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Nostalgia-age: The 1990s was the peak of contemporary R&B

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XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
This was inspired by all the discussion going on in the Boyz II Men thread, and I figured the expanded R&B talk should get its own thread.

We saw a ton of awesome R&B acts come through in the 1990s. It seemed like every month or two a talented new singer or recently formed group would come out of nowhere with a hit single. There was tons of variety on the airwaves as well as on cable since MTV and BET were still playing a decent amount of music videos still, so you were constantly discovering new songs. And we also started to see some awesome fusion of R&B and hip-hop during this time as well. The decade saw the best work of big names like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Janet Jackson. It also the reign of the R&B group - Boyz II Men, TLC, Jodeci, and En Vogue in particular hit their peak during this time, and there were countless others as well. And there were plenty of other soloists that did really well, including Babyface, Keith Sweat, R. Kelly, and Toni Braxton.

As pointed out in the Boyz II Men thread, there were over 30 songs that hit #1 on the 1990 R&B chart and only 7 so far on the 2009 chart (you can take a look at the R&B #1 charts here, just go to bottom of link and unhide the "Lists of number-one U.S. R&B hits" box to see the links to each year). That's just mind-blowing to me. The only post 1990s acts that I'd consider comparable to the 90s time period are Alicia Keys, John Legend, Ne-Yo, and Christina Aguilera (post-2nd album at the least).

So the other thread inspired me to quickly create a Youtube playlist. I couldn't find the actual music videos for some of these, so a few are just audio tracks played against static images. A few also unfortunately have some ads that auto-play before the vid starts. A few also have a bunch of annotations off that you may have to disable depending on your YT account settings. The list was quickly thrown together, so it's by no means at all close to complete and has some glaring omissions - it's more like a quick highlights package of what came to mind slapping it together. There's obviously a ton of stuff that can be added to the acts already listed, as well as stuff completely missing (any of the New Edition guys both solo and reunited, Monica, Dru Hill, Joe, Mya, Destiny's Child, Brian McKnight, Tony! Toni! Toné!, etc etc).

Youtube - 90s awesome - public playlist (Autoplay all link)

And here's the individual items from the playlist (yeah, there's some hip-hop stuff in this as well, but it's my list so nyah):

TLC - Baby Baby Baby
TLC - What About Your Friends
TLC - Red Light Special (extended version)
TLC - Creep
Boyz II Men - End of the Road
Boyz II Men - On Bended Knee
Boyz II Men - Water Runs Dry
Shai - If I Ever Fall In Love
Shai - Baby I'm Yours
Guy - Let's Chill
Mint Condition - Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)
Mint Condition - U Send Me Swingin'
After 7 - Ready or Not
After 7 - 'Till You Do Me Right
Shanice - I Love Your Smile
SWV - I'm So Into You
SWV - Weak
SWV - Right Here (Human Nature Mix)
Jade - Don't Walk Away
P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
P.M. Dawn - Die Without You
Tevin Campbell - Can We Talk?
Hi-Five - I Like The Way (Kissing Game)
Hi-Five - She's Playing Hard To Get
Hi-Five - Can't Wait Another Minute
Hi-Five - Never Should've Let You Go
Jodeci - Forever My Lady
Jodeci - Come And Talk To Me
Keith Sweat - I'll Give All My Love To You
Keith Sweat - Twisted
Keith Sweat featuring Athena Cage - Nobody
Silk - Freak Me
Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
Color Me Badd - I Adore Mi Amore
Janet Jackson - If
Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do Without You
Janet Jackson - You Want This
En Vogue - You Don't Have To Worry
En Vogue - Giving Him Something He Can Feel
En Vogue - My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)
The Deele - Two Occasions (Yeah, this is late 80s and not 90s, but it's still awesome)
Atlantic Starr - Masterpiece
Troop - Spread My Wings
Troop - All I Do Is Think of You
Troop - Sweet November
Vanessa Williams - Running Back To You
Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last
Toni Braxton - Another Sad Love Song
Toni Braxton - Love Shoulda Brought You Home
Toni Braxton - Breath Again
Toni Braxton - You're Making Me High
Toni Braxton - Let It Flow
R. Kelly - Honey Love
R. Kelly - Bump n' Grind
Aaliyah - Back & Forth
Aaliyah - At Your Best
H-town - Knockin the Boots
Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It
Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre - No Diggity
Xscape - Just Kickin It
XScape - Who Can I Run To
Jon B. featuring Babyface - Someone To Love
Tupac feat. Jon B - R U Still Down?
Tupac - I Get Around
Ice Cube - Today Was A Good Day
Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg - Aint Nothin' But a G Thang (Uncensored)
Dr. Dre - Let Me Ride
Snoop Dogg - Who Am I? (What's My Name?) (uncensored)
Snoop Dogg - Gin and Juice (uncensored)
Warren G - Regulate
Paperboy - Ditty
Luniz - I Got Five On It
Luniz featuring Dru Down, E-40, Shock G (Humpty Hump), Richie Rich, Shock G, Spice 1 - I Got 5 On It (Remix)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - First of the Month
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Tha Crossroads
Total feat. The Notorious B.I.G - Can't You See
Brandy ft. Mc Lyte, YoYo & Queen Latifah - I Wanna Be Down (Remix)
Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
Whitney Houston - Exhale
Mariah Carey - Can't Let Go
Mariah Carey Featuring Trey Lorenz - I'll Be There (MTV Unplugged)
Mariah Carey Featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone - Breakdown
Mariah Carey featuring ODB - Fantasy (remix)
Mariah Carey featuring Boyz II Men - One Sweet Day

Aaliyah - One In A Million
Aaliyah - 4 Page Letter
Aaron Hall - Don't be Afraid
After 7 - Can't Stop
Al B. Sure! - missunderstanding
Al B. Sure! - Right Now
Allure featuring 112 - All Cried Out
Another Bad Creation - Iesha
Another Bad Creation - Playground
Arrested Development - Tennessee
BeBe & CeCe Winans - Addictive Love
Babyface - Tender Lover
Babyface - For The Cool In You
Blackstreet - Don`t Leave Me
Bobby Brown - Humpin' Around (Dance Mix)
Bobby Brown - Good Enough
The Boys - Crazy
Boyz II Men - It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday
Boyz II Men - Uhh Ahh
Brandy - Baby
The Brand New Heavies - Never Stop
Brownstone - If You Love Me
Brownstone - Grapevyne
Brownstone - 5 Miles To Empty
Brian McKnight - One Last Cry
Brian McKnight - Crazy Love
Case featuring Foxy Brown & Mary J. Blige - Touch Me Tease Me
Changing Faces featuring R. Kelly - Stroke You Up
Changing Faces - G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.
Changing Faces - Foolin' Around
Christopher Williams - I'm Dreamin'
Chuckii Booker - Games
Damian Dame - Exclusivity
De La Soul - Buddy
Donell Jones featuring Left Eye - U Know What's Up
En Vogue - Hold On
En Vogue - Lies
En Vogue - Don't Let Go
En Vogue - Free Your Mind
Freddie Jackson - Love Me Down
Freddie Jackson - Do Me Again
Gerald Levert & Eddie Levert - Baby Hold On To Me
Gerald Levert - Private Line
Glenn Jones - Here I Go Again
Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
Janet Jackson - Escapade
Janet Jackson - Anytime, Anyplace
Jodeci - Stay
Jodeci - Lately
Jodeci - Cry For You
Jodeci - Get On Up
Johnny Gill - Rub You the Right Way
Johnny Gill - My, My, My
Johnny Gill - Wrap My Body Tight
Karyn White - Romantic
Keith Washington - Kissing You
Levert - Baby I'm Ready
Lisa Fischer - How Can I Ease The Pain
Lo-Key? - I Got A Thang 4 Ya
Luther Vandross - Power of Love
Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson with BBD and Ralph Tresvant - The Best Things In Life Are Free
Mariah Carey - Vision Of Love
Mariah Carey - Can't Let Go
Mary J. Blige - You Remind Me
Mary J. Blige - Real Love
Mary J. Blige - Not Gon' Cry
Monica - Before You Walk Out Of My Life
New Edition - Hit me off
Peabo Bryson - Can You Stop the Rain
Pebbles - Giving You The Benefit (Extended Version)
Pebbles ft. Babyface - Love Makes Things Happen
Phil Perry - Call Me
Quincy Jones featuring Ray Charles and Chaka Khan - I'll Be Good To You
Quincy Jones featuring Tevin Campbell - Tomorrow
Quincy Jones featuring Al B. Sure!, James Ingram, El DeBarge, and Barry White - The Secret Garden
R. Kelly - I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)
R. Kelly featuring Ronald Isley and Ernie Isley - Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)
Regina Belle - Make It Like It Was
Rude Boys featuring Gerald Levert - Written All Over Your Face
Samuelle - So You Like What You See
Shabba Ranks - Mr. Loverman
Skyy - Real Love
Stacy Lattisaw & Johnny Gill - Where Do We Go From Here
Surface - The First Time
SWV featuring the Wu-Tang Clan - Anything (remix)
Tevin Campbell - Round and Round
Tevin Campbell - Tell Me What You Want Me To Do
Tevin Campbell - Alone With You
TLC - Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg
TLC - Hat 2 Da Back
TLC - Diggin' On You
TLC - No Scrubs
TLC - Unpretty
Tony! Toni! Toné! - The Blues
Tony! Toni! Toné! - Feels Good
Tony! Toni! Tone! - It Never Rains (In Southern California)
Tony! Toni! Tone! - Whatever You Want
Tony! Toni! Tone! featuring DJ Quik - Let's Get Down
The Tony Rich Project - Nobody Knows
Tracie Spencer - Tender Kisses
Vanessa Williams & Brian McKnight - Love Is (really really sappy/cheesy homemade video set to the audio on this)
Whitney Houston - All The Man That I Need
Xscape - Understanding

Feel free to post links to your favorite tracks/videos!
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
bjork said:
Awesome awesome list, but you missed one that goes overlooked way too often:

Mad Cobra - Flex
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP8h3OaHM3c
Click to expand...
Yeah, as I mentioned it's by no means a complete list and was quickly thrown together. Hopefully as people post more links we'll essentially recreate the entire library of what was released that decade in this thread. :lol
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Megadrive said:
You missed quite possible the best song of the 90s.

Sisqo - Thong Song (NSFW).
(I'm only half kidding.) This song brought on a fetish only one video has satisfied me with. :(

Also his first album.
Click to expand...
Well, the 90s was a prolific time for dumb-yet-catchy booty songs so it fits right in. ;P
 
M

Medalion

Banned
I was just getting into music during the mid 90's so a lot of my tastes that have anything to do with hip-hop/rap or r&b come from those days on top 40 radio.
 
P

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
Fuck yes to this thread. I was especially fond of SWV and Keith Sweat. Definitely set the mood in my teen conquests. B's love that shit!
 
P

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
Interesting thought:

Jagged Edge and the birth of the remix generation seemed kinda like the end of quality R&B. And it probably should have been this way. Everything is eventually trivialized.

Observe:

Before

After
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
falastini said:
Tyrese - Sweat Lady
Click to expand...
Awesome typo there. :lol

Due to the numerous acts we saw in the decade, there was also quite a number of one-hit wonders. Along with Paperboy and the Luniz tracks I linked to in the OP and the Sukiyaki track above, we had for example:

Skee-Lo - I Wish
Snow - Informer
N2Deep - Back to the Hotel
Portrait - Here We Go Again
Tag Team - Whoomp There It Is
95 South - Whoot There It Is
Lighter Shade of Brown - On A Sunday Afternoon
And we can't forget: Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch - Good Vibrations

Also a bit surprised noone's mentioned the Fugees yet.

The Fugees - Killing Me Softly
The Fugees - Ready or Not

PantherLotus said:
Interesting thought:

Jagged Edge and the birth of the remix generation seemed kinda like the end of quality R&B. And it probably should have been this way. Everything is eventually trivialized.
Click to expand...
It was pretty much all downhill after Usher, Next, Dru Hill, Mya, and early Destiny's Child.
 
S

STG!

Member
bjork said:
Awesome awesome list, but you missed one that goes overlooked way too often:

Mad Cobra - Flex
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP8h3OaHM3c
Click to expand...

A classic. Interesting though, I'll have to listen to my copy on vinyl again, the arrangement of that version in the video sounds a bit different from how I remember it... unless I'm mixing it up with a different version on my plate.

Another heavily sampled R&B tuuuuuuuune to add to the list, R. Kelly's Your Body's Callin'.
 
P

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
^ Hell yes. I remember the first time I heard Biggie's Unbelievable. Amazing. vv

XiaNaphryz said:
It was pretty much all downhill after Usher, Next, Dru Hill, Mya, and early Destiny's Child.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna go ahead and call it the "112-ization" of R&B, where Puffy just kinda made them a sideshow to the bigger personalities of Hip Hop. But yeah.
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Dizzan said:
Ummmmm BBD? Poison, Gangsta. I'm disappointed Gaf
Click to expand...
There's plenty of obvious ones not listed yet, though I guess BBD would fall under my "New Edition members" umbrella I mentioned along with Ralph Tresvant, Johnny Gill, and Bobby Brown.

Also, still the best goddamn soundtrack album ever:

Boomerang_Soundtrack.jpg


1. "Give U My Heart" - Babyface featuring Toni Braxton - 5:01
2. "It's Gonna Be Alright" - Aaron Hall featuring Charlie Wilson - 5:34
3. "Tonight Is Right" - Keith Washington - 4:28
4. "I'd Die Without You" - P.M. Dawn - 4:11
5. "7 Day Weekend" - Grace Jones - 4:56
6. "End Of The Road" - Boyz II Men - 5:48
7. "Reversal Of A Dog" - The LaFace Cartel (featuring Damian Dame, Highland Place Mobsters, TLC, and Toni Braxton) - 5:45
8. "Love Shoulda Brought You Home" - Toni Braxton - 4:56
9. "There U Go" - Johnny Gill - 5:16
10. "Don't Wanna Love You" - Shanice - 4:32
11. "Feels Like Heaven" - Kenny Vaughan & 'The Art Of Love' - 2:04
12. "Hot Sex" - A Tribe Called Quest - 2:45
Click to expand...
 
D

DMczaf

Member
XiaNaphryz said:
Did she think the piano-playing puppet was at all creepy?
Click to expand...

I think they did that stuff after, but shes just a random dancing extra.

She was an extra in like every mid 90s R&B and hip hop video that was filmed in LA, she catered one of Montell Jordan's videos (I think it was his follow up to "This is How We Do it") and I got to go. Yes Ninja Scooter, I was in touching distance of Montell Jordan.
 
D

Dizzan

MINI Member
Also, Tony, Toni Tone: If I had no loot, Anniversary

H-Town: Part Time Lover http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09GWMRZkJqY

Personally, I loved the 80s R&B aswell.

Soul II Soul: Back to Life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB54dZkzZOY

Guy - Groove Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VOMzdzXl8M
I Like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI8ivcp8DJM&feature=related

New Edition - Mr Telephone Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umEb...45B79C4EE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=5

This thread is making me feel my age.
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
KibblesBits said:
WTF happened to R&B?
Click to expand...
puff_daddy.jpg


PantherLotus brings up an interesting point with Puff, and I agree he should've left the hip-hop/R&B ratio established with the Total track I listed in the OP alone instead of continue to much with it.

I'm not saying he was the direct cause of general R&B quality dropping, but it was definitely a main factor as the influence can be seen as other labels starting emulating the style, like Dupri over at SoSoDef.

DMczaf said:
I think they did that stuff after, but shes just a random dancing extra.

She was an extra in like every mid 90s R&B and hip hop video that was filmed in LA, she catered one of Montell Jordan's videos (I think it was his follow up to "This is How We Do it") and I got to go. Yes Ninja Scooter, I was in touching distance of Montell Jordan.
Click to expand...
That follow-up would be Somethin for Da Honeyz.

Dizzan said:
Personally, I loved the 80s R&B aswell.

Soul II Soul: Back to Life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB54dZkzZOY

Guy - Groove Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VOMzdzXl8M
I Like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI8ivcp8DJM&feature=related

New Edition - Mr Telephone Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umEb...45B79C4EE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=5

This thread is making me feel my age.
Click to expand...
I'd say the 80s was the birth of contemporary R&B (and which I also love, though 80s R&B definitely felt a but more "pop" at times), with the 90s being the evolution and refinement of it.
 
The Chosen One

The Chosen One

Member
This thread is way overdue.

Considering contemporary R&B was at its peak in the 90s, it's just amazing how completely dead it is now just a decade later.

I've thought about it a lot and I think it was the fusion with hiphop that ultimately killed R&B in the mainstream. In the 90s, they were separate categories, "R&B" and "Rap". But the rap community got bigger and stronger and decided to define the whole subculture as "Hiphop". Then in early 00s, more and more R&B songs contained hiphop collaborations because the record companies wanted to capitalize on the rising popularity of hiphop. Unfortunately, the side effect was that R&B got totally diluted. By the mid-00s, the mainstream music industry basically folded the R&B genre into Hiphop. Nowadays at most award shows there isn't even an R&B category anymore, just hiphop. When an actually R&B artist does well like NeYo, he's thrown under the category of Hiphop or Pop.

Who knows maybe true R&B will resurface after everyone is tired of the auto-tune garbage where practically everyone sounds the same. I was listening to the radio the other day and I honestly wasn't able to tell the different between 3-4 consecutive songs they played because the digitized voices sounded pretty much the same.
 
D

Defensor

Mistaken iRobbery!
Needs more Babyface..

Babyface - Never Keeping Secrets
Babyface - Everytime I Close My Eyes
^ I can't pull off wearing a green velvet blazer like Babyface :-/

Jon B. Featuring Babyface - Someone To Love


I saw Al B. Sure, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, After 7, Guy, Teddy Riley, Tony Toni Tone, Keith Sweat live in concert last year and that was a great concert(s) I'll tell you what.

I've haven't kept up with the news too much but what ever happened to the formation of the new R&B group TGT with Tyrese, Ginuwine, and Tank?
 
B

BishopLamont

Banned
Tere's alot of songs in OP llist that isn't even R&B, but yeah rappers use to complement r&b singers, nowadays its the other way around.
 
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