Who was THE r&b artist of the 90s?

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So the 70s clearly belonged to Stevie, the 80s were Prince's time, the 2000s are shaping up to be decade of Usher, but I can't really think of any single clear r&b singer/group who dominated the 90s either commerically or artisically. The best candidate I can think of is PM Dawn, who had a couple of hits and an excellent debut album, but I don't think many people even remember them anymore. Any other suggestions?

― graf cycliz (graf cycliz), Monday, 10 July 2006 14:53 (nineteen years ago)

BABYFACE

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 July 2006 14:55 (nineteen years ago)

Toni Braxton

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 10 July 2006 14:58 (nineteen years ago)

I like PM Dawn more than most people, probably, but you're insane to suggest that they defined the 90s.

Commercially at least, it was probably Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, and TLC.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 10 July 2006 14:58 (nineteen years ago)

(There is a common link between everyone mentioned so far; BABYFACE.)

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:03 (nineteen years ago)

R. Kelly. AND he's the RnB artist of the 00's too.

― Ruairi Wirewool (Ruairi Wirewool), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:03 (nineteen years ago)

I don't think Usher has the 00s on lock yet.

Mary J Blige would be a good call for the 90s I think.

― deej.. (deej..), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:07 (nineteen years ago)

Again, guess who's linked to R. Kelly and Mary J Blige during the 90s?

There really isn't any debate over this as far as I'm concerned; an absurd number of the R&B hits of the 90s can be traced directly back to Babyface as either a performer or a producer.

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:08 (nineteen years ago)

props to Teddy Riley also tho

TLC sounds good to me.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:09 (nineteen years ago)

I think you could make a case for Teddy Riley. xp!

― deej.. (deej..), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:10 (nineteen years ago)

Bell Biv DeVoe!

― yer mam! (yer mam!), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:10 (nineteen years ago)

Dan is quite OTM. I'd also make a case for Mariah Carey, as her work with Narada Michael Walden, Puff, Jermaine Dupri, etc stands at the intersection between pop and R&B – it made them interchangeable, in fact.

(I love PM Dawn; I heard the 12" mix of "Set Adrift..." yesterday afternoon)

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:11 (nineteen years ago)

In the 2000s R Kelly is known more for his sex scandal and the weird, so-bad-it's-good "Trapped in the Closet," meanwhile Usher's pumped out a bunch of huge hits that are actually pretty good. I don't see any real contest for the r&b artist of the 2000s.

― graf cycliz (graf cycliz), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:11 (nineteen years ago)

babyface is right - who is THE r&b performer of the 90s now the crucial question!

en vogue.

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:14 (nineteen years ago)

I think when most people look back upon R&B in the '90s, they don't think of 'Face, nor certainly TLC (who are already fading from most fans' memories, I think - cf. the fact that they're almost never played on "jammin' old school" formats). Boyz II Men had the hits but no presence. R. Kelly? Yup. Mary J. Blige? Yup again. Call 'em King and Queen of the decade, whydontcha. Not just commercially, either: MJB's made some of the finest pure R&B of the past 20 years, and Mr. Kelly's influenced a generation like you wouldn't believe. 'Face is much more important as a producer/songwriter, a la Phil Spector and George Martin.

― Thomas Inskeep (submeat), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:15 (nineteen years ago)

as an out front artist, I would say either Mary J. Blige or, yes, Whitney Houston -- say what you want about everyone's favorite cracktreess, but she had an amazing decade, what with the Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale OSTs and even with her album late in the decade.

But as an overall figure in R&B, I'd say Babyface and Jermaine Dupri share equal billing there. Babyface for redefining the sound, Dupri for finding all kinds of pop crossover success (he's behind Kriss Kross, after all). As a third possibility, I'd offer Teddy Riley for blurring the lines between hip-hop and R&B most effectively. Then I'd put R. Kelly, though I'd say he's been much more influential this decade through his sheer audacity -- he's relly inspired a renewed cult of outrageousness.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:15 (nineteen years ago)

Jerkins is caught between 90s and 00s I suppose, but he'd the third great r&b producer behind Babyface and Riley perhaps?

but he did make Whitney cool (again) for a while, amongst other things.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:17 (nineteen years ago)

R's 'renewed cult of outrageousness' is unfair to his talent as a songwriter/producer/vocalist.

― deej.. (deej..), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:17 (nineteen years ago)

nor certainly TLC (who are already fading from most fans' memories, I think - cf. the fact that they're almost never played on "jammin' old school" formats)

Bit unfair considering R Kelly and Mary J are still very active and the most talented member of TLC has passed away since. I know we're just talking 90s but people probably elevate Kelly and Blige simply because they're still forces now.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:19 (nineteen years ago)

I wouldn't say it's unfair deej ... what I mean is I think his infamy status really just gave him the courage to go for it ... and the results have been stunning. Just gives everyone a gold standard to shoot for in terms of inventiveness, craft and, yes, the reach of the subject matter. "Trapped in the Closet," to me is a challenge to all of R&B to step up to the plate.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:20 (nineteen years ago)

people probably elevate Kelly and Blige simply because they're still forces now.

No – they also scored the most hits in the '90s. Count'em.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

Teddy Riley's various incarnations had more hits in the '90s than Kelly, dude. So did Babyface as a solo artist. And Whitney also had numerous massive hits. Unless I be trippin' and you have the numbers to back that up.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

May be unfair, but it's what happens. (See also: En Vogue, substituting leaving for dying.)

― Thomas Inskeep (submeat), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:25 (nineteen years ago)

I guess I'm confused by the original post, O'Connor. Are we talking about performers? producers? graf cycliz cited performers.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:29 (nineteen years ago)

No – they also scored the most hits in the '90s. Count'em.

TLC had a better quality ratio imo.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:30 (nineteen years ago)

We can count hits till the cows come home, but Guy isn't remembered by anyone but hardcore R&B obsessives (I count myself as a member of that club, btw), Wreckx-N-Effect had one hit, now basically considered a novelty, and when's the last time you heard a Blackstreet song not titled "No Diggity"? I'm not counting success as a producer because the question regarded who's the R&B artist of the '90s. (God this is so ILM!) Whereas R. spent the '90s becoming the King of R&B. Pretty sure 'Face didn't have more solo hits in the '90s than R., but I don't have my Whitburn book handy.

― Thomas Inskeep (submeat), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

I'm still confused by the original question. In 1980 thte Vouice named Neil Young as the Artist of the Decade, when commercially Elton John and Paul McCartney/Wings were the two biggest.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

(excuse heinous typos)

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

'Face didn't have ANY solo hits in the UK incidentally.

I'm willing to accept R Kelly as winning performer, if only because Michael and Janet transcend the 'genre' so much more.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:36 (nineteen years ago)

actually i tell a lie re Babyface. he actually had three top 13 hits in 96/97. i'll be damned if i remember how any of them go tho.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:37 (nineteen years ago)

babyface's peak as a performer came during the 80s though as a producer he might have a slight edge in hits over kelly during the 90s. it's pretty slight though, mainly due to earlier start is my guess. as a 'performer' it very obv is either kelly or mary j though a case could be made for d'angelo maybe though it's a hard case. tlc obv have a case too. both had way way more hits as a performer than babyface that's for sure. considering how incredibly important and impacting l.a. reid's and babyface's move to atlanta was it definitely seems fair to annoint them for reasons that have little to do with anything they did directly. it sure as fuck isn't michael for the 90s (maybe in the uk though how the fuck that's relevant is beyond me), though janet's an interesting possibility esp if all those 90 hits from rhythm nation are factored in. she never really owned r&b radio though did she? the more i think about this the more it's obv it's kelly. interesting case for tony toni tone (similar but maybe stronger case as with d'angelo) could be made.

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:56 (nineteen years ago)

R beats Teddy 16-15 if we're going by the number of top 20 R&B hits RELEASED by R. Kelly versus a combination of the same released by Guy, Wreckx-N-Effect and Blackstreet. (And it's not like Riley is THE face of all those groups' songs.) I am too lazy and on vacation to tally up Aaliyah and MJ and Sparkle and Puff Daddy and Changing Faces and Ron Isley and etc and weigh them against Hi-Five and the Winans and SWV and etc. If we're going by total records sold in the decade, I'd be extremely surprised if Riley came out ahead.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Monday, 10 July 2006 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

i'm not into ANY of Kelly's 90s hits with the exception of 'Be Careful'.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:01 (nineteen years ago)

might be tricky to separate Puff Daddy R&B productions as opposed to moer straight up hip-hop ones, but how does he compare to other producers re total records sold in this vein? quite favourably i'm thinking.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:04 (nineteen years ago)

guy feels alot more 80s to me anyhow, the future was a victory lap.

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:06 (nineteen years ago)

R. Kelly is a minstrel show for the modern man.

Also re: En Vogue, I think you really mean "kicked out" instead of "leaving", ha.

babyface's peak as a performer came during the 80s though as a producer he might have a slight edge in hits over kelly during the 90s.

As a solo artist, he had 1 hit during the 80s! (Granted that hit was "It's No Crime" so your point may still stand...)

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:06 (nineteen years ago)

(FWIW: http://www.rockonthenet.com/artists-b/babyface_main.htm)

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:07 (nineteen years ago)

I knew it was a matter of time before Andy stepped in.

(I'm listening to "Tender Lover" and "It's No Crime" for the first time in aeons).

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

Babyface on a strictly solo basis peaked '89/'90 ("Tender Lover," "My Kinda Girl," "Whip Appeal," "It's No Crime").

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

ha - i forgot "when can i see you"! i think my brain is permenantly wired to hear "nobody knows" in its stead now. i do like "it's no crime" and esp "whip appeal" (90s hit apparently! babyface back in the race!) more than any of his other hits (unless you count his backing vocals on the madonna hits being so upfront they count as his too). also surely babyface was more 90s minstrel show than kelly. i mean shit - which one worked with ron isley and which one worked with eric clapton?

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

Plus: Having a pretty good memory of what sold in the record stores I worked at during the '90s (urban and suburban), the obvious king and queen are Blige and Kelly -- no question, not even close. And Babyface roughly half the time was more AC than anything else.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

queen and king, obv

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

i'm trying to remember if whitney and bobby moved to atlanta cuz of l.a. reid and babyface or if la face moved to atlanta cuz of whitney and bobby.

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

Blount, which one released "Bump N Grind", "Sex Me" and "You Remind Me Of My Jeep"?

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

And Blount, since Isley covered Seals & Crofts a couple decade prior I think yr Clapton-Babyface argument might be faulty.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:20 (nineteen years ago)

Okay, now that I really think about it, it is not at all.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:20 (nineteen years ago)

seals & croft were nazis????

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:21 (nineteen years ago)

What about Mariah Carey?

I'd rather it be R. and Mary J., but Mariah seems the elephant in the room.

― EZ Snappin (EZSnappin), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:22 (nineteen years ago)

Though JD makes a very valid point.

Mariah: I count 18 top 20 R&B singles with a two-year head start on Mary.

Mary: something like 12 or 13.

Hm.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:27 (nineteen years ago)

btw plz for someone to revive 70s isley tradition of transforming contemporary wimprock into great r&b (ie. maybe anthony hamilton can redeem oberst?)(babyface sorta did the bizarro version of this in a way didn't he?).

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:28 (nineteen years ago)

Skipping 120 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

02/99:
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― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Monday, 10 July 2006 22:08 (nineteen years ago)

is that oprah?

― the fuckablity of late picasso (vahid), Monday, 10 July 2006 22:14 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, if oprah were 150 pounds lighter and had perfect BJ lips ...

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Monday, 10 July 2006 22:36 (nineteen years ago)

anyone using the term 'the black Beck' in any way probably needs a slap around the face with a giant trout.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 10 July 2006 22:37 (nineteen years ago)

somehow, those last two posts together...

― Rev. PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie 2), Monday, 10 July 2006 22:41 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, bad spot for a trout-slapping mention ...

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Monday, 10 July 2006 22:54 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.73.com/a/ha019.gif

― trees (treesessplode), Monday, 10 July 2006 23:23 (nineteen years ago)

You guys are horrible for starting this thread without me! Pricks.

― It's Rodney, chocolate-covered, freaky, and habit-forming! (R. J. Greene), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 00:27 (nineteen years ago)

How many people are in graf cycliz?

― Rev. PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie 2), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 01:45 (nineteen years ago)

just one at the moment (and I hope to keep it that way)

― graf cycliz (graf cycliz), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 04:05 (nineteen years ago)

r&b must have been on its' last breath in the 90's. I guess that why the hip-hoppers muscled in. Or did hip-hop muscle r&b out? It's just sad we can't have mre than 5 or 6 credible candidates for a whole decade.

― nicky lo-fi (nicky lo-fi), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 06:15 (nineteen years ago)

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I think the confusion for people looking in from the outside is that they are looking for auteurs and 90s R&B is not auteur-driven in the slightest. It has much more in common, creative process-wise, with 60s Motown than with 70s Stevie or 80s Prince. People (generalizations ahoy) weren't trying to make giant artistic statements, they were trying to make great pop songs.

― It's Rodney, chocolate-covered, freaky, and habit-forming! (R. J. Greene), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 06:42 (nineteen years ago)

And R&B sold waaaaaaaaay more records in the 90s than hiphop did. If you were a big R&B singer in the 90s you did 5 mil, if not 8. In the 90s hiphop really didn't dominate the mainstream (or even black) culture the way it does now. The kids of the 90s (my generation) had parents who grew up before the hiphop revolution, whereas todays kids are growing up in rap-dominated households.

― It's Rodney, chocolate-covered, freaky, and habit-forming! (R. J. Greene), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 06:46 (nineteen years ago)

I actually can't believe that we're considering anyone besides Kels.

― max (maxreax), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 06:47 (nineteen years ago)

the question was "who dominated the 90s either commerically or artisically"

artisically, the 90's had way more top rated hip-hop albums than r&b albums. this is why we still only have 5 or 6 credible candidates for THE artist of the decade, unless people in-the-know start adding some more

― nicky lo-fi (nicky lo-fi), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 08:46 (nineteen years ago)

remind why albums are a criteria again?

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 12:50 (nineteen years ago)

In the 90's, rappers wanted that R&B money, so the core Hip-Hop community became divided. Some "sold out" to the R&B, and the rest cried "keep it real".

1996 was essentially the year that Puffy and Timbaland showed Hip-Hop what they were missing out on money-wise, and flashy, tuff talking solo acts overtook groups in a slow process.

― Rev. PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie 2), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 13:12 (nineteen years ago)

I'd say that was more Puffy than Timbaland, actually ... Tim's stuff was never quite as deliberately flossy, I don't think.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 13:23 (nineteen years ago)

remind why albums are a criteria again?

Arbitrary.

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 13:47 (nineteen years ago)

I'd say that was more Puffy than Timbaland, actually ... Tim's stuff was never quite as deliberately flossy, I don't think

Sorry...my points were all jumbled. Timbo and Missy certainly blurred the line between Hip-Hop and R&B, sans all-out-glam...but you have to admit, even they were subject to the Hype Williams video treatment, unlike say, Mobb Deep.

― Rev. PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie 2), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

Tim's stuff was never quite as deliberately flossy, I don't think.

Are you kidding?

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 14:06 (nineteen years ago)

I mean, no offense, but Timbo produced for most huge mainstream rap artists during the height of flashy jewelry...even puffy's shiny suits don't match the opulence of Jigga and Dame on that cruise ship. I mean I guess you could say tim wasn't 'deliberately' flossy but his sound seems sort of 'one' with hip-hop's wealthy opulent peak, high-class bounce. Saying he wasn't deliberately flossy seems more like some sort of attempt to sanitize and make safe for fans of producer-auteurs. Cuz to me he and Mannie Fresh epitomize 'jiggy'

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 14:11 (nineteen years ago)

(i don't mean that as a negative thing)

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 14:16 (nineteen years ago)

does anyone think that Tim and Kelly could work together, or would their egos be too big for each other?

― veronica moser (veronica moser), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 14:16 (nineteen years ago)

Is this where I bring up my obligatory Mannie Fresh started out as a raw Miami Bass producer in 1987 schtick?

― Rev. PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie 2), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 14:16 (nineteen years ago)

To clarify, I just mean that Tim's music itself is subgenre-agnostic. If anything, his stuff is really just eccentric and flat-out weird (and the videos, fwiw, come as a natural outgrowth of that wackiness), and it must be the exoticism that attracted the guys like Jay-Z to commission his beats. Puffy's output, on the other hand, leans more heavily on the use of deliberate samples and in call-and-response chorus. It's much more orthodox, much more intended as thugged-out club music.

Think about it: Tim takes a lot of his artistic chances on outcastes like Missy, Bubba Sparxxx, Nelly Furtado and Petey Pablo. Puffy signed Biggie, the Lox and Black Rob, safer bets for street ears.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 14:21 (nineteen years ago)

Manny, btw, is the flossiest of the bunch ... that guy is great. Just a flat-out party producer.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 14:22 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah this rewriting of Timbo as just 'weird' is whats distasteful to me. He made pop songs and had a very unique style, but those artists you listed are hardly representative of his most well-known or accomplished work and Puffy's bad boy stuff wasnt any more 'flossy' to me; it was more disco, maybe.

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 14:54 (nineteen years ago)

deej, be fair. something like Big Pimpin' is unusual to say the least, which can be interpreted as weird. It's 134 bpm, but sounds slow. The snares are no where near 2 and 4, etc.

― Rev. PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie 2), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 15:13 (nineteen years ago)

Weird is actually meant to be a compliment, not a denigration ... Timbaland is one of those rare pop geniuses with the creative freedom to change up the formula. He exists in his own realm. He makes great and wholly unique, exotic pop music. Exotic is actually a better term than weird.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

Oh I'm well aware you mean it as a complement, I'm just saying that it distorts his actual contributions and minimizes the contributions of other producers in hip-hop when he's singled out all the time as 'rare pop genius' or whatever. I think Timbaland was(is?) great but you don't have to seperate him from certain artists and culture (of which he was very much a part) in order to recognize that.

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 15:44 (nineteen years ago)

Or not so much 'singled out' but seperated and praised in opposition to 'generic radio pabalum' or whatever.

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 15:45 (nineteen years ago)

90s R&B is not auteur-driven in the slightest.

sure it was. it was the producer-writers as auteurs, not that different from the '70s (hello Clinton/Gamble and Huff) or the '80s (Jam & Lewis), up to and including the fact that the most convincingly argued-for people mentioned on this thread (Babyface and R. Kelly) are both producer-writers and performers. (just as Prince and Stevie and, sure, Clinton were also performers.)

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 16:30 (nineteen years ago)

not trying to do that, actually. the analysis was framed in terms of flossiness and vs. Puffy, who I also happen to admire a lot more than some others. His influence on hip-hop and R&B culture is enormous ... you're right, Timbaland belongs to hip-hop culture as much as anyone. he's just more of a gifted musical mind than a lot of folks, I feel.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 16:41 (nineteen years ago)

I knew I was going to get called out on that. What I really meant was auteur/artists. Babyface and R. Kelly both apply, but weren't really the types of folks I was trying to get at, people who really view themselves as "artistes" (although Kells, perhaps, has morphed into that.)

It was a badly presented (still not presented quite as well as I want) argument.

― It's Rodney, chocolate-covered, freaky, and habit-forming! (R. J. Greene), Tuesday, 11 July 2006 20:13 (nineteen years ago)

I would be surprised if Babyface didn't view himself as an "artiste" as well as a businessman.

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 12 July 2006 10:25 (nineteen years ago)

But does he still consider himself really 'babyfaced' after all these years?

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 12 July 2006 10:31 (nineteen years ago)

HE IS TEH TRIFECTA

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 12 July 2006 10:36 (nineteen years ago)

"outcastes like Missy, Bubba Sparxxx, Nelly Furtado and Petey Pablo"

nelly excepted, cos shes not a rapper, but you say outcastes, i say hit and miss, somewhat peculiar and distinctive but not really all that amazing rappers. the artists timbaland picks to work with or sign to his label or take under his wing are those that dont take too much attention from his production (mainly cos theyre just not that great as rappers).

its funny that timbaland is thought of as being opposite to 'generic radio shit' as well, cos hes seen as being just that by a lot of hip hop fans, despite his brilliance. he ushered in the jiggy/hiphop-R&B era with missy, just as much as puffy and jay-z did.

― titchyschneider (titchyschneider), Wednesday, 12 July 2006 11:14 (nineteen years ago)

Which is the point I made when introducing him to this arguement

― Rev. PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie 2), Wednesday, 12 July 2006 12:28 (nineteen years ago)

I disagree with the notion that Timbaland's collaborators and proteges are second rate. Petey and Bubba are both fabulous ... unorthodox personas but highly skilled rappers. Missy just has an old-school creative freedom to her and can definitely write songs. Nelly also is a talented songwriter and quirky speaksinger. So all of these people *share* in the musical product.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Wednesday, 12 July 2006 13:05 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.usaweekend.com/06_issues/060709/060709poll.html

"Carey knows how to create lyrical magic by writing incredible songs that really speak to the masses."

Guess that's that, then.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 12 July 2006 14:12 (nineteen years ago)

and Coolio at #7 ... wow.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Wednesday, 12 July 2006 14:24 (nineteen years ago)

seven months pass...

8. "Missing," Everything but the Girl (1994)

wtf is that

― deej, Thursday, 1 March 2007 23:55 (nineteen years ago)

Hahaha what an odd list.

― The Brainwasher, Thursday, 1 March 2007 23:57 (nineteen years ago)

"We don't need no hateration, holleration" isn't exactly the essential MJB lyric.

― The Brainwasher, Friday, 2 March 2007 00:00 (nineteen years ago)

how the fuck did this turn into another timbaland debate...jesus people shut up about timbaland.

― artdamages, Friday, 2 March 2007 00:36 (nineteen years ago)

yeah you fucks, go back in time and clean up your act!

― PappaWheelie V, Friday, 2 March 2007 00:37 (nineteen years ago)

i dont know what that means, but I'm so sick of every discussion of r and b or hip hop turning into a timbaland circle jerk

― artdamages, Friday, 2 March 2007 00:42 (nineteen years ago)

i think we can eliminate Timbaland from the running for best R&B artist of the 90s.

― artdamages, Friday, 2 March 2007 00:43 (nineteen years ago)

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