Imagine that today, you have Whitney Houston 2.0 on your hands...she's 19, looks and sounds exactly like Whitney did when she first came out.

What direction do you set her in? Would you get the writers and producers who you feel would make the best Black-Soulful music? (Badu, Ledisi)
Or the best Modern/Trendy R&B music? (Beyonce, Mary J, Keri)
Or in the Adele lane?
Or all the way on the Top 40 and EDM side? (Gaga, Katy Perry)
Would it be a good balance of the three? (Usher, Chris Brown, Rihanna)

Who'd you go to for her 3-4 potential singles? Would you throw a rapper or Pop/R&B singer guest on it?

How far would you go with her image? Would you have her come out with a slight naive/innocent vibe as she did in the 80's, or a slight edge with SWV in 92-ish themes that aren't too blunt/direct? Or would she be all the way Rihanna with it (I wanna fuck you right now)?

Would you use her ballads to be singles, or would they remain as album cuts?

Are there any songs in the last 2-3 years that you can picture as being the same exact vibe/energy as what you'd want from her singles? Whether it's "Love on top" "Rolling in the deep" or "Give me everything?"

Keep in mind, that the company is going to be on your head if she doesn't sell, because she has the talent package that should put her on top of the game if executed right. But how would you play it in this day and age? Do you feel that she could use the same lane as artists who haven't been successful, and out do them b/c of her voice and look, or would it limit her?

You can go as deep and detailed as you'd like, or just drop a few lines.

b/c the game kinda changed as a result of her career.

You can picture it being her reincarnated, or someone else with equal talent, voice, and looks. Kind of hard to to ask/answer in a way if you overthink it

b/c nobody likes a retread.

she'd have to be like Whitney but somehow different. like if she could play an instrument. or if she raps. or if she was transgendered. or she's not black. or something.

but i wouldn't be interested in putting out another act just like Whitney. b/c she wouldn't be just like Whitney and the public would likely judge her harshly and then reject her.

so if she's like Whitney i'd definitely make her into something else entirely.

>b/c nobody likes a retread.
>
there are alot of people who genuinely like artists mostly because them remind them of other artists. now run along and let this armchair A&R post go imaginary platinum...lol

but there aren't enough of them to interest me in a Whitney 2.0. maybe 10 or 15 yrs ago when labels had more money to throw around i'd have taken a chance on a retread. but not now. the stakes are too high.

again, if she's got a hook i'd take the chance. if she could rap or dance or was more of an all-around entertainer than Whitney. but i wouldn't be interested if she's just like Whitney. she'd have to be Whitney PLUS.

uh...

whitney was prettier than all these bitches and could sing these bitches under the table while sleeping...

u really wouldnt think she get all the attention? lol. alicia keys? katy perry? rihanna? and whitney houston (even cloned) wouldnt stand shoulders above?

maybe i'm missing something

...i'd do it almost how whitney first came out. i just make her sexier...and make her more of a tease

can she dance?

does she write her own stuff?

does she rap?

does she design clothing?

can she act?

is she blowing up on Twitter?

how many views do her YouTube videos have?

does she have an interesting backstory we can exploit?

does she play an instrument?

...and on and on.

the game has changed since 1983. Whitney helped spur the change.

and if she came out as a Whitney 2.0 clone...she'd just be near the front of a long line of women who (think they can) sing (nearly) as well as Whitney. that wouldn't make her particularly special.

which is why i keep saying if i'm her A&R, i'm only interested if she's got everything Whitney had PLUS something Whitney never had. and it'd be even better if she had something no other popular mainstream act has right now.

>b/c nobody likes a retread.

tools in North America. Not just personal nostalgia but also nostalgia for a time many were never apart of to begin with. Most ppl have no problem with retread, infact imo if ppl could live out the same thing over and over again many would would

but she's not _JUST LIKE_ Madonna. she references Madge but puts some of her own thing in there. she makes several other references too, but let's keep this simple.

the OP asked about a Whitney 2.0 who is JUST LIKE Whitney 1.0. i said i don't think she'd be particularly successful b/c we don't like retreads.

an act who'd remind us of Whitney might succeed. but she'd have to have some thing(s) Whitney didn't have. she couldn't just be another copy of Whitney. if that's all she's bringing she'd be better off going the American Idol route.

and of course do gospel songs with Kirk franklin, mary,mary, kelly price and fred hammonds and the Winans.

the thing about whitney is that you could pretty much do the same stuff which launched her.

give her a few R&B/Pop albums

a gospel Project

a Country Project

a Jazz/Blues Project

a Live Album


and Whitney E.Houston could play the Piano so she could do that unplug thing as well.


thing about Whitney is that you see Beyonce and Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey progressing so Whitney in a 2.0 would still wipe the floor with all them with ease.


She is a Better Artist then all of them IMO.

but kind of interested in what they do with the Jessica girl, 16 and damn good voice has done a couple Whitney songs already almost to perfection.

Here's a couple

I will Always Love You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPX-H3KGjJI


Sweet Dreams (Beyonce)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm0_XHkeous

and if she gets handled the right way as a artist she could have a nice run.

i dig her voice as well.

I always saw Sony trying to push Mariah in the same vain as Whitney for years.

cookie. Whitney paved the way for her and Celine Dion and all that followed

Honey rmx, Fantasy rmx, Breakdown (Black club slow jam), later on its like that.

You woulda thought Mariah woulda had more of the "I wanna dance with somebody" type songs

>You woulda thought Mariah woulda had more of the "I wanna
>dance with somebody" type songs

"Someday"
"Emotions"
"Dreamlover"

But this goes back to what SoWhat said...you can't just re-invent the wheel. Mariah's career exploded against the backdrop of the rise of hip-hop (and hip-hop soul) into the mainstream. She (and her label) reacted to that. "Fantasy" and "Honey" very much in the "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" vein, but re-tooled for the 90's.

And she still makes those songs. "Shake It Off" was one. "Luv U Long Time" was one, it just wasn't a hit song.

over all of that.

Mariah's uptemo stuff though was the side dish of jelly, the slow cuts were the bread and butter you best believe that Man.

if Mariah had have tried to do the uptempo thing she would have had a tier higher level of a Lisa Lisa run, however the slow cuts were the money tracks.

mariah had those on the back burner because she knew she had to be Whitney Lite to get over

The Black Keys already make the type of everyday music....and they put women in the backgrounds of their hooks anyways. DangerMouse keeps the music full....

I would be trying to make my Whitney 2.0 the person you listen to when you get tired of Adele (especially if she takes the 5 year layoff). Yet she can be more relatable & marketable b/c she would be cuter than Adele...and she could move on stage (but not full-on dance routines tho).

Since she's 19 and it's 2012 you can't really ignore other genres, so I would be releasing remixes on the regular based on what she likes...if she's into hip-hop only the eccentric get remixes (Ghostface, El-P, Madlib, Ski Beatz) if it's more electo...Brainfeeder remix album on itunes.

Tours w/Mayer Hawthorne & Nikki Jean on the low end....aiming for opening for Florence & The Machine on the higher end. Maybe even Fiona Apple...

Good point about the remixes to reach different crowds. I feel she is the type who could fit on almost any type music you put her on...Jazz, throwback Boom Bap, Drake-ish ambiance Rap, EDM a the LMFAO-Katy Perry Level, modern Jazz, etc etc etc so yeah, that would be a good move.