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Saturday, November 24, 2012

7 Slept-On Male R&B Artist {90's & EARLY 2000's}




Iwoke up the other morning in an R&B mood. I just couldn’t get this one song out of my head. I wound up grabbing my trusty Android and Googled the track on YouTube so I could listen to it in the shower and get my bathroom acoustics on. But I digress…

The whole experience reminded me of several of my favorite male R&B artists from the 90s and early 2000s that never got a fair shake. Despite their talents and hits, their place in the general public’s psyche has waned over the years. In fact, most that came to mind for me would rarely top anyone’s greatest of all-time list. I’m not saying that these brothers are G.O.A.T.s but in my humble opinion they deserve their fair shake somewhere alongside the Maxwells and D’Angelos of the world.

Without further ado, here are my personal picks for top slept-on male R&B artists from the ’90s and early 2000s.



7. GLENN LEWIS 
Maybe it’s because he hailed from Toronto long before Drake made it cool to be, but Glenn Lewis’ name rings few bells in the when mentioned. Inspired by Stevie Wonder, he carried a tone quite similar to the living legend. In fact, in 2002 he released Conception: A Tribute to Stevie Wonder that included a stirring rendition of “Superstition.” Lewis' debut album, World Outside My Window featured a few hidden gems such as “Don’t You Forget It” and “It’s Not Fair.”


6. DAVE HOLLISTER
 Like most, I first got put on to Dave Hollister when he was singing lead for Teddy Riley’s Backstreet. (“Before I Let You Go” will forever be one of my favorite jams of all time.) But little did I know that Dave had been putting in vocal work previously on classic tracks like 2Pac’s “Brenda Got a Baby” and “Keep Ya Head Up.” Eventually Hollister went solo and dropped the underground classic Ghetto Hymns, which included “My Favorite Girl.” Other highlights on his track record are “One Woman Man” and “Baby Mama Drama.”
5. CARL THOMAS
 Being signed to Bad Boy, which was one of the biggest labels at one time, I can see some folks saying Carl Thomas isn’t necessarily slept-on, but, then again, he was signed to Bad Boy, which has a revolving door roster where few get shine outside of Puff Daddy Diddy. Hands down, though, Emotional was one of the best all-around R&B albums to come out in 2000. Spearheaded by the heartfelt “I Wish,” the album was chockfull of joints and jams that still stand the test of time like “Emotional” and “Summer Rain.”
4. CASE
 While made his debut as one of Def Soul’s emerging hip-hop singers, complete with a single featuring Foxy Brown and Mary J. Blige 1996’s “Touch Me, Tease Me,” his true talent lied in ballads. I could rattle off a list of his timeless anthems, but I’ll just leave it at “Happily Ever After,” Missing You” and Faded Pictures” featuring my man Joe. I’m willing to bet that many a babies were made or couples were married to these songs.
3. DONELL JONES
 This man got me in trouble. After my breakup with my college girl and I was explain my feelings to a friend of mine she told me that what I was going through sounded like this song from a new singer named Donell Jones. The song of course was “Where I Wanna Be” and my decision to put it on my voicemail post-breakup was a major faux pas on my part. Despite the drama with the ex, Donell’s catalog can not be denied (i.e. “You  Know What’s Up,”  “Have You Seen Her” and “I Wanna Luv U.”)
2. JOE 
I was the biggest Stan for Joe in college. As an emo-dude looking for love in all the wrong places, his sophomore album, All That I Am, spoke my life in song. “All the Things (Your Man Won’t Do),” “Don’t Wanna Be a Player,” “You  Shoulda Told Me (U  Had a Man),”  “All That I Am,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13tIBFocXYU …Basically the entire album holds a special place in my heart. As a result Joe can do no wrong in my eyes, although none of his subsequent music has held up to my memories of this disc.
1. MUSIQ SOULCHILD
 Hands down, I think the most slept-on R&B artists is Musiq Soulchild. Sure, a lot of his albums sounded the same but that didn’t stop the content from being strong. From his 2000 debut Aijuswanaseing (“Love,”  “Seventeen,” “Girl Next Door”) to Juslisen (“Halfcrazy,” “Previouscats,” “Time”) to Soulstar(“Forthenight,” “Womanopoly,” “Thereason”), Musiq is the inspiration for this entire list. He’s consistent and slept-on. #NuffSaid
Who do you think is the most slept-on male R&B artists from the ’90s and early 2000s? Who do you think should be added to the list?
Speak your piece…
Honorable mentions Avant, Chico DeBarge, Jon B., Lyfe Jennings

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