So this week was a monumental week for a phenomenal artist. Chrisette Michelle nabbed the #1 spot on the charts selling 83 000 copies of her sophomore album Epiphany and Ciara fell in line at the #3 spot with 81 000 units sold of her album Fantasy Ride. So as everyone has already picked up, I have a problem with this whole versus thing. My problem is, this week has come down to the battle of quota over quality and sad to say, from the reading that I have been doing, a few journalists were actually surprised that Chrisette came out on top. What in dear biblical proportions is the world coming to?
Chrisette’s album I Am was a phenomenal debut by an artist of her caliber. Her talent just shines through and her influences live in every note, pitch and scat. Chrisette made her mark with Nas and Jay-Z, but definitely pulled away from the pack, because there was and still is, no one like her coming out of the gate on a, dare I say, "commercial" level. Unfortunately, I personally feel that Epiphany is not as strong as I Am at all. The latter serves up a pop album with a few sprinkles of R&B in between. It veers away from the strong soul domination that the first album had. Nonetheless, Chrisette is a consummate artist and we needed her album to be at that present spot – low industry sales or not (and that is another entry). Miss Michelle is DA TRUTH live and that my friends, is where everything comes to fruition. N’est ce pas?
And then there’s Ciara. Well, if it’s one thing I can say about her as an artist, is that she is an amazing dancer. Yes, I will be the first to share that I love her tracks, "Like A Boy," "1, 2 Step" and "Oh" because they are danceable and catchy – and it stops there. With all of the problems and delaying of this album, we never thought it would see the light. And if it wasn’t for "Love Sex & Magic" featuring Justin Timberlake (emphasis on the SEX), I am not too sure where this album would be right now. Ciara is unfortunately not a singer by any means and we are well aware of this. Can she turn out a stage with choreography? Yes! Can she sang and bring it on home to chuch? No! I think we tend to forget that she won her Grammy for Missy’s video. I’m just saying.
They are both gorgeous and talented in their own way, but this was definitely Chrisette’s for the taking, hands down. Quality all the way and seriously, can we really compare Ciara to Chrisette Michelle? Can we think about this a minute? I am sure the stance taken from different journalists is that Ciara has had the charts on her side for the longest while, so why wouldn’t she slide into home plate this time around? Would I be overstepping in saying that perhaps quality may be winning out and will start to overshadow the meek? Yes? No? For some reason, I think we will be having this conversation again when Eminem’s album is released.
It’s an ongoing battle y’all.
