SoundScan Shock!
Soundscan freaked me out today, man! I agree on the majority of things Nelly’s saying in this video (scroll down to see it), but Billboard made me think today about how hard it is to sell music these days. Walk with me for a sec.
LL Cool J (DefJam’s first artist, a hip hop icon, a mega seller in his prime) dropped his 13th and last album today, charting at #9 with less than 45K units. Yes, physical and digital units. I wasn’t expecting a number 1 entry, but he scanned less than new-comer Solange (46K) and less than teen favorite Ashlee Simpson’s last effort (44K). This dude has a long history. A huge fan base. One that’s all grown up, I guess. Maybe no one knew. LL couldn’t be found on the internet anywhere while promoting ‘Exit 13′. I heard one or two radio interviews posted on AllHipHop.com by Illseed, but he was talking about his new clothing line and acting career more than about his music.
His first single ‘Baby’, written by hit machine The-Dream didn’t get much traction. I haven’t seen a video for it. Is there a video?! (Quickly Googling for the video) Oh shit, there is one! It’s closing in on 3 million views. Ouch! The-Dream is going into the first verse with “Request your song… Request your song…” What?! Where?! On the radio?! Are you serious?!
What about Kardinal Offishall? The rap talent from Canada. He’s signed by Akon, the “hook-king”! I know what you’re thinking. Stop it! I saw the video from a different angle – he didn’t hit a fan again. Hook as in chorus, hater… Kardi and Akon were all over the airwaves with ‘Dangerous’. Be honest, you couldn’t get that song out of your head either. It was a monster. His Interscope, yes INTERSCOPE(!) debut sold little over 11K units, landing him a #40 entry. Whaaaat?! Damn shame… He had mixtapes out there. He had exposure on NahRight, Real Talk NY, Hood Hype, OnSmash, Marcus Troy… That’s not bad. It wasn’t hype though.
Did you notice how good Wayne is doing? Now THAT was a hype! One million plus in the first week. CIII is at 2,5 million units in just 14 weeks and still in the top 10. Steadily selling 45K – 50K a week. It was years of building the hype. People were craving for CIII. It’s no wonder he want’s do drop CIV off the back of this monster, before it dies down. Besides the obvious that dude is very talented, and incredibly focused… He’s a true rock star, not giving a fuck about awards, media or what people say. He’s just working. Around the clock. Is this the way to go? Is this the new marketing? He has a few endorsements here and there: his own brand of champagne, Strapped condoms, Bape clothing and I suspect a deal (either in place or in the making) with Supra shoes. And while working this album and on new material for CIV, which has been pushed to April ‘09, he’s doing videos with T-Pain, David Banner, Kevin Rudolf, Solange, fucking errbody maaan…. A collabo album with T-Pain on the way (T-Wayne), too…
Is this the way to go now? Is it going to back fire like it did with Fiddy? How long is a rapper’s career? When do you transition to a different genre IF you want to stay in music? Do you get what you can get and get the fuck out? Go into producing films? Into real estate? Jay-Z’s last 3 joints didn’t sell much, but he still wheeled in $150 million from Live Nation for a 10 year deal. TEN YEARS. I don’t wanna see a 48 yo Mr. Carter on stage, so there must be more to the deal than we think. Is The Game the smartest dude right now? Three records in and leaving the game? He damn sure didn’t bring the west coast back…
Dude I got my eye on right now is Charles Hamilton. “Musician. Producer. Songwriter. Lyricist. Psycho. Hippie. Genius.” says his MySpace. Okay… He’s got his own image (=good) with them damn pink head phones and an obsession with Disney characters, but still… He’s getting noticed by blogs and websites (= good), releasing a lot of material (=good) offering his music for free (=good) through various online partners (=good) exclusively one at a time (= a great marketing strategy). He’s just doing mixtapes now. A full leangth album isn’t even scheduled yet. Let people discover him at some point… Let people get familiar with his sound… Let people slowly figure out whether they like him or not… Let people decide if they want to spend their dollars on his stuff, his brand, his shows and whatever else he’s going to offer and endorse. I’m not saying he’s what Neo was to The Matrix, but it’s an interesting developing experiment.
Nelly’s full video:
2. Young Jeezy – 89,941 (89,941)
7. The Game – 49,241 (377,100)
8. Lil Wayne – 47,345 (2,409,995)
9. LL Cool J – 43,762 (43,762)
40. Kardinal Offishall – 11,869 (11,869)
Filed under: industry news, news flash, the industry | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bape, billboard, blogs, branding, charles hamilton, charts, clothing, defjam, free, hype, internet, interscope, jay-z, leaks, lil wayne, ll cool j, marketing, mixtapes, nelly, selling music, shock, soundscan, Supra, the game, The-Dream, young jeezy
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