MY TOP 10: 90s/00s Pop/R&B Divo Music Video Jump-Offs – 9. D’Angelo “Brown Sugar”

So, it’s been a year since I started popolio.com and kicked it of with my first MY TOP 10 Countdown in September 2008.  Since popolio.com was jumping off, I kicked it off with MY TOP 10: 90s/00s Pop/R&B Diva Music Video Jump-Offs.  Well, this is the twelfth month, so I thought it would create nice symmetry if I presented the men as a bookend to that very first countdown before Year 2 officially begins.  This time around the Div-Os, or Divos, will get the spotlight.

This is the second of today’s three-fer video special.

9. D’Angelo “Brown Sugar”
D’Angelo is that brother who officially kicked off the neo-soul revolution of the 1990s.  Sure, there were pioneers doing it before him when it was nameless and the originators created the blueprints in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, but this is what started the storm and laid the groundwork for his contemporaries and those who would come after.  “Brown Sugar” made enough noise to make D’Angelo’s presence known, but it was the second (and BONUS video here) video, “Lady,” from his debut aka Brown Sugar that took him over the top.

***BONUS*** D’Angelo “Lady”

 

 

MY TOP 10: Songs about Songs — 4. Erykah Badu featuring Common “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop)”

I’ve been wanting to do a countdown featuring songs about songs (you know, songs about music, dancing, and/or a certain genre).  I have my 10 songs, but even as I posted Number 10, I wasn’t sure about the order.  So, this one will form as I go.  I normally have my list ready to go before I start.  MY TOP 10 is a music video countdown, but with some songs (maybe two in  particular) occuring before the MTV era, I will  have to improvise and pull something from Dailymotion or YouTube.  Here goes.

4. Erykah Badu featuring Common “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop)”

The theme song to Brown Sugar, the love letter to hip hop in film form, plays like “I Used to Love H.E.R.” Part Deuce (see Number 5) and even features Common.  The song is the 2003 Grammy-Winning Best R&B Song and Soul Train Lady of Soul Best Solo R&B/Soul Single.  It got a lot of airplay on the radio and TV and exhibits Badu’s potential at its finest.  A fun video and a surprise appearance by MC Lyte top it off.