By the turn of the new millennium, neo-soul had well been introduced into music with artists like Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, Jill Scott and Brandy at the forefront. But the true king of neo-soul – in my humble opinion is none other than the musical mastermind himself – D’ANGELO. This being his sophomore album – he wanted to take more risks and make the funky jams he always wanted to make; but what he didn’t expect, was the major image shift that he was about to experience after the release of his music video “Untitled (How Does It Feel)", the song and video that turned him into a sex icon for the rest of music history. So let’s dive into the musical genius that is the Voodoo album, and after revisiting the album, you all can tell me… how does it feel?

Fresh off his Super Bowl halftime performance - let's dive into the album in Usher's discography that gets written off the most (in my humble opinion)... "Here I Stand".

After the debut of Britney Spears in late 1998 – record labels across America were all scrambling to find their own Britney. After all, the solo female blonde pop star was a business model that hadn’t worked since Madonna debuted in 1983 – every other pop blonde that came out after her came and went. So when Britney stuck – the music industry struck gold. RCA Records got Christina Aguilera, Columbia Records got Jessica Simpson, and Epic Records got a young teenage girl by the name of Mandy Moore. Her first album was a carbon copy of the pop tarts of the time – so for her second official full-length release – she wanted to take some risks. And alas- was born her self-titled album. With middle eastern influenced tracks like “In My Pocket” – heartbreaking ballads like “Cry” and innocently lustful grooves like “Crush” – the album is a second chapter in Mandy’s early pop career – and is so nostalgic to so many of us who grew up in that era – so let’s take a trip back in time to 2001 and unpack the third release and second official full-length album by Mandy Moore. 

courtesies: sony music entertainment, fox family, cannel v, launch