Kirk Dewayne Franklin is an American songwriter, choir director, gospel singer, and rapper. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel and Christian R&B ensembles such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) among many others. He has won numerous awards, including 20 Grammy Awards. Variety dubbed Franklin as a "Reigning King of Urban Gospel", and is one of the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
Quad City DJ's is an American music group originally consisting of Jay Ski, C.C. Lemonhead, and JeLana LaFleur who recorded the 1996 hit "C'mon N' Ride It ", a rap-remix of Barry White's 1974 "Theme from Together Brothers". They are also known for writing and performing the theme song to the 1996 live-action/animated basketball film Space Jam.
"Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, originally for Nolan's disco group the Eleventh Hour. The song is famous for the repeated refrain of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" in French as part of the chorus, a sexually suggestive line that translates into English as: "Do you want to sleep with me?" The song first became a popular hit when it was recorded in 1974 by the American funk rock group Labelle and held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week, and also topped the Canadian RPM national singles chart. In 2021, the Library of Congress selected Labelle's version for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".
Jasmine Rose Wilson, known professionally as Baby Rose, is an African-American singer born in Washington, D.C. She is an independent artist but has a distribution deal with Human Re Sources. She currently is signed with the Secretly Canadian record label, and previously signed with Island Records.
Made In America Festival is a two-day music festival held every Labor Day weekend on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was first announced by entertainer Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter at Philadelphia Museum of Art on May 14, 2012.
Solána Imani Rowe, known professionally as SZA, is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition through her self-released extended plays (EPs), See.SZA.Run (2012) and S (2013), which helped her become the first female artist to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment. Her third EP, Z (2014), was her first project to be released to digital retailers and reached the top-ten on the US Independent Albums chart.
Leland Tyler Wayne, known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer. Critically acclaimed for his dark production style, he is regarded as among the most influential producers in modern hip hop and trap music. His frequent collaborators include Future, Young Thug, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Don Toliver, 21 Savage,Gucci Mane, and Nav.
Quavious Keyate Marshall, known professionally as Quavo, is an American rapper from Athens, Georgia. He is best known as the frontman of the now-defunct hip hop group Migos. Formed with his nephew Takeoff and their mutual friend Offset in 2008, the group released four commercially successful studio albums before disbanding in 2023.
Miles Parks McCollum, known professionally as Lil Yachty, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He first gained recognition in August 2015 for his viral hit "One Night" from his debut EP Summer Songs. He then released his debut mixtape Lil Boat in March 2016, and signed a joint venture record deal with Motown, Capitol Records, and Quality Control Music in June of that year.
Dear Evan Hansen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2021 film of the same name, released on September 24, 2021, by Interscope Records. Based on the eponymous stage musical by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the film is directed by Stephen Chbosky, with Levenson writing the screenplay and stars Ben Platt in the title role, reprising his role from the stage performance.
Dominique Armani Jones, known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He rose to prominence following the release of his 2017 mixtapes Harder than Hard and Too Hard, the former of which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 entry with its lead single, "My Dawg." He signed with Motown and Capitol Records to release his debut studio album Harder Than Ever (2018), which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and was supported by the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single "Yes Indeed". He released two additional retail projects that same year: The collaborative mixtape Drip Harder with fellow Georgia-based rapper Gunna—which saw continued success with its singles "Drip Too Hard" and "Close Friends"—and his commercial mixtape Street Gossip, which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200.
Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, known professionally as Doja Cat, is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song "So High" caught the attention of Kemosabe and RCA Records, with whom she signed a recording contract prior to the release of her debut extended play, Purrr! in 2014.
Carlos St. John Phillips, known professionally as Saint Jhn, is a Guyanese-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Space Jam: A New Legacy is a 2021 American live-action/animated sports comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, Proximity Media, and The SpringHill Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was directed by Malcolm D. Lee from a screenplay by Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Keenan Coogler, Terence Nance, Jesse Gordon, and Celeste Ballard, and a story by Taylor, Rettenmaier, Coogler, and Nance. It serves as a standalone sequel to Space Jam (1996) and is the first theatrically released film to feature the Looney Tunes characters since Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). The film stars basketball player LeBron James as a fictional version of himself; Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Cedric Joe star in live-action roles, while Jeff Bergman, Eric Bauza, and Zendaya headline the Looney Tunes voice cast. The film follows James enlisting the Looney Tunes' aid to win a basketball game in a Warner Bros.–themed virtual multiverse against a rogue artificial intelligence's avatars after James's youngest son is abducted by the AI.
"Tap In" is a song by American rapper Saweetie, released on June 17, 2020, as the lead single from her upcoming debut studio album Pretty Bitch Music. The song samples rapper Too Short's signature 2006 single "Blow the Whistle", produced by Lil Jon. Too Short provides the intro on "Tap In". Produced and co-written by Dr. Luke, it marked Saweetie's second song to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in a scene of Black Mirror Season 6, Episode 1 "Joan Is Awful".
Breezy is the tenth studio album by American singer Chris Brown, released on June 24, 2022, as the follow-up to his 2019 album Indigo. The artists featured on the album are Lil Wayne, Anderson .Paak, Blxst, Lil Baby, H.E.R., EST Gee, Wizkid, Jack Harlow, Tory Lanez, Fivio Foreign, Ella Mai, Yung Bleu, Capella Grey, Lil Durk, Davido and Bryson Tiller. The album marks his first studio album not being a double-disc since his 2015 album Royalty.
"Confetti" is a song by British girl group Little Mix. It was released through RCA UK on 4 November 2020, as the third promotional single from their sixth studio album of the same name. The song was written by MNEK, Kamille, Maegan Cottone and TMS, and was produced by the latter. "Confetti" is a pop song with elements of R&B, pop rap and hip hop, which sees the group celebrating independence after a break-up and their individual enjoyment of life.
This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2021.
"Handstand" is a song by Moroccan-American rapper French Montana and American rapper and singer Doja Cat featuring fellow American rapper Saweetie, from French Montana's fourth studio album They Got Amnesia. It was written by the rappers, Darryl Clemons, Kevin Price, Jaucquez Lowe, and Hitmaka, with Hitmaka serving as one of the track's producers along with Pooh Beatz, Go Grizzly, and London Jae. The song interpolates Cash Money's 2000 single Project Chick and Big Pun's 2000 single "It's So Hard". It received favorable reviews from the music critics, who deemed the track as suitable for dancing.
"Icy Chain" is a song by American rapper Saweetie. It was released on November 19, 2021 through Warner Records, as a single for her canceled extended play Icy Season and her upcoming debut studio album Pretty Bitch Music. Saweetie performed the song on Saturday Night Live the night following its release.
