Is being "unattractive" holding a crop of r&b singers back from success?

[dora_da_destroyer]

Beyonce and Rihanna are the only ones that had legit success on a pop level.
Every other person you listed has had mediocre success.

Nothing about this thread was about pop success, it was about r&b success which is typically with black audiences. All of them that I listed had success with their black/r&b fans

 

[3rdWorld]

Vocally they are nothing special..and if youre nothing special vocally, at least look someone decent.

 

[FromStLouis]

The power brokers of R&B just aren't active like that anymore. I don't think there's any leadership at the front steering the genre.

The Clive Davis', The LA Reids. Babyface. The mentors, people who can get a budget.

Once Hip Hop took over as the most popular genre in the world, it just became easier to push those guys out.

Their influence waned and gave way to hip hop moguls, who while maybe talented in their field shouldn't be in R&B.

That's what it'll take to bring it back, I think. I think attractiveness is a tertiary argument.

I still love my baby SZA though and CTRL.

 

[Will Ross]

Nothing about this thread was about pop success, it was about r&b success which is typically with black audiences. All of them that I listed had success with their black/r&b fans

Keri mya & amerie don't really have black female support like that.
If they did they would be bigger stars. Black women control what is popular you guys might not always be the face but you control it.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

Keri mya & amerie don't really have black female support like that.
If they did they would be bigger stars. Black women control what is popular you guys might not always be the face but you control it.

Breh, they were big when they had their runs, I just went to a concert with those three and it was packed with black women. So no, they’re clearly not popping anymore but women still come to see them. You’re moving all sorts of goalposts if you wanna pretend like they didn’t have success, especially Mya

 

[Tribal Outkast]

yall keep saying this, but this is the new crop of r&b singers, if this cohort of singers isn't aiming to be big, then who is? and i'm not talking beyonce/rihanna/early chris brown crossover pop success, i'm talking about mary j blige, monica, donnell jones types - people who are big r&b stars in the black community

Thank you for saying this. Man the black community could make our own stars by ourselves before we started crossing over. You don’t hack to be a crossover success to make it

 

[JustCKing]

Thank you for saying this. Man the black community could make our own stars by ourselves before we started crossing over. You don’t hack to be a crossover success to make it

This.

Keyshia Cole was huge and I don't remember her being all over MTV or making blatant Pop crossover records . I remember her having a slow start, but once she took off . Chris Brown is another one. Only difference is he started doing the more blatant crossover songs, but initially he wasn't.

 

[Sbp]

I always thought Ari looked like somebody to me but I couldn't put my finger on it. But it just hit me she looks like a younger version of New Orleans Soul Queen Irma Thomas

 

[Playaz Eyez]

I’ve seen some great Ari Lennox pics.

Daniel Ceaser looks like a parody character from Boondocks

 

[Carlton Banks]

Being attractive definitely helps in entertainment...