For the last 5 years I've been celebrating the music I had been enjoying 25 years prior each month. A question I've always had in the back of my head is how long will this last for i.e. when will we reach the point there simply isn't enough Top 40 music to include anymore.
In my search for the best year for the charts I found that 2002 was a pretty shit year for music, as were most of the years that followed. I've since looked in more depth and found there to be less than 60 records I was enjoying for the entire year meaning I won't be able to post the usual 5 records a month.
However, there was still some decent music that should be celebrated. Therefore I've decided to start a quarterly 20 years since series of posts. Eventually this will probably feature no more than 5 records, but we have a few more to start off with:
Aaliyah - More Than A Woman
Back in the summer of 2001 Aaliyah's self titled 3rd album was released. Trevor Nelson was full of praise for it when he reviewed it on "The Lick" on MTV Base. At the time she had the single "We Need A Resolution" out which was decent without being spectacular.
We all know what happened soon after that, but then towards the end of 2001 this tune started doing the rounds on the music channels. It was the best thing I'd heard Aaliyah ever do.
It topped the charts at the beginning of 2002 but I never bought the single, I bought the album. Again I thought it was a decent album without being spectacular with this being the best tune on it.
Dr Dre ft Knoc Turnal - Bad Intentions
It's amazing how a short period of time feels like a lifetime when you're younger. In early 2001 Dr Dre released "The Next Episode" which was played everywhere into the summer. Dr Dre was also featured heavily on the music channels that summer too.
Then for a few months Dr Dre seemed to disappear until this record came out. The featured rapper Knoc-Turnal could easily be mistaken for Snoop Dogg.
It was from the soundtrack to the film "The Wash" which has Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg in it. I've never seen the film, but I bought the soundtrack.
Nelly Furtado - Shit On The Radio
By 2002 it had become apparent the Honeyz were finished so I was seeking someone else to follow. I did like the previous Nelly Furtado singles, but this was another level so I decided she would be the one I would follow.
I bought her "Whoa Nelly" album the same day I bought the Aaliyah album, but found myself listening to it a lot more. When I saw her in concert later on that year I liked the additional track "I Feel You" from her repackaged album so much that I bought that too.
Then she seemed to disappear for a while, when she came back it was with music that wasn't to my liking so my time as a Nelly Furtado fan was quite brief.
Ja Rule ft Ashanti - Always On Time
I can only assume he was either being sarcastic or didn't listen to the lyrics properly. The fact he raps about keeping his ho's drugged up on that ecstasy implies this isn't a genuine love song.
It was this record which prompted me to buy his "Pain Is Love" album plus his older albums.
Dilated Peoples - Worst Comes To Worst
The last time I remember listening to the Top 40 countdown on Radio 1 this record was in it. Dilated Peoples are what you would call more of an underground rap act so it was quite surprising to hear this in the Top 40.
As I was listening to rappers like Eminem who were hugely popular I could hardly begrudge Dilated Peoples for having a number 29.
R Kelly - The Worlds Greatest
I had a housemate at the time (different to the one mentioned in the Ja Rule post) who was a big indie fan who hated rap and R&B. We argued about music all the time and I made the point that in order to be a good tune it needs to have a good beat.
Then this tune came out which I liked, but I would be lying if I was to say it had a good beat. It does however show the music genius of R Kelly in that he can make a good tune without a good beat.
Mis Teeq - B With Me
When UK garage went commercial I got pissed off. The underground music I had listened to was now getting into the Top 40. Then everybody jumped on the bandwagon. Mis-Teeq were essentially an R&B group doing UK garage because that's what was in.
At the same time though, I couldn't help but like Mis-Teeq. I conceded by the end of 2001 and bought their "Lickin On Both Sides" album.
This would be the last UK garage single they did and to be honest the R&B numbers they did later on weren't as good.
Beverley Knight - Shoulda Woulda Coulda
My policy of buying a CD single back in the day is if I don't consider said artist good enough for me to buy the album but I love the single in question. I bought this CD single.
To me Beverley Knight was a prime example of why British R&B doesn't enjoy the same success as America. It wasn't bad, but just a bit generic.
Then she released this which is so good it could almost be American.
Busta Rhymes - Break Ya Neck
When I got into rap music I was quite particular in what I listened to. I was aware of the east coast-west coast rivalry and I was very much west coast in that respect.
I couldn't help but like Busta Rhymes though, who's an east coast rapper. Then he released this record which was produced by Dr Dre. I breathed a sigh of relief that we finally had a west coast connection.
I have tried rapping along to this but it's impossible.
Minimalistix - Close Cover
This was one of those records I heard and thought this is something I've been waiting to hear all my life. I remember talking to one of my housemates about how this almost spans different genres which was met with the response "I don't give a shit".
I almost bought it on vinyl until I saw it was on Ministry of Sound. This was a brand I despised at the time so I decided against it.
Ali G ft Shaggy - Me Julie
Obviously this record was a piss take, but it wasn't too different to your typical Shaggy record and I like Shaggy.
I did watch the Ali G movie this came from though and it was without a doubt the worst thing I've seen from Ali G. That's often the way when a TV show is turned into a film.
Jennifer Lopez - Ain't It Funny
I thought the original of "Ain't It Funny" was shit, but this remix sounds nothing like the original. It did get overplayed I'll admit and I did get sick of it, but I was loving it before it got to that point.
I've also seen that Easter that year was in March which makes sense because this record does remind me of eating lots of Cadburys Creme Eggs.
Shy FX ft T Power & Di - Shake UR Body
At the turn of the century I had a bit of a grudge against drum & bass because it had got so big whilst happy hardcore was basically dead.
By this point though I stopped caring about happy hardcore and this record showed me that there were still decent drum & bass records coming out.
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