By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices
Move over Teena Marie!!!
A new white woman is dominating the urban music scene.
And unlike Madonna, Christina Aguilera and Pink, she has the nerve to be British!
A real Brit, Madge.
And I'm not talking about the blond-haired, blue-eyed, black brother loving Joss Stone, either.
It's Amy Winehouse -- a brassy broad who's living up to her last name with much buzzed about public forays with alcoholic beverages.
Off the strength of her groovey and infectious singles 'Rehab,' and 'You Know I'm No Good,' the acclaimed British singer/songwriter has landed in the No. 1 spot on 'Billboard's Top R&B/Hip--Hop Albums chart with her gold selling American debut 'Back to Black.'
Yes.
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums; beating out the likes of brand new releases by Rihanna, T-Pain, Fabolous and last week's debut of neo-soul newcomer Chrisette Michele.
What a perfect ending to Black Music Month.
The charismatic singer and tabloid mainstay has been making a name for herself over the past few months with an all-out media blitz and an aggressive radio airplay campaign.
On the heels of two major magazine covers ('Rolling Stone,' and 'Spin'), the English music wunderkind won two MOJO Awards (named "Woman of 2006" and winning the first ever 'Song of the Year' award for her smash hit single, 'Rehab').
Her American record label, Universal Republic, calls her signature brand "torrid but textured R&B."
I say it's old school soul fused retro pop ditties with a no holds barred lyricism, which comes across as a combination of Macy Gray, cocaine, Lauryn Hill, lithium with a dash of John Legend's two albums as a backdrop.
And the music buying public is just eating it all up.
Scorching hot remixes of her two singles have attracted the likes of hip-hop's finest, including Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah and Pharoahe Monch.
On her own, 'Back to Black' has sold more than 2.5 million copies globally, and is expected to cross the platinum-selling status mark within the next few weeks in the states.
For those who don't know: the 24-year-old Winehouse (real name) was born to an English family with a history of jazz musicians and grew up listening to a wide array of music, including Teena Marie, Busta Rhymes, Elvis Presley, Carole King, Mahalia Jackson, The Ronettes, The Shangri-las, The Shirelles, Sarah Vaughan, Minnie Ripperton, Dinah Washington, and Frank Sinatra.
Growing up in the suburb of Southgate, North London, she founded a short-lived amateur rap group called Sweet 'n' Sour at the age of 10. She, being known as Sour, later described the group as "the little white Jewish Salt-N-Pepa."
Love that.
She's planning a return to the states after a closely followed string of sold-out European shows on two festivals - the August 4 "V Festival" in Washington, DC, and Chicago's Lollapalooza on Aug. 5.
Winehouse's much anticipated end-of-summer tour kicks off at New York City's Central Park Summer Stage on Sept. 12, with a show the following day - Sept. 13 - in Upper Darby, PA.
She's also expected at the Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, TX on September 15, with stops in included in Los Angeles on September 18 and 19, San Francisco on Sept. 21 and 22, Seattle on Sept. 25, Minnesota on Sept. 28, and pulling into Chicago on Sept. 29 - with more dates to be announced.
So get out those debit cards and buy tickets to see Amy Winehouse get loose.
If you can't wait for the show, please-please-please check out this OUTRAGEOUS video-clip below of Amy Winehouse and former "popera" singer Charlotte Church desecrating Michael Jackson's classic hit 'Beat It.'
BV Extras:
-- Celebrate Black Music Month with Black Voices


Comments: (112)
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By: kim akins on 6/28/2007 10:19AM
Go ahead. Chase after this latest great white hope. And when she disses black folk, cause she doesn't care about us, just appropriating our music, act surprised. Just like when Justin used our style and then left Janet hanging. He wasn't down with black folks when the heat was on.
Pink? Same deal. Use R&B to get in the door. Drop it like a bad habit once you're in the door.
It's just a means to make money off black folks style and they laugh when we give them credibility, then dismiss us.
Not signing on to this hot mess of a singer.
Sign me - Won't get fooled again.
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By: kim akins on 6/28/2007 10:19AM
Oh, BTW, Rolling Stone named Winehouse "The New Queen of Soul." I didn't know Aretha had abdicated the throne.
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By: Plush on 6/28/2007 10:47AM
It still baffles me how people can stake a claim to a genre of music...for example R&B is "black" or Rock is "white"..music is music, it has no face..
And...Amy Winehouse is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! I became familiar with her a few months back, and I've been hooked ever since. She is definitely a breath of fresh air to this industry and I can't wait to see her in concert!
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By: theycallmemshill on 6/28/2007 11:47AM
I agree with poster #3. Since when do black folks own the rights to R&B/Soul just because we invented it? Beef up on your history of black music - black folks never really owned "black music". There has always been white guys at the top profiting of it. I love Amy Winehouse's syle. I don't know if I want to pay money to see her live because she has a history of performing drunk/high. As for comparing her to Teena Marie you can't even put their styles of music in the same category!! The only thing they share is the fact that they're white. I'm still trying to figure out why Teena Marie was even famous.
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By: Warren on 6/28/2007 11:37AM
Another CULTURE BANDIT strikes again. And black people are going to eat it up as usual. I tell you...our people are so damn gullable it's sickening.
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By: Debbie on 6/28/2007 12:05PM
She has her own style that is mesmerizing but has a quintessential 60's feel.
Debbie
www.DebbieDonovanTravel.com
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By: wyldbuttafly on 6/28/2007 12:01PM
As an insider I can tell you that Pink was forced by the label to do R&B on her first album. She even mentions it in one of her songs on her second album. Once the first one became a hit and she made a name for herself, she could then do what she always wanted to do. The same with Christina Aguilera but in reverse. They made her do bubblegum pop on her first one then when she hit, she took the reigns and added soul and brashness to hers.
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By: Teja on 6/28/2007 1:03PM
I listened to the album and I have to say I absolutely loved it!!! It is so very reminiscent of the Motown and 60's soul sound (think Marilynn Mckoo, Dionne Warwick, Smokey,)
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By: VJ Morris on 6/28/2007 1:31PM
People please, imitation is the highest form of flattery. When someone wants to sing like you, dance like you, act like you, be proud of it cause they learned it from the masters. US.
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By: VJ Morris on 6/28/2007 2:01PM
People please, imitation is the highest form of flattery. When someone wants to sing like you, dance like you, act like you, be proud of it cause they learned it from the masters. US.
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