because her talent (and pedigree) was undeniable, but it was clear that the label was deliberately doing everything in their power to keep her from being "a Black artist."

(The commercially released version of "Saving All My Love" was not Whitney's original recording of it... Clive rejected the first take because he thought it sounded "too Black")

Even when Whitney went on her first media tour, Clive kept her away from all the Black radio stations.

All of these reasons are why people don't think of Whitney as a "soul artist" in that way.

(That, and the videos for "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody")


(and her dancing)