Best R&B By Female Artists

[Trinique_Fire]

Slow, provocative, lush R&B tracks primarily by female artists.

What are your top picks?

 

[Stella_Omega]

... I don't know!

The oldies, like Diana Ross, that's easy. And I like some not-so-old but not new artists, like Macy Gray, and Erykah Badu. Norah Jones isn't exactly R&B is she?

I like old school phrasing and dark voices...

 

[Trinique_Fire]

... I don't know!

The oldies, like Diana Ross, that's easy. And I like some not-so-old but not new artists, like Macy Gray, and Erykah Badu. Norah Jones isn't exactly R&B is she?

I like old school phrasing and dark voices...

I wouldn't say that Norah Jones is R&B, but she's got a pretty unique sound. If I was Ravi Shankar's daughter, I probably would too.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Got any recommendations?

 

[lance gt]

Regina Belle has a voice that gets my blood stirring. Norah's more of a crooner, but she still sounds great. I'll go through my songs and pick out more hot R&B women that I like.

 

[Trinique_Fire]

Got any recommendations?

India.Arie - Brown Skin, Always In My Head

Me'shell Ndegeocello - Beautiful, Fool Of Me

Let's see what else I can remember....

 

[jeleane]

... I don't know!

The oldies, like Diana Ross, that's easy. And I like some not-so-old but not new artists, like Macy Gray, and Erykah Badu. Norah Jones isn't exactly R&B is she?

I like old school phrasing and dark voices...

looove badu. no orah jones is not r&b but she has a beautiful voice

 

[Verdad]

In contemporary sense, I totally agree, Erykah Badu. I loved her. I also loved Lauryn Hill. But I really like soul and r&b singers of all generations. I'm pretty out of the loop right now, though--I'm struggling to remember anything post 2000! The only thing I can say with certainty about that period is that I hate Norah Jones.

ETA: Those who like Erykah Badu would probably enjoy Jill Scott as well.

 

[cloudy]

Toni Braxton - Unbreak My Heart, He Wasn't Man Enough (the line "do you know I dumped your husband, girlfriend?" is a classic ) and Spanish Guitar are my favorites.

I've always loved Sade Adu, although you don't hear much from her anymore. Smooth Operater is the one you hear the most (or used to), and No Ordinary Love is a particular favorite of mine, but anything she sings just melts through your body, her voice is that smooth.

Jennifer Lopez's spanish ballads are beautiful, and I've always loved En Vogue (Free Your Mind will never get old to me).

I'm sure I'll think of more eventually.

 

[lance gt]

Going way back here, Etta James still has some sultry songs that are great. Dido sings songs that hit the mark too. K.D Lang has a voice that makes me shiver when she croons.

 

[oggbashan]

Brenda Lee

Og

 

[Boxlicker101]

I've always liked Ella Fitzgerald and, going way back, Jimmy Rogers and Hank Williams Sr. I don't know that those last two would be considered R & B or not, but they sang and played a lot of blues.

ETA: My bad. That was Jimmie Rogers. http://www.jimmierodgers.com/

 

[cloudy]

I've always liked Ella Fitzgerald and, going way back, Jimmy Rogers and Hank Williams Sr. I don't know that those last two would be considered R & B or not, but they sang and played a lot of blues.

ETA: My bad. That was Jimmie Rogers. http://www.jimmierodgers.com/

Box, Hank Williams will never be considered an R & B artist, even using your weird logic. Besides, the thread is about female R & B artists.

I worry about you.

 

[Dragonlipz]

Aretha

 

[DeeZire]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Amy Whine House. Although her singing makes my skin crawl, she does turn a soulful phrase now and then - plus she's got a killer band.

Gladys Knight - "Midnight Train to Georgia" sets the bar, at least for me.

There's that young chick from England - Joss Stone, who could be another Gladys Knight someday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3E9V_rJKa8&feature=related

I'd classify Bonnie Raitt as old school R&B - at least sometimes.

 

[oggbashan]

Helen Shapiro until she became a born-again gospel singer.

Walking Back To Happiness

Og

 

[Boxlicker101]

Box, Hank Williams will never be considered an R & B artist, even using your weird logic. Besides, the thread is about female R & B artists.

I worry about you.

Hank Senior was definitely a writer and singer of blues, although he would probably not be considered R & B.
http://www.losthighwayrecords.com/hankwilliams

You're right, though, he doesn't really belong in this thread.

 

[Dragonlipz]

Aretha Franklin is the queen of soul singers - pay homage....Anita Baker is one fine singer, Whitney Houston had some rare pipes - just might recapture some 'o' dat now that she's dumped ol jughaid Bobby B....
Let's not forget: Dusty Springfield - the girl could sing, yes indeed....Toni Braxton and Patsy Cline....All of these women have one thing in common: they could sing it, bring it, and take it to ya because they'd lived it, felt it, rather done without it but instead made it real for everyone else...

 

[Verdad]

Me'shell Ndegeocello - Beautiful, Fool Of Me

Hard to remember something similar to this. Chaka Khan had this funky note—loved her—but I can't think of much more with a similar groove and a female vocal.

I've always loved Sade Adu, although you don't hear much from her anymore. Smooth Operater is the one you hear the most (or used to), and No Ordinary Love is a particular favorite of mine, but anything she sings just melts through your body, her voice is that smooth.

Jennifer Lopez's spanish ballads are beautiful, and I've always loved En Vogue (Free Your Mind will never get old to me).

Sade never gets old for me. And god, En Vogue brings back memories. Are the 90's so long ago already?

There's that young chick from England - Joss Stone, who could be another Gladys Knight someday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3E9V_rJKa8&feature=related

I did think of her. They're packaging her too pop, but she could be fine. It was hard to believe she was 16 when that first single hit it off.

 

[Verdad]

If anyone wants inspiration, here's one list of top hundred female soul/r&b singers.

It's not exactly comprehensive, but not bad, and of course, it spans very different styles. Lest I start going over it in boring detail, I'll just throw in three songs at totally random:

Angie Stone – I Wish I Didn't Miss You Anymore
(2002; a nice cover of O Jays' Backstabbers)

Labelle – You Turn Me On
(not lacking in guts, this; plus, who could forget the line "I come like a pouring rain/Each time you call my name")

Marlena Shaw – Go Away Little Boy
(first woman to come out on Blue Note; her Woman of the Ghetto was sampled for Blue Boy's Remember Me, a massive hit in the 90's)

 

[dr_mabeuse]

And no one even mentioned Aretha?

I can't believe it.

ETA: Ah, I see DragonLipz listed her. But really, she deserves a thread of her own, compared to the other moaners, shreikers, and whiners you've listed.

There's a technique in vocal music called melisma. It comes from medieval plainsong, but refers to vocal embellishments and excursions from the melody that many soul singers do, and that's become de rigeur today to the point of silliness. Aretha is great even without the vocal acrobatics and showing away that pass for talent today. For me, a great singer can infuse a melody with richness without using it as monkey bars on which to perform a bunch of flashy stunts. You don't find many singers with that kind of ability today.

 

[Verdad]

And no one even mentioned Aretha?

I can't believe it.

ETA: Ah, I see DragonLipz listed her. But really, she deserves a thread of her own, compared to the other moaners, shreikers, and whiners you've listed.

There's a technique in vocal music called melisma. It comes from medieval plainsong, but refers to vocal embellishments and excursions from the melody that many soul singers do, and that's become de rigeur today to the point of silliness. Aretha is great even without the vocal acrobatics and showing away that pass for talent today. For me, a great singer can infuse a melody with richness without using it as monkey bars on which to perform a bunch of flashy stunts. You don't find many singers with that kind of ability today.

Laughing. Don't get mad! Of course no one forgets Aretha; she's on top of that list I posted, too. She's just such an obvious candidate, and I have an incurable love for the obscure.

It's hard to think of something obscure in the contemporary sense, though, because contemporary r&b is pop. With say, hip-hop, it's a bit different—there's charts stuff and there's underground, but r&b, female vocal, is what it is. The only way to get away from the obvious is to go back through time.

And then, sometimes one is in a pop mood, and there's still gradations from more genuine or more sophisticated to totally tailor-made, and also an occasional appealing song featuring an otherwise totally infamous character, like say Janet Jackson. No one would put her on 'top' anything, certainly not me, but there actually was a piece or two I liked, though it wasn't her contribution so much that's responsible.

Meh. I guess I just have cheesy moments.

 

[Trinique_Fire]

Melanie Fiona....yes, I'm aware some will be offended by the fact that she samples some old school music, but she has a sexy look and a sexy sound, and she clearly knows music if she knows enough to know what sounded hot to mom and dad can still sound hot today.

Check out "Give It To Me Right" (provocative enough title for you? ), and also "You Stop My Heart" (not R&B in the traditional sense, but the song just makes me smile).

Keisha White...lovely British R&B artist, and thick as hell too.
Listen to "One Step At A Time" off her album Seventeen. It'll strike you with its message.

 

[Dragonlipz]

And no one even mentioned Aretha?

I can't believe it.

ETA: Ah, I see DragonLipz listed her. But really, she deserves a thread of her own, compared to the other moaners, shreikers, and whiners you've listed.

You don't find many singers with that kind of ability today.

Aretha has an amazing depth and tangibility to her delivery. She is not content to merely 'sing' any song....she interprets and adapts......
Her cover of 'I say a little prayer for you' is an example of her ability and creativity to cross genre while crafting a result that is greater than the sum of its parts....
Patsy Cline is still my favorite and those fifty odd songs she recorded with Owen Bradley as producer and piano player extraordinaire remain some of the most powerful vocal expressions in any genre.....and as 'soulful' as anything else....
I would also offer some of 'Sweet Honey in the Rock's love songs and Zap Mama, too......I like Ms Fiona, she's a great stylist...........