Jack the Rapper (Jack Gibson) helped open the first African-American-owned radio station in the United States, WERD in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1949. Gibson learned about radio while working as a gofer for deejay Al Benson in Chicago. He...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Will Smith, an American actor and musician whose charisma, clean-cut good looks, and quick wit helped him transition from rap music to a successful career in acting.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features OutKast, an American rap duo, formed in 1992, that put Atlanta, Ga., on the hip-hop map in the 1990s and redefined the G-Funk (a variation of gangsta rap) and Dirty South (often profane...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, an American group that was instrumental in the development of hip-hop music.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ), an American musical ensemble noted for delicate percussion sonorities, innovations in jazz forms, and consistently high-performance standards sustained over a...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Wayne Shorter, an African-American musician and composer, a major jazz saxophonist, among the most influential hard-bop and modal musicians and a pioneer of jazz-rock fusion music.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Whitney Houston, an American singer and actress who was one of the best-selling musical performers of the 1980s and '90s.