Ifsixwuz9 said:

Not so sure that's the whole story. Tamar is the new Larry, perhaps. But those two are hated partially because Prince is willing to share his spotlight with them. When Prince appears somewhere the fans want to see him sing, not Larry or Tamar (and of course with Larry, it's even more complicated).

Carmen, Mayte, & Vanity didn't really take from Prince's musical spotlight, they just added a bit of eye candy to the mix. Yes, they made albums, but when Prince appeared somewhere, they weren't there taking his microphone time.

I like Tamar, and I'm not arguing with the points about the idealizing of women/color in media, just adding what I've witnessed from mildly obsessed fans.

I've been following this thread from the beginning so thought I'd mention that
India.Arie was on Wendy Williams today (sometimes she has guests worth checking out) and she asked if she liked Alicia, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu and how did she feel about other artists like them getting alot more spotlight than her.

India said she did like those artists and that she ahd her own purple light to shine on her. She said she does alot of things but people don't hear/know about it such as the tracks on Sergio Mendes and Stevie Wonder albums. Those were big things for her and she added 'hey, Prince shouted me out' which would be a reference to Prince being mentioned earlier.

She said she didn't know him but had been to a few of his parties and that he was always very nice to her. Him calling her out at the BET awards was her own little moment without her even being on stage but she enjoyed being up there with he and Stevie.

Wendy repeatedly said she really liked India (she'd been tot he show before) and when the her rude sidekick said a couple of things out of line she didn't back down but held her own--something I wish Tamar had of down. She was real easy going and forthcoming and had a good sense of humor.
[Edited 6/29/06 17:30pm]

India Arie just does more esoteric music, not as poppy. More that then any color issue.

Then you had the fact that Mariah Scary and Paula Abdul didn't want to even admit they were black until after they made it big.

NDRU said:

Vanity didn't because she didn't perform with him. I can only remember Carmen being in one performance with him. Mayte on the other hand.... Just because he didn't let her sing lead vocals on songs (as well he shouldn't have since she can't sing) doesn't mean she didn't do her fair share of attention getting annoying antics.



.
[Edited 6/29/06 19:27pm]

PurpleCharm said:

Good one.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Ifsixwuz9 said:

2 times...

sextonseven said:

Sugar-Plum, if you check out the associated artist forum once in a while, you will find people over there practically DROOLING over those women through the computer; it feels kinda bizarre to witness sometimes

ThreadBare said:

WHOOO GOOD LAWD! Y'all are REALLY going there today !

Ottensen said:

India Arie is popular. She is gifted and will be around as long as she keeps doing it her way. Patti Labelle, Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight were not light skinned BUT their talent could not be denied. As for Alecia Keyes, Fallen was one of those songs that was just popular before she even had a video for it. So imho her talent is the reason she is popular as well. Wheres Amerie and Ashanti? Or that Dip it Low girl? There light skinned?

legendofnothing said:

There are always exceptions.

Ottensen said:

I've seen the "Mayte is hot!" threads, but where are the "Mayte's CD is the bomb!" threads?

legendofnothing said:

whats with where ashanti, ashanti is relaxing, people kill me like ashanti, is out the game, ashanti last real LP went platinum plus, if she comes out with a hot single, she will always be in the game

sextonseven said:

I'm a fan of both and I think it's easy to see why in today's music that Alicia out sells India, her music is pure hip-hop/R&B pop with a sample of old school soul. Add her looks and talent to the equation and POOF..... you have a star, LOL!!!


India's music is more of a mature mix, she's not pop a little bit. It's a shame because she's very talented. If she'd been born ten years earlier she'd be bigger because I feel her music goes over the average music buyers heads today.

no.

if india arie was more versatile of an artist and more interesting she would be more popular.

listen, india, we know you're not a video girl and we know you're more than your hair...now, you got anything else for us or is that it?

by the way, those new girls that were mentioned in the original post aren't getting any more promo than india did when she was brand new on the scene.

.
[Edited 7/1/06 13:03pm]

BlaqueKnight said:

sallysassalot said:

Oh, there's a lot more. Perhaps you're just focusing on little things.

I think the shade of skin has little to do with it. India would be more popular if she was less talented.
sad but true

LoveAlive said:

Then you're living in a dream world. Argue with science and years of market research.

BlaqueKnight said:

Only a third? I'd say you're being incredibly conservative with your estimate.
Have you seen what they talk about on that section of the board (hair, heels, hype)


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

sallysassalot said:

I think you havent listened to any of Indias CD's.
I think I am qualified as a 40 year old married Australian man and a fan of India. My wife and I absolutely love her music. Her lyrics express life in the words of someone older and with much more experience.
She expresses her soul and to me is someone that would appeal to the older generation-such as myself.

That was until we saw her in concert n Sydney in April this year. The venue was full of university aged students. We couldnt believe we were 2 of only a handful over the age of 25.

And let me tell you live she is something else. Her performance was stripped back,personal and full of energy, soul and emotion. She was down to earth (so much for those saying she is pretentious). i have never felt the way I did leaving that concert and that includes many a Prince performance in Australia and in Paisley park.I saw Alicia in the same venue as India and India had it all over her.
Dont get me wrong, I like Alicia but I think she is trying to appeal to the younger hip hop generation and some of her lyrics become sugary sweet. India is more mature in her writing. As much as some people dont like Beautiful,Loved and Blessed, I truly think it is Prince's attempt at an India Arie song. Before people write this off, I do remember on the old NPGMC site he posted up India's debut CD and said that "everybody should listen to this".
The reason she is held in high esteem by Prince and Stevie is that she has a maturity about her beyond her years.
I do think it is correct that India is holding herself back-out of the spotlight as it doesnt appeal to her (wish Prince could stay with this ideal and make music true to himself all of the time). This is evidenced in her doing collaborations with Stevie, Cougar-Mellencamp and so on whilst Alicia is doing collabarations with Usher and other young hip hop stars that appeal to the young ones.

BlaqueKnight said:

I can't believe folks are actually debating this. It's a sad commentary on American society, but it's true. But I'm not going to hate on Alicia because she's more "marketable". It's not Alicia or India's fault America's f-d up. IMO, they're both talented sistas.

n/p said:


Blaque said:


Indeed.
[Edited 7/2/06 22:42pm]

theAudience said:

I wonder if Prince wouldn't have more fans if he didn't look like he did, or at least dress & make himself up like he does. A lot of people I knew when I was young felt he was incredibly gross looking.

Prince is so talented he couldn't help but be a star, but his looks aren't exactly mainstream.
[Edited 7/3/06 10:16am]

Yea, she would prolly be more popular if she was lighter skinned, sad to say. Tho' she would also be more popular if she released albums with less self-indulgent titles than Testimony: Volume 1: Life & Relationship .