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

[CrimsonTider]

They have all signed deals while trying to maintain the illusion of being 'against the machine'

Yeah it’s just marketing

they’re all waiting for that one song to take them out here like Ella Mai, SZA or Summer

 

[jshani]

that's not how ari wears her hair most times, i'm kinda annoyed you chose a pic with her wearing a wig to make a point when 99% of her pics are her with her natural hair. and like i said, she's not unattractive, but she's also not pretty...she is sexy tho and makes good music.


like i said to someone else who mentioned her, this is about artists that make good music. tinashe ruined her career by chasing waves, trying to be pop, and dropping weak music (plus she's unlikable...haven't seen a singer so universally disliked like she is in a min...)

Fair enough

Still say that they got Ari all the way fukked up by calling her unattractive

 

[NormanConnors]

In this day and age moreso, but back in the day not so much, the key/all you needed then was being able to sing well and be somewhat fit at least from the male standpoint. For Females , looks has always played a larger part in regards to the total package standard.

 

[Street Knowledge]

tinashe

How has being attractive held her back? There are pretty girls who are popping

 

[Will Ross]

How has being attractive held her back? There are pretty girls who are popping

Good looking women are held back by looks because everyone stereotypes them as one thing.

 

[El Vato]

damn u all stupid lol...looks always helps not matter what race. But if you built for that you will fail in the end.

 

[Zero]

Fair enough

Still say that they got Ari all the way fukked up by calling her unattractive

If she sneeze, she's gonna blow her whole hand off dog. Cut it out.

 

[Suleiman Bey]

Depends on what you mean by attractive. It could be said R&B stars of yester year weren't "attractive". They dressed nice and were well groomed. The problem is R&B as a whole is dead. There's nothing to help anyone find good R&B and nobody is making it anyway. Last R&B album I enjoyed was Jaheim's "Struggle Love".

 

[Darealtwo1]

This should tell you all you need to know

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

Good looking women are held back by looks because everyone stereotypes them as one thing.

stop it, beyonce, rihanna, j lo, mya, amerie etc all were gorgeous and had success to varying degrees. looks don't hold you back, alienating fans and chasing music trends that are opposite of what made you popular hold you back

Depends on what you mean by attractive. It could be said R&B stars of yester year weren't "attractive". They dressed nice and were well groomed. The problem is R&B as a whole is dead. There's nothing to help anyone find good R&B and nobody is making it anyway. Last R&B album I enjoyed was Jaheim's "Struggle Love".

be out of touch and make declarative statements brehs

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

This should tell you all you need to know

what are you trying to say? if you're saying she's not popping despite being attractive, you're missing the conversation on her where a lot of people aren't impressed by her vocals and/or feels her music doesn't deliver.

 

[King Sun]

Fair enough

Still say that they got Ari all the way fukked up by calling her unattractive

Knowing the coli im not surprised

 

[Darts]

was just thinking of r&b from the past where either being attractive (Mariah, Toni, Beyonce, Usher, R Kelly - forget all the shyt now, in the 90's women wanted to jump his bones) or at least making yourself up be as attractive as possible (Faith, Mary J B, a lot of the r&b groups - 112, SWV, etc) seemed to help with success.

look, idgaf what folks look like, but there's a lot of really good r&b out, but some of the artists are either unattractive or don't do much to boost their attractiveness. i'm wondering if this is part of what's holding back their ascent into the mainstream?


daniel ceasar (i know twitter canceled him, but he makes good music)

ari lennox (not unattractive, but she's not really attractive either)

syd (she and the internet should've been bigger IMO)

I can keep going, SiR, Gallant, Bj the Chicago kid...Rayana Jay (Lizzo took the one fat girl spot), Amber Mark (she's a weird one, sometimes she's attractive, sometimes not so much)

That said, there are also attractive folks making good music who aint popped: Lion Babe

And people who make themselves look like shyt who have popped Ella Mai, SZA

Interesting topic OP.

At first I was like "yeah duh it matters..", then I thought about it and realized it's not that simple. History is littered with examples from both spectrums (attractive but still irrelevant, unattractive and have great success). At the end of the day it really comes down to an artist making a hit or two (not just good music) to really blow up. It goes like this:

Attractive + Hits = Star/Megastar
Unattractive + Hits = Can still be a star with people overlooking them being unattractive.
Attractive + No Hits = Barely relevant.
Unattractive + No Hits = Might want to find a new career.

 

[aceboon]

quite honestly this is the what r&b is right now...the chris brown/beyonce/trey songz r&b aint being made...all the people make music are on some sza, khalid, jhene aiko, solange shyt, whether they're "mainstream" or just being streamed. ella mai is maybe as close as "regular" r&b that's popping...

and people like erykah badu, jill scott, maxwell, musiq...all had crazy mainstream success making music that was "alternative" to the mainstream, so i don't think it's the type of music...

Way different era, if they dropped today making that music they probably wouldn't blow up

 

[Low End Derrick]

This should tell you all you need to know

shorty always like she needs a nap