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Retrospectives

Nippy is 60: Whitney Houston’s Greatest Live Performances

August 9, 2023

Featured·Music·Playlists·Retrospectives·Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston lived a life that was akin to a Greek tragedy. The world watched her reach dizzying heights and stunning lows. In admiration, the public saw Whitney Houston morph from a church girl from Newark, N.J. into an otherworldly Pop deity beloved by massive throngs of fans and peers alike. That audience soon balked at the slightest indication

Featured·Mariah Carey·Music·Retrospectives

“#Beautiful,” Mariah Carey’s Summer Hit That Got Away

With a musical catalog as expansive as Mariah Carey’s, casual listeners will surely come across a multitude of hits they’ll know by heart. But in the mix of the singer’s bag of chart-toppers, holiday classics, deep cuts, and remixes, there are also a handful of underrated singles that missed the

Mariah Carey, Master of “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak”

For over three decades, Mariah Carey has cranked out record-breaking number-one hits

No Pretender: Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover” Proved Her Passion for Hip-Hop and House

After silencing doubters and naysayers with her 1992 “MTV Unplugged” show and

Top 5: Janet Jackson’s “Damita Jo”

March 30, 2024

Featured·Janet Jackson·Music·Retrospectives

On March 30, 2004, Janet Jackson released “Damita Jo,” her eighth studio album. Plagued by backlash and blacklisting following her infamous Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, one of Ms. Jackson’s best albums was overlooked and remains severely underrated. Featuring gems like the soulful lead single “I Want You” and dance floor

Mariah Carey and the Catalyst of “Caution”

November 18, 2023

Featured·In Depth·Mariah Carey·Music·Retrospectives

There comes a time in every iconic music superstar’s career when they must accept they have transitioned from icon to legend. Some do so obnoxiously, others are a little more graceful about it. With the release of her fifteenth studio album “Caution” in November 2018, Mariah Carey humbly embraced her

Playlist: Music Box (Mariah’s Version)

August 31, 2023

Featured·Mariah Carey·Playlists·Retrospectives

As I detailed in the Long Island Press, it is clear that Mariah Carey’s “Music Box” album didn’t give a full picture of her artistic ambitions. Carey grew up listening to R&B and was a teenager in New York as Hip-Hop transcended from its basement parties origins to a breakout

Big Purr: The Debut of Toni Braxton

July 17, 2023

Featured·In Depth·Retrospectives·Then·Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton: The Debut It All Started With a Purr. Not quite the kind of vocal purr that Eartha Kitt famously once possessed. This purr was vastly different: vaguely androgynous, with a fry that would horrify most experienced vocal coaches, yet intrinsically worked for her. The purr was deep. One

VH1 Divas Live: A Life-Changing Show

April 14, 2023

Aretha Franklin·Featured·Mariah Carey·Music·Retrospectives·Then

I was recently at a friend’s house for game night, and upon finally finding the lost remote and taking over music (as I regularly do), I found an excuse to descend down a YouTube rabbit hole purely focused on performances from VH1’s Divas concerts. They’re my favorite series of concerts

‘Stripped’ Is Christina Aguilera’s Magnum Opus

October 21, 2022

Featured·Retrospectives

The story of the rebellious and angsty young adult in music is a tale as old as time. They get their record deal, start making music, and suddenly find themselves unsatisfied. They aren’t making the music they want to and are often feeling controlled. Thus, they rebel. Mariah Carey had

Anastacia’s Freak Of Nature Was A Turning Point

June 18, 2022

Featured·In Depth·Music·Retrospectives

Anastacia was already an international sensation by the time I got my hands on her sophomore album Freak Of Nature, which came out in the United States on June 18, 2002. The album was released internationally 7 months earlier, and was a top ten album in over a dozen countries,

Aretha Franklin’s ‘Sweet Passion’ Yielded Mixed Results

May 19, 2022

Aretha Franklin·Featured·In Depth·Music·Retrospectives

Very little has been written about Aretha Franklin’s 1977 album Sweet Passion. Of the three most significant written accounts of Aretha’s life, none of them dedicate more than a paragraph to the album, focusing instead on her budding romance with second husband Glynn Turman and the resurgence she experienced with

The Electrifying Aretha Franklin: Aretha’s Sophomore Album

March 19, 2022

Aretha Franklin·Featured·In Depth·Retrospectives·Then

Most people have never heard Aretha Franklin’s sophomore album, 1962’s The Electrifying Aretha Franklin. The same goes for her debut album, 1961’s Aretha With The Ray Bryant Combo, and the half dozen albums that followed. Columbia Records did a knockout job of holding onto their recordings of Aretha Franklin, modestly

Cher’s ‘Living Proof’ Turns 20 – Retrospective

February 26, 2022

Featured·In Depth·Music·Retrospectives·Then

“The music’s no good without you baby, come back to me,” laments a haunting Cher. “The Music’s No Good Without You” is the lead single and international opener to her 2001 album Living Proof, which served as the commercial follow-up to 1998’s triumphant Believe. The song’s music video shows Cher

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Retrospectives

Nippy is 60: Whitney Houston’s Greatest Live Performances

“#Beautiful,” Mariah Carey’s Summer Hit That Got Away

Mariah Carey, Master of “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak”

No Pretender: Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover” Proved Her Passion for Hip-Hop and House

Top 5: Janet Jackson’s “Damita Jo”

Mariah Carey and the Catalyst of “Caution”

Playlist: Music Box (Mariah’s Version)

Big Purr: The Debut of Toni Braxton

VH1 Divas Live: A Life-Changing Show

‘Stripped’ Is Christina Aguilera’s Magnum Opus

Anastacia’s Freak Of Nature Was A Turning Point

Aretha Franklin’s ‘Sweet Passion’ Yielded Mixed Results

The Electrifying Aretha Franklin: Aretha’s Sophomore Album

Cher’s ‘Living Proof’ Turns 20 – Retrospective

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