Whether you’ve heard her music or not, it’s safe to say there’s no escaping Adele-mania.
Fueled by her sophomore LP ‘21‘ and heightened by the momentum of its own sales, the project has turned the star into one of the highest selling acts in more time, literally selling more copies per week than many of her chart rivals could shift in a year.
However, with this success has come an undying criticism related to Adele’s look- more specifically, her race.
Like Amy Winehouse and Joss Stone before her, Adkins’ success-albeit warranted- has led many to ask the uncomfortable question:
But what if she was black, would she be as successful?
This week, that question was asked and answered by ‘The Magnetic Fields’ front man Stephen Merritt.
His interesting comments below…
Speaking to LA Weekly, he explained:
I like Adele, though I have some reservations about why people like her.
She really has a lovely voice, but I only get suspicious when people get excited about British people who sound like American black people.
Basically she sounds like Anita Baker. And people are not, you know, wild and crazy about Anita Baker.
There is something unsavory about the way audiences sometimes disproportionately favor white artists making black music.
Witness Eminem’s repeated appearances on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks (now Alternative Songs) chart with songs sporting an unmistakably hip-hop bounce like “My Name Is” and “Without Me.” The only way to explain his crossing-over to rock radio is his skin color. Yikes.
But a white woman singing soulfully (and not even to beat-oriented music the vast majority of the time – seriously, give this woman a break) is not a new or unique phenomenon, and wouldn’t be any phenomenon if a black woman such as Whitney Houston didn’t turn the gospel singing style into the standard for pop.
And that was, by the way, around the time Baker was racking up platinum albums and taking home armfuls of Grammys. People were, in fact, wild and crazy about Baker.
The reason she’s not a current hit-maker is because she’s over 50 (the Top 40 has only grown more ageist) and she hasn’t released a studio album since 2005’s Christmas Fantasy.
Also, people don’t listen to Lisa Stansfield anymore, and she’s a white British woman who sings R&B. So where does that leave us? With some bad examples that don’t take the complexity of taste and influence into account.
Beyoncé, the biggest name in contemporary R&B, said her most recent album 4 was influenced in part by white Brit Florence Welch and, you guessed it, Adele.
Before that, she covered Anita Baker in concert, though, just in case you were worried that Beyoncé was racist.
So, what do you think?
Do you agree with Stephen, or is race irrelevant when it comes to music?
Weigh in below…
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Omg that is just so f-in stupid
i mean if ure gonna be talking lie this.. I can also say that the reason for why Jay Sean doesn’t sell as much as Trey Songz is because he is indian and not black… -.-
YEAH RACE DOES HAVE ALOT TO DO WITH IT I LIKE ADELE BUT IF SHE WAS BLACK SHE WOULD NOT SELL LOOK AT JENNIFER HUDSON SHES NOT SELLING ALL THAT WELL
That’s ridiculous! Jay Sean is simply not GOOD! Trey Songz is an R&B artist I’m not sure WTH or how they classify Jay Sean? His music appears to be all over the place.
MAKE NO MISTAKE RACE MATTERS! @TGJ is blind not to see that Adele, although a good singer, is not as good a vocalist as 99.9% of African American female Soul singers! JILL SCOTT could sing this chick into an early grave!!
Adele’s success is due to:
1) Having the massive industry MACHINE behind her (music excs, magazines, TV programs, radio station etc) You will never hear the power’s that be speak ill of Adele. She could KILL someone and it would be acceptable!
2) Having WHITE SKIN!
3) Having genuine Talent! And the freedom to express herslef without criticism. She can be fat and sloppy but no one will say a word. Let Beyonce, Chris Brown or Rihanna have a hair out of place it will make CNN’s late edition!
Neither of them are that much more succesful than the other,if at all..DO YOUR HOMEWORKYOU IDIOT,, !! i guess your just tryna turn the tables on Black Folks..Jay SEan has a US jumber one single..WTF YU TLKN BOUT???
its actually not stupid, we can pretend that race and skin color is not a factor, but we eat up soulful singing white people, and light skin people, theres a reason why in music groups some people are in the front even though there vocals might not be the best its looks. shes a white girl they gonna buy her music.. reality is race and skin color is key
Very true look at Monica, Jennifer hudson, Estelle, Jill scott all R&B soul artists they are not selling like that. Right now adele is the “it” girl but 2 years from now she will be forgotten about just like joss stone.
First of all, adele’s music is in no way at all to be confused with “black music.” her race has nothing at all to do with her success. What she has done musically is so contrast to what every other 20-something year old artist out there is doing. Black white and evrything in between. Shes a hot item no less than lady gaga was with her last two albums, wasnt because shes white. Once upon time Beyonce was just as hot and on demand. At one point in time Brandy was the it girl and every girl in the world wanted to be her and buy her music. Ashanti, Destiny’s Child, mary j blige. Adele hasnt toppled the accomplishments of any of afforementioned. Black girls have become IT girls too. Adele (in my eyes as a black guy) doesnt sing like a black artist, doesnt sing BETTER than black artists and doesnt sing BLACK music. She has her own lane and unique style of music which sets her aside from a lot of mainstream artists today. Word spread like wild fire that this 22 year old girl had a really great album and sings like an angel and now almost everybody in the world has or has heard her album 21
EMINEM beat his wife Kim for many years and mad songs dedicated to KILLING HER, have you ever heard ANYONE refer to EMINEM as a WIFE BEATER or an ABUSER OF WOMEN?
Same goes for EVERY MEMBER OF MOTLEY CREW! TOMMY LEE had many DV episodes with Pam Anderson. NICKI SIXX threw his wife through a sliding glass door. VINCE NEIL was arrested in Las Vagas 2011 for beating up his live-in girlfriend. Hell even the sick one smacked around his gf back in the day yet they are on tour co-headlining with KISS and NOBODY saya sh*t about their WIFE BEATING WAYS!
GLENN CAMPBELL knocked out country great Tanya Tuckers front teeth bu was honored on the CMA & the Grammy’s without so much as a tweet about his long history of DV with is WIVES throughout the years!
RACE ALWAYS MATTERS!
Jay Sean has numerous overseas htis you idiot whereas Trey does Not even have One top 40 hit in the UK..Jay Sean has a U.s. number one single whereas trey does NOT..Theyre almost equally successful..Trey has more sucesful albums in the U.S. which are ONLY 2 GOLD ALBUMS and he ONLY grarnered his first riaa certified alnum an album ago?? HOw is TRey SONgz more successful than Jay Sean?
Who is this Jay Sean?
Trey Songz rocks anyway, even here in Europe.
I think the fact he is more known than this other dude ur stanning for speaks volumes.
ADELE SINGS LIKE BLACK PEOPLE POINT BLANK PERIOD AND SHE HAS BETTER OPPORTUITIES ND MORE SUCCES BECAUSE SHE IS WHITE POJNT BLANK PERIOD !! IF ADELE IS CARRYING HOME THE SAME AMOUNT IF GRAMMYS WHITNEY HAD IN HER LIFETIME IN ONE NIGHT SOMETHING IS WRONG!!! AND IT IS OBVIOUS RACISM IS A FACTOR!! ADELE IS NOT AN AMZING SINGER!! SHE CANNOT STAND NEXT TO A REAL BLACK CHURCH GOILL SINGER!! IDGAF
Man y’all talk about black R&B singers not selling so much. Do they have the amazing hit songs Adele has? Their songs f*****’ suck, so do Jay Sean’s. Don’t mistake color for quality of music (which is subjective but still). And color does matter too but less than talent which these black girls have or not, it’s not put to good use, they oughtta work with the producers of Adele
And mobwife . EMINEM didn’t beat his wife, f*****’ idiot
Get over it? A load of b******* in my mind. Adele’s music is very British, and her songs are good. A singer is only as good as their songs, which is the reason Adele excels where others fail. Nothing to do with skin colour whatsoever.
I agree Adele´s success came cos of the songs. Everybody needs great songs, it´s the most important thing. And she did it. The others named on this post have not that appeal at all (their songs)
Her songs are not that damn good. They are decent but, s***. ANd what does very British mean? Her music is basically Soul music, which originated from the struggle of black slaves. Your white so why am i even trying…
EXACTLY HER SONGS ARE OK
Lol I’m not white.
YOU SOUND CRAZY AS A LOON!
Adele’s success is based on talent and race. Her singing talent is no more or less greater than the average American Soul singer. The pop madia and music industry backing is what has given her this type of suucess. That and not being American seems to be high;y favored in America!
VERY BRITISH MY ASS!! LMAOO HER MUSIC IS VERY BLACK!!!!
THIS IS TRUE IN ALL SENSE OF THHE WORD. TAKE BEY FOR EXAMPLE, 4, IS SOUL LIKE ADELE’S 21, BUT THIS ALBUM BECAME HER WORST IN ALL ASPECTS….THE SINGLES FAILED TO REPUTURE HER PREVIIOUS SUCCESS, NEVER ENETERED THE TOP 5 ON HOT 100. N WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SOMEONE WHO USED TO DOMINATE THE CHARTS. BUT ADELE, JUST COULLN’T STOP. ALBUM SALES SKYROCKETED LIKE CRAZY WEEK IN WEEK OUT. SINGLES GOING TO NUMBER 1 OR 3 AT WORST. SOMETHING BEY FAILED TO ACHIEVE. YOU WANNA KNOW WHY? CUZ POP RADIO IS WHITE ORIENTED. THE ONLY BLACK PERSON WHO WENT TO NO 1IS RIRI AND WE KNOW JAY DOES BUSINNESS LIKE DESTINY’S CHILD MANAGER…..PAY WHATEVER IT TAKES TO SCORE A NO1. THAT’S WHY RIR’S LPs haven’t gone to no 1. no radio paly to be added to go to number 1.
Adele has some great SONGS – regardless of her voice. But theres no question that white artists singing black music tend to be a l lot more successful while black artists doing the same music tend to be overlooked or marginalised.
AGREED!
I agree too. I think its a case of “there as good as them” I think its the same situation as Justim Bieber and justin timberlake, its the same premise with white people who can dance….
Exactly, Justine Timberlake was considered Ushers rival in the same way that Justin Bieber has been considered Chris Brown’s rival! Usher, though highly favored (well as highly favored as a black Man could be in America) has always had to take a back seat to JT! JB can do no wrong according to MASSIVE INDUSTRY MACHINE that backs him, the same machine that claims Chris Brown can do no right! Example, Bieber sang live lead vocals over a back track at the 2012 BBMA and was PRAISED while Chris Brown did the exact same thing and was accused of LIP SYNCING 0_o?
Agreed.
I don’t think it has nothing to do with Racism, i think her success is because the lack of good Music we have today, i mean she is an exception, she’s doing something different than all the girls of her age, for example Lady Gaga is very good but she doesn’t bring nothing new to the table, all is the same Dance-Pop, we have already seem other female Pop stars like her right but since Whitney and Mariah, there is not a real vocalist in the Game, i don’t think she is the most talented or that she has the best voice but the Girl is not a w**** like the other b******, i still think Florence is more talented than her, she deserves more success, just listen to her masterpiece, “Never Let Me Go” and the album “Ceremonials”, Lana Del Rey is doing something new too, her Music is fresh. I think Black people need to leave the whole (because she’s black) coz we al know black people has the best voices so stop complaining.
In my opinion Ceremonials should be a huge seller, not just a moderate success. I suppose it is not that commercial to make it that big, but it should. I´m in love with it. That´s what i don´t like about music nowadays, everything has to be generic to reach the highest level of success (there are some exceptions). I loved most of Lana del Rey´s album too. A few songs on there are truly great
I agree, Ceremonial is one of the best album of the last 5 years.
BS ADELE IS SELLING BECAUSE SHES WHITE AND SINGING SOULFUL MUSIC SHES A GOOD SINGER BUT OTHERS BEEN IN THE GAME LONGER AND DONT HAVE IT LIKE HER BRANDY MONICA
There is simply tones of good music that is not placed in the forefront! POP is what is supported followed by COUNTRY music. R&B, JAZZ, & CLASSICAL music are shoved to the back This was by design and predictable. Those who control the media and music industries dictate what you hear, see and believe pr what that elect to tell or show you!
Will you PLEASE RETIRE THE RACE CARD ALREADY?!
Good music is good music…I can appreciate Adele AND Anita Baker…they all make good music. Whether you’re black, white, brown, yellow, red, or blue with pink polka dots, if you make good music, I’ll support you.
SIMPLE AS THAT.
There is no such thing as a race card, only racism. And racism wil only be “retired” when whites decided to stop physically, socially, culturally, and economically oppressing people of color because they have the means too. If music was just music there would be no seperate catagories at award shows, and separate genres. Music is marketed by race, life-style, and socioeconomic standing. Its not that simple.
I am so proud of you kingphoenix. You forgot the adjective “appropriating” because white people sure do that.
@toohotfortv
Thank you! Just keeping the good fight alive. And yeah, i used appropriating in some of my other comments. This stuff really gets me going though. Hopefully, i will be this enthused for my senior dissertation.lol
@Kingphoenix
Now let the CONGREGATION say AMEN….LOL 🙂
101% Co-sign every word. I think its crazy that ppl claim not to see the lies, manipulations and hypocrisy in the music industry & the media based on race!
Kingphoenix
Cosign.
SHES GOOD BUT RACE HAS ALOT TO DO WITH IT
JEALOUS BITTER B****** always use the “racism” card when they can’t help for this case.
CLASSIC !!
and there is nothing called “white” or “black” music , do you realize how stupid you sound ?! that’s racist in itself , so african american people can’t make music white folks known to do ?! ” i really don’t like saying black”
and who’s this h** to speak for an audience ?! he should speak for himself and put it as an “personal” opinion.
white people buy music by black artists too , “thriller” wasn’t only bought by black people , hence being the best selling album ever !! music was meant to bring people together ! music has no religion , no s** , no race , no color , no boundaries ! you understand dumb f*** ?! 😡
coming from an egyptian muslim man. go figure !!
and adele is fine 🙂 ! she’s a true artist and everyone love her !
You are just absolutely clueless sometimes, but i guess that only black people and other people of color who have face serious systems of oppressions can understand.
To tell you the truth yes it is i don’t know a black person that has an adele album
I know plenty of my black friends that have her album! Oh and Oprah Winfrey said on the morning show it’s one of her favorites. Now how about that!!!!!
I wouldn’t call it jealousy.. Adele just dosent do it for me as a a so called soul singer..if i had to compare her to one it would probably be Sade ..they both have unique singing abilities and they both sing alot about the ups and downs of relationships..they both r songwriters..Amy winehouse and teena marie ,in my opinion,were the best white soul singers that i have ever heard..u cant compare Adele to them because they sound so much better than her..i must admit that i like Adele’s songwriting abilities and i think that’s why she appeals more to the whites..
@Pop Royalty
Go dip ur head down the nearest manhole.
Considering the fact that you are the product of a people who embrace virulent black racism, your diatribe is a bit rich.
And no, you don’t get to tell black people how to feel or not over their own music just like we wouldn’t give a damn about telling you how to feel about yours.
Kwasia.
i mean its a known fact that being white/light-skinned helps in this industry but im not gonna say that its the ONLY reason for her success.i think its partly because ppl like her voice and the fact that she stays covered up
There’s alot of lightskinned soul singers BUT they still get overlooked. Adele is pure white so they prefer her.
yea u probably right
I mean I wonder the same thing…there are plenty of black artist with meaningful lyrics and good vocals.
But Adele is a talented singer and song writer. .. Also Adele has more pop-appeal than the likes of Jill Scott or Goapele or Ledisi….
And Im just happy that talent has been topping the charts…. and 21 is one of my favorite albums…
But what is “pop” appeal? I think the point is that pop generally speaks of whiteness
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=ecgD51Scjx
#1: Adele sounds nothing like Anita Baker. Seriously discredits everything else he said.
#2: Adele’s success is a referendum on the current state of Pop music. Her success is to show that there is a desire among the listening public for real and simple music. Amidst the euro-dance-club-house-electronic sound that has consumed all music from Pop to “R&B” and even “Rap/Hip-Hop,” there are people who just want to hear a vocalist and live instrumentation.
#3: Here in America, we don’t particularly consider Adele R&B. She’s the newest incarnation of Blue-Eyed Soul, something he view differently from R&B.
#4: Regardless of influence, Beyonce’s ‘4’ didn’t emulate well what made Adele’s ’21’ what it is. The Prince-esque ‘1+1’ didn’t embody it, and that’s the only track that can be considered Adele influenced.
I agree…. Nothing like anita baker…. nothing!
#1). You have little to no comprehension skills, he wasn’t talking about an exact match of their voice, but that they sing about the same thing and deliver the same kind of music. Soulful, melancholic music, thats about love and heartbreak. Toni Braxton would have been another great point. Only thing that discredits is your ablility to read, and your knowledge of music.
#2). Today music is the way it is because many blacks have had to assimilate to the mainstream (which is the white standard) You have artist like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Usher, Chris Brown, and Beyonce (IAMSF era) who feel like the only way they can sell is to direct their attention to a white audience. And many black consumers are following in line, and are actually prefering that s*** to black music.
#30. Blue-eyed sould cam from Soul/R&B, and it gets all the glory and steals all the credit, leaving black artist who are better out in the cold. Look what happened to Rock &Roll.
#4). People take out of context what Beyonce said, she was influence by Adele and Florence because they way they were able to bare theirselves in their music, which she hasn’t been able to do in awhile. A lot of her material was better than Adele’s 21, but got less shine because they have put Beyonce in a box. And don’t care to here authentic soul music from black bodies when they can hear them from white ones.
Nah, sorry, drawing on your own point Anita Baker & Toni Braxton are a whole different area. Also, artists don’t have to “assimilate” to anything unless they’re chasing fame. There are still R&B and Gospel artists who are happy to sing the music for them and make ends meet by touring and PA’s.
Don’ be on here preaching as if your opinion is gospel, make your point and be done.
i also want to say that i think it has something to do with HOW she sings as well. adele DOES NOT sing straight up R&B like jill scott, ledisi, erykah badu ect. her music is more “poppy” and appeals to the majority.
What so the way black people sing is not accessible to no body but black people, but yet when a white person sings like a black person, but cannot fully deliver the effect, it gets turned around that they sing more “poppy” and is acceptable because whiteness is the standard of whats acceptable? Oh okay.
im saying that r&b isnt hot right now and most black female singers sing r&b so its hard for them to get that popular appeal.
@angel
By pop appeal, you mean white audience right? Please speak the truth, don’t mince words. And obviously you are not getting this…I really hope you are not black, because then it would really be sad that you are unable to have the double-conciousness Dubois urged us to have.
Kingphoenix
Don’t mind the idiot (angel)
He is write to a point! I think sometimes you look at artist like Tamia, Kelly Price, or even Jill Scott who have arguably stronger voices than Adele and have the material to much do not garner the same success.
I think in the music industry the record label and music critics pick their favorites and if music audiences agrees then the artist will be successful like Adele. However, if audience do not agree with critics who are just as talented you have a world full of Melanie Fionas, Jill Scotts, Tamias, and Kelly Prices who talent becomes undervalue.
History repeats itself folks look up the story of Elvis vs Little RIchard.
Elvis was so much better than Little Richard, he has everything, beauty, talent, voice, sexappeal, charisma…
Thats a lie. Elvis was a generic ass gimmick. The madonna before there was Madonna. He stole black peoples music and the white people loved it. But you are racist anyway, so just ain’t do nothing but prove a point.
Phoenix, Elvis was and will always be the King.
@S****** Blonde
Yes because thats what the white man, your white man, has taught you…embedded in your mind. F*** that, he ain’t know king of mine.
Kingphoenix, kiss me.
I am not sure Elvis was better than Little RIchard. I think Elvis was afforded a larger platform
and had a crossover appeal that Little Richard did not have. With that being said Elvis
has said most of his influence is from the Black church and black speakeasies in Memphis. Something
he placed most of his inspiration from people who were like Little Richard that did not garner similar sucess
That is why I said, Adele similar to Elvis has used her surrounding ( in her vogue cover she stated she was
lived in a pre-dominantly black neighborhood in the uk) as a way to mold her sound. So is there race element to her succes, I think yes in many ways.
Ok let me be very clear. Why is Rihanna nominated in R&B catigories? Why? BECAUSE SHE IS BLACK. Okay now we have a white lady singing beyonce-type songs. Ok now why is Adele NOT in R&B? WHY? CAUSE SHE IS WHITE! Now she’s white so shes automatically POP in the minds of DJs & Voting members. Ok so a pop song on the radio usually does moderate w/ slaes and charts. Now add Adele good (but nothing new or interesting) voice and you have people calling her the best. Beyonce went and is going through what Rihanna is only bey makes both so she was on both sides! W/ 4 she only made R&B hence why she sold less and got less nominations! Respond to ne cause I actually wanna hear what you guys have to say…
the only comment that made sense to me among of all those comments TBH …………
But this comment is the antithesis of your first comment, you thoroughly confuse me sometimes.
Thank Y O U! I feel like sometimes people are blind to the truth! It is not about Adele only. Its about bey, rihanna, nicki, and so many other artists. The only ones I feel did a decent job Robin Thicke and JT and where are they in music now… #shadethrownwhilesippinteas
YouDoRealize, Madonna has a better voice than Janet, i give Janet the dance, we all know that but Madonna is more versatil, she turns Art into Music.
Ok your opinion… Btw when was the last time Madonna performed live w/o back track? When you find it just let me know if you have the same opinion… & thats if you find it she always lip syncs!
YouDoRealize, in her las tour, i was there and she performed live some of her songs…..
Well find me a youtube vid and I will watch it and if needed I will recant but again I doubt you will find it!
YouDoRealize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcK6hMFqkAo
I rest my case http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHjrRItPVfM
YouDoRealize, this was in 1995, Madonna’s video is more recent but Janet was good there.
You made comeplete sense, its called RACISM. Thats how it works. Thats why you have artist like Madonna outselling artist like Janet. Thats why you have Rihanna only being succeful in her pop lane, but when she wants to do R&B stuff white people say: “Nope not buying that, I want dance music from you.” And that why you have Beyonce giving you so much on one album, pop, r&b, and soul and white people saying “Girl, you doing to much..we want Sasha Fierce back, give us some pop, we dont want nothing of meaning from you…thats why we have Adele. Eventhough you sing better than her, and are a better performer, and her music is boring as f***…we like that and she is white so….bye”.
Hello, Kingphoenix, Madonna outsells Janet Jackson because she is a better artist, Michael Jackson was better than Madonna and he was black.
In my casket sipping tea! @S****** Madonna is not a better artist because if you gave them both a mic and they stood there madonna would be in her coffin! Dancing wise dont even get me started! Like the post about her tour: she uses controversy for her carrer not talent!
@S****** Madonna
Wrong, Janet is a better dancer and a better singer, as well she has better music than Madonna. The only reason why you love Janet over Madonna is because she is white. And the reason Michael is put over Madonna is because duh, he is better than her…and it doesn’t hurt that he was a black male who tried heavily to be white. Y’all eat that s*** up.
do you know why you guys are always confused ?!
because you are all OBSESSED with LABELLING every f***** thing in your life !
like ” oh , she’s white , she gonna sell if she sounded like s*** ” , “oh she’s dark skinned , come meet me if she managed to sell 1 million copies ” , ” oh he’s woman beater” , “oh she’s a s***” , etc ……
do you ever enjoy anything ?!
me myself let me search for a f*** to give if someone is black or white , i am not racist when it comes to skin color and in my environment , discrimination based on skin color is insignificant !! and i don’t think racism play any role in the music industry cuz black people almost run it all by themselves. so how “racism” gonna make sense now ?!
R&B music as a genre is not as popular as it used to be , not the black artists , cuz artists like “taio cruz” and “usher” for example still can have hits while being black when they do pop songs , but when they do R&B songs , they fail due to lack of support from R&B fans who actually expected to be MOSTLY black.
so it is all because BLACK people don’t support their own artists who stay original and do R&B !
k ?
and nothing in “21” is R&B ! it is POP ! non-typical KIND of pop ! moving towards Soul big time !
I agree with most of what you said except when black people don’t support R&B they fade right? but add some pop and the world is ready! But have a white girl do Beyonce’s pop and the whole world is ready to buy her albums!!! Beyonce needs to do more pop until the black community can show respect! Until then she’ll be topping the charts…the Dance/Club Play ofcourse..
The thing with rihanna is that she doesn’t have any raw genuine talent like Beyonce, Monica, Brandy and Adele. The fact that Adele is even on top 40 radio shocks me because of the state that music is in right now. IMHO I don’t think rihanna is a good singer at all, yes she has the performance aspect, but she’s not the whole package like Beyonce, Monica, Brandy, and Lady Gaga. Don’t get me wrong, I wish rihanna would go back to her Music of the Sun days, I enjoyed that album but everything after that was just pure crap. At least some artists like Beyonce, Monica, Brandy, Gaga and Adele have stayed true to themselves and not given in to what everyone else wants, which is crappy music, Its why I hate listening to the radio.
Adele’s music isn’t R&B, there is nothing R&B about it (apart from possibly rolling in the deep) Its just easy listening.
@SuicideBlonde
Michael Jackson WAS black. i wonder if he hadn’t had such a major transformation if he would’ve been as successful?
Well she is a R&B enough to be classified as such they just dont cause she is white hence the problem… OH yeah his most sucessful era was when he started to get lighter…
Duh yes moron MJ is better then all this crap we talking about now
I like were this debate is going, you seem to be the only people here talking sense, the rest can f*** off!
The biggest name in contemporary is Mary J. Blige.
I agree to some extend to this.
I don´t see the similarities between Adele and Anite Baker
Beyonce being influenced and inspired… what´s new? haha
And the race thing… I don´t know, there are cases it could be true. But Adele success… she has made true music but with a commercial appeal and people were not having that for years… so it was time something this to happen
And the biggest example of race not counting… Whitney Houston is the best pop singer in music history for most of the world´s population so… I don´t know
Then you have never really listen to Anita Bakers music. And as for whitney…look what happened to her. The white people have made a mockery of her career. The white people in her own state where made because there black mayor wanted to raise a flag half-mass for her. And Whitney was forced to go pop in the begining of her career, and by the end she went R&B and the white people stop seeing it for her. They don’t even acknowledge her as the VOICE.
In what world do you live Kingphoenix, white people, black people, the whole world knows who is the Voice, WHITNEY HOUSTON.
@Kingphoenix
You are starting to sound retarded and obsessed. Whitney mutherfucking Houston is the f****** VOICE all over the world, for white, black, asian and everybody. You are pressed cos Beyonce is not on that level and play the race card to excuse that. Go ahead! What the hell are u talking about? You are in fact the one downplaying Whitney with that comment. The whole world felt her death cos they knew there hasn´t been anything like that, probably ever. I hate racism by the way, my family too, my parents, my grands know who Whitney is and fely it big time. The same happened to the world about Michael. Don´t be pressed cos if your favs die, half of the world don´t know who they are
@JohnVIdal
B**** please, i go to a predominantly white college with other ethnic groups. When Whitney died most of the people was like oh, wasn’t she that lady that song that one song. They don’t care! Only black people, really cherish Whitney. They love there Beetles, Madonna, Elvis, and White face Michael. The end.
Stop it, even Osama Bin Laden loved Whitney, enough is enough, you are downplaying a true great with your obsession. The whole wide world knows she is probably the best, never heard a comment in my life discrediting her cos of her race, at least here in Spain, maybe you in the uSA are more f***** up than what I thought. At least I suppose you´ll vote Obama… cos if not you are a total lost case
@John
There you go with that inablility to comprehend. I did not downplay Whitney, i said white people do. And you used Osama Bin Laden to prove your point how? Is he not a person of color, one who was rumored to have an affair with an African woman. Your point is moot. Spain is just as racist as the U.S., you are just to dumb to see it. Are you even black, telling me that I should be voting for Obama. Do you even know his f****** platform? or should i just vote for him because he is a black person? B**** get so knowledge. And is obsession your word of the day today? LMFAO
Well I did watch an interview where the Journalist said in the “GOSPEL COMMUNITY” Whitney is known as the VOICE when we ALL KNOW THAT SHE IS KNOWN AS THE VOICE WORLDWIDE>>>
I’m not sure if i agree. there was… is Alicia Keys, India Arie…the music is similar
Agree but Alicia Keys has had alot of success right along with her 14 Grammys.
Y’all are so dumb. And thats why racism is allowed. Adele music is a waterdown version of Artist like Anita and Toni…S*** her first album is better than her second to be honest. Adele got all this hype because she is a white singing like a black person. Like Eminem gets all this attention because he is a white man rapping like a black person. No one is discrediting their talent, the problem is why are they getting so much attention for doing the same as any black Musician. But it goes to show, people wanna be black without having to be BLACK. Our culture has been appropriated in so many ways for so long that most black people just go along with it. People refuse to see the racism in things a such because they believe we live in a post-racist society. But like at the headlines around the world, we don’t. And i am glad the writer used Beyonce as an example, Beyonce should have been selling if not the same as, at least similar to the amount as Adele. And what about Jill Scott? Or Marsha Ambrosious? Its so many great soulful artist out there who don’t get a chance. While Adele with her white privelge can do the samething these people are doing, but get more recognition and opportunities. But most of you wont see that because the white systems of oppression around the world have made whites feel entitled to everything, and many people of color feel as though they must acclimate and integrate to be worth anything.
In fact, this is true…
As long as i reached one person i am happy! 😀
haha get real, Beyonce never did an album of the caliber of “21”. Most of her material is laughable, being “4” the only one that feels more mature, but still miles away from a true musician great album like “21”
Her music is not laughable. You are being childish, and letting your biases against Beyonce blind your ability to critically analyze. “21” is not a great album, it is a mediocre one that was hyped by white people to further culturally appropriate blacks. If you can’t see that and you are a black person then God help you because i can’t and i wont.
Dangerously in Love #thatisall
Exactly. 4 was not even better than Light of the Sun by Jill Scott and to some of her core fans, like me, they felt it wasn’t her best. I wish people stop putting Beyonce music up to standards like she is up there with the likes of Jill, Erykah, Marsha, etc. Heck, 19 was better than 4
@johnvidal :
then listen to the “I AM” part of ” i am … sasha fierce” and then say what you want.
growth wise :
“4” > ” i am part ” of ” IASF” > DIL > B’day > “sasha fierce part” of “iASF” !!
and oh :
i AM part of “IASF” is SO much better than some of songs in “21” !! i still think “19” is adele’s best album content-wise !!
haha “21” is mediocre?????????? God knows I´m tired of it and it´s been like a year since I listened to it for the last time… but it´s really great. Be serious please. You are mad cos Adele achieved true greats sales for the first time in years, and your girl didn´t do it (and obviously won´t at this point)
ADELE IS BUYING HER OWN MUSIC!! DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE!!
You mean her record company/ slash white people who influence the music industry. You know they couldn’t have a black man be the best-selling artist for to long.
anyone with a brain can see these numbers are manipulated, a year and her album is yet to leave the top 10? where are these rich fans.
OMG I was discussing this just a week ago, if Adele was black she would not be receiving the same attention nor selling all those records. People are only buying her music because she’s white, and its mostly the white population buying her album.
I didn’t buy her album just because of the color of her skin, I bought her album because I loved the music. People shouldn’t concentrate on the whole color of the skin thing, if someone enjoys the music they’re gonna buy it regardless. It’s the same thing, I only bought some songs off of “4” because those were the songs that I enjoyed the most. I’m not gonna buy music if I’m not gonna enjoy it. It’s that simple, so people need to get over this whole color of skin thing, people bought Adele’s album because they enjoyed the music.
We wouldn’t be able to play the race card if it wasn’t available. Ask yourselves this, is Adele more talented than Jill Scott/Erykah Badu/Lauryn Hill etc.? NO Why is her album selling like it’s Thriller? (Cause it’s surely not) the answer is MARKETING. Adele is WHITE which makes her MORE MARKETABLE. Delusional ass people who think racism doesn’t exist still. As for 4, Bey tried to be someone she’s not, which is why it didn’t sell as well. Bey is best at bootyshaking music, she aint deep.
I was with you untill the end b****! lol. Beyonce is deep, she just likes to shake her ass too. Whats wrong with that. Have you never heard of DIL, Have you never heard the I am tracks, come on son stop with the madness.
now you have made some good points through out but Beyonce is absolutely not deep,even in her ballads and more ‘soulful’ cuts she sounds devoid of emotion,i give credit where its due she is a bad ass performer and i respect her dedication and work ethic to her craft.But she is not deep nor soulful. and thats just not something you can buy.
I have heard ALL those tracks, none of them match the greatness that is “Get Me Bodied”, or “Single Ladies” . Bey is Tina Turner at heart, not Adele, Celine or Mariah. She aint deep and there’s nothing wrong with that. Bey=entertainer/performer
@Ugh and @LuLu
I will let the queen sing what i mean.lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O0_2PX2HAc
Your queen sings BEAUTIFULLY……..but i still don’t believe her. Rather hear Erykah Bady sing “Tyrone” lol
*waits for sales/legend/awards comment*
@Ugh
You dont have to believe her, those fans who love and adore and support her do.
And don’t try to throw Erykah in my face because i love her too. I live call Tyrone live, i love Ye-yo live, I love Next Lifetime, and so forth and so on. But Beyonce is a better singer than Erykah by far and more versitale of an artist. Just because its wrapped in a neo-soul package don’t mean is neccesarily the standard for authenticity.
If you already love/adore/support someone, OF COURSE you will believe them. You would have to not be a stan to know what I mean.
Agreed on Erykah though.
We all know if she was black then she wouldnt be that big than she is.
And thats a fact.
Adelle selling more than michael jackson in the UK is a joke. What is the world coming too she is too overated.
Plus all the fat ones that dont buy music when out and brought her cd.
It´s not a joke. it is normal giving teh fact that it is her f****** country. nobody is saying she is Michael and her album is Thriller
I just wanna know who is still buying this damn album! I bought it and it wasn’t even as good as people made it to be!
You know i wouldnt put it out of the question,that the powers in the industry are trying to replace Michael jackson, bcoz thats the only claim blacks have of greatness.
@CBE your comment is so stupid it damn near funny if you actually believe that Michael is the only claim blacks have of greatness well good 4 you then.0_o.
True.
IDGAF WHAT NOBODY SAY THERE IS SOME CROOKED S*** GOING ON IN ADELE’S CAMP REGARDING HER RECORD SELL’S. AND WHEN THE TRUTH COMES OUT THEY NEED TO TAKE BACK EVERY AWARD AND GRAMMY SHE HAS. IT TOOK MICHAEL JACKSON LONGER TO REACH THIS LEVEL AND HE WAS A PERFORMER. ADELE SITS ON HER ASS IN HER VIDEO’S AND DON’T MOVE HER FAT ASS ON STAGE BUT IS SELLING LIKE THIS?… THERE IS DEF SOME CROOKED S*** GOING ON. WHY HAVE SHE NOT WENT ON TOUR YET? SHE MUST KNOW THAT NO 1 WILL ATTEND.
LOL dead.
This made my night. Thank You. haha
Lmfao thank you!!
People lets cut the bull it is a race thing. There are alot of black artists with the same sound and better vocals but u never here Hollywood going crazy over them. Adele has not done anything that has not been done before by a black person the only difference is she is white and British.
The white people don’t want to see this, neither do the blacks who wish they were white.
What a BS!
The best-selling album in the history is recorded by African American as all we know.
Best-selling soundtrack is history is recorded by African American.
So what are they talking about?))
Adele is being set-up to be the best selling album, thats what they are talking about. Music is changing drastically, racism is internalized to a point where blackness is being erased.
THE BEST SELLING ALBUM WAS BY A FORMER DARK SKINNED BLACK MAN WHOM TURNED WHITE AND HAD WHITE PEOPLE”S HAIR!!! NOT DENYING HIS TALENT THO>>> AND AS FAR AS THE BEST SOUDTRACK THING WHITNEY”S VOiCE WAS UNDENIABLE>>>!!!
Terrible article. Your analysis is simply based on opinion
How authentic coming from someone named superoreo.
Robin Thicke has a black soulful voice for a white man but he aint pushing numbers like Adele. So his opinion is not very valid.
Because Robin Thicke is too convincing in his portrayal of blackness, and he is married to a black woman…the ultimate betrayal in their eyes. Plus his music is generic and he has never been marketed towards whites like Adele has. How hard is this to see on your own…really though.
Look at u making sense lol
Well, you’re contradicting yourself, yet again! It has NOTHING to do with PORTRAYING what SKIN color, it all comes down to SKIN COLOR in your opinion. Please, stop with your racism. It’s sad and pathetic, Kingphoenix.
@Hlywd Topher
When did i mention skin colour….you don’t know what blackness means do you? I’m talking about the coulture and the history, its not just about skin colour. And again another person that doesn’t know what racism means.
well his wife is mixed by the way as she is african and german so it is not full portrayal as you say plus i don’t think robin makes generic music as it is not dance (aka jlo and crew) its soul rnb..so you need to re-evaluate the crap your spewing..aint healthy
I’m ready for blacks to slay POP. Lets change the game! Soul and pop do mix. James Brown etc…
F*** pop. Michael, Janet, Whitney, Mariah, Beyonce and Rihanna been slaying pop.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=ecgD51Scjx0
Honetly, I think “21” was a lot better than “4”. I think in their cases, quality also counts.
“21” is better and Adele´s voice is more appealing. They need to accept that. I agree with the racist thing to an extent. But I´m noticing most of the comments are from Beyonce fans who can´t stand teh fact she is not that great and her sales ´never have been either, like some of us try to tell them again and again. Then they find the reality in front of them and search for an excuse
@Kingphoenix Listen, I’ve had enough of this “omg, you’re white. stop stealing black people’s music” nonsense, mumble jumble. The only racism I’ve encountered in here is from your RACIST and OFFENSIVE comments. YOU are pathetic to even think partly the reason why Adele is successful is because of her skin color. Skin color is BLIND when it comes to REAL music. Beyonce, Anita, Jill, and Toni are ALL excellent artists. In fact, they’re all part of my music collection. I BOUGHT their music because it was artistically interesting and I was consumed by the soulful vibes of their VOICES, not because of their skin color. When I first heard Toni Braxton, her SKIN wasn’t even visual to me. I had an INSTANT ATTRACTION to her music because of what I heard, not SAW. Now, Adele, the same is with her. I first was introduced to her when I was watching a movie. I never saw what she looked like, nor was I interesting or if/how I would be affected by what she looks like. Again, I was ONLY interested in her VOCALS. She is an amazing artist. She makes GREAT music. Her VOICE is different, just like Anita. Just like Toni. And just like Jill. However, the difference is the TYPE of music that is produced and filtered to the audiences. Adele and her TEAM know what is right for NOW! Her songs are influential, and can relate to some of many people that have the similar struggling issues. She also WRITES her music. Everything that I have said is all FACT. Nothing sugar coated or RACIST about it. You need a different way to deliver your opinion. Because it can sound a bit biased, dated, overrated, and RACISM at its finest.
Yes yes and yes!!!
I am not racist because i cannot be racist.
Real Definition: Racism (i.e. white supremacism) is an interlocking set of economic, political, social, and cultural institutions, structures, attitudes, beliefs, and actions which systematically advantage one racial group at the expense of all others. Racism is measured not merely by interpersonal hostilities, but by the racial inequality of societal outcomes.
The fact that you said skin color is blind, lets me now that you are a white racist person, who has been raised in a society that has purported your racism and your white privilege. That or either you are a black person who has been so well trained in white supremacy that it is hard for you to love your self and expose the surmounting amount of racism in this world. You need education. I will suggest a couple of blogs you should read that may help you hun:
sonofbaldwin.tumblr.com
http://dumbthingswhitepplsay.tumblr.com/
Please explore these, so that you will no longer thrive in ignorance.
Terrell is that you..
@Toohotfortv
lol. Who is Terrell?
@Hlywd Topher
Are you really that blind that you can’t tell that racism is in the music industry? Everything that you just said were opinions, not facts. It’s nice that you accept music for what it is, but you can’t really speak for everyone else. I appreciate you stance at the same time, but this post isn’t talking about everyone. It’s based on a generalization of people which are undoubtedly true.
i agree with alot of what @kingphoenix said!!!
its also not just the album sales!!! look at the money that tours make and you notice that only one black person has managed to make the best grossing tours of all times list and that was michael jackson!!! and even he didnt ever gross above 200 million and then you have lady gaga and all of these other white artist (who i do love) but they easily grossed alot more!!! beyonce is the only black female to even gross above 100 million from a tour, while there are several white females who have grossed over 200 million. it doesnt make sense, (personally beys last tour was better than gagas, but gagas was still good)!!!!!!!! is it necesarily racism i dont know, but something is definetly off!!
Tina Turner has gross over 100 million on tour aswell.Only Beyonce and Tina Turner no other black female.
Is racism Commander, trust and believe. Dont be afraid to say it. Thats why we have to empower black people. And thats why i give Rihanna a hard time. Not because i hate her, i want her to do better, and not succumb to the b*******. But, i am glad someone can see the b******* for what it is.
OKAY!!!!!!!
WELL, IF THATS THE CASE: COME ON BLACK PEOPLE – LETS F****** SLAY THE POP WORLD!!!!!!
BLACKS = POP MUSIC!!!!!!!
JUST LIKE IN THE 1970’S WHEN THE BACKLASH AGAINST DISCO HAPPENED – WHITE PEOPLE GOT MAD THAT BLACK PEOPLE WERE RULING THE CHARTS BACK AND FORTH, IF I’M NOT MISTAKEN>>>>>>>
ONLY “NINE” WHITE ARTISTS TOPPED THE CHARTS BETWEEN 1976 & 1979!!!!! & THE MAJORITY OF THAT WAS FROM THE BEE GEES
^^^^^^^
THAT S*** CRAY.
BUT YH, LETS SLAY POP. LETS SEE WHAT S*** HAPPENS THEN
White people doing black music will, more than not, always do better than their black counterparts. That’s just the nature of the beast. However, many of the mainstream black artist with the high profiles have drop the ball with putting out good music without all the generic gimmicks and stupid songwriting and adele swoop down and filled the void they left behind and now they want to be mad and call the race card. What we black people need to realize is that this life will never be equal to us so we need to stop playing like it is and fight to do us anyway. Usher and Beyonce could afford to take that risk if the wanted to, and I mean really take it there, not half step it. But they don’t because they are to scared to leave that top spot in the short run when its that long run that would be far greater if they did. My advice, stop making excuse and just make those great songs and forget about the rest. If the music is good, people will come
If I learned anything from reading this article & its comments, its just made me sad at the state of ‘race & racism’ in the USA. No one over here in the UK gives a damn about her race. If anything, I’d argue (as an African-American who moved here years ago & stayed here) that the UK is more open to diversity than the States, and that people of colour are sometimes even idolized here. (though, it does help fact that slavery was abolished some 70years prior to the US, nor was there any of that Jim Crow nonsense here). I’d say England vs Scotland or Ireland is a much bigger issue at the front of people’s minds here.
The first time I heard Adele (“Someone Like You”), not knowing at all what she looked like, it brought me to tears – and I have many friends (male and female) that say the same. *THAT* is what makes her different from any other artist: her songs are relatable, consistently have a theme of sorrow or lost love that touches people, and those songs aren’t pigeonholed into a niche music category. Is it any coincidence that when one thinks of Toni Braxton, the first song that typically comes to mind is “Un-Break My Heart”?
(that won “Adult Contemporary Single of the Year” by the way – not R&B).
kingphoenix, I pity you. I don’t know who wronged you in the past or how, but I hope that you learn to put that venom and anger behind you and use that energy for something positive, because that sort of “the white man is evil and out to get us” attitude only perpetuates the ‘race & racism’ problem we still suffer today (especially in the USA). Yes, we can all agree that racism still exists in the music industry (amongst other places) and that it is a shame and should be addressed, but you cannot argue that 100% of Adele’s success is 100% attributed to that.
No need to pity me bew. I pity you. There is rampant racism in every European country and the lands that it colonized. You are delusional. You know what i ws going to get into you but i am not. I am concentrator of Africana studies at a very prestigious university. I see the world for what it is, controlled by racism. If you want to be blind then that then hey, have fun while it last because the Revolution is coming believe that.
When was the last time you visited any of these European countries? Or are all your views based on what you’ve read on wrongs past?
“the Revolution is coming?” — honestly, just militant and sad.
Also, I love how you didn’t address any of the other points I said about the music.
@So Sad
Yes i am militant but i am not sad, I am angry at the injustices and i will fight for what i believe in white person in a blacks body.
And no i haven’t visted these countries but i have been learning about white European history all of my life, and am plagued by it everyday. As well i have had friends tell me of their experiences of racism. I am also literate in matters of race and racism, being that i concentrate in Africana studies and have had this discussion with many, not just blacks.
You can try to paint me as the angry black man all you want, but just remember i am an educated angry black man and i will fight to the end of my days to see change happen. We both know you have faced racism, if it wasn’t just a slide comment from a white friend that made you feel bad about your self or if it was internalized by British society.
As for you opionions about what music you like as a white person, i only addressed what you directed to me. Do you need me to validate your musically commentary? Adele is not different than anybody else…She is nothing but a rip-off Anita and Toni. Listen to Toni Braxton’s “Secrets” or “Libra” albums and tell me why she is not more succefull than Adele. Adele’s voice is obviously that off a white womens, you knew what she was. Plus “Someone like You” is her second single of her second album, she was very successful on her first album, and her first single of her second album was HUGE especially where you are from, so again not only did you know she was a white woman, you recognized her voice. Stop the dramatics.
I see your point but please don’t be deluded my friend, black people are NOT idolized in the UK. I know this because I am a black man and live in the UK.
In the UK, racism is hidden behind smiles and ‘sorry we’re not hiring’s where I believe in the US it’s a lot less subtle. Look at how Alexandra Burke is treated. IN FACT, look at the racism scandal that plagues football. Europe only cares about tackling racism when they are FORCED to not when they want to.
When it comes to Adele, I agree with one of the above commentors who said most R&B acts have slipped in their craft and have stopped making timeless material, so that’s why it’s become so easy to marginalize them because they’re not putting up much of a fight anyway.
@So Sad, Kingphoenix definitely has nothing to be pitied for. His/her comments are cogent and speaks to the realities of not only the ways in which race operates in the music industry but also how it operates in many other contexts.
I read his/her comments and no where does therir comments suggests a “the white man is evil and out to get us” attitude that you are (erroneously) trying to attribute to him/her. That is you being intellectually lazy rather than attempting to understand his/her true perspective. Race still matters and anytime some attempts to call it out, they make your lazy move: “the white man is evil and out to get us,” which is NOT the sentiments that are being articulated AT ALL. I’m done with that move.
Question: Stephen Merritt, a white man, is the one who made the original comment. What do you say about him?
Thank you. I am a guy by the way!
But yeah, so sad is ignorant. The only reason i am arguing with it is because hopefully my message will get out to some confused black person, or a white person who understands their own privelage and wants to help eradicate racism. Not here for dummies.
Anyway to bring BeYAWNce into anything. Adele does NOT sound like Anita f****** Baker’s man sounding monotone ass
Of course she’s more successful because she’s white. That’s how it’s always been. She’s talented, she’s great. But she gets treated like the second coming of jesus because she’s white.
Being an artist is more than just your voice. Adele’s charm is unmatched, and while she has sould her voice is unique. She ain’t trying to sing black music, she sings the songs that she enjoys. Just because you have soul doesn’t mean that you’re trying to sing black music, or whatever thats about. Meanwhile, Jill, Kelly & Tamia are great singers, but their music sounds nothing like Adele’s. Adele’s sound is a little more versatile in sound. It’s a host of things that you have to factor in. Beyonce’s “4” was a typical r&b album. Nothing about was groundbreaking or original. Most of the concepts/videos were just rehashes of other r&b music. It’s a good album but nothing fresh.
This entire post is ridiculous. No one gives a crap about skin colour. Its all about the music.
And what planet do you live on?
Also, i don’t like the fact that now because Adele has a huge selling album, people wanna try to use her success for this debate. While this story has some merit, it shouldn’t be based off of her success.
She white not hard to understand why she selling moron.
That has nothing to do with it in her case, dummy. Her music is great and thats what matters.
You’re not getting the big picture. Don’t let your ignorance keep you from understanding the truth.
If anyone is f****** racist is R&B/Urban radio that REFUSED to play any of Adele’s or Amy Winehouses songs. All which had more soul than 90% the S*** on RB/Urban radio. Had BeYAWNce’s tired swaggerjacking stealing ass sang “Someone Like You” it woulda been a WRAP biggest song of all time all over R&B radio but just because Adele is white “oh we aint playin this fat white British britch” The race card in 2012 is such a joke. Like any of today’s youth know the struggle of growin up lack in America. OOooo a racist white person locked they door when you walked by OOOOOooo aint nobody SPRAY YAL ASS WITH A HOSE! puleaae. You young black hipsters act like you go threw some s*** puleaze.
POP RADIO– black artists does dance music = radio play
URBAN RADIO– white artist does soul music = no play
You are so ignorant, why should urban radio play that music when its not pure urban songz? Rihanna, Chris Brown, and even Beyonce don’t get played on urban stations when their music don’t fit. When black people allow whites to enter our coulture they still it, suck it dry, and then discard it. And clearly you don’t understand the definition of racism, because if you did you wouldn’t be writing this b*******. But you dont understand much of anything do you?
I don’t know you, but I admire you. lol. Thanks for taking a stance against the ignorance of most people commenting here.
JER, does your mother know what a fool she raised? If so, is she as ashamed as she should be, or is she too drunk to care?
Many things contribute to Adele’s success and her race is one of them.
It’s very true that audiences (include black audiences) have a very clear idea as to what success looks like and unfortunately it isn’t black. Black audiences like their acts to be close enough to the top to brag about it but close enough to the bottom to stay ‘relatable’ .
So because of this record labels marginalize their acts into genre and NEVER push outside of that. For example, there is no reason Mary J. Blige’s ‘Need Someone’ shouldn’t be an adult contemporary hit but because her label have decided she is an R&B act they won’t bother pushing for radio play on any other format.
I hope to see a day when artists of all genres can enjoy success on a NUMBER of different platforms regardless of race. Because, though I don’t know the first thing about rock I know I love Evanescence and shed a tear when I hear White Snake’s ‘Is This Love’.
Underlying racism in music will only die if acts make an EFFORT to create material that is true to them but can also appeal to the masses and that is what Adele did.
Yes, she wouldn’t be as successful if she was black but she can’t help the fact that she’s white in the same way Jason Derulo can’t help the fact that he’s black.
I say Jason Derulo because I believe that if he was white and looked like he stepped right out of 90210 his music would fly off the shelves.
In all (sorry for the essay guys) race will ALWAYS be a factor when it comes to deciding who we will or won’t buy, it’s up to the LABELS to sign acts versatile enough to create music which sits well on all platforms, be it urban radio or adultt contemporary
Jill Scott is a million times better than Adele, vocally and artistically…
And because she isn’t white, she doesn’t get her necessary overdue credit…
Jill Scott’s albums should be 5xs Platinum or more… And so should Beyonce, Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, and many more…
And because they are black, they are held back, and not appreciated for their talents…
4 and Light of the Sun should be top selling albums…
Rihanna should be dragging Katy Perry, Gaga, and many other pop acts… But her color is the reason, she’s not at the top of the food chain either…
This is not about credit, this is about push. Record labels are too lazy to think of innovative ways to push otherwise niche acts to a mainstream audience and that’s whats happening.
Jill Scott, Fantasia & Beyonce are not a million times better than Adele. Artistically Adele is at the forefront. Beyonce has yet to do anything original. Fantasia is a type casted soul/gospel artist. Jill is great in terms of her music/artistry, but that doesn’t make her better. When Beyonce does good, then it becomes a complexion thing. Theres always something. Adele deserves all of her credit.
Beyonce has written hits and songs… Her own music is original… She hasn’t remade anyone’s hits or anything… only thing, she done was sample a song… Which everyone does…
Adele isn’t artistically in front of anyone… She is a writer… Her vocals are mediocre… She’s not impressive as an artist… She has a great personality… and thats it…
Adele hasn’t done anything that Jill Scott, Beyonce, Lauryn Hill, Mary J, Alicia Keys, Estelle, or Ledisi, can or can’t do…
Jill Scott, Beyonce, Estelle, Erkyah Badu, Ledisi, Lauryn Hill, Mary J, Alicia keys are artistically better artists than her…
Writing a song doesn’t justify anyone is artistically better than anyone else… its as a whole…
Someone Like you is a copy of “All I could do was cry” by Etta James…
Adele was influenced by pop and blues…
She’s another Amy Winehouse but fat…
And Adele sounds NOTHING like Anita Baker. Anita has a real, deep contralto voice. If anything, Toni Braxton is more closely related to Anita than Adele ever will be. Please learn your voices before you start comparing other people.
You obviously missed the point and the ability to comprehend has surpassed you.
#eachoneteachonereachone.
And you still dont know the artists of who you speak of. Because not only is Anita’s voice not match to Adele’s in anyway, Anita music and sound is way more jazz/r&b related than anything Adele has ever done. Your whole comparisons of the two was off from the get. I understand completely what you feel about white artist stealing black music. but if you are going to compare, please get your comparisons right
The writer did not say their voices sounded the same, he speaking on their music style and overall message. The melancholic trials and tribulations of love and revenge and all the stuff. Yes the writer could have used a better example, like Toni Braxton. But his point is what important, and for you to try and derail the conversation on some obvious b******* that Anita and Adele dont sound the same which is something a three year old could point out, clearly indicated that you are not able to thoroughly analyze much of anything.
@ king phoenix Didn’t you say adele was another version of anita? It sounded like to me you were implying that they were the same and I use there voice as one way that the comparison of the two was inaccurate. Either way, the comparison of the two whether it be music stylings, topic matter etc still is wrong. Obviously, I got his full message if I had commented on the topic at hand earlier before this one.
@KING PHEONIX
THERE’S NO NEED TO PITY HIM BECAUSE, IN SOME RESPECTS, @SO SAD’S COMMEN HAD SOME TRUTH TO IT.
I AM A 23 YEARD OLD BLACK BRITISH MALE, BRON AND BRED IN THE U.K AND AM PROUD TO BE. LONDON IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSIFIED AND MULTICULTRAL CITIES IN THE WORLD, AS IS MOST CITIES IN ENGLAND AND “RACE” ISN’T ALWAYS A FUNDAMENTAL FACOR AND NO THAT MUCH OF A DEBATED COUNTER-ARGUMENT AS I IS IN HE STATES.
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD/READ ON THIS SITE IGNORANT COMMENTS SUCH AS “ANY SONG CAN GO TO NUMBER ONE IN THE U.K”? AND “THE U.K ACCEPTS EVERY ARTIST”?
WELL. TO A CERTAIN EXTENT – THAT IS TRUE. WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC OVER HERE, PEOPLE JUST LISTEN. THEY DON’T LOOK AT HOW HE/SHE MAY LOOK VISUALLY BECAUSE THAT’S NOT IMPORTANT. WHETHER IT’D BE R&B, SOUL, DANCE, ELECTRONIC, ROCK ETC…….
YOU ARE NOT EUROPEAN, SO HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THAT RACISM IS RAMPANT IN EVERY EUROPEAN COUNTRY? RACISM EXISTS EVERYWHERE, IT DOESN’T MATTER WHERE YOU GO BUT TO GENERALIZE EUROPE AS A WHOLE IS NON-SENSICAL.
NOW I DO AGREE WITH YOU: RACISM DOES AND WILL ALWAYS EXIST BUT DO YOU “TRULY” BELIEVE THAT BECAUSE ADELE IS WHITE, SHE IS SELLING BETTER?
I UNDERSTAND THE HARDSHIPS OF US BLACK PEOPLE AND OUR NEED TO “CHANGE” OURSELVES IN ORDER TO BE ACCEPTED BY (WHITE) SOCIETY,THAT IS TRUE, SUCH AS OUR DESPERATION TO LOOK EURO-CENTRIC & ALL. OUR HISTORY HAS BEEN TORN AND RIPPED APART FOR CENTURIES AND WE ARE STILL LOOKED A BY SOME PEOPLE AS THE “LOWEST” OF THE LOWS BUT NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE “RACIALLY-INFUSED”. DO YOU UNDERSTAND MY POINT?
ANYWAY, WHAT IS AFRO-CARIBBEAN STUDIES LIKE FOR YOU? MY MOM HAS A DEGREE IN THAT!!! 😉 😉 😉
Oh really? You need to watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAv8JA_9uKI
Its not the hardships of black people in the U.S. its hard-ships of black people everywhere. Must we forget that Britain was implement in the African s**** trade. I understand that your point is wrong for the fact that you fail to acknowledge the internalized racism in England which I know is there. Look at the news reports and the statics. Everything is racially infused!
I study Africana studies not Afro-Caribbean studies, although I am half-Jamaican and will be taken Afro-Caribbean studies in the future. I love Africana, its the best thing that ever happened to me getting away from the Euro-centric thought that currently enslaves many black people including you and me.
Here’s more on it if you want to know: http://brown.edu/Departments/Africana_Studies/
She selling welling because she white.
Whenever stupid things don’t go right for folks black people want to scream racism.
There are JUST as many black people as white people, if it’s as racist as you complain than aren’t you saying black people don’t pay for music??
Also cut the BS, I’m tired of people not known anything about music. Adele’s music isn’t R & B, it’s soul. If you listened to the music on the album the music varies completely from 60’s pop to more soulful songs. She barely sold with 19 but people forget that.
Also alternative/indie singers won’t ever get the big numbers. White singers like Regina Spektor get that but if Erykah Badu doesn’t make bank it must be cause she’s BLACK.
Lastly black people abandoned R&B (save for a few singers) like they abandoned rock. Mean to tell me if Beyonce and Usher were making GOOD r&b music they wouldn’t be doing well? B*******. They ran where the money was and made b******* music.
Look at Byonce’s 4…that’s as deep as she ca get? 3 meaningful songs and 10 typical pop songs on an album? Huh, okay. B*******.
Look at Usher, he plucked ul a white boy to pimp didnt he? Country FULL of black children and where did he go? Okay.
Black people need to stop being lazy and get the s*** together, whine racism but just know no ones screwing you but yourself if ou believe it.
You know that there is 13% of blacks in the U.S. right, and in most other countries blacks are the minority. And even when blacks are the majority in countires like Brazil, or the many nations in Africa. Those who hold the power are whites from European nations who robbed, r****, pillaged, and enslaved. They have concentrated the power and wealth into their “whiteness”. You are clearly an example of a white racist person though. Do you guys need any further evidence that racism exist?
But sales for extensions and weave have never been higher huh? Check the fake hair business and talk to me about it. So there’s money to be spent on fake hair but not on ‘black’ people’s music?
I’m black King, in your simple mind if I’m not rallying and cheering your point I must be white. Good to know you can divide all people up in two lines based on the most shallow of information.
Furthermore if we want to divide each singer by whether they’re black or white let’s admit it…odds are Beyonce, Rihanna and the like make more money off white individuals who put down their money to an album.
@Viciousss
Look at your racist sentiments. What the hell are you taking about hair weaves for, that has nothing to do with my point. You are a black person who thinks white, yes in my mind its as simple as that.
And yes Beyonce and Rihanna make more money with whites, because whites have the money to give and there’s more of them. Blacks are oppressed. Look at the income between blacks and whites. Will blow your f****** mind. Many blacks have little to give. And those who do will not support a Beyonce or a Rihanna when they feel their music cater to whites. Look how much Rappers sell? Blacks don’t buy music? Oh Okay…
this !!!! “minus the beyonce part of it” !
So pop, do you think a middle-eastern person could assimilate into the pop world, especially in the U.S? Do you think that they would be easily accepted and that music would be just be music?
@Kingphonix :
No , i don’t think a middle-eastern person will ever achieve anything in U.S cuz he/she will be labelled “terrorist” even before starting anything. don’t let me discuss this one. english won’t help me express my thoughts on this one !
simply cuz ppl in US are obsessed with judging other and labeling them , as if this make life easier. ” he’s black , he’s a ni**a , she’s a b**** , he’s …. ” etc …
i didn’t say racism never existed in the world , but for real it is not in my surrounding environment ! so when i see ppl arguing like ” oh he’s black , oh he’s white” , i don’t get it , the same goes to a lot of cultural things which are not present in my mind-set ! i’m not familiar with racial stuffs and such foolishness , like WTF ?! why i will even care if someone is black or white ?! i don’t get it.
i think skin color doesn’t mean anything , at least that’s my opinion , ask anyone who was raised in my country and i swear he won’t even care if you are black or white , etc ….
i was just talking about the music industry. and i don’t think “adele” achieved her success just because she’s white. no that’s not true , the truth is she was the most distincitive among her peers , and a lot of ppl from different demographics ” who couldn’t get to her other peers” , religious ppl will like her , adults will like her , etc … , you can’t say that about ppl like “rihanna” for example whose fanbase consist mainly of ppl aged from 14 – 24 !
that’s the first reason !
the second one is that because her content is relate-able and everyone will like those kind of songs she sing , she doesn’t cause controversy ” see gaga’s judas” , she doesn’t degrade herself and talk about s** excessively ” see rihanna” and of course she doesn’t have any kind of beyonce drama around her ” no DC , no mathew , no copyright s*** , etc …. ” , she can sing , she write her own songs , she’s sweet and honest ! etc … so she’s the successful formula for the average cd buyer , and notice i said buyer !! 😉
so i understand why adele is so successful ! she’s different and showed up on the right time. she showed up when ppl started to get bored of gaga , katy and co ! so they were like when you are in a desert and suddenly you found a well , of course you gonna drink till you are full ! that’s actually what happened , ppl buy her music cuz it is a statement ! like they say ” f*** this s*** , we want real music” , so they will keep on supporting her whether she’s black or white. ppl are dealing with a concept , not a person ! they want real music and according to them , what adele do is the music they want to hear on the radio !
do i think there is still racism , yes , but not as you guys make it out to be ! not with your president being black !! that will be null by default if ever been discussed with me.
why black artists struggle to get recognition ?!
answer : lack of ” promo + diversity ” and being predictable ! like i think if anyone listen to a R&B song , they will picture a black singer singing it , i want that R&B box to be broken , i want black artists to invest their talents in lots of directions. like i was mad when kelly rowland didn’t go to the dance songs direction simultaneously with the R&B one ! black artists are afraid to conquer other genres and that’s why they get no support and other ppl don’t know about them !
what madonna madonna ? cuz she’s was experimental in the first place ” looks-wise” , “sound-wise” etc … ! the same goes to other legends.
nowadays a few black artists do this ! and that’s why the majority of black artists are struggling ! that’s plus the lack of support from R&B fans.
like all female R&B/soul artists ” jill scott , erykah , janelle” will sound the same to the average person and he won’t find anyone distinctive ! plus their content is not all that !
so ……
Moron its way more whites where the big money is moron!!
You’re a dumbass. If the defense is ‘Adele’s making money because shes white and white people support her!’ then the same goes for blacks.
Blacks make up the 2nd biggest minority in the US, if they supported blacks the same way that you want to claim whites do they’d be incredibly successful. Unless you don’t think a SINGLE white penny goes into black wallets when it comes to music sales. Let’s face it, the black artists not doing well don’t have a white audience and they’re not getting money from blacks. Real talk.
Blacks don’t put down the money to support their own artists but you want to cry about what the white people are doing with their money. at the end of the day I don’t have time to sit and cry when I know the majority of issues blacks face today stems from a lack of support and growth of their own people. I KNOW there’s racism, this dumb s*** ain’t it.
Soul music is just that, music that comes from the soul. Why people put a color label on that is just beyond ridiculous. Just because it started with black people doesn’t mean they’re the only ones capable of singing like that. Plus Adele studied soul music as did Amy, etc.
Adele brings something new to radio THIS DAY AND AGE. People got so used to techno, dance tracks filling up the top 40 and acts with crazy stage antics, costumes, alter-egos, etc that when Adele came along and started presenting music in it’s truest and simplest form, she came off as being more original than even Lady Gaga.
People were starved for a real artist with real musical integrity and Adele happened to capture people’s hearts with her songs and her voice. It was real, it was really her singing about something that really happened in her life that hurt her and people connected with it. (Alot of artists could be seeing Adele’s success if they became more involved with their music and not their fashion, etc) Is she re-inventing the wheel? No, but she’s adding another element to today’s mainstream music scene that’s been non-existent or relevant the past few years.
Soul music stems from the black struggle. Its not no, “soul music is from the soul bull crap” You ain’t doing s*** but trying to white-wash. I see you.
Oh shut up. Soul music stems from EVERYONE’S hurt/struggle. Just because black musicians popularized it doesn’t mean other people aren’t allowed to sing it. That’s just ridiculous and ignorant.
It’s not only black people who’ve struggled and hurt. Adele’s “struggle” happened to come from heartbreak, as it did for Amy, etc.
Soul music isn’t a culture like hip-hop or rap is. It’s a style of singing. And no singing style is exclusive to any color.
@Mike
Black people created Soul Music. Soul Music is a culture created by us for us, to heal. Do your research before you come on the net making unsubstantiated claims. Black people have suffered the most and the longest. No color is exclusive to any color when you have whites stealing s*** and claiming it as their own.
You continue to prove just how ignorant you are.
Soul singing is a style of singing just like any other. It stemmed from hurt and it reaches out and connects to people of EVERY COLOR who have hurt. It has nothing to do with who hurt the longest or suffered the most. EVERYBODY hurts and/or has hurt. EVERYBODY. Are you listening to yourself and just how dumb you really are sounding?
Adele didn’t steal from your culture. She studied soul singing and credits those who inspired her to heal herself through her music. Soul singing isn’t something you can just mimic as it requires a special kind of voice that ISN’T color related.
You really need to quit seeing everything in color. Singing from the heart is just that. The color of your skin has NOTHING to do with any of it.
Stealing from black culture and or profiting off of it would be someone like Justin Timberlake or Justin Bieber.
Exactly. Adele made money because she was the only one singing songs about something deeper than dumb s***. 19 made NO money at first, 21 made money because 1 damn good songs got on the radio and people got hungry for more.
Look at the Song thats on the radio now “Somebody that I Used to Know” that sure as he’ll ain’t R & B or pop but because it’s deep it’s reached people and made this inside singer really successful. If people like the rest of his album then absoltely he could make an impact close to what Adele has had.
If ppl were so tired of Top 40 and dance/pop then y hasn’t artists like Jill Scott, Ledisi, Joss Stone, and others who HAVE NEVER DONE DANCE/POP TOP 40 TYPE MUSIC been able to sell like Adele? They’ve been here way longer than Adele and if ppl were that tired of it then they could have been buying non top 40 type music…
Because people connected with Adele instantly. Adele went out and promoted herself and catered to a much larger audience.
Her music isn’t genre specific really either. It mixes elements of different types of music that radio played and supported. It’s because the music she put out was good and still sounded current.
It took Adele months to really take off on radio as well. It took RITD 6 months to go to number 1 in the states. It didn’t just happen over night. Do you see those ladies you listed going out and really putting themselves out there and gaining exposure? No.
Jill Scott and Leidisi make make pure R&B. R&B isn’t popular anymore. Back in the 90’s it dominated the charts but just like every other time period, music tastes changed and there was a shift in the charts.
The music industry goes in cycles. Just like how Adult Contemporary is starting to overtake Dance pop.
Because Ledisi and others haven’t been marketed to white people at all. Those female artists are great but I don’t even hear them on the basic black radio station, I have to go to the ones that primarilly play soul, jazz, r & b. Their music isn’t marketed for the mainstream and as such there’s a very limited audienc who even KNOWS about them.
Another thing is Adele had a story behind her album. She let people into her life and told them about what happened and why she’s singing about the things she singing about.
People bought in the story as well because heartbreak and having to give someone up you loved is something almost all of us have been through.
People heard her story through her music and they connected with it. If she was black and had the same story and opened up to the public about it the way Adele did and if she had the same songs Adele did, I know she would’ve seen this same success.
@Viciousss
I completely agree with you on that. They aren’t marketed to everyone but that’s more of a problem with her label who have decided her core audience should be African American females. They decided to limit her audience.
Speaking of Ledisi, I heard her “Pieces Of Me” song and I loved it and I’m a white male. i decided to check out her album and I loved it. She’s talented and speaks to the masses but outside of that, I’ve not seen much else or heard much else from her. But that’s not the publics fault really.
That stems from a lack of exposure to the public by her label and industry executives.
Oh gee golly you two are a bunch of idiots.
No Phoenix, in reality you’re the idiot who fails to understand simple concepts of how the music industry really works. You think it’s all racism when in reality it’s not that all but now that your favorite artists are no longer relevant you blame that on racism by us “white folk” when the real reason is music tastes shift all the time and people move on from artist to artist, regardless of color. It’s whoever they connect with or whoever grabs their attention.
You know black people support Adele just as much as white people, right?
And you’re well aware when Beyonce was on top of the world with IASF, EVERYONE supported her, right? Noone saw color lines when they’d listen to Singles Ladies. Noone saw color lines when they’d give her standing ovations for her performances or BUY her album and help it shift millions like all of her other albums.
Adele became a phenomenon with he music, that’s why she’s done as well as she has.
SOUL MUSIC STEMS FROM THE PAIN OF OUR BLACK ANCESTORS WHOM WERE SLAVES TO THE WHITE MEN>>>
Though I don’t think he is totally right I do think he makes a valid point. We do have a black alternative to Adele. Her name is jazmine Sullivan and she sells substantially less. I do think there has been a pervading obsession with blue eyed soul in the past 15 years. Probably started with jt and his solo stuff. If Adele were black she would have sold less. Another thing though is that the urban music market is supersaturated with black females that can sing. For the most part there isn’t enough to differentiate them to a place where they can be commercially viable.
And I just have to LOL at the “people aren’t going crazy for Anita baker” line. B**** is a legend. Aside from that asinine statement he makes a valid point but his logic is a little off.
Jazmine Sullivan doesn’t make music catered to mainstream top 40 radio though. Adele does. That’s who really buys the music these days, unless you’re a legend and/or have established your fanbase. Jazmine hasn’t done that.
Adele’s done well because she’s built her fanbase up by doing LOTS of gigs and promoting herself.
Someone like Jazmine’s problem stems from lack of promotion and investment from her record label, not the buying public.
jaz who ?
adele >>>>>>>
And when it comes to people like Jill Scott, etc, they’re not pop acts whereas Adele is pop, though not “traditional” pop. While her audience is pretty much universal, she’s mainly catered to mainstream top 40.
Jill Scott is not. And those women’s style of music isn’t popular anymore (especially 90’s sounding R&B they keep putting out), whereas Adele’s is traditional music but it’s got beats, etc in it that make it accessible to radio and a much bigger audience.
You need to replace the word pop with white. As well what is traditional music? Especially when she and others claim her music is Pop/Soul. The basis of it being soul. She is put on a platform to get a bigger audience because she is a fat white gir that is “accessible” to everyonel with a pretty face, and a decent voice. Girl, do you believe your own b*******?
You are truly an ignorant person who needs to get off the internet.
@Mike
Thank you for that poignant response, who can i ever repay you?
Well when you reply with such stupidity and b******* yourself, don’t expect a “poignant response”.
And it’s “how” not “who”.
Clearly you have some kind of irrational hate inside of you that needs to be dealt with. You still have some sort of mindset that all white people are out to get black people. The s*** you’ve spewed in this topic is why racism still exists.
Quit blaming others for your problems. You’ll get nowhere with your mindset. You must stereotype all white people with every dumbass who says racist s*** and therefore you must hate all white people.
Quit seeing things in color and see it for what it really is.
@Mike Agreed. This King person clearly has alot of hatred in his bound up in his spirit. Even talking about a springing up a revolution. What an extremely angry individual.
Wow! I have yet to see your racist ass write a comment about one white artist in a good way. You keep claiming they got to where they were because they were white, but black artist got there because they worked for it. You’re such an ignorant fool!
Let’s be honest here, Adele got all those awards because she’s a white girl who sounds AND looks like one of The Weather Girls.
If she had the looks of Katy Perry, she would be like where Joss Stone is (No where).
If she had the looks of Rihanna, she would be where Melinda Dolittle is (No Where).
As much as I believe ’21’ is a great album, it has absolutely NOTHING on at least 5 of the best R’n’B albums released by a black artist last year.
Those are FACTS. There’s no need to get sensitive, either you’re black or you’re white. We ALL got to deal. SH!T IS BIASED.
name these 5 better TIRED R&B albums. go ahead. shatter me.
Brian Mcknight shits on adele overrated fatass. He got 0 Grammy Awards her 6!!! F*** off if you think she can out sing this badass!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WffrXeZKPZo
The last great r&b album I remember was by Usher’s (Confessions) album back in 2004 that album sold 20 MILLION worldwide.
Racism is alive and well. Anybody who thinks otherwise is delusional. This does apply to music
If she was black would she sell like she is now? Easy no. Mj is rare he shits on everyone cause he can sing his ass and dance his ass off not hard to see why he sold as a black man.
I think this sparks a great debate, which most intellectuals will find relevant. Racism is ever so present in today’s music, the examples are all right before our very eyes. sometimes it seems as if African Americans are experiencing some sort of regression, simply because these musicians find themselves in a juxtaposition that will ultimately not benefit them because of all the politics that go into seeing an artists flourish in today’s current music climate. Most black artists that get mainstream/pop airplay are usually a flavor of the month act (Jason Derulo, Flo Rida, B.O.B, Shontelle – ‘Impossible’,etc). The established acts that have a following don’t get the CONTINUED backing/support that most white artists do that have established their following as well.
So many of the white entertainers from 99/2000 Britney, Eminem, Justin(if he returned) still have all the major outlets behind them whenever they produce new material. Many of the black artists that started out the same way in the early part of the last decade doing POPULAR(crossover) music such as: Ciara, Alicia, Ashanti (whose first singles were all huge #1 Hot 100 hits) fizzle out due to the lack of promotion their not given after a few successful eras. Then when they focus on doing quality R&B it’s seen and treated as a lessor genre (even amongst blacks) so their not given the same recognition as before and no one even notices their product (even if it’s a stellar effort). This create options that only end up ruining careers. Black people become no longer interested in making R&B/ Soul music, (which will eventually lead to seeing the genre fade). This will propel them to make themselves more marketable and follow current trends and probably flock to techno-dance, or even country now, just to sell a million copies the way they have so easily in the past. The problem is that blacks don’t seem to have the STAYING power in this market at this time. This will eventually see that them struggle or fade eventually (i.e. Usher, Kelly Rowland, Toni Braxton).
To me it boils down to a clear statement that’s being made and it seems to be this overwhelming effort being made to drill this into the minds of the public. It’s to be understood amongst white and blacks that white people are surpassing black artists in music and leading as the cream of crop.
Michael maybe the King of pop(with 600Mil- 1Billion records sold), but Elvis is the “true king” with a billion records sold (that was somehow tracked before the sound scan). This is one of the many cases where it comes down to hype and uneven advantages.
It’s so many:
Elvis >>>>> MJ
Madonna >>>>> Janet
Eminem >>>>> Jay Z
Lady Gaga >>>>> Beyonce
Justin T >>>>> Usher (or atleast equal)
and you’d get the impression these days:
Adele >>>>> Whitney/Mariah
…and don’t be surprised if soon
Kreayshaw / Iggy >>>>> Nicki , Missy, Kim
It’s clearly just my opinion, but I truly believe Adele wouldn’t have had an eight of the success she’s garnered with ’21’ if she was black.
http://www.thepagewithroyalkev.com
I’m not gonna argue your opinion but I feel like some of the comparisons don’t make sense.
Eminem and Jay Z don’t have the same style of rap at ALL. Jay Z has retired how many times? and taken how many long breaks in music? Eminem sort of gave white kids permission to even LIKE rap, so of course he was gonna get that extra boost.
Justin Timberlake made 3 albums and if he came back tomorrow odds are he wouldn’t be as successful as Usher who has done it for years and years.
Lady Gaga same as Eminem. VERY different stylethan Beyonce and this album proved she got a boost between two albums and different styles. Her second album has gotten very bad sales compared to the first and most of her singles failed.
Nice story white trash.
Haha! It’s amazing how the majority of the comments on here are a bunch of black supremacist such as yourself. I can see that the majority of these people can’t stand it when white’s are doing Rap, Hip hop, or R & B.
LMFAO off LAdy GAga ain’t nowhere near Beyonce same thing goes for Justin Timberlake against Usher.One of Usher’s albums alone which was Confessions out sold both of Justin’s solo albums.Truthlly i feel it has nothing to do with race everybody just bashing Adele because she has had one of the best selling albums sent 2004 which was usher Confessions album that sold 20 million.
Nope, people are not bashing Adele, but are just pointing out the racism embedded in her success. Like How did she sell 20 mill in her sophomore album (which usually produces a sophomore slump) which was not even better than the first album? And the first album was not even that fantastic, Amy Whinehouse album was immensely better than both.
That’s exactly my point. JT came out with fewer albums and has sold considerably less than Usher, but they’ve both been dubbed the new prince and King of Pop (at one time), although they weren’t no where near equal.
Gaga was given all these silly titles as well after 1.5 albums. She was “the biggest pop star on the planet”, remember?! I’ll even give that a pass and assume that was something momentary. Still she was reaching “icon status” faster than any black superstar I’ve ever seen and wasn’t even proving herself to be more than a flash in the pan. She was also given certain liberties that no other black artists was given. It seemed like Beyonce caught more backlash from her involvement in their ‘Telephone’ video, but it seem like turning a blind eye to the fact that it was actually Gaga’s song was ok!
Gaga gets naked it was art. Rihanna gets naked she’s a s***! It’s the same ‘ole story over and over. Janet’s career suffers from SB, Madonna literally have dozens of inappropriate performances and it’s “what we love about her”. Kanye’s blacklisted, Chris was blacklisted(fine, maybe his was an extremem case), but blacks are always walking on egg shells and white people get to be wild ,crazy and bold!
Back to Adele! There’s definitely something up with these sales. Years after Whitney’s ‘Bodyguard’ was said to have sold 17 million copies in the U.S. Billboard reports that it now did only 12(WTF), but 45million worldwide(which is so boogus)??? …Don’t let me find an old Billboard magazine(my friend collects them)… I say this to basically say that Adele will reach 13million(and that is why Whitney’s numbers are lowered). It is already in the works! …13 million in U.S. sales alone in 2012 is …
http://www.thepagewithroyalkev.com
Are you kidding me? I hear people call Madonna & Lady Gaga a s*** all the time. These comments are ridiculous always pulling some stupid race card.
“Gaga gets naked it was art. Rihanna gets naked she’s a s***! It’s the same ‘ole story over and over. Janet’s career suffers from SB, Madonna literally have dozens of inappropriate performances and it’s “what we love about her”.”
Adele is as British as they come.. have you ever heard her speak? Also “someone like you” is a classic song and one of the best songs ever!!.. Just the piano alone is fricking amazing.
Thats why it’s sold loads… Last album to sell 20 million before adeles was usher.. When was the last white Rnb male singer to sell 20 million? …. Exactly!
Your not even making an argument here, your just making random ass statements with no weight to them. Are you retarded? Using the Adele/ Usher analogy is usless when Adele is not R&B so why are you talking about white male R&B counterparts. Thats right because you don’t know the difference between soul and R&B, you think they are the same…just black music huh? Yes, a typical white persons generalizations. Thank you for proving a point.
Its quite obvious what Im saying.. No white rnb male has sold 20 million and yet a black male has… so does this mean.. usher only sold 20 million cause he is black?
Understand now? Seeeeeee the whole racism point invalid.
I dont have to talk about the same type of music, to make a point do I?
@ Taylor
Why did you bring up that point? Its not relevant to the conversation, there is not white R&B male or female artist to have ever done this. Robin Thicke is the only R&B male artist and he is generic as f***. Your are not making any points at all!
I bought up that point, to bring a balance to the post. Your making it out, that she’s only sold this much cause shes white.
Im just saying, there are occasions when black artists sell loads more than white artist. Eg Rnb music.
This album will be a one off, her next album will probs sell only half.
@Taylor
You did that to derail my argument, because you don’t want to face the facts. When black artist out sell whites it becomes an exception not a rule. Often The best talents out of the black race get “out-souled” by the most mediocre of the whites. And thats why you have artist lik Elvis and Madonna as the highest grossing with very questionalbe figures. Like someone mentioned early, how are they counting Elvis figure before soundscan was invented. Why is a Madonna out-selling Mariah, or even Janet for that case.
And that last statement you made is irrelevant. What matters is that they are using 21 to “out-sell” Thriller. Ofcourse, Adele’s next album when it comes out 3-5 years from now will not sell as well. She is a puppet, already cracking underpressure because she knows that she is not worth her weight in album sales. You as a white person can fall into the hype, but me as a concious black person cannot and will not.
No, I said that to show you it’s not as one sided as your making out.
You say she knows shes not worth that weight in sales.. and what Ushers confessions was? I dont think you can say that album is better? I also dont get what hype your talking about.. I mean she hardly even singing on shows or doing promo at all.
21 will not outsell thriller, its just sold 20 million, and the sells are slowing down now.. thriller sold 65 million or something.
Also, It depends what you call talent, for me.. the songs come before the voice. Madonna may not have a great voice, but shes wrote some good songs.
@Taylor
The songs come before the voice…well for all that you might as well go to a spoken word poetry slam fest or read the lyrics to your self.
And you still cannot see the fact that your argument was IRRELEVANT to the point at hand. Confessions was a waaaay better album than 21, Lyrically, sonically, and damn even vocally. Adele is so predicatable and flat. I’m not sure if she has a range. She does what she does and thats it. Lets hope not that 21 will not outsell Thriller, but they sure as hell are marketing it to.
Typical white person? lol You racist black supremacist are all over this site like white on rice. All I have seen so far are a bunch of idiots like you bashing her because she is white.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WffrXeZKPZo LISTEN TO THIS WHITE TRASH TELL ME HOW HE GOT 0 GRAMMYS AND SHE GOT 6 ON ONE ONG F*** OUTTA HERE !!
@Kingphoenix Replied I dont think confessions had a classic song like “someone like you” on it. You just being complety biased towards black artists over white artists.
Can I ask, in your opinon is there any white artists that have talent?
No one is marketing even marketing 21, I’ve not seen her doing any shows for months and Months. Im still waiting for “one and only” and “Turing tables” to be realeased as singles!
the bottom line, it’s all about the benjamins for the record companies. look at the music climate these days. you can count the top female artist on one hand, axing out a heck of a lot of ligitimate artist. Adele won 12 billboard awards because she made money here in the US and UK, etc…She doesn’t require a lot of hype, she is already established as an artist that you get your monies worth if you buy her cd (descent music). I am not that familiar with Adele, but just from watching her video her love for singing/music is genuine, just look at the audience reponse. And she just happen to be British, not her fault. In my opinion the record companies make decsions based on who can make them the most money. Just listen to the radio stations, you hear the same songs in rotation every hour, why is that?
What are you talking about? Women dominate the music industry as far as pop singers…And yeah, they are going to go after who they can make the most money of white people. Not only are they using hype for adele, but they are buying her records to create this hype and giving her all sorts of awards and s***. Thats why her bank account is not matching up to her prestige and record sales. For example, Katy Perry and Adele came out round the same time…Katy Perry, just based of music sales makes more than Adele, yet Adele writes ALL her music and has sold WAAAAAY more than Katy. How does this make sense? Cause it don’t
READ! lol
Katy Perry got more s*** going on than albums. She had a tour, commercials, perfumes and a goddamn movie coming out so in reality she probably is making more money than Adele.
CAN ANYONE THEY ME WHY THIS MAN HAVE 0 GRAMMYS AND SHE GOT 6, OH YES I FORGOT BECAUSE HE BLACL LMAO AND SHE IS WHITE DUH !!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WffrXeZKPZo
Actually if you looked at the artists with the most grammys, you’ll find loads of black artists.
He does have a great voice, though I’ve never heard of him.
There you go derailing arguments again. Those black artist deserved those grammies, these white artist are not deserving of these figures. What is your point?
But thats your opinon, that the white artists are not deserving of those figures, Who made you god?
I never derailed his arguement, he said that guy didnt win cause his the colour of his skin. which is wrong because a hell of a lot of black artists have won loads of grammys!
Exactly @Taylor fan how can this angry King guy say they don’t deserve what people go out and decide to spend their money on?
@Wowzers Yeah true, people will spend their money on what they see fit too.
Well tell me how does Stevie Wonder have 22 Grammys and Beyonce has 16 grammys but Jill Scott only has 3 and Toni Braxton only has 6.OMG its racism.0_o
OR why does Mariah Carey only have 5 Grammys,Madonna only has 7 Grammys and Celine Dion only has 5 Grammys.
@Wowzers
Because people are being brainwashed, and the majority of these sales are being fabricated. And you people keep on ignoring the fact that racism is a live and well.
@Lol
You are making an argument without an arguement. Just stating dumb as facts without addressing the real issue. Beyonce and Stevie have more Grammies, because they are more pop and white-friendly than Tony and Jill…And they are better overall artist then the Tony and jill. As simple as that.
@ King post your documented proof that the numbers are being fabricated and were people also being brainwashed when they went out and bought Confessions to make that a 20m selling album as well?
@King you’re a joke I’m black Stevie & Beyonce are better artist overall.YOu are right there.You talking about somebody being white friendly when every artist can actually be.every artist don’t matter what type of music they do.For example i had white friends before who like the rapper Nas now what i have seen you base “white-friendly” on NAs is not but white people that know what real hip hop is love him but just white but people of all races.I love how you ignored my other comment when i asked about Mdna,Mariah and celine i wanted to know why do they have less grammys then stevie & bey aswell they are most defientley white-friendly since they are white and then you claim that stevie & bey have more grammys because their more white-friendly….So are black people more” white-friendly”than whites themselves.0_o
I truly think racism doesn’t exist in music there to many sucessful black artist to count to even believe this this album is flawless and would have been what it was no matter who hands it was in. Let have a racism debate on the film industy that worth talking .
The fact that you can even COUNT the amount of successful black artists just makes your point void sir.
Trust the racism in the music industry is rampant. Do your home work. Plus this is a music blog, not a movie one. *eye-roll*
So hard to keep up with all the arguments on this site now. There needs to be a newest post function.
This man has a point to a certain extent. White artists co-opting and appropriating artforms that traditionally have African-American roots is nothing new (e.g., Elvis making rock n’ roll mainstream), But I don’t believe that Adele’s success is due to racism. I can’t quite explain why “21” is the phenomenon it is (its popularity can be attributed quality, but there are many quality albums that don’t break records on the charts. And “19” had nowhere near the success of “21”, and I’d argue that it’s just as good as “21”). I just think that Adele has succeeded in making an album that resonates with people everywhere. It’s not something that’s impossible for a black artist to achieve, Lauryn Hill did it with “Miseducation” and Alicia Keys did it with “Songs In A Minor”. And just like Adele, these women released their albums at a time when generic, manufactured pop music was ruling the airwaves at the time. Thing is, you can’t really predict which type of album will have such luck, because usually its success is always completely unexpected.
Then there’s the fact that R&B music generally isn’t a profitable genre these days no matter who’s making it. “21” isn’t purely R&B, so it’s a little easier for it to have mass appeal. And shouldn’t Duffy and Joss Stone be huge like Adele if racism is the reason behind her success?
Agree Joss Stone isn’t nowhere near as successful as Adele and she’s white and has been in the indrustry way longer.
21 isn’t R&B at all, why are you people so dense.
As Much I respect Adele for her talent, I really believe that she’s tooo OVERRATED! Amy was MORE TALENTED, Better Artist and Better Performer! I hate to say that RACISM still exist( F*** i ADORE Iggy, even if most of blacks people call her Racist), but THIS TIME I do think if Adele was a Fat black girl, she would not have this massive success!
She would have had this success because it wasn’t her image that got people into her. She’s an overweight, UK female. How many of those do you see topping the charts?
People connected with the music and her voice. It wasn’t genre specific and it appealed to a mass audience.
Plus she promoted herself and put her name out there and made an impact on people with her voice and her story.
And Amy was more talented but Amy also had troubled private life that kept her from reaching her full potential.
@KingPhoenix is speaking the truth and nothing but the truth!
If Adele was black and put out Rolling In The Deep it would NOT have been played on ‘mainstream’ radio to even get ppl interested in her…..TBH Adele isn’t all that..don’t get me wrong..she can sing, but there are several artists who can sing better than her! Also, Adele is NOT the only artist who puts out ‘meaningful’ music or dance/pop music..if ppl were that tired of what’s hot on Top 40 now, then they have tons of artists who make other kinds of music. Jazmine Sullivan can sing better than Adele but she’s flopping…and I don’t wanna hear that b******* talkin bout it’s bcuz Adele’s music has ‘mainstream’ appeal or that race has nothing to do w/ it bcuz it’s all about the music…if so then it’s NOT all about the music/message bcuz u have to alter who u are in order to appeal and if u have to do that it’s NOT all about the music!
But why must talent be based on whos got the best voice? Which is just a matter of opinon. For me, having the best songs is far more important than having the best voice.
I like Rihanna’s songs, I couldnt really care about her voice. All i care about is how she sounds on the radio
Because your a basic ass person with basic taste. Rihanna songs are micro-wave pop, not the best songs at all. And neither is Tailor Swift’s. Its cute country pop, that is marketable. Her lyrics are weak, and her theme’s are over-played and overdramatic. Have Several Seats.
I know babe, they can’t take the truth. They forget how just a couple of months ago, some trashy German magazine calle Rihanna a Ghetto B**** and how the media has been out to portray her as some Black W****, yet Madonna’s actions were En Vogue.
Phoneix you just gave me my life LMAO! “En Vouge”
Wow insult Taylor now. You’ve not had a good word to say about any White Artists throughout the whole post. Need I say more…. Racism
yes race does come into it but not all the time most of the time black artist music is just not that good eg Jennifer Hudson who has an amazing voice but amazing voices dont alwaya make great music eg Rihanna
ty!
Jennifer Hudson has a fantastic voice but her music just isn’t catered to the masses like Adele’s was. No one really knew any kind of backstory to her album.
I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist in the music industry but Adele’s success has nothing to do with her skin color. It has nothing to do with her image at all because it is very rare to begin with to see an overweight, UK female dominate the music scene these days and get more attention over her thinner counterparts, etc.
Rihanna doesn’t make great music she makes generic pop songs. Just because its white don’t mean its write. Mariah Carey made amazing music and had one of the best voices ever…Whitney too. Why is adele out selling them? Racism is the name of the game…
But you’re racist your goddamn self. If that ain’t pot calling the kettle black..
@Kin Phoenix
And you’re a black person who will sit around and blame white people for their lack of success ignoring your own failures. Racist sentiment? Sorry it’s calls the truth.
A CD is a physical product that can be purchased. You’re so busy defending blacks for not supporting their own artists but when there’s an obvious real life example of something blacks economically support in overwhelming numbers you turn tail and hide.
Blacks have little to give? But they have plenty to support when it comes to things they WANT. YOU just said rappers make more money proving my point. Blacks support RAPPERS, not R & B singers and then want to whimper about Adele getting support cause she’s white? Oh, okay. B*******.
So whites support black artists more (based on YOUR) words, then black artists support them more by catering music to them and it’s all the white persons fault for…supporting them? Yeah sure. B*******. Make excuses for the rest of your life and use that to feed you instead of looking at the reality.
Girl, bye…I have a right to complain about what whites have done to me and my people. And i must not be to lazy if i got into an Ivy League. But yeah, you whites sure love to turn it around on blacks as if we choose to come to this country, endure slavery for 200+ years, and then internalized racism from then on to know. And look how you have turned an argument of whites exploiting black artforms to a claim that blacks are degenerates based on stereo-types created by whites. Look how pressed and angry you are to hear the truth of the dirt your whiteness is built on. Don’t know how many of you whites even live with yourself.
You have every right to complain…but that’s all you and so many other people do….complain. If you would complain and DO SOMETHING then Damn wouldn’t that be amazing.
And that’s what you’re running from, you’re complaining Adenis only successful because she’s white but you don’t explain why the same logic doesn’t apply to blacks.
I showed you an area where blacks overwhelmingly and economically support one system and you gave me another PROVING my point. Blacks aren’t putting down the money to support fellow black artists and expect whites to cater to them to excuse this? What?
Girl bye indeed. No black people have gotten into an Ivy League you’re righ – Oh wait, no. Barack and Michelle Obama.
So once again I’m white? Why because I don’t agree with you? That’s racist King. But you won’t admit it because racism is your only excuse to justify your tired reasoning. You protect yourself with it while using it against others.
Lol at black stereotypes. YOU claimed blacks love rappers, THERE’s your stereotype.
Lol I’m not pressed, I’m laughing my b*** off at your AAS 101 logic when half your comments are contradicting one another.
Newsflash boo boo. Whites live with themselves just fine, it’s up to YOU to do the same. I’m sure as hell not gonna sit home to lament when I know white people won’t lose a wink of sleep if I sit my b*** home, do nothing and blame whites for something that no modern white person had any control over.
Time to get real or stay in the 1500’s and hope for the best.
AMEN @Kingphoenix , THese Whites who LIKE TO DO THIS RACISM NEEDS TO REMEMBER THAT YOU BROUGHT US HERE!! HELLO WE WERE IN AFRICA<>>
If Adele was black she would be just like Ell Vainer. Who? Exactly! In the words of Dionne Watwick,, “Adele Who?”
Whites are the pre-dominate race around the world in western landmarks and European where the largest music market is so duh a white artist might get a little
More success naturally. I don’t Rly care
And I’m black. Adele just happens to be lucky. Good for her.
Uhh sorry substance wise 4 was a crap album compared to 21. Only reason most of the songs were good on the album is because beyonce is a very good singer. End of story.
Let’s start with what the stans don’t want to admit:
Run the World ruined the 4 era. Point blank the end. The stolen concept video and performance put the nail in the casket. I bought the album and enjoyed every song but RTW and I believe it would have done better had RTW been called a buzz sinlgle and Bey started the era with Countdown. But she didn’t oh well.
21 was a good not great album. It did so well because it had 2 GREAT singles back to back “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You.” I think Adele blew up because she is a singer who just stands there and sings. 99% of people in the music game come with a gimmick. She appears REAL. Plus that album had other good songs. However, I think she got those grammys because of sales and the two good songs, which isn’t fair. I think Confessions should have won more grammys but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion
Now let’s talk about R&B in general. Now a days, the lyrics and production sucks on the majority of it. All the women talk about is “He’s no good” “I love him” or “He gave me good d***.” All the men sing about is s**. At least that’s all I hear on the radio.
Now I will agree with people who believe that there is a movement to end the records of black people. Ie Adele getting 6 grammys just a few years after Beyonce. 21 was #1 longer than the Body guard, its on its way to outselling Confessions the last big seller and then Thriller. There’s a reason for that.
I don’t think there is no beyonce fan that will not admit that Run The World was a horrible single choice, never liked the song…but again what does that have to do with the subject at hand. You mean to tell me one bad single enabled 4 to be her lowest selling album? Um no, it was her lowest selling album because she went a way from the sassy pop stuff the white ppl loved during IAMSF so the pushed her aside and said we got Adele for the soulful human music because we only can relate to her even though she ain’t singing about nothing we aint never heard before, and we got Rihanna for the p**** popping singles. The end.
Agree with everything else you said.
I’m so glad we can comment to each other without it getting nasty. You are making a lot of good points in your comments. I wrote that whole paragraph on 4 because I sincerely believe that’s why her album did not sell as well. Honestly, I wasn’t going to buy it based on that single but ended up buying the album because of the leaked music I heard. DIL was R&B and outsold IASF so I think people like her R&B music but got turned off by RTW.
Jazmine Sullivan’s voice is kinda scratchy. Her tone isn’t that polished. People are just throwing random people out there because they do soul music. Adele’s voice is far more polished than alot of others.
Its not a race thing, Americans just mad that the UK is beating them at their own game!
Adele made one of the best piano/vocal pop albums in a long time and thats why she is successful. The album is soulful POP not R&B. A lot of black singers tend to be R&B and don’t want to cross over (sell out). If they did make a pop album you would all be slating them for being TOO WHITE.
Plus Usher, Rihanna etc have had huge hits with a ‘whiter’ sound – and received criticism for it.
None of you know what you are talking about!!
Who Cares about all this stuff…ya’ll have turned these artist into some straight Idol worship…ya’ll spend all your time trying to prove a point and its pointless!!!! enjoy their music cause it will be somebody else in two to three years…
@ Kingphoenix
You are the epitome behind every act of racism. You are billigerent, offensive, and probably one of the most obnoxious people that I have ever come across.
Not only that, but everything you say is contradicting, invalid, irrelevant, and you clearly do not make a contraction of binary of sense.
One day you will realize (if and only when), that the world is not out to sabotage the hard work created by the hard working black man. One day you’ll understand that not only do blacks suffer (which in your example of HOW soul music was created, lol), that every other human race does as well. For what reason? There are many.
And yes, blacks may be the minority in most cases. They may have been victims to the majority of slavery; however, it will NEVER justify the way music WAS/IS created. Again, and I WILL REPEAT; COLOR is BLIND to the innocent. Those who place a race card behind music, will only live on to produce nothing but negative and nastiness around the world. How ironic, you’re doing in such justice.
By the way, I am not oblivious to the fact that racism does exist, so please school someone else with your “racism 101” websites. Hell, if anyone was, after reading your incompetent posts, brought them back to reality. Music is the LEAST of our worries when it comes to the color of our skin. You have a lot of growing up to do; and any UNIVERSITY or CLASSES that you are taking to understand what is going on in this world, will never compare to the real world and real life events.
This whole article is a joke. Another reason for the incompetence to hind behind their problems and blame everything on race. It’s pathetic, and honestly, I’m embarrassed to be a part of the human race after reading the majority of the comments posted, which 99.98% of which were from Kingphoenix. Why don’t you have a little ounce of class, and rebut yourself from this conversation. That’s the least you can do.
OH! And p.s. I’m not white! If that’s what you were assuming!
i wholeheartedly agree with everything he said – its sad really but hey thats the world we live in
Of course race is a huge factor. Adele is fat white woman. 2 or 3 songs on 21 were good to me. A plus size black woman would barely get a record deal, race is always a factor. Adele had her big fat ass hurt by a n****. She was so distraught she wrote beautiful music. Aaawwww..
Adele does sing “black people music” but she is marketed to white audiences.
You can tell that by where she is seen performing , she doesn’t bring her Rolling In The Deep , Someone Like You , Rumor Has It to the BET awards NO , she performs at the MTV awards.
She’s not nomiated for R&B awards because that’s the ONE award that a black artist is normally a Shoe-In for the win , if Adele was to win R&B awards there would be a complete uproar from Blacks.
For example, I know FOR SURE JUSTIN BIEBER WOULD NOT BE AS SUCCESSFUL AS HE IS IF HE WAS BLACK>>> Look at past Black Male Child Singers such as Mario and Tevin Campbel ( WHOM AT JUSTIN”S AGE CAN SING MILES AROUND JUSTIN BIEBER ) DID THEY GET THE SAME RECOGNITION?? YEA TEVIN CAMPBELL MAY HAVE BEEN HUGE AMONG GIRLS>>> BUT DID HE GET THE SAME RECOGNITION?? I THINK NOT>…. JUSTIN HAS THE HUGE WORLD TOURS> AND ADELE”S ROLLING IN THE DEEP TO ME SOUND MOTOWNISH ESPECIALLY WITH THEM BACKGROUND SINGERS VOCALS AT THE END>> IT SOUNDS VERY MOTOWNISH!!! IN MY OPINIION…
** OK I SEE I DIDNT FINISH A PART OF WHAT I WAS SAYING< WELL I WAS SAYING THAT JUSTIN BIEBER SKIN COLOUR DEFINATELY PLAYED A HUGE ROLE IN THE HUGE WORLD TOURS AND THE HUGE MARKETING AND PUSH FROM THE BEGINNING OF HIS CAREER!!! HOWEVER I DO NOT DISLIKE HIM!!
Adele is a great singer. When Rihanna or Beyonce can sit in a chair or stand still and sing live without flashing lights ot grinding their pelvis in the camera then I will lament about race. If no black b****** were being played then I would complain, period point blank. Adele is one of the best artists out becuase she has raw talent without training wheels.
All that black b**** s*** ain’t necessary . Especially when no one is up in here calling adele or any other white singer WHITE B******.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7gWzO1nYIg
Come on, you don’t have to trash people in the process of praising. Rihanna isn’t the best singer, but Beyonce. Honestly?
This is probably a better example. Adele is awesome two, no need for profanities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq8tK1rGpog
Hey guess what??? Racism isn’t only white on black it can be black on white or any other race on any other race and a lot of these comments sound dumb as f***.
Some of the biggest selling artists in the world (MJ, Whitney, Mariah, Tina etc) are black or mixed and millions of their records where bought buy WHITE people but as soon as Adele starts doing good it’s racist???
How many millions of black people are there in America but some people want to blame the evil white man because Jill Scott’s album hasn’t gone Platinum, the biggest joke is that most of you probably don’t even own the album yourself.
And I’m mixed race btw.
Moron thats the point it’s way more whites in the uk and usa so thats why she outsell black its unfair.
Yeah there are more white people but so what, White people buy albums buy black artists too. Just because R&B singing black women aren’t selling well doesn’t make anybody racist, it’s just not the hot genre like it was before atm.
There are still black females selling tons of records like Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Rihanna etc but then as soon as anyone brings that up the pressed folk start saying it’s because they make “white music” well… not being funny what do you expect??? Before everyone was into R&B and artists like Usher, Brandy etc where selling millions and now pop/dance is the main genre and if black artists want to sell well they can either do what Usher etc have done and jump to that genre or if they love R&B so much they can stick with it through some s***** sales and wait for the resurgence.
I don’t get how it’s racist if a white person doesn’t buy a black singers album but the majority of black people aren’t running out to buy a Britney Spears album, is that racist???
The fact is that a lot of black singers like Mary J, Jill Scott, Erica etc just concentrate on the US instead of promoting the albums ww and if they do get success they get compacent. Look at Mary J until about two albums ago almost all of her albums had gotten certified in the UK but then she stopped promoting here and obviously her sales declined.
I think it takes a combination of factors to make it big and with Adele race IS one of those factors. Promotion was another. Her management and record company took full advantage of the hype created by the fact the she defies expectations by being a white soulful singer. At one point you couldn’t get away from RITD if you tried. Of course talent is another factor and Adele has that covered.
MJ sold more than any other white singer and he was black
Yea but you will not find MJs just walking down the sidewalk.
Why would this matter, BET doesn’t recognize Adele anyway, she wasnt even nominated for a single award… best album for the last year or two and she has no recognition from the black community! Her race has nothing to do in selling albums. People are ignorant we need to quit this whole judgement based on race, after all we are still all humans no matter what color…
you just proved the point that race does matter. Just like many pop radio stations neglect R&B and hip hop songs black tv stations sometimes neglect many pop songs done by white artist.
I think Amy Winehouse deserves to have those numbers and not Adele. Adele has a soulful voice, but her music isn’t soulful like Amy’s!
true adele is overated
WELL THANK YOU JESUS I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICED THIS CUZ I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT PEOPLE WERE SO AMAZED ABOUT>>AND ADELE IS NOT AND I SAY AGAIN NOTTTTTT ON ANITA BAKER”S LEVEL>>YES SHE MAY BE A WATERED DOWN VERSION BUT ANITA BAKER”S VOICE IS WORTHY OF THE UTMOST PRAISE BUT ADELE I DONT THINK SO>>>>
I don’t think it’s a race issue, it’s more to do with the record labels and their promotional push for certain acts. If they suspect someone will be big they’ll put a lot of promotion into them & put a lot of funding into the records production & writing. Some acts need to be promoted to get their foot in the door. Others are just lucky. Take Jennifer Hudson, she has a great voice, yet her first album went under the radar & was filled with r&b tracks that’d could’ve been sung by anybody, she could’ve done with a huge promotional campaign, but there wasn’t a lot.
People respond to Adele because she’s honest & relatable, even in interviews. British people love her because she talks about getting drunk & swears in everyone other sentence & is like an every day person.
Playing the race card is ridiculous because artists like Whitney & Mariah are both of ethnic descent & have both excelled in different demographics for years.
Also, people forget, Adele didn’t just explode onto the scene, ‘Hometown Glory’ & ‘Cold Shoulder’ didn’t even crack the UK top 10 it was only ‘Chasing Pavements’ that did well in the UK. & ‘Make You Feel My Love’ only charted really well because of the X-Factor contestants singing it.
wow i thinks that talking about Black people and White people in music in 2012 is sos OLD and useless, this seems to me just jealousy!Adele is a Phenomenon not because is White that do blac music , but because she is something new and different form what we listen Now on RADIOS or on tv , and not just musically! she is “true” and simple and people like it!
When I buy music I buy it because I like it, not because the artist is a particular ethnicity. I’ve read through all of the above comments and cannot understand why this debate is even happening. Michael Jackson had the best selling album of all time – so if the music industry is so racist then why the hell did that happen? Thriller was a success, not because the artist was black, but because he was a good singer with good songs. Adele is successful, not because she is white, but because she is a good singer with good songs. Same rules apply.
The whole arguement that ‘Adele is only a success because she is white’ is racist in itself. Whitney Houston was one of the worlds greatest singers and enjoyed huge success – is this because she was black? No, it’s because she was good.
The arguement that black artists are having record dance music to get into the charts is laughable. From the mid 90’s to the late 2000’s the whole world went R&B crazy, you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing a hip hop beat or music of black origin. Nowadays dance music is the ‘trend’. But trends come and go and we will eventually come full circle.
Until the day comes that we stop using terms like ‘white music’ and ‘black music’ and refer to it only as ‘music’, racism will continue. Just listen to what you want to listen to, don’t listen to the stuff you don’t want to listen to and just appreciate that we all have different tastes.
I’ve just read your comment about 30 seconds after posting mine, pretty sure they are both the same. This “debate” is just ridiculous, I don’t even know where it came from. At least someone has their head screwed on tightly too.
That is impossible Michael Jackson was black in the 80s when racism was bigger, and still has the greatest selling album of all time. So how is Adele doing anything out of the ordinary. Are you pressed because her albums have been in the billboard 200 top 10(65 weeks) longer than all your favorites albums!!!
This is so ridiculous, I’ve just come across this story and cannot actually believe it’s being debated. If you’re going to start using race as a factor in Adele’s success, why not use her gender also. I’m pretty sure the top 5 artists in music right now are female, excluding Justin Bieber. I’m white and I love RnB, Hip/Hop, and Pop, plus many other types of music, and I don’t ever consider the persons race when I decide to like a song.
Adele has done so well because she is talented, no matter what people say, sure there are better singers out there, no one can deny that. But the truth is Adele has a great sounding voice, a great personality and great songs, this all equals great success. Everyone going on about how it’s the music industry not supporting black artists, why is Rihanna doing so well, if it is purely based on race? I think people are more annoyed about the fact that RnB isn’t as successful as it once was, well music tastes change, just like they have always done, with Rock N’ Roll, Dance etc.
Also I am a huge Beyonce fan, she is my Number 1 artist, and as much as I love ‘4’, I accept it’s not commercial, hence why it didn’t do amazingly well in the charts. That isn’t because she is black, or because she is a woman, it’s just the type of songs on the record not conforming to the music that is popular right now. You can’t compare the two because they have totally different sounds.
And as for the people commenting saying that “White People” don’t think Whitney Houston was the voice, or whatever you want to say. I know plenty of white, black & asian people who loved her music. However I know some people, not just white, who don’t like her, it’s down to everyones own personal taste.
I just think people are making too much of a big deal on race, and who should be put into what category, at the end of the day, it is the fans that have to go and buy the music. So if you’re favourite artist isn’t selling millions when you think they should be, that is just your opinion and maybe not everyone elses, regardless of the talent.
It’s sad to think about it but this issue is totally true.
white is more marketable and i guess that’s way lots of black singers try to appeal to white audencies! It’s definitely harder to find a black singer singing country music and the few that are in the genre still encounter many challengens in terms of selling and promotion!
MY GOD!!! LOTS OF WHITE IGNORANT FOOLS HERE FAILING TO ADMIT THE TRUTH!! THE FACT IS IF ADELE WAS BLACK SHE WOULD NOT BE AS BIG OF AN ARTIST PERIOD!!
WHITE PEOPLE WILL FOREVER BE FAVORED OVER BLACKS IN ALL SPHERES OF LIFE AND IT IS JUST PLAIN SAD! Anyone who disagrees can direct themselves to the Trayvon Martin case……..#THATISALL
Yet the majority of the artist you hear on the radio are black you’re such a dumbass like the rest of these racist hypocrites.
Dumbest f****** idiots ive ever seen, ever. All i hear on the radio is black people, you are the most stupid mother fuckers i have ever seen. Race has nothing to do with it, you f****** idiot racists.
While I do feel that white artists are heavily favored in the music industry, I really object to anyone who says its the sole factor of Adele’s success. As a Latino man who listens to A LOT of r&b and soul music (I love jazmine Sullivan!!!!) I can say with confidence that while Adele’s music is obviously influenced by soul, it really isn’t the same. “someone like you” would feel completely out I place on any Jill Scott album as well as most contempory soul albums. I can’t think of one black artist who would sing a song like “turning tables” and most of adeles music would sound weird on my r&b radio station. Soul music to me is usually defined by heavy use of persuasions expressive vocal delivery and a wide use of instruments particularly those used in jazz. The only ones of these that I see Adele really using are her vocal delivery and the occasional use of various instruments. Yes, 21 was inspired by soul music but there are also other hints of music there too. Her song “I’ll be waiting” would totally work on country radio. And songs like “don’t you remember” “someone like you” and “turning tables” are ballads that don’t really fit a genre. The last 2 of those three songs are strictly piano ballads and white artists have been singing piano ballads since before soul really emerged. I know a soul/ r&b ballad when I hear one and I don’t hear it that much in those three songs. I agree with the gentleman who said she doesn’t really sing black music. If anything I would have classified adeles album as folk/soul. And te folk genre has been dominated by white artists for… Like ever. Hell I even hear some Latino music influences such as Cumbia. I also don’t like how the success of the aforementioned soul artists is downplayed. Remember, Jill Scott has had massive success with her albums, all which have reached within the top ten of the billboard 200, jazmine Sullivan was nominated for 5 Grammys and received great acclaim, and Alicia keys, another soul singer, is one of the most recognizable artists in the world. Black artists were at the top of the charts in the 90s and early 2000s: brandy was huge, monica had multiple number one albums Ashanti was huge beyonce is considered one of the most powerful singers and rap music is always on the rise most noticibly with drake and lil Wayne. The reason we arent seeing as many black artis on top is because the popularity has shifted from r&b to dance -pop which is not usually a genre many black artists lean towards. But still usher has made a comeback with using this music and rihanna is poised o become one of the most successful females in music. Is Adele’s success partly attributed towards race? Absolutely, white artists have an easier hill to climb. But r&b is no longer the “hot” music simply because of te natural cycle music always takes. And again I can’t imagine a great soul singer like Jill Scott making an album like 21, they’re different sounds. Adele is not singing black music and is not ripping them off point blank. Some of her success is because her race makes her marketable and most of it is because she really has created her own lane, outside of the Katy and gaga lane and yes, outside of the soul (Jill Scott jazmine sullivan) lane.
Also as a side note that I forgot to mention. Someone said earlier that adele has outsold Whitney houstan and Mariah Carey because of race. LOL. The bodyguard soundtrack is still the best selling album by a female and there is no way Adele has outsold Mariah Carey with one album. Also given the fact that Adele has said she’ll take a while to release her new album, it’s likely it won’t be anywhere bear as popular as 21 was
It would be near impossible to ask that her next album be more successful. She had 4 or 5 songs in the top 25 for months. Thats crazy! Mariah is a terrific singer but she has a tendency to over use her high voice in her songs and it just becomes more annoying than enjoyable. I think Adele compares alot to Whitney. Whitney had a just a pure amazing voice and I think many people have been missing that in today’s music. So Adele was more just a “this is how you are suppose to do it” instead of using midi, pitch, voice machines or lip syncing.
Also on a side note. Someone above mentioned that she has outsold Whitney and Mariah because she’s white. LOL. first of all, if we’ve learned anything in the recent months it’s that Whitney is a Lenten and will ALWAYS be remembered. The bodyguard soundtrack is still the bestselling album by any female (thanks to a black female-Whitney) and Adele has not sold nearly as much as Mariah. Not even close.
Does this site mainly consist of black people? Reading the comments it seems that way. Its funny how you all make such a big deal out of race. How about gaining some self worth and you stop accusing everyone of being racists when you’re all being the real racists when you accuse.
Adele “sounds somewhat black ” but thats just her voice, ive heard black people that “sound white”. Get over yourselves like you all deserve credit for everything.
Oh I forgot to mention, its funny how some large groups of people of a certain race accept their stereotypes. =)
Adele is so far above and beyond better than the competition right now its foolish to say it is because she is white. Maybe its because she can actually SING LIVE without having to put her voice through perfect pitch machines or limp syncing like 99.9% of hip hop/R&B/pop artist do. There was a reason she received the longest standing ovation I have ever seen at the Grammy Awards, because she is pure and just flat damn good. I would say she deserves every bit of the praise and success just as Whitney Houston got when she came on the seen and I put Adele right there with Whitney is regards to voice quality and strength. The other real singers are here and there nowdays in the music world. Mariah Carey is here one year and gone the next 2 or 3 (even then her music is sometimes more annoying than enjoyable as she over uses her high (squeaky) pitch voice, we got it you can hit those pitches, that doesnt mean they make for good music). Boyonce? please! She is not even in the conversation in regards to voice quality. Just give props and when props are due. Just because your upset the best voice in music is not a black American, doesn’t mean you should drag her into your racial biased world.
YOU DUMBASS IDOITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ADELE IS FAMOUS BECAUSE SHE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST SINGERS OF ALL F****** TIME!
And she doesnt sing like that black lady in the article.
The concept of “white people singing black music” is ridiculous; even if music originates in a certain place that doesn’t mean one community has Ownership of it. Let’s say you have a black Dominican-American and a white German-American… are you going to support the black one (who’s not African-American) and shun the white one because of lingering racism that may exist in the music industry? Both ladies are entitled to sing– if you think skin color should determine the limits someone puts on themselves then you’re delusional.
Also, think about this reality. If an Asian-American lady had the same voice as Adele or Anita Baker she sure as hell wouldn’t be popular in the US. There is still racism in popular culture that “R&B is black music… rap is black music… no one else can sing it.” B*******, obviously. Any talented person can sing any type of music with the God-given talent and/or training and autotuning, god forbid. If people make ignorant statements like “she’s singing with a black person’s voice! that’s black music!” then the corollary is “all black peope SPEAK THE SAME WAY… and all other music with the exception of soul, R&B, and rap is WHITE MUSIC– black people shouldn’t be singing it!”
Here’s to one person actually reading this and taking their head out of their ass.
I think it’s a shame how racist people are being towards Adele because she’s white. It’s pretty insulting saying she popular because she’s white! Pfft! She’s popular becuase she has a great singing voice and rely’s on that to sell records.People relate to her because she didn’t starve herself to look like the “Ideal” and it’s a refreshing change to see a young woman who isn’t trying to get famous by being half naked, singing about partying, dancing like cheap trash in a video clip, and going out without underwear to gain more attention.. In essence, she is a lady and sings about the raw emotion of love, not the raw emotion of getting some d#ck in her… It’s called class, and she has it! 🙂
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I think this discussion is funny personally I don’t think race has anything to do with Adele’s success. Personally I love her and it was her music that had me look her up and purchase her album. Just happened to be in my aunt car while she was playing her music. When I heard one and only I was sold. I don’t think she has “black ” music. I personally hear the Beatles, a little country, some soul is there but she I different and just has a sound that no one else has today I love her. And to those that say they don’t know any black people who listen to Adele well I don’t know any person at all black or white that don’t have 21. Everybody blames everything on race. Omg the woman has talent don’t be a hater just congratulate her on her success and let her have her moment. Oh and I dint know what color she was when I sought her album out
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