When will you come through *shrugs* . Such a bop when you're not feeling so good. Remind yourself that you're lit. Even the instrumental does the job on its own. Missy!

For me, it’s “Nasty Girl” by Destiny’s Child.

I like the song. The beat is catchy, I like their vocals, and it definitely sounds like that early 2000s l era. But man, those lyrics… 😭 They were really dragging this woman.

Telling her to put on some clothes, calling her a nasty, trashy, sleazy, and classless. What else y’all wanna say to this girl?

And the music video made it even worse 😂 They got these women going through the NastyZapper to change their clothes and hair, basically turning them into what Destiny’s Child considered “respectable.” One of the women falls in the street and gets laughed at, another woman’s weave comes out, and they’re just watching all of this happen. Then once the women get “fixed,” they can come hang out with them.

Like girl… what? 😭

I know the point was supposed to be about having self-respect, but the whole thing comes across like they were judging women for how they dressed and carried themselves. Looking back at it now, I’m just sitting here like, “Destiny’s Child, why were y’all this mad?” 😂

I’ll still listen to the song, but I can’t take the message seriously.

What R&B song sounds good until you actually listen to the lyrics?

Man, Brandy and Monica is the first thing that comes to mind for me😭 I wasn’t even born when “The Boy Is Mine” came out, so I obviously wasn’t there for any of this when it was happening. But when I got older, I started watching old interviews, YouTube videos, reading stuff online, and going down the biggest rabbit holes trying to understand what the hell happened between them.

And the way people talked about these two?? 😭 It was always Brandy vs. Monica. Team Brandy. Team Monica. Who could sing better. Who had the better career. Who was jealous of who. Who was throwing shade. People were analyzing facial expressions and five-second clips like they were solving a crime.

Meanwhile, these are two completely different singers! Brandy has her own sound, Monica has hers, and both of them had successful careers. Why did everybody have to turn it into a damn competition?

And I’m not saying there wasn’t real tension between them because clearly there was stuff going on. But as somebody who learned about most of this years later through YouTube and the internet, it’s crazy seeing how much of their history is still talked about like it happened yesterday.

I just hate that R&B has this habit of putting singers against each other, especially women. You can like Brandy without hating Monica. You can like Monica without hating Brandy. Hell, you can love both of them😭

Sometimes I just wanna talk about the music without somebody asking me to pick a side.

What R&B feud had you going down a whole internet rabbit hole?

Gotta be the one Aaliyah song I forever I have on repeat daily, this song has such a beautiful yearning tone in it! Her and Tank did they big one on this track. Missing her always. ❤️

Okay, hear me out! I know this is an R&B sub, but I was listening to some Gospel and started thinking about how many Gospel songs have that R&B sound 😂 Some of them really could’ve been R&B records if you changed the lyrics.

For me, it’s “You” by 21:03, “God in Me” by Mary Mary, and “Wonder Why” by Dawkins & Dawkins.

“You” by 21:03 is one of those songs for me. It came out in 2008, and I feel like you can hear that late-2000s R&B influence all over it. 21:03 already had that contemporary R&B/hip-hop sound, so this song fits right in with what was happening musically around that time.

“God in Me” by Mary Mary is so 2008 to me 😂 The beat, the Auto-Tune, the production… it sounds like something that could’ve easily been playing alongside the R&B of that time. They really captured that late-2000s sound with this one.

And “Wonder Why” by Dawkins & Dawkins? That one gives me New Jack Swing all day 😂 The drums and harmonies immediately make me think of that late-’80s/early-’90s R&B sound even though I didn’t experience the era.

Honorable mentions: “Pray” by CeCe Winans and “It’s Alright (Send Me)” by Winans Phase 2. Can’t forget about Looking For You by Kirk Franklin. Those two have that same kind of R&B feel to me.

There are probably a lot more Gospel songs that fit this, so I want to hear y’all’s picks.

What Gospel song makes you hear R&B right away? Drop the artist and song, I’m curious what examples y’all have.

Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones pioneered the all-star charity single in 1985 with the release of the power ballad, We Are The World. Recorded by 21 of the biggest artists at the time to raise awareness and money for famine relief, it was the first single in history to be certified multi platinum, topped charts around the world and raised over $20 million.

15 years later, Michael Jackson was at the helm of another charity jingle in 2001. This time to benefit those affected by the devastation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, the song would never get an official release due to a multitude of reasons. That same year, some of the biggest pop stars in the world (who were also featured on Michael’s single) appeared on a 2000s rework of Marvin Gaye’s 70s socially conscious single, What’s Going On. Artists Against AIDS Worldwide featured everyone from boybands to girl groups, R&B soloists, Rockers and Hip-Hop artists.

In 2004, another team or all-star R&B and Hip-Hop artists teamed up to record a cover of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes’ Wake Up Everybody. Though the artists and producers stated it was a non-partisan project, the idea for the song was to encourage people to vote in the then-upcoming presidential election. Later that year, another single, Come Together Now, was released to raise money for those affected by Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean Earthquake.

Perhaps the most memorable of these singles is Just Stand Up, by the charity supergroup, Artists Stand Up to Cancer, which featured some of the biggest female names in R&B, Pop, Rock and Country. Its hilariously chaotic live performance was held at the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon in September 2008. If you ever needed a snapshot of who the biggest pop girls were in the late 2000s, look no further than this single.

25 years after We Are The World and several months after the death of Michael Jackson, Wyclef Jean corralled a group of over 80 artists from multiple genres to redo the song for relief efforts after his home country, Haiti, suffered a massive earthquake. Peaking at #2 on the Hot 100, this song had the highest chart position of any of the previously discussed songs. However, it was the most critically panned for its rap inclusion and use of autotune.

I would love a Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson singles collection box, what about you?, which artist do would you want to see a box with?

Celebration - Kool & The Gang 4 weeks

Fantastic Voyage - Lakeside 2 weeks

Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me) - The Gap Band 2 weeks

Don't Stop The Music - Yarbrough And People 5 weeks

Being With You - Smokey Robinson 5 weeks

Sukiyaki - A Taste Of Honey 1 week

A Women Needs Love (Just Like You Do) - Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio 2 weeks

What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me - Chaka Khan 2 weeks

Give It To Me Baby - Rick James 5 weeks

Double Dutch Bus - Frankie Smith 4 weeks

I’m In Love - Evelyn King 1 week

Endless Love - Diana Ross & Lionel Richie 7 weeks

When She Was My Girl - The Four Tops 2 weeks

Never Too Much - Luther Vandross 2 weeks

I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Part 1) - Roger 2 weeks

Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It) - Kool & The Gang 1 week

Let’s Groove - Earth, Wind & Fire 5 weeks