Fergie fits in between a diminishing trance scene and the radical advent of UK garage with an uncomplicated take on hard house ethics Beginning his DJ career at the age of 14 and taken through the clubland ranks with the help of Tony De Vit Fergie ma…

Young singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, who hails from Victoria, BC, emerged seemingly from out of nowhere with her debut album WHOA NELLY in 2000, sporting an eclectic, genre-defying sound and winsome tone. Furtado's hugely popular work incorporates …

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 Kanes membership includes five women who beat out hundreds of hopefuls Chosen by music mogul and Bad…

Along with fellow Harlem-based player Camron Jim Jones founded the Diplomat label home to the DiplomatsDipset and many of that crews prolific solo activities Though more of a businessman and behind-the-scenes figure than an MC he was also named a dir…

RB 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 This decision paid off nicely later on when after shed gradua…

Atlanta, Georgia-based rapper Ludacris was a local success story. As a former intern on an Atlanta radio station, he became known for his theatrical station IDs. In 2000 he parlayed this notoriety into a successful debut album that he self-marketed t…

Though he first came to fame as a member of the definitive boy band N Sync, Justin Timberlake gained superstar status after stepping out on his own with his first solo album in 2002. JUSTIFIED showed that there was more to the then-21-year-old Timber…

Britney Spears proved that the same goldmine that Madonna and Cyndi Lauper mined in the 1980s was again ripe for the picking, and she was immediately followed up the charts by another female teenybop sensation, Christina Aguilera. Closely aligned wit…

Pop-oriented RB vocalist Chris Brown debuted with the Scott Storch-produced Run It and became the first male solo artist to release a single that went straight to the top of the Billboard singles chart Only 16 at the time Brown came from a small town…

As a solo performer, label owner (Sick Wid It Records), and member of hip-hop outfit the Click, rapper E-40 has been representing the often underappreciated Bay Area hip-hop scene since the early 1990s. E-40 is credited with helping the Bay Area hyp…

A popular Hollywood burlesque act, the Pussycat Dolls emerged as mainstream fixtures when they became an outlet for big-name celebrities looking to embrace their inner sex kittens. As a musical act, the Dolls scored huge hits with a familiar albeit …

Born in San Antonio TX Paula DeAnda grew up listening to Selena and other female vocalists often performing their songs with her cousins at family gatherings Soon she started taking piano lessons and singing around town both as a soloist and as a bac…

The diminutive Lady Sovereign is a white rapper with a tomboyish presence and self-deprecating sense of humor who rose up as part of the U.K.'s grime scene in the early 2000s. She was just out of her teens when her first singles started getting the a…