My Favorite R&B Artists, Vol. 6 | Whitney Houston

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This lady was off the chain.

While we all know Whitney was the biggest act behind MJ and Prince in late 80's and throughout the 90's, for me I didn't appreciate her really until recently. I'm not one of those people that will lie to you and say that I've been a fan all my life when I wasn't. I mean of course I saw the Bodyguard and heard the soundtrack, (who didn't back then). The Preacher's Wife came on during Christmas time and Waiting To Exhale was pretty much one of the biggest movies from that era. So I've seen Whitney plenty of times on my television screen and heard her a lot on the radio.

But my taste back then went back and forth from dirty south and R&B acts that consisted of groups and random singles. So it wasn't until 2001 when I was around the ripe age of 15 that I started branching out and listening to a lot of different things. That's when Linkin Park and Eminem became a big part of my listening pleasures. But then at the same time I heard this one track from Whitney that changed my view on her: I Learned From The Best. Yes a song that was out for a whole year prior caught me off guard one night while listening to the quiet storm.

In that moment Whitney spoke to my poor adolescent heartbroken soul.

Yes, it was when I was in my feelings that I heard Whitney Houston throwing down. And I knew she put her all into that song when I heard that voice crackle and she hit that high note right after. Luckily for me I had the luxury of being able to check out her older works in the form of cassette tapes and vinyl records in my household. And of course I was amazed at what I heard because, well it's Whitney lol. That was one of the rare times in life where I got annoyed with tapes because I would hear a song and just had to rewind the whole thing to listen to it. Made my hands cramp up with anxiousness lol.

But at the end of the day I'm glad I found out about Whitney on my own terms and not when everyone said I should have known her, because that's when I could relate. I also find the purity of her voice so amazing. Like Prince was the complete musician who could do everything, MJ was just that guy who knew how to make that kind of music that you couldn't do anything but just like it and Whitney was the untouchable singer out of the trio. I respect them in their own special way and Whitney is because of that voice and the way she puts it into every song she did.

But the level of Petty in her is also respected.

The videos of her shading people will never not be funny to me. That's the second greatest thing about her, not only to me, but to a whole bunch of other people as well I'm sure. But it was that one song that changed everything for me and I became a fan of Whitney. I would say that I was already a fan a few years prior when her and Mariah did that duet for the Prince of Egypt soundtrack. But I'm going to play it safe here and say that's when I really became a fan of hers.


But with all that she went through later on in life I do feel that touch of sadness, among other feelings that her nor her daughter Kristina, MJ and most recently prince are no longer here with us today. It's in her music that made so many people love her for who she was and it's in her music where she'll continue to live on and have a place in my heart for the memories that she has given me while growing up.

Gone, but never will she be forgotten.


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