The best thing about Teena Marie was, in the very beginning, she entered the music scene through the "black door". She went after the R&B crowd from the very beginning and didn't give a damn if the pop crowd went for her or not. In fact, the reason her picture is not on her first album, is because she and Rick James were afraid that black audiences might not buy her music if they saw a white woman on the cover. For a white artist to love R&B so much that they don't care about pop sales, she gets my total 100% respect.

SoulAlive said:

Are you suggesting that Teena has gotten more recognition and favorable press than those ladies you mentioned? Because of her skin color?!


I don't think this is the case at all.In fact,most of those ladies have experienced more success than Teena.

krayzie said:

unkemptpueblo said:

Okay, if this is the case, then let me know just who they are? Most of the artist that are heard today, are artist that are on indie labels, and by indie this I mean, labels that are "offshoots", of major labels. In terms of "creative freedom", Most of what is heard from these black artists lately, could be considered, "creative". I mean growing up, I never heard a nursery rhyme used in an R&B or rap song. So, the creativity is there, to a point. But, there is a big difference between creativity and originality and just plain laziness. I think, some not all of today's black artist are just plain lazy when it comes to making good music and it is starting to show. You can use the argument that today's record companies are not going to sign or promote artist that do not fit the industry standard. But, what about some of the veterans, who are on these lables? What can be said about the music that they have been putting out? Babyface's last CD sucked and I am sure that they gave him the "artistic freedom", that you metioned. Meanwhile, Robin Thicke, Amy, as well as a few others while not classic cd's, have been very interesting to listen to. What gives?

Jon B.
Eminem
Micheal McDonald
Bobby Caldwell
Remy Shand

next ?

Justin Timberlake the New king of pop ?

The best thing about Teena Marie was, in the very beginning, she entered the music scene through the "black door".

It's just according to how you view it. Shitney Houston is a very talented singer. However, her music is boring, boring, boring. I would take a group like Vanity 6, with no talent, but has Prince or The Time throwing down some hard funk behind their vocals, than a talented singer that sings nothing but boring shit.

I respect and acknowledge talent, even if I don't like the artist. However, I'm not going to buy anything that bores the hell out of me simply because the artist is talented.
.
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[Edited 8/8/07 7:37am]

vainandy said:

So did Madonna and Pink.

what a stupid thread

as stupid as the phrase "shit hop"

shorttrini said:

You make a lot of good points. As for acts that are doing r & b that I would condsider to still carry the soul torch:

Mint condition
Anthony Hamilton
E. Badu
Van Hunt
Floetry
Raheim Davaugn
Musique Soulchild( ok, forget about Buddy)


yeah, my list is mad short. :hmm2:Maybe you've got more of a point than I thought. I just know that like hip hop, r & b thats played on mainstream radio is not indicative of the entire genre. Back in the good ole days when I had more than basic cable, BET's jazz station rocked a lot of alternative r & b. Artist that I'd never heard of, but who's music kicked. Personally, I used to be one of those cats who read Billboard religiously, and could tell you who charted when, for how long, on what label etc. Now I could care less. THe mainstream isnt giving me anything that I need. I guess thats my point. If you're looking for quality tunes (r&b, hip hop, whatever) you're gonna have to do a little digging. I think the quality is still there. Its just underground.

As for these old heads trying to sound young/current. Well, they're just trying to get paid. I dont know whats worse: a Patti Labelle/P-diddy mashup, or another damn "standards" covers album.

A lot of what is being played on the radio nowadays, has to do with something called "format" I remember growing up as a child, you would hear the, Doobie Brothers as well as the B.T. Express on the same station. This gave the listener a variety and actually made it fun to listen to the radio. It isn't like that anymore. Now,you have your "classic soul", station and your R&B staion and so on. This forces the listener to choose one format over another and also forces some artist to change their song in order for their music to get heard. The end result is one big mess. This is mostly the reason why I do not listen to the radio anymore.
lets add consonants edit
[Edited 8/8/07 11:45am]

Has anyone ever noticed how skilled white British artists seem to be at expressing "soul" in their music/voices?

Many of the artists mentioned repeatedly in this thread are Brits and it's a phenomenon I've discussed with friends before.

What is that? Why do you suppose that is?


[Edited 8/8/07 13:58pm]

shorttrini said:

You make a lot of good points. As for acts that are doing r & b that I would condsider to still carry the soul torch:

Mint condition
Anthony Hamilton
E. Badu
Van Hunt
Floetry
Raheim Davaugn
Musique Soulchild( ok, forget about Buddy)


yeah, my list is mad short. :hmm2:Maybe you've got more of a point than I thought. I just know that like hip hop, r & b thats played on mainstream radio is not indicative of the entire genre. Back in the good ole days when I had more than basic cable, BET's jazz station rocked a lot of alternative r & b. Artist that I'd never heard of, but who's music kicked. Personally, I used to be one of those cats who read Billboard religiously, and could tell you who charted when, for how long, on what label etc. Now I could care less. THe mainstream isnt giving me anything that I need. I guess thats my point. If you're looking for quality tunes (r&b, hip hop, whatever) you're gonna have to do a little digging. I think the quality is still there. Its just underground.

As for these old heads trying to sound young/current. Well, they're just trying to get paid. I dont know whats worse: a Patti Labelle/P-diddy mashup, or another damn "standards" covers album.


lets add consonants edit
[Edited 8/8/07 11:45am]

what a stupid thread

SoulAlive said:

Nope, I'm talking about TALENT.

And all those ladies I mentioned get RIGHTFULLY more recognition than Teen Marie because they are MORE TALENTED.
Teena Marie will always be regarded in the black community as a TRUE r&b/soul artist! I really don't know why your are trying to argue otherwise! She deserves as many "props" as anyone else!
This is how Music should be. Period.
[Edited 8/8/07 7:30am]

Teena Marie will always be regarded in the black community as a TRUE r&b/soul artist! I really don't know why your are trying to argue otherwise! She deserves as many "props" as anyone else!

Uhope said:

Case Closed.

WOW! Calm down people..you are over-reacting to this topic which shouldn't be taken as racist. I don't think is offensive, maybe just needed a bit more explaining. I took it as who can sing real Soul Music (not "soulful music", beacause every kind of music comes from the soul) and who just happens to be white. The topic is legit, if you look back at the roots of music and I mean the ROOTS (e.g. blues, rock n roll, soul) it comes from the lives of many talented black artits many of whom most people do not know. Soul music is the musical manifistation of the American Black Experience not the "White experience." We must make that distinction. I believe James Brown was the first to tag his music "Soul Music." That isn't to say "you can't sing black music cuz you ain't black." So this is the connection: Because Soul/R&B music comes from the experiences AND CULTURE of African Americans, it has been surprising to see a white artist be able to sing in the R&B, Soul or Blues style.
In my opinion, there aren't very many that can get away with this because to me, they must sound good on vinyl AND on stage AND be able to play at least one instrument. Teena Marie is DEFINTELY a bona fide soul artist and I remember back in the day EVERYONE in the barrio jammed to her (why else would Rick James have worked with her? The girl is BADASS an Rick knew it).
Ultimately, anyone (black, white, latino, asian) who knows Soul's roots and can respect it's tradition and can sing, dance and play gets a Soul pass.

SpecialEd said:

SoulAlive said:

I was responding to the statement made by laurarichardson claiming that Teena Marie brougth a lot to the RnB table.

So when a white artist made two or three r&b hits, that's a MEGA HUGE accomplishement ?

What's next ?

Justin Timberlake the New king of pop ?

krayzie said:

I may be speaking out of turn, but I likely agree with krayzie. Teena Marie's reputation and standing in the soul music community seem to be out of kilter with her actual production. Some of it is based on the novelty of being a white act in a predominantly black artist market, but I also feel some of it is based on being linked with Rick James -- a large act in the late 1970s and early 1980s -- which brought her a little more attention than other comparable acts.

Yes, Marie had a fairly successful career but there are some people who act like she was not that far from Aretha Franklin as far as talent and impact in the genre. It sounds like krayzie is saying is that Marie's success and standing are being overrated, and I agree -- she wasn't as successful as acts like Freddie Jackson and Keith Sweat and her career success was more in line with Regina Belle's and Miki Howard's. However, Marie is held in higher regards in some soul music circles than these all four of these artists.

Robin Thicke, most definitely! He is such a talented songwriter and has written songs for countless artists for years. He is also a fine singer who has a dead-on flasetto, but needs to work on his live performances a little. His newest album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke is a damn good album too and has been on the charts for many weeks and months. His debut record was impressive too!

Najee said:

but out of the four you mentioned isnt teena the only one who writes, plays and produces her own work?

see, i think teena gets credit because she is a *woman* who broke down gender barriers in the funk world...not racial.

krayzie said:

You are the reason why Music sux now, and you know what ? A lot of people think just like you... How sad ?

But don't complain about the fact that major labels support untalented acts like the Pussycat dolls simply because people like you would take a group with no talent but has super mega producers throwing down some hard funk behind their vocals over very talented singers making "boring" music.

I'm sorry to disappoint you but no matter how "boring" Whitney Houston is, I will ALWAYS choose an extremly gifted singer like Whitney over any of your manufactured, overproduced and untalented piece of shit group like Vanity 6. And I don't give shit about your SUPA MEGA producers throwing down some "hard funk" behind their piece of shit vocals.

A crap singer is a crap singer no matter what.

Whitney Houston's talent is unique. And I will never call her Shitney Houston.
Her success is well diserved.


If people were more concerned about talent, Music would be much better. And it's not just according to how I view it, but how Music should be. Period.