Chinese Mike said:
why didn't that hit single success translate to sales for mims? he has 2 #1 joints. its cause 50 has a story and mims is just a rapper.
Different time periods. That's the main point I'm trying to get across to you. GRODT came out at a time (2003?) when you could still sell A LOT of records. GRODT came out at a time when the product was just "Music". Labels now refer to what they sell as "Music Based Product" (ringtones being the main Music Based Product). The CD will be dead is 2 - 4 years.
Chinese Mike said:
i think that's over simplistic. i mean, there's a buncha dope whiteboys with skills but a lot of ppl relate to the fact that he wants to kill kim and his mom. plus hes funny.
I was actually trying to be funny. Eminem sold because he was the first white rapper with REAL skill (skill being relative to the time period) to be backed by people with a HUGE amount of credibility and resources in the industry. He had that "Just The Two of Us" song on his original (local) EP/Album or whatever and it did NOTHING for him until Dr Dre heard it. Not taking anything away from Eminem at all, he's one of my favorite emcess of all time - BUT - you also have to have some understanding as to how it all came together.
Chinese Mike said:
um, then he hit the ppl over the head with 2 more killer singles. the 1st single wasnt even the biggest.
I was agreeing with you on Kanye.
Chinese Mike said:
um you puttin big in the same category as loon, mase, the lox, and black rob. oh dont forget g dep either. and ain't none of those dudes in the same category as BIG for a number of reasons.
Again, it's all about the time period. Things were different when BIG was around. Plus, Puff DID NOT back those other cats in the same way he backed BIG, we all know that.
Chinese Mike said:
um did you hear killa season? shit had like 3 good songs. i couldnt even get thru disc 1 of flips shit. you know the only ppl buying that crap are his dwindling harcore fanbase
um, again... Quality IS REL-A-TIVE. I know people who think both Chronic albums suck.
Chinese Mike said:
to me the amt of revenue generated will never validate or invalidate anybody's art but what other elements are we missing here mr peete
At the same time, the
lack of revenue doesn't validate or invalidate quality of art either.
The elements that get overlooked here are the
business decisions made by the parent companies and the share holders that have nothing to do with the music. Ask anybody who is REALLY in the mainstream industry, they'll tell you that it's 90% business and 10% music. If a decision comes down from the higher ups, you either roll with it, or go find another place to work.
For example, company A buys company B:
Company B may have 5 extra departments that company A feels are unnecessary and are a waste of money.
Since company A now owns company B, company A decides to liquidate those departments.
Even though 2 of those departments were vital to the quality of the overall product, as a business and in the spirit of cutting costs to ensure the highest profit margin, company A is willing to sacrifice quality for profit in the long run.