I must say this, 691K is never a "loss" in pop music period! I will admit that the combination of waning interest, public displays of sensitivity, and a lukewarm album are the reason he didnt break 1.1M first week sales of The Massacre, however, his public tirades against 'Ye made that 957K possible. Dont get me wrong, 'Ye might be the Jesus Christ Superstar of post-millenial hip hop, but we all know that no amount of gimickry, street cred, or bds spins can beat old-fashioned anticipation; and thats just what Curtis did. His dramatic interviews and soundbytes make us care about these two releases. Sad part is, he hipped the world to the fact the 'Ye had an utterly awesome album under his belt and built the fever pitch against himself.
To all those who thought 50 would trump 'Ye, I ain't mad at ya.
To those who thought 50 would catch a complete brick,
Unless Interscope folds, Dre TRULY retires from his extended vacay, and Eminem starts writing books about fatherhood in the vein of "The Cos", 50 will NEVER BRICK. On Get Rich or Die Trying, 50 Cent convinced White America that he was the face of the streets, single-handedly brought fitness back to the hood despite a McDonalds on every corner, made everyone from Ivy Leaguers to D-Boys nationwide believe Many Men wished death on them, sold 2M in India alone, and garnered the seal of approval from the two biggest entities in Hip Hop left of Jay & Nelly. [In case you forgot, the thumbs up from Marshall and Andre made Obie Trice go gold twice, and D12 multiplatinum] And as much as y'all hate, The Massacre spawned Disco Inferno, Outta Control & Just A Lil Bit.
Now to speak to the relevance of 50's market. Suburban & rural White America comprises 70% of this nation. Is it any wonder that he does Hannah Montana numbers!?
Mr. West, on the other hand, might have finally developed the necessary controversy and drama to move in on that coveted market.
The beauty of Kanye's icon status is that he has championed the niche market. By niche I mean, select cultural demographics within America's population that are not large enough to individually propel an artist to Nelly numbers, but will keep him visibly relevant and banking on tour. Examples include The Roots, Common & Talib Kweli, children of the Post-Native Tongues/Late 90's underground scene. Kanye is the king of the college students (dropouts & post-bacc med students alike), the 30+ y/o golden-agers (who were us, ten years ago) that hate snap and loathe uber-violence, trend humpers & streetwear fashionists or former backpackers-turned-capitalists (myself) , skate/rap pre-teens, the black bourgeouis (talented 10th), and select hoods around the states. Whereas this collaborative market has kept Com' with grammy noms and solid sub-platinum numbers; Kanye has been able to combine this group with media-freak status and Time/Rolling Stones critical acclaim to bat 2-3M every time.
50 has no real footing on this turf, but when you're number #1 in the 'burbs and middle America, you cant go wrong. This distinction is the difference between 50's combined first week numbers of 1.9M for Get Rich and Massacre and Ye's combined 1.3M for Dropout and Registration resulting in US sales of 15M for 50 and 5M for Kanye.
Realistically, Kanye is to be commended for striking multi-platinum in a realm where his peers (Mos Def & Common) have made their money of tours and endorsements, not units; but 50 Cent is a beast. Kanye may put the greatest effort into his product, but 50 does the best job of product placement. And to really keep it funky, this 1st week may honestly not reflect the final numbers once the dust settles.
I'm putting all my chips on the Good Life single tho... if that dont draw like In Da Club, I might just be deaf, dumb and blind. If 'Ye dont start doing High School Musical numbers this is what we might be left with...
"I don't believe Cam'ron, I don't believe Jim Jones, I don't believe Lil Wayne, I don't believe Baby, I don't believe Game and I don't believe Fat Joe. My best friend sells the most records and makes the most money ... I've seen checks for $5.5 million that 50 is generating monthly just from Vitamin Water," he stated. I could call 50 right now and borrow $5 million dollars. It's not a problem.
This new album, I'm calling it 'I'm 50 Cent's Tax Write-Off.' I really don't care if it sells or generates any money towards Interscope, because Interscope only cares about three people: Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. I'm not going to sit here and grow gray hairs over it. I'm gonna give you the best music possible because 50 is going to make sure I'm all right. I can do five shows with 50 and make over $100,000 being his hypeman. So me going on tour with 50, I can generate millions of dollars that a artist would make doing shows off their own album."
-Tony Yayo
1 comment:
He flopped. Plain and simple. He won't go 2x even with Timbaland, Justin, Dre, Em, Dustin Hoffman, Robin Thicke, Mary J, and others on his budget.
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