Where did it all go wrong for KELIS?

[TheRealest]

- Not enough focus on his R&B music
- Lack of promotion
- Justin Bieber

That's about it. Usher still slays the rest of these male artists.

[ANH]

I'm surprised he's still making music, to be honest.
He could probably just retire from everything Bieber has and will make, similar to Akon & Gaga.

[IrishLamb]

it all went wrong with Usher because of the Confessions album.
The album and its singles were so huge all over the world and sold millions of copies that there was no way Usher could ever live up to Confessions, sales wise at least
Here I stand, The follow up to Confessions, didn’t sell very well, that should have sold 5-6 million copies alone based on the success of Confession but the 4 year gap between albums killed all hype

[truthless]

I consider his new album one of his best work. So i don't know and i won't get, why this album has no huge demand. I can't think of a reason. And the album has some amazing R&B/Soul tracks. An artist can't stuck with the same music forever, or let's say the same R&B/Soul route (e.g. Confessions). He was experimental with this album for what i am really happy about.

And people really conclude the reason, that he is too much in the shadow of Justin Bieber? I doubt it. I like Usher, but i couldn't careless about his relationship with Justin Bieber, even though i don't like this teen kid.

Maybe a decline in popularity, attention or hype? Who knows..

[samra]

Waiting so damn long in between Confessions and Here I Stand. His music isn't as inspired or special as it used to be either. He's still an awesome performer though.

Scream is a lame track though. He probably should have gone for an urban/dance crossover single like OMG and he may have opened with massive numbers but Scream just isn't that good.

[Timmy94]

An artist can't stuck with the same music forever, or let's say the same R&B/Soul route (e.g. Confessions). He was experimental with this album for what i am really happy about.

He isn't experimental, he just copies what everybody else is doing at the moment...

This is about every urban artist doing this type of music atm and this doesn't have to do with versatily or trying new sounds. That's an excuse from the fans: If Usher expands his musical horizon and does it in a great way, no one would mind!

[stevyy]

Much like Gaga and BEP, I hated him at first. I began to truely like his music during the Here I Stand era and RvR was a great album as well..

Maybe being associated with Bieber (as John said) is what's hurt him most. But Looking 4 Myself has some nice tunes as well.. so Usher will stay relevant in my chartbooks for a little while longer.

[Timmy94]

I doubt that hanging out with Justin Bieber is hurting him. Justin Bieber's "career" began in mid 2009 and already Here I Stand, released in mid 2008, was a major disappointment.

[truthless]

An artist can't stuck with the same music forever, or let's say the same R&B/Soul route (e.g. Confessions). He was experimental with this album for what i am really happy about.

He isn't experimental, he just copies what everybody else is doing at the moment...

Not really. This time i disagree with you completly Guess you haven't really listened to this album at all. Usher shows how versatile he is with this album.

Critics disagree with you too .

[ThaInfo1]

Him marrying that monster after Confessions.

[jpguy]

He follows trends no doubt!

[Thriller]

I don't think it has gone wrong for him, his new album is great and "Scream" is one of his best singles!

[biscuits]

Some very interesting points for Usher:

- Waiting too long after 'Confessions'
- Jumping on the dance bandwagon
- Justin Bieber

New artist coming up!

[biscuits]

Where did it all go wrong for MADONNA?



Wasn't going to do Madonna so soon, but thought I would after this thread.

Madonna's latest album 'MDNA' has fallen out of the Billboard 200 and UK Top 100 less than 3 months after release. She has not had a hit single from the album except in any of the major markets. The album has sold roughly 1.5 million copies so far (which can be seen as good or bad).

NO STANNING OR TROLLING PLEASE!

If you don't think anything has gone wrong for Madonna, please state why without any personal attacks and without mentioning other artists unnecessarily.

Please respects each others' opinions and post in a mature manner!

[CrazyCrazy]

When she become mutton dressed as lamb.

[Wardo]

It starts with Hard Candy and ends with MDNA

[NothingFails]

I think the commercial failure of American Life was where it began to go wrong. Suddenly two decades of artistic progression led to her following every pop music trend in hopes to become #1 again. Hopefully after MDNA backfired commercially that the next album will be more artistic oriented and less blatantly trying to appeal to an audience who doesn't care. She is going to sell concert tickets no matter what.

[Plym]

4 Minutes.

She became just like every other artist with this song and hasn't recovered that innovative magic she once has since.

[Wayne]

Hard Candy.

[biscuits]

Ok, my thoughts are...

In the US, I think 'Like a Prayer' actually caused some damage to her career, despite being her signature song (IMO). She'd just come from a diamond album (True Blue), but 'Like a Prayer' sold half of what that did. This was the first time Madonna had really been controversial and she offended a lot of people with that video. I know this is a really unpopular opinion because the single was so huge, but I do wonder, if she released a safer song and video, would she be more popular in the US?



Obviously the song didn't end her career, because she still had great success after it (including some of the biggest hits of her career over there). But she definitely lost a lot of fans, which is why 'Ray of Light' couldn't pass 4 million units sold. It was released in 1998 when CD's were selling like crazy, and it was critically acclaimed and heavily promoted. If Madonna was really still as popular as she was in the 80's, that album would have sold over 5 million copies easily (IMO).

Anyway, 'American Life' was a huge error in the US. I personally think it's one of her more interesting records, but the country was not ready for that album I think, and I guess I sympathise. After all, Madonna is a singer, not a politician, so the eye rolling at 'American Life' was understandable.



And the fact that Madonna barely promotes her work in the US has definitely not helped matters at all. Her sales could be a lot higher if she did. So that's definitely one of the major factors (not only in the US, but worldwide).

'MDNA' hasn't done well in the UK which is unusual because Madonna's name alone still sells here (or it did). I think it's all going wrong for Madonna here because of her image, and this is applicable on a worldwide scale too. More than ever, there seems to be a focus on her age. When she was with Guy, nobody really focused on this that much because she was a normal, married woman and was ageing quite respectfully. But then in 2008, with 'Hard Candy', she worked with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake and this was such an obvious attempt at trying to stay current. I don't think there is anything wrong with trying to stay current, but many other people do (when the artist in question is 50). So that album wasn't very popular but she made matters a whole lot worse with 'MDNA' and I actually think this is where it has all gone wrong for Madonna.

MDNA is all about Madonna trying to be young, and this time the comments about her are justified. She is dressing like a young woman, she is dating a 24 year old (which I find really creepy, she is old enough to be his mother), she is still releasing music which follows the trend and now, she has resorted to crude and unpopular publicity stunts to try and stay relevant. It sounds like a car crash and this era has been just that.



Madonna can still rectify this. People want her to age appropriately. They've made it clear they don't want to see her ageing body and they don't want her to follow the current trends. If she fixes these problems, then she can have another hit album. But for now, she just seems to be irking a lot of people by doing the complete opposite.

[toni_pest]

She got old.

[Timmy94]

Great post, Biscuits!

Only a small expansion: It's always said that the US have problems with her age. It's doubtful that they say like: "OK, now you are over 50, we saw what you did to the music history and you can release the greatest ever musical masterpieces, but we still let you fall, because you're 53 now. Go in the home for the aged - you're old!". They just lost interest in Madonna's music. That doesn't mean that it's gone, it just needs to be revived. Since a couple of years, Madonna thinks that she can achieve this by being just like all those Rihannas, Katy Perrys and Gagas out there - and that's what people don't like to see. And they don't want to hear her singing about girls, clubs and stuff along with Timberlake and Guetta.
Once she releases some more grown up music that's not just copying what is right now and has some substance and maybe the potential to be another milestone in her career (so far, Madonna's last single that could be named along with her greatest ones is perhaps Hung Up, but rather Music which was 12 years ago!), radios will start playing her songs again, her singles will be up in the charts and her albums will get certs like crazy.

The world isn't against Madonna, they just want her to release good music again and if she stops playing the 25-year-old-girl that she wants everybody to see, she'll get all the support in the world.
She can still look sexy and release catchy music, but there is a difference between this and showing your boobs to the world while singing "that she's a different kind of girl".

[JSparksFan]

biscuits, I love your analysis! I agree completely. I think Madge simply lost what it was that had made her such a force in Pop culture, the fact that she was always one step ahead of her peers, setting trends instead of following them, experimenting with different sounds. I feel now she's reduced her music to just an imitation (and with some songs, not a very good one) of what's 'hot' at the moment.

[NothingFails]

Ok, my thoughts are...

In the US, I think 'Like a Prayer' actually caused some damage to her career, despite being her signature song (IMO). She'd just come from a diamond album (True Blue), but 'Like a Prayer' sold half of what that did. This was the first time Madonna had really been controversial and she offended a lot of people with that video. I know this is a really unpopular opinion because the single was so huge, but I do wonder, if she released a safer song and video, would she be more popular in the US?

Like A Prayer helped as much as it hurt her though. In the 80s critics and a lot of music snobs did not view her as a serious artist (basically look at Rihanna or Katy today, that was how Madonna was viewed then) but that was the first album where the critics who initially dismissed her as a pop fad began to re-evaluate her.

Remember this was 1989, the two biggest stars in pop were Paula Abdul and New Kids On The Block. Debbie Gibson was still popular, Milli Vanilli was big, Kylie was huge in the UK, etc... Bubblegum pop was the order of the day and suddenly with Like A Prayer, Madonna got "mature" and in turn lost the millions of teens who adored her up to that point. If she hadn't made the artistic turnaround that was Like A Prayer I don't know if she would've lasted this long.

[rihmonster]

Nothing else needs to be said.