Biography of T.I.

Southern rapper T.I. debuted with a 2001 full-length that earned moderate attention for its single, "I'm Serious," featuring additional vocals from Beenie Man and production from the Neptunes. A Georgia native, he signed to Arista and delivered I'm Serious in October 2001. Though the album charted, the single failed to generate any action. Through 2003's Trap Muzik and the following year's Urban Legend, the MC became a real force and scored a handful of major hits. King followed in 2006, which was released within a few days of the opening for his big-screen debut in ATL. ~ John Bush

Biography of Jazze Pha

Atlanta-based Jazze Pha (born Phalon Alexander), the son of original Bar-Kays bassist James Alexander, began racking up session credits in the mid-'90s and became one of the hottest beat-makers around the turn of the following decade. Predominantly a producer of Southern rap, Pha's handiwork led to Top 20 hits for Field Mob ("Sick of Being Lonely") and Ciara ("1, 2 Step"), and he also worked on records by Too Short, Slick Rick, Ludacris, Lil' Wayne, OutKast, T.I., Ruben Studdard, and Nelly. In 2005, he signed a production deal with the Cash Money label, which had previously counted only Mannie Fresh as an in-house producer. ~ Andy Kellman

Biography of Ciara

Dubbed the "First Lady of Crunk & B" by the producer who should know, Lil Jon, singer Ciara burst onto the scene with the never-gonna-get-it single "Goodies," the breathy "answer song" to Petey Pablo's "Freek-a-Leek." She was born in Austin, TX, but with her father in the Army, Ciara spent time living in Germany, New York, California, Arizona, and Nevada before landing in Atlanta. In her early teens, she got a piece of paper out and wrote down her life's goal, to become a professional singer. She joined a girl group, worked on her songwriting, left the group, landed a publishing deal, and found a "music soul mate" when she met producer Jazze Pha. With Sean Garrett, the co-writer of Usher's massive hit "Yeah!," Ciara co-wrote "Goodies," and when Lil Jon heard the demo, he knew it was going to be big. LaFace released the Lil Jon-produced track in the summer of 2004, and its quick climb up the charts was remarkable. With help from Pha, Garrett, and Lil Jon, Ciara released her self-titled debut in September the same year. The follow-up singles "1, 2 Step" featuring Missy Elliott and "Oh" featuring Ludacris both broke the Top Five in the U.S. in 2005. By the end of the year she joined Gwen Stefani on tour before teaming with Bow Wow and Chris Brown for a package tour in early 2006. The Evolution, her second album, was released near the end of the year. ~ David Jeffries