Her competition had to throw in the towel this year when she established that no one is in her lane when it comes to this thing we call entertainment. More importantly, Pain established his songwriting and producing acumen on Chris Brown's 'Kiss Kiss,' as well as on T-Pain's entire LP, Epiphany, which spawned the smashes 'Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')' and 'Bartender.'ī bodied everybody. Kelly (twice) as well as street warriors DJ Khaled and Plies. Pain's reign saw his computer-enhanced vocals pop up on records by top-of-the-food-chain acts like Kanye West and R. His presence was persistent, and while he'll never be heralded among the great voices of all time, you can't forget that the hits came incessantly. was to R&B what Lil Wayne was to rap: a track showstopper whose versatile talent made his guest vocals a must-have for a plethora of artists. Thankfully, all the publicists are on vacation now. You are guaranteed to be shocked by some of the names that were left off the list. But we still have a strong top 10 - too strong, in fact. Blige released her LP, Growing Pains, too late to be considered, as did Omarion, who just released the duet project Face Off with Bow Wow. Just think about it: Usher and Mariah Carey didn't drop albums as scheduled, and Mary J. Some may argue that 'hip-hop is dead,' but R&B is flourishing.

Chris brown wall to wall album cover