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Discussion: Why are Black Girls Flopping This Decade?
Member Since: 9/5/2011
Posts: 9,174
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^Whites have been doing it for decades. It's not like it's going to change anytime soon.
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Member Since: 1/31/2012
Posts: 19,942
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Quote:
Originally posted by atrlster
It's not like those songs are being sent to Pop radio and a lot of those influences aren't in line with mainstream dance pop/EDM. That Keyshia song was only a bonus track too. Nothing on Brandys album was radio friendly either. Overdose is the only song that sounds like it could be a hit but her/her label are not doing anything with it.
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Dawn had two songs sent to pop radio, Stubborn was never released and it was on the standard (Stubborn). And 2/11 had at least TWO songs that were pop-Urban (Slower & Let Me Go). Livin' It Up is also radio candy, but the label is f**king up hard.
Hell, even Fantasia had "The Side Effects of You" which is the most pop/radio-friendly song she has ever recorded.
Black girls definitely are releasing songs that the GP would like and some are actually releasing them to radio, but they're not picking up. Even Girl on Fire wasn't the radio monster it deserved to be.
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Member Since: 1/1/2013
Posts: 17,232
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Quote:
Originally posted by iHypeMusic
It's sad, but now you have to do Pop music and be accepted by Pop radios to have success.
To emphasize the downfall, the Hot 100 has existed since the 1950's and this will be the first year in history where no black artist went #1 as a Lead Artist. |
This
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Member Since: 1/31/2012
Posts: 19,942
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Quote:
Originally posted by KangBey
Besides Rih, I don't know any of these girls you mentioned. I'm not sure what your definition of flopping is. Its not about how many top 10s you have, its how much your album sold and if you can sell out arenas/stadiums around the world and the only two black girls doing that this decade are Bey and Rih. Alicia Keys is the 3rd option, she may bounce back with her next era.
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Icona Pop - I Love It
Nicki Minaj (  ) - Starships & Super Bass
Janelle Monae - We Are Young (feature)
And 2 black girls touring successfully isn't anything special...
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 32,982
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kool_Aid_King
Dawn had two songs sent to pop radio, Stubborn was never released and it was on the standard (Stubborn). And 2/11 had at least TWO songs that were pop-Urban (Slower & Let Me Go). Livin' It Up is also radio candy, but the label is f**king up hard.
Hell, even Fantasia had "The Side Effects of You" which is the most pop/radio-friendly song she has ever recorded.
Black girls definitely are releasing songs that the GP would like and some are actually releasing them to radio, but they're not picking up. Even Girl on Fire wasn't the radio monster it deserved to be.
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"Girl On Fire" was much, much bigger than it ever needed to be. The fact that it made the Top 40 
None of the artists you mentioned did anything revolutionary. Why would they blow up when there are a million other nobodies also putting out generic, trendy music? Because they're black?
Quote:
Originally posted by ryanpittman97
But why is it easier for a white artist to do the same music as black artist and gain more success?
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It isn't. 99% of white artists are flops, too.
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 4,920
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[QUOTE=Kool_Aid_King;17940969]Icona Pop - I Love It
Nicki Minaj ( ) - Starships & Super Bass
Janelle Monae - We Are Young (feature)
And 2 black girls touring successfully isn't anything special...[/QUOTE]
Well if it's nothing special, then all the black female artists should easily headline worldwide tours. Since the new decade begun, there's only been 2 black female artists(Beyonce & Rihanna) to headline a worldwide tour and gross a 100M+. That's far more impressive than some forgettable top 10 hit.
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Member Since: 3/21/2012
Posts: 55,134
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Quote:
Originally posted by IsidoraMarí
Because America doesn't care about music, they just want songs they can sing along with. And most Black Females sing with passion, which most Americans lack.
Rihanna had to do 2 Pop centered albums, GGGB and LOUD, just to get America to listen to her albums. Those two albums are her most successful while she's churned out 3 other absolutely amazing albums, the only songs that did well were her pop centered Rude Boy, We Found Love, and Where Have You Been. Diamonds was the first time a non pop Rihanna song with her at the lead did well IMO.
But look at Gaga, She did Pop centered albums TF/M then did BTW and even she lost the GP as soon as she started showcasing good material with meaning.
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In what way is RB like WFL and WHYB..... RB if anything was more island influenced and r&b than pop
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Member Since: 3/21/2012
Posts: 55,134
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Rihanna managed to stay on top ... Not all her material is pop ... She has had moderate to smash hits that aren't pure pop
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Member Since: 8/17/2013
Posts: 21,866
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Quote:
Originally posted by Rihhyonce
Because there aren't that many black girls making the electro/dance music that has been popular this decade. But now that pop music appears to be shifting back to more of an urban sound, I think we'll definitely see more of our girls at the top.
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Pretty much. There's aren't that many pop black girls.
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Member Since: 11/28/2011
Posts: 27,495
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Quote:
Originally posted by BlueTimberwolf
Like who?
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Kelly Rowland says hihi 
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Member Since: 4/23/2012
Posts: 20,204
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Quote:
Originally posted by Eternium
"Girl On Fire" was much, much bigger than it ever needed to be. The fact that it made the Top 40
None of the artists you mentioned did anything revolutionary. Why would they blow up when there are a million other nobodies also putting out generic, trendy music? Because they're black?
It isn't. 99% of white artists are flops, too. |
The Hot 100 is filled with nothing but White Artist there is literally one African American artist in the top 10 at the moment so that statment is illogical and your statement above is a bit racist.
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Member Since: 4/23/2012
Posts: 20,204
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Quote:
Originally posted by NewRihannaStan
Rihanna managed to stay on top ... Not all her material is pop ... She has had moderate to smash hits that aren't pure pop
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Rih has never had a pure R&B single reach #1 tho
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 32,982
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Quote:
Originally posted by ryanpittman97
The Hot 100 is filled with nothing but White Artist there is literally one African American artist in the top 10 at the moment so that statment is illogical and your statement above is a bit racist.
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And the black artist you're referring to in the top 10 has sold around 25 million albums WW and is the biggest singles act WW in forever.
I'm not sure if you've taken a trip to Billboard recently, but there are tons of black artists in the Hot 100. Drake's smash single is still there, Aloe Blacc is also in the top 10 (he's the voice on "Wake Me Up)," Kanye West is #12, Mike WiLL Made it is there, Juicy J is there, Wiz Khalifa is there, R. Kelly is there and so is Jay-Z. And that's just the top 20
Are you saying my Alicia Keys statement is racist? I think the song is terrible, regardless of whomever sings it.
Or are you referring to the bit where I say that an artist isn't entitled to smashing when their music is generic because they're a certain color? Isn't that the opposite of racism?
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Member Since: 6/1/2006
Posts: 192
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Mainly because r&b just isn't as big these days and there just aren't that many black women in other genres, back in the '90s-early/mid '00s r&b was huge and there were plenty of black women on the charts.
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 635
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It's hilariously maddening that people are actually trying to pretend that there isn't a blatant element of racism involved in how black music (yes I said 'black music,' it is what it is...let's not be fake) has been handled/treated in the mainstream over the past few years. Since about 2010, there has literally been a black-out that in some ways is more extreme than the way black artists were treated in the 1950s.
On one hand, I'm glad that veteran and respected white artists like Justin and Eminem have come back making music that didn't stray from the urban (i.e. 'black') style of music they did pre-Gaga/Katy, because they're big enough to force more white-washed radio stations and the general public to have to acknowledge it...on the other hand, it's infuriating knowing that if Usher released "Suit and Tie," if Ludacris released "Rap God" or if Kelly Rowland recorded one of those silly Miley Cyrus songs, they would have been lucky to crack the top 40.
The restructuring of the music business over the past 6-7 years has been detrimental to black music, because it's made the playing field so uneven that its artists can't compete. And with the way that the music business is dying overall (thank you iTunes, YouTube, Spotify and all you Clinton-era born dorks who think that a single MP3 on an iPhone is as good as CD quality played on stereo), record labels are clinging harder than ever to what they think will be a sure bet for making money, and are too scared to stray from the formula. And unfortunately cheesy dance and pop music just happened to be in the right place at the right time when this chaos started. In a healthier music scene, this pop phase would have ended two years ago. But thanks to iTunes and Spotify, we're living in an era where acts that SHOULD have been one-hit wonders are giving more chances than they deserve.
Anyway, Black women aren't charting because they can't easily play up to the dorky hipster crowd that has more video games than friends and lovers. Another reason is that black artists in general don't have aggressive and ruthless enough managers and teams to barter, manipulate or threaten on their behalf the way CBS/Sony did for Michael Jackson when they threatened to pull all their music videos from MTV if the channel continued to snub him.
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Member Since: 8/17/2013
Posts: 19,066
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Quote:
Originally posted by ryanpittman97
Rih has never had a pure R&B single reach #1 tho
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Take a Bow was pretty R&B by today's standards.
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Member Since: 8/17/2013
Posts: 19,066
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Quote:
Originally posted by UnMutedOne
It's hilariously maddening that people are actually trying to pretend that there isn't a blatant element of racism involved in how black music (yes I said 'black music,' it is what it is...let's not be fake) has been handled/treated in the mainstream over the past few years. Since about 2010, there has literally been a black-out that in some ways is more extreme than the way black artists were treated in the 1950s.
On one hand, I'm glad that veteran and respected white artists like Justin and Eminem have come back making music that didn't stray from the urban (i.e. 'black') style of music they did pre-Gaga/Katy, because they're big enough to force more white-washed radio stations and the general public to have to acknowledge it...on the other hand, it's infuriating knowing that if Usher released "Suit and Tie," if Ludacris released "Rap God" or if Kelly Rowland recorded one of those silly Miley Cyrus songs, they would have been lucky to crack the top 40.
The restructuring of the music business over the past 6-7 years has been detrimental to black music, because it's made the playing field so uneven that its artists can't compete. And with the way that the music business is dying overall (thank you iTunes, YouTube, Spotify and all you Clinton-era born dorks who think that a single MP3 on an iPhone is as good as CD quality played on stereo), record labels are clinging harder than ever to what they think will be a sure bet for making money, and are too scared to stray from the formula. And unfortunately cheesy dance and pop music just happened to be in the right place at the right time when this chaos started. In a healthier music scene, this pop phase would have ended two years ago. But thanks to iTunes and Spotify, we're living in an era where acts that SHOULD have been one-hit wonders are giving more chances than they deserve.
Anyway, Black women aren't charting because they can't easily play up to the dorky hipster crowd that has more video games than friends and lovers. Another reason is that black artists in general don't have aggressive and ruthless enough managers and teams to barter, manipulate or threaten on their behalf the way CBS/Sony did for Michael Jackson when they threatened to pull all their music videos from MTV if the channel continued to snub him.
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I'll also say it goes both ways where radio is concerned. Macklemore and Ariana should have been all over urban radio this year.
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Member Since: 5/3/2012
Posts: 42,099
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Quote:
Originally posted by Eternium
And the black artist you're referring to in the top 10 has sold around 25 million albums WW and is the biggest singles act WW in forever.
I'm not sure if you've taken a trip to Billboard recently, but there are tons of black artists in the Hot 100. Drake's smash single is still there, Aloe Blacc is also in the top 10 (he's the voice on "Wake Me Up)," Kanye West is #12, Mike WiLL Made it is there, Juicy J is there, Wiz Khalifa is there, R. Kelly is there and so is Jay-Z. And that's just the top 20
Are you saying my Alicia Keys statement is racist? I think the song is terrible, regardless of whomever sings it.
Or are you referring to the bit where I say that an artist isn't entitled to smashing when their music is generic because they're a certain color? Isn't that the opposite of racism?
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1) She's sold 35 million worldwide, and she's the biggest act period worldwide right now, so the comparison is not fair.
2) He's not credited as a featured artist so it doesn't even count (like how Ke$ha didn't get credit on Right Round).
3) The rest you named are all rappers except for R. Kelly being featured on a song. Still doesn't explain why there are no other black females in the top 20.
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Member Since: 8/1/2012
Posts: 5,315
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Quote:
Originally posted by SebaMonster
You don't know Nicki?  |
Yea we know her, but She haven't sold over 35 million WW in total albums sales, won 14 grammys, have a song that is bigger than the R&B classic #1 hit No One and she never will. Nicki is doing her thing right now but Alicia already achieved an amazing music career and she did it being an R&B artist.
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Member Since: 8/22/2010
Posts: 12,270
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kool_Aid_King
Dawn had two songs sent to pop radio, Stubborn was never released and it was on the standard (Stubborn). And 2/11 had at least TWO songs that were pop-Urban (Slower & Let Me Go). Livin' It Up is also radio candy, but the label is f**king up hard.
Hell, even Fantasia had "The Side Effects of You" which is the most pop/radio-friendly song she has ever recorded.
Black girls definitely are releasing songs that the GP would like and some are actually releasing them to radio, but they're not picking up. Even Girl on Fire wasn't the radio monster it deserved to be.
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Dawn's music is like some electronica/alternative R&B blend and not suitable for pop radio. And besides, she's an indie artist, so she was never going to get significant airplay on any format regardless of what she released.
Stubborn is an R&B song with some synths.
Let Me Go is too urban And Slower is like a total R&B song. 
Side Effects Of You may be the most pop song Fantasia ever recorded, but the melody isn't strong enough for pop radio.
Livin' It Up but goes along with what I said earlier about Overdose, but I think Overdose would need to proceed it and be a hit first
Besides LIU, none of these songs would be hits even if a white person or Rihanna performed them. Like I said none of these are in line with current dance-pop/EDM or even the kind of HAC ballads that are big right now.
Rihanna is the only black girl who is actually keeping up with these trends accurately, so it's not surprise she's the only one with success.
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