Yeah. Looking back, there really was not one year where Beyoncé ran shyt.
2002-2004 was Ashanti and Alicia Keys.
2005 was Mariah.
2006 was Mary J.
2007 was Rihanna.
2008-2009 was really when Bey hit the home run with Sasha Fierce and started really taking over the game. But let these nikkas tell it, Bey been running shyt since the beginning.
I’d say Bey, Ashanti and Alicia Keys were like LeBron, Melo and Wade rookie season from 2002 to 2004. All had promising solo careers in front of them.
Keep in mind, J-Lo was still running the charts back then too with her non singing ass.
In 2005, Mariah took a giant shyt on everybody. Emancipation of Mimi was a classic for real. JD don’t get enough credit producing that and Confessions in a 2 year period. He was on fire.
In 2006, Bey started to gain some steam with B’Day as Ashanti fell off but Alicia Keys was right with her selling just as many albums. Amerie dropped 1 Thing which was a heat rock. Mary J Blige had a big comeback album. Ciara graduated from a young chick to grown woman status with Promise. Keyshia Cole dropped I Should’ve Cheated, Love in that 2005/2006 period too which were major songs on the radio. I forgot about Rihanna. Her too.
In 2007, Alicia Keys had the As I Am album. No One got played on the radio so much I started to hate it. Like Ill Never See You Again and Teenage Love Affair got worn out on MTV and 106th and Park too.
I’d say about 2008 is when the Bee Hive era started with Sasha Fierce. Anybody acting like Bey ran shyt before then is lying. It was like one day we had 10 female artists all dropping dope music and then before you know it, it was just Beyoncé.