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Known previously as SPZRKT, singer, songwriter, and producer Xavier Adams records mellow, highly expressive contemporary R&B as Xavier Omär. Following a string of collaborations, his first solo EP under the moniker, The Everlasting Wave, appeared in 2016. His full-length debut, If You Feel, was released on major-label RCA in 2020. After a quiet 2021, he returned in 2022 as an independent artist with the b l u r r EP.

The San Antonio native, who counts his church upbringing and the likes of John Legend and Frank Ocean among his inspirations, was crediting himself on collaborations as Xavier Omär as early as 2013. Activity really picked up in 2016, a year in which the name was associated with tracks by Asaiah Ziv ("Here"), Swade ("Alumni"), Masego ("Wifeable"), Noname ("All I Need"), Avalon Young ("Dealin'"), and Mick Jenkins ("Angles"). Additionally, Adams collaborated with Sango on an EP, Hours Spent Loving You, and issued a meticulously crafted solo set of similar length, The Everlasting Wave, that October. The following year saw the release of the EP Pink Lightning on Never Sleep Music.

Omär signed with RCA Records for his debut album, If You Feel. Featuring guests including Masego and Mereba, the set saw release in October 2020. The singer then went independent and still continued to build his audience despite the lack of major-label support. Resurfacing in May 2022, he first offered the smoldering ballad "Feelings 4 You," and quickly followed with the more uptempo "Tarantino." Both songs appeared on b l u r r, a six-track EP that arrived that July. Barack Obama listed "Feelings 4 You" among his favorite songs of 2022. ~ Andy Kellman

Alex Isley's forte is dreamy, left-of-center R&B imbued with soul. The singer, songwriter, arranger, and producer has released independent solo projects including a handful of EPs, the full-lengths Dreams in Analog (2013) and L U X U R Y (2015), and numerous singles highlighted by the Jack Dine collaboration "Good & Plenty" (2020). Additionally, Isley has excelled as a featured artist and background vocalist heard on songs by Scarface, Kendrick Lamar, and PJ Morton, among other artists spanning rap, jazz, and pop.

A longtime Los Angeles native born in Westwood, New Jersey, Isley is the daughter of the Isley Brothers' Ernie Isley. Classically trained by her maternal grandmother, an opera singer, Isley studied jazz theory and performance at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, and continued at UCLA, where she finished with a degree in jazz studies. In 2012, she debuted with Love/Art Memoirs, an EP that introduced her predominantly mellow if strongly expressive approach to R&B. The full-length Dreams in Analog was out the next year with a guest appearance from We Are King's Paris Strother. Another album, L U X U R Y, sweetened by an intro with a string section Isley arranged, arrived at the tail end of 2015. By that point, Isley had an even lengthier list of recordings to which she had contributed in various supporting roles. These included Robin Thicke's Paula, Scarface's Deeply Rooted, and Bryson Tiller's T R A P S O U L. More notably, Isley fronted the Decoders' cover of Chaka Khan's "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me," and she sang background (uncredited) on Kendrick Lamar's Grammy-winning "These Walls."

Isley put out a couple singles and was heard on PJ Morton's The Piano Album before she released her next two EPs, The Beauty of Everything, Pt. 1 and The Beauty of Everything, Pt. 2, in 2018 and 2019. During the latter year, Isley appeared on Tank and the Bangas' Green Balloon, and with Jack Dine recorded another EP, Wilton. Isley was busier still in 2020. She released two of her best-known slow jams, "Gone" and the Masego-assisted "Good & Plenty" (both made with Dine), appeared on the season four soundtrack of Insecure (as the featured artist on Cautious Clay's "Reaching"), and contributed to a few projects led by "These Walls" producer Terrace Martin, such as Dinner Party: Dessert. The next year brought a remix of "Good & Plenty" with an appearance from Lucky Daye. ~ Andy Kellman