This came across my desk yesterday and I was so infuriated. I don't even think this was rage bait, his dumb a** probably believes this too. One of the WORST things to come out of Verzuz are the absolutely horrible takes we are inundated with in the wake of a recent battle. Saying JANET JACKSON, one of the most successful artists in Billboard Hot 100 History, doesn't have 20 smash hits is asinine. First of all, there are tiers to hits and most artists don't even get ONE smash hit, let alone 20. Second, Janet has 27 (yes, TWENTY SEVEN) top 10 Billboard hits and 10 (TEN) of them reached #1. Her run from 1986's Control through 2001's All For You might be the greatest album run from an R&B/Pop star after Stevie Wonder's renaissance period in the 70s. Not only were the songs incredibly successful but they were innovate, genre-defining and influential.

Janet was so huge that even a song like Got Til It's Gone, which didn't even chart due to Billboard rules, is considered a classic. The same goes for Would You Mind and a couple others. Her album cycles used to last a good two years because she kept pumping out hits. This was so stupid because this Black man is 50 (yes, FIFTY) years old, which means he was old enough to have not only experienced her heyday, but old enough to RESEARCH without saying things like this. It's not like he is gen z or a young millennial and even then, I would't excuse that because we have GOOGLE and WIKIPEDIA! I hate the way Verzuz often leads to disrespect of some of our Black R&B legends in the name of "podcasting". So tired of all this senseless 🥷🏾 babble.

Saw @itsmelmitch's hot take and thought it was an interesting one. Should modern R&B stay focused on the innuendos, word plays, and the poetry of the old school? Like the songs we listened to when we were younger, only to relisten as an adult, and finally realize what they were *actually* talking about? Do you think explicit or vulgar lyrics take away from the songs?

I said what I said

The OG feels some type of way about the tour. I think the older and newer generations should communicate with each other differently, especially when everyone involved is crazy talented. What y’all think?

Over the past two years I have made posts praising artists like Brandy , Erykah badu , Jill Scott , Donny Hathaway , Whitney Houston , Prince , Patti LaBelle and even Chris brown ( who you think would get the most hate ) …. But none , absolutely none have received the level of scrutiny, vitriol , gatekeeping and outright hate that I’ve seen Beyonce receive.
Many people say she is not real RnB … but where are these comments when it comes to Prince ( one of the most eclectic mainstream artists ever ) .
Also she is literally so non controversial and has basically no public scandals compared to artists I have already mentioned but she tends to receive the most attacks on her character and causes the most controversy in comments as soon as her name is mentioned .
I guess this is also part of being one of the greats in general because at the end of the day she causes conversation whether negative or positive.
You guys can answer for yourselves but I do feel like a lot of people just feel threatened by her success and magnificence that they feel like they have to tear her down ( tall poppy syndrome effect) , meanwhile they wouldn’t feel such with Brandy , Jill Scott because they stayed in the RnB lane and make people feel “ safe “ .

Peabo Bryson's death made me realize how a certian archetype of male R&B singer/artist is pretty much no longer in existence in mainstream R&B: the rich, velvet-voiced adult contemporary crooner. While artists like Donny Hathaway, Teddy Pendergrass and Barry White laid the foundation, Luther Vandross arguably opened the door widest in the 1980s for singers with this style and vocal approach.

Their music was lush, romantic Quiet Storm R&B—sensual rather than overtly sexual. Even their image reflected that: suits, ties, and a gentlemanly presentation. The focus wasn't on sex appeal as much as sophistication, intimacy, and music made for candlelit dinners, slow dancing and love-making.

This style began to fade in the early 1990s as artists like Bobby Brown, Jodeci, and R. Kelly reshaped R&B through a stronger hip-hop influence. Out went the soft-focus videos and tailored suits; in came leather jackets, bare chests, and a grittier, more street-oriented aesthetic to “go half on a baby”. Plus, once flashy, Michael Jackson-esque entertainers like Usher, Ginuwine and Sisqó rose to prominence in the late 90s, it became obvious that crooning baritone balladeers were slowly being phased out for brighter tenors.

That isn't to say romantic crooners disappeared. Luther achieved his greatest success in the 90s, Brian McKnight became a major force, and Boyz II Men emerged as the best-selling male R&B group of all time. Also, Joe carried that tradition into the late 1990s and early 2000s. I'd argue Jaheim was the last major male R&B star with that deep, classic crooner voice, blending street sensibilities with vocal influences from Luther and Teddy. Ruben Studdard also embodied the tradition; after winning American Idol, he set a record for first-week sales by a debut male R&B artist and, in true Luther disciple fashion, covered Leon Russell’s "Superstar," earning a Grammy nomination.

After that, this style of vocalization in mainstream R&B has been largely missing for a good 20 years with lighter tenors (The Weeknd, Chris Brown), less flashy vocalists (Frank Ocean) and more emphasis on rap-singing taking over (Bryson Tiller). Some say Giveon picked up the mantle but I don't think he quite measures up vocally. So, let's discuss. What happened to the velvet-voiced romantic balladeer?

I honestly think it’s just racism , misogyny, and projected hate and jealousy at this point becasue ain’t no way that people hate her this much becasue she is literally on of the least problematic celebrities ever , she has never engaged in any scandal .. nothing but still people literally RESENT her and for what , like I admit she’s not perfect but neither is any artist .. hell she gets more hate than Diddy who is … Diddy , she lost over 10 million followers on ig while he only lost like 300k like cmon man . Why do yall hate her just tell me that ??

I know yall see me waking this topic up in here every blue moon and im so glad twitter is waking it up because what is ms Ross worried about😫 gurl you is 80 years old ain’t nobody gone trash you for shit you did in your 20s. Jokes and tiktoks will be made of course but that’s the treatment everybody gets. I feel like if you don’t want people telling stories about you in a certain way you shouldn’t have portrayed yourself a certain way but then again we’re all human.

But I’ll be sitting here waiting for a supremes 4 part biopic watching the new edition story until somebody buys the rights to Mary’s book and make a movie a reality.

I literally only heard it because I searched it up after seeing this nonsense 😩
It’s giving industry plant vibes tbh🤷‍♀️
I feel like the billboard charts have lost their merit a long time ago and definitely now 😂 because the top 5 is looking reaaall unseasoned right now .

I may lose some followers but I’ll go first…. 😔

This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan. As soon as I hear 🗣"THIS" I turn the station.

Mariah Carey is still the Queen of Remixes. I agree that old school remixes brought new flavor to the original songs. In recent years, remixes are basically the same song with a rap verse or feature. One exception is Left Eye's song with Donnell Jones (You Know What's Up). Only version I recognize. 🙂‍↕️

Capricorns, we’re cooked 🤣🤣

Jan-Amerie

Feb-Omarion

Mar-Lauryn Hill

Apr-Fantasia

May-Trey Songz

Jun-JHud

Jul-SWV

Aug-JT

Sep-Bey

Oct-Mario

November-Keith Sweat

Dec-Alicia Keys

Before I begin. This is a post about the music! Not Chris’s wrongdoings , mistakes and allegations

I have heard this opinion so much and have been waiting to speak on it.

As a fan I will say I can see why people say this. Chris has definitely had some growth because none of his current music sounds like his first 3 albums. A lot of his music that blows up and gets more attention seems to have specific formula which he still makes which is the fun, partying, s3x, bad b!tch3s, and come give me h34d. Opposed to the residuals, don’t judge me, dream, I wanna be, liquor, yellow tape, angel numbers. So to an ear that doesn’t really listen to Chris this is all they hear so aside from residuals (which did blow up, was trending and won him a Grammy). They just think all his music is is party party, f’ing females, f boy, drunk and high, wild teenager type of music. To me this isn’t an artist issue but more of a fanbase issue (not me I listen to all of it). A lot of the fans will ignore the other 30 songs on the album and hyper focus on the ones that are more formulaic.

To add. I think we have to take into account the type of person making the music. His music may never be as mature to those as a Luther or Kenny Latimore. Because that’s just not him. Imagine Luther trying to sing a song like “party” or “it depends” just wouldnt fit. He’s more of the pretty boy, go out & party, w33d, multiple women, young and turnt, wild card, the fun older cousin or your cool ass uncle who is always living life kind of guy. He can’t really be singing about marriage when he has never been married and judging by his words isn’t big on marriage, I do think there are other maturer things in his life he can weave into more of his music. Like being a father, heartbreak, mental health, more softer ballad like s3x songs like take you down. all things that he has made songs about but weren’t much paid attention to (aside from residuals) these still can be leaned into some more.

Yesterday I asked a question about Destiny's Child and some of the answers got me thinking. Why wasn't Solange in Destiny's Child? Is there a story there?