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]

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.

twink69 said:

Exactely, the same people who criticize all the time Alicia or Beyonce, are the same people who tell us that Aaliyah was a great artist... Common...

whodknee said:

And please lets all agree Alicia used to be good but has now joined the rest in becoming mainstream and crap what with that duet with Usher

I always thought Aaliyah sort of got stuck in this smooth sexy/lazy way of singing and she stood out because it was the opposite of what most other women were doing at the time. Monica, Brandy and Mary were all belting and here came this smooth chic with the sunglasses, chilling with crazy beats/grooves behind her. But at times I could hear hints that there was more to her voice. I’d catch it in certain parts of songs, a duet or two. The best is the Oscar performance of Journey to the Past where she starts out soft, almost timid but half way through she sounds like a different person! She’s not singing soft and high, she’s singing lower and her voice is completely open and she holds two notes that Janet and Ashanti couldn’t even dream about.

I don’t like to compare her to other singers. She was who she was and she made the best of her talents. I thought she had a nice voice, one that was a nice contrast from the yelling and riffing that we can get almost anywhere these days.

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.

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.

twink69 said:

Exactely, the same people who criticize all the time Alicia or Beyonce, are the same people who tell us that Aaliyah was a great artist... Common...

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]

As a vocalist,Aaliyah was in the same category as Janet,Ciara and Ashanti.They all have light,thin-as-air voices.I'm not insulting them,just being honest.

Don't know why people talk like she was an extraordinary artist, but she wasn't.. She was only beautiful...

I always thought Aaliyah sort of got stuck in this smooth sexy/lazy way of singing and she stood out because it was the opposite of what most other women were doing at the time. Monica, Brandy and Mary were all belting and here came this smooth chic with the sunglasses, chilling with crazy beats/grooves behind her. But at times I could hear hints that there was more to her voice. I’d catch it in certain parts of songs, a duet or two. The best is the Oscar performance of Journey to the Past where she starts out soft, almost timid but half way through she sounds like a different person! She’s not singing soft and high, she’s singing lower and her voice is completely open and she holds two notes that Janet and Ashanti couldn’t even dream about.

I don’t like to compare her to other singers. She was who she was and she made the best of her talents. I thought she had a nice voice, one that was a nice contrast from the yelling and riffing that we can get almost anywhere these days.

Moonbeam said:

Ok, I've had studied dance for many years. I've had Ballet,Jazz, Tap, Modern, and African. Also, I have performed with dance companies and was offered scholarships. Well, in the dance department, I would have to say that Beyonce and Aaliyah would've went toe to toe. The only thing that sets Beyonce apart from Ciara and Aaliyah is that she is more flexible, and has a lot of rhythm in her bones. Shit, you all can say what you want but Beyonce did get down with P on the Grammy's I'm sorry.

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]

MsLegs said:

I think Beyonce is somehwat over-rated but at least she can sing (sometimes she can really over sing as well). But what she cannot do is dance better than Aaliyah or Ciara. I agree she has some rhythm but she's too wild, tries too hard and gets sloppy sometimes, she doesn't look like a trained dancer at all (not that she has to be). Aaliyah and Ciara come across more like natural dancers and their choreography is a lot more complex than anything I've ever seen Beyonce do. Her performance at the MTV awards was awful and what she did onstage with Prince was not that impressive.

I agree totally with this statement. Alicia really thinks her shit don't stink just b/c she can play keyboards. So big fucking deal. At the end of the day, her shit is getting tired.

GeishaGirl said:

Yeah, but she'd still blow Aaliyah & Ciara out the water on her worst day.

Scorpion said:

i swear..some of yall orgers are so fucking hypocritcal..yall bash todays music cuz noone can play and instrument or has a strong voice, blah blah blah..but when someone can play and instrument or has a strong voice..blah blah blah and gets too much praise 4 it..then yall go on and on about they aint all that just cuz their do this or that blah blah blah.
wtf?

GeishaGirl said:

Yeah, but she'd still blow Aaliyah & Ciara out the water on her worst day. Ciara's choreography is anything but complex, you can find chicks in the hood on every street corner doing the same moves. Everything she's done now looks like a poor rehash of the moves from the "Goodies" video which was nothing impressive or innovative.

Maybe it wasn't impressive to you but I've seen Ciara perform live and she's a good dancer. I'm not a huge Ciara fan, I just think she can dance better than the average person, unlike Beyonce.
[Edited 6/15/05 10:05am]

i swear..some of yall orgers are so fucking hypocritcal..yall bash todays music cuz noone can play and instrument or has a strong voice, blah blah blah..but when someone can play and instrument or has a strong voice..blah blah blah and gets too much praise 4 it..then yall go on and on about they aint all that just cuz their do this or that blah blah blah.
wtf?

Scorpion said:

Moonwalkbjrain said:

CLASSIC

GeishaGirl said:

The average person can do those moves, all you need is rhythm....her choreography is not complicated...it's poor.

GeishaGirl said:

The average person can do those moves, all you need is rhythm....her choreography is not complicated...it's poor.

Scorpion said:

Agreed.

I havn't seen one good female dancer for years now. Omarions "o" video is hot. Even "you got served" film was hot choreography wise.

I hope some of these artists actually help co-choreograph their videos. Iam sure Usher does. Otherwise, u just a good dance school student, and their are 1000's of those.

krayzie said:

People tend to do that with dead folks, pretend they were something special when they weren't even remotely, it's was all just hype to sell some records since she herself couldn't promote them anymore...

Neversin.