RNB RADAR

Do you remember this freestyle? ✨

Back in April, Mary Ann Alexander sat down for a ‘Take A Seat’ freestyle during her first ever trip to New York from India, and the clip took off. The comments filled up with one request: finish the song. She went back in, and now ‘NYC’ is officially out. From a viral moment to a real release, this is how it is supposed to work. Stream ‘NYC’ now.
MARY ANN Hunna G

Which one takes you back the most? 📁👇🏽

On this day in 1990, Johnny Gill’s ‘My, My, My’ hit No. 1 on the R&B chart. He recorded it while New Edition was on break, it won the Soul Train Award for best R&B single by a male artist, and it’s still getting flipped today, Cashmere Cat and Ariana Grande’s “Adore” and Lil Mosey’s “Blueberry Faygo” are both built on it.

On this day in 1998, Monica released her album ‘The Boy Is Mine.’ She was 17, working with Jermaine Dupri, Dallas Austin and a young Darkchild, and the title track stayed at No. 1 so long it finished as the biggest song of 1998. The album got a whole second life in 2024 when Ariana Grande flipped it and the remix put Brandy and Monica back on the Grammy ballot.

25 years ago today, Alicia Keys’ debut ‘Songs in A Minor’ entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1. She wrote and produced most of it herself at 20 years old, “Fallin’” ran six weeks at No. 1, and the album now sits in the Library of Congress. And it wasn’t even the only R&B record at No. 1 that week.

The same chart week, Usher’s ‘U Remind Me’ was No. 1 on the Hot 100. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced it, it ran four weeks at the top, and it won Usher his first Grammy. For one week in the summer of 2001, R&B had the No. 1 album and the No. 1 song in the country at the same time.

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