u/CC-Blue

The two most definitive (and seductive) R&B songs about the zodiac signs are Tyrese’s Signs of Love Makin’ and Beyoncé’s Signs. Released about six months apart from each other between 2002 and 2003, Tyrese’s take on the zodiac signs was released as an official single from his third album, I Wanna Go There. Beyoncé’s on the other hand, was nestled as one of the deep cuts on her 2003 solo debut, Dangerously in Love and remains a fan favorite. It also joined a long list of Missy Elliott-penned R&B gems for female R&B songstresses. So, I have to ask, what DID the sexy R&B crooner and the Child of Destiny have to say about your sign and did you agree with their assertions?

When this flashed across my FYP on TikTok, the first thing I said was, "Wait, why does Obama have vocals all of a sudden?" 😭😂 Something about the haircut, pointy ears, dress shirt and pants gave 44 on a relaxed day, lol. This was the third show of the blockbuster R&B Tour and the first of three shows in Detroit's Ford Field Stadium. He sounded great, was locked in with the crowd and fully committed to the bit (including setting the stage on fire at the end). I did love the sustained belt he held at 2:51 and judging by the rapturpus applause by audience, so did they.

When I think of truly great singing moments in some of my favorite movies, very few scenes come close to Lauryn Hill and Tanya Blount’s oh-so-brief rendition of His Eye Is On The Sparrow in 1993’s Sister Act 2. Tanya starts off the song with her rich church-bred voice (that vibrato!) and then stops when she can’t seem get a particular note right. After encouraging Rita (Lauryn) to join her for a duet, that’s when the magic happens, with Lauryn taking the top harmony and Tanya on the bottom.

I remember rewinding this part over and over again as a child because I was so mesmerized with how their voices blended together. Lauryn’s RUNS were truly something special here. God showed up on set that day. This movie gave just a hint of what was to come later in the decade when she would blow up beyond belief with The Fugees’ acclaimed second album, The Score and her solo masterpiece, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

In 1993, Lauryn was a burgeoning star with bursting with legitimate singing and rap talent. Before the celebrated albums, the 8 Grammys, the honorary awards and sudden rush of fame that nearly broke her, Lauryn was just a girl singing and acting her her heart out in a church in San Francisco. When Tanya paid tribute to her at last night’s BET Awards with a rendition of Joyful Joyful (one of the songs sung in the movie finale), I saw that young actress from Sister Act 2 in Lauryn’s face*.* She was full of gratitude and deeply moved by the music that made her.

No one saunters onto the stage like Ms. Jackson. That walk is NASTY! The power and presence she exudes despite being this soft-spoken and petite woman needs to be studied. When this kids today talk about “having aura”, this is what it means in its purest form. There’s plenty more examples of this but here are the videos featured:

2002 BET Awards

2006 BET Awards

2026 BET Awards

The Lox vs Dipset changed everything about Verzuz. Even if you had the hits, how you performed them mattered more than ever because the new format really resembles a rap battle. We all remember Jadakiss' career defining performance on the night he brought The Lox to victory. It was a display of raw rap talent: impeccabe breath control, vocal clarity and confident stage presence. This brings me to te night of June 23, 2022, which hosted the Omarion vs. Mario Verzuz.

That night was shambolic in so many ways. From Ray J's chaotic behaviour (why was he carrying his baby boy?), Jeremih sounding crazy and all the shit talking that went on with the other participants. Omarion was initally pegged as the early winner because of his popularity as a solo act but that night exposed a lot of his flaws as an artist and person. Shoddy singing, lame dancing, corny sex appeal, an inability to present his hits WELL in live settings and an ego the size of two watermelons.

After watching he and his bandmates go against Pretty Ricky earlier tonight, I found myself cringing at all of them. I know they're "older" now but it seems like this Verzuz format just doesn't suit R&B acts. You'd THINK that a genre built on live singing, playing instruments, dancing if you can and crowd interaction would thrive with this new format. Instead, it just makes them look ill-prepared, sloppy and frankly, wack. At some point, it gets a lil’ lame watching grown ass men go at it like they're in a schoolyard.

I wonder though, is it an artist-specific thing? Maybe Omarion and co. just suck as performers? I bet that if D'Angelo and Maxwell did a Verzuz, it would be of much higher quality. Or does this platform simply not show R&B in the best light? I am very big on how R&B is presented and these latest iterations felt like watching a performance on Love & Hip-Hop. I can honestly see why other big name R&B artists decline to go on Verzuz.

B2K vs Pretty Ricky is tonight and its already shaping up to be a mess and a half. Pleasure P doesn't want Omarion doing any f his solo work. Do these groups even have 20 hits collectively?

What a shame that I missed this because I didn’t know our Canadian R&B legend was on TikTok! Deborah looks really beautiful and that voice is aging like the fine wine in her glass. She also revealed that the vocal performance you hear on We Can’t Be Friends was she and R.L’s first take! I love when she started singing along to Toni Braxton’s Breathe Again towards the end because I have ALWAYS felt Deborah’s voice was like a cross between Whitney Houston and Toni Braxton.

The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards from 2003 to 2011. According to its category description, it was intended for artists whose music includes the more contemporary elements of R&B and may incorporate production elements found in rap music. Basically, it was meant to provide a separation between albums that feature more genre influences (Pop, Dance, Hip-Hop, Rock etc) as opposed to the more general and traditional-leaning Best R&B Album category.

The award was first presented to Ashanti for eponymous debut album in 2003. Beyonce won it for her first three albums and Usher is the only other artist to receive the award more than once (for 2004's Confessions and 2010's Raymond v. Raymond). Other notable winners are Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi and Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains.

One of the biggest "complaints" I have seen regarding some of our R&B legends of yersteryear is how little they've been awarded by the Grammys. In the 90s, competition was particularly STIFF with less categories being available. In fact, the Best R&B Album award didn't exist until 1995! Imagine that! In a decade that was so RICH with genre-defining R&b albums, its crazy how this category didn't exist until 2003. So, if you could go back in time and give the award for Best Contemporary R&B Album from 1990 to 2002, who would you have given it to? Please take the time to read through who won Best R&B Album FIRST in this time span before commenting because you might inadvertently give an artist two awards, lol.

This is one of the greatest R&B/Soul albums of all time and a bonafide classic from the 90s. One thing that I found so fascinating about this album and era is how FULLY realized Maxwell felt as an artist. There was no second-guessing, with his sound and so style so immaculately put together. He was sexy, effortless and charismatic af. With his wide range and fluid falsetto, he caressed each song with the sensuality of crooners past such as Marvin Gaye.

I love these images by Eric Johnson, who photographed the album cover and packaging. They really capture his effortless cool as he ws shot on location in his hometown, Brooklyn, New York.

Fun fact: Maxwell did not want to appear on his album cover because he was kinda shy about his image and being subject to the scrutiny that comes with being a major label artist. He and Columbia Records reached a compromise to have his face on the back. That's how we got that DREAMY shot of him on the back sleeve.

Gorgeous man, gorgeous voice and gorgeous music: a winning combination.

For those of you who were old enough to experience the rise of these then-teen 90s R&B stars at the time, what did you think of them? Who were mostly a fan of? When you look back on their careers, is it what you envisioned? I love this particular group of artists because (born between 1978 to 1981) because if you think about it, they were among the last R&B stars to be reared through rigorous artist development. Heavy label investment made way for performance bootcamps, local talent showcases, singing lessons, image development, radio promotion, grassroots campaigns and the best A&R services. Meaning, when the moment struck for them, they were pretty polished and ready.

Also, they were at a unique position in time when they were actually old enough to have witnessed some of the greatest music and performing arts legends at their peaks. The fact that there's literal footage of Beyoncé going to see Michael Jackson as a child is wild. Brandy wrote about being invited to see Whitney Houston live in the early 90s and Usher was called on stage to dance with New Edition as a young boy. Gladys Knight was Aaliyah's godmother and they performed together. Mýa was mentored by Gregory Hines and Savion Glover. Being directly exposed to that level of greatness at such a young age does something to you. It makes you hungry and if you go back and look at history, the late 90s and very early aughts was one of the last times these artists were on the charts and same award show lineups as the artists who inspired them.

Lastly, all of them have some type of conncetion to each other. Destiny's Child, Monica and Usher all hung out as teens in Atlanta. Brandy has known Tyrese since they were children in the LA talent show circuit. Of course, we know Brandy, Monica and Aaliyah were the "Big Three". Mýa was once a backup dancer for Monica during her BET Teen Summit days. Usher was on Moesha with Brandy and Tyrese played love interests in Monica and Destiny's Child music videos and performances (PLUS, did one of Usher's videos). Plus 1997 through 2001 were when I believe their careers intersected the most.

80s babies, talk to me!

PRINCE: ICON by Steve Parke

This one is HUGE and filled with the most definitive collection of Prince’s photos. I must say, this Prince was one sexy mf.

Supreme Sirens: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Music by Marcellas Reynolds

Big, glossy and gorgeous photos of the most iconic Black women in music history across R&B, Hip-Hop, Soul, Pop and Gospel. Some artists got write ups and Monica provided the foreword, which I loved.

BEYONCÉ: The Stories Behind the Songs by Annie Zalenski

This covers every single song she’s released from Destiny’s Child through Cowboy Carter. The writer did her research, whew.

I love coffee table books because I am a visual learner but I had to restrain myself from buying all three in one go, lol.

I recently did a post in the r/rnb sub asking who the fittest R&B singers are and of course, Bey was mentioned a number of times. The level of strength training and conditioning she does for these concerts are NO JOKE. She truly is like an athlete. So, if you are at home and want to do some cardio dancing to her choreography (because I KNOW some of you in here studied her DOWN, lol), which concert special are you putting on and how long can you last until you pass out? I chose her three most acclaimed concert specials/tour DVDs:

The Beyonce Experience (2007)

I Am... World Tour (2010)

Homecoming (2019)

Mýa was on Danielle Fishel’s Teen Beat Podcast and spoke about how she was impressed with Usher’s focus and drive when they were coming up as R&B/Pop stars in the late 90s and early 2000s. The pair performed together as part of Michael Jackson’s 30th Anniversary concert special in 2001. “Dancing and singing are two different types of breathwork and he mastered that so young. And to see him in rehearsals, but also see him perform at Madison Square Garden with no fear. Like, yay, we’re the same age!”

She also revealed that Michael Jackson and Whitney sat in on their rehearsals for the show, which was quite intimidating but Usher handled it like a pro. That was a pretty big night for Usher. He performed three times: opened with “Wannabe Startin Something”, sang with Luther Vandross and 98° on “Man In The Mirror” and most memorably shared the stage with his hero, Michael Jackson, at the end of the concert.

Summer's here! I have been in the gym lately and I love to listen to uptempo R&B when I lift weights and something smoother when I stretch and recover. This got me thinking, WHO are the fittest R&B stars of all time? The ones that make you marvel at their sheer physicality on stage with music that gets you amped. I remember when VH1 used to run those special countdowns where they would talk about music stars and their workout routines. What R&B songs and artists gets you the most pumped and what's on your gym playlist?

I find it so interesting how artists whose foundations are rooted in R&B/Soul music suddenly get some shine in the business and then denounce the genre to say they aren’t necessarily part of it. I swear, I don’t recall reading such comments from the biggest legends in the genre like a Stevie Wonder (SUPER expansive genre bender), Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Usher or Beyoncé (another genre-bending artist with roots in R&B).

Why do these artists continue to speak on R&B like it’s this limiting genre that prevents them from exploring their full sonic capabilities. For starters, R&B is very diverse and influences so many other things to the point where it can be melded into other genres. Artists like Stevie, Janet, Prince, Michael etc didn’t innovate sonically for people to STILL think this way.

R&B has been suffering from the whole “it’s decade” for well over a decade and now that it’s finally getting some much-deserved mainstream attention, you have artists like Durand sh*tting all over this momentum. If that’s the case, then he shouldn’t submit his album to R&B categories at the Grammys and should take himself out of any other award shows that put him in that category.

I know he’s a fan favorite on here so I expect some pushback with this post but I am just about tired of seeing this again and again.

It used to be called Best R&B Performance by a Group/Duo. Sade was the last winner of this award with Soldier of Love before they removed this category in 2011 by consolidating all R&B performance categories into one (Best R&B Performance). Any early ideas on who will be nominated for this category next year?