The Top 50 R&B / Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years

[Locke.]

Put together by Billboard (based on the success of the artists on the R&B / Hip Hop chart in the US)

In honor of the incomparable artists that have helped bring urban music to the masses over the last three decades -- and also to toast the success of our recently launched music column The Juice -- the Billboard chart team has assembled this list of the Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop artists of the last 25 years.

The tally is based on actual performance on the weekly Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts from Jan. 5, 1985, issue to the charts dated Nov. 6, 2010*. Artists are ranked based on an inverse point system (which just means that who ever spent the most weeks at No. 1 earned greater value than those that spent most time at the lower end of the chart).

Our list includes recent chart-toppers as well as classic favorites, platinum-selling crossover divas and quiet-storm crooners, innovators you'd expect to see and some surprising inclusions you never saw coming. But each artist is an essential voice in a genre that has become the driving force in today's popular music.

Now dissect the list, tear it apart, put it back together, and share your thoughts in the comments area below.

50. Tevin Campbell
49. En-Vogue
48. Joe
47. Brandy
46. Kanye West
45. Chris Brown
44. Maxwell
43. Patti LaBelle
42. Destiny's Child
41. Ne-Yo

40. Musiq Soulchild
39. Nelly
38. Eminem
37. Snoop Dogg
36. Bobby Brown
35. Tony Toni Tone
34. Sade
33. Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds
32. Gerald Levert
31. Levert

30. Jodeci
29. Keyshia Cole
28. 50 Cent
27. Aaliyah
26. Stevie Wonder
25. TLC
24. Monica
23. New Edition
22. Anita Baker
21. Lil Wayne

20. T.I.
19. 2Pac
18. Toni Braxton
17. Boyz II Men
16. LL Cool J

15. Beyonce
14. Ludacris
13. Michael Jackson
12. Keith Sweat
11. Prince

10. Alicia Keys
9. Freddie Jackson
8. Jay-Z
7. Luther Vandross
6. Usher

5. Janet Jackson
4. Mariah Carey
3. Whitney Houston
2. Mary J. Blije
1. R. Kelly

R. Kelly crowns our list of the top 25 R&B/hip-hop artists of the past 25 years with good reason. Since January of 1985, he's amassed 35 top 10 hits on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (the most of any act in the time frame) and a total of 84 charting singles. Among those are 11 No. 1s, including "Bump N' Grind" (12 weeks at the top) and "Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)" (seven weeks) with Ronald Isley. Further cementing Kelly's hitmaker status is his staggering 11 No. 1s on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The R&B icon continued to post new chart achievements in 2010, as he notched his 56th top 40 single with "When a Woman Loves."

http://www.billboard.com/column/the-juice/the-top-50-r-b-hip-hop-artists-of-the-past-1004127916.story#/column/the-juice/the-top-50-r-b-hip-hop-artists-of-the-past-1004127916.story?page=5

:blush:

[Harry!]

Janet Jackson at number 5 :love: Whoria Scary at number 4 :yuk:

[Shaun]

oh it's based on charts. I was about to laugh at Eminem being below Keyshia Cole.

[Locke.]

Was shocked at how low Eminem was, thought he would easily be in the top 10.

[Iceman]

Was shocked at how low Eminem was, thought he would easily be in the top 10.

He's only had 3 number 1's, 2 of them coming this year.....

[Novo]

Well it's an R&B chart rather then a Rap chart so god knows what some of the Acts are doing on there..

[BB_Eye]

Sh*t floats

[Novo]

If this was based on Albums R Kelly would be outside the top 10, the peado shouldn't even be named on any chart actually

[Locke.]

R. Kelly has sold 38 million albums and has had 11 #1 albums... name me another male R&B artist that has done that since the 90's.

[Lee.]

Right, I know I'm classed as an oldie on here,but I don't really understand what RnB is. I know it stands for rhythm and blues but half of the ****e that seems to fall into the RnB category has very little rhythm and doesn't sound very bluesy at all??
:)

[Shaun]

Quite, happyland. Quite.

[Zippy]

Oh joy, a pedo at number one.

[Novo]

R. Kelly has sold 38 million albums and has had 11 #1 albums... name me another male R&B artist that has done that since the 90's.

I can name 9 Artists just from that list who have sold more Albums since the 90's

Whitney Houston
Janet Jackson
Michael Jackson
Tupac
Stevie Wonder
Eminem
Prince
Boyz II Men
Jay-Z


There isn't even many credible R&B Artists anyway.. It comes to something when your main rival is Usher

[Lee.]

R Kelly is a paedo??

[Iceman]

R Kelly is a paedo??

R. Kelly has been accused of having relationships with underage girls in the past, but none of the prior reports reached the level of publicity that followed the release of a video tape in February 2002. It allegedly showed Kelly engaging in sex with and urinating on a 14-year-old girl. The tape, released by an unknown source, was sent to the Chicago Sun-Times; the newspaper that broke the story. Kelly denied that he was the man in the video.

Bootleg copies of that tape became widely available on the black market and over file sharing networks. In June 2002, Kelly was indicted in Chicago on 21 counts of having sex with a minor, which were later reduced to soliciting a minor for child pornography, seven counts of videotaping the acts, and seven counts of producing child pornography.

In January 2003, in Florida Kelly was arrested again on child pornography charges. In June 2002, authorities searched his house in Davenport, Florida. Officers allegedly found pictures of underage girls as well as a video of Kelly having sex with an underage girl on a digital camera – wrapped in a towel in a duffel bag. In March 2004 these charges were dropped due to a lack of probable cause for the search warrants.

After a number of delays, on October 27, 2006, a Cook County, Illinois court hearing for pre-trial motions set the date of the actual trial to February 7, 2007. On the date of the trial, Kelly's lawyer informed the court that his client was unable to attend because he was "undergoing surgery for a burst appendix". He also announced that Kelly was "in good condition and was expected to be released from the hospital later in the day." His attorney stated that Kelly (who pleaded not guilty) would be in attendance on the next trial date of February 21, 2007. It had previously been announced by the court that the videotape that allegedly showed Kelly performing sex acts with an underage girl would be publicly shown as evidence in the trial. The trial, however, was delayed due to disputes over when the tape was made and to give medical recuperation time to the sitting judge following a fall resulting in broken bones. Later the case was set for a September 17 date.

It took more than six years for the case to go to trial. Jury selection began on May 9, 2008, and the trial officially started on May 20 with opening statements from the prosecution and defense. After two weeks, the prosecution's case wrapped on June 3 while the defense's wrapped six days later, on June 9. After less than a day of deliberations, on June 13, 2008 a Chicago jury found Kelly not guilty of all 14 counts of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl.


All of these are alleged of course.

[Lee.]

Bloody hell!

[GiRTh]

Not only is he a paedo but the vid used to be easy to get hold of. The girl is no more than 13 or 14. Disgusting. At one point he p*sses on her. He's got a big d*ck though.

EDIT. Didnt see Icemans post.

[Locke.]

It is all lies :nono:

[MeMyselfAndI]

leona will get in there soon :hugesmile:

[Locke.]

I can name 9 Artists just from that list who have sold more Albums since the 90's

Whitney Houston
Janet Jackson
Michael Jackson
Tupac
Stevie Wonder
Eminem
Prince
Boyz II Men
Jay-Z


There isn't even many credible R&B Artists anyway.. It comes to something when your main rival is Usher

Michael Jackson is the King of Pop, so he is excluded.

Tupac, Eminem, and Jay-Z are rap artists.

Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson are women.

Boyz ii Men are a group.

Which just leaves Stevie Wonder and Prince.

Stevie Wonder has had 3 albums since the 90's, two of them only went gold and the other only made #88 on the R&B chart.

Prince has sold about 10 million since the 90's.

[Novo]

leona will get in there soon :hugesmile:

No she is a bit to old for R kelly now

[Shaun]

rofl, Leona R&B.

[Iceman]

No she is a bit to old for R kelly now

:laugh2: Post of the day

[MeMyselfAndI]

rofl, Leona R&B.

yep she is classed as it.
I Got You :love:

[MeMyselfAndI]

No she is a bit to old for R kelly now

R Kelly is 47 and Leona is 25 if you didnt know

[Shaun]

she's about as urban as Alan Titchmarsh.

[Locke.]

R. Kelly is 43

[Iceman]

yep she is classed as it.
I Got You :love:

listen just a suggestion i'd drop it, she has made no impact on this list and therefore is irrelavant to this thread.....

[MeMyselfAndI]

i don't even know what urban means but she is classed as "R&B/Urban/Pop"

[MeMyselfAndI]

R. Kelly is 43

sorry my maths skills

[Iceman]

R Kelly is 47 and Leona is 25 if you didnt know

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m274/bekkiglittz/GIFs/Macro/de27cdc4.gif