r&b songwriters: NeYo vs Dream, Babyface vs RKelly

Let's settle this debate.

Round 1. The Dream vs Ne-Yo
Round 2. Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis vs Teddy Riley
Round 3. Babyface vs R. Kelly

Based on songwriting, composition, and producing who wins these matchups?


Battle for the new school R&B crown
Dream


Facts:

• Age: 35
• Signed to Def Jam
• Four Solo Albums
• Three Grammy Awards
• First big break was writing for Britney Spears in 2003
• Was married to artist Nivea and Christina Millian
  

10 Notable Songs

J-Holiday---Bed (peaked at #5)
Mariah Carey---Touch My Body (peaked at #2)
Usher---Moving Mountains (peaked at #67)
Rihanna---Umbrella (peaked at #1)
Rihanna---Birthday Cake (peaked at #24)
Mary J Blige---Just Fine (peaked at #22)
Beyonce---Single Ladies (peaked at #1)
Beyonce---Run The World (peaked at #29)
Justin Beiber---Baby (peaked at #5)
Ciara---Ride (peaked at #42)

VS

Ne-Yo


Facts

• Age: 33
• Five Solo Albums
• Signed to Motown
  
• Has his own label, Compound Entertainment
• Three Grammy Awards
• Was heavily booed on Showtime at the Apollo under the stage name GoGo
  

10 Notable Songs
Paula DeAnda---Walk Away (peaked at #18)
Beyonce---Irreplaceable (peaked at #1)
Beyonce---Flaws and Fall
Rihanna---Unfaithful (peaked at #6)
Rihanna---Take A Bow (peaked at #1)
Rihanna---Russian Roulette (peaked at #9)
Rihanna---Hate That I Love You (peaked at #7)
Mario---Let Me Love You (peaked at #1)
Chrisette Michele---Epiphany (peaked at #89)
Keri Hilson---Knock You Down (peaked at #3)



Battle of the Old School R&B Kings
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis


Facts

• Met each other in high school in Minnesota
• Toured with Prince in the early 80's as his opening act
• Wrote/Produced 16 number one singles on the Billboard 100
• Wrote/Produced 26 number one singles on the Billboard R&B 100
  
• Five Grammy Awards
  

10 Notable Songs
Janet Jackson---Again (peaked at #1)
Janet Jackson---Nasty (peaked at #3)
Janet Jackson-Anytime, Anyplace (peaked at #2)
Boys II Men---On Bended Knee (peaked at #1)
Karyn White---Romantic (peaked at #1)
Jordan Knight---Give It To You (peaked at #10)
Mariah Carey---Thank God I Found You (peaked at #1)
Johnny Gill---Rub You The Right Way (peaked at #3)
Usher---U Remind Me (peaked at #1)
Michael Jackson---Scream (peaked at #5)

VS

Teddy Riley


Facts

• Pioneer of New Jack Swing, which shifted the direction of r&b and rap
  
• Produced a Billboard top 100 single at 17-years-old
• Discovered the Neptunes (Pharrell & Chad Hugo)
• Formed two separate groups (Guy & Wrecks-n-Effect) that both charted in the billboard top 5
• Has over 600 credits to his name, including music and movies (Do the Right Thing, Rugrats, House Party)
• His production/writing has earned him a networth of $80million, according to celebritynetworth.com
  

10 Notable Songs
Guy---Let's Chill (peaked at #41)
Blackstreet---No Diggity (peaked at #1)
Blackstreet---Before I Let You Go (peaked at #7)
Michael Jackson---Remember The Time (peaked at #3)
Michael Jackson---In The Closet (peaked at #6)
Mary J Blige---Be Happy (peaked at #29)
Bobby Brown---My Prerogative (peaked at #1)
Keith Sweat---I Want Her (peaked at #5)
SWV---Right Here (peaked at 92)
Joe---Stutter (peaked at #1)


Battle of the Iconic Songwriters
Babyface


Facts

• Was a guitarist for the Funk Band Manchild in the 70s
• co-Founded LaFace records in 1989 and signed TLC, Outkast, Toni Braxton, and Usher
• 10 Grammy Awards
• 8 Solo Albums
• Wrote "End of the Road" for the 1992 Boomerang movie soundtrack. When it broke Elvis' record for most weeks at number one, the Boys II Men 1991 album was re-released in 1993 with "End of the Road" as a bonus track. 
• Over 75 Billboard top ten hits
• Formed a film production company and released the movie Soul Food in 1997
• BMI songwriter of the year 7 times
  

10 Notable Songs
Boys II Men---End of The Road (peaked at #1)
Boys II Men---I'll Make Love To You (peaked at #1)
Whitney Houston and CeCe Winians---Count On Me (peaked at #8)
Whitney Houston---Exhale (peaked at #1)
Az Yet---Last Night (peaked at #9)
Johnny Gill---My, My, My (peaked at #1)
Mary J Blige---Not Gon' Cry (peaked at #2)
TLC---Red Light Special (peaked at #2)
Toni Braxton---Breathe Again (peaked at #7)
Dru Hill---We're Not Making Love No More (peaked at #13)

VS

R.Kelly


Facts

• Had more top 40 hits than any male artist in the 90s
• Only the 5th black artist to crack the top 50 in records sold in the United States
• 10 solo albums and two collaborative albums with Jay-Z
• Won the grand prize on the television talent show Big Break in 1991
• Wrote and produced billboard 100 hits for hip hop, r&b, and gospel
• 3 Grammy Awards, each for his 1996 hit "I Believe I Can Fly"
• The 22 chapter "Trapped in the Closet" series had a $3million budget, and R. Kelly hopes to bring it to Broadway
  

10 Notable Songs
Aaliyah---Age Ain't Nothing But A Number (peaked at #75)
Changing Faces---Stroke You Up (peaked at #3)
Michael Jackson---You Are Not Alone (peaked at #1)
Toni Braxton---I Don't Want To (peaked at #19)
Blaque---808 (peaked at #8)
Isley Brothers---Contagious (peaked at #19)
B2K---Bump, Bump, Bump (peaked at #1)
Ginuwine---In Those Jeans (peaked at #8)
Maxwell---Fortunate (peaked at #4)

Who you got?


Edited by Random Thoughts - Mar 19 2013 at 1:53am

    Ne-yo...I think the Dream writes songs for the birds, and alot of them sound the same...

Edited by Lilnicka4u2nv - Mar 19 2013 at 1:55am

"Fortunate" will ALWAYS be my #1 favorite song

I just realized, I have never heard Aaliyah's "Age aint nothin' but a number" in full before...

I was just listening to Babyface earlier today.

We fell in love and who could blame us, the word was we were just besides ourselves...