Twitter user Beverly T. Gooden gave music fans early Christmas presents on Monday evening. Gooden sparked dozens of musical revelations by tweeting a simple request to her followers.
The timeline quickly sprang into action. Everyone joined in, from relatives of near-stars to the superstars themselves. Contributions ranged from the Motown era to the golden days of hip-hop.
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\u201cOne of Elton John\u2019s first gigs was playing keys for The Isley Brothers\u201d
Little Brother's Phonte offered a blast from the past featuring The Spinners, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, and Diana Ross.
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Phonte's music fact inspired a music fact of its own. New Orleans-based DJ Soul Sister added a gem regarding a demo track that floated around between Rick James, Teena Marie, and Diana Ross.
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Oakland songstress Kehlani got in on the action, revealing the source of her earliest songwriting credit. Spoiler alert: it appeared in an incredibly unlikely source.
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One of the biggest revelations of the day, however, came directly from Missy Elliott herself. Initially, Elliott revealed just how long her debut album SupaDupaFly took to create. Subsequently, she revealed one of her four Grammy-winning performances was a last-second addition to the album.
This story about Rick Ross's preferred studio ambiance borders on parody.
\u201cFat Trel once told me: Rick Ross invited him over to record after signing with MMG. Rick Ross orders an abundance of expensive steaks. Trel thinks they about to eat. Rick Ross puts all the steaks out and says \u201cthese are not for eating, just the aroma\u201d.. and was dead ass serious\ud83d\ude02\u201d
One of the most important revelations behind these facts is that classic records are quite often the result of happenstance. The story of D. Angelo's "Untitled" is yet another example of lightning striking mid-session.
\u201c@bevtgooden I just learned Untitled - D'Angelo was written and recorded in a couple of hours between himself and Raphael Saadiq after Saadiq knocked on the Electric Lady Studios door looking for some weed and D'Angelo answered it and was like "hell yeah I got some weed, wanna write a song?"\u201d
\u201cI snuck into a Club Bed in Miami when I was underage, was dancing during the reggae set, and Fat Joe asked me to teach him the dance I was doing. It was the Rockaway, and he recorded Lean Back the next week.\u201d
