rafi-dangelo

Since I am one of the three people I know who actually watches R&B Divas, I don’t really have anybody to talk to about my obsession, so I’m just gonna put it on the internet instead.

LOVE.IT.

It’s like the drama of Real Housewives, but with people who are actually good at something other than drinking Franzia and pretending to have money. Atlanta is back with a second season and now the series is filming a spin-off in Los Angeles. So I need to have a Friday jam session with my favorite videos by the cast members.

Watch this video.

Kelly Price “Friend of Mine” feat. Ronald Isley & R. Kelly

I just realized I need to watch all of the videos featuring “Mr. Big” immediately. And this was before R. Kelly peed on that child, so they are still valid as art. I think Chante Moore was in one of em. And Garcelle Beauvais played the main chick in a couple I think.

But the best one was clearly “Busted”; I’m fixin to watch that one next.

Whitney Houston Duets!

Divas have a reputation of being a little snooty, not really wanting to share the spotlight or work with anyone else. When they do decide to record a duet, the result is usually pretty amazing, but they’re so few and far between. You could almost fit every duet recorded by Janet, Mariah, Beyonce, and Madonna onto one album.

Not Whitney. Before she was made it big, she seemingly spent all her time recording duets with Jermaine Jackson, and over the course of her career, she released duets fairly regularly. Whitney wasn’t just the best singer of our time because she had a great voice—she had great ears too. You can’t add vocal flourishes without being able the hear the chords, and you can’t sing a great duet without being able to hear your partner.

So, let’s countdown Whitney Houston’s greatest duets!

** “Impossible/It’s Possible” with Brandy

I’m gonna drop this in as an honorable mention because that whole Cinderella experience was huge. Brandy was working with her idol, Whitney was executive producing, ABC got it’s highest movie ratings of all time, and it was a multi-ethnic cast retelling classic Disney.

10. “Something in Common” with Bobby Brown

If I didn’t have such conflicting emotions about their relationship, I’d actually rate this song higher. It’s actually a pretty good production from LA Reid and Whitney & Bobby sound good together on a record.

9. ”We Didn’t Know” with Stevie Wonder

This mid-tempo jam is everything I love about the early 90s: casio keyboard, epic 5-minute length, major/minor keychanges, and Whitney Houston.

8. “It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be” with Aretha Franklin

This sassy duet with the Queen of Soul in the late 80s didn’t burn up the charts like Whitney’s earlier releases, but it’s a welcome, upbeat addition to both of their catalogs.