Nelly Furtado isn't white.

And I'd take ANY woman over Ashanti being on the chart. her music sucks. When 80% of your lyrics is the word "Baby" and the American pop charts like it, they can have it.
I'd have to compare the black women signed to the major labels vs. black women not signed. If less than 3% (making up this number now) of signed artists to major labels are solo black women, and none are in the top 200, guess what? The odds are slim anyways.

-So are black women in the music industry today just lacking in talent or would the masses just rather hear the likes of Joss Stone, Amy Whinehouse, Lily Allen, etc. singing R&B instead of black female singers?

Cinnamon234 said:

I'm not sure if the billboard charts as of now are representative of anything. The blog post points out that five years ago Black women were on the charts, well nothing has changed in five years. Ashanti is no different than Fergie, Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stefani in any real sense. They all have the same small list of producers to choose from. Did Mya ever crossover, or was she a black pop star? Some Black pop acts, will only be stars on Black formatted Tv and Radio. Isn't Beyonce taking everyone's shine nowadays anyway?

who's Lily Allen? Macy Gray, please, she can stay missing. I love jill's spirit, but Joss Stone? Does anyone take her seriously?

The shit Amy Winehouse does, like it or not, only a white chick could get away with shit like that and be acceptable. For some reason Black artists have to live up to some level of decorum to be viable. It's hard for Black's to be punk; buck the industry and social order in a purely debauchery ,self-gratifying way. Gangsta self-destruction is sanctioned however, but that has another specific purpose, it's ok for Blacks to be destructive, only if it's in the pursuit of a specified target (Hoes, Rims, Money), general nihilism won't be allowed, because than you would eventually have to deal with the cause of it? Who's the Black Robert Smith of the music industry?

Yea, there are a number of Black female artists, some who might be popular because of their looks (Alicia, Corrine), though Amel Larrieux is finer than them and not popular. As far as the diavs go, that type of RandB is dead, yes, go figure, the ability is sing is no longer important.

This person seems to be more interested in quantity than quality. Who care if there is alotta shitty Black woman on the charts like Ashanti. What about the decline of mainstream randb?

The issue is that we act like the charts are full of good music. It's more often not the case, and hardly reflects the quality tunes that have been released.

Yes, the marketing is a shame, absolutely. The big labels are shit, the charts are shit, the videos are shit.

Fuck the labels, fuck the charts, and fuck the videos. Good music, though hard to find, will prevail. As long as we keep finding it and buying it.

MISSING: BLACK WOMEN ON BILLBOARD

Despite releases from many black female artists this year like Jill Scott, Ciara, Macy Gray, Fantasia (December 2006) and more, black female artists are nearly nonexistent on the Billboard charts. This week there are no black female artists in the top 20 on the Billboard 200 album chart (Beyonce and Corrine Bailey Rae make the top 40) and there are no black women in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Just five years ago there were six black women in the top forty on the Billboard 200, two being in the top five (Ashanti and Lauryn Hill) and Ashanti had the number one single in the country (yeah, not that I'm an Ashanti fan but you get my point).

What is happening to black women in music? Before you say it's just a woman thing—this week, there are 13 white women on Billboard 200 album chart in the top 40 and six of them are in the top ten. It simply cannot be male domination on the charts.

Black women are being ignored in popular music. There is little to no marketing, which results in little to no airplay and equals no sales. For example, we are all eagerly awaiting Kelly Rowland's new album, which has been pushed back another week to July 3rd, but where is the promotion? I barely hear the first single on the radio and shouldn't a second single be released soon? Someone hypothesized to me that Rowland will never get the promotion she deserves because she is dark-skinned. However, if being a light-skinned black woman equals promotions (i.e., Rihanna, Beyonce, Alicia Keys) then what about Mya? Mya's album has been pushed back again and her promotion is about as visible as an R. Kelly trial.

Many white woman are jumping on the R&B band wagon (if you want to call it that) like Fergie, Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stefani (two formerly being rock artists). Years ago, the only white women who would sing an R&B song were Teena Marie and maybe Madonna. Now, the American public would rather hear R&B music from the skinner, paler, overproduced white counterpart. Are white female artists taking jobs away from black females, similar to models complaining actresses are snatching their jobs?

Who is really to blame? Is the black female voice no longer important in popular music? Surely, if R&B music still equaled VOICE then Nelly and Fergie would not have a chance in blonde-haired hell. But, R&B music equals overproduced rhythms and the person who is the most marketable to whisper in tune.

It is a crisis in the music industry when it seems there is no room for black female artists. Unfortunately, the days of Stephanie Mills, Patti Labelle and Phyllis Hyman are long gone. However, the days of Diana Ross and even Janet Jackson are many moons ago. R.I.P. black women in music...oh, there is still Beyonce.....

http://claycane.blogspot.com/

-So are black women in the music industry today just lacking in talent or would the masses just rather hear the likes of Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, etc. singing R&B instead of black female singers?
[Edited 5/29/07 14:42pm]

Cinnamon234 said:

I'm not sure if the billboard charts as of now are representative of anything. The blog post points out that five years ago Black women were on the charts, well nothing has changed in five years. Ashanti is no different than Fergie, Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stefani in any real sense. They all have the same small list of producers to choose from. Did Mya ever crossover, or was she a black pop star? Some Black pop acts, will only be stars on Black formatted Tv and Radio. Isn't Beyonce taking everyone's shine nowadays anyway?

who's Lily Allen? Macy Gray, please, she can stay missing. I love jill's spirit, but Joss Stone? Does anyone take her seriously?

The shit Amy Winehouse does, like it or not, only a white chick could get away with shit like that and be acceptable. For some reason Black artists have to live up to some level of decorum to be viable. It's hard for Black's to be punk; buck the industry and social order in a purely debauchery ,self-gratifying way. Gangsta self-destruction is sanctioned however, but that has another specific purpose, it's ok for Blacks to be destructive, only if it's in the pursuit of a specified target (Hoes, Rims, Money), general nihilism won't be allowed, because than you would eventually have to deal with the cause of it? Who's the Black Robert Smith of the music industry?

Yea, there are a number of Black female artists, some who might be popular because of their looks (Alicia, Corrine), though Amel Larrieux is finer than them and not popular. As far as the diavs go, that type of RandB is dead, yes, go figure, the ability is sing is no longer important.

This person seems to be more interested in quantity than quality. Who care if there is alotta shitty Black woman on the charts like Ashanti. What about the decline of mainstream randb?

I was thinking the same thing the other day, and thinking about how we are all raving about Amy Winehouse,and Joss Stone, but where are the black women with equally great voices???

Nelly Furtado isn't white.

Heavy downloading and bootlegging have seriously damaged hip hop and rnb artists.
[Edited 5/29/07 17:12pm]

Cinnamon234 said:

I'm not sure if the billboard charts as of now are representative of anything. The blog post points out that five years ago Black women were on the charts, well nothing has changed in five years. Ashanti is no different than Fergie, Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stefani in any real sense. They all have the same small list of producers to choose from. Did Mya ever crossover, or was she a black pop star? Some Black pop acts, will only be stars on Black formatted Tv and Radio. Isn't Beyonce taking everyone's shine nowadays anyway?

who's Lily Allen? Macy Gray, please, she can stay missing. I love jill's spirit, but Joss Stone? Does anyone take her seriously?

The shit Amy Winehouse does, like it or not, only a white chick could get away with shit like that and be acceptable. For some reason Black artists have to live up to some level of decorum to be viable. It's hard for Black's to be punk; buck the industry and social order in a purely debauchery ,self-gratifying way. Gangsta self-destruction is sanctioned however, but that has another specific purpose, it's ok for Blacks to be destructive, only if it's in the pursuit of a specified target (Hoes, Rims, Money), general nihilism won't be allowed, because than you would eventually have to deal with the cause of it? Who's the Black Robert Smith of the music industry?

Yea, there are a number of Black female artists, some who might be popular because of their looks (Alicia, Corrine), though Amel Larrieux is finer than them and not popular. As far as the diavs go, that type of RandB is dead, yes, go figure, the ability is sing is no longer important.

This person seems to be more interested in quantity than quality. Who care if there is alotta shitty Black woman on the charts like Ashanti. What about the decline of mainstream randb?

pbrite said:

Umm, yes she is her parents are Portuguese.

squirrelscientist said:

The portuguese people I hung out with weren't any whiter than the light-skinned Spaniards I hung out with, but I digress. Europe barely has any singular or dominant race in the populated areas nowadays. Weirest thing to eat Chinese food in Germany with Filipinos that spoke German but not much English.

pbrite said:

So in conclusion Nelly Furtado is white.

squirrelscientist said:

I'm Portuguese and I am White!