Friday Fun

There's nothing I love more than sitting with my friends and talking about music. As the best and closest of my friends can attest, I have OPINIONS. Over the years, I've spent countless hours discussing all topics musical - what's your favorite Beatles song (Yesterday, always and forever), which ending of Violettas's aria from Traviata is the right one (clue: it's the E flat above high C - I don't care that it's not written), why Cyndi Lauper's career isn't as large as Madonna's (one that still baffles me) or who will be the next diva to come out of "retirement" (please let it be Tina Turner). 

But above all, I love introducing new music. With my group of friends, it's hard to be the first to discover a new artist or song, so maybe I can introduce a new-to-you artist instead.

Chante Moore has been around for over 20 years but has not really achieved the mainstream success she deserves. Her biggest hit is "Chante's Got A Man", a Top Ten song from 1999. 

A fun fact: The man she's referring to in this song is Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne Wayne from "A Different World", the Cosby spin-off) - she didn't have him much longer, as they divorced the next year.

Chante Moore is one of my favorites of the large group of singers I call "Mariahites" - pop/R&B female vocalists with multi-octave ranges that debuted after 1990. These's a ton of them, but Christina Aguilera is perhaps the most successful and Ariana Grande is the most recent. ANYWAY - Chante's voice has always reminded me of a mix of Diana Ross and Mariah - a pretty great combination!

Her most recent release, Moore is More from 2013, shows a maturity and range of musical styles not fully expressed on her earlier releases. I want to share two tracks that couldn't be more different. The first song is "On and On" -  a superb dance smash that wouldn't be out of place on any diva's CD and features a Nicki Minaj-ish rap by DaBrat (remember her?). The coloratura vocals at the bridge really lift the song to a new high, literally.

Chante is known for her ballads, and the next song, "Giving You My Always", is a perfect example. Here she sounds like a contender to fill the void left by Whitney Houston's passing. Something about this song vaguely reminds me of Beyonce's "Halo". I'm sure this will be a huge wedding song in years to come.

If you enjoyed either or both of these songs, I highly recommend the full album as well as her back catalog of releases. There's something for everyone - standards, gospel, more dance tracks, lots more ballads. If you don't have Spotify, you can listen to the full CD below. Thanks for reading/listening and have a great day!