Old huh, Harle? You young whippersnappers wouldn't know good music if it hit you in the head. Hell, I remember in nineteen diggety three...oh, yeah...I guess I am old! LOL! I don't like Beyonce and when I said that to people I know, I am immediately labelled a hater or I'm jealous because I don't look like her...yeah, whatever. There are just way better singers out there than her to me, my two cents. The way I judge if someone can sing or not, is whether I know their voice on the radio from anybody else's. I can't tell her voice from anyone else's. She just doesn't do anything for me and the guys may like it, but her video for that new song is just degrading to me. If she is fine with that, then hell, good for her. I may truly dig old school music, but at least a performer could make up enough lyrics for a longer period than the standard three to three and a half minute tracks they have now. There is not much originality out there. Thank goodness that Jill, india, Vivian, Erykah, Kindred the Family Soul, The Roots and Donnie(God Bless him) came along. They are real artists, real music to me. I love music that can stand the test of time.

stymie said:

LOL Stymie baby, I guess I was hitting in one of yo right nerves, huh? I personaly think being "old" is a compliment, I'd be so happy if others told me that I look/act older.

I'm not really too crazy about the sistah but I kinda dig her stuff(she's good 4 a commercial artist if u know what I mean). But the poeple who I really LOVE in terms of modern RnB music are Syleena Johnson, Tweet, Jaguar Wright, India Arie, Bilal, D'Angelo, Kinderd and the whole nine.

So it ain't deep, its not like you're gonna see me rushing 2 one of her concerts or the stow 2 buy her shit. U feel me?

yeah...I don't get the "old" thing...I dont even consider my mother old and she's 60 but anyway...(age is in the mind)


beyonce is a product of her generation. she fits the flow of the music scene today...

Harlepolis said:

I feel ya.

i like the beyonce single maybe just because the sample is funky for once and isnt totally overly sterile, clinical and soul-less like a lot of R&B. i think its great how so much new r&B is state of the art and all the rest of it but it lacks a lot of what used to make soul so special. for one, the lyrics suck. most of this drivel is fine for hip hop but in R&B it means singers are just riffing like entire maniacs for the whole verse when a few select words would have been nicer. aretha franklins best songs didnt come from her showing off her range on every bar, she enunciated the meaning and feeling of the words and more importantly, melody - something that is severaly lacking in most of the songs of mya, genuwine, joe, more than a few neptunes songs etc. the songwriting is well below par - most of it is just like novelty hits. its fun in a way, but theres good fun records and then theres undiluted inaneness.

another thing is the lack of structure in the songs - these are basically just hip hop beats. ie little to no chord changes or bridges or even proper intros. for a rapper, this is fine - that is what hip hop was built on but for something more melodic - it sucks. crazy in love is basically just two sections (from an old chi lites song) - the horn blasting chorus which is looped then the almsot go-go-like section for the verses (also looped). this has a lot to do with what happens when musicians are taken out of the song writing process.

its good that its not repeating the exact same forumla of the past, but at the same time, its like saying the 'old way' of making music is entirely void and no longer relevant. im sure musicans can be recorded in a fresh and modern way without having to sound or directly rehash musical history. and im sure they can think of some new chords and rhythms as well that makes it 'new'. i have faith it can be done!

My take...

First, 30 is just around the corner...20 to 30 will be a flash.

Okay, Beyonce...she's got it.

She will be the new Tina Turner.

She's got the stage presence, the exotic look, that body, and of course, she can sing.

And I don't mean the kind of singing where it's all "aaaywoooOOOooheeeyyyeeEEEeeeEEEeee"

She reaching for emotion like a real soul singer. Did you see her on SNL?

Man! She's just sounded great! It was like natural and she just belted out some improvisation vocals that were at the door of captivating. The way she held the mic and her movements with the slow song...whew. Stopped me in my tracks.

She's growing and she's going to blow Christina and J-lo OFF the map. Well, maybe not Christina...but J-Lo...buh bye.

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

I hear ya about the SNL pre4mance I dug her pre4mance with Sheila E. & Rhonda Smith too.

to reiterate what someone else said in this post: nice ass.

i like Ashanti... she's better lookin' & the New SOURCE Magazine she looks really pretty/sexy & i think she's a better singer

PurpleLove7 said:

I can't co-sign that PL7. I don't think she's better lookin' . . . not to say she's [i]worse -- let's be clear!

Beyonce's got the better voice in my opinion. She's got better range. Ashanti sounds like she's got Janet's range, which from a pure singing standpoint, is not a good comparison.

As for Beyonce . . . good voice, great looks, decent performer.

I'd holla.

She's definitely fine. However the new cd reeks of American Idol stench. Since she "borrowed" from D'Angelo's idea, I hope she gives Speechless the Untitled How Does It Feel Video treatment. On A Sign From Virgo, I think she could have flipped a different Shuggie Otis tune like Not Available and done a better job.

I'm 24 so I guess I qualify as an old-hack.

Beyonce is alright as a mainstream pop star. Much like J-Lo, they're both manufactured products with admittably some decent singles, but since when didn't Diana Ross release crappy albums and embark on acting duties in even crappier films?

jthad1129 said:

Well Tori Amos is really in the middle. Define old. I think a lot of 20-30 with a few forties and teenagers buy her CDs. Cyndi I think might be only hardcore, with a few older people still buying her stuff. Chaka is hard to tell. That could go either way. If she releases something commerical enough, youngsters will bite.

As for all those other people, many of whom had Top Ten debuts this year, yes, older people are probably the only ones buying their records, and they tend to bite the first week! You'll notice a very strange occurance of very high debuts and in some cases, staying power by these (the Cher hits collection was in the Top Ten for months!) which might be attirbuted to kids (mall girls that love "Believe" and her dance stuff). I certaintly think that Luther's predicament helped him reach a wider audience this time out but then again, I think kids might have bought his 2001 self titled J records album. I mean, I'm 22 and I own most of those people's latest albums but I'm strange and hate 50 Cent and most new stuff. I wonder what other people think. I say if they have staying power, or a really big debuts like Luthers, young people are buying.