How good is 'American Boy' by Estelle?

her last LP was a perceived commercial failure, no?

so it would seem - still two top ten hits out of it tho. odd (esp. as she's one of the artists 'accused' of having veered from rnb-derived style towards various other areas of pop)

Jamelia's been dropped. The official story is disagreements over marketing. If she can't do it, despite the fact that the press seem to love her, you can't really blame the industry for canning the likes of Terri Walker, Keisha White, Alesha and Shaznay.

Also, The US labels aren't that good themselves at selling black artists that attempt to do something different from the norms - re complete bollocksing of Amerie and Kelis, both of whom are way bigger in the UK than in the US, and both of whom are without record contracts.

I've never heard of Estelle cuz I'm American but I LOVE this song!! there's really nothing wrong with it, at all...even Kanye comes off as charming and kind of not that obnoxious...

also, Rev: I really like "Independent" by Will.i.am but come on!!! no way...

yeah this song is wicked.

i'm not even going to get involved in the other argument going on in this thread. "half-caste" wtf.

its ok.

decent enough tasteful soulful house.

her voice is quite weak but she carries the tune. almost becomes kanyes tune as he occupies quite a bit of space on the song but hey good for her. shes doing well.

her band are shit hot though - saw them at the jazz cafe last year. all imported from the US via john legend.

as far as her selling to the US market, its an easier sell than kano or dizzee or whoever as shes a singer now, not a rapper. no uk rapper is really going to make a mark in the states. but if youre omar, or d influence or soul II soul or whoever, you can do alright. and they have done.

kanye sounds sad :(

hey guys.

what is a "wag"?

when she sings "take me to New York, I'd love to see L.A." I feel like she's going to transform into Eva Gabor mid-song and say "Neeeeew YORK is where I'd rather stay!"

Dear Mr. Dingbod Kesterson,

Fuck yourself nice and slow.

Sincerely,

A "half-caste"

the best bit is where she says 'tell em wagwan blud'. ;)

i like the tune even though it makes me think of a fucking american airlines commercial. wouldnt be surprised if it gets licensed, even if it is a bit obvious.

decent enough tasteful soulful house.

this is exactly why I love it.. I am all for this little house thing that's going on in pop/hip hop whatever, it's really a great thing if you ask me. I want more new songs in that vein...

what is a "wag"?

means a footballer's trophy girl -- probably extended to other male celebs' girls. from 'Wife And Girlfriend's.

Jamelia's been dropped. The official story is disagreements over marketing. If she can't do it, despite the fact that the press seem to love her, you can't really blame the industry for canning the likes of Terri Walker, Keisha White, Alesha and Shaznay.

Also, The US labels aren't that good themselves at selling black artists that attempt to do something different from the norms - re complete bollocksing of Amerie and Kelis, both of whom are way bigger in the UK than in the US, and both of whom are without record contracts.

-- danzig, Friday, March 28, 2008 7:33 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

this is interesting. i had no idea amerie was without a label in the US. i'd assumed she was mega-huge!

soulful house with a Kanye feature??? yes please

xp

also, Rev: I really like "Independent" by Will.i.am but come on!!! no way...

-- Preview of the Matrix 12, Friday, March 28, 2008 12:46 PM (Friday, March 28, 2008 12:46 PM) Bookmark Link

ya rly. The additions to the "Impatient" track don't mesh at all and the whole thing sounds a bit shrill. Me no like. The original was much better constructed, too.

amerie is on def jam now

preview, me too.

you heard the house mix of that 'im fine' song by mary j? very nice.... much better than the album version. i prefer a lot of the house remixes of current R&B tunes generally FWIW, cos they have a real good-times thing about them, its full on pleasurrrrre.

plus, anything is better than fucking R&B gone crunk.

and she never really did anything different until her latest album (which wasn't that different), she's just boring

nrq: Amerie's last record wasn't even released in the states. She's had a couple hits here, but she's certainly no institution.

Brainwasher OFFtm

i always hated her as a rapper anyway. she should stop rapping forever.

r&b gone crunk? thats sooooo 2003/4

there have been like 20 r&b singles with house beats this year

I like her Rev but she is dull as dishwater personality-wise

1st album is a classic tho

plus, anything is better than fucking R&B gone crunk.

also OFFtm

name them.

so i can DL them all.

the baseline mixes of j holidays bed and rihannas plz dont stop the music are good too.

"I like her Rev but she is dull as dishwater personality-wise"

bang on.

1st album was shit.

name them was in ref to "there have been like 20 r&b singles with house beats this year"

Taio Cruz!

who gives a fuck about a singer's "personality", what is this, tiger beat?

BW: Whe was dull personality-wise when she first came out. (Her first album is great, but I do like her newest one better.) Now she is absolutely thrilling to hear. This is only taking her on-record persona into account, though. She still seems kind of boring off-record.

danity kane - damaged
janet jackson - rock with u
jayms madison - room service
janet jackson - feedback
wynter gordon - surveillance
money - future
ne-yo - closer
day 26 - got me goin

there are others I can't remember at the mo, but it's totally the new trend since "way i are"

id never use 'thrilling' to describe estelle. she has good songs (given to/written for her) but as a vocalist shes quite unexciting.

I was talking about Amerie.

oh. well there is something oddly distinct about estelle regardless. i kind of like that she cant sing that well, although live its pretty obvious her singers are doing a lot of the hard lifting.

you heard the house mix of that 'im fine' song by mary j? No!! whose remix is it??

I'm more into the "R&B singles with house beats" than I am most house remixes...my thing is more to get people dancing to house when they don't realize it..."I hear Kanye's voice!! let's dance."

i think only a house-friendly crowd will always respond to remixes no matter how popular the original may be...I learned that with the bob sinclar remix of "please don't stop the music" (very unnecessary)

xpost 1st album was totally not shit! " Float," " Why Do We Fall In Love," " All I Have", "I Just Died," " Talkin To Me"... great album.

and yeah people care about personality... anyway I just brought it up to explain why Amerie doesn't sell.

Kelis is a different story, I agree she has been mismanaged but she does sell for the most part and she has a semi-hit everytime she comes out.

danity kane - damaged
janet jackson - rock with u
jayms madison - room service
janet jackson - feedback
wynter gordon - surveillance
money - future
ne-yo - closer
day 26 - got me goin

good list, don't forget rihanna, britney's whole album, "feedback" by janet (at least in the same vein as way i are)

"I hear Kanye's voice!! let's dance."

o_O if anyone has ever actually thought/said this

ameries 1st album>>>>the more recent ones.

rihannas PDSTM is the best R&B single of 08 IMO.

my reaction to kanye now is more like ""I hear Kanye's voice!! im a bit sick of this guy now."

great work on shitting up the thread, cheers.

xp woops re "feedback"

also, "Take Control" by Amerie is the jam of all jams, fwiw

n/p

i mean this is all vintage material, but totally irrelevant.

xp to Bmore: I don't think the point is Kanye's voice so much as its signifier of a hiphop/r&b context rather than a dahnce context.

fwiw, I love all of Amerie's albums, just some moreso than others

I'm hoping Lil Jon takes this up a la "The Anthem" and just goes head first into a house/crunk movement