Since we're talking about the (over?)hype of Adele as a white female artist that can sing r&b/soul and received mainstream crossover pop type of attention for it in the 2010's, I dare to provoke controversy with two questions:

Neither mind Teena OR Dusty for the time being. Am I the only one that thinks that Lisa Stansfield, by herself and in her prime as a soulful vocalist, would have kicked Adele's ass?


And also, how come Lisa, at the height of her career, never sold so many albums as quickly and in as high number volumes as Adele is within two career albums?

Discuss.

I'll take Alice Russell in 2016.

Sh*t: Amy Winehouse had more Soul than Adele!!!!! And Lynda Lyndell (The ORIGINAL "Whatta Man") had more Soul than Dusty Springfield!!!!! The fact of the matter is THIS: Those of Us who know the difference KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!!!!

The Bottom line is this...

Pink- Loves Soul music and She knows she's Blesssed with a Soulful voice. Pink is glad that her career took off in the world of Pop/Rock...Her fans accept her voice for what it is..

___________________________________________________________

Adele- you can hear the Soul influence in her vocals, she probaly Loves Soul Music, she know she's Blessed to have her music played on Pop & R&B radio. Adele does not consider herself a Soul Artist and going forward she NEVER will. She's glad her career has taken off in the World of Pop...

• Caveat I am not Adele's biggest fan
• Timing is everything
• It's not about her soul (she is not half as soulful as any of those listed) it is the smidgen of soul and the big melodramatic torch songs that access the money zone
• I do think she sounds better the less instrumentation and dressing her songs have
• I like the skyfall song and chasing pavements (the chorus)
• I think it is cool that her fans buy albums
• She is a likeable relateable person (persona wise) she reminds me of other mainstream successes. She has what shall dub the SNorah Jones effect. She is the aural wallpaper of the dinner party that you contemplate setting a small fire in the bathroom in order to escape.

[Edited 1/5/16 1:07am]

Shucks I actually do prefer Lisa Stansfield over Adele anyday. I'm not an Adele hater or anything like that, I'm glad that she has her fame or whatever, no doubt, Adele CAN sing, but her songs bore me to pieces...the new ones AND the old ones. I'm surprised when people say or are actually considering her to be a soul singer. HUH? In what world? That's like saying Kid Rock is a hell of a rapper (remember when folks were trying to tie his music to the world of hip hop when he first arrived?)

TonyVanDam said:

And also, how come Lisa, at the height of her career, never sold so many albums as quickly and in as high number volumes as Adele is within two career albums?

Discuss.

Difference is Arista decided to target Lisa Stansfield more to black radio and R&B music consumers. Lisa had three #1 songs on the Billboard R&B charts, ZERO on the Pop side. Her albums also performed better on the R&B side. It was all about marketing strategies. Adele is being marketed to a Pop audience, not R&B. I'm sure if Lisa would have been pushed more on the Pop side, she would have found greater success in the U.S. Lisa was never a priority at Arista. She had two albums on the label that did not get released in the U.S.

kitbradley said:

TonyVanDam said:

And also, how come Lisa, at the height of her career, never sold so many albums as quickly and in as high number volumes as Adele is within two career albums?

Discuss.

Difference is Arista decided to target Lisa Stansfield more to black radio and R&B music consumers. Lisa had three #1 songs on the Billboard R&B charts, ZERO on the Pop side. Her albums also performed better on the R&B side. It was all about marketing strategies. Adele is being marketed to a Pop audience, not R&B. I'm sure if Lisa would have been pushed more on the Pop side, she would have found greater success in the U.S. Lisa was never a priority at Arista. She had two albums on the label that did not get released in the U.S.

Very good points here.

Adele is a well-marketed pop singer with vast appeal. Key word being pop. Presently, her album isn't among the top 15 R & B albums on the charts. So I'm befuddled by the knee-jerk attempts to label her a "soul singer".

Identity said:

Adele is a well-marketed pop singer with vast appeal. Key word being pop. Presently, her album isn't among the top 15 R & B albums on the charts. So I'm befuddled by the knee-jerk attempts to label her a "soul singer".

I'm with you.

Let's not forget about the VASTLY underrated Joss Stone. Joss was mentored by Soul/R&B legend Betty Wright and Joss has been identified and marketed more as a Soul singer. And rightfully so. Yet, she has not had any massive albums or songs here in the U.S. I think the "Soul" label actually worked against her. Ive never heard her music played much on R&B stations and she's never been commercial enough for Pop radio.

[Edited 1/5/16 8:26am]

Massive appeal not just to kids but parents, grandparents, single non-parents...

Fiona Has mad soulful skills too.

Another underrated SOUL singer:

I liked Helen Terry!

Cinny said:

I liked Helen Terry!

Me, too. I found out recently she released a solo album maybe in the late 80s or early 90s. I managed to listen to some snippits somewhere and I was horrified! She did not sound like the same singer who backed Culture Club in the 80's. I don't know what happened.

Identity said:

Adele is a well-marketed pop singer with vast appeal. Key word being pop. Presently, her album isn't among the top 15 R & B albums on the charts. So I'm befuddled by the knee-jerk attempts to label her a "soul singer".

She does have the #8 song on the Adult R&B songs chart. It says she's been on it 9 weeks. Here's the current R&B albums chart:

.

1. Chris Brown - Royalty *
2. Bryson Tiller - Trapsoul *
3. The Weeknd - Beauty Behind The Madness *
4. G-Eazy - When It's Dark Out
5. Fetty Wap - Fetty Wap
6. Future - DS2
7. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
8. Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late
9. Drake & Future - What A Time To Be Alive
10. Kid Ink - Summer In The Winter
11. J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive
12. FUTURISTIC & Devvon Terrell - Coast 2 Coast
13. R. Kelly - The Buffet *
14. Pusha T - King Push
15. Logic - The Incredible True Story
16. Rick Ross - Black Market
17. August Alsina - This Thing Called Life *
18. Meek Mill - Dreams Worth More Than Money
19. Monica - Code Red *
20. Empire: Original Soundtrack, Season 2, Volume 1
21. Leon Bridges - Coming Home *
22. Logic - Under Pressure
23. Mac Miller - GO:OD AM
24. Wiz Khalifa - Blacc Hollywood
25. Travi$ Scott - Rodeo

.

18 of the 25 albums are rap acts and other than Leon Bridges, I wouldn't consider the rest of them soul. Of course Adele is not going to be on the same station as Meek Mill.

Graycap23 said:

I'll take Alice Russell in 2016.

Now I have to use YouTube to see/hear who you're talking about.

missfee said:

Shucks I actually do prefer Lisa Stansfield over Adele anyday. I'm not an Adele hater or anything like that, I'm glad that she has her fame or whatever, no doubt, Adele CAN sing, but her songs bore me to pieces...the new ones AND the old ones. I'm surprised when people say or are actually considering her to be a soul singer. HUH? In what world? That's like saying Kid Rock is a hell of a rapper (remember when folks were trying to tie his music to the world of hip hop when he first arrived?)

THAT^ is pretty much how I feel. The only Adele track that I like to listen to more than once is Skyfall.

TonyVanDam said:

Graycap23 said:

I'll take Alice Russell in 2016.

Now I have to use YouTube to see/hear who you're talking about.

JoeBala said:

Another underrated SOUL singer:

Even when she was doing the synthpop thing with Vince Clarke in Yaz, I always knew Alison was an underrated vocalist.

Cinny said:

I liked Helen Terry!

Oh hell yeah! Helen Terry is one of favorites. Even today, I still consider her as the real fifth member of Culture Club.

Graycap23 said:

TonyVanDam said:

Now I have to use YouTube to see/hear who you're talking about.

Yes, Alice is a pretty good. Thanks for bring her up.

Graycap23 said:

2020 said:

Graycap23 said:

GC does it again! Great find! Can't believe I haven't heard of Alice yet...very soulful and talented! Let's hope others discover her too!

She has been around for over 11 years...............I can't believe I only found out about her about 3 years ago.

TonyVanDam said:

Cinny said:

missfee said:

Shucks I actually do prefer Lisa Stansfield over Adele anyday. I'm not an Adele hater or anything like that, I'm glad that she has her fame or whatever, no doubt, Adele CAN sing, but her songs bore me to pieces...the new ones AND the old ones. I'm surprised when people say or are actually considering her to be a soul singer. HUH? In what world? That's like saying Kid Rock is a hell of a rapper (remember when folks were trying to tie his music to the world of hip hop when he first arrived?)

I thought I was the only one who thought this way.. Ive always been bored-unintrigued by her. Amy on the other hand I really dug.. Lisa Standfield I really dug too. Joss Stone has an amazing voice too even though she isnt played in the US.