Friday, April 30, 2010

Brownstone - 5 Miles To Empty (1997)

Billboard Hot 100: #39
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: #6

The first single from their second and final album, Still Climbing. This was their last true hit on the Billboard charts.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Timbaland & Magoo - Clock Strikes (1998)

Billboard Hot 100: #37
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: #24
Hot Rap Songs: #10

The third single from their debut album, "Welcome To Our World". This hit the charts in the same week as Busta Rhymes's "Turn It Up". Both beats sampled the Knight Rider theme in a very similar way. Busta's song was a lot more popular and became one of the bigger rap hits of 1998, while Timbaland & Magoo's version was only moderately successful and, after a few years, forgotten.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

R.I.P. Guru (1966 - 2010)

Guru, one half of the legendary hip hop group Gangstarr, passed away last night after a year long battle with cancer. Rest In Peace.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Zhane - Request Line (1997)

Billboard Hot 100: #39
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: #9

The lead single from their second and final album, Saturday Night.


Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Whitney Houston & Deborah Cox - Same Script, Different Cast (2000)

Billboard Hot 100: #70
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Hits: #14

From Whitney Houston's compilation album, Whitney: The Greatest Hits. This was released as a radio-only promo single, so a video was never made for this song.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Faith Evans - Ain't Nobody (1996)

Billboard Hot 100: #64
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: #14

The third single from her debut album, Faith. This song was overshadowed by her two previous singles, You Used To Love Me and Soon As I Get Home, which were both Top 5 R&B hits.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Arrested Development - Ease My Mind (1994)

Billboard Hot 100: #45
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: #14
Hot Rap Songs: #4

When Arrested Development released their debut album, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... in 1992, they quickly became one of the most popular hip hop groups of the early '90s. The album went 4x Platinum on the strength of three crossover hits: Tennessee, People Everyday, and Mr. Wendal. However, at the time of their second release, 1994's Zingalamaduni, the hip hop scene had changed dramatically. The airwaves were almost completely dominated by West Coast gangsta rap and alternative rap groups like Arrested Development struggeled to stay successful. The album didn't do nearly as well as their first one (it's didn't even go Gold), but it did spawn this moderately successful single, Ease My Mind.

The group broke up 2 years later, only to reunite in 2000. Although they never regained their success in the United States, they have a fairly strong following in Japan to this day.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Toya - I Do (2001)

Billboard Hot 100: #16
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: #25

The first single from her self-titled and only album.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Tracie Spencer - It's All About You Not About Me (1999)

Billobard Hot 100: #18
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: #6

After being gone for 7 years, Tracie Spencer returned to the scene in the summer of 1999 with her third album, Tracie. She scored a Top 10 R&B hit with this song, which was the lead single from the album. However, the album was only mildly successful and Tracie's career faded away into obscurity by the end of 2000.