Mariah Carey finally seems to be getting some recognition from the music industry she has pretty much been on top of for over two decades- we won't mention the "G" word.
Last year Mariah was honoured by BET, where Patti Labelle and Kelly Rowland paid tribute to the 5-octave singer with their performances of Hero and Fantasy [See here]. This year it was the turn of the BMI Urban Awards to celebrate Mariah Carey and her skill as a lyricist.
Here's what the Diva had to say about receiving that award:
Amongst these festivities, Joe, Fantasia and Karen Clark Sheard took to the stage to sing their own renditions of classic Mariah songs.
Performances:
Joe's We Belong Together was a bit "meh" until the closing half of the song. It wasn't because it was bad, it was more that his version was missing that frantic emotion that Mariah Carey captured so well with her masterful manipulation of rhythm and tempo.
It's interesting that when a man sings this, and attempts the octave jump at the end, the real difficulty in hitting those belted notes becomes apparent.
I'm not a big fan of Fantasia's raspy tone when she gets too loose with it, but being an accomplished vocalist it's no surprise she hit all the big notes in Mariah Carey's Hero. Problem is she did so with all guns blazing: you're either going to love it or hate.
Also, I hear there's a half finished pack of Strepsils being offered by the singer to whoever can catch the crook who nabbed her shoes....
Karen Clark Sheard is a gospel singer, whereas Mariah is considered a pop singer, so you would expect Mariah's Gospel infused Anytime You Need A Friend to be a better fit for Karen's vocal styling. This performance suggests otherwise.
There was definite vocal gymnastics going on here- that run at 1.12 was perfection- but by the end she sounded as if she was fighting with the music rather than working with it. If there had been a little more restraint, and focus on the melody, it could have been amazing.
Still, I know Mariah Carey is a big fan of the singer, so it must have been a treat for her.
Like I said above, it's great Mariah Carey is being recognised for her work in the industry, but I think it's now time for the big award shows to wake up and start following suit
I don't know why but it just feels odd that a woman still so present in the industry is now getting recognition to her contributions to music. I suppose it's because usually people who are receiving the awards are either retired, or are off to live off their name instead of singing.
ReplyDeleteI think Fantasia was so exhausted after struggling into her pants, she figured if she'd waste anymore energy on putting on shoes, she'd have nothing left to hit the big notes with.
ReplyDeleteLol
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that Mariah is finally getting some recognition for the way she's shaped the music industry.
ReplyDeleteFor writing excellent pop songs..okay. But "shaping the music industry"? In what way?
ReplyDeleteFor better or for worse, the whole industry in its entirety. She is the root cause of the exponential increase in the usage of melisma, and also helped introduce the idea of collaboration between rappers and pop singers. Granted, such things already happened before her, but she helped boost the popularity of such concepts.
ReplyDeleteSo what you are saying is that she helped shape a genre. That's not the same as "the music industry"
ReplyDeleteand personally, I prefer to blame Whitney for that "melisma" craze as I like Mariah and wouldn't want to blame her for what is in my opinion one of the worst things which happened in popular music the last 30 years. ;)
As for that collaboration with rappers, another thing not seen by everyone in a positive light but also something which hardly could have been done by those before her as rap really only came into it's own in the eighties.
About time she got some kudos for what she has contributed to music, but lets be honest, there is nobody out there that can hold a light to her vocally, they may try but there is something special about that voice, and its not just where range itself is concerned. No other singer on this earth has the ability to mould their voice like MC does,
ReplyDeleteYou could be right, but since mariah shows no signs of slowing down they should start dishing them out now. :D
ReplyDeleteI never said she started the trends; I just said she helped them along.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, when I said the industry, what I meant was the Pop industry; I'm sorry if I wasn't clear on that.
You said it!! Hope things are good with you! I'm glad to see you're still about ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's still an excessive as well as incorrect claim though. Even just talking pop music industry( instead of "whole industry in it's entirety") she didn't change anything there.
ReplyDeleteHave to disagree with you there Stuey. At her prime yes, but then again, at her prime there were others with equal ability about. Right now I don't think she still has that level of ability.
ReplyDeleteLOL Idk. Maybe I'm seeing things in a biased viewpoint? ;)
ReplyDeleteAmen. Although I wish she would take better care of her instrument :|
ReplyDeleteOr maybe you are confusing "music industry" with "genre"? I am presuming that is what you are doing based on your arguments since both went to genre changes rather than industry changes. :)
ReplyDeleteOh I agree there, the voice is not what it once was, you just need to check out the vids above. The WBT one she sounds very diff, I think her legacy will be that of her early material and her original singing style before she started her whispering ect.
ReplyDeleteLike a bad smell....cannot get rid, sorry! :D
ReplyDeletehttp://gifninja.com/animatedgifs/220411/mustache-fart.gif
Indeed.
ReplyDeleteWhich I would say drops her "ranking" a bit amongst The Greats. Ultimately vocally speaking her career was not all that long at it's height.But when it was at it's height, it sure was of a dizzying height. :)
Mmmhmm, also was I the only one who thought Karen Clark Sheard absolutely violated that song...? It's one of my all time MC fav's and I have never, not once, heard anybody other than early MC do it justice, or am I just being a bitch lol
ReplyDeleteYou should have read my original review for it...I somewhat "neutralised" it after thinking I was being harsh.
ReplyDeleteBeing honest I had never heard her voice before now, and I think she has an impressive set of pipes but she needed to take control of the song and not just try and rip the ass out of it like she did lol
ReplyDeleteI have no emotional attachment of any sort to the tune and thought the sound of those videos of the show was awful but yeah, didn't sound very good to me. Interpretation wise.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I never heard any other covers of it tbh.
What is the G word?
ReplyDelete"Glitter"
ReplyDeleteWell there would be no Xtina if she hadn't ripped off half Mariah's Style.
ReplyDeleteI like Fantasia version of hero kinda wanted her to let loose a little though :(
ReplyDelete