Roots of Janet Jackson

Jordan Alexander Ward is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. He began his career as a dancer before transitioning to music. Ward launched his professional music career in 2017. In 2023, Ward released his debut studio album, Forward. Ward was nominated in 2024 for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist at the 55th NAACP Image Awards.

Slum Village is an American hip-hop group from Detroit, Michigan. The group was formerly composed of the rappers Baatin (1974–2009), T3, and rapper / producer J Dilla (1974–2006). J Dilla left in 2001 to pursue a solo career with MCA Records. Elzhi joined in his absence, after which Baatin also left due to health complications.

David Morales is an American disc jockey, record producer and remixer.

Blackstreet is an American R&B group founded in 1991 by Virginia Beach, Virginia-based record producers Chauncey "Black" Hannibal, Joseph "Street" Stonestreet, and Teddy Riley. The group released four albums with Interscope Records between 1994 and 2003. They achieved moderate commercial success leading up to their 1996 single "No Diggity", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks.

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.

Corbin Beckner Smidzik, known mononymously as Corbin and formerly as Spooky Black and Lil Spook, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a member of the hip hop/R&B collective Thestand4rd. As Corbin, he has released three studio albums, Mourn (2017), Ghost With Skin (2021), and Crisis Kid (2025).

Peter Rauhofer was an Austrian-American disc jockey (DJ), remixer and producer who formerly worked under the moniker Club 69 as well as Size Queen. A native of Vienna, Austria, he was famous for a variety of his remixes including Cher's "Believe" and a number of Madonna's songs including "Nothing Really Matters", "American Life", "Nothing Fails", "Nobody Knows Me", "Get Together", "Impressive Instant" and "4 Minutes", as well as her collaboration with Britney Spears, "Me Against the Music" and various collaborations with Janet Jackson. He has also provided remixes for Donna Summer, Kylie Minogue, Whitney Houston, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Yoko Ono, Pink, Tori Amos, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Book of Love, Soft Cell, Duran Duran and Mariah Carey, among others. He was also behind the tribal house record label Star 69 and was a frequent producer of the label's releases.

Honeyz are a British R&B girl group currently composed of members Célena Cherry, Heavenli Abdi, and Cherry's sister Candace Cherry as a touring member. The group had five UK top-10 hits from 1998 to 2000: "Finally Found" (1998), "End of the Line" (1998), "Love of a Lifetime" (1999), "Never Let You Down" (1999) and "Won't Take It Lying Down" (2000). Their only album, Wonder No.8, was certified gold by the BPI. Honeyz formed in 1997 with the original line-up of Célena Cherry, Heavenli Abdi and Naima Belkhiati. Former Solid Harmonie member Mariama Goodman replaced Abdi from April 1999 until her departure in August 2000, with Abdi rejoining to replace her, before the group disbanded for the first time in 2003.

Kashif Saleem was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from New York City. As a teenager, Kashif joined the funk group B. T. Express. He studied Islam and changed his name from Michael Jones to Kashif. He later signed with Arista Records enjoying success as a solo artist.

Dwight Arrington Myers, known professionally as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was the leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a group that included dancers/hype men G-Whiz and "Trouble" T. Roy, as well as DJ and producer Eddie F. The group maintained a sizeable audience in the United States through most of the 1990s. The five albums the group released included production mainly by Teddy Riley, Marley Marl, DJ Premier, Myers's cousin Pete Rock, and "in-house" beatmaker Eddie F. Myers also released four solo albums and discovered Soul for Real and Monifah.