Why can't black female r&b/pop artists get on?

[L. Deezy]

none of these new chicks can actually sing.. like none of em.. maybe Elle.. but, eh...

 

[Hyperion]

For whatever reason the music industry is built like that. In the 90s you had plenty of mainstream black female r&b singers who were big. A part of the reason is that r&b in general has become too diluted with hip hop.

With white female singers there's plenty of room for them to get on because the music industry allows. They give them plenty of mainstream attention and they sell big. (Adele, Ariana Grande, taylor swift, Katy Perry, etc)

White female singers also tend to stay less connected with rap than their black counterparts do. I think out of the artists you listed, Ariana is the only one who's worked closely with rappers on numerous occasions. I think the reason why it works for Ariana though is because she has a clear Mariah Carey/90s R&B influence, so her style allows it a lot more than Taylor Swift's style would. Everyone else is straight Pop music.

Actually, I think even Tyrese alluded to your first sentence too, he wanted to bring real R&B back and I think he may have even said that it's too infused with rap nowadays. Black Rose sounded nothing like the typical R&B would sound in 2015, and he even had to fight for getting some of his music played, if memory serves. So I think R&B as a whole is in trouble, but it's just that much more apparent when we look at the careers of the black female artists.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

none of these new chicks can actually sing.. like none of em.. maybe Elle.. but, eh...

Jazmine Sullivan can't sing? Seven streeter can't sing? Teyana Taylor? Tiara Thomas?

If your only definition of singing is big OP voices like Christina aguilera and j hud, I guess...but all of them can sing quite well.

And we know great singing is not the prerequisite to success - Janet, Aaliyah, and early career Ciara are prime examples.

Edit: after my most recent post to crimson tide, i got to add in, most these men can't sing, weeknd does not have a "good" singing voice and is doing well, breezy is a marginal singer - great performer tho - and is successful, tiller just went plat with 90's samples and whining

 

[CrimsonTider]

I can agree with the "not making music people want to hear" but at the same time, the r&b thug movement definitely damaged where black women fit in the industry. and you got a whole crop of girls growing up without a wide selection of black females in urban music point blank - they got one big rapper and two big pop stars - and as such, they don't really care about having black females represented...shyt is sad

I think of Sevyn had the building behind her should would be huge right now. Same goes for few others

It's like these record label couldn't care less about black females making music

They will throw you Chris Brown feature and if that doesn't work then you are put on the back burner

Female Singers also don't have the benefit of getting big off of mixtapes. Their only way is features and radio( politics)

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

I think of Sevyn had the building behind her should would be huge right now. Same goes for few others

It's like these record label couldn't care less about black females making music

They will throw you Chris Brown feature and if that doesn't work then you are put on the back burner

Female Singers also don't have the benefit of getting big off of mixtapes. Their only way is features and radio( politics)

Yea, I was thinking that myself, very few, if any, display the same mixtape/social media savvy that got all these non singing HOH, "trap soul" nikkas poppin

 

[L. Deezy]

Jazmine Sullivan can't sing? Seven streeter can't sing? Teyana Taylor? Tiara Thomas?

If your only definition of singing is big OP voices like Christina aguilera and j hud, I guess...but all of them can sing quite well.

And we know great singing is not the prerequisite to success - Janet, Aaliyah, and early career Ciara are prime examples.

Edit: after my most recent post to crimson tide, i got to add in, most these men can't sing, weeknd does not have a "good" singing voice and is doing well, breezy is a marginal singer - great performer tho - and is successful, tiller just went plat with 90's samples and whining

lol..

man, go back through time. Charts were dominated by big voices in R&B. Somewhere along the line, they started doing this talking like singing. Its pure trash. YET, we have a thread on why SINGERS arent being noticed. That doesnt make you re-evaluate this? just saying

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

lol..

man, go back through time. Charts were dominated by big voices in R&B. Somewhere along the line, they started doing this talking like singing. Its pure trash. YET, we have a thread on why SINGERS arent being noticed. That doesnt make you re-evaluate this? just saying

I'm asking why they can't get on, and you're making this about voices while rewriting history. There was diana Ross's soft voice to Aretha's gospel, Janet to Whitney and Mariah, Sade smooth vocals to anita baker's deep churn, en vogue's big voices to the unique pitch of a t-boz led tlc, aaliyah's whispering to Monica's old should voice....please stop acting like being able to sang is the reason. Especially while overlooking the mediocre male voices that have become staples in urban music today

 

[Barry Sanders]

White female singers also tend to stay less connected with rap than their black counterparts do. I think out of the artists you listed, Ariana is the only one who's worked closely with rappers on numerous occasions. I think the reason why it works for Ariana though is because she has a clear Mariah Carey/90s R&B influence, so her style allows it a lot more than Taylor Swift's style would. Everyone else is straight Pop music.

Actually, I think even Tyrese alluded to your first sentence too, he wanted to bring real R&B back and I think he may have even said that it's too infused with rap nowadays. Black Rose sounded nothing like the typical R&B would sound in 2015, and he even had to fight for getting some of his music played, if memory serves. So I think R&B as a whole is in trouble, but it's just that much more apparent when we look at the careers of the black female artists.

The artists left r&b I remember when Tyrese dropped his rap album. Alot of his fans were pissed. Alot of r&b singers gotta away from r&b. They think they need hip hop infusion and they don't. Alot of artist geared toward more hip hop style on their albums and gotta away from r&b. Now as time has went by alot the artists are back trying to do r&b.

 

[L. Deezy]

I'm asking why they can't get on, and you're making this about voices while rewriting history. There was diana Ross's soft voice to Aretha's gospel, Janet to Whitney and Mariah, Sade smooth vocals to anita baker's deep churn, en vogue's big voices to the unique pitch of a t-boz led tlc, aaliyah's whispering to Monica's old should voice....please stop acting like being able to sang is the reason. Especially while overlooking the mediocre male voices that have become staples in urban music today

lol... without all that. I said they SUCK. thats the key reason. fuhk who u named. I said they SUCK..

 

[MikeyC]

Another one of these "RnB is dead" threads, huh?

 

[Hyperion]

The artists left r&b I remember when Tyrese dropped his rap album. Alot of his fans were pissed. Alot of r&b singers gotta away from r&b. They think they need hip hop infusion and they don't. Alot of artist geared toward more hip hop style on their albums and gotta away from r&b. Now as time has went by alot the artists are back trying to do r&b.

And that's the sad part. It's like buying a goldfish, sporadically feeding it, abandoning it for a poodle and then wondering why the goldfish is dead. You can't keep something afloat if you don't put enough into it consistently.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

lol... without all that. I said they SUCK. thats the key reason. fuhk who u named. I said they SUCK..

aight, so you have no point, just blanket contrarianism, got it

Another one of these "RnB is dead" threads, huh?

not at all, if you dropped the too good to read act, you'd understand the conversation

 

[Hood Critic]

I think of Sevyn had the building behind her should would be huge right now. Same goes for few others

It's like these record label couldn't care less about black females making music

They will throw you Chris Brown feature and if that doesn't work then you are put on the back burner

Female Singers also don't have the benefit of getting big off of mixtapes. Their only way is features and radio( politics)

This brings a name mind....Marsha Ambrosius, the f*ck is she at? She is perfect for this fusion lane we are discussing, had successful mixtapes and had a stint where she was everywhere.

The point that statement brings to mind is how Erykah handled her recent concept mixtape that I thought was pretty decent but for whatever reason seemed to resonate more with the fellas than the ladies.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

This brings a name mind....Marsha Ambrosius, the f*ck is she at? She is perfect for this fusion lane we are discussing, had successful mixtapes and had a stint where she was everywhere.

The point that statement brings to mind is how Erykah handled her recent concept mixtape that I thought was pretty decent but for whatever reason seemed to resonate more with the fellas than the ladies.

Erykah mishandled that, I don't think a lot of women know she dropped. I thought it was just a mixtape til I saw it on spotify, that made me check for it on iTunes where I purchased it (love me some ms badu).

And Marsha's second album flopped, of course fukking around on aftermath was the kiss of death, now she's touring as floetry again, she doesn't seem focused on her solo career

 

[Hood Critic]

Erykah mishandled that, I don't think a lot of women know she dropped. I thought it was just a mixtape til I saw it on spotify, that made me check for it on iTunes where I purchased it (love me some ms badu).

And Marsha's second album flopped, of course fukking around on aftermath was the kiss of death, now she's touring as floetry again, she doesn't seem focused on her solo career

That Your's Truly mixtape she dropped with Don Cannon was