Time Magazine’s annual list of 100 Most Influential People of the year. As usual, the list comprises of heavyhitters, glitterati and the who-is-who of Hollywood and beyond.
It is broken into different categories that include artists, innovators, titans and each of the big names that made the list is spoken of by their peers who hold nothing back, giving them their proverbial flowers and singing their praises as they continue to unleash new levels of influence.
Fresh off being bestowed with the Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards, Mary J. Blige makes it to this year’s list in the Icons category. Rapper Nas pens a sweet message to the Queen of HipHop/Soul saying: “Mary came up the way we all did. She was a voice for us, but she wasn’t like other R&B artists at the time. She became a household name early because she was a hip-hop artist who also sang. The industry needed someone like that. The streets wanted that. Pop culture wanted that. And she was the one for it because she wasn’t made up. She was the girl around the way with the big earrings. She was like a spokesperson for a particular type of girl coming out of New York and coming out of the streets.”
Grammy-winning RnB singer Jazmine Sullivan who makes it on the list of influential artists. Fellow singer Amber Riley hailed her and said: “Sullivan has a lyrical vulnerability that makes you think she has been reading your journal. She is so deserving of her most recent Grammy win, along with acclaim and other accolades that have been an honor to witness. But the most exciting part of her recent career journey has been that Sullivan has allowed us to share in her journey to self-love, removing herself from the shadows of fear as we can clearly see in her 2021 album Heaux Tales.”
Acclaimed actress and producer of glass-shattering HBO Series ‘Insecure,’ Issa Rae also makes the cut, in the Icons category. “Issa is not only a prolific writer, a captivating actor and comedian, a profound leader, an efficacious producer, and a music mogul in the making (pauses to take a breath)—she’s also a consistently hilarious and loyal friend. For those of us lucky enough to know her, Issa is everything you want a person to be: kind, funny, down to earth,” Wrote her collaborator Robin Thede.
Here are the other influential names that made this years list.
