u/CC-Blue

I love R&B song lore and this one is RICH with history. Tyrese was on The Kenny Burns Show and he spoke about how What Am I Gonna Do from his 2001 sophomore album, 2000 Watts, was inspired by a teenage would-be romance with legendary R&B songstress, Brandy. "We've been flirting since we were 12/13 years old. We used to sing at the same park... I've always been attracted to that girl and I did a couple episodes of Moesha... I loved her and I love her."

First of all, Brandy had all these young men in a chokehold! Kobe Bryant, Ma$e, Shyne, Usher and Tyrese. She was a true IT GIRL! Second, she wrote about knowing Tyrese since they were kids in her memoir, Phases, where she mentioned doing the L.A. talent show circuit with him, praised his vocal abilities and called him a good longtime friend.

This explains why Tyrese doesn't acknowledge the Aquarius Zodiac sign on Signs of Love Making 😭 Brandy is one of R&B's most notable Aquariuses. His puppy love for Brandy didn't go where he wanted and it hurt him real bad, lmao! Their duet on his Black Rose Album, The Rest of Our Lives, has a whole new meaning now. Anyway, this was cute on his part and I like that he kept things respectful (I am looking at you, Shyne).

Today, I wanna discuss one of my favorite topics in R&B: iconic sophomore albums! Unlike today where artists can release a bunch of mixtapes and EPs before settling on an official first release, 30 years ago, you only had ONE chance to make your debut album! For every Brandy, Beyonce and Alicia Keys, who were successes out the gate, you have artists like Joe, Usher and Donell Jones whose debuts went nowehere on the charts but are regarded as R&B gems by their most ardent fans. So let's get into it:

All The Man That Joe Is

Joe's 1993 debut was released by Polygram Records, a predominantly White and Rock-focused label. They clearly didn't know what to do with a Black male R&B singer-songwriter like Joe who made Hip-Hop inspired uptempos and sensual slow jams. The album debuted and peaked at 105 on the Billboard 200 and #15 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

After its release, Joe would switch over to Jive Records and put out his first relese in 3 years, All The Things Your Man Won't Do from the Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood soundtrack. It peaked at #11 on the Hot 100 and set the stage for his 1997 sophomore release, All That I Am. This time, he reinvented his image and sound by cutting his hair off, adopting a sultrier and more sophisticated image and shifted his singing style from the Gospely sound of the early 90s to a satiny croon.

All That I Am entered the Billboard 200 at #13 and 4 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. It had 5 singles and is widely regarded as his commercial breakthrough. Songs like Don't Wanna Be A Player, Good Girls, All That I Am and The Love Scene would go on to become late 90s R&B staples.

They Call Him U-S-H-E-R

Just as Usher was about to begin recording his debut album, puberty hit him hard and he lost his voice: a rangey tenor that made then-LAFace Records label boss, LA Reid, sign him on the spot at 14-years-old. Even with its row of heavy hitting contributors, the album landed with a thud on the Billboard 200 (#167) and #25 on the R&B/Hip Album Chart. The disappointing sales led to Usher nearly being dropped but he continued to engage in artist development and sought out the assistance of the man who would become his greatest collaborator, Jermaine Dupri.

Three years later in the summer of 1997, Usher released what is not only considered to be his breakout single but one of the biggest R&B classics of the 90s, the indelible You Make Me Wanna. Peaking at #2 on the Hot 100, the single's success paved the way for his sophomore effort, My Way, to debut at #15 and #4 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Chart (later peaking at #1).

The album produced his first of 9 #1 singles (Nice & Slow) and an additonal top 3 hit, the album's titular track. My Way didn't just beat the sophomore slump, it whopped its ass several times (certified a whopping 7x platinum by the RIAA) and reintroduced Usher as a suave teen heartthrob with smooth dance moves. The crazy part, he was only going to get bigger in the next decade.

Donell Knows What's Up

After penning Usher's debut single, Think Of You, Donell was signed to LaFace Records under under Untouchables Entertainment, a production company and record label founded by Heavy D. & The Boyz member Edward "Eddie F." Ferrell. Written and produced predominantly by Donell, the singer's sensitive yet streetwise sound earned him critical praise (the best reviewed of these three debuts) but underinvestment from his label led to the album underperforming (#180 Billboard 200 and 30 R&B/Hip-Hop). Still, songs like In The Hood, his cover of Stevie Wonder's Knocks Me Off My Feet are fan favorites.

Three years later in 1999, he was back with a fresher sound and more musical sophistication. Led by the smash hit single, U Know What's Up (Left Eye version only over here!), Where I Wanna Be, Donell's sophomore album, became the best selling album of his career, earning a platinum certification and a top 10 position on the R&B/Hip-Hop Chart. It would go on to produce some of the best R&B singles of the turn of the millennium such as Shawty Got Her Eyes on Me, This Luv and the album's titular track. Nearly 30 years since its release, Where I Wanna Be stands as one of the final classic albums to emerge from the golden age of R&B in the 90s.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of 8701, Usher flawlessly recreated his iconic look from the first-ever BET Awards in 2001 during the New Jersey stop of the R&B Tour. Usher's 8701 fashion was defined by knitted kufis, durags, leather bomber jackets (this one was by Dolce & Gabanna) and lots of clothes in various shades of red, orange, yellow (to match the album cover). Ironically, it was at this show he was accused of using a clone during his first set. Listen, if Usher can look like this at alost 50, then maybe I can give some credence to such allegations because it seems like he turned back the hands of time on this tour.

For all you chart watchers out there, Ella Langley's Choosin Texas beat Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey's records for the longest running non-holiday singles by female artists for their songs I Will Always Love You and We Belong Together, both of which topped the charts for 14 weeks.

This week, she beat Beyonce's 2003 record for the most weeks spent at #1 in a single year in the 21st century as her song clocks 18 weeks at #1. Beyoncé spent 17 weeks atop the charts in 2003 with Crazy In Love and Baby Boy. With this, she has also now tied Monica for the most weeks at #1 overall for a female artist (The Boy Is Mine, Angel Of Mine and The First Night).

Records are being broken that have never been broken before and all for an annoying ass Country song. And for it to happen to four of some of the greatest R&B songstresses as well. Hate to see it.

Brandy looked drop dead gorgeous in a modern recreation of her light blue gown from 1997's Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella for her performance at the Disney Princess: The Ultimate Concert Celebration. Her performance of A Dream Is What Your Heart Makes was instantly nostaligic and transported me back to when I was a kid seeing her as Cinderella for the first time. The event officially canonized her as a Disney Princess after she reprised her role as the fairytale character in her role in the Descendant movies.

On this day 25 years ago, R&B superstar, Usher, released his 3rd studio album, 8701. Sandwiched between his breakout sophomore album, 1997's My Way (7x platinum) and the gargantuan success of his fourth, 2004's Diamond-certified Confessions, 8701 sometimes gets downplayed in conversations regarding Usher's biggest career moments. It was a sold R&B/Pop effort from the then-23-year-old baby-faced lothario who showed off his more musically confident yet softer side.

On this album, he explored the ups and downs of relationships while keeping his music seductive, mature, energetic, colofrul. He was inspired by Michael Jackson (U Don't Have To Call), Marvin Gaye (Twork It Out), Donny Hatahway (Separated) and Stevie Wonder (U Remind Me). Here are some key facts about 8701 in celebration of its 25th anniversary.

• It was initally titled All About U and was intended for a fall 2000 release. However, after Napster leaked several tracks and intended lead single, Pop Ya Collar, failed to make any chart impact in the U.S., the album was scrapped and retooled to the album we know as 8701 today.

• The title comes from the release date, August 7, 2001. It also reprsenetd Usher's evolution from first singing in St. Elmo's Baptist Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee, in

• 1987, to the album's release in 2001.

• The album debut at #4 on the Billboard 200 charts with 221,000 copies sold in its first week. It has since been certified 5x platinum, making it one of the best-selling albums by a Black artist in the 2000s.

• The lead single, U Remind Me, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks. The follow-up single, U Got It Bad, was even more successful and topped the charts for 6 weeks. This made Usher the only male soloist to have more than one chart-topping single in 2001. Third single, U Don't Have to Call peaked at #3 in 2002.

• Usher won his first Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for U Remind Me at the 2002 Grammy Awards and picked up the same award the following year for U Don't Have to Call. This made him the third male R&B act in history to win this award consecutively after Stevie Wonder (1974 and 1975) and Luther Vandross (1991 and 1992). He also picked up awards from BET, MOBO, Soul Train, Billboard and The Teen Choice Awards.

• Usher became one of the most exciting pop star performers of his time during this era after embarking on the Evolution 8701 Tour in 2002. The concert ran for 46 shows and was later released on a platinum-certified concert DVD in late 2002. He also lit up award shows stages for BET, the MTV VMAs and the American Music Awards.

• 8701 is widely considered to be part of a trio of classic albums in Usher's discography, which includes My Way (1997) and Confessions (2004). It is also regarded as the era where Usher's sound, style and branding became solidified and influenced generations of R&B/Pop stars after him such as B2K, Mario, Omarion and Chris Brown, Gallant, Lucky Daye and Dylan Sinclair.

I was looking at the Billboard Award for Top R&B Album, which awards the top performing R&B album on the Billboard R&B and 200 Chart. Please keep in mind that this is NUMBERS-based chart. I don't wanna see anyone come in here being emotional and overly subjective. Use this website as your guide. It was first given in 1990 to Janet's RN1814. Nevermind the weird break between 1994 and 1997 (though records show Mary J. Blige's My Life won in 1995), the real issue started when they merged R&B with Hip-Hop on th charts. How could they not give this award between those years when the genre THRIVED?!

Combining the two genres meant one was going to lose out in some way, and when you look at what starts to happen in the late 90s, the category becomes dominated by rappers. R&B was one of the most consumed genres in the 90s but as the decade progressed, it began to lose some of its market share to to Hip-Hop. Conflating two intertwined yet completely different genres together just because they're dominated by Black people was racist and a huge disservice to R&B artists.

The 2000s presents and even worse case where they didn't give out the award in 2000, 2003, 2005 and then for the rest of the decade after 2007, when the Billboard Awards went off the air for two years. I could see someone like Sisqo getting in 2000 (Unleash the Dragon), Beyonce (Dangerously in Love) for 2003, Mariah Carey (The Emancipation of Mimi) for 2005, Maybe B'Day in 2007, Chris Brown's Exclusive in 2008 and IASF in 2009.

A big part of R&B's commercial decline in the 2000s had a lot to do with visibility and lack of support from labels after they shifted their popular radio priority to other genres. Also, from a consumer perspective, people simply stopped buying music. When I look at the year end charts in the 2000s, the number of R&B albums in the top 50 dwindled with each year. I think Billboard's conflation played a major part in that.

Let's talk about this below!

Photography: Frank Frances

Interior Styling: Mieke ten Have

Fashion Styling: Yashua Simmons

Barber: Shawn "Shizz" PorterGro

Grooming: Lola Okanlawon

His house is so rich with personality and creativity. There are references to his musical influences (the James Brown CNN interview 😭), Black culture and art, his late grandmother, his kids' lives and the horse motifs represent the fact that he was born in The Year of the Horse (1978). Read the full interview here.

These are some or Mariah’s peers, contemporaries and “musical daughters”. Basically, women she’s been compared to, shared space with, inspired etc. Pick one song from each women’s discographies that you could see her singing to build a 9 track album. The women pictured are:

• Whitney Houston
• Celine Dion
• Mary J. Blige
• Toni Braxton
• Faith Evans
• Christina Aguilera
• Beyoncé
• Leona Lewis
• Ariana Grande

The sheer commercial dominance and critical acclaim of Alicia Keys’ 7x platinum blockbuster debut, Songs In A Minor, which turned 25 years old a month ago, is something I still look back on in awe. The fact that Black girl with a piano singing R&B/Soul emerged as one of the biggest pop stars of the 2000s in the middle of the Teen Pop and Hip-Hop boom was truly special to me.

I don’t think music listeners today will ever understand how there used to be infrastructure put in place to turn R&B singers into some of the biggest artists in the world. This video doesn’t even include the NAACP and Billboard Awards she won during that era. Her awards were as follows:

• MTV VMAs Best New Artist in a Video
• Billboard Music Award for Top New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist
• Grammy Award for Best New Artist
• NAACP Award for Outstanding New Artist
• Soul Train Music Award for Best New R&B Artist
• World Music Award for Best Selling New Artist
• Essence Award for Rising Star of the Year
• BET Award for Best New Artist

Why some of the greatest R&B songs messy af 🤣 When I was a kid listening to this, I was more focused on the pretty melodies and Donell’s emotive singing. I love his tone and it reminded me of a more nasal Stevie Wonder. I wasn’t really paying attention to the lyrics—then I got older 😭

The lyrics in the first verse really set the tone for the type of time he was on lmao:

“i just left my baby girl a message
Sayin', "I won't be comin' home, I'd rather be alone"
She doesn't fully understand me
'Cause I'd rather leave than to cheat
If she give me some time, I can be the man she needs
But there's a lotta lust inside of me and we've been together since our teenage years…”

Crashout fully warranted. What R&B bop makes you feel this way?

Disclaimer: This is not a hate post or open season to drag Donell or any artist’s music. It’s a fun discussion so please respond accordingly.

Imagine an R&B King and The Vocal Bible casually hanging out backstage at your show singing your praises after? The Walls Group can definitely relate! The Grammy nominated Contemporary Gospel group treated their audience on Sunday to a surprise appearance by the legends who came to hear some GOOD SANGIN'! The fact that Usher was able to squeeze in this appearance in the middle of a massive stadium tour is impressive. He sang a LITTLE ad lib with Dr. Holly Carter, who was also in attendance. I gotta say, Brandy looks like a 20 something year old without a stitch of makeup on (hell, she and Usher still look super youthful) and I was definitely expecting her to follow his lead and do a lil' riffing as well 😭 Every time I see Brandy and Usher together, it just takes me back to when he guest starred as one of her love interests on Moesha and the fact that they were supposed to collaborate in 2004 but the song was never officially released.

*PLEASE READ IN FULL before commenting*

I don't mind healthy debates and discussions about their musical output but it seems like every day, there is a new post or YouTube commentary video about how (insert Black female R&B/Pop here) doesn't measure up to the lofty expectations fans have set for them. Comments like "they're just not hungry anymore" and "The new girls just don't give like our favs from the (insert decade before the 2010s)" are so incessant on social media and frankly, don't tell the full story.

In my observation, Chloe Bailey probably gets it the worst. Last week, I saw two back to back posts in one day about how her oversexualization was the reason for her stagnating career. Now, do I agree with every move Chloe makes? No. However, when I realize that something isn't for me, I move on instead of constantly harping on what she should and shouldn't do. She's a 28 year old woman. At some point, where do recognize her own autonomy in how she wants to be presented?

Victoria Monet went from being a beloved yet "underrated" artist when she was more behind the scenes and putting out EPs and mixtapes. However, once she gained notoriety (and a bunch of Grammys) with Jaguar II, the teardown began. It's almost like people were WAITING for her to prove to them that she wasn't worthy of her success. Again, I don't really like the recent music.

Normani is an interesting case because she probably gets the most sympathy out of of everyone? It seems like people genuinely rooted for her to be the next big Black female pop star but when she fell short of such expectations due to label and personal issues, people lashed out at her. What gets me is the constant shaming she gets for being a "flop" or "not wanting it enough". Let's say Normani is comfortable with being where she is. Is that a crime?

Just TWO years ago, Tyla was weaponized as the newest foil to some of her contemporaies' declining careers because of her Grammy winning hit, Water, relatively successful debut, hyper visibility and major brand deals. It seemed like people had finally found their new Black female pop star to step into that modern fashion and showgirl mold created by Rihanna and Beyonce. She was the one who "got it right" with her sound, branding and marketing. However, PR gaffes such as the VMA incident with Halle Bailey, comments about her identity being taken out of context and of course, THAT Rihanna moment ruined her goodwill among certain listeners.

This brings me to my last case study: Coco Jones. In the video above, the creator posits that Coco's biggest issue is her lack of strong branding and that her music has no identity. I've seen people compare her output to "stock R&B music", which is pretty insulting. Coco herself did come out to say that she feels frustrated by not having it all figured out. What I found interesting was the comparison to Tyla, an artist who once seemingly had that on lock, has now fallen out of favor and is set to experience the sophmore slump with her new album.

I say all this to say that the 2020s is probably one of the hardest times to be an upcoming Black artist. There IS NO MONEY in the industry due to the streaming ecosytem and Black female contemporay R&B artists are hit the hardest. It seems like the industry simply no longer has the infrastructure in place to turn Black female R&B artists into these big crossoevr stars of the past. The fact that Ella Langley just beat two major chart records by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey is no accident. If it’s not SZA, name another Black female singer who’s even come CLOSE to that sort of thing?

We’re about a month away from the eligibility deadline for the 2027 Grammy Awards. Eligibility typically runs from August of the previous year to the same month the following year. I didn’t include any 2025 albums because I honestly forgot about a good chunk of them. Keep in mind, Progressive R&B is for more contemporary sounding R&B as opposed to the more traditional category.

This year was kinda strange for R&B. Overall consumption has dropped in the two years in favor of Dance music. Consumption kimda affects who gets submitted and who gets voted for in a sense because of visibility. However, the genre has also seen the meteoric rise of two stars who have been around for over a decade: Leon Thomas and Kehlani. Mutt and Folded are two of the biggest R&B hits we’ve seen in AGES. Both he and Kehlani won Grammys this year for their songs. Leon isn’t eligible for anything this year but Kehlani is since she put out her album earlier in spring.

So out of the plethora of R&B albums that dropped this year, I narrowed it down to 16 picks. Who do you think will end up as nominees for these two categories and if you can go further, make a prediction on who will win.

Outside of her incredible legacy as one of the greatest and best-selling R&B/Pop vocalists of all time, the Whitney Houston cinematic universe should be discussed more. Not only did she star in four back to back classics (The Bodyguard, The Preacher’s Wife and Cinderella), she also executive produced Disney childhood classics such as The Princess Diaries, The Cheetah Girls and their sequels.

When I was a kid watching these films I remember seeing her name listed in the opening credits and wasn’t sure if it was REALLY THEE Whitney Houston, lol. We live in a time where it seems like children don’t have their own separate media spaces. So, I am extra grateful for how passionate Whitney was in producing stuff for the youth—especially young girls. Whitney gave us so much. May she rest in peace.