What do you think of frum, female artists who put out a CD?

honeymoon

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 8:50 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

I also want to add that there needs to be a Taylor Swift of frum music. The boys have the Maccabeats and 613, but what do the girls have to bop to? My DD loves to sing, and it would have meant a lot to her if she had a frum role model who was fresh and relatable.

This. I always felt guilty listening to some of Taylor Swift's songs because of the content but couldn't find any Jewish female singer who sang half as beautiful. There are plenty male singers who can rival those in the secular world yet there are few, if any, Jewish female singers who fill the need of our musically talented youth. I think, as someone mentioned above, it is so because there are very few talented female singers who actually go public.

So I actually think that frum females singing publicly (within the realms of halacha, obviously) are doing a service to our young, impressionable girls who might choose to listen to their music over non Jewish singers.

amother

Orange

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 9:10 am

LovesHashem wrote:

I don't find they measure up honestly as a whole.
But then again I don't find the male singers measure up either; so go figure.
I do think it's slightly embarrassing when anyone - male or female puts out a song with lyrics a 3rd grader could of wrote with a tune that you've heard 5000 times before.

If you are interested I suggest you cultivate your own sense of style, and get someone creative and good to help write the songs.

Let's talk about the positives! Here's some people I think are really cool and unique:

Judith Gerzi: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/judithgerzi#
Julia Blum: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/juliablum (The famous Princess song)
Rivky Saxon: (Young teen who does a bit rock. I think she needs some more experience but she has potential) http://rivkysaxon.com/
Tofaah Band: https://www.tofaah-jewish-music.com/

Also bulletproof stockings - Chabad rock band
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zko8teqeSbA
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7KLe7w48Wrk

As a girl I loved julia Blum - I saw her perform multiple times and never got tired of her story.
Also Kineret.
They were great entertainers live but I don’t know how that translated to cd.

The day camps my girls go to put out these fun cds with the camp songs professionally recorded and they are so much fun. Sometimes more do then the professional cds put out.

LovesHashem

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 9:33 am

urban gypsy wrote:

You make good points, but this happens because frum singers are unable to cultivate their own sense of style if they are listening to only frum music, because it is the same type of stuff recycled over and over. My above response was referring to singing only, not songwriting/composing, which is a whole different topic.

Side note, I've always wondered, why is it okay for Bais Yaakov and other frum productions to use popular secular songs, set them to 3rd-grade level cringey lyrics, and pass that off as frum entertainment? Who are the sacrificial lambs who listen to the radio to gather ideas for new songs on their behalf to save the frum community from listening to them? A mystery...

It's not about style at all. That's a separate issue.
Lyrics can be good or bad. You need a good writer for that.

Here's an example of a song that I think has pretty good lyrics for a frum song

There's a part:

But here I am,
drowning in the madness of mortal man,
picking up the rhythm of the master plan
my every breath is in His hand

Which although is a simple rhyme; the other words in the paragraph give it more complexity. The tune in this part is also a buildup and it blends together perfectly IMHO
In a badly written song it would go something like:

But here I am
I'm just a simple man
I know Hashem Has a master plan
And he is carrying me in his hand.

Concerning your second point, the Bait Yaakovs in Israel are much stricter, my school personally wouldn't let us use Yaakov Shwekey's "Et Rikod" for a dance since it the tune was deemed "sounds too secular and promotes improper dancing".

bigsis144

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 9:34 am

Shaindel Antelis
Devorah Schwartz
Franciska
Esther Freeman

I am not a singer myself, but I have been involved in the frum arts for pretty much my whole life... I wish I liked the music being put out by frum female artists more! From the bottom of my heart, I believe in what they are doing and I am proud of their passion and I want to support them.

LovesHashem

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 9:36 am

bigsis144 wrote:

Franciska
Esther Freeman

Forgot to mention these two! Esther Freeman only has a few singles and some are really old ones that are TERRIBLE sound quality but I love her voice and her vibe and just don't care!

Her newer singles are professional quality.

Ema of 5

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 9:38 am

amother [ Orange ] wrote:

Are they still around?

urban gypsy

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 10:00 am

LovesHashem wrote:

It's not about style at all. That's a separate issue.
Lyrics can be good or bad. You need a good writer for that.

Concerning your second point, the Bait Yaakovs in Israel are much stricter, my school personally wouldn't let us use Yaakov Shwekey's "Et Rikod" for a dance since it the tune was deemed "sounds too secular and promotes improper dancing".

I was referring to overall musical style. I don't know that there are styles of Jewish music beyond "fast" and "slow" though this is likely a lack of information on my part.

I agree that it's a holistic thing, there is a synergy between lyrics and music. Often simpler is better. The great punk musician Iggy Pop said that a song should not have more than 10 words repeating and his music is awesome.

In my Bais Yaakov we learned that music that makes you want to bop up and down is assur, and music that makes you want to sway calmly is muttar. Sort of tongue in cheek but that was a very cute rule of thumb I must say.

LovesHashem

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 10:07 am

urban gypsy wrote:

There definitely all! There's Nissim Black, Zusha, Alex Clare, just to name a few of the newer more unique styles in the frum music scene. 8th day has many songs that can be called country, and I've heard some jazzy songs in the frum scene too lately.

urban gypsy

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 10:11 am

LovesHashem wrote:

I would say they are just copying secular styles of music though.

LovesHashem

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 10:19 am

urban gypsy wrote:

I would say they are just copying secular styles of music though.

There's nothing new under the sun.
Perhaps they copy different styles, but they write their own music and create the tunes, and with that they become theirs. Through years of doing this one cultivates a more unique style.

urban gypsy

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 10:26 am

LovesHashem wrote:

I agree. The only really new/fresh styles grow out of combining things that have never been put together before.

amother

Royalblue

Mon, Oct 07 2019, 10:51 am

urban gypsy wrote:

I agree. The only really new/fresh styles grow out of combining things that have never been put together before.

I think it would be cool if someone did a frum classic (deliberately unoriginal) take on modern songs, like a Postmodern Jukebox style album.