Sean Paul

Paul was named Best Reggae Artist of the Year at the MOBO Awards in London and garnered a High Times magazine 2002 Doobie Award for “Gimme The Light.” This year, he won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album: Dutty Rock.

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis

The Isleys

The Isleys united in the early ‘50s, and have had one of the longest-standing success records in American popular music history. They started out as a gospel quartet featuring Ronald, Rudolph, and O’Kelly and Vernon.

In 1962, they experienced some success with their cover of the Topnotes' “Twist and Shout,” though it never became the hit it it did for The Beatles. In 1964 they enlisted a young guitarist named Jimmy James, who later changed his name to Jimi Hendrix, to play in the group. Signed to the Motown subsidiary Tamla in 1965, they united with Holland-Dozier-Holland and, together, they created the hit “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You).” In 1969, their single “It's Your Thing,” for the T-Bone label, went to #2 on the U.S. charts.

In 1996, The Isleys, now consisting of Ronald, Marvin and Ernie, released the album Mission to Please. Ronald and Ernie joined up later for Eternal (2001), a brand new collection of R&B cuts featuring collaborative efforts with Jill Scott, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Raphael Saadiq. They were honored this year with a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for “Busted” performed by The Isley Brothers With Ronald Isley aka Mr. Biggs, from the album Body Kiss.

Kelis

While Kelis, 24, was well-known in the R&B world and a star in Europe, she didn’t have a song that matched her reputation until last year. “Milkshake,” was one of the year’s most memorable singles and helped loft Kelis’ third album, Tasty, on to the charts.

The Harlem-raised singer’s unusual look &ndash the result of her Chinese/Puerto Rican/African American background &ndash brought her into modeling at 13. Later, Kelis hooked up with the Neptunes before they became famous, and the duo not only enlisted her to sing the hook on Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Got Your Money,” (her first appearance on a record), they produced her first two albums, 1999’s Kaleidoscope and 2001’s Europe-only Wandaland. The Neptunes also produced several tracks on Tasty. On Tasty, she co-wrote several songs and enlisted A-list producers Dallas Austin, Rocwilder and Raphael Saadiq, as well as OutKast’s Andre 3000. The result is a wide-ranging disc that showcases the diversity of her talent, spanning from throbbing funk to smooth R&B, from pop to rock. This year, she has an opening slot on Britney Spears’ American tour in March and April. She was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance: “Milkshake.”

Mary J. Blige

Not only did Mary J. Blige’s 1992 debut album, What’s the 411?, launch her career and that of P. Diddy, it reinvented soul music by incorporating the sound and attitude of hip hop. It also proved that a tough-talking kid raised in rougher parts of Savannah, Georgia and Yonkers, New York, could surmount adversity and become one of the most popular and respected artists in the world. Since then, she’s grown up in public, overcoming a series of personal demons and, in the process, making her life and her career into an inspiration for others.

Just as inspiring has been her steady progression from a good singer into a truly great one. Last year’s fabulous Love & Life finds her happy, healthy, in love (she and Kendu Isaacs were married in December), reunited with P. Diddy and creating some of the best music of her career. Where many artists can lose their creative edge when their lives settle down, rarely has contentment sounded so funky. Mary’s voice and songwriting are as strong as ever, and although some of the rough edges have been smoothed out, this older, wiser version of hip hop soul is every bit as vibrant and exciting as the sound she debuted nearly a dozen years ago. Mary won a Grammy for Pop Vocal Collaboration for “Whenever I Say Your Name” (Sting & Mary J. Blige).

D’Angelo

D’Angelo began playing the piano at five and had won three Amateur Nights at Harlem’s Apollo Theater by the time he was 18. His debut 1995 album, Brown Sugar, not only made him into a star, it also arguably launched the neo-soul movement that was later to be refined by artists like Maxwell and Erykah Badu. Yet rather than capitalize on his success by quickly rushing out another neo-soul album, nearly five years passed between Brown Sugar and the Grammy-winning follow-up, Voodoo. Driven by the success of the single “Untitled (How Does it Feel?),” the album’s singular quality speaks for itself, but there’s no denying that much of its strength comes from the stellar band D’Angelo assembled for the album – a loose collective dubbed the Soulquarians, it includes Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, bassist Pino Palladino, keyboardist (and fellow ASCAP Grammy nominee) James Poyser, and trumpetist Roy Hargrove. The Soulquarians accompanied D’ for his mind-blowing 2000 tour, and the singer returned the favor by guesting on Hargrove’s recent solo album – scoring yet another Grammy nomination in the process: Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals: “I'll Stay” (Roy Hargrove & The RH Factor Featuring D’Angelo).

Dr. Dre

He’s a rapper, a songwriter, a label head and a first-rate developer of talent, but there’s not much question that the greatest of Dr. Dre’s many gifts is as a producer. A founding member &ndash with Eazy E and Ice Cube &ndash of NWA, Dre’s dense but funky production built the foundation of gangsta rap, a style he streamlined into the smoother, low-riding funk grooves of the West Coast sound of the early ‘90s. The sound came to dominate hip-hop over the coming years, but Dre (Andre Young) refused to get comfortable and kept refining his style even as countless imitators mimicked his old sounds.

Although his solo output has been just two full albums, The Chronic and 2001, in more than a decade &ndash Dre is one of the most in-demand producers in the business, having helmed such hits as Blackstreet’s No Diggity, Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair and his memorable collaboration with 2Pac, California Love, to name just a few. He’s been an important developer of talent, having played a large role in launching the careers of Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent. Dre was nominated for Best Rap Song: 50 Cent: “In Da Club” (Song also nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance).

P. Diddy

Sean “Puffy/Puff Daddy/P. Diddy” Combs has risen from humble origins to become a producer, performer, celebrity, a world-class developer of talent and a world-class businessman, largely because he is simply one of the hardest working artists in the music business.

Raised in Harlem and Mount Vernon, NY, the young Combs appeared as a dancer in several videos while interning at Uptown Records. He quickly worked his way up to A&R executive and helmed hits by Father MC, Heavy D, Jodeci and, most significantly, Mary J. Blige, that played a large role in formulating the sound of R&B in the 1990s. After leaving Uptown in 1993, he started Bad Boy Entertainment in his apartment. Craig Mack’s Flava In Ya Ear became the label’s first platinum release, but Bad Boy exploded late in 1994 with Notorious B.I.G.’s groundbreaking debut, Ready To Die.

The ensuing years found Combs’ star rising into the stratosphere -– as a solo artist as well as a producer for Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, TLC, SWV, and Lil' Kim and many Bad Boy artists. In recent years, he overcame business and legal difficulties and has emerged stronger than ever and his reunion with Blige on her recent Love and Life album resulted in her best album in years. P. Diddy won for Rap Duo Or Group: “Shake Ya Tailfeather” (Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee).

Blu Cantrell

Marc Dorsey

Mike Elizondo