Who was Joni Mitchell? Fifth-grade Melina didn’t quite know.
I would stroll and stumble, extending a lanky arm to caress any shiny plastic jacket that caught my eye, avoiding the side-eyes of the half-blue, half-khaki employees. To this fledgling music writer, nothing in the world housed more promise - more ecstasy - than the CD section in Best Buy. Usher has inspired artists like Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, Justin Bieber, Drake and many more.The year? 2006. After the success of Confessions, Usher has released 5 studio albums selling 75 million records worldwide, earning numerous awards and accolades including 18 Billboard Music Awards and eight Grammy Awards. The album joined the ranks of Thriller, Whitney Houston and CrazySex圜ool by reaching diamond success. One of the biggest albums of the 2000’s decade, Confessions sold over 8 million in copies. Generating four straight number one hits and winning several Grammy awards, including a Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Receiving two Grammy’s for “U Remind Me” and “U Don’t Have To Call”, Usher didn’t peak until Confessions. Receiving platinum success with My Way and spawning hit singles like “You Make Wanna” and “Nice & Slow” this wasn’t even close to the amount of success the Atlanta singer would later receive. Adopting the new jack swing sound, Usher adapted to the new songwriting and production trends. Usher instantly started impacting LaFace Records. One of music’s biggest artists of the late 20th century and early 21st century, Usher gained his first hit-single with “Call Me Mack” in 1993. TLC has sold over 65 million records worldwide, after the death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes the group still remains to make music and tour worldwide. The next year the album was certified six-times platinum.
FanMail debuted at #1 one on the US Billboard 200 and sold 318,000 copies in its first week. In 1999, the group dropped their last album together after the tragic death of group member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. CrazySex圜ool was critically acclaimed, with Rolling Stone ranking it among the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. TLC later released CraxySex圜ool which sold over 11 million copies in the US and went gold. The sound of their music was great, but the lyrical content was greater in which they discussed a wide range of topics from female empowerment to safe sex. “Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip” garnered three top ten singles. Heavily influenced by new-jack swing, the mesh of R&B, Hip-Hop and Funk set the group up for a commercially successful album. “Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip” became the group's first album. Signed with Laface Records in 1991, TLC immediately started working on their debut album with Babyface, L.A Reid, Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, and Marley Mal. T-Boz, Chili, and Left Eye are one of the greatest and best selling girl groups of all time. The aim to create opportunities for black musicians was inspiring and helped influence the startup of future black-owned record labels like Motown, LaFace Records, Vee-Jay, Philadelphia International Records and many more. The influence and impact of these two labels created a shift in black music that greatly changed the way we listen and digest music.
Designing spaces for black musicians, Black Swan Records, and Broome Special Phonograph Records help create opportunities and popularize black music. Black music no longer could be silenced, Black Swan and Broome Special Phonograph Records became the first black-owned record labels. Popular record labels owned by whites weren’t handing out record deals and recording opportunities to black musicians as much as they were for whites. Representation of black faces in music was basically non-existent, with the evolution of jazz and blues many black musicians found complications in recording and distributing their content to the masses. Racism and discrimination didn’t just affect black Americans from getting employment and housing but it also found a home in popular record labels throughout the music industry.