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Put together by Billboard (based on the success of the artists on the R&B / Hip Hop chart in the US)

In honor of the incomparable artists that have helped bring urban music to the masses over the last three decades -- and also to toast the success of our recently launched music column The Juice -- the Billboard chart team has assembled this list of the Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop artists of the last 25 years.

The tally is based on actual performance on the weekly Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts from Jan. 5, 1985, issue to the charts dated Nov. 6, 2010*. Artists are ranked based on an inverse point system (which just means that who ever spent the most weeks at No. 1 earned greater value than those that spent most time at the lower end of the chart).

Our list includes recent chart-toppers as well as classic favorites, platinum-selling crossover divas and quiet-storm crooners, innovators you'd expect to see and some surprising inclusions you never saw coming. But each artist is an essential voice in a genre that has become the driving force in today's popular music.

Now dissect the list, tear it apart, put it back together, and share your thoughts in the comments area below.

50. Tevin Campbell
49. En-Vogue
48. Joe
47. Brandy
46. Kanye West
45. Chris Brown
44. Maxwell
43. Patti LaBelle
42. Destiny's Child
41. Ne-Yo

40. Musiq Soulchild
39. Nelly
38. Eminem
37. Snoop Dogg
36. Bobby Brown
35. Tony Toni Tone
34. Sade
33. Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds
32. Gerald Levert
31. Levert

30. Jodeci
29. Keyshia Cole
28. 50 Cent
27. Aaliyah
26. Stevie Wonder
25. TLC
24. Monica
23. New Edition
22. Anita Baker
21. Lil Wayne

20. T.I.
19. 2Pac
18. Toni Braxton
17. Boyz II Men
16. LL Cool J

15. Beyonce
14. Ludacris
13. Michael Jackson
12. Keith Sweat
11. Prince

10. Alicia Keys
9. Freddie Jackson
8. Jay-Z
7. Luther Vandross
6. Usher

5. Janet Jackson
4. Mariah Carey
3. Whitney Houston
2. Mary J. Blije
1. R. Kelly

R. Kelly crowns our list of the top 25 R&B/hip-hop artists of the past 25 years with good reason. Since January of 1985, he's amassed 35 top 10 hits on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (the most of any act in the time frame) and a total of 84 charting singles. Among those are 11 No. 1s, including "Bump N' Grind" (12 weeks at the top) and "Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)" (seven weeks) with Ronald Isley. Further cementing Kelly's hitmaker status is his staggering 11 No. 1s on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The R&B icon continued to post new chart achievements in 2010, as he notched his 56th top 40 single with "When a Woman Loves."

http://www.billboard.com/column/the-...6.story?page=5