Stevland Hardaway Morris, known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. A prominent figure in popular music during the second-half of the 20th century, Wonder is one of the most successful songwriters and musicians. A virtual one-man band, his use of synthesizers and further electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of R&B. He also helped drive the genre into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive, consistent socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Wonder is often hailed as a "genius", and has been credited as a pioneer and influence to musicians of various genres including rhythm and blues, pop, soul, gospel, funk and jazz.
Thomas Morgan Robertson, known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, entrepreneur and teacher. He came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me with Science" (1982) and "Hyperactive!" (1984). He has also worked in production and as a session musician. In the 1990s he founded a Silicon Valley sound technology company, Beatnik, whose technology was used to create the Nokia tune. He was also the music director for the TED Conference. On faculty at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University since 2014, Dolby leads Peabody’s Music for New Media program, which enrolled its first students in the fall of 2018.
The Streets is an English rap music project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner.
Dylan Kwabena Mills, better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC, rapper, songwriter and record producer. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B.
Myspace is an American social networking service. From 2005 to 2008, it was the largest social networking site in the world, reaching more than 100 million users per month.
Hospital Records is an independent record label based in South London. Primarily releasing drum and bass, the label was started in 1996 by Tony Colman and Chris Goss, and has grown in recent years to become one of the most well known labels within UK dance music. The label has been home to artists such as Blame, Danny Byrd, Camo & Krooked, Logistics, Nu:Tone, Metrik, Fred V & Grafix, High Contrast and S.P.Y but also releases tracks from across the DnB genre. In Forest Hill, South London, Hospital also runs the more experimental label Med School Music, the publishing company Songs in the Key of Knife, and their worldwide events brand Hospitality.
Drowned in Sound, sometimes abbreviated to DiS, is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
Hard-Fi are an English rock band from Staines-upon-Thames, England, formed in 2003. The band's most recent lineup before going on hiatus consisted of Richard Archer, Kai Stephens and Steve Kemp. Founding member Ross Phillips left the band on 6 May 2013 but returned in 2014 to promote the release of their greatest hits album, Best of 2004 – 2014, and the one-off gig on 13 February 2014.
Kane Brett Robinson, better known as Kano, is a British rapper, songwriter and actor from East Ham, London. A significant contributor to grime music, Kano is widely considered one of the pioneers of grime music and culture, alongside artists such as Wiley and Dizzee Rascal. In 2004, Kano released his debut single "P's and Q's", which was an underground hit within the grime community.
Nathaniel James Speas, known as Nate James, is a British singer-songwriter. James released his debut soul album Set the Tone in 2005 which won him two MOBO Nominations for Best Newcomer and Best R&B Artist, featuring his revered first release “Set The Tone” He released on his Frofunk imprint via Independent Labels around the world and became one of the most successful independent soul recording artists globally. James has sold over 1,000,000 albums and he has had airplay hits in both Europe and Japan. He won the Festivalbar in 2006. The Festivalbar is an Italian singing competition that takes place in the most important Italian squares such as the Piazza del Duomo in Milan. He released his second album Kingdom Falls in 2006. In February 2008, James and his band performed on the BBC show Later... with Jools Holland. In 2007, James won the Urban Music Awards' Best Album and Best Neo-Soul Artist. Nate was a contestant on the BBC's prime time television show The Voice UK in April 2013.
Jacob Taio Cruz, known professionally as Taio Cruz, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer from London, England, currently based in Los Angeles. In 2008, he released his debut album Departure, which he wrote, arranged and produced. The album achieved certified gold status in the United Kingdom and earned him a Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBO) nomination.
Michael Geoffrey Skinner is an English rapper, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is best known for the music project The Streets.
"Bird Flu" is an urumee melam-dance song by recording artist M.I.A. on her second studio album Kala (2007). It was released as a digital download in 2006 through XL Recordings under exclusive license to Interscope Records in the US. Critics noted its autobiographical lyrics "updated to the present day, where she's straddling the line between major-label success and her own crazy-ass major-label-bucking tendencies, singing she's too cool "to be a Rocawear model," whilst adding that she couldn't be a "rocker on a label"- they wouldn't have her because "...my beats were too evil." Also praised was the song's utilization of the folk urumee melam/gaana music, a Tamil genre of music that the writer was familiar with having grown up in Jaffna. Arulpragasam recorded the song using live drummers from temples in Chennai. M.I.A. wanted to work with Tamil folk music as it gave her a sense of rhythm as a child and she wanted to draw certain aspects from Indian music that Western audiences hadn’t heard before.
Go:Audio are an English pop rock band from London, England. The band's sound implemented influences from pop punk and electropop, often using synthesizers and programming tools. They were also noted for not using a bassist and also supporting such bands as McFly, Scouting for Girls, hellogoodbye, Zebrahead and Bowling for Soup.
Stephen Paul Manderson, better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, songwriter and television personality from London.
The BT Digital Music Awards (DMA) was a British music award ceremony held annually for 10 years from 2002 to 2011. Music industry professionals nominated artists, venues and hardware into the Judge's Choice award categories. The rest of the awards were made up of People's Choice Awards, voted for by the public. The final awards were held at the Camden Roundhouse on 29 September 2011.
Brian Wayne Transeau, known by his initials as BT, is an American musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, composer and audio engineer. An artist in the electronica music genre, he is credited as a pioneer of the trance and intelligent dance music styles that paved the way for EDM, and for "stretching electronic music to its technical breaking point." In 2010, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album for These Hopeful Machines. He creates music within a myriad of styles, such as classical, film composition, and bass music.
The Very Best is a collaboration between London-based DJ and production duo Radioclit and Esau Mwamwaya, a singer from Lilongwe, Malawi. Their music has been described as an Afro-Western mix of dance, hip hop, pop, and the traditional music of Malawi.
Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu, better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper, singer, composer and entrepreneur. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment company Disturbing London in 2006, along with his cousin Dumi Oburota.
William Joseph Crawford, known by his stage name Ya Boy, is an American rapper from the Fillmore District of San Francisco, California. He was formerly signed to both of Akon's labels Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution.
