JUST ONCE

HAIL MARY

My Life is the second studio album from Mary J. Blige, Released by Uptown/MCA Records on November 28, 1994. Recording sessions for the album began in fall of 1993 and ended almost one year later. Many of the topics on My Life deal with clinical depression, Blige’s battling with both drugs and alcohol, as well as being in an abusive relationship. Similar to her debut album What’s the 411?, My Life features vast production from Sean Combs, who provided a hip hop soul sound.

Considered to be her breakthrough album, My Life became Mary J. Blige’s second album to reach the top ten of the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number seven, and debuting at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for eight weeks. The album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 38th Grammy Awards, while in December of the same year, the album was certified 3x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for excess in sales of over three million copies and won the Billboard Music Award for Best R&B Album.

Though receiving mostly mixed to favorable reviews upon its release, the album’s reception among music critics and writers has improved over time, with some regarding it as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2002, Blender ranked My Life number 57 on their 100 greatest American albums of all time list, in 2003, the album was ranked number 279 on Rolling Stone magazine’s the 500 greatest albums of all time, and in 2006, it was included in Time’s 100 greatest albums of all time list.

The sequel to the album, My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1), was released on November 21, 2011.

DON’T STOP

Bedtime Stories is the sixth studio album by Madonna, released on October 25, 1994 by Maverick Records. Madonna collaborated with Dallas Austin, Babyface, Dave “Jam” Hall and Nellee Hooper, deciding to move into a more R&B direction. Madonna tried to soften her image after releasing several sexually explicit works earlier in the decade.

The album was inspired by contemporary R&B and new jack swing, developing a generally more mainstream, radio-friendly sound. Like its predecessor Erotica (1992), Bedtime Stories explores lyrical themes of love, sorrow, and romance, but with a toned-down, less sexual approach. Critics described the album as “autobiographical”. The album’s final single “Human Nature” addresses the controversy surrounding Erotica, while “Bedtime Story” was written by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk. Bedtime Stories received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who praised the album’s candid lyrics and production.

Commercially, the album proved to be successful. Debuting and peaking at number three on the Billboard 200, the album was certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It peaked in the top five in most territories, topping the charts in Australia. Four singles were released from the album. The lead single, “Secret”, gave Madonna her record-breaking 34th consecutive top ten single in the United Kingdom, while “Take a Bow” spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (the longest run for any of Madonna’s chart-toppers). Other singles released were “Bedtime Story” and “Human Nature”. The album was not accompanied by a tour. At the 38th Grammy Awards, Bedtime Stories received a nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.

COLD INSIDE

“Stranger in Moscow” is the fifth and final single from Michael Jackson’s album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The song was released worldwide in November 1996 but was not released in the United States until August 1997. The track was written by Jackson in 1993, at the height of the highly publicized child abuse accusations made against him, while on tour in Moscow.

During his visit to Moscow in September, Jackson came up with the song “Stranger in Moscow” which would be released on his 1995 album HIStory. It was during a time when Jackson felt very alone, far away from his family and friends, yet every night throughout his tours fans would stay by his hotel and support him. The song’s music video depicts the lives of six individuals, including Jackson, who are left isolated and disconnected from the world around them. The imagery in the video has been replicated in television adverts.

Upon its initial release, and a couple years later after the singer’s death, the song has garnered some of the best critical praise of Jackson’s career. Many former collaborators and critics have gone so far as to say it is Jackson’s best song.

CLOSE YOUR EYES

“Erotica” is the lead single from Madonna’s fifth studio album, Erotica (1992). The single was released in October 1992 by Maverick Records, and later included on her greatest hits albums GHV2 (2001) and Celebration (2009). Released amidst a blaze of publicity and hype for the single and other projects at the time, “Erotica” became her first lead single from an album not to hit number one in the U.S. since her debut album in 1983. Fourteen years after its original release, the song received renewed attention with its inclusion in the set list for the Confessions Tour (2006). This song, along with “Secret Garden”, was the only Madonna song used in her feature film debut as a director, Filth and Wisdom (2007).

“Erotica” continued Madonna’s exploration of potent spoken-word vocals (as introduced in “Justify My Love”) and was highly controversial when it was released due to its sexual theme and suggestive lyrics. Upon the song’s release, the Vatican banned Madonna from entering the state and her music was banned on its radio stations. The song and its accompanying album are also banned in Lebanon.

In 2011, Slant Magazine listed “Erotica” at number thirty-four on their list of the “Best Singles of the 1990’s”, stating that the song is Madonna’s “invitation to the dance, a slithering, sinister snake rising from a gaudily ornate chalice. The beats are, by design, hypnotic, at once alluring and devious. With “Erotica,” Madonna promises to get you off, but not without giving you something.”

The music video for “Erotica” is one of Madonna’s most infamous videos, directed by fashion photographer Fabien Baron. The clip depicts Madonna as a a masked dominatrix with a golden tooth and a whip; interspersed are scenes from the making of the Sex book. The American MTV aired it a total of three times (all of these in the “safe harbor”) due to its highly charged sexual content, and it was eventually Madonna’s second video to be banned from airing by that channel. There are two versions of the video – the “standard” version which contained no nudity was released in the United States (it can be viewed on Madonna’s official web page); and a more explicit version of the video was released only in Europe and Australia, which contained full-frontal nudity of Madonna and variation in the editing. The video was ranked #16 on VH1’s “50 Sexiest Video Moments”. An uncensored version was also made available and features full nudity, very course language, fellatio, anal sex and extreme bondage.

BIG ENOUGH

BEEP BEEP

MELT YOUR HEART

“Frozen” is a song by Madonna from her seventh studio album Ray of Light. It was released as the lead single from the album on February 23, 1998. It was written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard who had previously worked together on the albums True Blue (1986), Who’s That Girl (1987), Like a Prayer (1989) and I’m Breathless (1990) and the single “I’ll Remember” (1994). The song was produced by Madonna, William Orbit and Leonard and remixed by Victor Calderone, Stereo MC’s and Orbit for the single release.

Musically, “Frozen” is an electronic ballad which talks about heartbreak. The song was described as one of Madonna’s darkest and most personal songs. “Frozen” received extremely positive reviews from most music critics, who deemed it an album highlight. The song was a worldwide success, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the dance charts on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play charts. It peaked at number one in the UK Singles Chart as well.

Madonna traveled to the Indian Wells Valley of the Mojave Desert in California to shoot the music video for “Frozen” from January 7 to 10, 1998. It was directed by Chris Cunningham, and was inspired by the movies The English Patient and The Sheltering Sky. The video won an MTV Video Music Award for “Best Special Effects” in 1998. The cinematography was done by Darius Khondji, who also shot Madonna’s 1993 music video “Fever”, and the 1996 film Evita. With a monochromatic bluish appearance throughout, the video shows Madonna playing an ethereal Gothic witchy, melancholy persona, with long black hair, black gowns designed by Olivier Theyskens (at that time a young and emerging talent), and mehndi on her hand showing the Hindu word Om on her palm. She shapeshifts into a flock of crows and a black dog.

The video premiered on February 12, 1998 in Europe and on MTV four days later. There were also two remix videos of “Frozen” released that same year by Dan-O-Rama titled “Stereo MC’s Mix” and “Calderone Club Mix”.

HONEY MONEY

SPINNING AROUND

SWEET AND LOW

FINISH LINE

YOUR BEST

“What It Feels Like for a Girl” is a song by Madonna. It was the third and final single released from her eighth studio album Music on April 17, 2001. The video mix of the song is a trance song, while the album version is a more demure pop and trip-hop song. The song describes the pressure women feel to conform to social norms of politeness and subservience. The song had received positive reviews from most music critics.

The single was also released on DVD and VHS containing a controversial music video that was directed by Guy Ritchie. Its depiction of violence and abuse caused MTV to ban it before 9 PM. The music video plays the trance remix by Above & Beyond which contains only a sample of lyrics from the original album version. The song had also good charting success, peaking in the top ten in many countries.

SHARP SHOOTER

SUNSHINE

“Umbrella” was released worldwide on March 29, 2007. The song was originally written for Britney Spears, whose label rejected it. “Umbrella” is a pop and R&B song and lyrically it refers to a romantic and platonic relationship and the strength of that relationship. It is generally considered Rihanna’s signature song. “Umbrella” was well received by music critics, many of whom appreciated the “ella, ella” hook as well as the covincing vocals with which she deilvered the chorus. Entertainment Weekly ranked the song number one on the 10 Best Singles of 2007, while Rolling Stone and Time listed the song at number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007. The song has earned Rihanna several awards and nominations. In 2007, the song won two awards at the MTV Video Music Awards, when it was nominated for four. At the 50th Grammy Awards, “Umbrella” also earned Rihanna and Jay-Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

The music press has considered “Umbrella” as 2007’s Song of the Summer, while The New York Times regarded it as “arguably 2007’s signature slow jam”. In 2009 Pitchfork ranked the song as the #25 song on list of The Top 500 Tracks of the decade. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, “best-of” list, saying, “In 2007, Rihanna had us all singin’ in the rain.” On Rolling Stone’s updated version of their The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, “Umbrella” was listed at number 412, making Rihanna one of the youngest living artists in that list. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 63 on its list “150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years”.

LUCKIEST BY FAR

HIGHER

JUST BELIEVE

ENDLESS POWER

SO FAR AWAY