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Jamaican dancehall singer and rapper Sean Paul broke into the global mainstream in the early 2000s with pop-friendly party jams like "Get Busy" from his Grammy-winning Dutty Rock album, plus the chart-topping smash "Temperature." An early proponent of the dancehall pop movement, Paul also earned a reputation as a worthy guest star, appearing on Beyoncé's hit "Baby Boy," then enjoying a career resurgence in the latter part of the 2010s when he was introduced to a fresh generation of fans via high-profile collaborations with artists like Sia, Clean Bandit, and Pharrell Williams. His 2018 EP Mad Love: The Prequel thrust him back in the spotlight, boasting major hits like "No Lie" with Dua Lipa and "Mad Love" with David Guetta and Becky G. Paul carried his success into the next decade with a barrage of singles including 2020's Tove Lo collaboration "Calling on Me" and 2021's "Dynamite" with Sia.

Born Sean Paul Francis Henriques on January 9, 1973, the multi-ethnic Paul (his parents had Portuguese, Chinese, and Jamaican forebears) grew up comfortably in St. Andrew, Jamaica; his mother was a renowned painter. He was a skilled athlete, excelling in swimming and especially water polo, playing for the Jamaican national team in the latter. Although his education was enough to land him a prosperous career, dancehall music remained Paul's first love, particularly crafting rhythm tracks. He became a DJ after he began writing his own songs, patterning his style largely after Super Cat and finding a mentor in Don Yute; he also found contacts in several members of the reggae-pop band Third World in 1993, which helped him foster business connections.

Paul released his debut single, "Baby Girl," with producer Jeremy Harding in 1996; it proved a significant success, leading to further Jamaican hits like "Nah Get No Bly (One More Try)," "Deport Them," "Excite Me," "Infiltrate," and "Hackle Mi." In 1999, Sean Paul started to make inroads to American audiences; he was first commissioned to collaborate with fellow dancehall hitmaker Mr. Vegas on a production for rapper DMX; titled "Here Comes the Boom," the song was included in director Hype Williams' film Belly. Also that year, Paul scored a Top Ten hit on the Billboard rap charts with "Hot Gal Today."

That fall, Paul released his first album on VP Records. The sprawling Stage One collected many of his previous hit singles and compilation cuts, plus a few brand-new tracks. His breakthrough arrived in 2002 with sophomore effort, Dutty Rock (VP/Atlantic). The Grammy-winning album featured the hit singles "Get Busy," "Gimme the Light," and "Baby Boy" with Beyoncé. In addition to topping the Canadian and U.S. Reggae charts, Dutty Rock entered the Billboard Top Ten and was certified multi-platinum.

Paul followed with The Trinity (Atlantic) in 2005. The album peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200, his highest showing to date, and included chart hits like "We Be Burnin'," "Temperature," and "(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me" with Keyshia Cole. Four years later he returned with Imperial Blaze. Featuring the singles "So Fine" and "Hold My Hand" with Keri Hilson, Imperial Blaze topped the Billboard rap chart, but did not capture the same mainstream attention as his prior two releases. The loose Odyssey Mixtape dropped in 2011 and was followed a year later by Tomahawk Technique, a more pop- and dance-oriented album with production from the likes of Stargate, DJ Ammo, and Benny Blanco. While the set yielded a handful of international hits, it stalled in the U.S. Although his sixth studio album, Full Frequency, topped the U.S. reggae chart in early 2014, it didn't make much of a splash in the pop mainstream. The effort spawned the singles "Other Side of Love," "Entertainment 2.0" (featuring Juicy J, 2 Chainz, and Nicki Minaj), "Turn It Up," and "Want Dem All" (featuring Konshens), which helped Paul score his fifth Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album.

In the years that followed, Paul would appear on notable singles by Enrique Iglesias, Major Lazer, and Pharrell Williams, but it wasn't until 2016 that he would experience massive chart resurgence, appearing on hits by Sia (the Grammy-nominated "Cheap Thrills"), Little Mix ("Hair"), Clean Bandit ("Rockabye"), and Dua Lipa ("No Lie"). After Paul signed a deal with Island Records, he returned to the studio to record his seventh album. The first single from the record, "Mad Love" with David Guetta and Becky G, arrived in early 2018. Mad Love: The Prequel was issued later that year and included collaborations with Jhene Aiko, Ellie Goulding, Stefflon Don, Migos, Tory Lanez, and more. Paul extended his prolific streak in 2019, pairing with J Balvin on "Contra la Pared" and Wiley, Stefflon Don, and Idris Elba on "Boasty." In early 2020, he and Tove Lo collaborated on the single "Calling on Me." More collaborative singles followed in 2021, including "Dancing on Dangerous" with Imanbek and Sofía Reyes, "Dynamite" with Sia, and "Up" with Inna, all of which led up to the release of his eighth studio album, 2022's Scorcha. ~ Steve Huey & Neil Z. Yeung

While their rise to fame was somewhere between fast and meteoric, the Atlanta trio Migos are steeped in the Southern tradition of hip-hop groups, having come together over their shared love of acts like the Hot Boys and OutKast. Members Offset, Quavo, and Takeoff, who are all related, grew up together and first started making music in 2009 under the name Polo Club, with the name Migos becoming official in 2010. In 2012, they released the mixtape No Label, which featured the cut "Bando," a regional hit that caught the attention of producer Zaytoven and Kevin Lee, aka Coach K, the manager who launched the careers of Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy. The year 2013 was a whirlwind, as June saw the group drop their Young Rich N*ggas mixtape, which featured the instant hit "Versace." That same year, Coach K got them on the Hot 107.9 Birthday Bash, a popular Atlanta festival where Migos came across their newest fan, Drake. The rapper added a verse to the "Versace" remix and put the cut on his 2013 album Nothing Was the Same.

Featuring the hit single "Fight Night," 2014's No Label II was Migos' next high-profile release, as it was a mixtape distributed by major-label Atlantic. In 2015, the label released their debut album, Yung Rich Nation, which featured the single "One Time." Later that year, the trio issued the mixtape Back to the Bando, which included their hit song "Look at My Dab." In addition to securing a Hot 100 entry for the group, the track kicked off the dabbing trend, a viral dance phenomenon that became so popular by 2016 that, in addition to athletes and musicians, even politicians were dabbing. As mixtapes continued to drop, Migos released the 3 Way EP in the summer of 2016. By the end of the year, their collaboration with Lil Uzi Vert, "Bad & Boujee," began its ascent to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, hitting number one at the beginning of 2017, just in time for the release of their sophomore set, C U L T U R E. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. That year, they also scored chart hits guesting on tracks by Calvin Harris ("Slide"), Gucci Mane ("I Get the Bag"), and Katy Perry ("Bon Appetit").

In 2018, Migos released a sequel LP, Culture II, which featured production by Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Metro Boomin, and more, as well as guests 21 Savage, Drake, Gucci Mane, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B. The set topped the Billboard 200 and spawned the platinum hits "MotorSport," "Stir Fry," "Walk It Talk It," and "Narcos." In the lead-up to the third Culture installment in 2019, the trio issued a series of singles, including "Pure Water" with Mustard, "Position to Win," and "Stripper Bowl" from the label compilation Quality Control: Control the Streets, Vol. 2. In February 2020, Migos released "Give No Fxk" as the first track off 2021's full-length Culture III. Also included on the album was "Need It" featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again, which hit number 13 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Takeoff died on November 1, 2022 following a shooting incident in Houston, Texas; he was 28 years old. ~ David Jeffries