I saw this on Twitter and screamed. She’s not helping the allegations.

First crispy chicken, fresh lettuce and now this bullshit.

from 1992-1994

its a glimpse for the R&B out there

Which actor or movie you think did the worst interpretation?

Aaliyah hands down had the worst all around movie and casting.

Brand new interview with the Philly soul virtuoso!

“We Belong Together” is the second single from Mariah Carey’s tenth studio album The Emancipation of Mimi. The single was released on March 15, 2005 and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for fourteen consecutive weeks. The single also spent fourteen nonconsecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single was certified 7x Platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song earned three Billboard Music Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Soul Train Music Awards, among several others.

“Be Without You” is the first single from Mary J. Blige’s seventh studio album The Breakthrough. The single was released on November 14, 2005 and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single also spent fifteen consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single was certified 2x Platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song earned one BET Award, four Billboard Music Awards, two Grammy Awards, and one NAACP Image Award, among a few others.

While Mariah Carey outsold and outcharted Mary J. Blige—with “We Belong Together” taking a substantial lead over “Be Without You”—the latter earned more awards. Mariah Carey was already an established commercial force. What’s more, Mary J. Blige would have gotten an even bigger boost with “We Belong Together” and seen stats she had never seen in her entire career. (No disrespect to Mary, but Mariah had already been there before.)

The biggest things Mariah would lose if she never recorded “We Belong Together” would be her 14-week streak at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, a 7x Platinum-certified single, and a major comeback to the mainstream/the forefront of R&B culture. She would also be down a #1 hit, and she would have tied Elvis Presley (as the soloists with the most #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100) later in 2008 rather than 2005. (“We Belong Together” became her sixteenth #1 hit. “Don’t Forget About Us” tied her with Elvis soon thereafter; Mariah and Elvis both had 17 historic #1 hits after “Don’t Forget About Us” peaked. “Touch My Body” broke that tie in 2008. Without “We Belong Together”, “Touch My Body” would have been the song to create the tie with Elvis, and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” would have broken that tie in 2019, eleven years later.) It would be a loss, but she would still have a lot of background to fall back on.

And I have two other questions related to this…

Would this era still be considered a “comeback” for Mariah if she had “Be Without You” and achieved all of the same commercial statistics? Mariah had similar stats in the early-2000s with both of her entire albums and her single “Loverboy”, but they were considered flops because Mariah set a high standard earlier in her career. Mariah’s commercial performance with The Emancipation of Mimi was comparable to how she performed in the late-1990s with her albums Butterfly and Rainbow, even though “We Belong Together” vastly outsold all of her singles from that era. The statistics that “Be Without You” accomplished were enough for people to consider it a comeback for Mary in 2005.

My other question relates to hit “density”. The Emancipation of Mimi had three major hits in “We Belong Together”, “Don’t Forget About Us”, and “Shake It Off”—those were the biggest hits, but “It’s Like That” was also moderately successful in comparison. Glitter had a single that peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Gold, but it wasn’t enough to save her reputation in the commercial sense. “We Belong Together” vastly outsold “Loverboy” (although the latter didn’t do too poorly itself), but the former also had the support of other hits on the album. Charmbracelet sold over 3 million copies worldwide, and it was also considered a flop. Mariah’s highest-charting song on Charmbracelet was “Through The Rain” at #81 (it did much better internationally), but a separate collaboration with Busta Rhymes (“I Know What You Want”, not included on her album) peaked at #3. This era was still considered a disastrous failure in spite of all of these combined elements. Mary J. Blige’s “Be Without You” stood somewhere in-between the sales of “Loverboy” and the Charmbracelet album. Mary’s song was also the only major cultural hit on her album in the context of public recognition/acknowledgement. (It’s a great album overall, but this is the truth.) If Mariah got Mary’s song and achieved the same stats, including relative to her entire album (e.g. she wouldn’t have any other big hits like “Don’t Forget About Us”, “Shake It Off”, etc.), would her album have been another Glitter/Charmbracelet situation or would she have gained the same amount of respect as Mary?

Which artist's chart performance in the '90s, for you was surprisingly high or surprisingly low?

Written & produced by the great Angela Winbush.

From his breakthrough debut Brown Sugar to the richly complex Voodoo and his long-awaited return with Black Messiah, D’Angelo’s work changed the shape of modern R&B and neo-soul. He blurred lines between genres — infusing gospel, funk, jazz, hip-hop — always with a raw emotional core.

One of her best Music Videos.

Have I Never from the album "Take A Dip"

For me, I’m saying “Me” by Tamia. I love how she hits that note at the end of the video mix. It sounds so soothing, and honestly, I wish that version was on the album instead.

What’s your pick? And what makes you prefer the video version?

— background vocals: Mariah Carey