Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978 in Dallas, Texas), known simply as Usher, is a Grammy Award winning American R&B singer-songwriter, producer and actor. He rose to fame in the late 90s, releasing the multi-platinum albums My Way and 8701. His success continued with the release of his 2004 album, Confessions, which has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, and earned Usher four American Music Awards and eight Grammy nominations.
Born in the small coastal town of Angourie, Australia, Ry grew up with a surfboard under one arm and his Dad’s record collection under the other. He quickly developed a love for many different styles of music from Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to The Beatles and The Police. His voracious appetite for music grew while his wide and varied tastes began to mold the sound and style that is uniquely Ry Cuming.
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are a funk/soul band. They are signed to Daptone Records, where the dap-kings are the house band. They are widely thought to be spearheads of a revivalist movement that aims to capture the essence of funk/soul music as it was at its height in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. Part of the way this is achieved is to shun modern digital recording methods in favour of using traditional analogue recording equipment. The type of instruments used by the band may also be considered limited to those that would have been available up until the mid seventies.
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Tallulah Rendall ’lay me down’ (transducer). Must take some beating being told you have a ’wonderful voice’ by none other than Shirley Bassey - with that kind of acclaim you’d suspect most artists would happily retire and spend the ensuing years solely trading on that moment sealing morsel. Not Tallulah Rendall this London based songstress has set up her own label so as to keep her music out of the thumb twiddling unit chasing bandwagon jumping controlling freaks that you and I lovingly refer to as major labels.
Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born 1979 in Orange County, California), better known by the stage name Aloe Blacc, is an American soul singer, rapper and musician. He began his recording career as an MC back in 1995 when he joined up with hip-hop producer Exile to form the mainstay indie rap group Emanon. Aloe released his debut solo album Shine Through on Stonethrow Records in 2006 and followed this up in 2010 with Good Things.
Andwele Gardner (born February 14, 1978 in Detroit, Michigan), better known simply as Dwele, is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter and producer known for his work with Slum Village, J Dilla and Kanye West. After self-releasing the demo tape Rize in 2000, he released his debut studio album Subject in 2003 through Virgin Records, his second album Some Kinda followed in 2005 and his third studio album Sketches of a Man was released in 2008. His fourth studio album W.W.W. (W.ants. W.orld. W.omen) was released in 2010.
Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7, 1958), known from 1993 to 2000 as an unpronounceable symbol (or informally, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, Tafkap, or simply The Artist), is a popular American musician. He had 1984's biggest hit song in the US with "When Doves Cry" and is best known for his album and movie "Purple Rain". During the 1980s Prince was comparable with the "mega-superstars" of Michael Jackson & Madonna in terms of star power and sales.
Ladi6 is one of New Zealand's premier vocalists and MCs. Starting her musical career in Christchurch, Ladi6 was part of the all-girl hip-hop group Sheelahroc. Sheelahroc had the hit track "If I Gave You The Mic" and Ladi6 was nominated for Best Vocalist/MC at the 2003 bNet music awards. Ladi6 then moved to Auckland with her band Verse Two who quickly gained a reputation as a top New Zealand live soul/hip-hop group. They won the bNet best new act award in 2004, toured New Zealand with packed shows and supported international acts such as The Roots and De La Soul.
The Josh Owen Band have seen both their debut independent live album and studio EP receive massive critical acclaim and airplay all over Australia, including Triple J, Triple R, PBS, FBI, ABC 702 and 774, Dig Radio, RTR to name a few. Save Me Save Me was recently voted 1 on Triple J’s Unearthed Roots chart, and SonyBMG have selected Save Me Save Me as one of their Hottest Picks in the current voting round of the UncharTED online band comp.
Robert Randolph & The Family Band is a multicultural American blues and funk band composed of Robert Randolph, Marcus Randolph (drums), Danyel Morgan (bass), and Jason Crosby (organ). Frontman Robert Randolph was trained as a pedal steel guitarist in the House of God Church, Keith Dominion, and makes prominent use of the instrument in the band's music. The group's sound is inspired by successful 1970s funk bands such as Earth, Wind & Fire and Sly & the Family Stone, another multicultural band comprised of former members of the Church of God in Christ.