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Hi - Never said she would have done a better job vocally, but yes, a JLo version would have sold more for sure. Get Right, One Thing, and Crazy in Love are all Rich Harrison songs. I believe Amerie worked with him first and with her being from D.C. the whole go go vibe was considered hers. Then, Bey came out with Crazy in Love and it seemed like highway robbery. It's one of the things other fanbases of RnB artists like Amerie have held against Beyonce for years. There are many youtube videos, articles and social threads dedicated to did Bey steal Amerie's sound and career. I don't think she did at all. It's the business. I say all this to say that not just JLo gets accused. I think it happens with success. Yes, Mimi associates with Jermaine Dupri (who produced her rnb hits after she divorced Tommy) and DaBrat who was Jermaine's artist and Brat considers him her brother. JLo is close with her team: Benny Medina (her manager - The Fresh Prince of Bellair is based on his life), her vocal coach Steve Mackey who went to my cousin's HBCU, and Shawn Barton who I remember from the Biggie video days. Both these ladies keep it small. Both are New Yorkers, are the same age, have dated their backup dancers and are extremely successful. They share friends in common too like MJB. I say had Tommy not gotten in the way, they would possibly be friends. Men!

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I just wanted to say her voice was better. I didn't think that was your point. Beyonce having sticky fingers when it comes to songs is something I had heard regarding "If I Was a Boy", but I had no idea about this whole stealing of Amerie's career conspiracy theory. When it comes to Beyonce and any other artist from TX, I'm biased even if they're not my personal favorite. Did Beyonce have a phase where she was mimicking? I recall her Shakira hip rolling before they did their collab. She's managed to make it more of an appreciation than taking ownership lately and I'm glad about that. Beyonce probably committed some sins, but she's from TX so I cannot give her much criticism. Same with Jessica Simpson, Willie Nelson etc. It's not that I am advocating for TX over everything, but it's just ingrained.

I just don't think Mimi would respect Jlo because the singing is not it. Besides, at one point she wasn't gelling with Whitney. Idk.

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Understood. Don't mess with Texas. LOL But who wasn't getting with Whitney? Mariah and Whitney started off rough because the industry tried to pit them against each other but they became friends at the end. I don't think JLo or Whitney knew each other like that to even have a problem. As for Bey mimicking, yeah, she was accused for years, probably every era until Lemonade. I still think alot of that is just when everyone works with the top people (songwriters, producers, stylists, artistic directors, etc.) there are bound to be similarities.

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They did find a way to friendship, but I feel like they had an Aretha rule about singing. I'm not saying I'm correct, but I think the professional respect would be low with Mimi and Jennifer. It's not common that light skilled singers inhabit the same space as real singers. However, Jlo conquered film and Mimi probably could have given her help. HOWEVER, Jlo was also stepping over boundaries with her dating of Diddy when he clearly had a girlfriend (she wore the stink more than he did and look at him now... still community property).I don't know about black celebrity women, but in regular life Jlo was not spoken of positively because of that. I enjoy her, but I just don't know that she's schmoozing and gathering a power clique like Gwyneth. I think Lainey has a point regarding how they keep it consistent and very tight without being showy.

I agree regarding the similarities of production creating similar outputs. The machine doesn't actually reward unique work.

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