TwistedElegance™

That's my second pick.

Yep.

Emancipation, although incredibly long-winded, has some brilliant songs. His version of Betcha By Golly Wow is beautiful.

[Written by Dammn Bu]: It’s no surprise that this song has hit the top 10. Who else can boast that their debut single became an instant classic as soon as it was released? It was Spring 2001, when this song took over the airwaves worldwide. This R&B/Soul tinged with gospel song peaked at #1 on the US Hot 100 and hit the top 10 in the majority of other markets too. The critically acclaimed smash hit went on to win 3 of 4 Grammy nominations including Song of the Year, in 2002. The first time I watched the video, I was initially more interested in hearing the song “Girlfriend” in full. And then that killer line “I keep on falling…iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin” debuted and I was immediately hooked. Fun fact about the video: originally Alicia Keys was supposed to be the one that was incarcerated and the boyfriend was to visit her. I just remember it being so inescapable for at least the 2-3 years following it. Everyone wanted to audition with it at what was then called Pop Idol which later became the X Factor and there were even reports that the judges would ask them to sing another song, due to the fact that they were sick of it being used as an audition song – something that recently happened with Adele’s Someone Like You. I think it’s amazing that this song was able to resonate with so many people in a time where Bubblegum Pop and mainstream R&B/Pop were ruling. This was a woman that wasn’t dressed like the other girls, didn’t sing like the other girls and the music was not like the other girls. It was refreshing, soulful and its simplicity paid off. The breakdown ~ Fallin' reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and places 3rd with a voter average of 8.54. 10 - Dammn Bu9 - Game, hotboy06, Jarrylf, LyricalLesson & RedSimba8 - DarkStormSC, Stealth, TwistedElegance & __VelvetKnowledge18147 - kennita jo

I saw Jamelia trending and had to see what was up.

Mary J. Blige claims fourth spot with the captivating Family Affair. Engineered by Dr. Dre, he had already enjoyed a No. 2 peak with Eve & Gwen Stefani's Let Me Blow Ya Mind, and would earn further critical acclaim with Busta Rhymes' Break Ya Neck a few months later, making 2001 a banner year for the producer. The queen of hip-hop soul had achieved two Top 10 singles prior to the record (1992's Real Love and 1996's Not Gon' Cry), however Family Affair became her first chart-topper, where it ruled for six consecutive weeks. The song also became Dr. Dre's second No. 1 single, after he reigned with California Love, his 2Pac collaboration, in 1996. The singer and producer would pair again on Not Today, the Eve collaboration from 2003's Love & Life, however that record failed to break the Top 40. Family Affair's video was directed by Dave Meyers, who was in his element at the time, and featured his trademark bold colours and glossy sheen. The song proved a universal hit, reaching No. 1 in France, and climbing to the Top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. The breakdown ~ Family Affair reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and places 4th with a voter average of 8.45. 10 - Dammn Bu, Jarrylf & LyricalLesson9 - DarkStormSC, Stealth & TwistedElegance8 - hotboy06 & kennita jo7 - RedSimba & __VelvetKnowledge18146 - Game

Control. "Got my own life..."

There might be a little life in this era left.

Goddamn your votes suck.

Maybe. Still not here for Tumbleweeded Me.

She grew up.

Rounding out our Top 5 is OutKast with Ms. Jackson. The second single lifted from their critically acclaimed fourth album, Stankonia, it became the duo's first No. 1 on the Hot 100, where it reigned for a single week in the first quarter of 2001. What began as an acoustic song was eventually reworked into a hip-hop apology from Andre 3000 to Kolleen Maria Wright, the mother of former partner Erykah Badu, and grandmother to the ex-couple's son, Seven. Years after the song's success, Wright commented that it was her favourite track on the album. When it came out, she played it over and over to make sure she wasn’t being insulted: “I didn’t know, because – with a lot of music during that time – I didn’t know where it was coming from, because that wasn’t my genre of music. After I listened to it and listened to it I said, 'Oh, this might not be too bad. This might be harmless; this might be apologetic, this may be okay.' So when I felt that it wasn’t being an insult or disrespectful, then I kind of settled into it." Badu also embraced Andre's redress, saying, "It was her (my mother's) chance at stardom. She got the airbrushed ‘Ms. Jackson’ shirt, the bobble-head doll. It was on her screensaver. She had the ringtone. That was her chance, so I just let it be." The song took on a more literal form when OutKast performed it at Janet Jackson's MTV Icon ceremony, reworking the lyrics to proclaim, "We love you Ms. Jackson." Its video was directed by F. Gary Gray, who prior to Ms. Jackson had directed brilliant hip-hop and R&B videos such as Ice Cube's It Was a Good Day, Babyface & Stevie Wonder's How Come, How Long and TLC's Waterfalls. He would also work with Andre 3000 again on 2005's Be Cool, the sequel to Get Shorty. Ms. Jackson would be the song to break OutKast internationally, reaching the Top 5 in over ten countries. In 2002 the song won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, beating the likes of Ja Rule, Jay-Z and P. Diddy. The breakdown ~ Ms. Jackson reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and places 5th with a voter average of 8.36. 10 - Jarrylf, Stealth & TwistedElegance9 - hotboy06, kennita jo, RedSimba & __VelvetKnowledge18148 - Dammn Bu, DarkStormSC & LyricalLesson2 - Game

I'm afraid it is.

I wish the album version of Formation included Messy Mya and Big Freedia. It feels incomplete to me.

Formation | Beyoncé

The horns on All Night.

All Night | Beyoncé

The production on Freedom is brilliant.

Why is Forward so short? I thought it was going to be the new Mine.

Freedom | Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar

I'm loving everything so far. The alternative slant shown on the last album is truly blossoming. I get the feeling Beyoncé now is the artist Solange aspires to be.

Sandcastles | Beyoncé

Love Drought | Beyoncé

It's boring, but so is the song. Right down there with Shut Up and Drive and You Da One as the worst of her post-breakthrough singles. She's a master at surviving flops, though, so I'm not concerned.