deGonzz

Absolutely naught

Craig David. Born to Do it was incredible. And then it went downhill when the US market pressures came in

Club Song sounds so much like first album PCD! The OG fans will eat it up I fear 🔥 Definitely gonna be streaming this Bop! I'm a bit impressed by how resourceful their music vault is all these years later given the rollercoaster journey Okay ladies

Add me in kudasai

Is Normani non-binary or?

Plot twist, Bey's been pronouncing the "R"... but before the "B" "I don't know much about algerba..."

So the challenge is to just stand there and sing the song?

Y'all are so unserious 😁 But truly it's a combination of Doja, SZA, Dua and Tyla Rihanna, her power!!

Taylor Swift barely has any competition. Around when she was 35, Madonna was competing against juggernauts like Mariah Carey in her prime, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Shania Twain, etc and then in the male category there was Michael Jackson, George Michael, Prince, etc

Not him describing Sharpay 💀

When you think about it, the songs Rihanna would have come out with have already been released by other artists. I think she would have dominated with many SZA hooks (though SZA would have probs still kept most stuff to herself at that point), PartyNextDoor hooks, Dua hooks, Spice, etc. I suspect many songs have been written for her in mind, passed around and eventually found new homes. For example I suspect "In The Night" by Childish Gambino was written around the Guava Island era where he was working with Rihanna. But the song would be released last year with Jorja Smith and Amaarae instead. I just hope nobody has their best work exclusively submitted to her project and forever locked in that R9 vault

She did NOT lie!

My issue is with the concept of "homewrecking" itself cuz in the end it tries to shift the blame away from the "responsible" adult man who made a decision that ended up hurting his family. He cheated. In my opinion he should get most of the blame. Could Ariana not have taken advantage of his infidelity? Yes. Was there anything queer about it? No. Was Ariana entitled to write a song about it. Yes. Was the whole thing indecent? Maybe.

The only great song on that album deserves

Even civil lawsuits still require evidence to be presented, verified, and evaluated. It's a bit too convenient to lean on the fact that he can't face criminal prosecution anymore, to go the route that could grant hundreds of millions in damages. I fully agree with you that the system often fails survivors of sexual assault. On the other hand though, where do we draw the line in calling someone guilty in the court of public opinion, when they were already tried on such serious criminal charges and ultimately acquitted? charges as overwhelmingly repulsive as those? l wouldn't equate the whole racist policing ecosystem with MJ's situation. He happened to have the money and resources especially when such allegations could ruin his career. Which it did as we've seen. His lawyers alledgedly strongly advised him to settle which he did and later reportedly regretted. Also, settling doesn't mean guilt. I can understand why you might look at that differently, but on the flip side, why take the payout instead of going full criminal with accusations that serious? Too bad you're done for real with the exchange. I actually value your points (notice I didn't call them garbage). Oh well

That's a really fair point! I think the difference here is that those other cases dealt with systemic issues so like policing mixed with racial bias whereas MJ's was a celebrity criminal trial focused on specific allegations of abuse. The system is for sure not flawless but admittedly in his case he was not part of an institutional ecosystem that had his back by default, the way these cops are.

Lol, except this thread isn't some broad discussion about child sexual abuse victims. It's very clearly about a MJ, who was legally and publicly acquitted of being involved in that. So let's not play intellectually dishonest here. Did you critically think after reading what I said? I literally acknowledged that it is fair to criticize the bizarre and morally wrong choices he made as an adult. That said, due process should absolutely be the "excuse" to question why you think you're somehow more qualified than an entire team of prosecutors, judges, and jurors who spent months actually weighing the evidence. You seem to be sitting on this "mountains of evidence" against him that, for some reason, no one ever thought was worth presenting in court. What I actually find "garbage" is this not so shocking new instance of alleged victims suddenly coming forward with civil claims demanding hundreds of millions. Of course financial demands, and not criminal prosecutions where evidence would be rigorously tested and witnesses cross-examined under oath. I guess I'll be "deflecting" until someone presents verified, admissible evidence in a courtroom instead of tabloids.

Of course the justice system isn't flawless. But it's still the best structured process we have for weighing evidence, cross-examining witnesses, and reaching a verdict under strict rules. As it stands, the burden of proving guilt always falls on the accuser, not the accused. So until credible new evidence is brought forward and tested in court, the verdict and presumption of innocence still stand. If people want to throw that out and rely purely on public opinion instead, then we've basically given up on due process altogether.