Chantoya Jo Jackson

I know I'm late but I feel like these gifs should've been emotes long ago lol

I don't know how old y'all are but it was far more risky to release it in the time she did. Why? Because almost the whole country was scared and/or mad as hell because of 9/11 and ready to go into the middle east with guns blazing in the "war on terror". Anyone, especially a public figure, that even opposed the idea of war or made a mockery of America's impulsive call to violence was quickly dubbed as unpatriotic. Not only was she called unpatriotic (it didn't help that she was living in England at the time), she allegedly got tons of death threats, so much so that she pulled the video from the airwaves and we ended up with that terrible flag video. Up to that point, Madonna had NEVER censored herself but I guess she decided that that time wasn't worth the controversy. Forget it's commercial underperformance, American Life was unfortunately, the end of iconoclast Madonna. If the original American Life video came out now, it'd still be controversial but less of a shitstorm. It maybe would even garner some positive thinkpieces. That being said, the song itself still leaves much to be desired. Whoever told her that rap was okay, lied to her lol.

Yes, Diva which is based off the Lil' Wayne freestyle 'A Milli'.

I'd save all of them if I could. I like some more than others but they've all been a part of my personal pop music fabric.

Pop stans have the weirdest definitions of "local". Local to me means that an artist is not known or successful outside of their home country, or to be exact, outside of their hometown. None of the faves are local.

I don't think you can go off of someone singing well being an indicator that that someone's boring. It depends on the act and what they're selling to go along with the voice. Music-wise, it depends on how involved they are with what they're recording. Some have, for the most part, MOR discographies but are fabulous performers in their contexts: Whitney, Celine, etc. Some have relatively good discographies but are sub-par performers: Mariah, etc. and then there are some who have good discographies and are great performers and on top of that, sell whole brands/personas: Beyoncé, Xtina, Gaga, etc. (though I think this is really a 21st century thing. It's rare that vocalist and pop tart types crossed and blended back in the day)

lol there's a rap song on there

It's not unusual. RS have been stanning down for this song since it came out. I think it's even the highest ranked 21st century single in their '500 greatest songs of all time' list they did a while back. It's one of those tunes that will probably never have trouble filling a dance floor.

lol it's terrible. He didn't even try. boy you gotta sang that shit with some conviction!

ALL of them in their primes at the same time? I don't know who would be the most successful but I know egos would run rampant, and the feuds and shade would be plentiful. Too many stars and not enough sky.

lol it's way too early to gauge that. How many one hit, one album, and even one decade wonders did people think were "here to stay" over the years but ended up fading relatively quickly? If she stays relevant and successful past a whole decade then we can assess her potential for longevity.

1. BEYONCÉ - a bit like Erotica but with the context of a married woman whose also a mother. Unprecedented. Revolutionary. 2. Born to Die - It's easily my most listened to album by a new female artist this decade. 3. Lemonade - a unified smorgasbord of sounds, if that makes sense. 4. Anti - Rih's best album. The big sister to Rated R. 5. ARTPOP - better than what it got credit for. 6. 4 7. Femme Fatale 8. Glory 9. MIAM... 10. Prism Honorable mentions: Unapologetic, Born this Way, Ultraviolence, Teenage Dream...

lol I love them both but I didn't ask for any collaboration. I can't even imagine what that would sound like?

It's not a Beyoncé album. It's a Beyoncé/Jay Z joint project.

I agree. If she served nothing else in this era, she at least needed to serve a good, inspired album and she delivered. I haven't bopped this hard to Xtina in years.