Dubbed early on as "the First Lady of Crunk & B" by the producer who knew, Lil Jon, singer Ciara was born in Austin, Texas, but with her father in the Army, she spent time living in Germany, New York, California, Arizona, and Nevada before landing in Atlanta, Georgia. In her early teens, she got a piece of paper out and wrote down her life's goal, to become a professional singer. She joined a girl group, worked on her songwriting, left the group, landed a publishing deal, and found a "music soul mate" when she met producer Jazze Pha. With Sean Garrett, the co-writer of Usher's massive hit "Yeah!," Ciara co-wrote "Goodies," and when Lil Jon heard the demo, he knew it was going to be big. LaFace released the Lil Jon-produced track in the summer of 2004, and its quick climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 was remarkable. With help from Pha, Garrett, and Lil Jon, Ciara released her self-titled debut in September of the same year. The follow-up singles "1, 2 Step," featuring Missy Elliott, and "Oh," featuring Ludacris, both broke the Top Five in the U.S. in 2005. By the end of the year she'd joined Gwen Stefani on tour before teaming with Bow Wow and Chris Brown for a package tour in early 2006. While Ciara's popularity had already peaked, she gradually built a sturdy discography and churned out major hit singles on an occasional basis. The Evolution, her second album, was released in December 2006. Though it debuted at the top of Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and a handful of subsequent singles ("Get Up," "Promise," "Like a Boy") placed within the Top 20 of the publication's Hot 100, it did not perform quite as well as the debut. The May 2009 release of Fantasy Ride, her third album, was preceded by a few delays, including a pre-release single that failed to catch fire. Fantasy Ride was, nonetheless, her most star-studded album to date, with Elliott and Ludacris, as well as the-Dream, Young Jeezy, Chris Brown, and Justin Timberlake as passengers. Collaborating with the-Dream developed into the album Basic Instinct, released in December 2010 and featuring the-Dream and associate Christopher "Tricky" Stewart as executive producers. It was her first album to peak outside the Top 10 of the R&B/Hip-Hop album chart. For her self-titled fifth album, released in July 2013, she reconnected with LaFace co-founder L.A. Reid and moved to the Epic label. Thanks to the certified gold single "Body Party," it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. An engagement to collaborator Future, the birth of the couple's son, and the couple's split all occurred prior to the May 2015 release of Jackie, Ciara's sixth album, named after her mother. ~ David Jeffries

Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final and best-known line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. Formed in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990, comprising Knowles, Rowland, LaTavia Roberson, and LeToya Luckett among others. After years of limited success, the quartet were signed in 1997 to Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment as Destiny's Child. Destiny's Child was launched into mainstream recognition following the release of their best-selling second album, The Writing's on the Wall, which contained the number-one singles "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name". Despite critical and commercial success, the group was plagued by internal conflict and legal turmoil, as Roberson and Luckett attempted to split from the group's manager Mathew Knowles, citing favoritism of Knowles and Rowland.
In early 2000, both Roberson and Luckett were replaced with Williams and Farrah Franklin; however, Franklin quit after five months, leaving the group as a trio.

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of the R&B girl-group Destiny's Child. Managed by her father, Mathew Knowles, the group became one of the world's best-selling girl groups in history. Their hiatus saw Beyoncé's theatrical film debut in Austin Powers in Goldmember and the release of her debut album, Dangerously in Love. The album established her as a solo artist worldwide, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and earning five Grammy Awards, and featured the Billboard Hot 100 number one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy".
Following the break-up of Destiny's Child in 2006, she released her second solo album, B'Day, which contained her fourth number one single, "Irreplaceable", as well as the top ten singles "Déjà Vu", and "Beautiful Liar". Beyoncé also continued her acting career, with starring roles in The Pink Panther, Dreamgirls, and Obsessed.

Keri Lynn Hilson is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia and spent most of her youth working with producer Anthony Dent as a songwriter and background vocalist for several R&B and hip hop artists. By the age of 14, Hilson had secured a record deal with the girl group D'Signe, who later disbanded. She attended Oxford College of Emory University in Georgia, while she continued writing songs for artists, including Britney Spears, The Pussycat Dolls, and Mary J. Blige, with the production and songwriting team, The Clutch. In 2006, Hilson signed with American rapper and producer Timbaland's record label, Mosley Music. Her breakthrough came in 2007 after appearing on Timbaland's single "The Way I Are", which topped charts around the world.
Hilson's music style is R&B, hip hop, and pop; womanhood, sexual intimacy and love are the typical themes. Her musical influences come from her father's side of the family. Hilson's debut studio album, In a Perfect World..., was released in 2009, and debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, eventually being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Brandy Rayana Norwood, known professionally by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born into a musical family in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Carson, California, she began her career as a child and performed as a backing vocalist for teen groups. In 1993, Norwood signed with Atlantic Records. The following year, she released her self-titled debut album, which was certified quadruple Platinum in the US, selling six million copies worldwide. Norwood starred in the UPN sitcom Moesha as the title character, which lasted six seasons and resulted in numerous other roles. She resumed her music career in 1998 with the wildly successful duet with fellow R&B contemporary Monica, "The Boy Is Mine", which went on to become the best selling female duet of all time, and one of the longest running number one singles in history. Her second album, Never Say Never, sold 16 million copies worldwide, featured two number one singles, and earned Norwood her first Grammy Award. This launched her into international stardom, with films, endorsements, sold out concert tours, and her own line of Barbie dolls.

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas, known professionally as Ashanti, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actress. She was first discovered as a teenager and later signed to Murder Inc. Records in 2001. That year, she was featured on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time", both of which became two of the biggest hit songs of 2002; Ashanti became the first female artist to occupy the top two positions on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously when "Always on Time" and "What's Luv?" were at numbers one and two, respectively.
In 2002, Ashanti released her eponymous debut album, which sold over 505,000 copies throughout the U.S. in its first week of release. The album earned her many awards, including eight Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, and a Grammy Award in 2003 for Best Contemporary R&B Album. The album has since been certified triple platinum in the United States and sold six million copies worldwide. The lead single for the album, "Foolish", was a critical and commercial success; it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Mýa Marie Harrison is an American recording artist, songwriter, producer, and actress. Born into a musical family, she signed with Interscope Records in 1998 and released her eponymous debut album the same year. The album was a critical and commercial success and produced her first top ten single "It's All About Me." Subsequent singles, "Ghetto Supastar" and "Take Me There" attained chart success worldwide, with the former garnering her first Grammy nomination. Fear of Flying, her sophomore album, was released in 2000 and became a worldwide success, boosted by the success of its singles "Case of the Ex" and "Free." In 2002, Harrison won a Grammy Award in the category for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for her rendition of Labelle's 1975 hit "Lady Marmalade" alongside with Pink, Christina Aguilera and Lil' Kim.
Harrison released her third studio album, Moodring, in 2003. The album produced the single "My Love Is Like...Wo" and was certified gold by the RIAA. Following a label change and a delay in her fourth studio album, Harrison went independent and recorded two exclusive albums for the Japanese music market, Sugar & Spice and K.I.S.S.

Christine Flores, better known as Christina Milian, is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and businesswoman. At the age of 19, Milian signed a contract with Def Jam. In 2001, Milian released her self-titled debut album, which featured the singles "AM to PM" and "When You Look at Me"; "AM to PM" charted within the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and both peaked in the top three on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Milian released her second studio album It's About Time, which provided her first major U.S. hit, "Dip It Low", which reached number five on the U.S. Billboard chart. "Whatever U Want" was released as the album's second single. Both singles charted within the Top 10 of the UK chart.
In 2006, Milian released her third studio album So Amazin'. The album produced one single, "Say I", which peaked in the Top 30 of the US Billboard chart. A month after the release of So Amazin', Milian's representative confirmed that she had left Island Records due to creative differences. Milian signed with Interscope Records in 2009. A single, ballad "Us Against the World", was released in October 2008.

Rihanna is the youngest solo artist to score 13 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100—the fastest to do so—she’s sold more than 54 million albums and 203 million tracks worldwide. Rihanna is an eight-¬‐time Grammy Award winner who also counts 11 Billboard Music Awards among other countless music accolades.

In 2005, Def Jam released Rihanna's dynamic debut album, Music of the Sun. Its popularity was propelled by the highly addictive dancehall-¬‐flavored lead single, “Pon de Replay.” A year later, Rihanna delivered the platinum-¬‐selling sophomore set, A Girl Like Me. But it was 2007’s Good Girl Gone Bad that catapulted Rihanna into icon status. Moving away from her Caribbean music roots, the singer displayed her knack for reinvention by shifting to more up tempo dance tracks. That momentum carried over to Rihanna’s next album, the emotionally riveting Rated R. From there, Rihanna released a new top-¬‐selling album each year, offering intriguing fusions of dancehall, dub step and house music with hip-¬‐hop, R&B, pop and rock: 2010’s Loud, 2011’s Talk That Talk and 2012’s Unapologetic.

Despite all of these distinguished achievements, Rihanna is just getting started. Now recording her first album under the Roc Nation label with the ownership of her masters, she is busy adding more credits to her burgeoning resume: executive producer, fashion designer, actress, astute business entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on the third season of American Idol, placing seventh. Hudson made her film debut as Effie White in Dreamgirls, for which she received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also appeared in Sex and the City, The Secret Life of Bees, and Black Nativity. In 2015, she made her Broadway debut in the role of Shug Avery in the Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple.
Following her elimination from American Idol and performance in Dreamgirls, Hudson was later signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis and released her self-titled debut studio album in 2008, which was certified gold in the United States, sold over a million copies worldwide, and received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. Her subsequent studio albums, I Remember Me and JHUD, saw continued commercial success with the former also being certified gold in the United States. Hudson received her second Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2017 as a cast member on The Color Purple.

Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, known mononymously as Cassie, is an American singer, dancer, actress and model. Born in New London, Connecticut, she began her career as a result of meeting record producer Ryan Leslie in late 2004, who later signed her to NextSelection Lifestyle Group. During this time, Diddy heard "Me & U" in a club, and Leslie convinced him to partner his Bad Boy Records with Leslie's NextSelection imprint for the release of Cassie's debut album.
Cassie's self titled debut studio album was released in August 2006, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and features the Billboard Hot 100 top three hit "Me & U". In 2008, Cassie released the single "Official Girl" featuring Lil Wayne. In 2009, she released the singles "Must Be Love" featuring Diddy, and "Let's Get Crazy" featuring Akon, and signed a record deal with Interscope Records. In April 2013, Cassie released her debut mixtape RockaByeBaby, which was promoted with the music videos of "Numb" featuring Rick Ross and "Paradise" featuring Wiz Khalifa.
Apart from music, Cassie is signed to modeling agency Wilhelmina Models and One Management.

Monica Denise Brown is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, she began performing as a child and became part of a traveling gospel choir at the age of ten. Monica rose to prominence after she signed with Rowdy Records in 1993 and released her debut album Miss Thang two years later. She followed it with a series of successful albums, including the global bestseller The Boy Is Mine as well as the number-one albums After the Storm, The Makings of Me and Still Standing. Throughout her career, several of Monica's singles became number-one hits on the pop and R&B record charts, including "Don't Take It Personal", "Like This and Like That", "The Boy Is Mine", "The First Night", "Angel of Mine", "So Gone", and "Everything to Me".
Monicas's popularity was further enhanced by her roles in television series such as Living Single, Felicity, and American Dreams, and films including Boys and Girls, Love Song, and Pastor Brown.

LeToya Nicole Luckett‐Walker, known professionally as LeToya, is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is known as a member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, with which she won two Grammy Awards and released many successful commercial recordings. Luckett has sold over 25 million records with Destiny's Child as feature vocalist on the group's first two albums and singles.
She began her solo career after signing a record deal with Capitol Records. Her solo debut album, LeToya, topped the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart in July 2006, and was certified platinum by the RIAA in December 2006. The single, "Torn", achieved records on BET's top ten countdown show 106 & Park. She was also named "One of the Best New Artists of 2006" by AOL and the "Top Songwriter of 2006" by ASCAP.
Luckett released a second solo album, Lady Love on August 25, 2009, which debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and also as No. 12 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.
Luckett has since become an actress. She was the star of the movie Preacher's Kid.

Melanie Fiona Hallim, known professionally as Melanie Fiona, is a Canadian R&B recording artist. She was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. She began her career in 2002 as part of the girl group trio X-Quisite, who were nominated for a Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for the group's self-titled album. She went on to be part of The Renaissance, and under the name Syren Hall, recorded some reggae songs.
Hallim's debut solo album The Bridge was released in 2009, having collaborated with Future Cut, Vada Nobles, Stereotypes, J. Phoenix and Peter Wade Keusch. Her debut single, "Give It to Me Right", was sent to radio stations on February 28, 2009, and peaked at number 20 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart and number 41 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single, "It Kills Me", became her breakout song on the Billboard Hot 100 where it entered the Top 50, along with topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song earned Hallim a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The song "Monday Morning" is her biggest hit in Europe to date. The Bridge also earned her a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding New Artist.

Keyshia Cole is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, business woman, and television personality. She was born in Oakland, California. Her career began when she met MC Hammer at the age of 12, and later met rapper Tupac Shakur. At the age of 18, she moved to Los Angeles and was later introduced to A&M Records. She released her debut album, The Way It Is, which spawned five singles: "Never", "I Changed My Mind", " To Be Over", "I Should Have Cheated", and "Love". It was certified gold within 17 weeks, and then platinum just eight weeks later. The album stayed on the charts for over a year, selling over 1.6 million copies.
After A&M folded, Cole released her second album Just like You under Geffen Records, and the album debuted and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. It was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 50th Grammy Awards. The album has been certified platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has sold 1.7 million copies in the US. A Different Me is Cole's third album, released in 2008. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 322,000, the highest of Cole's career.