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Who had the better debut album?

Better Debut Album?

  • Brandy

  • Monica

  • Too close to call


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Titan3510

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I doubt it. Monica was a one trick pony and had no crossover appeal so had she be given a show it still would have fallen flat.

Once you have heard one Monica song you have basically heard them all. Monica is today coasting on the "The boy is mine" success which Brandy put her on. Had Brandy had enough confidence in her own success she would never have shared some of her shine with Monica because now some (including mo) are delusional in thinking that her success was ever on the same level as Brandy's.

Monica was not a one trick pony. She has several Top 10 hits on both the R&B charts and the pop charts.

And if she had multiple hits on the R&B and pop charts, that automatically gives her crossover appeal.

"Once you have heard one Monica song you have basically heard them all."

That might be true here and now in 2012 but that wasn't the case with her first couple of albums. At all.

Stop. There have been plenty of albums that have sold millions but lack quality. If it was that simple, I would've never made this thread.

Brandy was marketed to appeal to the Pop crowd. She was the "Girl Next Door"whereas Monica was "Miss Thang" and Aaliyah was the "Tom Boy".

Brandy's team's mission was to make her a pop crossover success. So of course she sold more. Stop undermining Monica's success. She was successful as well.

None of that sh!t matters today as both are in the same boat as far as sales and popularity go.

I agree with this. You can see the difference in their audiences by looking at their debut album covers and the title.

Most of Brandy's music on her debut was very jazzy and very family-oriented/kid-friendly. And then her second album was heavily influenced by mid 90s Mariah.

Monica had a jazzy tune or two (namely Before You Walk Out My Life) but it was a mix between gospel and street. And Monica had a Miss Thang attitude; it was cute but her album was called Miss Thang.

What do you think appeals more to white audiences (AKA the audience with the most purchasing power) [MENTION=53004]delicious11[/MENTION]?

Brandy had more crossover appeal than Monica. But Monica had more than Aaliyah.

Aaliyah was pretty much unknown to pop (AKA white) audiences until 2000 when she came out with Try Again and the Romeo Must Die movie. And then she died tragically before she could actually crossover.

You can't just look at sales and then jump to the conclusion that person A had better music than person B on that.

You have to look at the reason why the sales are the way they are.
 

delicious11

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More people buying Brandy's album than Monica's does not automatically make Brandy's album better.
Neither does it make Monica's better than Brandy's. It is a subjective question as I said. However the facts are that Brandy's music appealed to a lot more people and so it sold more.
 

delicious11

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Stop. There have been plenty of albums that have sold millions but lack quality. If it was that simple, I would've never made this thread.

Brandy was marketed to appeal to the Pop crowd. She was the "Girl Next Door"whereas Monica was "Miss Thang" and Aaliyah was the "Tom Boy".

Brandy's team's mission was to make her a pop crossover success. So of course she sold more. Stop undermining Monica's success. She was successful as well.

None of that sh!t matters today as both are in the same boat as far as sales and popularity go.
But the question is subjective as I said earlier.

If one likes Monica, they are going to say her album was better. However Monica's appeal was minimal. At one point her team did try to market her like Brandy was marketed after the "boy is mine" success but she still flopped after that. Brandy may be in the same boat now but you can't take away the girl's past success.
 

delicious11

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Monica was not a one trick pony. She has several Top 10 hits on both the R&B charts and the pop charts.

And if she had multiple hits on the R&B and pop charts, that automatically gives her crossover appeal.

"Once you have heard one Monica song you have basically heard them all."

That might be true here and now in 2012 but that wasn't the case with her first couple of albums. At all.



I agree with this. You can see the difference in their audiences by looking at their debut album covers and the title.

Most of Brandy's music on her debut was very jazzy and very family-oriented/kid-friendly. And then her second album was heavily influenced by mid 90s Mariah.

Monica had a jazzy tune or two (namely Before You Walk Out My Life) but it was a mix between gospel and street. And Monica had a Miss Thang attitude; it was cute but her album was called Miss Thang.

What do you think appeals more to white audiences (AKA the audience with the most purchasing power) [MENTION=53004]delicious11[/MENTION]?

Brandy had more crossover appeal than Monica. But Monica had more than Aaliyah.

Aaliyah was pretty much unknown to pop (AKA white) audiences until 2000 when she came out with Try Again and the Romeo Must Die movie. And then she died tragically before she could actually crossover.

You can't just look at sales and then jump to the conclusion that person A had better music than person B on that.

You have to look at the reason why the sales are the way they are.
Most of Monica's music sounds the same to me hence the "one trick pony" tag.

I can't tell you what appeals to white audiences more but as one who prefers pop music over general r&b I did think the direction that Brandy started out in with her music was very smart. At 15, she was still a kid, fun and lively and that was reflected in her music and people bought into that. This was also one of the reasons why her show was so successful.

On the other hand, I always felt Monica's music was too old for her. She seemed to have a moody attitude as well and that turned a lot of people off. I believe she was younger than Brandy at 14 yet she seemed so uptight and serious as was her music and people did not buy into her brand as they did Brandy's.

Aaliyah was a bit more hip and mainstream than Monica.

If one is going to ask the question about who had the better album then you are never going to get a definitive answer because as I said it is subjective. But if you are going by facts then the sales speak for themselves.
 

soufully

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I love both of their debuts but I listen to Monica's album more. The first Brandy album to me didn't really showcase her voice like Monica's debut did. Monica to me is an old soul, she had that grit and bite at sixteen phew! I also knew many people who thought she was 25 back then.
 

beautifull

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Monica's by far for me. It was way more polished. Brandy's sounded kiddy.

Most people bought brandy's because she was on some tv show.
 

Titan3510

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Most of Monica's music sounds the same to me hence the "one trick pony" tag.

I can't tell you what appeals to white audiences more but as one who prefers pop music over general r&b I did think the direction that Brandy started out in with her music was very smart. At 15, she was still a kid, fun and lively and that was reflected in her music and people bought into that. This was also one of the reasons why her show was so successful.

On the other hand, I always felt Monica's music was too old for her. She seemed to have a moody attitude as well and that turned a lot of people off. I believe she was younger than Brandy at 14 yet she seemed so uptight and serious as was her music and people did not buy into her brand as they did Brandy's.

Aaliyah was a bit more hip and mainstream than Monica.

If one is going to ask the question about who had the better album then you are never going to get a definitive answer because as I said it is subjective. But if you are going by facts then the sales speak for themselves.

I see what you're saying.

Aaliyah was cooler than Monica. But Monica had the music that allowed her to get some crossover success. She just didn't have the charisma Brandy had.

Brandy and Monica were the same age. Aaliyah was the younger one: she was 14.

And like I said, Brandy's music grew with Brandy. Yeah her music was juvenile at first...but look at her second album. And her third. Her music got more and more mature.

Monica is Monica: that's her personality.
 

BSTARR33

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back then, i was a fan of them both. i had neither album. i loved both their singles! i just got both the album last year. i haven't listened to either in full yet. LOL
 

BSTARR33

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I see what you're saying.

Aaliyah was cooler than Monica. But Monica had the music that allowed her to get some crossover success. She just didn't have the charisma Brandy had.

Brandy and Monica were the same age. Aaliyah was the younger one: she was 14.

And like I said, Brandy's music grew with Brandy. Yeah her music was juvenile at first...but look at her second album. And her third. Her music got more and more mature.

Monica is Monica: that's her personality.

Brandy's music just hits the spot for me. i just love it!
 

169

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I see what you're saying.

Aaliyah was cooler than Monica. But Monica had the music that allowed her to get some crossover success. She just didn't have the charisma Brandy had.

Brandy and Monica were the same age. Aaliyah was the younger one: she was 14.

And like I said, Brandy's music grew with Brandy. Yeah her music was juvenile at first...but look at her second album. And her third. Her music got more and more mature.

Monica is Monica: that's her personality.

Actually Aaliyah was the oldest (by a couple of weeks). Monica was the youngest and her debut came out the year after Aaliyah's and Brandy's.
 

AnnaMae Bullock

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LoveSupreme, tell us why you mad boo? Are you still butthurt over your mental illness?
 

3rdWardTrill

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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-8Xy4iQxOw]Miss Thang-Monica - YouTube[/ame]
 

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