Bummed at the Baby snub, but everything else is perfection I been listening to Brandy older singles a lot recently too. I was prepping for her slayage here and I didn't even know it
Aaliyah. "Highest, Most Exalted, The Best." I agree.
Born in Brooklyn, raised in Detroit. Made fun of by classmates for her size, until she grew! Appeared on Star Search, where she LOST. When her family moved to Detroit, they became close with extended family - the Hankersons. Aaliyah's uncle, Barry, was married to Gladys Knight, and just getting his label - Background Records - off of the ground. Barry entered into a distribution deal with Jive, and signed his niece (who maintained a 4.0 average throughout school) at the age of 12.
Unfortunately, uncles aren't perfect, and Barry introduced Aaliyah to an upcoming singer, writer, and producer: Robert Kelly. He wrote and executive produced her debut album, Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number.
CREEPER TEAS ALREADY.
But ... "Ooh, it's the L-I-Y-A=H!"
When this song hit, it HIT. The combo of Aaliyah's pure soprano, her street cool style, those sunglasses, and the jeep-bop of the beat made it the second biggest R&B hit of 1994.
A more sedate 'Li was on hand for her second single, a cover of The Isley Brothers' classic, (At Your Best (You Are Love).
Then this bastard married her. She was fifteen, he was twenty-seven - her age was listed as eighteen on the marriage certificate. There were even rumors she was pregnant.
Thankfully, her parents got the marriage annulled, and all ties to Arrah were cut off.
Because if they weren't, she would have never met ... Timbaland and Missy Elliott.
Then this bastard married her. She was fifteen, he was twenty-seven - her age was listed as eighteen on the marriage certificate. There were even rumors she was pregnant.
Thankfully, her parents got the marriage annulled, and all ties to Arrah were cut off.
Because if they weren't, she would have never met ... Timbaland and Missy Elliott.
Thank goodness for that. Newly signed to Brandy's home, Atlantic Records, Aaliyah released the first song from her sophomore release - If Your Girl Only Knew.
What a REAL banger sounds like. Thanks Melissa and Timothy!
What's impact? Having upstarts like Tink still quote your **** almost twenty years later. Like she's doing on her newest single, which samples One in a Million.
Topping the R&B charts for six weeks, it's definitely valid to say that Timbo would not be legend he is with the brace of this song. Nothing sounded like this on the radio then - nothing does now, tbh.
R. Kelly's history is just such a mess. He's a R&B genius, but a mess nonetheless
But yes! Aaliyah I swear, it's gonna be so hard not to give her 10s across the board. Her work with Timbo and Missy has produced some of my favorite songs ever
Of course, one cannot release groundbreaking singles, one after the other, on a major label. As was customary with every Black female singer, Aaliyah released a Diane Warren ballad: The One I Gave My Heart To.
It brought her back to the top ten of the pop charts.
Written for the Dr. Doolittle soundtrack, it's safe to say that this is one of the most important singles of the entire decade, right?
Absolutely flawless.
Back and Forth
At Your Best (You Are Love)
If Your Girl Only Knew
One in a Million
The One I Gave My Heart To
Are You That Somebody?
Written for the Dr. Doolittle soundtrack, it's safe to say that this is one of the most important singles of the entire decade, right?
Easily one of the most impactful Hip Hop/R&B records of the latter half of the decade (maybe the same for the video as well?). I still hear it all the time and that babycry Timbaland managed to insert into the beat is lowkey iconic.
If we were allowed to give out one 11, mine definitely would've gone to One in a Million or Are You That Somebody?
Young Monica Arnold. Born in Atlanta, a genuine Georgia peach. Singing in church since she was 2, At ten, she joined a touring church group, and at eleven, was discovered singing Whitney's The Greatest Love of All by producer Dallas Austin. He signed her to his Arista imprint Rowdy Records, and set forth on making an album that related to her personality. But how do you do that when the girl you're working with definitely has a mind of her own?
Simple - you call it Miss Thang, and launch it with Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days).
Full bodied, defiant, strong - Monica was a hit with audiences upon arrival. DTIP went to number two on the Hot 100, and obviously topped R&B radio for weeks on end.
Her next two singles -Like This and Like That and Before You Walk Out of My Life also topped the R&B charts, making her the youngest artist to have consecutive number ones on Black radio. Sorry Bran and Li!
Obviously, a pretty young thing with a great voice has to be pushed further into the mainstream, so Monica was absorbed into Arista's full lineup, and offered a Diane Warren tune to kick off the Space Jam soundtrack. Only the nineties!
Second album - go time. Named after her big summer smash, The Boy is Mine produced two more number one hits: the Diana Ross sampling The First Night and the Eternal cover, Angel of Mine.
Wow, I remember rooting for The First Night to chart higher on TRL. Wow.
Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)
Like This and Like That
Before You Walk Out of My Life
For You I Will
The First Night
Angel of Mine
Don't Take It Personal and The First Night are such bops Angel of Mine basically defined late 1998 for me as well (my twin cousins used to have the tape single and we used to play that **** on repeat. Christmas '98 was poppin' ). Hope they all do well!
Aesthetically, as close to Lolita as pop music had seen - all lean limbs and bubble eyes. A New Yorker - Manhattanite to be exact, Fiona was born to a singer and an actor. At eight, she started writing her own songs and composing them on piano. At twelve, she was raped outside of her apartment; afterwards, she developed an eating disorder. She retreated to music, and at fourteen, gave a demo tape to a friend who babysat for a music publicist. It was passed to the head of Sony Music, and Fiona was signed.
The great thing about working with an actual musician is that the music is already to go - it just needs to be shaped. Her debut album, Tidal, was written by the time she was seventeen. First single Slow Like Honey did little to nothing, but second single Sleep to Dream announced a force to be reckoned with.
"I have never been so insulted in all my life" is one of the greatest lines of the decade - Kanye agrees!
Fiona would win Best New Artist at the VMAs for this, and her acceptance speech borders on infamy:
Serving a Nina Simone meets Jane Pratt tea, Fiona's maturity was staggering for crowds to behold. Songs like Shadowboxer exemplified this, and intrigued alternative audiences.
Ah, yes, but the controversy. Fiona's body always serves a starved Romanian model aura, and she and director Mark Romanek thought it perfect to use it to illustrate the sinister undertones of her next single, Criminal.
Shot and cut to resemble mid 90s Calvin Klein ads, which were themselves shot to resemble mid 70s ****ography, Criminal caused multiple articles for and against it. (Imagine the think pieces if it was released now! IMAGINE.) It also became her biggest hit, and netted her a Grammy for Female Rock Vocal Performance.
How do you come down from that hubbub? Obviously an earnest ballad, shot in one take. A proto Feist reality.
I been listening to Brandy older singles a lot recently too. I was prepping for her slayage here and I didn't even know it 
I swear, it's gonna be so hard not to give her 10s across the board. Her work with Timbo and Missy has produced some of my favorite songs ever 
Angel of Mine basically defined late 1998 for me as well (my twin cousins used to have the tape single and we used to play that **** on repeat. Christmas '98 was poppin'