i mean, Busta isn't quite at the top of the pile, but Genesis did pretty good and honestly, 43, that's pathetic... granted the single sucks and the label doesn't seemed to have given it a very hard push, but you'd think that he'd be able to muster more out of the gate. and Busta isn't really the type to suffer a really aggressive backlash, like someone like say Ja Rule who people are just waiting to fall off and laugh at.
speaking of which, Jay-Z and Ja have been pushed out of the top 10 already, after 2 weeks and 1 week respectively, and unless they get saved by strong follow up singles, they'll likely keep slipping (Ja's got another Ashanti duet on the way so maybe, but no fucking way "Guns'n'Roses"'ll shift units). plus J.Lo doesn't seem to be doing so hot (i mean shit, the remix album did better week 1), and she's been a big benefactor and beneficiary to chart rap.
is this just a bad week/quarter for these particular artists, or a sign of things to come? i can't imagine Nas or X swooping in with blockbusters anytime soon... maybe a changing of the guard is overdue, but who? there haven't been many major contenders, saleswise, to come up since Em and Ja...Ludacris may still have a lot of steam left in him. i dunno, it just makes me sad to think about it all for some reason, even though i don't really have a lot of loyalty to any of the above artists besides Jay-Z (although i like bits by all to varying degrees).
the big common link between these guys is that they all had big albums just a year ago and have been pretty quick to strike while the iron's hot. so maybe from this they'll get the message to stop flooding the damn market. i'm inclined to like when anybody keeps busy and prolific, but the serial release schedules for some of these superstars does piss me off when the same labels delay up-and-coming artists' albums over and over (hey, Jay, get the damn Freeway LP out first, ok?)
― Al (sitcom), Friday, 6 December 2002 18:20 (twenty-three years ago)
You're presenting this like it's a bad thing, Al.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 6 December 2002 18:30 (twenty-three years ago)
Very disappointed in the Busta album after
Genesis. The Nas album is sounding good (safe) though as is the new Snoop, surprisingly. As much as i like Ludacris, I reckon he's a bit too left of center to be positioned as a solid universally anticipated rap figure-type. He and Mystikal esp. seem to always be perceived as the wild guys who spice up the soup but aren't directly the base itself.
― Honda (Honda), Friday, 6 December 2002 20:02 (twenty-three years ago)
A little of it has to do with the holiday rush. A month ago a similar sales week would have put Busta close to cracking the top 20. Everyone is going in and buying catalog for christmas presents rather than buying new things for themselves. Obv. I'm overstating a little bit and this is only part of the issue, but worth bringing up--the charts get squirrly in December, and not a lot of non-blockbuster albums get released unless the record label *wants* to bury it for some reason.
― teeny (teeny), Friday, 6 December 2002 20:02 (twenty-three years ago)
There was a report that Def Jam is being investigated for giving out free CDs to retail in order to inflate their Sound Scan numbers, which might explain why Jay-Z and Jah "suddenly" dropped out of the top 10.
― Aaron W, Friday, 6 December 2002 20:03 (twenty-three years ago)
The Missy album's been doing well, right?
― original bgm, Friday, 6 December 2002 20:10 (twenty-three years ago)
granted, Alex, most of the those guys put themselves in this position, getting cocky, rushing product to stores, and picking singles badly. but still, i'm not wild about a pop climate in which a record that's basically being sold on the basis of 3 new Eminem songs is beating out full-lengths from all of the above, most of whom i'd personally prefer.
― Al (sitcom), Friday, 6 December 2002 21:02 (twenty-three years ago)
But people have heard of Eminem. Ask someone in the street who Jay-Z is, and you'll get blank stares, or maybe "that guy with the Oliver single a few years ago".
Er, this is perhaps predicated on you being on the east side of the atlantic.
― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Monday, 9 December 2002 16:30 (twenty-three years ago)
Fat Joe is one of Tom's Real Music Martyrs this week. I knew you'd all be interested...
― Jeff W (Jeff W), Monday, 9 December 2002 16:37 (twenty-three years ago)