but you know J-Smooth doesn't back down from debate ...
Alicia Keys Vs. Mariah Carey
In response to: Black Prophet's evaluation-I agree with 5 classic albums in 6 years for Mariah
-Butterfly was OK
-BUT, like I've said many times before, the Mariah Carey I know, I haven't seen her since 1997, in other words, she hasn't put out anything relevant since then ... the rest of those albums were complete trash
-thus, in terms of longevity and legacy, Mariah's "run" lasted 6 years and to use Black Prophet's logic, bad albums ruin legacy ... (***cough, cough*** Mobb Deep, GZA)
-with regards to Alicia Keys, Songs In A Minor and The Diary of Alicia Keys were indeed classics, agreed!
-while As I Am and The Element of Freedom just missed hitting the levels of her previous two, I still consider them to be GREAT albums, for the simple fact that Alicia blows her contemporaries away
-So to sum up my rebuttal: Mariah 5 classics in 6 years, with her "run" ended in 1997; Alicia 2 classics, 2 greats in 8 years, still at the top of the game, with plenty more still ahead
-My comparison doesn't end with the quality of albums, I consider other factors
-Aesthetically, pre-97 Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys are pretty much even, Mariah has crazy range in her voice and can hit notes normal people can only dream about, but Alicia Keys has an amazing raw tone and her transitions between notes are second-to-none
-like I've said before, "plats" don't lie ... Mariah takes that hands down, but for argument's sake, I can say that her "pop" genre is why her albums went platinum in the first place ... Alicia's soul/R&B genre is more of a fringe audience/fanbase ... so in that case, it's like comparing Michael Jackson to Nas
-who's better?, I say Alicia, but time will tell and Mariah's clearly ended over a decade ago
-Mary J. Blige ... only the first two were classics, the next two were just OK to me ... talent-wise she can hang, but doesn't have the accomplishments or longevity to be considered up there ...
~J-Smooth~
