Little Mix

Little Mix are a British girl group formed in 2011, consisting of members Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jesy Nelson. They were formed exclusively for the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011 and became the first, and so far, only group to win the competition. Following their victory, they signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music and released a cover of Damien Rice's "Cannonball" as their winner's single.

Little Mix released their debut album DNA on 19 November 2012. It charted in the top 5 in eight countries, including number two in the UK and number four on the US Billboard 200. This made Little Mix the first girl group since The Pussycat Dolls to reach the U.S. top 5 with their debut album, as well as earning the highest debut U.S. chart position by a British girl group, breaking the record previously held by the Spice Girls, whose 1996 debut Spice debuted at number five. In 2015, they won Breakout Artist at the Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

Nicki Minaj

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), professionally known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-born American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and raised in South Jamaica, Queens, New York, Minaj earned public attention after releasing three mixtapes between 2007–09. She signed a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment in 2009.

Minaj's debut studio album, Pink Friday (2010), peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and spawned the top-five single "Super Bass". During that time, Minaj became the first female solo artist to have seven singles simultaneously charting on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012), also topped the chart and its lead single, the pop crossover "Starships", peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Minaj's third studio album, The Pinkprint (2014), was preceded by its second single, "Anaconda", which peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and is her highest-charting single in the United States to date. Minaj made her film debut in the 2012 animated film Ice Age: Continental Drift, and also had a supporting role in the 2014 film The Other Woman. In 2013, she was a judge on the twelfth season of American Idol.

Daft Punk

Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. The duo achieved significant popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement and were met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house music with funk, techno, disco, rock, and synthpop. The group was managed from 1996 to 2008 by Pedro Winter (Busy P), the head of Ed Banger Records.

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo were originally in a rock band called Darlin' together, which disbanded after a short period of time, leaving the two to experiment musically with drum machines and synthesizers. The duo became Daft Punk, releasing their debut album Homework on Virgin Records in 1997 to highly-positive reviews. The 2001 release of Discovery was even more successful, driven by the club singles "One More Time", "Digital Love", and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". In March 2005, the duo released the album Human After All to mixed reviews. However, the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" achieved success in the United Kingdom.

Trey Songz

Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known as Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow up album, Trey Day, spawned his first top 20 single, "Can't Help but Wait." Songz released his third album Ready in 2009 and a single from the album, "Say Aah," peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 making it Songz's first top 10 hit. Ready was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 2008 Grammy Awards. The following year saw Songz's highest charting song to date, "Bottoms Up" featuring rapper Nicki Minaj from his fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure.

In 2012, Songz released his first number one album, Chapter V, which debuted atop the Billboard 200. The album's lead single titled "Heart Attack" was nominated for Best R&B Song at the 2013 Grammy Awards. Through the years of success, Trey Songz was mentally and musically inspired by An old friend Quan Anthony Hubbard who also played a big role in His distinct vocals and persona. Following that Songz released his sixth studio album, Trigga in 2014, promoted by the top 30 songs, "Na Na" and "Slow Motion." He has sold over 7 million albums worldwide.

How Ya Doin'?

"How Ya Doin'?" is a song by British girl group Little Mix, featuring American rapper Missy Elliott. It was released on 17 April 2013 as the fourth and final single from Little Mix's debut studio album, DNA (2012). The song's chorus is taken from Curiosity Killed the Cat's 1989 single "Name and Number". The song's bassline and beat are sampled from The Whatnauts 1981 single "Help Is on the Way" (both songs were sampled earlier on De La Soul's 1991 song "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey).")

Background

After becoming the first group to win The X Factor in 2011, and achieving their first UK number-one single with "Cannonball", the group began recording "How Ya Doin'?" with producers Future Cut. The recording of the song took place when Little Mix were on The X Factor Tour in the United Kingdom. It was recorded at The Sample Factory in London, England. In a January 2012 interview with the Daily Mirror, Perrie Edwards quipped, "We're going a bit urban, old school with a bit of pop. We wanna bring back old school harmonies. And Jesy beat-boxes and Leigh-Anne raps, so we're trying out different things." Little Mix co-wrote "How Ya Doin'?" with Shaznay Lewis from British-Canadian girl group All Saints and the song's producers Future Cut. It samples The Whatnauts' "Help Is on the Way" (1981) and Curiosity Killed the Cat's "Name and Number" (1989). The song was mixed by Phil Tan the Ninja Beat Club in Atlanta, United States. Its instrumentation was helmed by Future Cut, Jacob Quistgaard and Michael Hamilton, and Tom Coyne provided the track's mastering. British rapper Slick Rick was originally enlisted to feature on the song, but pulled out before the release of DNA.