u/CC-Blue

This all stems from when Tank started the Can We Talk challenge a few years ago and made a remark about artists not being “real R&B singers” if they cannot sing the Tevin Campbell classic without autotune, reverb etc. Durand responded and found it weird that Tank was trying to come across as authoritative and threw some shade his way.

Fast forward to yesterday, Durand was being interviewed on the Joe Budden podcast and revealed that Tank had him blocked after that initial tiff. A few tweets later, the two men made up and agreed to link up and possibly collaborate.

My opinion on the whole thing is that it was incredibly petty all around. Tank stays doing a challenge and Durand was bold with his shade. I remember that post about him tagging various male R&B artists asking them to come see his show so they can see a vocal masterclass. A mess.

However, it’s given credence to my longstanding belief that Tank has a chip on his shoulder (probably because of his overall career status) and positions himself as this “authority on all things R&B” because of it. Who died and made him the arbiter for the genre and its artists? He will talk ALL DAY about “real vocalists this and real vocalists that” but then gasses up one of the biggest autotune merchants in the business. Durand is a character but I can also see how that can rub people the wrong way. I am glad Durand gave this interview on that platform (even though I hate Joe Budden). Tank and people like him needed to see/hear it.

The Best Male and Female Vocal Performance Grammy category is one of my favorites and I love revisiting past winners to see how well those wins have aged. Unfortunately, the category was discontinued in 2011 after the Recording Academy reshuffled the categories to reduce the number of awards handed out per year.

Though this category often boasted top shelf talent and songs, it’s limited by only 5 nominations, which meant some artists get snubbed from competing altogether. Case in point: Ginuwine with his 2001 hit, “Differences”. Written by Ginuwine and produced by Troy Oliver, it reached the summit of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Chart in October 2001 becoming his second single to do so. It also reached an impressive position of #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains Ginuwine’s highest peak on this chart.

Now, on to the actual song itself. Differences is a heartfelt yet ballad dedicated to Ginwuine’s wife at the time, Solé. One thing I always loved about this song was how it was soft, fiery and hip at the same time. Women obviously loved it and men could rock to it and dedicate it to their loved ones. Ginuwine sang his face off on this track.

It was a well crafted and well received hit. So this begs the question: why wasn’t he nominated for the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Grammy for the 2002 awards? The 5 men nominated that year were:

Usher - U Remind Me (Winner)
Maxwell - Lifetime
Musiq Soulchild - Love
Brian McKnight - Love of My Life
Case - Missing You

Based on these nominees, how do you think Ginuwine stacked up against these men? Was it because of a label submission issue? Was his single released to close to the deadline? Differences came out in early August 2001. The deadline was September 30, 2001. Sound off below!

Mýa just released her 10th studio album after 8 years, Retrospect. Where Smoove Jones took on the 90s with its Quiet Storm R&B radio format and T.K.O. was more in step with contemporary R&B at the time, Retrospect looks back by drawing on Funk and Soul of the 70s with Hip-Hop flourishes (she features 5 rappers on the album).

I have played the album a few times since its release and I have a few thoughts. Firstly, everyone talks about how gorgeously Mýa’s physical beauty has aged but so has her voice. It’s richer and she deploys greater skill as heard on the record. She sounds like a grown woman and the material reflects that.

However, I found the album to be a little too, idk, beholden to the past. She does the songs well but it also makes me wonder how OLD they really are. Mýa’s always recording and has a huge vault of songs. I wonder if these are as fresh as they could have been.

Second issue: the feature list. I don’t know what’s up with R&B albums these days with EXCESSIVE features. She had good chemistry with most of them but when you get to the 5th rapper, I am like “damn, can we get another type of artist on here??” Lastly, the tracklist structure. 16 tracks, 7 features and then 3 of the last songs are solo cuts of some of the songs with features. Her last two albums were so cohesive and gave us more of HER so why bloat the new one album with all these rappers and then not include “fresh” tracks after 8 years?! For someone whose last two albums were arguably her best bodies of work (a rare feat for an artist nearly 30 years in), this follow up was a little disappointing. Not a complete one just a little meh.

I wanna know everyone’s thoughts though. I love Mýa but I have been listening to her single drops over the years and they’ve been a little dated.

For Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star podcast, host Andrew Unterberger, celebrated Janet Jackson with a nearly weeklong appreciation for her 60th birthday. The show did deep dive episodes on her five biggest album from 1986’s Control through 2001’s All For You.

For each of the five episodes, he posed a question to his guests on what they think her greatest superpower is as a pop star is. Basically, he believes that elite pop stars have that one thing (or two) that they can do better than everyone else. With Michael, he could dance and put on a show better than everyone else. Whitney had a once in a generation voice and vocal ability, Prince was an unparalleled musician and Madonna’s confidence and fearlessness allowed her to do almost anything.

These were answers his guests gave:

Gail Mitchell: Her being “the full package”.

Christine Wertham: Her dancing.

Naima Cochrane: The ability to have ERAS.

Lina Morgan: Her being personable.

Trevor Anderson: Reinvention.

Andrew’s final answer was very similar to what Lina said by saying Janet’s niceness is her greatest superpower as a pop star. In a profession that doesn’t particularly encourage selflessness, Janet’s gentle spirit and good natured demeanor makes people want to root for her. She is not big on ego stroking and oftentimes, has to be encouraged to take credit for things she’s done. So, I want to open it up to everyone. What do you think is Janet’s greatest superpower as a pop star?

Lillias White, Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze, Roz Ryan, Vanesse Thomas, Tawantha Agee as the voices of The Muses SANG the MESS out of the songs they were featured on. This soundtrack was straight up Gospel but with Disney’s obvious pop sheen. I like that they didn’t go the typical Broadway route for this soundtrack and it’s one of my favorites. I loved when we would get an R&B version of a Disney theme song.

As I mentioned a few days ago, Billboard is doing a week long Janet Jackson appreciation series where the host, Andrew Unterberger, invites other writers to discuss Janet’s peak eras from 1986’s Control through 1997’s The Velvet Rope.

Idk but something about Lina’s energy was weird. She loves Janet and is a big fan but I noticed a lot of dead space and awkward silences on her part and Andrew tried his hardest to keep her engaged. I won’t even get into the way they tended to downplay her R&B records on this episode by describing I Get Lonely as “meh”. She didn’t know a lot of things going into the podcast whenever Andrew asked her questions, which makes me wonder why he picked her.

I do appreciate that she held space for her whiteness in terms of how that community would have received certain things from Janet. Lina mentioned how 1993 Janet was at her “most palatable” to mainstream audiences. I also like that she pointed out the misogynoir, body shaming and damn near transvestigation she encountered in the 90s with the whole rumor about her taking out a rib.

If you contrast this with the janet. episode with Naima Cochrane, the guest was fully engaged and could cite things at the drop of a hat. Maybe because The Velvet Rope is THEE most seminal album of her career, I expected more meat, but I left the episode feeling a little “empty” (pun intended.

Love Will Never Do Without You! Name a better video to watch while working out, lol. A total joy bomb and of course, the beautifully toned figures of Janet Jackson and Djimon Hounsou captured by the legendary Herb Ritts.

The original post had such an incredible response so I thought I’d post a part 2. Here’s more R&B songs that blurred the lines between the sacred and secular.

I love Mýa down but why are there only 6 solo tracks on the regular album and the bonus tracks are just solo versions of the songs that originally have features? I didn’t wanna be that person but I have been paying attention to her single releases in the last 8 years and they’ve slowly declined in quality.

There is just SOMETHING about an R&B song that’s not exactly spiritual lyrically but everything else about it just SCREAMS Gospel from its production to its vocal arrangements. Stevie Wonder’s ‘As’ is a perfect example. It’s a deeply passionate song professing undying love for someone until the end of time. The lyrical flourishes he uses to describe this love are so hyperbolic in the best way. Who else could sing lyrics like “loving you until the oceans covers every mountain high/loving you until dear Mother Nature says her work is through” with such FEELING? What are some of your favorite R&B songs that FEEL like Gospel but aren’t?

Stevie sings the word “gone” a whopping 18 times in this song’s chorus with each one building on the intensity of the last. The keys get higher with each and he uses more melisma to express his simultaneous feelings of nostalgia, bitterness and joy. What a lyrical, musical and VOCAL masterclass.

For starters, Stevie and Janet are 3rd cousins, which is just iconic to me! Also, they’re both Tauruses with Stevie being born on May 13, 1950 (happy birthday Stevie!) and Janet on May 16, 1966. I’m not some astrology expert but there’s got to be a connection there, lol. Another similarity Stevie and Janet have is that they both have 10 #1 each, putting them in a two way for the 7th artists with the most Billboard Hot 100 #1’s.

Anyway, on to the meat and potatoes of this discussion. I was listening to Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Janet Jackson and something the host mentioned was how her 5 album run from 1986’s Control to 2001’s All For You is comparable to Stevie’s classic period from 1972’s Music of My Mind) to his 1976 magnum opus, Songs In The Key of Life.

Both artists’ first albums in these legendary runs (Control and Music of My Mind) started a renaissance period where they given more artistic control over their work. Each album built on the last one by delving deeper into who they were as people. They explored love in all its facets, loss and addressed social issues. Where Stevie’s spirituality deepened on each album, Janet’s explored her sexuality in bolder ways.

All 5 of Janet’s albums in this run went #1 and produced a #1 single (with RN1814 having 4 chart toppers). Stevie’s albums from Talking Book through Songs won him a whopping 12 Grammys (with 3 AOTY wins).

I love revisiting these parts of their catalogues because of the journey it takes you on. The music is rich, varied and displayed their versatility with such aplomb. To say they were locked in is an understatement, Stevie and Janet were operating at their highest frequencies here and very few artists in popular music have reached.

Hey everyone! I love a good deep dive podcast and I love Janet so what better way to celebrate her than a whole WEEK dedicated to her leading up to her 60th birthday on Saturday? Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars Podcast will be doing a deep dive on Janet’s imperial phase from 1986 to 2001 with an episode a day for each album released during this period. So, Control (1986), RN1814 (1989), janet. (1993), The Velvet Rope (1997) and All For You (2001).

I listened to the first episode with longtime Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop writer, Gail Mitchell and I loved how she spoke about Janet coming into her own during the Control era. The one for RN1814 is already out. They even changed the cover art to look like the album cover. I am happy Billboard is doing this because Janet is one of the queens of Billboard. Check the numbers 😉

Listen to wherever you get your podcasts and I hope we can discuss this.

We know Mariah is every rapper’s delight but she’s also built up a strong repertoire of male singer duets. Trey Lorenz, her longtime friend and backup singer was the first man she duetted with on their #1 cover of The Jackson 5’a I’ll Be There. She would later provide background vocals for his 2006 song, Pisces. Of course, we know of her 16-week chart topper with Boyz II Men but her deep cuts, remixes and lesser known singles reveal a songstress whose elastic voice and on record persona can have chemistry with just about anyone.

So, what’s your favorite Mariah male R&B collab? Are you into the 90s Pop/Adult Contemporary power balladry of Endless Love with Luther Vandross, the lush and sensual R&B of The Beautiful Ones with Dru Hill or are her more Hip-Hop turns with The-Dream in the late 2000s more your speed?

He has a surprisingly strong roster of female R&B duet partners, with his latest collaboration on ‘Kehlani’ being one of the project’s standout tracks. Monica has the distinction of being his first-ever duet partner, appearing on ‘Let’s Straighten It Out’ from her 1995 debut album. Two years later, she returned the favor by appearing on ‘Slow Jam’ from My Way. Monica, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, and Summer Walker have all collaborated with him twice. So, what are your favorite Usher duets with female R&B artists? Which collaborations had the strongest chemistry? And who do you think he should work with in the future? Swipe through to see the full list.

Note: I am aware of his appearance on the Who Is She 2 U Remix with Brandy. Unfortunately, that was never officially released so it’s not on my list of songs.

We know AI R&B music exists already (I am looking at you, Xania Monet 😒). This discussion was inspired by Chris Brown’s recent rollout for his upcoming album, Brown. I was shocked to see people accuse him of using generative artificial intelligence music creation platform, Suno, for his new single, Fallin. People have complained about the use of autotune in his vocal production for years but this was the first time I listened to a single of his and felt like something about it sounded uncanny.

You know how Suno can generate songs to sound like any genre and time period? I kinda got that with his new song, which is crazy because Chris is often seen as this creative who can do anything. Also, Leon Thomas and Tank, legit producers and songwriters, are involved. I don’t want to believe they would use AI in their creations.

So my question is this: do you think there will come a time when R&B artists will start placing anti-AI disclaimers in their work? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have already made moves to restrict AI-generated performances and screenplays from being qualified to compete at the Oscars. Do you see the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (overseer of the Grammys) doing the same thing to preserve human creativity and artistic credibility?