Y’all ready to relive Y2K? All year long the Rewind column will revisit the year 2000, celebrating great releases that will mark 25 years in 2025. I’ll be joined by a host of old friends as we look back at a new millennium of music.

Hey, remember that time Pink dropped an R&B album? Yes, before she became a pop-rock princess, Pink gave us a pretty successful R&B project. Can’t Take Me Home was a promising review, but she’d immediately change course afterward. But my Va brethren Darius Keeton is back to talk about her underrated debut and her short-lived R&B journey.

Here we go! What were your initial thoughts when you first heard this album?

Darius: Well, I remember the singles very vividly, but I didn’t really dive into the full album until years later around the first launching of YouTube. And I’m pretty sure I saw the video for “There You Go” on BET if I’m not mistaken at least twice, and I’m pretty sure there were a few people like me who thought she was at least biracial like Mariah but we’re not gonna get into that because that’s a different conversation for a different day *cough*LA Reid*cough*. But after listening to the album, I thought it was pretty solid while showcasing that state-of-the-art rhythmic pop and slick R&B of that time and it’s probably in my top three favorite P!nk albums. I saw a magazine interview online maybe a few months ago that I can’t find anymore but I’m pretty sure it’s still floating around the web. According to T-Boz, there were a few songs on this album that she had demoed, including “Most Girls,” because they were supposedly records for the FanMail album that never made it.

Edd: Once again, I have to give props to my younger brother for this one. Pink’s debut is one of three from this era that I initially slept on (Ludacris’ Back for the First Time and Destiny Child’s debut were the other two) that he got me into. Even though her debut was mostly an R&B affair, as we’ll discuss throughout this post, I still saw Pink as a pop artist – and unless your name started with Christina and ended with Aguilera, that meant you weren’t getting play in my 1998 Chevy Cavalier. But after hearing him play Can’t Take Me Home in passing a few times, I decided to give it a shot. I already thought the singles were cool, so why not? And I’ll admit I was pleasantly surprised. The production was catchy, Pink had surprisingly solid vocals on sone of the records and her tough talk for trash dudes was a perfect fit for the era. She won me over.

Let’s talk best song. What’s your pick?

Darius: “Love is Such A Crazy Thing”

Lemme tell you, 112 did their big one with the writing and the arrangement of this song! I had no idea when I first listened to the album cuts that they had wrote this but this song was the first song to gravitate toward me while listening to the album. Plus, she sounds amazing on this record. They made a good choice giving this to her.

Edd: “Most Girls”

Dary rightfully gave 112 their props for “Love is Such a Crazy Thing,” so allow me to show love to R&B’s ultimate maestro Babyface for “Most Girls.” In a era that was being defined by flash, excess and, yeah, “bling,” Face and Damon Thomas kept things grounded – for Pink, real love was way more important than luxury. The key is the production, that raucous rock vibe kept the track edgy when it could have easily veered into corny. It separated Pink from the pack, giving the track, and Pink herself, a take-no-prisoners personality.

What’s the best video from this project?

Darius: “You Make Me Sick”

I honestly don’t remember this video when they first released it, but I do remember this song being on the Save The Last Dance Soundtrack but overall this video is so funny, comedic and so unserious. Even though it’s probably showcasing a very unhealthy relationship, it reminds me of a funny sitcom episode or a funny skit from one of those late 90s/early 2000s television shows.

Edd: “You Make Me Sick”

See, I thought I was going to pick “There You Go,” the one where Pink sends a motorcycle crashing through her ex’s apartment, but OH NO. Like Dary said, I don’t remember the “You Make Me Sick” video but I had a ball watching it for this post – It’s three minutes and 51 seconds of toxic chaos. Pink and her dude are so unhinged they crash their car and fight while it’s upside down; she smashes an urn (with the remains of her dude’s loved one spilling out), so he tries to SET HER ON FIRE; she’s beating him with giant candy canes at Santa’s workshop; and there’s always time for gross PDA and makeup sex. I miss when music videos were this entertaining.

Pink employed some heavy hitters on this project. Which song had the best production?

Darius: “Can’t Take Me Home”

I know this is probably not the most breathtaking or the most special production but I was always intrigued by the production of the title track. It’s quirky and boppy. Not familiar with the production team’s, The Specialists, prior or subsequent work but they did their thing with this cut.

Edd: “Most Girls”

This is trickier than you’d expect, as there are some standout production choices throughout. But I’ll keep it simple and go with “Most Girls” for the reasons I mentioned above. It’s not often that one song can define an artist’s entire style and aura, but its hard edge wrapped around sensitive undertones is basically the personification of Pink for the last 25 years. That production became her identity, which is quite a feat in itself.

Which song should have been a single?

Darius: “Private Show”

Now I have always loved this song and I think this should have been the fourth and final single. I could imagine a very whimsical yet feisty video for this song almost in the vein of “You Make Me Sick.”

Edd: “Can’t Take Me Home”

The bouncy Techno&B of “Can’t Take Me Home” has the DNA of a 2000s hit. It’s tailor-made for both pop and R&B radio, is bursting with energy and attitude, and can serve as a backdrop for another insane video, which is Pink’s specialty. I could even hear someone like Eve or Lil Kim tacked on for a rap remix. She couldn’t lose with that one.

And what’s the most underrated song?

Darius: “Stop Falling”

I feel like “Stop Falling” never gets the shine it deserves. I’m a sucker for a nice ballad but this is probably the most passionate ballad on the album and probably one of my favorite ballads of hers.

Edd: “Let Me Let You Know”

“Stop Falling” is cool, but “Let Me Let You Know” is my kind of a good time. It was one of those songs I randomly heard coming out of my brother’s room that had me like “HOL UP, who is that?” It wouldn’t be out of place on The Writings on the Wall or, as Dary mentioned, Fanmail. As I’ve mentioned a couple of times already, Pink has so much personality in her performances, and that authenticity has become one of her hallmarks.

If you could include any of the Can’t Take Me Home outtakes or songs from the shelved album of her R&B group Choice that recently leaked, which one would you include?

Darius: “Leaving for the Last Time”

“Leaving for the Last Time” was leaked as a snippet many, many years ago and a couple of years later after the snippet leaked, it was leaked in full. It was said that this song was actually on a Can’t Take Me Home album sampler but I can’t find any information on it so I’m assuming this was actually recorded as a solo song and not a song for her group Choice. I would replace “Do What U Do” with this song but make it the album closer.

Edd: “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”

EASY. “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” God bless Unreleased R&B YouTube, we’re constantly blessed with cuts that never made it to our ears. I stumbled across this one when Choice’s shelved album was revealed a couple of years ago and fell in love. Yeah, it sounds like every other midtempo R&B cut from the mid 90s but since I LOVE R&B midtempos from the mid 90s, I’m definitely riding with it. Honestly though, I’m not sure any of songs from Choice’s debut would have fit the sound of Can’t Take Me Home. Stylistically speaking, “Leaving for the Last Time” probably makes the most sense to make the final album cut, but if Pink just added “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” as a Sam Goodie bonus cut or something I would have been a very happy man. It makes me want to body roll.

Pink’s sound totally changed in the years that followed this project. Was it the right move?

Darius: She was a casual fan of R&B music and was originally signed as a member of an R&B group, but you could tell that this wasn’t the genre she wanted to make her name in. There is an interview from her debut era that I think she did with Yahoo where she stated that Alternative music was a strong influence of hers so it makes sense that pop rock and alternative pop would be where she would excel in and feel the most free in. Plus, she was a huge 4 Non Blondes fan and that love is what lead us to the P!nk we know today thanks to lead singer, Linda Perry.

Edd: It was the right move for sure. Pink had some R&B heavy hitters in her corner and the finished project was polished and well done, but the competition was still pretty fierce for the R&B girlies in 2000. It made more sense to break from the norm and explore an alternative sound that she was more comfortable with anyway. Remember playas, being an individual is a GOOD thing. So many artists forget that today.

Do you think Pink should return to the world of R&B?

Darius: For like an EP or a soundtrack album, maybe yes before a whole studio album, probably not. That’s not where her heart is. The R&B didn’t really disappear that fast, she gave us the Scott Storch produced mid-tempo track “Family Portrait” on the second album, then gave us two soulful R&B-esque cuts on the Try This album with “Catch Me While I’m Sleeping” and “Love Song” but the CTMH R&B P!nk is now long and gone.

Edd: I’d love to hear it, but it’s pretty unnecessary at this point. Pink’s R&B phrase was a footnote in the early stages of her career and, to her credit, she doesn’t denounce it. We’ve gotten plenty of R&B-flavored records from her over the years. But 25 years in, she’s developed a style that’s uniquely her own. There’s no need to go backward, no matter how much I love “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”

Is Can’t Take Me Home Pink’s best album?

Darius: It’s a very solid album and very of its time, but I would probably rank it at number four in her discography. It’s definitely not her best. Funhouse, I would say is probably her best album and her sophomore album is right at the neck of that.

Edd: Wellllll, I haven’t heard all of Pink’s albums so I can’t make that declaration. Maybe I’ll add her to my list of artist discography rankings. However, I have heard Funhouse and Dary is right – I’d put that LP above this one. So no, Can’t Take Me Home isn’t her best work but it’s an important one – it shows that no matter how successful you are in one space, there’s nothing wrong with pivoting to stay true to yourself. Can’t Take Me Home was good, but Pink was greater later.

Who got it right, Darius or Edd? Let us know and share your thoughts on Pink’s R&B journey below.