R&B Music Community

Another week came and went and R&B Haven saw some new additions. This week, we've got a new article from ilikeit, a top 10 by Soul Supreme, a lot of new artist updates and the usual song of the week!

First off, in the odds and ends of the week, Michel'le has mysteriously become the most popular artist on the site. Every artist has their day so it wouldn't normally be that outrageous. However, Michel'le went from averaging 30 views a day to somewhere over 200... for a week. So all you Michel'le fans out there, welcome! In other odds and ends, I have now finished updating all the B artists so Brian McKnight, Brandy and Brownstone fans can rejoice. These artists should all have working videos, full discographies with album art and track listings, as well as updated bios.

Because I was working with the Bs so much, Brownstone serves us with our song of the week, "Grapevyne." I go back and forth on the track, but all in all, it's a pretty catchy number. The downside is, it's modeled on Marvine Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevyne" which is phenomenal and vastly overshadows the group's rendition. Still, their track is nice and a worthy listen so check it out!

Ilikeit's latest article continues his constant effort to improve his work. This week, he digs into Christina Milian's lawsuit over licensing disagreements in her tracks. He raises the question over musicianship and the changing world of music production. Well worth a read, I highly recommend it to everyone!

Lastly, Soul Supreme added a new top 10, looking at some of his favorite Quiet Storm tracks. I've never heard of some of the acts so it's a good way to expand your music horizons if you're like me. Check it out and of course, submit your own lists if you want to make some!

That's it for the week on R&B Haven. As always, I'm always looking for help so anyone who wants to work on the site or submit content, please email me at rnbguru@rnbhaven.com. And to send you guys off, I really wanted to use Brownstone's Half Of You for the song of the week but it didn't have a video. So instead, I'm going to embed it here. Listen to it!

R&B Guru,

IMHO, I think the increased interest in Michel'le is probably a reaction to the death of Dr. Dre's son Andre Romelle Young Jr.. I suspect some may believe it is the child they parented together. I believe it not to be, but I am not sure. In the rnb haven Bio section on Michel'le, it says that their son's name is Marcel. The personal life section of Dr. Dre on Wikipedia also writes that their son's name is Marcel as well and that the young man that died name is Curtis Young, aka Hood Surgeon. As far as I can gather, MSM gives no indication or statement saying or suggesting that Michel'le is the mother. MGBT (May God Bless Them) in this time of loss.

Also, I would say that interest was peaked, because, many just want to jam to the tracks on her 20 year old self titled debut album which still jams today.


My favorite Brownstone tracks are "If You Love Me" & "Grapevyne", From the Bottom Up, 1995, "5 Miles to Empty" & "Kiss and Tell", Still Climbing 1997, and "Searching (For Your Love)", Woo Soundtrack 1998. Although, "Half of You" is very enjoyable.

Peace

I think you're right mars! While it's hard to match the death to her, that is the typical reason for spikes and so the connection makes sense. The last times this happened were:

Hi-Five when Tony Thompson died
702 when Orish Grinstead died

It's a shame but popularity of artists seems related to their death.

I'll have to look up "Searching" by Brownstone.