Eric Benet has something to say about singers who drown songs in runs.
His thoughts below…
Vocalists be doin too much runnin’ in vocals these days. I be lookin for the melody like…”Hmm…I know yo ass in there somewhere.” ??
— Eric Benét (@ebenet) April 1, 2020
There are singers who can SANG the hell out of a lead vocal, but ask them to sing a backround vocal part… and they sound pitiful af. ??
— Eric Benét (@ebenet) April 1, 2020
He isn’t wrong.
The way we see it?
Well, it all comes down to this.
Artists who hope to express vs artists who seek to impress.
For the former, vocal performances and the songs that carry them are used to invite listeners into their worlds (or help said listener make better sense of their own) with arrangements designed to express their own emotions and inspire their audience to do the same. Riffs, runs and harmonies are only employed to add emotional value to lyrics.
See below…
For the musician whose goal is to impress, the song is merely a vehicle to be used to flaunt their capabilities.
Though remarkably gifted and technically brilliant, vocalists from this camp have struggled to find their footing in any lane outside of Instagram or the world of YouTube covers within the last decade because their performances lack the warmth and authenticity artists now need to convert clicks and likes into record-buying fanatics.
Singers that do too many runs in a song are like hoopers that do too many crossovers when they play, it looks/sounds nice but no substance
— Andrew McKain (@andrewmckain_) July 4, 2012
remember singers, too many runs sounds lame and really amateur. sing from the heart, don’t try and hit every note in the scale in 3 seconds
— eli (@elistrobeck) April 6, 2016
![Stream: Eric Benét's 'Duets' EP [featuring Tamar Braxton, LaTocha Scott, Chante Moore, & More]](https://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/duets-stream-chante-moore-tamar-braxton-eric-benet-2024-apple-music-spotify-thatgrapejuice-464x260.jpg "Stream: Eric Benét's 'Duets' EP [featuring Tamar Braxton, LaTocha Scott, Chante Moore, & More].")
I always said that about Beyoncé ????♂️
That’s the first person who came to mind, BEYONCE! I’ll never forget when destinys child sang emotions with Celine Dion, my god Beyonce turned into a show off and ruined the moment. Rather than let the vocals stand and compliment someone who is higher and an icon more then herself, she chose to take the opposite approach and show off and look like an arrogant newbie who was untrained.
BEYONCE, JOJO, CHRISTINA AGUILERA, KELLY PRICE, PATTI LABELLE – ALL ANNOYING WITH THE RUNS – GIRL CAN WE HEAR THE LYRICS?????
Beyoncé, xtina, and Demi cans to mind for me.
Patti labelle is not a runner
Beyonce knows her voice is not powerful as some others. so she places a lot of runs and growls in places there should be belts. That’s how she over sings. It’s even more obvious because she’s not the best at emoting a la brandy
Emoting and belting are two different things. Brandy is GREAT at emoting and so is Beyoncé. But I guess it’s subjective…
@swirly. Who said they were the same. Reading is fundamental
Brandy is a main 1 for this.
Brandy knows how and when to place riffs & runs. If they’re too intricate for your ear, she’s not to blame for that.
Preach. Brandy is the queen of emoting and perfect placements
Can you be more specific? ☕️ ? What songs would you say Brandy has made less of a bop by runs? It’s funny, Total is a group that always had a strong melody in their songs to sell it without having to SANG…love Total by the way
Of course a Monica stan would say this.
How could this be even remotely about Beyonce, when she hasn’t been a run abuser since the survivor era? Have you two never heard her post that era or is it because your faves have weak vocals and can’t even attempt runs? If anything Christina Aguilera, Brandy, and majority of black Church singers abuse runs the most! Beyonce USED to, 18 years ago!
You can never put Christina and Brandy in the same sentence. Brandy has been singing harmonic changes and tackling impossible vocal lines live since she was 15 years old. Her musicality as a young child was superior to Christina’s now. Christina is the one doing the same lame run every performance.
Brandy’s tone alone is enough even without her vocal acrobatics. Can’t be said about Beyonce nor Christina
Beyonce Beyonce Beyonce Beyonce Beyonce Beyonce overkill
so you agree with the comment on the performance, pheww. Totally agree with both of yall she did use to over did herself 4 sure back in the day. Now she look like she don’t even care when she sings
I agree beyonce stopped her yodeling years ago.
She over ran and at Kobe’s memorial
Ahhh! I struggled w/ articulating this in a recent debate around what makes a better singer. Within the American black community the go to is KeKe Wyatt. While I think she’s legit one of thee best singers of my generation, I believe there are others who are better than her bc of this very thoughts presented… she often seems to lead w/ impressing instead of expressing.
I see what Erica is saying lol…but I do feel songs these days are missing a little oomph or special sauce…and you can’t blame it on dwindling running times either, cause Motown songs and other songs back in the day were short, sweet and EFFECTIVE…hunnie, they got it DONE in less than 3 minutes or at that, runs and ALL…the best vocal producer of runs is Babyface…he makes new songs out of runs! It’s like three songs in one! If you hire him you’re going to have to SANG ? I think The Weeknd does a great job of giving you a little show off, but not too much…interesting discussion…I’ll say this, if you can’t run you better jog or give me a brisk walk in a song ?
Not give me a jog or brisk if you can’t run ??????
Brandy doesn’t run too much in my opinion like someone mentioned. She knows when and where to put hers in to a track. It’s never too much and it’s usually 1 or 2 amazing ones per track.
Beyonce during the first 2 DC albums were trying to do waaaaay too much, especially during WOTW. I looooove that album but sis was tryna show and prove. That “Emotions” performance Celine was a good example along with a million others during that era.
Me too, I think Brandy is amazing and controlled lol ✅ ?
Agreed about brandy. Her voice is just perfect to me
Another Beyonce performance she was doing way too much was Divas Live 2000, Say My Name. Or any live “say my name” performance back in the day. Like calm down girl lol
Let me go watch on YouTube ?
Jennifer Hudson
I think Beyoncé is everyone’s automatic go to .. but i don’t actually think it’s true . It never sounds overdone – she just makes her music come more alive then the studio versions…
But there’s a fine line between what Beyoncé does and what Brandy and the late Whitney Houston use to do …
These two sing songs so different live and it becomes un-enjoyable at times because they don’t stick to the melody that people loved and became accustomed to.
Like I use to hard search through YouTube to hear brandy do one performance of a song that is similar to the studio version and I hate it ..certain runs that are on the track or specific melodies you want to hear live …. but never do.. for example with – Have you ever & sitting up in my room …. it’s always way different with randomly placed runs , different melodies . Annoying .
Hunnie, THIS ✅ ? Love, love, Love me some Nippy, but I never enjoyed her speeding up the verses live in the 90’s ? She even sped up It’s Not Right, But It’s OK! ? ? ?
Nippy’s an impatient Aries moon. No verse led fast enough to a belted chorus. ?
Nippy had developed nodules during The Bodyguard era. Add that, by 97, her smoking started ruining her vocal cords (and lungs). You could hear her grasp for air on Step By Step, while she was renowned for dead-silent breaths. So, speeding up verses was her attempt to work with her lungs’ diminished elasticity – later proving to have turned into full-fledged emphysema.
I understand what you’re saying. I loved Whitney’s live performances. I never complained about her switching up melodies because her live renditions remained tasteful.
It was just sped up on the verses sometimes in the 90’s lol…like she was ready for the chorus…but she nailed that chorus ?
I agree, but his vocabulary sucks. If he really talks like that, it is such a turn off.
Why must everything turn y’all on these days?
Every one..yaw..is Right ? S***..I, can’t tell, if I’m listenin to a Lawn mower or is somebody getting their arm twisted..Dam ?
Beyonce in her you her years but her 2003 Solo debut she hasn’t over run any song. And she basically raps now. Y’all catch up with the times. The only singer on the docket is X-T-I-N-A #andinthatorder
I was about to say that. It’s crazy to think that only two years separate Survivor from DIL. DIL is very calm and subdued whereas her live performances in Survivor were fierce and OTT in a good way. It’s unfair to say she over songs or does too much when the Survivor era was literally 19 years ago.
I agree with Eric, but I want him to name names. Entertain us while we’re quarantined Eric. Give us your thoughts on Camila Cabullshit’s vocals. ?
Jessie J
My lord yes!!!! That woman run like crazy. It’s so extra.
Perrie from Little Mix
Y’all really here saying Beyoncé like she really still sings like she did in Destiny’s Child. The only time she went overboard. The bish been honing and improving her craft ever since but y’all wanna still cling to her flaws of 20 years ago to try to prove this point somehow. The hate and obsession with her is weird and goofy af at this point.
Jessie j and xtina need to hear this…
Avery Wilson king of overruns
Not a compliment.
King. That’s y he’s not popping outside of singer circles
Yup. Runs on every word of a song and that munched spongebob haircut. ?
First of all, REAL vocalists knows how to do runs and know placements. People who can’t sing don’t know how to do runs and if they try it’s not done well. Whitney knew how to execute along with Kim Burrell, Mariah Carey, Luther Vandross and Boyz II Men. Maybe he’s just mad he doesn’t know how to execute crisp and clean runs ??♂️
Crazy thing is the 2 singers I s*** for came to mind lol. Young Beyoncé back in the old destiny’s child days & the way Brandy sings on her IG is annoying as hell. Like please try not to run on every word.
Crazy thing is the 2 singers I stan for came to mind lol. Young Beyoncé back in the old destiny’s child days & the way Brandy sings on her IG is annoying as hell. Like please try not to run on every word.
Beyonce, Jill Scott, Chante Moore, Stephanie Mills, Luther Vandross, and Freddie Jackson are a beast LIVE and BETTER than their recording !
People are out here dying and Eric is talking about vocal runs. Boy stop! There are real things going on in the world. He must be bored and tired of being cooped up in the house.
Whitney “The Voice” Houston was the queen of runs back in the day. She could drag a song on doing nothing but runs for 5+ minutes straight
Omg Kelly Price and CoCo were the truth!!!
Tbh all that crazy running didn’t take off until the 90s and 00s era. Motown didn’t allow all that outrageous hoopin and hollin back in the 60s 70s and 80s. Just ask Diana Ross or Smokey
***Beyonce and Marsha Ambrosius have entered the chat***
LOL!!! Everybody can’t be Brandy! ??♀️