Good topic!!!
Angie Stone is on Arista, which is a major, mainstream label. Although she is, as you correctly stated, on POINT (!), Arista and its distributor, BMG, are concerned with maintaining their reputation as the number one label/distributor in the nation, respectively. Alicia Keys album release, for example, was scheduled tentatively at first to allow the industry folk to see if all of Clive Davis' hype would pay off and result in mainstream acceptance. Definitely NOT saying that these artists aren't talented, but for the most part if you are signed with a major label that is distributed by the "Big 5," as they are called, your talent will be measured in how much buzz you create within the industry and, later, how many albums you sell.
Jill Scott is on an independent label (Hidden Beach), and she is actually their debut artist. Since the label is an upstart, they don't have to be as concerned with image and everything industry. They had nothing to lose by promoting an unknown artist and most of the publicity for Jill's album was word-of-mouth. I think that now, with her MUCH DESERVED success, that more artists will decide to go independent rather than be pigeon-holed by mainstream labels (not saying this happens in every case, but we know that most acts are studio-produced and manufactured!)
NOW...sorry for that long post, here are my choices...
Underrated artists:
- I am the
Blu Cantrell hype machine!! LOL
-
Mystic - I think I mentioned her on the New Music thread
-
dead prez - probably too political/controversial for most mainstream America, but they are the BOMB to me!
[This message has been edited by librasoul22 (edited August 17, 2001).]