By now, you may have already heard the new Whitney Houston song, “Never Give Up”. The song will be featured on her new greatest hits project I Will Always Love You- The Best of Whitney Houston. Considering she released Whitney- The Greatest Hits, a double disc that also featured rare remixes, in 2000, it will be interesting to see if fans will really buy into it. The CD also features the previously unreleased R. Kelly duet version of her hit “I Look To You”. Usually in the case of a greatest hits featuring a couple of new tracks, the new songs have to come out the gate slamming. In the case of “Never Give Up”, I’m not convinced. The song was produced by Jermaine Dupri, which isn’t bad considering his track record of hits. The melody is nice but it sounds like a scrapped song from one of Mariah Carey’s “Mimi” studio sessions. It even has that quick stutter sing rapping (think “Shake It Off”). That works for Mariah, not Whitney. Coming from an artist who brought such fire on songs like “I Will Always Love You”, “I Believe In You And Me” and even “I’m Your Baby Tonight”, the song just doesn’t fit her catalog. True, many have said that her voice was not the same anymore as it was on her classic hits….but whose voice is after 20 plus years??? Does the quality of music have to suffer? I think not.

“Never Give Up” does have an inspirational message though, which specifically speaks to the single mother and the student by day, dancer by night. Nevertheless, I think people will like it just because it’s something new from Whitney Houston. I probably won’t be buying the new CD since I already have her first greatest hits. Plus, I think that this is just a quick cash scheme to get rich and gain profit from another great talent gone too soon. There’s nothing wrong with releasing new music (I think every deceased artist’s record company does it at some point), but there’s a limit to any madness. An upcoming The Bodyguard inspired musical, book and the new reality show are a bit much for me. I just can’t stand to see people using someone else’s misfortune for financial gain. But it’s all in loving memory right? Ok, I digress. ***stepping off soap box now***

But seriously, it’s still so hard to believe Whitney Houston left this earth almost exactly 9 months ago. But her legacy still lives on….and always will. There’s no doubt she had one of the best voices of any generation and there’s nothing wrong with honoring such a powerhouse singer. But what is the fine line between honor and personal gain? Will you be buying the CD when it hits shelves tomorrow? What’s your favorite Whitney Houston song/moment?

In case you haven’t heard it yet, here’s “Never Give Up”.