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In the early 2000s, American radio was hungry for new sounds, and one of the most successful crossover acts was a young man from Jamaica who had once—improbably—been a professional water polo player. Sean Paul, born Sean Paul Francis Henriques in Kingston in 1973, had left sports to take up the microphone in the mid-’90s, developing a driving, authoritative sound anchored by his surprisingly accessible and monotonal toasting. Even if you couldn’t decipher the patois, you got the gist of his sentiments, which fell somewhere between “Get on the dance floor” and “I love girls.” His first album, 2000’s Stage One, earned him some recognition, collecting singles dating from 1996, but it was 2002’s Dutty Rock that pushed him into global superstardom, with the huge hits “Get Busy” (an eternal dance-floor filler that, two decades later, found a new audience on TikTok) and “Gimme the Light”. In 2005, The Trinity cemented the singer’s status as the dancehall collaborator for artists like Beyoncé and Rihanna. Though he charted less as the decade progressed, he continued to release his trademark boundary-crossing music and experienced a resurgence in 2016 with several massively successful collaborations, including “Cheap Thrills” with Sia and “No Lie” with Dua Lipa. The world, it seemed, had caught back up to Sean Paul. As dancehall riddims inspired reggaetón, infiltrated Afrobeats and even influenced pop artists like Justin Bieber and Drake in the ensuing years, Paul found himself again in demand, giving star turns on tracks with artists including Migos and J Balvin.

Kacey Musgraves is a eight-time Grammy Award winner who will release her fifth studio album Deeper Well in March 2024. Deeper Well is the first release since her critically acclaimed 2021 album star-crossed, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart. star-crossed was the follow up to Musgraves’ groundbreaking 2018 album Golden Hour which earned Kacey her third No 1 debut on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and distinguished her as only the third artist to ever take-home Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, Country Music Association Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards. In 2023 Musgraves achieved her first Hot100 #1 for “I Remember Everything,” a duet with Zach Bryan. “I Remember Everything” is the first country music duet in 40 years since Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers “Islands in the Stream” (1983) to reach this feat. “I Remember Everything” won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song by a Duo or Group at the 66th annual ceremony in February 2024. With this win, Musgraves became the only artist ever to receive a Grammy Award for Best Country Album, Best Country Song, Best Country Solo performance and Best Country Duo or Group performance.

Rising star Doechii’s new hip-hop/rap mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal, captures a rare talent in her rawest form yet, giving listeners 19 distinct windows into her one-of-a-kind artistry. On the mixtape, Doechii is equal parts her Tampa roots and Los Angeles, where she’s currently based. She is then and now and also tomorrow, she is countless genres and movements and eras and ideas laid out before us in less than an hour of song. She is the woman on the cover, looking like a stone-faced queen, wearing Vivienne Westwood with beads in her braids and an albino alligator in her lap as if to say, “Did you expect something less?” The mixtape comes on the heels of Doechii's Eurodance-inspired hit "Alter Ego," dubbed by R&B superstar SZA as "the craziest song I've heard all year." After gaining 600 million plus global streams for “What It Is (Block Boy)” last year, she continued to build her momentum when she popped out to Los Angeles to open for Beyoncé. That same fall, the self-proclaimed Swamp Princess hit the road with Doja Cat on her Scarlet Tour dates.

Self-produced British composer and recording artist for over 20 years, Imogen Heap has released five solo albums, another as one half of Frou Frou and collaborated with countless and varied artists including Taylor Swift, Nitin Sawhney, Deadmau5, Jeff Beck and Jon Hopkins. Her compositions and songs pop up in blockbuster and indie films as well as countless TV shows, are featured in underground rap and dance music and covered by the likes of Ariana Grande. As composer and arranger for one of the biggest hits in theatrical history, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, Imogen won the Drama Desk Outstanding Music in a Play award. As a sought-after speaker and performer, Heap hosted 2020’s Grammys Premiere Ceremony. Heap’s collaborative and multi-dimensional workflow attracts companies for commissioned works, leading to songs such as Tiny Human, the first song to distribute payments via a Smart Contract, and The Happy Song, a highly successful song for children in their early-years. Heap, recognised as an artist's artist, has won two Grammys and an Ivor Novello award. In recognition of her pioneering work at the intersection of music and tech, Heap has a hat trick of three honorary doctorates for the gestural music-ware 'MI.MU gloves' system and recently for ’The Creative Passport’, an integrated digital ID solution, empowering music makers to be the change toward a fair and flourishing music ecosystem.

The folk-leaning, harmony-favoring rock band America was cofounded in 1970 by Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley in London, England. ∙ America’s 1971 self-titled debut LP spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Pop chart and produced two Top 10 hits, including their most popular song, “A Horse With No Name.” ∙ Nominated for two Grammy Awards, the band won Best New Artist of the Year in 1972. ∙ Their 1975 chart-topper “Sister Golden Hair” was one of seven Top 10 Billboard hits from the group. ∙ “Ventura Highway,” released in 1972, was later sampled in Janet Jackson’s 2001 pop hit “Someone to Call My Lover.” ∙ In 2007, they released Here & Now, which was coproduced by Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger and featured contributions from Nada Surf and Jim James. ∙ The band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012, six years after their induction into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.