Universal Motown Records artists

Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj (), is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer, and songwriter based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents. An influential figure in popular music, she first gained recognition after releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009.

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.

Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in the year 2000, with his debut album Country Grammar, of which the featured title track and the single "Ride wit Me" were top ten hits. The album peaked at number one the Billboard 200, and became Nelly's best-selling album to date, selling over 8.4 million copies in the United States. His following album Nellyville produced the number-one hits "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma" (featuring Kelly Rowland), along with the top five single "Air Force Ones" (featuring Murphy Lee and St. Lunatics).

Kelendria Trene "Kelly" Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the group's three-year hiatus, Rowland released her debut solo studio album, Simply Deep (2002), which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 3 million copies worldwide. It included the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Dilemma" (with Nelly), as well as the UK top-five hits "Stole" and "Can't Nobody". Rowland also ventured into acting with starring roles in Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and The Seat Filler (2005).

Mya Marie Harrison (born October 10, 1979), known by her stage name Mýa, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born into a musical family, she studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance as a child. Initially, Mýa began her career as a VJ and dance posse member on BET's Teen Summit. During her stint at BET, she developed an interest in music which lead to independent deal from the guidance of CEO Haqq Islam. Signed in 1996 to Interscope Records, she released her eponymous debut album in April 1998. A critical and commercial success, the album produced her first top ten single "It's All About Me". Subsequent singles, "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" and "Take Me There", continued to raise her profile and attained chart success worldwide, with the former garnering her first Grammy nomination. Fear of Flying, her second album, was released in April 2000 and became a worldwide success, boosted by the success of its singles "Case of the Ex" and "Free". Harrison continued her rise to prominence in 2002 when she won her first Grammy Award in the category for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for her rendition of Labelle's 1975 hit "Lady Marmalade" along with Pink, Christina Aguilera and Lil' Kim, which topped the charts globally.

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas (born October 13, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress. She was first discovered as a teenager and later signed to Murder Inc. in 2002. That year, she was featured on Fat Joe's "What’s Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time", both of which became two of the biggest hit songs of 2002; Ashanti became the first female artist to occupy the top two positions on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously when "Foolish" and "What's Luv?" were at numbers one and two, respectively.

Katrina Laverne Taylor (born December 3, 1978), known professionally as Trina, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in the late 1990s for her collaborations with Trick Daddy on the singles "Nann Nigga", "Shut Up", and "Take It to da House". In 2000, she released her debut album Da Baddest Bitch. Afterwards, she made an appearance on the remix of "One Minute Man" by Missy Elliott and Ludacris. In 2002, she released the Kanye West-produced single "B R Right" featuring Ludacris, from her sophomore album Diamond Princess (2002).

Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), also known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and actor from New Jersey. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up" (featuring Styles P), the first single from his debut album Trouble (2004), followed by the second single "Lonely".

Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, 1970s soul, and 1980s hip hop, Badu became associated with the neo soul subgenre in the 1990s and 2000s along with artists such as D'Angelo. She has been called the Queen of Neo soul. Badu's career began after she opened a show for D'Angelo in 1994 in Fort Worth; record label executive Kedar Massenburg was highly impressed with her performance and signed her to Kedar Entertainment. Her first album, Baduizm, was released in February 1997. It spawned four singles: "On & On", "Appletree", "Next Lifetime" and "Otherside of the Game". The album was certified triple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Her first live album, Live, was released in November 1997 and was certified double Platinum by the RIAA.