The Problem With Jessie J....

The UK has birthed some of music's most talented acts form Amy Winehouse to Marsha Ambrosius
, and of course the unstoppable Adele. That said, there is certain singer form across the pond who doesn’t sit comfortably with the aforementioned talents. Her name is Jessie J. Her problem is confidence and too much of it. There is a laundry list of issues surrounding Jessie J; however I’ll focus on just this one to avoid my first published book.

Let me preface this with saying I was having a perfectly great afternoon, working on other pieces, trying not tof all victim to the recession (so for not working) etc. I saw "Jessie J Sings Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’".  To my dismay, I proceeded to watch what I knew would be the massacre of a classic song form an even more classic artist.

Anyone who knows me knows Whitney Houston is my religion, musical savoir, fortress of incomparable and matchless vocals, and all else. So when I see anyone besides Whitney Houston sing Whitney Houston there is a problem, whether  they can sing or not. Why? Because singing and signing like Whitney Houston are two different worlds. 

Now back to the singing culprit, Jessie J attempted to perform the song while adding her own vocal inflections, overly self-indulgent adlibs, and sinful scatting. Yes, sinful scatting. The fact that she does all of these vocal acrobatics is a great example of a goof singer gone bad. Jessie J should stick to her own corny brand of pop which seems to be all the rage in Europe. Memo to Jessie J; when it comes to the states, you might want to go back to the drawing  board because this performance is a perfect example of Jessie J's problem-too much confidence. She tries so hard to be an artist and be different as oppose to being an actual artist and being authentically different.

Confidence is a great attribute, one which can provide inspiration to millions (see Beyonce), but it also can be seen as over compensating for a lack of true confidence when one does too much (see Christina Aguilera). Though obviously gifted as a vocalist, Jesse J feels the need to showboat and over perform using her vocals to show all that she can do rather then focus on perfecting her technique. A true vocalist is one, who knows that audiences are looking for definitive sounds, relatability, and true confidence which all comes across form a knowing what to do and what not to do as a vocalist.

Perfect example below:

Consider this  a lesson  learned Jessie J. Thank me later...