At the dawn of the 2010s, a time when mainstream country teemed with buff hunks singing party-hearty anthems, Lee Brice offered a subtler alternative. Also raised on a combination of contemporary rock and post-Garth Brooks country, Brice gravitated toward craft, not bluster. He wasn't averse to good times -- he had a country hit in 2013 called "Parking Lot Party" -- but he specialized in heart-on-sleeve ballads like "A Woman Like You," "Hard to Love," "I Drive Your Truck," and "I Don't Dance," Top Ten country singles that showcased his supple, weathered voice and skilled song structure. The latter is what first brought Brice attention in Nashville -- he penned songs for Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, and his idol Brooks -- but the former is what turned him into a star in the early years of the 2010s. It also helped him stay on the top of the Country Airplay charts into the 2020s, as he racked up such number one hits as "Rumor," "One of Them Girls," and the Carly Pearce duet "I Hope You're Happy Now."

A native of Sumter, South Carolina, Brice learned how to sing at church, and he began playing piano when he was seven. Next came the guitar, and by the age of ten he had started writing his own songs, partially under the influence of his father's favorite artists, the Oak Ridge Boys and Alabama. The performing bug bit him in high school, where he won the school's talent contest for three straight years, and he started to expand his horizons, spending time listening to rock & roll but settling on Garth Brooks as his idol. In addition to music, Brice played football. He earned a scholarship to Clemson University, but once he suffered an arm injury, he decided to devote himself to music.

On the advice of Doug Johnson, Brice moved to Nashville, where Johnson would later sign the fledgling songwriter to a publishing contract as soon as he became an A&R man at Curb Records. Brice began placing songs with major-league artists, starting with a tune for the rock band Sister Hazel in 2006, which led to Jason Aldean recording "Not Every Man Lives" for his 2007 album Relentless and Garth Brooks cutting "More Than a Memory" for a bonus track on 2007's The Ultimate Hits.

While things were beginning to break Brice's way behind the scenes, he was having a harder time in front of the microphone. In 2007, he signed with Curb as a recording artist and cut an album called Picture of Me, but none of the released singles -- "She Ain't Right," "Happy Endings," and "Upper Middle Class White Trash" -- made waves on the charts. He spent 2008 writing professionally as he retooled his own music, re-emerging in 2009 with "Love Like Crazy." He had finally hit the right formula: the single stayed on the charts for over a year, eventually reaching number three on the Billboard country chart on its way to platinum certification. An album, also called Love Like Crazy, showed up in June 2010, and while it wasn't a smash, the hit single laid down the foundation for a successful career.

Brice returned in late 2011 with "A Woman Like You," the first single from 2012's Hard 2 Love. The track became his first number one single and opened the door for the success of the album, which went gold on the strength of the Top Ten country singles "Hard to Love" and "I Drive Your Truck," as well as the gold single "Parking Lot Party" which peaked at 11. With this success under his belt, Brice returned with his third album, the self-produced I Don't Dance, in 2014. It was preceded by the title track, which became a Top Ten country single in the summer of 2014, whetting fans' appetite for the record's September release. I Don't Dance debuted at number one on the Billboard country chart and five on the Top 200. "Drinking Class" and "That Don't Sound Like You" remained on the charts into 2015; that summer, Brice issued the EP Mixtape: 'Til Summer's Gone. He spent 2016 working on new music, returning in mid-2017 with "Boy," the first single from his eponymous album, which arrived in November. "Boy" reached 16 on Billboard's Country Airplay, a position eclipsed by the slow-burning "Rumor." The soulful tune reached number one on Country Airplay on its way to a platinum certification by the RIAA.

Brice began 2020 by duetting with Carly Pearce on "I Hope You're Happy Now," a single pulled from her eponymous album. After it reached number one on Billboard's Country Airplay, Brice notched his own number one with "One of Them Girls," the first single from his fifth album, Hey World, which appeared in November 2020. Over the following year, the record yielded two more charting singles in "Memory I Don't Mess With" and "Soul." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Galloping down the old town road paved by Lil Nas X, Blanco Brown spliced country twang, hip-hop bounce, and trap on "The Git Up," the summer 2019 single that gave him his first hit. Where Lil Nas X was as inspired by video games as country music, Brown displayed deeper, stronger country roots -- not to mention a sense of humor that led him to dub his fusion "TrailerTrap" -- a vibe that helped his 2019 debut, Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs, crack the Top 20 of the country charts. A handful of additional singles carried him forward, including 2021's "Nobody's More Country" and 2022's "Trap Still Bumpin" with T.I..

A native of Georgia, Blanco Brown grew up dividing his time between the small town of Butler and the metropolis of Atlanta. He'd spend the school year in Butler, then head to the big city in the summer. This cross-pollination bore musical fruit many years later.

Prior to becoming a recording artist, Brown worked behind the scenes as a producer and songwriter. He collaborated with Pitbull and Fergie, and produced the 2018 World Cup anthem "Goalie Goalie," all before Broken Bow Records signed him to a recording deal in 2018.

Released in the first half of 2019, the Blanco Brown EP was quickly overshadowed by the single "The Git Up." Appearing while Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" consumed America's consciousness, "The Git Up" capitalized on the country-rap craze. It also helped that Brown had a clever Internet component -- a dance challenge posted on YouTube and TikTok. The viral attention helped him debut at 66 on Billboard's Hot 100 in June 2019. "The Git Up" wound up climbing to 14 on the Hot 100 and 44 on Country Airplay. After its chart run wrapped up, Brown released his debut album, Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs in October, reaching 16 on the Top Country Albums chart. A follow-up single, "I Need Love," appeared in 2020 with the Parmalee and Bryce Vine collaboration "Just the Way" arriving a year later. Brown's tongue-in-cheek single "Nobody's More Country" was released later in 2021. In 2022, he paired with fellow Atlanta-native T.I. for "Trap Still Bumpin," the first track off their collaborative 2023 EP. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Performing and recording under the name R3hab, EDM producer and DJ Fadil El Ghoul is one of the most renowned Dutch house artists. His work has ranged from progressive and big-room house to trap, with darker edges inspired by psytrance and gabber. El Ghoul has issued many charting singles, remixed songs by Rihanna, Calvin Harris, and Lady Gaga, toured the world several times, and earned notice as one of the top global mixers from DJ Mag. He has released two Top Ten Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums, 2017's Trouble and 2018's The Wave. In 2019, R3hab reached number 20 on the dance charts with the song "All Around the World (La La La)" with A Touch of Class, and has released a bevy of non-album tracks, including 2020's "Ones You Miss," 2021's "Sad Boy" with Ava Max and Kylie Cantrall, and 2022's "Sway My Way" (with Amy Shark).

Born in 1986 in Den Bosch, The Netherlands, El Ghoul started his career in 2008 producing the track "Mrkrstft" for Hardwell. He teamed up with Hardwell again in 2009 for "Blue Magic," and worked with Afrojack on 2011's "Aces High (Prutata)." Later that year and in 2012, he was commissioned to remix artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Katy Perry, and more. He was also featured on Havana Brown's international hit "Big Banana," which reached number one on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart.

By this point, R3hab had accumulated a large discography, releasing material on many labels including Afrojack's Wall Recordings and the German label Tiger Records, but it was with Spinnin' Records that he developed the closest relationship. This eventually led to "Revolution," a 2013 collaboration with Nervo and Ummet Ozcan that reached the Top 40 of the U.K. singles chart. I Need R3Hab, his weekly radio show on SiriusXM, subsequently gained in popularity, during a year that began with a third International Dance Music Award and ended with a Steve Aoki collaboration on the single "Flight."

R3hab subsequently garnered prestigious 2014 slots at Tomorrowland, Future Music, Creamfields, and Summerburst, and that same year, he put out the 12" "Androids," "Flashlight" with Deorro, and "Ready for the Weekend," which were among some of his biggest-selling singles. He also landed a featured spot on Calvin Harris' 2014 album Motion, and a DJ set at the Coachella Music Festival followed in 2015, along with the Sander Van Doorn collaboration "Phoenix," plus the Ministry of Sound mix set Inspired.

In 2016, El Ghoul teamed with R&B vocalist Ciara for the single "Get Up." Later in the year, "Icarus" became R3hab's first solo single to top the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. A year later, he released his debut full-length album, Trouble. Along with the title track featuring Vérité, the record also included the singles "Marrakech" with Skytech, "Truth or Dare" with Little Daylight, and "Hold Me." A handful of singles followed in 2018, including "Lullaby" with Mike Williams and "The Wave" with Lia Marie Johnson, both of which landed on his album The Wave, which also featured guests Conor Maynard, Krewella, and Olivia Holt. The set peaked at number ten on the U.S. Dance chart.

The next year, R3hab continued his prolific output with collaborations with Icona Pop, Andy Grammer, and others. He also reworked ATC's 1999 dance hit "Around the World (La La La)," which charted across the globe and reached the Top Ten on the Dutch and Finnish charts. The song "Be Okay" with HRVY arrived in May 2020. Also that year, he scored a Top 30 dance hit with "Ones You Miss." More stand-alone tracks arrived in 2021, including "Close to You" with Andy Grammer, "Pues" with Luis Fonsi and Sean Paul, and "Sad Boy" with Ava Max and Kylie Cantrall. Early 2022 saw R3hab team up with Gabry Ponte and Timmy Trumpet for a dancefloor-filling cover of Blondie's "Call Me." Other charting singles during the year included "Love We Lost" (with Armin van Buuren featuring Simon Ward), "Sway My Way" (with Amy Shark), and "Worlds on Fire" (with Afrojack featuring Au/Ra). Additionally, he released "Poison" with Timmy Trumpet and W&W. ~ Aneet Nijjar & James Wilkinson