Essence snubs R&B veterans Mariah Carey & Toni Braxton…

Written by Toya
Posted June 25, 2011 at 6:04 pm

Essence magazine has many people spitting blood today. For their ’50 Most Powerful R&B Artist of All Time’ list has shunned R&B veterans such as Mariah Carey and Toni Braxton. No wonder their supporters are outraged, and so they should be. This has to be the wackest music list if ever I’ve seen one. And even on the day of his anniversary, the late great Michael Jackson still couldn’t get tributed PROPERLY (R.I.P). Nice way to commemmorate Black Music Month…

In chronological order:

255, 0);">1. Aretha Franklin
2. Michael Jackson
3. Mary J Blige
4. Diana Ross
5. Whitney Houston
6. Beyonce
7. Patti LaBelle
8. Teena Marie
9. Maxwell
10. Lauryn Hill
11. Rihanna
12. Usher
13. Quincy Jones
14. Aaliyah
15. Timbaland
16. Ashford & Simpson
17. Janet Jackson
18. Sam Cooke
19. Marvin Gaye
20. Isley Brothers
21. Sade
22. Frankie Beverly & Maze
23. Alicia Keys
24. Chaka Kahn
25. Donny Hathaway
26. New Edition
27. D’Angelo
28. Etta James
29. R. Kelly
30. Anita Baker
31. Erykah Badu
32. Luther Vandross
33. James Brown
34. Teddy Pendergrass
35. TLC
36. Marvin Gaye
37. Prince
38. Gladys Knight
39. Curtis Mayfield
40. Earth, Wind, and Fire
41. Ray Charles
42. Stevie Wonder
43. Lionel Richie
44. Sean Combs
45. Jill Scott
46. Will Smith
47. Gamble & Huff
48. Boys 2 Men
49. Barry White
50. Babyface

A travesty.

Filed under: Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton

Chinny

LOL Rihanna does Pop music?
Philly11

I’m not even a big Mariah fan but this list without her and Toni on it just makes it a joke!! Especially Toni because she is clearly RnB…no doubt about it!
Philly11

Prince at #37 *jumps of a cliff*. that’s just disrespectful
Becca

sat here trying to figure out 1. why one earth is rihanna on the list, and if she really desperately had to be on the list why on earth is she above people like Aaliyah, Alicia Keys and Boys 2 men. And secondly why on earth is will smith on the list? like seriously, i always thought he was a rapper but i could of been badly mistaken..
Chris

why is rihanna higher than sade and luther vandross……they were on that Whitney mess when they made this list….Lawd Have Mercy!
IANNA

While i do agree that some people are missing from the list.What a few of you are missing is the list title which says MOST POWERFUL’50 Most Powerful R&B Artist of All Time’. Which has nothing to do with vocals hence P.DIDDY & Timbaland made the list.
TinaSouthAfrica

Its more of a joke than lastyears grammy awards when they snubbed Mariah Carey – I want to know what love is, hateu & Christina Aguilera – You lost me with best pop vacal female but added Katy perry, gaga etc!

DONE WITH ESSENCE!
TinaSouthAfrica

WILL SMITH ?
WILL SMITH ?
WILL SMITH ?
WILL SMITH ?

The fuck outta here with Rihanna! I love Riri but that’s disrespectful to the greats that came b4 and don’t be mad at Riri or Will. They did not put themselfs on the list its Essence that done fckd up big time!
Nathan

Mariah is still powerful. For the dumb and impared Rihanna do RnB and other types of music. Most powerful darn right she’s on the list and if there is one for Pop and Reggae she will make it too; the girl is versatile. Mary J more powerful than Beyonce on which planet. Since this has nothing to do with voice Aretha most powerful don’t think so.
fabizzle

WHAT A FUCKING JOKE!!!
Da Biggest Boss

WTF

How did they snub Toni Mariah Carrey and Christina Aguilera but they put people like Rihanna, Diddy and Will Smith!!! WHEN THE FUCK WAS WILL SMITH EVER R&B HE IS BARLY RAP….

The only way this list could be even more of a joke is if they added Sisqo
Mickey’s Playbook

This list is rude & weird. What was this list based off of because I am confused. And since when did Diddy do R&B?
Jamal

Since when did Puffy and Will Smith become r&b singers?
TinaSouthAfrica

Hell even Christina Aguilera’s Stripped & Back To Basics album was more rnb than Rihanna & Will. LOL But Whitney & Toni? Hell naw!

CALL THE POPO HO!!!!!!
Jamal

and Timbaland
HereIAm

Why the fuck is Rihanna on this list? Let alone at #11? Her ass should not even be on this list since she is more dance pop
TinaSouthAfrica

I meant Mariah instead of Whitney! I can’t believe Mimi & Toni was snubbed. Lights cig & starts smoking…
Miles

1. Why is rihanna even on the list. 2. Marvin Gaye is on the list twice. 3. Will Smith, Timbaland, and Diddy are Hip-Hop.
Al

Why has they got a pop artist on the list?
Aaliyah but no Brandy or Monica?
And exclusion of Toni is a sin I tell yah
Al

@Miles, Yep and Etta James/Sade are more soul/blues right?
And Riri is a pop artist
They should’ve kept the list strictly R&B
Miao

Rihanna, Diddy, Timbaland, Will Smith…. hahahahahahahaha! Best joke ever!
Andre

Will Smith??????? LMFAO
Andre

SEAN COMBS *Flatlines* i cannot
Gomezz

This list is absolutely pathetic. Whoever made it should lose any existing credibility.
http://ing Songbird09

Essence is as about as relevant as BET. Complete JOKE!!!!
Wendeezie

If your music is in the R&B charts you are considered an R&B artist simple as that. Usually when they say powerful they are talking the amount of money being made at current time period. The list seems pretty accurate to me. Congrats to every artist that made the list they all deserve props for their work ethic.
Huh?

But why do they have Marvin Gaye twice? O_o
imadiva

WHATTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!
mariah got song of the decade with we belong together and thats a rnb classic
KNUCK

Brandy is very powerful… she has influenced every almost every vocalist in the industry that came after her, especially the good ones! She was the teen princess with music, movies, endorsements and TV before all the other bitches!!
Rap

Yall stupid.

Mariah yes of course but Toni??? Whats powerful about her.

Will smith?

Rihanna is both a pop and rnb artists and gets rnb awards and is on the rnb charts and is WW super huge whcih we cant even say for 50% of the artists on the list. She is POWERFUL
@MsBlakBuddafli

Why is R.Kelly not in the top 10? This list a JOKE.
D

When both Brandy and Monica is omitted from the list it became a straight up joke.
Al

@Rap
Toni’s first 2 LP sold more than the whole at least half of the listed artists’ discography
mofan95

I love rihanna but she should not be ahead of some of the other artist and SERIOUSLY WILL FREAKN SMITH???? I would have either put Monica or Brandy in place of him. His music was catchy but cheesy and corny as hell!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/AmbeRussell?feature=mhum AmeRussell

rihanna has not made an impact on the rnb charts like many of these other ppl left out n what toni did in her start of her career, how many did this chick win/ get nominated? like every yr, toni, toni, toni n babyface should be ahead bc he made many of these other artist’s careers by writing their music. o n rihanna doesnt do well on the rnb charts.
Janet_K

Beyonce ahead of Aaliyah, Janet, Sade etc…gtfo.

And they’re missing Mariah, Monica, Brandy, and Toni B., YUP, this list is SHIT.
R&B_Connoisseur

The fact that they failed to include Mariah Carey and Toni Braxton makes this null and void! Instead they added Will Smith? I’m confused. When did he become and R&B artist??? Rihanna? Uhhhhh I like her music but she clearly isn’t R&B. Let’s be honest, Beyonce tops Sade, Aaliya, PRINCE, TEENA MARIE, LUTERH VANDROSS and so many other legends? GTFO!!!!!! This list is a complete joke! Where is Brandy?? Monica? I cannot! Toya, they snubbed a lot more people than Mariah and Toni. Smh.
R&B_Connoisseur

How dare they not recognize the greats? R&B is already a dying genre because very few stay true to the form. It’s sad that for those that do, Essence can’t even recognize them. SMFH!!!!!!
Lady Caca

Essence is a racist magazine – they did not include Mariah because she was bi-racial. Stupid magazine!
muziqjunkie

Brandy fucking ruled the late 90′s.
Who even recognizes D’Angelo as one of the greats? Like, his music is good and everything but this list is for the powerful. Him over Brandy, Monica, Toni, Mariah? Sorry, but not in this world.
VLB

NO I DONT AGREE WITH THIS LIST
soulmusik

I love Rihanna but excluding MC and including Ri seems intentional, especially. Rihanna has only one number one on the R&B Charts (“Take A Bow”) and the other eight hot 100 number ones were pop hits. Mariah has 10 R&B number ones. Her omission even from the top ten would be suspicious but from the entire list, that’s deliberate!
leesh

okay Where is Brandy. Monica, Mariah, Toni, Mary J. Blige? Essence is straight trippin and Rihanna, please she is straight pop and so is Beyonce’ she hasn’t been R&B since Dangerously In Love and she is listed at six? what the fuck ever!
http://www.twitter.com/thatsuperstar Thatsuperstar

When both Brandy and Monica is omitted from the list it became a straight up joke.

THIS IS A MESS!.. SMH WHY ARE THEY NOT ON HERE….
KSH

No Mariah for real?

No Toni Braxton for real?

Somebody smoking some tainted crack with this.
KSH

No Brandy – No Monica – *faints*

Timbaland though?
http:w kelvin

there is no rnb without Mariah Carey,Brandy or Monica infact Mariah Carey is one of the best selling female artists of all time with 18 number 1 hits stretching from 1993-2010 so is this a joke,where is toni braxton,swv,702 112 this list is fucked up
AliKatt86

Really though??!! Toni Braxton defined R&B in the 90′s! Stevie Wonder should have been higher. Sean Combs, Rihanna, Timbaland and Will Smith are on the wrong list. But WOW…Toni, Monica, Mariah, and Brandy should have been on here. Whoever came up with this list…#haveseveralseats

Essence snubs R&B veterans Mariah Carey & Toni Braxton…

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