Olivia arrived during the early 2000s with a pop-R&B approach inspired by the likes of Janet Jackson, TLC, and Brandy. Known most for the Top 20 pop hit "Bizounce" (2001) and the hook of 50 Cent's chart-topping "Candy Shop" (2005), the singer has since appeared in the first three seasons of Love & Hip Hop: New York and has issued the occasional single, including "Sun Don't Shine" (2014).

Born with perfect pitch, New York native Olivia Longott developed her voice in the church choir, singing Michael Jackson songs for friends, and taking voice, guitar, and piano lessons as a teen, eventually inking a recording deal with Clive Davis' J Records in 2000. The next year, she reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Bizounce," the lead single off Olivia, her self-titled debut. She released several singles over the next ten years and gained the most fame for her featured appearance on 50 Cent's number one pop hit "Candy Shop" in 2005. A solo album through 50's Interscope-affiliated G Unit label was plotted but never materialized. Early the next decade, Olivia took a role on VH1's Love & Hip Hop: New York and remained on the show for its first three seasons. During this period, another album -- this one for Jerry Duplessis' Wonda Music label -- was planned and shelved. Olivia continued in 2014 with "Sun Don't Shine," featuring Sean Kingston, and published a book, Release Me: My Life, My Words, the same year. Roles in the films Supermodel and The Man in 3B followed shortly thereafter. ~ Andy Kellman & Greg Prato

DJ Whoo Kid has been one of the most visible figures in post-millennial East Coast hip-hop. An exceptionally prolific mixtape DJs since the late '90s and a force behind 50 Cent's early-2000s mainstream infiltration -- he has hosted dozens of G-Unit Radio tapes alone -- he has fortified his enduring career as a radio host, interviewer, program director, and selector via terrestrial and satellite outlets. Additionally, he has toured the planet as a headliner and in support of high-profile MCs including 50 Cent and Waka Flocka Flame, and stepped into an executive role as CEO of Shadyville Entertainment. Unlike the boisterous styles with which most of his contemporaries mark their territory, Whoo Kid's arrivals on recordings are often marked with a ghostly "Whooo kiiiid."

Originally from Brooklyn but a native of Jamaica, Queens, Yves Mondesir began his ascent as DJ Whoo Kid during the late '90s, when he worked as an assistant DJ and host on Hot 97's Stretch Armstrong Show. By the end of 2000, he was hosting the New York City station's POW! Radio program, and had been behind several tapes, including multiple volumes of 90 Minute Shootout and Murda Mixtape, the latter of which were co-hosted with Armstrong. In 2001, he hosted 50 Cent's first proper mixtape, 50 Cent Is the Future, which began a long-term association with the future multi-platinum rapper and his G-Unit group. Whoo Kid supported well over two dozen G-Unit Radio volumes alone, as well as numerous solo titles from 50, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck. Whoo Kid likewise appealed to West Coast legends such as Snoop Dogg; he either hosted or co-hosted several of the Doggfather's secondary releases into the late 2000s.

Amid all that activity, Whoo Kid had also extended his reach to satellite radio via the Whoolywood Shuffle on Eminem's Shade 45 channel, and eventually became CEO of Shadyville Entertainment. Consequently, mixtape releases weren't as frequent during the 2010s, though he notably worked with several U.K. grime artists, including Wiley and Tinie Tempah, and continued to issue one-offs with rappers from several corners of the U.S. He established a close affiliation with Waka Flocka Flame, presenting tapes such as 2014's I Can't Rap, Vol. 1 and 2015's Salute Me or Shoot Me 5. He also DJ'd for the rapper and performed with him, billed as the Turn Up Godz with material aimed at hard-partying EDM audiences. Whoo Kid continued to host the occasional tape, such as Smith and Hay's The Whoodlum Ball, issued in 2018. ~ Andy Kellman