This was early 2000’s so you can see prime Kanye cooking up something in his head behind the scenes 🔥🔥🔥. R.I.P. Angie Stone.

I was seven-years-old when Aaliyah passed away and only knew her because Try Again was so massively popular. I would later make the connection that she was the singer I heard perform the pop version of Journey To The Past, during the end credits of my VHS copy of Anastasia (1997). When she died 25 years ago, it may have been the first time I experienced young adults around me be genuinely affected by the death of a celebrity. News coverage of the plane crash that led to her death was round the clock and my older cousins mourned the loss of a woman they looked up to. Some of them had JUST bought her eponymous final masterpiece, Aaliyah. Images from the music videos for Rock The Boat and More Than A Woman (the first time I saw an in memoriam message at the end of a video) are seared into my brain just because of how much I saw them at the time.

Looking at these photos of her crestfallen family, friends, peers and colleagues (some of whom have also passed away) as they exited St. Ignatius Loyola Church in New York City, really puts into perspective how massive and devastating her loss was. At 22, Aaliyah was just starting to hit her stride as a major pop star and going by her upcoming film, fashion and business ventures, she was poised for something greater. As writer, Justin Tinsley put it, "Aaliyah is etched into the universe as one of the great and most painful unfinished stories... Aaliyah wasn't finished becoming Aaliyah. Or maybe she was and we have spent the last 25 years trying to tell ourselves this possibly couldn't have been the end for somebody like her."

May Baby Girl continue to rest in peace.

Albums Featured:

• Here To Stay - Kenny Lattimore
• R&B Money - Tank
• Victims & Villains - Musiq Soulchild & HitBoy
• Self-Explanatory - Ne-Yo
• Coming Home - Usher
• Beautiful Pain - Tyrese
• The Co-Star - Eric Benet
• Beautifully All Over the Place - Eric Roberson
• O2 Part I - Omarion
• Eric Bellinger - Eric Bellinger
• Saturday Night/Sunday Morning - PJ Morning
• Overture - Glenn Lewis

A lot of the men on this list have albums that I keep in rotation and I admittedly don’t really care for their latest releases. However, I decided to give their newest albums an objective try and walked away with a few thoughts:

First, some of them need to hire better graphic designers lol. You can decide for yourselves which ones I am referring to. Your albums should also LOOK good. Second, the results of my listen were varied. I still hate Usher and Ne-Yo’s albums (their worst albums for sure). Tank and Eric’s were so forgettable. Musiq and HitBoy were a surprisingly good pairing. Tyrese’s was his most deeply personal record to date. The brevity and nostalgia of Omarion’s worked in his favor but it still came across as dated. Glenn Lewis and Kenny had really strong releases. I liked how conceptual Glenn’s was. Eric Benet’s duet album was a great showcase of his and other female artists vocals.

Anyway, I feel like middle aged male R&B artists are somewhat overlooked. If you aren’t at a certain level, your album isn’t getting any major looks. With Joe and Tank set to release new albums soon, I hope to see more appreciation for this demographic. Especially Joe since he’s Verzuz’s new King of R&B.

I made a post a few hours ago commemorating the 25th anniversary of Aaliyah’s funeral. No mention of any controversies or anything. Just a somber reflection about the tragic death of one of the genre’s most innovative and brightest stars gone too soon.

What did I get? Overly conspiratorial comments blaming some of her peers for her death (Jay-Z and Usher, who were in attendance were described as “looking guilty as hell”). Oh and of course, Beyoncé was brought up for good measure. It’s so disrespectful to her and her crew’s death.

But what really grinds my gears is the way these people incessantly bring up R. Kelly. Yes, we know what happened in 1995 and it was utterly disgusting. However, that was not all Aaliyah’s life and career was about. Luckily the mods acted appropriately and removed those comments.

I am starting to think these comments highlighting the grooming she unfortunately went through are not in good faith at all. It’s just another salacious talking point for them. Why not just STAY ON TOPIC and wish the best for the soul of the dearly departed?

This sub has a pop up warning when discussing controversial figures like R. Kelly. I fear the same will soon happen with her. When discussing Aaliyah, you actually don’t have to remind and retraumarize everyone by talking about her abuse. You also aren’t “deep” or have your third eye open because you watched some stupid conspiracy theory video on YouTube. I would like to request stricter moderation on all Aaliyah topics going forward.

End rant.

His vocal style is hilarious to me . And as someone who enjoy singing themselves as ive gotten older ive never realized how much he "over delivers" but somehow it still sounds great

For me, it’s Jennifer Hudson.

I’m not saying she can’t sing because girl can SANG 😂 But I honestly feel like her voice is better than her actual catalog. When people start putting her in conversations with some of the greatest R&B singers, I kinda have to disagree.

She has some songs I like, but I don’t think her music has had the same impact as her vocals. I feel like people hear that big voice and automatically put her higher than some singers who have stronger catalogs.
That’s just how I see it though 😂

Who’s an R&B artist you think gets too much credit, not enough credit, or just doesn’t live up to the hype?

I’m just curious and had this thought what R&B songs are about haters?

I don’t mean just listening to it as if you were at a club or something. But I mean like the type of engagement we do here really discussing it socially/analytically/culturally?

I think for most of us on this sub, rnb is more than just some music with a good pocket to play in the background of our day to day lives. And particularly for black people who love rnb, it is integral to a sense of cultural identity and belonging. I’m curious to what extent, if any, you all have experiences that lean into that, or if you even find something like that meaningful in the first place.

Let’s chat, cousins!!!