Where in the hell is Sly & The Family Stone?? Rick James? John Coltrane? George Clinton? Surely, they are a helluva lot more "influential" than Mary J Blige, Diddy, Biggie, 2Pac, and Jay Z!!!! I'm not hatin' on hip hop, but the people I mentioned should sure as hell be above those cats!! Shit, Dr. Dre's more influential than those fuckers!

If I were them, I'd politely and humbly ask my name to be taken off the list and have the real influential artists placed on there!! Leave it to BET to fuck something else up...again.

Marley's music had a very direct impact on Jamaican politics. The One Love concert was very instrumental in avoiding a civil war in the post-colonial era. I can't think of any other entertainer who really did something of that scope that extended influence beyond hit songs and concert tours.

trueiopian said:

Sorry there is alot wrong with Janet she has not broken any rules she has not taken the Jackson name to other place it was already their ...Sorry Janet!

Nina Simone YES because of talent... song writing and great voice and she was a musician ..you can here her style in Amy Winehouse to Jill Scott

But the Diddy / Jay-Z sorry they started nothing really ... they are rich because of the time they came out they had less wall's to break down it's not like these guy's were Public Ememy or NWA who started something ...and said something...and did sh*t...those guys opened a can full of worms....like the LA Police department review...that's major..

You can take anything Lil Wayne or 50 Cent does today and put it against this on the floor Straight Outta Compton - NWA - http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related ...it would stand no chance..

In fact is MTV still banning this ....

bboy87 said:

I disagree, they were/are the best at their particular genre of music and definitely influenced the shift of hip hop being the music of the youth culture.

purplecam said:

I think Bob Marley prolly had a bigger impact than MJ or Prince on the world stage in a short period of time.

LondonStyle said:

Hey man Janet was the first woman to do what her brothers were doing. She is hugely influential in black culture, maybe not as a songwriter or singer - but as an entertainer. No question about that.

But Nina Simone - without a doubt deserves to be on the list along with Jay Z (but much lower). I'm very surprised there is no Tina or Dre on the list. Or Smokey Robinson.

errant said:

Bob Marley was also big all over Africa and throughout Europe this list doesn't say in R&B.

rebelsoldier said:

Exactly

LondonStyle said:

Not to mention the many styles of music that spun off from reggae which he popularized.

Has there ever been a Top 25 list that has gotten it all "right"? These top lists are nothing but the personal opinions of these magazines, websites, and television stations. I never take these lists too seriously.

SCNDLS said:

I still don't believe that.

LondonStyle said:

WTF! Janet is the one that paved the way for these so called divas..
She is one of the first to incorporate R&B in Pop along side her brother.She deserves to be in the top 10 of that list.

trueiopian said:

Look I like Janet ...but sorry to say it but Madonna did it first...
Madonna - Holiday (unreleased video)
http://www.youtube.com/wa...b18uagkEi4
This is one of only a few things she can take credit for but the whole "diva" think started with her mix of pure R&B/Pop so much so they did not play her on the radio in the UK because they though she was a Black Woman ...

Shawnt25 said:

No, lol.

LondonStyle said:

Prince over James Brown? Nobody sees anything wrong with that picture??

James Brown should lead that list, hands down - he started the genre that popular music is based on. Miles Davis only on 15? And where is Louis Armstrong?

That list is so flawed, I don't even know where to begin.
[Edited 2/17/09 9:29am]

LondonStyle said:

No, that album is Dance-pop.

Where the hell is Donna summer? Oh i forgot this is B.E.T

MrSoulpower said:

Prince = Jordan
James Brown = Dr. J

Graycap23 said:

trueiopian said:

That's a label you would give it now ...but not when it came out..sorry I know in the US you have this Black Radio / White Radio thing but Black DJ's played Madonna right from the start in the US and in the UK and her sound was very R&B US Chart sound and this was no mistake she Madonna did it for a reason...and the rest is HER-story...

mancabdriver said:

How exactly has Janet been influencial as a singer? And I'm surprised Whitney didn't make the list. Or was BET afraid their list wouldn't be taken seriously if they included her?

Like her or not, but Mary J. has been incredibly influential in contemporary black music. they don't call her this generation's Aretha for nothing!
[Edited 2/17/09 10:34am]

LondonStyle said:

Diana Ross and Dionne Warwick were the first to mix R&B and pop. Get it right.

I think that the ONE good way we can hold these media outlets to scrutiny is if in a List such as this, they actually go the additional step of indicating how they determined who was more influential.

The problem is, that too many of these are subject to the likes/dislikes of the person putting the list together.

If SADE, EWF, Tina Turner etc...are my favorites, I can always find a way to skew that list so that my faves are 1,2,3 etc....

But if I then have to describe WHY SADE is more influential than Mary J Blige or Chaka Khan, then at least I am providing some mechanism by which my list can be analysed.

Otherwise, as we all typically conclude, these lists really mean absolutely nothing.
[Edited 2/17/09 11:12am]

Timmy84 said:

Those youngsters!

PANDURITO said:

We should have an old school music class 101, some people think they know it all.

If we have to have tests and questions like this popped up:

1.) Who was the first artist to release a rock 'n' roll record?
2.) Who was the first artist to mix gospel and blues music to create soul music.
3.) What company founded in 1951 became one of the landmark labels in R&B?

I bet you half of the people on the ORG would fail the quiz!
[Edited 2/17/09 11:25am]

bboy87 said:

!!!

LondonStyle said:

please! i was 13 in '83. i remember her getting play, The 'black girl' thing was something that came out a couple of years later, DJ's saying they were fooled etc It's an urban-legend, and it's been built upon since ever since by her knobhead fans and stupid media folk to give her credibility that is undeserved.

she sure didn't sound like any black singer i ever heard at that time. In my heart, i knew she was white right enough from the get go. Never fooled, but then, i have an ear.

And remind me why is that nasal singer Madonna on this thread anyway?

Marrk said:

Exactly!

Anyway, what's y'all list of influential R&B/hip-hop (pre-1990) artists?