Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs when she was the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at the age of 15. After disputes with the label, she signed with J Records to release her debut studio album, Songs in A Minor (2001). Met with critical acclaim and commercial success, the album sold over 12 million copies worldwide and won five awards at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. It contained the Billboard Hot 100-number one single "Fallin'." Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003) was met with continued success, selling eight million units worldwide and spawning the singles "You Don't Know My Name", "If I Ain't Got You", and "Diary". Its release earned an additional four Grammy Awards.
Beck David Hansen, known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical collages of wide-ranging genres. He has musically encompassed folk, funk, soul, hip hop, electronica, alternative rock, country, and psychedelia. He has released 14 studio albums, as well as several non-album singles and a book of sheet music.
Fugees are an American hip hop trio formed in 1990 in South Orange, New Jersey. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to prominence in the mid-1990s for their pioneering blend of reggae, R&B, funk and hip hop, which eschewed gangsta rap and made them one of the most significant alternative hip hop acts. They occasionally rapped in Haitian Creole, and were one of the first hip hop bands to incorporate live instrumentation during their performances, along with the Roots.
The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their records, before they eventually emerged as one of the most popular garage rock artists during a second wave of the genre's revival in the 2000s. The band's raw blues rock sound draws heavily from Auerbach's blues influences, including Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Howlin' Wolf, and Robert Johnson.
Contemporary R&B is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.
"Doo Wop (That Thing)" is a song by American rapper and singer Lauryn Hill from her debut solo studio album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). It was written and produced by Hill. The song was released as her solo debut and lead single from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on August 10, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. No commercial release was originally intended for the single in the US, but limited-quantity physical formats were issued two months later, on October 27.
Hip Hop Is Dead is the eighth studio album by American rapper Nas, released December 19, 2006, on Def Jam Recordings. His first album for the label, it was co-financed by Nas's previous label, Columbia Records, which once distributed for Def Jam. The album's title was inspired by Nas's view of the music industry and the state of hip hop music at the time. The album features appearances from Nas's then-wife Kelis, Def Jam label-mates Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Chrisette Michele, as well as will.i.am, Snoop Dogg, and The Game, among others.
Nacional Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It is home to numerous artists including Manu Chao, Grammy-nominated Mexican electronica group Nortec Collective, Colombian rock band Aterciopelados, Argentine rock group Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, American new wave band Tom Tom Club, and French-Chilean hip-hop artist Ana Tijoux.
Anamaría Tijoux Merino, commonly known by her stage name Ana Tijoux or Anita Tijoux, is a French-born Chilean musician. She became famous in Latin America as the MC of hip hop band Makiza during the late 1990s. In 2006, she crossed over to the mainstream of Latin pop after her collaboration with Mexican singer Julieta Venegas in the radio hit "Eres para mí". Tijoux has often been praised for "exploring sensitive matters devoid of violence." She gained more widespread recognition following her second solo album, 1977, and later with La bala (2011) and Vengo (2014) which brought her a Best Artist of the year award in the 2015 Pulsar Awards.
Shadia Mansour, also known as "the first lady of Arabic hip hop" is a British-Palestinian rapper who performs in Arabic and English. Much of her music revolves around Middle Eastern politics.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the fifth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 22, 2010. Retreating to a self-imposed exile in Hawaii after a period of controversy in 2009, following his interruption of Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards, West recorded the album at Honolulu's Avex Recording Studio in a communal environment involving numerous musicians. Additional recording sessions took place at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California, along with the New York City studios Electric Lady and Platinum Sound.
1977 is the second studio album by Latin hip hop artist Ana Tijoux, released March 9, 2010 on Nacional Records. The album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album. Single "1977" was featured in AMC's Breaking Bad, Comedy Central's Broad City and the EA Sports video games, FIFA 11 and FIFA 23.
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is an American rapper and songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he is the only musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. His songwriting, noted for its cinematic quality, often includes social commentary and political criticism.
"Roman Holiday" is a song by rapper Nicki Minaj, released as the opening track from her second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012). It was written by Minaj, Larry Nacht, Winston Thomas and Safaree Samuels, and produced by Blackout (Thomas) and Pink Friday Productions. Two months prior to the album's official release, Minaj performed what many viewed as a controversial rendition of the song at the 54th Grammy Awards ceremony on February 12, 2012, which received controversy from the Catholic Church for the usage of religious imagery. Minaj was the first solo female rapper to perform at the Grammys.
Jack Splash is an American recording artist, musician, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles, California. Splash's works have won multiple Grammy's and include writing and production on singles for artists such as Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, John Legend, CeeLo Green, Solange Knowles, Mayer Hawthorne, Goodie Mob, Ras Kass, B.o.B, R. Kelly, Pixie Lott, Christina Aguilera, Jazmine Sullivan, Jennifer Hudson, Melanie Fiona, Musiq Soulchild, Tank and the Bangas, K. Michelle, Keyshia Cole, Anthony Hamilton, Dirt Nasty, Estelle, Elijah Blake, Groove Armada, Zap Mama, Raheem DeVaughn, Natasha Bedingfield, Lemar, Kelis, Katy Perry, Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige, Sia, Valerie June, Cimafunk & Rhiannon Giddens.
La Bala is the third studio album by Latin hip hop artist Ana Tijoux, released in 2011 by Oveja Negra and in 2012 by Nacional Records.
Multi_Viral is the fifth and final studio album from Puerto Rican band Calle 13, released on March 1, 2014. It marks the band's debut release via their new independent label, El Abismo, since they parted ways with Sony Music Latin. The album won Best Urban Music Album at the 15th Annual Latin Grammy Awards and Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album at 57th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Nobody" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Rick Ross, taken from his sixth studio album Mastermind (2014). The song, produced by Diddy, features a guest appearance by rapper French Montana. It was written by William Roberts, Sean Combs, Karim Kharbouch, Christopher Wallace, Stevie Jordan, Ephrem Lopez and Jiv Poss. On February 19, 2014, it was released as the album's third promotional single. "Nobody" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. It debuted at number 38 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs upon the album's release.
Vida is the fifth solo studio album by Latin hip hop artist Ana Tijoux. The album, released in 2024, is her first album since Vengo in 2014.
