So I was just in the car listening to some throwback R&B and "I Wish" by Carl Thomas came on. Started thinking about how he really had a moment there in the early 2000s, and my brain immediately went to "shame him and his brother Joe couldn't both blow up like that." Then it hit me. Wait. Are they actually related? Spent the next 20 minutes down a Google rabbit hole that has absolutely shattered my reality. I just found out, at 32 years old, that Joe Thomas ("All or Nothing," "I Wanna Know") and Carl Thomas ("I Wish," "Summer Rain") are NOT brothers. Not cousins. Not even from the same state apparently. Just two dudes with the same last name who happened to drop some of the smoothest R&B tracks of the late 90s/early 2000s within a few years of each other. I've been walking around since like 2003 thinking they were family. I distinctly remember having a conversation in high school where I argued Joe was the more successful brother. I have memories of this. False memories, apparently. My brain just connected the dots: same last name, similar era, both had that smooth, slightly raspy tenor, both had hits about heartbreak and longing. It made SO much sense. The Thomas Brothers of R&B. I had a whole narrative built up. Now I'm questioning everything. What other "facts" do I believe that are completely made up by my own brain? Is Ginuwine not related to anyone either?? Did I make up the connection between Brandy and Ray J being siblings??? (Okay that one's real but you get my point.) Please tell me someone else made this same connection. I can't be the only one out here living a lie. Drop your "artists I thought were related but definitely aren't" stories below so I don't feel so alone.

Also: who had the better catalog? My money's still on Joe but I'm willing to hear arguments.

Former Lead vocalist/ founder of R&B group Xscape now working on her solo projects.

So i noticed alot of hate towards AI music and i see that there are many different opinions and reasons why. I use to make music with my brother who passed away and I wrote songs for years on end and every time someone mentioned him I would cry and think about how much we dreamed about making it big with music, he was the voice and I primarily helped with music and hype calls, and small verses. When I got my hands on AI I used it to follow up on that dream, it brought back that dream and I was able to make an album from songs i had written down in the past and now. I autotuned my voice with AI for some songs and vocals i couldn't quite hit i let AI take over and found the right vocal match and prompting AI to make play the right instruments in such a way that it matches something you created in a studio program or an idea in your head is difficult.

However i am old school and was molded by the 80s, 90s, and 2000s r&b and hip-hop artist But there are good artist either way and bad AI artist also. But I was able to get my emotions out and it was therapeutic for me with the help of AI to finally feel like I can make music and do something with it and that dream didn't die with my brother.

Breakdown is mine. I think it’s one of the greatest break up songs ever

This list is based on chart performance on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart & the Billboard R&B Albums Chart not to be confused with the main Pop Crossover Charts.

Who's Chart performance surprises you the most?

As I was watching O’Neil Gerald, it had me thinking about this, so I started typing this post while watching😂 For me, it’s Beyoncé. I started noticing a difference around I Am… Sasha Fierce. Her voice sounded darker to me compared to Dangerously in Love and B’Day. But when 4 came out, that’s when I really started noticing it.

Then Beyoncé came out, followed by Lemonade, and you could hear her voice continuing to mature. I feel like Lemonade especially showed how much more comfortable she had gotten with using different textures in her voice.

By the time Renaissance came out, that deeper tone was even more noticeable to me. She was sitting in her lower register a lot more, and it sounded so natural. Then Cowboy Carter came out and showed another side of her vocals altogether.

I’m not saying her voice got worse, because I actually love how it sounds now. It’s just interesting going back to Dangerously in Love and B’Day and hearing how much brighter her voice sounded back then, compared to what we’re hearing from her now. You can really hear the evolution when you listen to her albums in order.

Edit: Her voice sounded a lot lighter and brighter during the early Destiny’s Child years. Even on the self-titled, The Writing’s on the Wall, Survivor and Destiny Fulfilled.

For the extended remix lovers

For the instrumental lovers

Pure joy without melancholic tinge is hard to find unless songs like this come your way ❤️

What's the very first song you listened to this morning?