Ebony's surprising music poll: the best singers and rappers and the best Black song ever!

Ebony, June, 2002

LUTHER VANDROSS, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Boyz II Men, Kirk Franklin and a dead singer who has never been more alive--Tupac Shakur--scored heavily in a surprising EBONY Music Poll that highlighted the increasing excitement, volatility and fragmentation in the Black music world.

The EBONY Poll, which was announced in the April 2002 issue of the magazine and which drew large numbers of respondents from all sections of the country, is the latest indication of the excitement in the Black music world which is still, according to our respondents, evolving. The best indication of this perhaps was the sharp split in preferred music styles. Most respondents said their favorite type of music was rhythm and blues (44.8 percent of the respondents), followed by gospel, jazz, easy listening and hip-hop.

There was no clear winner in the top contemporary female singer category, but Patti LaBelle received 17.6 percent of the ballots, contrasted with 16 percent for Gladys Knight, 15.5 percent for Whitney Houston, 11 percent for Anita Baker and 9.3 percent for Mary J. Blige. Bilge easily outdistanced the competition in the favorite female rap/hip-hop artist. The favorite male rap/hip-hop artist was Tupac Shakur (29.1 percent), followed closely by LL Cool J (22 percent). Tupac Shakur, who was assassinated six years ago, was also named the best rapper of all time, but Will Smith and LL Cool J received strong support. Despite the interest in rap music, most respondents said rap lyrics are too vulgar.

Vandross was the choice as the favorite contemporary male singer, receiving 36.4 percent of the votes. No one received a clear majority in the best male singer of all time category, which was skewed statistically by the number of "other" votes and wasted split votes. Vandross received 29.1 percent of the votes, Marvin Gaye (24.8 percent) and Nat King Cole (18.4 percent). One respondent said it was impossible to make a single choice in the category because "each singer is unique and is the expression of a different time."

In the best female singer of all time category, Aretha Franklin was a runaway winner (50.2 percent), followed by Gladys Knight, and the classic American pop/jazz singers Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.

The favorite male and female gospel artists were Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams, respectively. The best male group of all time was the Temptations. The best female group of all time was the Supremes. Boyz II Men was the heavy favorite (65.1 percent) in the male contemporary group, and Destiny's Child (35.9 percent) and TLC (34.9 percent) led the favorite contemporary female group category.

What is the greatest pop/R&B song of all time?

"What's Goin' On?" according to most of the respondents, but a lot of people out there are still humming "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," "Billie Jean," and "Purple Rain." There was no competition at all for the best Black-oriented composition of all time. "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" won with 75 percent of the votes.

Demographics and recent publicity played a role in the results which were determined in part by large numbers of responses from female readers (89.3 percent), men and women in the 21 to 34 (26.8 percent) and 35 to 50 (34.4 percent) age categories.

Here are the surprising highlights of the poll.

POLL RESULTS:

BEST MALE SINGER
OF ALL TIME

* Luther Vandross       29.1
Marvin Gaye             24.8
Nat King Cole           18.4
Stevie Wonder            7.4
Sam Cooke                5.8

BEST FEMALE POP/SOUL
SINGER OF ALL TIME

* Aretha Franklin       50.2
Gladys Knight           16.4
Ella Fitzgerald         11.0
Billie Holiday           7.9
Sarah Vaughan            4.9

FAVORITE
CONTEMPORARY
MALE SINGER

* Luther Vandross       36.4
Michael Jackson         14.7
Barry White             11.1
Maxwell                  8.3
Babyface                 6.9

FAVORITE
CONTEMPORARY
FEMALE SINGER

* Patti LaBelle         17.6
Gladys Knight           16.0
Whitney Houston         15.5
Anita Baker             11.0
Mary J. Blige            9.3

FAVORITE TYPE
OF MUSIC IS

* Rhythm & Blues        44.8
Gospel                  21.2
Jazz                     9.9
Easy Listening           9.2
Hip-Hop                  6.5

FAVORITE MALE
RAP/HIP-HOP ACT

* Tupac Shakur          23.9
LL Cool J               22.0
Sean (P. Diddy) Combs   13.2
Jay-z                    8.9
Snoop Dogg               8.8

FAVORITE FEMALE
RAP/HIP-HOP ACT

* Mary J. Blige         33.1
Queen Latifah           19.0
Lauryn Hill             17.3
Missy Elliott           11.5
Salt `n' Pepa            7.8

BEST RAPPER
OF ALL TIME

* Tupac Shakur          27.3
Will Smith              19.6
LL Cool J               18.2
Notorious B.I.G.        11.2
Ice Cube                 6.7

BEST MALE GROUP
OF ALL TIME

* The Tempatations      33.1
The Commodores          20.2
Earth, Wind & Fire      14.7
The O'Jays              10.4
The Jackson 5            8.2

BEST FEMALE GROUP
OF ALL TIME

* The Supremes          40.5
En Vogue                23.7
Destiny's Child         12.4
Martha Reeves
and The Vandellas        9.8

FAVORITE CONTEMPORARY
MALE GROUP

* Boyz II Men           65.1
Jagged Edge             19.3
112                     11.5

FAVORITE CONTEMPORARY
FEMALE GROUP

* Destiny's Child       35.9
TLC                     34.9
En Vogue                27.3

FAVORITE FEMALE
GOSPEL ARTIST

* Yolanda Adams         36.0
Shirley Caesar          28.6
Cece Winans             23.8
Albertina Walker         9.2

FAVORITE MALE
GOSPEL ARTIST

* Kirk Franklin         46.1
Donnie McClurkin        20.7
Bebe Winans             16.6
Fred Hammond             7.3
Hezekiah Walker          6.2

FAVORITE OPERA STAR

* Kathleen Battle       30.7
Jessye Norman           30.0
Barbara Hendricks       19.7
Denyce Graves           16.9

FAVORITE LOVE SONG

* "Here And Now"        18.7
"Let's Stay Together"   12.0
"Lovin' You"            11.1
"Neither One of Us"     10.7
"Three Times A Lady"     8.6

FAVORITE JAZZ
COMPOSITION

* "Take The `A' Train"  33.3
"Round Midnight"        18.6
"Solitude"              15.4
"A Love Supreme"        12.8
"Kind of Blue"           8.8

GREATEST POP/R&B SONG
OF ALL TIME IS

* "What's Goin' On?"    28.0
"Greatest Love of All"  14.1
"Respect"               13.1
"Ain't No Mountain
High Enough"            10.1
"I Heard It Through
The Grapevine"           9.6

GREATEST GOSPEL SONG

* "Precious Lord"       38.7
"O Happy Day"           27.8
"We Fall Down"          21.2
"How I Got Ovah"         7.8

BEST BLACK-ORIENTED
COMPOSITION OF ALL TIME IS

* "Lift Ev'ry Voice
and Sing"               75.5
"Every Day I Have The
Blues"                   8.9
"Strange Fruit"          8.2
"Take The A Train"       6.7

RAP LYRICS

* Are Too Vulgar        47.3
Reflect crises of our
times                   38.0
Are right on target      8.1
Are too loud             6.6