 | | |
 | | Prior to turning 13, Tiffany Evans, a singer and actor from the Bronx, won the Grand Champion title in the junior singer division of Star Search. |
 | | Ester Dean's singing aspirations were so strong that she cold-called recording studios around her Oklahoma home and ingratiated herself enough to provide vocals on demos. |
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 | | Harlem-bred vocalist Kelis left her parents' home at 16 and landed a deal with Virgin four years later. |
 | | Vocalist Lumidee (born Lumidee Cedeño) began singing and rapping at the age of 12, and was 19 years old when her recordings first hit the streets. |
 | | Identical twins Natalie and Nicole Albino came up with the name Nina Sky by combining the first two letters of their first names for "Nina" and tacked "Sky" on the end to represent their shared aspirations. |
 | | With a sound somewhere between 112 and an urban *NSYNC, the vocal group Day26 formed during the fourth season of MTV's Making the Band. |
 | | Atlanta-based R&B quartet Cherish debuted in 2003 with the single "Miss P." produced by Jermaine Dupri. |
 | | Contemporary R&B upstart Urban Mystic, the son of a church minister, grew up in a world of music and made his jump into the industry while still a teenager. |
 | | Solange Knowles, the younger sister of Beyoncé Knowles, studied dance and theater as a child and made her singing debut at age five at an amusement park. |
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 | | Cuban-American Christina Milian was born in New Jersey but raised in Maryland, making her debut as an actress at a very young age while playing a role in a children-oriented musical, working as junior journalist for The Walt Disney Company, and making guest appearances on Sister Sister and Clueless, among other popular TV shows. |
 | | Active for only a short period of time, 2001-2004, urban boy band B2K enjoyed a lot of success, including the number one single "Bump, Bump, Bump," and was the platform from which group member Omarion launched his solo career. |
 | | |
 | | Under the auspices of Bad Boy Records CEO Sean "Diddy" Combs, R&B singer/songwriter Marvin "Slim" Scandrick III enjoyed success as a member of Grammy Award-winning Atlanta quartet 112, who frequently topped the R&B charts with hip-hop-friendly hits such as "Only You" (1996), "Cupid" (1997), and "Peaches & Cream" (2001). |
 | | The third group to be put together through the reality television series Making the Band -- O-Town being the first, Da Band being the second -- Danity Kane's membership includes five women who beat out hundreds of hopefuls. |
 | | The most visible Winans family member outside the world of gospel, Mario Winans gravitated toward percussion at an early age and eventually learned piano. |
 | | Barbadian pop singer Shontelle (born Shontelle Layne) gained notice as the songwriter behind Alison Hinds' "Roll It Gal," a hit in her native country. |
 | | One of the most promising R&B artists to emerge during the early 2010s, singer and songwriter Elle Varner grew up in a musical family -- one that spent much of its time together in recording studios. |
 | | R&B singer Cassie got her first taste of the music industry at 16 when she had the opportunity to speak with the producer Rockwilder, a meeting that inspired her to take formal voice lessons. |
 | | Songwriter and vocalist Amber Streeter (aka Ambee, Se7en, Sevyn) was the first member of TG4, a pop-R&B outfit put together by Chris Stokes (Immature, B2K). |
 | | RichGirl are a four-member group assembled with the assistance of Rich Harrison, the producer/songwriter behind Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" and Amerie's "1 Thing. |
 | | If three's a charm, than Toby Ryan and Robby Pardlo of City High must have known immediately that their group was complete when they were introduced to 18-year-old rapper and singer Claudette Ortiz. |
 | | |
 | | Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter Jaguar Wright's name can be added to the list of such Philly-based neo-soul talents as Grammy award-winning rap band The Roots and multi-platinum hitmakers Jill Scott and Musiq Soulchild. |
 | | Jumping onto the airwaves at 17, Lil Mama cleared a wide path for herself with the major radio hit "Lip Gloss" in early 2007. |
 | | Tamar Braxton's entry into the music industry came through her five-member sibling group, the Braxtons, which featured older sisters Traci, Trina, Towanda and, most notably, Toni. |
 | | Eve was one of a new breed of tough, talented, commercially viable female MCs to hit the rap scene during the late '90s. |
 | | As a youngster growing up in Palmer Park, Maryland, Marcus Canty developed loves for acting, basketball, and singing. |
 | | As she grew up in Providence, R.I., with her five siblings, Blu Cantrell was toted from one jazz performance to another to watch her mother sing. |
 | | Remy Shand emerged on to the neo-soul circuit in 2002 with The Way I Feel, a potent canon of songs inspired by classic Motown and Memphis soul. |
 | | |
 | | The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, Willow Smith -- like older brothers Jaden and Trey -- got her start in the entertainment industry as an actor. |
 | | Although Me'Shell Ndegéocello scored a few hits early in her career, the singer/bassist opted to concentrate subsequently on more challenging material by exploring the politics of race and sex, among other topics. |
 | | |
 | | Like almost all other musicians hit with the neo-soul tag, the primary inspirations of Leela James -- a gritty-voiced singer and songwriter born in Los Angeles, California -- dated no later than the late '70s; Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and Tina Turner were regularly cited. |
 | | Part of the original lineup of the superstar group Destiny's Child, LeToya Luckett, who as a solo artist chose to go by her first name only, didn't just sit around after she and Latavia Roberson left the group shortly after the release of 1999's The Writing's on the Wall (neither singer was seen in the "Say My Name" video, which came as a surprise to both of them). |
 | | Ledisi Young (her given name meaning "to bring forth" in Nigerian) was born in the Big Easy, where she sang with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra when she was eight years old and spent many adolescent hours watching her mother perform with a local R&B band, often in a nearby park. |
 | | Offering a throwback sound to complement her rich, womanly voice, Melanie Fiona is a bright R&B artist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. |
 | | The R&B trio Blaque (an acronym for "Believe, Life, Achieving, Quest, Unity and Everything") comprised singers Shamari, Natina and Brandi. |
 | | An exceptionally shrewd producer, songwriter, performer, businessman, and self-promoter -- he hired someone to film nearly all of his activities, which were diligently edited and uploaded to YouTube -- Ryan Leslie began making music as a teenager, scored a perfect 1600 on his SATs before he was old enough to drive, and graduated from Harvard at the age of 19. |
 | | Hip-hop/urban soul supergroup Lucy Pearl was formed in the summer of 1999 as the brainchild of Tony! Toni! Toné multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Raphael Saadiq (formerly known as Raphael Wiggins), who left the band he co-founded with his brother D'Wayne in 1998. |
 | | Nivea first made waves when she joined Mystikal for his smash hit "Danger." Her self-titled debut appeared on Jive in 2001 and was reissued the following year, thanks to the success of "Danger" and "Don't Mess with the Radio. |
 | | Brother to the singing DeBarge family, Chico launched a promising solo career on Motown in the late '80s. |
 | | Best known for her role as Effie White in the 2006 film version of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, vocalist/actress Jennifer Hudson was first brought to the public's attention while a contestant on the third season of the reality show vocal competition American Idol. |
 | | R&B singer/songwriter and producer Terius Youngdell Nash, better known as the-Dream, was born in Rockingham, North Carolina, but moved to Atlanta, Georgia, with his mother at the age of three. |
 | | One of a handful of neo-classic soul artists to emerge following the late-'90s success of artists like D'Angelo and Lauryn Hill, Atlanta's India. |
 | | b. William Ray Norwood Jnr., 17 January 1981, McComb, Mississippi, USA. The younger brother of R&B vocalist Brandy, Ray J broke into the world of entertainment at an early age. |
 | | R&B multi-instrumentalist Van Hunt, born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, grew up surrounded by the pimp lifestyle of his father. |
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