Top 10 most underrated artists of today:

1. Janelle Monae

2. Jazmine Sullivan

3. Ledisi

4. Kelis

5. Anthony Hamilton

6. The Twigs

7. Erykah Badu

8. Esparanza Spalding

9. D Angelo

10. J Cole

Top 10 most overrated artists of today (list as of right now)

1. Beyonce-- she is the most overrated pop star of all time

2. Justin Timberlake- Modern day Elvis

3. Justin Beiber

4. The Weekend

5. Drake

6. Taylor Swift

7. Katy Perry

8. Nikki Minaj

9. Kanye West

10. Adele

Honorable mention: Jay Z and Miley Cyrus

The ones that you mentioned to be underated are all "popular" and well known to most. I think underrated is an artist whose name is not in the public sector, as easily and or is under the radar.

Underrated Artists:

Rachell Ferrell

Jimmy Scott

Nancy Wilson

Dinah Washington

Overated? I think the public decides who will be so-called famous. There's many artists that I don't connect with musically or otherwise in todays market. As opossed to the musical Titans: Prince, MJ, Madonna. George Michael, Janet jackson etc. I connected with their music, not becuase of fame, I emotionally connected with Prince's music and it changed my life. I also reconize the other 4 artists aformentioned, even thogugh I'm not major fans of their music. They all had an undeniable personality, vibe, something that reached out and captured the audience.

[Edited 5/19/16 20:59pm]

^ Just because their famous doesn't mean there not underrated.I will probably clarify this in the OP but to me an underrated artist is an artist who gets less recognition, praise, criticial acclaim and accolades for their works and talents and I personally think my top 10 fits that description perfectly. Compared to the Top 40 acts, they most definitly are underrated.

mjscarousal said:

D'Angelo never did much for me but his rendition of "Sometimes It Snows In April" was one of the best performances I've ever seen anyone give. I'm going to re-visit his work now.

As far as underrated acts, I'd say in no real order:

The Internet

J*Davey

Hiatus Kaiyote

Emily King

Me'Shell Ndgeocello (a lifetime achievement ranking)

Metal Fingers Doom (ditto)

Bilal

Jessie Ware

inovio said:

The ones that you mentioned to be underated are all "popular" and well known to most. I think underrated is an artist whose name is not in the public sector, as easily and or is under the radar.

Underrated Artists:

Rachell Ferrell

Jimmy Scott

Nancy Wilson

Dinah Washington

Believe me, I hear where you're coming from . . . .

but I don't think the Jazmine Sullivans and Ledisis of the world are that well known, and "popular" only in a very liberal sense.

As a matter of fact, I'd say that many of the underrated artists listed here, who have been around a decade or less, are less popular than Nancy Wilson and Dinah Washington, who have each had loyal followings for 5 decades or more.

dancerella said:

Underrated Kelis JC Chasez NKOTB Debbie Gibson Overrated Beyonce Taylor Swift Demi Lovato Selena Gomez Ariana Grande Pink Jason Derulo Pitbull Janelle Monae Rihanna

Just curious, why is Janelle Monae overrated to you?

overrated

Janelle Monae

Beyonce

Sam Smith

Bruno Mars

Kendrick Lamar

Nicki Minaj

Taylor Swift

Wiz Khalifah

Chris Brown

Arianna Grande

underrated

Jay Electronica

Hiatus Kaiyote

Lianne LaHavas

Iggy Azaela

Harts

K. Michelle

Asher Roth

Action Bronson

Andy Allo

Willow Smith

RJOrion said:

MotownSubdivision said:

RJOrion said:

overrated

Janelle Monae

Beyonce

Sam Smith

Bruno Mars

Kendrick Lamar

Nicki Minaj

Taylor Swift

Wiz Khalifah

Chris Brown

Arianna Grande

underrated

Jay Electronica

Hiatus Kaiyote

Lianne LaHavas

Iggy Azaela

Harts

K. Michelle

Asher Roth

Action Bronson

Andy Allo

Willow Smith

How in the blue hell is Iggy Azalea underrated? Also, Bronson is more overlooked than underrated. I haven't heard anything negative about him regarding his music. [Edited 5/20/16 19:09pm] [Edited 5/20/16 19:17pm]

i put Iggy Azaela only because it seems she's always on the receiving end of so much negativity, and im wondering what she's done wrong...her music is average to decent, and she looks good to me...

RJOrion said:

MotownSubdivision said:

RJOrion said: How in the blue hell is Iggy Azalea underrated? Also, Bronson is more overlooked than underrated. I haven't heard anything negative about him regarding his music. [Edited 5/20/16 19:09pm] [Edited 5/20/16 19:17pm]

i put Iggy Azaela only because it seems she's always on the receiving end of so much negativity, and im wondering what she's done wrong...her music is average to decent, and she looks good to me...

She's an Australian girl who fakes a (southern) urban accent when she raps and speaks in her natural dialect otherwise. When people talk about her, instead of blowing them off or responding back on wax, she instead runs to Twitter and whines about it in an attempt to paint herself as a victim of "reverse-racism".

Iggy is just ignorant to the nth degree. Instead of maybe taking a hint and learning something about hip hop culture or why people have a problem with her onstage persona, she'd rather try to gain sympathy for something she's in no position to gain sympathy for. This girl had nothing to say about the various social issues concerning institutional racism against black people or racism at large yet was one of the first people to cry foul at "Becky" being a racist term and claim how she takes serious offense to it, comparing its impact to that of any actual racial slur.

Her music is trash, she's basically a substandard pop star disguised as a rapper (and it shows in her skill level) and is narrow-minded beyond belief. She's not even that pretty but that's beside the point. Iggy ain't shit; she's not too much different from Azalea Banks.

[Edited 5/20/16 22:55pm]

Father John Misty is amazing:

His lyrics are trippy. He should tour with Hozier.

MotownSubdivision said:

RJOrion said:

There does seem to be a push for white artists to sing poor imitations of black music in todays market. I wonder when Rock music will ever become mainstream again.

mjscarousal said:

Underrated:

- Kate Bush (that much talent in one woman, she should be known worldwide)

- FKA Twigs (rare combination of beautiful voice, can dance ballet or street or both in the same moment, and a very strong and unique visual aesthetic..)

- Liv Warfield (she's such a beast live performer after learning for years with Prince... I just wait for the world to realize just how badass she is)

- Harts (dude is sooo young, and sooo talented. glad he had the opportunity to hang with Prince before he passed)

- Meshel Ndegeocello (she doesn't always STUN with her albums, but she's put one a masterpiece of an album before and I know she has more in her, plus she's extremely consistent, very few people pay attention to her, and she's kinda just off in her own lane right now).

- Fiona Apple (another amazingly talented, brilliant song writer that while every album she does gets a lot of praise from critics, I still run across people that when hearing her name ask questions like "wasn't that that chick from the 90's that went crazy?")

Overrated:

- Justin Timberlake (seems like a really nice guy and he's not a bad performer at all, but its hard to appreciate iheartradio payola)

- Drake

- Kanye

- The Weeknd (I dont see what the hype is about with him.. at ALL)

- Adele (sorry to her fans but I like ballads but i have her last two albums, played them maybe once and I have zero desire to play either of then ever again)

- Chris Brown

- Rihanna (i like some of her songs when they come on in the club, but if anyone else were singing songs put together but 3-5 producers, 5-10 writers I'd probably still like them, so she's kinda expendable tbh)

Beyonce is definitely the most overrated artist of this generation

EmmaMcG said:

mjscarousal said:

Top 10 most underrated artists of today:

1. Janelle Monae

2. Jazmine Sullivan

3. Ledisi

4. Kelis

5. Anthony Hamilton

6. The Twigs

7. Erykah Badu

8. Esparanza Spalding

9. D Angelo

10. J Cole

Top 10 most overrated artists of today (list as of right now)

1. Beyonce-- she is the most overrated pop star of all time

2. Justin Timberlake- Modern day Elvis

3. Justin Beiber

4. The Weekend

5. Drake

6. Taylor Swift

7. Katy Perry

8. Nikki Minaj

9. Kanye West

10. Adele

Honorable mention: Jay Z and Miley Cyrus

I agree with most of your list but I don't like the Elvis/JT comparison. Elvis is the King. JT is more like a Court Jester. There's a few guys on the underrated list that I've never heard of but of the ones I know, J Cole would be replaced by Dam-Funk. Other than that, you're pretty spot on.

Elvis wasn't the king, Fats Dominos, Little Richard and Chuck Berry was the king.

lezama said:

Underrated:

- Kate Bush (that much talent in one woman, she should be known worldwide)

- FKA Twigs (rare combination of beautiful voice, can dance ballet or street or both in the same moment, and a very strong and unique visual aesthetic..)

- Liv Warfield (she's such a beast live performer after learning for years with Prince... I just wait for the world to realize just how badass she is)

- Harts (dude is sooo young, and sooo talented. glad he had the opportunity to hang with Prince before he passed)

- Meshel Ndegeocello (she doesn't always STUN with her albums, but she's put one a masterpiece of an album before and I know she has more in her, plus she's extremely consistent, very few people pay attention to her, and she's kinda just off in her own lane right now).

- Fiona Apple (another amazingly talented, brilliant song writer that while every album she does gets a lot of praise from critics, I still run across people that when hearing her name ask questions like "wasn't that that chick from the 90's that went crazy?")

Overrated:

- Justin Timberlake (seems like a really nice guy and he's not a bad performer at all, but its hard to appreciate iheartradio payola)

- Drake

- Kanye

- The Weeknd (I dont see what the hype is about with him.. at ALL)

- Adele (sorry to her fans but I like ballads but i have her last two albums, played them maybe once and I have zero desire to play either of then ever again)

- Chris Brown

- Rihanna (i like some of her songs when they come on in the club, but if anyone else were singing songs put together but 3-5 producers, 5-10 writers I'd probably still like them, so she's kinda expendable tbh)

There are more songwriters on a Beyonce song than there is for a Rihanna song She has catchy songs and a unique tone. I can't picture anyone singing the songs she sings and it still being a hit.

Edit: Fiona Apple is criminally underrated. The Idler Wheel is a masterpiece.

[Edited 5/22/16 11:26am]

MotownSubdivision said:

mjscarousal said:

There does seem to be a push for white artists to sing poor imitations of black music in todays market. I wonder when Rock music will ever become mainstream again.

I've done some research and there seems to be a trend of when black artists dominate the charts vs white artists. Pre-1960s charts were almost if not entirely white but then with the boom of Motown in '64, music became integrated and black artists crossed over into pop. In the 70's, music was so diverse that in earnest black artists were charting high in the Top 40 with pure funk, soul, R&B and later, disco. The Disco Sucks movement seems to be the reason the music scene in the very early 80's where the top artists and groups were mostly white until 1983 when blacks once again were crossing over and continued to do so till the late 80's when there were so many black artists in the Top 40 that the term "cross over" wasn't commonly used. It would be this way throughout the 90's with new jack swing, R&B and hip hop and 2000's with the latter two genres and now we seem to have reached another point in time where white artists are once again dominating the Top 40 and black artists need to "cross over" again. It's not as drastic now as it was pre-1964 but there seem to be shades of those times permeating within the industry today.

IMO, the industry seems to be more in control in who gets marketed and pushed. (Not to say that this was never the case) but there are more artists out here that are talented and could be more popular if the industry marketed them but the industry does not want too.

I don't think I could list 10 each because for overrated artists, there's plenty I don't like, but I don't know their stuff well enough to actually call them overrated. Underrated, there's some who I would say are underrated, but a lot I might say are rated just the way they should be. And then others I think are underrated when it comes to modern music as a whole, but I wouldn't call them underrated among artists from their own genre. So I don't think I can name 10 of each so I'll just stick to a couple.

Underrated - Tinashe, Alessia Cara, Travis Scott, Future, A$AP Rocky, MAYBE Young Thug, probably a couple more but this is all off the top of my head.

Overrated - Drake, Rihanna, Beyonce, probably Justin Bieber. A few years back when he was like a goodie 2 shoes, Pop little boy I didn't like his music but I wouldn't have even mentioned him back then just because I think back then it would have been lame on my part. But the image he's trying to pull off these days, along with the fact that some people now are feeling his music a little more since it's not quite the same teeny bopper music it used to be. So I think that kinda puts him in the conversation now.

Some of those ones I listed as underrated is because of what I said about how in their genre they got a good look, but in music as a whole they aren't as big as I think they should be. Like Travis Scott, in Rap he's got a lot of heat and definitely has a name. But in all music with crossover Pop he's not really there yet. Future and A$AP Rocky MIGHT he to that stage but I'm not sure so I still just said them. Kendrick Lamar I would have put on my list too but I just decided to leave him off. In Rap he is obviously one of the biggest names there are right now. But in all music, I think he's got a good name in modern music too, but just a tiny bit underrated. So I don't think that small amount of being underrated is enough to immediately put him on the list.

mjscarousal said:

namepeace said:

MotownSubdivision said:

mjscarousal said:

IMO, the industry seems to be more in control in who gets marketed and pushed. (Not to say that this was never the case) but there are more artists out here that are talented and could be more popular if the industry marketed them but the industry does not want too.

Thr industry is in complete control of who gets marketed and pushed. They're just fixated on what's going to yield them the easiest money; music execs aren't willing to take risks and are only concerned with the bottom line. Granted, they're in the business to make money but surely they can do so with integrity to the artists and the music they make. It's been said many times ad naseum by countless people in and out of the music biz, the industry is controlled by backward-thinking, narrow-minded suits who are willing to mostly remain in the past and not risk laying a foundation for the future.

Not only do they push certain acts, there is also this push for ignorance, labels and stereotypes through certain pop stars that I have always found alarming. The music industry is in shabbles. I don't like how they are trying to force certain pop stars down our ears when its clear the general public wants more talent and variety. I say this because it reflects in the numbers.

ilo said:

Underrated would be Field Music. Overrated would be the majority of fabricated bands that dominate the uk charts. Seriously people open your fucking ears and minds

Like who, for example?