Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1975), better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and actress who was a member of the group Junior M.A.F.I.A..

Jones was born and raised in Brooklyn, living much of her adolescent life on the streets after being expelled from home. As a teenager, Kim would rap for fun, being heavily influenced by other female MCs like MC Lyte and Lady of Rage. When word got to The Notorious B.I.G. that she could rhyme, he made Jones perform a freestyle for him on the spot. Impressed with her, he took her in and she began her music career in 1995 with the group Junior M.A.F.I.A., whose debut album Conspiracy generated three hit singles. In late 1996, her solo debut album Hard Core was released. Hard Core was certified double platinum and spawned three consecutive #1 rap hits that included: "No Time" "Not Tonight (Ladies Night remix)" and "Crush on You", a record for a female rapper. Her following albums, The Notorious K.I.M. (2000) and La Bella Mafia (2003), both were certified platinum by the RIAA, making Kim the only female rapper besides Missy Elliott to have at least 3 platinum albums so far. Kim solidified her star power in 2001, when "Lady Marmalade", a song Kim was featured on, went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. That made her the second female rapper to earn a #1 on that chart.

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj ( /mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born American rapper and singer-songwriter. She was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and when she was 5 years of age she moved to the New York City borough of Queens, where she grew up.

After releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 and being signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009, Minaj released her debut album, Pink Friday, in November 2010. It quickly became a commercial success, peaking at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release. She became the first female solo artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Her second single, "Your Love", reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List. Minaj was named the 2011 Rising Star by Billboard. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was released on April 3, 2012.

Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Sure and Christopher Williams, she became the first female artist to be contracted with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment recording company during 1994, for which she released three platinum-certified studio albums between the years 1995 and 2001. During 2003, she ended her relationship with the company to contract with Capitol Records.

Other than her recording career, Evans is known as the widow of New York rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, whom she married on August 4, 1994, a few weeks after meeting at a Bad Boy photoshoot. The turbulent marriage resulted in Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud, dominating the rap music news at the time, and ended with Wallace's murder in a yet-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997. A 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and the band 112, named "I'll Be Missing You", became Evans' best-selling song to date and won her a Grammy Award during 1998.

Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcast internationally from 1993–2004. In fall 2012, Lake will embark on a second syndicated talk show endeavor airing on weekdays.

Lake was born to a Jewish family in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, the daughter of Jill, a homemaker, and Barry Lake, a pharmacist. She attended Ithaca College and the Professional Children's School.

Lake made her film debut as Tracy Turnblad, the lead character in John Waters' 1988 cult-classic Hairspray. Lake also starred in other Waters films including the cult-classic Cry-Baby with Johnny Depp, Cecil B. Demented, and Serial Mom with Kathleen Turner.

Lake starred in Mrs. Winterbourne with Shirley Maclaine and Brendan Fraser, Cabin Boy, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Cookie, and Inside Monkey Zetterland. Lake joined the cast of the Vietnam War drama series China Beach as Red Cross volunteer Holly "the Donut Dolly" Pelegrino for the show's third season. Lake had a recurring role on the CBS sitcom King of Queens as Doug's sister Stephanie. She has also guest-starred on television series including Drop Dead Diva and a voice role on King of the Hill, and starred in the television movie Baby Cakes.

James Lloyd (born August 10, 1977), better known by his stage name Lil' Cease, is an American rapper and member of hip hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A.. Cease released his first album, Conspiracy, with Junior M.A.F.I.A. in 1995, and gained mainstream attention with a memorable verse on "Player's Anthem", the album's highest charting single. Frequent name dropping from mentor The Notorious B.I.G. throughout Cease's career helped keep the young rapper in the spotlight. Cease also featured on the Def Jam-released soundtrack for the 1997 comedy film How to Be a Player alongside LeVert, Cam'ron and fellow Harlem rapper Mase.

After making guest appearances on other artists' albums, Cease released his debut and only studio album The Wonderful World of Cease A Leo. It peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and features Bristal, Jay-Z and Lil' Kim. In 2005, Lil' Cease, Banger and MC Klepto reunited Junior M.A.F.I.A. and released the group's second album, Riot Musik. In January 2009, Lil' Cease released "Letter to B.I.G.", which sampled "Letter to B.I.G." by Jadakiss from the soundtrack to the film Notorious.