The Hits Daily Double Thread

by **Lehmann** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 6:49 am

NothingFails wrote:
Lehmann wrote:Usher should stop making shitty electro-pop songs.
I think its his association with Bieber that has hurt his credibility more than anything else... imagine if Alicia Keys or Beyonce took Rebecca Black on as a protege...

I personally have no problem with Usher working with Bieber - that doesn't really matter. What matters is that I don't feel that Usher is still urban act, as he was in early/mid 00s, so I lost my interest in him. Leave electro-pop for Guetta and make real music.

by **Timmy94** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:29 pm

@NothingFails: And where was the problem with Justin Timberlake? I'd say that Futuresex/Lovesounds is straight RNB... I don't own Justified but the album also definately had a RNB-vibe: Like I Love You and Cry Me A River were RNB, while Rock Your Body and Senorita were Funk-fusioned and Latin-fusioned RNB/pop respectively...

by **GUS** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 1:36 pm

NothingFails wrote:
borneoman wrote:what damaged Usher was moving from r'n'b to Guetta-pop. Songs like OMG or Sweat might sell cazillions of downloads but they're cheap and a bit of a sell-out imho cannot compared to past songs like My Boo or the whole Confessions era
am I the only person who likes him better now? I thought the Confessions music was garbage. I remember thinking how Confessions Pt. 2 sounded like he was just making a song up on the spot and how it had zero melody. The songs he has out now I can enjoy.

He just needs to stop hanging out with Bieber, it does not look "cool".

John this time I disagree with you. I am a big R&B / hip hop fan and I consider the "Confessions" album a gem of modern R&B. These electropop new songs turn me off of Usher's music and I lose interest TBH.
To me this Guetta type of songs have no soul.
The Bieber thing is a factor but not that important. I don't like it but let's face it, he's much better than Rebecca Black for instance.

by **NothingFails** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 6:17 pm

Timmy94 wrote:@NothingFails: And where was the problem with Justin Timberlake? I'd say that Futuresex/Lovesounds is straight RNB... I don't own Justified but the album also definately had a RNB-vibe: Like I Love You and Cry Me A River were RNB, while Rock Your Body and Senorita were Funk-fusioned and Latin-fusioned RNB/pop respectively...

Urban radio saw Justin as some pop poseur and was very icy towards him during Justified. They warmed up to him more with Futuresex/Lovesounds, but even then there were some in the r&b community still trying to cry fraud. I remember one poster here was trying to find anything he could to "damn" him. Justin said in an interview that he was a big fan of Talking Heads and David Bowie, and this race-baiting moron (long gone from the forum) tried to use that as evidence that Timberlake is fake, because he is so narrowminded in believing r&b artists should solely listen to black artists.... Too big of a moron to realize Talking Heads have been sampled by many hip hop artists because of their funky sound (and one of their biggest hits was an Al Green cover), and even bigger than that, anyone who knows anything about David Bowie is aware that one of the biggest names in r&b ever, Luther Vandross, owed his career to Bowie discovering him in 1974. But hey, they're white, Timberlake actually admitting to being influenced by a white artist suddenly means he's an r&b fraud and should be banned by urban radio. How I pity people who only listen with their eyes.... If I only listened to nothing but white artists I would be bored.

by **NothingFails** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 6:20 pm

argentino78 wrote:
NothingFails wrote:
borneoman wrote:what damaged Usher was moving from r'n'b to Guetta-pop. Songs like OMG or Sweat might sell cazillions of downloads but they're cheap and a bit of a sell-out imho cannot compared to past songs like My Boo or the whole Confessions era
am I the only person who likes him better now? I thought the Confessions music was garbage. I remember thinking how Confessions Pt. 2 sounded like he was just making a song up on the spot and how it had zero melody. The songs he has out now I can enjoy.

He just needs to stop hanging out with Bieber, it does not look "cool".
John this time I disagree with you. I am a big R&B / hip hop fan and I consider the "Confessions" album a gem of modern R&B. These electropop new songs turn me off of Usher's music and I lose interest TBH.
To me this Guetta type of songs have no soul.
The Bieber thing is a factor but not that important. I don't like it but let's face it, he's much better than Rebecca Black for instance.

I actually liked the 8701 singles, but I felt the Confessions singles were the epitome of what was bland about r&b in the 2000s. "Yeah" was okay, the first 7000 times (and honestly why is electro-pop for an r&b artist a bigger sellout than a hip hop tune? R&B and hip hop really have no more in common than country and indie rock) but the ballads all put me to sleep. I never understood his popularity with that album.

With Bieber, I just don't get the appeal. One Direction and The Wanted are better in the musical department for teen heartthrobs.

by **joao** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 12:30 am

NothingFails wrote:
argentino78 wrote:
NothingFails wrote:
borneoman wrote:what damaged Usher was moving from r'n'b to Guetta-pop. Songs like OMG or Sweat might sell cazillions of downloads but they're cheap and a bit of a sell-out imho cannot compared to past songs like My Boo or the whole Confessions era
am I the only person who likes him better now? I thought the Confessions music was garbage. I remember thinking how Confessions Pt. 2 sounded like he was just making a song up on the spot and how it had zero melody. The songs he has out now I can enjoy.

He just needs to stop hanging out with Bieber, it does not look "cool".
John this time I disagree with you. I am a big R&B / hip hop fan and I consider the "Confessions" album a gem of modern R&B. These electropop new songs turn me off of Usher's music and I lose interest TBH.
To me this Guetta type of songs have no soul.
The Bieber thing is a factor but not that important. I don't like it but let's face it, he's much better than Rebecca Black for instance.
I actually liked the 8701 singles, but I felt the Confessions singles were the epitome of what was bland about r&b in the 2000s. "Yeah" was okay, the first 7000 times (and honestly why is electro-pop for an r&b artist a bigger sellout than a hip hop tune? R&B and hip hop really have no more in common than country and indie rock) but the ballads all put me to sleep. I never understood his popularity with that album.

With Bieber, I just don't get the appeal. One Direction and The Wanted are better in the musical department for teen heartthrobs.

"Confessions" was s****, and to anyone wondering why Usher is not making urban music anymore but making David Guetta-type of songs, don´t you think it might have something to do with the fact that when he released Confessions the market was ruled by "urban" music, and now it´s ruled by pop-dance songs? It´s not like he has some pretension to be a deep or inovative artist, but just to make songs that sell, whatever style is needed for that.

I don´t see any difference between Bieber and Usher in terms of artistry. Of course Bieber is a lot younger and you can´t expect him to have the same experience as older acts, but both make the same market-oriented type of music.

I don´t get why some people hate so much on Bieber and can get away with other manufactured acts that are considered "adult". In the manufactured pop world, being "adult" doesn´t mean more developed then teenage, it just means to be oversexualized. That´s what Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake did in their crossover to adult life. The music itself hasn´t become any more deep or mature, they just became oversexualized after their early material was Disney-ish. When people say that Rihanna or Katy Perry are "adult acts", they mean adult as in "adult movies", not as if that meant her music is any more developed then the music of proper teenage acts.

I believe Bieber will slowly move towards his direction... "Boyfriend" is already appealing to sexualize teenagers, and he is ready to throw away his little christian boy image and start making songs about sluts and menages.

by **NothingFails** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 7:20 pm

joao wrote:"Confessions" was s****, and to anyone wondering why Usher is not making urban music anymore but making David Guetta-type of songs, don´t you think it might have something to do with the fact that when he released Confessions the market was ruled by "urban" music, and now it´s ruled by pop-dance songs? It´s not like he has some pretension to be a deep or inovative artist, but just to make songs that sell, whatever style is needed for that.

I agree with you. Usher's always been doing whatever is hot at the given time. My Way was the sound of r&b in 1997, 8701 was the sound of r&b in 2001 (and I loved the r&b out at that time, so I gravitated to that one better), Confessions in 2004, all the way to now. It is hardly like he was this very rootsy neo-soul artist like Jill Scott or Erykah Badu and suddenly upped and went electro-pop... he's always been doing whatever the trend in r&b is. OMG and Scream are no more opportunistic trend-wise than Yeah was in 2003-2004 when every r&b artist was putting out a hip hop club banger.

joao wrote:I don´t get why some people hate so much on Bieber and can get away with other manufactured acts that are considered "adult". In the manufactured pop world, being "adult" doesn´t mean more developed then teenage, it just means to be oversexualized. That´s what Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake did in their crossover to adult life. The music itself hasn´t become any more deep or mature, they just became oversexualized after their early material was Disney-ish. When people say that Rihanna or Katy Perry are "adult acts", they mean adult as in "adult movies", not as if that meant her music is any more developed then the music of proper teenage acts.

I believe Bieber will slowly move towards his direction... "Boyfriend" is already appealing to sexualize teenagers, and he is ready to throw away his little christian boy image and start making songs about sluts and menages.

You have a point there. I just find no appeal in Bieber's music. With the likes of One Direction and The Wanted, they are making catchy guilty pleasure pop music that you know is cheesy, but you still can't help liking it... Bieber's just trying to copy 2003-era Justin Timberlake, but we're in a different era where the "you think I'm pop but my heart lies in r&b" gimmick has run its course, and plus he still looks and sounds like he hasn't hit puberty yet. One Direction already has his place when it comes to a cheesy teen act who makes fun pop songs.

by **GetBack** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 7:37 pm

Oh please, joao. At least, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were far more original in their heyday. I have nothing against Justin Bieber's current sound and image but it mirrors so much of Justin Timberlake's Celebrity ('NSYNC) and Justified eras. During their time, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera may have been heavily influenced by Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, etc. but they have defined their generation's eras with their own contributions in pop music and culture, like it or not.

by **Nackar** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 9:05 am

NothingFails wrote:I agree with you. Usher's always been doing whatever is hot at the given time. My Way was the sound of r&b in 1997, 8701 was the sound of r&b in 2001 (and I loved the r&b out at that time, so I gravitated to that one better), Confessions in 2004, all the way to now. It is hardly like he was this very rootsy neo-soul artist like Jill Scott or Erykah Badu and suddenly upped and went electro-pop... he's always been doing whatever the trend in r&b is. OMG and Scream are no more opportunistic trend-wise than Yeah was in 2003-2004 when every r&b artist was putting out a hip hop club banger.

+1!

Agreed. I love the man and I think he releases this great tune, but I'm never really sure why he's sometimes portrayed as this "artiste", moreso than some of his other male contemporaries, when he's also "just" a pop artist that sings the songs others mostly crafted (I know he has co-writing credits on a lot of tunes... but we all know that can popular.

And there's nothing wrong with that! But it does mean that it's less weird for him to do full-on dancepop than... say... Alicia Keys. Now THAT would be awkward.

by **NothingFails** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 7:53 pm

Nackar wrote:
NothingFails wrote:I agree with you. Usher's always been doing whatever is hot at the given time. My Way was the sound of r&b in 1997, 8701 was the sound of r&b in 2001 (and I loved the r&b out at that time, so I gravitated to that one better), Confessions in 2004, all the way to now. It is hardly like he was this very rootsy neo-soul artist like Jill Scott or Erykah Badu and suddenly upped and went electro-pop... he's always been doing whatever the trend in r&b is. OMG and Scream are no more opportunistic trend-wise than Yeah was in 2003-2004 when every r&b artist was putting out a hip hop club banger.
+1!

Agreed. I love the man and I think he releases this great tune, but I'm never really sure why he's sometimes portrayed as this "artiste", moreso than some of his other male contemporaries, when he's also "just" a pop artist that sings the songs others mostly crafted (I know he has co-writing credits on a lot of tunes... but we all know that can popular.

And there's nothing wrong with that! But it does mean that it's less weird for him to do full-on dancepop than... say... Alicia Keys. Now THAT would be awkward.

Right. Now if Erykah Badu came out with a "Where Have You Been" type of song it would be a massive sellout and would completely piss people off because it would go against everything she's stood for, but Usher has always been the sound of whatever is hot for urban artists at the time.

Personally I see this marriage of r&b and electronic music to be both genres going back to basics. Today people see dance music as this club music for white gay men, but they forget that long before Gaga and everyone else happened... the real queens of dance music were Donna Summer, Diana Ross and Gloria Gaynor. Outside of The Bee Gees and a few others, most disco artists were black and disco music was huge on the r&b chart. Even in the 1980's, dance music was dominated by the likes of Janet, Jody Watley, Michael Jackson and Evelyn Champagne King. I think after so many years of r&b artists trying to avoid anything with dancebility to it because of this stereotype that "dance music is gay" because of their obsession with trying to blend with hip hop, it's great to see urban artists reclaim electronic dance music and go back to basics. R&B and Dance music was married long before R&B courted hip hop.

by **Willypedia** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:33 am

Who cares about Usher? He's a sellout...

It's all about Frank Ocean and The Weeknd right now...

by **NothingFails** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:45 am

Willypedia wrote:Who cares about Usher? He's a sellout...

Saying Usher is a sellout is like a pop fan saying Katy Perry or Britney Spears are sellouts. Usher has always been a blatantly mainstream artist following the fad of the moment. In order to "sell out", you should've had some sort of artistic integrity to start with. I can see where people say Coldplay sold out because they had a lot of critical and artistic respect early on, but Usher "selling out" is about like saying Britney's selling out.

by **tada** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:01 am

Willypedia wrote:Who cares about Usher? He's a sellout...

It's all about Frank Ocean and The Weeknd right now...

damn....he is not! he is selling music :lol:

last.fm/hugom2c · by **hugo** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:07 pm

CHART DATE: 06/18/2012
LAST UPDATE: 06/18/2012 11:18:20
NOW IN: 40.05%

LW TW artist / album label power index
-- 1 USHER RCA 32,135
LOOKING 4 MYSELF
-- 2 RUSH ROADRUNNER 31,555
CLOCKWORK ANGELS
1 3 ADELE XL/COLUMBIA 19,375
21
2 4 ALAN JACKSON CAPITOL NASHVILLE/EMI 18,658
THIRTY MILES WEST
-- 5 NOW COUNTRY 5 UME 17,262
VARIOUS ARTISTS
-- 6 WAKA FLOCKA FLAME WARNER BROS. 13,629
TRIPLE F LIFE
13 7 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC 42 CAPITOL/EMI 11,293
VARIOUS ARTISTS
11 8 LUKE BRYAN CAPITOL NASHVILLE/EMI 10,732
TAILGATES & TANLINES
10 9 CARRIE UNDERWOOD 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 10,173
BLOWN AWAY
5 10 ONE DIRECTION SYCO/COLUMBIA 9,483
UP ALL NIGHT
-- 11 JOSH TURNER MCA NASHVILLE 9,312
PUNCHING BAG
15 12 LIONEL RICHIE MERCURY NASHVILLE 8,330
TUSKEGEE
20 13 ERIC CHURCH CAPITOL NASHVILLE/EMI 7,949
CHIEF
16 14 ROCK OF AGES WATERTOWER MUSIC 7,791
SOUNDTRACK
-- 15 ED SHEERAN NEW ELEKTRA 7,424
+
3 16 BEACH BOYS CAPITOL/EMI 6,735
THAT'S WHY GOD MADE THE RADIO
25 17 JASON ALDEAN BROKEN BOW 5,878
MY KINDA PARTY
7 18 JOHN MAYER COLUMBIA 5,366
BORN AND RAISED
39 19 KIP MOORE MCA NASHVILLE 5,050
UP ALL NIGHT
21 20 ADELE XL/COLUMBIA 4,785
19
14 21 GOTYE FAIRFAX/UNIV REPUBLIC 4,340
MAKING MIRRORS
4 22 BIG K.R.I.T. DEF JAM/IDJ 4,243
LIVE FROM THE UNDERGROUND
47 23 LEE BRICE CURB 4,034
HARD 2 LOVE
-- 24 METRIC MOM + POP 3,989
SYNTHETICA
19 25 VICTORIOUS CAST NICKELODEON/COLUMBIA 3,943
V2: MORE MUSIC FROM THE HIT TV
-- 26 LET IT SHINE WALT DISNEY 3,714
SOUNDTRACK
45 27 RASCAL FLATTS BIG MACHINE 3,693
CHANGED
12 28 JOE WALSH FANTASY 3,622
ANALOG MAN
44 29 MARY MARY COLUMBIA 3,555
GO GET IT
22 30 NICKI MINAJ YM/CM/UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 3,386
PINK FRIDAY... ROMAN RELOADED
-- 31 JIMMY FALLON WARNER BROS. 3,348
BLOW YOUR PANTS OFF
-- 32 BRANTLEY GILBERT BIG MACHINE 3,159
HALFWAY TO HEAVEN
-- 33 GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS HOLLYWOOD 2,978
THE LION THE BEAST THE BEAT
6 34 CURREN$Y WARNER BROS. 2,962
STONED IMMACULATE
30 35 ERIC BENET JORDAN HOUSE 2,745
THE ONE
18 36 JANA KRAMER WARNER BROS. NASHVILLE 2,516
JANA KRAMER
50 37 SLASH FEAT. MYLES KENNEDY DIK HAYD/EMI 2,513
APOCALYPTIC LOVE
38 38 LADY ANTEBELLUM CAPITOL NASHVILLE/EMI 2,497
OWN THE NIGHT
17 39 FUN. FUELED BY RAMEN 2,432
SOME NIGHTS
40 40 KATY PERRY CAPITOL/EMI 2,431
TEENAGE DREAM
8 41 NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE REPRISE 2,322
AMERICANA
-- 42 TRAIN COLUMBIA 2,283
CALIFORNIA 37
26 43 JASON MRAZ ATLANTIC 2,113
LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD
32 44 BLACK KEYS NONESUCH 2,107
EL CAMINO
-- 45 GUNS N ROSES GEFFEN 2,081
GREATEST HITS
33 46 RIHANNA DEF JAM/IDJ 2,064
TALK THAT TALK
29 47 JACK WHITE THIRD MAN/COLUMBIA 2,057
BLUNDERBUSS
24 48 NORAH JONES BLUE NOTE/EMI 2,043
LITTLE BROKEN HEARTS
-- 49 JOURNEY COLUMBIA 2,042
GREATEST HITS
43 50 KELLY CLARKSON 19/RCA 1,889
STRONGER

by **NothingFails** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:20 pm

Nice to see Rush doing so well. Shows the loyalty of their fanbase even after 30 years.

by **tada** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 4:11 am

i really hope Usher will top the chart, he's initial ahead was like 30k, so it should be safe...this update means nothing....but you know, after terrible prediction...i can believe in nothing

by **stevyy** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:08 am

tada wrote:i really hope Usher will top the chart, he's initial ahead was like 30k, so it should be safe...this update means nothing....but you know, after terrible prediction...i can believe in nothing

he will debut at #1 for sure. I hope Rush can be #2 though.

by **starshine90** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 2:59 pm

Anyone wants to predict Maroon 5's and Linkin Park's debut sales? Bands competition.

by **abi** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:03 pm

starshine90 wrote:Anyone wants to predict Maroon 5's and Linkin Park's debut sales? Bands competition.

I'd say 225-300k for M5 and around 135-175k for LP.

by **Nackar** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:10 pm

I'm going for... 150-200k for Maroon 5, and 200k for Linkin Park. Maroon 5 higher than Hands All Over due to Moves Like Jagger, Adam's coaching and Payphone, but not too high because it's been two years and sales are STILL dropping. Plus recently I've only been disappointed so I'm not aiming too high.

Linkin Park lower than A Thousand Suns because sales have dropped. Burn it Down seems to be doing about as well as The Catalyst, though. Wouldn't be surprised if it were even a bit lower, though, all in all.

by **thebigham** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:10 pm

New albums out today:

Justin Bieber
Kenny Chesney
Smashing Pumpkins
Fiona Apple
Walk The Moon
Juvenile
Kylie Minogue
Lita Ford

More at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=s9_dnav_bw_ ... 1340118512

by **thebigham** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:12 pm

starshine90 wrote:Anyone wants to predict Maroon 5's and Linkin Park's debut sales? Bands competition.

Maroon 5's last album debuted:

02 141,585 HANDS ALL OVER Maroon 5

Linkin Park's last album debuted:

01 241,214 A THOUSAND SUNS Linkin Park

by **arab** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:18 pm

Hmmm...
M5 -> 150-170k
LP -> 175-200k

by **FliplovesMC** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:32 pm

The real question is will Justin outsell Adele for at least 3 weeks? Aside from Buble, I don't think anybody has been able to do that, right?

thebigham wrote:New albums out today:

Justin Bieber
Kenny Chesney
Smashing Pumpkins
Fiona Apple
Walk The Moon
Juvenile
Kylie Minogue
Lita Ford

More at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=s9_dnav_bw_ ... 1340118512

by **Timmy94** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:45 pm

FliplovesMC wrote:The real question is will Justin outsell Adele for at least 3 weeks? Aside from Buble, I don't think anybody has been able to do that, right?

But we also have got to say that Adele had the advantage that her album was big in a time many albums, we had high expectations for, flopped or at least underperformed. If one of those albums really turned into a success, it would've looked a bit differently.
But I think Justin Bieber could have great chances because his popularity is really gaining steadily and 21 isn't selling that much anymore...

-----

@"band competition": Linkin Park - 150k, Maroon 5 - 200k