I don't understand why people rank Anita Baker so high

[Booker T Garvey]

Top 40 single on the pop charts, top 5 R&B single. The Rhythm of Love album peaked at #2 on the billboard charts, went double plat.

To say no one was checking for her is an overstatement. If Toni Braxton had a lane back then, then surely her predecesor still did as well and her sales reflected that.

For what its worth I don't see her adjusting well into the direction R&B went after 96', but she was still relevant in 94. Just my opinion.

yall dudes are about to crash google i swear

again, the thread we're in is about ranking anita baker #1.

nobody is saying she isn't great, I said i even own and listen to her music from time to time myself, even today.

but when we're talking about GOATS, you have to put everything out there on the table

now - if we're googling and researching, look up what Toni did in 1994.

and remember, we're discussing the GOAT. shouldn't the GOAT tower over them in sales?

 

[Booker T Garvey]

In her time she was as popular as any of em in our community. She was never really a popular artist in the sense of a Whitney or even Patti in some ways.

She was more like Maze and Frankie Beverley, always go gold and have a steady and loyal following.

And just like Maze, Anita Baker could go on tour right now and sell out every show cause everybody 35 and up would go see her.

i disagree fam...in the late 80's Anita baker was on michael jackson status damn near.

she was the queen and king of black music for about 3 or 4 years there...

 

[im_sleep]

yall dudes are about to crash google i swear

again, the thread we're in is about ranking anita baker #1.

nobody is saying she isn't great, I said i even own and listen to her music from time to time myself, even today.

but when we're talking about GOATS, you have to put everything out there on the table

now - if we're googling and researching, look up what Toni and Mariah did in 1994.

and remember, we're discussing the GOAT. shouldn't the GOAT tower over them in sales?

We're arguing two different things here.

Where did I say she should be ranked #1 all time? Personally I think Aretha is the GOAT hands down, and success wise there's a few more who accomplished more than Anita.

All Im saying is I think you're downplaying her a little bit here, nothing more nothing less.

 

[Booker T Garvey]

We're arguing two different things here.

Where did I say she should be ranked #1 all time?

i stopped reading right here fam. this is the OP's argument.

the thread we're in.

this is the topic of discussion.

 

[Dirien]

what is your obsession with whitney houston!?

bruh, if you think Whitney is WORSE than Anita baker that's fine...you're cool. nobody will hurt you for that belief

you seem hell bent on driving home this argument that anita baker is a better singer than Whitney...it's bizarre fam.

and let's keep it 100, would you want to hear anita baker over a new jack swing production?

or what about after mary and puff did on whats the 411? Anita was about to hit us with some Uptown/Hip Hop/R&B type shyt?

she was done after the 80's, the genre moved on...plenty of artists on UNSUNG have said this about their careers

Bruh, this why I said maybe you need to do some Googling. Anita was not going to be doing any new jack swing. Compositions was a deviation from the formula of her previous work and music of the times. Yet it's considered her best work by many(yes, even above rapture) and was a commercial success. She had no interest in conforming and was still a success. hence why your earlier comments about her only having two great albums is false. You haven't heard the music and done the research.

You can keep pushing the narrative that she was done in the 80s, but the evidence provided says otherwise.

 

[Booker T Garvey]

Bruh, this why I said maybe you need to do some Googling. Anita was not going to be doing any new jack swing. Compositions was a deviation from the formula of her previous work and music of the times. Yet it's considered her best work by many(yes, even above rapture) and was a commercial success. She had no interest in conforming and was still a success. hence why your earlier comments about her only having two great albums is false. You haven't heard the music and done the research.

You can keep pushing the narrative that she was done in the 80s, but the evidence provided says otherwise.

provide evidence that says she wasn't. she went from outselling everybody to everybody outselling her.

am I the only person on here that actually reads interviews with artists and watches UNSUNG?

the music business changed...it has nothing to do with her talent, the quiet storm era was over
Quiet storm - Wikipedia

the industry, fans, her core audience moved on. so again - when you look at artists like Mary, Mariah, Toni Braxton who had careers that spanned at least 2 or 3 different era's, you have to give them the nod over anita baker.

now, how is that a hateful and negative comment?

 

[fscballin]

juke joint/chitlin circuit? LOL. Anita Baker's stuff was that pure soul/R&B that white people hated for the most part. For them, the music was too lush, the subject too symbolic. They needed some of the jazz out of it. So the answer is Whitney(not putting her or Mariah down, but this was literally what they wanted. They "love" toned down a little and the melody not so heavy. I was a kid then, so I didn't understand the politics of this or the war on black music from the outside(and inside). I remember an interview with David Bowie saying black music at the time(80s) was unoriginal and uncreative except for Prince(well no shyt, his music sounded most like yours out of black artists). Reading some reviews of some of these albums, these white publications were literally shytting on everything that made music like Anita's soulful and rich. Like it was just too much. From the other side was the attack from Hip-hop that it was too production heavy and not raw enough. I wish I understood more of this back then. Always interesting to read back. I used to love the layers of music and sophisticated arrangements. It never bothered me that it was inaccessible. That was part of the allure, to hear something special that made you feel something besides just dancing. That took crazy skill and ability. That featured classy artists that were well dressed. Can really feel that 'cism towards it all now.

What's your thoughts on Sade's 1st 4 albums. I'll put STP and LD over mostly anything out of that era.

 

[Dirien]

provide evidence that says she wasn't. she went from outselling everybody to everybody outselling her.

am I the only person on here that actually reads interviews with artists and watches UNSUNG?

the music business changed...it has nothing to do with her talent, the quiet storm era was over
Quiet storm - Wikipedia

the industry, fans, her core audience moved on. so again - when you look at artists like Mary, Mariah, Toni Braxton who had careers that spanned at least 2 or 3 different era's, you have to give them the nod over anita baker.

now, how is that a hateful and negative comment?

We already provided you with the numbers, which you conveniently shrugged off several times and accused us of Googling mid argument.

Anita was still going platinum. She was still topping charts. She was still putting out hits. She was still putting out great albums. She was still winning awards. All facts you've yet to dispute.

Just because you've watched a couple Unsung episodes, doesn't make you an expert on a particular artist. That requires hours of not only independent research, but actually LISTENING to the music.

You haven't read enough interviews with artists to know that some are not willing to compromise their style of music, even if it means career suicide. Since you want to mention Unsung, you should know that was the main point of discussion on the Shanice episode recently.

Had you actually done your homework on Anita, you'd know she was the same way. The difference is, because she was still putting out high quality work, she was able to move records and chart high. She was still able to win at the wack ass Grammy Awards years after you claim her career ended. Doing the "Chapter 8" sound Michael and her had been doing for over a decade. But again, because you may have only heard one or two albums, you wouldn't know that.

 

[Booker T Garvey]

We already provided you with the numbers, which you conveniently shr.

i specifically asked you to look up what OTHER R&B acts were doing to put the argument in perspective and like a coward you didn't do it

you know that if you did, you'd see what mary was doing, toni, Brandy, the early 90's saw a boom in R&B sales and popularity that the genre hadn't seen since Motown's heyday

I'm not about to keep repeating myself though - Anita Baker is an amazing artist, but because she really only towered over the quiet storm era, I can't put her as the GOAT.

deal with it.

 

[Dirien]

i specifically asked you to look up what OTHER R&B acts were doing to put the argument in perspective and like a coward you didn't do it

you know that if you did, you'd see what mary was doing, toni, Brandy, the early 90's saw a boom in R&B sales and popularity that the genre hadn't seen since Motown's heyday

I'm not about to keep repeating myself though - Anita Baker is an amazing artist, but because she really only towered over the quiet storm era, I can't put her as the GOAT.

deal with it.

You're naming people like Mariah and Toni who LOST to Anita Baker at the Grammy awards in 1996. Despite being in the prime of their career. I mean you're killing your own argument here. You say she was irrelevant in the 90s, but won a grammy a half decade later over two artists you personally named? This is embarrassing on your part.

 

[alpo]

 

[Booker T Garvey]

You're naming people like Mariah and Toni who LOST to Anita Baker at the Grammy awards in 1996. Despite being in the prime of their career. I mean you're killing your own argument here. You say she was irrelevant in the 90s, but won a grammy a half decade later over two artists you personally named? This is embarrassing on your part.

so.....you're arguing that anita baker has had a better career than mariah carey and toni braxton because of the 1996 grammy's?

please respond to this...this is extremely entertaining.

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

You're

 

[Dirien]

so.....you're arguing that anita baker has had a better career than mariah carey and toni braxton because of the 1996 grammy's?

please respond to this...this is extremely entertaining.

No.

Part of your argument has been Anita Baker was irrelevant after the 80s. In your own words, the industry, fans, and core audience all moved on. Citing Mariah and Toni as two examples of artists who completely dominated her in sales and popularity.

Yet some how, she was able to win over the two of them at the height of their careers 6 years after the start of the decade. This despite your claims that no one cared about her in the 90s. At the grammys of all places, where your popularity plays a HUGE factor in who wins.

So how is it that someone everyone moved on from won over two of the biggest stars in the game? Either what you are saying ISN'T true and she was still a major figure or the quality of her work won the award.

 

[Booker T Garvey]

No.

Part of your argument has been Anita Baker was irrelevant after the 80s. In your own words, the industry, fans, and core audience all moved on. Citing Mariah and Toni as two examples of artists who completely dominated her in sales and popularity.

Yet some how, she was able to win over the two of them at the height of their careers 6 years after the start of the decade. This despite your claims that no one cared about her in the 90s. At the grammys of all places, where your popularity plays a HUGE factor in who wins.

So how is it that someone everyone moved on from won over two of the biggest stars in the game? Either what you are saying ISN'T true and she was still a major figure or the quality of her work won the award.

you're creating your own narrative to help try and reshape reality in your mind

but I have a google too, so let's look at the 1996 grammy's - first of all, vanessa williams was in that category...is she in the running for GOAT?
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance - Wikipedia

plus, Toni Braxton lost, but that album sold 16 million copies
and you're arguing that Toni wasn't as popular as Anita Baker that year? who didn't even release an album in 96!?!?


please....please respond...please!