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…

Tallahassee-based MC and vocalist T-Pain born Faheem Najm came up in a rap group called Nappy Headz but went pro as a solo RB artist after he recorded Im Fked Up a personal take on Akons Top Ten hit Locked Up Akon heard the track and took T-Pain unde…

D4L broke out in 2005 with Laffy Taffy one of several crossover tracks released during the early 2000s to inspire revelry as often as contempt depending on listeners tolerance for cleverly produced tracks with sharp hooks and crude sexual euphemisms …

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 …

Atlanta-based Young Jeezy originally planned on having a background role in the music industry -- as a businessman not as a rapper Years before making his first Def Jam album -- Lets Get It Thug Motivation 101 released in July 2005 -- he set up Corpo…

A green-eyed beauty with a sultry voice, Rihanna was discovered as a teenager on her island home of Barbados, and quickly signed with the venerable Def Jam records. Powered by a Soft Cell sample, her infectious dancehall/Caribbean single "Pon de Repl…

Atlanta rap foursome Dem Franchize Boyz are purveyors of their own self-described style of "laid back crunk"--or "snap music" as it's often known--a woozier, less hyperactive version of the popular southern rap genre. Just how laid back the club get…

Jamie Foxx is best known for his film and television roles, most notably his Oscar-winning turn as Ray Charles in the biopic RAY. More than simply a lip-syncher in the movies, however, Foxx released a debut album of slowjam R&B in 1994, though to li…

One of the more real urban songstresses out there in the mid-2000s Keyshia Cole worked her way up the industry ladder diligently yet quickly making her major-label debut in 2004 at age 21 Born on the other side of the California Bay -- the often toug…