>She has no sex appeal, no surrounding drama, why her?
>
>I think first and foremost, she has great songs that everybody
>can relate to, young or old, black or white...and that's
>always a good place to start when deciding who to push.
>
>I feel like modern black R&B artists are all about "that hit
>record" and it shows, often painfully so. I mean why the fuck
>is Brian McKnight even using autotune? So what it's just one
>track...why is he even dabbling with it? The list goes on.

I agree with Maxx said, but also keep in mind that "urban" budgets are peanuts compared to pop budgets, so black artists are at a disadvantage from the start. If they don't get that hit record from the jump, then the label may abandon the project. Furthermore, mainstream urban radio doesn't support "good" r&b. Jill, Erykah, Chrissette, Anthony Hamilton etc. have all been relegated to the KISS-FM's. The "HOTs", the "Powers" and the "Beats" don't play that stuff. You don't sell records on the Urban AC charts, which is why you see Brian McKnight doing auto tune records.