UB Anniversary ReVisit: The Legendary T M H Forum + Reunion

We’re concluding our year-long celebration of our 25th Anniversary, between our three e-zines, T M H Entertainment, T M Hxone and Urban Bridgez

In 1998 Aries launched The Music Hall (T M H), a message-board named after the home-made mixtapes given to family and friends when he was younger.

T M H rapidly grew to a full-fledge entertainment website in 1999 named T M H Entertainment.

The T M H Forum was born in late November 1998 via Inside The Web, later renamed the UB Forum. The boards started as a place to discuss music with other people, who were musically inclined as myself. Case in point, I had many friends who loved music! Who bought, requested and hell stole it at stores at times, even then we were stans of artists. But not one of my friends, were able to discuss it on the level I was.

If I asked them what label an artist was on, they wouldn’t of had a clue or who wrote a song by one of their favorite artist. As crazy as it sounds now in this new age of the music industry, not many music fans cared to know those things back in the day. I had friends who would literally buy a CD/cassette, take the audio out and just toss the cover art/credits to the ground. I would let out a sigh, like how could you not keep that?

So with that, the T M H Forum was literally the first place I could have all types of discussions with people, regarding music and the industry and they could follow and at times educate me as well.

Some great times were had on the T M H Forum! The nostalgia of the boards, can be felt via platforms like X, Threads and The Shade Room comments.

Many of the T M H members were motivated by the music industry, for various reasons. Which led a large amount of them working in music and entertainment, years following being members of the forum.

From PR reps, music industry executives, on-air talent, tv showrunners, book writers, radio and tv personalities and the list literally goes on. To Sam from That Grape Juice who was also a former member and previewed TGJ to Me before the site went live.

Like a real family, the members of the T M H Forum supported each other on and off the boards, attending birthdays, celebrations and meet-ups in various cities for concerts throughout the years.

But don’t get it twisted, there were plenty of fights and debates between members! At times members took a hiatus or left for good. Regardless of how every story played out, each and every member of the forum in the beginning, was the reason for it’s success.

Til this day, members of the forum have remained friends. Still meeting up, vacationing together, and even some are God parents of other forum members children, true story.

Once the full T M H Entertainment website was launched, the forum was then tied to an entertainment outlet & attracted even more different types of members. For instance, there were many record executives who were members on the forum incognito. Due to label policies, executives were not able to create profiles under their names or labels.

I first realized label reps were apart, by emails they would sign up with and later IPs. After awhile, a few reached out to me in DM and told me who they were.

Throughout the years I never let on, who was who…but trust the members were full aware, that industry people were on the boards.

Not to say creating a forum, for opinionated, intelligent and knowledgeable people wouldn’t ruffle some feathers at times. Case in point, I was in Atlanta at Deborah Cox‘s “The Morning After” album release party. Huge fan of Deborah since day one, before that night I had never met or interviewed her.

When the label rep introduces me to her and says “Aries from T M H Entertainment,” Deborah‘s response as she’s shaking my hand; “Oh you’re the one that gave me the bad review.”

To say I was in shock is an understatement, for one a celebrity had never confronted me before and I had no clue to what she was even talking about. Deborah went on to say, that she seen what was being said about “Like I Did” (on the T M H Forum), a song from the album produced by Rodney Jerkins.

Backstory: Rodney Jerkins had just came off of producing Brandy‘s masterpiece “Full Moon.” On that album there is a song entitled “Can We.” T M H Entertainment collaborated with J Records to do a preview of Deborah‘s “The Morning After” before it was released. “Like I Did” was one of the four songs.

When fans heard the song, they immediately thought it sounded like a carbon copy of “Can We” (which it does).

So the members of the forum voiced that in a thread about the album preview. That is what Deborah was referring to when she said review, it wasn’t on our website, but the forum.

With that said, Deborah went on to tell me, that she had spoken to Rodney Jerkins about what was being said. Rodney Jerkins then created a profile on the T M H forum incognito to read the comments and in Deborah‘s words softly in my ear, “he was pissed!”

However Deborah Cox was not the only celebrity that confronted me at an event, about something they seen on the boards that I didn’t even say. You’ll have to wait for the doc for that story:)

One last aspect of the T M H Forum that was before it’s time of social media, was myself and the forum members confirming news.

August 25th, 2001, I had just left the club. I had many missed calls from my brother, so I immediately called him back. He informed me that he heard Aaliyah had been killed in a plane accident and wanted to know if was true because he didn’t believe the source. I told him to go to the T M H Forum, take in mind my brother in not computer literate and had never been on my forum. I gave him instructions on how to log in with my credentials.

I told him I did not know, but if there was any truth to it at all, there would be a thread about it on the boards. Once he logged in, I’ll never forget it, he said “Aries which one should I click on, there’s a lot of them that say Aaliyah?” I fell to my knees only a few steps from my car, I then knew it was true.

So with all of that said, it was important for me to do this feature, in my own words. To express the gratitude, joy and accomplishment I feel with the T M H Forum.

So it felt only right, to conclude our 25th Anniversary Celebration, with where it all started!

The Reunion!

Lindsey | @llchopsticks

Lindsey is literally the definition of a day one! One of the first people to sign up for the T M H forum in 1998 and one of the last members still standing before it closed in 2014.

A born passion for music, Lindsey was one of the favorites of the forum family. Lindsey later became moderator on the forums and even worked for T M H Entertainment at one point, doing news and helping spotlight new talent with their Sho Ur Skillz section.

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
Fall of 1998 via the 4everBrandy message board.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
Learning about new artists, where artists were and meeting other fans.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
Everything I know about how to survive the music industry.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
Being mentored by Aries.

What are you up to now?
Everything!!!!! I am still a spoken word artist, host, curator and community organizer. However I have been learning to dj and has had opportunities to teach college classes about hip hop.

Denise | @germancoco

Like Lindsey, Denise is a true day one! Someone who came to the forum after seeing it posted on another. Denise was like everyone’s little sister, who was respected, valued and appreciated by the members. Out of all of the arguments, don’t remember Denise ever being any any of them…even about Usher lol.

Denise later came on to work with T M H doing a fashion section, we named Fashion Xone. Denise was a no brainer to head the section, her style was always on point! The section quickly became one of the websites most popular sections.

Month after month Denise would break down, dos and don’ts in fashion, determine a fashion artist of the month, plus recap looks from award shows and the whole nine.
__________

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
Around 1998ish. Not sure how I initially came across it, but likely from an Usher board or newsletter I was already apart of.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
The connections I made with other members discussing music.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
I learned that online friendships can become long lasting friendships.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
Meeting so many people with shared interests and then connecting with some of them IRL.

What are you up to now?
I own a photography business and insurance agency so that keeps me pretty busy. Outside of work I love to travel the world and spend time with my loved ones.

RoJay | @itsRoJay

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
I believe it was 2002. Definitely ended up there after reading an article about Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter” single.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
I loved discussing the music. Everyone was releasing quality pretty much and everyone was sharing their views. It was very entertaining and would end up on the forums for hours on end.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
Everybody does NOT have the same musical taste, but that’s what makes music fun and enjoyable and there is always something for you and always someone for you to relate to through music.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
I remember when Monica’s “After The Storm” album dropped and all of the excitement about it among most of the board members. Summer 2003 was real fun period. We had a lot of great albums drop!

What are you up to now?
I am a radio and television personality. I also work with music artists and CEO of my own promotions company giving voice to indie artists and underdogs.

Tiffany | @tiffanyrayneofficial

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
I don’t quite remember the date, but I found out about TMH through my internet family.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
The music discussions were my favorite part of the forum. It was a lot more respectful back than also.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
I learned that music is a lot more universal than I once thought, and I made a lot of cool connections with people as well.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
The fan debates were the funniest. We had our favorites, but within that, we would put each other on as to why. I see why you like (insert artist here) or they really did have some bangers.

What are you up to now?
Currently working on a True Crime podcast, makes sense being that I’m a huge fan. Writing some things here and there (hopefully I get to finish), and punching the regular old clock.

Elise [Former President of T MH Entertainment]

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
Oh my I think it was in the mid-late 90’s that I discovered TMH. I think it was through a Brandy website on a message board.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
The community and friendships that were formed through our love of entertainment.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
I learned a lot about entertainment news and the process it takes to creating a website. I think we used webmonkey then lol.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
The discussions and debates about music and life.

What are you up to now?
I’m a married mom of 4. I’m in the tech field. I’m just working, raising kids, and being a wife.

Michele | @mohogany_horizons

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
I joined probably back in 2008 or 2009.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
I enjoyed being able to share celebrity news and information in a likeminded community.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
So much, about music celebrities I truly cared about.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
Definitely the Karyn White returns story (The Return of Karyn White: The UB EXCLUSIVE Interview).

What are you up to now?
I am currently a professor.

Chriz | @comedyistherapy

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
I’ve had introduced to this form through my friend Aries.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
I enjoyed sharing my opinions on this board very much and that’s the thing we were allowed to say what was really on her mind.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
The one thing I learned is that one has to be careful when they share their views from time to time because you never know who is out there but overall I had a great run on the old board made lots of friends that I still talk to to this day.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
When Aries used to let me review certain albums for his website.

What are you up to now?
These days I am just trying to stay healthy as I’ve had medical issues that have kept me sidelined for some time but things are looking up and I will probably head back to graduate school soon.

Shai (UBGteam) | @YaGirlSHAI

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
In 2002 I was a hug fan of Brandy and I would search everywhere to find updates on her. That’s how I came across the forum. I always wanted to be an artist and I loved keeping up with all the latest info about the industry. So I found it through web search and word of mouth through other fans.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
Interacting with like minds. Entertainment was my passion and I didn’t have many people around me who I could relate to so there I found a community of others who was just as passionate as I was and am.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
How important networking was. I started to meet other people on their career journey at the beginning like Aries and other industry professionals who were aspiring at that time who went on to making a name for themselves. So i was learning how to connect with people on the same path as me.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
Being a Brandy fanatic and just always defending her from what we now call trolls. And just getting to know the other posters. It was fun times.

What are you up to now?
Now I am a recording artist and actress. Who goes by SHAI-GIRL the Pharaoh Queen. I have been casted in over 15 films/series/ and can be seen in movies on various streaming platforms like Tubi and Amazon Prime. I am expanding my horizons by getting into screen writing. I hope to take on production in 2025. I am also getting into further using my Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Masters in Entertainment, by creating a platform where their stories can be heard through interviewing and soon becoming a talk show host. I am grateful that I have been given my first opportunity to interview a whole cast of a TV series “Tough Love Atlanta” by Aries and it was a great learning experience.

Pat | @mngtebrat1

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
Back in the day! I discovered TMH because I was/am a big Brandy fan.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
The community! I got to connect with other Brandy/music fans and TMH had the best interviews/exclusives.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
I learned that music fans can have a difference of opinion (looking at you, Brandy and Monica fans lol) and still be respectful.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
Connecting with the incredible Aries!

What are you up to now?
Working in Audience Development at a news site. Still rocking with Brandy and Aries! :)

Peter | @stancard10

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
It was because of Shanice World around 1999.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
It was so informative and Aries was such a great communicator and always had more up to date info than the artists websites themselves.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
I’m not sure.. I just know it’s provided so much more info. It was kinda was social media is today. You could go there for up to date and current info and lots of exclusives.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
Shanice World – miss that site so much!

What are you up to now?
Same ol, but working and still following the same artists and I did back then. But with a little luck, I’ve been able to meet Shanice and see her live a few times.

CJ [Former T M H/UB Journalist] | @nstntvntage

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
The OG Miss Janet (Jackson) chatroom.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
Interacting with users that had similar music tastes and always finding new artists to listen to.

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
Good music never dies.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
The debates about how long Beyoncé would last in the music industry.

What are you up to now?
Emmy-nominated television news journalist.

Jameile | @jwhit214

When and how did you discover the T M H Forum?
In 1999 from another forum.

What did you enjoy best about being a member of the forum?
Being apart of a community of likeminded music fans ….and the fighting lol

What if anything did you learn, from the T M H Forum?
Opened my eyes to different types of music and artist I wouldn’t have been exposed to. Also, how to respect people’s taste in music preferences.

What’s a favorite memory from your time there?
Fighting with Brandy fans lol

What are you up to now?
Adulting, missing the good ole days when all I had to do was worry about which Brandy fan I was going to argue with about Monica on the TMH forum.

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