Lil Wayne began his industry ascendance as one of the Hot Boys, a short-lived Cash Money Records all-star group, and after establishing himself as a successful solo artist, he grew to become a critical favorite, known especially for his entertaining underground mix tapes. Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., on September 27, 1982, in New Orleans, LA. His first album at the age 18, he was the youngest group member.

Chris Brown started out as an aspiring rapper, Chris Brown's early discovery of his singing talent inspired him to follow in the footsteps of influences like Michael Jackson, Tevin Campbell, and Usher. The 16-year-old Virginia native made his debut in summer 2005 with the Scott Storch-produced, Juelz Santana collaboration "Run It." Brown's first album, Young Love, will be released in October.

Mariah Carey was born in Long Island, NY, on March 27, 1970, Carey moved to New York City at the age of 17 just one day after graduating high school to pursue a music career, there she befriended keyboardist Ben Margulies, with whom she began writing songs. Her big break came as a backing vocalist on a studio session with dance-pop singer Brenda K. Starr, who handed Carey's demo tape to Columbia Records head Tommy Mottola at a party.

During a June 2006 appearance on MTV's TRL, it was announced the group would be called Danity Kane, a reference to a superhero Dawn had created and sketched in the studio during downtime. The TRL appearance also announced the group's debut single was the club cut "Show Stopper" featuring fellow Bad Boy artist Yung Joc. With tracks from big-name producers Scott Storch and Timbaland, their self-titled debut hit the streets in August of 2006.

Usher made first single album, "You Make Me Wanna," re-established Usher as one of R&B's hottest artists, and also made him a crossover sensation; it topped the R&B charts for 11 weeks, hit number two pop, and eventually went double platinum. Both of the follow-up singles, "Nice & Slow" and "My Way," also went platinum; the former stayed at number one on the R&B charts for eight weeks and became his first number one pop single.

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