2018.

It might not seem all that long ago, but in the pop world it has been a lifetime.

Entire careers have risen and fallen since then; hits have blown up, only to be forgotten. Time moves on.

And yet, for some careers, 2018 was only a stepping stone. A footnote. One year out of many in the building of their own legacies.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to 2018 Makes the Woman. A rate fit for queens.

These women, veteran and newbie alike, were all at a crossroads in 2018.

All of them had something to prove with these albums. Artistically, commercially...

None of these projects were purposeless.

 

So. Shall we meet the women in question?

 

 

 

 

 

 

An R&B legend, Toni Braxton had come out of the '90s swinging but had landed in the '00s with a slump. After a series of under-performing records, years of legal troubles and financial issues, and issues with her health, Toni announced her retirement from the industry in 2012. With coaxing from long-time industry friends like Babyface and Missy Elliott, Toni changed her mind and got back in the ring. Sex & Cigarettes was her first solo album in eight years. In the interim she had divorced from her husband Keri Lewis, and had a lot to say about it. The album represented the first time that Toni had seriously engaged with the songwriting process, and also the first time a Toni Braxton album earned a Parental Advisory sticker! Not a small feat for a church girl.

 

 

 

 

Kylie Minogue had spent the '00s defining her legacy, but her sales had been trickling downwards in the years since. Her long-time record label, Parlophone, proved incapable of keeping her competitive in a changing industry. A savvy businesswoman, Kylie knew the writing was on the wall for that phase of her career and sought rejuvenation: both professionally and artistically. Recorded between London and Nashville, Golden became the first album in years that Kylie took a big part in the creation of. This songwriting focus lead to her accidentally making a country-pop record. With renewed hunger, Kylie sought to expand her horizons to a new genre and with a new record label, BMG, by her side. She had a lot to prove to some ageist critics.

 

 

 

 

Beloved British troublemaker Lily Allen had only been in the game for twelve years by 2018, yet she'd already lived so many lives. Lily's time atop the industry was cut short by her own hand when she'd entered a hiatus in 2010, seeking out a family-centered life and some smaller acting roles. A 2014 "comeback" record had been forced upon her record label machinations, but it never sat right with her. Coming to terms with her controversial public persona, the end of her marriage, and her dissatisfaction with previous works, Lily launched her No Shame album in 2018 alongside a scathing memoir about her life. Her lyrics were perhaps overshadowed by her written word in this case, and the record has remained something of a hidden gem of her discography.

 

 

 

 

I don't need to tell you where Christina Aguilera was at before this album. Her Bionic album is the sort of internet lore that pop forums like this thrive upon. Cast to the wolves by fickle internet gays, completely forgotten by ordinary radio listeners, Christina had a rough road in coming back from her 2010. A stint of judging on The Voice and a quickly-produced follow-up album had both failed to engage any new listeners - it seemed that Christina would have to accept that her time as a hitmaker was over. Liberated from some of the expectations that had chained her, Christina made an album that she wanted to make. A return to some of the R&B sounds from her earlier works, Liberation launched with a fresh-faced and honest Christina at the forefront.

 

 

 

 

 

While many of the women around her were on commercial downturns, Ariana Grande was on the up. She'd built upon her successes with each subsequent album up until now and had positioned herself as one of the most exciting popstars of the '10s. While it could've been very easy to just release another writing camp-made record full of potential hit singles, Ariana sought to prove her mettle by delivering a focused project with sweetener instead. Her meteoric rise had not come without problems, including a terrorist attack at a concert of hers in 2017. sweetener was a record about healing, about letting light back in. Teaming up with musical genius Pharrell, Ariana put out her most bold and challenging album yet.

 

 

 

 

 

Mariah Carey was not performing at her best for a big part of the '10s. Her legendary reputation was taking hits. Mariah had suffered embarrassment after technical difficulties at a widely-seen 2017 New Years Eve show, she'd dabbled in reality television to poor results, she'd gotten married and divorced. It seemed to some that her discography was at risk of being consumed by her celebrity. And then, with one simple album, none of those issues seemed to matter. Mariah's Caution dropped towards the end of the year and it kick-started a multi-year retrospective on Mariah, the icon. The album was cooler than anything she'd done in years, with a mix of forward-thinking and self-indulgent collaborators. It re-positioned Mariah from a scapegoat to an underdog, somebody ready to rise again.

 

 

PM-FRIENDLY LIST

Spoiler

Toni Braxton - Sex & Cigarettes

1. Deadwood
2. Sex & Cigarettes
3. Long As I Live
4. FOH
5. Sorry
6. My Heart (with Colbie Caillat)
7. Coping
8. Missin'

Kylie Minogue - Golden

1. Dancing
2. Stop Me From Falling (solo OR with Gente De Zona)
3. Golden
4. A Lifetime to Repair
5. Sincerely Yours
6. One Last Kiss
7. Live a Little
8. Shelby '68
9. Radio On
10. Love
11. Raining Glitter
12. Music's Too Sad Without You (with Jack Savoretti)
13. Lost Without You
14. Every Little Part of Me
15. Rollin'
16. Low Blow

Lily Allen - No Shame

1. Come on then
2. Trigger Bang (with Giggs)
3. What You Waiting For?
4. Your Choice (with Burna Boy)
5. Lost My Mind
6. Higher
7. Family Man
8. Apples
9. Three
10. Everything to Feel Something
11. Waste (with Lady Chann)
12. My One
13. Pushing Up Daisies
14. Cake

Christina Aguilera - Liberation

1. Liberation
2. Searching For Maria / Maria
3. Sick of Sittin'
4. Dreamers / Fall In Line (with Demi Lovato)
5. Right Moves (with Keida & Shenseea)
6. Like I Do (with GoldLink)
7. Deserve
8. Twice
9. I Don't Need It Anymore (Interlude)
10. Accelerate (with Ty Dolla $ign & 2 Chainz)
11. Pipe (with XNDA)
12. Masochist
13. Unless It's With You

Ariana Grande - sweetener

1. raindrops (an angel cried)
2. blazed (with Pharrell)
3. the light is coming (with Nicki Minaj)
4. R.E.M.
5. God is a woman
6. sweetener
7. successful
8. everytime
9. breathin
10. no tears left to cry
11. borderline (with Missy Elliott)
12. better off
13. goodnight n go
14. pete davidson
15. get well soon

Mariah Carey - Caution

1. GTFO
2. With You
3. Caution
4. A No No
5. The Distance (with Ty Dolla $ign)
6. Giving Me Life (with Blood Orange & Slick Rick)
7. One Mo' Gen
8. 8th Grade
9. Stay Long Love You (with Gunna)
10. Portrait
11. Runway

 

 

A pretty stacked lineup, right?

Want to take part? Read these.

 

THE RULES

1. Rate every song on the PM-friendly list above from 1 - 10.

2. You may give your favorite song a single score of 11, and your second-favorite song a single score of 10.5.

3. You may give your least favorite song in the rate a single score of 0.

4. Send your finished scores in a PM to me before the December 6th deadline to take part.

5. Comments are not required, but appreciated, as always.

 

Any further questions? Just tag me or PM me and I'll happily help out.

 

 

PARTICIPANTS

Spoiler

Graves - Album Leak - California - The7thStranger - Devin - MP2K - Truth Teller - Rev8 - Curaga - ChooseyLover - HonourableVomit - Reverie - jacklovesyou1 - SupremeGoddess - Eeveelution - Indie Go Mind - Ghost - thecollegegraduate - HarajukuPrincess - ithinkheknowsoutsold - Perfect Celebrity - conatus - suburbannature - Vision - Norte - Ghibli - Achilles. - Ventitonic - Meloetta Carey - Quicksand - confide in me - Ace Reject

 

RESULTS

Spoiler

77. pete davidson - 3.7625

76. I Don't Need It Anymore (Interlude) - 4.215625

75. Low Blow - 4.2875

74. Love - 4.403125

73. A Lifetime to Repair - 4.64375

72. Rollin' - 4.7390625

71. Every Little Part of Me - 4.75

70. Live a Little - 4.8828125

69. Liberation - 5.234375

68. raindrops (an angel cried) - 5.2734375

67. One Last Kiss - 5.303125

66. Sincerely Yours - 5.4690625

65. Dreamers / Fall In Line - 5.6234375

64. My One - 5.6640625

63. Pushing Up Daisies - 5.75625

62. Masochist - 5.79375

61. Searching For Maria / Maria - 5.83125

60. Stop Me From Falling - 5.925

59. Three - 5.9453125

58. Sick of Sittin' - 5.9578125

57. Apples - 5.9875

56. Coping - 6.046875

55. Everything to Feel Something - 6.0859375

54. Golden - 6.096875

53. Lost Without You - 6.1

52. Higher - 6.109375

51. Shelby '68 - 6.1625

50. Deserve - 6.1640625

49. Cake - 6.21875

48. What You Waiting For? - 6.2578125

47. Your Choice - 6.2625

46. goodnight n go - 6.2859375

45. Radio On - 6.3328125

44. Runway - 6.359375

43. Unless It's With You - 6.3671875

42. Waste - 6.3703125

41. sweetener - 6.3765625

40. Lost My Mind - 6.4109375

39. My Heart - 6.421875

38. Family Man - 6.491935484

37. blazed - 6.6015625

36. With You - 6.6046875

35. better off - 6.7125

34. borderline - 6.75625

33. get well soon - 6.809375

32. Dancing - 6.828125

31. the light is coming - 6.8296875

30. Right Moves 6.9546875

29. Twice - 6.9765625

28. Music's Too Sad Without You - 7.015625

27. successful - 7.02125

26. Sex & Cigarettes - 7.0921875

25. R.E.M. - 7.1828125

24. One Mo' Gen - 7.2453125

23. Missin' - 7.2515625

22. FOH - 7.271875

21. Stay Long Love You - 7.3125

20. God is a woman - 7.325

19. Raining Glitter - 7.4

18. Trigger Bang - 7.53125

17. Accelerate - 7.559375

16. Come on then - 7.5640625

15. Pipe - 7.6015625

14. GTFO - 7.68125

13. Portrait - 7.70625

12. Sorry - 7.9484375

11. A No No - 8.015

10. breathin - 8.1578125

9. Like I Do - 8.29375

8. everytime - 8.31875

7. 8th Grade - 8.6328125

6. Deadwood - 8.6953125

5. Caution - 8.7

4. The Distance - 8.715625

3. no tears left to cry - 8.7653125

2. Giving Me Life - 8.84375

1. Long As I Live - 9.153125

Edited December 17, 2025Dec 17 by Graves

I can't take this again 

 

the timing

 

let's go.

 

Oh this line-up

 

 

1 minute ago, California said:

the timing

 

let's go.

 

We should add Dèsobèissance

 

Just now, suburbannature said:

We should add Dèsobèissance

 

In our spotify library yes

1 minute ago, California said:

In our spotify library yes

I'm too classy to use Spotify

 

Does this mean I have to listen to Accelerate again

 

Just now, suburbannature said:

Does this mean I have to listen to Accelerate again

 

Multiple times, if you would be so kind.

and where is R.O.S.E by successie j? 

1 minute ago, Perfect Celebrity said:

and where is R.O.S.E by successie j? 

The charts asked the same thing.

 

omg yall are so chronically online. why is there always a rate happening nowadays (complimentary) 

 

ill be participating but this time around ill be waiting for @conatus @Graves @suburbannature @Eeveelution etc to post their faves so i can sabotage them

and get revenge for Shania

 

that Toni album lowkey being the best one out of all

10 for A No No

Oh Mariah. It's sabotage time. Not that there's anything to REALLY sabotage. But you're toast anyway.

 

1 minute ago, California said:

that Toni album lowkey being the best one out of all

I can almost guarantee you haven't heard a single song from that album. Mariah, get behind me.

 

 

1 minute ago, Album Leak said:

Oh Mariah. It's sabotage time. Not that there's anything to REALLY sabotage. But you're toast anyway.

 

oh honey. so hm who's your favorite girl? they'll be getting zeros all around. i'll get revenge for namie too 

 

I don't dislike any of these albums from what I remember so

 

We shall see how this goes

 

1 minute ago, suburbannature said:

I can almost guarantee you haven't heard a single song from that album. Mariah, get behind me.

 

 

I actually did? It's probably the only Toni album I've listened to.

 

 

I should listen to the rest of her discography

Just now, SupremeGoddess said:

oh honey. so hm who's your favorite girl? they'll be getting zeros all around. i'll get revenge for namie too 

 

I'm not batting for any of these ladies or albums to be honest. Thankfully there's a clear 11 but you shall never know until the results start coming out (and it's the first one out for some wicked reason).

 

omg i just noticed i have to listen to Salty, can we replace it with the original instead (Hard Grammy)?

 

Just now, California said:

I actually did? It's probably the only Toni album I've listened to.

 

 

I should listen to the rest of her discography

Yes you should. That's mother.

 

3 minutes ago, California said:

I actually did? It's probably the only Toni album I've listened to.

 

 

I should listen to the rest of her discography

 

2 minutes ago, conatus said:

Yes you should. That's mother.

 

The people yearn for a Toni rate @Ace Reject

1 minute ago, Graves said:

 

The people yearn for a Toni rate @Ace Reject

It's #LibraSeason when it happens yup yup

5 minutes ago, SupremeGoddess said:

omg i just noticed i have to listen to Salty, can we replace it with the original instead (Hard Grammy)?

 

The sweetener discourse is the part I'm most excited about.