What's the appeal of Alicia Keys?
Options
usmarin3
Members Posts: 38,013 ✭✭✭✭✭
Her voice is sooooooo (how do i say this) average, she doesn't have much range or control and all she does is ? yell. I never got how people treated her ass like she is the second coming of Stevie Wonder when vocally she doesn't even measure up to her peers (Beyonce, Keysha Cole,etc). Does she get a pass because she got that i am every woman image, doesn't sell sexuality as much as other artist, and use the piano as a crutch.
Someone tell me what's the appeal to her, i'll admit she was a breath of fresh air at first because now she is pretty predictable. Chick look so uncomfortable away from the piano.
Someone tell me what's the appeal to her, i'll admit she was a breath of fresh air at first because now she is pretty predictable. Chick look so uncomfortable away from the piano.
Comments
-
I dunno. When Clive wants you to really believe in something, he will pull out all the stops to make you believe it. Her voice was never amazing to begin with but she held it up with her musical talent. But at some point around her 3rd album she must have thought she's too good to take a voice lesson or two. She needs to go back to singing in A Minor like her 1st album coz the notes she's trying to hit these days are plain wrong! Why does she always yell?
She's still one of the few mainstream R&B artist with potential though, but I think she hit her artistic peak with that second album. Her using a piano as a crutch gets old but once she gets up and starts 'moving', I'd rather she get back to that piano. -
she isn't really like anyone else that's out right now. everyone has their gimmick..the piano just happens to be hers. No one tells india to step from behind the guitar...
-
marie addams wrote: »she isn't really like anyone else that's out right now. everyone has their gimmick..the piano just happens to be hers. No one tells india to step from behind the guitar...
What about her voice though, that's my biggest problem with her. Her voice stay cracking and messing up (see the Haiti tribute, All Star half time show). -
marie addams wrote: »she isn't really like anyone else that's out right now. everyone has their gimmick..the piano just happens to be hers. No one tells india to step from behind the guitar...
I hear what your're saying but if you're gonna have songs that aren't so piano driven (sleeping with a broken heart and the next single with Beyonce), you better know how to move & she doesn't. -
What about her voice though, that's my biggest problem with her. Her voice stay cracking and messing up (see the Haiti tribute, All Star half time show).
you know..idk wtf is up with her voice right now..i remember when she first came out she was great live... she sounded just like the record
i wonder if she's taken up smoking or something -
Lol that's what I wonder with a lot of these artists too. Maybe they're drinking and smoking too much. I watch JDs youtube uploads sometimes & he's posted vids with Johnta Austin, Mariah, Usher in the studio. The amount of drinking these guys do is not healthy. Neither is it good for the voice.
I really don't know why these artists lose their voice after being in the game for 10-20years. Stevie's been at this for how long, yet Alicia's had more off days than he'll ever have. -
yeah her voice didn't sound good last night, but she's amazing. I saw her on her last tour and she can SING!
-
AK'S Appeal = she is a artist that writes, produces , phat to death, good singer. She fills in a lane that needs to be filled in music today. My one problem with AK is that I feel that she can do even more with the talent she posses . I feel that musically she can take musicianship to a higher level.
-
CzySxyCool wrote: »i dont agree wit you at all and i dont think you know what your talkin about... i think shes a very talented young woman and she has a very beautiful voice...
*admits* i might be a lil biased because she one of my favorite artists. lol
but for real... she one of very few truely talented ARTIST today... we have a lot of entertainers i.e. beyonce... lol but not many true artist! *just a thought
I don't even think she is that strong of a songwriter, i think she is talented but her fame is a result of her being in a watered down era where artist like Ciara, Keri Hilston, and Ashanti are successful for ? sakes. If she would of come out in the 70s she wouldn't even be recognize, her singing isn't strong and she is not a great piano player either. What makes A Keys a true artist and Beyonce (other artist), vocally A Keys isn't on alot of the others level vocally so it can't be that, it can't be performance wise because it definetly ain't that, so i am guessing you're talking about song writing. Let's not act like Crucial Keys isn't helping her making those records.
Lauryn Hill with a accoustic guitar > A Keys -
she's not a great piano player? wtf are you even talking about?
Fallin, If I Ain't Got You, You Don't Know My Name, Diary, No One, Like You'll Never See Me Again, Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart.........and those are just some of her amazing singles. She got lots of great album tracks too. I dunno. If you don't like an artist, you just don't like them. No one can make you "understand" or like an artist lol -
lol at you acting like she is Mozart, Chopin or Beethoven, ask anyone who is a professional (in a orchestra, music professor,etc) and they will tell you she is not a great piano player. I've professors who are apart of Orchestras say they don't think she is a great piano player. I'm not saying she is trash but she ain't great either.
-
This a very good question. I was a fan when she first came out but ever since then all her stuff sounds the same. I don't hate on anyone who likes her though.
-
The appeal of Alicia is that she's a musician. She writes, composes, produces, and sings her own material.
A modern day Nina Simone, if you will. -
Personally, I like the woman because she writes songs that I can relate to. Its been that way since Songs In A Minor. She doesn't have to have a voice like those other ladies. She does what she does and I am a fan of it.
And how is knowing how to play the piano a gimmick? Its what she does. She's a musician. I suppose Jimi Hendrix's guitar was a gimmick too? -
Personally, I like the woman because she writes songs that I can relate to. Its been that way since Songs In A Minor. She doesn't have to have a voice like those other ladies. She does what she does and I am a fan of it.
And how is knowing how to play the piano a gimmick? Its what she does. She's a musician. I suppose Jimi Hendrix's guitar was a gimmick too?
Jimi is probably the greatest guitarist of all time and a originator. Who in the hell considers A Keys a great pianists and what grounds is she breaking. -
Jimi is probably the greatest guitarist of all time and a originator. Who in the hell considers A Keys a great pianists and what grounds is she breaking.
The fact that Alicia is the anti-Beyonce type artist...behaves "seriously", doesn't dress have naked, carries herself with class, plays the piano, writes/composes/produces, and still manages to be successful in the era of the Lady GaGa's and Britney Spears' and Ciara's and Rihanna's and the Ke$ha's...that is groundbreaking. -
Jimi is probably the greatest guitarist of all time and a originator. Who in the hell considers A Keys a great pianists and what grounds is she breaking.
You still haven't explained how her actually being a pianist is a gimmick. I haven't even said anything about her skills on the keys nor her being ground breaking.
How is his guitar not a gimmick if AK's piano is? Or let's take Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine. Is his guitar a gimmick or no? If so, why? They're musicians. -
lol at you acting like she is Mozart, Chopin or Beethoven, ask anyone who is a professional (in a orchestra, music professor,etc) and they will tell you she is not a great piano player. I've professors who are apart of Orchestras say they don't think she is a great piano player. I'm not saying she is trash but she ain't great either.
Mozart? Chopin? Beethoven? again...wtf are you talkin about?
-
^^^You really didn't answer the question what has she done to be considered a great pianist?
-
Punisher__ wrote: »The fact that Alicia is the anti-Beyonce type artist...behaves "seriously", doesn't dress have naked, carries herself with class, plays the piano, writes/composes/produces, and still manages to be successful in the era of the Lady GaGa's and Britney Spears' and Ciara's and Rihanna's and the Ke$ha's...that is groundbreaking.
Do you understand what groundbreaking means, it means bringing something new to the artform that's never been done before. Say what you wan't about Beyonce or Lady Gaga but atleast their focals and stage presence is better than A Keys. Everything you just name has nothing to do with raw talent, yall are giving her a pass just because she is the anti pop artists. Lady Gaga can play the piano but you don't see her using it as a crutch, if you ask me A Keys is one dimensional as hell. -
supern0va_ wrote: »Mozart? Chopin? Beethoven? again...wtf are you talkin about?
Those are great classically trained pianist, comparing A Keys to them is like comparing John Mayer to Jimi Hendrix. What A Keys does is rudamentary compared to the complex pieces these dudes composed. -
You still haven't explained how her actually being a pianist is a gimmick. I haven't even said anything about her skills on the keys nor her being ground breaking.
How is his guitar not a gimmick if AK's piano is? Or let's take Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine. Is his guitar a gimmick or no? If so, why? They're musicians.
It's a gimmick because alot of the times she is playing the piano on stage when she isn't even needed for the ? track. Look at the Empire State of Mind mtv performance, that chick didn't need to play the piano. She doesn't even need to play it for Try sleeping with a broken heart or My Boo. She is so quick to run behind the piano.
I bet she could make a song with Dougie Fresh over a beatbox and she would run to the piano.
The guitar is not a gimmick because Tom Morello is a guitarist and not the lead singer of Rage, Zack is. You don't see Jimi with back up track playing like A Keys. -
Do you understand what groundbreaking means, it means bringing something new to the artform that's never been done before. Say what you wan't about Beyonce or Lady Gaga but atleast their focals and stage presence is better than A Keys. Everything you just name has nothing to do with raw talent, yall are giving her a pass just because she is the anti pop artists. Lady Gaga can play the piano but you don't see her using it as a crutch, if you ask me A Keys is one dimensional as hell.
If groundbreaking means bringing something new to the artform, then I don't think any contemporary artist is groundbreaking. Everything being done now, has already been done before. Lady GaGa has borrowed from Madonna and Gwen. Beyonce has borrowed from Tina and Diana. And the list goes on. It's certainly not just Alicia. In today's market, being groundbreaking can simply mean just standing a part from your contemporaries/peers. And Alicia succeeds at that, by leaps and bounds.
Alicia doesn't have to create some new sound or some ? like that to be considered groundbreaking. In an era marked by ? shakers and c-list sex symbols, Alicia stands alone as her own artist, with her own vision, and does ? her way. That has to be respected. -
Those are great classically trained pianist, comparing A Keys to them is like comparing John Mayer to Jimi Hendrix. What A Keys does is rudamentary compared to the complex pieces these dudes composed.
yeah but who is comparing her to them? obviously she will never be as great as them, but she plays well. i don't know why you're trying to be so negative. I don't think many people want an Alicia Keys album with her playing like Beethoven, etc. sure she plays the piano with most of her songs, but SO WHAT? There are THOUSANDS of other artists who play other instruments or don't at all during their performances so you don't have to like/listen/watch Alicia. -
Punisher__ wrote: »If groundbreaking means bringing something new to the artform, then I don't think any contemporary artist is groundbreaking. Everything being done now, has already been done before. Lady GaGa has borrowed from Madonna and Gwen. Beyonce has borrowed from Tina and Diana. And the list goes on. It's certainly not just Alicia. In today's market, being groundbreaking can simply mean just standing a part from your contemporaries/peers. And Alicia succeeds at that, by leaps and bounds.
Alicia doesn't have to create some new sound or some ? like that to be considered groundbreaking. In an era marked by ? shakers and c-list sex symbols, Alicia stands alone as her own artist, with her own vision, and does ? her way. That has to be respected.
Everything you just said is what irks me, she is not famous for her raw talent per se (singing and performing) but more known for being anti pop and different than what's out there. Is she a better singer than Beyonce, Keysha Cole, Lady Gaga,etc; hell no. It's as if people look over her mediocre voice and redundant sounding albums for the fact that she pushes this mother earth image (wise, classy, well spoken, i am every woman). Since when has being a pop artist per se (alicia is pop too) have a negative conotation to it like anything those artist are doing is less than what A Keys is doing, talent is talent period.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AAaujgxZlw
