Who Had the Best Debut?: 90's Teen Queens

We run back four defining 90s teen R&B debut albums and debate who comes out the gate the strongest. We pick favorite songs, talk image and impact, and get honest about what we played nonstop versus what we missed. 

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Transcript

Welcome Back And The Big Question

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hey, yo, what is up, everybody? What's going on? It's your girl Jay, and welcome back to another edition of the Just Jay Pod. As always, I hope everyone is doing okay. And uh we have another music episode today. Um, if you guys remember, I did an episode about um, it was titled Who Had the Best Debut, and it featured Mary J. Blige and Whitney Houston, Sade. Um, this time I have uh, I don't know what you want to call them, but it's it's the girlies from my direct era. It's the girlies that we are all around the same age or we're around the same age. Um, the teen queens, I guess you can say. Um, or another way to look at it, the teen queens that went by one name. So today we're going to go through um these albums. I'll give you my favorite song from the album, talk about the artist and all that other stuff, and then we'll discuss uh who I think had the best debut. Now, the people that uh we're gonna look at are Brandy, Monica, Aliyah, and Maya. That's right. If you guys know anything about the 90s, or if you were there, if you were outside during that time, you knew that these four ladies came out and did their thing. Now there were some other ones too, but these were the main four during that time, all doing, all doing their own thing, having their own lane. Um, but um nonetheless, they were kind of they were the teens that were kind of ruling the 90s at the time. So who had the best debut? So we're we're gonna look at Brandy's self-titled album, Aliyah's Age Ain't Nothing But the But a Number, Um Ma Monica's Miss Thang, and Maya, which was also a self-titled album. So for me, I'm gonna be honest, for me, I listened to some of these artists more than others. I definitely did. Um, can't say that I, out of all these four albums, I did not listen to every single one of these albums. There's one that I really didn't listen to at all, but I'm still gonna give her some shine and put it out there. There's one album on here that we're not gonna listen to at all here. I'm not gonna play the music. I will talk about it, but I'm not gonna play the music because it's just it's all bad. It's all bad. But without further ado, let's go ahead and get into these albums. So the

Brandy’s Debut And Zero Skips

SPEAKER_02 3:06

first one that's up here, and by the way, I got this off of Twitter. I was scrolling through and I saw this combination of albums, and they wanted to know who had the best debut. So the first album they have up is Brandy. Now, unless y'all have been living under a rock and you haven't heard me before, you know how I feel about Brandy Norwood. And I love her music from beginning to end. Now, there are some albums of hers that I wasn't feeling as much, but I as an artist I still love Brandy 1,000%. This album, um, no skips, no skips on this album at all. Um, I would say it's my third favorite album, my third favorite album, favorite album from Brandy. Um, but it's just hits, it's it's it's nostalgia because um the first side, when I first got this album, it was on tape. And so the first side of this, the the tape were all releases. She had released every one of those songs, and then the second side, the B side is where it was songs that she hadn't released. I don't know if they did that on purpose or whatever, but if I recall, um if I recall, everything everything on that first side was things that she released outside of like the interludes. The interludes obviously weren't released singles. And I just remember when I first got the tape, I will only listen to the first side because it was songs that she had released. Now Broken Hearted, which was the last song on the first side of the tape, was um a solo version of it, and then the one that she released was a uh a duet with Wanye. So it wasn't technically released, but Broken Hearted was the song was released. Now, a little bit about this album. It came out in on September 27th, 1994. It was produced by Keith uh Crouch, and the album contained a range of contemporary genres, including hip hop, pop, soul, and RB. Aside from Crouch, uh Brandy worked with, worked with a range of other writers and producers, including RB group Something for the People, um Arvale McClinton, Damon Thomas, and Crouch's brother Kenneth. Um, let's see, while the album initially sold slowly, it reached number 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200s and was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America or R-IAA, selling over four million copies in the United States. Four singles were released from the album I Wanna Be Down, which was the lead single, um Baby, Best Friend, Broken Hearted, Brandy the album, and its single garnered uh nominations for various awards, including two Grammy Award nominations. Um it was one of the most successful of the now of the then new generation of RB female female vocalists who emerged during the mid to late 1990s. Now we know that Brandy was like Whitney's baby, like that's who she modeled herself after, along with her father and her brother. And um it was just a for me, I thought it was a great debut. Brandy was not unknown. Brandy uh was on Thea, um, which if you watch that, that that used to be a show, I believe it was on BT. Brandy was on Thea. Brandy also um was on a show of her own show, Moesha. Um she had done several things. She was people knew her as an actress, but knew she could sing as well. Uh, locally, a lot of people knew her around town for the talent shows and things that she did. And uh so it was kind of like she was already out there to be a star. You know what I'm saying? Like she was a familiar, she was a familiar face. Not so familiar, but people was like, oh, that's that girl that was on that TV show. That's what I remember. Oh, that's that's uh Brandy from Thea. Oh, cool, you know, whatever. And back then people used to do like say like entertainment tonight or whatever, uh special news, entertainment news uh shows on TV with like interview people. And I had known about Brandy uh prior, like I said, knew she could sing. So her coming out with I Wanna Be Down was like, oh, okay, this is this is what she's doing. You know what I'm saying? And then she just became super popular doing Cinderella and like I said, Moesha. And as the years go on, she's in movies and commercials and all this other stuff. So her taking off, I thought it was a great debut. Um mid-90s, yeah, album sales meant a lot, but I guess we just didn't focus on that as much. You know what I'm saying? Like that wasn't the determining factor of if we thought someone was successful or not. But um, I would say she was pretty successful. Um, she was a household name, it was a great album, like I said, and um for me, it it was it was just something easy to listen to. I loved Brandy's voice, I loved the songs that she had. They were simple. Um, I loved to hear like the way she sang. And uh overall, I just thought it was a really good album. The album was uh 14 tracks, and it had uh Moving On, Baby, Best Friend, I Wanna Be Down. I dedicate part one, Broken Hearted, I'm yours, Sunny Day, as long as you're here, always on my mind. I dedicate part two, Love is on my side, give me you, and I dedicate part three. Now, my favorite song on this album is probably not what probably not what you think. It's not something that was released. Um, actually, I lied. Hold on. I lied. Brokenhearted, I know I I'm jumping, but broken hearted was not the last song on the tape. It was I'm yours. I'm yours was the last song on the first side of the tape, and then the the first song on the next on the B side was Sunny Days. I just I just wanted to put that there because I'm thinking, I'm like, wait a minute, it did end on I'm Yours, but regardless, um my favorite on the album is not something that was released, and the reason why I brought I'm Yours up is because that's my favorite song on this album. Now, yes,

The “Best Friend” Tattoo Story

SPEAKER_02 10:26

do I have a best friend tattoo? I do. I have a tattoo on my foot of music notes that I pulled from the sheet music of the song Best Friend. Me and my best friend at the time got it, and we both have it on our foot. It's a pretty, it's a pretty cool story to tell because even if we're not cool anymore, you don't know what those music notes are. You just think that I like music. And so, you know, sometimes I just tell people it's just a tattoo. I love music, and some people, sometimes I go into the story of, oh, me and my best friend at the time decided to get it. It's the sheep music from Brandy's song, Best Friend. I think it's a dope, um, a dope, you know, statement piece or you know, talking piece or whatever. If anyone ever sees my feet, I don't show them a whole bunch, but whenever I get my pedicures, the they they love like asking me about it. So um, but yeah, so I'm yours is the song that we're going to hear by Brandy.

Why “I’m Yours” Still Hits

SPEAKER_02 11:26

Like I said, this is my favorite on the album, and here it is.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

I've got to tell you. So you know that today.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Is that not a beautiful song? Y'all have to hear that whole thing. Ooh, I was getting goosies just listening to it. Listen, when I was a young buck back in the day, like I was a teenager during this time, but it was before I can, my mom said I can date, but I still, not that I still dated, but you know, I have my little crushes, I have my little people that I was seeing stuff like that. You know what I'm saying? Sneak out and go to the movies, and you know, he just happens to be there or whatever. Um, but I was such a sentimental kid. Like songs, songs really meant something to me. And when I heard this, I'm like, this is dedicated to whoever my man is gonna be. Whoever that guy is, this has to be one of the songs that I dedicate to him. Now, as corny as that sounds, I definitely did that. I remember I don't even I don't even know this guy's name. I remember meeting a guy. Oh, where was he living? I don't remember where I met him. I want to say maybe it was Atlanta, I don't remember, but I remember I was on a college tour. At this point, I'm like 17. I'm on a college, my my parents took me to go look at colleges, and I can't remember where this was, but I met him uh at a store, at a mall, or something like that. And we exchanged numbers, and uh, it was still my senior year. Well, it was my senior year. I think I met him the summer. Nope. I met him, I don't know where we were, but I met him, exchanged numbers. I was in my second semester. We would we would talk on the phone and write letters because yeah, back then there was no real email thing or whatever, write letters and stuff like that. And I remember because I kept talking to him until I went to college, and when I went to college, he got jealous because I he was I wasn't answering the phone on time or something stupid like that. And then I was like, well, this ain't gonna work. But um, I dedicated this is a long story. I dedicated I'm yours to him one time when we were talking. I don't remember his name, but I remember doing that, and then there was another song um from another artist here that I also dedicated to somebody else I was talking to. I don't remember, but anyway, I'm yours was my favorite song. So as far as I'm concerned, Brandy is always number one for me. Um, I think her impact is huge, and you can't really go too far in the future. Who had the best debut? Not like who had the biggest impact like years down the line. I thought Brandy had a really good debut. I felt her album was solid. She stayed on the video charts, video soul, or uh TRL or whatever countdowns there were. Um, so I think she she had a really good debut. Next one. Uh

Aaliyah’s Arrival And Street Edge

SPEAKER_02 16:36

next one is Age Ain't Nothing But a Number by Aileyah. Now, Ayaleyah, Aileyah, rest in peace. We know we lost her um some years ago now um in a horrible uh accident, uh plane crash, but um I remember when Aaliyah first came out. Now, the best debut, you know, I say Brandy, but the best debut might be Aaliyah, because during that time we know the guy who pretty much ran the 90s, amazing producer, I would say great songwriter, but then a lot of his songs were obviously speaking about young women, and that's kind of gross to go back and listen to, which I haven't, but I I was an avid listener of him and everything that he did as far as writing for other artists or producing for other artists, and when he came out with this artist, Aaliyah, Aaliyah was much different than than Brandy. I believe Aaliyah came out, the album came out before Brandy's dead, but we knew who Brandy was. Aaliyah was someone who wore these dark shades, she was uh dressed in big baggy clothes. She was um her point of view was like she's like a street, you know, she has this street edge, street smarts, she's from Detroit, you know what I'm saying? And um as a person growing up in Michigan, I was like, oh, this is one of our art, like this is one of our artists or whatever, you know. So I have to I have to support her. I love that artist that was producing everything at the time, and this is his protege. Um, and she was receiving a lot of love, and it it was she was popular because mainly because of him, you know, he was very heavy on his album, like very, very heavy on his album, so heavy on the album that he's on the album cover. So you knew that this artist was a product of him and his camp or whatever. And so as he was popular, she was popular as well. And so when she debuted with Back and Forth, um, that literally was like a theme song for us, especially us in Michigan, because anybody that came out of anywhere in Michigan, if you were from Michigan, especially as a young kid, you were like, I have, you know, we're gonna support. Like we gotta, you know, we love Sinbad, we love Ernie Hudson, we love Rome, we love Ilia, you know, we love like we love all these people that have come out of Michigan or whatever. And uh you really want to support

Michigan Pride And Real-Time Hype

SPEAKER_02 19:44

them. So yeah, we were, I remember being in um this organization called Michigan's Youth and Government. And every year, this this was um kind of like an after-school program, and uh we would pretty much learn the government, and then every year all the participating schools in Michigan would get to go to the Capitol in Lansing, and then literally while Congress was out for their recess for you know vacation or whatever, like a week, we would spend the week at the Capitol, like being like the government. Like we had committee meetings, we were people, people were there, was a governor, there was a lieutenant governor, we there were senators, there were um representatives, and then we had committees, and there were it was all, I mean, everything, everything that you can do in government, like we literally went there and did that. Like I was a representative, you'll get your badge, and then it'll tell you who you are, like your name, obviously, but who where you're gonna be. Either you're a senator or you're another house of representatives, and you that we will have a bunch of um bills that we would have to go through and figure out which ones we want to uh turn into laws. We would amend some other laws, and they had them where these are like real bills and stuff that the senators had already gone through, but it was us. Like we were literally sitting to committee meeting meetings and talk about like how we want to amend these bills before we presented on the floor. We, you know, people will argue it on the floor, and then if we vote on it, it goes to the Senate and it does the same thing, and then it goes to the governor. It's the whole thing. It was pretty cool to learn that, and it's valuable information for kids like us, especially these days, to know about your government. But anyway, when we weren't in session, we got to hang out with each other. And so, Michigan, we had a bunch of Detroit people in this program with us, and so we would all hang out and they would talk about Aliyah. Oh, she went to my school. We know her, blah, blah, blah. Her, her aunt is this, and blah, blah, blah. So it was very familiar. So back and forth was um. Very popular. She was mysterious. Dark sunglasses, long hair. You couldn't really see her face. She wore a halter top, but you know, baggy bottoms. And then over the years, outside of Age is nothing but a number, you realize like she's a really good dancer and all this other stuff. But um, I might say Age Ain't Nothing But a Number was a bigger debut, but I don't know. We'll see.

Album Breakdown And “Street Thing”

SPEAKER_02 22:28

So Age Ain't Nothing But a Number is the debut album by was a debut album by American singer Aaliyah. It was released on May 24th, 1994, on Blackground Records and Jive Records. Um Aliyah was, let me see, da da da da da. Aja Nothing But a Number received generally favorable reviews from critics. Many noted Aliyah's vocal ability and praised the lyrical content. Aaliyah was credited for redefining RB by blending her voice with Kel with blending her voice with that guy's uh New Jack Swing. The album peaked at number 18 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and has been double, has been certified double platinum by the recording industry association of America. The album has sold over 3 million copies in the United States and 6 million copies worldwide. Um the album produced two US Billboard 100 top 10 10 singles, which was Back and Forth, and then her cover of the Isley Brothers at Your Best, You A Love. Both singles were certified by certified gold by the RIAA. The title track was released as a third and final U.S. single with Down with the Click and The Thing I Like were released as fourth and fifth singles, respectively, in the United Kingdom. So this album, I I listened to this album a lot. At first, I don't know. I had like a love-hate relationship with Aliyah just because I don't know, it was something I didn't necessarily like at first. Like I think I had heard, and it probably came from the the Detroit kids that we were at the at Michigan Youth and Government with, I think they said something like, she don't claim Detroit or she don't claim us, she don't claim Michigan or something like that. And then I was like, what? Man, screw her. Like we ain't, she don't claim us then. We ain't gonna we ain't gonna support her. If she wants to claim Chicago, she can be with Chicago. She ain't gotta be with us or whatever. And so I was something about her I just didn't like at first. But I still listened to the album. I listened to the album a lot, actually. And although I'm not going to play the song, um I will tell you what my favorite song was. But um, first, there were 13 tracks on this album, on the regular standard edition. There was also one that was released um in Europe um in Japan. Um, but the regular edition was um intro, throw your hands up, back and forth, age ain't nothing but a number, down with the click, at your best, you will love. No one knows how to love me quite like you do. I'm so into you, street thing, young nation, old school, I'm down, and then back and forth, which is uh a remix, a remix of back and forth. Um, my favorite song was Street Thing. I love that song. I loved the music. I loved, you know, something, you know, again, 90s was really uh full of you know Robert's music, and he just had a knack for um that sound, that slow jam sound that was really good. And I just hate that things have come to what they have come to, but um, he really had a knack for that music, and so this song, I love the music that was under it. Um I thought she sang well on it. She was kind of uh belting on this song. I really love like at the end when she was hitting this high, or not, wasn't a high note, but just holding this note for a long time. And you know, again, when I'm listening to Brandy or any of these other artists, I felt like if I have my headphones on or if I'm in my car or shower, whatever, you can't tell me nothing I sound like these artists. So this was a song that I felt like I sounded the best singing, and so it was one of my favorite songs. So um Street Thing was definitely it. I I don't remember some of these songs on here, but uh again, I haven't listened to this album in a very long time. But I think that I think Brandy maybe had a bigger impact on her debut, like on a mainstream stream level, but Aaliyah might have had a better or bigger impact or debut on like a street level, like just regular, dagular people. You know what I'm saying? I don't think entertainment tonight wasn't too much thinking about Aaliyah or or them trying to interview her on whatever Oprah, whoever it was. You know what I'm saying? Like she was just uh an artist who was like for the people. Then when you start learning things, we see we hear the rumors about her and him being married, and then now all the gossip, um well, they weren't called blogs back then, but all the gossip magazines and stuff like that, they kind of jumped on that, and that's where some of her popularity came from. And then, of course, rumors are always spread. Oh, she she can't see, she's blind, that's why she wears the glasses, or she has a lazy eye, or just crazy stuff. So that kind of also fuels the flame of people wanting to know more about her and talking about her because she was mysterious, you know what I'm saying? When you don't know too much, you either make something up or it causes you to want to know more about the person. So that was you know, very popular. She was popular on BET. I wouldn't say she wasn't popular on MTV, but BET definitely uh was someone who like was definitely supporting and pushing her, and you'll see her videos all the time there. Um, so like I said, Brandy on the mainstream, maybe Aaliyah on just like a regular, you know, street street level or whatever. Like the hood knew who she was, you know what I'm saying? So that's that. Uh

Monica’s Mature Voice At 14

SPEAKER_02 28:47

the next one is Monica Miss Thang. Now, this is also an album that I used to play a lot. I remember, I think I also had this on tape. I remember being at my grandma's house. Um, well, my grandparents owned the house next to them that no one stayed in. It was just if if guests came over, they could stay over there. Or sometimes my grandma would just go over there, I don't know, to be alone. I don't know why she was over there all the time. She would just go over there. Sometimes she would just go there to cook, so I guess she wouldn't um, you know, stink up the house. Because my grand grandparents had a very small house, so maybe she would use the kitchen over there to like cook and put all her stuff in and you know, refrigerate it and whatever. I don't know. She just had they just had the other house. So on certain weekends, I would just go over there so I can get away from my family and my little sister and my parents. If I felt like I just wanted to be alone, I would go to my my grandparents' house and stay over there by myself. And, you know, I have the TV to myself. And, you know, of course, my grandma would make food for me and you know, make sure I have everything that I need. It was it was pretty cool. Um, but I remember listening to this album um because there would be some times where I would just be there and read books. I was I was a pretty big nerd. So I would just be over there quiet, reading books, listening to music, and and Monica's uh Miss Thing was one of the albums that um I would listen to. So um her debut, people thought when Monica came out, I think people thought when you heard just one of those days, you felt like she was older than she was. Because I think around this time they were like 14, 14, 15, maybe. And most of them are all the same around the same age. Um, I know Brandy, uh, what does it say she was born? Okay, Brandy was born in 79. Aliyah was born in 79. Monica was born in 80. And the last person we're gonna talk about, Maya, was born in 79. Okay, so all of them were the same age except for Monica was a little, was one year younger, or maybe less than one year younger. So um Monica coming out, people thought that she was way more mature than she really was. Because you're singing just one of those. It's just her voice is just a mature voice. And so you look at you look at Brandy and you look at Aaliyah, but Monica comes out and she's in a different lane than both of those. Brandy's like your, you know, your regular uh girl next door kind of kind of artist or person. You got Aaliyah who's like the street girl from the hood, you know what I'm saying? That she's classy, but you know, she's she's she's street smart. And then you have Monica who's just like kind of like just in your face attitude, not bad attitude, but just like in your face, no nonsense. Um, she's kind of like the sassy girl. You know, you you go you went to high school, you had all these different kinds of people there, and you know, Monica was just like the one that you don't want to mess with, like, because she will she will cut you, you know what I'm saying? Like she's she can be the girl next door, but she can she's also hood. You know what I'm saying? She's right there in the middle, but she seemed way more mature, so a lot of people didn't understand didn't realize that she was also about 14, 15 as well. And so people were kind of you know perplexed about her when she came out because they didn't really un they didn't really get like teenager from her. They felt like a lot of her songs were a little bit more mature, you know, some of her features were with, you know, rappers. Uh Dallas Austin was a major producer of her album. So, you know, some of his artists and things that uh he worked with were featured on her album. And she gave like a street feel without necessarily being overly street, if that makes any sense. But she had a big impact when she came out.

Miss Thang Singles And Impact

SPEAKER_02 33:18

So Miss Thang came out July 18th, 1995. Um produced by Dallas Austin. As I said, Tim and Bob, Daryl Simmons, SoulShock, and Carlin. It was a mix of soul pop, hip-hop, and blues. Um, it came out to mixed and positive reviews from music critics who uh complimented Monica's versatility and mature sound appearance, um, as well as the album's eclectic number of songs. Um, it was a steady seller. The album became a commercial success as well. It debuted and peaked at number 36 on the Billboard 200 and reached a top 10 on the top RB and hip hop albums uh chart in the United States, um, where it was certified three times platinum and sold over 1.5 million copies internationally. It earned gold status in Canada, where it reached number 20. Um, four singles came from this album, Don't Take It Personal, just one of those days. That's what is the name of the song, Don't Take It Personal, but black people we just say, just one of them days. Don't take it personal before you walk out of my life. No one forgets that that song because that's where the huge white sandals came from. Both of those uh singles made Monica the youngest artist ever to have two consecutive chart-topping hits on the Billboard Hot RB singles chart and became top 10 hits in New Zealand. Um, she also dropped Like This and Like That and Why I Love You So Much. Also reaching top three on the Hot RB songs. Uh, Monica, along with fellow teen singers Aliyah and Brandy, established herself as one of the most successful uh female vocalists who emerged during the mid to late 1990s. So Miss Thang has 16 tracks. Uh Miss Thang, Don't Take It Personal, just one of those days, like this and like that. Get down with you, skate, Angel, Woman and Me. It's an interlude. Tell me if you still care. Let's straighten it out, featuring Usher before you walk out of my life. Now I'm gone. Why I love you so much, never can say goodbye, don't take it personal, uh, a remix, and then forever always. Um so for me, I jammed this album. Monica was a little, I never could think that I sounded like um Monica. And I'm not saying that she has a better voice than anybody, but the way that Monica sings is like I can't make my voice do that. Now, Brandy is a vocal Bible, but it's something about Brandy's tone that matches my tone that makes me feel like I can sound like her. Do I sound like her? No. But do I feel like I can sound like her when I'm listening to her in my ear because we have the same tone? Yes. Monica, no. I couldn't even attempt it. But I loved, I love this album. Um, I thought she had um a really good debut. Um, again, very, very popular with with the the three that I just well, the two that I just named, Aliah and Brandy. And my favorite song on this album is another uh sentimental song.

Dedicating “Why I Love You So Much”

SPEAKER_02 36:55

It is one that was released, and it is Why I Love You So Much. I I love this song again. It was something that I dedicated to somebody that I was talking to at the time. I just thought it was such a cute little love song, and that's why I love you so much. Like this, I'm trying to get my feelings out. Did I love somebody? No, I didn't. But did I feel like I wanted to? Yes. So you're getting this song. I don't care. I don't care. So here is a sum of why I love you so much. That is why I love you so much. You don't even understand. And and I can't play this song without getting to my favorite part. So we gotta listen to that. Oh, ooh, that gets me the goosies. Oh, she was singing her heart out. Baby, baby, yes, Monica. When I tell y'all I was dedicating that song, I don't remember again. I don't remember who this who this dude was. It was somebody at this point, somebody in college. Because I saved songs. I had songs where I'm like, when I get that guy, you getting this song. I don't care how old it is. And they did. Love that song so much. I do want to point out that Forever Always, which is the last song on Miss Thang, is it was a close, it was a close like number one for me. Like, I I give me a stripped down song with just a piano or guitar or something and somebody singing, and you got me hooked. I love I love how this ended the album.

Mya’s Debut And Holding Her Own

SPEAKER_02 40:55

But anyway, let's move on to the final artist or the final album, and it is Maya, her self-titled album that um was released, released on April 21st, 1998. Um It was released by University Music Entertainment and Interscope Records in the United States. The recording of the contemporary RB album was overseen by University Records CEO. Um, that has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. Guest appearances on the album include Drew Hill, Frontman Cisco, rapper Silk the Shocker, and Missy Elliott. It was um production was handled by uh swing mob, uh member Daryl Pearson with additional contributions from Daryl Simmons, Alex Kat, Contrell, Joey Priolo, and Nico the Intity Entity. It's spelled N Titty. Why you spell it like that? I don't know. But anyway, I guess it's entity. I that's weird. Anyway, the album received generally favorable reviews from um music critics who uh complimented Maya's vocals and songwriting abilities as well as the album's well-crafted appeal. Maya peaked at number 29 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA, selling over 1.6 million in the United States. The album spawned three singles: All About Me, which was the first song, uh, first single, Moving On, featuring Silk the Shocker, and the Diane Warren babyface pen ballad, My First Night With You. Um, in the midst of the album's success, Meyer earned several several accolades, including NCAA Image Award nomination, with two Soul Train Music Award nominations. Um in April 2023 to commemorate the album's 25th anniversary. That's crazy. Uh Universal Music Group released a Digital Deluxe 25th anniversary edition featuring six songs previously unavailable on DSPs, which I know, shout out to the homie. Uh Sherelle has probably definitely heard that because this is one of her favorite people of all time. So I will admit I did not listen to this album.

Admitting The Album Blind Spot

SPEAKER_02 43:36

I'm sorry, I know, I know I'm getting booed right now. I did not listen to this album. Um, I knew who Maya was. Uh, I definitely liked the first single. Again, it had Cisco. Cisco was familiar to us from Drew Heel. Um, but I don't know, I just didn't, I didn't really listen to her as much as I listened to everybody else. I didn't get the album. So I can't speak too much about the album. I do, I mean, obviously, one I do have a favorite song, but I didn't really listen to this album. Now, I did get her Mood Ring album, but Mood Ring was number three. Mood Ring was not number one or number two of her releases. But Mood Ring, when I tell y'all, I wore that thing out like it was the first time I ever heard Maya. I I don't know. I don't know why I picked up Mood Ring and didn't listen to the other albums. But Mood Ring was a jam. But we're not here for Mood Ring. We're here for her first uh album. So as far as her debut was concerned, um I think Maya definitely held her own in the midst of it now being Aliyah, Brandy, and Monica. Um she definitely was talented, she could sing, um, she was she could sing, dance, act, everything. I think she really uh for me, she really gained popularity for me when she did the remix um to uh Best of Me with Jay-Z. Now she had already had that song out, but when DJ Clue took it and remixed it and put Jay-Z on it, I was a huge fan of Jay-Z. I just really liked it. And and I wanted to get a jersey dress just because she had it on. I do I wear dresses, no, but I really wanted it. I thought it was dope. And I thought like I wanted to look like Maya. I just thought that was amazing. But that wasn't that wasn't during this debut. But I do feel like I, you know, like I said, she came in, she held her own. She could stand on her own two feet. Uh, she was just as talented, um, just as uh um a good of an artist as any of those ladies that were out at that time. And she just had her own lane. Like her lane was to me, Maya was more brandy leaning as far as like the girl next door. I didn't feel like attitude or sassiness from her, and I didn't really get street, I just got Maya is like a a step above brandy, like whatever the step above girl next door is, that's what she was. You know what I'm saying? Like she didn't have to, and I'm not saying that Aaliyah or um Monica had to do this, but she didn't necessarily need or have to lean on street cred. It was just her and her talent, and some of her music, I guess you can say was kind of sassy, but it really I didn't get that feeling. I'm talking speaking from me though, I didn't get that feeling from her. I felt like it was like my uh Brandy and Maya on kind of like one end of a spectrum, and then on the other side it was Aliah and Monica on the other side, you know what I'm saying? No, no one better or worse than anybody else. It was just they all had their spots, but you know, popularity. I think Maya didn't necessarily have a lot of controversy that I can think of off the top of my head. Um like I said, you get Brandy because you knew her from TV, and then she has her own show, you know, Monica because you know she's sassy, you know, Aliyah because of Robert, and Maya was just kind of there. But the thing is, I had another artist who is not even on here that I really love that I listened to her album, and I think it came out around the same time, and that's Mona Lisa. Um, and she was also born in 79. People, nobody gave her a listen. Not one person gave her a listen. I think I'm probably the only one that owns the album and would listen to it back and forth. It was, I would listen to her and Monica and um Brandy and like I would listen to all four of those albums, back to back to back to back. Love me, Simona Lisa, but no one, they didn't really give her a shot. You know what I'm saying? I think at that point it was like, okay, it's enough. We got we got who we got. We don't really need any more. And I don't know if like the album wasn't pushing her music. You know, you gotta kind of have a machine around you. Also, it depends on uh what people want

Why Some Artists Break Through

SPEAKER_02 48:29

to hear and what people respond to. And I think she had a nice hit, but it wasn't anything that was sustainable. You know, you have Maya come out with with uh Cisco, but then you know, she also had Um Missy behind her, and then you you know, you have um, you know, those those other two songs, Moving On, was pretty popular. Um, and my first night with you. So it's it's it's kind of a toss-up when you think about why certain people are popular and the other ones aren't. I don't know why Mona Lisa never got a look, but she did for me, so she was the person that I was listening to um instead of listening to Maya, but I still feel like Maya had a pretty good debut. I don't know if her debut um beat Aliyah's, um, but nonetheless, I think she had a good debut. So this album had 13 tracks on it, the standard edition. Uh, What You Say, Moving On, Baby Is Yours, Keep On Loving Me. It's All About Me. Uh, if you died, I wouldn't cry because you never love me anyway. That's a long course. I'm gonna have to listen to that. Um, we're gonna make it dance, if you were mine, bye-bye, featuring Missy. Um, Anytime You Want Me, Don't Be Afraid. My first night with you, moving on remix featuring Silk to Shaka, and that was it. So, my favorite song on this album, like I said, I did not listen to this album, so I'm gonna have to go with the one that everybody knows.

“All About Me” And That Sample

SPEAKER_02 50:09

Um, it's all about me. I thought this was pretty cool just to see her, like Cisco was there, but it was more about Maya to me. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, oh, who's this person with my with Cisco? And um she just looked professional, that's the word. She just she just seemed already together, together, even at that age. You know what I'm saying? She had the maturity of a monica, but she also had like the look, the girl, kind of like the the the aura of the girl next door. But she was professional. It seemed like she had been here before. Like this was not, this wasn't anything new. Like watching her videos, watching her perform, watching her sing, like this she was like prepared. This wasn't anything we're just throwing this kid out here and just going off her raw talent. Like, I felt like she was polished, if that makes sense. To me, that's how I felt when I saw her. Like, oh, this she know she's been here before. Like, she she's already on it, she's professional, you know what I'm saying? So the song that I'm gonna choose is the first song that I ever heard, and it is all about you, which I love. So here we go.

unknown 51:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:06

It's all the ball, that's the time, just my butt nickel but niggas.

SPEAKER_02 52:59

That's my favorite part. Oh, just my butt nigga, but nigga. Okay. So that was um All About Me by Maya featuring uh Cisco. Again, it caught my attention right away, not only because Cisco was there, but it used a sample of uh a song that we all love from the hood, um, Art of Noise, um, Moments in Love, which I might I might feature that on one of my um sample this episodes. But yes, that is uh my favorite song off the album. I'm sorry, Sherelle. I know she's already cussing me out, and if she hears this, I will be getting text messages because she's gonna be disappointed that I was not I was not that much into this album. I'm sorry, I'm sorry what you want me to say. Um, but yeah, that is it.

Where To Follow And Closing Song

SPEAKER_02 53:54

That is it for us here. Um so I don't know what I don't really I don't remember if I did a vibe of the week for the last episode I did like this, or if I chose one of my all-time favorite songs. But just because I mentioned it, we're gonna go out. Um, we're gonna go out with Forever Always by Monica, because that is literally one of my favorite songs, and I if I could have chosen that, I would. But as always, you guys can uh catch me on uh Twitter, um, TikTok, um, Instagram, so J'sQuick3 Pod on Twitter, J Spot Network, on um Instagram and the Tiki Talk. You can find me on uh YouTube at the J Spot Network. Also, I have a Patreon, J Spot Network, Patreon at Patreon.com slash J Spot Network. That's where I have all my videos that I do music reviews or things like that. Um, podcasts, you can catch it. It's supposed to be every Friday, but these days you get it when you get it. So go ahead and subscribe, you'll get it then. But until then, that's all I have. We're gonna go out on um Forever Always by Monica. Peace out, y'all.

SPEAKER_00 55:21

But you won't let me push my love away. Don't be so selfie. We give your love I've done. You told me that you have to be the boy, a baby boy, eat the number. You don't have to be afraid. If I ever learned what away, I don't know.