BACK ISSUE
THAT TIME WE DID IT FOR THE 99s AND 00s
Music has a way of scoring life’s big and small moments, and this week, Josh and Tracy team up to create the ultimate mixtape that ushers in all the feels. They discuss their music influences, test their knowledge on R&B and Pop groups we thought we remembered, and maybe—just maybe, reveal that one of them is secretly a recording artist. Together, we are reminded why music makes us lose control, and why sometimes, that’s just what we need.
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Episode Transcription
[CLIP] Voice: Beyonce? You look like Luther Vandross.
[CLIP] Voice: Ho, but make it fashion.
[CLIP] Voice: But you ain't heard that from me.
[CLIP] Voice: Fierce
[CLIP] Voice: Call ‘em
[CLIP] Voice: You see, when you do clownery--
[CLIP] Voice: ‘Cuz we won’t stop.
[CLIP] Voice: Can’t get no sleep ‘cuz of y’all--
[CLIP] Voice: the clown comes back to bite.
[CLIP] Voice: Y’all not gonna get no sleep cause of me.
[CLIP] Voice: It's Britney, bitch.
[CLIP] Voice: [Voices overlapping] We were rooting for you, Tiffany. We were all rooting for you… [overlapping voices crescendo]
[CLIP] Voice: Who said that?
[Intro music starts]
Josh: Welcome to Back Issue.
Tracy: A weekly podcast that revisits formative things, people and moments that we miss and that changed us.
Josh: This week, the music that never really left us. Like if it comes on shuffle, we're not hitting next.
Tracy: Don't you ever touch a black man's radio, boy.
Josh: (laughs).
[Music fades into clips]
[CLIP] Ciara: Hey, this is Ciara. Welcome to sessions @Aol.
[CLIP] Nitti: It’s going down. This a Nitti beat.
[CLIP] Pitbull: Mr. Worldwide
[CLIP] Dj Khaled: Another one. Another one.
[CLIP] Missy Elliott: This is a Missy Elliott exclusive
Tracy: Each week, we'll go back into the past and revisit unforgettable moments we all think we remember ...
Josh: And learn what they can teach us about where we are now.
Tracy: I'm Tracy Clayton.
Josh: And I'm Josh Gwynn
[Music fades]
Josh: Hi, Trace.
Tracy: Hi, Josh.
Josh: So, I have an idea for today’s episode.
Tracy: Ok…
Josh: Let’s just talk about music from the 99s and 2000s. Let’s just have fun.
Tracy: This is the best idea you’ve ever had, and you know your ideas make me nervous. So, a thousand times yes!
Josh: (laughs) I have a question that’ll kick off the whole thing.
Tracy: Ok.
Josh: So we’re gonna pretend that we’re on a late night talk show for your debut album--
Tracy: The Arsenio Hall show. (laughs)
Josh: Exactly! And it’s a success. Smash hit, we love it.
Tracy: Yay!
Josh: They would inevitably ask you, "Who are your musical influences?"
Tracy: Uh-huh. Um, I- I did not study for a quiz. I feel like-
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: I feel like you know how much I love to win, and you're just gonna spring a quiz on me. That's not Christian-like.
Josh: What if I go first?
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: Ask me the question. Pretend you're, like, Arsenio Hall or something.
[CLIP] Voice 1: It's all live from Hollywood, California.
Tracy: Arsenio Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: (laughs) That's my Arsenio Hall. Y'all can't see it, but I'm wagging my finger the way that he used to do. Okay, Joshua.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: It's your debut album.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: Who were your musical influences for this album?
[Late night show music starts playing]
Josh: You know, I wouldn't like to put my music in a box.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: I just take in everything like a sponge. I listen to a lot of different genres of music.
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: I grew up in a musical household.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: There was always music playing, and I used to listen to lots of people, like Aaliyah.
[CLIP] Aaliyah singing “More than a Woman”
Josh: Ha. And Brandy.
[CLIP] Brandy singing “Full Moon”
Josh: And Beyonce. A-(laughs).
[CLIP] Beyonce singing “Me, Myself and I”
Josh: And Rachelle Ferrell.
[CLIP] Rachelle Ferrell singing “I Forgive You”
Josh: They always throw in, like, all of these things are the same, and then they throw in one extra thing like spice.
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: Have you ever noticed that?
Tracy: Okay, you be the Arsenio Hall now.
Josh: Okay, okay.
Josh: Tracy.
Tracy: Yes.
Josh: Debut album. You just got here.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Thank you for having me.
Josh: Who are your musical influences?
Tracy: You know, I grew up in a very musical household, you know.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: We still have eight tracks and an eight track player.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: So I'm inspired by everyone from, you know, the 60s and the 70s, but my true inspiration is all of the nameless, faceless groups of the 90s that we all forgot. Changing Faces.
Josh: Ooh.
[CLIP] Changing Faces’ “G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.”
Tracy: Like, Kut Klose. Do you remember Kut Klose?
Josh: No.
Tracy: So you said "nope." (laughs)
Josh: (laughs).
[CLIP] Kut Klose’s “I Like It”
Tracy: Sorry, I just like really obscure stuff, okay?
Josh: Ooh, eclectic.
Tracy: That's how I got into making indie electrono-pop-polka music.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: 'Cause my- my tastes are just so eclectic.
[Clip of Tracy’s electrono-pop-polka music]
Josh: I think that's what we should spend some time doing today is just sitting in some of these artists that we forgot about and that we still listen to.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: That come up on our shuffle, and we're just like, "Yeah, this feels good."
Tracy: Uh, this is where I thrive most. Early 90s, late 90s. Any 90s, you know, that's my era.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: These are my people.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: The- the national anthems of the geriatric millennial, if you will.
Josh: I hate- I hate that phrase. (laughs).
Tracy: Which I won't. I will not ... I do, too. I do, too. I'm still waiting to find whoever came up with that shit. On sight. On sight. This is perfect because I feel like I'm so starved of fun lately.
Josh: Yeah. This episode is going to be super nostalgia forward.
Tracy: Oh, yes.
Josh: We're just gonna, like, lean into all the stuff that we remember and that feels good to remember.
Tracy: Aw. We're gonna create our own world. Our (singing).
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: (laughs). Ooh, ooh, ooh. Pick me. Pick me.
Josh: Okay, you're picked.
Tracy: Professor, pick me.
Josh: Tracy. Tracy.
Tracy: I have an idea to make it even more funner.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: Can we play some games today as we go back to this wonderful, wonderful era in our lives?
Josh: Yes, let's play all the games.
Tracy: Yay!
Josh: Let's just play games, and let’s remember music we like.
Josh: We're gonna call this game, Who Sang That?
[CLIP] Voice 1: Who said that?
Voice 2: Who said that?
Voice 3: Who said that?
Voice 4: Who said that?
Tracy: Who sang that?
Josh: Who sang that?
Tracy & Josh: You sang that?
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: Exactly.
Tracy: The audio bite that keeps on giving.
Josh: (laughs).
[Late night/game show music starts playing]
Josh: So, this is a test of artists that I think could have been much bigger than they were.
Tracy: Okay, okay.
Josh: Now this is not an exhaustive list. But it's a smattering of artist from the 90s and the early aughts. Because it's not an exhaustive list, it's going to test you on the music of that era but also test you on how well you know me (laughs).
Tracy: Oh dear.
Josh: And my taste.
Tracy: So many chances to lose.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: Great. But wait are these gonna be songs I know or they... or are these songs that only Josh knows?
Josh: No, no, no, no. These are songs that were hits.
Tracy: Okay. I ain't scared. Let's go.
Josh: So, the rules. I will give you a personal hint to set up the song I want you to guess. Right?
Tracy: Oh my gosh, okay.
Josh: You then get to hear three seconds of that song. That’s your chance to guess the song. You can tell me the artist, the name of the song, sing a few bars — just as long as I know you know the song you get the point. And if you still can't guess the song, I can play you seven seconds of the song.
Tracy: Oh my gosh.
Josh: But, it will take your point that you would get, down to half a point and you need to get five points.
Tracy: Oh my God. What happens if I get five points? I get some money or something?
Josh: You get a prize!
Tracy: Is it money?
Josh: No.
Tracy: Ugh.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: That's fine. Okay, All right.
Josh: No.
Tracy: That's fine. Okay, all right, my goal is to not need the seven seconds because I will let down all of my ancestors.
Josh: Exactly. Are you ready?
Tracy: Let's do it.
Josh: All right. So, this first song.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Josh: This is a bop I do not care. I have a very specific memory of listening to this in the car, doing the Bankhead Bounce with my cousins. The year is 1998.
[CLIP] KP & Envyi’s “Shorty Swing My Way”
Tracy: (Singing)
Josh: (Laughs)
Tracy: (Laughs) Yo, that run in the beginning.
Josh: It's such a struggle run.
Tracy: ... I know! Um, one of my favorite struggle runs though, that would be Shorty Swing My Way by KP & Envyi.
Josh: Yes it is! Ding ding ding!
Tracy: Good job. I used to know that entire song.
Josh: It's such a good song.
Tracy: The whole thing. (Singing)
Tracy: I guess I don't know the whole song. But, a jam, a bop, yes.
Josh: I found out that one of them, the one that sings the hook, was white, like a year ago. Totally shook me. That's the real debate, like, stop talking about Bobby Caldwell.
Tracy: Right, we've established that.
Josh: Talk about KP & Envyi. (Laughs)
Tracy: (Laughs)
Josh: All right, question number two.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Josh: This is a song that I would hear on radio stations that I would listen to, but also a song I would hear on radio stations that my parents listened to.
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: And I think it was the first time that I heard the phrase, "Music for the Grown and Sexy". The year is 2001.
[CLIP] Koffee Brown’s “After Party”
Tracy: Uh, you said that this is a song that you would hear, that your Mom and them was listening to?
Josh: It's a song that would play on the stations that they listened to, and the stations that I listened to.
Tracy: What? Keep keeping on? That's not grown and sexy. It's not in the grown and sexy dictionary. I'm about to shame my ancestors on the second question.
Josh: (Laughs)
Tracy: I'm, I'm gonna need the seven seconds, I'm gonna need it.
Josh: All right. Let's give her the seven seconds.
[CLIP] Koffee Brown’s “After Party”
Tracy: Um, can I, can I ask a question?
Josh: Yes.
Tracy: Is the singer male or female?
Josh: Yes.
Tracy: Oh my God. 2001?
Josh: 2001.
Tracy: I was a freshman or sophomore. Is this a song that you could see me listening to, like-
Josh: Yes.
Tracy: --Sophomore, college Tracy?
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Tracy: This is impossible! Um, I'm not gonna give up though. I will name a song. Grown and sexy, 2001. Is it Keep Going by Charlie Wilson?
Josh: Ooo-ee! No. (Laughs)
Tracy: (Laughs) I have no idea what that was.
Josh: No, it's not. This is an R&B Neo soul duo, known as Koffee Brown.
Tracy: Oh...
Josh: It's a male and a female singer-
Tracy: ... Right.
Josh: Their names were Fonz and Vernell.
Tracy: Right.
Josh: And they were actually discovered by RL from Next.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative) I remember the group but I don't remember any of the songs that they made. What was the song called?
Josh: It's called After Party.
[CLIP] Koffee Brown’s “After Party”
Josh: It has a run in it that I absolutely love, where she's like (sings)
Tracy: (Laughs)
Josh: So funny.
Tracy: Dang it.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: I'm sorry, ancestors.
Josh: You still have a point, you still have a point.
Tracy: Yay. So I got a point.
Josh: Question three.
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: So this song is me in peak TRL mode.
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: The year's 2000.
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: Y2K. Will we make it another day? The answer is yes, but we didn't know.
Tracy: Truly scary times.
[CLIP] Samantha Mumba’s “Gotta Tell You”
Tracy: What? I don't know. Is it a group of people?
Josh: No, I'll, I'll give you a head. It's not a group, it's a solo singer.
Tracy: Was that my hint?
Josh: Yeah.
Tracy: Oh, shit. I'm gonna need the seven seconds, I'm just gonna need the seven seconds.
Josh: Okay, let's do it.
[CLIP] Samantha Mumba’s “Gotta Tell You”
Tracy: This song sounds like those belts that you, like, wear real low.
Josh: Yes.
Tracy: And you have the tie at the sides.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: With low-rise jeans.
Tracy: With low-rise jeans. Or one of those metal, like, belts, without the circles on them. You know what I'm saying?
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative). You know the vibes.
Tracy: Is it, like, an alternative song?
Josh: No, it's probably one of the most bubblegum pop songs of that year.
Tracy: What?
Josh: Like, this is Britney Spears era, NSYNC, TRL.
Tracy: Is it Mandy Moore?
[Buzzer sound]
Josh: I'm sorry that is unfortunately not the singer.
Tracy: UGH who is it?
Josh:This is Gotta Tell You by THE Samantha Mumba.
Tracy: I didn't listen to Samantha Mumba. Mumba.
Josh: (Laughs)
Tracy: You know what though I was gonna guess Fefe Dobson.
Josh: I mean, okay.
Tracy: Do I get half a point for almost guessing Fefe Dobson?
Josh: No. (Laughs) This song. It reached the top five in Ireland because she's a black Irish girl.
Tracy: She's Irish?
Josh: She's Irish.
Tracy: She's Blirish.
Josh: (Laughs) It has since been listed in billboards 100 greatest choruses of the 21st century.
Tracy: Maybe I'll know the chorus.
[CLIP] Samantha Mumba’s “Gotta Tell You”
Tracy: (Singing) Ohhh.
Josh: But I just think she could have been really big, like, she had a couple of minor hits after that. She was super, fun and super pop bubble gum fun.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Josh: Like, I loved her.
Tracy: I can see you jamming out real hard to her songs.
Josh: Absolutely. Question number four.
Tracy: Time to make my comeback.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: It's time.
Josh: Still got one on the board, you got one on the board, one on the board.
Tracy: Had us in the first half, I ain't gonna lie.
Josh: The year's 2003.
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: And this song was the soundtrack to my summer, and I look back at that summer and I call it a flat summer because of the song.
Tracy: The flat summer?
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
[CLIP] Lumidee’s “Uh-Oh”
Tracy: Is that a good thing? There's your girl, that's your girl. Wait, I always confuse this song with another one. Is this (singing)
Josh: It is!
Tracy: Yay! Yes, yo, this song was everywhere.
Josh: Oh my God.
Tracy: And like, I didn't even notice that, like, was an appropriate note hit in that song?
Josh: That's why I called it "Flat Summer". (Laughs)
Tracy: Oh my God (laughs).
Josh: I was like, girl...
Tracy: It's the laziest song.
Josh: But wait till she starts singing the first verse, and you're just like, girl, did you want to be there?
[CLIP] Samantha Mumba’s “Gotta Tell You”
Tracy: (Laughs) (Singing) Yo...
Josh: She needs a coffee.
Tracy: I did want to go to the street party though, I do remember that.
Josh: Right? Question number five.
Tracy: Okay, okay, got this one too.
Josh: You got two on the board, you need five. The year's 2000. You're at a school dance. The proctors and the chaperones are drinking punch and this song comes on.
[CLIP] Ruff Endz’s “No More”
Tracy: Oh, no more shopping sprees (Singing)
Josh: (Laughs)
[CLIP] Ruff Endz’s “No More”
Tracy: I don't know who the artist is.
Josh: Ruff Endz.
Josh: From Baltimore. Baltimore, Ruff Endz.
Tracy: From Baltimore.
Josh: Alright, next question. Question-
Tracy: Okay, okay.
Josh: ...Six. The year's 2003. You and your friends are driving around in your new Beetle.
Tracy: Of course we are.
Josh: Because it's 2003. And you're blasting the unbleeeped version of this song, thinking you're the [bleep].
[CLIP] Eamon’s “I Don’t Want You Back”
Tracy: Unbleeped? There are bleeps in that song? It sounded like a good wholesome... This a breakup song?
Josh: Yes.
Tracy: Okay, okay. Something is stirring in my medulla oblongata.
Josh: (Laughs)
Tracy: Dude's singing... It's a group?
Josh: It's a solo singer.
Tracy: Oh, shit, okay. It's not what I was thinking. We're gonna need the seven seconds.
[CLIP] Eamon’s “I Don’t Want You Back”
Tracy: It's that one song where he's, like, cussing the girl out. What is it called? Is it the "I hate everything about you" song?
Josh: No.
Tracy: Ugh. What is it?
Josh: This song was called (Fuck It) I Don't Want You Back by Eamon.
Tracy: That's it, that's it. That is it. I knew it.
[CLIP] Eamon’s “I Don’t Want You Back”
Tracy: These vocals...
Josh: He wasn't the best singer. (Laughs)
Tracy: I do remember there being, like, this very pretty sounding song but he was cussing out, I was like, that, that's new. That's cutting edge.
Josh: It wasn't the vocals that took us to the song.
Tracy: Right.
Josh: It was definitely the curse words. This song has 33 swear words in it, which is very, very different for a pop song.
Tracy: 33?
Josh: Yeah and it had the Guardian call him "pop swearing champion".
Tracy: Get out of here Guardian.
Josh: (Laughs) It was so popular that it prompted production of an answer song called "Fuck You Right Back" by a female singer named Frankee who claimed to be his girlfriend.
Tracy: I missed that so much.
Josh: Like, Sporty Thievs, No Pigeons.(Laughs)
Tracy: I was about to say the worst, most disrespectful response was No Pigeons. Sporty Thievz.
[CLIP] Sporty Thievs’ “No Pigeons”
Tracy: It was like, your vagine ain't worth the Ramada.
Josh: Uh-oh. (Laughs)
Tracy: Right. I was like dang! And the Ramada was like, damn what we do?
Josh: Like, “why’d I get brought into it?”
Tracy:
(Laughs) Right. Exactly.
Josh: Okay, next question.
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: Still got two on the board.
Tracy: Do I have three points yet? Just two?
Josh: Yeah. The year's 2003. Me and my best friend Danie-
Tracy: Hey, girl.
Josh: (Laughs) ... From high school had a tradition that when this song came-
Tracy: Hey girl!
Josh: (laughs) From high school we had a tradition that, when this song came on, we'd simply look at each other, put our hands on the ceiling of whatever car we were in, and body roll.
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: A trend, that I think actually would've been really cute on Tik Tok.
Tracy: Mm, bring it back!
[CLIP] Trvillville’s “Some Cut”
Tracy: Aye, Aye, aye, ba dum bump. Mm. Mm. But am I thinking of, uh, the original, or the sample? What I'm thinking of is Some Cut by Trillville, (singing)
Josh: (singing)
Tracy: (singing)
Josh: (singing)
Tracy: (laughs) That was lovely. (singing)
Josh: (singing)
Tracy: (singing)
Josh: (singing)
Tracy: I was so happy when Beyonce sampled the melody for, uh, whatchamacallit...
Josh: Savage?
[CLIP] Clip of “Savage” ft. Beyonce
Tracy: Yes.
Josh: (singing)
Tracy: Yes! I was like okay, we see what you be listening to!
Josh: Is that your final answer?
Tracy: Alright! Oh shit, is it, I thought we were celebrating 'cause I got it right!
Josh: Is it?
Tracy: I don't know! I thought it was.
Josh: You're right!
Tracy: If there's the... Yay!
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: How dare you? (laughs) I was bout to cry!
[CLIP] Trvillville’s “Some Cut”
Josh: Ah that bed frame, beat, can't be beat.
Tracy: The creativity of musical-minded people.
Josh: All right, you got three on the board, Tracy, three on the board!
Tracy: All right! All right!
Josh: Next question: The year's 1997. I'm in my phase where I literally only watch music videos, exclusively. (laughs) This would continue for years.
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: I had to sneak to watch this one, not because of how graphic the music video was, but how graphic the lyrical content was.
Tracy: Was it on BET: Uncut?
Josh: It wasn't on BET: Uncut, it was on regular BET.
[CLIP] SFP’s “My Love is the Shh”
Tracy: (singing)
Josh: (singing)
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: Aye! Comeback kid, comeback kid.
[CLIP] SFP’s “My Love is the Shh”
Tracy: Woo!
Josh: That's Something For The People. As songwriters, they wrote for En Vogue, Brandy, and U.N.V.
Tracy: Huh! How bout that?
Josh: Okay? Full circle. And, they also, after this song went to number four in the U.S. and number seven in Canada, they went on to write songs for Will Smith and Adina Howard.
Tracy: Oh, interesting. All right, all right, she's back, she's back. So I got four points?
Josh: We couldn't have produced this to be better. This is, all or nothing baby!
Tracy: Oh no!
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Oh dear! Okay, I'm ready.
Josh: All right. If you get this one, with three seconds, you win the game Tracy.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. No pressure, no pressure.
Josh: Final question.
[Game show music]
Tracy: Got all the ancestors on my back!
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Okay. Set.
Josh: The year is 2003. You're writing in your diary about your high school crush, and then you turn the radio on, you hear this and you're like, "Am I gonna feel like this forever?".
[CLIP] Smilez and Southstar’s “Tell Me”
Tracy: Oh dear. ( sings)
Josh: Oh my god, Tracy!
Tracy: I won!
Josh: You won!!
Tracy: I won! Woo! I did it! This is my grandma, this is my ancestors!
Josh: That was Smilez and Southstar.
Tracy: Right, right, right, right, right.
[CLIP] Smilez and Southstar’s “Tell Me”
Josh: The song reached Number 100 on Complex's list of 100 Best Hip Hop One Hit Wonders.
Tracy: Mm.
Josh: And it has a sample in it that I love, which is “Stop, Look, and Listen (To Your Heart)” performed by Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye. Tracy, you won!
[CLIP] “Stop, Look, and Listen (To Your Heart)” performed by Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye
Josh: Tracy, you won!
Tracy: I won!
Josh: You won, good job!
Tracy: I won, I won!
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Woo!
Josh: Ah!
Tracy: Um, post game interview, uh, you know what I'm saying, had us in the first half, I ain't gone lie. Ain't gone lie, but um, you know I'm just glad I was able to rally for, for the team, for the ancestors, you know. Formidable opponents, uh, it's always a pleasure to, uh, to lose to the best, but what's even better, is winning against the best. Um, where's the Gatorade?
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Yay! That was stressful!
Josh: Ooh. That was fun.
Tracy: But it was fun because I won.
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs) I know I'm like, okay it's fun because I won, but even if I did not win, it still would've been fun.
Josh: Are you lying?
Tracy: No, not all the way!
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs) No I'm not lying, it was fun to take a trip through the past and be a voyeur in a non-creepy way, in young Joshua’s life.
Josh: (laughs) Reminisce.
Tracy: I'm just gonna watch old videos for the rest of the weekend, if not my whole life.
Josh: Welcome to my existence, Tracy. (laughs)
Tracy: Thanks! It's nice in here. (laughs)
Josh: Sooo how about we take a quick break, and when we get back, we can play your game?
Tracy: Muahahahaha.
Josh: Oh no, now I'm nervous! (Laughter)
Tracy: Evil laughter!
AD BREAK
Josh: Back Issue, and we're back! Tracy, you got your game ready?
Tracy: Do I have my game ready?
Josh: I feel like you always have a game. (laughs)
Tracy: Never leave home without at least twenty, at least.
Josh: Ok.
Tracy: This game is called, um, Trivia with Tracy. [game show music] It's trivia. I didn't think of a name, okay? Sorry.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: Um, (laughs), these are just going to be, like, very, very random music trivia questions. Mostly about 90s R&B.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: Also some of the time era that I can't pronounce, the- the-
Josh: The aughts?
Tracy: The aught- aughts? Aughts?
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: The aughts?
Josh: The aughts. I like to aught aught ...
Tracy: Opples and bononos.
Josh: Bononos.
Tracy: Bononos. (laughs)
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Are we drunk?
Josh: I think so. It's the heat.
Tracy: All right. Welcome to Trivia with Tracy. (singing)
[Game music fades into show music]
Tracy: Okay, so I have a certain number of questions here, mostly multiple choice. When they are not, I will let you know.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: Each multiple choice question has four possible answers.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: I will read for you the question. I will read for you the possible answers.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: And you will give me what you think is the correct answer. You up?
Josh: Okay, let's do it. Let's do it.
Tracy: All right. Question the first. Which of these R&B groups reunited and broke up live on the radio on the same day on the same program? Was it, A, Jagged Edge; B, 112; C, Dru Hill; or D, Silk?
Josh: I actually remember this very clearly.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: C, Dru Hill.
Tracy: That's right. That is correct, everyone.
Josh: Yay!
[CLIP] Voice 1: So you're leaving the group right now on the radio?
Voice 2: I mean--
Voice 3: [crosstalk] cannot do your steps on the stage, bro.
Voice 1: Oh, hell no, man.
Voice 2: I can't do steps on the stage.
Voice 1: [crosstalk] Dude, you could've told us this yesterday.
Tracy: A fun fact about this, did you know that it was a hoax?
Josh: Wait, it was all pre-planned?
[CLIP] Woody from Dru Hill: And that was the premise before we went into the 92Q interview. I'm like, okay, this is my out. I'm-a allow y'all to have this one, allow us to make this fiasco at the radio station and stuff like that. And this is gonna be it. After that, y'all gonna leave me alone.
Josh: Wow, it worked.
Tracy: (laughs) Right?
Josh: Because I remember everyone being like, "Damn, couldn't they make it?"
Tracy: It was so wild. Like, really, y'all get together, and 10 minutes later, you're done? What is this, a relationship of mine? [sitcom laughter] Come on. Get it together. Okay. Question number two.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: In 1993, Madonna's record label, Maverick Records, signed its first R&B group. It was a trio of black men from Detroit named UNV. What did UNV stand for? Was it, A, United Nubian Voices; B, U-Nited Vision, like U and then the N comes from -nited ...
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Very of the time.
Tracy: Very of the time. C, Urban Niggas Voices.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: It is Madonna, okay?
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: Don't put nothing past her. (laughs).
Josh: I wasn't ready (laughs).
Tracy: Or, D, You Envy. Like the word You, Y-O-U, and Envy, like You Envy Us.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative). So I don't think it's the last one.
Tracy: Okay, it's not You Envy. Okay.
Josh: I don't think that it's the third one, even though it is her--
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: If she'll call her young child that, she'll call anybody that.
Tracy: On social media in front of millions.
Josh: Do you remember when she went to go see 12 Years a Slave, and the people told her to stop using her phone and stop talking during the screening, and she said, "Shut your mouth, you enslaver." Like, during a slave movie.
Tracy: What?
Josh: That- that woman is wild.
Tracy: Did you invent that just now?
Josh: No.
Tracy: Oh, my Jesus, Lord in Heaven.
Josh: I'm gonna go with A.
Tracy: United Nubian Voices?
Josh: Yes. It just gives me, like, SWV but the boy side.
Tracy: That is absolutely correct.
Josh: Hey!
Tracy: And this is 1993 when, you know, Sounds of Blackness was out there doing their thing.
Josh: Uh-huh.
Tracy: "Black Men United," "You Will Know." You remember that song?
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Black Men United, yeah.
Tracy: (singing)
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: Question number three. I don't like- I don't like how you're getting these right, I have to say. So musical families are nothing new, right? The most famous in your world, I believe, might be the Braxtons. (laughs).
Josh: Love the Braxtons.
Tracy: Love you some Braxtons.
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: The R&B group, After 7, do you remember them?
Josh: No.
Tracy: You don't remember them?
Josh: Mmh-mm (negative)
Tracy: (singing)
Josh: Mmh-mm (negative)
Tracy: What? Well I don't know if we can continue this question but let's do it anyway-
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: The group, After 7, was comprised of two of the brothers from what solo superstar?
Tracy: Is the superstar Will Downing,-
Josh: Mm (affirmative).
Tracy: Teddy Riley,-
Josh: Mm (affirmative).
Tracy: Babyface, or Aaron Hall?
Josh: Hmm.
Tracy: Which of them had brothers in the group After 7? I can't believe you don't remember After 7.
Josh: Will it ruin the game if I play the song to see if I remember it?
Tracy: Um, no. I think it's fair.
Josh: I want to hear what it sounds like cause, I feel that's part of the question.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative), oh man Ready or Not was my shit. That's one of the songs I recorded from the radio. And the ad-libs were so big.
[CLIP] After 7’s “Ready or Not”
Tracy: (singing).
Tracy: I'm sorry, I should be quiet so you can listen.
Josh: I know this song!
Tracy: Okay! All right! All right!
Josh: I still don't know the answer.
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: I feel like when you are a solo artist and you're like, "Okay, my family's about to get on," you either have to come in together--
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Josh: --or you have to be a really big star.
Tracy: Mmh (affirmative)
Josh: And so that makes me think it's either Teddy Riley, or Babyface?
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: And after watching the Teddy Riley verses, I just don't think that Teddy Riley's the type of person to want to put his family on (laughs).
Tracy: (laughs). Shout out to this logic journey that I just saw.
Josh: I'm going to go with Babyface. Is it Babyface?
Tracy: It is Babyface.
[Ding and applause]
Josh: Oh!
Tracy: That was amazing. That was absolutely amazing. Okay. Which group was originally signed to Mariah Carey's record label, Crave Records, in the mid 90s?
Josh: Mm (affirmative)
Tracy: Was it 702, Jade, Brownstone, or Allure? You remember all those people, all those groups?
Josh: I do.
Tracy: All right. All right.
Josh: It was Allure. D.
Tracy: Huh? Why do you know that?
[Ding sound]
Josh: Because I love Mariah Carey. (laughs).
Tracy: I didn't even know Mariah Carey had a record label.
Josh: And they had that song.
Tracy: All Cried Out. ( singing).
[CLIP] Allure’s “All Cried Out”
Josh:
Uh, when you listen their music, you can hear Mariah Carey's arrangements in them.
Tracy:
I cannot wait to go back and listen to that song. For multiple reasons, it was just a jam. And also, of course I could hear Mariah Carey.
Josh: Yeah.
Tracy: Of course! Ugh, next question. The loves of my life, Louisville, Kentucky's very own player-
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: ...suffered a huge loss when Static Major passed away in 2008, rest in peace Static Major.
Josh: Rest in peace. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: Since then, the remaining two members, Black and Smoke, went on to join what iconic group? Was it Blackstreet? Was it Dru Hill? Was it Tony! Toni! Toné!? Or, was it 112?
Josh: I'm trying to think of who's working.
Tracy: Do you want me to sing the Jeopardy theme song to put some pressure on you?
Josh: I ain't scared of your song! (laughs).
Tracy: (singing).
[singing fades into the Jeopardy Theme Song]
Josh: I feel like It's not Blackstreet. I don't think it's Dru Hill because they broke up on the radio like we said.
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: Um, who are the other two?
Tracy: Tony! Toni! Toné! or 112.
Josh: I feel like Raphael Saadiq's over here scoring movies and (laughs) doing soundtracks and stuff-
Tracy: Right, right.
Josh: So I'm going to go with 112.
Tracy: Oh, I'm sorry. The correct answer's actually Dru Hill.
Josh: Is it really?
[CLIP] Dru Hill’s “Tell Me”
Tracy: Yes, they joined Dru Hill to like perform and stuff.
Josh: For five minutes?
Tracy: Ah, you know what, I don't know how long.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: It just happened. (laughs). But I was like what a fantastic idea-
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: I mean, I don't know how I feel when my favorite groups replace members anyway, you know-
Josh: Yeah, I do love the idea of someone going to like a musical group boot camp. This group has existed for 5-10 years already and you have to learn everything in a month.
Tracy: Right.
Tracy: Okay this is my last question-
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: And it's a threefer.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: Three different questions, right?
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: These next three questions are all about Pressha's 1998 hit, Splackavellie. Remember Splackavellie?
Josh: Mm-mm (negative).
Tracy: Huh?
[Record scratch]
Josh: I have never heard of this song in my life. (laughs).
Tracy: You are going to love it.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: It's so ridiculous. Okay. Question A.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: What is a Splackavellie?
Josh: I feel like a kid in a spelling bee.
Tracy: (laughs). Can I use it in a sentence?
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: Can I have the language of origin?
Tracy: Do you want me to use it in a sentence?
Josh: Yes I do.
Tracy: Okay. My man been acting up, so I got me a splackavellie.
Josh: Okay. Where is Pressha from?
Tracy: Aiken, South Carolina.
Josh: Okay, so he's from South Carolina.
Tracy: Uh-huh (affirmative)
Josh: I'm going to say that it's a side piece, like a, like someone on the side?
Tracy: Absolutely.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: Absolutely. Good job.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: The chorus actually goes-
[CLIP] Pressha’s “Splackavellie”
Josh: Okay, well I'm, I'm, I'm kind of for this song! Okay. Let's go. Let's go.
Tracy: Okay. Okay. The next question, how do you spell "Splackavellie"?
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Now you actually are in a spelling bee. (laughs)
Josh: No baby, that's Keke Palmer.
Tracy: My bad, Akeelah, my bad.
Josh: Okay. Say it one more time.
Tracy: Splackavellie.
Josh: Splackavellie
Tracy: Splackavellie. Now you're at a slight disadvantage not knowing the song because they spell it out in this one glorious moment, and it's just so ridiculous.
Josh: Okay. S-P-L-A-C-
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Josh: V-E-L-L-I-E.
[Buzzer sound]
Tracy: Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry-
Josh: How do you-
Tracy: It's splack-a-vellie-
Josh: Oh. (laughs).
Tracy: You were spelling splackvellie. Yes, yes.
[CLIP] Pressha’s “Splackavellie”
Tracy: Okay, and our third Splackavellie themed question, what movie and heartthrob was the splackavellie in Pressha's Splackavellie video in 1998? Was it Mekhi Phifer, Shemar Moore, Tyrese or my husband, Blair Underwood?
Josh: Okay, I don't think it was Blair Underwood.
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: Mekhi Phifer it could be, cause he was in music videos, like he was a video vixen at one point.
Tracy: What other video was he in?
Josh: The Boy is Mine. (singing)
Tracy: Oh he was the boy, he sure was.
Josh: It could also be Tyrese. I feel like that was when he was in the Coke commercial and was doing [crosstalk].
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Plus I feel like he did in videos too.
Josh: Yeah was in the Angel of Mine video.
Tracy: And then Shemar was in-
Josh: He was in (laughs)-
Tracy: Was he in a Toni Braxton video?
Josh: Sometimes when I'm sad I look up GIFs of Shemar Moore dancing on Soul Train.
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: (laughs). I think, I'm going to go with Shemar Moore. I'm going to go with Shemar Moore.
Tracy: Correct.
Josh: Ah!
Tracy: Good job. Good job. When I watched the video, I was so confused, because I was like who is Pressha? Like how did Pressha get Shemar Moore to be in his video. Then I was like Shemar Moore just must have been out here doing videos.
Josh: But also, why wasn't he the s- splackavellie?
Tracy: Ah! Because Shemar Moore was light-skinned, had a S-Curl-
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: ...and that's what people went for-
Josh: Mmh (affirmative). (laughs).
Tracy: ...probably. You did surprisingly better at the game than I anticipated.
Josh: Yay!
Tracy: Your prize is my momentary adoration. Woo!
Josh: Woo! I'll take it.
Tracy: Don't spend it all at one place.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: But I think that game was really, really fun.
Tracy: Yay! I'm so glad.
Josh: A true test of my knowledge of this era. But, it used up significant brain power, and I think I’m gonna need a quick break.
Tracy: I respect you listening to what your body needs. You're a self care hero.
AD BREAK
[Learn something from this bounce remix”]
Tracy: So...Joshua
Josh: (laughs) Tracy.
Tracy: I have a question.
Josh: What's up?
Tracy: In the spirit of the one and only Tyra Banks, the patron saint of yelling at people when they're sad,
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Did we, (laughs) did we...
[CLIP] Tyra Banks: Learn something from this?
Josh: No!
Tracy: Okay, bye! (laughs)
Josh: But that's why it was fun. (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs) Absolutely!
Josh: Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I'm tired,
Tracy: Yeah.
Josh: And sometimes I just want fun, I just want it to be fun. Like, I just want to have fun. Can we do that?
Tracy: (laughs) Do you just want to have fun? Is that what you're trying to say?
Josh: I think so. (laughs) I just think it's really good mental health practice to find moments where you can sit in stuff that feel good.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative) and to travel back to a time before you were conscious of the world and all its ills and maladies and all of the terrible things and all of the mass shootings and all the this and all the that. You can just, you can just go put on the Splackavellie video.
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: And just be like, this is fucking ridiculous. What is Shemar Moore doing? ( laughs)
Josh: (laughs)
[CLIP] Pressha’s “Splackavellie”
[End credits music starts playing]
Tracy: Back Issue is a production of Pineapple Street Studios.
Josh: This show was created and is hosted by Tracy Clayton.
Tracy: And Josh Gwynn. Josh Gwynn is also our senior producer because he likes to do everything.
Josh: (laughs) Our lead producer is Emmanuel Hapsis and our managing producer is John Asante.
Tracy: Our senior editor is Leila Day.
Josh: Our associate producers are Alexis Moore, Xandra Ellin, and Briana Garrett. Our intern is Arlene Arevalo.
Josh: Our executive producers are Jenna Weiss-Berman and Max Linsky. Our engineer is Raj Makhija, and Davy Sumner.
Tracy: This show also features dope ass music by Donwill, you can follow him on all the socials @donwill, and you can follow me on the socials @brokeymcpoverty.
Josh: You can follow me, Josh, @regardingjosh. Subscribe to this podcast wherever free podcasts are sold. Give us a five-star review, it really helps, uh.
Tracy: Please.
Josh: Spread the word, tell your friends.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: Tell the people that you don't like.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Tell everybody. (singing)
Josh: (laughs) See you next week.
Tracy: (laughs). Bye!
[Tracy’s electrono-pop-poka music]
THE END