Black Artists vs. Adele: Album Sales in 2015

Discussion in 'Music and Podcasts' started by Nigerian Prince, Oct 30, 2015.

  1. Nigerian Prince

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    So I just got into a passionate discussion offline with some buddies from Cypher Avenue (S/O to the original activity stream squad lol) talking about Adele and her album sales for her upcoming LP, '25.' She is on pace to sell anywhere from 1.3 to 1.8 million albums in the first week just based on pre-sales alone! She will break the record for highest sales for a female solo artists since Britney Speaks dropped her album, 'Oops I Did It, Again,' in the early 2000s, which sold 1.32 million copies in the first week alone!

    I was talking to my guys about how it is so crazy that someone like Adele can come along and basically take over the music industry while black artists (more so singers than rappers) are STRUGGLING out here. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of talent and I do believe that she has plenty of it. I like her song "Hello" and the music video starring my man Mack Wilds (looking too good in there... but uh uhm-hmm anyway lol back to what I was saying). I was wondering why it is like black artists make good music that people can feel too but they just do not sell like their white counterparts (see: Eminem, Sam Smith, Adele, Macklemore, etc). There are exceptions to the rule like I told my guys in artists like Drake, J. Cole, Future, Kendrick Lamar and a few select other rappers. Even though those rappers have had strong 1st week album sales debuts, the majority of those buyers are White people. The majority of attendees of tours for many rap artists are White people.

    One of my guys said you can't compare rap artists to Adele but I honestly think you can when speaking on the rappers that have more of a mainstream appeal (see: Future & Drake) or those that have a large following (see: Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole).

    You also have the conversation when it comes to R&B/Soul and comparing artists like the Sam Smith and the Adele to other black artists like Tyrese and Syleena Johnson. I have to agree with a point made by Tyrese on The Breakfast Club Radio Show when he discussed how the gatekeepers (white people) keep the doors closed to black artists when it comes to them being able to really break them on larger platforms. In the meanwhile, black radio keeps the doors WIDE open for white artists that dibble and dabble in R&B and hip-hop music. You're more likely to hear Robin Thicke, Adele, and Sam Smith on black radio than you are to hear Mary J. Blige, Tyrese and Jhene Aiko on white radio. It is what it is.

    So tell me....

    Why do you think black artists don't sell like they used to back in the 90s and early (& mid) 2000s?

    Does it have to do with piracy?

    Do white people have more money to spend on music compared to other minority populations?

    Do other races generally support their respective genres of music when it comes to albums and/or tours?

    What do YOU think?

    Sound off below!
     
  2. OckyDub

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  3. ControlledXaos

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    Taylor's Bad Blood remix with Kendrick.... Only heard it on pop stations. Not once on hip hop stations. Which is interesting because Katy Perry's Dark Horse remix and ET remix did get a fair amount of urban plays. Meanwhile Kendrick dominates the Taylor's track. She just sings the chorus and bridge.

    I really think it boils down to promoting these artists across different stations. That or there's a lot of segregation trying to make these stations fit whatever the "your home for pop and top 40" or "the numba one station in the streets"

    Gone are the days of an artists trying to get a DJ to play your song. It's the same 35 tracks over and over so even if you called the radio station to request a song you probably won't hear it if it's not in the top 50.
     
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  4. OhSheit

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    It's a lot. Marketing, record labels, radio bias, piracy, streaming, white folks have more money to spend and social media presence.

    Most Rap artists have pretty loyal fan bases and reach many demographics so it's no surprising when you see them have great sales.

    Rihanna and BEYONCE are all the general public/white folks need, but they're pop stars so they're not even exceptions to me, they don't count at all IMO. Black folks that I see on social media seem like they only want to see ONE black artist succeed at a time or at all. Always fighting over the net but never putting the money up when it counts. White folks get involved in that stuff too but they at least have the money to back all the foolishness they do.
     
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  5. Nigerian Prince

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    As blunt as my man Tyrese is, He is right. If a white artist sang that, it will go at least top 40. So true.
     
  6. Nigerian Prince

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    I know what you mean about Taylor's song versus Katy Perry's record. Hip-hop stations stayed playing the ET remix. And yes segregation plays a HUGE role. It's the gatekeepers man. As far as black artists that have urban music getting play on Top 40 radio, if they are not a rapper, you pretty much have: Chris Brown & Trey Songz. Then outside of those males, for females you have: Beyonce, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. But that's pretty much it. And the records from them being played on Top 40 usually are "pop", EDM or have some type of hip-hop spin on it.
     
  7. Nigerian Prince

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    Yes sir! That crab in the barrel mentality. There can be only one: 1) dark-skinned chick (see Kelly Rowland), 2) female MC (see Nicki Minaj), 3) male R&B/hip-hop singer with crossover appeal (see: Chris Brown then AFTER the 2009 incident, in comes Trey Songz taking that spot until Breezy drops the critcally-acclaimed and commercially successful 'F.A.M.E.' LP) and the list goes on and on and on.
     
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  8. OhSheit

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    I hate it. The whole stan world is a fucked up place lol.
     
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  9. OhSheit

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    Oh and about Adele... I like home girl but tell me why Jazmine Sullivan's Reality Show wasn't the new 21 or whatever? I could definitely see certain songs on her album being HUGE if Adele sung them. And every R&B songstress has had a "Hello" in their discography, it's nothing special.
     
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  10. SB3

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    Quite frankly, white ppl dont need us! Hip hop is its own situation, but as for RnB, its a wrap. Sam Smith is doing exactly what Tyrese and Tank has done (including his sound) for years, and Adele is doing exactly what _____ (insert female real RnB singer here) has been doing for years.

    The diff is that, theyre white, so white ppl pay attention to them. And, in turn, support them. Adele and Sam have huge machines behind them pushing them as 'the elusive' blue eyed soul acts.

    Also, black ppl suck in general at supporting our own, and would be the first ones to call a black RnB singer irrelevant, because they dont have the same machines behind them. The first ones talking about how they didnt get the last job they applied for because theyre black, but acting like the RnB singer's story is different.
     
  11. BlackguyExecutive

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    Its demographics. The Pop genre is just easy to promote and sell. Pop music is by nature less explicit so therefore more marketable to the masses.
     
  12. SB3

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    True, but what makes an Adele or Sam pop, is their race. They're singing RnB/Soul ballads at the end of the day.
     
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  13. BlackExcellence

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    Overall the whole music industry is hurting mainly from piracy, streaming, and iTunes and of course this hurts black artist harder. I think the 90s/early 2000s were an anomaly when black music was mega popular but we are back to normal.
     
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