G-Magazine Now

RANKED: 50 Greatest #1 R&B/Hip-Hop Hits Of 2000-2009

This decade in music saw a healthy competition for the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B/Hip-Hop across all sub-genres of urban music.  From pop divas to R&B crooners and east coast emcees to southern-slanged rappers and in between, over 100 songs topped the aforementioned charts in urban music.  G-Magazine Now compiled a list of the 50 top-charting singles that changed the game, made lasting impressions upon listeners and deserved their spot at the top.  Check out the list below.

    

50. "I Remember" by Keyshia Cole (2007)

49. "A Milli" by Lil' Wayne (2008)

48. "So Sick" by Ne-Yo (2006)

47. "Foolish" by Ashani (2002)

46. "So Gone" by Monica (2003)

45. "Try Again" by Aaliyah (featuring Timbaland) (2000)

44. "I'm Real (remix)" by Jennifer Lopez (featuring Ja Rule) (2001)

43. "Oops (Oh My)" Tweet (featuring Missy Elliott) (2002)

42. "All For You" by Janet Jackson (2001)

41. "Always On Time" by Ja Rule (featuring Ashanti) (2002)

 

40. "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child (2001)

39. "Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip-Hop)" by Erykah Badu (featuring Common) (2002)

38. "Low" by Flo-Rida (featuring T-Pain) (2008)

37. "He Wasn't Man Enough" by Toni Braxton (2000)

36. "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child (2000)

35. "Live Your Life by T.I. (featuring Rihanna) (2008)

34. "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake (featuring Timbaland) (2006)

33. "S.O.S. (Rescue Me)" by Rihanna (2006)

32. "You Don't Know My Name" by Alicia Keys (2003)

31. "Let's Get Married" by Jagged Edge (2000)

 

30. "Need U Bad" by Jazmine Sullivan (2008)

29. "I Wish" by Carl Thomas (2000)

28. "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani (2005)

27. "Bag Lady" by Erykah Badu (2000)

26. "Stronger" by Kanye West (2007)

25. "Ms. Jackson" by OutKast (2000)

24. "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx (featuring T-Pain) (2009)

23. "Boom Boom Pow" by Black Eyed Peas (2009)

22. "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" by Beyoncé (2008)

21. "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé (2007)

    

PREVIEW SONGS: Fergie | Lil' Wayne | Mario | Lloyd | Mobb Deep

 

Check out these recently leaked tunes by your favorite music artists. All you have to do is press play to enjoy them.

Play "Quando Quando Quando" by Fergie (featuring Will.I.Am)

Play "Drop The World" by Lil' Wayne (featuring Eminem)

Play "Thinkin Of You" by Mario

Play "Everything I Do" by Lloyd

Play "Tha World" by Mobb Deep

Check Out The 2010 Grammy Nominees Led by Beyoncé , Taylor Swift, Maxwell and Lady Gaga

 

Check out the nominees for the 2010 Grammy Awards.  With an astounding 10 nominations, R&B diva Beyoncé is sure to be a big winner from the success of her I Am...Sasha Fierce.  It is of no surprise that country-pop darling Taylor Swift would be a leading nominee also.  Being the biggest album seller of the year, Taylor is up for eight nominations, competing in the top three categories alongside Beyonce.

Other multiple nominees include R&B crooner Maxwell, pop superstar Lady Gaga, Chicago rapper Kanye West and hip-pop group the Black Eyed Peas.  Surprisingly, R&B divas Whitney Houston, Brandy and Mariah Carey are snubbed, while R&B's worst male performer Trey Songz and Marcus P have at least two nominations apiece.

Check out this list of nominations.  I have chosen my picks on who deserves the win in bold and green fonts.  Who would you pick as winners?

Album Of The Year

I Am…Sasha Fierce (Beyoncé)
The E.N.D. (the Black Eyed Peas)
The Fame (Lady Gaga)
Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King (Dave Matthews Band)
Fearless (Taylor Swift)

Record Of The Year

"Halo" (Beyoncé)
"I Gotta Feeling" (the Black Eyed Peas)
"Use Somebody" (Kings Of Leon)
"Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)
"You Belong With Me" (Taylor Swift)

Song Of The Year

"Poker Face," Lady Gaga & RedOne, songwriters (Lady Gaga)
"Pretty Wings," Hod David & Musze, songwriters (Maxwell)
"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)," Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Beyoncé)
"Use Somebody, "Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters (Kings Of Leon)
"You Belong With Me," Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

Best New Artist

Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance

"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" by Beyoncé
"It Kills Me" by Melanie Fiona
"That Was Then" by Lalah Hathaway
"Goin' Thru Changes" by Ledisi
"Lions, Tigers & Bears" by Jazmine Sullivan

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

"The Point Of It All" by Anthony Hamilton
"Pretty Wings" by Maxwell
"Sobeautiful" by Musiq Soulchild
"Under" by Pleasure P
"There Goes My Baby" by Charlie Wilson

Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

"Blame It" by Jamie Foxx & T-Pain
"Chocolate High" by India.Arie & Musiq Soulchild
"Ifuleave" by Musiq Soulchild & Mary J. Blige
"Higher Ground" by Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters
"Love Has Finally Come At Last" by Calvin Richardson & Ann Nesby

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance

"At Last" by Beyoncé
"Soul Music" by Anthony Hamilton
"Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" by Boney James & Quinn
"Sow Love" by Ann Nesby
"Woman Gotta Have It" by Calvin Richardson

Best Urban/Alternative Performance

"Daykeeper" by The Foreign Exchange
"All Matter" by Robert Glasper & Bilal
"Pearls" by India.Arie & Dobet Gnahore
"A Tale Of Two" by Eric Roberson, Ben O'Neill & Michelle Thompson
"Blend" by Tonex

Best R&B Song

"Blame It" James T. Brown, John Conte, Jr., Jamie Foxx, Christopher Henderson, Brandon R. Melanchon, Breyon Prescott, T-Pain & Nathan L. Walker, songwriters (Jamie Foxx & T-Pain)
"Lions, Tigers & Bears" Salaam Remi & Jazmine Sullivan, songwriters (Jazmine Sullivan)
"Pretty Wings" Hod David & Musze, songwriters (Maxwell)
"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Beyoncé)
"Under" D. Babbs, L. Bereal, M. Cooper, A. Dixon, J. Franklin, T. Jones, R. New & K. Stephens, songwriters (Pleasure P)

Best R&B Album

The Point Of It All (Anthony Hamilton)
Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics (India.Arie)
Turn Me Loose (Ledisi)
Blacksummers' Night (Maxwell)
Uncle Charlie (Charlie Wilson)

Best Contemporary R&B Album

I Am... Sasha Fierce (Beyoncé)
Intuition (Jamie Foxx)
The Introduction Of Marcus Cooper (Pleasure P)
Ready (Trey Songz)
Thr33 Ringz (T-Pain)

Best Rap Solo Performance

"Best I Ever Had" by Drake
"Beautiful" by Eminem
"D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)" by Jay-Z
"Day 'N' Nite" by Kid Cudi
"Casa Bey" by Mos Def

Rihanna Gets Trumped By Susan Boyle, Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga On Album Charts

Pop superstar Rihanna failed to meet sales expectations since the release of her Rated R album on November 23.  With more than 180,000 copies sold, Rihanna can brag about having her best debut sales week to date.  Conversely, with expectations of over 300K units, the actual number is quite underwhelming when reported CD sales at $3.99 and $0.99 failed to propel sales even higher.

Rated R fell behind traditional pop newcomer Susan Boyle's record-breaking sales of more than 660,000 for I Dreamed A Dream.  Her story about her humble beginnings and appearances on "Britian's Got Talent" and "America's Got Talent" propelled worldwide interest in Boyle.  Thus, she earned 2009's highest album sales within the debut week in America, beating rapper Eminem's Relapse, and beat R&B singer Ashanti's self-titled debut as the new female artist with the highest first-week sales for a debut album.

Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment sold more than 196,000 units, and Lady Gaga's Fame Monster EP sold approximately 181,00 units.  Both artists received a lot of attention for their recent jaw-dropping performances on last week's American Music Awards.

Unfortunately, Latin-pop sensation Shakira's recent performances and promotion generated less than 100K in sales in her debut week of She Wolf as did British R&B singer Jay Sean with his U.S. debut despite earning a #1 single with "Down" featuring rapper Lil' Wayne.

Taylor Gets Love From American Music Awards' Nominations; Kanye Gets Snubbed

Apparently, rapper Kanye West's mean-spirited antics towards country-pop darling Taylor Swift affected his eligibility in the nominations of the 2009 American Music Awards.  The popular rapper, whose 2008 album 808's & Heartbreak became a best-seller with three top 10 singles, was shut out from the nominations in favor of less successful hip-hop artists Jay-Z, T.I. and Eminem.

So far Alicia Keys, The Black Eyed Peas, Jennifer Lopez, and Adam Lambert have signed on to perform at the event, set to take place Sunday, November 22 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

The nominees for the 2009 American Music Awards are:

POP/ROCK MUSIC

Favorite Male Artist
Eminem
Michael Jackson
T.I.

Favorite Female Artist
Beyoncé
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift

Favorite Band, Duo or Group
Black Eyed Peas
Kings of Leon
Nickelback

Favorite Album
Lady Gaga / Fame
Michael Jackson / Number Ones
Taylor Swift / Fearless

COUNTRY MUSIC

Favorite Male Artist
Jason Aldean
Darius Rucker
Keith Urban

Favorite Female Artist
Reba McEntire
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Favorite Band, Duo or Group
Rascal Flatts
Sugarland
Zac Brown Band

Favorite Album
Rascal Flatts/ Unstoppable
Taylor Swift / Fearless
Zac Brown Band / Foundation

RAP/HIP-HOP MUSIC

Favorite Male Artist
Eminem
Jay-Z
T. I.

Favorite Album
Eminem / Relapse
Jay-Z / Blueprint 3
T.I. / Paper Trail

Watch "VH-1 Hip-Hop Honors" Performances Honoring Def Jam

If you have not seen a re-run or the first run of "VH-1's Hip-Hop Honors," you really have not missed much with the exception of a few key performances.  Overall, the show was not worth two consecutive hours sitting in front of the tube.  Missing the most successful artists on the Def Jam Recordings roster, who was honored for its 25th anniversary, including LL Cool J, Jay-Z and Kanye West defeated the purpose of celebrating Def Jam Records.  In fact, co-founder Russell Simmons shared his disappointment by calling the ceremony "incomplete."

You can check the performances here.  There are a handful to enjoy including performances by Method Man as well as laughable ones by Foxy Brown and JaRule.

Enjoy!

Method Man (featuring Redman & Mary J. Blige) - "Da Rockwilder" & "You're All I Need To Get By/I'll Be There For You"

JaRule & Ashanti - "Down Ass Chick" & "Always On Time"

Onyx - "Slam"

DMX (featuring Gym Class Heroes)- "Party Up (Up In Here)"

Warren G (featuring Trey Songz) - "Regulators"