 | | Eve was one of a new breed of tough, talented, commercially viable female MCs to hit the rap scene during the late '90s. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Dubbed "the First Lady of Crunk & B" by the producer who should know, Lil Jon, singer Ciara burst onto the scene with the never-gonna-get-it single "Goodies," the breathy "answer song" to Petey Pablo's "Freek-a-Leek. |
 | | Harlem-bred vocalist Kelis left her parents' home at 16 and landed a deal with Virgin four years later. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Kelly Rowland rose to fame with the success of Destiny's Child during the late '90s. During that time, Destiny's Child catapulted into the new millennium as one of the best-selling female musical groups in history. |
 | | 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. |
 | | No female rap artist paralleled the success of Missy Elliott, neither during her reign nor before, and none was more deserving. |
 | | Barbadian pop singer Shontelle (born Shontelle Layne) gained notice as the songwriter behind Alison Hinds' "Roll It Gal," a hit in her native country. |
 | | Destiny's Child rose to become one of the most popular female R&B groups of the late '90s, eventually rivaling even TLC in terms of blockbuster commercial success. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, R&B vocalist Mario started to develop his natural talent while singing along with his mom using a karaoke machine at home. |
 | | The best-selling female performer of the 1990s, Mariah Carey rose to superstardom on the strength of her stunning five-octave voice. |
 | | One of the most recognizable characters in modern-day R&B, Beyoncé first rose to fame as the siren-voiced centerpiece of Destiny's Child before embarking on a multi-platinum solo career in 2001. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Ne-Yo was one of the most successful songwriters and artists of the 2000s. His breakthrough didn't come until late 2004, as the co-songwriter of Mario's "Let Me Love You," a number one Hot 100 hit that Billboard later determined to be the eighth most successful single of the decade. |
 | | With hitmaker Irv Gotti at the helm, Ashanti blasted into the urban music scene in 2002, topping the charts with multiple singles at once. |
 | | Whether she was singing pop-friendly urban soul or acting in her own family-oriented sitcom, Brandy's winningly wholesome persona helped catapult her to stardom during her teenage years. |
 | | By mixing R&B with a sultry dose of neo-soul, Alicia Keys became an international star in 2001 with the release of her debut album. |
 | | Jumping onto the airwaves at 17, Lil Mama cleared a wide path for herself with the major radio hit "Lip Gloss" in early 2007. |
 | | B2K lead vocalist Omarion (born Omari Ismael Grandberry) went solo in 2005 with O, featuring production help from the Neptunes, Rodney Jerkins, and the Underdogs. |
 | | A star in the R&B world before she was even out of her teens, Aaliyah's promising career was tragically cut short by her death in a plane crash at age 22. |
 | | One of the more genuine urban songstresses to emerge in the 2000s, Keyshia Cole worked her way up the industry ladder diligently yet quickly, making her major-label debut in 2004 at age 21. |
 | | Timbaland ascended to the top of the pop industry in the late '90s, impressively balancing his in-demand hitmaking abilities with his outlandish production style. |
 | | 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. |
 | | R&B vocalist Lloyd topped BET's play list singing a steamy duet with Ashanti, but he got his first spins on the anything-but-steamy Radio Disney. |
 | | After Usher Raymond was spotted by a LaFace record executive at a talent show in his hometown of Atlanta, it took no time for his career to take off. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Mya is a dancer turned smooth urban R&B vocalist who released her eponymous debut in the spring of 1998, when she was just 18 years old. |
 | | Justin Timberlake may be the quintessential pop star of the new millennium, a star who jumped from platform to platform on his way to establishing himself as something bigger than a star: he was a self-sustained empire. |
 | | Although Trey Songz loved hip-hop while growing up, the only R&B he could get into was R. Kelly. When his friends heard his perfect tenor voice, however, they pushed him to drop rap and start crooning. |
 | | In November 2005, Chris Brown’s Scott Storch-produced “Run It!” -- a rewrite of Usher’s “Yeah!” -- topped the Billboard Hot 100, making the 16-year-old singer the first male artist in over a decade to top the chart with a debut single. |
 | | Rihanna established her dance-pop credentials in summer 2005 with her debut smash hit, "Pon de Replay," and continued to demonstrate hit potential in subsequent years (e. |
 | | Singer, songwriter, and producer Miguel (born Miguel Jontel Pimentel) spent a handful of years behind the scenes and flirted with the mainstream before he released his first hit single and became one of pop-R&B's most significant artists. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Born and bred on Chicago's South Side, R&B singer Jeremih taught himself how to play several instruments and didn't consider himself a vocalist until a warmly received performance at a talent show. |
 | | A self-proclaimed product of his past, rapper Sean Kingston's history helps describe his sound. Born in Miami, FL, then raised in Kingston, Jamaica, from the age of six, he mixed more than a little dancehall and reggae into his hip-hop. |
 | | Actress/singer Jennifer Lopez was born in the Bronx, New York, on July 24, 1969; after starting out in musical theater as a child, she made her film debut at age 16 in the little-seen My Little Girl, but her career then stalled until she was tapped to become one of the dancing "Fly Girls" on the television sketch comedy series In Living Color. |
 | | When her debut album, What's the 411?, hit the street in 1992, critics and fans alike were floored by its powerful combination of modern R&B with an edgy rap sound that glanced off of the pain and grit of Mary J. |
 | | Although he was born in St. Louis, Missouri, singer, songwriter, and producer Aliaune Thiam -- aka Akon -- grew up in Senegal before he and his family (including his father, jazz percussionist Mor Thiam) returned to the United States and settled in New Jersey when he was seven. |
 | | Put together by producers Vincent Herbert (Toni Braxton, Destiny’s Child, Lady Gaga) and Walter Millsap (Alicia Keys, Beyoncé), Mindless Behavior is a pop-R&B group featuring singers and dancers Princeton, Prodigy, Ray Ray, and Roc Royal. |
 | | 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. |
 | | A major star on television (In Living Color, The Jamie Foxx Show), the big screen (Any Given Sunday, Collateral, Ray, Miami Vice, Dreamgirls), and radio (his second album, Unpredictable, featured two Top Ten R&B singles), Jamie Foxx -- born Eric Morlon Bishop, Jr. |
 | | |
 | | 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. |
![Move Ya Body [2 Tracks] Album Cover](http://images.slacker.com/isv1/album/v1/1397104/aol/1/center/5,0/70.jpg "Move Ya Body [2 Tracks] Album Cover")
