theodore said:

look who's talking

theodore said:

I'm not being judgmental. It is just funny 2 me how someone can hear Prince sing this song and still like Alicia's version (not saying that Alicia's is bad....just doesn't compare 2 the original). That's like saying Ginuwine's WDC is just as good (or better) than P's.....we all know that's not true.

It's okay.

I just couldn't get into after listening to Prince's for so long...she just copied the original nearly note for note. I prefer Stephanie's version.

dragondayz said:

Like I said, there are "a million Alicia Keys" they just have a different package. Beyonce, Ciara, Alicia, and Ashanti are the same artist. As lame as some listeners are, even they are only going to tolerate so many of them. Every so often another one can get through the door, sell some drinks and tees, and another is pushed to the back or snuffed.

Dance said:

You can't compare Alicia to Beyonce, Ciara, or Ashanti (especially Ciara and Ashanti). These girls are nothing but pretty faces and nice bodies. Alicia is the opposite. She is an OK looking chick, but happens to write music and play an instrument or 2. That puts her in a different category if you ask me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a HUGE Alicia fan, but some of her stuff is pretty good. She needs to leave the dancing alone. She can let Beyonce and Ciara keep dancing. She needs to just play and sing.

daPrettyman said:

Give any one of those chicks two weeks of lessons or just put a piano in front of them so they can pretend they play and they'll be Alicia.

Write music? You mean her songs full of samples, the bad covers, or the same cheap keyboard shit hop beats referred to as music that others release?

And there are five year olds that play better. There are people who DON'T have all the training her marketing team claims she had or who can barely do anything with an instrument that play better and can jam.

She'd be in a different category if she demonstrated she was anything but another clone with a different prop and image if you ask me.

Dance said:

I'm not disagreeing with you, but you must remember that Alicia started out as a classical musician. Then was signed to Sony music/Columbia Records at 17 (or 15). Tommy Motolla didn't know what to do with her. They didn't know whether to market her to a pop audience or an r&b audience. Supposedly the material she recorded for them was all over the board.. From Celine Dion type ballads to teen-age songs (like Girlfriend on her first album).

When Clive Davis got wind of her, he crafted her to be appealing to both audiences. He teamed her up with a stylists, marketing people, and a producer that could take her songs that she had written and make them more appealing.

As for the sampling, Alicia doesn't sample as heavily as some others. As far as I can remember, she has only sampled a couple of songs, done a remake or 2 and the rest have been original songs. Now, she is a victim of "the loop" society in commercial music. That doesn't bother me as long as you can deliver live. After watching her MTV unplugged dvd, I actually started to really like her. She tore up the piano on almost all of the trax.

I don't agree with u that giving someone 2 weeks of lessons can make them pretend to play. Hell, Madonna is guilty of that. All she can do is play 2 chords and she is holding a guitar and pretending to play.

I think Beyonce could get away with it before someone like Ciara or Ashanti. Beyonce sings pretty good live and could get away with playing some simple chords and singing. The others couldn't...especially Ciara.

Have you seen her MTV unplugged dvd? I ask that because if you are only going on Alicia's performances on television shows/award shows, you are definitely missing out.

She may not knock your socks off, but she will definitely change your perception.
[Edited 5/19/08 14:29pm]

daPrettyman said:

Says her marketing team



More from her marketing kit.



And she can't

Dance said:

Matter of opinion.

I have heard that this new show sux, but that's only because she's trying to be Beyonce and Ciara. When she's playing at the piano (mostly acapella), its good. When she's dancing to Karma, it's bad.

daPrettyman said:[quote]

Dance said:

Exactly.

What a truly absurd comparison. Go ahead and compare her to Beyonce cause at least those two have a voice (even if you don't like either of them, you can't deny they can SING!) but Ciara? Fucking hell, the woman just shouts along with her backing track

I've NEVER heard her sing live, she either just talks along with her backing track or lip syncs.

I dare Dance to find me an Alicia Keys performance as bad as a Ciara one. Go on.

daPrettyman said:

If I enjoy it more than Prince's then that's just me

I still want to know why people ALWAYS want to have the best taste in music

theodore said:

Exactly.

And why you're basically ostrasized and put down for liking whatever you like!

I've never quite seen judgemental like I've seen it here.

purplesweat said:[quote]

daPrettyman said:

theodore said:

Because Prince is the BEST in most of our eyes.

daPrettyman said:

Why would you be glad she covered this song? It was doing just fine without her putting her cliche ass anywhere near it

VinnyM27 said:

I said Alicia is "One" of the only artists in R&B today that I listen to, Badu and Jill are also ones I check out too.

mynameisnotsusan said:

Because, as I said, it's a guaranteed good performance from her imo. This is always one of her best performances.

forgot to mention
I prefer Alicia's version also

this is ONLY a preference
I did not say Alicia's version
is BETTER than Prince's
(that would be ludicrous)

if I want that kind of vibe
from Prince, I'll listen to
"Another Lonely Christmas"

"HCYDCM" just didn't compare to that record
nothing does really... (as a b-side anyway)

I think I like Alicia's more
because of the added cadence
whereas TheKid's is just piano

plus I like Alicia's lil spoken parts
"and I'm not tryina hear that shit"
it's soooo "Prince"... even though
he never said that line on the original
just reminds me of the tone he was
speaking in on "If I Was Your Girlfriend"
[Edited 5/20/08 7:15am]

purplesweat said:

I think the problem is this. When a new singer decides to cover a song done by someone's of Prince's caliber, there is always somebody who out there who is going to find fault with it. I see nothing wrong with her version and apparently neither did Prince. I have read that he has complimented her on her turn on the song.

shorttrini said:

Exactly and you bring up another excellent point.

For all the bagging of Alicia Keys and Beyonce on here, everyone seems to conveniently forget just WHO is a fan of them - Mr Rogers Nelson himself.

You honestly think Prince becomes a fan of just any artist?

To me, they have to have something for him to like them enough to support them and perform with them/let them cover his songs.

If that's not a shining endorsement, I don't know what is.

purplesweat said:

You mean the same man who employed Tony M. for all those years? Prince is not infallible. It's fine if you like Alicia Keys and Beyoncé; you don't need to justify it.

AlexdeParis said:

I'm not justifying anything.

Most people on here act like Prince is on another level and would never look twice at todays artists - wrong!

AlexdeParis said:

He doesn't have to justify it.

Whether people like them or not, both Alicia and Beyonce are talented without being outrageous. You don't see them on screen wearing hardly nothing at all, like most of today's artist. I suspect, this is what he finds appealing about them. Yes, Beyonce might be getting a little too over exposed, but that is not her fault. Remember, she was a part of the biggest selling girl group of this century. As for Alicia, no one is saying that she is the greatest singer in the world. But, what she is, is talented. Both also serve as inspirations to little black girls who dream of doing the same thing one day. As an uncle and god father, I would prefer my nieces singing their songs than...Trina or Lil' Wayne's.
[Edited 5/21/08 4:03am]

shorttrini said:

That's what I just said. Why try to justify your personal taste? Looking for "endorsements" from others is just silly IMO. Like whatever you want to like.

AlexdeParis said:

Now, u and I both know that liking whatever you want is not an easy thing to do on this board.

shorttrini said:

Sure it is!

Step 1: Don't give a fuck what other people think.
Step 2: There is no Step 2.

In all seriousness, I like to give people a good-natured ribbing if I don't agree with something they like or dislike, but it's all in fun. "Whatzupwitu" is in my iTunes library, it's rated 5 stars, and nobody on this site or anywhere else is going to change that.

What kind of shocked me was that Alicia wasn't even familiar with the song. I was thinking with all her old-school hype a piano-stress would be familiar with THIS song. No, it was brought to her. So it was disappointing, but not surprising, that her version just doesn't measure up.

I would have to get indignant if I ever came across someone who preferred her version to his. It's the whole Buffy TV show vs. Buffy movie thing.

AlexdeParis said:

If only all the judgmental orgers on here were as easy going as you