Some artists are truly overrated and some again are very underrated. Amongst the ones that are overrated in my opinion would be Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber to name a few but let's just use them as examples.
So we can all agree that they are beautiful humans, Rihanna with those legs, Justin Bieber with that everything and Taylor Swift with her plump lips, they have great style and they are icons as celebrities but here comes the issue...are they truly great vocalists and musicians? I'll break it down artist by artist along with my favorite artists as well.
My criteria is based on non-biased analysis in terms of musicality.
Overrated
Rihanna:
Admittedly I'm not really a fan of her's but neither the less she is a fairly good singer, a style superstar and she's hot but she isn't something special, I mean there's nothing she can do that I can't in terms of vocal ability but Rihanna is sort of a grey area when it comes to this judgement.
Justin Bieber:
JB's marketing team is brilliant, they market his music and image to a niche group of teenagers or young people who fall into the "love sick" category. JB is reliant on his good looks and his headline stealing actions to sell his records. Don't get me wrong his music used on his tracks aren't bad but he displays very little-no vocal technique, he's very flat when he sings...even Britney Spears displays more technique in songs like Oops...I did it Again but JB makes sure he looks good and pushes the same narrative to his audience, a stud which you can get somehow. Let's not forget his yearly dick pic publications which keeps him popular.
Taylor Swift:
Okay so Taylor is not my favorite person in the world. She portrays herself as a sweet innocent girl but from what I've heard and seen she seems like a shady diva bitch, not saying she is just saying the image of Taylor is inconsistent. She is one of the most flat singers I've heard and displays almost no technique or technical understanding but hey maybe she just opts not to use technique in her songs because it's just not her style, who knows.
Selena Gomez:
Just fucking terrible nothing to say other than that.
Underrated:
Lady Gaga:
So Gaga is to this day one of my musical inspirations and there are several reasons why but let's be quick about it. Gaga started her career out with synth-pop songs like LoveGame, Poker Face and Just Dance. Synth-pop became popular in the 80s and well it died there as well and she made it popular again by adding her own twist to it.
Many singers are well just singers, they come in, they sing and they fuck off. Gaga is a pianist first and then a songwriter and then only a singer so she is a true artist who writes her own songs or is at least the core writer of them. So her music is very personal and what's cool is she composes the music to her songs as well. She is something most Grammy winners aren't, an artist.
I know she's famous and at some point the most famous person on earth but hey she deserves it cause she knows her shit. Take some time and look past all the trinkets she surrounds herself with and listen to some live performances like "You and I (Live at Amp Radio)" and you'll see she deserves way more attention and respect than some other stars currently.
Whitney Houston:
So Whitney is iconic but most young singers don't know of her and if I can give some advice to people, put the Selene Gomez CD down and listen to some real musicians like Houston. Some good listens would be "Queen of the Night", "I will Always Love You".
Christina Aguilera:
Christina possesses a voice that is just different and very powerful. Skip shit like "Genie in the Bottle" and go listen to songs like Fighter or take her Masterclass" but Christina's style of singing and songs are for a select few vocalist who can pull it off without injuring their chords or singing off key because she likes to bend the pitch a lot during songs e.g. "Mercy".
But again Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston songs should only be sung if you possess advanced skills as a vocalist. Gaga's studio recordings aren't difficult to sing along to but her live performances are another story.
Love, Charlie Void
A singers worst critic