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Love, Hip Hop and Olivia
By Ruthnie “JeanRae” Angrand for AllFanKind
What the VHI show has done for the singer is taken an independent artist’s music and put it on a platform where fans see what happens to an artist without glorified record label backing: praise-worthy, nose-to-the-floor-grinding production of good music as it was intended.
The VHI reality show Love and Hip Hop has caused fans to fall in love with classic Hip Hop stories of fighting your way to the top such as the case with Olivia’s music. Olivia has 21,585 fans and counting on Facebook, nearly 102,000 fans on Twitter whom she’s sparked curiosity from despite her super-controlled exterior. YouTube her remixes and features or loom around on www.oliviaworldwide.com to hear iPod-ready R&B: bright vocals, high note croons and straight-tones with controlled vibrato that fall in place to background keyboards, bells and whistles.
She, as an independent artist, has the challenge of telling us that she can make music outside of what we’ve heard. Pink did it. Fans don’t mind the switch as long as it is relevant and we can connect.
Olivia, like Beyonce and Pink, is needing to stage how we get to know her. The only thing I see her lacking is the solid punch through with her lyrics. Pink’s album Missundaztood connects with special graphic lyrics like “Just Like a Pill” or “Family Portrait.” Beyonce eventually expressed herself on I Am…Sasha Fierce. Olivia isn’t visible in her lyric structure singing in third person or ambiguously about heartbreak without mentioning specifics -but she’s trying. Just listen to her single from the Love and Hip Hop EP “Daddy’s Little Girl.”
Record labels don’t always know what to do with artists who change as she describes in an interview with Essence.com. The development of her onscreen personality helps place background to her stories and connects her with audiences in ways that the big guys couldn’t. More importantly, it doesn’t take away from the fact that she can sing, really sing. Fans appreciate that and want to hear more of it.
In her middle register, such as on “December” and “Deuces Remix,” Olivia is smooth and places the pitch where the feelings should be -carried on extended notes and vowels. More than “December,” more than the snippets of “Happened to Me,” but something like the Love and Hip Hop EP fans can hear on her website, with John Legend features and full development. On her EP she sings and swings her vocal on an outtro from Rich Dollaz and doesn’t sound like an out-of-place R&B ringer trying to rap. In Olivia’s case, rapping may have been her branded past but it is a unique and usable launching pad for her singing career. Her sound and appearance coupled with her “gangster girl” background make her an interesting character. So, to whomever needs to make it happen: more Olivia, please.
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