titled debut studio album X-Quisite in 2003. In 2004, the album earned the group a Juno Award nomination for "R&B/Soul Recording of the Year". The group had a number of singles from their debut album, most notably "Bad Girl", "No Regrets" and "Sassy Thang". The group disbanded in 2005, with all three members moving on to pursue solo music careers.
"Take a Message" is a song written, produced and performed by Remy Shand, issued as the lead single from his only studio album The Way I Feel. Released in 2001, the song is his only entry to date on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #89 in 2002. "Take a Message" was one of the top 25 most played songs on radio in Canada in 2002.
"Where Are We Going" is a song by Remy Shand, released on 17 May 2013 on Remy Records. It is the first single released by the musician since 2002's single "Rocksteady".
Andrew Alexander "Mike" Terry was an American saxophonist, songwriter, arranger, producer and musical director. His baritone sax solos feature on the breakthrough hits of Martha and the Vandellas, and The Supremes. As a member of the Funk Brothers he performed on thousands of Motown recordings from 1960 to 1967, including at least seven US #1 hits. As was Motown's policy at the time, none of the studio musicians were credited by name. Terry was the musical arranger of the 1966 hit "Cool Jerk" by The Capitols, and later became a record producer, with partners including George Clinton, Sidney Barnes, and Jack Ashford.
