Roots of Erykah Badu

Robert Andre Glasper is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and musical arranger. His music embodies numerous musical genres, primarily centered around jazz. Glasper has won five Grammy Awards from 11 nominations.

Michael Eugene Archer, better known by his stage name D'Angelo, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Widely regarded as a pioneer of the neo-soul movement, Billboard named him one of the greatest R&B artists, while Rolling Stone ranked him as one of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2025, he was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.

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".

Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip-hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social and political issues, such as police brutality, American exceptionalism, and the status of African Americans in the United States.

Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers were a Jamaican-American reggae family group whose line-up consisted of the children of musicians Bob Marley and Rita Marley, including lead singer Ziggy Marley with Sharon Marley, Cedella Marley, and Stephen Marley. Formed in 1979 in Brooklyn, New York, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers members began their musical endeavours in their pre-teens under the name the Melody Makers.

Marc Rebillet is an American electronic musician and YouTuber from Dallas and based in New York City. He is known for his improvised funk, hip-hop, and electronic music with free-flowing, humorous lyrics. He distributes his work primarily through YouTube videos and Twitch live streams using a loop station, keyboard, vocals, and percussion instruments to produce his songs in his apartment. He has released three studio albums under his legal name: Marc Rebillet, Europe, and Loop Daddy III; two extended play records, and three projects under his "leae" moniker: Pod 314, the Rattlebrain EP, and the week | ep.

Los Rakas are a Grammy Award–nominated bilingual hip hop group based in Oakland, California, consisting of Panamanian cousins Raka Rich and Raka Dun. Their style consists of a mixture of hip hop influences with reggaeton, reggae, and dancehall. One of their notable collaborations includes the American new Wave band Blondie on their 2014 studio album Ghosts of Download, where they appeared as a featured artist on the track "I Screwed Up". Other collaborations include music with: E-40, Nina Sky, Baby Bash, Berner, Keak Da Sneak, Kool John, San Quinn, Show Banga, X-raided, Goapale, IAMSU!, Baby Gas, & Atropolis. As of 04/20/22 Los Rakas have partnered with Camabis to release their own cannabis strain "Raka Exotic". They are currently working on a new studio album expected to drop between late 2022 and early 2023.

Nicolas Hakim is an American musician based in Queens, New York, United States. His first EP, Where Will We Go Part 1 & 2, was self-released in 2014. He released three albums with ATO: Green Twins (2017), Will This Make Me Good (2020), and Cometa (2022).

Jonathan Spencer Wilson is an American producer, songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles, California. He is a frequent collaborator of Father John Misty. They co-produced Father John Misty's Grammy-nominated "Chloe and the Next 20th Century."

Patrick Denard Douthit, better known as 9th Wonder, is an American record producer, record executive, educator, and DJ who is the CEO of Jamla Records, distributed and marketed by Roc Nation, and Empire Distribution. As of Fall 2022, Douthit is Professor of the Practice in Residence in the Program in African American Studies at Wake Forest University. He also continues to teach courses at Duke University alongside his longtime collaborator, Professor Mark Anthony Neal.

Antonia D. Reed, known professionally as Bahamadia, is an American hip hop artist and singer. Bahamadia released her debut album, Kollage, in 1996, followed by the independently released EP BB Queen in 2000. She then released a full-length album, Good Rap Music, in 2005. Bahamadia has also released the singles "Dialed Up Vol. 1", "Here", and "Dialed Up Vol. 2".

Tyler Gregory Okonma, known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is known for his eclectic and experimental music, raw lyrical style, and frequent use of alter egos and alternate personas across his albums. During the 2010s and 2020s, he was described as an influential figure in alternative hip-hop.

Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American rapper and record producer. Nicknamed the Abstract, he is often considered one of the most acclaimed figures in hip hop. Noted for his innovative jazz-influenced style of hip hop production and his philosophical and introspective lyrical themes, AllMusic dubbed him "the best rapper/producer in hip-hop history", and stated that he led a "jazz-based hip-hop revolution during the '90s". Several publications have ranked him amongst the greatest rappers and hip hop producers of all time, with Billboard ranking him the sixth greatest hip hop producer. In 2024, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of A Tribe Called Quest.

Victor Axelrod is an American musician, producer, and audio engineer from Brooklyn, New York. Since the mid-1990s, he has worked primarily in the genres of reggae, Afrobeat and soul, recording and producing under his own name and using the alias Ticklah.

Perfect Angel is the second studio album by American singer Minnie Riperton, released on May 24, 1974, by Epic Records. The album contains the biggest hit of Riperton's career, "Lovin' You", which topped the U.S. Pop Singles chart for one week in early April 1975.

Snarky Puppy is an American jazz fusion band led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won five Grammy Awards. Although the band has worked with vocalists, League described Snarky Puppy as "a pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals".

Karriem Riggins is an American jazz drummer, record producer, DJ and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. He met Chicago rapper Common and fellow Detroit musician J Dilla both in 1996, and served as an extensive contributor for releases by both artists. He produced for Common's 1997 album One Day It'll All Make Sense, did so on much of his further projects, and formed the musical trio August Greene with the rapper alongside fellow jazz instrumentalist Robert Glasper in 2018. Furthermore, he formed the Jahari Massamba Unit with Madlib in 2020, and has also worked with prominent music industry artists including Paul McCartney, Kanye West, Denzel Curry, Earl Sweatshirt, and Norah Jones, among others.

The Sequence was an American hip hop group formed in Columbia, South Carolina in 1979, that comprised Angie B., Blondy, and Cheryl the Pearl. The group rose to fame with the single, "Funk You Up" (1979), which was the first rap hit performed by women and one of the first commercially successful hip hop singles. Their debut album, Sugar Hill Presents The Sequence (1980), was released on Sugar Hill Records and was the first hip hop record on vinyl released by an all-female act.