Future’s Youngster picked up two Grammys, earned 4 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Sizzling 100 and launched the profession of one of many greatest musical icons of the previous quarter-century (who’s now probably the most Grammy-winning artist in historical past). However the fiercely unbiased girls didn’t precisely begin their profession firing on all cylinders.
Launched 25 years in the past (Feb. 17), the group’s 1998 debut album was initially greeted with an identical response to its solely hit: “No, No, No.” Peaking at a lowly No. 67 on the Billboard 200, the self-titled affair urged that Future’s Youngster would rapidly fall by the wayside a la Zhané, Attract and practically each different R&B lady band who had a solitary high 10 Sizzling 100 single to their title within the Nineteen Nineties.
After all, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and (for a quick second) LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett ended up difficult for TLC’s crown with their 1999 sophomore album, The Writing’s on the Wall. And in consequence, its largely ignored predecessor loved one thing of a second wind, with many followers who got here on board because of “Payments, Payments, Payments” and “Say My Identify” hoping to find simply as many beforehand hidden gems. Its home gross sales have now handed the 847,000 mark, in line with Luminate.
However Future’s Youngster is little doubt nonetheless considered the least important a part of the group’s discography. And in the end Beyoncé’s and Kelly Rowland’s catalogs, too. So, is that this repute deserved? Right here’s a rating of its 13 choices from worst to finest.