Monica Denise Arnold is an American singer, rapper and actress. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, she began performing as a child and became part of a traveling gospel choir at the age of ten. Monica signed with record producer Dallas Austin through his label Rowdy Records in 1993, and gained prominence following the release of her debut studio album, Miss Thang (1995). Her follow up releases were met with further commercial success; her second, The Boy Is Mine (1998) remains her best-selling album and spawned three singles that peaked the Billboard Hot 100: "The Boy Is Mine", "The First Night", "Angel of Mine".
Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, better known by his stage name Ginuwine, is an American R&B singer and songwriter. He began his career as a member of Swing Mob in the early 1990s. He signed to Epic Records as a solo artist in the mid-1990s, and quickly rose to mainstream success following the release of his 1996 debut commercial single, "Pony". The song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded his debut studio album, Ginuwine...The Bachelor (1996) which saw moderate but steady success upon release. His second album, 100% Ginuwine (1999) peaked within the top five on the Billboard 200 and its follow-up, The Life (2003) performed similarly; the latter spawned his highest charting single to date, "Differences". His next albums, The Senior (2003), Back II da Basics (2005), A Man's Thoughts (2009), and Elgin (2011) followed thereafter. According to Billboard, Ginuwine has sold an estimated 10 million albums in the US. Along with his solo career, he is a member of the R&B trio TGT alongside contemporaries Tyrese Gibson and Tank.
"The Boy Is Mine" is a duet by American singers Brandy and Monica. It was written by LaShawn Daniels, Japhe Tejeda, Fred Jerkins III, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, and Brandy, while production was helmed by Jerkins, Brandy, and Dallas Austin. It was released as the lead single from both singers' second albums from 1998, Never Say Never by Brandy and the album of the same name by Monica. Inspired by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney's 1982 duet "The Girl Is Mine", the lyrics of the mid-tempo R&B track revolve around two women fighting over a man.
Jussie Smollett is an American actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 debuting in The Mighty Ducks (1992). From 2015 to 2019, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series Empire.
Terri & Monica was an R&B duo from the early 1990s which featured Terri Robinson and Monica Payne, who were members of the short-lived late 1980s New Jack Swing R&B group The Gyrlz along with third member Tara Geter.
Tim & Bob, also known as Funktwons, were an American songwriting and production duo from Illinois. They have won three Grammy Awards from 12 nominations. They produced 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 are credited with discovering the latter act in Atlanta during the late 1990s. Tim & Bob worked extensively with artists Bobby V, Boyz II Men, Donell Jones and Monica to produce respective albums for the artists, and disbanded in 2014 to separately pursue solo work.
Chrisette Michele Payne is an American R&B and soul singer. She won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her song "Be OK".
Tyrese is the debut studio album by American singer Tyrese. It was released on September 29, 1998, through RCA Records in the United States. The production on the album was handled by multiple producers including Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, Tricky Stewart, The Characters, Derek Allen and Anthony Morgan among others.
Kendrick Jevon Dean is an American record producer, songwriter and entrepreneur. He has produced or written for 7 GRAMMY Nominated albums to date. Some of his hits include Chris Brown's "Say Goodbye", Mariah Carey's "I Stay In Love" and Trey Songz "Last Time". Kendrick began his music career in 2004 when he was first credited as a producer on mega group Destiny's Child final album Destiny Fulfilled. A former high school history teacher, and University of Florida graduate; Dean used his classical, jazz and gospel music background to make a seemingly seamless transition into the music business. Dean is often incorrectly credited for compositions from Swizz Beatz, both of which being credited as "K. Dean". He is a member of Iota Phi Theta fraternity.
Tyrese Darnell Gibson, also known mononymously as Tyrese, is an American actor and R&B singer. His self-titled debut album, released in 1998, featured the single "Sweet Lady". The record peaked at number twelve on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. His second and third albums, 2000 Watts and I Wanna Go There, were released in 2001 and 2002, respectively. The latter contained the lead single "How You Gonna Act Like That", which became Gibson's highest-charting single, reaching number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. His fourth album, Alter Ego, explored hip hop, while he was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album for his fifth album, Open Invitation (2011). Gibson's sixth album, Black Rose (2015), debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, becoming his highest-charting album. He has sold over 4 million records in the United States.
American singer and songwriter Tyrese has released seven studio albums and twelve singles. According to Billboard, Tyrese has sold 3.69 million albums in the United States.
Luke James Boyd is an American singer, songwriter and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He began his career as one half of the R&B duo Luke and Q in 2004, whom served as backing vocalists for R&B singer Tyrese. While doing so, they became acquainted with the singer's primary songwriting-production team the Underdogs, and were led to sign with the group and Tyrese's mutual record label, J Records. The duo's 2006 debut single, "My Turn" failed to chart, although Boyd continued to write songs—often under the wing of the Underdogs—for other prominent artists including Chris Brown, Britney Spears, and Justin Bieber during the duo's inactivity and subsequent disbandment in 2010.
Jon Redwine is an American record producer. He is best known for his co-production on Tinashe's 2014 single "2 On", which peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He has also been credited on songs and albums by other artists including Chris Brown, Bobby Brackins, G-Eazy, Zendaya, Waka Flocka Flame, Mario, Jeremih, Colette Carr, MKTO, and Jake Miller.
Keala Joan Settle is a British-American actress and singer. Settle originated the role of Norma Valverde in Hands on a Hardbody, which ran on Broadway in 2013, and was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2016 she was in the original Broadway cast of Waitress portraying Becky. In 2017, she portrayed Lettie Lutz, a bearded lady, in the musical film The Greatest Showman. The song "This Is Me" from the film, principally sung by Settle, won the 2017 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. On January 27, 2019, Settle sang "Seasons of Love" in Fox's Rent: Live.
Demetria Dyan McKinney is an American actress, model, and singer. From 2006 to 2012, during its original run, she starred in the TBS sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne, a BET revival of the show was announced in 2020. Her other series regular roles include TV One sitcom The Rickey Smiley Show, Bounce TV prime time soap opera Saints & Sinners and Syfy horror drama Superstition, as well as Motherland: Fort Salem on Freeform.
Timothy Bloom is a two time Grammy Award winning American alternative soul singer-songwriter and record producer.
Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1 is the debut soundtrack album by the cast of the musical drama television series Empire, which airs on Fox. The album includes songs that featured during the first season of the show, and performed by various artists. The album was released by Columbia Records. The soundtrack received positive critical reception and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. On September 11, 2015, another soundtrack titled Empire: The Complete Season 1 was released containing every song heard on the show that weren't included on the official soundtrack.
Black Rose is the sixth studio album by American singer Tyrese. It was released independently on July 10, 2015, through his label Voltron Recordz, while distribution was handled by Caroline Records. The production on the album was handled by Warryn Campbell, Seige Monstracity, Eric Hudson, B.A.M., Tim Kelley, Marcus Hodge and Rockwilder. The album also features guest appearances by Chrisette Michele, Snoop Dogg, Brandy and Tank.
"Shame" is a song by American singer Tyrese. It features background vocals from fellow American singer Jennifer Hudson. It was released on April 28, 2015 as the second single off his sixth studio album Black Rose, on the record label Voltron Recordz. The song contains an interpolation of Atlantic Starr's 1980 hit "Send for Me". "Shame" was nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance and Best R&B Song at the 58th Grammy Awards.
"What is Love" is a song recorded by American recording artist V. Bozeman for 1st studio album of the TV series Empire. The song was written by Daniel Jones, Timbaland, Jim Beanz, while Timbaland, Jim Beanz also handled the production.
