My, my, my...
In honour of the late Atetha Franklin, BET brought forth some of today's most talented and soulful singers to give her a wonderful tribute on the Black Girls Rock stage.
First off, we had (my favourite) Jazmine Sullivan, singing "I Never Loved a man The way That I loved You". She embodied Aretha in full with the warm, stringy vocals while still making it her own with the incredibly swift and accurate riffs. Seriously, how fast can she go?
She played with her upper middle register hitting numerous E5s and one or two F#5s with relative ease.
It never ceases to amaze me how slept on Jazmine is when she can deliver an incredible performance like this.
Next we had Ledisi, singing "Ain't no Way". Her smooth steely tone was a contrast to Jazmine's warmer richer timbre but it worked. As Ledisi ascended up the scale it becomes clear she's a higher, bigger and brighter voice type than Jazmine. Ultimately, she brought justice to the rendition sticking the upper notes (Sounded like A5s) with grace and ease.
Following Ledisi is the much beloved Cynthia Ervio, singing "A little Prayer for You". Her smaller coppery timbre seemed as though it wouldn't work for the song at first vut it was the sweetest performance present. Not only did she hold up next to the other heavyweights but made the song her own while still giving the utmost homage to the late Atetha.
After Cynthia came the renowned Stephanie mills singing "Until you come back to me". I won't say much on the performance other than that I enjoyed it.
Lastly, we had Yolanda Adams to take us to church, delivering us with her rendition of "How I got Over!" She brought the choir ladies out with her and it was a wonderful way to end the performance.
All and all the diverse artistry on the stage came together making a stellar tribute that Aretha was most deserving of.
The performance is below:
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