Essence Music Festival

Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa, consisting of Cheryl James ("Salt", now Cheryl Wray), Sandra Denton ("Pepa"), and DJ Deidra "Dee Dee" Roper (Spinderella), from Queens, New York, that came onto the music scene in 1985.

Anita Baker
Anita Baker treats fans to a Christmas Fantasy this Fall! Grammy-winning singer Anita Baker gives give her fans a reason to rejoice this holiday season when Blue Note releases Christmas Fantasy on October 25th, her first-ever disc of Christmas music.

En Vogue
Four beautiful women, four beautiful voices, and a long history of success define the fates of smash hit R&B group En Vogue. Formed by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy, En Vogue went on to sell over 20 million albums and singles worldwide since their inception in 1990.

Al Green

Lalah Hathaway
Contemporary R & B singer Lalah Hathaway has released several popular albums, including The Song Lives On, Outrun the Sky, and Self Portrait.

Teena Marie
Teena Marie (born Mary Christine Brockert; March 5, 1956) is an American Grammy® Award-nominated singer–songwriter–producer. Marie, nicknamed Lady T, is a protegée of late funk legend Rick James, and is notable as one of the few successful white performers of R&B.

Maze featuring Frankie Beverly
For nearly thirty years Frankie Beverly and Maze have created a unique sound and become one of the most influential groups in modern history. The 80's brought the release of the best-selling albums, Golden Time of Day, Inspiration, Joy and Pain, containing a list of chart-topping...

Lionel Richie
After leaving the Commodores, Lionel Richie became one of the most successful male solo artists of the '80s, arguably eclipsed during his 1981-1987 heyday only by Michael Jackson and Prince.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band derives its name from Preservation Hall, the venerable music venue located in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter, founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe.

The Brand New Heavies
Pioneers of the London acid jazz scene, the Brand New Heavies translated their love for the funk grooves of the 1970s into a sophisticated sound that carried the torch for classic soul in an era dominated by hip-hop.

Rebirth Brass Band
Simply put, The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans institution. Formed in 1983 by the now infamous Frazier brothers, the band has evolved from playing the streets of the French Quarter to playing festivals and stages all over the world.

Marva Wright
Down in Louisiana, Marva Wright is called the Blues Queen. Fans of her energy-filled performances, both live and recorded, call her a lot of other things, too, like "Marvalous Marva.

Zap Mama
Zap Mama is a Belgian musical group founded and led by Marie Daulne. Zap Mama specializes in polyphonic, harmonic music with a mixture of heavily infused African instruments, R&B, and Hip-hop and emphasizes voice in all their music.

The Blind Boys of Alabama
The Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel group from Alabama that first formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind at Talladega, Alabama in 1939. The three main vocalists of the group and their drummer/percussionist are all blind.

Charlie Wilson
Charlie Wilson (born January 23, 1953 in Tulsa, OK) is a R&B and soul singer, as well as the lead vocalist for the Gap Band. As one of the most distinguished voices in R&B music, Charlie Wilson needs no introduction.

Raphael Saadiq
He is a standard bearer for what folks call ‘old school’ music, a contemporary artist continuing a time-honored tradition that goes back to the ‘60s and ‘70s. From his early days as a member of the groundbreaking ‘80s group Tony!

Maxwell
Well-known American R&B artist Maxwell born in Brooklyn, New York on May 23, 1973 is an He played an important role in the development of the soul sub-genre, neo-soul. His album "Urban hang Suite" was nominated for a Grammy ® and also received double platinum status.

Little Freddie King
Although Little Freddie King patterned his name and playing style after his role model Freddie King, the man with "Little" in his moniker is an original. Leaving his native Mississippi in the 1950s to move to the music Mecca of New Orleans, King brought the indigenous sound...

Eric Benet
Eric Benet, born October 15th, 1966, got his big break in 1994 when he signed with Warner Bros. Records and released his solo debut album "True to Myself" in 1996. His first big hit came with his second album, "A Day in the Life", when his song "Spend My...

Jonathan Slocumb

Beyoncé
Beyonce started her career being part of Destiny's Child as the lead singer in the 1990's. She released her first solo album in 2003, "Dangerous in Love" which was one of her most successful albums, with hit releases, "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy".

Irvin Mayfield
Trumpeter Irvin Mayfield released half a dozen albums before he was 25 years old. His youth, as well as his willingness to contribute his time and knowledge in the spheres of both classical and jazz studies, make him a popular figure in educational music clinics in his home state of Louisiana.

Ledisi
Ledisi is a Grammy nominated singer.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Sharon Jones was born Sheron Lafaye Jones in Augusta, Georgia on May 4th 1956. Her mother moved to Brooklyn soon thereafter, however Jones was sent down south for a few months every year to stay with her family.

Robin Thicke
The award-winning multiplatinum superstar returns to center stage with Something Else, a joyful and modern tribute to the ‘70s soul and pop records that have inspired an extraordinary career.

Ryan Leslie
I’m a producer/songwriter/singer living between Harlem and Hollywood. Spring 1998 Graduated from Harvard concentrating in Government and delivered the Harvard Oration at the ceremony Featured in The Harvard Crimson’s commencement edition in a piece called “The Music Man”...

Keri Hilson
R&B singer and songwriter Keri Hilson has consistently churned out chart-toppers for such artists as Mary J. Blige, the Pussycat Dolls, and Britney Spears.

John Legend
Born December 28, 1978, in Springfield Ohio, John Legend is an American recording artist, musician and actor. Some of his works include: * Get Lifted (2004) * Once Again (2006) * Evolver (2008)

Dan Dyer
Dan Dyer greets his second decade as a musician with a self-titled album. From this soul-revivalist recording, produced out of an old snake-charmer church turned studio on the East side of Austin, emerges a spooky, diaphanous, and bright release drawn from an ever-deepening soul.

Jazmine Sullivan
What’s in a name? Well, if the name happens to include a reference to a musical genre, it could mean a whole lot. Jazmine Sullivan’s mother remembers having a sense that the child she was carrying twenty-one years ago was born to sing and as a lover of jazz, she named her daughter accordingly.

Ne-Yo
Songwriter, arranger, and vocalist Ne-Yo was born Shaffer Smith in Arkansas and raised in Las Vegas, NV. His start in the music industry came as a songwriter. Prior to exiting his teenage years, he penned material for Youngstown and broke through in 2004 with Mario's "Let Me...

Janelle Monáe
Open your minds, earthlings, and prepare to be launched headfirst into an alternate universe. A place where robots fall in love with humans. Where your tour guide into this alternate realm is a demure lil thang with a bold set of pipes.

Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars
All the members of Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars lived in or near Sierra Leone's capital city before fleeing Freetown during the country's decade-long civil war. Throughout most of the 1990s, Freetown remained relatively sheltered from the rebel war that had turned much of the...

Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk
In addition to playing with his Dad – Aaron – and his uncles in The Neville Brothers, Ivan Neville leads his own band, Dumpstaphunk, a group of musicologists that transcend age and styles in a free-flowing approach to their art.

The Knux
Comprised of brothers Krispy Kream and Rah Al Millio, the Knux are a clever alternative rap duo who are musicians as well as singer/rappers. Born in New Orleans yet displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the musically schooled brothers began creating a stir nationally in late 2007 when...

DJ Soul Sister

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Hailing from Tremé, the most musical neighborhood in the most musical city – New Orleans, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews has made the leap from child prodigy to Professional Master Musician.

Melanie Fiona
Don’t ask her to define it. Singer/songwriter Melanie Fiona’s debut album The Bridge reveals a sweet push-and-pull between countless elements of herself. At once Canadian and Caribbean, strong and sexy, contemplative and joyous, blending the sounds of pop and soul.