• Florida rapper T-Pain is back with Thr33 Ringz, a "polished and self-fulfilling collection of hip-pop singles" that are "drenched in what already sounded like last year's sound a couple years ago," according to Slant magazine. T-Pain has had "his Auto-Tuned swagger jacked by everyone from Kanye to Lil Wayne, but he has kept his sound fresh with a bottomless bag of hooks and a grainy rasp that the computers can’t buff away," applauds Blender.
• Puerto Rican hip hop-reggaetón duo Calle 13 drop Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo (The Ones Left Behind Me Are Coming With Me). The Houston Press can hardly contain its excitement: "Combining the fun of its debut with the follow-up's sonic adventurism, Conmigo is a genre-redefining — if not genre-shattering — triumph." The New York Times is just a wee bit more reserved: "Few hip hop or urban acts, in any language, match so much ambition to so much fun."
• American Idol runner-up David Archuleta releases his self-titled debut. Described as "one of those once-in-a-decade pop voices" by Billboard, the 17-year-old singer is "too sweet to be sexy," according to Rolling Stone. "[Y]ou glimpse hints of how his innate tenderness might triumph if he weren't saddled with the most generic writing and production money can buy," laments Entertainment Weekly.
• R&B singer and longtime Kanye West collaborator John Legend releases his third album, Evolver. "Even when soul singer John Legend is proposing one of the traditionally worst ideas in romance — sleeping with his best friend — he still makes a pretty convincing argument," chuckles The Los Angeles Times. "Smooth to a fault, Evolver solidifies Legend's standing in the pantheon of good soul singers, but greatness continues to elude him," writes The Onion's A.V. Club.
• Former A Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip returns with The Renaissance after a 10-year "hiatus." AllMusic calls it a "worthy comeback for the man who's arguably done more to make hip-hop enjoyable than any other figure," while U.K. newspaper The Guardian underscores that the "album's frequent changes of mood and direction dazzle." Spin magazine agrees: "Up-tempo and uplifting, this largely self-produced record blurs distinctions between accessibility and avant-gardism."

Does it take a genius to be an R&B star? Well, maybe. Meet John Legend, former consultant for the elite Boston Consulting Group, friend of Kanye West and the real thing. Really.

A piano player at age three, John Stephen graduated high school at the top of his class before going to the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania to study literature by day and perform popular covers of Prince songs by night. It was a pattern he continued after college, working as a high-powered consultant in New York and Boston while moonlighting as an R&B artist, until the stars aligned and his former college roommate, producer Devo Springsteen, hooked him up with Springsteen's cousin, the then up-and-coming Kanye West.

A year later, West signed Legend to his Sony Music-backed G.O.O.D. Music label which subsequently released his Platinum certified and Grammy award-winning debut Get Lifted. On this and his follow-up Once Again, Legend's performances and lyrics bring a grace and confidence unheard of in pop music since Stevie Wonder made the 70s his own. Songs like Ordinary People and Heaven are sincere without being obvious and layered without being complicated.

Not surprisingly, Legend's range isn't just on display in his musical output. Active in charities and politics, he's the spokesperson for the Show Me Campaign, an organization dedicated to fighting world poverty and performed at the National Democratic Convention in support of presidential candidate Barack Obama.

In a few weeks, he'll drop Evolver, an album that lives up to its progressive title with club jams like Green Light (featuring Andre 3000) and collaborations featuring Kanye West, Estelle and Brandy. Oozing confidence and class, the man who calls himself Legend says the method to his music-making is to just do it: "I don't really have a huge plan going in… I just go in there and try to write some good songs."

In 2004, while dining at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles in Los Angeles, soul and R&B singer Estelle ran into Kanye West. At the time, West was fresh from dropping his breakthrough debut, The College Dropout and the London-born Estelle, recognizing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, walked up to West and asked: "I'm a big fan. Where's John Legend?"

Impressed by her calm confidence, West introduced Estelle to Legend, who would eventually make appearances on Hey Girl and Freedom, two tracks from her debut album, The 18th Day. An eclectic mix of dance, hip hop and R&B, The 18th Day featured the autobiographical hit 1980, but didn't sell very well. Estelle was soon dropped from V2 records. This time, it was Legend who sought her out, signing her to his Homeschool label and helping her shape her new record, Shine.

More relaxed than rugged, Shine features production by Mark Ronson, the talent behind other standout U.K. acts like Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen as well as the work of John Legend and American producers Wyclef Jean, will.i.am and Swizz Beatz. The bond they all formed in the studio inspired her current hit, American Boy featuring Kanye West: "There were a lot of them around me at the time I wrote the song – Legend, Will.i.am – American guys just hanging out. That was the inspiration for the song more than anything else. They’re great – just like bigger brothers to me.”

Although Estelle's leap of faith at the soul food joint was instrumental in turning around her career, she maintains she was bound for success one way or another: "I feel that regardless of whether you know you're doing it you still sort of meander towards your path. Do you know what I mean? That's my thing. Things will happen."