Singers Post Mariah Carey
PATX
2,820 Posts
The hand really fucked it up. 
Now Akon sounds just like Shakira.
Now Akon sounds just like Shakira.
Comments
This is about all that's in her favor really. She needs to learn to strut though.
aka
"R&B with no soul"
aaka
"Look ma, I'm singin'"
But for real, the vibrato killed Hip Hop. And to think Hip Hop let it in the door in the first place. Vibrato, I'm not feelin you, no matter what you do, no matter what you say. Mariah is dope though.
Dennis Rodman rocking a sax these days??
Me & my girl were watching a few minutes of some Timbaland Top 20 show on one of the video channels last night, and "More Than A Woman" came on. After a few minutes wondering what kind of shit she'd be doing now had she lived, I said something about how she was unique amongst modern female r&b/soul singers in that she didn't try to sound like Chaka, Aretha, Gladys or any of them, yet her voice had this ethereal quality that still sounded soulful. People like Ciara and Cassie have tried to cop that style, but often they just end up sounding thin, whereas Aaliyah's voice had a toughness at the heart of it, even if it could seem deceptively light at times. I'm not really given to the kind of hyperbole which claims that we're robbed of a great talent whenever an artist dies young, or in tragic circumstances, but in Aaliyah's case I think there's some truth in this.
All of this is the fault of Mariah Carey, imho. Technically, she's amazing, but she has all the warmth and soul of one of those telephone messages that tells you your call is being held in a queue, your business is important to us and thank you for calling. And because she sold a gazillion records with that method, the young'uns now think it's the way to go, hence all the Wal-Mart Mariahs thrown up by shows like American Idol.
Not familiar with Aaliyah's work enough to comment. The songs just never did anything to warrant me paying her voice attention. Ones with good one-take, no computer required voices:
Beyonce. But too pyro at the mo.
Xtina. One day she will get the right tunes. Not lived long enough to deliver a story like The Greats.
Brandy. She really nailed the tunes on the first set. The material has been so-so after that.
Joy Rose. She sings with Incognito, and takes a backseat to Maysa Leak there, but she has the more distinctive voice for me.
Lauryn Hill. All the talent, but seemingly mad as a wasp.
The girl with Beady Belle, Beate Lech, is fire.
Alice Russell. Anyone else feeling "My Favourite Letters"?
Bjork.
Erykah Badu.
Deny that Anastacia can sing.
Ones who can tell a story a la Ella, Betty Carter, Aretha, Dee Dee Bridgewater? i.e. "Once again, but with feeling."?
I still think Aretha is #1 but honestly think a lot of her work is just catering for the shouty stuff. She depped for Pavarotti once at some opening gala, and when the orchestra asked what key she wanted, she just told them to play it in his key and she'd do the rest, no problem.
I can get down with Mary J. Blige for a few tracks as well. No one who really made it commercially can hold a candle to Aaliyah.
ALSO, PLEASE SEE:
I was thinking the same thing.
And though I cannot get with any other song in the Mariah catalogue, I must admit I kinda liked "Vision Of Love" when she first came out with that
What, even those dog-whistle high notes, where she seemed to be doing nothing more than flexing her technique? Personally, I always thought Whitney was a great soul/gospel singer let down by far too heavy a reliance on MOR/Vegas supper club material. She never leant on the kind of gimmicky vocal fireworks that Mariah did, imho. I'd co-sign pretty much all those other singers you mentioned, though.
Oh, most definitely. She's easily the most impressive out of the r&b females to have emerged in the last two or three years.
For REAL? I mean, I know Bay Area heads ride for her, but on the real I find her unlistenable. Maybe it's the vocal processing that's on so many of her records, and maybe it's because she's one of those singers that just doesn't know when to STOP singing and let the music breath (Mary J. is guilty of this too) or maybe it's because I find the songs that have been written for her to be trite, but I cannot fade Ms. Cole at ALL.
songs are hit or miss, but 'i could have cheated' was amazing
i didn't like that one joint where her voice was peaking on the chorus, sounded terrible, but i think it was one of her biggest singles!
she brought the house down on some late night live @ the apollo i caught a year or two ago
She is very promising, for sure
THE NEW MARY WHAT!
Those are good points. Personally, I think she's got the makings of a great singer. The whole thing ain't there yet, and I wouldn't necessarily want to judge her voice on the way it's recorded/produced, but she's going in the right direction for me. What I'd really like to hear, though, is a Jazmine Sullivan album. From what I've heard of that girl, she could blow most of her contemporaries clean out of the box.
Aaliyah never really moved me.
Still amazing to see Whitney then as opposed to Whitney now..
Keyshia Cole feat. Missy and Lil' Kim - "Let It Go":
http://www.zshare.net/audio/2829500a8b2cbd/
Every time I get in the car now, I hear this three times. DON'T HATT.
I actually think, comparatively, the processing is pretty light. You can hear her voice crack all over the place on that "love" joint and I appreciate that in light of all the manufactured, antares-dependent singers out there. She killed it on "Last Night"
Jill Scott is great but her records are snoozers. Sorry but it's the truth.
Aaliyah is a real lost talent. Her S/T is, agreed, an amazing record front to back. While in retrospect I find One In A Million a bit uneven (some of the production hasn't aged well) there are some true moments of brilliance on there. Such as the title track.
Beyonce is turning into a lunatic with her mom and "House Of Derion" and shit (what was going on in her vid for "Deja Vu"? So many strange and bad looks) but "Crazy In Love" is a fucking amazing record that will (cross-polination alert) stand the test of time. Also the word on the (Christopher) street is that she is almost cult-like in her religious leanings and madly homophobic (won't even hire the gays for stylist or choreography positions) CRAZYWOMAN
Yeah "Last Night" was sort of the centerpiece of that album, its power has kind of been diluted for me as a single but still, what a great performance. "Love" is the one song I don't really like - the vocal-cracking sounding agonizing to me rather than raw, like Mary J no one expects flawless vocal technique but that was just pushing too far I thought.
this is on point for sure. "One in A Million" I do love tho, for all its flaws - talk about a perfect midpoint record for 90s R&B. (They even underline this fact w/ that old school/new school track that starts w/ the guitar solo-esque R&B drama and ends with a timbo beat). Plus there's that joint with Treach that samples summer madness, and yeah "One In A Million" might be the most perfect record ever made - i wish the outro could be extended for another minute
- spidey
These words should really never be offered as a point in favor of a record.
this word sounds like it's a nasty gynocological condition. it makes me sick just looking at it printed.
as for female R&B singers I'll say Beyonce sucks and so does the Uhm-buh-rellah-eh-eh-eh-eh chick.
PS: "AHMborellah" the way ol' girl sings it also sounds like a tropical venerial disease.
(and no there's not wierd misogynistic undertones in this post.)