R&B Women

By: Rashod Ollison (Pop Music & Culture Critic; Jet Mag. [Nov. 15, 2010]; Jet Perspective pg. 47)

I recently caught a Mary J. Blige show not far from my home. The amphitheater was packed with sisters, most close to 40, about the same age as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Mary J.'s emotionally journalistic music has surely echoed their heartbreaks and triumphs over the last 20 years.

The show was great. Mary J. is nothing like the performer she was at the start of her career, when she was more street than sweet, donning wraparound shades, a blond weave and combat boots. She often missed notes, sang off-key and cussed out the audience. She seemingly wanted to be anywhere other than the stage.

After surviving a chain of fools, Mary J. declared "no more drama" and shed the ghetto-fabulous image. She took etiquette classes, embraced spirituality, stopped abusing drugs and alcohol and got married. She's now an evolved, confident and engaging performer whose songs extol self-love.

For better or worse, Mary J.'s arrival opened the door for a new breed of Black Female performers: the ungraceful ones. Their music, like Mary J.'s early material, often ripples with pain.

The artists who fit this mold, some of whose fishbowl lives were exploited in hit reality TV shows, give fans a sense of an immediate connection with them. Onstage, they flub lines, sweat out their weaves and "keep it real." The way they carry themselves is understandable, given their backgrounds and the lack of etiquette training once offered in the industry (such as the renowned Motown charm school). But it's time to grow up if they want longevity.

Around-the-way girl singers are nothing new in Black Music. Offstage, Billie Holiday, Sarh Vaughan and especially Dinah Washington were known to be ghetto-fabulous before the term existed. But they approached their art with a certain reverence, jaw-dropping style and unmatched grace. Today, selling an "authentic" image often trumps nurturing a craft, which partly explains the reason careers come and go.

Mary J. Blige's remarkable evolution - the key to her staying power - should serve as an example to those following in her wake.

B. Brown's Opinion:

I believe Rashod is correct in saying these female R&B singers need more polishing these days. I also believe our male R&B singers need it as well! A lot of the male R&B singers dress like, look like & carry themselves as hip-hop/rap artists.

Etiquette is very important when it comes to having "class." May a person have "class" without proper etiquette? I don't know, but I do suggest that all artist's (R&B, Hip-Hop, Pop, Country, Rock, Reggae, Gospel, etc.) get some type of training on how to carry themselves on and off the stage. The training will no doubt help their stage presence and career, along with helping them improve their life in general which is more important in my book!

One Love!