Is the Music Industry Creating an Appetite for the Mediocre Voice?

As I sit here and listen to one of the best compilations that I have heard so far from Syleena Johnson and possibly from any post Motown heyday modern soul artist, "Chapter 4: Labor Pains," I grow angrier and angrier. Where is the appreciation for the obvious effort and commitment to excellence that went into this work? Syleena Johnson, for those who are unaware, is an R&B artist who is probably best known for her collaboration with Kanye West for the single, "All Falls Down," which reached number #4 on the U.S. R&B Chart. She burst onto the music scene with the song, "I Am Your Woman," a collaboration with fellow Chicagoan R&B controversial mega hit maker, R. Kelly. She has released four albums since 2001. Chapter's 1-4 have different sub-titles depending on where she is in her life. With a voice and style that makes you want to blow the dust off your old Millie Jackson, she makes you feel her joy and pain equally. I have all four "Chapters" of Syleena's. I also own work that she's done with her father Syl Johnson and I just heard a sneak peak of a new collaboration with Eric Sermon on her Ustream show. This is a consistently excellent singer/songwriter/producer that is being literally slept on, unless she's singing the hook on a rapper's CD. The industry even calls her "R&B's Best Kept Secret." What? Why? This is unacceptable. She also has her own record label, Aneelys, which is her name spelled backwards, presumably to take some control over her career.

I type in Shanice Wilson's name in YouTube and get a "video mix tape" of stirring renditions of her singing covers of other people's songs, including a whistle note version of "Halo," by Beyonce. For those who don't know who Shanice Wilson is let me get you up to speed. She has had seven Top 100 singles including a song called, "I Love Your Smile," that most people remember. That single reached #5 on the Billboard Top 100. With a range reminiscent of the late Minnie Ripperton, whom she covered impressively well on her album, "Inner Child." She has also contributed to various soundtracks and has released five albums, since 1991, not including an album that was shelved by Discovery. Shanice has been a backup singer for artists like Toni Braxton. Shanice is a member of ASCAP, (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ). Imajah is the name of her own record label, a combination of the names of her children. She has a newly released a song called "War," currently playing on her MySpace page. I can't think of a more relevant song today than that. Why is it that she is, in my humble opinion, wasting her time doing video mixes of songs and being exposed to the inane opinions of random people on YouTube? Why isn't the singer of "I Love Your Smile," a Top 5 Billboard 100 single, being blasted all over the radio and the Internet?

I don't get it. These two women have arguably two of the best voices in the music industry. They should both be at the peak of their game instead of still struggling. What's going on behind the scenes that the consumer is not aware of? What's even more puzzling is why and how a Whitney Houston, or a Mariah Carey become so popular? How is it that an Angie Stone, India.Arie, Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, or Erykah Badu get airplay? Why is it that Maxwell's album, after an eight year hiatus, hits #1 on Billboard and these other artists barely make a splash. Is the female fan base, which is drawn to Maxwell, more loyal than the male, or willing to spend more money?

I appreciate a Ciara, Usher, Chris Brown, Rihanna, and a Beyonce. These young people are consummate entertainers that work very hard at their craft. They are perfect products of a machine that keeps them at the top of their game and supports their artistry, for the most part. All of the aforementioned artists, in my opinion, have good voices, but they're not great. They are great at being a solidly popular package. This celebration of the mediocre voice creates an appetite for singers with no real soulful sound in young people and makes old school listeners turn off the radio.

Now, I understand that there are many artists of all types that go through life in relative obscurity and don't even get a chance to get mainstream exposure or airplay. Some artists are completely okay with this. As a good friend of mine says, "If you want to hear a good singer, just go to church with a good choir on Sunday." But, the thing that worries me, as a lover of music with the mind of a business person, is that substantive artists will go away or be hard to find because they need to eat and the demand will dwindle to nil. Syleena Johnson and Shanice Wilson don't seem to want obscurity. They are both utilizing social media, which is very smart, but doesn't seem to be creating the type of buzz needed to push them to the top. I don't know what has to happen for them to get the rotation they deserve.

Maybe the problem is that some music executives don't love music. When you love something, you want the best for it. They seem to love money and music is a means to an end. I understand that without a demand there will be no supply. However, we have to be able to put our money where we want to see more product. If the industry sleeps on really soulful vocal artists, how can we ever prove that we want more, especially if we don't even know they have released a product? All I know is that I am a frustrated consumer of music and I have more questions than answers.

Syleena Johnson Twitters, uses UStream, and has a MySpace page. These are the links respectively: http://twitter.com/TherealSyleenaJ ; http://www.ustream.tv/channel/being-you-with-syleena-johnson ; http://www.myspace.com/syleenajohnson

Shanice Wilson Twitters, has a YouTube channel, and a MySpace Page. These are the links respectively: http://twitter.com/Shaniceonline ; http://www.youtube.com/user/Shaniceonline ; http://www.myspace.com/imeshanice ;