Jennifer Hudson for Christmas

So we’re at the obligatory “Christmas album and I’m not ashamed to admit my carrer has stalled” phase of her career.

Good to know.

She looks stunning. Beautiful photo of her.

Don’t even try, bitch.

It looks like a python is wrapped around her tits.

She has a powerful voice, and her character was a bright spot in that abysmal Sex and the City movie, but I find her extremely off-putting for some reason.

R2 is easily stunned if he considers her stunning.

She looks good. Gained some weight

R5 = Fantasia Barrino (via Siri)

The cake always calls.

I agree that green is a difficult color, but that particular green looks fabulous on her.

It complements her skin tone quite nicely.

Does she have any hits? Songs? Movies? I know she’s an EGOT, but I seriously can’t think of anything other than Dreamgirls…

Is she an EGOT?

I know Jennifer has an Oscar, a Grammy and a Tony, but does she have an Emmy?

Looks like Jennifer was too busy to shoot an album cover so they just rendered an AI image with a prompt that she should look 50 pounds lighter

She's wrapped in a thawing frozen lettuce leaf.

Well, I guess I'm R6, because she does look stunning.

Ugh—45 minutes or so of her loudly caterwauling and ruining the crap out of unrecognizably oversung versions of supposed Holiday songs, pass.

Does this mean she's going to appear and perform on 'The View' next month pushing this garbage album and have Whoopi and Sunny licking her ass crack ? Does she have to thank Whoop for being the first black female EGOT ?

R15 There are those who are easily impressed, so they find Trump impressive. Therefore, they are voting for him.

Then there are those who are easily 'stunned'. Therefore, they consider this photo of Jennifer Hudson as 'stunning'.

Just some of the mysteries in today's culture that no one can explain. So the rest of us just point it out and have a good hearty laugh.

Sorry about what happened to her family. Pleasant voice. She'll always be one of those American Idol contestants. That's all.

Difficult fabric, steel belted radial...

She looks fabulous. I don't usually care for Christmas music -- unless some diva is hollering and bellowing it at full blast. So I'm definitely getting her Christmas album.

[quote] Does she have any hits? Songs? Movies? I know she’s an EGOT, but I seriously can’t think of anything other than Dreamgirls…

Yes, you old queen. She was supporting you while you were still hiding in a closet.

I'd rather have cash.

R11 She has hits in the urban market but nothing that really crossed over. Just like Fantasia they were a decade too late for that type of singing unless your like Adele.

Jeebus! Jeebus! Jeebus! Ah loves me some Jeebus!

[quote] [R11] She has hits in the urban market but nothing that really crossed over. Just like Fantasia they were a decade too late for that type of singing unless your like Adele.

"...like Adele" means white, right?

I feel guilty when I see her, I’m a serial complainer . But Jennifer , her entire family was murdered but she’s able to play the glad Game

Her tv show is …. Unwatchable …. She cackles away and is always so happy . I can’t stand it , I want to run up to her and shake her —- come on —- to rot down a bit — your family was murdered …. How can you just carry on like some surviving Manson family membe

R5, agree on all counts. She was charming in that movie. For me it's that she seems to have one setting when she's performing: which is screech.

She should put out an album titled: I'll be Quiet This Time.

See how that goes.

This thread is so “Let me tell you, Miss Effie White…!”

A little off-subject but...

I recall about fifteen or more years ago, on Patti LuPone's website there was an 'Ask Patti' page where you could submit questions to her and she would answer (some) of them and post the question and her answer on the page a few weeks later (I think she updated the beginning of every month). At the time she had just released 'Lady With A Torch'.

I submitted the question "I'd love to hear a Christmas album by you. Do you have any plans to record one ?"

She chose my question as one of the ones to respond to and replied, "Thanks for the question - I'd love to record a Christmas album of all my favorite songs backed up with an orchestra. However, my label doesn't agree and won't pay for me to record one." She then ended the answer with email contact info for the exec at her record label at the time for everyone to contact him and ask for a Patti Lupone Christmas album (which I did) - which still hasn't happened. (I can't recall which label she was with back then.) At 75, not sure she has the voice for a full-blown Christmas album, but it would be better than Jennifer Hudson's.

R24 Fantasia has genuine urban hits like “When I See You” and “Free Yourself”. Jennifer Hudson is largely a PR myth. Clive Davis’ failed attempt at creating another Whitney Houston.

One year Whitney Houston presented Jennifer Hudson with a Grammy for her lackluster debut album. Then, maybe a year later Whitney Houston died the day before the Grammys and the next night Hudson was front and center at the ceremony singing “I Will Always Love You” as a tribute. I think she even did a Houston tribute in some awards show recently. She also used to constantly talk about Whitney Houston in her televised interviews and appearances.

I wonder why they didn’t just spend a few dollars to buy her some decent material over the years? Instead they chose to try some kind of not so subtle sleight of hand, trance, mind control word association game to try to make everyone see Jennifer Hudson as the new and improved Whitney Houston. I’m only surprised they didn’t pair her up with Chris Brown and get her strung out on drugs. Now THAT would’ve been a good storyline for this stale Soap Opera called Hollywood.

R26 I don’t think it’s not necessarily that simple but yes I do think her being white plays into it. Fantasia and Jhud have the voices for big ballads that were common in mainstream during 80s and 90s. Adele was an anomaly. For one she had much better songs than them and divested from just soul mixing progressive rock and blues in her sound. For example Rolling in the Deep. Adele also writes her own shit. She is more talented than them so it’s not just whiteness but for some reason it seems like since the year 2000 every black mainstream female artist has to either be a sex kitten or Godzilla type diva.

Fuck off OP, she looks great.

R32 You hit on the nail though will say Jhud had legit urban/black radio hits as well, just less so than Fantasia. The reason why he couldn’t replicate Whitney’s success with Jhud is 1) Clive Davis is aging and maybe not on the pulse of youth culture and taste but also Whitney Houston was absolutely beautiful. People underestimate that. White people thought Whitney was absolutely beautiful, bald head and all lol. I actually think Whitney is the prettiest singer of all time. Obviously Queen Bey is a close 2nd.

Jhud is an attractive plus size girl who looks great as a size 8 but she’s not beautiful. And her voice kinda too gospel-ly. Whitney had a powerful ass voice but it was pretty sounding. White fraus could see her beautiful ass singing on Tonight Show, and then when hear it on the radio the next day it registers. Whitney was also just a better singer with brilliant instincts. I’m not trying to diminish her talent with speaking on how beautiful she was. Cocaine is helluva drug yo.

The color is beautiful but if your tits are going horizontal, it's a bad fit. Her bosom is almost a bookshelf.

Alicia Keys is the only female artist Clive Davis came close in replicating Whitney’s success. Alicia Keys just did more soul music and didn’t quite sell as many records as Whitney. She sold a lot though and of the millions she did sell, she made more money than Whitney because she wrote and co-produced all her own shit.

The reason Whitney was so successful is because she "crossed over" from R&B into pop music.

Whitney's background was in Gospel music and R&B.

Clive Davis took her and turned her into a Pop Princess, with hits like I Wanna Dance With Somebody, How Will I Know, Saving All My Love For You, I'm Your Baby Tonight, The Greatest Love of All, etc.

White audiences could relate to the pop themes and upbeat music, which is why she was so successful as an artist. She appealed to a wide variety of people.

Jennifer Hudson has basically stuck with R&B/Soul, which is why she hasn't really crossed over.

Even if she tried, I don't think that Hudson could make the transition. She has neither the look nor the bubbly personality that Whitney had.

R39 agreed, her catalogue of music had more mainstream appeal. Also remember they started calling Whitney, whitey. That shit is painful as fuck to a black person. Ever since Mary j. Blige hit the scene and just in general the rise of hip-hop/soul, black artists are expected to have this specific black sound or black radio won’t play them. Obviously the bigger the artists they become ie Beyonce, Kanye, they can take more risks and black radio will still play it but I’m speaking in general. I Iove hip-hop and grew up with it but it’s annoying how American market forces pigeon hole black artists. Yet white artists can do black music and just have a diverse sound overall and white audiences AND black audiences will eat it up.

Jennifer Hudson is a gospel/soul singer who Arista tried to steer clear of hip-hop/R&B in the hope of crossing her over. Even as it invested in trying to make Leona Lewis a Mariah/Whitney pop star, it allowed Jennifer to languish. She is high-profile and has an Oscar. But you can't fit a voice that large and emotive into a pop song ala Rihanna/Dua Lipa/Katy/Ariana. Her contemporary soul albums were solid if unremarkable but that is not why she didn't have hits. Her voice is just too gospel/blues for pop markets. Whitney was a gospel singer with a "pop" voice Jennifer is not. Mainstream majority culture audiences only want to hear "soul" from white singers like Adele or Amy Winehouse.

R41 Definitely agree about the latter. Or maybe it’s the British factor. A sort of loveable “other”. Estelle, Melanie Fiona, Audra Day made left of center type soul albums and it never really connected with a mainstream audience. And I am not diminishing Amy or Adele. We are only 15% of a population after all. Amy is one of my favorite artists, Back to Black is dam near perfect.

[quote]Also remember they started calling Whitney, whitey. That shit is painful as fuck to a black person.

You're preaching to the choir, sistah !

I like "Back To Black" as well. However, no domestic record label would have paid for a Black artist to record "Back To Black." Major label Black artists are only permitted to record hip-hop influenced music, or pop. A young Black artist singing traditional R&B/Soul music is regarded as commercially non-viable. In the 90s and 00s some marketing exec coined the term "neo-soul" to try to denote a "new" type of music that could be commercially marketable. Neo-soul was simply a continuation of, some would say a throwback to, traditional R&B and soul. However, even "neo-soul" was waylaid by the industry in favor of hip-hop.

Today, R&B and soul music is being kept alive by Black artists recording independently. But you will never see them make inroads on the Hot 100.

Michael Kiwanuka

Bilal

Alice Smith

Lady Blackbird

Danielle Ponder

PJ Morton

Leon Bridges

Lucky Daye

Brittany Howard

Steve Lacy

October London

Alex Isley

Syd

R44 I love me some Syd and Bilal. I’m only vaguely familiar with other artists listed because I’m getting older and it’s hard to keep up with all the new artists. I discovered Syd from the Odd Future collective. I know the name Leon Bridges though I couldn’t name a song. I know I will get a sideye but Bey still does soul music. She is just such a larger than life entity that explores other genres it kinda gets forgotten. She never sold out to that euro-techno pop shit that became huge in the early 10s.

Oh and yes I know Steve Lacy too because he says my dear like I always do. His one song was huge. I was hoping he propelled into name status but he didn’t. He is still young tho. There are just so many artists out now even with a hit you gotta have some social media schtick.

R45, Syd wrote Beyonce's "Plastic Off The Sofa."

18 posts and it's a Trump thread. Kudos girlfriend. I didn't think it could be done for a Jennifer Hudson Christmas album. Again, Kudos.

I despise Christmas albums but for what it’s worth she does look beautiful.

R47 😱 😱. Omg you are lying. I LOVE this. That’s why I love this site. Us randomly talking about black artists still keeping r&b alive. I had no IDEA. Love you.

The finger nails are so "I've got four people on hold, I can talk".

Is she standing inside some kind of hollow architectural column? How is her dress so hard and so far away from her body?

I don’t have particularly strong feelings about Jennifer Hudson one way or another. I’m not a huge fan of her style of singing but I recognize she has a powerful voice.

I think R44 already made the point quite well. But I’d like to reiterate that there’s plenty of room in the music industry for Black artists to take their music in all sorts of directions and have a thriving career. But they cannot do so and at the same time expect superstardom.

Superstar status by definition means you’re catering to the masses, the largest masses. My impression is that Jennifer Hudson has been aiming to be an international brand. Fine. But that’s not - especially today - typically compatible with creating truly interesting music.

I love many of the artists R44 named. I’d add someone I’ve revered (I know. Mary!) for years: Meshell Ndegeocello. She appears to have had an amazing career. She’s fabulously talented. But I doubt she’d be considered by anyone a household name. And JHud doesn’t appear to have the depth, the gravitas, to forge a similar path.

But that’s OK. Nothing wrong with being a moderately successful garden-variety pop star. And to the poster who said she only “another one of those American Idol contestants,” I’d seriously disagree. The awards, a hit movie, a talk show? I’d say she’s done quite well given what she came from.

How does she wipe her plus-sized ass with those fingernails? Does she pick the guitar with those things?