Roots of Alicia Keys

Idan Raichel is an Israeli singer-songwriter and musician known for his "Idan Raichel Project", distinctive for its fusion of electronics, traditional Hebrew texts, and diverse musical influences. Prior to the project, Raichel was a keyboardist, collaborating with artists such as Ivri Lider.

Amber Denise "Sevyn" Streeter is an American singer, best known for being a member of the girl groups TG4 and RichGirl where she was known as Se7en. She signed to Atlantic Records and released her debut single "I Like It" in 2012.

Emily King is an American singer and songwriter. She started her career in 2004 and her first album East Side Story was released in August 2007. In December 2007, she was a Grammy Award nominee for Best Contemporary R&B Album. In 2019, she was nominated for Best R&B Song for "Look at Me Now" and her album Scenery was nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. In 2020, King was nominated again, for Best R&B Performance with her song "See Me".

Alice Smith is an American singer and songwriter, her style anchored in rock, R&B, blues, jazz and soul.

Tierra Helena Whack is an American rapper and singer. She originally performed under the stage name "Dizzle Dizz" as a teenager but reverted to her birth name in 2017. Her debut mixtape, Whack World, was released in May 2018 and received widespread critical acclaim. Her song "Mumbo Jumbo" was nominated for Best Music Video at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Whack has since collaborated with artists including Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Tyler, the Creator, Chief Keef, and Melanie Martinez.

Rakim Athelston Mayers, known professionally as ASAP Rocky, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, fashion designer, and model. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mob, from which he adopted his stage name. In August 2011, Mayers' single "Peso" was leaked online and began receiving radio airplay within weeks, propelling cloud rap into mainstream attention. He signed with Polo Grounds Music, an imprint of RCA Records, that October and released his debut mixtape, Live. Love. A$AP to widespread critical acclaim.

Little Anthony and the Imperials is an American rhythm and blues, doo-wop, and soul vocal group from New York City founded by Clarence Collins in the 1950s and named in part for its lead singer, Jerome Anthony "Little Anthony" Gourdine, who was noted for his high-pitched voice. In addition to Collins and Gourdine, the original Imperials included Ernest Wright, Glouster "Nate" Rogers, and Tracy Lord, the last two of whom were subsequently replaced by Sammy Strain.

Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and record executive. In 2023, Billboard and Vibe ranked him as the greatest rapper of all time. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, Jay-Z is known for his complex lyricism that often uses double entendres, wordplay, and braggadocio. His music is built on a rags to riches narrative. According to Forbes, he is the wealthiest music artist in history, worth an estimated US$2.8 billion as of 2026.

William Haislip Squier is an American rock musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include "The Stroke", "Lonely Is the Night", "My Kinda Lover", "In the Dark", "Rock Me Tonite", "Everybody Wants You", "Emotions in Motion", "Love Is the Hero", and "Don't Say You Love Me". Squier's best-selling album, 1981's Don't Say No, is considered a landmark release of arena rock, bridging the gap between power pop and hard rock.

Laura Elizabeth Arabosa Izibor is an Irish recording artist, musician and producer. She won the 2FM Song Contest while still in secondary school. She went on to win an award at the 2006 Meteor Music Awards. She also performed at that year's Electric Picnic music festival and Music Ireland 2007. Izibor has opened for Aretha Franklin, India Arie, Estelle, Maxwell, and John Legend on tour.

Brenda Holloway is an American soul singer who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the hits "Every Little Bit Hurts", "When I'm Gone", and "You've Made Me So Very Happy". The latter, which she co-wrote, was later widely popularized when it became a Top Ten hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears. She left Motown after four years, at the age of 22, and largely retired from the music industry until the 1990s, after her recordings had become popular on the British "Northern soul" scene.

Jazzyfatnastees is a vocal duo, Tracey Moore and Mercedes Martinez. Originally a vocal quartet, they landed a deal with Tommy Boy in 1993. In 1997, their contract with Tommy Boy ended, two other members Stevvi Alexander and Arlynn Page left the group, and the current duo moved to Philadelphia. When the group was still a quartet they appeared along with many other 90's African-American R&B and Hip Hop girl groups in the song "Freedom " on the Panther soundtrack such as En Vogue, SWV, TLC, Xscape, For Real, Brownstone, Jade, Y?N-Vee, Salt-N-Pepa, Female, BlackGirl, Changing Faces, Zhané, Terri & Monica and several other African American R&B and Hip-Hop girl groups. The soundtrack also featured African American female solo artist and female solo rappers and was released on May 2, 1995. In 1996, while still under contract with Tommy Boy the quartet appeared on a 4-Track CD single "De La Soul 4 More Featuring Zhané" which was released under Tommy Boy Records and the quartet released a song on the single titled "Baby Baby Baby Baby Ooh Baby"

Eyram Ruby Amanfu Ashworth is an American recording artist based in Nashville. Amanfu has released seven studio albums and multiple singles. She is known for being one half of the duo Sam & Ruby, whose album was named Associated Press Album of the Year in 2009. Amanfu is also known for her collaborations with Jack White in his all-female band, The Peacocks, and has widely appeared on his critically acclaimed solo albums, Blunderbuss and Lazaretto. In 2020 and 2022, Amanfu was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for co-writing "Hard Place" by H.E.R. and "A Beautiful Noise" by Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile, and was nominated for a Soul Train Music Award for The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter's Award.

Black Violin is an American hip hop duo from Fort Lauderdale, Florida comprising two classically trained string instrumentalists, Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptiste, who go by the stage names Kev Marcus and Wil B. Kev Marcus plays the violin, and Wil B. plays the viola.