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Usher Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. He is recognized as an influential figure in contemporary R&B and pop music. Usher first released his self-titled debut album (1994) at the age of 16, and rose to fame in the late 1990s following the release of his second album, My Way (1997). It spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow", and the top-two singles "You Make Me Wanna..." and the title track. His third album, 8701 (2001) saw continued success and contained two number-one singles, "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as the top-three single "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance consecutively in 2002 and 2003.
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Throughout his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA-certified platinum albums and sold over 40 million records worldwide. Known as the "Velvet Voice", Vandross has been recognized as one of the 200 greatest singers of all time (2023) by Rolling Stone, as well as one of the greatest R&B artists by Billboard. In addition, NPR named him one of the 50 Great Voices. He was the recipient of eight Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year in 2004 for a track recorded not long before his death, "Dance with My Father". In 2021, he was posthumously inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
Mya Marie Harrison is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and actress. Classified as a "triple threat entertainer," she has become a staple in pop cultural zeitgeist for her work in contemporary R&B. Born and raised in Washington D.C., as a child she studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance. She began her career in television as a dance posse member, performing on BET's Teen Summit. She signed with record executive A. Haqq Islam's University Records, an imprint of Interscope Records to release her eponymous debut studio album (1998), which lyrically explored romance and coming-of-age scenarios. A critical and commercial success, the album spawned her first Billboard Hot 100-top ten single, "It's All About Me". Her collaborative singles — "Girls Dem Sugar", "Ghetto Supastar ", and "Take Me There" — were also met with commercial success.
Yvette Marie Stevens, better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer. Known as the "Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. With the band she recorded the notable hits "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel" and the platinum-certified "Ain't Nobody". Her debut solo album featured the number-one R&B hit "I'm Every Woman". Khan scored another R&B charts hit with "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" before becoming the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with her 1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel for You". More of Khan's hits include "Through the Fire" and a 1986 collaboration with Steve Winwood that produced a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Higher Love".
8701 is the third studio album by American singer Usher, released in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2001, and in the United States on August 7, 2001, by Arista Records. Recording was handled by several producers including The Neptunes, Jermaine Dupri, Babyface, Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, Mike City, Bryan Michael Cox, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Although intended for an October 31, 2000, release under the title All About U, the album was delayed numerous times, following the leak of several tracks onto the online music store Napster. Usher subsequently recorded new tracks and released the album under the new title, 8701, which is derived from Usher singing for the first time in his local church in 1987 and the album's US release date of August 7, 2001. The single "Can U Help Me" was supplied with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and later Windows versions to showcase Windows Media Player 11 and higher WMP versions.
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with various artists, most extensively Janet Jackson. They have written 31 top ten hits in the UK and 41 in the US. In 2022, the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category.
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" is the second single from American singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye's 1971 album, What's Going On. Following the breakthrough of the title track's success, the song, written solely by Gaye, became regarded as one of popular music's most poignant anthems of sorrow regarding the environment. Led by Gaye playing piano, strings conducted by Paul Riser and David Van De Pitte, multi-tracking vocals from Gaye and the Andantes, multiple background instruments provided by the Funk Brothers and a leading sax solo by Wild Bill Moore, the song rose to number 4 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart and number one for two weeks on the R&B Singles charts on August 14 through to August 27, 1971. The distinctive percussive sound heard on the track was a wood block struck by a rubber mallet, drenched in studio reverb. The song also brought Gaye one of his rare appearances on the Adult Contemporary chart, where it peaked at number 34. In Canada, "Mercy Mercy Me" spent two weeks at number 9.
My Way is the second studio album by American singer Usher. It was released on September 16, 1997, by LaFace Records in North America. The album features guest appearances from Monica, Jermaine Dupri, and Lil' Kim. The album was supported by three singles, all multi platinum-selling: "Nice & Slow", "My Way", and "You Make Me Wanna...".
Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. Stewart, a five-time Grammy Award recipient, began producing music in 1992 and has contributed to unit sales of over 50 million for his work on commercially successful releases for hip hop, R&B and pop artists. Often in tandem with production partner and R&B singer The-Dream, he has been credited on the singles "Case of the Ex" (2000) by Mya, "Me Against the Music" (2003) by Britney Spears, "Umbrella" (2007) by Rihanna, "Just Fine" (2007) by Mary J. Blige, "Single Ladies " (2008) by Beyoncé, "Touch My Body" (2008) and "Obsessed" (2009) by Mariah Carey, "One Time" (2009) and "Baby" (2010) by Justin Bieber, and "Ride" (2010) by Ciara, among others.
"U Remind Me" is a song by American singer Usher. It was written by Edmund "Eddie Hustle" Clement and Anita McCloud and produced by Clement along with duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis for Usher's third studio album 8701 (2001). A mid-tempo R&B track, the song is about a man who meets a woman who seems like a nice catch, but he decides not to enter a relationship with her because she looks too much like an ex-girlfriend with whom he had a bad breakup.
Contemporary R&B is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.
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.
Illumination is the nineteenth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in September 2005 on Sanctuary Records. The album rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 32 on the Billboard 200 chart. Illumination was also Grammy nominated within the category of Best R&B Album. It is the last Earth, Wind & Fire album to feature their founder and co-lead vocalist Maurice White.
Tim & Bob, also known as Funktwons, were an American songwriting and production duo from Peoria, Illinois. The duo has been credited on the Billboard Hot 100 top ten-singles "Thong Song" for Sisqó, "Slow Down" for Bobby V, "They Don't Know" for Jon B., and the top 40-singles "So Into You" for Tamia and "Come See Me" for 112. They discovered the latter act in Atlanta during the late 1990s, and worked extensively with artists Bobby V, Boyz II Men, Donell Jones and Monica to produce one or more of their albums, respectively. They disbanded in 2014 to separately pursue solo work.
American singer Mya has released eight studio albums, one mixtape, five extended plays and sixty-one singles. To date, Mya has sold over 20 million records worldwide. For the 2000s decade, Billboard listed her as one of their Hot 100 Artists of 2000s. According to Luminate, Mya has sold over 3.2 million albums in the United States. Additionally, she has sold seven million albums worldwide. As of 2023, the Recording Industry Association of America lists her total certified sales as a solo artists at five million in the United States.
"Pure Gold" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as a single in 2005 by Sanctuary Records. The song reached No. 23 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and No. 15 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.
Priscilla Renea Hamilton, known professionally as Muni Long, is an American singer and songwriter from Gifford, Florida. Under her birth name, she signed with Capitol Records to release her debut studio album Jukebox (2009), which was met with positive critical reception despite failing to chart. She then spent the following decade co-writing songs for other artists, including the hit singles "Promise This" for Cheryl, "California King Bed" for Rihanna, "Worth It" for Fifth Harmony, "Love So Soft" for Kelly Clarkson, "Imagine" for Ariana Grande, "Who Says" for Selena Gomez & the Scene, and the global hit "Timber" for Pitbull.
"Disrespectful" is a song by American recording artist Chaka Khan featuring vocals by singer Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige along with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Bobby Ross Avila, Dave Young and Issiah J. Avila, and produced for Khan's eleventh studio album Funk This (2007). "Disrespectful" went to number one on the US dance charts. It won Khan and Blige the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
Raúl Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz, known professionally as Rauw Alejandro, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. Referred to as the "King of Modern Reggaeton", he belongs to "the new generation" of Puerto Rican urban musicians. He is noted for his versatile music palette, as well as being the only mainstream male Latin artist to incorporate choreography into his creative vision. With an acclaimed discography, consisting of 4 studio albums, Alejandro is currently a leading act on the Latin music scene; he was declared the 10th most-streamed artist of the year on Spotify in 2022. In the three years since his album, Afrodisíaco, made its debut, he has earned two Latin Grammy Awards, two Billboard Latin Music Awards, an iHeart Radio Music Award, gone on a world tour, and had more wins out of his 214 career nominations.
"Hrs and Hrs" is a song by American singer Muni Long from her EP Public Displays of Affection (2021). The song gained recognition through TikTok in late 2021, and was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio on February 1, 2022, as the third single from Public Displays of Affection. "Hrs and Hrs" is an R&B song detailing her love for someone.
References
- ↑ Sandoval, Manny (September 19, 2018). "Local natives and Grammy Award winners, the Avila Brothers inspire youth". Inland Empire Community News. Archived from the original on February 16, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- 1 2 "Black Music Month Rare Music Spotlight: Bobby Ross Avila (1993)". UrbanBridgez. June 10, 2012. Archived from the original on February 17, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ↑ Samuels, Keithan (April 13, 2023). "Sean Garrett Discusses Working on Usher's 'GLU': Interview". RatedR&B. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ↑ Folk, Antwane (June 19, 2023). "Usher's 'Glu' Hits No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay Chart". RatedR&B. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ↑ Abraham, Mya (January 31, 2023). "Muni Long Releases "Horas Y Horas," Spanish Version Of Viral Single "Hrs & Hrs"". Vibe. Archived from the original on February 17, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ↑ Rowley, Glenn (January 31, 2023). "Muni Long Translates 'Hrs & Hrs' Into Spanish for 'Horas y Horas'". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 17, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- 1 2 "Bobby Ross Avila | Artist | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Archived from the original on February 16, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- 1 2 "Issiah J. Avila | Artist | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Archived from the original on February 16, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
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