African-American male singer-songwriters

Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, actor, and businessman. Drake initially gained recognition as an actor on the teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation in the 2000s; intent on pursuing a career in music, he left the series in 2007 after releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement. He released two further independent projects, Comeback Season and So Far Gone, before signing to Young Money Entertainment in June 2009.

Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, and is often mentioned among the greatest rappers of all time. Wayne's career began in 1995, when he was signed by rapper Birdman to his record label Cash Money Records, becoming the youngest member of the label at age eleven. From then on, he was the flagship artist of Cash Money Records before ending his association with the imprint in June 2018.

Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He is a contemporary R&B musician, who has often been referred to by his contemporaries as the "King of R&B". While an R&B singer and songwriter, his music has also been influenced by hip hop and pop genres. His lyrics often address emotional and hedonistic themes. His singing and dancing skills have often been compared favorably to those of pop icon Michael Jackson.

Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He is recognized as an influential figure in contemporary R&B and pop music. In 1994, Usher first released his self-titled debut album at the age of 15 and rose to fame in the late 1990s following the release of his second album, My Way (1997). It spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow", and the top-two singles: the title track and "You Make Me Wanna...". His third album, 8701 (2001), saw continued success and contained two number-one singles, "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as the top-three single, "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance consecutively in 2002 and 2003.

Ye ( YAY; born Kanye Omari West; June 8, 1977), commonly known as Kanye West ( KAHN-yay), is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential hip hop musicians of all time, as well as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing singles for several artists and developing the "chipmunk soul" sampling style. Intent on pursuing a solo career as a rapper, he released his debut studio album, The College Dropout (2004), to critical and commercial success. West subsequently founded his record label GOOD Music later that same year.

Willard Carroll Smith Jr. (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Smith has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, and has won four Grammy Awards.

Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, author, rapper, actor, model, VJ, and screenwriter. After releasing several albums, he transitioned into films, with lead roles in several major Hollywood releases. He played Joseph "Jody" Summers in Baby Boy, Angel Mercer in Four Brothers, Roman Pearce in the Fast & Furious films, and Robert Epps in the Transformers film series. According to Billboard, Tyrese has sold 3.69 million albums in the U.S.

Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, actor, and filmmaker. A guitar virtuoso known for his genre-crossing work, wide-ranging singing voice and flamboyant stage appearances, Prince is regarded as one of the greatest musicians of all time. His innovative music integrated a wide variety of styles, including funk, rock, R&B, new wave, soul, psychedelia, and pop. Prince pioneered the late 1970s Minneapolis sound, a funk rock subgenre drawing from synth-pop and new wave.

Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, folk, and ballads.

Jacques Berman Webster II (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott's musical style has been described as a fusion of traditional hip hop, lo-fi and ambient.