Is 2005 The Greatest Year For Music Debuts?

 This weekend the DMV area is celebrating the 20th anniversary of two musical superstars, Chris Brown and T-Pain. T-Pain performed last night at the MGM National Harbor, to celebrate 20 years since his first album Rappa Ternt Sanga. Which produced singles I'm Sprung and I'm 'n Luv (with a stripper).

Tomorrow Chris Brown kicks off a three night stadium show at Nationals Park, dubbed Breezy Bowl. Celebrating 20 years since his self-titled debut album which produced the debut single Run It, Yo (Excuse Me Miss), Gimme That, Say Goodbye, Poppin' and the classic album cut Ain't No Way.

Talking about both artists celebrating 20 years in the game, a light bulb went off about who else debuted in 2005. Now I typically stay in my lane of movies and TV, but I went down a deep rabbit hole and had to share.

 Jeezy of course just finished his orchestra backed 20th anniversary tour for Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101. Keyshia Cole went on tour this past summer to celebrate The Way It Is. That's four artist right there, so who else are we missing?

Though a lot of his actions have turned fans on him and he's proven to be a clown. Trey Songz released I Gotta Make It In March of 2005. Bobby Valentino started telling woman to slow down that year. While Pretty Ricky hit the scene that summer replacing Jodeci as the male group freaks of R&B. Teairra Mari aimed to be the princess of R&B when her album released that year.

Omarion breaking away from B2K released his debut solo album in February that year, kind of counts but also maybe not depends on how you look at it. 

While Ne-Yo's debut album In My Own Words technically did not release until February of 2006. He released two chart topping singles in 2005 to prepare fans for what's to come, Stay and So Sick. 

Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Paul Wall and Mike Jones bought Houston to the mainstream scene, with their respective debuts. The Game bought west coast hip hop back with The Documentary. While a icon by this point, Bun B stepped out and dropped his first solo album Trill. Again up to you if that counts or not.

Outside of hip hop and R&B while technically not their debut album, pop rock band FallOut Boy released their major label debut album From Under The Cork Tree. Which produced two songs still beloved to this day, Sugar (We're Going Down) and Dance, Dance. Paramore and The Fray both hit the scene in 2005.

Then we have the Barbados Queen herself, the one and only Rihanna. Who before announcing she was pregnant. I 100% expected her to do a stadium tour and was waiting for tickets to drop. She released Music Of The Sun which really was a prelude to what she could do, when given control. Hey, sometimes you gotta get your foot in how you can.

That is a long and impressive list, when you factor in star power and longevity. I'm sure there are a few I am missing. However, when I look at this list and look at other years that featured a host of musical Debuts. I really don't think anything tops the year of 2005.

I'm sure those kind of stats aren't measured anywhere. From where I'm sitting it is the greatest year ever for musical Debuts.

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Super Bowl Halftime WishList

Rihanna shut down the Super Bowl last night, love it or hate it there is no doubt Rihanna did one of the many things she does best. That's get folk's talking, whether it was her song selection, lack of guests, or the subtle reveal that she is expecting again (congratulations to her). 

Now that the Super Bowl is over for the year, Rihanna's performance is still talked about and we can pretty much acknowledge we are not getting a album or new tour for a good while. It is time to look ahead to next year's Super Bowl and the halftime show. Although the exact length has not been disclosed, Roc Nation entered a multiyear deal in 2019 with the NFL to produce the halftime show.

Roc Nation has done a great job of the halftime performers chosen since then, but they also have a delicate balance of making sure the artist selected has crossover appeal. The artist selected also has to be on a certain "level" so to speak, with that here are 5 artists I wouldn't mind seeing performing at the Super Bowl.

5. The Chainsmokers

The Chainsmokers are a duo who music covers multiple genres EDM, Hip-Hop, and pop. I saw them perform live at the Made In America Festival in 2017. They definitely have the crowd engaged during their performance. Their biggest hits are Something Just Like This, # Selfie, Roses, and one of my favorites Closer. If they were chosen for next year's Super Bowl it would help promote their space endeavor in 2024.

4. Ariana Grande

When Ariana Grande debuted back in the 2010's all I heard was a young lady who starred in a Nickelodeon show trying to be a singer. I did like her song with Mac Miller The Way, other than that I was eh on Ariana. As my wife played more song's of hers in the car, I thought damn Ariana can sing. She is one of the biggest artists of the past decade and has some certified bangers like 7 Rings, Break Up With Your Girlfriend (Cause I'm Bored), Baby I ,Problem and one of my favorites One Last Time among others. Let's give Ariana, her time on the grand stage of The Super Bowl.

3. Bad Bunny

I'll admit I had never heard of Bad Bunny until he showed up on WWE TV to perform his song based on the legendary wrestler Booker T. He then followed up with an amazing in-ring debut at WrestleMania in 2021. Little did I know how big of a star Bad Bunny is with his music fusing Reggaeton and Latin Trap, he is also known for having his concerts seem like a party.

Bad Bunny speaks English but performs all his songs strictly in Spanish, which caused an uproar with captions at the Grammy's this year with basically those of a certain tone slow or outright refusing to get with the times. A Super Bowl performance would be another step in making people realize how much the world has changed.

2. Usher

One of the biggest artists of the past 25 years, at one time the heir apparent to Michael Jackson's throne. Usher Raymond is a megastar but above that he is a performer that is going to give you a show. He participated in The Black Eyed Peas halftime show at Super Bowl XLV in 2011, but the man deserves the stage all to his own. From You Make Me Wanna to My Way segue into a little U Remind Me before bringing the moves for U Don't Have To Call, Caught Up, and of course Yeah! and OMG. Usher would take full advantage of his 15 minute set and leave an impression that properly would put his show in the conversation as one of the best Super Bowl shows ever.

1. Chris Brown

This one will probably never happen due to many sitting on their high horses choosing to hold a serious mistake he made at 19 years old against him. Make no mistake about it Chris Brown can sing and dance as he too is a performer. The only man who could reasonably challenge Michael Jackson or Usher for their spots. I've never seen him live but my understanding is that he give's his all for each show. He has been a mainstay of the R&B/hip-hop game for nearly 20 years growing and perfecting his craft with each album. If he wanted to go full pop he can pull Run It, Wall To Wall, Turn Up The Music or Yeah Yeah Yeah! out his catalogue. Want to be a little rugged he can throw some Loyal in there Party or Go Crazy. Either Way when his set would be over everyone would be exhausted from dancing and moving so much.

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