Jermaine Dupri Mauldin is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Raised in Atlanta, he began his musical career at the age of nine, as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin. In 1991, he discovered the teen hip hop duo Kris Kross. Dupri wrote and produced their breakout 1992 single "Jump," which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 and was named the 23rd most successful song of that decade. He established his own record label, So So Def Recordings in a joint venture with Columbia the following year.
Usher is the debut studio album by American singer Usher, released on August 30, 1994, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. As executive producer, Sean "Puffy" Combs mostly handled production work on the album, as additional production was provided by Chucky Thompson, DeVante Swing and Al B. Sure!, among others. Despite underperforming on the charts, debuting at number 167 on the US Billboard 200, the album reached number 4 on the US Heatseekers Albums Chart. The songs "Can U Get wit It", "Think of You" and "The Many Ways" were released as singles to support the album.
Faith is the debut studio album by American singer Faith Evans. It was released by Bad Boy Records on August 29, 1995, in the United States. A collaboration with the label's main producers The Hitmen, including members Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs and Chucky Thompson, as well as Mark Ledford, Herb Middleton, and Jean-Claude Olivier, among others.
Donell Jones is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. He met record producer Eddie F in the mid-1990s and signed with his record label Untouchables Entertainment, beginning his career as a songwriter for its parent label, LaFace Records. Through the labels, he released his debut studio album, My Heart (1996) to poor commercial reception, although it spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 entries with the singles "In the Hood" and his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet."
"Laffy Taffy" is a 2005 song by Atlanta-based hip hop group D4L which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2006. The song's success on the charts was largely due to its enormous online sales. The music video version of the song samples and interpolates elements of "Candy Girl" by New Edition, whereas the CD single version of the song excludes the sampling. The song was produced by Born Immaculate, Broderick Thompson Smith and "K-Rab", and the music video was directed by Thomas Forbes.
"U Know What's Up" is a song by American R&B singer Donell Jones. It was written by Edward "Eddie F." Ferrell, Darren Lighty, Clifton Lighty, Balewa Muhammad, Anthony Hamilton, and Veronica McKenzie for his second studio album, Where I Wanna Be (1999), while production was helmed by Ferrell and Darren Lighty for Untouchables Entertainment.
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.
"Girls, Girls, Girls" is the second single from rapper Jay-Z's album The Blueprint (2001). The single was released on October 2, 2001. It is a playful description of the artist's promiscuous lifestyle. The song contains a sample of "There's Nothing In This World That Can Stop Me From Loving You" by Tom Brock, who died a year later. The chorus features a lyrical interpolation of "High Power Rap" by Crash Crew. The song has additional vocals sung by Q-Tip, Slick Rick and Biz Markie, but they are not credited as featured guests on the back artwork; they are, however, credited in the album's liner notes.
"Can't Wait" is the second single released from Redman's second album, Dare Iz a Darkside. It is produced by Erick Sermon and Redman, and contains samples from "All Night Long" by Mary Jane Girls, "Caribbean Nights" by Bob James and "Just Rhymin' With Biz" by Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie.
"Where I Wanna Be" is a song by American R&B singer Donell Jones. It was written and produced by Jones and Kyle West for his same-titled second album (1999). Released as the album's fourth and final single, the song charted at number Twenty nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, marking his second top five hit on the latter chart. A sequel to the song titled "Where You Are " appeared on Jones' next album Life Goes On in 2002. The track has significantly influenced the R&B genre, evident in its widespread sampling by prominent artists. Notably, in 2017, singer Mariah Carey incorporated elements of the song into her single "I Don't", featuring rapper YG.
"Just a Friend 2002" is a song by American R&B singer Mario, written by Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell, Harold Lilly, John Smith, and Biz Markie. It is a loose cover of Markie's hit "Just a Friend" and was the first single released from Mario's self-titled debut album. Mario's version is different, as the story is changed from a man who discovers his girlfriend has been cheating on him to a story about unrequited love. Produced by Campbell, the song was released in April 2002 and peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 2002.
"You Used to Love Me" is the debut single of American singer-songwriter Faith Evans. Written by Evans and produced by Sean "Diddy" Combs and Chucky Thompson for her debut album, Faith (1995), the song was initially intended to be used on fellow Bad Boy Records signees Total's self-titled first album (1996), but was eventually claimed by Evans after she had found lyrics to Thompson's track which were inspired by another argument the singer had with then-husband The Notorious B.I.G..
The discography of Big Daddy Kane, an American rapper, consists of seven studio albums and fourteen singles.
"You Know That I Love You" is a song by American recording artist Donell Jones, released on April 9, 2002 as the first single from the album, Life Goes On (2002). Jazz saxophonist Kim Waters covers "You Know That I Love You" on his 2002 album titled Someone to Love You, and Kim Waters' cover was picked by several Urban AC stations and some stations such as KJLH in Los Angeles played the Donell Jones version with the jazz mixed in late 2002, which started playing the original R&B version on the week of March 25, 2002. The single received major airplay on Mainstream Urban, CHR/Rhythmic and Urban AC radio stations. KKBT in Los Angeles started playing it on April 1, 2002 a week after it officially it impacted Urban Radio.
"Soon as I Get Home" is a song by the American singer Faith Evans. It was written by Evans along with Sean Combs and Chucky Thompson for her debut studio album Faith (1995), while production was helmed by Combs and Thompson. A romantic hip hop soul ballad which chronicles a woman's desire to spend more time with her loved one, it was inspired by Evans' marriage to her then-husband The Notorious B.I.G. which had changed radically after the major commercial success of his debut album Ready to Die (1994).
"Going Back to Cali" is a song recorded by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G. and Diddy (uncredited) from the album Life After Death. The song is noted as one of Biggie's popular songs from the album, well known for its catchy hook and beat. The song contains a sample of Zapp hit "More Bounce to the Ounce".
"Come Over" is a song by American recording artist Faith Evans. It was written by Evans, Floyd Howard, Sean Combs, and Chucky Thompson for her debut studio album Faith (1995), while production was helmed by Combs and Thompson. Released as the album's fourth and final single in 1996, the song reached number 56 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 9 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
"Ain't Nobody" is a song by American singer Faith Evans. It was written by Evans, Sean Combs and Chucky Thompson and produced by the latter two for her debut studio album Faith (1995). Released as the album's third single along with "Kissing You" from the soundtrack of the romance film Waiting to Exhale (1995), "Ain't Nobody" peaked at number 67 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 14 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On Christmas Day 2015, Evans released a re-recorded version of the song on Faith 20, a six-track album composed of remakes from Faith.
"New Flame" is a song recorded by American singer Chris Brown. It was originally released as a promotional single from Brown's album on March 5, 2014. This version only featured American rapper Rick Ross as a guest artist. A few months later, a day after the 2014 BET Awards were held, the single version of the song featuring Ross and American R&B singer Usher was released on June 30, 2014, as the fifth official single from his sixth studio album X. The song peaked at number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 in the United Kingdom.
Folarin II is the seventh studio album by American rapper Wale released on October 22, 2021, by Every Blue Moon, Maybach Music Group and Warner Records. The production on the album was handled by several producers, including Cool & Dre, DJ Khalil, Harry Fraud, Hitmaka, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Lee Major, OG Parker and Rogét Chahayed among others. The album features guest appearances by Rick Ross, Chris Brown, J. Cole, Jamie Foxx, Ant Clemons, Yella Beezy, Maxo Kream, Chase Young, and Shawn Stockman. The album was executive produced by Ross and Wale. It is the sequel to Wale's 2012 mixtape Folarin.
