alright, so some of the best music ever
but i pretty much only know the singles from this era (aaliyah aside). what are the best albums? writing's on the wall? fanmail? etc -- i'm sure i'm forgetting tons of shit & any suggestions that are in this genre are welcome
― J0rdan S., Friday, 7 May 2010 09:02 (3 years ago) Permalink
kelis obv - kaleidoscope is classic and wanderland is pretty good
― jabba hands, Friday, 7 May 2010 09:09 (3 years ago) Permalink
hey what about that nivea album? the one with laundromat and don't mess with the radio on it? i used to love it a lot lot, and always listened to it when i was mopping the floor. i haven't listened to it since though. even now i can still remember there was some filler. also: toya. it had this weird fake artful dodger song on it but also: 'i do!!
― no fear, Friday, 7 May 2010 11:48 (3 years ago) Permalink
inoj album is great but slightly different than what youre talking about i think
― no fear, Friday, 7 May 2010 11:49 (3 years ago) Permalink
stay away from the blaque album, it's terrible and they sound terrible on it except for 808 and one song with n'suync. fanmail is good
― no fear, Friday, 7 May 2010 11:53 (3 years ago) Permalink
you know, other than the Aaliyah self-titled, this is prob my least-fave period for mainstream r&b
― moderator requiem forum (The Reverend), Friday, 7 May 2010 11:57 (3 years ago) Permalink
Pink's Can't Take Me Home is fabulous. Mya's Fear of Flying (the version that has "Free" anyway) is pretty great too.
Re Toya, I remember not really getting with her album, but alongside "I Do", "No Matta What (Party All Nite)" and "I Do Part 2" are also great.
Is the first Cristina Milian album good? Anyone?
― Tim F, Friday, 7 May 2010 12:06 (3 years ago) Permalink
i just put the nivea back on and it's definitely worth listening to, i love that woman. and what about the 1st amerie album? i think that came out in 2002...is that too late? that one is amazing all the way through
― no fear, Friday, 7 May 2010 12:15 (3 years ago) Permalink
I think of Amerie's album as the beginning of a post-millennial phase in commercial R&B (/ponce)
― Tim F, Friday, 7 May 2010 12:37 (3 years ago) Permalink
My favourite Nivea track from her first one is that one that's like "29 Reasons" (insert correct number plz) where she's reciting all the things that makes her love her man but she just gives up towards the end. There's a looseness to Nivea that I think is very appealing. My favourite Nivea track though is "Parking Lot" off her second album.
― Tim F, Friday, 7 May 2010 12:38 (3 years ago) Permalink
yeah of course i love that album too! did you ever hear the 3rd one? i never did. i was looking for new nivea stuff on a whim the other day and what i saw was pretty disappointing. has she done anything with thedream since they divorced?
― no fear, Friday, 7 May 2010 13:07 (3 years ago) Permalink
track rather than album, but "What about us" by Brandy / Darkchild is still amazing and sounds very 2010ish
― I am using your worlds, Friday, 7 May 2010 13:21 (3 years ago) Permalink
gah doing this thread the week before my r&b listening club week!!!!!!! :D
― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Friday, 7 May 2010 13:31 (3 years ago) Permalink
These are my favourite rnb albums from that era. They both have a pretty smooth and classic sound, none of those Timbalandish digital dancehall beats, but I was never the biggest fan of that sound anyway. With Meshell especially, the content is nothing like smooth though. ("Barry Farms" is probably the only rnb song ever where the female protagonist accuses her bisexual female lover of coming to her only because she's better at eating pussy than men.)
― Tuomas, Friday, 7 May 2010 14:12 (3 years ago) Permalink
― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Friday, May 7, 2010 8:31 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark
sorry -- if this is the subj of your listening week i'll be v pumped
― J0rdan S., Friday, 7 May 2010 23:31 (3 years ago) Permalink
surprised no one's yet mentioned the first two kelis albums, which are about as good as peak-neptunes r&b got (her third album is amazing too but not quite the same thing)
kiley dean's unreleased timba-produced simple girl album too
― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Saturday, 8 May 2010 10:36 (3 years ago) Permalink
tweet's southern hummingbird and selected guts off it's me again
ginuwine's the bachelor and 100%, definitely
janet jackson's velvet rope is my favourite janet album too
― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Saturday, 8 May 2010 10:38 (3 years ago) Permalink
lol *cuts
Er, the Kelis albums were mentioned in the second post.
― Tuomas, Saturday, 8 May 2010 10:39 (3 years ago) Permalink
weirdly there are no good utubes of this but this album is pretty awesome by and large, maybe a bit too early timbo for y'all
― plax (ico), Saturday, 8 May 2010 18:20 (3 years ago) Permalink
i mean, nicole wray - make it hot
album is pretty patchy but the highs r pretty high imo
― plax (ico), Saturday, 8 May 2010 18:45 (3 years ago) Permalink
dont think ginuwine counts bcuz uhhh hes not a woman
my fav singles from this era are probably 'rock the boat' and this:
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Saturday, 8 May 2010 19:00 (3 years ago) Permalink
made for some good house remixes too
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Saturday, 8 May 2010 19:01 (3 years ago) Permalink
― plax (ico), Saturday, 8 May 2010 19:02 (3 years ago) Permalink
― plax (ico), Saturday, 8 May 2010 19:03 (3 years ago) Permalink
i remember thinking hat monica was the better option bc of her int. design choices
― plax (ico), Saturday, 8 May 2010 19:04 (3 years ago) Permalink
'smoking cigarettes' off the tweet album is dope. wasnt that toya record an ilx poptimist classic or something too
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Saturday, 8 May 2010 19:04 (3 years ago) Permalink
I think Sterling Clover repped for Toya generally and perhaps the album in full as well - might make it an "ilx poptimist classic".
En Vogue's post-Dawn Robinson album from this period is an overlooked gem as well. Here's one of my favourite tracks:
― Tim F, Saturday, 8 May 2010 23:34 (3 years ago) Permalink
Also relevant given Tuomas trying to derail the thread with Me'Shell/Jill Scott is Lina's perhaps-too-early attempt to fuse commercial R&B with nu-soul on her first album. She must have been pissed at how later Blu Cantrell stole her arrangement ideas and Mya stole her vocal style. It doesn't appear to be on youtube but search "Watch Your Mouth (Baby Blue)".
― Tim F, Saturday, 8 May 2010 23:38 (3 years ago) Permalink
Love this 2000 Mya classic, really sums up Mya's whole sex-as-a-weapon vulnerability schtick. The Trackmasters remix with Jay-Z is also great.
― Tim F, Saturday, 8 May 2010 23:39 (3 years ago) Permalink
love mya. mostly bcuz she is <3 <3 <3 but she had some jams too. "Fallen" was good. and that song that sampled shuggie otis
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Saturday, 8 May 2010 23:41 (3 years ago) Permalink
i play the 'free' instrumental when i dj sometimes -- really interesting track construction on that one
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Saturday, 8 May 2010 23:45 (3 years ago) Permalink
ha had no idea that was a jam & lewis production ... i love that those guys are still churning em out (they did that usher venus & mars track out now)
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Saturday, 8 May 2010 23:48 (3 years ago) Permalink
"Free" is brilliant. Also don't sleep on the earlier "It's All About Me":
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 May 2010 00:34 (3 years ago) Permalink
i cant believe, btw, that some of this stuff is as old now as, like, 'freak like me' was when i started to post to ilx
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Sunday, 9 May 2010 00:41 (3 years ago) Permalink
heres the shuggie otis one
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Sunday, 9 May 2010 00:42 (3 years ago) Permalink
trick me before trick me existed kinda
Awesome track. The whole of Moodring is great IMO.
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 May 2010 00:44 (3 years ago) Permalink
since we mentioned ashanti, this was by farrr my favorite ashanti single ....
this beat is just ... awesome in an old school 90s rap way. that little melodic hook reminds me of pete rock & cl smooth's 'lots of lovin'
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Sunday, 9 May 2010 00:50 (3 years ago) Permalink
Love "Happy" too! There's actually half a dozen Ashanti tracks I unreservedly love.
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 May 2010 00:52 (3 years ago) Permalink
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 May 2010 01:14 (3 years ago) Permalink
This is overlapping heavily with my opulent R&B mixtape, but I gotta post "It's All About Me":
― Tim F, Sunday, 9 May 2010 01:20 (3 years ago) Permalink
overlapping heavily with your post 5-6 posts up~~! iirc
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Sunday, 9 May 2010 02:19 (3 years ago) Permalink
this was later but i liked it too
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Sunday, 9 May 2010 02:20 (3 years ago) Permalink
Kandi: "Don't Think I'm Not" - former Xscapee rewrites her "No Scrubs" with a sorta Latin freestyle chorus
Res: "Golden Boys" - this sounded like "take over the world" material at the time :(
Sunshine Anderson: "Heard It All Before" - the album was sleepy making this ace single prime Napster bait (anyone hear her tardy follow up?)
― Kevin John Bozelka, Sunday, 9 May 2010 02:36 (3 years ago) Permalink
golden boys sounded like 'wow this is unusual' but im not sure i get take over the world from it
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Sunday, 9 May 2010 03:07 (3 years ago) Permalink
this thread is d-_-b so far kiu you guys. bobby mcferrin is absolutely repulsive though
― ayo for dyao (samosa gibreel), Sunday, 9 May 2010 03:18 (3 years ago) Permalink
Blaque: "808" - The pre-chorus "And now take me for instance babe" really hurts. You can hear the doubt in her ploy/brag.
R. Kelly featuring Sparkle: "Be Careful" - kinda cheating but a great pre-Trapped in the Closet soaper
― Kevin John Bozelka, Sunday, 9 May 2010 03:33 (3 years ago) Permalink
Nothing I've posted comes from must-own albums, including these, but:
Kelly Price: "Friend of Mine" - an odd song that closer you listen, with weird phrasing and backup singers foregrounded
Monifah: "Touch It"
― Kevin John Bozelka, Sunday, 9 May 2010 07:08 (3 years ago) Permalink
Must own album that sorta fits the thread criteria: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
― Kevin John Bozelka, Sunday, 9 May 2010 07:10 (3 years ago) Permalink
what??
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Sunday, 9 May 2010 08:54 (3 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, how does that fit?
― Tuomas, Sunday, 9 May 2010 10:35 (3 years ago) Permalink
And I did say "sorta."
― Kevin John Bozelka, Sunday, 9 May 2010 11:26 (3 years ago) Permalink
Better let this genre rest in piece. Those people benefited a lot from adding a lot more electro and a lot more melody in the late 00s.
― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Sunday, 9 May 2010 11:37 (3 years ago) Permalink
definitely second the mention of lina but
Mya stole her vocal style
??? - lina's quasi-operatic soprano vs mya's coy, breathy liteness? don't get the comparison!
lina would have fit in really well with the solanges and janelle monáes of this world - ahead of her time in so many ways.
<3 <3 mya's "things come and go"
― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Sunday, 9 May 2010 15:45 (3 years ago) Permalink
If you were talking, say, "Playa No Mo" versus "Fallen" I'd absolutely agree... BUT most of the time Lina actually does a breathy jazzy thing (see e.g. "God Loves Me Too", "I'm Not The Enemy", "S.O.S. (It Ain't Me)" etc.). There's a clutch of tracks on Moodring where Mya cops this sound exactly - see "Late" in particular.
re "Things Come & Go", my sentimental favourite bit is Sean Paul clobbering the backing vocals with his "bup bup bup bup ba-daaaa-da!" like a dopey labradoar.
― Tim F, Monday, 10 May 2010 08:58 (3 years ago) Permalink
might get stick for this but i have a major soft spot for
― plax (ico), Monday, 10 May 2010 18:22 (3 years ago) Permalink
No stick (?) from me. Fantastic song but again, the album...not so much.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Monday, 10 May 2010 19:20 (3 years ago) Permalink
is it alright if i go youtube crazy right here? or should i hxxp it?
― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Monday, 10 May 2010 20:17 (3 years ago) Permalink
Ruff Endz - No More
hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiFhG905fRo
Profyle - Liar
hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJALFnaBjeI
Craaaaaaaaaaaaaig Daaaaaaaaaaavid - Walking Away Ignorants Remix
hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilfC61trRJ4
― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Monday, 10 May 2010 20:25 (3 years ago) Permalink
or is this already too late?
― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Monday, 10 May 2010 20:26 (3 years ago) Permalink
if be careful is here then this should be too
also should have a thread for great forgotten garage remixes of r&b hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XriH_qproMQ doesn't even have the name of the producer but
#timfoxxy The tune reminds me of a Zelda or Mario video game music :P 2 2 months ago
― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), Monday, 10 May 2010 20:30 (3 years ago) Permalink
have we said allure yet?
i <3 these chicks but not sure how well this kinda stuff has held up right now
― plax (ico), Tuesday, 11 May 2010 12:14 (3 years ago) Permalink
this was the golden age of hook girls btw
Mystikal featuring Nivea - Danger (Been So Long)
hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncd4YY6JTPQ
Nivea - Don't Mess With The Radio
― plax (ico), Tuesday, 11 May 2010 12:21 (3 years ago) Permalink
should really do a guy version of this thread so i can post 'caught up' by 112
― Gifted Unlimited Display Names Universal (deej), Thursday, 13 May 2010 04:41 (3 years ago) Permalink
Always and forever this one:
― rim this, fuck that (Eric H.), Thursday, 13 May 2010 04:49 (3 years ago) Permalink
― mandatory seersucker (Eazy), Thursday, 13 May 2010 05:23 (3 years ago) Permalink
A few years late, but the right sound:
― mandatory seersucker (Eazy), Thursday, 13 May 2010 05:34 (3 years ago) Permalink
― its like why GROCERY BAG and not saddam? (deej), Sunday, 23 May 2010 08:24 (3 years ago) Permalink
this fukkin song
d-_-b u aint neva had no love ((like this))
― its like why GROCERY BAG and not saddam? (deej), Monday, 31 May 2010 07:34 (2 years ago) Permalink
"writings on the wall" is pretty much perfect
― sisilafami, Monday, 31 May 2010 11:26 (2 years ago) Permalink
wow no fear, i didn't even know that it was possible to find the inoj album these days. i oughta track it down, i loved her two hit covers and her voice is kinda thin but pleasant for sure
― teledyldonix, Monday, 31 May 2010 20:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
"Don't come up in my millenium talkin bout 'Guuuurl, this mah song!" This soundtrack has some gems, man.
― Blancminaj (Spinspin Sugah), Monday, 31 May 2010 21:09 (2 years ago) Permalink
How about videos from the veterans catching up to the newbies:
― lilsoulbrother, Wednesday, 2 June 2010 17:07 (2 years ago) Permalink
I forgot about this:
― lilsoulbrother, Wednesday, 2 June 2010 17:10 (2 years ago) Permalink
this is a static track that feels like it could be from the time period but isnt, not on any of their albums for some reason
― plax (ico), Wednesday, 2 June 2010 19:55 (2 years ago) Permalink
I was going to post the Faith Evans track. It is the definition of artistic apotheosis.
― bageled by dementeds (HI DERE), Wednesday, 2 June 2010 20:06 (2 years ago) Permalink
is 'the boy is mine' album good?
― pascal's swagger (J0rdan S.), Monday, 7 March 2011 21:41 (2 years ago) Permalink
or 'full moon'
― pascal's swagger (J0rdan S.), Monday, 7 March 2011 22:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
Full Moon is good, maybe about 7 great tracks - basically the metallic Rodney Jerkins numbers, the creepy break-up ballad "Apart" and the lovely bittersweet "Missing You"/"Irreplaceable" style false-optimism of "Wow".
― Tim F, Monday, 7 March 2011 22:23 (2 years ago) Permalink
im a pretty big full moon fan personally
― deej, Monday, 7 March 2011 23:00 (2 years ago) Permalink
― pascal's swagger (J0rdan S.), Monday, March 7, 2011 4:41 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest
― pascal's swagger (J0rdan S.), Monday, 7 March 2011 23:16 (2 years ago) Permalink
yeah it's a pretty good album - "street symphony," "first night," a great cover of dorothy moore's "misty blue," - though it is not Monica's best.
full moon is a classic.
(welcome back deej!)
― The Brainwasher, Monday, 7 March 2011 23:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
Was sorta counting "Full Moon" among the metallic Rodney Jerkins numbers, though yeah that doesn't really work does it.
― Tim F, Monday, 7 March 2011 23:33 (2 years ago) Permalink
No specific thread for Blaque but this seems to do -- some very sad news:
http://www.vibe.com/article/natina-reed-girl-group-blaque-reportedly-killed-hit-and-run-accident
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 27 October 2012 18:48 (6 months ago) Permalink
:(
― extremely loud and incredible hulk (some dude), Saturday, 27 October 2012 23:38 (6 months ago) Permalink