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The Best of Darkchild

Rodney Jerkins, better known as Darkchild, is a hitmaker who helped to craft popular music for some of the biggest artists of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

(Darkchild)

The classically trained music producer (born 1977, New Jersey) was reared as the youngest child in a churchgoing family. He developed an ear for music recording as a teenager producing for up-and-coming artists, which led to a meeting with industry titan Teddy Riley, who took him under his wing at the age of 13. In 1995, just before his 18th birthday, he signed a global music publishing deal with EMI.

Under Riley’s mentorship, the music prodigy began an illustrious career in earnest at 19, producing for Mary J. Blige’s 1997 album “Share My World,” which led to his first major hit, “I Can Love You.” His breakthrough work was on Brandy’s 1998 sophomore album, “Never Say Never,” which led to the Grammy Award-winning song of the summer, a duet with Monica titled, “The Boy Is Mine.” The rest, they say, is history.

Darkchild worked nonstop with top artists, creating a sound that defined an era in popular culture, including some of the last major hits from Whitney Houston (“It’s Not Right but It’s Okay”) and Michael Jackson (“You Rock My World”). He also contributed to developing signatures for the likes of Jennifer Lopez (“If You Had My Love”), Toni Braxton (“He Wasn’t Man Enough”), Destiny’s Child (“Say My Name,” “Lose My Breath”), Britney Spears (“Overprotected” Remix), Beyoncé (“Déjà Vu”), and Justin Bieber (“As Long As You Love Me”).

For the lasting impact of his work, Jerkins is a 2025 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Here is a selection of music videos from some of his greatest productions:

“The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy & Monica (1998)

“It’s Not Right but It’s Okay” by Whitney Houston (1999)

“If You Had My Love” by Jennifer Lopez (1999)

“He Wasn’t Man Enough” by Toni Braxton (2000)

“You Rock My World” by Michael Jackson (2001)

“Lose My Breath” by Destiny’s Child (2004)

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Frank Sinatra: Highlights from 1965-1968

Frank Sinatra delivered his most indelible era of work as he turned 50.

Frank Sinatra on the cover of the September 6, 1965 issue of Newsweek magazine.

Sinatra transitioned in his fourth decade of show business from pop heartthrob to elder statesman in the mid 1960s, as younger, baby boomer acts like fellow Italian American Bobby Darin and The Beatles vied for greater shares of radio and TV airplay and cultural relevance.

He dropped the album “September of My Years” in August 1965, which heralded a career resurgence. The entertainer sat down in November for an interview with Walter Cronkite of CBS News, in honor of his 50th birthday that December. The then twice-married divorcé father of three discussed the controversies of his career with the journalist, assessing him at midlife.

Frank Sinatra interviewed by Walter Cronkite of CBS News in November 1965.

A week after the Cronkite interview, Sinatra starred in the first of three NBC television music specials titled “Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music,” which coincided with the release of a retrospective album of the same name. 

Sinatra followed with the releases of his best selling album and its title song “Strangers in the Night” in April and May of 1966, which produced his last album and single to lead U.S. pop music charts. He then partnered with his daughter Nancy, an ascendant music act in her own right, for his second “A Man and His Music” special in December 1966, and for their U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart-topping duet “Somethin’ Stupid” in April 1967.

“Somethin’ Stupid” by Frank and Nancy Sinatra.

Sinatra starred in the last of the three “A Man and His Music” specials aired in November 1967, this time with Brazilian musician and collaborator Antônio Carlos Jobim and showbiz darling and longtime friend Ella Fitzgerald. 

Nancy continued working with her dad when she sang the theme for his film with director Gordon Douglas, “Tony Rome.” In the film, released a week after the airing of the last “A Man and His Music” special, Sinatra plays the title character, a former Miami cop turned private investigator.

Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald during the filming of the last “A Man and His Music” special, in 1967. (Frank Sinatra)

Sinatra continued a film partnership with Douglas for 20th Century-Fox, playing a New York City cop opposite Al Freeman Jr. in “The Detective,” released in May 1968. He subsequently collaborated with Nancy and children Tina and Frank Jr. for the September album release “The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas.” 

The last of his three movies with Gordon Douglas, the sequel to “Tony Rome” titled “Lady in Cement,” was released that November.

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Data: Miami Mid-Century Boom

Miami skyline as seen from DuPont Plaza in Downtown Miami in 1967. (Charles Lee Barron)

Dade County, Florida experienced explosive population growth in the middle of the 20th century, with a tenfold increase from 100,000 to one million residents from the 1920s to the 1960s.

This growth in population was facilitated by urban planning in Miami and the development of suburban areas that were initiated in the early 1920s by a new countywide street grid and land boom. During that boom, the population of Dade County soared from just a few thousand in 1900 to 100,000 by 1926.

Miami surpassed Jacksonville in 1940 to become Florida’s most populous urban area. By the end of the 1940s, Dade County’s population doubled from over a quarter million to nearly a half million and doubled again by the end of the 1950s.

"FYI: Miami: City of a Million Faces" (WTVJ)

Most Dade County residents lived in Miami city limits from the 1920s until the 1950s, when the number of residents who lived outside of the city surpassed its population. The sprawl moderated by the 1960s, as Dade County residents voted to form a metropolitan government to manage the area’s breakneck growth from the transformative period.

View data visualizations on Tableau Public.

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Maps: Miami Urbanization in the 1920s

Aerial photographs of Downtown Miami, Florida in 1930. (G.W. Romer; uncredited)

In 1900, Dade County, Florida had a population of 5,000. By the 1920s, the number of its permanent residents mushroomed to 100,000 as a land boom flourished, prompting Miami to be nicknamed “The Magic City.” Hundreds of miles of new local roads were built to accommodate the growth.

“The Official Road Map: Dade County, Florida.” Adopted by the Dade County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 20, 1921. (Richeson Love, 1921)

“Map of Miami's Metropolitan District, showing location of Coral Gables in relation to the City and Surrounding Territory | Map of Metropolitan District Miami Florida.” (Karl Squires, 1922)

“Map of Dade County, Florida.” (Associated Map Co., 1926)

“Map of Dade County.” (Florida State Road Department, 1936)

Fast facts:

Dade County’s newly implemented street grid called the Chaille Plan went into effect in 1921.

The same year in 1921, the Dixie Highway was completed in Miami, connecting Miami to the Midwest. The main historic segments were West Dixie Highway, which followed the alignment of Northeast 2nd Avenue in the City of Miami until Gratigny Road now Northwest and Northeast 119th Street, turning northeastward toward Broward County, East Dixie Highway, which followed most of the current alignment of Biscayne Boulevard in Miami north of Federal Highway and Northeast 54th Street, also toward Broward County, and South Dixie Highway, which connected Homestead and Florida City in South Dade, on its modern route, with Miami to the north.

Development of Dade County in the 1920s north of the Miami River was generally confined to east of Northwest 42nd Avenue (Le Jeune Road) closer to the City of Miami, and east of Northwest 27th Avenue north of the city limits.

South of Downtown Miami and the Miami River, development generally followed the alignment of the Florida East Coast Railway (now Metrorail north of North Kendall Drive) and the surrounds of its depots, paralleled by South Dixie Highway.

In the 1920s, mainland Dade County and its beaches were connected by four east-west routes, from south to north: the County Causeway now called the MacArthur Causeway (opened in 1920), the Venetian Causeway (1925) that replaced the earlier Collins Bridge completed in 1915, the 79th Street Causeway (1928), and Ocean Boulevard and Sunny Isles Road now 163rd Street (ca. 1920).

A number of Miami’s suburbs were established during the 1920s, including Hialeah (1925), Coral Gables (1925), North Miami (1926), North Miami Beach (1927), and South Miami (1927).

Northward view of vehicle traveling south on West Dixie Highway in Fulford-by-the-Sea now North Miami Beach, just north of Ocean Boulevard in 1924. (W.A. Fishbaugh)

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Janet Jackson Top 10

Janet Jackson is one of the most influential pop artists of all time.

(Janet Jackson)

This is a ranking of some of her greatest music videos.

10. “Nasty” (1986)

9. “I Get Lonely” (1998)

8. “When I Think of You” (1986)

7. “All for You” (2001)

6. “Come Back to Me” (1990)

5. “That’s the Way Love Goes” (1993)

4. “The Pleasure Principle” (1987)

3. “Together Again” (1997)

2. “Scream” (with Michael Jackson) (1995)

1. “Rhythm Nation” (1989)

Honorable mentions:

“What Have You Done for Me Lately” (1986)

“Miss You Much” (1989)

“Escapade” (1990)

“Love Will Never Do (Without You)” (1990)

“Doesn’t Really Matter” (2000)

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“Can You Stand the Rain” by New Edition

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis created an R&B standard for New Edition with “Can You Stand the Rain.”

Single artwork for “Can You Stand the Rain.”

Minneapolis musicians Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis shot to fame as original members of Prince backing band The Time, before achieving greater success for their work as producers, in particular with Janet Jackson.

They were tapped to produce the fifth studio album for Boston’s New Edition, “Heart Break.” It was the group’s first album following the departure of Bobby Brown and with new member Johnny Gill. 

Taking inspiration from 1970s Philadelphia soul music group The Stylistics’ song “You Make Me Feel Brand New,” Jam and Lewis sought to emulate the Stylistics’ harmonies in “Rain.” The song was also intended to introduce Gill as a lead vocalist opposite Ralph Tresvant, with fellow members Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe.

“Can You Stand the Rain” was the third single from “Heart Break,” released June 20, 1988. It debuted on U.S. radio in December 1988, and topped the Billboard R&B chart for two weeks in February 1989, becoming one of the group’s signature hits.

Music video for “Can You Stand the Rain.”

The ballad became a classic as a perennial quiet storm favorite, an R&B radio format and subgenre.

For their illustrious and decades-long career, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jackson in 2022, and all six members of New Edition performed at the venue in 2023.

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“Mad Men:” A Decade Later

Television was never the same after “Mad Men.”

Title card for “Mad Men.” (AMC)

The 1960s New York City period drama created by Matthew Weiner and aired on AMC revolves around the exploits of Madison Avenue advertising executive Don Draper played by Jon Hamm, a character mainly based on midcentury Chicago ad man Draper Daniels.

Hamm led an ensemble cast that included John Slattery (Roger), Vincent Kartheiser (Pete), Elisabeth Moss (Peggy), Christina Hendricks (Joan), January Jones (Betty), and later Jessica Paré (Megan) and Teyonah Parris (Dawn).

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in “Mad Men.”

The show began its run Thursday, July 19, 2007, and aired its seventh and final season in two parts beginning Sunday, April 13, 2014, with the series finale aired Sunday, May 17, 2015.

“Mad Men” was among the last shows that were appointment television, ushering the era of peak TV in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and the rising influence of the internet and social media, which contributed to the show’s cachet and relevance.

Cast photo for the seventh and final season.

The show anchored a resurgence in nostalgia for the 1960s during its run, highlighting major moments in American culture, from JFK, The Beatles, and civil rights, to the Vietnam War, MLK, and the Apollo 11 moon landing.

The surge in popularity of the show coincided with the growing ubiquity of smartphones and mobile-friendly microblogging platforms like Twitter and Tumblr, the former of which easily allowed viewers to discuss episodes as they aired in real time, and the latter where fans memorialized characters and scenes, often as memes.

Christina Hendricks and Teyonah Parris, as they appeared in a scene from season six that became the “awkward hug” meme.

The enduring allure of the show was as much about its style as its substance. Impeccable direction, sets, and costume design were complemented by historically accurate storylines, compelling character development, and a cohesive canon.

When “Mad Men” premiered, major studios and networks primarily produced shows for live, first-run television, released and meant to be consumed per episode, at home, and over the course of weeks and months.

By the time the show wrapped, television viewers increasingly watched programs like “House of Cards” and AMC original “Breaking Bad” a la carte on streaming services like Netflix, which released seasons all at once that could be consumed on-demand anytime, from anywhere, and in a single sitting or binge-watched.

Compilation of selected scenes from the series.

In the years after it went off the air, and especially following the pandemic in the early 2020s, fewer programs were produced to capture audiences in the way that “Mad Men” did, leading critics to declare an over decade-long run of peak TV “over.”

“Mad Men” stars like Hamm, Moss, and Parris successfully pivoted to different roles in film and television, and continued prominence in entertainment.

“We got lucky,” Jon Hamm said in 2015 in an exit interview at the show’s finale of the series’ outsized impact. “We got really lucky.” 

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“Room Under the Stairs” by Zayn

Zayn Malik sings his heart out in “Room Under the Stairs.”

Album artwork for “Room Under the Stairs.”

In the 15-track, 49-minute album, Zayn conveys an artist comfortable in his skin. If first album “Mind of Mine” (2016) was a splash into pop music after One Direction, and follow-ups “Icarus Falls” (2018) and pandemic release “Nobody Is Listening” (2021) were him finding himself, then he has found him in “Stairs.”

Music video for “Stardust.”

The Brit's soulful vocals glide over a stripped sound infused with elements of blues rock, folk, and R&B, delivering his most cohesive effort since his solo debut, a project he calls one of his most personal.

“Room Under the Stairs”

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Drake & Jay-Z Collaborations

Drake and Jay-Z are two of the most commercially successful rappers of all time.

(Mass Appeal)

Witty lyricism, literary flourishes, and charismatic delivery are abound in the works of these artists, who combine for more than a couple dozen career No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200.

Jay-Z and Drake collaborated a number of times over the years on each other's albums, beginning in 2009 on “The Blueprint 3.”

The following are tracks they appear on together:

“Off That” (2009)

“Light Up” (2010)

“Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2” (2013)

“Talk Up” (2018)

“Love All” (2021)

Drake and Jay-Z at the On the Run II show August 13, 2018 in Detroit. (Word on Road)

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“Hands All Over” by Maroon 5

Adam Levine and his bandmates in Maroon 5 hit a stride with their third studio album, “Hands All Over.”

Album artwork for “Hands All Over.”

Maroon 5 achieved mainstream popularity in 2004 with their breakthrough string of singles, “This Love,” “She Will Be Loved,” and “Sunday Morning,” which all appear on their 2002 debut album “Songs About Jane.”

“Jane” was followed by their 2007 album “It Won’t Be Soon for Long,” which feature the hits “Makes Me Wonder” and “If I Never See Your Face Again” with Rihanna. But with “Hands,” the band solidified their position as one of the preeminent pop-rock acts of the late 2000s and early 2010s.

“Hands All Over”

Released September 15, 2010, the original 12-track and 40-minute album was reissued months later in July 2011 to include global smash with Christina Aguilera, “Moves Like Jagger.”

Deluxe versions of “Hands” play for over an hour with over a half-dozen bonus tracks.

Adam Levine’s seductive falsetto is in peak form in pop radio-friendly tunes “Misery,” “Give a Little More,” and “Never Gonna Leave This Bed,” on album cuts like “How” and “Just a Feeling,” and on bonus tracks like the acoustic version of “Misery” and the Alicia Keys cover “If I Ain’t Got You.”

Music video for "Moves Like Jagger."

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LL Cool J Top 5

LL Cool J transcended hip-hop to become one of the most versatile performers in entertainment.

(LL Cool J)

The entertainment juggernaut born James Todd Smith (in 1968, New York) rose to prominence with his 1985 debut album, "Radio," the first album released by Def Jam Records and one of the first rap albums to achieve popular acclaim.

He followed "Radio" with “Bigger and Deffer,” one of the best-selling albums of his career, which notably produced the first popular rap ballad, “I Need Love.”

His prominence in rap continued through the middle 1990s, with a string of hit albums that followed, including “Walking Like a Panther,” “Mama Said Knock You Out,” “14 Shots to the Dome,” and “Mr. Smith.”

LL Cool J branched out to acting, establishing himself in films like “Deep Blue Sea” and “Any Given Sunday,” and notably in television on “NCIS: Los Angeles.”

He became the first rapper honored at The Kennedy Center in 2017, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

This is a ranking of LL Cool J’s most memorable singles:

5. “I’m Bad” (1987)

4. “Mama Said Knock You Out” (1991)

3. “Doin’ It” (1996)

2. “I Need Love” (1987)

1. “Around the Way Girl” (1990)

Honorable mentions:

“Going Back to Cali” (1988)

“I’m That Type of Guy” (1989)

“Jingling Baby” (1990)

“Hey Lover” (1995)

“Loungin’” (1996)

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The Miami Playboy Club

Hugh Hefner operated the Miami Playboy Club for over 20 years, during the 1960s and 1970s.

Entrance to the Miami Playboy Club in Miami (top), and aerial of the Playboy Plaza Hotel in Miami Beach. (Playboy)

The publisher of Playboy magazine opened the Miami offshoot of the original Playboy Club in Chicago near Miami’s northeastern city limits, at 77th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, in May 1961.

The Miami Playboy Club, as featured in the September 1961 issue of “Playboy.” (Playboy)

Described in the magazine’s September 1961 issue as the “swingingest, ring-a-ding-dingingest place in town,” the famed Playboy Bunnies welcomed preferred keyholders of the jet-set class that included the likes of “The Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson.

The club, which featured amenities like valet, swimming pool, live entertainment, food buffet, and a boat dock on the Little River Canal, was a go-to venue well into the 1970s.

Hefner opened a spinoff of the Miami club in Miami Beach, at the Playboy Plaza Hotel, in 1970.

The Miami Playboy Club vacated its Biscayne Boulevard location in 1983, as the surrounding neighborhood fell into disrepute. It was relocated to near Miami airport, before the club closed for good by 1985.

The last iteration of the Playboy Club, opened in Midtown Manhattan in 2018, closed in 2019.

(WGN)

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“These Streets” by Paolo Nutini

Paolo Nutini has attracted fans to his seductive bluesy rock sound since his debut.

Album artwork for “These Streets.”

The crooning singer-songwriter (born 1987, Scotland) was 18 when he signed to Atlantic Records, soon thereafter releasing “These Streets” in 2006.

His critically-acclaimed 10-track first album plays for 47 minutes, and features title track “These Streets,” and singles “Last Request,” “Jenny Don’t Be Hasty,” and “Rewind.”

Music video for “Last Request.” Nutini followed “Streets” with “Sunny Side Up” in 2009, “Caustic Love” in 2014, and “Last Night in the Bittersweet” in 2022.

“These Streets”

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Tupac Top 5

Tupac Shakur is among the most revered rappers of all time.

(Tupac Shakur)

This is a ranking of some of his signature single releases.

5. “I Get Around” (1993)

4. “How Do U Want It” (A-side) / “Hit ‘Em Up” (B-side) (1996)

“How Do U Want It”

“Hit ‘Em Up”

3. “California Love” (1995)

2. “Keep Ya Head Up” (1993)

1. “Dear Mama” (1995)

Honorable mentions:

“To Live & Die in L.A.” (1996)

“I Ain't Mad at Cha” (1996)

“Changes” (1998)

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Sidney Poitier as Hollywood’s Leading Man

1967 was a very good year for Sidney Poitier.

(Sidney Poitier)

The Miami-born (in 1927) Bahamian-American actor won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Actor in “Lilies of the Field,” becoming the first Black or African American man to receive the recognition.

He was among Hollywood’s most sought after performers during the 1960s, and was cast to lead three 1967 films that topped U.S. box office: “To Sir, with Love,” “In the Heat of the Night,” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”

All the films address race and civil rights, and Poitier plays respectable characters with professional occupations in each of the three.

“To Sir, with Love” (directed by James Clavell, released June 14, 1967)

“In the Heat of the Night” (directed by Norman Jewison, released August 2, 1967)

“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (directed by Stanley Kramer, released December 12, 1967)

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“Miami Vice” Memorable Guests

“Miami Vice” featured a number of famous guests during its five-year run, from 1984 to 1989, on NBC.

(NBC)

Here are some who made notable appearances:

Ed O'Neill (season 1, episode 2)

Bruce Willis (season 1, episode 7)

Pam Grier (season 1, episode 16)

John Turturro (season 1, episode 16)

Bill Russell (season 2, episode 18)

Liam Neeson (season 3, episode 1)

Willie Nelson (season 3, episode 7)

Melanie Griffith (season 3, episode 20)

Iman (season 4, episode 10)

Stanley Tucci (season 4, episode 19)

Clip of famous guests on “Miami Vice.”

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Destiny’s Child Top 5

Destiny’s Child at the Beyoncé Renaissance show September 23, 2023 in Houston. (LeToya Luckett)

This is a ranking of five music videos by Destiny’s Child, featuring members Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, LeToya Luckett, and LaTavia Roberson.

5. “Lose My Breath” (2004)

4. “Bug a Boo” (1999)

3. “Independent Women Part 1” (2001)

2. “Bills, Bills, Bills” (1999)

1. “Say My Name” (2000)

Honorable mentions:

“No, No, No Part 2” (1997)

“Soldier” (2004)

“Girl” (2005)