 | | Atlanta-based pop-R&B trio OMG Girlz were developed by Tameka "Tiny" Cottle (former member of Xscape, one of the most successful R&B acts of the '90s) and her business partner, Keisha Miles. |
 | | Actor and pop-R&B vocalist Jacob Latimore got his first taste of fame at a very young age, when his first single, the 2006 release "Best Friend," was played on Radio Disney. |
 | | 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. |
 | | The kind of talented kid who had a recording contract before a driver’s license, Diggy Simmons is a rapper, reality television star, fashion mogul, and descendent of hip-hop royalty. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Jumping onto the airwaves at 17, Lil Mama cleared a wide path for herself with the major radio hit "Lip Gloss" in early 2007. |
 | | |
 | | The kind of talented kid who had a recording contract before a driver's license, Diggy Simmons is a rapper, reality television star, fashion mogul, and descendent of hip-hop royalty. |
 | | 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). |
 | | 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. |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | Barbadian pop singer Shontelle (born Shontelle Layne) gained notice as the songwriter behind Alison Hinds' "Roll It Gal," a hit in her native country. |
 | | |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Pop-R&B singer Jawan Harris began singing at a very young age at the church he attended. Initially inspired by gospel artists, the Chicago, Illinois native eventually took to the likes of Michael Jackson, Usher, and Chris Brown, developed his singing and dancing talents, and uploaded clips to YouTube. |
 | | 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. |
 | | R&B singer/songwriter B. Smyth got his start as one of millions of teenagers uploading YouTube videos of himself covering other artists' songs. |
 | | 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). |
 | | 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. |
 | | At only age 13, Bow Wow made his rap debut on Beware of Dog (2000), a double-platinum Top Ten hit, and though he struggled to rival such breakout success in the years that followed, he persevered impressively, maturing as an artist (as well as a man) and releasing a series of albums that met varying degrees of commercial success. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Atlanta-based R&B quartet Cherish debuted in 2003 with the single "Miss P." produced by Jermaine Dupri. |
 | | Harlem-bred vocalist Kelis left her parents' home at 16 and landed a deal with Virgin four years later. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Mowii (a onetime touring dancer for Madonna), Pee W33, and Bounc3 broke out as the Rej3ctz, a Los Angeles-based rap group, in late 2010, when the video for their low-slung single “Cat Daddy” -- also a dance -- was uploaded to YouTube. |
 | | The amiable and talented actress-plus-singer Keke Palmer was only 14 when she released her debut album in 2007. |
 | | Luke James (aka Luke Boyd) injected some maturity into early-2010s contemporary R&B. As a child growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana, he was inspired while watching a Showtime at the Apollo contestant perform Donny Hathaway's version of Leon Russell's "A Song for You. |
 | | Eve was one of a new breed of tough, talented, commercially viable female MCs to hit the rap scene during the late '90s. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | If one discounts the pioneering but still largely formative contributions of early-‘70s proto-metal forces like mega-stoners Speed, Glue & Shinki, acid-fueled anarchists Les Rallizes Denudes, and perhaps the country's greatest prog-psych-metal warlords, Flower Travellin' Band, then Bow Wow arguably bear the honor of being Japan's first bona fide heavy metal band -- even if, by modern conventions, hard rock might seem a more appropriate label. |
 | | Before she could utilize her talents for her own solo endeavors, R&B singer, vocal arranger, and songwriter Keri Hilson wrote a slew of songs, many of them chart-toppers, for several popular artists in the mid-2000s as part of the five-person production/songwriting team known as the Clutch. |
 | | 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. |
 | | |
 | | California pop-rap trio Drop City Yacht Club loosely assembled in 2009 when rapper A Wolf was introduced to producer Kristo. |
 | | School Gyrls formed in November 2008, roughly one year after vocalist Mandy Moseley crossed paths with Nick Cannon on the set of Nickelodeon’s Star Camp. |
 | | Able to rap, sing, and write songs that had everyone from John Legend to Roots Manuva singing her praises, Estelle Swaray got her start in London's renowned hip-hop record store Deal Real. |
 | | With inventive re-imaginings of the reggae-splashed hook-heavy soul popularized by acts like Sean Paul and Sean Kingston in the early half of the 21st century's first decade, Virgin Island-born singer Iyaz swiftly built up a hearty cult following on MySpace. |
 | | No mere glossy gimmick, despite their youthfulness and their novelty hit, the New Boyz were labeled "the Young Teens of Hip-Hop" by the New York Times before they even had an official single out. |
 | | British R&B singer/songwriter Jay Sean is notable for being one of the first British-Asian crossover stars and also for his international popularity, including five consecutive Top 40 singles in America. |
 | | Smooth rapper Baby Bash can't recall where he got the "Bash" moniker but his alternate name, Baby Beesh, comes from the fact he used to drive around in a Mitsubishi. |
 | | Bay Area vocalist Jonn Hart broke into mainstream R&B radio in 2012 with a chiming, booming, and raunchy number titled "Who Booty" -- an introduction to a sound he called "R&Bay slap. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | As a youngster growing up in Palmer Park, Maryland, Marcus Canty developed loves for acting, basketball, and singing. |
 | | Dancehall superstar Sean Paul began scoring hit singles in Jamaica in 1996 and steadily attracted international attention thereafter, eventually breaking into the pop mainstream in 2002 with Dutty Rock. |