krayzie said:

I took Aretha out of there, because no one can touch her IMO and I can't bear to see her name next to Celin Dion's. Celine?! Who cares how great her voice is if she's only making cheesy songs that suburban soccer moms listen to. And Whitney's voice has always grated on my last nerve. She's always just a tiny bit off key.

minneapolisgenius said:

And VainAndy will now love you for life!

RipHer2Shreds said:

Really? Is it like nails on a chalkboard for him too?

VoicesCarry said:

Most of her stuff is.

minneapolisgenius said:

Not sure how he feels about her voice, but I'm sure he'd rather be locked in a padded room wearing a straitjacket with Macarena blasting 24/7 than listen to any of Whitney's music. He's a notorious Whitney hater.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Hmm, well if he needs company in that padded room, I'm his girl.

krayzie said:

I was speaking the truth. Singing is not about blaring as loud and as often as you can. Aretha is dripping with emotion, and often doesn't overdo it. Celine, Whitney, Mariah, and Beyonce, on the other hand, could use a dose of training and subtlety. You don't like Aaliyah's voice, and that's fine, but don't go around pretending that you have to scream and wail to be considered a fine singer.
[Edited 6/13/05 7:40am]

VoicesCarry said:

Thats always been my view on singers.

VoicesCarry said:

I agree there are more than one way of singing, The Mariah, Whitney and Beyonce's are belter, multi octave singers. then you have people like Sade, Anita Backer who had a quiet sultry sound which Aaaliyah was going for but missed, she was very limited vocally and had great producers and writers. She was urban fashion icon more than anything. She was an cooler urban Britney Spears, she looked good, the people loved her, but she didn't write produce her music it was all marketing


.
[Edited 6/13/05 7:59am]

twink69 said:

I always liked her vocally. Like Sade, it was the tone and manner that I really appreciated. She was certainly waaaaay better than any of the shit-voiced singers polluting R&B right now.

Another thing I liked: She didn't pretend to be something she wasn't, artistically ie. gifted songwriter/producer. Too many artists do that these days. I also think comparing her to Britney Spears is an insult, considering that, well, Aaliyah could actually sing and dance.
[Edited 6/13/05 8:02am]

VoicesCarry said:

to many songwriter/producers? really we need more of that, it's all art at the end of the day and the more personal the better otherwise was that point.
Aaliyah was good at selling a song, for the longest time I thought she worte her own music as she sounded sincere when she delivered it, just don't think all the praise was deserved, most people are like, "is she that good?" you would thought it was the second comming of Minnie Riperton

p.s The britney comment is more of a compliment, white girls wanted to be Britney and black girls (and cool white girls) wanted to be Aaliyah, she is probably the biggest female fashion icon in hip hop/r&b ever. how many girls you know had their bangs covering thier eye. damn even Mariah in the honey remix video and breakdown video was trying to bite Aaliyah's look

twink69 said:

I don't disagree. I was discussing people who front as songwriters or producers - get credit where they should not, so the marketing machine can overhype their artistic value. Aaliyah didn't pull that sort of shit.
[Edited 6/13/05 8:18am]

VoicesCarry said:

Yeah like janet jackson!

Aaliyah had average abilities….but saying that….. who overrated her while she was alive? I think people are disappointed that her promising musical career and life were cut short. Artists who die in tragic ways are sometimes given more reverence dead then alive.

thesexofit said:

She was certainly never the musical brains behind the operation.

VoicesCarry said:

I have loadsa songs by jam and lewis. I have no idea if this is generally true, but if the artist gets a credit next to jam and lewis, its proberly only for a word or 2.

thesexofit said:

That's true for a lot of producers.

the young lady is dead leave her alone

krayzie said:

You're just getting upset because you can't stand up for your argument.

I get the fact that you don't like her. That's perfectly fine. But you have to know that great singers don't have to shriek. Aaliyah coos her way through her songs skillfully and effortlessly, and the music suits her vocal style. If that isn't your thing, cool. But saying she's way overrated because she doesn't align to your personal bias of singing prowess is going too far.

Did anyone see that Janet Jackson tribute when Aliyah came out, but gave Janet the screwface? You could tell that Aliyah didnt want to be bothered with the tribute or Janet

It was on MTV just before she passed....




BTW she was alright in my book.

Mutts

in a word YES!

but to her credit- She was getting better and better and sadly died before her peak!!

twink69 said:

VoicesCarry said:

I agree,I love Beyonce but that song would be better suited for AALIYAH.

Why is everyone hating on Alicia Keys here???

kookie said:

People on this board have something against artists with real talent and potential. I agree with what they are saying that there are more than way of singing. Aaliyah could only do the one vocal style it was the same monotone sound, on the other hand Alicia Keys is by far the most promising young artist in the r&b market.

kookie said:

COZ she is terribly overrated

twink69 said:

Oh, get off your high horse, twink. We just don't like artists who are incredibly derivative and get a lot of credit for being incredibly derivative. Alicia Keys does what she does, but it is not particularly fresh or interesting. She is most certainly NOT the most promising young artist in the R&B market - check out underground acts for that.

VoicesCarry said:

Thank you VC for injecting your voice of reason into this thread. People need to put things into perspective.

You people are getting it all twisted. Aaliyah did NOT have a good singing voice. Take away the music and she is no better than Ashanti. Take away the dancing and some of the beauty and you'd have Britney Spears. Alicia is more talented (when did proficiency with an instrument become an impediment?) and Beyonce is much better like it or not. Mariah, Whitney, Aretha and even Celine would sing circles around her. She had good producers who wrote catchy, yet ultimately forgettable songs.

Being a diva doesn't diminish one's talent so despite all of the theatrics Beyonce and especially Mariah, Aretha, and Whitney are the gold standards. Hell, even Stevie is known to bend a note or too unnecessarily. If people don't like that style, fine, but don't tell me Aaliyah is a better singer. You can argue her songs-- songs she didn't write and which millions of women could sing just as well-- are better but not the talent.
[Edited 6/14/05 0:58am]

Ok i dont know if im repeating anything from above, but i look at R&B artists today and think its such a shame they've turned so crap. I mean if you just look at the beats, i liked old school Destiny's Child etc but now their songs are completely crap to me and simplified for a pop/rap audience as maintstream, with that the style goes too and everything. The basics of what happens to most artists that turn mainstream (from R&B/Rap) that ive seen). If you look at Ashanti's "Only You" i think it is, that sounded like a rock joint she was trying to pull off.Well you go listen to Aaliyah's "I Can Be" and tell me which sounds classier and more mature. And as i said most R&B artists and their songs are crap. I mean listen to Ciara's work, ok produced by Missy but we see a lot of that lately. Just a crappy bass with crappy lyrics. What happened to the chart-toppers of "When Doves Cry" with no such stuff just poetry and coolness? What, are they trying to make kids stupider or something? "Computer music" as Prince may like to call it? I saw Aaliyah was going the completely opposite way. As she got more popular and older her maturity shone through. It was her last album that really impressed me. And i know if her life wasnt so tragically cut short she'd have shown even more vocal range. Timbaland even mentioned that when talking about the last album, and its clearly evident how her vocals were improving if you just listen to each album.

Now about the dancing im sorry but no way. The girl had a flow alright. None of that in your face Beyonce jerk your body crap. The choreography in her last few videos was great and she pulled it off real well. It seems like that was where her biggest talent lay, in dancing, something that comes so naturally and looks good being done by her, like a good guitar player or mc. Now she said it herself she loves performing and you can't blame a girl for trying. Just take into concedaration she was still young and could have shown much more, instead of just casting her away into the same R&B pack we see today in the charts.