Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes (born April 1, 1972), known together professionally as the Hughes brothers, are American film directors, producers and screenwriters. The pair, who are twins, are known for co-directing such visceral, and often violent, movies as Menace II Society, From Hell and The Book of Eli.

The Hughes brothers were born in Detroit, Michigan to an African American father and an Armenian American mother, Aida, whose family were Iranian Armenians from Tehran. Albert is the older of the twins by nine minutes; although they originally believed themselves to be fraternal twins, they suspect they may be identical despite not having had a DNA test. Their parents divorced when they were two. The twins moved with their mother to Pomona, California, east of Los Angeles, when they were nine. The mother raised her sons alone while putting herself through school and starting her own business, a vocational center. Supportive of her sons' ambitions as filmmakers, she gave them a video camera when they were 12. As a result, the boys spent their free time making short films. When a teacher suggested that they make a "How To" film for an assignment, they complied with a short film entitled "How to Be a Burglar."

Allen Hughes (28 December 1921 – 16 November 2009) was an American dance and music critic.

Born in Brownsburg, Indiana, Hughes started his career as a critic in 1950 when he joined the staff of Musical America. In 1955, he became a music critic for The New York Herald Tribune. He left there in 1960 to join the staff of The New York Times where he worked as a music and dance critic until his retirement 26 years later in 1986. He was notably chief dance critic of the newspaper from 1963-1965 and was chief music editor of the Sunday Arts and Leisure section during the early 1980s. He died in Sarasota, Florida at the age of 87.

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac, Pac, and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million records worldwide as of 2010, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Rolling Stone Magazine named him the 86th Greatest Artist of All Time. The themes of most of Tupac's songs are the violence and hardship in inner cities, racism, social problems, and conflicts with other rappers during the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry. Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer, and MC for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground.

Both of his parents and several other family members were members of the Black Panthers, and Tupac made reference to the organization in the song "Changes". Shakur was involved in a West-coast East-coast rivalry after a major feud with East-coast rappers, producers and record-label members of staff.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center, where he died six days later.

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye (he added the 'e' as a young man), was an acclaimed American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range, who achieved major success in the 1960s and 1970s as an artist for the Motown Records label. He was shot dead by his father on April 1, 1984.

Starting his career as a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows in the late 1950s, he ventured into a solo career after the group disbanded in 1960, signing with Motown Records subsidiary, Tamla. He started off as a session drummer, but later ranked as the label's top-selling solo artist during the 1960s. He was crowned "The Prince of Motown" and "The Prince of Soul". because of solo hits such as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)", "Ain't That Peculiar", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," and his duet singles with singers such as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell.

His work in the early- and mid-1970s included the albums, What's Going On, Let's Get It On, and I Want You, which helped influence the quiet storm, urban adult contemporary, and slow jam genres. After a self-imposed European exile in the early 1980s, Gaye returned on the 1982 Grammy-Award winning hit, "Sexual Healing" and the Midnight Love album before his death.

Tyrin Turner (born July 17, 1972) is an American actor from South Central,Los Angeles who has appeared in movies since 1989. Turner is best known for playing the main character, Caine "Kaydee" Lawson, in the 1993 film Menace II Society. He also has made guest appearances on television shows such as Chicago Hope and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and has made several cameos in music videos throughout the 90s.

Around 1998, Turner signed to Rap-a-Lot Records as Caine and was featured on the Geto Boys album Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly and Scarface's My Homies album. He was a part of a group and a solo album was expected but one never surfaced. Rumors surfaced that he was also shot in the face due to swelling of his cheeks but it was merely from an altercation in LA. He is currently writing sketch comedies for Affion Crocket and Jamie Foxx.