Roots of The Neptunes

Asha Puthli is an Indian-born American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress. She moved to New York from Mumbai with a dance scholarship, and in 1970, she was signed to CBS Records and subsequently released several solo albums. Her recordings cover blues, pop, rock, soul, funk, disco, and techno music. She also starred in films by Merchant Ivory and Bruno Corbucci. In 2025, Puthli was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.

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.

Timbaland & Magoo were an American hip-hop duo composed of Virginia natives Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley and Melvin "Magoo" Barcliff (1973–2023). Formed in 1989, the duo signed with Blackground Records, an imprint of Atlantic Records to release three albums: Welcome to Our World (1997), Indecent Proposal (2001), and Under Construction, Part II (2003). Magoo died of a heart attack in 2023.

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.

Christopher Brent Wood, known professionally as Brent Faiyaz, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Faiyaz rose to prominence with his guest performance alongside Shy Glizzy on GoldLink's 2016 single "Crew". The song peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100, received octuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. The following year, Faiyaz released his debut studio album, Sonder Son (2017). He is noted for his "sly vocals" and "atmospheric slow jam productions," along with occasional rapping.

Joel Thomas Zimmerman, known professionally as Deadmau5, is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house genres, though he also produces and DJs other genres of electronic music, including techno under the alias Testpilot. Zimmerman mostly appears and performs with a custom helmet called the "mau5head". He has received seven Grammy Award nominations and won four Juno Awards for his songs.