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R&B & Hip-Hop Number Ones (00's), 2000-2009

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LewisGT View member profile	20th June 2020, 07:26 PM Post #41
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	Richard Blackwood - Mama Who Da Man 1st Single from ’You’ll Love To Hate This’ 1 Week (11th June 2000 - 17th June 2000) 3-9-12-24-39-54-64-(x)-91-85 (9 weeks) S3KqkUU6nyg Richard Blackwood is a TV presenter, actor, comedian and rapper from London who shot the fame as presenter of the British version of dating show “Singled Out” and his own comedy talk show “The Richard Blackwood Show” in the late 1990’s. This allowed him to embark on a music career that lasted throughout the year 2000. In the year, he released three singles to diminishing returns, this peaking at #3, his follow-up “1-2-3-4 Get With The Wicked” reaching #10 and his final single “Someone There For Me” bombed at #23. In the middle of all this, his album reached #35 and could only muster a single over week in the chart. However, after facing financial and mental health problems, Blackwood admiringly got his career back on track by turning to acting. After establishing himself with a short stint on Holby City, he’s had recurring roles on two of the largest soaps in the UK, Eastenders and, from this year, Hollyoaks, as well as portraying the role Eddie Murphy made iconic in the films, ‘Donkey’ in the west-end adaptation of Shrek the Musical. Mama Do The Man heavily samples “Mama Used To Say”, a top 10 hit from 1982 by his uncle Norman “Junior” Giscombe. While Junior has been credited as one of the first British R&B artists to crack America, there was no suggestion that this could ever do the same, despite the song sounding like a Will Smith parody. Smith was actually one of the first guests on Blackwood’s aforementioned chat show, so I guess that is probably where he got his inspiration from. He adapts Smith’s ‘clean rap’ style but without any of the charisma, lyricism or ability. This song is one that has been forgotten by time and it's not hard to see why. This feels very of it's time where you'd see random hits like this in the charts seemingly every week. Having seen Blackwood appear in a few shows my Mum watches frequently, I've seen enough of him secondhand to say that he suits acting much more than he does music. This is the second song in this rundown to be produced by Stargate after ‘Sweet Love 2K’. What a weird time in their career where before they were winning Grammy’s and creating worldwide number ones with Rihanna, Shakira and Katy Perry where they were producing for S Club 7, Atomic Kitten and novelty hits for Channel 4 presenters. Although, I guess they have moved back to the novelty market more recently when they made The Fox with Ylvis. Next up we have our first song from an R&B boyband.


LewisGT View member profile	24th June 2020, 08:31 PM Post #42
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	Damage - Ghetto Romance 1st Single from ’Since You’ve Been Gone’ 1 Week (25th June 2000 - 1st July 2000) 7-15-23-34-40-52-66-(x)-89-86-96 (10 weeks) S0auV0-dOBY Damage are an 1990’s British R&B boyband which consisted of members Jade Jones, Rahsaan Bromfield, Noel Simpson, Andrez Harriott and Coreé Richards. After a minor chart appearance in 1995 (What U C [Iz What U Get], #90), they found widescale success the next year, managing 9 top 40 hits before their disbandment in 2001. Ghetto Romance was their 4th and final top 10 hit, although they were unlucky to miss out with #11 and #12 peakers within their follow-ups. The band reformed in 2014 for ITV’s The Big Reunion, sans Richards, who appeared in the show but had an uneasy relationship with the other members and did not wish to join the reunion. One of the reasons cited for their demise in 2001 was member Jade’s high-profile relationship with Spice Girl Emma Bunton. They claimed this brought about much more press attention than they had during their first album campaign. One thing that did survive though was Jade & Emma’s relationship as they are currently engaged and have had two children together. This is their only appearance in this rundown. This song is one of the first signs in this rundown of the dance-pop route that R&B began to take during the later stages of the decade, as we will see with Mis-Teeq and Black Eyed Peas, and later with Rihanna, Ne-Yo and JLS entries at the end of the decade. This is a good stepping stone between the artists I’ve just mentioned and the more traditional R&B we’ve already seen from Donnell Jones, Destiny’s Child, Honeyz and Fierce. It also sounds pretty identical to a song that is coming up from next year that was also released by a boyband who interchangeably struck a balance between R&B and pop. Just like Thong Song, Ghetto Romance was also produced by the production duo Tim & Bob and the production is certainly the highlight of the song for me. The vocals are fine, quite Jay Sean like at times, but it’s the beat the keeps your head nodding along that makes the song. While it wasn’t their biggest hit, I think this is the Damage song that’s remembered the best today. I wouldn’t have been able to name another one of their songs but I’m certainly familiar with this one. From Peter Crouch doing his robot moves to it at the start of the year to its appearance in the NS10v10 girlbands vs boybands this month, Ghetto Romance seems to have remained relevant and found it’s place in current culture. In fact, I’m calling it now: this is going to be the next R&B classic to get a modern dance remake a la Jay Sean’s Ride It (Regard), Jade’s Don’t Walk Away (Diplo & Sleepy Tom) and Monsta Boy’s Sorry (Joel Corry). Next up we have the first song from the decade’s most successful artist in this rundown.


LewisGT View member profile	27th June 2020, 03:23 PM Post #43
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	Eminem - The Real Slim Shady 1st Single from ’The Marshall Mathers LP’ 4 Weeks (2nd July 2000 - 29th July 2000) 81-1-2-3-4-5-7-8-10--11-15-23-33-38-54-70-(x)-72-84 (18 weeks) eJO5HU_7_1w Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mathers III) is a rapper, actor and record producer from Saint-Joseph, Michigan who is credited as popularising hip-hop across the globe as well as breaking barriers for the acceptance of white rappers in the genre. Eminem’s career has been synonymous with controversy, especially in its early stages where he was frequently cited by conservative outlets by polluting the minds of children through his use of profanity-laden, often violent and offensive lyrics. Despite (or perhaps due) this controversy, Eminem has emerged as one of the most commercially successful and acclaimed artists of all time, breaking records for consecutive #1 albums, being named the bestselling artist in the USA during the 2000’s and the bestselling male artist in the 2010’s as well as winning 15 Grammys, 8 AMAs, 4 BRITS and an Academy Award. Wikipedia tentatively names him as the 9th bestselling artist of all-time. Eminem is certainly the person who defined the genre of hip hop during the 2000s’ if not the whole music scene and is unsurprisingly, the most frequent name to appear in this rundown with this being the first of 13 entries for him (including one as a member of D12). He would even still appear in a 2020’s version of this thread, with Godzilla landing him his 10th official UK number one back in February. During the early 00’s there were two types of Eminem single and we will get a glimpse of both during his first 2 appearances here. We had the completely serious and darker songs which we will see in his two follow-ups and we had the Slim Shady track. Often the lead single, this was the fun, hook filled track with pop elements that caused all the controversy by mixing shots of popular culture and celebrities with his brand of offensive humour and this is certainly the camp that The Real Slim Shady falls under. Eminem found fame with his 2nd studio album ‘The Slim Shady LP’ which debuted and peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts. The success of this album was largely due to its 2nd single My Name Is. The song mixed rap with a rockier sound that allowed him to impact rock and pop radio stations. This success practically transformed Eminem from underground rapper to international celebrity overnight. This meant that expectations were extremely high for the release of ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’. The record label, Interscope, claimed that they were expecting the album to become the first ever to sell 1 million copies in a release week. However, this put a lot of pressure on Eminem and when the label first heard the album they were worried that there was no lead single on there. This angered Em who wrote ‘The Way I Am’ as a result. However, at the last minute, he found a spark of creativity from somewhere and created The Real Slim Shady and a classic was born. He done this by going back to the start. TRSS is in many ways, a sequel to My Name Is, complete with a nod to the famous Dr. Dre line (“and Dr. Dr said…”). And while he claims in TWIA that he would never be able to topple My Name Is, I think he somehow manages it here. Everything about The Real Slim Shady is iconic, from the video to the disses to the chorus. He was rewarded with his first UK #1 and he hasn’t looked back since. I think this is the single that I would say defines the essence of an Eminem track. This style has been often imitated but never bettered. This single helped the album to match the label’s predictions of selling over 1 million copies in a week, opening up to a massive 1.78 million sales tally. However, it didn’t break the record as NSYNC’s ‘No Strings Attached’ notched up an astonishing 2.4 million copies only a few weeks before. 1.78 million is enough for it to remain as the 4th best opening pure sales week of all-time behind two NSYNC albums and the current record holder: Adele’s 25. I’m sure like a lot of people in my age bracket, Eminem music defined a lot of my childhood and this was the song that I probably listened to the most. It’s not what I would rank as his best song today but it’s one that I can listen to and enjoy at any time. The lyrics are often great and the song remains catchy to this day. One of the things I’m most jealous of is that due to the 13 year age gap between us, my sister was able to see Eminem in concert during the peak of his career when I was still only a toddler. Let’s leave this with the words of Eminem himself “Will Smith don’t gotta cuss on his raps to sell records. Well I do, so fk him and fk you too”! Next up we have our first returning artist who got their 2nd number one with this song.


Mack. View member profile	29th June 2020, 02:50 PM Post #44
It's still will be the return of the Mack 4eva Joined: 1 February 2011 Posts: 53,747 User: 12,915	A classic Eminem track there 'The Real Slim Shady'. 20 years old now blimey.


LewisGT View member profile	1st July 2020, 08:40 PM Post #45
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	Craig David - 7 Days 2nd Single from ’Born To Do It’ 6 Weeks (30th July 2000 - 9th September 2000) 1-2-3-7-8-11-18-29-36-44-52-58-65-68-(x)-74-81-(x)-84-(x)-96-(x)-89 (19 weeks) P5lmb5-tnM0 Craig continued the remarkable start to his career by getting his 2nd solo #1 in as many releases with ‘7 Days’. While ‘Fill Me’ In felt like the perfect song by David to capitalise on the hype he gained with the Artful Dodger, 7 Days turned out to be even bigger, again opening with sales above 100k and even managing to impact charts worldwide, becoming a top 10 hit on Billboard as well as in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The song ended up as the #17 best-selling song of 2000 in the UK and the 52nd best-selling song of 2002 in the US where it took a couple of years to take off. It also managed to get both BRITS & Grammy nods cementing it's place as a classic of the 00's. 7 Days is a storytelling song that focuses on a week of David’s life where he has met a girl. The chorus is iconic and has had a life of its own outside of the song. It’s almost impossible to hear somebody talk about what they’ve done on different days without thinking of this song. It’s no surprise the song has made such an impact because the claims in the song are bold to say the least. It’s a song that could only really be released by someone still in the innocence of youth stage of their life. Meeting a girl on a Monday, taking her for a drink on the Tuesday, and making love for every other day in the week (apart from Sunday where they just chilled) sounds like the sort of claim you’d expect to hear from Jay from the Inbetweeners so it’s no surprise to find out that David wrote the hook to this as a 15 year old boy at home in a council flat with his Mum. In an interview with the Independent 2017, David confirmed that despite the lyrics making him appear to be a suave, confident Casanova, that wasn’t really the case, mainly because his Mum wouldn’t have allowed it. The video shows David at a barbershop recounting the events of the previous while, like in the new millennium version of ‘Summer Nights, a disbelieving barber excitingly asks for more details. The video then flashbacks to a Groundhog Day parody where David’s plans to impress the girl are thwarted by various means including forgetting his watch, running out of petrol in his car and finally spilling food over her shirt. In a move straight out of Spaceballs, he takes this occasion to completely demolish the fourth-wall by ‘pausing’ his date, rewinding time and starting over again. Next up we have 1/3rd of a groundbreaking 90’s hip-hop group.


Mack. View member profile	1st July 2020, 11:44 PM Post #46
It's still will be the return of the Mack 4eva Joined: 1 February 2011 Posts: 53,747 User: 12,915	7 Days, a classic from Craig David. Great song this from him. wouldn't tire of this.


LewisGT View member profile	4th July 2020, 06:36 PM Post #47
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	QUOTE(Mack. @ Jul 2 2020, 12:44 AM) 7 Days, a classic from Craig David. Great song this from him. wouldn't tire of this. There has been some classics in the last few entries. What's your favourite song so far Mack?


LewisGT View member profile	4th July 2020, 06:36 PM Post #48
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	Wyclef Jean ft The Rock & Melky Sedeck - It Doesn’t Matter 1st Single from ’The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II A Book’ 2 Weeks (10th September 2000 - 23rd September 2000) 3-8-16-21-30-45-49-63-(x)-85-95-92 (11 weeks) VAag-nlCJQ0 Wyclef Jean is a rapper and actor born in Haiti, who after immigrating to the United States at the age of nine, rose to fame as a member of legendary hip-hop group ‘Fugees’ alongside Lauryn Hill & Pras Mitchell. In 1997, after a few years in the spotlight (although incredibly, neither of their 2 UK #1s made the Billboard Hot 100 at all), each member decided to embark on solo projects. Hill released the endearing and acclaimed ‘The Misseducation Of Lauryn Hill’ album and Pras hit the top of the charts with smash single “Ghetto Superstar (That Is What You Are)” with Mya & Ol’ Dirty bast*rd. Wyclef also released an album (Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival) which was successful, but it wasn’t until his second release, of which It Doesn’t Matter was the lead single, that he fully established himself as a solo artist. The album got him 3 top 10 hits in the UK, a top 10 album on both sides of the pond and a Grammy nomination to boot. Jean has since fallen away from the mainstream throughout the rest of his solo career, the obvious exception being his feature on Shakira’s classic ‘Hips Don’t Lie’, one of the best-selling songs of all-time worldwide and a song that was originally planned as a Fugees’ comeback single called Lips Don’t Lie. Jean also followed Shakira in releasing the official song for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil which couldn’t quite live up to Waka Waka’s legacy. To show how far Jean’s stardom has fallen, he popped up on Rak-Su’s 2017 X Factor UK winner’s single ‘Dimelo’. A fact I imagine most of the public have already forgot. He has one more appearance in this rundown, although ‘Dimelo’ would be enough for him to pop up in a 2010’s version of this thread. The featured artist ‘Melky Sedeck’ is a brother-sister duo consisting of singer ‘Blandinna Melky Jean’ and her instrumentalist brother ‘Farel Sedeck Guerschom Jean. As I’m sure you could guess by their last names, they are Wyclef’s younger siblings. Their names derive from key religious figure ‘Melchizedek’ who was the King of Sodom. That’s about all I can find out about them. The other feature apparently being some professional wrestler guy called ‘The Rock’, I wonder what happened to him It Doesn’t Matter is, of course, based on the Rock’s catchphrase from his wrestling days and he appears on Lil Jon duties to yell it out randomly throughout the song. I understand that this is a club based on the novelty of the Rock doing his thing but the verses really don’t seem to match up to the theme of the song. While the Fugees were known for their intricate, highly-politicised lyrics, no one would claim that Wyclef Jean was the star attraction of the group. Hill was driving force for the group’s success and as her album proved, she was the musical genius with all the talent. While Jean is a good producer and certainly sounds cool, his lyrics can sometimes be lacking and this song is the perfect example of that. Lines such as “Think she want to indulge in lyrical masturbation”, “she had the ass the size of South America” and “but I could be your Paul McCartney and Ebony or Ivory into my Jacuzzi” are just not cool and come off cringy (and in the case of that last bar: completely nonsensical). Next up we have a song from an artist who is still relevant to this day but who’s style of music has changed drastically.


Mack. View member profile	8th July 2020, 11:52 AM Post #49
It's still will be the return of the Mack 4eva Joined: 1 February 2011 Posts: 53,747 User: 12,915	QUOTE(LewisGT @ Jul 4 2020, 07:36 PM) There has been some classics in the last few entries. What's your favourite song so far Mack? It would be The Real Slim Shady for me.


Mack. View member profile	8th July 2020, 11:57 AM Post #50
It's still will be the return of the Mack 4eva Joined: 1 February 2011 Posts: 53,747 User: 12,915	I'm not sure Wyclef Jean or The Rock would look back as this as a career highlight for them. Will it did happen and managed to be a Top 3 hit for them.


LewisGT View member profile	8th July 2020, 07:49 PM Post #51
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	P!nk - Most Girls 2nd Single from ’Cant Take Me Home’ 1 Week (24th September 2000 - 30th September 2000) 5-7-14-22-27-25-40-51 (8 weeks) UWJ_P-TdEJ0 Alicia Beth Moore (better known by the stage name P!nk) is a singer, dancer and model from Pennsylvania, United States who has remained as one of the most popular recording artists in the world for the past 20 years. At the age of 16, she formed the R&B group ‘Choice’, alongside Sharon Flanagan & Chrissy Conway. Together they recorded an album that went unreleased before the group disbanded, allowing P!nk to begin her solo career. She signed with LaFace Records, under L.A. Reid with the expectation for her to continue with the R&B influenced sound of Choice. After finding such large success by transitioning into a rockier sound and, most recently, her releases in the adult-contemporary market, I imagine a lot of the population will have forgot that P!nk started out by making R&B jams like her debut-solo single “There You Go” and the follow-up that has earned her a place here: Most Girls. While her debut solo album “Can’t Take Me Home” was certainly popular, it wasn’t until her 2nd album, the rock/pop-orientated ‘Missundaztood’, where she achieved her largest success. Out of all the artists that feature in this rundown, P!nk is one of those who have remained successful throughout and retained their popularity to this day. Just last year, she earned her 3rd UK & Billboard #1 album with Hurts 2B Human. Other awards and notable achievements received by P!nk include 3 Grammys, 2 BRITs, 7 MTV Music & the ‘BMI President’s Award’ in 2015 as well as being named ‘Woman of the Year’ in 2013 and ‘Pop Songs Artist of the Decade’ (2000’s) by Billboard and the 10th ‘Greatest Woman in Music’ by VHS. We will be seeing one further entry from P!nk before her style of music changed to what she’s known for today. Most Girls was the most successful single of the R&B P!nk era, reaching #5 in the UK & #4 in the USA, a peak she wouldn’t beat with a solo single until ‘So What’ reached #1 in 2008. She definitely stood out in the genre at the time. R&B is of course a genre with very strong black roots and a 20 year old white woman with bright pink hair is not necessary who'd you expect to be making songs like this. Listening to the song now, there was hints of the rockier direction she was eventually going to own. The verses are smooth, but like Kelis’s ‘Caught Out There’ earlier, the chorus is slightly darker with a harsher instrumental that verges into soft-rock. Lyrically, the song is about how P!nk does not want a man for their money but for ‘real love’. The song is really a polar opposite in message to the Hailee Steinfeld song of the same name, While Hailee’s song is a rejection of the trope of promoting a women’s worthiness by generalising others, Pink’s song is like a musical embodiment of the ‘I’m not like other girls meme, claiming “Most girls want a man with the bling bling” and “the mean green”. She even goes as far to say “I am not most girls”. This is a song that I don't really have that much of an opinion on. It's perfectly listenable but it doesn't really leave that much of an impression on me. I'm sure there will people here who enjoy it a lot more than me so please feel free to share your opinions on this one. Next up we have a song by a member of one of the biggest girlbands of all time.


LewisGT View member profile	11th July 2020, 06:20 PM Post #52
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	Mel B - Tell Me 2nd Single from ’Hot’ 1 Week (1st October 2000 - 7th October 2000) 4-12-23-32-46-59-63-(x)-85-77-79-87 (11 weeks) VtW13ZtSdgw Melanie Janine Brown (known better an Mel B) is a singer and television personality from Leeds who reached global fame as a member of 1990’s girlband ‘Spice Girls’. Known as ‘Scary Spice’, she was joined by members Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), Melanie Chisholm (Sport Spice) and Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice). From the release of their debut single in Wannabe in 1996 to Geri’s departure at the end of the millenium, they were completely ubiquitous across pop culture, becoming the face of both the ‘girl power’ movement and a new wave of British Invasion in America. They managed 9 UK #1 singles (with Stop’s #2 peak being the only blemish in their original run), the best selling album by a female group of all-time (Spice, 23 Million Copies), their own film (Spiceworld: The Movie) and an undeniable impact on celebrity culture and popular fashion; especially with Geri’s iconic Union Jack dress. With this legacy, it’s no surprise that each member managed solo success too. Mel B was the first of the group to do so, reaching #1 with her first solo single, 1999’s ‘I Want You Back’, a collaboration with Missy Elliott. To date, Mel B has released two solo albums, the 2nd of which, 2005’s ‘L.A. State Of Mind’ sold only 670 copies to debut at #453 in the official album chart. Mel has most recently been seen as a judge on ‘The X Factor’ and team captain on long-running topical panel-show ‘Celebrity Juice’. After a cover of Word Up was released for the ‘Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me’ soundtrack and charted disappointingly, Tell Me was the 2nd single from her debut album and returned Mel to the top 10, peaking at #4. By this time, Ginger and Sporty Spice had both joined B in achieving UK #1 singles and it felt like a new Spice Girl solo-member related song was popping up every other week. Tell Me is a R&B/dance-pop hybrid that has a very distinctive beat that feels perfectly on trend for what was popular at the time. But the rest of the song does nothing for me. Mel B has such a large personality, it’s surprising how little of it comes out in her music. This song’s certainly not bad but it’s just so bland. It feels like a passable album track but nothing here demanded it's choice as a single which is especially disappointing coming after the bold and exciting 'I Want You Back' which promised big things. One thing I do like about this song though is its lyrical content. Supposedly written about her former husband, Jimmy Gulzar, the lyrics are confident and brash, which contrasts the tired delivery. Lines like "and all you loved was Mel B's money" really work, where the rest of the song doesn't Next up we have the 2nd appearance from a rapper who's named after his initials.


Mack. View member profile	18th July 2020, 11:39 AM Post #53
It's still will be the return of the Mack 4eva Joined: 1 February 2011 Posts: 53,747 User: 12,915	Both all right from Pink and Mel B. Out of the two prefer Pink.


LewisGT View member profile	18th July 2020, 02:01 PM Post #54
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	Eminem - The Way I Am 2nd Single from ’The Marshall Mathers LP’ 1 Week (8th October 2000 - 14th October 2000) 8-13-16-18-24-35-38-44-59-(x)-95 (10 weeks) mQvteoFiMlg After Eminem bagged his 1st UK #1 with ‘The Real Slim Shady’, he released, as the 2nd single from TMMLP, the song he wrote in anger after his label told him that he hadn’t produced any lead worthy singles. One notable thing about this song is that it was the first beat that Eminem produced solely on his own. The song continued Em’s pattern of releasing a much darker and serious follow-up to the fun first single which I think was a good jumping point between The Real Slim Shady & Sta. Of course, coming in the middle of two massively iconic #1 singles, I think this song is largely forgotten about, even though he named his 2008 autobiography after it. This might not be one of Eminem most recognisable hits, but over the past few years this has really grown on me to the point where I’m tempted to say it’s one of his very best. The thing that completely makes the song for me is the rhyming scheme and syllable patterns. You might not notice it the first few times you hear the song but the song is delivered like a poem or a Dr. Suess novel. The reason for this is that, incredibly, the whole song is written in the anapaestic tetrameter. For those not fully clued up on verse, the verses are performed in a pattern of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed, “I sit BACK with this PACK of zig ZAGS of this WEED that gives ME the shit NEEded to BE the most MEANest mC”. This type of scheme is most associated with the world of whimsy (limericks and children’s literature) so to hear it used in such an angry and serious way is really disconcerting and makes the lyrics and theme of the song stand out just that little bit more. The pure skill needed to write a song like this is what separates Eminem from most rappers and why, for me, he is absolutely deserving of his legacy and all of the acclaim he has received. The song is also full multi-syllabic rhymes and crazy delivery, just check out this video to see the scheme in action. One topic that if frequently covered in Eminem songs is the representation of him and his music from the journalistic media and politicians. In ‘The Way I Am’, Eminem references radio’s refusal to play him after the violent lyrics in ‘Guilty Conscience’, Howard Stern calling him a ‘wigga’, as well as more stern topics, such as school shootings. He references how it only makes the news when it happens in a middle class, white neighbourhood and how politicians and journalists publicly blamed the arts, and in particular Marilyn Manson’s music for the tragic events of Columbine. Manson actually appears in the video and has performed the song on stage with Eminem before. In the chorus, Eminem than owns this representation, claiming, whatever the news says he is, is what he will be seen as by most people. Next up we have the 2nd appearance from a singer who’s currently in jail awaiting trial. Just to note these are going to be one a week for the foreseeable as it's a busy time at work at the moment.


Riser View member profile	18th July 2020, 11:08 PM Post #55
The horrors persist, but so do I Joined: 14 July 2013 Posts: 21,953 User: 19,534	The Way I Am seems forgotten to me too, but I'd consider it one of his best lyrically! By the way, I think the dates are off for some of these. 7 Days is shown to have the same dates at #1 as The Real Slim Shady, and some of these should be September/October rather than August.


Mack. View member profile	19th July 2020, 12:12 PM Post #56
It's still will be the return of the Mack 4eva Joined: 1 February 2011 Posts: 53,747 User: 12,915	The Way I Am, yes it is one of his best lyrically. Great song too.


LewisGT View member profile	1st August 2020, 04:28 PM Post #57
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	QUOTE(Riser @ Jul 19 2020, 12:08 AM) The Way I Am seems forgotten to me too, but I'd consider it one of his best lyrically! By the way, I think the dates are off for some of these. 7 Days is shown to have the same dates at #1 as The Real Slim Shady, and some of these should be September/October rather than August. Thanks, I've updated the dates now


LewisGT View member profile	1st August 2020, 04:29 PM Post #58
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 February 2013 Posts: 11,965 User: 18,293	R. Kelly - I Wish 1st Single from ’TP-2.com’ 1 Week (15th October 2000 - 21st October 2000) 12-20-21-29-39-53 (6 weeks) P8CXUzepL6k R. Kelly, despite this track missing the official top 10, gets his first solo appearance here with ‘I Wish’ and while his biggest and definitive hit is still to come, it’s fair to say his heyday was the 1990’s and this album’s underperformance (#21 in the UK) was the beginning of his downfall. Kelly will appear three more times in this countdown. I will start this off with an obvious statement: it’s impossible to listen impartially to any music from R. Kelly in the year 2020. Even a song like ‘I Wish’ which is a dedication to his mother and friends who have passed away. And while this kind of song is what suits his silky-smooth vocals, it’s not a message that suits him at all. Hearing braggadocious lyrics such as “how did I become the leader of a billion fans” and “Honey Love goes platinum and y'all ass come around” in a song that is attempting to make you feel sorry for a millionaire is always going to feel a little off but hearing them coming from a man who has caused so much pain for others feels especially misguided and objectionable. Despite this, it is not hard to see why Kelly was able to become so huge. While this is nowhere near a classic in his arsenal, he is still the definitive voice in R&B for me and always sounds brilliant even on bad songs. This was originally planned to include a guest verse from Tupac who was tragically murdered before recording his verse. This is exactly the type of song that Tupac excelled at so I can only imagine just how epic his verse would have been. The song did eventually receive a Hip-Hop remix courtesy of Boo & Gotti; whoever they are. I would have much rather had talked about Skee-Lo’s classic song from 1995 with the same title. (Un)fun fact: this song falls between “Bad Man” and “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” in his discography. Next up we have a Grammy winning novelty hit that took over the world


Mack. View member profile	24th August 2020, 06:31 PM Post #59
It's still will be the return of the Mack 4eva Joined: 1 February 2011 Posts: 53,747 User: 12,915	I Wish what was it R Kelly wished for?


Josh! View member profile	21st October 2020, 02:15 PM Post #60
c: Joined: 12 March 2014 Posts: 13,152 User: 20,692	Would love for this to be continued if ever you find the time !