By and large, 1997 was a successful year for Black music, driven in large part by Bad Boy Records, whether it was material put out on the label or outside production by the Hitmen. But Sean Combs and company weren’t the only ones poppin’ bottles or celebrating success. This year would see the largest uptick in hip-hop topping the charts and while rap (the aforementioned Boy Boy, Busta Rhymes, Foxy Brown, Scarface, Bone Thugs, Master P) had a good 365, the soul side of things weren’t any pushovers.
Mission Statement: Why are you here?
Just look at how the year started: Toni Braxton topped the Hot 100, R.Kelly was no. 1 on the combined Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Whitney Houston’s gospel inflected The Preacher’s Wife: Original Soundtrack Album paced the R&B albums chart (before ‘Pac would replace her there. That’s for another post.)
Toni Braxton, “Un-Break My Heart”
This ballad exited 1996 at no. 1 and kept going in 1997 in the midst of an 11-week run atop Billboard’s Hot 100. The song’s success was so dominating that it blocked “I Believe I Can Fly” — R. Kelly’s most successful song — from reaching no higher than second on the overall singles chart. Eventually the Spice Girl’s “Wannabe” would surpass Braxton, that is until Puff Daddy’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” reached pole position.
R. Kelly, “I Believe I Can Fly”
The Chicago star topped this chart for three weeks before another soundtrack single — En Vogue’s “Don’t Let Go” — momentarily replaced him. Kelly, however, would knock out En Vogue for one week and then Erykah Badu noted the top slot. The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart has some incredible names on it from that year, in terms of toppers (Changing Faces, Dru Hill, Usher, Boyz II Men). Hopefully, I’ll get a hold of someone who worked at Billboard at the time or better yet, I’ll get together an R&B roundtable podcast.
Whitney Houston and The Preacher’s Wife soundtrack
Between Whitney, R.Kelly and En Vogue (“Set It Off”), soundtracks were still big business.
