Who remembers when Paula Abdul was Rihanna status?

[THE MACHINE]

From like 89-92 she was really big pop star. Less talented singer, but prettier and far better performer. I was never into her music, but as a kid a always watched them videos . Especially the one with the cat
Friday Night videos was Paula Abdul central




Aside from a couple cases Hip-hop then wasn't mixing with r&b and pop artists like today...could you imagine Paula & Kane/LL/Rakim/Cube/P.E. collabos

Prettier? Lets not get carried away.

She had a few hot summers though

 

[Ian1362]

Naw bruh, Peebles was more edgier and black, and was 3 light skinned sisters on the scene

better looking too

 

[R=G]

with the Debbie Gibson reference, Debbie had the pre-teen, early teen teeny bopper mall crowd on locked In 87

Alot of shyt from the 80s were just so legendary in general

 

[R=G]

Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah.

Having condom-less sex with Vanity must of been the best drug in the world at the time.

 

[I love Latina women]

Having condom-less with Vanity must of been the best drug in the world at the time.

Damn man, we lost Vanity.

 

[Keep_It_Hip_Hop_Fam]

She was never prettier than Rihanna. fukk outtta here.

 

[No1]

yep
OP mentioned it too.

not saying i was checking for her, but she was one of the most important artists to me at the time, just because of that stupid ass video.

but I thought it was a wolf or coyote. I may be wrong tho. I havnt watched that video in nearly 30 years.

This explains a lot about you all of a sudden. O thought you were like 27.

 

[YourMumsRoom]

Paula went 7x certified platinum though. And 12x worldwide. More than any Rihanna album. That's my point. Aren't you the one that said she never even sniffed Rihanna's success?

...According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Rihanna quietly smashed a huge sales record, becoming the first solo artist to surpass more than 100m gold and platinum single certifications.which basically means that she’s sold more millions of singles than any other artist since the awards were created in 1958.

But Imma let you cook Paula, it must be hard, I can tell you obviously made this thread to reminisce when you could culturally-appropriate with wild abandonment. Its been a long time since a relic of an artist from 29 years ago had the time to shine.

 

[NvrCMyNut]

I loosely remember negroes being mad as hell that this arab didn't proclaim to be black

 

[TrebleMan]

If you look at her numbers, Paula Abdul was

I think her first album is one of 10 albums in history with 4 Billboard #1 singles.

Being alive and around at that time, she definitely was a major deal.

 

[Manuel Hot Pepper Lopez]

...According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Rihanna quietly smashed a huge sales record, becoming the first solo artist to surpass more than 100m gold and platinum single certifications.which basically means that she’s sold more millions of singles than any other artist since the awards were created in 1958.

But Imma let you cook Paula, it must be hard, I can tell you obviously made this thread to reminisce when you could culturally-appropriate with wild abandonment. Its been a long time since a relic of an artist from 29 years ago had the time to shine.

But I never said she wasn't wild successful, so what do you think you proved?

It's on you to prove Paula WASN'T wildly successful, and you can't.
Make it brief son, half short and twice strong

 

[R-Typ3]

Face blessed Paula with some heat too..

 

[TrebleMan]

I'll say Rihanna's career has her beat, but not by a wide margin because they both were/are household names which is pretty much the highest tier in music.

Back in the 80's early 90's you had: Janet Jackson, Madonna, Paula and Whitney as household names.

Today you have: Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Adele as household names. With Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez and Lorde looking to become the next major stars - they're notable to the youth, but the older crowd may not be familiar with their music.

It's difficult to compare success by times, but household names are pretty easy to determine and Paula was definitely a household name during her peak. One of the reasons why she got the American Idol nod.

I also don't think any one artist stole her shine, but the music subject-matter got a little darker compared to her brighter sound.

 

[daboywonder2002]

Yeah being a former Lakergirl set her up nice, but Pebbles came in and stole some of her shine

no she didn't. Pebbles had nothing to do with it. her first album was great. all dance pop tracks. She messed up with the second album Going away from a great formula trying to come out with Rush Rush. That was the only hit the album had.

 

[daboywonder2002]

Face blessed Paula with some heat too..

that's actually my favorite paula track but she didn't blow up until forever your girl.