Ledisi snubbed for grammy "selma" tribute for beyonce

[glencro]

Even though Ledisi played Mahalia Jackson in the movie SELMA, the Grammys will use Beyonce instead to sing "Precious Lord Take My Hand" in the musical tribute that will also feature John Legend and Common. Good ole politics prevail...SIGH http://jojocrews.com/industry-politics-grammys-snub-ledisi-for-beyonce-on-mahalia-jackson-performance-for-selma-tribute/

[marv2]

Even though Ledisi played Mahalia Jackson in the movie SELMA, the Grammys will use Beyonce instead to sing "Precious Lord Take My Hand" in the musical tribute that will also feature John Legend and Common. Good ole politics prevail...SIGH http://jojocrews.com/industry-politics-grammys-snub-ledisi-for-beyonce-on-mahalia-jackson-performance-for-selma-tribute/

That doesn't even make sense, but I know what that is all about.

[Crystaledwards]

That doesn't even make sense, but I know what that is all about.

Really? Perhaps you could explicate for us Mr. Davis.

CE

[marv2]

Really? Perhaps you could explicate for us Mr. Davis.

CE

I'm not interested. Take care.

[Crystaledwards]

I'm not interested. Take care.

Yet interested enough to infer that you knew the reason Ledisi was snubbed.

CE

[imnokid]

From my reading on the above, Marv was inferring the usual Grammy bullshit for the bigger star name than what is right. And I agree.

[Crystaledwards]

From my reading on the above, Marv was inferring the usual Grammy bullshit for the bigger star name than what is right. And I agree.

Then perhaps he should have clearly stated that instead of shrouding his theory in horseshit.

CE

[imnokid]

I guess you 2 share some history! lol

[skooldem1]

From what I hear Ledisi appeared only briefly in the movie singing this song. It is not like "Precious Lord" is a Ledisi song. I think it is much ado about nothing. This is the Grammy's not the Academy Awards. They could get anyone to sing that song. No one would have a problem with this if it were Shirley Ceaser or Patti Labelle or Yolanda Adams singing this song. Some Beyonce haters posting comments on twitter does not make it a controversy.

[Crystaledwards]

I guess you 2 share some history! lol

We certainly do Kevin. It goes back to B.B. King's almost 14 years ago.

CE.

[jobeterob]

It's just a bit hurtful to devoted music fans that everything falls to the ratings and to the biggest names all the time. But I understand that the Grammys will not have performers like Ledisi appear when they can have Beyoncé.

Marv is just mad, as usual, about everything; sadly the Grammys would also never have Mary Wilson performing such a song.

[destruction]

From what I hear Ledisi appeared only briefly in the movie singing this song. It is not like "Precious Lord" is a Ledisi song. I think it is much ado about nothing. This is the Grammy's not the Academy Awards. They could get anyone to sing that song. No one would have a problem with this if it were Shirley Ceaser or Patti Labelle or Yolanda Adams singing this song. Some Beyonce haters posting comments on twitter does not make it a controversy.

The only reason the song was featured on the Grammy's was because of SELMA THE MOVIE.

Ledisi killed the song the song in the movie. If you had seen the movie, perhaps you would have a better understanding.....and your post would have more substance.....like Ledisi's version.....instead of that hand shaking minstrel show that was on TV the other night.

I like Beyonce.....a lot....just not as much as I value authenticity.

[carlo]

Here is Ledisi's magnificent version...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxVpHiyT5kE

[carlo]

I agree what is being said here about Ledisi, who should have performed "Precious Lord" at the Grammy's, as well as the b.s. and politics surrounding this particular situation and the Grammy's in general. Beyonce's performance was in fact part of the Selma segment, along with John Legend's performance. John Legend himself admitted that Beyonce approached him and asked if she could perform the song and he said, "You can't say no to Beyonce!" So clearly she knew that he was part of this Selma segment and she wished to be part of it, also knowing that Ledisi is in the movie and sings this track on the soundtrack.

Beyonce has been one of the top female artists for the past 10+ years, so she did not need this performance to boost her profile or satisfy her artistry. This should have been Ledisi's moment to shine. If anything, Beyonce has a huge overinflated ego that is ready to burst at any moment. Once the Grammy's caught wind of the Ledisi vs. Beyonce controversy, they modified her introduction by saying, "Now for a song that Beyonce's Mom used to sing to her..." I believe they said this as an attempt to disassociate Beyonce with the Selma movie.

Beyonce's performance was quite bland, engineered, unspiritual and uninspiring. I don't know how an artist like her can expect to convey any kind of genuine spirituality when she shows her bare ass in her music videos and promotes gang and gun culture in the promo video for her and her husband's joint tour, among many other things...

It's unfortunate Ledisi was not given this opportunity to shine. God knows she deserves it. Just listen to her amazing a cappella rendition above. Thankfully Ledisi has taken the classy high road and has not publicly complained about all of this. Also, many of Beyonce's fans have taken note of her selfish behaviour. Check out any of the top comments on Beyonce's Grammy posts on her Facebook page and you will see for yourself...

[marv2]

Memories of Diana Ross doing the role of Dorothy in the film "The Wiz" instead of the originator of the role, Stephanie Mills!

[destruction]

Carlo,

Thanks for fleshing it out.

[Jerry Oz]

Memories of Diana Ross doing the role of Dorothy in the film "The Wiz" instead of the originator of the role, Stephanie Mills!
Shades of the producers premiering the film in Atlanta and not inviting Stephanie Mills, even though she was in town. When it became a bit of an issue, they asked her belatedly but she proudly declined attending. And Carlo is 100% right. Ledisi is the reason the song is in the public purview once again and the Grammy's missed a chance to give an under-the-radar performer a chance to stand in the spotlight in favor of someone who lives in it.

[carlo]

Thanks guys. This is from the Huffington Post Blog:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6666334

Dangerously in Denial
Kim Lute
Posted: 02/12/15 02:50 PM ET Updated: 5 hours ago
What Grammy viewers learned during Sunday's telecast was that the contestation between artists isn't exclusive to records sold or critically acclaimed reviews. After seeing Beyoncé [[as well as her much talked about cast of put-upon black men) fumble and falter her way through Mahalia Jackson's classic, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," which was performed brilliantly by vocalist Ledisi on the Selma soundtrack, it can now be argued that artists aren't merely tossing about their faux manes, they're also throwing around their supposed professional clout. Good manners be damned. Never mind that Ledisi delivered the classic hymn with both thrilling exactitude and a visceral gospel heft reserved for those singers whose careers rightfully dominate America's musical cannon. That the song is so closely associated with a film that captured man's inhumanity to man, the misguide belief that what's black is decidedly less than, and what is lighter is inherently better, worthier of praise and advancement, was given to a lighter singer over a darker one shows just how pervasive racial idolization remains in American culture.

Beyoncé wanted to sing it, and we did not breathlessly await her performance as much as we were left to grudgingly endure it. Through much of her awkward rendition I found myself praying that our precious Lord would take the mic.

But I digress. There's a larger issue at play than just the swapping of one great singer for another less talented but more popular one. Ledisi, with a crown of enviable braids and beautiful dark skin, was passed over by an artist whose nose job, ten pounds of blonde hair, and suspiciously alabaster skin has no doubt aided in her ascent to the top. What perhaps Beyoncé and Grammy producers failed to realized [[the producers can feign ignorance while Queen Bey, a black woman, cannot) was that this was a moment of distinct sensitivity and consequence. The performance of this iconic song, of which Beyoncé and her family apparently believes is uniquely theirs alone -- though it's sung almost universally at black funerals and churches -- should have been fraught with significance. Ledisi, who introduced it to a whole new generation with such beauty and gravitas should have been invited to sing it, not a socially constructed pop star famous this past year for her ability to surfboard, a pop star that wasn't in the movie or on the soundtrack. And if, as Beyoncé contends, this song means so very much to her why hasn't she sung it on any of her 200 albums? Could her performance have merely hinted at an exaggerated sense of self-worth that led her to steal another artist's moment to shine?

According to Common -- who did act in Selma, and John Legend, who both ashamedly consigned such magnificent vulgarity by retorting, "No one says no to Beyoncé" -- showcasing one's talents is for the powerful, and maybe even the feared. Not only should they be ashamed of robbing Ledisi of her chance to perform before a vast, rapt audience, but Common and John Legend should be embarrassed that one person [[or "camp") caused them to make a decision that put their character under the glaring, and yes, unforgiving, eye of the public.

Is this what R&B has come to: cowering to the lightest among us?

There's a pattern here worth addressing. Did Beyoncé not learn her lesson when she famously accepted an offer to sing Etta James' classic "At Last" during Obama's first presidential inauguration, and Ms. James took Beyoncé and her ego to task? Humility, Mrs. Carter, is a beautiful thing; it shows maturity, grace, and civility. And you my dear not only missed an opportunity to practice the tenets of which Martin Luther King Jr. espoused in Selma, but you had an opportunity to engage in an essential social commentary. We shouldn't be intimated by one another, and we certainly shouldn't allow a mostly white governing board to pit us against one another.

Beyonce's embarrassing and poorly planned performance was the collective fault of many. But I cant help but wonder if Ledisi was publicly slighted simply because she's not as light as a white peach, with thin, manufactured Puritan features. Is the message that Beyoncé wants to send to young girls the world over? That it's okay to always be the Diana Ross among your peer's Supremes? When you can't get by on merit or talent alone, take someone else's glory, and stand in angelic spotlight of your own creation, ruining a masterpiece simply because you wanted to wear a pretty dress and feel the fans blow through your sewn-in locks? Now that the damage has been done, whether it was intentional or not, sincere apologies are in order. Surely, she who "rules the world" can make an earnest attempt at an apology. You can sing them or perform an interpretive dance. But if there was ever a time when one artist needed to take the stage in deference to another -- and Lord knows we know how much Beyoncé loves to take the stage -- it's now.

[Jerry Oz]

That was a remarkable piece, thanks for posting it. While reading it, I wondered who approached whom first about Beyoncé performing the song. Did she see it in the early stages and decide that was her opportunity to diversify her performance archive? Or did they consider it and decide that it would be wonderful if Beyoncé would to it before asking Ledisi to perform it?

Somehow, I imagine they asked her and she eagerly accepted, in which case I would give her a pass. If she knew that Ledisi was going to be asked to perform and decided that she wanted to do it instead, then she should check herself. But all of this sums up why I stopped watching the Grammys years ago. I'm interested in who wins, but less interested in performances by artists who don't need the career boost over equally talented artists who do.

[RossHolloway]

Tacky more on Beyonce, John Legend and Common's part.

[RossHolloway]

I guess you're not suppose to say anything bad about Beyonce....


http://youtu.be/rGxe83lXgJg

[carlo]

I also thought this was funny...

"Christians be like..."

https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10998250_10203754551328723_8205732229955894859_n.j pg?oh=15a710fd1ca5e191497d2433c29c9597&oe=558A5288

[marv2]

I also thought this was funny...

"Christians be like..."

https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10998250_10203754551328723_8205732229955894859_n.j pg?oh=15a710fd1ca5e191497d2433c29c9597&oe=558A5288

Carlo! Exactly!!!! LOL!

[marv2]

Shades of the producers premiering the film in Atlanta and not inviting Stephanie Mills, even though she was in town. When it became a bit of an issue, they asked her belatedly but she proudly declined attending. And Carlo is 100% right. Ledisi is the reason the song is in the public purview once again and the Grammy's missed a chance to give an under-the-radar performer a chance to stand in the spotlight in favor of someone who lives in it.


Jerry uh huh............

[nysister]

I guess you're not suppose to say anything bad about Beyonce....


http://youtu.be/rGxe83lXgJg

Sad to say you can't. Its not the Beygency its the Bee Hives that goes after anyone that is critical of the Queen Bee!