Takeover Magazine 1st issue april 15th 2016 | Page 56

Adele reminds me more of adult contemporary balladeers of the 1990s. Those
women were always massive sellers, only the problem is somewhere along the
way that kind of majorly white female singer managed to attain wide success
again—but her black female more soul-leaning counterpart has not been as
fortunate.
Yes, it is a shame that great albums from singers like Jazmine Sullivan, K.
Michelle, and Tamar Braxton are not welcomed with open arms. It is a pity that
Jazmine could sing the same “Hello” and not be met with the same fanfare, but
be very clear that if Jazmine did sing the song, it would be a totally different
one. There is plenty of blame to go wrong when it comes to such an unfortunate
reality, but again, wag your fingers in the faces they belong.
Be upset about the plight of black radio. Be annoyed with the manner in which a
single’s success is measured to place on the Hot 100 (iTunes sales and YouTube
views are not the best place to gauge an R&B single’s true appeal). Be mad at
these white folks who, yes, prefer their blackness with white aesthetics more
often than not. But don’t be so vexed at Ade le because while she may be a lovely
singer, she is not a soul singer.
We can be angry about the unfairness, but we should also give our tradition far
more credit. Don’t fall into the trap of crowning any white singer with a decent
voice a soul singer. Adele could never. Don’t you forget that.
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