15 Forgotten R&B Videos of the '90s

A look at some of the classic clips that almost no one remembers.

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Image via Complex Original
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The music industry is crazy. An artist can have a No. 1 smash one year and literally disappear the next, never to be heard from again. It happens in all genres, but the bygone stars of R&B are particularly intriguing. Many of them came in the game under the tutelage of auteurs like R. Kelly and Missy Elliott, found massive success for a moment, then faded into oblivion. It's a vicious cycle.

While groups like Soul 4 Real and Changing Faces may not be making too much of a splash in today's music scene, their hit records still resonate, and never more than when you go back and check out the visuals that accompanied them. With that said, it's time to get nostalgic. Watch these 15 Forgotten R&B Videos of the '90s and remember the vastly underappreciated contributions of these abandoned acts.

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Shanice "I Love Your Smile" (1991)

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Shanice "I Love Your Smile" (1991)

Album: Inner Child

Shanice loves your smile, and hers. She loves it so much that she made an entire music video out of herself smiling for the cameras at a staged photo shoot. The Grammy-nominated love song had visuals that made you want to dance around in your room—and the choreographed moves were addicting. How many tweens memorized that routine in '91? Too many.

Jade "Don't Walk Away" (1993)

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Jade "Don't Walk Away" (1993)

Album: Jade to the Max

The beat on "Don't Walk Away" slaps so hard that even the hydraulic cars in the video are bumping to the song. All eyes are on Jade, though, and there they were—in navy blue Soffe shorts and cut up sweaters, before briefly changing into flannels wrapped around their waists. It was one of the biggest R&B/dance records of that year, and Jade wasn't afraid to put all the attention on themselves in the video.

Soul 4 Real "Candy Rain" (1994)

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Soul 4 Real "Candy Rain" (1994)

Album: Candy Rain

This may have been shot on what appears to be a $10 budget, but damn, it's good that it was. Soul 4 Real and their label didn't spend anything more than that. Let these talented kids cover Bill Withers for 25 seconds, give them one of the hottest songs of 1994, some choreographed dance moves, and a camera. Besides that, there's some documentary-style shots of the band getting prepped for the video. It was a meta way of letting the public know new stars were being minted right in front of their eyes, and it worked.

Brownstone "If You Love Me" (1994)

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Brownstone "If You Love Me" (1994)

Album: From the Bottom Up

For fans of BenZel and Jessie Ware, "If You Love Me" has risen to the top again, and they can thank the ladies of Brownstone for the original hit. Brownstone harmonized, danced, and got sassy as hell in the chart-topping hit—and it was all acapella, making it more effective than anyone could have anticipated. It was a ladies' anthem to the fullest extent. The visuals were energized, too, with exaggerated emotion put into scenes where the focus was nothing more than the females' incredible voices.

Changing Faces "G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T." (1997)

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Changing Faces "G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T." (1997)

Album: All Day, All Night

"G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T." may be the smartest acronym in R&B history. The Changing Faces duo find themselves in an empty apartment, revisiting old letters from a former love, singing about the man they want to get the hell out of their lives. The video is so literal that every time a lyric mentions a telephone, that's what appears. Once the keys hit the floor, you know these ladies mean business, and soon enough, they're putting that doomed relationship out of its misery.

Something For My People "My Love Is The Shh..." (1997)

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Somethin' for the People "My Love Is the Shhh!" (1997)

Album: This Time It's Personal

The guys of Somethin' For The People are in pursuit of phone sex hotline operators. These girls aren't working your typical hotline, either, and it doesn't have anything to do with the dirty talk. In between shifts, they, apparently, dance on super green lawns in front of Hotel California signs while the men chasing them drive through the countryside going crazy. It's one of those bizarre, virtually plotless '90s video scenarios, and that's exactly why we love it so much. You'll never see anything like this again.

Jon B. "They Don't Know" (1997)

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Jon B. "They Don't Know" (1997)

Album: Cool Relax

What's love? How about answering a phone call mid shape-up? That's what Jon B. does in his video for "They Don't Know" and he doesn't expect his buddies to understand what him and his girl have. He stays on the line, as he drives to meet her at the local coffee shop, even bringing flowers with him. Jon B. can clearly drop his jacket off his shoulders with ease and style, but how about hooking his girl up? She calls him from a payphone and he answers on cell. Apparently, what "they don't know" is that cutting edge tech trumps flowers any day.

LSG "My Body" (1997)

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LSG "My Body" (1997)

Album: Levert.Sweat.Gill

This video looks like Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat, and Johnny Gill are inviting you to their sex dungeon—dark backdrops and dancers moving seductively in all-black. People loved it, though. Predictably, the song was a No. 1 R&B hit. You can't go wrong with a record featuring three of the genre's biggest stars, and the same goes for the video. The whole time you're watching, you're kind of in awe of the fact that these three are still killing it so many years in. And because it was on BET so much in late 1997, there were more than enough opportunities to reflect on that thought.

Uncle Sam "I Don't Ever Want to See You Again" (1997)

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Uncle Sam "I Don't Ever Want to See You Again" (1997)

Album: Uncle Sam

If it's not blatantly obvious, "I Don't Ever Want to See You Again" was written and produced by Boyz II Men member Nathan Morris for Uncle Sam's debut album. it's a heart-wrenching five-and-a-half minutes of cheating females, jealousy, and a very downtrodden Uncle Sam. He gets a letter from his girl's new boyfriend, and he flashes back to months of rejection, love, and some scenes on the basketball court. Uncle Sam was so vulnerable, and if he didn't get all of his bitter emotions out in this song, there's no helping him in the future.

Nicole "Make It Hot" (1998)

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Nicole f/ Missy Elliott and Mocha "Make It Hot" (1998)

Album: Nicole

You've always loved "Make It Hot," but you wonder why you never heard another song from Nicole. Then you watch this video and it all makes sense. Her verses are crazy, but on-screen, there's no real star power or charisma. The most interesting thing about Nicole is how little she appears to care about dancing or anything else regarding the production.

Instead, this is a Missy video. Missy can sit in the audience of the video's movie theater setting, suck a lollipop for two-second cuts, and still steal the show. Then, lucky for us, Missy has her own spot over the Timbaland beat and raps it as she literally glides across the floor, spitting, "Me with no Timbaland is like Puff with no Ma$e."

Sure enough, Timbo shows up for a cameo. Aaliyah does, too. And Ginuwine. It's so spot-on culturally and even with a simple visual, every shot is just a testament to how in the zone Missy and everyone around her really was in the year after her debut.

Public Announcement "Body Bumpin' (Yippie-Yi-Yo)" (1998)

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Public Announcement "Body Bumpin' (Yippie-Yi-Yo)" (1998)

Album: All Work, No Play

When full-body jumpsuits were in vogue, these R. Kelly affiliates made the most of them, jumping and dancing their way around this spectacular clip, screaming "Yippie Yi Yo." It was their only hit without Kellz (peaking at No. 5 on the pop charts), and the video helps you understand why the record broke through.

The group was dancing "Gangnam" style 15 years before we even heard of Psy. Trapper's hats and sunglasses add to the overall ridiculousness. And to offset all the male gyrating, there are plenty of fine ladies. It's a blast to watch from beginning to end. Sometimes nostalgia actually leads to giving silly things from the past their rightful credit. This video is over-the-top, but it'd be a shame to dismiss it just because we've moved beyond it.

Divine "Lately" (1998)

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Divine "Lately" (1998)

Album: Fairy Tales

The ladies of Divine took to the back roads to record this music video for their chart-topping debut single. The gospel-inspired track has some fitting visuals of the trio performing with a live band, but the true plot is about the young love between the two children in the video. Divine takes listeners on a journey of a couple whose romance grows over the years, and harps on missing the love of your life. It's a sad ballad with a video that shows the pain of losing someone—this story ends with the man moving away. Ah, young love. Divine nailed it.

Monifah "Touch It" (1998)

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Monifah "Touch It" (1998)

Album: Mo'Hogany

Monifah is extremely patriotic. She arrives in a black helicopter to perform her explicit hit, "Touch It," in a red leather dress—for the U.S. armed forces. Every one of the males in the video is visibly craving to touch Monifah, and she's not afraid to rub everything in their faces. It was a nice gesture for a crowd of lonely soldiers, and you know she's just really concerned with the well-being of her country. She blows them kisses when she jets off in her helicopter, knowing that she left them with an unforgettable performance that they won't forget anytime soon.

702 "Where My Girls At" (1999)

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702 "Where My Girls At?" (1999)

Album: 702

Vegas born-and-bred girl group 702 only had one smash hit single, but "Where My Girls At" still comes up in conversation not just as a one-hit wonder of late '90s R&B, but also, as evidence of their prowess. Their video, however, may be what's helped keep them in these conversations: An oddly high-tech affair for a then-untested act, the girls were cloaked in all black, with progressive makeup cues like purple-metal eyeshadow (remember, when you watch this, that The Matrix also came out that year).

The girls mostly strut around in C-Grade Star Wars-lite sets, surrounded by men who also look Matrix-y, until about the two-minute mark, at which point, the big dance setup arrives, and all of their backup dancers show up in...Cirque-Du-Soilel-esque leotards that make them look like either flames, or roosters. The entire affair was weirdly sci-fi and avant garde, when they could've just gone with more typical girl group treatments. To that end, they registered a memorable clip, which works strongly in their legacy's advantage.

Blaque "Bring It All To Me" (1999)

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Blaque "Bring It All to Me" (1999)

Album: Blaque

The ladies of Blaque found success after the explosion of similar female R&B groups at the time, and their smash "Bring It All to Me" hit No. 5 on the Hot 100. The R&B/pop hit featured 'N Sync's JC Chasez, but the alternate version was used for the music video, because JC's version wasn't played on urban airwaves. The girls—Shamari Fears, Brandi Williams, and the late Natina Reed—give their best performance in the futuristic visuals for "Bring It All to Me." Sure, it appeared to ride off the wins of "No Scrubs," but the fact that new act Blaque took a comparable style and turned out a jam—and a visual—that impacted nearly as much that of superstars TLC says a lot for the merit of this video.

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