Hamad said:

Meshell has a devout fanbase. Her remark has nothing to do with sales boasting. Not everybody who has a different opinion is "hating". Why are people so touchy?

Exactly! She only spoke the truth.

ChocolateBox3121 said:

Hamad said:

Meshell has a devout fanbase. Her remark has nothing to do with sales boasting. Not everybody who has a different opinion is "hating". Why are people so touchy?

Exactly! She only spoke the truth.

I don't hate on either of your statments, but just to keep things real, Me'shell does the interviews to communicate with the people who give a fuq about her craft and her opinion. She's reaching out to affirm herself and reach out to new fans, too. I mean, what else is she doing to earn a living when she's not laying down tracks in a studio or jamming on a tour? Just, c'mon--everybody has to hustle. I'm down with her hustle.

>

She may have said some things that seemed to take an effect to diminish Bruno's spotlight, but--to s-t-r-e-t-c-h into territory covered in other threads--at least she didn't try to throw him under the bus for "cultural appropriation," did she (I didn't read her interview)? To me Bruno appears to be the shade of the rainbow as far as his ethnic composition is concerned, anyway, so why have all of that fuss in the first place? Those type of expressions toward Bruno M. look something like personal frustration or success-envy, to me.

Germanegro said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

Exactly! She only spoke the truth.

I don't hate on either of your statments, but just to keep things real, Me'shell does the interviews to communicate with the people who give a fuq about her craft and her opinion. She's reaching out to affirm herself and reach out to new fans, too. I mean, what else is she doing to earn a living when she's not laying down tracks in a studio or jamming on a tour? Just, c'mon--everybody has to hustle. I'm down with her hustle.

>

She may have said some things that seemed to take an effect to diminish Bruno's spotlight, but--to s-t-r-e-t-c-h into territory covered in other threads--at least she didn't try to throw him under the bus for "cultural appropriation," did she (I didn't read her interview)? To me Bruno appears to be the shade of the rainbow as far as his ethnic composition is concerned, anyway, so why have all of that fuss in the first place? Those type of expressions toward Bruno M. look something like personal frustration or success-envy, to me.

I don't think Bruno is appropriating black art, because it seems like he genuinly respects it and its obvious that he's pretty much influenced by it to the chore. I don't think Meshell said anything in that regard either, its too much of a personal and definitive statement to make, just merely her own feelings toward his music. I personally agree with her and that doesn't take anything away from his music. Just like I mentioned in the other thread, millions of people love Bruno, some of them are Meshell's fans too. If people give too much of a fuck about her opinion - or anyone's opinion for that matter - enough for them to deter their own admiration of Bruno's music, thats on them not her. I'm reading some of the remarks on twitter/facebook about Meshell not being relevant anymore, or that she wanted her album to sell, or that she's hating and a long list of personal shots against her character. Is it that serious?

[Edited 3/10/18 16:49pm]

Listening to her new album right now on NPR (I don't think it's out yet). This might be my new favorite by her. It's really good.

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/08/590336350/first-listen-meshell-ndegeocello-ventriloquism

I've said it here for a decade or more, that Me'Shell is Prince's true musical heir. That being said, I find it funny that Me'Shell made these comments about Bruno Mars being karaoke, in the midst of promoting a covers album.

It's more than fair to say Me'Shell's music has been underwhelming for the last several years. IMHO, her strongest work has been her covers and collabos, and her original material since Devil's Halo has been pretty boring.

Still, she's got enough credibility to say what she said about Bruno.

Personally, I don't knock Bruno's hustle.

namepeace said:

I've said it here for a decade or more, that Me'Shell is Prince's true musical heir. That being said, I find it funny that Me'Shell made these comments about Bruno Mars being karaoke, in the midst of promoting a covers album.

It's more than fair to say Me'Shell's music has been underwhelming for the last several years. IMHO, her strongest work has been her covers and collabos, and her original material since Devil's Halo has been pretty boring.

Still, she's got enough credibility to say what she said about Bruno.

Personally, I don't knock Bruno's hustle.

Knocking his hustle and liking that weak ass material is 2 different things.

SMH. This is ignorance.

Graycap23 said:

namepeace said:

I've said it here for a decade or more, that Me'Shell is Prince's true musical heir. That being said, I find it funny that Me'Shell made these comments about Bruno Mars being karaoke, in the midst of promoting a covers album.

It's more than fair to say Me'Shell's music has been underwhelming for the last several years. IMHO, her strongest work has been her covers and collabos, and her original material since Devil's Halo has been pretty boring.

Still, she's got enough credibility to say what she said about Bruno.

Personally, I don't knock Bruno's hustle.

Knocking his hustle and liking that weak ass material is 2 different things.

True. Me"Shell was doing the former. None of us have to do the latter. I haven't bought a single BM song but I do like "Finesse" the same way I like empty calories.

namepeace said:

Graycap23 said:

Knocking his hustle and liking that weak ass material is 2 different things.

True. Me"Shell was doing the former. None of us have to do the latter. I haven't bought a single BM song but I do like "Finesse" the same way I like empty calories.

I don't see any malice in her comments and I don't think she was have ever even commented on him if the interviewer wasn't fishing for headlines to get clicks to his article. But her comment IMO is just her being real. If someone asks you a question looking for your honest opinion are you just gonna lie and not say what you feel? I mean, some people might do that, but Meshel's rarely holds her tongue. I remember around the time Comet Come to Me (the last album) came out another interview was published where she said something that kinda pissed me off. I don't even pay it any mind. She's strong minded. And she sees things based on her experience. I don't always have to agree with her to respect her opinion as a talented-ass musician and songwriter.

lezama said:

namepeace said:

True. Me"Shell was doing the former. None of us have to do the latter. I haven't bought a single BM song but I do like "Finesse" the same way I like empty calories.

I don't see any malice in her comments and I don't think she was have ever even commented on him if the interviewer wasn't fishing for headlines to get clicks to his article. But her comment IMO is just her being real. If someone asks you a question looking for your honest opinion are you just gonna lie and not say what you feel? I mean, some people might do that, but Meshel's rarely holds her tongue. I remember around the time Comet Come to Me (the last album) came out another interview was published where she said something that kinda pissed me off. I don't even pay it any mind. She's strong minded. And she sees things based on her experience. I don't always have to agree with her to respect her opinion as a talented-ass musician and songwriter.

Me'Shell isn't malicious, but as you say, she's real.

Sure, the media guy is click-hunting. But Me'Shell has been in the game for 25 years (or more). She knew what this interviewer was doing, and responded anyway.

She's earned the right to say whatever she wants, and as pointed out above, the clickbait comment was isolated out of the context of the whole discussion.

laurarichardson said:

namepeace said:

laurarichardson said:

namepeace said:

I've said it here for a decade or more, that Me'Shell is Prince's true musical heir. That being said, I find it funny that Me'Shell made these comments about Bruno Mars being karaoke, in the midst of promoting a covers album.

It's more than fair to say Me'Shell's music has been underwhelming for the last several years. IMHO, her strongest work has been her covers and collabos, and her original material since Devil's Halo has been pretty boring.

Still, she's got enough credibility to say what she said about Bruno.

Personally, I don't knock Bruno's hustle.

—-No she is not. Only people on this board think this kind of stuff. I never heard her name mentioned with his. 😳

Thanks for your input.

Jimmy Jam

@flytetymejam

Honored that @OfficialMeshell would choose to reinterpret our work with @JanetJackson @RalphTresvant and @ForceMDs on her new album #Ventriloquism which releases today. Here is one of many rave reviews. #The Filtered Excellence: March 15, 2018 theinterrobang.com/filtered-excel…

StrangeButTrue said:

Her new album is super funky. I love what she did with Atomic Dog and Sensitivity in particular. The only one I didn't click with instantly is the Sade cover.

Those two along with Tender Love are effin beautiful. To be honest, I like 90% of it. The only one that kinda gets me is Smooth Operater because of how she changes the chorus.

I don't think that MeShell said this about Bruno to get some easy promotion for her new album, I think she just gave her honest opinion.

I think there are two sides to Bruno Mars. His songs often are based on a song or genre from the past. So I get the karaoke remark, but at the same time I do enjoy his latest album quite a lot as very cleverly produced 'bubblegum music'.

Yes, it copies styles from the past but the songs are still enjoyable. And better to me than a lot of other Top 40 music these days. I could never get into his older albums though, too sappy, except the one that sounds like a Police song and Uptown Funk.

Furthermore I think Bruno's live shows are great, his band and the arrangements are fantastic and so is the whole show and the dancing. He is probably the slickest live performer around at the moment.

So all 'n' all I have mixed feelings about Bruno. On one hand he is a bit of a copycat. But on the other hand he does it with flair. Or should I say 'finesse'?

[Edited 3/19/18 14:05pm]

Got to see Me'shell in Manhattan on Friday, it was a beautiful show - she covered almost all of her albums and a few covers from the new release. Even a Richie Havens-inspired, lovely acoustic "Digging You Like An Old Soul Record" singalong which blew my mind. If u r seeking some funk this summer, definitely catch her live show. The band was fire, the vibe was light, and Me'shell's vocals were on point. I can't wait to see them again in June.