Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Awards, twelve NAACP Image Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards, including the Billboard Icon Award. She has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, including one for her supporting role in the film Mudbound (2017) and another for its original song "Mighty River", becoming the first person nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year.
The 39th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1997, at Madison Square Garden, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Babyface was the night's biggest winner, with 3 awards. Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, Sheryl Crow, and The Fugees won two awards. Celine Dion for "Best Pop Album" and "Album of the Year" and Toni Braxton for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" and "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". The show was hosted by Ellen Degeneres who also performed the opening with Shawn Colvin, Bonnie Rait, and Chaka Khan.
Kenneth Brian Edmonds, better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy Awards. He was ranked number 20 on NME's 50 of The Greatest Producers Ever list.
Jason Terrance Phillips, known professionally as Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with Bad Boy. After leaving the label in 1999, they signed a joint venture deal between Interscope Records and Ruff Ryders. He is currently signed to Def Jam, Roc Nation, and D-Block.
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group career, he has also produced songs for such artists as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Total, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, En Vogue, Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend. Music critic Robert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s".
The Underdogs are an American R&B/pop production duo composed of Harvey Mason Jr. and Damon Thomas.
Jason's Lyric (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to Doug McHenry's 1994 film Jason's Lyric. It was released on September 27, 1994, via Mercury Records. It spawned three singles: "If You Think You're Lonely Now", a cover of the Bobby Womack hit by Jodeci lead singer K-Ci, "Crazy Love" by Brian McKnight, and "U Will Know", a major collaboration from male R&B singers comprising Black Men United (BMU), written by future neo soul artist D'Angelo.
"B.U.D.D.Y." is the first single from Musiq Soulchild's fourth album Luvanmusiq. It was released on January 30, 2007 after being given to radio stations in the US in late November 2006. It contains samples from De La Soul's "Buddy ", Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat" and interpolations from the composition "Heartbeat ". The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 50th Grammy Awards but lost to "Future Baby Mama" by Prince. The lyrics are a man's attempts to persuade a girl he can be her "buddy".
The Essence Festival, known as "the party with a purpose", is an annual music festival which started in 1995 as a one-time event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Essence, a magazine aimed primarily towards African-American women. It became the largest African-American culture and music event in the United States. Locally referred to as the Essence Fest, it has been held in New Orleans, Louisiana, since 1995 except in 2006, when it was held in Houston, Texas, due to Hurricane Katrina's effect on New Orleans and 2020 when it was cancelled. A spinoff iteration of the festival was also held in Durban, South Africa, in November 2016. The festival features artists simultaneously performing on a main stage as well as four standing-room only superlounge stages.
American singer Omarion has released five studio albums, three collaborative albums, two extended plays (EPs), one mixtape and thirty singles.
"Can't Go for That" is a song by Canadian recording artist Tamia. It was written by Missy Elliott, Brycyn Evans and Roosevelt "Bink" Harrell for her second studio album A Nu Day (2000), featuring main production from the latter with Elliottt and Evans serving as co-producers. Musically, the song includes an interpolation of "I Can't Go For That " as performed by Hall & Oates.
"Wake Up Everybody" is an R&B song written by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden and Victor Carstarphen.
"Missing You" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was written and produced by Babyface for her third studio album, Share My World (1997). In the United Kingdom, the song was released as the album's third single where it reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart. "Missing You" features background vocals from singer Shanice and talks about a woman in a dilemma over a relationship with a man that she at first claimed she "wasn't in love" with but then finds herself "thinking about him all the time" and her missing him.
Carvin & Ivan are a production duo from Philadelphia consisting of producers and songwriters Ivan "Orthodox" Barias and Carvin "Ransum" Haggins. Initially starting out as solo hip hop artists, Haggins and Barias moved into production and songwriting. They have written and produced songs for Jazmine Sullivan, Jill Scott, Faith Evans, Musiq Soulchild, Justin Timberlake, Mario, Chris Brown, Ledisi, Raheem DeVaughn, Keyshia Cole, Jaheim, Estelle, Floetry, Skillz, Ace Hood, Rick Ross and others.
"Ifuleave" is the second single from Musiq Soulchild's fifth studio album, OnMyRadio, his second full-length release on Atlantic Records. The song features R&B singer Mary J. Blige.
"Slow Jams" is a song by American musician Quincy Jones, taken from his studio album Q's Jook Joint (1995). Written and produced by Rod Temperton, vocals for the song were initially recorded by Babyface, Portrait, Barry White and Coko. A remix version, released in 1996 as the album's second single, replaced the latter's vocals with Tamia. A commercial success, it peaked at number 2 on the New Zealand Singles Chart and reached the top 20 on Billboard's Hot R&B Songs chart. The remix version featuring Tamia earned a nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 39th Grammy Awards in 1997.
The Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits, Volume 8 is the eighth annual music compilation album to be contributed by The Source magazine. Released June 29, 2004, and distributed by Image Entertainment, Hip Hop Hits Volume 8 features sixteen hip hop and rap hits. It went to number 43 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart and number 45 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It is also one of only two Hip Hop Hits albums to be released in the same year; Volume 9 was released six months later.
The 3rd BET Awards took place at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California on June 24, 2003. The awards recognized Americans in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. Comedian Mo'Nique hosted the event for the first time.
Ivan Barias is part of the Philadelphia production duo Carvin & Ivan. Initially starting out as a solo hip hop artist, he moved into production and songwriting. He has written and produced songs for artists including Jazmine Sullivan, Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Justin Timberlake, Mario, Chris Brown, Ledisi, Raheem DeVaughn, Keyshia Cole, Jaheim, Estelle, Floetry, Skillz, Ace Hood, and Rick Ross.
Paul Boutin is a French-born American music mixer, audio engineer and a long-time collaborator with producer/songwriter/artist Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
