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Yo my manz I just telling my Dawgs that 4 a while there is no more one mic enter's they all have to have distractions or something else going on too take away from the creative 💯
There are singers like this that do have those hours today. But half of them are not working all the way around training in many areas. Some are looking for the faster way In doing media covers and music competitions to get ahead or for faster recognition and then some are also changing their technique from what they were taught to be more common and new.
Here's the difference (as a vocalist and old school belter): Old school singers sang live, in front of an audience - from the beginning. They joined bands and had to develop their voices to project louder than the band and to be heard in venues. They strengthened their voices and developed their styles this way, singing loud. Today's vocalists have their own small recording studios, and sing way softer. It used to be that going into a studio to record was done after you had more experience doing your thing live. I had my own small studio in the late 90s and recording myself really changed the way I sang.
And people think the “funny faces” are just silly but them faces help you get your sound out! They determine how the note comes out, how it sounds, what form it takes … etc. I loved vocal pedagogy … it explained singing on a deeper level.
exactly!! whenever im singing with my friends and im about to belt, they make fun of the way my lips move (lmao) but it helps me get each sound out correctly without sounding restricted
Strange..never heard Aretha Franklin Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston or Barbara Streisand say anything about making faces being the reason that they can sing. More like the hours of rehearsal and training being talked about here.
i highly agree , in my opinion in mainstream you see the same thing but underrated people are overlooked. that’s why when you find a good artist nowadays you gotta dig
Right. I can appreciate the work that went into this video, but I think he made it far too complicated. It should’ve just been “aesthetic and marketability has trumped anything else.” And when people aren’t demanding for better with these pop stars, they won’t get it.
The lack of music education in schools also means that audiences don’t have developed musical taste and tend to focus on appearance and sensually instead of musical talent or originality.
I disagree, most of the most game changing artist learned music on their own. There are still a lot of great vocalist, the problem is all they want to do is complain and play victim if they are female and do fake pandering simp songs if they are males. Content allowed Public Enemy, Krs, NWA, De la Soul and numerous hip hop to push traditional vocalist to the side.
That and they're looking for an entire package. Someone who can sing, dance and be beautiful all at the same time-- and not necessarily in that order. Instead of sing, write and compose.
The answer is those in charge of the major labels are not looking for exceptional talent. They are looking for trends, TikTok stars, people with a lot of followers.
I’d really like a video like this on male singers past vs. present, because I feel like this is even a bigger issue with the men. To the point where male singers in R&B are almost nonexistent because of it.
The bigger isssue is that those artists who CAN sing are overlooked for what the “industry” can make a quick buck off of. There are plenty of incredible singers just as there always have been, they just don’t get the credit or recognition because they’re not “main pop girls”. The industry doesn’t allow for the celebration of the next queens or kings of soul. They want the next “bop star”.
There are not as many great singers at all. Even opera singers nowadays are terrible. Most academic singing has become so disconnected from it's tradition it has become unbesrble. Don't get me started in modern jazz singers, they are provably the worst, worse than modern pop singers for sure.
Facts! I have some students in their teens that can belt out like Jennifer Holliday but would be considered “fat & ugly” by todays singer standards (words of the students themselves but I tell them every day how beautiful they are!) Back in the day, you may have not been as popular by aesthetics but you’d still get a record deal. Those particular students did grow up in the church, too.
@@ktnixon81 exactly! I’ve been told my entire professional career “you’re a fantastic singer! You’re just not ‘marketable’ for todays industry”. So tired of that…
@@AdaVox Well I just listened to your Bohemian Rapsody cover and you sound wonderful! I love your look, too. You’ve got a new subscriber right here! ❤️
Like Mariah Said on her masterclass, singers today are very diff compared to the older ones. Back then they need to know everything about the music industry and also practice to take control of your voice. Nowadays, when you go viral, producers will offer you a record deal and you’ll make tv appearances right away without requiring you to practice more so that you wont sound shit in tv.
@@Rakim8 shes 53, this isnt the butterfly era anymore, she aged girl. she aint gonna sound the same now like she did 20 years ago and she cant control that. like?? some of yall are CHOOSING to be ignorant.
@@remalies8309 The only ignorant one here honey lips, is you. Being 53 means diddly squat, her voice has deteriorated consistently since the late 90’s, which by my calculations put her at around 30-yrs old….well before what should have been her vocal prime. So go on with that bullshit. Compare her to singers well into their 30s and beyond who invested in their voice by taking care of it into their vocal prime and you’ll see your attempts to defend her are fruitless and your argument doesn’t stack up. So scoot.
a lot of singers can do that they just don't particularly enjoy that style. Britney Spears is a great example. Britney has a rich dynamic voice and can belt. People think she was forced into a softer style of singing to be more palatable which literally makes no sense since many of her contemporaries had huge voices, and she got famous for her ability to belt. Britney preferred dancing over over singing and uses singing as an accent to the performance. She chose to change her style as an artistic decision. People basically refuse to accept this and even her fans have all these ridiculous theories about how her real voice is being suppressed. LOL It's just part of the act she came up with. I think she finds standing around belting to be boring.
@theewildrose 😂😂😂"Britney" and "belt" should not be in the same sentence...unless you're describing those things she puts on and mistakenly calls skirt nowadays.
@@KaeMaidengo look up childhood videos of her singing and in singing competitions, younger than a teen and she was on par with Auguilera. It's surprising, i know? Can she do it nowadays though? That's a different question
Let's put the concepts of focus, patience, diligence, respect and hard work back into our personal lives which translates into the homes, communities and cultures of everybody, young and old to create not only performers but an educated and supportive audience. It's a multi-leveled phenomenon in which everybody has responsibility... and you can't expect someone else to do it for you. We don't need a hand out. We have hands. We just need the spirit to use them.
@@rembeadgc My tax dollars pay for public education. As a tax payer, I have the right to expect that the public education provided is of the quality and nature that best serves the children in my community. If art and music education provides kids with valuable skills and opportunities then I want it included in the public education I am paying for. Therefore, I'll be advocating for daily instruction with my local school board. It's not a handout. It's something that is paid for with my property and income taxes.
@@jaredsmith4964 Perhaps at the middle school and high school levels, but it's rarely available at the elementary school level in my community. Some schools may have 30 minutes a week of music education for elementary school students or art instruction but not both and not daily.
@@Net-hf7pt Great. You're right. That's exactly how it should happen, but if it doesn't (and in many cases...it ain't)...I don't advocate waiting for someone else to do with my money what they "ought to do" and it doesn't start with that anyway. Waiting for the government (local or federal) to do something that we ought to be personally and culturally facilitating is literally "passing the buck". As I mentioned earlier, it's something that should take place long before government (local or federal) gets involved. That's exactly why it's been lost. If you don't have the values to invest that wealth in your own self, household and community...what does that tell the people you give your tax dollars to? If you don't fight for that culture in your own neighborhood...then the protest in city hall is just virtue signaling or conscience placating. I'd like to believe that you, personally, are not guilty of any of that and that your tax dollars are simply to supplement your own personal efforts to build yourself, your loved ones and your community.
What I like about this is, he is not discrediting the new singers ability to sing, he is saying they aren't vocally and publicly trained like the legendary singers mentioned prior. Which is true!
I think it’s important, especially these days, to highlight the difference between a “singer” and a “vocalist”. The latter is unfortunately a dying breed
@@karolinadrabent2088its an eye-catching title thats meant to bring in attention, views. you being here right now means it worked. its the same thing they'll do with news articles
Whitney Houston’s mother sang background vocals on Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland. Whitney was in the studio too (she was a toddler). So, she was around greatness since a baby. Practicing, singing in church, etc.
Church was really where it was (especially if people didn’t have lessons elsewhere). I grew up hearing people in church that could blow anyone out the water. I think it also matters that these new girls have never had to sing a real ballad-that’s a different type of singing that requires a different kind of skill (in my opinion). You’re spot on-practice, discipline, development. Their voice was what they had to rely on.
There’s no training in the world better than the black American church. That classical training can fine tune but the black church is anointed in voice…ppl can try to imitate that black American sound but the trained ear can tell authenticity
People try to gas up current singers by claiming they are more raw and genuine. They don't realize their "rawness" is the exact reason why the girlies have busted vocal chords and want to quit the industry only a few years into mainstream success. Thank you for pointing that out!
@@mariahyohannes Not even considering nodes and throat cancers from lack of skill and technique and years of vocal injury due to LACK OF TECHNIQUE. Let’s stop excusing lack of technical skill and ability and lack of talent and using a toxic industry as the scapegoat. Two things can be true at once! The girls can be lacking AND the industry can be trash.
I never actually realized how important vocal training, dance classes, band classes, choirs, and etc were and how it impacted the music industry until now. Thank You ❤
FACTS! It makes all that complaining I did for band camp during hot summers, and chorus classes worth it. It was more so for the discipline and integrity needed for something like this. It's not just about talent, it's the workmanship behind it.
I’d also like to note that these young/new singers don’t have mentors anymore. I remember in the 90s Brandy and Monica were working with vets like Aretha and Whitney at such a young age. Tevin Campbell had Babyface, Quincy, and prince in his corner. You don’t see that anymore. It’s a lot of egos in this era.
PREACH! And these vets were also great songwriters and/or producers who had a vast array of topics to write songs about. Nowadays... everybody thinks sex is the only interesting thing to sing/record. Not even in creative ways. 😒
That prolly also explains why old school singers were actually exceptional singers. I mean, in a community where everybody is a singer, you have to have the star quality to stand above the rest.
@@bgcrp2005 Diana Ross is not big?? Lmao. Do you even know her? She is very big, trust me. Have you ever heard of a little band called The Supremes? 😆😆
Jazmine Sullivan is an example of a young singer who got the training from singing in church and school. Plus Missy revealed she had Jazmine sing on demos for other artists. Jazmine gives great emotive and dynamic performances every time due to all her training and preparation. It’s sad to feel like she’s the last of the Mohicans as old folks say. Note: The video focused on BOTH millennial (regardless of age) and Gen Z artists who didn’t get the extensive vocal performance training as their predecessors. Jazmine is a millennial per US Census. She is a rare exception within her generation so that is why I posted this comment because to me she proves the video’s point. This is Jazmine at 12 years old sanging in a church ruclips.net/video/xfImKVpmOfA/видео.html
FLO is a girl group from the UK who sing RNB - they’ve brought back 90s/2000s - they’ve just had an outstanding year releasing their first EP “The Lead”. They’re showcasing the vocals you are looking for!! They spent 1-2 years in artist development with artist and producer MNEK helping them. They’ve also been doing research because for their debut album they have been working on stamina and cardio (whilst singing), they’ve had dance lessons and the vocals… WOWWWW !!
You’ve raised some valid points. Practice makes perfect. I will even dare to say that the microwave culture of the music industry plays a factor as well. Back then, record labels would spend substantial amounts of money on artist development. Now, that budget is non-existent.
Even with music today, it isn’t good at all! The girls just love white mediocrity and it seems to be bleeding into other races that want to be pop stars. It’s sad. 😭
I think the story of Kate Bush is amazing, for example. She was discovered at 15 but they thought she should take time to perfect her art, and then she went through 5 years of not only musical education but also dance and theatre class.
The general public nowadays really be content with mumble rappers and whisper and avocado singers with no training. Why would a label put all this money in an artist nowadays if the people want mediocre singing and barely want to spend a cent because they can listen to their music for free on countless platforms? What annoys me the most is songs really be under a minute and a half nowadays, them microwave tunes be over before you can get into it 😭
@@lookhowshegobbledthat You made such a good point,also back in the day some of the greatest songs were just under 3 minutes, including intro, verse ,chorus, verse,bridge/ middle eight,chorus fade with great vocals,melody arrangements and musicianship.What happened... My opinion Technology!!!
LMAO I remember being in the car with my mom and a SZA song came on the radio and she starting doing her yodeling thing and mom just froze and said “this is y’all’s R&B?!” The way she said that with shock and disappointment will always stay with me 😩
He said the girls in MAINSTREAM MUSIC. Majority artists who aren’t mainstream are much better vocalist. Ari Lennox, Jazmine Sullivan(just now getting recognition), Tori Kelly, Chloe and Halle
We’ve seen the same thing in the Film Industry too. Stars back in the Classic and Golden eras of cinema were major investments for studios. Talent like Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor went to school together on the MGM lot from the time they were 13 and 10 years old, receiving all the training aspiring stars could possibly need. Even experienced adult performers who were acquired from the stage were put through training. For example, silent star Buster Keaton worked for MGM for years after his box office peak, they kept him around and put him to work training new stars in physical comedy. Imagine. Not throwing away talent when the wind changes, and actually investing in artists. What a world those greedy oligarchs have taken from us.
@@adah771 Sorry, the “Nepo Baby” thing ain’t new either, that’s been around since the very beginning of Hollywood as an institution. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were the King and Queen of Hollywood in the 20’s, and their son Douglas Fairbanks Jr, (who was briefly married to Joan Crawford), was also a big star. Lon Cheney’s son, Lon Cheney Jr, also inherited most of his father’s plum Horror roles in the 40’s, including The Wolfman, Frankenstein, and Dracula. This one stands as particularly egregious, because while Lon Cheney Sr was a great actor, Lon Cheney Jr is probably THE WORST major motion picture actor I’ve ever seen. As for the social media invasion of “stardom,” it’s important to remember that people felt the same way about the first generation of television stars. Their accessibility, the fact they appeared physically in your home, made them seem mundane and un-special compared to The Movie Star, who was elusive, whom you had to travel and pay a premium to experience. Again, I think the ultimate difference is the level of institutional support received by performers. There’s really nothing that distinguishes the pre-stardom experiences of people like Joan Crawford, (who made her living winning dance contests around Hollywood before breaking into movies), or even later Actresses/Sex Symbols like Raquel Welch or Sharon Tate, who broke in from the modelling world during the Magazine Era. Those later stars suffered because they did not have the institutional protections afforded to earlier generations of stars. No press apparatus to push studio-approved narrative fluff pieces, or keep bad stories out of print. No special projects designed to display particular skills or character traits. No sense of investment on part of the studio at all - when the Studio System collapsed at the end of the 60’s, performers were all made freelancers and basically became interchangeable cogs. That’s what led to the New Hollywood era of Directors as Stars, and led to the American auteur boom that gave us figures like Scorsese, Spielberg, De Palma, Malick, Bogdonavich, Lucas, and more. Anyway. If anyone is interested, I’d highly recommend Be Kind Rewind on RUclips, and Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This, for more on the history of the entertainment industry, and especially the evolution of the way performers were treated.
I completely agree. The old school girls have richer, more layered nuances to their voices. There’s a depth with the old school singers that the new ladies just don’t have. A lot of their voices seem flimsy where the old school voices sound powerful and competent.
I don't feel it has anything to do with practice, black women just "sang"...nothing to do with practice,... it's a cultural thing. Now black girls sing for the popular sound which makes money. Old schoolers are still out there but are not seen as popular by the industry.
When female vocalists came out in the 70's, 80's, and 90's, we were ACCUSTOMED to being AMAZED. Phyllis Hyman amazed us. Chaka amazed us. Whitney amazed us. Mariah amazed us. We adored Anita. We mourned Minnie. Sade entranced us with her cool style. Tina blew us away. Patti blew the doors off! Not ONE lady out now makes me even PAY ATTENTION. Things were so good that Coco from SWV and Monica were considered 'alright'. Really! If ANY of these ladies came out now, they would run CIRCLES around the new chicks. CIRCLES!
TOTALLY AGREE and these ladies were putting on whole shows in concert. They weren’t just standing there. To see TinaT’s farewell, Simply The Best, tour and she’s all over that stage at 70 or Patti doing her best Patti impersonation, they put on a _W H O L E_ full-body, action packed performance their _E N T I R E_ career. Careers spanning 40, 50, 60 years. Agreed
the best singer I know today is Tasha cobbs Who has vocals most good vocal singers are gosepel singers (which most people back in the day started out singing in church)
Yes because the industry has to pay for exceptional so why pay when they take non - singers with hardly any clothes on and create an illusion of talent and control the hole package .
well i wouldnt say “lower” i would just say the standards are DIFFERENT. The standard back then was a level of soul incorporated into the singing. And a LOT of singers today have that, however thats not what is favored by the masses. For example: If you took the song “Whats Going On” by Marvin Gaye and had him release this song today as if it had never been released prior. As if its a completely new song, sure maybe a few people would like it, but it would be nowhere near as popular as it was back then.
@@hansolomon6866 The direction of standards have changed ever since the late seventies into the eighties with MTV and the music became visual which is a distortion in what is real quality and not it's been a premeditated within the music industry to gain high profit and keep control it's really no longer about art.
Most r&b singers back in the day were raised up in the church, so they really sang with all their heart and soul. That’s how we got Whitney and Toni Braxton. Most R&B singers today don’t really vibe with the church, so there’s no heart and soul behind their talent. Also, there was no autotune back then. You really had to be a damn good singer, otherwise you’d spend hours re-recording vocals.
Let's be honest, segregation & racism forced blk artists to be 10x better than everyone else in order to be noticed by the masses. Blk tax was truly at play back then. Not so much anymore. There are much more blk record execs that sign pretty much anyone if she has a cute face.
The lack of "soul" doesn't come from not going to church. The soul you hear when you listen to gospel singers comes from an insane level of skill, discipline and practise. So yes, learning to sing gospel style and going to church regularly created the best environment for developing your voice in that way, but it's not because the singers were more "godly". They were just surrounded and trained by world class talent.
Plus, people aren’t throwing anybody on the stage. You’ve GOTTA sing 🎤 very well to be considered so that was a standard. From there, you might have transitioned to secular music.
people don't appreciate vocalists anymore. they call it "screaming" - no, honey, it's BELTING. twitter and "stan wars" have also had a huge impact on how people view artists.
I always tell people all the time to listen to smaller artists since they're always complaining about modern music being bad. 9 times out of 10, the artists that aren't in the mainstream are the ones with actual talent! But they don't get the recognition they deserve. They're kept in the shadows, and people don't listen.
They don't listen to me giving sage-like advice. It is usually, 'well, you are not open enough' or some bullcrap from the sheeple. Good grief!!! I prefer to keep to myself and share a few they might enjoy if possible.
@@Helaw0lf call this a tall order, but when you need to compete with the 70-99 vocal squad, just sounding nice ain't gonna cut it. You need to be really extraordinary, so cut us some slack.
Here’s one: NICHOLE BUS- she’s amazing! I listened to her song “You” and it’s really good 😊 after that I played her album called “You” and it wasn’t bad imo, you guys can probably give it a listen. TBH she’s so underrated 😢
When younger people listen to music nowadays, they want a "vibe" and not necessarily an exhibition of vocal talent. I think both moods are fine but it's true that some singers are going to run into problems if they don't learn how to sing properly.
That's true.. but the point is... The vibe singers should be able to switch it up and sing like the classics if they wanted to. Like Aaliyah. She was the definition of a vibe .. but listen to her singing Ave Maria as a child... She could switch it up and still provide the necessary vocals for her time. She also didn't have to sing super loud and powerful like say Whitney Houston.. she was more of a technical singer.
This is literally the effect of Madonna. She demonstrated the music industry, that u don't have to be a vocalist to become a successful female singer. She proved that if u have 10% of vocal abilities of an "ideal" singer, u can work on ur other features to gain that 90% value and become a 100% mega star. Madonna doesn't sing because of "singing", she does it as a job, to get fame, money and power, she only use it as a tool not a purpose. ( which i see absolutely nothing wrong with it personally) the problem with singers nowadays is, they are interested in getting rich rather than being a singer. 99 percent of these people wouldn't have sung a dmn word if they were already a billionaire by another job. It's 3 am and I'm too tired to explain more. Sry Ps: don't tell me Madonna has good songs! I know, I'm a fan! And not only her old songs are good, i think the newer ones are even better. Ps2: i thought we were talking about female singers! Did Beatles publish a sex book to gain a shock value? I don't think so. Also i believe this(what Madonna did) is an "old" phenomena considering we are in 2023 now and how far ago she did those things. Ps3: also sry for bad grammar
At the end of the day what matters is the music, not the talent. Madonna in her prime made good music. Its not like this is exactly a new phenomenom. None of the Beatles were particularly talented at their instruments, and in fact most of them were multiintrusmentalists so they never really specialised in one. What set them apart was their extraordinary songwriting ability. I don't see a problem if the final product is still great, regardless of how skilled the performers may be.
Please. Madonna made good pop music back then. Charisma, marketability and song writing talent is more important nowadays. Most vocalists back then cant write or compose their own songs. That's why Mariah was super rare even to this date. It's rare for a really good vocalist to be able to write their own music.
I disagree. I think with how accessible music has become for regular people with regular incomes, or the middle class - both listening to and singing and producing your own - many teens have acquired interest in music (self expression) and music career. Not everyone is chasing fame and money you know. An example of this is tge rise of young kid producers and self producers that you see so much, even yt has some of it. But with that accessibility where more people put out their stuff not everyone has equal talents and strength. So sometimes you get mediocre producers/writers/singers. In any case, it still cost money to afford all that and all that musical education, especially for people of lower class. Even middle class not everyone has their own money to invest to continue proper trainibg to get enough exp or their families are not pooling money for their kids to be learning things so either they do it on their own or they don't. I mean vocal lessons are not cheap.
Ehh Diana Ross wasn’t the strongest vocalist either but she was a pop icon. Madonna may not be the best vocalist but she is a great artist and set the bar on what it is to be the perfect popstar. I’d say things started changing when industry puppets (Paula Abdul, Britney Spears, J-Lo) proved you could be a horrible singer but still be a success. It was all downstream from there sadly
Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey all practised extensively until they mastered their craft at a young age. The same dedication is not seen in today's singers. They lived, eat, sleep and breathe their talent and became the epitome of their craft. These women studied their instrument and took the time to master their art. No one can come close to their iconic recordings.
I just watched a 85 year old Dame, Shirley Bassey belt out Diamonds Are Forever and her voice sounded the same as when she first performed the song 50 years ago! Today's singers sound like they just got out of bed. There's no dynamic range, and they stay in that "talking" range. There's a reason a lot of people revert to "old school music" (although I prefer to call it legacy music) because you feel you are still hearing value.
@@phyllispierce6146 I remember when she was on Masked Singer, she sounded phenomenal, I was so blown away that her voice still sounded so rich and expensive!lol
My theory is more simple: recording technology. Because of modern recording capabilities, people are not learning to project their voices the way they once previously HAD to. I was an all-state tuba player as a middle schooler, meaning I was pretty advanced for my age and had great tone and technical ability. However, until I got to HS and was forced to play louder WHILE maintaining my tone (HBCU style show marching band), I physically could not do it nor did I know I could. The new artists never had to learn how to sing over a 30+ person choir with minimal or no mic equipment. Artists COMPLETELY skip this portion of the development now because they can record their whisper voices in their bedroom at age 8.
It’s worse than this - singers are actively being taught that singing loud is BAD - that it is damaging to your voice. There’s a difference between screaming or “belting” and actually being able to naturally and effortlessly project any level of volume you like just like any other classical instrument. The irony is, by learning how to use your voice naturally and correctly this way, as all the great classic singers have, you actually end up ensuring your voice lasts well into your 70s and 80s. Why else do all these Gospel singers still have their voices? Why could older singers still sing well into old age? It’s more than just modern home recording equipment - it’s poor technique being taught by people who were taught by people who have no idea about the history of the voice.
i’ve talked about this SO MANY TIMES and no one seemed to understand, the thing i noticed was that todays singers do NOT know how to project their voices at all, yes they can do some pretty sounding runs and etc but their voices are just NOT amplified at all without a microphones help, it’s insane how literally the ONLY sound we have left to the old school are the vocalist that managed to sustain their voices and then some VERY few artist that have mastered not only hitting certain notes but have mastered the registers within their voices to amplify their range
@@mrclean2751 no that’s it, that’s why i said it, your point is something completely different but it’s still valid, my point was that VOCALLY it’s not the same and won’t be the same
We need candidates wanting to revive what was lost during the 70s/80s period going forward. I would reenact that act to get the shit off the radio/internet for real that turns a lot of us off on so-called new music. Yes! I do explore outside the charts globally, so I do not need to be told to keep looking. I found it internationally and non-english speaking/sung. :)
Ronald Reagan is where america really stopped working for the average man, became a corporation again like in the slavery era, and really took a dark turn into every major bad policy we see occurring today that's led by conservative politicians. That man was a quiet virus that destroyed America for the average and less privileged person.
I recently went to a Chaka Khan concert and was amazed (but not surprised) that she still has IT! She can still sing just as good and she’s in her 70s. I read somewhere that she practices her vocals 2 hours a day. Still putting in the work. 💪🗣🎶
This made me think of Jon Batiste's best album grammy speech when he mentioned that he sits down and practices every day, and that i's a spiritual practice. That really says a lot about that 'it' factor - it's a gift that needs to be appreciated and cared for every day. PS Chaka is a QUEEN! awesome you got to see her.
My mom literally had a whole conversation with her girlfriends about this and stated, “ the problem is these new girls don’t grow up in the church anymore”.
this is a good observation, but honestly I do think it's a good thing that religion isn't forced down children's throats as much. let them grow and make that decision for themselves
Artists today claim they love to sing but don't put the work in. JLO is a prime example of this. She has all the money and resources in the world yet sounds like a karaoke singer when she tries to sing live.
JLo was never a singer, she had her whole singing career carried because Mariah Carey’s ex wanted to fund competition against her. JLo had no passion for it, she goes out there and thinks she can sing because she has a huge ego lol, most people with her pipes would never.
I just don't think her talent is singing. She can put all the money and resources she wants in it, it's simply a God given gift. It doesn't matter how much I practice and train, I just don't have the voice as much as I would love to, lol
This video really only showcases the “powerhouse” singers. Overall, sound has changed and music has changed so sonically. We definitely still have those powerhouse singers who can wail on a note no problem (Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Kelly Clarkson, All of Destiny’s Child, Brandy, etc.) but the market isn’t set up for that sound anymore. Not to say that some of these new singers couldn’t do it but it’s not the sound anymore. Check out Normani, for example, when she started she went for the strong vocal approach and she wasn’t bad at it. It needed coaching and hours but she definitely would have got there. Now even though she possessed the underlying talent for it, it didn’t matter because sonically people don’t care about that anymore. I was gospel trained at a young age and found that though I love my gospel sounding voice…it has boxed me into a category where it’s hard to branch from. I do believe that the church played a heavy part in music but being that the churches influence has faded over the years it’s not as much of a tool as it used to be. I think your video makes a lot of great points in “what used to be” but I would be more impressed to see you do a part 2 of “how we got here”. We never want to discredit the work of an artist because it’s their artistic vision. Some of us are going to love it and some of us are going to wish we heard something different.
Agreed. If the standard is mid-20th century gospel-influenced then of course other generations are going to fall short by that standard. Styles change, culture changes, music changes. Sugarhill Gang changed music and I'm guessing they did not put in their "10,000 hours". LOL.
I love this comment and agree 100%. Not everyone wants the loud screaming vocals but still you can be powerful without but the singers tone, vocals are cheap thrills and not trained. As long as they are popular they don't want to challenge themselves.
100% agree! This sounds like a “Where’s the Powerhouses?” And kinda ignores the current singers skills because just because someone got popular for a certain style of singing doesn’t mean that’s the limitation of their abilities
Agreed. This video makes it seem like there were no "chipmunk" sounding singers back in the day. That every one was a powerhouse vocalist. And that simply was not the case. You definitely had your Rihanna's and your Normani's even back then.
Love this video! Basically sums up how I feel about today's current R&B/Pop singers. I also would add that the explosion of hip hop definitely has impacted why we don't see mainstream vocalists anymore. The hip hip/R&B enmeshment has led to the popularity of rap-singing which for the most part takes very little vocal ability.
@@jvnemesisedenia5206 Beyonce didn't come on the scene rap-singing. She's rap-singing because unfortunately the industry has evolved, along with the style and substance of music. So she's hopping on that trend to gain Gen-Z fans. But for the rest of us 30 and over, we all know Beyonce is a skilled vocalist who's been singing for years, starting out with Destiny's Child. And she comes from an era (among her contemporaries Brandy, Monica, Alicia Keys....etc) where there was no auto tune or social media to help you get ahead. You had to be able to have an exceptional singing voice as well as being a performer and having star quality.
This right here!!! Hip hop has changed rnb so much that rnb singers don’t even need to sing anymore. I really miss the voices - imo Jazmine Sullivan is the only one giving what we used to get
the dedication on searching up all those clips from different sources show the care put into this essay, thank you for the contributions you're doing for everyone!
90% of the female mainstream singers these days sound exactly like Jhene Aiko and the males sound like Future. They’re just clones. They have zero technical skills. Back in the 80’s and 90’s there was so much originality and different layers in voices. Now, everyone is just “rap-singing”. What happened?
Most of the best musicians and singers first trained in the church; others were mentored by someone who grew up singing in the church. In such settings, you learn to harmonize, keep timing, modulate, play with notes to create colorful chords while singing, layer vocals, etc. and you have to do so on the spot. No rehearsals. Every time you open your mouth or play an instrument, you are doing it “for real,” in retrospect you realize that it was practice. That mindset of coming correct every time makes you hone your craft with great finesse. Singers: Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, James Brown, Brandy, Jennifer Hudson, Jazmine Sullivan, etc. Musicians: Cory Henry, Glenn Gibson Jr., Jabari Johnson, etc. The evidence is undeniable.
@@SteadyNUnremitting but the greatest singers was from church like they said so church obviously trains your voice from a young age from being in the choir and ain’t nothing wrong with that
@ SteadyNUnremitting Nobody is saying church is the only path but you can't deny that the whole 'soul/blues' sound literally came from black American churches, that's music and culture facts no matter what you believe in.
How many young artists really come from the church anymore? Seriously, when they interview I don't hear them mention this as their foundation. Something is definitely missing.
That's because mediocrity is being celebrated now. Even less than mediocrity is celebrated. Everyone can be a star now. You don't have to have a lot of talent or try that hard. It's a race to the bottom. Social media has also made people with no talent feel like they have it.
When I say everyone can be a star now I mean that is the mindset or narrative that is being pushed. Even though most people dont believe that. We are in the era of dont hurt anyone's feelings and believe your great even if you're not that great. It's good to like yourself so you have a healthy view of yourself, but not to the extent where you cant accurately assess what is real.
@Jabari Johnson The point they’re making is that instead of saying something like “we should be nicer to ugly people” we lie and say “everyone is beautiful” in some abstract, vague way that they know isn’t true.
What I find funny is that when you watch American Idol audition from the early 2000s, most of the contestants who were considered "Bad singers" sing better than most mainstream artists today who are considered to be good singers lol
@@turquoise8603 omg yes and why songs today are about 2 and half minutes long...and the worst part is that when I start to feel it in...it's OVER LOL. Like where is the 3rd verse tht leads to the bridge, where is the climax where it all comes together...climax I mean not a belting note, or notes...just a wholesome togetherness at the end where you finally sing out loud with the singer...in the car...perfect examples...MARIAH CAREY, WHITNEY HOUSTON, CELINE DION...THE VOCAL TRINITY...and many others of course I love...and even rb chick's from back in the day had vocals...SWV, ADINA HOWARD, XSCAPE, MONICA, ETC. And my personal fave...TONI BRAXTON...there's no comparison If these new girls were given the proper training and support to put out what they really wanted to showcase, they would be amazing...But as long the industry keeps them cookie cutter and basic...that's all they will put out until they are brave enough to step out of that and become their true authentic selves
Also, there's another difference. Today's singers think a gorgeous face, a sexy body, overtly sexual outfits, and a sexual stage presentation will mask their lack of true singing ability and lack of proper vocal preparedness.
Having a gorgeous face, sexy body, sexy outfits and sexual dance routines are okay too, but take away those things and give them a piano and a microphone and they ain’t s**t. .
Great history about how music in schools was real! I was in grade school in 70's to 1980.I can play flute, clarinet and alto saxophone ! All learned in school! I sang alto i. the 7th grade chorus but went back to the band by spring for the spring concert.I can still read music till today
Record labels are losing more money overtime by not getting talented artists and developing them. Taking average artists from Instagram and then replacing them every 2-3 years is going to cost a lot of money in the end. It’s better to have 5 exceptional artists to uphold the industry for 10+ years than 15 half assed artists that need to continually be replaced. I understand labels aren’t making much money because of streams but they can take the money that they do have and put it to use in the right way.
🎯🎯🎯I don’t understand why they don’t want to invest in an artist with true talent if they’ll make more money in the long run. Isn’t that the point? 🤷🏽♂️
@@harlemw651 Some people are so greedy that they get short term gains that pale in comparison to what they'd get in the long term, they love money more than anything but they still can't find they best way to get it. Ironic isn't it?
Talent doesn’t sale, so how they gone get money? Y’all barley make them money with “talent”. When will y’all realize we just don’t wanna see singers, hmm?
It's important to note that this didn't just happen yesterday. When I was a teenager in the 2000s I started to notice a trend of the popular new artists not sounding like their predecessors. Artists like Rihanna, Ciara, & Chris Brown all had bops, but their vocals left a lot to be desired. It was a little annoying back then but they were still eons better than the singers that are out today and at least they all had their own distinct sound. Today's singers are just intolerable and they all sound like the same 2 people. I miss the days when you would hear a song for the first time and you knew exactly who was singing it.
My absolute favorite live performance of Rihanna EVER. That show cases what an amazing vocalist she is, is her 2016 MTV VMAS performance of Stay / Diamond / Love on The Brain
@@vernonhampton5863 Daniel Ceaser, Frank Ocean, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Khalid, Raury, Pink Sweats Chris Brown, 6lack, Ty Dolla Sign, Bryson Tiller, Jacquees, Eric Bellinger. These are just people in my playlist. Im sure there are more that I don’t personally listen to, but there IS a need to speak up on a lot of male artists as well. Female artists have been dragged the past couple years left and right meanwhile rap music and r&b has plummeted amongst male artists as well. Some of them don’t even make original songs, a lot of male singers now a days lack the same power and originality and some only sing covers their entire singing career…
I'm sorry the transition from Jennifer Holiday to SZA had me ROTFL 😂😂. You ain't shit for that 😂. But the video is spot on. The standard of singing has been lowered. That's why we have all these mediocre girls not putting in the work vocally
Yep. I can't watch the Grammy's anymore. It's shocking how bad the singing is. Also those institutions, church and school, would eliminate a lot "singers" that couldn't sing.
Or push them to do much better. Elvis Presley's eighth grade music teacher told him he had no aptitude for singing. I can't imagine how much hard work he put in after that reality check.
@@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024 I agree that, artistically, Elvis was a moocher. However, for a dirt poor teenager who could not sing at all to become that successful as a singer later in life, he definitely worked hard on his ear and technique.
One important thing the video touches on briefly is the fact that digital music has almost completely dried up the many small streams of income a musician could at one time turn into a career, or at least a second job. Nowadays a performer can't even sell CDs or taped recordings of his own music, since no one listens to music via those media anymore.
I went to a Patti LaBelle concert where she walked around the stage belting to the heavens without the aid of microphone. She filled the whole place with pure vocal power. This new generation could never in their lives....smh
Let's address the elephant in the room. In those days, they picked singers based off of talent mostly. Now they pick people off of looks mostly. No record exec now a days would give Patti Labelle a second look no matter what was coming out of her mouth. Plus, us Black Americans don't buy most records, most people want to sing along with their favorite songs. People can't sing along with Whitney Houston or Ronald Isley. That's why they took the soul out of RNB songs.
But in reality, there are a lot of 20-something year olds with amazing voices out there today. Watch any musical talent show (like the Terrell Show) and you'll see dozens of them. However, it takes more than a big voice to make it in the music industry, especially nowadays. You've gotta have good visual presentation, social media presence, and a good team behind you. All of these aspects require hard work and practice too. Many people can sing but it takes much more to be a star.
@@gbbs9 Sure! Fujii Kaze, Utada Hikaru, Mika Nakashima, Park Hyo Shin, Aimer, Moses Sumney, Exile Tribe and LDH Artists from Japan (has various sub-units. Non-hiphop geared songs really showcase vocals), DEAN, and Bradio. I would also recommend the RUclips page "The First Take" which showcases live top Japanese talents and "Colors" who showcases some live underground artists (You can find some hidden gems in there.)
That’s because she was BIG she was able to produce that big solid mature sound we hear in 50 yearold woman in church , she had a very strong support system
I sung in school and choir as a baritone. My voice didnt get loud and project until i went to navy bootcamp and had to be hear for a few hundred feet over other AROCs singing candence.
a huge issue is the fact that the music industry, for years now, value image/marketability-aka someone young and traditionally good looking who they can sell like a product-over talent. As long as you can be sold you don’t have to have any vocal or performing talent. There is audio tune. Studio magic. You can lip sync your performances or perform to a vocal backing track. Or just steal other peoples voice altogether and be uber successful with it-JLo i’m looking at you. At one point to be successful as a singer you had to be able to SING. At some point all the tricks and cheats that enabled labels to skirt around this issue came into play and they haven’t looked back since. Labels don’t care if a singer has chops. Are they hot? Can they grow a fanbase? Can they sell a perfume? Can they rock a bikini in a music video? that’s about it. it’s sad. I mean look at some of the pop stars from decades ago. pre mtv, a lot were in their 30s and up, weren’t necessarily hot, but they had talent. as soon as mtv took over the industry changed forever and it became about the visual. youth and beauty.
@@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024 what tf does the commodification of singers have to do with misogyny? this affect both male and female acts. There are plenty of male pop stars/singers over the years who have had little talent, or not a strong voice, but have had the right image and were packaged up and sold to the public.
That is also because more kids these days can listen to whatever they want. First it was portable radio, than boombox, then walkman, iPod. Now it is hard to imagine kid without a phone. That changes a lot.
As someone who has been classically trained for 10 years, the training really teaches you how to properly use your vocal chords, both healthy and professionally. As well as giving you a base to build your own style of singing. Nowadays singers just go with whatever first comes out of their mouth, as most don't want to bother pitting the effort in.
I think the point rly is about access to learning environments, and the impact that funding in arts and education can have on a nation's culture and self-expression
I do believe some people are just born with it. BUT we tend to forget that you can become skilled, or at least very good, at almost anything with the right discipline and practice. And it's never too late either - we have a tendency to think that we have to start from young to be good at something. People start learning new things in their 20s, 30s and beyond. So go take those sewing, writing, music, language, etc classes. Don't let anything stop you.
If you can't sing, no one is going to be able to teach you how to be a great singer! They can teach you how to mimic and that is what you have today with Black Americans substitutes!
My biggest issue now is the lack of consistency. My old violin teacher used to say 'the best are those who do it consistently' so I aimed to always be on tune whenever I picked up the violin. As someone who goes to see singers live, the amount of them that are consistent is very, very low.
@@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024 Chill down, its a comment section. No body cares unless they are preaching what you want them to preach. The comment isnt negative/hateful or anything but you choose to leave a bad comment adding NOTHING to it.
I mean, yeah your teacher is right, but you also have to grow to keep on top of music. Even justin bieber and ed sheeran had some characteristic growth to keep bringing new songs to the table and stay on top of the industry. You cant be doing the same sound, with same tone of lyrics, and the same musical feeling, if you know what i mean. And to keep fans you need to change but keeping your roots. Its a very hard thing, because even the best fall off at times and change things that disapointed many people.
I remember trying to be like the 'greats' so much when I was younger only to soon realize that it wasn't valued anymore (in a mainstream fashion outside of church music, per my own experience and perception of others opinions). I began to notice how heavily our music depended on layering and tuning to create a full voice and it made me feel some type of way. I don't find value in live concerts anymore because I'd rather hear the studio version than an artist failing to capture that same vocal dexterity on stage - even with the tuned mics. Being in choir really put into perspective how these people 'can't sing'. So, I'm excited to watch this video!
Vocal talent comes in different forms: Aretha Franklin (Chaka Chan, Whitney, etc...was/were given a "gift(s)." Other singers have a talent. Aretha was smart enough to utilize the services of people trained to enhance and grow her gift. If you have a "talent" you have to work really hard to elevate your talent to the level where you can execute it at the professional level. You also have to listen to the greats and find people whose advice you trust so that you can grow your talent.
@@Carlyon100 Not true, there are singers who are natural born talents (gifted) and then you have singers who are talented and they learn to do things that gifted singers do/have naturally.
I absolutely agree with you 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽! I am a vocal coach and my young students do not like to practice, do exercises or warm-ups. They just want to learn a song and go onstage and sing. It is very frustrating! Then they wonder why their range and power is limited.
I was like that at 12, lol. Once I hit 15 I matured and understood you got to put in your 10,000 hours. Kids love the idea of being adored stars, not the hard reality of success which takes a lot of work and sacrifice.
Took the words right out of my mouth. I’ve always said the best signers come from church. I grew up in church you’re constantly being trained and don’t even realize it. A lot of the newer singers didn’t grow up in church and you can tell because they aren’t that great live.
I've been single since I was 5 years old. I've never been in a church choir or took lessons. My training came from listening to my favorite songs on records and albums , which of course are not made anymore. I practiced and sing for countless hours everyday. Different styles of vocals and sometimes playing and singing songs over and over. It takes extreme dedication and also you have to love what you are doing. My opinion is today , they're taking shortcuts and there is no great abundance of of talented singers to listen and practice to .
Exactly! As an example: Dione Warwick worked as a Demo recording singer to pay her College, and it was in a Demo session she would meet Burt Bacharach and begin their legendary recording history.
That's why I loved Durand Bernard's recent NPR performance. He was able to showcase his voice with various genres, while dancing and being entertaining. But the hours of practice is there and it shows. He started out singing covers on here, he also sung background. His voice is phenomenal
Ahh I wish I had a better way of explain but I cant stand his voice, its everything. What he is able to do with his voice is not of this planet. Leveled is my favourite song from him. Just ahh!
Anytime there’s an openly gay black male artist; he has to act like a stereotypical clown to get attention and awards. I’m happy Durand is booked and busy because of his talent.
The only new mainstream artists that I know that can sing is Chloe and Halle, Chloe’s music doesn’t highlight her vocals but she can sing. Halle’s voice is a little more soft but I love it. I just feel like my generation (gen z) just thinks all singers have a natural singing voice, and I feel like it causes artists who are good singers to not progress and practice even if they’re just okay at singing. Because honestly anyone can sing, but it’s up to the person to put in the work, but it’s increasingly becoming easier to break into mainstream, so singers just don’t feel the need to. Edit: After seeing who won The voice and American idol, I’m also starting to realize how people nowadays prefer relatability than they do vocal ability. I remember seeing a lot of the comments on the other contestants, specifically those who had more of a powerhouse voice, saying they were almost too perfect.
@@helenaveiga46 i think they're about the newer gen z artists bruno has been around since the 00's and beyoncé since the late 90's so they've around for a minute. the new gen artists are ones lacking as of rn.
Tbh all types of singing is necessary. Just because the new girls doesn’t belt doesn’t mean that they can’t sing. We can have all of it. I don’t think it’s fair nor is it right to say that everybody has to belt to be considered a “singer” you don’t have to belt all of the time. That means nothing. What matters is the music. Are the lyrics painting a picture? Are they telling a story? That’s what matters
I've had the same thoughts about male singers and actually thought about it heavily a few days ago when I was listening to Con Funk Shun. There doesn't seem to be many voices like Luther, Teddy, Dennis Edward's, etc. Everybody's voices just seem so "light" and "soft" now and there's no emotion or storytelling. Great video. I think it sums everything up very well.
There is also a shift in singing pedagogy. There are many reasons for it though. The invention of artificial amplification was one of the factors that allowed for less developed voice to be heard. The other was the development of a cheat technique that didn't require that much time to achieve it but was not as efficient which is the placement concept and all the technique aspects related to it: twang, nasal resonance, singing in the mask... Opera has been very much affected, and the rest of the singing too. Modern opera singers sing with a nasal, constricted and too light of a sound that doesn't carry in an opera house. For the other part there are those who try to make their voice big, like they were in the past without knowing how to do so, because the tradition has been lost, and we end up with parodies of operstic singing; singerd with voce ingolata, a wobbly vibratto and trying to fake chestvoice through constriction.
Today's artists do not aspire to be great vocalists because it’s no longer required to achieve success, plain and simple... it has nothing to do with the amount of practice.
Also, the new girls realize that record labels are running a racquet. Exploiting them by first, completely ignoring artist development and then second, paying .06 cent per stream instead of dollars for real album sales like many of the greats had when they came up. The internet has schooled many new artists; they are no longer willing to bust their a** with no development for only a fraction of the profits. These girls have been taught to come up quick, make your check and dip--it's not about art anymore.
It truly is practice. A lot of my favorites (Nicole Wray, Coko of SWV, Tweet, Gina Thompson, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Mo & of course The Voice that is Whitney Houston) all had their early development in church choir singing. Practicing at a young age will do magic, I just hate that today that style of singing is overlooked because it’s deemed too “extra” or “over-the-top”.
@@Kcs.Vocals No vocals can be too extra but still be considered good to many. Any singer trying to prove themselves every second of the performance and belching every time they get a chance should be labeled as bad singer. But its okay. They can learn techniques and shit
And gospel music is by virtue emotive and dynamic, at least in southern gospel. Church singers come out of church knowing how to perform and sell the message of the song.
Wow Thank you for this video. I was having this convo with my nephew who is in his mid 20s over the holidays. He asked me "why do the older generations think his generation has no talent". I tried to explain it to him, but now I have a video that perfectly explains why people feel that way. As you said its not because of the lack of talent, but, it's because todays artists haven't been properly developed as singers & artists.
This video helped me release frustration about where music is today. I literally have no desire to sing newer artists music because it lacks the richness & feeling of artists my parents played, while I grew up in the 90’s. The new scene of music had begun to steal my dream, I often don’t understand why more artists aren’t like Coko of SWV. She’s honest & outspoken about her likes & dislikes of the guy’s & girlies of the newer generation musically. It’s always been my dream to meet the many greats before my existence because of how inspirational they are to me. I’m hopeful music will return to powerful vocals. Especially now, that a lot of the darkness of the music business & it’s long time predators are being exposed.
I recently watched the BET 2022 awards, and while watching it the topic of this video kept echoing in my mind. It is so evident that the present day "singers" are vocally lacking, and these subpar singers are rewarded with thunderous applause from the audience. Leaving me bewildered and perplexed. " are they listening?" Or are they beguiled by these " singers"? I believe the latter.
@@cslworldwide Exactly. These girls might no be 'there' vocally, but they're out here creating visuals, dancjng their asses off. I also think that we have to take into consideration how genres and thier vocal aesthetics have changed. There's also a whole important transitional period in black music in the late 90s to early 2010s that he completely missed out, it all didn't happen over night.
@@Neighbourhooddegenerate agreed…people always wanna tear down women but don’t acknowledge the fact that every man on the radio sounds the same rn 🥱 at least the women are artistically creative
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What happened to the ILoveArethaFranklin channel? She did this same video? But thanks for uploading this since that’s not there anymore.
Just wait on me , cause I’m coming and when I do …You’ll be pleased 💕
Is this a re-upload?
Yo my manz I just telling my Dawgs that 4 a while there is no more one mic enter's they all have to have distractions or something else going on too take away from the creative 💯
MARIAH CAREY AMY WINEHOUSE DEMI LOVATO WILLIE JONES AND FRANK SINATRA WERE EXAMPLES OF GREAT SINGERS
To be clear, there ARE singers like this now. The question of whether they get the same opportunities as they would before is a different story.
There are singers like this that do have those hours today. But half of them are not working all the way around training in many areas. Some are looking for the faster way In doing media covers and music competitions to get ahead or for faster recognition and then some are also changing their technique from what they were taught to be more common and new.
Exactly, it’s just that these record labels don’t what to push real singers because that’s not popular right now.
Please give me some names, I need some new artists to listen to 🙏🏿
EDIT: DAMN, ya'll are really coming thru with these recommendations, thank you!!!
smh. People making pointless excuses is why things keep declining. There's way more opportunities now than there was in the past.
@@yaggayaggaya9918 I like watching the Terrell show for that
Here's the difference (as a vocalist and old school belter): Old school singers sang live, in front of an audience - from the beginning. They joined bands and had to develop their voices to project louder than the band and to be heard in venues. They strengthened their voices and developed their styles this way, singing loud. Today's vocalists have their own small recording studios, and sing way softer. It used to be that going into a studio to record was done after you had more experience doing your thing live. I had my own small studio in the late 90s and recording myself really changed the way I sang.
I hear what you're saying, but once you had your voice chops,the freedom to explore quieter dynamics in your little studio must have been fun,no?
This.
So what are Sade and Prince?
Neither have a big voice and are from old skool times
this was an very interesting and intelligent answer, thank you!
Facts live performance is the bread and butter of entertainment.
And people think the “funny faces” are just silly but them faces help you get your sound out! They determine how the note comes out, how it sounds, what form it takes … etc. I loved vocal pedagogy … it explained singing on a deeper level.
Great point! Rachelle Ferrell is the embodiment of this.
exactly!! whenever im singing with my friends and im about to belt, they make fun of the way my lips move (lmao) but it helps me get each sound out correctly without sounding restricted
very well said
@HEЯOINE what band is that
Strange..never heard Aretha Franklin Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston or Barbara Streisand say anything about making faces being the reason that they can sing. More like the hours of rehearsal and training being talked about here.
It’s not about talent anymore. It’s about fame, clout, and shock value.
💯
You’re not wrong
It’s not about screaming and yelling anymore. It’s about tone
@@notknown6605 all the girls had tone back then. thing is, tone is not the only thing they had unlike most "talents" today
yup
Great artists still exist, they’re just overlooked by the mainstream machine.
i highly agree , in my opinion in mainstream you see the same thing but underrated people are overlooked. that’s why when you find a good artist nowadays you gotta dig
Yep, tons of them. Just have to look.
Like Chloe and Halle
Yeah. What a shame.
Right. I can appreciate the work that went into this video, but I think he made it far too complicated. It should’ve just been “aesthetic and marketability has trumped anything else.” And when people aren’t demanding for better with these pop stars, they won’t get it.
The lack of music education in schools also means that audiences don’t have developed musical taste and tend to focus on appearance and sensually instead of musical talent or originality.
This too👏🏾
I don’t agree. What school music problem did Micheal Jackson have?
@@monalisa9636 I don’t think you read to comprehend OP’s point. Read it again.
SAY IT LOUDER!!!!
I disagree, most of the most game changing artist learned music on their own. There are still a lot of great vocalist, the problem is all they want to do is complain and play victim if they are female and do fake pandering simp songs if they are males. Content allowed Public Enemy, Krs, NWA, De la Soul and numerous hip hop to push traditional vocalist to the side.
nowadays vocal talent isn’t the priority, it’s all about branding and how well you’ll be able to sell music by trending and creating catchy hooks
That and they're looking for an entire package. Someone who can sing, dance and be beautiful all at the same time-- and not necessarily in that order. Instead of sing, write and compose.
That's the doing of the good ole label
Nowadays? It's been like that for at least 2 decades
@@blackpalacemusic yea but it’s more apparent now.
and image/looks
The answer is those in charge of the major labels are not looking for exceptional talent. They are looking for trends, TikTok stars, people with a lot of followers.
I’d really like a video like this on male singers past vs. present, because I feel like this is even a bigger issue with the men. To the point where male singers in R&B are almost nonexistent because of it.
I totally agree with this. I'd love to see a male version of this video
Raheem Devaughn is being slept on right now
YESSS PLS! Who’s having that conversation?!
Right. People are quick to dump on female musical artists but the status of male artistry ain't no better, especially rap.
Also male groups.
The bigger isssue is that those artists who CAN sing are overlooked for what the “industry” can make a quick buck off of. There are plenty of incredible singers just as there always have been, they just don’t get the credit or recognition because they’re not “main pop girls”.
The industry doesn’t allow for the celebration of the next queens or kings of soul. They want the next “bop star”.
There are not as many great singers at all. Even opera singers nowadays are terrible. Most academic singing has become so disconnected from it's tradition it has become unbesrble. Don't get me started in modern jazz singers, they are provably the worst, worse than modern pop singers for sure.
Facts! I have some students in their teens that can belt out like Jennifer Holliday but would be considered “fat & ugly” by todays singer standards (words of the students themselves but I tell them every day how beautiful they are!) Back in the day, you may have not been as popular by aesthetics but you’d still get a record deal. Those particular students did grow up in the church, too.
@@ktnixon81 exactly! I’ve been told my entire professional career “you’re a fantastic singer! You’re just not ‘marketable’ for todays industry”.
So tired of that…
@@AdaVox Well I just listened to your Bohemian Rapsody cover and you sound wonderful! I love your look, too. You’ve got a new subscriber right here! ❤️
@@ktnixon81 thanks so much, Kimmy ✨✨✨
Feel free to look up my performances on “queen of the Universe” as well! ♥️♥️
Like Mariah Said on her masterclass, singers today are very diff compared to the older ones. Back then they need to know everything about the music industry and also practice to take control of your voice. Nowadays, when you go viral, producers will offer you a record deal and you’ll make tv appearances right away without requiring you to practice more so that you wont sound shit in tv.
I agree 100%.
Valid points, although ironic for Mariah to point out the importance of taking care of your voice when she didn’t do that with hers.
@@Rakim8 shes 53, this isnt the butterfly era anymore, she aged girl. she aint gonna sound the same now like she did 20 years ago and she cant control that. like?? some of yall are CHOOSING to be ignorant.
@@remalies8309 The only ignorant one here honey lips, is you. Being 53 means diddly squat, her voice has deteriorated consistently since the late 90’s, which by my calculations put her at around 30-yrs old….well before what should have been her vocal prime. So go on with that bullshit. Compare her to singers well into their 30s and beyond who invested in their voice by taking care of it into their vocal prime and you’ll see your attempts to defend her are fruitless and your argument doesn’t stack up. So scoot.
@@Rakim8 she was born with nodules so preserving her voice is harder than you may think. she's never had them removed
I think Jessie Jay is so underrated!!! She can belt yet no one gives the props.
There are literally so many singers that can belt and fill up a room vocally. Folks just have a small ass view of their actual world.
a lot of singers can do that they just don't particularly enjoy that style. Britney Spears is a great example. Britney has a rich dynamic voice and can belt. People think she was forced into a softer style of singing to be more palatable which literally makes no sense since many of her contemporaries had huge voices, and she got famous for her ability to belt. Britney preferred dancing over over singing and uses singing as an accent to the performance. She chose to change her style as an artistic decision. People basically refuse to accept this and even her fans have all these ridiculous theories about how her real voice is being suppressed. LOL It's just part of the act she came up with. I think she finds standing around belting to be boring.
@theewildrose 😂😂😂"Britney" and "belt" should not be in the same sentence...unless you're describing those things she puts on and mistakenly calls skirt nowadays.
@@KaeMaidengo look up childhood videos of her singing and in singing competitions, younger than a teen and she was on par with Auguilera. It's surprising, i know?
Can she do it nowadays though? That's a different question
@@KaeMaiden I'm not gonna argue with your ignorance
Let’s put music and art back in schools everyday.
They are in schools it’s just typically extracurricular
Let's put the concepts of focus, patience, diligence, respect and hard work back into our personal lives which translates into the homes, communities and cultures of everybody, young and old to create not only performers but an educated and supportive audience. It's a multi-leveled phenomenon in which everybody has responsibility... and you can't expect someone else to do it for you. We don't need a hand out. We have hands. We just need the spirit to use them.
@@rembeadgc My tax dollars pay for public education. As a tax payer, I have the right to expect that the public education provided is of the quality and nature that best serves the children in my community. If art and music education provides kids with valuable skills and opportunities then I want it included in the public education I am paying for. Therefore, I'll be advocating for daily instruction with my local school board. It's not a handout. It's something that is paid for with my property and income taxes.
@@jaredsmith4964 Perhaps at the middle school and high school levels, but it's rarely available at the elementary school level in my community. Some schools may have 30 minutes a week of music education for elementary school students or art instruction but not both and not daily.
@@Net-hf7pt Great. You're right. That's exactly how it should happen, but if it doesn't (and in many cases...it ain't)...I don't advocate waiting for someone else to do with my money what they "ought to do" and it doesn't start with that anyway. Waiting for the government (local or federal) to do something that we ought to be personally and culturally facilitating is literally "passing the buck". As I mentioned earlier, it's something that should take place long before government (local or federal) gets involved. That's exactly why it's been lost. If you don't have the values to invest that wealth in your own self, household and community...what does that tell the people you give your tax dollars to? If you don't fight for that culture in your own neighborhood...then the protest in city hall is just virtue signaling or conscience placating. I'd like to believe that you, personally, are not guilty of any of that and that your tax dollars are simply to supplement your own personal efforts to build yourself, your loved ones and your community.
What I like about this is, he is not discrediting the new singers ability to sing, he is saying they aren't vocally and publicly trained like the legendary singers mentioned prior. Which is true!
I think it’s important, especially these days, to highlight the difference between a “singer” and a “vocalist”. The latter is unfortunately a dying breed
The musical content is also highly lacking. For example WAP WAP WAP.
how is a title "Why the new girls can't sing" not discrediting the new singers?
@@karolinadrabent2088its an eye-catching title thats meant to bring in attention, views. you being here right now means it worked. its the same thing they'll do with news articles
There's Also the question of If modern artists even need or are interested in this type of training, pretty sure the audience os fine with both styles
Whitney Houston’s mother sang background vocals on Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland. Whitney was in the studio too (she was a toddler). So, she was around greatness since a baby. Practicing, singing in church, etc.
Elvis too.
Don’t forget she was background for Aretha too.
Chaka Too
She also sang the background high notes on Aretha’s Ain’t No Way. Those high notes were an instrument in and of themselves.
The same with Beyoncé. Worked her ass off to get to the point where she can give two fucks how her music performs on the charts.
"The girls just aren't getting their hours anymore" 😂
Facts… ya girl at :39 is holding the mic like a rapper and sounds terrible/ like she has Down syndrome.
Church was really where it was (especially if people didn’t have lessons elsewhere). I grew up hearing people in church that could blow anyone out the water. I think it also matters that these new girls have never had to sing a real ballad-that’s a different type of singing that requires a different kind of skill (in my opinion).
You’re spot on-practice, discipline, development. Their voice was what they had to rely on.
Church also taught stage presence.
All the great voices came out of church, Aretha, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, etc. and even John Coltrane on tenor sax. Singing unamplified.
That part. A person who was vocally trained through Church are hands down the best singers.
Yessss. I grew up singing in the church (still do) and it’s so much talent up in there.
There’s no training in the world better than the black American church. That classical training can fine tune but the black church is anointed in voice…ppl can try to imitate that black American sound but the trained ear can tell authenticity
People try to gas up current singers by claiming they are more raw and genuine. They don't realize their "rawness" is the exact reason why the girlies have busted vocal chords and want to quit the industry only a few years into mainstream success. Thank you for pointing that out!
All of this! 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
and what about it? It's time to admit that the music biz is very dangeros and toxic. You should make your coin and move on after a few years.
@@ungoliver THIS!
@@mariahyohannes Not even considering nodes and throat cancers from lack of skill and technique and years of vocal injury due to LACK OF TECHNIQUE. Let’s stop excusing lack of technical skill and ability and lack of talent and using a toxic industry as the scapegoat. Two things can be true at once! The girls can be lacking AND the industry can be trash.
@@ungoliver Love how you missed the entire point of the video 😍
I never actually realized how important vocal training, dance classes, band classes, choirs, and etc were and how it impacted the music industry until now. Thank You ❤
FACTS! It makes all that complaining I did for band camp during hot summers, and chorus classes worth it. It was more so for the discipline and integrity needed for something like this. It's not just about talent, it's the workmanship behind it.
trust me in the choir you will grow very fast
If you want to hear voices like this is mainstream, you have to support them financially.
I’d also like to note that these young/new singers don’t have mentors anymore. I remember in the 90s Brandy and Monica were working with vets like Aretha and Whitney at such a young age. Tevin Campbell had Babyface, Quincy, and prince in his corner. You don’t see that anymore. It’s a lot of egos in this era.
they do have mentors today... they're called drug dealers!
Yup
PREACH!!!
FACTS
PREACH! And these vets were also great songwriters and/or producers who had a vast array of topics to write songs about. Nowadays... everybody thinks sex is the only interesting thing to sing/record. Not even in creative ways. 😒
That prolly also explains why old school singers were actually exceptional singers. I mean, in a community where everybody is a singer, you have to have the star quality to stand above the rest.
Star quality is something totally different than what this video is preaching which is countless hours if practice.
Diana Ross js a trained singer despite not being a big one
@@bgcrp2005 Diana Ross is not big?? Lmao. Do you even know her? She is very big, trust me. Have you ever heard of a little band called The Supremes? 😆😆
@@TheMediaDirectory I think they meant big in terms if vocal ability, not stardom or popularity. Dianna is not a big vocalist.
@@1sava oh...
Jazmine Sullivan is an example of a young singer who got the training from singing in church and school. Plus Missy revealed she had Jazmine sing on demos for other artists. Jazmine gives great emotive and dynamic performances every time due to all her training and preparation. It’s sad to feel like she’s the last of the Mohicans as old folks say.
Note: The video focused on BOTH millennial (regardless of age) and Gen Z artists who didn’t get the extensive vocal performance training as their predecessors. Jazmine is a millennial per US Census. She is a rare exception within her generation so that is why I posted this comment because to me she proves the video’s point. This is Jazmine at 12 years old sanging in a church ruclips.net/video/xfImKVpmOfA/видео.html
H.E.R is also really skilled ..but she’s been singing and training since she was a kid also
@@reflectivechrome I agree. I’m sure there are more artists out there who are well trained vocalists but they don’t get signed.
Beyoncé is vocally trained as well
@@reflectivechrome H.E.R doesn't have Jasmin singing ability. Or any other ability though. 🤣🤣🤣She's more of a songwriter.
H.E.R. is so lackluster to me, I don’t get the hype tbh.
FLO is a girl group from the UK who sing RNB - they’ve brought back 90s/2000s - they’ve just had an outstanding year releasing their first EP “The Lead”. They’re showcasing the vocals you are looking for!! They spent 1-2 years in artist development with artist and producer MNEK helping them. They’ve also been doing research because for their debut album they have been working on stamina and cardio (whilst singing), they’ve had dance lessons and the vocals… WOWWWW !!
flo sound like kids still no hate but their music is not timeless , darlin you cant just put them against Aretha, Patti and all the greats.
FLO def has potential, love them
i love them they are the future of music
Will listen
Love FLO❤
You’ve raised some valid points. Practice makes perfect. I will even dare to say that the microwave culture of the music industry plays a factor as well. Back then, record labels would spend substantial amounts of money on artist development. Now, that budget is non-existent.
Even with music today, it isn’t good at all! The girls just love white mediocrity and it seems to be bleeding into other races that want to be pop stars. It’s sad. 😭
Peace. I have learned that today's industry has mastered the art of "fan for music" and not so much the artist only the rare few.
I think the story of Kate Bush is amazing, for example. She was discovered at 15 but they thought she should take time to perfect her art, and then she went through 5 years of not only musical education but also dance and theatre class.
The general public nowadays really be content with mumble rappers and whisper and avocado singers with no training. Why would a label put all this money in an artist nowadays if the people want mediocre singing and barely want to spend a cent because they can listen to their music for free on countless platforms? What annoys me the most is songs really be under a minute and a half nowadays, them microwave tunes be over before you can get into it 😭
@@lookhowshegobbledthat You made such a good point,also back in the day some of the greatest songs were just under 3 minutes, including intro, verse ,chorus, verse,bridge/ middle eight,chorus fade with great vocals,melody arrangements and musicianship.What happened... My opinion Technology!!!
LMAO I remember being in the car with my mom and a SZA song came on the radio and she starting doing her yodeling thing and mom just froze and said “this is y’all’s R&B?!” The way she said that with shock and disappointment will always stay with me 😩
Sza can sing though…she may not be vocally as good as older singers but she’s still talented.
The style/sound of r&b isn’t new though.
😭😭😭
😭😂😂😭😂😂
What song, I want to hear it?
He said the girls in MAINSTREAM MUSIC. Majority artists who aren’t mainstream are much better vocalist. Ari Lennox, Jazmine Sullivan(just now getting recognition), Tori Kelly, Chloe and Halle
Jazmine and Tori have definitely put in the hours
@@LaAerial lol fr
Tink
@@LaAerial exactly she has her own lane but she does not fit the bill for vocalist
@@LaAerial the first name？
We’ve seen the same thing in the Film Industry too. Stars back in the Classic and Golden eras of cinema were major investments for studios. Talent like Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor went to school together on the MGM lot from the time they were 13 and 10 years old, receiving all the training aspiring stars could possibly need. Even experienced adult performers who were acquired from the stage were put through training. For example, silent star Buster Keaton worked for MGM for years after his box office peak, they kept him around and put him to work training new stars in physical comedy.
Imagine. Not throwing away talent when the wind changes, and actually investing in artists. What a world those greedy oligarchs have taken from us.
now they make actors of random people from Instagram, tiktok, or from the porn industry (euphoria) or nepobabies 😢
@@adah771 Sorry, the “Nepo Baby” thing ain’t new either, that’s been around since the very beginning of Hollywood as an institution.
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were the King and Queen of Hollywood in the 20’s, and their son Douglas Fairbanks Jr, (who was briefly married to Joan Crawford), was also a big star.
Lon Cheney’s son, Lon Cheney Jr, also inherited most of his father’s plum Horror roles in the 40’s, including The Wolfman, Frankenstein, and Dracula. This one stands as particularly egregious, because while Lon Cheney Sr was a great actor, Lon Cheney Jr is probably THE WORST major motion picture actor I’ve ever seen.
As for the social media invasion of “stardom,” it’s important to remember that people felt the same way about the first generation of television stars. Their accessibility, the fact they appeared physically in your home, made them seem mundane and un-special compared to The Movie Star, who was elusive, whom you had to travel and pay a premium to experience.
Again, I think the ultimate difference is the level of institutional support received by performers. There’s really nothing that distinguishes the pre-stardom experiences of people like Joan Crawford, (who made her living winning dance contests around Hollywood before breaking into movies), or even later Actresses/Sex Symbols like Raquel Welch or Sharon Tate, who broke in from the modelling world during the Magazine Era. Those later stars suffered because they did not have the institutional protections afforded to earlier generations of stars. No press apparatus to push studio-approved narrative fluff pieces, or keep bad stories out of print. No special projects designed to display particular skills or character traits. No sense of investment on part of the studio at all - when the Studio System collapsed at the end of the 60’s, performers were all made freelancers and basically became interchangeable cogs. That’s what led to the New Hollywood era of Directors as Stars, and led to the American auteur boom that gave us figures like Scorsese, Spielberg, De Palma, Malick, Bogdonavich, Lucas, and more.
Anyway. If anyone is interested, I’d highly recommend Be Kind Rewind on RUclips, and Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This, for more on the history of the entertainment industry, and especially the evolution of the way performers were treated.
I completely agree. The old school girls have richer, more layered nuances to their voices. There’s a depth with the old school singers that the new ladies just don’t have. A lot of their voices seem flimsy where the old school voices sound powerful and competent.
And more connective creativity in my opinion
They all sound the same
@@calenajackson8772 ur white.
Yes! You are 100% correct! Their voices sound creaky and flat. There’s no variation in tone, nor is there any projection or true emphasis.
I don't feel it has anything to do with practice, black women just "sang"...nothing to do with practice,... it's a cultural thing. Now black girls sing for the popular sound which makes money. Old schoolers are still out there but are not seen as popular by the industry.
When female vocalists came out in the 70's, 80's, and 90's, we were ACCUSTOMED to being AMAZED. Phyllis Hyman amazed us. Chaka amazed us. Whitney amazed us. Mariah amazed us. We adored Anita. We mourned Minnie. Sade entranced us with her cool style. Tina blew us away. Patti blew the doors off! Not ONE lady out now makes me even PAY ATTENTION. Things were so good that Coco from SWV and Monica were considered 'alright'. Really! If ANY of these ladies came out now, they would run CIRCLES around the new chicks. CIRCLES!
Ariana has the vocals, but they're too busy having her sing commercial trash.
@@brandonmiles86 ariana does not have enough power to her voice.
TOTALLY AGREE and these ladies were putting on whole shows in concert. They weren’t just standing there. To see TinaT’s farewell, Simply The Best, tour and she’s all over that stage at 70 or Patti doing her best Patti impersonation, they put on a
_W H O L E_ full-body, action packed performance
their
_E N T I R E_ career.
Careers spanning 40, 50, 60 years. Agreed
Lol coco and Monica are better than anything now for sure
the best singer I know today is Tasha cobbs Who has vocals most good vocal singers are gosepel singers (which most people back in the day started out singing in church)
standards are lower
They don’t want exceptional
They want relatable
and looks!!!
Yes because the industry has to pay for exceptional so why pay when they take non - singers with hardly any clothes on and create an illusion of talent and control the hole package .
well i wouldnt say “lower” i would just say the standards are DIFFERENT. The standard back then was a level of soul incorporated into the singing. And a LOT of singers today have that, however thats not what is favored by the masses.
For example: If you took the song “Whats Going On” by Marvin Gaye and had him release this song today as if it had never been released prior. As if its a completely new song, sure maybe a few people would like it, but it would be nowhere near as popular as it was back then.
@@hansolomon6866 The direction of standards have changed ever since the late seventies into the eighties with MTV and the music became visual which is a distortion in what is real quality and not it's been a premeditated within the music industry to gain high profit and keep control it's really no longer about art.
My sentiments Exactly! Don't Lower their standards...Raise your ambitions!
Most r&b singers back in the day were raised up in the church, so they really sang with all their heart and soul. That’s how we got Whitney and Toni Braxton. Most R&B singers today don’t really vibe with the church, so there’s no heart and soul behind their talent.
Also, there was no autotune back then. You really had to be a damn good singer, otherwise you’d spend hours re-recording vocals.
Spoke facts!
Autotune or studio magic was around back then. There's still heart and soul in singers if they didn't go to church or stopped going as they got older.
Let's be honest, segregation & racism forced blk artists to be 10x better than everyone else in order to be noticed by the masses. Blk tax was truly at play back then. Not so much anymore. There are much more blk record execs that sign pretty much anyone if she has a cute face.
The lack of "soul" doesn't come from not going to church. The soul you hear when you listen to gospel singers comes from an insane level of skill, discipline and practise. So yes, learning to sing gospel style and going to church regularly created the best environment for developing your voice in that way, but it's not because the singers were more "godly". They were just surrounded and trained by world class talent.
Plus, people aren’t throwing anybody on the stage. You’ve GOTTA sing 🎤 very well to be considered so that was a standard. From there, you might have transitioned to secular music.
people don't appreciate vocalists anymore. they call it "screaming" - no, honey, it's BELTING. twitter and "stan wars" have also had a huge impact on how people view artists.
That is so true!
Belting mezzos, they call it screaming, screaming sopranos they call it great vocals, now everybody's gotta sound like a girl.
@@fernandodiniz6029 That is not true!
@@fernandodiniz6029 I disagree lol
@@randall4528 Right lol
I always tell people all the time to listen to smaller artists since they're always complaining about modern music being bad. 9 times out of 10, the artists that aren't in the mainstream are the ones with actual talent! But they don't get the recognition they deserve. They're kept in the shadows, and people don't listen.
🎯
They don't listen to me giving sage-like advice. It is usually, 'well, you are not open enough' or some bullcrap from the sheeple. Good grief!!! I prefer to keep to myself and share a few they might enjoy if possible.
@@Helaw0lf call this a tall order, but when you need to compete with the 70-99 vocal squad, just sounding nice ain't gonna cut it.
You need to be really extraordinary, so cut us some slack.
Here’s one: NICHOLE BUS- she’s amazing! I listened to her song “You” and it’s really good 😊 after that I played her album called “You” and it wasn’t bad imo, you guys can probably give it a listen. TBH she’s so underrated 😢
This! Sometimes I listen to artists like NAO and think her range would have been more appreciated 100 yrs ago.
When younger people listen to music nowadays, they want a "vibe" and not necessarily an exhibition of vocal talent. I think both moods are fine but it's true that some singers are going to run into problems if they don't learn how to sing properly.
There was time when younger people couldn't listen to their own music. They listened to whatever parents listened. Probably even sing together.
I'm soo over vibe
To me .. The vibe thing is just an excuse for not capable of singing normally.. u see we also get the “vibe”while listening to 90s music.
Exactly. Like you can be a good dancer naturally but you’d be 20x better if you were classically trained.
That's true.. but the point is... The vibe singers should be able to switch it up and sing like the classics if they wanted to. Like Aaliyah. She was the definition of a vibe .. but listen to her singing Ave Maria as a child... She could switch it up and still provide the necessary vocals for her time. She also didn't have to sing super loud and powerful like say Whitney Houston.. she was more of a technical singer.
This is literally the effect of Madonna.
She demonstrated the music industry, that u don't have to be a vocalist to become a successful female singer.
She proved that if u have 10% of vocal abilities of an "ideal" singer, u can work on ur other features to gain that 90% value and become a 100% mega star.
Madonna doesn't sing because of "singing", she does it as a job, to get fame, money and power, she only use it as a tool not a purpose.
( which i see absolutely nothing wrong with it personally)
the problem with singers nowadays is, they are interested in getting rich rather than being a singer.
99 percent of these people wouldn't have sung a dmn word if they were already a billionaire by another job.
It's 3 am and I'm too tired to explain more. Sry
Ps: don't tell me Madonna has good songs! I know, I'm a fan! And not only her old songs are good, i think the newer ones are even better.
Ps2: i thought we were talking about female singers! Did Beatles publish a sex book to gain a shock value? I don't think so.
Also i believe this(what Madonna did) is an "old" phenomena considering we are in 2023 now and how far ago she did those things.
Ps3: also sry for bad grammar
At the end of the day what matters is the music, not the talent. Madonna in her prime made good music. Its not like this is exactly a new phenomenom.
None of the Beatles were particularly talented at their instruments, and in fact most of them were multiintrusmentalists so they never really specialised in one. What set them apart was their extraordinary songwriting ability. I don't see a problem if the final product is still great, regardless of how skilled the performers may be.
Please. Madonna made good pop music back then. Charisma, marketability and song writing talent is more important nowadays.
Most vocalists back then cant write or compose their own songs. That's why Mariah was super rare even to this date. It's rare for a really good vocalist to be able to write their own music.
You might have been tired when you typed this but you gave the best explanation.
I disagree. I think with how accessible music has become for regular people with regular incomes, or the middle class - both listening to and singing and producing your own - many teens have acquired interest in music (self expression) and music career. Not everyone is chasing fame and money you know. An example of this is tge rise of young kid producers and self producers that you see so much, even yt has some of it.
But with that accessibility where more people put out their stuff not everyone has equal talents and strength. So sometimes you get mediocre producers/writers/singers. In any case, it still cost money to afford all that and all that musical education, especially for people of lower class. Even middle class not everyone has their own money to invest to continue proper trainibg to get enough exp or their families are not pooling money for their kids to be learning things so either they do it on their own or they don't. I mean vocal lessons are not cheap.
Ehh Diana Ross wasn’t the strongest vocalist either but she was a pop icon. Madonna may not be the best vocalist but she is a great artist and set the bar on what it is to be the perfect popstar. I’d say things started changing when industry puppets (Paula Abdul, Britney Spears, J-Lo) proved you could be a horrible singer but still be a success. It was all downstream from there sadly
Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey all practised extensively until they mastered their craft at a young age. The same dedication is not seen in today's singers. They lived, eat, sleep and breathe their talent and became the epitome of their craft. These women studied their instrument and took the time to master their art. No one can come close to their iconic recordings.
Thank you!!
They are music no shade.
@baque they're not talking about race
Cher
Wow good point
I just watched a 85 year old Dame, Shirley Bassey belt out Diamonds Are Forever and her voice sounded the same as when she first performed the song 50 years ago! Today's singers sound like they just got out of bed. There's no dynamic range, and they stay in that "talking" range. There's a reason a lot of people revert to "old school music" (although I prefer to call it legacy music) because you feel you are still hearing value.
“Just got out of bed” perfectly said!
Well said! Now I am off to go listen to some Shirley Bassey! Thank you!
I recently went to hear Gladys Knight!! At 77 she sounds exactly the same as she did 40 years ago!! So I cosign this comment!!
@@phyllispierce6146 I remember when she was on Masked Singer, she sounded phenomenal, I was so blown away that her voice still sounded so rich and expensive!lol
Got outta bed, snorted a line of coke, and smoked 6 packs of cigarettes before going on stage.😏
My theory is more simple: recording technology. Because of modern recording capabilities, people are not learning to project their voices the way they once previously HAD to. I was an all-state tuba player as a middle schooler, meaning I was pretty advanced for my age and had great tone and technical ability. However, until I got to HS and was forced to play louder WHILE maintaining my tone (HBCU style show marching band), I physically could not do it nor did I know I could. The new artists never had to learn how to sing over a 30+ person choir with minimal or no mic equipment. Artists COMPLETELY skip this portion of the development now because they can record their whisper voices in their bedroom at age 8.
ruclips.net/video/Mm7gi453_Iw/видео.htmlsi=dfCinIKPbA8Pw2Fz
Power
Control
Stamina
You literally develop muscle from singing
I remember being able to control my lungs in sections like an instrument
It’s worse than this - singers are actively being taught that singing loud is BAD - that it is damaging to your voice. There’s a difference between screaming or “belting” and actually being able to naturally and effortlessly project any level of volume you like just like any other classical instrument. The irony is, by learning how to use your voice naturally and correctly this way, as all the great classic singers have, you actually end up ensuring your voice lasts well into your 70s and 80s. Why else do all these Gospel singers still have their voices? Why could older singers still sing well into old age? It’s more than just modern home recording equipment - it’s poor technique being taught by people who were taught by people who have no idea about the history of the voice.
@@Harry_11have you seen Patti Labelle's NPR tiny desk. She was 78 when she recorded it and it was phenomenal.
The lesson here rly is about the impact that funding in art and education can have on a nation's culture and self-expression
i’ve talked about this SO MANY TIMES and no one seemed to understand, the thing i noticed was that todays singers do NOT know how to project their voices at all, yes they can do some pretty sounding runs and etc but their voices are just NOT amplified at all without a microphones help, it’s insane how literally the ONLY sound we have left to the old school are the vocalist that managed to sustain their voices and then some VERY few artist that have mastered not only hitting certain notes but have mastered the registers within their voices to amplify their range
Thats not it, music has just changed, nowdays its more abouy lyrics and production. Not nearly vocally focused as back then
I get it
@@mrclean2751 no that’s it, that’s why i said it, your point is something completely different but it’s still valid, my point was that VOCALLY it’s not the same and won’t be the same
Showtime at the Apollo in the 90s would have exposed these girls! We'd have them running home to cry in their pillows!
@@matthewprince9705 😂😂😂😂 facts
I like how that at one time in history the government understood and appreciated that art improves people's lives....and then they took it away.
The government didn't take anything, these industries became privatized by corporations that practice lobbying.
We need candidates wanting to revive what was lost during the 70s/80s period going forward. I would reenact that act to get the shit off the radio/internet for real that turns a lot of us off on so-called new music. Yes! I do explore outside the charts globally, so I do not need to be told to keep looking. I found it internationally and non-english speaking/sung. :)
Ronald Reagan is where america really stopped working for the average man, became a corporation again like in the slavery era, and really took a dark turn into every major bad policy we see occurring today that's led by conservative politicians. That man was a quiet virus that destroyed America for the average and less privileged person.
I recently went to a Chaka Khan concert and was amazed (but not surprised) that she still has IT! She can still sing just as good and she’s in her 70s. I read somewhere that she practices her vocals 2 hours a day. Still putting in the work. 💪🗣🎶
This made me think of Jon Batiste's best album grammy speech when he mentioned that he sits down and practices every day, and that i's a spiritual practice. That really says a lot about that 'it' factor - it's a gift that needs to be appreciated and cared for every day. PS Chaka is a QUEEN! awesome you got to see her.
Chaka and many other good singers, sing without effort AND sound like an instrument.❤️
yes me and my mom loveee chaka khan! ❤❤
@@higgarocthe It factor is social factors, not talent.
My mom literally had a whole conversation with her girlfriends about this and stated, “ the problem is these new girls don’t grow up in the church anymore”.
@ChrisJones-ek2gmDo you see the irony in what you just said? 😂
this is a good observation, but honestly I do think it's a good thing that religion isn't forced down children's throats as much. let them grow and make that decision for themselves
@@RALAMA2992I think it’s part of the humor
@@RALAMA2992I don’t. What’s the irony?
This is absolutely true. Watch this video, people, instead of just ignoring it and posting random opinions 😊
Artists today claim they love to sing but don't put the work in. JLO is a prime example of this. She has all the money and resources in the world yet sounds like a karaoke singer when she tries to sing live.
exactly. she doesn't even sing her own songs.
JLo was never a singer, she had her whole singing career carried because Mariah Carey’s ex wanted to fund competition against her. JLo had no passion for it, she goes out there and thinks she can sing because she has a huge ego lol, most people with her pipes would never.
I just don't think her talent is singing. She can put all the money and resources she wants in it, it's simply a God given gift. It doesn't matter how much I practice and train, I just don't have the voice as much as I would love to, lol
What about Madonna? Her voice is so flat but she sells herself out creating so much controversy to divert from the fact she never could sing
@@sarabennett6295 EXACTLY
This video really only showcases the “powerhouse” singers.
Overall, sound has changed and music has changed so sonically. We definitely still have those powerhouse singers who can wail on a note no problem (Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Kelly Clarkson, All of Destiny’s Child, Brandy, etc.) but the market isn’t set up for that sound anymore. Not to say that some of these new singers couldn’t do it but it’s not the sound anymore. Check out Normani, for example, when she started she went for the strong vocal approach and she wasn’t bad at it. It needed coaching and hours but she definitely would have got there. Now even though she possessed the underlying talent for it, it didn’t matter because sonically people don’t care about that anymore.
I was gospel trained at a young age and found that though I love my gospel sounding voice…it has boxed me into a category where it’s hard to branch from.
I do believe that the church played a heavy part in music but being that the churches influence has faded over the years it’s not as much of a tool as it used to be.
I think your video makes a lot of great points in “what used to be” but I would be more impressed to see you do a part 2 of “how we got here”. We never want to discredit the work of an artist because it’s their artistic vision. Some of us are going to love it and some of us are going to wish we heard something different.
Agreed. If the standard is mid-20th century gospel-influenced then of course other generations are going to fall short by that standard. Styles change, culture changes, music changes. Sugarhill Gang changed music and I'm guessing they did not put in their "10,000 hours". LOL.
I love this comment and agree 100%. Not everyone wants the loud screaming vocals but still you can be powerful without but the singers tone, vocals are cheap thrills and not trained. As long as they are popular they don't want to challenge themselves.
100% agree! This sounds like a “Where’s the Powerhouses?” And kinda ignores the current singers skills because just because someone got popular for a certain style of singing doesn’t mean that’s the limitation of their abilities
Agreed. This video makes it seem like there were no "chipmunk" sounding singers back in the day. That every one was a powerhouse vocalist. And that simply was not the case. You definitely had your Rihanna's and your Normani's even back then.
NOTHING BUT FACTS HERE. THIS COMMENT SHOULD BE PINNED 🎯
Love this video! Basically sums up how I feel about today's current R&B/Pop singers. I also would add that the explosion of hip hop definitely has impacted why we don't see mainstream vocalists anymore. The hip hip/R&B enmeshment has led to the popularity of rap-singing which for the most part takes very little vocal ability.
I cannot give this comment enough thumbs up!! You hit the nail on the damn head!!!! 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
Beyonce started rap-singing too 😭
@@jvnemesisedenia5206 Beyonce didn't come on the scene rap-singing. She's rap-singing because unfortunately the industry has evolved, along with the style and substance of music. So she's hopping on that trend to gain Gen-Z fans. But for the rest of us 30 and over, we all know Beyonce is a skilled vocalist who's been singing for years, starting out with Destiny's Child. And she comes from an era (among her contemporaries Brandy, Monica, Alicia Keys....etc) where there was no auto tune or social media to help you get ahead. You had to be able to have an exceptional singing voice as well as being a performer and having star quality.
@@Corey617 yessss. I still jam out to Second Nature, Stay, If You Leave, Signs etc. 😌🎵🎶🎵
This right here!!! Hip hop has changed rnb so much that rnb singers don’t even need to sing anymore. I really miss the voices - imo Jazmine Sullivan is the only one giving what we used to get
the dedication on searching up all those clips from different sources show the care put into this essay, thank you for the contributions you're doing for everyone!
90% of the female mainstream singers these days sound exactly like Jhene Aiko and the males sound like Future. They’re just clones. They have zero technical skills. Back in the 80’s and 90’s there was so much originality and different layers in voices. Now, everyone is just “rap-singing”. What happened?
Lucky Daye has a great voice and good R&B songs!
Anti-Black much? 80s-90s were filled with so much copycats it’s not funny. Stop romanticizing your terrible decade.
The Attraction of $$$$$$$$
@@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024 Terrible decade? Anti black? Lol Trolling is pathetic.
Jhene can definitely sing but she’s just not a vocalist
Most of the best musicians and singers first trained in the church; others were mentored by someone who grew up singing in the church. In such settings, you learn to harmonize, keep timing, modulate, play with notes to create colorful chords while singing, layer vocals, etc. and you have to do so on the spot. No rehearsals. Every time you open your mouth or play an instrument, you are doing it “for real,” in retrospect you realize that it was practice. That mindset of coming correct every time makes you hone your craft with great finesse. Singers: Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, James Brown, Brandy, Jennifer Hudson, Jazmine Sullivan, etc. Musicians: Cory Henry, Glenn Gibson Jr., Jabari Johnson, etc. The evidence is undeniable.
Amber Riley
Church isn't the only path. There a lot of great singers, who mastered their vocal instrument through other means( performing school of arts)
@@SteadyNUnremitting but the greatest singers was from church like they said so church obviously trains your voice from a young age from being in the choir and ain’t nothing wrong with that
@ SteadyNUnremitting Nobody is saying church is the only path but you can't deny that the whole 'soul/blues' sound literally came from black American churches, that's music and culture facts no matter what you believe in.
How many young artists really come from the church anymore? Seriously, when they interview I don't hear them mention this as their foundation. Something is definitely missing.
That's because mediocrity is being celebrated now. Even less than mediocrity is celebrated. Everyone can be a star now. You don't have to have a lot of talent or try that hard. It's a race to the bottom. Social media has also made people with no talent feel like they have it.
When I say everyone can be a star now I mean that is the mindset or narrative that is being pushed. Even though most people dont believe that. We are in the era of dont hurt anyone's feelings and believe your great even if you're not that great. It's good to like yourself so you have a healthy view of yourself, but not to the extent where you cant accurately assess what is real.
Shut up
being ugly across the board is being celebrated now-a-days.. I just can’t !! 🤣
@Jabari Johnson The point they’re making is that instead of saying something like “we should be nicer to ugly people” we lie and say “everyone is beautiful” in some abstract, vague way that they know isn’t true.
@Jabari Johnson Is it though? That sounds like a cop out
I want a full version of Whitney singing Steak & Ale. That was beautiful!
What I find funny is that when you watch American Idol audition from the early 2000s, most of the contestants who were considered "Bad singers" sing better than most mainstream artists today who are considered to be good singers lol
AI is Scam
RIP Andrea Martin
Has nothing much to do with training. It's called talent babes
And they wore clothes!
Adele is famous because she's white. No talent.
This is what happens when “vibes” rule supreme.
right?! i’m always like where the hell is the climax??
@@turquoise8603 omg yes and why songs today are about 2 and half minutes long...and the worst part is that when I start to feel it in...it's OVER LOL. Like where is the 3rd verse tht leads to the bridge, where is the climax where it all comes together...climax I mean not a belting note, or notes...just a wholesome togetherness at the end where you finally sing out loud with the singer...in the car...perfect examples...MARIAH CAREY, WHITNEY HOUSTON, CELINE DION...THE VOCAL TRINITY...and many others of course I love...and even rb chick's from back in the day had vocals...SWV, ADINA HOWARD, XSCAPE, MONICA, ETC. And my personal fave...TONI BRAXTON...there's no comparison
If these new girls were given the proper training and support to put out what they really wanted to showcase, they would be amazing...But as long the industry keeps them cookie cutter and basic...that's all they will put out until they are brave enough to step out of that and become their true authentic selves
That bullshit 🙄
spot on sir.
!!!! Nailed it
Also, there's another difference. Today's singers think a gorgeous face, a sexy body, overtly sexual outfits, and a sexual stage presentation will mask their lack of true singing ability and lack of proper vocal preparedness.
Exactly
that's what their audience want
Women artists can only reach a certain level of success in pop if they play the role of a stripper
Having a gorgeous face, sexy body, sexy outfits and sexual dance routines are okay too, but take away those things and give them a piano and a microphone and they ain’t s**t. .
Y’all have turned this into misogyny
Great history about how music in schools was real! I was in grade school in 70's to 1980.I can play flute, clarinet and alto saxophone ! All learned in school! I sang alto i. the 7th grade chorus but went back to the band by spring for the spring concert.I can still read music till today
Record labels are losing more money overtime by not getting talented artists and developing them. Taking average artists from Instagram and then replacing them every 2-3 years is going to cost a lot of money in the end. It’s better to have 5 exceptional artists to uphold the industry for 10+ years than 15 half assed artists that need to continually be replaced. I understand labels aren’t making much money because of streams but they can take the money that they do have and put it to use in the right way.
Exactly. All they care about is making a quick buck
🎯🎯🎯I don’t understand why they don’t want to invest in an artist with true talent if they’ll make more money in the long run. Isn’t that the point? 🤷🏽♂️
@@harlemw651 Some people are so greedy that they get short term gains that pale in comparison to what they'd get in the long term, they love money more than anything but they still can't find they best way to get it. Ironic isn't it?
@@liamjonas5336 Yes!! Very!
Talent doesn’t sale, so how they gone get money? Y’all barley make them money with “talent”. When will y’all realize we just don’t wanna see singers, hmm?
It's important to note that this didn't just happen yesterday. When I was a teenager in the 2000s I started to notice a trend of the popular new artists not sounding like their predecessors. Artists like Rihanna, Ciara, & Chris Brown all had bops, but their vocals left a lot to be desired. It was a little annoying back then but they were still eons better than the singers that are out today and at least they all had their own distinct sound. Today's singers are just intolerable and they all sound like the same 2 people. I miss the days when you would hear a song for the first time and you knew exactly who was singing it.
This!!!!
Very true!!! Luckily Jay Z got RiRi into intense vocal training which did help. Definitely still leaves a lot to be desired.
Exactly!
True. Rihanna remarked that she had to learn to breathe properly while working with Neyo on one of her songs! I was very surprised.
My absolute favorite live performance of Rihanna EVER. That show cases what an amazing vocalist she is, is her 2016 MTV VMAS performance of Stay / Diamond / Love on The Brain
it's frustrating how male artists now isn't being compared to male artists then.
yeah I don't actually understand why this video is only about women
That's because they don't exist. Aside from Bruno Mars, name a crooner That's under 40 right now.
@@vernonhampton5863 Daniel Ceaser, Frank Ocean, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Khalid, Raury, Pink Sweats Chris Brown, 6lack, Ty Dolla Sign, Bryson Tiller, Jacquees, Eric Bellinger. These are just people in my playlist. Im sure there are more that I don’t personally listen to, but there IS a need to speak up on a lot of male artists as well. Female artists have been dragged the past couple years left and right meanwhile rap music and r&b has plummeted amongst male artists as well. Some of them don’t even make original songs, a lot of male singers now a days lack the same power and originality and some only sing covers their entire singing career…
@@itsbrittbritt4183 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 exactly!!
Yep
Samara Joy is an example of someone who was raised singing in church and in school.
I'm sorry the transition from Jennifer Holiday to SZA had me ROTFL 😂😂. You ain't shit for that 😂. But the video is spot on. The standard of singing has been lowered. That's why we have all these mediocre girls not putting in the work vocally
Had me weak 😂😂😂😂😂
I thought I was the only one thinking this. I was almost on the floor rollin’, but his message was well received. Lolz
I was watching this while rowing at the gym and I had to stop from laughter 🤣🤣
Yeah that was rough 😬😂😂
😭
Let us not forget about Ledisi, She truly exemplifies hours of dedication. Her vocal skills are pure and honest.
Disagree. Very mid range
Ledisi is clearly the heir apparent to Patti and I’m good with that.
@@cathybroadus4411 lies... she’s herself
Great singer! I remember she was to perform at an award show, but was cancel because Beyonce took her place.
@@elijahdryden1564 I stand corrected. I meant in terms of live stage excitement. But I accept my correction with thanks.
Yep. I can't watch the Grammy's anymore. It's shocking how bad the singing is. Also those institutions, church and school, would eliminate a lot "singers" that couldn't sing.
Or push them to do much better. Elvis Presley's eighth grade music teacher told him he had no aptitude for singing. I can't imagine how much hard work he put in after that reality check.
@@lucasribeiro7534 Elvis didn’t put in any work. All he did was still from Black Entertainers. PLS!
@@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024 I agree that, artistically, Elvis was a moocher. However, for a dirt poor teenager who could not sing at all to become that successful as a singer later in life, he definitely worked hard on his ear and technique.
@@lucasribeiro7534 Elvis never had that great technique though.
@@Ignasimp true dat. It worked for his genre, though.
One important thing the video touches on briefly is the fact that digital music has almost completely dried up the many small streams of income a musician could at one time turn into a career, or at least a second job. Nowadays a performer can't even sell CDs or taped recordings of his own music, since no one listens to music via those media anymore.
I went to a Patti LaBelle concert where she walked around the stage belting to the heavens without the aid of microphone.
She filled the whole place with pure vocal power. This new generation could never in their lives....smh
And I bet she kept most of her body parts covered up too
It's Songs that make the singers too.
Let's address the elephant in the room. In those days, they picked singers based off of talent mostly. Now they pick people off of looks mostly. No record exec now a days would give Patti Labelle a second look no matter what was coming out of her mouth. Plus, us Black Americans don't buy most records, most people want to sing along with their favorite songs. People can't sing along with Whitney Houston or Ronald Isley. That's why they took the soul out of RNB songs.
@@lroyjetsonson5060 who doesn’t sing along with Whitney! I do. Might not sound good but I’m sanging!
Yeah? If I remember I'll come back to this in 5 years and see what I can do to disprove this.
It’s crazy how good everyone sang back then considering how frequently everyone was smoking.
The fact that they did drugs as well and they still sound better than us😂😂😂
and breathing in leaded gas emissions
and fallout from above ground nuclear weapons testing
Hahaha This is so true. How in the world did they do this?!
People was just stronger back then
@@egyptiancotton4708that's a scientific fact. We are getting weaker by generation, brain and sperm count shrinking.
If social media didn’t exist, a lot of singers and rappers wouldn’t have careers today. Social media gives them fans.
I love older music, but music evolves with the new generation.
But in reality, there are a lot of 20-something year olds with amazing voices out there today. Watch any musical talent show (like the Terrell Show) and you'll see dozens of them. However, it takes more than a big voice to make it in the music industry, especially nowadays. You've gotta have good visual presentation, social media presence, and a good team behind you. All of these aspects require hard work and practice too. Many people can sing but it takes much more to be a star.
Terell only fool with singuhs 🔥🔥🔥
No it does not. I could give a dam about good looks. I want good singing!!! The music industry sucks
@@Karen_Mosley Right Karen, so true. No more tits and vagina prints, but just good music.
Exactly,nowadays you can't become a star with just good vocals.
True...I can count on one hand how many of those singers I knew before watching his shows.
Beyoncé might be one the last few who went through a similar rigid training , and why she is where she is today
I would look outside the mainstream and other countries. You would be surprised on how much talented vocalist are still around.
@@Drstrange3000 imma need y’all to start naming these other vocalists so I can add them to my list😂
@@gbbs9 Esperanza Spalding is incredible. Crystal Kay from Japan.
@@gbbs9 Sure!
Fujii Kaze, Utada Hikaru, Mika Nakashima, Park Hyo Shin, Aimer, Moses Sumney, Exile Tribe and LDH Artists from Japan (has various sub-units. Non-hiphop geared songs really showcase vocals), DEAN, and Bradio. I would also recommend the RUclips page "The First Take" which showcases live top Japanese talents and "Colors" who showcases some live underground artists (You can find some hidden gems in there.)
@@Drstrange3000 omg an Exile Tribe and DEAN fan, pleased to meet you here 😭
Omg I didn't know Miss Holliday was that young when she did Dreamgirls. She always sounded like a very matured voice for me. Really? At that age?!
I know right!
That’s because she was BIG she was able to produce that big solid mature sound we hear in 50 yearold woman in church , she had a very strong support system
Yep she was basically a child
Patti in the Bluebells was also a teenager singing.
@@saintjay8058 You don’t have to be big to have a big sound
I sung in school and choir as a baritone. My voice didnt get loud and project until i went to navy bootcamp and had to be hear for a few hundred feet over other AROCs singing candence.
a huge issue is the fact that the music industry, for years now, value image/marketability-aka someone young and traditionally good looking who they can sell like a product-over talent. As long as you can be sold you don’t have to have any vocal or performing talent. There is audio tune. Studio magic. You can lip sync your performances or perform to a vocal backing track. Or just steal other peoples voice altogether and be uber successful with it-JLo i’m looking at you. At one point to be successful as a singer you had to be able to SING. At some point all the tricks and cheats that enabled labels to skirt around this issue came into play and they haven’t looked back since. Labels don’t care if a singer has chops. Are they hot? Can they grow a fanbase? Can they sell a perfume? Can they rock a bikini in a music video? that’s about it. it’s sad. I mean look at some of the pop stars from decades ago. pre mtv, a lot were in their 30s and up, weren’t necessarily hot, but they had talent. as soon as mtv took over the industry changed forever and it became about the visual. youth and beauty.
exactly
Misogynistic much…..
@@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024 what tf does the commodification of singers have to do with misogyny? this affect both male and female acts. There are plenty of male pop stars/singers over the years who have had little talent, or not a strong voice, but have had the right image and were packaged up and sold to the public.
That is also because more kids these days can listen to whatever they want. First it was portable radio, than boombox, then walkman, iPod. Now it is hard to imagine kid without a phone. That changes a lot.
@@sammysoppy3361 It's a troll.
As someone who has been classically trained for 10 years, the training really teaches you how to properly use your vocal chords, both healthy and professionally. As well as giving you a base to build your own style of singing. Nowadays singers just go with whatever first comes out of their mouth, as most don't want to bother pitting the effort in.
Mariah Carey's mom was an opera singer. Mariah also did backup vocals for brenda k starr. so I guess old will always be gold.
🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿
"I'm not saying that one generation of singers and musicians is better than the other...."
Yet that's exactly what I'm hearing.
I think the point rly is about access to learning environments, and the impact that funding in arts and education can have on a nation's culture and self-expression
I do believe some people are just born with it. BUT we tend to forget that you can become skilled, or at least very good, at almost anything with the right discipline and practice. And it's never too late either - we have a tendency to think that we have to start from young to be good at something. People start learning new things in their 20s, 30s and beyond. So go take those sewing, writing, music, language, etc classes. Don't let anything stop you.
If you can't sing, no one is going to be able to teach you how to be a great singer! They can teach you how to mimic and that is what you have today with Black Americans substitutes!
We grew up in the Age of the Songstress. Talent isn't appreciated like it used to be; it's all about the marketable ✨aesthetic ✨
My biggest issue now is the lack of consistency. My old violin teacher used to say 'the best are those who do it consistently' so I aimed to always be on tune whenever I picked up the violin. As someone who goes to see singers live, the amount of them that are consistent is very, very low.
No, it isn’t. Nobody cares.
@@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024 Chill down, its a comment section. No body cares unless they are preaching what you want them to preach. The comment isnt negative/hateful or anything but you choose to leave a bad comment adding NOTHING to it.
I mean, yeah your teacher is right, but you also have to grow to keep on top of music. Even justin bieber and ed sheeran had some characteristic growth to keep bringing new songs to the table and stay on top of the industry. You cant be doing the same sound, with same tone of lyrics, and the same musical feeling, if you know what i mean. And to keep fans you need to change but keeping your roots. Its a very hard thing, because even the best fall off at times and change things that disapointed many people.
I remember trying to be like the 'greats' so much when I was younger only to soon realize that it wasn't valued anymore (in a mainstream fashion outside of church music, per my own experience and perception of others opinions). I began to notice how heavily our music depended on layering and tuning to create a full voice and it made me feel some type of way. I don't find value in live concerts anymore because I'd rather hear the studio version than an artist failing to capture that same vocal dexterity on stage - even with the tuned mics. Being in choir really put into perspective how these people 'can't sing'. So, I'm excited to watch this video!
Vocal talent comes in different forms: Aretha Franklin (Chaka Chan, Whitney, etc...was/were given a "gift(s)." Other singers have a talent. Aretha was smart enough to utilize the services of people trained to enhance and grow her gift. If you have a "talent" you have to work really hard to elevate your talent to the level where you can execute it at the professional level. You also have to listen to the greats and find people whose advice you trust so that you can grow your talent.
Talent or gift same difference. Aint nothing but practicing your craft not auto tune, skin, sparkles, and shaking your booty.
@butter fingers You're right.
@@Carlyon100
Not true, there are singers who are natural born talents (gifted) and then you have singers who are talented and they learn to do things that gifted singers do/have naturally.
I think talent and gift are the same. You're just born with it, but you improve upon it to reach a level most people won't get to..
Gladys Knight ,Patti Labelle, Clark Sister's, Lisa Fisher
I absolutely agree with you 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽! I am a vocal coach and my young students do not like to practice, do exercises or warm-ups. They just want to learn a song and go onstage and sing. It is very frustrating! Then they wonder why their range and power is limited.
I was like that at 12, lol. Once I hit 15 I matured and understood you got to put in your 10,000 hours. Kids love the idea of being adored stars, not the hard reality of success which takes a lot of work and sacrifice.
Took the words right out of my mouth. I’ve always said the best signers come from church. I grew up in church you’re constantly being trained and don’t even realize it. A lot of the newer singers didn’t grow up in church and you can tell because they aren’t that great live.
Well said! Taking voice lessons and don't even know it...it pays off though. ☺️
Chile church and school simultaneously. Mom wasn’t having whispering flat singers either. She threw hymnals.
Yup. I noticed that too. All of the good singers started in church
I've been single since I was 5 years old. I've never been in a church choir or took lessons. My training came from listening to my favorite songs on records and albums , which of course are not made anymore. I practiced and sing for countless hours everyday.
Different styles of vocals and sometimes playing and singing songs over and over. It takes extreme dedication and also you have to love what you are doing. My opinion is today , they're taking shortcuts and there is no great abundance of of talented singers to listen and practice to .
Exactly! As an example: Dione Warwick worked as a Demo recording singer to pay her College, and it was in a Demo session she would meet Burt Bacharach and begin their legendary recording history.
Absolutely. Ms. Dionne is a great example of excellence when it comes to voice and music!!!
Love her. ❤️
@@ThisIsJ.Nicole Me too. The greatest ever!
That's why I loved Durand Bernard's recent NPR performance. He was able to showcase his voice with various genres, while dancing and being entertaining. But the hours of practice is there and it shows. He started out singing covers on here, he also sung background. His voice is phenomenal
Yes his mother was a music teacher and he was homeschooled. He definitely had the practice!
Ahh I wish I had a better way of explain but I cant stand his voice, its everything. What he is able to do with his voice is not of this planet. Leveled is my favourite song from him. Just ahh!
Anytime there’s an openly gay black male artist; he has to act like a stereotypical clown to get attention and awards. I’m happy Durand is booked and busy because of his talent.
I sing very similar to him.
The only new mainstream artists that I know that can sing is Chloe and Halle, Chloe’s music doesn’t highlight her vocals but she can sing. Halle’s voice is a little more soft but I love it. I just feel like my generation (gen z) just thinks all singers have a natural singing voice, and I feel like it causes artists who are good singers to not progress and practice even if they’re just okay at singing. Because honestly anyone can sing, but it’s up to the person to put in the work, but it’s increasingly becoming easier to break into mainstream, so singers just don’t feel the need to.
Edit: After seeing who won The voice and American idol, I’m also starting to realize how people nowadays prefer relatability than they do vocal ability. I remember seeing a lot of the comments on the other contestants, specifically those who had more of a powerhouse voice, saying they were almost too perfect.
Those two young women are amazing - they are artist.
I love chloexhalle but I'm not a fan of Chloe's solo stuff so far.
C"mon what about Beyoncé and Bruno Mars
@@helenaveiga46 i think they're about the newer gen z artists bruno has been around since the 00's and beyoncé since the late 90's so they've around for a minute. the new gen artists are ones lacking as of rn.
Yup! Love them.
Tbh all types of singing is necessary. Just because the new girls doesn’t belt doesn’t mean that they can’t sing. We can have all of it. I don’t think it’s fair nor is it right to say that everybody has to belt to be considered a “singer” you don’t have to belt all of the time. That means nothing. What matters is the music. Are the lyrics painting a picture? Are they telling a story? That’s what matters
I've had the same thoughts about male singers and actually thought about it heavily a few days ago when I was listening to Con Funk Shun. There doesn't seem to be many voices like Luther, Teddy, Dennis Edward's, etc. Everybody's voices just seem so "light" and "soft" now and there's no emotion or storytelling. Great video. I think it sums everything up very well.
sadly Because the media likes lighter higher tenor voices
Nobody want to listen to baritones and bass voices
There is also a shift in singing pedagogy. There are many reasons for it though. The invention of artificial amplification was one of the factors that allowed for less developed voice to be heard. The other was the development of a cheat technique that didn't require that much time to achieve it but was not as efficient which is the placement concept and all the technique aspects related to it: twang, nasal resonance, singing in the mask...
Opera has been very much affected, and the rest of the singing too.
Modern opera singers sing with a nasal, constricted and too light of a sound that doesn't carry in an opera house. For the other part there are those who try to make their voice big, like they were in the past without knowing how to do so, because the tradition has been lost, and we end up with parodies of operstic singing; singerd with voce ingolata, a wobbly vibratto and trying to fake chestvoice through constriction.
@@Ignasimp is fake chest-voice a chesty-mix 🤔
@@aduhaduh4426 I'm not sure I understand your question.
@@Ignasimp I'm asking what's fake chest-voice
I know this wasn't meant to be shady but the cut from Jennifer Holiday to SZA took me OUT 💀💀
I’ve been telling people SZA can’t sing that well but I always get dragged for saying that 😂😂 I still like her music tho
@@vernicegirl8987 and you can never understand wyd she’s saying 😩
@@TT-xz5sy I have to turn the subtitles on when I watch the “All the Stars” video.
Sza can’t sing! The juxtaposition was hilarious 😂
😂😂😂😂😂
Today's artists do not aspire to be great vocalists because it’s no longer required to achieve success, plain and simple... it has nothing to do with the amount of practice.
Bingo! 👍
Also, the new girls realize that record labels are running a racquet. Exploiting them by first, completely ignoring artist development and then second, paying .06 cent per stream instead of dollars for real album sales like many of the greats had when they came up. The internet has schooled many new artists; they are no longer willing to bust their a** with no development for only a fraction of the profits. These girls have been taught to come up quick, make your check and dip--it's not about art anymore.
both of y’all statements are true..
it's both.
It’s definitely both…
The issue is that pure soul has left the building. Great video!💚
It truly is practice. A lot of my favorites (Nicole Wray, Coko of SWV, Tweet, Gina Thompson, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Mo & of course The Voice that is Whitney Houston) all had their early development in church choir singing. Practicing at a young age will do magic, I just hate that today that style of singing is overlooked because it’s deemed too “extra” or “over-the-top”.
Gina Thompson??? You have taste🤌🏾 & anything that isn’t mediocre, vocally, will always be deemed as “extra”
I was just listening to Nicole Wray and my young daughter asked me who is this?
@@Kcs.Vocals No vocals can be too extra but still be considered good to many. Any singer trying to prove themselves every second of the performance and belching every time they get a chance should be labeled as bad singer. But its okay. They can learn techniques and shit
And gospel music is by virtue emotive and dynamic, at least in southern gospel. Church singers come out of church knowing how to perform and sell the message of the song.
@@Kcs.Vocals Do you know Gina Thompsons song 'Calling You'? Off her 1999 album. It's such a stunning track.
Wow Thank you for this video. I was having this convo with my nephew who is in his mid 20s over the holidays. He asked me "why do the older generations think his generation has no talent". I tried to explain it to him, but now I have a video that perfectly explains why people feel that way. As you said its not because of the lack of talent, but, it's because todays artists haven't been properly developed as singers & artists.
As a now retired Vocal Trainer, I truly appreciated this video! Thank you!
This video helped me release frustration about where music is today. I literally have no desire to sing newer artists music because it lacks the richness & feeling of artists my parents played, while I grew up in the 90’s. The new scene of music had begun to steal my dream, I often don’t understand why more artists aren’t like Coko of SWV. She’s honest & outspoken about her likes & dislikes of the guy’s & girlies of the newer generation musically. It’s always been my dream to meet the many greats before my existence because of how inspirational they are to me. I’m hopeful music will return to powerful vocals. Especially now, that a lot of the darkness of the music business & it’s long time predators are being exposed.
I recently watched the BET 2022 awards, and while watching it the topic of this video kept echoing in my mind. It is so evident that the present day "singers" are vocally lacking, and these subpar singers are rewarded with thunderous applause from the audience. Leaving me bewildered and perplexed. " are they listening?" Or are they beguiled by these " singers"? I believe the latter.
I'm sure that this could have included men too. Let's not exempt men from having their mediocrity scrutinized. Thank you!
They all sound like Future lol
@@cslworldwide Exactly. These girls might no be 'there' vocally, but they're out here creating visuals, dancjng their asses off. I also think that we have to take into consideration how genres and thier vocal aesthetics have changed. There's also a whole important transitional period in black music in the late 90s to early 2010s that he completely missed out, it all didn't happen over night.
@@Neighbourhooddegenerate agreed…people always wanna tear down women but don’t acknowledge the fact that every man on the radio sounds the same rn 🥱 at least the women are artistically creative
@@miaa1762 definitely, I think that why Western Industry hate Korean Groups because it's expose their bare minimum.
right, chainsmokers and shit theres a big lack there
There absolutely are singers like this, they just don't get record deals anymore