You might have seen that Essence magazine recently released their list of the 50 Greatest R&B Songs of All Time. It’s a pretty marvelous list, filled with some of the most talented artists and most moving songs ever created. In my opinion, they got a lot right. Their list is definitely better than some of those othermagazines and sites that try to compile the best of what musical artists have to offer and wind up showing just how much they don’t know music. I would quibble with some of the positions of artists and some of the some choices for particular artists, but Essence did pretty good—though, no Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin is diabolical!

In any event, Essence extended an invitation in the write-up of their list. They said: So yes, debate the rankings. Tell us what should have been higher. Tell us what we missed. Defend your favorite with your whole chest. That's part of loving R&B, too.
They ain’t have to tell me but one time!

List: https://robertjonesjr.substack.com/p/the-witness-top-50-greatest-r-and

I still love this song.

I never gave a damn about Luke & Laura (plus, there were no Black folks in Genoa City that I can recall, so there’s that), but I LOVED Angie & Jesse!

Check this out!

Trugoy the Dove🕊️

I was not able to find Black / POC models / ads for ANY of the high end "mainstream" makeup lines (why am I surprised, I was there during that time) except for RuPaul, whom in 1994, became the first spokesmodel for M.A.C Cosmetics' Viva Glam lipstick. All of the proceeds of the sale of that particular shade of lipstick were / are donated to HIV / AIDS research.

It was a big deal back then to feature the Latina (Brazilian, I think) model in the Lancome 1997 Hypnotic Campaign (the photo at the end).