Rise of the 90's

The 90's seem to be coming back in full force. On TV we have seen remakes of Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. Musically there has been a sudden renewed interested in dance-pop that reminds me of the early 90's when club friendly songs easily crossed over to the mainstream (Blackbox, Technotronic, Real Mccoy, La Bouche, etc). Well, it seems the great RnB artists of the 90's are also coming back in a big way......although some technically never were gone. Usher has been around since 1994 and while his last album didn't live up to expectations, his most recent offering, "Raymond V Raymond" offers some of his best songs in years (There Goes My Baby) while he still keeps up with the electro craze on songs like "OMG". Even Mary J Blige has re-recorded extra songs the UK edition of her album to capitalize on the recent dance music trend.

However, the biggest surprise is Toni Braxton! Not only is she looking fierce lately but her recent singles have been stunning. I haven't looked forward to a Toni Braxton album since 1996's "Secrets"1 I was equally shocked to find out the first single "Yesterday" reached #12 on the RnB charts. Granted it never graced the regular Hot 100 but when you consider Toni was just a few years ago with no record contract and performing shows at a 2 star hotel in Las Vegas this is absolutely amazing, The song is beautiful. Toni sounds great and she doesn't seem to be trying too hard to keep up with the girls half her age as she has done on her past flop albums. Another surprise is the album's 2nd uptempo single, "Make My Heart". Both songs have gotten extensive club remixes but "Make My Heart" is a floor stomper in it's own right. Toni has always been known for her ballads so to see her get funky like this is shocking!



Perhaps there is still hope for the likes of Brandy! :)