While on my way to work the other day, I saw pretty good looking girl in yoga pants and I made my own version of Ginuwine's "In Those Jeans" in my head for yoga pants. I then began to think of "Pony" and a few other Ginuwine hits. I thought to myself where does Ginuwine stand as far as the pantheon of "Panty Droppers"
This weekend, baseball welcomed six new members into their Hall of Fame, so in honor of that I will make my own inaugural class for the Panty Dropper Hall of Fame.
I will only cover the 90's and 00's because getting into the Luther Vandrosses and Teddy Pendergrasses will be too much and should go without saying as being Hall of Famers.
I will have five inductees as baseball had in 1939. Well, five solo artists and I'll have a couple groups as well. The criteria for enshrinement will be panty dropping ability of course, body of work, and staying power.
Panty dropping ability is the the power this artist had to make people want to dance vertically and without pants or any clothes on for that matter.
Body of work. The amount of music this artist had for his audience and its substance.
Staying power. Does the music still resonate today? Can it make people grind slow to it that have never heard it before?
I also have a few that just missed the cut. So let's start with them...
Honorable Mentions
Jon B
Jon B revolutionized the blue-eyed soul legacy carried on today by Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake. Linking up with Babyface in the mid-nineties launched him into the forefront of the R&B scene. He left us with "Pretty Lady", "They Don't Know", and "Someone To Love". The problem with Jon B is that all of those came out around the same time, so it's like being the Juan Gonzalez of of this time period.
Babyface
Mentioned earlier with Jon B, but, Babyface does not make the cut also due to body of work. Although hits like "Two Occasions" and "Whip Appeal" add to his staying power, he left the performing side and instead wrote and produced countless hits. He'd be the Joe Torre of the class because Torre had a great playing career but will be remembered for his managerial career.
Case
This one hurts as well as the next person on this list. Case made some panty droppers, legit ones, but stopped making them. Check out "Missing You" and "Happily Ever After". Here's "Happily Ever After" with a young Beyonce as the main female in the video.
Donnell Jones
I said this one hurts too because every black dude from this time period ought to know "Where I Wanna Be" by heart, it's our birthright. "U Know What's Up" featuring the late Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes is another hit. Even him singing the hook on the late Big Pun's "It's So Hard" is fire. Jones unfortunately lost steam and faded. He and Case have to be the Brandon Webbs of this list.
Musiq Soulchild
Musiq had you feel like he was someone that was going to remain, at worst, relevant to this day. His music had a message and would make great wedding songs or joints you'd give to your girl on a mixtape. I thought Soulchild would have the career of John Legend. Tim Lincecum is a good comparison.
A controversial omission because Chris Brown himself may make panties drop, I do not consider him a panty dropper. He did make a few droppers such as "With You" and "Don't Judge Me. Songs like "Take You Down" and "No Bullshit" are songs people bring up and you're like "Oh, yeah I forgot he did that". He's like the Andy Pettite or Mike Mussina of this list.
Now without further adieu, the inaugural class of the Panty Droppers Hall of Fame...
Usher
The headliner of this class is Usher Raymond and I know how to spell that because of his premiere piece "Nice & Slow". Once that dropped, his panty dropper Hall of Fame eligibility was not a matter of "if" but "when". Usher is an icon now but when it comes to the matter at hand, he is a persistent panty dropper for every album he makes there is a panty dropper.
My Way-Nice & Slow
8701-U Got It Bad
Confessions-Superstar, Can U Handle It, Confessions Part II, That's What It's Made For
Here I Stand -Trading Places, Love In This Club
Raymond v. Raymond-Hey Daddy, There Goes My Baby
Looking 4 Myself-Dive, Climax
And he has another album dropping later this year.
Ginuwine
The basis of this article. This man has a song that heavily implies banging in "Pony". "Pony" is still used in movies and TV for highly sexual scenes. In addition to that there are "So Anxious", "Differences", "Love You More", and "Stingy". As you can see Ginuwine has no MVP seasons but year in and year out puts together solid seasons. He hit all three of the requirements swimmingly.
Joe
Y'all must have forgotten about Joe but he surely makes the cut. With hits like "I Wanna Know", "All The Things", "More & More" as well as hooking up with G-Unit for "Wanna Get to Know You". Joe represents Pedro Martinez, although he had a few good seasons, those seasons were so great they are hard to overlook.
Trey Songz
Tremaine makes it because, sheesh, ask your girl about Trigga. "Just Gotta Make It" Trey Songz would not have made this list. He was like a young player that struggled early in his career but worked on his mechanics and turned himself into a Hall of Famer. Compare him to Randy Johnson. Johnson was average before he turned 30 but turned into a Hall of Famer after changing his approach. Trey Songz turned into a more fun-loving and sensual artist. He carried every dude's "party hard with boys yet be passionate with the ladies" attitude into his music. "Invented Sex", "Neighbors Know My Name", "Lovefaces", and others. Some may battle me on this but Trey Songz "Just Gotta Make It" into the Panty Dropper Hall of Fame.
Tyrese
Tyrese is an actor and started off as a model but between all of that he was a singer. You may say he hasn't done much lately in the music department, I guess you didn't hear "Best of Me", but he's a busy man these days. Tyrese made classics "Lately", "Sweet Lady", "How You Gonna Act Like That", "What Am I Gonna Do", and did you forget "The Signs of Lovemaking"? Tyrese more than makes the Hall of Fame, this dude is Ichiro Suzuki.
112
112 dominated the R&B group division from the late 90's and the early 2000's. They had competition from Dru Hill, Next, and Jagged Edge but held strong. "Cupid" is the song lovers bond over. "Anywhere" makes lovers bond all of the place. "U Already Know" was their 2011 Derek Jeter season, the last good one by an aging veteran.
Jodeci
Jodeci makes the list not only for their own work but the work KC & JoJo did on their own later on. "Come & Talk to Me" was the anthem for the shy guys. "Feenin" was for the "cuffed-up" dudes. "FreakNYou" was the joint for the lovemaking. There was also "Forever My Lady", "Stay", and "Cry For You" among others. KC & JoJo then went on the make an all timer in "All My Life". They also had "Tell Me It's Real", "Life", "Crazy", and "Don't Rush".
So there you are, The Inaugural Class of the Panty Dropper's Hall of Fame. If you disagree or feel there are some artisst that should be on here please let me know in the comments below.
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