Page 12 - INSIDE ACCESS

MY TOP 5 PICKS
Best 90s R&B Songs
Please take me back to the 90s! There’s no arguing that the 90s make up the golden age of R&B. The best 90s R&B songs still soundfresh,andtheirinfluencecanbefeltinthecropofmodern R&Bstarswhoarepushingthegenreforward.
From floor-filling anthems to outpourings of emotion – and all soulful points in between, each of the five tracks on our list of the best 90s R&B songs represent a defining moment in the genre, and in the careers of the artists who sang them.
Brandy: ‘I Wanna Be Down’
With its opening lyrics, “I would like to get to know if I could be... the kind of girl that you could be down for,” Brandy’s teenaged tentativeness ushered in a new era of the R&B woman. A singer with sophistication, playfulness and style, Brandy’s clever and adorably vulnerable lyrics was backed by a punchy, danceable beat to give us the decade’s anthem for modern adolescent romance.
Janet Jackson: ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’
There is a Janet Jackson for all seasons: there’s nasty Janet, drill sergeant Janet and then there’s come-hither Janet. The lead single off her 1993 album, Janet, ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’ findsJacksonlettingherhairdown.A lyricalandmusicalpivot,it showed the world that Miss Jackson was all grown up. Built around the sample from James Brown’s ‘Papa Don’t Take No Mess’, the single locks into a smooth downtempo groove and burns all night. It became one of the longest-reigning hits of 1993andwon a GrammyforBestR&BSong.
PAGE 12 INSIDE ACCESS | AUGUST 2020 1ST EDITION