Celine Dion with black community

[Dielawn]

I saw an episode of the BET show Real Husbands of Hollywood where Kevin Hart was talking about how black people don't like Celine Dion. Got me thinking, then I did some research and it she seems never really charted on the R&B charts with any of her hits so I think he's right. But is it it just me or wasn't her music always R&B-leaning, never rock or anything else. So why did it never connect with that community?

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

Feb 3, 2015 3:29:46 GMT -5 Dielawn said:

But is it it just me or wasn't her music was always R&B-leaning, never rock or anything else. So why did it never connect with that community?

Celine's music has always been Adult Contemporary-oriented. Some of her songs had a slight Rock flavor to them, but it was in the form of an electric guitar or something on some of her songs ("The Power Of Love" and "To Love You More" come to mind first). Her music has been R&B leaning only a handful of times, and on those few occasions, she had an R&B artist as a featured guest (she worked with R. Kelly and Ne-Yo) so that would make sense.

[irice22]

Feb 3, 2015 3:29:46 GMT -5 Dielawn said:

So why did it never connect with that community?

This is why:

[Dielawn]

Feb 3, 2015 4:33:29 GMT -5 Ezekiel 23:20–21 said:

Feb 3, 2015 3:29:46 GMT -5 Dielawn said:

But is it it just me or wasn't her music was always R&B-leaning, never rock or anything else. So why did it never connect with that community?

Celine's music has always been Adult Contemporary-oriented. Some of her songs had a slight Rock flavor to them, but it was in the form of an electric guitar or something on some of her songs ("The Power Of Love" and "To Love You More" come to mind first). Her music has been R&B leaning only a handful of times, and on those few occasions, she had an R&B artist as a featured guest (she worked with R. Kelly and Ne-Yo) so that would make sense.

I feel like most of her songs were more r&b musically like Because you loved me, If you asked me to, love can move mountains, its all coming back to me now, etc.?

[spooky21]

Feb 3, 2015 15:24:43 GMT -5 Dielawn said:

Feb 3, 2015 4:33:29 GMT -5 Ezekiel 23:20–21 said:

Celine's music has always been Adult Contemporary-oriented. Some of her songs had a slight Rock flavor to them, but it was in the form of an electric guitar or something on some of her songs ("The Power Of Love" and "To Love You More" come to mind first). Her music has been R&B leaning only a handful of times, and on those few occasions, she had an R&B artist as a featured guest (she worked with R. Kelly and Ne-Yo) so that would make sense.

I feel like most of her songs were more r&b musically like Because you loved me, If you asked me to, love can move mountains, its all coming back to me now, etc.?

Honestly, what planet are you from?

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

Feb 3, 2015 15:24:43 GMT -5 Dielawn said:

Feb 3, 2015 4:33:29 GMT -5 Ezekiel 23:20–21 said:

Celine's music has always been Adult Contemporary-oriented. Some of her songs had a slight Rock flavor to them, but it was in the form of an electric guitar or something on some of her songs ("The Power Of Love" and "To Love You More" come to mind first). Her music has been R&B leaning only a handful of times, and on those few occasions, she had an R&B artist as a featured guest (she worked with R. Kelly and Ne-Yo) so that would make sense.

I feel like most of her songs were more r&b musically like Because you loved me, If you asked me to, love can move mountains, its all coming back to me now, etc.?

Patti Labelle originally recorded and released "If You Asked Me To" in 1988. It was a top 10 hit on the R&B chart but it didn't do that well on the Hot 100. Celine's version in 1992 had a similar arrangement as Patti's and it did much better.

"It's All Coming Back To Me Now" was originally composed by Jim Steinman and it's totally in the style of other power ballads he worked on including "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", "Making Love Out of Nothing at All", and "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)."

[Mic Technique]

Jamaicans (West Indians, really) LOVE Celine Dion. Google it.

[Luckie Starchild]

She is well-liked in Sénégal and other Francophone countries.

[Dielawn]

Feb 3, 2015 16:22:33 GMT -5 spooky21 said:

Feb 3, 2015 15:24:43 GMT -5 Dielawn said:

I feel like most of her songs were more r&b musically like Because you loved me, If you asked me to, love can move mountains, its all coming back to me now, etc.?

Honestly, what planet are you from?

What planet are you from that you hear guitars on those songs?

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Because You Loved Me has guitars, so does If You Asked Me To, Love Can Move Mountains and It's All Coming Back To Me Now.

[Deleted]

[allow that]

Feb 3, 2015 18:13:18 GMT -5 Mic Technique said:

Jamaicans (West Indians, really) LOVE Celine Dion. Google it.

Literally just coming to post this! I remember my Jamaican friend telling me how "I'm Alive" in particular was like THE comeback anthem of last decade down there.

[Dielawn]

The beats to all those songs is similar musically to R&B. Not saying her stuff WAS r&b but it just seems like it could have crossed over.

[Luckie Starchild]

[Landmarx]

@soblu

[allow that]

Feb 4, 2015 0:25:19 GMT -5 Landmarx said:

@soblu

johnm1120 (since we're tagging)

We can get a fun little panel going.

[Mic Technique]

RockaByeBaby

[Deleted]

Wave.

[Glove Slap]

Iggy and Jhud could never.

And yes, Jamaicans LOVE her. I don't really understand why, but she's adored.

[Kurt]

From Carl Wilson's excellent 33 1/3 book Let's Talk About Love:

“And the places she turns up in Jamaica are all the more curious. I remember being at sound-system dances and hearing everyone from Bob Marley Kenny Rogers (yes, Kenny Rogers) to Sade to Yellowman to Beenie Man being blasted at top volume while the crowd danced and drank up a storm. But once the selector (DJ in American parlance) began to play a Celine Dion song, the crowd went buck wild and some people started firing shots in the air.... I also remember always hearing Celine Dion blasting at high volume whenever I passed through volatile and dangerous neighborhoods, so much that it became a cue to me to walk, run or drive faster if I was ever in a neighborhood I didn't know and heard Celine Dion mawking over the airwaves.”

(you can read that in context here; there's a bit more about Jamaicans' apparent love for saccharine music and more on her non-Western impact, but I can't copy and paste it on iOS)

[Deleted]

God who y'all need to find worrying about this old lady when Ciara just dropped a video of her playing with Baby Future on Instagram. #staywoke

[B-Boy]

LMAO @ the first video.

All I know is she appeared on the R&B chart twice with "I'm Your Angel" (w/ R. Kelly) and "Because You Loved Me". BYLM didn't appear long, but it peaked at #41.

[14887fan]

Feb 4, 2015 2:20:15 GMT -5 Kurt said:

But once the selector (DJ in American parlance) began to play a Celine Dion song, the crowd went buck wild and some people started firing shots in the air...

Mmmm, but when that penny whistle solo drops, oooh YAAAS hunty!!!

[Wave.]

I don't know her.

But forreal, the TITLE though? I'm not sure how to answer this, but I do like a few of her older tracks. I've latched on to them at work. Imo, anything she's made doesn't really seem "R&B", more like "Pop".

[HolidayGuy]

Her only solo entry on the R&B chart, thanks to sales, was "Because You Loved Me." If someone can find a trace of R&B in there, lemme know.

[Deleted]

I can't believe this is real. The title, the concept, the fact that this all came from a woeful decision to take anything Kevin Hart says seriously.

I wish I could get my sister to join just to curse you out for this. She's a bigger Celine stan than Kurt, like will go hard in the paint for some Celine. I don't think we have any Jamaican roots, but I'll double check with the fam later.

Celine recorded quite a few songs that were either sung by or pitched to adult r&b artists before her so I guess that's where you hear some of the r&b influence in her songs; but Celine herself is not r&b/soul and never tried to sell herself as such, so I'm not sure why it mystifies you that she never caught on in that genre. For example, "Because You Loved Me" was originally suggested to Toni Braxton (and conversely, "Unbreak My Heart" was offered to Celine). It was the 90s and big-vocal ballads were very popular then...and the great thing about ballads is that they are usually flexible and easily tweaked to fit whatever genre the singer is. Diane Warren-penned songs didn't even have to be tweaked - you just handed it to a great singer and let them sing it the way they wanted to. So was Celine really singing r&b leaning songs, or were the r&b artists back then just singing crossover-friendly hits?

[Linnethia Monique]

at the title alone. F#ck this world.

[onebuffalo]

I think this thread is ridiculous. Celine Dion had her greatest successes on pop and adult contemporary charts. Was she supposed to cater to the r&b audience when that kind of music was not her strong suit? I love country music and George Strait has the most #1s there. Does that mean he should have charted on the r&b charts? What about a successful r&b artist? Are they supposed to sing different kinds of music to get their names on different charts? Really?

[horchata]

I love her trap remixes personally.

[HolidayGuy]

It is kinda ridiculous- but if serious, I perhaps would replace "people" with "community" in the title.