Method Man

Clifford Smith (born March 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He took his stage name from the 1979 film Method Man. He is perhaps best known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also one half of the hip hop duo Method Man & Redman. In 1996, he won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By", with American R&B singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige.

Method Man has appeared in films such as Belly, How High, Garden State, The Wackness, Venom, Red Tails and The Cobbler. On television, he and frequent collaborator, fellow East Coast rapper Redman, co-starred on the short-lived Fox sitcom Method & Red. He also had a recurring role as Tug Daniels on HBO's Oz and Calvin "Cheese" Wagstaff on the HBO's The Wire.

In 2012, The Source placed him on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time.

Early life

Born on March 2, 1971, in Staten Island, New York, Smith divided his childhood between his father's Long Island residence and his mother's home in the Park Hill section of Staten Island (colloquially known as Killa Hill). He has two sisters, Terri and Missy.

Wu-Tang Clan

The Wu-Tang Clan /ˈwuːtæŋklæn/ is an American hip hop group from New York City, originally composed of East Coast rappers RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa and Ol' Dirty Bastard. The group was formed in and is associated with the New York City borough of Staten Island.

The Wu-Tang Clan has released seven gold and platinum studio albums with worldwide sales of more than 40 million albums, including members' solo projects, since 1992. Its debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), is considered to be one of the greatest albums in hip-hop history and it is said to have been groundbreaking for hip-hop and one of the most important albums of the hip-hop golden age.

The Wu-Tang Clan has introduced and launched the careers of a number of affiliated artists and groups, often collectively known as the Wu-Tang Killa Bees and it has been mentioned to be one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all-time. In 2008, About.com ranked them the No. 1 greatest hip hop group of all time". Kris Ex of Rolling Stone called Wu-Tang Clan "the best rap group ever". In 2004, NME hailed them as one of the most influential groups of the last ten years.

Busta Rhymes

Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., (born May 20, 1972) better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes, is an American hip hop recording artist. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes. Early in his career, he was known for his wild style and fashion, and today is best known for his intricate rapping technique, which involves rapping at a fast rate with a lot of internal rhyme and half rhyme, and to date has received eleven Grammy nominations for his musical work.

About.com included him on its list of the 50 Greatest MCs of Our Time (1987–2007), while Steve Huey of AllMusic called him one of the best and most prolific rappers of the 1990s. In 2012, The Source placed him on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time.MTV has called him "one of hip-hop's greatest visual artists."

Busta Rhymes was both a member of Leaders of the New School and a founding member of the record label Conglomerate (founded as Flipmode Entertainment) and production crew The Conglomerate (formerly Flipmode Squad). In November 2011, Busta Rhymes signed a deal with Cash Money Records. He has so far released eight studio albums, with the first being the 1996 platinum-selling album The Coming. His list of hit singles include "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check", "Dangerous", "Turn It Up (Remix)/Fire It Up", "Gimme Some More", "What's It Gonna Be?!", "Pass the Courvoisier, Part II", "I Know What You Want" and "Touch It", among several others. He is set to release his tenth album, E.L.E.2 (Extinction Level Event 2), which will be a sequel to his 1998 album E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front.

Alicia Keys

Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known by the pseudonym Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Keys released her debut album with J Records, having had previous record deals first with Columbia and then Arista Records. Keys' debut album, Songs in A Minor, was a commercial success, selling over 12 million copies worldwide. She became the best-selling new artist and best-selling R&B artist of 2001. The album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'" becoming the second American recording artist to win five Grammys in one night. Her second studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003 and was also another success worldwide, selling eight million copies. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards in 2005. Later that year, she released her first live album, Unplugged, which debuted at number one in the United States. She became the first female to have an MTV Unplugged album to debut at number one and the highest since Nirvana in 1994.

Chris Brown

Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, dancer, rapper and actor. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, he was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows from a young age. Having signed with Jive Records in 2004, Brown released his self-titled debut studio album the following year. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was later certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). With his first single "Run It!" peaking atop the US Billboard Hot 100, Brown became the first male artist as a lead since Diddy in 1997 to have his debut single top the chart. His second album Exclusive (2007) spawned his second Hot 100 number one "Kiss Kiss", in addition to "With You" and "Forever". The album was also certified double platinum by the RIAA.

In 2009, Brown received much media attention after pleading guilty to felony assault of his then girlfriend, singer Rihanna; he was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community service. His third album Graffiti was released later that year, and included the top-twenty single "I Can Transform Ya". Brown's fourth album F.A.M.E. (2011) became his first to top the Billboard 200; it spawned the successful singles "Yeah 3x", "Look at Me Now", and "Beautiful People". F.A.M.E. earned Brown his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 54th Grammy Awards. His fifth album Fortune was released in 2012. However, after the release of Exclusive, Brown's albums have not been well received commercially or by music critics, with the exception of X, which received a normalized rating of 63. Brown's seventh studio album Royalty was released on December 18, 2015.