[GaGaFan]

I think that the urban buyers are just really fickle. I mean, that's why PF:RR isn't doing amazingly.

[SoulLow]

Originally posted by GaGaFan

I think that the urban buyers are just really fickle. I mean, that's why PF:RR isn't doing amazingly.

Welll, not a lot was put out for the urban audience to consume from that album.

[ClashAndBurn]

Originally posted by GaGaFan

I think that the urban buyers are just really fickle. I mean, that's why PF:RR isn't doing amazingly.

Well, if you don't put out urban hits, your urban base won't support you. And Chris and Nicki's urban songs have been flopping because they spend all their time promoting their pop singles, while songs like "Beez in da Trap" fly completely under the radar.

"Beez" only peaked at 7 on both Rap and R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Which isn't bad, but isn't great either.

I don't know what Usher's problem is, 'cause "Climax" was huge on Urban, so he at least had that...

[IVY]

it's too late, they released too many pop generic songs, and please don't say that usher doesn't care about sales anymore, he went very generic in his music because he wanted to sell, and he knows that's what selling these days. Now watch Frank Ocean getting the album of his career because the Urban Public is in desperate need of some R&B music and he's offering that in his album plus everything is going into the right direction for him.

[Jennifer]

Usher turned off his Urban fans. It's not that they don't love Climax or any of his Urban hits, it's just that they don't wanna pay 10 dollars for an album that may be filled with dance songs.

[Smartypants]

Originally posted by Jennifer

Usher turned off his Urban fans. It's not that they don't love Climax or any of his Urban hits, it's just that they don't wanna pay 10 dollars for an album that may be filled with dance songs.

Exactly. Frank Ocean's album, which is seen by the public as real R&B, was projected to sell over 100,000 copies on iTunes alone. The urban crowd does buy music, but they'll only but what they perceive to be worth their money. And frankly, since Usher has been heavily promoting Scream, they feel as if his album is not worth their money.

[The Best One Yet]

Are Usher and Brown, with their pop- and dance-leaning album tracks, alienating their core audiences? Are segmented singles targeting multiple formats fostering confusion instead of album sales?

I agree.

[DvnR]

Looking 4 Myself was very much quality R&B. It has a 75 on Metacritic, which speaks volumes on L4M's quality, cause it's a very solid album. I really do not understand why it's underperforming. Hopefully he focuses on broadcasting both potential R&B smashes like Lessons For The Lover and I Care For U and songs that will do well on Pop, Rhythmic, and possibly even Urban radio like Can't Stop Won't Stop

[Cap10Planet]

Urban buyers aren't really fickle. They'll support an artist if that artist is heavily giving them what they want. If the urban buyers were so fickle, Usher's and Chris' careers wouldn't have lasted as long as they have.

All this pop single / urban single thing needs to halt. These artists need to find one song that appeals to both formats / audiences.

[Tsuko]

Some of you aren't getting the point of the article...

I've listened to both Usher's and Chris's albums, and they are mostly R&B, and I love them both, but the general public have absolutely NO IDEA about this!!!

The only song most people have heard from Usher's album is Scream, and the only song most people have heard so far from Chris's album is Turn Up the Music (also applies to Nicki, the only songs most people know from her album are Starships and Turn Me On). So of course their albums won't sell very much. They're lucky they sell as much as they do tbh.

There's nothing wrong with having big hits on pop radio, just make sure they're friendly to people with urban tastes aswell, that's all. Justin Bieber had a hit with an urban-friendly song recently, it is still possible.

To help their album sales, Chris Brown needs to release Bassline as his next single (for BOTH pop urban). And Usher needs to avoid Euphoria and Numb. Anything but them (maybe, since Scream is dieing now, he should send Lemme See to pop so that it can take off there whilst it's doing good on urban).

Everybody NEEDS to stop with the stupid double single releases. It's fine to do them once a year or something, like Rihanna does, but doing it with EVERY song is just ridiculous, and alienates their urban fans. Most of the people that bought Confessions back in the day probably listen to pop radio. They want another Burn from Usher, but all they hear is More, Without You and Scream.

[Tsuko]

Originally posted by Cap10Planet

All this pop single / urban single thing needs to halt. These artists need to find one song that appeals to both formats / audiences.

I totally agree with this. And urban radio aren't as strict as people think. They played Super Bass and OMG a lot. It's not totally ridiculous what we're asking for from these artists.

They need to change as soon as possible. The longer they keep on like this, the more they distance themselves from the format.