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Blogger explains why he thinks Beyonce's The Greatest Diva Of All time

billyworld99

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Today, I am going to argue that Beyoncé is indeed the greatest diva of all time. I admit, there are and have been divas of yesterday, last week, and right now who are stronger in areas where Beyoncé is lacking: Mary J. Blige’s music is more raw and personal; Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin are arguably better singers; Janet Jackson & Ciara are better dancers; Mariah Carey’s vocal range is out of control; and Diana Ross set the standard for diva attitude and glamour. But individual skill in particular areas does not the greatest diva make.

We have to look at not just her individual talents, but at Beyoncé as a whole package. Beyonce is a good dancer, an even better singer, and an amazingle out of this world performer. Beyoncé’s greatest asset is combining these strengths, which alone might not make her so impressive. Beyoncé has also created a brand, one that she’s been building since her days in Destiny’s Child. She represents female power and self-determination, but not in a way that alienates certain audiences: her type of feminism does not intimidate those who think feminism is a dirty word.

Dually, she does not present her sexuality in a way that is demeaning or that would be frowned on by feminists. Though she does at times give in to some traditional gendered power structures, (in Upgrade U, she says: “I can do for you what Martin did for the people/ran by the men but the women keep the tempo,”) she maintains the idea that the woman’s role is essentially equally (if not more) important. But what is so special about her brand of female power is that is it uniquely feminine. Too often are strong women, particularly strong black women, looked upon in society as having masculine traits because of their strength. Beyoncé turns this view on its head so the strength she presents isn’t secondary to that of a man—it stands alone and is still feminine. Most importantly, watching her makes you feel this power.

No other so-called diva has ever been able to mesh sexuality, femininity, and strength in this way. We challenge you to think of one diva that has. Beyoncé is the greatest diva of all time because she has redefined the meaning of “The Diva.” No longer is she one dimensional, overly pampered and frivolous: she is strong and decisive, yet glamorous. She makes her own money, and she is a real woman.

fromthatgrapjuice.net
 
Beyonce has yet to write any song which can be thought up as relevant, so in my view, she is indeed quite frivolous. Is she strong, or does she merely portray this image through music? She hasn't done anything which can be considered either revolutionary or great--all she's done is dance to the popular tune and blend in with the rest of her contemporaries.

Moreover, she's a product of the late 90s and 2000s, it's completely asinine to compare her to the likes of Aretha Franklin, whose career was established during a time when feminism as a movement was just beginning to emerge (not to mention the civil rights movement for African-Americans.) Beyonce, by contrast, started her career in the late 1990s, well after all three "waves" of feminism (1920s--suffrage, 1960s--equal rights, and 1990s--secondary issues, respectively) took place, along with the breaking of racial barriers in the music industry, which did not truly occur until the 1980s with Michael Jackson. I would hope we would have seen an improvement in the way musical artists are received and portray feminist views by now. Furthermore, feminism in regards to female sexuality wasn't really an issue until the late 1970s and most markedly the 1980s, with the infamous "Feminist Sex Wars" debates. This was well after Franklin's main era and generation, the 1960s. You can't compare a woman who was born in 1942 and who not only had to face sexism but also racism, and yet built a legendary career, to one who was born forty years later with all the civil rights previous generations fought to gain. The same could be said about any Beyonce/Gladys Knight comparisons.

Comparing her to Ciara (b.1985), who is closer to being her peer, seems to be a better match.

Janet Jackson (b.1966), Mariah Carey (1970) and Mary J. Blige (b.1971) would also be ill-suited comparisons because of the generational gap between them and Beyonce--ten years, during which a lot of attitudes and perspectives have changed.

There are many complex factors, which the blogger refuses to address, and he or she seems blatantly ignorant about the history of feminism and culture. Perhaps the most inappropriate fancy is in saying Beyonce Knowles is a greater diva than Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin.

I would go along with saying Beyonce is the greatest diva of modern times, but by no means "of all time." The very notion seems ridiculous, as there is really not much which sets her apart from the rest of her peers, both through her music and in her personal life.
 
Mikage Souji said:
Beyonce has yet to write any song which can be thought up as relevant, so in my view, she is indeed quite frivolous. Is she strong, or does she merely portray this image through music? She hasn't done anything which can be considered either revolutionary or great--all she's done is dance to the popular tune and blend in with the rest of her contemporaries.

Moreover, she's a product of the late 90s and 2000s, it's completely asinine to compare her to the likes of Aretha Franklin, whose career was established during a time when feminism as a movement was just beginning to emerge (not to mention the civil rights movement for African-Americans.) Beyonce, by contrast, started her career in the late 1990s, well after all three "waves" of feminism (1920s--suffrage, 1960s--equal rights, and 1990s--secondary issues, respectively) took place, along with the breaking of racial barriers in the music industry, which did not truly occur until the 1980s with Michael Jackson. I would hope we would have seen an improvement in the way musical artists are received and portray feminist views by now. Furthermore, feminism in regards to female sexuality wasn't really an issue until the late 1970s and most markedly the 1980s, with the infamous "Feminist Sex Wars" debates. This was well after Franklin's main era and generation, the 1960s. You can't compare a woman who was born in 1942 and who not only had to face sexism but also racism, and yet built a legendary career, to one who was born forty years later with all the civil rights previous generations fought to gain. The same could be said about any Beyonce/Gladys Knight comparisons.

Comparing her to Ciara (b.1985), who is closer to being her peer, seems to be a better match.

Janet Jackson (b.1966), Mariah Carey (1970) and Mary J. Blige (b.1971) would also be ill-suited comparisons because of the generational gap between them and Beyonce--ten years, during which a lot of attitudes and perspectives have changed.

There are many complex factors, which the blogger refuses to address, and he or she seems blatantly ignorant about the history of feminism and culture. Perhaps the most inappropriate fancy is in saying Beyonce Knowles is a greater diva than Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin.

I would go along with saying Beyonce is the greatest diva of modern times, but by no means "of all time." The very notion seems ridiculous, as there is really not much which sets her apart from the rest of her peers, both through her music and in her personal life.
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I actually agree with you... Yes she is a damn good performer, has created a good brand for herself, a decent dancer and a good singer. I don't think she is the greatest though. To me nothing she has done has been revolutionary besides her image. She is great for her generation, but she isn't even heads above everyone in her generation. She hasn't surpassed Britney in terms of success and Lady GaGa s coming for her(she still has a way Togo though). In terms of more modern artst like Janet, and Madonna. She s a better singer than both but that's about it. They both are above her in terms of music, sales, and videos. Same goes for Mariah and Whitney in terms of sales and catalogue. Also, in that time period they had much more competition than she has had in her era. Now with Britney, GaGa and Rihanna to a lesser extent, we will see where she stands this next era. I actually like Beyonce but she isn't the greatest, especially against artist such as Aretha Fanklin.
 
She's a wonderful singer and has got stage presence. Unfortunately, her dancing tends to get a bit too erratic and exaggerated.. But where is Whitney Houston in that list? To me, easily the best female singer voice..like, ever. Up until '99 or so, anyhow..
 
got the makings to being something and yet she falls flat.

strong voice, however she over sings 1)

corny material that doesn't seperte her from the 4th and 5th tier acts 2)

can't seem to do much without jay z and crazy in love is all she really got as a good track imo 3)

film,music,modeling, known throughout the world and still not one signature song 4)

been around almost 15 years and i'm still waiting on everything to match the hype 5)
 
She's got many hits, so it would be unfair to say that not one song is memorable aside from 'Crazy In Love'. 'Baby Boy', "If I Were A Boy', 'Irreplaceable', 'Halo' are strong hits, se just hasn't scratched the surface too much as of yet. I feel that to be worthy of such a grand proclamation requires more music suchlike, whether she'll do this or not remains to be seen.

But I'm irked that there was no mention of Whitney on that article, really baffling to omit her..
 
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