tha carter IV is projected to sell 900k in its first week. it will eventually become wayne's third platinum album (i'm using the old, fungible def of "platinum" for 'i'm not a human being') since the release of tha carter III. tha carter III doing one million in its opening week is still one of the biggest events of the past five or so years in rap music. along with those album sales, he's been ubiquitous on the pop charts for going on four years now, which from what i can tell is extremely unusual, and possibly historic, for a rapper. and of course, all of this is happening during the most depressed sales economy in the history of the modern music business.
so, the topic of discussion: where does lil wayne's career from, say, "lollipop" to the present rank in the history of the genre in terms of the most popular that a single rapper has ever been at one time? maybe there is a definitive, fact based answer to this, idk. the last few cases that come to my mind are 50 cent at the peak of his popularity (tho he ended up burning out rather quickly, all things told) and eminem circa the trl era (altho i guess current eminem could give both the old eminem AND current lil wayne a run for their money).
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 03:34 (twelve years ago) link
hermeneutically?
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Friday, 2 September 2011 03:37 (twelve years ago) link
jesus christ 900k?
― johnny crunch, Friday, 2 September 2011 03:40 (twelve years ago) link
I bought it on iTunes #sheeple
― the tune is space, Friday, 2 September 2011 04:08 (twelve years ago) link
so far I'm loving "Abortion" best
it's a terrible album
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 04:12 (twelve years ago) link
I'd say the low point is the song "It's Good" #irony
― the tune is space, Friday, 2 September 2011 04:22 (twelve years ago) link
I don't know if I would go so far as to call this "terrible". Definitely not very good and without a doubt the worst of his "proper" solo albums, but there are a few decent verses scattered throughout.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, 2 September 2011 04:25 (twelve years ago) link
let's take discussions of this terrible album to the carter IV thread!
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 04:26 (twelve years ago) link
I mean eminem like 1999 - now? Just because critics shit on Relapse doesnt mean it didnt sell like crazy. Dude in suburban record store where I grew up sold more copies of whatever THE RE UP was than anything that year because it had the word eminem on the cover
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 05:13 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, i mean could you make an argument that eminem is the most famous rapper ever? you probably could. i isolated eminem in two different time frames (during the trl era & now) bcuz he did have a relative dead period there for a bit in the middle of the 2000s
but i think wayne's current run is potentially up there w/ both of those periods of em
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 05:18 (twelve years ago) link
i'm wondering if wayne 08-11 has been more famous & popular than jay is/was at any four year point in his career
i wouldnt have thought so but apparently i have vastly underrated lil wayne's popularity in 2009-2011
― Lamp, Friday, 2 September 2011 05:19 (twelve years ago) link
i'm bringing a lot of this up both because i think it's fun to talk about and also bcuz while i can just look up numbers and compare them, i think there is something to be said for having lived thru a certain artist's peak popularity, and i couldn't make a certain assertion of, say, how jay was viewed in the pop landscape circa vol 2
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 05:20 (twelve years ago) link
i mean this maybe speaks as much to my own distance from pop/rap media outlets but my initial thought for 'most popular rapper 2008-2011' would probably have been kanye but having looked his sales #s are way lower than both eminem and lil wayne
i do think the 'famous' part of the equation is a lot harder to argue, as someone who obv isnt paying a huge amount of attn to rap id argue that lil wayne is probably less famous relative to his sales figures than a # of other rappers...
― Lamp, Friday, 2 September 2011 05:27 (twelve years ago) link
kanye is an interesting case because he gained so much notoriety from things only tangentially related to music (katrina telethon, taylor swift thing) but his numbers aren't mindblowing or anything
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 05:28 (twelve years ago) link
i mean outselling 'curtis' isn't a huge deal at all in retrospect, minaj's album that came out on the same day as MBDTF is way more popular both sales wise & in terms of singles
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 05:29 (twelve years ago) link
yeah nicki minaj ~feels~ more popular atm than lil wayne but then i feel like shes one of the only ppl other than kayne whos really trying to operate w/in that pop/rap sweet spot where an artist can get legit ~huge~
― Lamp, Friday, 2 September 2011 05:36 (twelve years ago) link
those two wayne songs have been all over the radio this summer. its funny how much better lollipop is of a 'for the ladies' joint & obv what an 'a milli' knockoff 6 foot 7 is
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 05:38 (twelve years ago) link
It is interesting to think about, especially because I've always found a disconnect between people I interact with online and those irl. So its kind of like the people I talk most about music with have kinda been over Wayne for awhile, but I keep running into him more and more out in the "real" world and I'm always kinda surprised how popular he still is. When I bought my copy of IV at Best Buy about three days after initial release, I'd say 75% people I waited in line with also had a copy. I'm astounded that he's doing 900k though.
Tangentially related, my wife has sucked me into watching America's Got Talent with her and the other night they had a live performance that started out with David Guetta and Flo-Rida doing their song and the crowd was pretty subdued. Then Nicki came out on stage and the crowd seemed to go batshit, which was really cool to see. I'm glad she is finally hitting these levels, because, imho, she is way more interesting as a pop star than Katy Perry.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, 2 September 2011 13:39 (twelve years ago) link
blowin my mind rn that lil wayne is doing these numbers
― max, Friday, 2 September 2011 15:58 (twelve years ago) link
^^^yeah me too. who gives a shit about this guy still?
― I can feel it in my spiritual hat (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 2 September 2011 16:05 (twelve years ago) link
he has two huge hit singles -- not totally surprised hes sellin well -- but yeah 900k is insane
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 16:07 (twelve years ago) link
when ppl talk about how big jay-z is, or kanye its like
these guys are nothing in rap right now -- just totally dwarfed by wayne. i think theres a large portion of the rap audience that does not give 2 shits about jay-z
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 16:08 (twelve years ago) link
Serious question, why do you guys think its Wayne doing these numbers and not Jay or Kanye?
I mean, apparently overexposure hasn't hurt him in the least.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, 2 September 2011 16:12 (twelve years ago) link
cuz he's such a cute lil gremlin...?
I have no idea
― I can feel it in my spiritual hat (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 2 September 2011 16:13 (twelve years ago) link
Is it because so much of his stuff has been on, relatively, "breezy" pop stuff? Whereas some of the stuff Kanye and Jay have been doing is seen as more "difficult" by the Top 40 listening public?
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, 2 September 2011 16:13 (twelve years ago) link
I mean, Wayne is no longer the pet project of the internet media machine, but that doesn't mean he's not still beloved by the people who aren't controling that narrative [read: non-white, teenaged, etc].
Like Twitter trending topics all day are just ppl posting about Wayne and YMCMB and Nicki and Drake.
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 16:34 (twelve years ago) link
kanye & jay are crossover artists w/ a rock crowd & id argue have lost a hold on a large portion of the rap & pop audiences
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 16:36 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, i mean, for real, the last Kanye POP HIT was fucking "Heartless" in 2008.
I mean, dont judge popularity based on a narrative created by bearded white men who cried along to Elvis Costello records in college imo
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 16:38 (twelve years ago) link
rap stations are playing otis but it hasnt been burning up the charts all summer like '6'7'
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 16:39 (twelve years ago) link
Even when Wayne's not on top of his game he's still got a Berry Gordy-level ear for the hit single. He picks He's all over TV and radio and he's been touring all year. Why is this so hard to understand? That his flow has slackened considerably doesn't make much difference commercially - all most workaday listeners ask is that it sounds good, or at least catchy.
― Melle Mel and the Coconuts (thewufs), Friday, 2 September 2011 17:01 (twelve years ago) link
it's ok whiney i never trusted you anyway ;)
― Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker, Friday, 2 September 2011 17:06 (twelve years ago) link
idk i think selling 900k in this environment is an amazing feat period
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 17:06 (twelve years ago) link
True - I was just on a chart website called UKMix that discusses album sales, Soundscan, etc. There's a thread on the top selling Hip-hop albums in the U.S. year by year, and 2011 YTD is dismal:
JAY-Z & KANYE WEST - Watch The Throne : 612,911 WIZ KHALIFA - Rolling Papers : 549,258 BAD MEETS EVIL - Hell: The Sequel EP : 463,012 LUPE FIASCO - Lasers : 457,560 BEASTIE BOYS - Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 : 308,520 BIG SEAN - Finally Famous : 189,740 PITBULL - Planet Pit : 174,150 LONELY ISLAND - Turtleneck & Chain : 167,517 MAYBACH MUSIC GROUP - Self Made Vol. 1 - 150,668 TECH N9NE - All 6's & 7's : 130,063
Only 2 of these albums have even sold enough copies to go gold. First week really is make-or-break for major label albums these days, and Wayne's shifting nearly a million copies despite a leak, mixed-to-bad reviews, a horrid economy, etc. Pretty impressive, even if the album itself isn't.
― Melle Mel and the Coconuts (thewufs), Friday, 2 September 2011 17:59 (twelve years ago) link
P fucking sad that the best albums on that list are the Beastie Boys and Tech N9ne
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 19:34 (twelve years ago) link
the beastie boys record is zzz but that list does make tech n9ne look p damn good
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 19:37 (twelve years ago) link
i would listen to wiz, maybach, maybe even big sean before tech n9ne
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 19:38 (twelve years ago) link
argh before beastie boys i mean
Tech N9ne number is the most interesting imo. Lil B can't break 5k but Tech N9ne can hit 100k? Where is that coming from? Are there similar undie rappers hitting say 50k?
― Jay-Z ft. Kanye 'Big Hat Club (Spiritual Big Hat Club Jazz Remix)' (a hoy hoy), Friday, 2 September 2011 19:45 (twelve years ago) link
fyi not listened to TN in what seems over 10 years, forgot he existed.
"Where is that coming from?"
Juggalos?
― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Friday, 2 September 2011 19:57 (twelve years ago) link
tn came up in an underground that still bought records and still (to some extent) does. lil b is a creature of the internet in every way. his lack of sales is just "web phenom who gives shit away for free by the assload cant turn publicity into actual sales" part whatthefuckever.
― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Friday, 2 September 2011 19:58 (twelve years ago) link
Love this thread title.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 2 September 2011 19:59 (twelve years ago) link
tech n9ne has been selling mad records for a while now
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:01 (twelve years ago) link
tech n9ne also tours places that no rapper would ever dream of stepping foot in. like helena, montana
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 20:18 (twelve years ago) link
he basically tours constantly, and does it in flyover country
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 20:19 (twelve years ago) link
I work in an environment in which I'm constantly exposed to top 40 radio against my will (student common areas, rec centers, pep rallies, etc), and Adele, Wayne, LMFAO, and Katy Perry are played non stop along with recurrents like "Empire State of Mind" and the two big 2010 Eminem singles. The rub is no one is passionate about any of them except Adele and Katy Perry. Last year I couldn't find a single student who admitted to liking the Em singles even a little bit yet there they were -- huge and ubiquitous, like A/C units in South Florida. For most people, depending on where they're exposed, music really is boutique ambience (i.e. gyms are loud, therefore "Love The Way You Lie" is perfect).
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:31 (twelve years ago) link
with the exception of the shitty santi white 2008 ca$h-in, the Beasties album is basically a fucking Rammellzzee album for old, weird heads dude. You're like 18 so I'll give you a pass tho
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:33 (twelve years ago) link
Today the student on staff who most likes hip-hop -- a Colombian whose favorite current artists are J. Cole and Lupe and who's cutting his own album lol -- loves "She Will"; thinks it's Wayne's best since the mid nineties mix tape days. On the other hand he despises "How to Love," "A Milli," and "Lollipop." I guess I'm asking -- who's buying this stuff if no one's passionate about it?
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:34 (twelve years ago) link
your sample size is small
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:35 (twelve years ago) link
dude sells out like 30 arenas a year (including in south florida!) -- there are plenty of ppl that are passionate about him
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:36 (twelve years ago) link
30 is prob conservative too
eh 47,000 student university -- it's a bitch to interview everyone.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:36 (twelve years ago) link
i dont know anybody who's passionate about two and half men* but it seems to be doing aight
*except for scott seward
― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Friday, 2 September 2011 20:37 (twelve years ago) link
ok but are there other undie guys pulling numbers like TN?
― Jay-Z ft. Kanye 'Big Hat Club (Spiritual Big Hat Club Jazz Remix)' (a hoy hoy), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:37 (twelve years ago) link
you can go to a concert and not be passionate about the performer -- I do it all the time!
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:37 (twelve years ago) link
if in doubt blame seward
kids i student-taught last year loved wayne; he was the standard/elder statesman figure for good rapping to them.
― horseshoe, Friday, 2 September 2011 20:38 (twelve years ago) link
Tech N9ne is basically in a scene of one. He built his own enormous fan base grass-roots stylee to the point where people like Yelawof and Busta are coming to HIM. He's like the KISS of rap.
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:39 (twelve years ago) link
mine still love Jay-Z and Kanye; can't convince them that Kanye sucks.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:39 (twelve years ago) link
an interesting corollary to this is that wayne really doesn't get enough credit for being the earliest adopters of drake & nicki minaj. you could argue that those three are the biggest stars in rap/r&b right now. it's been such a huge boon to wayne's longevity and career that the other two have been mega successful. and that's aside from getting whatever cut of their earnings.
remember when it was a such a huge deal when jay was made president of def jam? did he have one success on par with either drake or minaj?
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:40 (twelve years ago) link
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, September 2, 2011 4:39 PM (17 seconds ago) Bookmark
lol you idiot
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:41 (twelve years ago) link
what
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:41 (twelve years ago) link
how about Rihanna and Kanye West for starters?
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:42 (twelve years ago) link
he didn't give a shit about kanye!
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:42 (twelve years ago) link
he was literally the first person to give a shit about kanye
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:43 (twelve years ago) link
my reading of the situation is that kanye pretty much forced his way into a recording contract w/ the roc & that before then they would continually clown his rapping
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:44 (twelve years ago) link
yeah i am pretty sure if anyone is responsible for carter its the fake father of beyonces child
― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Friday, 2 September 2011 20:45 (twelve years ago) link
carter/kanye
i forgot about rihanna
and there's ross and jeezy, too i guess.
but still
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:45 (twelve years ago) link
but still?
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:45 (twelve years ago) link
& anyway from a business standpoint, i'd consider kanye's superstardom an incredible stroke of luck for jay-z
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:46 (twelve years ago) link
drake & nicki are currently more popular than ross or jeezy have ever been
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:47 (twelve years ago) link
dude, he was on like four jay-z albums before College Dropout.
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:47 (twelve years ago) link
you're fucking backpedaling to cover up your dumb statement
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:48 (twelve years ago) link
Kanye, Ross, Rihanna, Jeezy, Ne-Yo vs like Drake, Nicki and the GUDDA GUDDA grocery bag who gives a shit all-stars
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:50 (twelve years ago) link
gudda gudda is still better than lady sovereign
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:50 (twelve years ago) link
i mean i know we have to give Lil Chuckee time to grow
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:51 (twelve years ago) link
my point with kanye is that jay obviously was an early adopter of his as a producer, but it's a stroke of luck for him that he turned out to be a mega pop star and not just some guy like bink
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:51 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah sorry Jay got in on the ground floor instead of adopting Lil Wayne's genius CEO tactic of waiting for a soap opera star to have a million MySpace followers before finding his phone number. What a stroke of luck.
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:54 (twelve years ago) link
lol
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:56 (twelve years ago) link
haha
i do think that j0rdan has a point tho abt wayne's continued popularity benefiting from drake/nicki.
― Lamp, Friday, 2 September 2011 20:58 (twelve years ago) link
wayne is 29, carter IV is his ninth album
jay's ninth album was kingdom come, he was 37 when that dropped
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 20:58 (twelve years ago) link
i think ur giving too much credit to wayne for minaj & drake. he jumped on when they were already ascendant
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 20:58 (twelve years ago) link
i said that, but funnier
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 20:59 (twelve years ago) link
Also, on the recent Wayne tour it was evident that Nicki and Drake were still def opening for HIM.
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 21:00 (twelve years ago) link
for drake he sort of did. i'm pretty sure that minaj was pretty much an unknown when she appeared on drought 3
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 21:00 (twelve years ago) link
for scandinavian goth-metal band HIM
nicki & drake opened for HIM?
fuck!
there was buzz around Drake & Minaj before Wayne was on board
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 21:01 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.seeklogo.com/images/H/Heart-o-Gram-logo-C99B5A177B-seeklogo.com.gif did it on em
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 21:01 (twelve years ago) link
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, September 2, 2011 5:00 PM (31 seconds ago) Bookmark
anyway i wouldn't dispute this at all. but wayne was able to stave off what could've been a dead period for him by collaborating and even associating w/ the two of them
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 21:02 (twelve years ago) link
i agree w/ that post, just disagree that this shows any kind of special talent hunter insight on his part
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 21:02 (twelve years ago) link
i mean its also like, how much of their stardom is reflecting his
anyway i'm not trying to say that wayne saw minaj or drake freestyling on some street corner and then led them to superstardom, but he was a very early adopter of minaj, and while he did get w/ drake after he had been in the "industry" drake did spur offers w/ every other label to sign w/ YM out of loyalty to wayne (or at least that's what he said)
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 21:03 (twelve years ago) link
i don't think drake has ever been on some street corner
― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 2 September 2011 21:04 (twelve years ago) link
maybe on a set
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 21:04 (twelve years ago) link
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/6/62196/1323766-800px_de_grassi_street_sign_super.jpg
― Lamp, Friday, 2 September 2011 21:05 (twelve years ago) link
― D-40, Friday, September 2, 2011 4:58 PM (42 minutes ago) Bookmark
ehhh this is pretty sketchy. nicki had a decent nyc buzz (which is to say the kind of buzz that tends to go nowhere commercially these days) before wayne picked her up and drake was not famous as a rapper at all before young money, maybe could've had a diggy simmons-type trajectory without wayne but i don't think either of them would be anywhere near where they are without wayne.
― some dude, Friday, 2 September 2011 21:44 (twelve years ago) link
yah i think thats true, i guess im just hesitant to credit wayne w/ talent-scouting so much
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 21:49 (twelve years ago) link
"when it waynes it pours"
― the tune is space, Friday, 2 September 2011 21:50 (twelve years ago) link
i remember circa Carter III/Drought III when he started half-heartedly pushing Young Money artists just thinking "none of these jokers are going anywhere, Wayne doesn't even seem very confident that any of them will release albums through his label"
― some dude, Friday, 2 September 2011 21:51 (twelve years ago) link
I feel like whiney has mentioned tech 9 in like every thread this month
― velvet underground - reloaded (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 2 September 2011 23:12 (twelve years ago) link
the album has some moments
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 23:17 (twelve years ago) link
tech n9ne's career has been pretty amazing
plus, whiney is a juggalo evangelist now
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 23:18 (twelve years ago) link
a testament to tech n9ne's work ethic is i can remember multiple times, sitting around a table at my college newspaper going, "didn't we do a preview for a tech n9ne show... last semester?"
― J0rdan S., Friday, 2 September 2011 23:20 (twelve years ago) link
Not hating btw
Though honestly you know who you guys hate on but was doing the same thing as tech n9ne since forever (touring and work ethic wise)?atmosphere & rhyme sayers
― velvet underground - reloaded (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 2 September 2011 23:23 (twelve years ago) link
eh id say i hate on both of them equally -- ive owned the same no of tech n9ne and atmosphere cds lol
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 23:27 (twelve years ago) link
(2)
one of the tech n9nes was gifted though
this is a really obvious point, maybe someone already made it above, but at this point record sales are only an measure of popularity among people who still pay for music, not really a great measure of general popularity.
― congratulations (n/a), Friday, 2 September 2011 23:33 (twelve years ago) link
A lot you downloaders are heaven sentBut general popularity don't pay the fuckin rent
― velvet underground - reloaded (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 2 September 2011 23:46 (twelve years ago) link
i'd barely even heard of tech nninene before he was doing crazy numbers for an independent, what little i've heard is i guess real aggro speed rap shit? i can respect that
― some dude, Friday, 2 September 2011 23:48 (twelve years ago) link
Also I don't really buy that. I bet the most stolen/downloaded music is the same stuff that's at the top of itunes and the billboard charts. So far the spotify top charts are all popular pop tunes
― velvet underground - reloaded (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 2 September 2011 23:54 (twelve years ago) link
nah im with n/a on this, i think theres a relationship between whats popular & what sells but hardly an a+b=c situation
― D-40, Friday, 2 September 2011 23:56 (twelve years ago) link
it's not directly representational but it's not like there's some hugely overlooked shadow music industry anymore. everyone knows about mixtapes now and most of the top downloads on datpiff are like chris brown and drake and a bunch of mid-level major label rappers, with a handful of rappers here and there that genuinely don't have a mainstream profile.
― some dude, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:08 (twelve years ago) link
you're downplaying that like its not meaningful?
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:18 (twelve years ago) link
like isnt 'a handful of rappers here and there that genuinely dont have a mainstream profile' qualify? i'm sure its not exclusive to rap, either
it's meaningful sure but you always seem to have this fantasy that if every person in the country had arbitron people meters monitoring everything everyone listened to 24/7 we'd suddenly realize that yo gotti is more popular than drake and i just don't see it
― some dude, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:21 (twelve years ago) link
― some dude, Friday, September 2, 2011 7:21 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark
i dont think yo gotti is more popular than drake but i dont think that their relative sales are proportionate!
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:22 (twelve years ago) link
we've argued about this before & you did the same thing where you accused me of saying that the less popular artists were secretly the most popular which isnt what i'm saying. i'm talking about how im sure some genres & styles of artists are hit more heavily by downloading than others, have their numbers more significantly impacted. i think thats a pretty sizeable amount, considering what a massive percentage drop in sales there have been across the board.
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:23 (twelve years ago) link
sure, i'm exaggerating, but that's just because we agree that the sales are disproportionate but you seem to think it's like some huge gap where i get the feeling it's not quite so dramatic.
― some dude, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:27 (twelve years ago) link
well, neither of us can prove this either way, but i remember distinctly an era where random no name no limit rappers went platinum, & i feel like yo gotti is bigger than some of those dudes
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:30 (twelve years ago) link
well sure, but that was in the day when tons of rappers went platinum, the bar for platinum's really high now but in the late '90s/early 2000's it was almost kind of too low
― some dude, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:37 (twelve years ago) link
Suggest Ban Permalink
― some dude, Friday, September 2, 2011 7:37 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark
yeah but some rappers still sell. i think drake is more likely to sell to a buys-cds fanbase than yo gotti. certainly jay-z as well
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:39 (twelve years ago) link
i have to say it is kind of amazing that Wayne came out of 2010 relatively unscathed, Rebirth actually moving units and Cash Money timing singles/features well enough that there was really never any point when he wasn't on the radio the whole 10 months he was locked up. i really thought that was going to be the point where the world kind of moved on from him and Drake and/or Nicki started to be a much bigger star.
― some dude, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:49 (twelve years ago) link
i think the fact is ppl respect drake as a rapper more than they respect either drake or nicki.
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:52 (twelve years ago) link
argh i mean respect wayne obv
yeah but that didn't stop Kanye from becoming in some ways bigger than Jay
― some dude, Saturday, 3 September 2011 00:57 (twelve years ago) link
yah but i think theres an ideological consideration there ... jay couldnt be an anti-50 cent the way kanye could
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:00 (twelve years ago) link
whereas i dont see the same kind of need for a drake or minaj ... maybe a minaj, idk, but we'll see how much further she runs from rapping
i don't know what "need" means here. i mean millions of people feel the need to hear their songs on the radio five times an hour, that's the only need that matters, right.
― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:09 (twelve years ago) link
thats pop appeal, obv i think wayne's got to have more or taio cruz would be selling wayne numbers
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:12 (twelve years ago) link
like wayne is 'legit good rapper' + pop appeal, kanye was "thinking man's pop star rapper" which made up for the fact that he wasnt actually thinking rlly, but he wasnt a gangster like 50 ... there was a need for all the ppl for bourgeoise / 'conflicted' rapper contrast to 50 cent
imo
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:14 (twelve years ago) link
at this point record sales are only an measure of popularity among people who still pay for music, not really a great measure of general popularity.
― congratulations (n/a), Friday, September 2, 2011 7:33 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark
i don't think this is necessarily true for someone like lil wayne who moved an exorbitant amount of albums in week one -- i'm sure that there are a lot of ppl for whom carter IV is the only album they'll buy this year, maybe even out of brand loyalty. moving 900k in a week in 2011 is a REALLY great measure of popularity imo
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:24 (twelve years ago) link
once again tho its a measure of 'an artist we are likely to spend money on when we almost never spend money on music' which is v different than the way things used to be
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:30 (twelve years ago) link
maybe even out of brand loyalty
i'm going to bed now and this isn't really an argument but i just want to pick up on this and lob the whole 2011 stan culture angle into all of this cuz i think it's relevant
― lex pretend, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:31 (twelve years ago) link
Drake had a huge fanbase already when he was signed.
― swagliacci (The Reverend), Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:31 (twelve years ago) link
didn't he officially sign after "best i ever had" was already in the top 5
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:34 (twelve years ago) link
― D-40, Friday, September 2, 2011 9:30 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark
i'm not sure what your point is? that wayne's number is less impressive? cuz i think it's more. or maybe you're sorta arguing w/ shipley even tho i'm not really making his point
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:37 (twelve years ago) link
no i think thats totally impressive -- not arguing w you per se
― D-40, Saturday, 3 September 2011 01:56 (twelve years ago) link
ok
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 3 September 2011 02:00 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/201111/lil-wayne-gq-music-issue#ixzz1bKdbd3Xd?currentPage=all
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 20 October 2011 18:45 (twelve years ago) link
the historical implications of lil wayne skateboarding til sun-up in ur town
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 20 October 2011 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, idk about this guy
the skateboarding thing is only less embarrassing than the guitar playing cuz it doesn't infiltrate his music, but i guess it's kind of cool that wayne is showing up at random skate parks across the country and hanging out w/ teenagers
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 20 October 2011 18:59 (twelve years ago) link
I'm still like a kid, because unfortunately my childhood was raped away from me because I became a star
huh
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 20 October 2011 19:15 (twelve years ago) link
why you rape away lil wayne's childhood like that
― unorthodox economic revenge (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 20 October 2011 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
birdman did what?
― turfin' bird (The Reverend), Thursday, 20 October 2011 22:50 (twelve years ago) link
Like, people watch commercials, and they're like, "Who's gonna buy that?" I'm the person they make the commercials for. I watch them, and I'm like, "Oh God, that's awesome."
― unorthodox economic revenge (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 20 October 2011 23:10 (twelve years ago) link
I'm not a star, somebody raped
― some dude, Friday, 21 October 2011 00:45 (twelve years ago) link
http://fashionably-early.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/lil-wayne-face-tattoo.jpg
― some dude, Wednesday, 2 January 2013 01:17 (eleven years ago) link
ever since you got them titties youtalkin bout you thinkin bout some ass shotstakin all these snapshots different backdrops
― johnny crunch, Friday, 27 November 2015 01:39 (eight years ago) link
dedication 6 sounds good
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 30 December 2017 01:09 (six years ago) link
I'm pretty far from a hip hop expert but he is my favorite rapper I've ever heard. Da Drought 3 being his pinnacle.
― kornrulez6969, Saturday, 30 December 2017 01:22 (six years ago) link
So is this album, possibly, really good?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWsL43lj5QMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft4UN-Dd8_s
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 31 January 2020 17:45 (four years ago) link