Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper and entrepreneur. Born and raised in New York City, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by Billboard and Vibe in 2023. He served as the president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007 before founding the entertainment company Roc Nation the following year.
GOOD Music was an American independent record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label entered an exclusive long-term worldwide distribution contract with the Island Def Jam Music Group in 2011. In 2012, the label released its only compilation album, Cruel Summer. In 2015, Pusha T was appointed president of the label by West, while record executive Steven Victor was appointed chief operating officer (COO). In late 2022, Pusha T stepped down from the position as he was no longer on speaking terms with West.
Ernest Dion Wilson, professionally known as No I.D., is an American record producer, DJ and songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. He is known for his early work with Chicago-based rapper Common, as well as his career mentorship of rappers Kanye West, J. Cole and Logic. Wilson first gained success for his role as an in-house producer for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings—leading to largely uncredited work on Dupri's productions "My Boo" by Usher, "Outta My System" and "Let Me Hold You" by Bow Wow—before reaching commercial success with his solo productions. He worked with Jay-Z to produce his singles "Run This Town" and "Holy Grail," West to produce "Heartless," and Drake to produce "Find Your Love" and "Nonstop"; all of which have peaked within the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Strange Fruit Project is an underground hip hop group from Waco, Texas, which consists of producer and emcee Symbolyc One, his cousin emcee Myth and emcee Myone. The trio officially debuted in 2004, with a pair of underground releases, Soul Travelin and From Divine. Their biggest exposure came with the release of their acclaimed 2006 album The Healing. The group's name is derived from the Billie Holiday civil rights song "Strange Fruit".
James Gregory Scheffer, known professionally as Jim Jonsin, is an American record producer and songwriter from South Florida. He has produced for numerous musical artists, including Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Usher, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Eminem, Pitbull, Yelawolf, Nelly, Mary J. Blige, Wiz Khalifa, Danity Kane and Jamie Foxx, among others. He won a Grammy Award for his work on Lil Wayne's 2008 single "Lollipop," and received a nomination for Best Rap Album for his work on "Whatever You Like" by T.I. that same year. Furthermore, both songs peaked the Billboard Hot 100.
Matthew Jehu Samuels, known professionally as Boi-1da is a Canadian record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario.
Carl McCormick, professionally known as Cardiak, is an American record producer. He began producing music in 2008.
Sarah Allison Jaffe is an American singer-songwriter from Denton, Texas. Known for her distinctively clear vocals, she has worked as a singer-songwriter across many musical genres, including acoustic-folk, indie pop and hip hop.
"Power" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, released as the lead single from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). The song features additional vocals by soul singer Dwele and is co-produced by West and Symbolyc One. It is built around samples of "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, "Afromerica" by Continent Number 6, and "It's Your Thing" by Cold Grits. After having recorded it in Hawaii, West reported that 5,000 man-hours were spent developing "Power". In its lyrics, West comments about the United States, his mental health and his critics. Its chorus features an abrasive vocal-riff.
Tyrone William Griffin Jr., known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer from Los Angeles, California. He first gained recognition for his guest appearance on hometown rapper YG's 2010 single "Toot It and Boot It", which entered the Billboard Hot 100 as his first minor hit. He signed with Atlantic Records in 2012, and Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang Entertainment the following year.
Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr., known professionally as Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter from Fontana, California. He first signed with fellow producer Polow da Don in 2007 as in-house production staff for his label Zone 4, and later signed with Kanye West's GOOD Music in 2011 to serve a similar role. He first gained major recognition for his work on Lil Wayne's 2009 single "Drop the World", which entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 18. The following year, he produced West and Jay-Z's 2011 single "Niggas in Paris", which peaked at number five on the chart and received diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Terry Wayne Jones Jr., primarily known by his stage name Pikahsso, is an American hip hop artist from Dallas, Texas.
Emile Haynie, often credited simply as Emile, is an American record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, his range of production includes alternative rock, hip hop, indie and pop music. Haynie has worked with several prominent artists in the music industry including Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Eminem, Lana Del Rey, Bruno Mars, Linkin Park, FKA Twigs, Florence Welch and Camila Cabello, among others. Additionally, Haynie received two Grammy Awards for his work with English singer Adele, namely Album of the Year for the diamond certified 25 as well as Record of the Year for "Hello".
Caleb Sean was born Caleb Sean McCampbell on July 3, 1986. Born into a family of musicians, Caleb began to sing and play the piano at the age of three. By the age of seven he was involved in piano recitals at his elementary school, and was playing for the children's choir at his home church in Dallas, Texas. His father was a member of the Mac Band, a pop/R&B band that gained popularity with the #1 hit "Roses are Red" in the early 1990s, and his mother was a vocalist in the band Soul Liberation. Caleb was heavily influenced by singing and playing at church and school, but became familiar with the music industry through learning from his father's experiences. Caleb began singing with his four siblings, and by high school was gaining favor through playing different musical gigs in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is the eighth studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on November 5, 2013, by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records. It is his last album to carry the logo of the independent label WEB Entertainment and his first since joining Aftermath not to feature production by Dr. Dre, who serves as an executive producer alongside Rick Rubin. The album is a sequel to Eminem's third studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP, and follows the trend set by his previous album, Recovery, by featuring popstars such as Rihanna and Nate Ruess, and using outside producers like S1, Alex da Kid, and Rick Rubin.
Dwane Marshall Weir II is an American hip hop/R&B producer and songwriter, professionally known as Key Wane. Wane has produced for artists such as Big Sean, Jazmine Sullivan, Beyoncé, Drake, Jhene Aiko, Wale, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Juicy J, Ariana Grande, Logic, Ty Dolla Sign and Meek Mill among others. He is best known for producing Drake's "All Me", Beyoncé's "Partition", Jazmine Sullivan's "Let It Burn" & "Insecure", Meek Mill's "Amen", Big Sean's "Guap", "Beware", "IDFWU" and an extensive amount of his albums including Hall of Fame, Dark Sky Paradise, and Twenty 88.
"Bad Guy" is a song by American rapper Eminem, taken from his eighth album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013). The song connects the second LP to the first Marshall Mathers LP, which was released in 2000. "Bad Guy" is also a sequel to Eminem's hit single "Stan", which appears on the aforementioned album.
Ken Lewis is an American record producer, mixing engineer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in New York City. He has been nominated by name for his contributions to 7 Grammy-nominated projects including on Eminem's Recovery, Kanye West's The College Dropout, FUN.'s Some Nights, and others. He has also contributed production, songwriting, engineering, arranging and/or instrumentation and vocals to numerous gold, platinum, and diamond records including Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk", Lil Wayne and Drake's "Believe Me", and Kanye West and Jamie Foxx's "Gold Digger". He is the creator of two web-based instructional platforms: Audio School Online and Music School Online. Lewis is also half the production team, Katalyst, with Brent Kolatalo.
Nova Wav is a record production and songwriting duo composed of Brittany "Chi" Coney and Denisia "Blu June" Andrews. Over the course of their career, Nova Wav has written and produced on tracks and albums for artists including Beyoncé, Rihanna, DJ Khaled, Ariana Grande, Jay-Z, Saweetie, Nicki Minaj, Teyana Taylor, Kehlani and more. They were signed to Warner Chappell Music by Ryan Press and "Big Jon" Platt. They were named Billboards 2018 R&B/Hip-Hop 100 Power Players and listed on Revolt's Top 9 producers of 2019 that demanded the sound of Hip Hop and R&B.
Brent Kolatalo is an American mixer, record producer, engineer and songwriter based in New York City. Kolatalo has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Eminem, Drake, Bruno Mars, X Ambassadors, Future, Chris Webby, Ella Henderson, Taylor Swift, Lorde, OneRepublic, Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey among others.
