This Day in Hip Hop & R&B History: January 19
Jan. 19 has ushered in many important events in hip-hop and R&B over the years. To start off, Mac Miller was born on this day in 1992. His debut album, Blue…
Jan. 19 has ushered in many important events in hip-hop and R&B over the years. To start off, Mac Miller was born on this day in 1992. His debut album, Blue Slide Park (2011), debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first independently distributed album to reach the top of the chart since 1995. It remains Miller's only US number one album to date.
Also born on Jan. 19 is Z-Ro, who was born in 1977. His highest-charting release was his twelfth album, Crack (2008), which peaked at No. 48 on the Billboard 200 and went to No. 12 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Breakthrough Hits and Milestones
Here are a few significant albums that were released on this day.
- 1999: Silkk The Shocker dropped his third album, Made Man, under No Limit and Priority Records. With features from Jay-Z, Mya, and Snoop Dogg, it debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
- 2010: RJD2 dropped his fourth album, The Colossus. While it failed to crack the Billboard 200, it made it on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, where it peaked at No. 30.
- 2010: Dessa released his debut solo album, A Badly Broken Code. The project reached No. 48 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 22 on the Top Rap Albums chart.
- 2018: JPEGMAFIA dropped his second studio album, Veteran, via Republic Records. It peaked at No. 9 on the UK R&B Albums chart and was ranked the 20th best hip-hop album of 2018 by Rolling Stone.
Cultural Milestones
Jan. 19 has also heralded culture-defining moments in R&B and hip-hop.
- 1980: Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, a position it would hold for four weeks. The song also topped the Billboard R&B Singles chart for five weeks and was named the fourth biggest single of 1980 by Billboard.
- 1991: Janet Jackson's “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” began a one-week stay at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Released as the seventh single from her acclaimed fourth album, Rhythm Nation, it was the album's fourth single to reach No. 1 on the chart. Its climb to the top of the chart made Rhythm Nation the third album by a female artist to amass four number-one hits, after Whitney Houston's Whitney (1987) and Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl (1988).
Industry Changes and Challenges
The industry has suffered major losses on this day as well.
- 2006: R&B/soul legend Wilson Pickett died from a heart attack at the age of 64. He scored several number-one R&B hits during his career, notably “In The Midnight Hour,” “Land of a 1000 Dances,” and “Don't Knock My Love.”
- 2020: Robert Parker died of natural causes at the age of 89. He is remembered for his sole hit, “Barefootin” (1966), which reached No. 2 on the R&B singles chart and No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It's clear to see why Jan. 19 remains one of hip-hop and R&B's most memorable dates. It has seen everything from seminal album releases and chart successes to the births of influential rappers and the passing on of R&B icons.
