Quincy Delight Jones III (born December 23, 1968) (aka QD3 aka Snoopy) is a Swedish-American composer, music producer, film producer and author. Jones is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Swedish hip hop scene. He took the pseudonym Snoopy and with Karl Dyall had a 1986 hit with the rap song "Next Time". The song was taken from the soundtrack of the cult movie Stockholmsnatt in which Jones played a leading role. By 16, he had earned his first gold record. At 17, Jones decided to move to the United States. He briefly attended his father's alma mater, the Berklee College of Music, where he met Roland Garrett. The school did not offer what Jones was looking for musically, and he dropped out. He moved to The Bronx, where he lived with his friend T La Rock. Jones practiced and perfected his craft at Power Play Studios with future hip-hop legends Rakim and KRS-One. Within seven years, he had established himself as a respected producer and changed his pseudonym to QD3. He created tracks for many artists, including LL Cool J, Too Short, Ice Cube, Mack 10, Westside Connection, K-Dee, Lench Mob,Tech N9ne and Tupac Shakur. He has also scored films and television shows, including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Menace II Society. Jones has produced hip-hop documentary films , including Thug Angel, The Freshest Kids, Beef, Beef II, Beef III, and Beef IV.

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Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American music conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer and trumpeter. During five decades in the entertainment industry, Jones has earned a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991. He is best known as the producer of the album Thriller, bypop icon Michael Jackson, which has sold 104 million copies worldwide, and as the producer and conductor of the charity song “We Are the World”. He is well known for his 1962 song "Soul Bossa Nova", which originated on the Big Band Bossa Nova album. "Soul Bossa Nova" was a theme for the 1998 World Cup, the Canadian game show Definition, and the Mike Myersmovie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, and was sampled by Canadian rap group Dream Warriors in their "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style". In 1968, Jones and his songwriting partner Bob Russell became the first African-Americans to be nominated for an Academy Award in the "Best Original Song" category. That same year, he became the first African-American to be nominated twice within the same year when he was nominated for "Best Original Score" for his work on the music of the 1967 film In Cold Blood. In 1971 Jones would receive the honor of becoming the first African American to be named musical director/conductor of the Academy Awards ceremony. Jones was also the first (and so far, the only) African-American to be nominated as a producer in the category of Best Picture (in 1986, for The Color Purple). He was also the first African-American to win the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1995. He is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the most Oscar-nominated African-American, each of them having seven nominations. At the 2008 BET Awards, Quincy Jones was presented with the Humanitarian Award.

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William J. Adams (born March 15, 1975), better known by his stage name will.i.am, is an American rapper, songwriter, singer, actor, and producer. Will.i.am rose to fame as frontman and founder of the hit hip hop and pop soul group The Black Eyed Peas, with pop singer Fergie, and rappers Taboo and apl.de.ap.

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• Gav Reilly

Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British music producer, artist and co-founder of Allido Records. While his debut album Here Comes the Fuzz (featuring collaborations with Sean Paul, Nate Dogg and Ghostface Killah) failed to make an impact on the charts, his second album, Version (with covers of songs by the likes of Radiohead, Maxïmo Park, The Smiths, The Zutons and Kaiser Chiefs) included three top ten hits and won Ronson a BRIT Award for Best Male Artist 2008.

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Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer who has sold more than 100 million records. In 1968 he became the lead singer and saxophonist with the Commodores. They signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 1968 for one record before moving on to Motown Records, being schooled as a support act to the Jackson Five. The Commodores became established as a popular soul group. Their first several albums had a danceable, funky sound (with such tracks as "Machine Gun" and "Brick House"). Over time, Richie wrote and sang more romantic, easy-listening ballads such as "Easy", "Three Times a Lady" and "Still". By the late 1970s he had begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artists. He composed "Lady" for Kenny Rogers, which hit #1 in 1980, and he produced Rogers' Share Your Love album the following year. Richie and Rogers have maintained a strong friendship in later years. Also in 1981, Richie sang a duet with Diana Ross in the theme song for the film Endless Love. Issued as a single, the song topped the UK and U.S. pop music charts, and it became one of Motown's biggest hits. Its success encouraged Richie to branch out into a full-fledged solo career in 1982. He was replaced by Skyler Jett, who became the lead singer for The Commodores in 1983. His debut album, Lionel Richie, produced another chart-topping single, "Truly", which continued the style of his ballads with the Commodores.

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• Lee Pryer

Ciara Princess Harris (born October 25, 1985), who performs under the mononym Ciara (pronounced /siˈærə/, approximately "Sierra"), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, fashion model, music video director, actress and soon to be a fashion designer. Born in Austin, Texas, Ciara made her debut in the summer of 2004 with the Billboard number-one single "Goodies". The album Goodies was released in the United States on September 28, 2004, and in the UK on January 24, 2005. It produced three top two singles on the Billboard Hot 100, selling three million in U.S and over five million worldwide. Ciara's second album, Ciara: The Evolution, was released in December 2006. It has spawned the Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit "Get Up", and the R&B/Hip-Hop Charts top ten hits "Promise", "Like a Boy", and "Can't Leave 'em Alone". To date, the album, which went platinum only five weeks after its release, has sold more than one million copies in the U.S. and two million worldwide. Ciara's third studio album, Fantasy Ride, was released in the United States on May 5, 2009. The first official single, the R&B top ten hit "Never Ever", features rapper Young Jeezy and was released in January 2009. The second single, the worldwide hit "Love Sex Magic" featuring Justin Timberlake, was released in March 2009. Since its release, the single became a hit on numerous charts, including the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at #10. Ciara cites Janet Jackson as her inspiration.

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Matt Squire is an American multi-platinum music producer. He has produced or engineered albums for Taking Back Sunday, The Used, All Time Low, Panic at the Disco, Boys Like Girls, The Cab, Forever The Sickest Kids, This Providence, The Maine, Hit The Lights, The Receiving End of Sirens, These Enzymes, Thrice, Northstar, The Explosion, Monty Are I, and 3OH!3. Matt Squire is known for producing power pop. He has a knack for discovering underground bands and helping them refine their sound. Squire works very closely with his bands. He is known as a hands-on producer who often makes lyrical and musical suggestions. He is known to write music on his own and present his ideas to the bands. He also co-writes with artists. Although he is mostly known for his successes in the pop-punk scene, he has branched out and worked on other musical styles with artists like Katy Perry, 3OH!3, The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Aly and AJ, Emily Osment, The Cab, Monty Are I, Push Play, Skindred, and People in Planes.

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Tenitra Michelle Williams (born July 23, 1980), commonly known as Michelle Williams, is a Grammy Award-winning American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is better known for being one third of the successful R&B girl group Destiny's Child, the best-selling female group of all time according to the World Music Awards and Sony BMG. Originally a backing vocalist for singer Monica, Williams, alongside Farrah Franklin, joined Destiny's Child in 2000 replacing former members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson amidst much controversy. Following the departure of Franklin just five months later, Williams continued on with fellow members Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland as a trio. In 2002, after a series of commercial successes with the ladies went solo. Williams released her number one Billboard Gospel album Heart to Yours, which became the best-selling gospel album of 2002 and spawned the single "Heard a Word." The album was followed by Do You Know in early 2004. As well as having become a successful singer, Williams has also found success as a television and Broadway actress, yet she continues to return to the music. She released her first commercial pop album, Unexpected, on October 7, 2008 which gives her another number-one album in Japan and Australia official album chart. The lead single from the album "We Break the Dawn" reached #1 on the Hot Dance Airplay chart; while her second single "The Greatest" peaked at #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and reached #32 on the Yahoo Top 100 R&B Music Video chart.

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Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), better known as his stage name, Jay-Z, is an American hip hop artist and businessman. He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. He co-owns The 40/40 Club and the New Jersey Nets. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having sold over 26 million units in the United States and receiving several Grammy Awards for his musical work. Jay-Z's crowning achievement, his debut album Reasonable Doubt, is ranked by Rolling Stone as #248 on its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". His critically acclaimed album, The Blueprint, was written in only two days. After announcing his retirement from recording music in 2003, he returned in late 2006 with the album Kingdom Come, which sold 680,000 copies in its first week, Jay-Z's highest-selling album in a one-week period. MTV named him number one on their list of the greatest MCs of all time. In April 2008, Jay-Z was reportedly on the verge of a partnership with Live Nation for $150 million—among the most expensive contracts ever awarded to a musician. Carter married Beyoncé Knowles on April 4, 2008.

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Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American pop singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. He has won six Grammy Awards as well as an Emmy Award. Justin Timberlake came to fame as a lead singer of the pop vocal harmony group ("boy band") 'N Sync, whose launch was financed by Lou Pearlman. In 2002, he released his debut solo album, Justified, which sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. Timberlake's second solo release, FutureSex/LoveSounds, was released in 2006 with the U.S. number-one hit singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around". The album also spawned three additional U.S. top twenty hits ("Summer Love", "LoveStoned", and "Until the End of Time"). As of January 2008, FutureSex/LoveSounds has sold more than 8.6 million copies. With his first two albums, Timberlake has sold more than 18 million records worldwide alone, as well as more than 55 million copies as one of the two lead singers in 'N Sync. His other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, and the restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality.

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