Erica Abi Wright, known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut album Baduizm (1997), placed her at the forefront of the neo soul movement, earning her the nickname "Queen of Neo Soul" by music critics.
Baduizm is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Erykah Badu. It was released on February 11, 1997, by Kedar Records and Universal Records. After leaving university in order to concentrate on music full-time, Badu then began touring with her cousin, Robert "Free" Bradford, and recorded a 19-song demo, Country Cousins, which attracted the attention of Kedar Massenburg. He set Badu up to record a duet with D'Angelo, "Your Precious Love," and eventually signed her to a record deal with Universal. Recording sessions for the album took place from January to October 1996 in New York City, Philadelphia, and Dallas.
Neo soul is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contemporary R&B. Heavily based in soul music, neo soul is distinguished by a less conventional sound than its contemporary R&B counterpart, with incorporated elements ranging from funk, jazz fusion, hip hop, and African music to pop, rock, and electronic music. It has been noted by music writers for its traditional R&B influences, conscious-driven lyrics, and strong female presence.
The music of the United Arab Emirates stems from the Eastern Arabia music traditions. Distinctive dance songs from the area's fishermen are also well-known. Liwa is a type of music and dance performed mainly in communities which contain descendants of Bantu peoples from the African Great Lakes region, and hybrid Afro-Arab rhythms such as the Sha'abi al-Emirati and Bandari remain the standard in both traditional and popular music in this historically cosmopolitan country.
Live is a live concert album by American singer Erykah Badu, released in 1997. Released in the fall of 1997, with her debut album Baduizm released earlier that year, Live quickly went double platinum with the radio hit "Tyrone".
Antonia D. Reed, known professionally as Bahamadia, is an American hip-hop artist and singer. Bahamadia released her debut album, Kollage, in 1996, followed by the independently released EP BB Queen in 2000. She then released a full-length album, Good Rap Music, in 2005. Bahamadia has also released the singles “Dialed Up Vol. 1”, “Here”, and “Dialed Up Vol. 2”.
The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of Soul Train, the program from which it takes its name, and features musical performances by various contemporary R&B and soul music recording artists interspersed throughout the ceremonies. The special traditionally used to air in either February, March or April, but now airs the last weekend of November.
James Jason Poyser is an American songwriter, record producer, musician and current member of the hip hop band The Roots.
Dave Chappelle's Block Party, also known as Block Party, is a 2005 American documentary film hosted and written by comedian Dave Chappelle, and directed by Michel Gondry.
Jonathan Wilson is a producer, songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Yassin Alsalman, better known by his stage name Narcy, is an Iraqi-Canadian rapper, author, university instructor and actor. He currently resides in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
New Amerykah Part One is the fourth studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter Erykah Badu. It was released on February 26, 2008, by Universal Motown following Badu's hiatus from recording music due to writer's block. In returning from the hiatus, she received music from several hip hop producers over the Internet and recorded demos of her vocals using the GarageBand software on her laptop. Most of the album was then recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
Karen Bernod is an American-born R&B vocalist, songwriter and producer. She is best known for her unique vocal harmonies as a background singer for Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, C&C Music Factory and D'Angelo.
New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) is the fifth studio album by American recording artist Erykah Badu, first released on March 30, 2010, through Universal Motown. Collaborating with several hip hop producers over the Internet, Badu conceived 75 songs set to be split over three albums with New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) (2008) being the first. The album was recorded primarily at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
Sho? was a short-lived Dubai-based band, whose music could best be classified as a mixture of rock, alternative, punk and electronica. Made up of expatriates, they were active in the Dubai rock music scene for about eighteen months. They released one internet-only single, entitled Crash and one EP, entitled I Don't Wanna Go. Their name was a version of the Arabic word, "Sho", which roughly translates into English as, "What." The band officially announced their dissolution in January 2011.
D. (Derick) Prosper began his career as a poet on the NPS National Poetry Slam circuit. He won several regional competitions and featured on the 1994 Providence Poetry Slam Team. D. Prosper was the youngest poet featured on the tour. He ranked fourth in the nation at the NPS finals in Asheville, North Carolina. Prosper was also featured in respected publication Fast Folk Music Magazine. He eventually earned a coveted spot on the 1994 Lollapalooza Tour D. Prosper's love of spoken word poetry ignited his passion for hip-hop music.
Ali Al Sayed is a comedian based in Dubai. Al Sayed was named "one of the most influential comedians in the world" by Toastmasters International Magazine and was recently dubbed the “King of Laughter” by a group of university students competing for an internship with Rolling Stone ME. Al Sayed is the founder of the local entertainment company Viva Arts and is the co-director of Dubomedy Arts, the first and only Comedy and Urban Arts School in the MENA region.
Nikhil Korula is an Indian American singer-songwriter, bandleader, and label owner, known as founder and front-man of The Nikhil Korula Band, or NK Band.
VOYAGE-19 is an EP by the American singer-songwriter Bilal, in collaboration with HighBreedMusic, a music studio and production company in Brooklyn, New York. It was released digitally on September 6, 2020, through the music publishing platform Bandcamp and is his first EP, as well as his first album-type release since 2015's In Another Life.
Durand Bernarr is an American singer-songwriter and producer. He frequently provides background vocals for neo-soul artist Erykah Badu and featured vocals for other artists such as Anderson .Paak, Kaytranada, and The Internet. In 2019, Bernarr was a runner-up on the BET reality music competition The Next Big Thing. He released his latest album Wanderlust in 2022.
